Mon. April 30, 2012:
Yea, verily, there are Republican humorists:
1. Check out Eric Cantor in this crowd, smiling if not exactly laughing:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/president-obamas-full-2012-whcd-speech/2012/04/28/gIQAGNYboT_video.html
2. John Eastman, in the Bloomberg View: Conservatives' upcoming victories in the Supreme Court are NOT the fault of Obama's Solicitor General, Donald Verrilli. They are Obama's fault, for saddling poor Verrilli with untenable positions!
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-29/arizona-leads-u-s-in-real-immigration-reform.html
3. Rob Long, "The Long View," in The National Review:
http://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/294782/bethesda-mental-health-clinic
4. The Republicans' "confidence fairy" may be dead: "Confidence-inspiring policies [like no regulations on big business, no taxes on the rich, and big cuts to welfare spending] will foster and not hamper economic recovery," Paul Krugman quotes former European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet. Adds Krugman: "Appeals to the wonders of confidence are something Herbert Hoover would have found completely familiar -- and faith in the confidence fairy has worked out about as well for modern Europe as it did for Hoover's America [of 1929-1933]."
So now, with Sarkozy about to lose to a French socialist, and even the Dutch rebelling against austerity,policies, "this was the month the confidence fairy died," writes Krugman.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/27/opinion/krugman-death-of-a-fairy-tale.html?_r=1
Monday, April 30, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
God, Guns, Glory, and George Orwell
Sat. April 28, 2012:
Patient Readers, good news comes after the bad.
And it's thanks to George Orwell's observation:
"Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible."
Remember the Philadelphia priest who told one of his 10-year-old male victims,
"It is what God wants"? Evil clergy seemed to be invincible.
Well, the law is finally closing in on bishops & monseigneurs who shamelessly covered up such abuses.
As for Guns: Starting in the 1970's, the National Rifle Association began to seem invincible.
But there may be a silver lining in the tragic Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman saga.
A few lonely voices are calling out the N.R.A.'s role in "Stand Your Ground" laws like Florida's.
An occasional voice even shows how bogus the outrageously powerful NRA's past has been -- especially regarding Mitt Romney's claim that the N.R.A.'s real interest is to protect "the sport of hunting."
Check out Lily Raff McCaulou's "I Hunt, but the N.R.A. Isn't for Me":
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/opinion/the-nra-and-hunters-its-complicated.html?_r=1
What about the Glory? Mitt Romney wants White House glory so badly, he has been prostituting his own meaning of the truth since the 1990's. And Republicans hate "Muslim Socialist" President Obama with such blindness, that they raised more money than Obama at the rate of $80,000,000 to $9,000,000 last month.
Right now, Republican fund-raising seems invincible.
But, remember George Orwell's observation.
Despite all those Koch brothers out there, gloating in the wake of Citizens United, Republicans' downright unpatriotic obstructionism in Congress may have angered enough voters to trump
the few -- but huge -- donations from conservative corporations & fat cats.
Patient Readers, good news comes after the bad.
And it's thanks to George Orwell's observation:
"Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible."
Remember the Philadelphia priest who told one of his 10-year-old male victims,
"It is what God wants"? Evil clergy seemed to be invincible.
Well, the law is finally closing in on bishops & monseigneurs who shamelessly covered up such abuses.
As for Guns: Starting in the 1970's, the National Rifle Association began to seem invincible.
But there may be a silver lining in the tragic Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman saga.
A few lonely voices are calling out the N.R.A.'s role in "Stand Your Ground" laws like Florida's.
An occasional voice even shows how bogus the outrageously powerful NRA's past has been -- especially regarding Mitt Romney's claim that the N.R.A.'s real interest is to protect "the sport of hunting."
Check out Lily Raff McCaulou's "I Hunt, but the N.R.A. Isn't for Me":
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/opinion/the-nra-and-hunters-its-complicated.html?_r=1
What about the Glory? Mitt Romney wants White House glory so badly, he has been prostituting his own meaning of the truth since the 1990's. And Republicans hate "Muslim Socialist" President Obama with such blindness, that they raised more money than Obama at the rate of $80,000,000 to $9,000,000 last month.
Right now, Republican fund-raising seems invincible.
But, remember George Orwell's observation.
Despite all those Koch brothers out there, gloating in the wake of Citizens United, Republicans' downright unpatriotic obstructionism in Congress may have angered enough voters to trump
the few -- but huge -- donations from conservative corporations & fat cats.
Friday, April 27, 2012
One Day in "What's Wrong With The World" x 7
Fri. April 27, 2012:
It's just one day, and from just one source -- the NYT home-delivered issue of Thu. April 26m 2012.
But, sturdy readers, does anyone else out there feel as buffeted by discouraging news as your friendly blogger Bitesfromedwin?
1. Obama's solicitor general Donald B. Verrilli Jr. has another terrible & unconvincing performance in front of the Supremes. "You can see it's not selling very well," say one Justice -- and this time it's a liberal, Justice Sonia Sotomayor! So now, not only will the Obama administration lose the Affordable Health Care Act, but they'll lose against the horrific Arizona immigrant-profiling law. Bad people win again, this time gloaters like Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Who IS this incompetent Verrilli, and who is responsible for appointing him Solicitor General of the USA?
2. Rupert Murdoch may have poisoned political discourse in the USA & Britain more than any other single person in history. Yet in the witness box 2 days ago, he was "modest, self-deprecating, charming and funny," and "hardly seemed the power-hungry newspaper baron" who has polarized U.S. politics with Fox News/Wall Street Journal [against MSNBC/New York Times]. He's likely gonna get away with this global crime against humanity. And Fox News will continue to thrive.
3. U.S. political polarization will only get worse for another reason, too. It is this insidious ongoing practice of states redistricting themselves -- especially conservative & rural-dominated states. Says a Blue Dog Congressman from Arkansas: "In civics class in high school, you learn there are 435 members of Congress, and every one of them could lose in the next election. Now we're down to less than 100 who can ever get beat in a general election." "So the Democrats run to their corner. The Republicans run to their corner, and as a result the country is being run by the extremes."
"Redistricting," he added "has been bad for the country."
4. On Jan. 29, 2011, in Lyons, Georgia, another white man shoots & kills another unarmed black kid.
But this time, no Al Sharpton marches, no national attention. Situation not so clear-cut. This time, the black boy had been invited to the murder house for sex & drugs, including a 14 year old girl who said she was 18. The white man feels awful about it, and the black parents feel devastated. "I think about it every day," says the white man. "It's the worst thing I've ever been through . . . In two minutes it just went bad. If you ain't never shot nobody, you don't want to do it, I'm telling you."
5. Florida's Tea Party governor, Rick Scott, had promised to appoint a task force to give a fair & full review of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" Law. But 3 of 4 lawmakers on this 17-person panel either co-sponsored or voted for that same law, and the 4th is ardently pro-gun. Florida's "Stand Your Ground Law" review panel will not have a single lawmaker who favors gun controls.
6. A Romney economic advisor claims in the WSJ that Obama's economic plans would mean a huge tax increase for all Americans. This, in the face of the fact that Obama has long pledged not to raise taxes on the middle class and poorer Americans.
7. Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who got elected to Ted Kennedy's seat by pretending to be a Tea Party guy, is now trying to keep that seat by abandoning the Tea Party and being Mr. Reasonable Bipartisan Republican. All politicians have to play this game at one time or another. But just sayin', Senator Scott Brown's lovable persona is a farce, and it will probably work, against another female Democrat -- this time a "strident Harvard professor."
It's just one day, and from just one source -- the NYT home-delivered issue of Thu. April 26m 2012.
But, sturdy readers, does anyone else out there feel as buffeted by discouraging news as your friendly blogger Bitesfromedwin?
1. Obama's solicitor general Donald B. Verrilli Jr. has another terrible & unconvincing performance in front of the Supremes. "You can see it's not selling very well," say one Justice -- and this time it's a liberal, Justice Sonia Sotomayor! So now, not only will the Obama administration lose the Affordable Health Care Act, but they'll lose against the horrific Arizona immigrant-profiling law. Bad people win again, this time gloaters like Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. Who IS this incompetent Verrilli, and who is responsible for appointing him Solicitor General of the USA?
2. Rupert Murdoch may have poisoned political discourse in the USA & Britain more than any other single person in history. Yet in the witness box 2 days ago, he was "modest, self-deprecating, charming and funny," and "hardly seemed the power-hungry newspaper baron" who has polarized U.S. politics with Fox News/Wall Street Journal [against MSNBC/New York Times]. He's likely gonna get away with this global crime against humanity. And Fox News will continue to thrive.
3. U.S. political polarization will only get worse for another reason, too. It is this insidious ongoing practice of states redistricting themselves -- especially conservative & rural-dominated states. Says a Blue Dog Congressman from Arkansas: "In civics class in high school, you learn there are 435 members of Congress, and every one of them could lose in the next election. Now we're down to less than 100 who can ever get beat in a general election." "So the Democrats run to their corner. The Republicans run to their corner, and as a result the country is being run by the extremes."
"Redistricting," he added "has been bad for the country."
4. On Jan. 29, 2011, in Lyons, Georgia, another white man shoots & kills another unarmed black kid.
But this time, no Al Sharpton marches, no national attention. Situation not so clear-cut. This time, the black boy had been invited to the murder house for sex & drugs, including a 14 year old girl who said she was 18. The white man feels awful about it, and the black parents feel devastated. "I think about it every day," says the white man. "It's the worst thing I've ever been through . . . In two minutes it just went bad. If you ain't never shot nobody, you don't want to do it, I'm telling you."
5. Florida's Tea Party governor, Rick Scott, had promised to appoint a task force to give a fair & full review of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" Law. But 3 of 4 lawmakers on this 17-person panel either co-sponsored or voted for that same law, and the 4th is ardently pro-gun. Florida's "Stand Your Ground Law" review panel will not have a single lawmaker who favors gun controls.
6. A Romney economic advisor claims in the WSJ that Obama's economic plans would mean a huge tax increase for all Americans. This, in the face of the fact that Obama has long pledged not to raise taxes on the middle class and poorer Americans.
7. Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who got elected to Ted Kennedy's seat by pretending to be a Tea Party guy, is now trying to keep that seat by abandoning the Tea Party and being Mr. Reasonable Bipartisan Republican. All politicians have to play this game at one time or another. But just sayin', Senator Scott Brown's lovable persona is a farce, and it will probably work, against another female Democrat -- this time a "strident Harvard professor."
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Repeating, for Emphasis
Thu. April 26, 2012:
Some things bear repeating -- especially when they should have been said multiple times over the past three or four years:
Krugman's words: "Mr. Romney wants you to . . . forget both the role of Republican-controlled state governments and the fact that Mr. Obama has faced scorced-earth political opposition since his first day in office. Basically, the G.O.P. has blocked the administration's efforts to the maximum extent possible, then turned around and blamed the administration for not doing enough."
Some things bear repeating -- especially when they should have been said multiple times over the past three or four years:
Krugman's words: "Mr. Romney wants you to . . . forget both the role of Republican-controlled state governments and the fact that Mr. Obama has faced scorced-earth political opposition since his first day in office. Basically, the G.O.P. has blocked the administration's efforts to the maximum extent possible, then turned around and blamed the administration for not doing enough."
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Booing Bobby Valentine: Lies as Coin of the Realm
Tues. April 24, 2012:
Dear Readers, today please dig deep, for more reading than usual.
Republicans' booing of Obama [who has made plenty of cowardly & rookie mistakes!] makes no more sense than Fenway Park booing Bobby Valentine for a bullpen that gives up 14 runs in 2 innings. Alas, in U.S. politics, half-truths & lies are the Coin of the Realm [especially Romney's platform so far].
Let us count the ways:
1. Paul Krugman, "The Amnesia Candidate," in NYT April 23, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/opinion/krugman-the-amnesia-candidate.html
Particularly notable is that someone finally calls out Republicans for their Alice-in-Wonderland argument that President Obama has "not led" in improving our economy. In Krugman's words: "Mr. Romney wants you to . . . forget both the role of Republican-controlled state governments and the fact that Mr. Obama has faced scorced-earth political opposition since his first day in office. Basically, the G.O.P. has blocked the administration's efforts to the maximum extent possible, then turned around and blamed the administration for not doing enough."
2. Mitt Romney's Enviable Ability to Lie: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mitt-romneys-enviable-ability-to-ignore-the-truth/2012/04/16/gIQACwTUMT_story.html [Gratitude to "New Fiddler's Crotch" blog, for this item].
3. The lies do come from both sides. Check out Charlie Savage's lead story yesterday, "Shift on Executive Power Lets Obama Bypass Rivals," in NYT April 23, 2012: "As a senator and presidential candidate, he had criticized George W. Bush for flouting the role of Congress . . . But increasingly in recent months, the administration has been seeking ways to act without Congress."
Welcome to the club, Obama -- a club consisting of presidents going back at least as far as FDR.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/us/politics/shift-on-executive-powers-let-obama-bypass-congress.html
4. Edward Rothstein, "Go West, Young Religion: Mormonism on Exhibit," NYT April 23, 2012.
The good news is that finally a major newspaper starts a serious front-page discussion about Romney's Mormonism. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/arts/design/in-salt-lake-city-museum-shows-how-mormons-see-themselves.html
The bad news is that Rothstein falls into the current "liberal media" pattern of bending over backwards to be neutral about a scary aspect of conservatism within the man who has a 50-50 chance to be the Leader Of The Free World. Rothstein is right to suggest that Mormonism's 1820's origins -- in golden tablets buried beneath the soil of upstate New York, and revealed to a 14-year-old farm boy, along with polygamy and secret temple rituals -- are no more crazy than any other faith-based religions. But what he misses is what every other 21st-century journalist has so far missed: The reason New York State, and Ohio, and Missouri, and Illinois kicked Mormons' headquarters out towards Utah was NOT primarily its polygamy -- it was Mormons' frightening advantage, in agrarian frontiers, to conduct business and to vote as a "corporate" bloc. And, look at Bain's Boardroom when Romney was there.
Would he bring this to the White House?
5. Ann Romney's Bloomfield Hills friends arrive at Trump Towers, birther opinions in tow.
Watch & weep. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/ann-romney-birthday-fundraiser_n_1432833.html -- [Again, kudos to "New Fiddler's Crotch" blog, for this discovery].
Dear Readers, today please dig deep, for more reading than usual.
Republicans' booing of Obama [who has made plenty of cowardly & rookie mistakes!] makes no more sense than Fenway Park booing Bobby Valentine for a bullpen that gives up 14 runs in 2 innings. Alas, in U.S. politics, half-truths & lies are the Coin of the Realm [especially Romney's platform so far].
Let us count the ways:
1. Paul Krugman, "The Amnesia Candidate," in NYT April 23, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/opinion/krugman-the-amnesia-candidate.html
Particularly notable is that someone finally calls out Republicans for their Alice-in-Wonderland argument that President Obama has "not led" in improving our economy. In Krugman's words: "Mr. Romney wants you to . . . forget both the role of Republican-controlled state governments and the fact that Mr. Obama has faced scorced-earth political opposition since his first day in office. Basically, the G.O.P. has blocked the administration's efforts to the maximum extent possible, then turned around and blamed the administration for not doing enough."
2. Mitt Romney's Enviable Ability to Lie: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mitt-romneys-enviable-ability-to-ignore-the-truth/2012/04/16/gIQACwTUMT_story.html [Gratitude to "New Fiddler's Crotch" blog, for this item].
3. The lies do come from both sides. Check out Charlie Savage's lead story yesterday, "Shift on Executive Power Lets Obama Bypass Rivals," in NYT April 23, 2012: "As a senator and presidential candidate, he had criticized George W. Bush for flouting the role of Congress . . . But increasingly in recent months, the administration has been seeking ways to act without Congress."
Welcome to the club, Obama -- a club consisting of presidents going back at least as far as FDR.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/us/politics/shift-on-executive-powers-let-obama-bypass-congress.html
4. Edward Rothstein, "Go West, Young Religion: Mormonism on Exhibit," NYT April 23, 2012.
The good news is that finally a major newspaper starts a serious front-page discussion about Romney's Mormonism. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/arts/design/in-salt-lake-city-museum-shows-how-mormons-see-themselves.html
The bad news is that Rothstein falls into the current "liberal media" pattern of bending over backwards to be neutral about a scary aspect of conservatism within the man who has a 50-50 chance to be the Leader Of The Free World. Rothstein is right to suggest that Mormonism's 1820's origins -- in golden tablets buried beneath the soil of upstate New York, and revealed to a 14-year-old farm boy, along with polygamy and secret temple rituals -- are no more crazy than any other faith-based religions. But what he misses is what every other 21st-century journalist has so far missed: The reason New York State, and Ohio, and Missouri, and Illinois kicked Mormons' headquarters out towards Utah was NOT primarily its polygamy -- it was Mormons' frightening advantage, in agrarian frontiers, to conduct business and to vote as a "corporate" bloc. And, look at Bain's Boardroom when Romney was there.
Would he bring this to the White House?
5. Ann Romney's Bloomfield Hills friends arrive at Trump Towers, birther opinions in tow.
Watch & weep. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/18/ann-romney-birthday-fundraiser_n_1432833.html -- [Again, kudos to "New Fiddler's Crotch" blog, for this discovery].
Monday, April 23, 2012
Whatever His Faults, Tom Friedman Gets It
Mon. April 23, 2012:
Any true patriot has to be despairing of USA's current political system.
Remember: Chinese leadership predicts overtaking the USA as #1 superpower by 2023, because of USA's 2-party political dysfunction. China's own corruption scandal is serious, but at least its dictatorial system allows quick targeting & remedy.
In USA: SuperPACs, partisan obstructionism, bullying, cowardice, cynicism all add up to the electorate's sense of hopelessness & powerlessness. Result? Less than 50% show up to vote, even for national presidential elections. For state or local elections, often less than 10%!
Thus, Required Reading for today is Thomas Friedman's "Down With Everything," NYT Sun. 4/22/12.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/friedman-down-with-everything.html
Any true patriot has to be despairing of USA's current political system.
Remember: Chinese leadership predicts overtaking the USA as #1 superpower by 2023, because of USA's 2-party political dysfunction. China's own corruption scandal is serious, but at least its dictatorial system allows quick targeting & remedy.
In USA: SuperPACs, partisan obstructionism, bullying, cowardice, cynicism all add up to the electorate's sense of hopelessness & powerlessness. Result? Less than 50% show up to vote, even for national presidential elections. For state or local elections, often less than 10%!
Thus, Required Reading for today is Thomas Friedman's "Down With Everything," NYT Sun. 4/22/12.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/friedman-down-with-everything.html
Saturday, April 21, 2012
"President Romney"? Hillary Rosen, Save Us!
Sat. April 21, 2012:
You'd think that Republican primaries would have wrecked Mitt's chances in the General forever.
But no. He has already tied Obama in the polls. With attack ads & big money, Romney's campaign crushed every other Republican pretender -- no matter how pathetic. Huge money is rolling in, 90% of Republican voters are falling in line, endorsements coming from everywhere, veep & convention bumps still ahead.
Worse for Obama, economic recovery limps along, GSA & Secret Service scandals will ripen as "his fault," and little seems to be going right in China, Europe, Iran, North Korea.
It's time for Hillary Rosen to emerge from hiding & rescue the nation, to atone for her Ann Romney gaffe.
She needs to call the press, go perch herself on a Trump Tower window ledge, and threaten to jump unless Ann Romney agrees to hire Ms. Rosen as her cleaning lady, given the "choice" Ms. Romney made to be an overworked stay-at-home Mom.
If Hillary Rosen does not sacrifice herself for the country's future, it now appears more likely than not that all that Republican obstructionist bullying & Tea Party extremism since Jan. 2009 will be rewarded with victory in 2012. USA did elect a black president, but has yet to prove that it is capable of re-electing one.
1. Will a "President Romney" do something to stop blueberry bushes from blossoming around Walden Pond 6 weeks earlier than they did for Thoreau in 1853?
2. Will "President Romney" stop cowboy drilling by our oil companies?
BP's fines after the Gulf spill may seem big, but oil companies see them as just a "business expense." NYT of 4/20/12: "Two years after analysts questioned whether extraordinary cost and loss of confidence might drive BP out of business, it has come roaring back. It collected more than $375 billion in 2011, pocketing $26 billion in profits. What the gulf spill has taught us is that no matter how bad the disaster (and the environmental impact), the potential consequences have never been large enough to dissuade BP [add: or the whole oil industry?] from placing profits ahead of prudence. That might change if a real person was forces to take responsibility -- or if the government . . . banned the company from future federal oil leases and permits altogether. Fines just don't matter."
3. Will "President Romney" stop USA's self-destructive politically gridlocking cable-TV punditry?
The current director of the University of Delaware's center for political communication, said that Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity "helped to transform news television into opinion television in the United States." He called the shift "regrettable," but also "undeniably popular." [NYT 4/21/12]
4. The wealthy white USA, back in control under a "President Romney," will make it less likely that
the NYT casually prints the following sign that our social fabric is falling apart -- Tupac fan Russell Potter in NYT 4/20/12 excuses Tupac Shakur's swearing tirade [at SF police, who were there to help him shoot a film scene!] thusly: "But that's the way it is with living people, especially people who live large and outloud the way Tupac did. His vulnerabilities -- his missteps, his rants, his all-too-human shortcomings -- were also a part of his charm {emphasis mine} and underlay the love his fans still feel for him." As discouraging as Russell Potter's rationalization is to us older citizens, Republican thuggery has used similar rationalizations to poison our entire political discourse since Jan. 20, 2009.
Democrats' crime, by contrast, has been to appease, to shrink away in cowardice.
5. Thomas Friedman begs Mayor Bloomberg to run as a 3rd choice for president -- if only to force thuggish bullies on the right & cowards on the left to save the USA, "the last best hope of mankind."
You'd think that Republican primaries would have wrecked Mitt's chances in the General forever.
But no. He has already tied Obama in the polls. With attack ads & big money, Romney's campaign crushed every other Republican pretender -- no matter how pathetic. Huge money is rolling in, 90% of Republican voters are falling in line, endorsements coming from everywhere, veep & convention bumps still ahead.
Worse for Obama, economic recovery limps along, GSA & Secret Service scandals will ripen as "his fault," and little seems to be going right in China, Europe, Iran, North Korea.
It's time for Hillary Rosen to emerge from hiding & rescue the nation, to atone for her Ann Romney gaffe.
She needs to call the press, go perch herself on a Trump Tower window ledge, and threaten to jump unless Ann Romney agrees to hire Ms. Rosen as her cleaning lady, given the "choice" Ms. Romney made to be an overworked stay-at-home Mom.
If Hillary Rosen does not sacrifice herself for the country's future, it now appears more likely than not that all that Republican obstructionist bullying & Tea Party extremism since Jan. 2009 will be rewarded with victory in 2012. USA did elect a black president, but has yet to prove that it is capable of re-electing one.
1. Will a "President Romney" do something to stop blueberry bushes from blossoming around Walden Pond 6 weeks earlier than they did for Thoreau in 1853?
2. Will "President Romney" stop cowboy drilling by our oil companies?
BP's fines after the Gulf spill may seem big, but oil companies see them as just a "business expense." NYT of 4/20/12: "Two years after analysts questioned whether extraordinary cost and loss of confidence might drive BP out of business, it has come roaring back. It collected more than $375 billion in 2011, pocketing $26 billion in profits. What the gulf spill has taught us is that no matter how bad the disaster (and the environmental impact), the potential consequences have never been large enough to dissuade BP [add: or the whole oil industry?] from placing profits ahead of prudence. That might change if a real person was forces to take responsibility -- or if the government . . . banned the company from future federal oil leases and permits altogether. Fines just don't matter."
3. Will "President Romney" stop USA's self-destructive politically gridlocking cable-TV punditry?
The current director of the University of Delaware's center for political communication, said that Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity "helped to transform news television into opinion television in the United States." He called the shift "regrettable," but also "undeniably popular." [NYT 4/21/12]
4. The wealthy white USA, back in control under a "President Romney," will make it less likely that
the NYT casually prints the following sign that our social fabric is falling apart -- Tupac fan Russell Potter in NYT 4/20/12 excuses Tupac Shakur's swearing tirade [at SF police, who were there to help him shoot a film scene!] thusly: "But that's the way it is with living people, especially people who live large and outloud the way Tupac did. His vulnerabilities -- his missteps, his rants, his all-too-human shortcomings -- were also a part of his charm {emphasis mine} and underlay the love his fans still feel for him." As discouraging as Russell Potter's rationalization is to us older citizens, Republican thuggery has used similar rationalizations to poison our entire political discourse since Jan. 20, 2009.
Democrats' crime, by contrast, has been to appease, to shrink away in cowardice.
5. Thomas Friedman begs Mayor Bloomberg to run as a 3rd choice for president -- if only to force thuggish bullies on the right & cowards on the left to save the USA, "the last best hope of mankind."
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Annie Lowrey vs. Milton Friedman: Soak the Rich?
Thu. April 19, 2012:
We can come a smidgeon closer to a question which the lamestream media has evidently felt is beyond our brains.
So, they have not run much -- if anything -- on this crucial question:
Does trickle-down economics work, or not? We saw it in the 1920's, under Coolidge & Hoover. That went well.
We saw it in the 1980's under Reagan. Highest inequality ever, was the result.
Now we see it in 2012, under Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and other "courageous Republican leaders." We shall see.
To us lay-fools, a simplified version of the theory is: Stop taxing rich businesses & individuals, and they will be comforted by such a business-friendly environment; so they will hire & invest in new projects, which brings new prosperity to the economy; their wealth at the top will trickle down through the whole pyramid of citizens; government's role should be restricted to minimal refereeing of the market, and should stop interfering on behalf of the inefficient, uneconomical powerless. "Social Darwinism," cries President Obama? "Pshaw," say Republicans, "it will work great in the long run, if not the short run."
Back in the 1930's, economist John Maynard Keynes famously quipped: In the long run, we are all dead.
For those who really want to test the trickle-down theory -- AND its liberal counter-theories -- here are 2 places to start:
1. Get on youtube, find "Milton Friedman: Why Soaking the Rich Won't Work."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi-D24oCa10
2. Find Annie Lowrey, "French Duo See (Well) Past Tax Rise for the Richest," in NYT, Tues. April 19, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/business/for-economists-saez-and-piketty-the-buffett-rule-is-just-a-start.html?pagewanted=all
We can come a smidgeon closer to a question which the lamestream media has evidently felt is beyond our brains.
So, they have not run much -- if anything -- on this crucial question:
Does trickle-down economics work, or not? We saw it in the 1920's, under Coolidge & Hoover. That went well.
We saw it in the 1980's under Reagan. Highest inequality ever, was the result.
Now we see it in 2012, under Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and other "courageous Republican leaders." We shall see.
To us lay-fools, a simplified version of the theory is: Stop taxing rich businesses & individuals, and they will be comforted by such a business-friendly environment; so they will hire & invest in new projects, which brings new prosperity to the economy; their wealth at the top will trickle down through the whole pyramid of citizens; government's role should be restricted to minimal refereeing of the market, and should stop interfering on behalf of the inefficient, uneconomical powerless. "Social Darwinism," cries President Obama? "Pshaw," say Republicans, "it will work great in the long run, if not the short run."
Back in the 1930's, economist John Maynard Keynes famously quipped: In the long run, we are all dead.
For those who really want to test the trickle-down theory -- AND its liberal counter-theories -- here are 2 places to start:
1. Get on youtube, find "Milton Friedman: Why Soaking the Rich Won't Work."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi-D24oCa10
2. Find Annie Lowrey, "French Duo See (Well) Past Tax Rise for the Richest," in NYT, Tues. April 19, 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/business/for-economists-saez-and-piketty-the-buffett-rule-is-just-a-start.html?pagewanted=all
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
"Political Stunts" from the "Democrat" Party
Tues. April 17, 2012:
1. When Republicans made hay over Hillary Rosen's notorious slur of Ann Romney as a woman who had never worked a day in her life, Democrats labeled Republicans' reaction as a "political stunt." Now, Republicans accuse Democrats' Buffett Rule vote in the U.S. Senate as a "political stunt." Sturdy readers: "Political" means "Whom does the ordinary person obey?" In a democratic republic, politicians are meant to obey "the people." If "the people" decide to hold Hillary Rosen's assinine slur against the Democratic (oops, sorry! "Democrat" -- as in "Communist!") administration, then so be it. If "the people" reckon that the Buffett Rule makes sense in a country where the top 1% own an unfair proportion of America's wealth, then "the people" will have passed final judgment. In sum, EVERY SINGLE ACTION TAKEN DURING A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN is a "Political Stunt." So, whenever you hear one politician accusing another of a "political stunt," NOTICE that she or he is afraid to say that the substance of the "stunt" happens to be true.
2. Notice ideological Republicans like to refer to the Democratic party as the "Democrat" party. They got away with their insidious term of a use "ObamaCare." So why not insinuate "Communist" or "Terrorist" with a similar opprobrious construction: "Democrat"?
Right in character: Republicans peddle FEAR, Democrats peddle FAIR.
1. When Republicans made hay over Hillary Rosen's notorious slur of Ann Romney as a woman who had never worked a day in her life, Democrats labeled Republicans' reaction as a "political stunt." Now, Republicans accuse Democrats' Buffett Rule vote in the U.S. Senate as a "political stunt." Sturdy readers: "Political" means "Whom does the ordinary person obey?" In a democratic republic, politicians are meant to obey "the people." If "the people" decide to hold Hillary Rosen's assinine slur against the Democratic (oops, sorry! "Democrat" -- as in "Communist!") administration, then so be it. If "the people" reckon that the Buffett Rule makes sense in a country where the top 1% own an unfair proportion of America's wealth, then "the people" will have passed final judgment. In sum, EVERY SINGLE ACTION TAKEN DURING A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN is a "Political Stunt." So, whenever you hear one politician accusing another of a "political stunt," NOTICE that she or he is afraid to say that the substance of the "stunt" happens to be true.
2. Notice ideological Republicans like to refer to the Democratic party as the "Democrat" party. They got away with their insidious term of a use "ObamaCare." So why not insinuate "Communist" or "Terrorist" with a similar opprobrious construction: "Democrat"?
Right in character: Republicans peddle FEAR, Democrats peddle FAIR.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
If Men Find Out, Romney Is Toast
Sun. April 15, 2012:
We should have footage right here, because it is everywhere.
Everyone could see this secret for themselves, were they to pay closer attention.
So far, Obama advertisers have missed this secret weapon.
But if they design the ad correctly, it will narrow Obama's deficit among male voters significantly.
The secret? Mitt Romney's walk.
It is an automaton's walk, a busy-body's walk, a disconnecter's walk, a "mincer's" walk.
Barack Obama's walk, by contrast, is arrogant long strides -- i.e., "manly."
The contrast may be worth 10 points in the polls.
Will presidential political adviser David Plouffe make gold out of this secret?
Will his wife Olivia?
Will his politically astute friends, from Maine to California?
We should have footage right here, because it is everywhere.
Everyone could see this secret for themselves, were they to pay closer attention.
So far, Obama advertisers have missed this secret weapon.
But if they design the ad correctly, it will narrow Obama's deficit among male voters significantly.
The secret? Mitt Romney's walk.
It is an automaton's walk, a busy-body's walk, a disconnecter's walk, a "mincer's" walk.
Barack Obama's walk, by contrast, is arrogant long strides -- i.e., "manly."
The contrast may be worth 10 points in the polls.
Will presidential political adviser David Plouffe make gold out of this secret?
Will his wife Olivia?
Will his politically astute friends, from Maine to California?
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Lamestream Media Proves Me Wrong
Sat. April 14, 2012:
Lo & behold, further scouring shows that I underestimated the lamestream media, on at least two important "uncovered topics."
It has indeed published somewhat revealing articles about Fracking, and about the National Rifle Association.
1. See Joe Nocero, "How to Frack Responsibly," NYT Feb. 28, 2012. Long story short, there are genuine & serious dangers, and genuine opportunities too, if we proceed with caution. [Gee, isn't that exactly the approach President Obama took, regarding the Keystone Pipeline? Still -- What a Socialist!]
2. See Erica Goode, "N.R.A Push Has Advanced Broader Laws On Self-Defense," NYT Fri. April 13, 2012. This article is buried on the bottom of page A14, but if its research can be believed, it exposes the National Rifle Association's extremely dangerous tactics -- with countless fatal results -- behind the Stand Your Ground laws in Florida, Wisconsin, and over twenty other states, and counting.
Ms. Goode's most telling passages:
a) "In a legislative alert on its Website, the NRA asked members to 'please express your support for this critically important self-defense legislation' and for 'NRA-recommended amendments to these bills in order to make the final product a stronger law.' The bill, the [NRA] said in the alert, 'ensures that you don't have to second-guess yourself when defending your home from intruders.' [There was "second-guessing" in such situations, before Stand Your Ground laws?]
Further, it said, 'It also provides civil immunity for good citizens who are acting defensively against violence.' " [Wouldn't "civil immunity" automatically exist, when acting defensively against violence?]
b) "Last year, the NRA spent $97,701 and 627 hours lobbying or engaging in other activities in Wisconsin on behalf of the self-defense law and the concealed carry law, according to the State Legislature Web site."
c) " 'A lot of politicians are apprehensive to go against the initiatives of the National Rifle Association,' said Representative Nick Milroy, a Democrat from northern Wisconsin . . . 'For a lot of people who are very particular about their gun rights, anything less than an "A" rating is an anti-gun stance.' "
d) [Said another Wisconsin legislator]: " 'Who in their right mind could be asking for something like this [a Wisconsin amendment stretching Stand Your Ground from inside your house to areas outside your house]? . . . If someone takes a late-night dip in your swimming pool, does that mean you should shoot them?' "
Lo & behold, further scouring shows that I underestimated the lamestream media, on at least two important "uncovered topics."
It has indeed published somewhat revealing articles about Fracking, and about the National Rifle Association.
1. See Joe Nocero, "How to Frack Responsibly," NYT Feb. 28, 2012. Long story short, there are genuine & serious dangers, and genuine opportunities too, if we proceed with caution. [Gee, isn't that exactly the approach President Obama took, regarding the Keystone Pipeline? Still -- What a Socialist!]
2. See Erica Goode, "N.R.A Push Has Advanced Broader Laws On Self-Defense," NYT Fri. April 13, 2012. This article is buried on the bottom of page A14, but if its research can be believed, it exposes the National Rifle Association's extremely dangerous tactics -- with countless fatal results -- behind the Stand Your Ground laws in Florida, Wisconsin, and over twenty other states, and counting.
Ms. Goode's most telling passages:
a) "In a legislative alert on its Website, the NRA asked members to 'please express your support for this critically important self-defense legislation' and for 'NRA-recommended amendments to these bills in order to make the final product a stronger law.' The bill, the [NRA] said in the alert, 'ensures that you don't have to second-guess yourself when defending your home from intruders.' [There was "second-guessing" in such situations, before Stand Your Ground laws?]
Further, it said, 'It also provides civil immunity for good citizens who are acting defensively against violence.' " [Wouldn't "civil immunity" automatically exist, when acting defensively against violence?]
b) "Last year, the NRA spent $97,701 and 627 hours lobbying or engaging in other activities in Wisconsin on behalf of the self-defense law and the concealed carry law, according to the State Legislature Web site."
c) " 'A lot of politicians are apprehensive to go against the initiatives of the National Rifle Association,' said Representative Nick Milroy, a Democrat from northern Wisconsin . . . 'For a lot of people who are very particular about their gun rights, anything less than an "A" rating is an anti-gun stance.' "
d) [Said another Wisconsin legislator]: " 'Who in their right mind could be asking for something like this [a Wisconsin amendment stretching Stand Your Ground from inside your house to areas outside your house]? . . . If someone takes a late-night dip in your swimming pool, does that mean you should shoot them?' "
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Fracking, Gun-toting, Lamestreaming, Pederasting
Thu. April 12, 2012:
I. Quote of the day, from Thomas Friedman's persuasive bipartisan critique of Democratic & Republican budget proposals ["I'm Not Mitt Romney," page A21, NYT, Wed. April 11, 2012]":
"Sure, Ryan makes deep spending cuts to balance the budget in the long term. If I cut off both my thumbs, I'd also lose weight. But I'd also have a hard time getting another job."
II. At least 3 U.S. organizations need to step up their effort:
1. The Frackers: Drillers with high-pressure water -- and their opponents -- need to persuade us citizens how safe or dangerous this is. One Hollywooder claims fracking will cause nearby tap water to explode into flames. On the other hand, Drill-baby Republicans, including even moderate columnist David Brooks, say fracking will bring a lucrative bonanza to America "if done responsibly."
The devil is in the details. So, where are the DETAILS?
2. Media Lamestreamers:
When will you clarify this fracking issue for U.S. citizenry with a factual presentation?
Ditto about DETAILS in re: Congress's arrival at "individual mandates" in the legislative process?
Ditto about DETAILS, in explaining what "Single Payer" really means, and whether it is odious?
Ditto about DETAILS, about Cap & Trade?
3. Gun-toters: Ditto, about the origin of Stand Your Ground laws, born of hurricanes and the truly corrosive & murderous power of the National Rifle Association?
4. Pederasters: Recent testimony in a Philadelphia case demonstrates, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Roman Catholic priesthood & its superiors have been an astounding disgrace to decent Roman Catholic believers all over the world. Talk about "abuse of power"! Unless history itself is covered up, it will register this travesty as epic.
IV. Letter of the day, from John E. Colbert of Chicago, on page A22 of NYT, Thu. April 12, 2012:
"Whether it's Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry, whether it's packaged as a return to "values," a call for "fiscal discipline," or a restoring of America's "peace in the world," it's the same product under a recognizable Republican brand: merchandise that promises tax cuts for everyone, especially the rich; deregulation for business, belt-tightening for every else; and war or the threat of war all over the world.
"In other words the Republican nominee, whoever he is, advocates a return to the policies of 2001 to 2008 [sic: Why not add, the 1920's?] that got us into this mess, one from which President Obama has been extracting the nation. All of these Republicans present a distorted picture of the president and his record of achievement against impossible odds these last three years."
[Mr. Colbert's letter could add:
His phrase"impossible odds" refers to a totally obstructionist Congress, led by the likes of saboteurs Mitch McConnell & Jim DeMint who patriotically announced soon after Obama's inauguration that their 1st legislative priority was to make Obama a 1-term president -- and yet they blame him for not achieving anything! Will U.S. voters fall for this Alice in Wonderland logic?]
I. Quote of the day, from Thomas Friedman's persuasive bipartisan critique of Democratic & Republican budget proposals ["I'm Not Mitt Romney," page A21, NYT, Wed. April 11, 2012]":
"Sure, Ryan makes deep spending cuts to balance the budget in the long term. If I cut off both my thumbs, I'd also lose weight. But I'd also have a hard time getting another job."
II. At least 3 U.S. organizations need to step up their effort:
1. The Frackers: Drillers with high-pressure water -- and their opponents -- need to persuade us citizens how safe or dangerous this is. One Hollywooder claims fracking will cause nearby tap water to explode into flames. On the other hand, Drill-baby Republicans, including even moderate columnist David Brooks, say fracking will bring a lucrative bonanza to America "if done responsibly."
The devil is in the details. So, where are the DETAILS?
2. Media Lamestreamers:
When will you clarify this fracking issue for U.S. citizenry with a factual presentation?
Ditto about DETAILS in re: Congress's arrival at "individual mandates" in the legislative process?
Ditto about DETAILS, in explaining what "Single Payer" really means, and whether it is odious?
Ditto about DETAILS, about Cap & Trade?
3. Gun-toters: Ditto, about the origin of Stand Your Ground laws, born of hurricanes and the truly corrosive & murderous power of the National Rifle Association?
4. Pederasters: Recent testimony in a Philadelphia case demonstrates, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the Roman Catholic priesthood & its superiors have been an astounding disgrace to decent Roman Catholic believers all over the world. Talk about "abuse of power"! Unless history itself is covered up, it will register this travesty as epic.
IV. Letter of the day, from John E. Colbert of Chicago, on page A22 of NYT, Thu. April 12, 2012:
"Whether it's Rick Santorum or Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry, whether it's packaged as a return to "values," a call for "fiscal discipline," or a restoring of America's "peace in the world," it's the same product under a recognizable Republican brand: merchandise that promises tax cuts for everyone, especially the rich; deregulation for business, belt-tightening for every else; and war or the threat of war all over the world.
"In other words the Republican nominee, whoever he is, advocates a return to the policies of 2001 to 2008 [sic: Why not add, the 1920's?] that got us into this mess, one from which President Obama has been extracting the nation. All of these Republicans present a distorted picture of the president and his record of achievement against impossible odds these last three years."
[Mr. Colbert's letter could add:
His phrase"impossible odds" refers to a totally obstructionist Congress, led by the likes of saboteurs Mitch McConnell & Jim DeMint who patriotically announced soon after Obama's inauguration that their 1st legislative priority was to make Obama a 1-term president -- and yet they blame him for not achieving anything! Will U.S. voters fall for this Alice in Wonderland logic?]
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Bully Bully For You, Bully Bully For Me
Wed. April 11, 2012:
1. Gotta hand it to Karl Rove.
He is reputed to be the bully who orchestrates recent claims that Obama is being a bully.
This is part of a truly despicable -- but in our electorate perhaps effective -- judo tactic to figure out your own weaknesses and then negate them by refashioning your opponent by accusing him of the same weaknesses. And, do it more often than he does, with more money than he has.
Remember Propaganda Minister Goebbels's advice: If you're going to lie, make it a big lie, and
repeat it over & over.
2. A few folks are beginning to get it:
Want to scale down our federal debts & deficits? Why not re-route all these obscene SuperPAC billions
-- Democratic and Republican. This hypocrisy from our deficit-hawk bullies continues to be breathtaking.
1. Gotta hand it to Karl Rove.
He is reputed to be the bully who orchestrates recent claims that Obama is being a bully.
This is part of a truly despicable -- but in our electorate perhaps effective -- judo tactic to figure out your own weaknesses and then negate them by refashioning your opponent by accusing him of the same weaknesses. And, do it more often than he does, with more money than he has.
Remember Propaganda Minister Goebbels's advice: If you're going to lie, make it a big lie, and
repeat it over & over.
2. A few folks are beginning to get it:
Want to scale down our federal debts & deficits? Why not re-route all these obscene SuperPAC billions
-- Democratic and Republican. This hypocrisy from our deficit-hawk bullies continues to be breathtaking.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Taking Action vs. Do-nothing Hopelessness
Sat. April 7, 2012:
Three articles over the past couple days inspire, in the face of seemingly hopeless odds:
1. "Saving Fenway," by Lawrence Harmon [Boston Globe, Sat. April 7, 2012]. A small mocked group of die-hard historically-minded Fenway Park admirers -- in the face of little hope -- organized, stood firm, and eventually won over the John Henry/Tom Werner/Larry Lucchino new ownership, to "Save Fenway Park." Many in the 100th Anniversary Ceremony at Fenway on April 20 will be there who wanted to get rid of that "lyric little bandbox of a ballpark." But Save Fenway Park took action, while the rest did nothing.
2. "That Other Obama," by David Brooks [NYT, Fri. April 6, 2012]. Brooks has his off-base moments, but at least he tries to keep alive a spirit of Middle Way in this era of Tea Party zealotry & Al Sharpton march-first-ask-later-ism. He continues to take rhetorical action against extremism, this time in one excessive Obama speech. If both conservatives and liberals get mad at him, can he be so off-base?
3. "Did bad neighborhood design doom Trayvon Martin?" by Zach Youngerman [Boston Globe, Sat. April 7, 2012]. This MIT student dares to take the action of submitting an idea to a major daily newspaper. And lo, it offers a new slant you won't find in the cable pundits' bloviating about the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman tragedy.
Instead it reminds wide readers of Lewis Mumford's monumental 1960 synthesis,
The City in History, which famously decried the dwarfing scale of bad urban ideas over centuries -- ranging from imperial Rome's gladitorial coliseums, to modern gated subdivisions built for cars and without sidewalks or a sense of humans taking a walk in their community.
Three articles over the past couple days inspire, in the face of seemingly hopeless odds:
1. "Saving Fenway," by Lawrence Harmon [Boston Globe, Sat. April 7, 2012]. A small mocked group of die-hard historically-minded Fenway Park admirers -- in the face of little hope -- organized, stood firm, and eventually won over the John Henry/Tom Werner/Larry Lucchino new ownership, to "Save Fenway Park." Many in the 100th Anniversary Ceremony at Fenway on April 20 will be there who wanted to get rid of that "lyric little bandbox of a ballpark." But Save Fenway Park took action, while the rest did nothing.
2. "That Other Obama," by David Brooks [NYT, Fri. April 6, 2012]. Brooks has his off-base moments, but at least he tries to keep alive a spirit of Middle Way in this era of Tea Party zealotry & Al Sharpton march-first-ask-later-ism. He continues to take rhetorical action against extremism, this time in one excessive Obama speech. If both conservatives and liberals get mad at him, can he be so off-base?
3. "Did bad neighborhood design doom Trayvon Martin?" by Zach Youngerman [Boston Globe, Sat. April 7, 2012]. This MIT student dares to take the action of submitting an idea to a major daily newspaper. And lo, it offers a new slant you won't find in the cable pundits' bloviating about the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman tragedy.
Instead it reminds wide readers of Lewis Mumford's monumental 1960 synthesis,
The City in History, which famously decried the dwarfing scale of bad urban ideas over centuries -- ranging from imperial Rome's gladitorial coliseums, to modern gated subdivisions built for cars and without sidewalks or a sense of humans taking a walk in their community.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
"Opening Day"= Hope Springs Eternal
Thu. April 5, 2012:
Today, pessimism would be excusable for MLB fans in, say, the Chicago Cubs or Minnesota Twins, where they have absolutely no chance to win the World Series in October 2012.
Nevertheless, let us salute optimism about what transpires by the end of the 2012 baseball season, in the spirit of Opening Day:
1. Maybe by World Series time, the National Rifle Association and politicians will develop the courage to take licensed & legal guns out of the hands of disgruntled students, terminated employees, neighborhood watch patrollers.
2. Maybe we'll realize that General Sherman was right, that War Is [in fact] Hell, that even good American soldiers go berserk & perpetrate shooting slaughters of innocents. And maybe our armchair warriors will come to realize that it should be a lot harder for the USA to enter a war:
Bring back Congress's power to say yes or no to war? Bring back the draft, so we feel war's sacrifice much more poignantly? Read the new book Drift?
3. Maybe the "lame stream" media will stop earning Sarah Palin's label for them -- first by ignoring Palin herself & other fearmongers on both sides of the aisle; and second, by performing one [just one!] decent article explaining how the Affordable Care Act's "mandate" evolved in Congress from a conservative Heritage Foundation idea into the conservative bete noire it has become today, in order to avoid a Single Payer system which conservatives hate even more.
How about it, Free Press in the world's last best hope for democracy?
4. Maybe the Supreme Court -- and recently President Obama too -- will remember their Constitutional obligations to respect James Madison's 1787 "separation of powers" principle. The Roberts Court's 2000 Bush v. Gore ruling is a model of jurisprudence compared to what we're likely to see this June.
The current Roberts Court is just 2 months away from casting itself into its most disrespected, infamous shadow since the notorious Dred Scott ruling of 1857. The High Court's 1857 decision was so widely reviled that it helped spark the Civil War.
One need only google Maureen Dowd's "Men In Black" [NYT, April 4, 2012] to understand how low Justice Clarence Thomas has fallen in our nation's esteem -- not to mention how polarizing has become the "judgments" of Thomas's knee-jerk conservative colleagues Alito, Kennedy, Roberts, and Scalia.
Almost as bad, President Obama is diminishing the presidency to the same partisan level -- first by gratuitously [no matter how correctly] attacking the Justices for their Citizens United abomination, as they sat in front of his podium at the January 2010 State of the Union address; and now by his April 2012 remarks trying to intimidate them into changing their mind from what will almost certainly be another 5-4 Roberts Court decision favoring the right-wing agenda [with Clarence Thomas refusing to recuse himself despite Mrs. Thomas's zealous work against the same healthcare law].
Back in 1857, President James Buchanan, himself a Northerner who owned slaves in the South, fanagled an advance leak of Dred Scott's pro-slavery ruling, and ingenuously urged his countrymen to honor the decision "whatever it might be."
And every schoolchild knows how FDR vented his frustration with the "horse & buggy" rulings of the anti-New Deal Justices, by trying to pack the Supremes in 1937.
Does Chief Justice Roberts want to go down in history as another Chief Justice Taney?
Is Obama trying to re-channel James Buchanan, and FDR's worst political miscalculation ever?
5. Maybe U.S. politicians of both parties will bother to read Chinese leadership's belief that its
number one reason for surpassing USA by 2023 is the latter's "dysfunctional politicians."
Does Mitt Romney embody a realistic hope for change from dysfunctional politics?
Early returns are not encouraging: Bigger tsunamis of expensive negative ads; more xenophobic claims of "socialism."
Today, pessimism would be excusable for MLB fans in, say, the Chicago Cubs or Minnesota Twins, where they have absolutely no chance to win the World Series in October 2012.
Nevertheless, let us salute optimism about what transpires by the end of the 2012 baseball season, in the spirit of Opening Day:
1. Maybe by World Series time, the National Rifle Association and politicians will develop the courage to take licensed & legal guns out of the hands of disgruntled students, terminated employees, neighborhood watch patrollers.
2. Maybe we'll realize that General Sherman was right, that War Is [in fact] Hell, that even good American soldiers go berserk & perpetrate shooting slaughters of innocents. And maybe our armchair warriors will come to realize that it should be a lot harder for the USA to enter a war:
Bring back Congress's power to say yes or no to war? Bring back the draft, so we feel war's sacrifice much more poignantly? Read the new book Drift?
3. Maybe the "lame stream" media will stop earning Sarah Palin's label for them -- first by ignoring Palin herself & other fearmongers on both sides of the aisle; and second, by performing one [just one!] decent article explaining how the Affordable Care Act's "mandate" evolved in Congress from a conservative Heritage Foundation idea into the conservative bete noire it has become today, in order to avoid a Single Payer system which conservatives hate even more.
How about it, Free Press in the world's last best hope for democracy?
4. Maybe the Supreme Court -- and recently President Obama too -- will remember their Constitutional obligations to respect James Madison's 1787 "separation of powers" principle. The Roberts Court's 2000 Bush v. Gore ruling is a model of jurisprudence compared to what we're likely to see this June.
The current Roberts Court is just 2 months away from casting itself into its most disrespected, infamous shadow since the notorious Dred Scott ruling of 1857. The High Court's 1857 decision was so widely reviled that it helped spark the Civil War.
One need only google Maureen Dowd's "Men In Black" [NYT, April 4, 2012] to understand how low Justice Clarence Thomas has fallen in our nation's esteem -- not to mention how polarizing has become the "judgments" of Thomas's knee-jerk conservative colleagues Alito, Kennedy, Roberts, and Scalia.
Almost as bad, President Obama is diminishing the presidency to the same partisan level -- first by gratuitously [no matter how correctly] attacking the Justices for their Citizens United abomination, as they sat in front of his podium at the January 2010 State of the Union address; and now by his April 2012 remarks trying to intimidate them into changing their mind from what will almost certainly be another 5-4 Roberts Court decision favoring the right-wing agenda [with Clarence Thomas refusing to recuse himself despite Mrs. Thomas's zealous work against the same healthcare law].
Back in 1857, President James Buchanan, himself a Northerner who owned slaves in the South, fanagled an advance leak of Dred Scott's pro-slavery ruling, and ingenuously urged his countrymen to honor the decision "whatever it might be."
And every schoolchild knows how FDR vented his frustration with the "horse & buggy" rulings of the anti-New Deal Justices, by trying to pack the Supremes in 1937.
Does Chief Justice Roberts want to go down in history as another Chief Justice Taney?
Is Obama trying to re-channel James Buchanan, and FDR's worst political miscalculation ever?
5. Maybe U.S. politicians of both parties will bother to read Chinese leadership's belief that its
number one reason for surpassing USA by 2023 is the latter's "dysfunctional politicians."
Does Mitt Romney embody a realistic hope for change from dysfunctional politics?
Early returns are not encouraging: Bigger tsunamis of expensive negative ads; more xenophobic claims of "socialism."
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