"That's Not My Department," said Wehrner von Braun

Sun. June 2, 2013:


Dear Worthy Readers,
Today, you need a vacation from links to other articles.  So, here is just a list of things that are wrong
with a world where Republicans & Democrats screw things up.


To set the tone:

                                                   Can You Recognize This Picture?



1.  The latest New Republic has a cover story claiming that "The NRA Is Going Down."
Alas, the piece is way too optimistic.  Instead, what we have is closer to this newspaper headline:
"Gun Manufacturers Saw Nor Role in Curbing Improper Sales."
Reminiscent of humorist Tom Lehrer's line -- My rockets go up!  "Who cares where they come down?
That's not my department," said Wehrner von Braun.  

Gun manufacturers' current attitude, perfectly captured.


2.  My conservative friends keep telling me what an abomination Obamacare will be.
Well, if it turns out that way, Republicans in Congress, and G.O.P. governors, should shoulder most of the blame.  Their obstructionism has been downright unpatriotic.  Don't take my word for it:
"Partisan Gridlock Thwarts Effort to Revise Health Care Law."


3.  Republicans are still salivating over the 3 recent "Obama scandals" -- Benghazi "coverup,"  I.R.S. targeting of Tea Party & other right-wing requests for tax exemption, and the Justice Department's seizing of A.P. reporters' phone records and a Fox News reporter's phone records in attempts to trace dangerous leaks.
"Behind their loud condemnations, Republicans continue to damage the economy & society."


4.  The right-wing Heritage Foundation used to make responsible conservative points.
But its recent Immigration Report, claiming that upcoming immigration reform would cost the nation
$6,300,000,000,000 [6.3 trillion] over the next 50 years, was patently bogus.  Turned out the author's dissertation at Harvard argued that Latino immigrants were less intelligent than other groups.

"The foundation now seems to suffer from blinders as limiting as the ones that conservatives once perceived in liberal faculty lounges.  The demands of partisanship in the age of Obama seem to have reduced Heritage . . . to little more than sloganeers . . . beating the drums of talk-radio resentment."


5.  Gail Collins nails Michelle Bachmann, and she may not need to do it ever again.

"If Michelle Bachmann leaves Congress, does that mean the end of the Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act?"

Her announcement [that she would leave Congress at the end of this term, 2014] had a strange, perky quality that drew instant comparisons to airline safety videos. 


6.  Americans and Their Military Are Drifting Apart.
We need to reconsider a draft.  Pay for wars up front.  Rein in presidential power. 

Sam Adams, 1776:  "A standing Army, however necessary it may be at some times, is always dangerous to the Liberties of the People.  Soldiers are apt to consider themselves as a Body distinct from the rest of the Citizens."


7.  Tom Keane, in a recent Boston Globe, asks:  "Is the auto franchise system a lemon?"
Boy, is it!  Keane's best 2 paragraphs, in paraphrase:

If you want to buy a TV, there are a number of approaches you might take -- retail store, shop online, go direct to the manufacturer.  But if you want to buy, say, a new $14,000 Ford Fiesta, your options are limited.  You can't get it from the manufacturer, nor can you purchase it online.  Conventional retail stores can't carry it either.  You have only one choice:  an automobile dealer.

"Buying a car is the bane of every consumer's existence.  There's that cringe-inducing moment as you walk into the showroom and a salesman (and it's almost always a man) sidles up, suddenly your best friend, offering you a seat and coffee, eager to hear your life story.  There's the opaque pricing and the false negotiation -- "Let me check with my manager" -- and relentless push for more options, extended warranties, dealer add-ons, and dealer-provided financing."