Thoughts for Today

Just a few thoughts while I watch the Lions game.

• You are what you do.  If you torture, then you are a torturer.
• Welcome back, John McCain.  There was a time when I actually thought McCain was a Republican I could vote for.  His behavior over the last few years kind of changed my mind about that.  But that old McCain was back for at least one glorious moment last week with his eloquent speech in the Senate.  Thank you, John McCain, and welcome back.
• Also, a special thanks to Ted Cruz for his valuable contribution to possibly getting a bunch of Obama nominees approved.
• Would ISIS exist today if we hadn't invaded Iraq?
• It is eerie how the Bush/Cheney Iraq War parallels the facts that are exposed in the torture report.  In both instances you can see how horrible policies were made even worse by the hubris and incompetence with which they were executed.  In neither case could the bad policy have been improved by "better" implementation, but they could certainly have been made worse (and they were).
• Oh, and in both cases, Dick Cheney is still defending them.  What more evidence does one need to prove that they were terrible policies?  Is there anyone left who takes seriously anything he has to say?  Except maybe for Chick Todd?

Quote of the Day (Nov. 30, 2014)

"As I look at the town now, dwindling without grace, I think how strange that lives were lost in its formation.  It is the same with all desperate enterprises that involve boundaries we place upon the earth.  By drawing a line and defending it, we seem to think we have mastered something.  What?  The earth swallows and absorbs even those who managed to form a country, a reservation."

Louise Erdrich,  The Plague of Doves

Contrasts

Two African American males (one of them twelve years old) have recently been gunned down by police because they had toy guns.  Cliven Bundy threatened federal law enforcement personnel with (real) automatic weapons.  He is not only still alive, but has appeared on Sean Hannity's show as a hero and role model.

Go figure.

Satire of the Day

From The New Yorker. 

Some Interesting Facts (At Least for Me!)

For those of us who usually find ourselves to the left of Barack Obama, it is useful now and then to at least remind ourselves of the facts (as opposed to the media myths).  Here are a few.

• The abortion rate is at its lowest since 1973.
• Illegals are entering the country at a lower rate today than when Reagan was president.
• There are 14 Congressional districts in my home state of Michigan.  Five are held by Democrats and nine by Republicans (36%/64%).  In last week's election, the five Democrat Representatives received more votes than the nine Republicans by 51% to 49%.
• Similarly, Michigan's Governor Snyder received about a million fewer votes last week than Obama received when he carried the state in 2012.
• The 35% corporate tax rate endlessly cited by conservatives is a meaningless number.  The average effective rate is far below that.  Depending on the time period used, it's actually something between 10 and 20%.  If someone cites 35% rate without also talking about the effective rate, then they are being intentionally deceptive.
• In addition, many of the countries with lower marginal corporate tax rates are able to do so because they also instituted a value added tax, something unlikely to happen in the US.  Here again, if someone cites the 35% rate without also talking about the VAT, they are intentionally leaving out half the story.

Okay, I seem to be drifting from "all fact" to "fact mixed with opinion" so I guess it's time to quit for now.

Yup, He's a Bright Guy All Right

Wisdom from Scott Walker.

Christian Life Resources Still Can't Resist

I haven't seen much on the Christian Life Resources (CLR) website lately but today there was this blatantly right wing politically-charged article.  It seems like every once in a while they can't resist reminding us that they are still in the pocket of the Republican Party.  All the epithets and name calling in this article simply verifies it.  Thanks for the reminder, CLR, but I never doubted it for a minute.  But here's a reminder--and a warning--for you:  if you're looking for Christ in either party's platform, not only are you looking in the wrong place...you are also "turning to a different Gospel".

Memories of 1980

I remember well the fall of 1980 when we elected Ronald Reagan, ushering in America's disastrous love affair with supply-side economics, culminating in the mini-depression that began in 2007-08.  Unfortunately, I also remember that in 1980 senators like Gaylord Nelson, Frank Church, and Birch Bayh--i.e., men of integrity, substance, and a modicum of statesmanship--were replaced by the likes of Robert Kasten, Steven Symms, and Dan Quayle.  We have already seen Russ Feingold replaced by the lightweight Rob Johnson.  We also got Ted Cruz and Mike Lee.  And its looking likely that we'll get Joni Ernst and who knows who else.

Well, the Republic survived Kasten, Symms, and Quayle.  So far we seem to have survived Johnson, Cruz, and their cult.  Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised on November 4, but if not, I will try to stay optimistic that we'll also survive the latest crop of shallowness.

Today's Gripes

• The NRA isn't so much pro-gun as it is pro-Republican.  Pryor and Begich are finding out what it's worth to sell out to the gun lobby: not much if you're a Democrat.  Kinda serves them right.
• When I was growing up in Wisconsin, it had the reputation as being the least politically corrupt state.  Whether it was Republicans like Warren Knowles and Lee Dreyfus, or Democrats like Patrick Lucey and Gaylord Nelson, you felt confident of their honesty.  I never voted for a Republican, but I never questioned their integrity.  No more, I'm afraid.  Now you have Scott Walker and the Republican legislature essentially being bribed bought by the Koch brothers, the mining industry, and ALEC (not to mention the enactment of Jim Crow voting laws).  Notice to Wisconsinites: You are no longer allowed to crack jokes about New Jersey politics.
• Is Iowa really going to elect Joni Ernst?  It'll be like having Michele Bachmann in the Senate.
• It puzzles me that liberals dislike Walmart so much, but eagerly shop at Amazon.
• Is Politifact becoming just another boring and predictable cog in the gears of the mainstream media?
• From Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly:  "I realize the remarks of politicians should not be imputed to the entire populations they govern or represent. But still, it's hard to avoid noting that Texas—the very sovereign State of Texas, I should clarify, where the federal government is generally not welcome—was at a loss in dealing with a single Ebola case until the feds stepped in."  Or as Kevin Drum blogged:  "Please Rescue Us, Now Go Away".

Medicare Advantage

I just got my packet from Blue Cross (Michigan) for my Medicare Advantage plan in 2015.  My premiums went down $2 (from $17.50 to $15.50) and my deductible went down (from $175 to $150).  So much for the Affordable Care Act destroying Medicare Advantage.  Another Republican zombie lie bites the dust.

Lynne Cheney's Legacy of Censorship

The mucking around in the history curriculum by the school board in Arvada, Colorado, is just  the same old pablum Lynne Cheney began pushing in the '90s and '00s (and still today).  The idea is that the purpose of teaching history should be to make the kids believe that America (i.e., the White Guys) never did anything wrong.  As a kid who went to school in the '50s and '60s in Wisconsin, I can tell you that we had pretty good public schools.  But we were pretty much taught the way Lynne Cheney wants.  When we found out how we'd been lied to all those years, it was a major contributor to the radicalization that happened in the '60s and '70s.  I'm happy to be American, but there is nothing wrong with learning the truth, warts and all.  What are all you conservatives afraid of?

This, of course, isn't Ms Cheney's only foray into censorship of ideas.  After 9/11, the group she co-founded--the American Council of Trustees and Alumni--tried to blacklist as un-American those who didn't sufficiently bow to the Bush/Cheney line, greasing the wheels for the misinformation that led to the Iraq War disaster.

It would be tough to be a parent today, worrying about what kind of nonsense these fringy conservative school boards are trying to force into the schools.

Quote of the Day

Jay Bookman blog on agc.com (Atlanta Journal-Constitution).  The entire post is worth a read.  The video he shows is quite comical!

"No, Holder wasn’t perfect in the role. No one is. Yes, a lot of anger and worse was aimed in his direction.

But let’s be honest. Nothing Holder said or did came close to justifying the disproportionate scale of vitriol against him. The free-floating paranoia that has come to define modern conservatism, and that for a variety of reasons focused on Holder as its target, existed long before he was appointed attorney general, and it will continue unabated after he is gone. Blaming him for creating it would be like blaming a lightning rod for creating lightning."

From the New Yorker

I like this!

Annual Repost

I intend to repost this quote every year about this time...just because I can:

"A civilization which for any reason puts a human life at a disadvantage; or a civilization which can exist only by putting human life at a disadvantage; is worthy neither of the name nor of continuance. And a human being whose life is nurtured in an advantage which has accrued from the disadvantage of other human beings, and who prefers that this should remain as it is, is a human being by definition only, having much more in common with the bedbug, the tapeworm, the cancer, and the scavengers of the deep sea."

James Agee,  Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

 

Sunday Randomness

Randoms thoughts as I sit idly watching football.

• It's a sad commentary on the state of today's television journalism that the most reliable news sources on cable are Al Jazeera America and Comedy Central.
• Lee Fang's Blog post  of September 12 on thenation.com gives us just one reason why this is true.  You can't trust the "experts" that are trotted out all over the TV news because they are swimming in the murk of undisclosed conflicts of interest.  Just follow the money.
• I see that George Zimmerman is still carrying a gun.  Don't you feel much safer knowing that?
• Did the Fox & Friends airheads really say--in regard to the Ray Rice elevator incident--that,"I think the message is, take the stairs."?  Yup, I guess they did.  Is anyone surprised?

Quote of the Day

"It’s comforting to have Dick Cheney around, so we can at least know what we definitely want to avoid."

--Gail Collins in today's column in The New York Times


 

Kevin Drum on Iraq

I think I pretty much agree with Kevin Drum and his take on Obama and Iraq.  You can read it here.

Random Thoughts in August

Some random thoughts and opinions after a week at the beach:

• Ummm...John McCain and his sidekick Howdy Doody--I mean Lindsay Graham--wanted Obama to aid the rebels in Syria.  Well now those same rebels are raising hell in Iraq so they now want Obama to give aid to the other guys.  I guess they can't decide whether these are the good guys or the bad guys.  They made it sound so easy, just like they did in 2003 when we invaded Iraq to start with.  Let's check back with John and Howdy next week and see who the new good guys and bad guys are.
• Hillary Clinton's recent statements on foreign policy make me less likely to want to vote for her rather than more likely.  I am among those who think that "don't do stupid shit" has worked pretty well for Obama compared to his predecessor.  In her interview she's sounds like she's neo-con-lite.  No thanks.
• If you haven't seen the movie "Searching for Sugar Man"...you should.
• I recently finished William T. Vollmann's novel Europe Central.  We found it at a used book sale while snowbirding on the Gulf.  Whew...quite a book.  It's definitely on the list of best books I had never heard of before.  (I'm not sure why I hadn't heard of it, I think it won the National Book Award.)  I wish I had written it!
• I agree with Kevin Drum that President Obama should use the War Powers Act if--as he says--the operation in Iraq will "take some time."

Breaking News

The House of Representatives announced today that it is creating a select committee to investigate new evidence that Barack Obama (with Hillary Clinton's help) may have been responsible for the  1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 American military personnel.  Darrell Issa (R-Pinocchioville) did not disclose the evidence but said, "If Barack Obama was able to fabricate his birth in Hawaii while in the womb, he is certainly capable of causing this catastrophe at age 22.  It's about time that the American people are told what really happened in that tragedy, and why Barack Obama failed to heed the warnings."

That Didn't Take Long

Well, it took less than a week and what Justice Ginsburg predicted in her dissent is already coming to pass.  (The story is here.)

This story also produces today's quote of the day, from Justice Sotomayor:  “Those who are bound by our decisions usually believe they can take us at our word.  Not so today.”

It's Official: I Am Evil (Charles Murray Says So)

The American Right's favorite racist, Charles Murray, had a piece in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago pointing out the differences between the good Liberals and the evil Progressives.  Since even most people on the Left are to the right of me, I suppose I fall in with the latter, i.e., among the evil ones.

In general, I don't really mind this kind of article.  It's entertaining to watch C-Span panels where right wingers list all the things that people like me believe...except that I don't believe any of them.  It's quite comical watching them create this monster that is me.  Murray's piece is just more of the same in this regard.  But what I do object to are statements like this toward the end of his article:  "But liberalism as I want to use the term encompasses a set of views that can be held by people who care as much about America's exceptional heritage as I do."

Here's my question to Murray: Who the f**k do you think you are to question how much anyone cares about America?  It looks like being an American Enterprise Institute "scholar" puts you on the same rhetorical plane as Sarah Palin.

Specious Argument

I keep reading this week--in discussions about the Hobby Lobby case--about how people don't "check their beliefs at the door" when they go to work.  Well, of course that's true, but it's a specious argument for this particular case.

First, let me be clear that my discussion here is philosophical and theoretical, rather that legal.  Unlike most of my friends on the Right, I don't consider myself a constitutional scholar.  But most of the discussions I'm seeing aren't legal in nature anyway.

The issue is whether Hobby Lobby--as a corporation--has religious beliefs to be protected.  The notion of corporate "personhood" as concocted by the current activist Supreme Court is created out of whole cloth.  Indeed, corporations are created by owners so that they will not be treated as "persons".  We the people allow them to exist for purposes of the common good and efficient commerce.  In return, we the people can set whatever conditions we the people deem necessary.  (At least that was the original social compact.)  So, to the point...YES, Hobby Lobby's owners have checked their religious beliefs at the door.

But with recent Supreme Court rulings, Hobby Lobby enjoys all the advantages of being a corporation (limited liability, tax advantages, etc.) when it suits them, but can also now claim the advantages of "personhood" when it is to their advantage.  In effect, the current Court has not only created this new "person", but it has created a "super person" who actually has more rights and protections than actual warm-blooded persons like you and me.

The irony, of course, is that this comes from a Supreme Court bearing the Originalist banner.  Apparently that means that if corporations didn't exist when the nation was founded, the Originalists can make up whatever Originalism they see fit.

This Would Be Funny If It Weren't So Sad

Another GOP unfact from Politifact.  This quote from Bob Goodlatte (R-Va) earned a "false" rating:  "9-0 decision last week was the 13th time the Supreme Court has voted 9-0 that the president has exceeded his constitutional authority."  (Apparently, Ted Cruz, [R-Outer Space] has made the same kind of statement.)  Well, sorta-kinda if you live in the GOP alternate reality.  But it turns out that of these 13 cases, eight originated during the Bush administration.  And some really didn't involve "executive overreach".  You'd think that once in a while they'd be able to find something real to whine about.  Then they wouldn't have to make things up and make such fools of themselves.

Quote of the Day

"Being on the wrong side of Dick Cheney is to be on the right side of history."

Harry Reid, from the Senate floor, talking about Cheney's recent op-ed piece

From Today's Daily Kos

The war in Iraq cost 4,489 American servicemen their lives. More than 32,000 were wounded. More than 100,000 Iraqi citizens died. Remember those numbers.
In recent days, as the situation in Iraq has deteriorated, you haven't been able swing a dead cat without hitting one of the architects or cheerleaders of the war in Iraq, in front of a TV camera, declaring that President Obama had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. And today, it's former Vice President Dick Cheney's turn, penning an op-ed (with the help of his second draft deferment, Liz) in the Wall Street Journal:

Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many.

Let's replay just a few of Cheney's greatest hits:

• "And he [Saddam Hussein] is actively pursuing nuclear weapons at this time." (March, 2002)
• "I think it will go relatively quickly. Weeks rather than months." (March, 2003)
• "My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators." (March, 2003)
• "I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency." (July, 2005)

Seriously, Dick, shut up.

A Simple Question

Here's a simple question....

If the media were really liberal, why would utterly discredited Iraq "experts" like Wolfowitz, Bremer, Kristol, and et al, ever be allowed to be in front of a TV camera again?  Yet they are all over the talk shows expounding their wisdom.  Sheesh!!

Quote of the Day (More on the Revisionists)

As a follow-up to my earlier post today, here is a quote from Kevin Drum's blog today about John McCain's alternate reality on Iraq.  As usual, Drum says it better than I.

John McCain is now the Donald Sterling of foreign affairs: old, angry, retrograde, and only barely in touch with the real world. This is the same guy who declared Iraq safe after taking a carefully staged stroll through a fruit market in Baghdad seven years ago, and he hasn't been willing to engage with reality any more seriously ever since. He's just sure that we had it won, that American troops had victory in their grasp, and now it's all turned to ashes. And since the actual politics of the region seem to be beyond him, all he can do is rage at President Obama for somehow ruining his lovely pretend victory.

It's a little sad in a way, and perhaps sadder still that the media continues to give him the means to keep embarrassing himself on national TV. It's time to move on, guys.

Here Come the Revisionists

Well, once again David Brooks has written a preposterous column basically stating that we had the war in Iraq all but won except (of course) for Obama.  This echoes the know-nothing assertions of the neo-cons like Charles Krauthammer and the Senate wing led by John McCain, who still has hurt feelings that the American people chose Barack Obama instead of him.

Look...the surge wasn't really a surge.  To the extent that it "succeeded" at all, it is because we started paying the Sunni militants to switch to our side for awhile.  Once those payments stopped...well, anyone could have guessed. The frustrating thing is that Krauthammer and McCain know this but choose to create an alternate reality to serve their own political purposes.  (Creating alternate realities seems to be the best Republicans can do nowadays.)  The Iraq War was a disaster.  The "surge" may have made it a bit less of a disaster, but a disaster nonetheless.

Of course, there are always revisionists (mostly from the right).  It is common sport for them to come up with the latest reason that--just like the Iraq disaster--the Vietnam War was also ours to win, if only we had blah blah blah.  Well, those of us who were around then know better.  It was never our war to win.  And we never should have gone into Iraq to begin with, either.  Contrary to popular belief, there was never unanimity that we should have, except in the Bush White House and the press, including (especially?) The New York Times.  And then, once we did invade, the Bush team totally botched it.  David Brooks and the others can retroactively try to blame this on Obama (like they blame everything else on him).  My conservative friends might buy it, but I think it's embarrassing and sad.

Quote of the Day

"Occasionally, Krauthammer is interestingly and usefully wrong. More often, though, he is tiresomely and mischievously wrong."

George Scialabba, in his review in The Nation (June 9/16 edition) of Charles Krauthammer's book, Things That Matter.  I don't think the link above requires a subscription.  The entire review is a bit long but worth the read.

To paraphrase Jacobin Magazine:

Bill O'Reilly: "The Far Left Running Wild: Yesterday was May Day, where communists and socialists celebrate their belief that stealing private property is a good thing".

Me:  "So, what's your point?"

Quote of the Day

"Republicans could care less about the four Americans who died at Benghazi. Republicans have made a sport out of getting Americans killed overseas for years, competing over who can run up the death score the most. The new Bullghazi Committee has one purpose: gin-up turnout of the GOP base."

brooklynbadboy post at Daily Kos on May 9

Lest We Forget

Today is the 11th anniversary of George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech.  My problem isn't so much with Bush's speech.  It's about par for the course for him and not at all surprising.  The bigger problem (1) the pundit class was about 100% wrong (including Chris Matthews).  Of course, the pundit class was pretty much all wrong about getting into the war in the first place. And (2), why the heck are these pundits still pundits?

Bill from Portland Maine on Daily Kos nails it as usual:  link

"Once upon a time, there was a steely-eyed warrior named Commander Codpiece who lied his pantaloons off to get his country to approve going to war with another country. It would be easy, he said. Piece of cake! And sure enough, the mighty forces under Commander Codpiece made quick work out of deposing a two-bit tyrant in a far-off land. So Commander Codpiece dressed up in a flight suit and pretended to fly a plane out to an aircraft carrier, where he made a victory speech under a banner that said MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. And oh how the pundit class swooned...." (read the rest at the link above).

Quote of the Day

"Most people have come to associate capitalism with the advent of modern political democracy, on the theory that the growth of the market freed feudal minds and bodies. But while it’s true that capitalism’s productive power — new wealth from trade and investment, urbanization, advances in communications — made this democracy possible, the actual implementation of democratic reforms happened in spite of, not because of, capitalists themselves. As many modern scholars have argued, the roots of democratization were in the organized working class. Though workers needed the assistance of a host of allies from throughout society to triumph, these popular coalitions fought against yesterday’s oligarchs to secure suffrage and push for the social protections we take for granted today. Democratic reforms were foisted on resistant elites, from the English and French revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries on to the struggles of the last."

Bhaskar Sunkara
(Opinion piece for Aljazeera America website)

More on Conservative Heroes

First, we have the conservative hero Phil Robertson saying that African-Americans were better off and happier when they were being lynched and not allowed to vote.  Now the latest hero, Cliven Bundy, has announced that maybe they were better off and happier as slaves.  In Robertson's case, there was almost no conservative reaction.  With Bundy, there has been tepid criticism from a few conservatives, but since they've declared him a true "patriot" they seem to be having difficulty figuring out how to play both sides.

It's both ironic and sad.  Ironic because it comes a day or so after the Supreme Court has once again tried to "wish away" (Justice Sotomayor's telling phrase) the idea that racism still exists in America.  And sad because it seems to have become part of Republican mainstream thought.

Conservative Heroes

So who have conservatives put forward as heroes and role models lately?

Ummmm...

George Zimmerman
Ted Nugent
Michael Dunn
Phil Robertson
Cliven Bundy

(This is just a partial list...the ones that popped into my head the last 30 seconds.)

My conservative friends have a right to their own heroes, but all I know is that I don't want to taste their Kool-Aid.

Jim Crow in Wisconsin

When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's recall was defeated, some good friends expressed their relief that now they wouldn't have to leave Wisconsin and move to Tennessee.  My reaction was that they didn't have to move to a poor southern state because Walker and his Koch Brother cronies were going to do their best to turn Wisconsin into one.

Much of what has happened has borne that out.  Their ridiculous mining law would make Mississippi proud.  But the most telling development to date is the passage of their racist voting law, trying their best to keep what they regard as the wrong kinds of voters away from the polls.  Jim Crow may have been invented in the south but it is alive and well in Wisconsin.

I am very sad for my home state.

History Lessons

There are quite a few theories about history and just what it is and what it means.  Here's mine:

Guiding Axiom:  History is the story of the powerful oppressing those less so. 

Corollary 1:  The powerful have always been able to convince one or more subsets of the less powerful that another subset of the less powerful--rather than their actual oppressors--is the source of their problems.

Corollary 2:  Throughout much of history (or at least the last 1500 years or so), the church has been in bed with the oppressors rather than the oppressed.

Overly simplistic?  You bet.  But pick a time in history and this dynamic is probably playing out.

Another Questionable Ally of Christian Life Resources

From Michigan Right to Life:  Democratic Senate Candidate Gary Peters "wants to make sure abortion is accessible and cheap for his daughters".  First of all, Peters never said that.  And secondly, it's a hateful statement in any case.  I want to remind everyone that this hate group is an ally of Christian Life Resources.  Just another one to add to the list of questionable friends of that organization.  Their standard of conduct is very low for any group as long as their politics are in agreement.  Can you spell "moral relativism"?

Al Gore and the Internet

Snopes.com has a very good "Flashback" write-up of the Al-Gore-Invented-the-Internet fiction.  (Here's the link to the whole write-up).  If you are informed at all, you already know that Gore never said it.  Most people who claim he said it think they are being clever or funny, and that somehow it helps prove something about their argument because Ihearditsomewhere.  In reality, it makes their ignorance brightly shine.  Conservatives whine that there are no conservative comedians.  This is a good example of why: ignorance isn't funny.  To be funny, comedy needs to have at least a kernel of truth.

The entire write-up is worth reading (it's not that long).. But this passage is a good analogy:

If President Eisenhower had said in the mid-1960s that he, while president, "took the initiative in creating the Interstate Highway System," he would not have been the subject of dozens and dozens of editorials lampooning him for claiming he "invented" the concept of highways or implying that he personally went out and dug ditches across the country to help build the roadway. Everyone would have understood that Ike meant he was a driving force behind the legislation that created the highway system, and this was the very same concept Al Gore was expressing about himself with his Internet statement.

If President Eisenhower had said in the mid-1960s that he, while president, "took the initiative in creating the Interstate Highway System," he would not have been the subject of dozens and dozens of editorials lampooning him for claiming he "invented" the concept of highways or implying that he personally went out and dug ditches across the country to help build the roadway. Everyone would have understood that Ike meant he was a driving force behind the legislation that created the highway system, and this was the very same concept Al Gore was expressing about himself with his Internet statement.

Read more at http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp#rhJcYFoBFAOXo4VH.99

If President Eisenhower had said in the mid-1960s that he, while president, "took the initiative in creating the Interstate Highway System," he would not have been the subject of dozens and dozens of editorials lampooning him for claiming he "invented" the concept of highways or implying that he personally went out and dug ditches across the country to help build the roadway. Everyone would have understood that Ike meant he was a driving force behind the legislation that created the highway system, and this was the very same concept Al Gore was expressing about himself with his Internet statement.
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/quotes/internet.asp#rhJcYFoBFAOXo4VH.99

Quote of the Day

From Kevin Drum's blog at Mother Jones:

[...] I don't know anything about Julie Boonstra, but it sure seems as if she's been bamboozled by a bunch of fanatic Obamacare haters who have caused her a ton of pain and misery. Boonstra had some genuine problems with the rollout of the exchanges, just as many people did, but once that finally got straightened out, she ended up with coverage that was both better and less expensive than her previous plan. There's no reason for her to be so anxious about her continued care.

But she never really learned that. For purely venal political reasons, AFP found itself a woman fighting cancer and proceeded to stoke her fears of her new health coverage in order to get a TV ad made. A TV ad. These are people who, if there's any justice, should not be sleeping easily at night. They are swine.

Quote of the Day

From The Daily Show:

Fox News:  We read the chain emails your grandma gets in her inbox out loud like they were true.

Phrase of the Day

From Kevin Drum's blog:

"Michelle Malkin, whose picture is used to illustrate the phrase 'over the top' in the dictionary...."

In the category of "Things I Wish I'd Said".

Snowbird Reading List

One snowbird's reading list while staying warm in Perdido Key for January and February:

    Thomas McGuane,  Driving on the Rim

    Ursula Hegi,  Floating in My Mother’s Palm

    Jason Turow, with Michael Duca,  The Baseball Codes

    Doris Lessing,  The Golden Notebook

    Thomas H. Cook,  The Last Talk with Lola Faye

    James Salter,  A Sport and a Pastime

   William Kennedy,  Ironweed

   Tahmima Anam,  A Golden Age
   William Boyd,  A Good Man in Africa (almost done)

Also throwing in the Netflix movies we watched:

   In the Valley of Elah
   Robot and Frank
   Salmon Fishing in Yemen
   Killer Joe

Issa's Pinocchio Problem

Darrell Issa (R-Twilight Zone) has a nose that just keeps growing.  He got four more Pinocchios from the Washington Post Fact Checker just the other day.  Maybe someone is keeping a running total for this liar.

GOP Obamacare Follies

Isn't it amazing that every GOP anecdotal Obamacare horror story seems to get debunked as soon as a (responsible) journalist looks into it at any depth?  The problem is that responsible journalists have become a rare breed.

Gap Stores Raising Miniumum Wage on Their Own

There are several places I try to avoid shopping at for a variety of reasons (Walmart, Amazon, Lowe's, et al).  Well, Gap (as well as their Old Navy and Banana Republic stores) has just been added to the list of places I will try to shop at even more, because of this.  Way to go Gap!

Did You Know?

• Illegal border crossings are at the lowest level in decades. (http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/13/politics/fact-check-immigration/)
• Abortions have decreased since Obama took office. (http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2014/02/03/index.html)
• The crime rate is at its lowest in decades. (http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/06/11/12170947-fbi-violent-crime-rates-in-the-us-drop-approach-historic-lows?lite)
• Osama Bin Laden is dead.
• The Dow Industrial Average has just about doubled since Obama's first inaugural.  (By contrast, it went down more than 20% under George W. Bush.)
• Medical inflation is at its lowest since the 60s. (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323342404579081312680485476)

The above are all objectively true statements.  If you get your information from Fox News or chain emails (the first cousin of Fox News), you probably believe the exact opposite for each of these.

Jon Stewart on the Dunn Verdict

From Daily Kos:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/19/1278732/-Jon-Stewart-and-Jessica-Williams-deconstruct-Michael-Dunn-verdict?detail=hide

False Teaching

There's a term for what they do.  It's called "binding the conscience" and it involves either declaring a sin where there is none, or implying that salvation depends on obeying the Law.  It is one of the most dangerous things a Christian can do to another, because it attempts to create doubt about salvation.  I only wonder why so-called Conservative Christians aren't out front condemning this false teaching.

Here are a few examples that directly attempt to bind the conscience of Christians who are politically liberal:

Tony Perkins (November 2011):  "Any Christian that voted for Obama in 2008 should be repenting in the next election."

James Dobson (Larry King Live, 11/22/06): "But it's interesting to me that those, again, on the more liberal end of the spectrum are often those who have no value system...."

Ann Coulter (interview with Christian Post, 10/2/12):  "I'm sure there are people who consider themselves Democrats, maybe even liberals, who are good Christians, but if so I do not think they understand the tenants [sic] of those two organizations."

There are plenty of other conservatives who have done the same in a less direct way, but still unmistakably implying that a Christian can't be a liberal (or vice versa).  Franklin Graham, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachmann, and others come to mind.

Fortunately, scripture is not on their side:  "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus...." (1 Timothy 2:5).  Whenever some right winger tries to bind the conscience, take comfort in this verse.  Anyone who is trying to make you doubt your faith is "turning to a different gospel" (Galatians 1:6).

And, forgive my mild sacrilege by "adding" to Romans 8:38-39:  "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor Tony Perkins nor James Dobson nor Ann Coulter nor Franklin Graham nor Rick Santorum nor Mike Huckabee nor Michele Bachmann, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Better Late Than Never

It was quite a surprise to see that the Republican National Committee more or less adopted the ACLU position on NSA surveillance.  Quite a turnaround.  While it's unexpectedly gratifying to see the RNC walking arm-and-arm with the ACLU, once again we see the selective outrage of the Republican Party.  Those of us who opposed the NSA programs in 2006 were accused of treason.  Funny how things are suddenly unconstitutional now that we have an African-American president.

Larry Kudlow and Frank Gaffney

My wife was channel surfing a few minutes ago and stopped for a moment on Larry Kudlow's show on CNBC.  His guest was Frank Gaffney.  Yikes...Gaffney and Kudlow together...scary thought huh?  We didn't watch long.  I hardly ever watch Kudlow's show, but once in a while I stop there for a few minutes.  It does have one bit of usefulness:  if Kudlow says something is bad, it is probably good;  and if he something is good, it's probably bad.  It's a useful rule of thumb.  Wackjob Frank Gaffney is similarly useful.  Whatever he says is the opposite of the truth.  Kudlow is wrong, say, 95% of the time, but with Gaffney it's a near certainty.

This Guy Ain't No Hero

I can't believe I am actually writing about the Duck Dynasty dude, but I couldn't hold off any longer.  I don't really care if A&E fires him or hires him.  I don't watch the show and it's really all about money anyway.  But aside from what he said about gays, the guy also basically said that African Americans were happier when us white folks were lynching them and not letting them vote.  Go ahead and watch his show all you want, and let him have his millions, but if you try to make him out to be some kind of American hero, that is very sad

Predictions for 2014

• Mitt Romney will not be president.
• Paul Ryan will not be vice president.
• During the 2014 baseball season, ESPN and the MLB Network will spend most of their time talking about the Yankees and Red Sox.
• Rick Santelli will be whining about something or other on CNBC.
• Sarah Palin, Megyn Kelly, most of the rest of Fox News, and who knows who else, will be talking about some War on Christmas.
• Some Republican will call Obama a Fascist (or a Marxist or a Socialist or a Nazi or a ...).
• At least one Tea Party Congressman will collect many thousands (millions?) of dollars in farm subsidies while voting against food stamps.
• Very few Tea Party seniors who oppose the ACA because it is government intrusion into health care will give up their Medicare because it is government intrusion into health care.
• One of the major GOP strategies will continue to be to try to convince people that they don't need and shouldn't buy health insurance.
• Darrell Issa will act like a fool.