Both Sides Doin' It

I don't even remember where I saw it today, but some preacher dude on a webcast was calling for  Newt Gringrich to produce his birth certificate, because "Gingrich's daddy ran off when Newt was just a boy and - you know - ain't no white folk gonna name they baby Newton LEROY..."

I'm really hoping it was satire or just the guy screwin' around or whatever - and not some kind of serious attempt at payback.

Everybody loses when we become what we're fighting against.

Iran

Sounds plain to me. Iran is not on the verge of getting the bomb. That means all the crap coming from guys like McCain and Lieberman (et al) is meant to focus attention on Iran for other reasons. (ie: this "issue" is in keeping with my basic premise that it's never about what they tell us it's about) So what is it?

(hat tip = Democratic Underground)

It's A Wonderment (updated)

NOTE: I couldn't get any confirmation on this - no news outlets are picking it up at all.  So it's prob'ly falsely reported or an outright hoax.

This one has me going in 37 different directions at once. I'll try to get some guidance by running it by some people who should know about such things and come back to it later, but I feel the need to post it right now.

Some questions: Is this what Rumsfeld's vision was all about? Did he simply take Smedley Butler's characterization of the US military as "muscle for the corporations" and let it fly? 

This OathKeeper stuff has been around for a dozen (?) years, and the militarization of law enforcement has been there for just as long - why is this coming up big again now? Is it just because of this latest fight over Defense Authorization, or is it because "the wrong guy" happens to be in the Oval Office?

However it lays out, there's political gold in this for somebody.

(hat tip = Democratic Underground)

The Partisan Abides

It's become impossible to talk about certain things because the discussion always breaks along very predictable party line fracture planes.

The killing of OBL provides a good recent example.  Obama's National Security Team rejiggers the doctrine for going after the bad guys; they start almost from scratch because Jr Bush just decided to let it slide; and we get some pretty spectacular results in about a year's time.

Now, of course, Dick Cheney and John Yoo are all over the place doing the Told-Ya-So dance, trying to convince us that it was their torture regime that cracked the case when practically anybody who knows anything knows that's bullshit.  But the point is that the discussion breaks down again according to which party you favor, because that's what we get from the Press Poodles and the Opinionators.

So while we yell at each other about The Torture Party vs the Party of Appeasement or whatever recycled crap du jour is on the menu today, we aren't paying much attention to some things that should be pretty important.  eg: Obama has stepped up dramatically the use of these RoboCop drones, pursuing a very aggressive program of targeted assassinations.  And not only does he not feel constrained by international conventions against such things, he seems to have taken to heart the whole Unitary Executive malarkey.  Are "liberals" now OK with a president who does all the shitty things Jr Bush was doing just because he does them better?  Are Dems feeling good about themselves because they finally have a guy who actually goes out there and kills people?  Is that it?

Anyway, I get the feeling Obama's finding it really difficult to do much about reversing some of the damage done to our little experiment in self government the last 60 years or so, partly because of the power trip that goes with the office, but also because of the same ol' political expediency these guys always think they have to serve.  ie: if he goes after any of the Bushies for torture, he first has to get over the huge obstacle of making the case that it's not just a political witch hunt.  I think he's made one political calculation that's totally dependent on the "basic decency of the American people" (always a gamble) in that he's counting on us eventually getting over the truly toxic affects of an ugly combination of 9-11 plus the Authoritarian Reflex, and realizing that doing evil things in the name of goodness is just fuckin' stupid.

Another one may be that he figures if he's careful enough about how he knocks people around; if he can make it look like a "surgical removal of a malignancy", then he's got a shot at balancing the Peace Prize against the Creeping Empire.  Not bloody likely, but there's a weird Yin and Yang vibe to it.  (then again, see "just fuckin' stupid" above).

Good Old American Capitalism

Paraphrasing Mr Mencken: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence or good taste of the American public.

It took a little over 24 hours for the plucky entrepreneurs to descend on the corpse.

Like I said before, there's something just kinda creepy about it, but at the same time, there's an element of The Circle Of Life as well; the dead become sustenance for the living, and so maybe there's some small reason to celebrate because we need to make an effort to find something good in all this bad.  Dunno.  I still I don't like the idea that we're providing incentive for scalp-hunting.  And watching what appeared to be some genuinely spontaneous demonstrations of heartfelt emotional release quickly descend into expressions of nationalistic fervor was chilling for me.

Something else I find a little unsettling is all the cheerleading at MSNBC last night.  All the "big liberals" have been practically giddy about the chance to snatch the National Security issue away from the Repubs.


And, of course, over at DumFux News, everybody has suddenly rediscovered their affections for Jr Bush - after spending the last 2 years rarely even acknowledging his time in office.

"Finally getting bin Laden" is a big deal, but  I'm betting dollars to doughnuts that what it means to politicians will turn out to be very different from what it means to Citizen Joe.

The task for the politicos now is to figure out the wording of a message that will keep us cheering and holding hands, while using our sense of unity as a wedge to isolate their opponents and to incite us to beat them to death with our feelings of good will.

"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you're constantly either proven right or pleasantly surprised." --George Will

I Was For It Before I Was Against It

Stupid Republican Tricks

I just copied and pasted all these in directly from NYT.  The 3rd one down is the one that really chaps my ass.  I was ridiculously lucky in my career, and got to work with a bunch of skilled and committed people who busted their humps night and day to make the world a little safer for humans.  This feels like somebody wants to throw all that away.

I plan on making some calls, to see if there's any kind of bright side to this, and put up an update later.

The Budget Fight Continues

House Republicans’ efforts to slash federal spending could derail the economic recovery and would not address the real sources of budget deficits.

February 27, 2011OPINIONEDITORIAL

Slashing Community Service

House Republicans voted to cut programs that encourage Americans to serve their communities and the country. A look at the possible fallout.

March 2, 2011OPINIONEDITORIAL

Cutting Poison Control

House Republicans’ request to cut nearly all the money for poison control centers perfectly illustrates the thoughtlessness of their austerity bill.

March 4, 2011OPINIONEDITORIAL

On Climate, Who Needs the Facts?

When it comes to preventing and mitigating the effects of global warming, among House Republicans, politics trumps science.

March 5, 2011OPINIONEDITORIAL