Our Mr Brooks

If I may take just a bit of license with David Brooks's piece in NYT:

Those who emphasize process have said that the government of President Mohamed Morsi almost any Republican-dominated government was freely elected and that its democratic support has been confirmed over and over. The most important thing, they say, is to protect the fragile democratic institutions and to oppose those who would destroy them through armed coup.

Democracy, the argument goes, will eventually calm extremism. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood Tea Party (or any of their Christian Nationalist minions) may come into office with radical beliefs, but then they have to fix potholes and worry about credit ratings and popular opinion. Governing will make them more moderate.

Those who emphasize substance, on the other hand, argue that members of the Muslim Brotherhood GOP's Far Right Wing are defined by certain beliefs. They reject pluralism, secular democracy and, to some degree, modernity. When you elect fanatics, they continue, you have not advanced democracy. You have empowered people who are going to wind up subverting democracy. The important thing is to get people like that out of power, even if it takes a coup.

In the end, even a Master Propagandizer like Bobo flies himself into the ground.

big hat tip = driftglass, cuz all I'm doing here is paraphrasing the best Brooks Buster in all of Blogistan.

Today's Pix

It's All Bigger And Better In Texas

The fun-lovin' is bigger, and the BBQ is better, and the bullshit is deeper.

From The Daily Texan:

A plurality of Texas voters aware of SB 5 were opposed to it, according to a Public Policy Polling telephone study conducted last weekend.

SB 5, brought forward in the first special session, would have imposed stricter state regulations on abortion. About 28 percent of voters opposed SB 5 while 20 percent supported it, and 52 percent of the 500 Texas voters surveyed by the study were not aware of the bill.

Once we get done fussin' about what a crock of moralistic authoritarian pig slop this is, we need to remember a coupla very important things:

First, this won't do a lot to prevent abortions - it won't drive down the demand for abortions.  It'll only make the procedure a lot more dangerous for everybody.

Second, this won't prevent (eg) Sydney Perry (or any other woman of sufficient means) from getting on a plane and flying to wherever abortion is still safe and legal, should she ever be in need of some help in that regard.  This stoopid thing will only impact the "lower class"; people who don't have the influence, power or money necessary to access the full menu of healthcare options. 

hat tips = Blue Gal and Democratic Underground

Are We There Yet?

There are no atheists in foxholes, and there are no Climate Change Deniers carrying axes and chainsaws on the fire line.



I know a goodly buncha people who still say Climate Change isn't a real thing because the Gloomy-Doomy predictions haven't materialized.

How 'bout 2 dead homeowners in Colorado?  And how 'bout 19 dead firefighters in Arizona?  Do ya wanna talk about the 285 dead because of Sandy last year?  Tragedy enough for those 400 or 500 families, but that's the proverbial drop in the bucket when we know the World Health Organization attributes 150,000 deaths per year to AGW/Climate Change.

Do you really need to be ass-deep in alligators before you realize you've wandered into the swamp?

Shit got real quite a while ago, kids - we're just starting to see the beginning of the horribleness.

An awful lot of us have to do some serious cramming to get ourselves up to speed on this.  And the first thing is that we have to understand that we're well past the point of being able to prevent the 2-or-3-degree rise in average temperature that triggers the catastrophe, so we have to work now on dealing with it as it happens.

Bill McKibben 'splains it all (btw, try to ignore his highly annoying quirks - the guy's in desperate need of some Presentation Coaching):

This New Economy

The notion that an economy must be allowed to follow "the natural order of things" is just so much hogwash.  Have you watched any 'Nature' shit on TV lately?

Here's what I think is a pretty fair metaphor for Freddie Hayek's system operating under the Animal Instincts school of thought:




Here's another one - where the baby critter is still alive as it's being eaten:




And another:




Just one more?



So, seriously?  That's how you want the businesses in your neighborhood to behave?

You want the mortgage banker to see you as nothing more than his next meal?

You want your insurance companies to collect premiums your whole life while you make practically no claims, only to be told that the rules have changed, and now that you need to get some of that back in the way of covering your recent misfortune they just won't be able to help you?

You wanna go back to when the used car guy could pull any manner of shit; could lie his ass off and sell you a pile of junk and you couldn't do a goddamned thing about it cuz you were sucker enough to buy it in the first place?

When you know about the constant state of Rip-Off-itude that seems to pass as Standard Operating Procedure in Business and Politics and Government etc, and you shrug it all off, and you say things like, "Well, gee - it's just human nature for people to get a little greedy and selfish", you're saying you couldn't possibly go to the trouble of standing up and demanding that people stop acting like a bunch of fucking animals.

We are so fucked if we don't start changing this shit.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Over

I'm gone for a lousy two-and-a-half days, and the governor of Virginia magically morphs from Ol' Vaginal Bob to a cartoon version of Juan Peron!?!  (Actually, at least Evita had a kind of charm and a feel for real people, which is apparently totally lacking in Maureen McDonnell)

Bob and Maureen are the models of behavior that the vast rightwing conspiracy wanted us to believe Bill and Hillary were 15 years ago.

And you know it's bad when they call this guy in for a chat:

High-powered Washington lawyer Emmet T. Flood was in Richmond at the Executive Mansion Tuesday to speak with McDonnell, administration officials and others as the governor attempts to navigate the legal and political waters that have engulfed the last year of his term and threaten to swamp his legacy.

Flood’s presence underscores the gravity of the governor’s legal challenges.

I don't like throwing around phrases like Crooked Politicians, but we've evolved a 'system' that seems to breed exactly the kind of High-Polish Asshole that we were supposed to be trying to prevent from holding power in the first place.  This McDonnell guy and his cronies are close to becoming caricatures of themselves.

And finally, the feeling I get from somebody like Maureen McDonnell is that she thinks we all owe her something in exchange for her being willing to stoop so low as to be of service to the people of Virginia.  Her air of entitlement makes my eyes water and stings in my nostrils.

Let's check in with Doc Maddow for some help knitting it all together:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Lewisburg, PA

OK, so I didn't get any blogging done while I was gone.  I was too busy being away from it all and just hangin' with muh boy Nick (Luke's big brother).

But here's a nice picture:

While everybody's paying attention to the kids playin' their hearts out in the All-Star game last nite, I'm gawkin' the sky.

The Luke-Man had 5 points total in 6 games - including a big one today - and the Pats eked out a Golden-Goal win this morning (against a big gun team that blew us out yesterday) to take the B Division Title.  Way to go, Patty Boys.

Meanwhile, In Pennsylvania

I guess I coulda told ya before, but anyway, I'm in Lewisburg PA for a couple days to see my youngest play in a lacrosse tourney.

I'd really like to do some more and better blogging while I'm here, but my mobile capabilities really suck.  I intend to soldier on nonetheless, just bear with me.

USA - USA - USA

We're number - 2.  OK OK - not too shabby.

But wait; these rankings are a little fudged, cuz if this was a tournament (and make no mistake here - it is a tournament), we'd be listed as 3rd place.  Again tho', not bad from the standpoint of total energy produced.  This is a big-assed joint that needs and produces big-ass bunches of energy, but in terms of the percentage of the total energy produced, we're #111.

So - fuck; again!?!

There are 17 countries in the world getting more than 90% of their energy from renewable sources.

Somebody please explain to me how it seems Burundi knows a little somethin' that we just can't quite figure out.

What is it about Tajikistan?  Kyrgyzstan?  And the Congo for fuck sake!?!  You're telling me they have their shit together enough to meet 100% of their energy needs without fossil fuels and we're just standin' around with our thumbs up our butts?

Yeah, yeah - OK.  Factor out all the cars and you get a different thing altogether - or do ya?  One more thing to chew on here: a British company owns the world's Land Speed Record for an Electric Car - as reported in Auto Week.

The Drayson Racing Technologies Lola B12/69 EV electric race car hit a top speed of 204.2 mph at a racetrack at RAF Elvington in Yorkshire, England, smashing the previous record of 175 mph set by Battery Box General Electric in 1974. Fittingly, Lord Paul Drayson was behind the wheel.

The Brits.  Makers of some of the shittiest cars on the planet for 70 years.  That's who owns the single most important world record for going fast in a car right now.  Once upon a time, if you wanted to go fast in a car, you just called Richard and Kyle Petty down in Carolina, or the Unsers, or just about anybody in the US with a shade tree in their backyard and a little extra time this summer.

But we choose to be Number One Hundred-and-Eleven.  We are so fucked.

John Atkinson Grimshaw

Per Wikipedia:

Grimshaw's primary influence was the Pre-Raphaelites. True to the Pre-Raphaelite style, he created landscapes of accurate colour, lighting, vivid detail and realism. He painted landscapes that typified seasons or a type of weather; city and suburban street scenes and moonlit views of the docks in London, Leeds, Liverpool, and Glasgow also figured largely in his art. His careful painting and skill in lighting effects meant that he captured both the appearance and the mood of a scene in minute detail. His "paintings of dampened gas-lit streets and misty waterfronts conveyed an eerie warmth as well as alienation in the urban scene."[5]

(hat tip = The Bone Orchard)