Sleight Of Hand

Hey, Tea Partiers - while you're busy getting suckered into wasting your political energies on birth certificates and gays in uniform and Sharia Law and whatever else, the Republicans you've been electing to office are busy trying to give $370,000 of your money to Bill Clinton, while adding $700 BILLION to that deficit y'all keep bitchin' about.

Banana Republic of America.

Just sayin'.

The Conservative Case For Climate Change

It is my firmest conviction that the people being called "conservatives" right now are not conservative at all, but quite radical.

Here is a piece in WaPo this morning making a good part of the case for me.

In fact, far from being conservative, the Republican stance on global warming shows a stunning appetite for risk. When faced with uncertainty and the possibility of costly outcomes, smart businessmen buy insurance, reduce their downside exposure and protect their assets. When confronted with a disease outbreak of unknown proportions, front-line public health workers get busy producing vaccines, pre-positioning supplies and tracking pathogens. And when military planners assess an enemy, they get ready for a worst-case encounter.

...

Today's conservatives would do well to start thinking more like military planners, reexamining the risks inherent in their strategy. If, instead, newly elected Republicans do nothing, they will doom us all to bigger government interventions and a large dose of suffering - a reckless choice that's anything but conservative.

The Real Victory

Repubs won the midterms, taking the House and whittling away at the Dems' strength in the Senate.  But I think the real impact comes from the Repubs' bigger wins in Governors and State Houses.  38 states have Repub governors, and while I can't find the exact numbers, I've heard reports from different sources to the effect that a good-sized majority of state legislatures are Repub majorities.  So what we'll get now is redistricting aimed at shoring up those majorities at the state level, which will further entrench Repub incumbents.  This is exactly what the Dems would be planning if the results had gone the other way, so hold your fire.

The point here is that there may be better ways to approach the task of redrawing the lines.

Here's one.

Politicians have an obvious incentive to fuck us over for the sake of maintaining their power, and we give them the means to do just that when we elect them. But we don't have to just sit and watch while they do it.

Perriello's Farewell

My guy got beat Tuesday night, but he's a class act all the way.  This is the email he sent out to his supporters.

This has been an awesome couple of years and couple of months. I promised you I would have your back against the powerful interests in Washington, and last night, you had mine. Even though we fell short of reelection, we defied the pundits in the roughest of political years. Because I come out of faith-based justice work instead of politics, I can see last night as a victory for conviction and hard work for the idea that when you fight for the people, the people win.

Consider this. We won Danville, Martinsville, Charlottesville, Albermarle, Prince Edward, Brunswick, Buckingham, and Nelson with stronger than expected turnout. Over 110,000 voters had our back last night. And when you compare us to other races across the state and nation, we dramatically outperformed others in "safer" districts and those where members had either dodged the tough votes or run away from them after. And we did not back away from this President when it would have been convenient, because in politics, I will stand with the problem solvers over the political game players any day.

Look at what else we have won. Because of our work together, we turned near-economic collapse into nine straight months of private sector job growth. Because of our work together, 1,800 homes in our district have been weatherized, putting people to work making $20 an hour. Because of our work together, over 20,000 young people in our district are getting more aid to afford college. Over 120 small business owners got the loans to live their American dream. And being a woman is no longer considered a pre-existing condition in this country. And because of our work together, Medicare is now solvent for a generation and beyond, and I do not believe any party will have the gall to roll that back.

I wake up this morning inspired by the people-powered, conviction politics we offered and the incredible results it produced. I feel bolstered by a team that understands real change does not happen with one election night victory or end with one loss. We shouldn't have expected nirvana after our win in 2008 and we shouldn't expect armageddon now. As I told the crowd last night, my father made me promise when I entered politics that I would always consider Judgement Day more important than election day, because doing what's right is more important than winning elections. I believe he is smiling on us today, and that he is thankful for all of you who sacrificed so much to offer a better kind of politics in America.

One More

From Everlast. Ya gotta be careful with this guy - too much and you're gonna paint the ceiling with your brains.

That said, I get a sneaking suspicion we'll be hearing a lot more of this kinda tune in the years ahead. Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

The Dissenter

GW Bush is about to unleash his memoirs, and one of the focal points is to start the whitewashing of his criminal behavior in taking us to war in Iraq.

Here's a quick look at some of the shit Bush dropped our people into.

"Really, I'm tryin' to do the right thing; I hope my government can say the same."

A Bit Better

Mercy Now - Mary Gauthier

Feelin' a little beat down today. I guess we just keep pluggin' along and hope for the best.

We Are So Fucked

From Paul Krugman's piece in NYT:

So the moralizers are winning. More and more voters, both here and in Europe, are convinced that what we need is not more stimulus but more punishment. Governments must tighten their belts; debtors must pay what they owe.

The irony is that in their determination to punish the undeserving, voters are punishing themselves: by rejecting fiscal stimulus and debt relief, they’re perpetuating high unemployment. They are, in effect, cutting off their own jobs to spite their neighbors.

But they don’t know that. And because they don’t, the slump will go on.

Asking The Right Question

Truth Will Out

Clint McCance. Remember that name. Notable for two reasons, I think.
1) he's a complete raging asshole redneck.
2) there's a small probability that he's trying to stop being a complete raging asshole redneck.

It's pretty amazing that he wanted to talk openly on the air about it and that he seems fairly contrite. We can wonder about ulterior motives, and about his true level of sincerity, but the thing that sticks with me is that he comes off as being genuinely conflicted about the whole thing. It's like he read his Facebook comments afterwards and was himself shocked at what a complete raging asshole redneck he actually is.

There's a kicker, too. The guy's Facebook comments were to the effect that if his own kids were gay, he'd run them off. He'd disown them. He'd refuse to allow them near him. During the interview, he says at least twice that he loves his kids, and that they mean the world to him, and he expands that out to say he'd never do anything to hurt anybody's kids. But very near the end, Cooper asks him how he'd react if his own kid turns out to be gay, and the guy equivocates. Watch.

A Joke

From a comment posted at HuffPo, via Balloon Juice:

A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost so she lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.

"She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat."

"I am,"replied the man. "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."

The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."

"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"

"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

The Teabagger Shuffle

If Tea Party candidates believe everybody working for "The Gummint" is stupid and lazy, how come they all wanna work for the government?

Geeks Rock

Benoit Mandlebrot died last week - I think this is a fitting tribute

Dear Ikea,

About those directions...