Monday, December 13, 2010
One Smart Cookie
Fareed Zakaria is my kinda Conservstive - one with a living thinking brain in his head.
Christie Todd Whitman
A Repub worth considering. Considering for what I don't know exactly, but she was way too "liberal" to survive in Jr Bush's administration, so she qualifies for a little love at least.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Now I'm Really Confused
Somehow, Obama's "total cave" on the tax cut deal is being spun as a win for him because it's touted as a huge new stimulus thingie. Hard to imagine just how much of this I don't get.
But maybe there's some element of truth in it. 15 years ago, we figured Clinton must be doing something right because everybody was pissed at him for practically everything he did. Of course, a good bunch of the things he did came back around to bite us all in the ass, but that's another rant altogether.
So, I guess if even Chuckles Krauthammer says the Repubs are the ones who got rolled, we're just supposed to believe, shut up and go on about our business.
I try to pay pretty close attention, and I think I'm a fair hand at picking my way thru the sales pitch to find the difference between what a politician says and what actually happens, but like I said, I just don't seem to be gettin' it lately. Our little experiment in self-governing has gotten so twisted and complicated, that it's nigh on to impossible for anybody on the outside to know what's really going on. And I'm not convinced that more than a handful of people on the inside know a lot more than the rest of us.
I'm still waiting.
But maybe there's some element of truth in it. 15 years ago, we figured Clinton must be doing something right because everybody was pissed at him for practically everything he did. Of course, a good bunch of the things he did came back around to bite us all in the ass, but that's another rant altogether.
So, I guess if even Chuckles Krauthammer says the Repubs are the ones who got rolled, we're just supposed to believe, shut up and go on about our business.
I try to pay pretty close attention, and I think I'm a fair hand at picking my way thru the sales pitch to find the difference between what a politician says and what actually happens, but like I said, I just don't seem to be gettin' it lately. Our little experiment in self-governing has gotten so twisted and complicated, that it's nigh on to impossible for anybody on the outside to know what's really going on. And I'm not convinced that more than a handful of people on the inside know a lot more than the rest of us.
I'm still waiting.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Craven
Repubs in the Senate piss and moan about $7.4 Billion to provide healthcare bennies for First Responders and Cleanup Crews at Ground Zero, and at the same time they'll add $700-900 Billion in tax cuts to the deficit and the debt without so much as blinking an eye.
These people have no honor and no soul.
From NYT.
These people have no honor and no soul.
From NYT.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Yo - Democrats
Get your shit together. Everybody seems to be itchin' for a fight. Lotsa talk about filibusters on the Tax Cut package heading thru Congress, and lots of talk about Obama dealing away practically everything in order to get "concessions" from the Repubs that they wanted all along anyway. So of course, the question is: how will the Dems fold this time?
Here's another question: are you really ready for an all-out partisan war?
In that light, I think I may be able to see for the first time, that Obama is doing the things he's doing in an attempt to avoid that war. He could be saying that while he really does want to get things done according to the progressive agenda of his campaign, he still has to figure out how to keep his branch of the government going. If he picks a fight every time out, then maybe everything grinds to a halt and not even the less-than-fully-satisfying things he's been able to push thru would have any chance at all. Maybe.
Maybe also: appeasement only encourages the adversary.
And in the meantime, there seems to be a bad disconnect between Washington politics and the problems way too many Americans are facing every day. The joint may not be on fire yet, but it's too close for anybody's comfort.
I'm still waiting.
Here's another question: are you really ready for an all-out partisan war?
In that light, I think I may be able to see for the first time, that Obama is doing the things he's doing in an attempt to avoid that war. He could be saying that while he really does want to get things done according to the progressive agenda of his campaign, he still has to figure out how to keep his branch of the government going. If he picks a fight every time out, then maybe everything grinds to a halt and not even the less-than-fully-satisfying things he's been able to push thru would have any chance at all. Maybe.
Maybe also: appeasement only encourages the adversary.
And in the meantime, there seems to be a bad disconnect between Washington politics and the problems way too many Americans are facing every day. The joint may not be on fire yet, but it's too close for anybody's comfort.
I'm still waiting.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Kitten On The Keys
When I was a kid, we had an old Edison phonograph, and this was one of the records.
I seem to recall there was at least 1 Rachmaninoff piece, and a Caruso as well.
I seem to recall there was at least 1 Rachmaninoff piece, and a Caruso as well.
A Certain Justice
A for-profit startup "College" - based on Free Market principles, with the expressed intention to teach a kind of Ayn Randian Objectivism - has failed due to...wait for it...an inability to access Federal Student Loan money. There were other reasons as well, but still. The irony - it burns!
I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time, but really, this whole Privatizing Education thing has to stop. It's just another way to siphon tax dollars into corporate pockets.
Read about it here.
I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time, but really, this whole Privatizing Education thing has to stop. It's just another way to siphon tax dollars into corporate pockets.
Read about it here.
The New Tax Deal
I don't know the details, and so I'm trying to judge slowly. But from what I've seen so far, the thing just kinda smells. It may well be that by extending the Rich Guy Benefits, Obama thinks he's set the stage for a winning argument in the 2012 campaign. I don't see it. There's been lots of political strategy that I've missed before, but I just don't get this one at all. Maybe we'll see something worth watching when it comes up in the Senate. Dunno.
Just try to remember that Republicans are NOT going to say nice things about you, Mr Obama. No matter what you do. And even if you've put something together that trades the Billionaire's Bonus for lots of great progressive things down the road, not a lot of your base is gonna feel less betrayed any time soon. The chess master thing, for most people, is way too subtle. You may have staked out the perfect positions; you may have all the leverage you think you need to make better deals with a grumpy Congress; you may have the best possible approach to governing a divided nation. But here's the thing: Dumb Fux News is gonna hammer you with their bumper sticker rhetoric anyway. Nuthin' new about that of course, but the problem is that you keep refusing to give your supporters any real points to fight back with.
That lady in the town hall meeting - the one who said she was exhausted trying to defend you - she had it exactly right. She may have gotten her second wind, but after a while, most people who stand up for you, and who know they have to stand up against the bullies; they just get beat down. And when their perception is that you give in time after time after time; when it seems you NEVER come away with a clear cut win - well then, why am I beatin' my head against this wall?
It doesn't look like I can go back to voting Republican any time soon, but you'll have to work awfully hard to get me to vote for you again.
Just try to remember that Republicans are NOT going to say nice things about you, Mr Obama. No matter what you do. And even if you've put something together that trades the Billionaire's Bonus for lots of great progressive things down the road, not a lot of your base is gonna feel less betrayed any time soon. The chess master thing, for most people, is way too subtle. You may have staked out the perfect positions; you may have all the leverage you think you need to make better deals with a grumpy Congress; you may have the best possible approach to governing a divided nation. But here's the thing: Dumb Fux News is gonna hammer you with their bumper sticker rhetoric anyway. Nuthin' new about that of course, but the problem is that you keep refusing to give your supporters any real points to fight back with.
That lady in the town hall meeting - the one who said she was exhausted trying to defend you - she had it exactly right. She may have gotten her second wind, but after a while, most people who stand up for you, and who know they have to stand up against the bullies; they just get beat down. And when their perception is that you give in time after time after time; when it seems you NEVER come away with a clear cut win - well then, why am I beatin' my head against this wall?
It doesn't look like I can go back to voting Republican any time soon, but you'll have to work awfully hard to get me to vote for you again.
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