Why Browning chose to use music from the ballet Swan Lake is still a mystery....
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Showing newest 49 of 166 posts from October 2009. Show older posts
Showing newest 49 of 166 posts from October 2009. Show older posts
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Saturday Night at the Movies
Dracula (1931) -- the real batman -- starring Bela Lugosi, directed by Tod Browning.
Why Browning chose to use music from the ballet Swan Lake is still a mystery....
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Why Browning chose to use music from the ballet Swan Lake is still a mystery....
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Stop That Noise!
Photo Ops
Some folks over on the right wing got their tails all puffed up over President Obama "exploiting" his "photo op" by going to Dover Air Force Base, and Liz Cheney claimed the President Bush went to Dover "without cameras." Actually, President Bush never went to Dover, with or without cameras.
I think President Obama has a lot to learn about how to exploit a photo op, though. He went in the middle of the night, and didn't take his wife.
President and Mrs. Reagan at Dover in 1983.
That's how it's done.
HT to Blue Texan at FDL.
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I think President Obama has a lot to learn about how to exploit a photo op, though. He went in the middle of the night, and didn't take his wife.
That's how it's done.
HT to Blue Texan at FDL.
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Short Takes
Who's There? -- The White House releases nine months worth of visitors' logs.
Who, Me? -- Dick Cheney denies any role in the leak of Valerie Plame's name to the media.
President Obama lifts the ban on entry into the US of H.I.V. positive people.
One More Time -- The president meets with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Clinton faces some angry Pakistanis.
Finally -- The new North Terminal at Miami International Airport opens.
Would Florida opt-out of the the public option?
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Who, Me? -- Dick Cheney denies any role in the leak of Valerie Plame's name to the media.
President Obama lifts the ban on entry into the US of H.I.V. positive people.
One More Time -- The president meets with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Clinton faces some angry Pakistanis.
Finally -- The new North Terminal at Miami International Airport opens.
Would Florida opt-out of the the public option?
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Friday, October 30, 2009
Quote of the Day
Pat Robertson, televangelist and peddler of snake-oil, on the passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act:
Second, the provisions of the Hate Crimes Prevention act also include protection for people who are attacked for their faith or atheism. That not only includes people who are attacked for being Jewish, Muslim, or none of the above, it also protects fundamentalist Christians. So if someone decided to put a noose around the neck of Christians, they too would be prosecuted under the law. After all, there are those who consider Mr. Robertson's fundamental Christianity to be a "radical ideology," especially since his hatred of all things gay is diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ who taught his followers to "love thy neighbor." (By the way, nice use of the lynching imagery there, Mr. Robertson. Think about that one for a minute.)
It is obviously beyond Mr. Robertson's ability to understand that the expansion of rights and protections under the law is not a zero sum proposition. Preachers of homophobia did not lose their right to shout their hatred from the pulpit or the street corner; they are, however, accountable -- as they always have been -- for their actions.
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The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians to keep them from speaking out on certain moral issues. And it all was embodied in something called the Hate crimes bill that President Obama said was a major victory for America. I’m not sure if America was the beneficiary. [...] We have voted into office a group of people who are opposed to many of the fundamental Christian beliefs of our nation. And they hold to radical ideology, and they are beginning put people sharing their points of view into high office. And not only that, they not only have control of both houses of Congress.Just because some people do not share his fundamentalist Christian beliefs does not make them opposed to them. It just means they aren't his kind of Christian, and he don't get to decide who is or who isn't a Christian, either. There are an awful lot of people in this country who do not share his beliefs, fundamental or Christian, including Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans, and all of the other colors of the faith spectrum, as well as atheist or agnostic. If that is a "radical ideology," that's been the way of this country since it was founded.
Second, the provisions of the Hate Crimes Prevention act also include protection for people who are attacked for their faith or atheism. That not only includes people who are attacked for being Jewish, Muslim, or none of the above, it also protects fundamentalist Christians. So if someone decided to put a noose around the neck of Christians, they too would be prosecuted under the law. After all, there are those who consider Mr. Robertson's fundamental Christianity to be a "radical ideology," especially since his hatred of all things gay is diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ who taught his followers to "love thy neighbor." (By the way, nice use of the lynching imagery there, Mr. Robertson. Think about that one for a minute.)
It is obviously beyond Mr. Robertson's ability to understand that the expansion of rights and protections under the law is not a zero sum proposition. Preachers of homophobia did not lose their right to shout their hatred from the pulpit or the street corner; they are, however, accountable -- as they always have been -- for their actions.
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Your Turn
When Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released her healthcare bill yesterday, the Republicans were quick to jump on it.
Second, if the GOP is so all-fired worked up about reforming healthcare, they have had all the time they need to come up with a plan of their own. They promised that they were putting the "finishing touches" on their plan in June.
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GOP leader John Boehner led a press conference to voice his concerns about the bill an hour or so after Pelosi was done presenting it outside. He walked carrying the nearly 2,000 page house bill, which he dropped with a thud onto the podium.First, if Mr. Boehner had bothered to read the bill, he would see that it does not amount to a government takeover of the system; in fact, to some progressives, a lot of it is a cave-in to the insurance industry. But that never stopped a good talking point, even if it's not true. (For the real whopper, check out the ad that the US Chamber of Commerce is running on cable TV. It's impressive how many lies and distortions they can cram into 30 seconds.) Mr. Boehner also says "the American people made it clear they want no part of a government-run system for providing health care." Um, no, actually they are highly in favor of it if recent polls are any guide. And as Steve Benen says, "As for the alleged perils of a 'government-run system for providing health care,' I'll look forward to Boehner's press release calling for the elimination of Medicare, Medicaid, the V.A. system, and S-CHIP."
"Through August and September, the American people made it clear they want no part of a government-run system for providing health care," he said. "[But] this bill amounts to a government takeover of our health care system."
Second, if the GOP is so all-fired worked up about reforming healthcare, they have had all the time they need to come up with a plan of their own. They promised that they were putting the "finishing touches" on their plan in June.
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Tenacity
David Brooks wonders aloud whether or not President Obama has the guts to stick with the war in Afghanistan.
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I’ve called around to several of the smartest military experts I know to get their views on these controversies. I called retired officers, analysts who have written books about counterinsurgency warfare, people who have spent years in Afghanistan. I tried to get them to talk about the strategic choices facing the president. To my surprise, I found them largely uninterested.When a pundit comes up with a question like that, it makes you wonder what it was in the president's past behavior that would suggest that he would lack the courage or the tenacity to make a decision and stick with it, all the while considering the changing circumstances once he's made the decision? The president has his flaws and his enigmas, but a lack of tenacity isn't one of them. If it was, he'd still be a community organizer -- if that -- in Chicago. Instead, the president is dealing with a very difficult problem in the way that all dilemmas should be: getting as much information as possible, looking at all the possible ramifications, including, I hope, the ones you never think of, and coming to a conclusion that may have to be modified or even abandoned as the situation warrants. That's not dithering, that's judgment, and the people who are clamoring for an instant response are the ones who left this flaming bag of trouble on his desk in the first place and are not the ones who will be standing on the tarmac at Dover.
Most of them have no doubt that the president is conducting an intelligent policy review. They have no doubt that he will come up with some plausible troop level.
They are not worried about his policy choices. Their concerns are more fundamental. They are worried about his determination.
These people, who follow the war for a living, who spend their days in military circles both here and in Afghanistan, have no idea if President Obama is committed to this effort. They have no idea if he is willing to stick by his decisions, explain the war to the American people and persevere through good times and bad.
Their first concerns are about Obama the man. They know he is intellectually sophisticated. They know he is capable of processing complicated arguments and weighing nuanced evidence.
[...]
So I guess the president’s most important meeting is not the one with the Joint Chiefs and the cabinet secretaries. It’s the one with the mirror, in which he looks for some firm conviction about whether Afghanistan is worthy of his full and unshakable commitment. If the president cannot find that core conviction, we should get out now. It would be shameful to deploy more troops only to withdraw them later. If he does find that conviction, then he should let us know, and fill the vacuum that is eroding the chances of success.
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Flag Art
The DNC is running a contest to come up with a powerful message for selling healthcare reform. One of the finalists is a video that depicts the desecration of the American flag.
I'm a believer in freedom of expression as much as anybody, and I have a real problem with amending the Constitution to protect the flag from desecration since one person's idea honor -- making a shirt out of the flag or painting it on your guitar -- is another person's desecration. I also have a problem with creating idols out of anything. But I also believe that art, be it a painting, a play, or a film, is a medium, not the message, Marshall McLuhan notwithstanding. The genius who came up with this ad will find out that no one will pay attention to the point of the ad: healthcare reform. It will be lost in the strong reaction this use of the flag will undoubtedly get, and not just from the people who make their living out of flag-waving. It's like using an obscenity on live TV; people will pay more attention to the word than to the point you were trying to make. It's also lazy. Trying to create a powerful message in a short amount of time is not easy, and throwing in something like a desecrated flag is a shortcut that says you couldn't think of anything else.
And it also hands the knee-jerks an easy target. Remember back to when MoveOn.org had a similar contest in 2004 and someone came up with a video that compared President Bush to Hitler? The ad wasn't produced by MoveOn.org, it was never sanctioned by them, and they never even ran it. But it leaked out, and Fox News ran with it, it went viral, and the next thing you know everyone on the right was purple with rage at MoveOn.org. (It kind of makes you wonder where all that high dudgeon went when the comparisons to President Obama to Hitler came up at the tea-baggers' festivals, but short-term memory loss and hypocrisy are part of their deal.) I am sure there will be a big stink about this and demands from the righteous right that the DNC renounce the ad and, for good measure, commit sepuku on the east steps of the Capitol. (Let's make a deal -- they will if the RNC will do the same over Obama=Hitler.)
If the DNC has any sense, they will ditch this "finalist." It won't help the cause of healthcare reform, and that is the point of the exercise.
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In the video – which is accompanied by the sound of a heart monitor pumping and then flat-lining – words such as “pre-existing conditions,” “homeless” and “death panel” ultimately obliterate the flag, which reappears on screen seconds later with the words “Health Will Bring Our Country Back to Life” on the blue field where the 50 stars usually are.Ya think?
According to the Organizing for American Web site, the 20 finalists in the “Health Reform Video Challenge” were chosen by a panel of “qualified” Democratic National Committee “employee judges.”
A contestant whose video didn’t make the final-20 cut complains that a video “defacing the flag” won’t do much to help President Barack Obama or the Democrats sell health care reform.
“They should never pick that,” said the contestant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It makes the Democrats look really, really bad.”
I'm a believer in freedom of expression as much as anybody, and I have a real problem with amending the Constitution to protect the flag from desecration since one person's idea honor -- making a shirt out of the flag or painting it on your guitar -- is another person's desecration. I also have a problem with creating idols out of anything. But I also believe that art, be it a painting, a play, or a film, is a medium, not the message, Marshall McLuhan notwithstanding. The genius who came up with this ad will find out that no one will pay attention to the point of the ad: healthcare reform. It will be lost in the strong reaction this use of the flag will undoubtedly get, and not just from the people who make their living out of flag-waving. It's like using an obscenity on live TV; people will pay more attention to the word than to the point you were trying to make. It's also lazy. Trying to create a powerful message in a short amount of time is not easy, and throwing in something like a desecrated flag is a shortcut that says you couldn't think of anything else.
And it also hands the knee-jerks an easy target. Remember back to when MoveOn.org had a similar contest in 2004 and someone came up with a video that compared President Bush to Hitler? The ad wasn't produced by MoveOn.org, it was never sanctioned by them, and they never even ran it. But it leaked out, and Fox News ran with it, it went viral, and the next thing you know everyone on the right was purple with rage at MoveOn.org. (It kind of makes you wonder where all that high dudgeon went when the comparisons to President Obama to Hitler came up at the tea-baggers' festivals, but short-term memory loss and hypocrisy are part of their deal.) I am sure there will be a big stink about this and demands from the righteous right that the DNC renounce the ad and, for good measure, commit sepuku on the east steps of the Capitol. (Let's make a deal -- they will if the RNC will do the same over Obama=Hitler.)
If the DNC has any sense, they will ditch this "finalist." It won't help the cause of healthcare reform, and that is the point of the exercise.
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Short Takes
Iran rejects the draft deal to send its uranium out of the country.
Secretary of State Clinton talks tough with Pakistan.
Somebody accidentally leaked a House ethics inquiry report.
The House puts out its own version of healthcare reform, public option and all.
Speaking of health insurance, Broward County Schools learns what it's like to buy from an insurer who doesn't face competition.
A spousal abuse claim could grant a woman from Guatemala asylum in the United States.
Colorado and Wyoming get hit by a big snowstorm, closing down roads, schools, and airports.
Joe's turn -- A few days after the president, Vice President Biden swings through Florida.
The Series: The Yankees beat the Phillies 3-1, tying it.
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Secretary of State Clinton talks tough with Pakistan.
Somebody accidentally leaked a House ethics inquiry report.
The House puts out its own version of healthcare reform, public option and all.
Speaking of health insurance, Broward County Schools learns what it's like to buy from an insurer who doesn't face competition.
A spousal abuse claim could grant a woman from Guatemala asylum in the United States.
Colorado and Wyoming get hit by a big snowstorm, closing down roads, schools, and airports.
Joe's turn -- A few days after the president, Vice President Biden swings through Florida.
The Series: The Yankees beat the Phillies 3-1, tying it.
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Friday Blogaround
Hallowe'en this weekend. Here's what spooked up the LC.
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- A Blog Around The Clock interviews Daniel Brown, a self-described biologoholic.Take two Snickers and call me on Thanksgiving.
- archy with some mammoth news.
- Bark Bark Woof Woof: There's no better sign that you're on the right track than when William Kristol says you're doomed.
- Bloggg: college tours...Delaware.
- Dohiyi Mir snarks the good news.
- Echidne Of The Snakes on women in the labor force.
- Florida Progressive Coalition Blog: why the left must confront the Democrats.
- Iddybud Journal links to a scary anniversary 80 years later.
- Left Is Right: changing the world.
- Pen-Elayne on the Web: there's a law for that.
- Rook's Rant: Joe Who?
- rubber hose: heckle and jeckle.
- Scrutiny Hooligans: good luck, Gordon.
- Steve Bates, The Yellow Doggerel Democrat, on healthcare reform, sorta.
- Stupid Enough Unexplanation: the truth doesn't matter to some.
- The Invisible Library: Jane Austen goes Martian.
- WTF Is It Now?? -- Lou Dobbs craziness.
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Thursday, October 29, 2009
Bringing Them Home
President Obama made an unannounced trip overnight to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
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It was the president’s first trip to the Delaware air base, the main point of entry for the nation’s war dead to return home. The trip was a symbolic one for Mr. Obama — intended to convey the gravity of his decision as he moves closer to announcing whether he will send more troops to Afghanistan.Count on some right-winger to carry on about the president "exploiting" the tragedy and the families of the dead, and say that the left would have had a field day if President Bush had ever done such a thing. Yeah, well, we'll never know because Mr. Bush, unlike his predecessors including Ronald Reagan, never went to Dover, preferring to meet with the families in private. That was his choice. And this was Mr. Obama's choice; to see the reality of the consequences of the decisions he has made and what will inevitably happen when he goes forward with the war.
The overnight trip was not announced in advance. The president, wearing a dark suit and long overcoat, left the White House at 11:44 p.m. A small contingent of reporters and photographers accompanied Mr. Obama to Dover, where he arrived at 12:34 a.m. aboard Marine One. He returned to the South Lawn of the White House at 4:45 a.m.
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Trick or Treat?
From the You Can't Make This Stuff Up file:
Wouldn't you know it, but Mr. Corning has a reputation as a staunch conservative who once tried to pass a law that would require women receiving welfare be implanted with a contraceptive device. It's guess it's true that it's the uptight ones that really go for the kinky stuff.
In the tradition of other South Carolina politicians, he will now have all the time he needs to hike the Appalachian Trail...or hang out at cemeteries.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. — A deputy assistant attorney general who said he was on his lunch break when an officer found him with a stripper and sex toys in his sport utility vehicle has been fired, his boss said Wednesday."Just in case" of what? I know the auto club tells you to keep an emergency kit in your car, but silly me, I thought that meant jumper cables. (Well, to some people, sex toys, Viagra, and jumper cables go together....) And what's with the cemetery scene? I know it's close to Hallowe'en, but that's just plain creepy.
Roland Corning, 66, a former state legislator, was in a secluded part of a downtown cemetery when an officer spotted him Monday, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.
As the officer approached, Corning sped off, then pulled over a few blocks away. He and the 18-year-old woman with him, an employee of the Platinum Plus Gentleman's Club, gave conflicting stories about what they were doing in the cemetery, Officer Michael Wines wrote in his report, though he did not elaborate.
Corning gave Wines a badge showing he worked for the state Attorney General's Office. Wines, whose wife also works there, called her to make sure Corning was telling the truth.
He then searched the SUV, where he found a Viagra pill and several sex toys, items Corning said he always kept with him, "just in case," according to the report.
Wouldn't you know it, but Mr. Corning has a reputation as a staunch conservative who once tried to pass a law that would require women receiving welfare be implanted with a contraceptive device. It's guess it's true that it's the uptight ones that really go for the kinky stuff.
In the tradition of other South Carolina politicians, he will now have all the time he needs to hike the Appalachian Trail...or hang out at cemeteries.
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Arnold's Acrostic
The odds are astronomical that the first letters read vertically in the body of the veto message Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sent to the California legislature coincidentally spelled out a message made famous by former Vice President Dick Cheney.
(Click to embiggen.)
For now, the governor's office is saying it is just that one in 10 billion coincidence. If so, I want those guys with me the next time I pick a Powerball ticket.
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For now, the governor's office is saying it is just that one in 10 billion coincidence. If so, I want those guys with me the next time I pick a Powerball ticket.
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Don't Hold Your Breath
Several Democratic members of the House Intelligence committee are saying that the CIA did in fact mislead the Congress on its torture program under the Bush administration.
The panel isn't finished with its findings, but if they do prove that the CIA lied, don't expect the Republicans to back down. Chances are they will suggest that being truthful and forthcoming with Congress only bolsters the terrorists.
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In a hearing of the House Intelligence committee this afternoon, Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jan Schakowsky, both Democrats, pointed to at least five instances going back to at least 2001 in which the C.I.A. withheld information from or lied to Congress.Last spring you'll remember that Republicans went ballistic when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made the statement that the CIA had been less than truthful. They demanded that she step down as Speaker, and some went so far as to suggest that she should resign. (One or two wanted to take away her birthday.)
Schakowsky said that an ongoing committee probe had found that the CIA is afflicted by a "large disease" of misleading and even lying to lawmakers about intelligence activities.
The panel isn't finished with its findings, but if they do prove that the CIA lied, don't expect the Republicans to back down. Chances are they will suggest that being truthful and forthcoming with Congress only bolsters the terrorists.
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Correcting Joe Lieberman
Several members of the Senate spent some time trying to win over Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to the healthcare bill by correcting his perceptions of what's in it.
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Lieberman has suggested both that the public option would be a drain on taxpayers, and that it would drive up private insurance premiums, in contrast to the findings of most experts.I wish them a lot of luck. I think Mr. Lieberman is just coming up with excuses not to vote for the bill. I wonder why. It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that he's craving the attention or that he might be somewhat beholden to the largest industry in his state which just happens to be the insurance business? Would he really put those ahead of one of the more transcendent issues to come before the Senate in a generation? Why else would he come up with two different arguments against the bill in twelve hours unless he was really just trying to be a pain in the ass?
"I think there's a bit of a function of trying to make sure that everybody's clear exactly what it is that we're proposing," Whitehouse said. "I think once the actual text of the bill is out and it's clear that the HELP language is what was adopted. I think we'll be successfully able to make the case to Senator Lieberman that there is not a subsidy here and it is not an entitlement."
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One Small Step
President Obama signed the defense appropriations bill yesterday. Tucked into the bill was an amendment that added provisions to hate crime legislation that now includes sexual orientation.
I didn't expect instant change from the new administration and Congress, and I'm still hoping that Don't Ask Don't Tell will go by the boards, along with the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act if the courts don't strike it down. I have argued in the past that patience is necessary and that change will come. The passage of the bill, even if it had to be shoehorned into law this way, is a small but significant start. Let's not stop there.
Further thoughts: Andrew Sullivan got worked up yesterday when President Obama spoke at the signing ceremony and didn't mention the word "gay" or "lesbian." Maybe that's because the words "gay" or "lesbian" don't appear in the bill. The law specifies "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," which is more than just gay or lesbian; it's everybody.
While I certainly appreciate all the work that Mr. Sullivan has done for the LGBT community and his principled stand for marriage equality, I'm also getting tired of him acting like he is the de facto spokesperson for the community and that everyone must measure up to his standards. As John Cole points out at Balloon Juice, it sounds like Mr. Sullivan did not really bother to read the bill before he trashed it. But I suppose that if you are opposed to the idea of hate crime legislation from the beginning, then you probably don't have to bother with that small step.
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Obama signed the bill in the East Room, adding some fanfare to draw attention to his message of fiscal responsibility and support for the military.I suppose we in the LGBT community should be glad that we have a president who is willing to sign the bill with the protections, and I am. But I'm also disappointed that the political and social climate is such that it had to be attached as an amendment to a must-pass bill; stand-alone legislation adding the protections would never have passed on its own. I also think it tells us a lot about the Religious Right; they were more concerned about being able to still preach their bigotry than they were about the lives and safety of their fellow men and women. (Footnote to Rep. Pence: Gays and lesbians are Americans, too.) So much for the Christian admonishment to "love they neighbor."
He spoke more personally about the new civil rights protections. A priority of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., that had been on the congressional agenda for a decade, the measure is named for Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming college student murdered 11 years ago.
Obama acknowledged Shepard's mom, Judy, and remembered that he had told her this day would come. He also gave a nod to Kennedy's family. Going forward, Obama promised, people will be protected from violence based on "what they look like, who they love, how they pray or why they are."
"This is a landmark step in eliminating the kind of hate motivated violence that has taken the lives of so many in our community," said Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
The expansion has long been sought by civil rights and gay rights groups. Conservatives have opposed it, arguing that it creates a special class of victims. They also have been concerned that it could silence clergymen or others opposed to homosexuality on religious or philosophical grounds.
I didn't expect instant change from the new administration and Congress, and I'm still hoping that Don't Ask Don't Tell will go by the boards, along with the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act if the courts don't strike it down. I have argued in the past that patience is necessary and that change will come. The passage of the bill, even if it had to be shoehorned into law this way, is a small but significant start. Let's not stop there.
Further thoughts: Andrew Sullivan got worked up yesterday when President Obama spoke at the signing ceremony and didn't mention the word "gay" or "lesbian." Maybe that's because the words "gay" or "lesbian" don't appear in the bill. The law specifies "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," which is more than just gay or lesbian; it's everybody.
While I certainly appreciate all the work that Mr. Sullivan has done for the LGBT community and his principled stand for marriage equality, I'm also getting tired of him acting like he is the de facto spokesperson for the community and that everyone must measure up to his standards. As John Cole points out at Balloon Juice, it sounds like Mr. Sullivan did not really bother to read the bill before he trashed it. But I suppose that if you are opposed to the idea of hate crime legislation from the beginning, then you probably don't have to bother with that small step.
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Short Takes
The death toll in Pakistan mounts.
Studying -- The president is asking for more details on the places in Afghanistan to put more troops.
The president paid a visit to Dover AFB last night.
Give and take -- The House begins to negotiate with itself on its own healthcare bill.
GM will not request more money from the feds.
The defense bill signed by the president doesn't include stuff the Pentagon doesn't want.
Short supply -- Parents are worried about flu medicine running out, and getting the vaccine out is proving to be difficult.
So far, South Florida has escaped the worst of the flu.
More signs of recovery in the economy; the third quarter GDP is expected to be up.
World Series: Phillies 6, Yankees 1.
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Studying -- The president is asking for more details on the places in Afghanistan to put more troops.
The president paid a visit to Dover AFB last night.
Give and take -- The House begins to negotiate with itself on its own healthcare bill.
GM will not request more money from the feds.
The defense bill signed by the president doesn't include stuff the Pentagon doesn't want.
Short supply -- Parents are worried about flu medicine running out, and getting the vaccine out is proving to be difficult.
So far, South Florida has escaped the worst of the flu.
More signs of recovery in the economy; the third quarter GDP is expected to be up.
World Series: Phillies 6, Yankees 1.
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Fact Checking
A story buzzed around the internet yesterday quoting Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia as saying that he would have dissented from the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling in 1954. I saw the story myself but it just didn't make any sense; I know Justice Scalia is a strict constructionist, but come on, and I didn't post about it. A lot of other bloggers and news organizations, though, did run with it, including Keith Olbermann on Countdown. It turns out that Mr. Scalia was misquoted by the local paper that originally ran the story and they have since corrected it. For the record, Justice Scalia believes Brown vs. Board of Education was correctly decided. (And I'm not going to go all Rush Limbaugh and say that even if it's not true, we know he thinks it.)
As Alex Koppelman at Salon.com says, everybody occasionally gets a story wrong. But even in this day and age of over-the-top stuff, we do have a wealth of information sources and it's still a good idea to actually have as much proof -- say, a video of the actual statement -- before you run with it. That applies to all of the media, not just the blogosphere. After all, the story ran in a respected newspaper and was reported by a professional reporter. AS JB notes at Balkinization,
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As Alex Koppelman at Salon.com says, everybody occasionally gets a story wrong. But even in this day and age of over-the-top stuff, we do have a wealth of information sources and it's still a good idea to actually have as much proof -- say, a video of the actual statement -- before you run with it. That applies to all of the media, not just the blogosphere. After all, the story ran in a respected newspaper and was reported by a professional reporter. AS JB notes at Balkinization,
Mainstream media often berate blogs for lax standards, but if they wish to do so they had better make sure they have adhered to professional standards. I mean, if the New York Times is going to report false and misleading claims about weapons of mass destruction (just to take a hypothetical example that would never happen in real life), whose fault is it, the Times or the blogosphere that it repeats the stories?I try to be as accurate as possible in what gets posted here, and I hope that if I make a mistake, either on my own or by repeating someone else's factual error, I will correct it and apologize. And I hope that the blogs who repeated the incorrect story will do the same.
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Where's Charlie?
When President Obama last came to Florida in February to tout his stimulus package, Gov. Charlie Crist (R) was there to greet him and stand with him on the stage and help him whoop up the crowd. This week, however, when the president dropped in for a couple of days, first in Jacksonville, then in Miami Beach, and then at a solar energy start-up, the governor was nowhere to be seen. He says he didn't even know the President of the United States was in his state.
We're beginning to see a pattern here. Ever since he's decided to run for the Senate, he's tried to suck up to the right wing. He's selling himself as a fiscal conservative, bragging in a radio ad that he is responsible for cutting the state budget by 10%. Politifact rates that claim as Barely True since the state constitution requires a balanced budget and tax revenues are way off because of the recession. He voiced opposition to the proposed healthcare bill in the U.S. Senate by saying that the public option with the opt-out clause would be "ramming it down our throats." (What part of "opt-out" and "option" does he not get?) He's also trying to get on the good side of the staunchly anti-gay Christian Coalition in Florida, appearing as their "special guest" at their annual gala in November.
I suppose we shouldn't be surprised by Mr. Crist's behavior. It isn't the first time he's tried to pass himself off as something he's not, and it won't be his last.
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Crist told reporters Tuesday that he wasn't aware Obama was honoring sailors and Marines less than 200 miles from the Capitol on Monday.Yeah, I'm sure it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Marco Rubio, his primary opponent, is beginning to nip at his heels.
Crist is running for U.S. Senate and has been trying to distance himself from Obama and the $787 billion federal stimulus bill. His Republican primary opponent frequently reminds voters that Crist hugged the president at a Florida appearance to support the bill.
Crist said last week it was appropriate to show respect. But asked Tuesday about Obama's event Monday, Crist said that was the first he'd heard of it. He later said he was aware Obama was coming but didn't know the itinerary. Obama was also in the state Tuesday for an economic development meeting, and Crist said he didn't join him because of a state cabinet meeting.
We're beginning to see a pattern here. Ever since he's decided to run for the Senate, he's tried to suck up to the right wing. He's selling himself as a fiscal conservative, bragging in a radio ad that he is responsible for cutting the state budget by 10%. Politifact rates that claim as Barely True since the state constitution requires a balanced budget and tax revenues are way off because of the recession. He voiced opposition to the proposed healthcare bill in the U.S. Senate by saying that the public option with the opt-out clause would be "ramming it down our throats." (What part of "opt-out" and "option" does he not get?) He's also trying to get on the good side of the staunchly anti-gay Christian Coalition in Florida, appearing as their "special guest" at their annual gala in November.
I suppose we shouldn't be surprised by Mr. Crist's behavior. It isn't the first time he's tried to pass himself off as something he's not, and it won't be his last.
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Infighting
There's a special election in a congressional district in New York to replace Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) who resigned to become President Obama's Secretary of the Army. The race, however, isn't just between Republican Dede Scozzafava and Democrat Bill Owens. There's also Doug Hoffman from the Conservative Party, and the lines have been drawn between the national Republicans like Newt Gingrich, who supports Ms. Scozzafava, and Sarah Palin and Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), who support Mr. Hoffman.
It's very entertaining to watch this little election take on the aspect of the national battle between the right and the far-right. Knock yourself out, folks; it may just end up that the winner is Mr. Owens.
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Palin and Pawlenty cast the contest as a fight for the direction of the GOP. Palin said her endorsement would be a message to party leaders of "no more politics as usual," and Pawlenty said that "we cannot send more politicians to Washington who wear the Republican jersey on the campaign trail but then vote like Democrats in Congress."Mr. Hoffman, who is apparently new to politics, is being coached by Dick Armey, the former Congressman from Texas and sponsor of the tea-baggers, but his work seemed to be cut out for him when he sat down for an interview with the editorial board of the Watertown Daily Times.
Gingrich insisted that the special election should not be interpreted as a conservative litmus test and that his endorsement of Scozzafava was entirely about respecting local party leaders.
A flustered and ill-at-ease Mr. Hoffman objected to the heated questioning, saying he should have been provided a list of questions he might be asked. He was, if he had taken the time to read the Thursday morning Times editorial raising the very same questions.What was it that the late Tip O'Neill, one-time Speaker of the House, said? Something about "all politics is local"?
Coming to Mr. Hoffman's defense, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, who accompanied the candidate on a campaign swing, dismissed regional concerns as "parochial" issues that would not determine the outcome of the election. On the contrary, it is just such parochial issues that we expect our representative to understand and be knowledgeable about, if he wants to be our voice in Washington.
It's very entertaining to watch this little election take on the aspect of the national battle between the right and the far-right. Knock yourself out, folks; it may just end up that the winner is Mr. Owens.
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Gas Bag
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) is still not convinced that there's such a thing as climate change, and at a Senate hearing he tried, without much success, to convince this fellow senators that it's all a hoax.
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"The science is more definitive than ever? You keep saying that because you want to believe it so much," he said bitterly. He offered to furnish a list of scientists who once believed in climate change but "who are solidly on the other side right now." The science, he said, "already has shifted" against global-warming theory. "Science is not settled! Everyone knows it's not settled!"When you get to the point that a far-right-wing Republican senator is quoting a Russian for back-up, you know he's getting desperate. Wait until he finds out that the world is round.
Inhofe called for more oil drilling. His aides tried to debunk the other senators' points by passing around papers titled "Rapid Response." Mid-hearing, Inhofe's former spokesman, now in the private sector, sent out an e-mail -- "Prominent Russian Scientist: 'We should fear a deep temperature drop -- not catastrophic global warming.' "
The climate of the hearing itself seemed designed to burn Inhofe. Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), sponsor of the climate bill, insisted on having it in a too-small hearing room, causing the place to overheat from all the bodies.
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Deeply Disturbing
Via Melissa at Shakesville, this story is deeply disturbing on so many levels.
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Investigators say as many as 20 people were involved in or stood and watched the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a California high school homecoming dance Saturday night.Justice and healing seem like remote and nebulous concepts in this case.
Police posted a $20,000 reward Tuesday for anyone who comes to them with information that helps arrest and convict those involved in what authorities describe as a 2½-hour assault on the Richmond High School campus in suburban San Francisco.
Two teenage suspects have been jailed, but more arrests, as many as 20 total, are expected, according to a police detective.
[...]
The victim was found unconscious under a bench shortly before midnight Saturday, after police received a call from someone in the area who had overheard people at the assault scene "reminiscing about the incident," Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan said.
The girl was flown by helicopter to a hospital where she was admitted in critical condition. She was in stable condition Tuesday, police said.
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Short Takes
There was more violence yesterday in Afghanistan; this time it was an attack on the UN in Kabul.
Why did Matthew Hoh resign his position over our policy in Afghanistan?
Secretary of State Clinton is in Pakistan to try to ease anti-American tensions.
Iran's response to the UN's nuclear deal is interesting.
Centrist Democrats are wobbling on Sen. Reid's healthcare proposal.
And then there's Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT).
Bridge Out -- An emergency repair to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge went wrong and the bridge is closed indefinitely.
The launch of the test rocket to replace the shuttle was delayed by winds.
Smart power -- Florida will get $200 million for "smart grid" technology.
We keep talking about Cuba, but no one seems to be doing anything about it. But you might be able to fly there from Fort Lauderdale at some point.
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Why did Matthew Hoh resign his position over our policy in Afghanistan?
Secretary of State Clinton is in Pakistan to try to ease anti-American tensions.
Iran's response to the UN's nuclear deal is interesting.
Centrist Democrats are wobbling on Sen. Reid's healthcare proposal.
And then there's Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT).
Bridge Out -- An emergency repair to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge went wrong and the bridge is closed indefinitely.
The launch of the test rocket to replace the shuttle was delayed by winds.
Smart power -- Florida will get $200 million for "smart grid" technology.
We keep talking about Cuba, but no one seems to be doing anything about it. But you might be able to fly there from Fort Lauderdale at some point.
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Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Fourteen Minutes and Counting....
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) became a media sensation and the darling of some of the more boisterous members of the Democratic Party when he came out with his version of the Republican healthcare plan: "Die Quickly!" I had a feeling that he was a little too much of a good thing and that his sudden fame would go to his head and exacerbate his tendency to shoot off his mouth. Well, I was right. Last week in a radio interview he referred to lobbyist Linda Robertson, who used to advise Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, as a "K Street whore." As Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) noted, "Is this news to you that this guy's one fry short of a Happy Meal?"
His fifteen minutes are just about up.
Update: Rep. Grayson has apologized to Ms. Robertson.
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His fifteen minutes are just about up.
Update: Rep. Grayson has apologized to Ms. Robertson.
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Optional Option
Josh Marshall has a good take on what healthcare reform with a public option opt-out means for the future of the bill and the political ramifications for the people who will vote for or against it.
The bill that Sen. Reid is backing is by no means the final version, but as Rachel Maddow noted last night, at least it's a bill, not a bunch of proposals floating around trying to find a place to land. At least we have something to work with now, and even if it provides the GOP and the insurance industry with a sitting target, it's going to be interesting to see how they claim that an optional public option is somehow the evil mandated oppressive Obamacare that they've been freaking out about all summer. I have no doubt that they will, but half the fun will be watching them do it.
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While it's not ideal, an opt-out gives you the reality of a public option whereas the other compromises give you things that superficially sound similar but actually don't accomplish the same purpose. This was my sense of the policy dynamics when I first heard about it. And I have what I think of as a decent layman's understanding of health care policy questions. But since the idea was floated early this month I've made an effort to canvass the views of the people who I consider most knowledgeable on these questions. And I think I'm on solid ground in saying that there is a consensus among the people who understand these issue best on the reform side that this is a good pragmatic compromise that may not be perfect but gets you most of what the public option concept is meant to accomplish.Basically what the bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) put forward yesterday represents is a compromise between what the hard-core liberals wanted -- mandated single-payer universal government-run health insurance -- and what the Blue Dogs and nervous moderates wanted -- nothing really more than fine-tuning of the current system dressed up as "reform." The Republicans basically opted out of the entire process by offering nothing constructive unless you consider a lot of scary stories about the horrors of competition and government bureaucrats taking jobs away from corporate bureaucrats who think a healthy baby is uninsurable and being raped is an exclusionary pre-existing condition is healthcare reform. Oh, and tax cuts. Always tax cuts.
Equally important is the politics. In two key ways the 'opt-out' flipped the political dynamics entirely. A big argument from Republicans was that the public option would force people into 'government health care' or in various other ways destroy the universe. The opt-out just says: 'fine, then don't allow it in your state. Next ...' That takes a lot of the wind out of the sails of that argument. And, more pointedly, conservative and moderate Dems who were afraid of voting for the full public option seem to think that this gives them sufficient cover to vote for it -- at least for the procedural 60 vote threshold, if not for the bill itself, which will take 50 votes. But that's all that's really necessary: getting past cloture.
The bill that Sen. Reid is backing is by no means the final version, but as Rachel Maddow noted last night, at least it's a bill, not a bunch of proposals floating around trying to find a place to land. At least we have something to work with now, and even if it provides the GOP and the insurance industry with a sitting target, it's going to be interesting to see how they claim that an optional public option is somehow the evil mandated oppressive Obamacare that they've been freaking out about all summer. I have no doubt that they will, but half the fun will be watching them do it.
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Ejole
A hotel owner from Texas in Taos, New Mexico, has a lot to learn.
And this is in Taos. You can't get a whole lot more New Mexican than that. People coming from all over the America expect it to be Spanish; they don't come there expecting to be greeted by someone with an Anglicized name any more than you expect to walk into a hotel in Paris, France, and be greeted by a desk clerk named Pete.
I have an idea for Mr. Larry Whitten. Why doesn't he adapt to his new home and change his name to something more appropriate, like el Sr. Lorenzo Chingadero de Puerco.
HT to Melissa.
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Larry Whitten marched into this northern New Mexico town in late July on a mission: resurrect a failing hotel.Aside from the fact that Spanish is an official language in New Mexico -- that was part of the deal when the state was admitted to the union in 1912 -- and that the Spanish settled in the area long before the Pilgrims showed up on Plymouth Rock, even if they hadn't, you don't march into a town and expect everybody to do it your way, even if you did buy a hotel there.
The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers at the run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel from speaking Spanish in his presence (he thought they'd be talking about him), and ordered some to Anglicize their names.
No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain-old Martin. No more Marcos. Now it would be Mark.
Whitten's management style had worked for him as he's turned around other distressed hotels he bought in recent years across the country.
The 63-year-old Texan, however, wasn't prepared for what followed.
His rules and his firing of several Hispanic employees angered his employees and many in this liberal enclave of 5,000 residents at the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, where the most alternative of lifestyles can find a home and where Spanish language, culture and traditions have a long and revered history.
"I came into this landmine of Anglos versus Spanish versus Mexicans versus Indians versus everybody up here. I'm just doing what I've always done," he says.
After he arrived, Whitten met with the employees. He says he immediately noticed that they were hostile to his management style and worried they might start talking about him in Spanish.When the first thing someone says is that "it has nothing to do with racism," you can bet that it is. Even giving him the benefit of the doubt, Mr. Whitten doesn't have the first clue as to how deeply ingrained Spanish and the Spanish culture is in America and has been for centuries. It was the Spanish who were the first Europeans to settle here, and while their methods of doing so were a little less than admirable, there's no doubt that if there's any claim to being the culture that has a first claim on dominance, it's the Spanish, all the way from St. Augustine, Florida, to Sacramento, California.
"Because of that, I asked the people in my presence to speak only English because I do not understand Spanish," Whitten says. "I've been working 24 years in Texas and we have a lot of Spanish people there. I've never had to ask anyone to speak only English in front of me because I've never had a reason to."
[...]
Then Whitten told some employees he was changing their Spanish first names. Whitten says it's a routine practice at his hotels to change first names of employees who work the front desk phones or deal directly with guests if their names are difficult to understand or pronounce.
"It has nothing to do with racism. I'm not doing it for any reason other than for the satisfaction of my guests, because people calling from all over America don't know the Spanish accents or the Spanish culture or Spanish anything," Whitten says.
And this is in Taos. You can't get a whole lot more New Mexican than that. People coming from all over the America expect it to be Spanish; they don't come there expecting to be greeted by someone with an Anglicized name any more than you expect to walk into a hotel in Paris, France, and be greeted by a desk clerk named Pete.
I have an idea for Mr. Larry Whitten. Why doesn't he adapt to his new home and change his name to something more appropriate, like el Sr. Lorenzo Chingadero de Puerco.
HT to Melissa.
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Kristol: It's a Good Time to Be a Wingnut
William Kristol rules out the chances for a more moderate, temperate, and sophisticated GOP in the years to come. And he thinks that's a good thing.
This kind of wishful reassurance isn't new; the Democrats thought they had it in the bag in 1972 when they decided that after four years of Richard Nixon what the country really wanted to do was to go left; they mistook the growing anti-war sentiment in the country to be anti-Nixon, and they thought the time was ripe for a populist uprising against the establishment. George McGovern was no Glenn Beck or even Sarah Palin -- he was a war veteran and a senator with considerable experience -- and he still lost 48 states. The next time around, they went with a moderate -- Jimmy Carter -- and won. (Of course, given the state of the GOP after Watergate, the Democrats could have run Teddy the Wonder Lizard and won.)
Mr. Kristol, not surprisingly, makes the same mistake a lot of disgruntled pundits make. He takes a poll that measures the mood of the country but doesn't actually measure the issues, and the names that pop up as GOP front-runners like Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney are names that people know but don't necessarily plan to vote for or even know their stand on the issues. It's not unlike asking people to name a breakfast cereal: they may list Kellogg's Corn Flakes or Froot Loops or Cap'n Crunch off the top of their head, but that doesn't mean they'll buy them.
If what Mr. Kristol says is true, and frankly, in this case he probably is, the GOP is going to spend the next two years in permanent shriek and wail mode, taking everything that the president does and turning it into a sinister plot, or, as another manifestation of their bipolar view of things, claim he's weak and ineffectual. They will go completely overboard with their Fox-driven frenzies and keep pushing out the edge of the envelope and pushing away the moderate and temperate voters that used to be the base of their party and turn even more into the Party of No, running around the country like playground full of sugared-up six-year-olds. The problem with that is that it's exhausting for them -- they will have nothing to offer -- and it's exasperating for the people who used to be on their side: how is carrying on about "Chairman Obama" going to pay their mortgage, get them affordable healthcare, or fix a crumbling schoolhouse?
So Democrats, take heart: there's no better sign that you're on the right track than when William Kristol says you're doomed.
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The Gallup poll released Monday shows the public's conservatism at a high-water mark. Some 40 percent of Americans call themselves conservative, compared with 36 percent who self-describe as moderates and 20 percent as liberals.He then rules out the possibility that it could be a senator or a congressman in office since they're not very popular with the public right now, so it comes down to an outsider:
The conservative number is as high as it's been in the two decades that Gallup has been asking the question.
What's more, fully 72 percent of Republicans say they're conservative. Thirty-five percent of independents do so as well -- and presumably the percentage of conservatives among independents who might be inclined, where the rules permit it, to vote in GOP primaries would be much higher.
The implications of this for the Republican Party over the remaining three years of the Obama presidency are clear: The GOP is going to be pretty unapologetically conservative. There aren't going to be a lot of moderate Republican victories in intra-party skirmishes. And -- with the caveat that the political world can, of course, change quickly -- there will be a conservative Republican presidential nominee in 2012.
The center of gravity, I suspect, will instead lie with individuals such as Palin and Huckabee and Gingrich, media personalities like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and activists at town halls and tea parties. Some will lament this -- but over the past year, as those voices have dominated, conservatism has done pretty well in the body politic, and Republicans have narrowed the gap with Democrats in test ballots.Mr. Kristol's track record as a prognosticator is about as good as the scouts who reported to General Custer that all was quiet out there at the Little Big Horn. But even if he is correct and the GOP turns the nomination and the party over to the people who rushed into the leadership vacuum with such things as "death panels," competing shouts of "commie Fascist!" and thinly-veiled racist depictions of President Obama, and whose idea of competent legal counsel is Orly Taitz, you're going to see a beat-down of the Republicans in 2012 to the point that it will make Barry Goldwater's run in 1964 look like a squeaker.
This kind of wishful reassurance isn't new; the Democrats thought they had it in the bag in 1972 when they decided that after four years of Richard Nixon what the country really wanted to do was to go left; they mistook the growing anti-war sentiment in the country to be anti-Nixon, and they thought the time was ripe for a populist uprising against the establishment. George McGovern was no Glenn Beck or even Sarah Palin -- he was a war veteran and a senator with considerable experience -- and he still lost 48 states. The next time around, they went with a moderate -- Jimmy Carter -- and won. (Of course, given the state of the GOP after Watergate, the Democrats could have run Teddy the Wonder Lizard and won.)
Mr. Kristol, not surprisingly, makes the same mistake a lot of disgruntled pundits make. He takes a poll that measures the mood of the country but doesn't actually measure the issues, and the names that pop up as GOP front-runners like Sarah Palin or Mitt Romney are names that people know but don't necessarily plan to vote for or even know their stand on the issues. It's not unlike asking people to name a breakfast cereal: they may list Kellogg's Corn Flakes or Froot Loops or Cap'n Crunch off the top of their head, but that doesn't mean they'll buy them.
If what Mr. Kristol says is true, and frankly, in this case he probably is, the GOP is going to spend the next two years in permanent shriek and wail mode, taking everything that the president does and turning it into a sinister plot, or, as another manifestation of their bipolar view of things, claim he's weak and ineffectual. They will go completely overboard with their Fox-driven frenzies and keep pushing out the edge of the envelope and pushing away the moderate and temperate voters that used to be the base of their party and turn even more into the Party of No, running around the country like playground full of sugared-up six-year-olds. The problem with that is that it's exhausting for them -- they will have nothing to offer -- and it's exasperating for the people who used to be on their side: how is carrying on about "Chairman Obama" going to pay their mortgage, get them affordable healthcare, or fix a crumbling schoolhouse?
So Democrats, take heart: there's no better sign that you're on the right track than when William Kristol says you're doomed.
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Short Takes
Devastating -- The bombings in Iraq killed over 150 people.
Two separate helicopter crashes in Afghanistan killed over a dozen Americans.
Healthcare -- It's the public option with the option to opt out.
President Obama tells soldiers in Jacksonville that he will not be rushed into sending them into harm's way. He then came to Miami Beach to raise money.
The pilots of the errant NWA flight were working on their laptops.
Speaking of distractions, Florida could ban texting while driving.
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Two separate helicopter crashes in Afghanistan killed over a dozen Americans.
Healthcare -- It's the public option with the option to opt out.
President Obama tells soldiers in Jacksonville that he will not be rushed into sending them into harm's way. He then came to Miami Beach to raise money.
The pilots of the errant NWA flight were working on their laptops.
Speaking of distractions, Florida could ban texting while driving.
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Monday, October 26, 2009
There's One Born Every Minute
Last week a number of conservative websites fell for a piece of satire over Barack Obama's alleged senior thesis at Columbia University. It was quickly revealed as a hoax, and the sites that went for it grudgingly owned up to it. So you think they've learned their lesson? Um, no.
So, how soon do you think we'll be able to get the right wing to fall for "Hey, your shoe's untied!"?
HT to Steve Benen.
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Oct. 28, 2009 12:43 PM. This just in from Speaker of the House Pelosi. In an interview with MSNBC's Keith Olberman [sic] last night, Nancy Pelosi announced that she would move to bring a vote to the floor of The House of Representatives as early as next week to ban Fox from covering Congress. "That Fox regularly grants access to Republican Congressman to spread their lies and propaganda on their airwaves is a violation of the public trust, and their continued desire to challenge such well documented facts as Global Warming, and the efficacy of single payer health insurance, proves that they are simply doing the work of the special interests. They should thus be stripped of their journalistic access in the halls of Congress," argued Pelosi.Clue 1 that it's not real: note the dateline. It's the day after tomorrow.
So, how soon do you think we'll be able to get the right wing to fall for "Hey, your shoe's untied!"?
HT to Steve Benen.
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Newt Again
Stop the presses: Newt Gingrich is thinking about running for president in 2012.
[crickets]
As Michael J.W. Stickings points out, every time the disgraced former Speaker of the House -- who got tossed out on his ass by his own party for losing seats in the House in 1998 and making the centerfold of Hypocrites Digest for having an affair with an office staffer at the same time he was going after President Clinton for having an affair -- feels as if he's not getting enough attention from the news media, he proclaims that he is considering running for president, but only if he feels the call:
Some of my fellow progressive bloggers have been wondering why it is that all the old and largely discredited voices of the GOP -- Newt Gingrich and John McCain in particular -- are showing up on all the talk shows; what can they possibly add to the conversation that isn't either griping or self-aggrandizing? It actually serves two purposes: first, it reminds us of what we had to put up with when these losers were actually in power and there was the possibility that one of them could have become president, and second, given the lack of any leadership in the Republican Party other than the bloviators on cable TV and talk radio, there's no one else to talk to. So while it may irritate some people to have to endure them on the chat shows, being reminded every now and then of what a complete buffoon Newt Gingrich is only helps the Democrats.
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[crickets]
As Michael J.W. Stickings points out, every time the disgraced former Speaker of the House -- who got tossed out on his ass by his own party for losing seats in the House in 1998 and making the centerfold of Hypocrites Digest for having an affair with an office staffer at the same time he was going after President Clinton for having an affair -- feels as if he's not getting enough attention from the news media, he proclaims that he is considering running for president, but only if he feels the call:
C-SPAN: "If you were to run, what factors would you take into account? What would lead you to think about running?"In other words, "I might deign to bless the fortunate people of this land with my magnanimous presence and allow them, my humble servants, to obsequiously genuflect in my general direction." Hoo boy. To quote from E.K. Hornbeck in the screenplay of Inherit the Wind, he's the only person I know who can strut while sitting down.
GINGRICH: "Callista and I are going to think about this in February 2011. And we are going to reach out to all of our friends around the country. And we'll decide, if there's a requirement as citizens that we run, I suspect we probably will. And if there's not a requirement, if other people have filled the vacuum, I suspect we won't."
Some of my fellow progressive bloggers have been wondering why it is that all the old and largely discredited voices of the GOP -- Newt Gingrich and John McCain in particular -- are showing up on all the talk shows; what can they possibly add to the conversation that isn't either griping or self-aggrandizing? It actually serves two purposes: first, it reminds us of what we had to put up with when these losers were actually in power and there was the possibility that one of them could have become president, and second, given the lack of any leadership in the Republican Party other than the bloviators on cable TV and talk radio, there's no one else to talk to. So while it may irritate some people to have to endure them on the chat shows, being reminded every now and then of what a complete buffoon Newt Gingrich is only helps the Democrats.
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Gas Price Survey
Yipes -- In a week gas has jumped about twenty cents a gallon at the station I'm using while my regular place is undergoing renovation. I paid $2.79 at the Mobil station on the corner of US 1 and SW 152nd Street in Miami. Last Monday it was $2.59, on the drive in to the office I saw it going for as much as $2.87 and as low as $2.67 at the Westar in Coconut Grove. It might have something to do with the fact that the price of a barrel of oil has topped $80.It's a good thing that my Mustang is averaging about 20.75 mpg even with all the in-town driving I do. And it makes me glad that I'm not driving one of these every day.
It's from the Memory Lane exhibit at the South Florida International Auto Show. I got to drive it from West Miami to Miami Beach last week in preparation for setting up the exhibit. It has a push-button transmission, a steering wheel the size of an extra-large pizza, and a suspension that removes any illusion that you are riding on a road with any bumps at all. It handles like the Queen Mary -- you don't park it, you dock it -- and 53 years ago, it was considered "thrifty."
Thanks to Bob for the photo.
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Mr. Dithers
George F. Will tried to make up for his column on Michele Bachmann by taking on former Vice President Dick Cheney and telling his fellow talking heads on ABC that "dithering" is not altogether a bad thing.
This is compared to some of his fellow pundits from the right who have been claiming that President Obama has been taking too long making up his mind on Afghanistan -- and they were the ones who whooped through going into Iraq -- but that he's being too hasty on healthcare reform. They're two different situations, but to the candid observer, Mr. Obama has taken the same approach to both: listen to all the facts, get all the opinions and advice, then move forward. It seems that the ones who have been doing all the dithering are the ones who really don't have a clue as to what might be at stake except their own agenda and how they can turn it to their advantage, regardless of the outcome.
Actually, I like what Vice President Joe Biden said about Dick Cheney: "Who cares?"
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A bit of dithering might have been in order before we went into Iraq in pursuit of non-existent weapons of mass destruction. For a representative of the Bush administration to accuse someone of taking too much time is missing the point. We have much more to fear in this town from hasty than from slow government action.Mr. Will went rogue from his fellow conservatives who were calling for more troops in Afghanistan back in August when he made the suggestion that we declare victory and leave, so this is more of that, and to his credit, at least he's consistent.
This is compared to some of his fellow pundits from the right who have been claiming that President Obama has been taking too long making up his mind on Afghanistan -- and they were the ones who whooped through going into Iraq -- but that he's being too hasty on healthcare reform. They're two different situations, but to the candid observer, Mr. Obama has taken the same approach to both: listen to all the facts, get all the opinions and advice, then move forward. It seems that the ones who have been doing all the dithering are the ones who really don't have a clue as to what might be at stake except their own agenda and how they can turn it to their advantage, regardless of the outcome.
Actually, I like what Vice President Joe Biden said about Dick Cheney: "Who cares?"
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Short Takes
Iraq is still a scary place.
Trust but verify -- Both Iran and the West are leery of the nuclear deal.
A fuel depot burned in Puerto Rico.
Upbeat -- The Democrats told the Sunday talk shows that the public option will pass.
Jeffry Picower, a colleague of Bernie Madoff, was found dead in his swimming pool yesterday.
Spies among them -- Fidel Castro's sister says she worked for the CIA in Cuba.
ALCS: It's the Yankees. The Series starts Wednesday.
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Trust but verify -- Both Iran and the West are leery of the nuclear deal.
A fuel depot burned in Puerto Rico.
Upbeat -- The Democrats told the Sunday talk shows that the public option will pass.
Jeffry Picower, a colleague of Bernie Madoff, was found dead in his swimming pool yesterday.
Spies among them -- Fidel Castro's sister says she worked for the CIA in Cuba.
ALCS: It's the Yankees. The Series starts Wednesday.
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Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sunday Night Movie
Inherit the Wind (1960)
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Spencer Tracy as Henry Drummond: Can't you understand? That if you take a law like evolution and you make it a crime to teach it in the public schools, tomorrow you can make it a crime to teach it in the private schools? And tomorrow you may make it a crime to read about it. And soon you may ban books and newspapers. And then you may turn Catholic against Protestant, and Protestant against Protestant, and try to foist your own religion upon the mind of man. If you can do one, you can do the other. Because fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy, and needs feeding. And soon, your Honor, with banners flying and with drums beating we'll be marching backward, BACKWARD, through the glorious ages of that Sixteenth Century when bigots burned the man who dared bring enlightenment and intelligence to the human mind!Tea, anyone?
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Sunday Reading
Return to Agincourt -- Historians are thinking that the battle that took place 594 years ago today and made famous in Henry V didn't happen exactly the way Shakespeare depicted it.
More Real History -- Doug Saunders of The Globe and Mail looks at what really led to the downfall of communism and debunks some of the myths.
Leonard Pitts, Jr. -- You too can be a star.
Doonesbury -- Tweets in court.
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Shakespeare himself would be the first to say that his "history" plays were anything but historically accurate, any more than any of the other dramas before or since accurately told the story of what happened on a battlefield or within a king's castle. And even if the truth is that Agincourt was not much more than an even skirmish, it is still a setting for a story of courage and the humble awareness of a king suddenly given a tremendous burden and his rising to the task.The heavy clay-laced mud behind the cattle pen on Antoine Renault’s farm looks as treacherous as it must have been nearly 600 years ago, when King Henry V rode from a spot near here to lead a sodden and exhausted English Army against a French force that was said to outnumber his by as much as five to one.
No one can ever take away the shocking victory by Henry and his “band of brothers,” as Shakespeare would famously call them, on St. Crispin’s Day, Oct. 25, 1415. They devastated a force of heavily armored French nobles who had gotten bogged down in the region’s sucking mud, riddled by thousands of arrows from English longbowmen and outmaneuvered by common soldiers with much lighter gear. It would become known as the Battle of Agincourt.
But Agincourt’s status as perhaps the greatest victory against overwhelming odds in military history — and a keystone of the English self-image — has been called into doubt by a group of historians in Britain and France who have painstakingly combed an array of military and tax records from that time and now take a skeptical view of the figures handed down by medieval chroniclers.
The historians have concluded that the English could not have been outnumbered by more than about two to one. And depending on how the math is carried out, Henry may well have faced something closer to an even fight, said Anne Curry, a professor at the University of Southampton who is leading the study.
Those cold figures threaten an image of the battle that even professional researchers and academics have been reluctant to challenge in the face of Shakespearean prose and centuries of English pride, Ms. Curry said.
“It’s just a myth, but it’s a myth that’s part of the British psyche,” Ms. Curry said.
From this day to the ending of the world,Continued below the fold.
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
More Real History -- Doug Saunders of The Globe and Mail looks at what really led to the downfall of communism and debunks some of the myths.
Archie Brown, the Scottish historian of the Eastern Bloc known for his pioneering work with declassified Soviet archives, has just published a massive and significant work titled The Rise and Fall of Communism, full of lessons that are worth hearing today.Does it really matter who gets the credit for ending the Cold War and bringing an end to the communist dictatorships? As long as it's over and gone, not really.
The primary myth is the one that holds that the West, and particularly Ronald Reagan's United States, caused the Communist bloc to collapse through a Cold War policy of confrontation and isolation.
By this account, Mr. Reagan drove the Eastern Bloc into unconditional surrender by declaring the Soviet Union an “evil empire” in 1983, madly escalating the nuclear-arms count, launching “Star Wars” missile-defence networks and shouting, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” in Berlin in 1987.
“This,” Mr. Brown says, “is a kind of triumphalist view … which I think is very misleading.”
In fact, there is now a near-consensus among historians that Mr. Reagan's policies not only failed to end the Cold War, but probably prolonged it for several years beyond its likely end date, by propelling the most reactionary Communists into power.
“The more belligerent the United States became, in terms of Reagan's rhetoric and in terms of arms buildup, the stronger the hard-liners became in Moscow,” Mr. Brown says.
“Whenever the Cold War became colder, the most militant Communists, the KGB and the military-industrial complex within the Soviet Union became stronger.”
In fact, the collapse of communism was probably made possible, and certainly rendered peaceful and non-violent, by quite another set of Western policies – the kinds of policies that are finally being revisited today as an alternative approach to such authoritarian governments as those of Iran, Myanmar and North Korea.
Leonard Pitts, Jr. -- You too can be a star.
Stardom has undergone a perverse democratization. Where once it was the prize awarded a lucky few who earned it through rigorous honing of natural vocal ability, comedic timing, dramatic talent, terpsichorean prowess, it is now regarded as something anyone can have.Frank Rich also has some thoughts on the saga of the boy hiding out in the attic.
Journalism, curiously enough, has undergone a similar process. In a development that must grate any reporter still paying off his J-School loans, it has increasingly become the province of so-called ''citizen journalists'' and ''iReporters.''
Likewise, natural talent and the honing thereof are increasingly disconnected from stardom. These days, all it takes is the willingness to be rude, crude, lewd -- or nude, on camera. All it takes is proximity to scandal, a bizarre video posted on YouTube, a willingness to live some caricature of one's real life for public consumption. All it takes is a complete lack of personal borders, self-awareness or ability to be embarrassed.
Heck, Levi Johnston has a modeling gig and a TV commercial and all he did was knock up his girlfriend. Paris Hilton has a marketing empire and all she did was have sex on tape. Kim Kardashian has a TV show and a product line, and all she does is exist.
If authorities are correct, then, the heinous Heenes are simply avatars of the new zeitgeist. Indeed, it might be argued that in an era where everybody is a star, the only true weirdo is the person content to live his life quietly beyond the reach of cameras.
Seen in that light, one can hardly blame the Heenes if they did what authorities say, if Richard and his wife Mayumi -- both actors -- concocted the balloon stunt as a means of making themselves famous. They once appeared on ABC's ''reality'' show, Wife Swap, and Richard has been described by at least one associate as obsessed with bizarre ideas designed to bring the family fame.
Doonesbury -- Tweets in court.
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Short Takes
Baghdad Bombing -- At least 65 people have been killed in two car bombings in the Iraqi capital.
The Pakistani army has captured a major Taliban stronghold.
President Obama declared swine flu a national emergency in order to speed up the process of getting the vaccine out.
The pilots in the cockpit of the extended NWA flight may have their licenses suspended.
Soft landing -- The Senate climate change bill tries to lessen the impact on business and industry.
Getting out -- Some homeowners choose to default on their mortgages.
R.I.P. Lou Jacobi.
ALCS: The Angels at the Yankees game was postponed by rain.
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The Pakistani army has captured a major Taliban stronghold.
President Obama declared swine flu a national emergency in order to speed up the process of getting the vaccine out.
The pilots in the cockpit of the extended NWA flight may have their licenses suspended.
Soft landing -- The Senate climate change bill tries to lessen the impact on business and industry.
Getting out -- Some homeowners choose to default on their mortgages.
R.I.P. Lou Jacobi.
ALCS: The Angels at the Yankees game was postponed by rain.
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Saturday, October 24, 2009
Saturday Night at the Movies
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
Jimmy Stewart was a little old to play Charles Lindbergh, who was 25 when he made the New York to Paris flight in 1927, but he did a good job with it.
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Jimmy Stewart was a little old to play Charles Lindbergh, who was 25 when he made the New York to Paris flight in 1927, but he did a good job with it.
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George Will Goes Gaga for Bachmann
In the past I've had a modicum of respect for George F. Will, even if he does come across as a humorless New England boarding school English teacher in need of a high colonic. I've even agreed with him on some occasions, even though he spends most of his time defending the old-guard country club ideals of elite Republicanism, and I've thought that he viewed the rantings of the new right wing -- the birthers, the deathers, and the oathers -- with a bit of sneer even as he defends some of their ideas if not their tactics. But today he rises to the defense of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the highly entertaining whirling dervish of the far right, and makes it sound like she is yet another misunderstood beacon of truth, justice, and the American Way. His only concession to her nutsery is to admit that she is a "petite pistol that occasionally goes off half-cocked." Occasionally?
Mr. Will cites her appearance on Hardball last October where she "made the mistake of taking Chris Matthews's bait and speculating about whether Barack Obama and some other Democrats have 'anti-American' views." Of course it was Chris Matthews' fault that she answered his question. But he insists that she's well within the mainstream, citing her oft-viewed House floor speech where she labeled the federal takeover of General Motors as "gangster government" and says that millions of people have seen it. Hint: just because a video gets viewed 2 million times doesn't make it proof of intelligent discourse, and it's not always because they agree with her. (The dramatic prairie dog gets that many in a day.)
If that was Ms. Bachmann's only example of her "supposed excess," Mr. Will's defense of her would be understandable; after all, we've got a lot of examples of other far-right members of Congress making loony speeches that bring out the mockery and snark, and they don't garner the attention, more's the pity. But Ms. Bachmann is the gift that keeps on giving, from her call for keeping Americans "armed and dangerous," her denial of climate change (in which Mr. Will is her soulmate), and a number of other just downright nutty claims such as the FEMA concentration camps that will come from the renewal of Americorps. Mr. Will ignores the rest of these and, as is the wont of every mainstream pundit sucking up to to fringe, suggests that we are mocking and ignoring Ms. Bachmann at our peril.
In a way, I feel sorry for Mr. Will; I'm guessing he bet on the Dodgers to win the NLCS and this is his penance: having to defend one of the most divisive and extreme members of his party in print.
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Mr. Will cites her appearance on Hardball last October where she "made the mistake of taking Chris Matthews's bait and speculating about whether Barack Obama and some other Democrats have 'anti-American' views." Of course it was Chris Matthews' fault that she answered his question. But he insists that she's well within the mainstream, citing her oft-viewed House floor speech where she labeled the federal takeover of General Motors as "gangster government" and says that millions of people have seen it. Hint: just because a video gets viewed 2 million times doesn't make it proof of intelligent discourse, and it's not always because they agree with her. (The dramatic prairie dog gets that many in a day.)
If that was Ms. Bachmann's only example of her "supposed excess," Mr. Will's defense of her would be understandable; after all, we've got a lot of examples of other far-right members of Congress making loony speeches that bring out the mockery and snark, and they don't garner the attention, more's the pity. But Ms. Bachmann is the gift that keeps on giving, from her call for keeping Americans "armed and dangerous," her denial of climate change (in which Mr. Will is her soulmate), and a number of other just downright nutty claims such as the FEMA concentration camps that will come from the renewal of Americorps. Mr. Will ignores the rest of these and, as is the wont of every mainstream pundit sucking up to to fringe, suggests that we are mocking and ignoring Ms. Bachmann at our peril.
In a way, I feel sorry for Mr. Will; I'm guessing he bet on the Dodgers to win the NLCS and this is his penance: having to defend one of the most divisive and extreme members of his party in print.
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Short Takes
NATO is on board with more troops for Afghanistan.
Joe Biden on Dick Cheney: "Who cares?"
The public option yet survives.
"NWA 188, where are you?" -- The pilots who overflew Minneapolis tell investigators their story.
Not exactly "cash for clunkers" -- The refinancing plan for houses isn't a hit.
Undercount -- Miami thinks there are 65,000 more people here than the census reports.
Where's Charlie? -- The governor sure spends a lot of time someplace else.
Dig it -- A pair of burrowing owls moves a football team off the field.
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Joe Biden on Dick Cheney: "Who cares?"
The public option yet survives.
"NWA 188, where are you?" -- The pilots who overflew Minneapolis tell investigators their story.
Not exactly "cash for clunkers" -- The refinancing plan for houses isn't a hit.
Undercount -- Miami thinks there are 65,000 more people here than the census reports.
Where's Charlie? -- The governor sure spends a lot of time someplace else.
Dig it -- A pair of burrowing owls moves a football team off the field.
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Friday, October 23, 2009
Sticking It to Dick
As previously noted, former Vice President Dick Cheney said President Obama was "dithering" about how to move forward on Afghanistan and basically labeled the president a coward for not going all in on the war. As Joan Walsh at Salon points out, this is especially ironic from a man who got five deferments from the draft during Vietnam because he had "other priorities," who spent most of his time in office during the Bush administration in undisclosed locations, and had Google Earth pixelate the location of the vice presidential residence. Mr. Cheney and his administration basically ignored Afghanistan -- and let Osama bin Laden and his cave-dwellers avoid capture -- once they found another new shiny thing in Iraq. But don't just take the word of a columnist or a blogger; here's what Gen. Paul Eaton (ret.) had to say:
Mr. Cheney's own history shows that his idea of cowardice vs. prudent and responsible judgment is, to say the least, somewhat warped.
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The record is clear: Dick Cheney and the Bush administration were incompetent war fighters. They ignored Afghanistan for 7 years with a crude approach to counter-insurgency warfare best illustrated by: 1. Deny it. 2. Ignore it. 3. Bomb it. While our intelligence agencies called the region the greatest threat to America, the Bush White House under-resourced our military efforts, shifted attention to Iraq, and failed to bring to justice the masterminds of September 11.And, for the record, last March Mr. Obama implemented a request for a troop increase proposal in Afghanistan that had been ignored by the Bush/Cheney administration for eight months before they left office.
"The only time Cheney and his cabal of foreign policy 'experts' have anything to say is when they feel compelled to protect this failed legacy. While President Obama is tasked with cleaning up the considerable mess they left behind, they continue to defend torture or rewrite a legacy of indifference on Afghanistan. [...]
"No human endeavor can be as profound as sending a nation's youth to war. I am very happy to see serious men and women working hard to get it right.
Mr. Cheney's own history shows that his idea of cowardice vs. prudent and responsible judgment is, to say the least, somewhat warped.
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Put Up or Shut Up
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), a strong proponent of the public option Medicare Part E, says that the members of the House and the Senate who are opposed to a government-run health insurance program should therefore be opposed to Medicare. After all, it's the granddaddy of public options. Yet the ones who are eligible for Medicare have all signed up for it, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Orin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Rep. Peter King (R-NY).
The usual response from the folks who are against a public option but take the Medicare is, "Well, I've already paid for it, so I'm entitled to it," a reference to the amount of money taken out of their paychecks as part of the 7.65% Social Security/Medicare deduction. Actually, it doesn't go into a savings account for them; they're paying for the people who are already on it, and when they go on Medicare, we're the ones who will be paying for them.
But Mr. Weiner's point is well-taken: these people who are so all fired-up against any form of public option can either be true to their convictions and drop their Medicare coverage, or they can shut the hell up and give the rest of us what they're so happy to have for themselves.
HT to Think Progress.
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So they’re already getting the same type of public option that we’d like people who are without insurance to be able to get. And I guess the purpose of this list was to kind of point out some of the hypocrisy of this debate.Indeed.
The usual response from the folks who are against a public option but take the Medicare is, "Well, I've already paid for it, so I'm entitled to it," a reference to the amount of money taken out of their paychecks as part of the 7.65% Social Security/Medicare deduction. Actually, it doesn't go into a savings account for them; they're paying for the people who are already on it, and when they go on Medicare, we're the ones who will be paying for them.
But Mr. Weiner's point is well-taken: these people who are so all fired-up against any form of public option can either be true to their convictions and drop their Medicare coverage, or they can shut the hell up and give the rest of us what they're so happy to have for themselves.
HT to Think Progress.
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Short Takes
Support for the public option is growing on Capitol Hill.
Short supply -- flu vaccine is running short in places.
It's our money, so why shouldn't we tell the Wall Street executives how much they earn in bonuses?
The Senate passes the Matthew Shepard Act extending hate crimes protection to sexual orientation.
Broward County leads the Florida in the number of hate crimes reported.
More bombings in Pakistan.
R.I.P. Soupy Sales.
ALCS: The Angels beat the Yankees to stay alive.
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Short supply -- flu vaccine is running short in places.
It's our money, so why shouldn't we tell the Wall Street executives how much they earn in bonuses?
The Senate passes the Matthew Shepard Act extending hate crimes protection to sexual orientation.
Broward County leads the Florida in the number of hate crimes reported.
More bombings in Pakistan.
R.I.P. Soupy Sales.
ALCS: The Angels beat the Yankees to stay alive.
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Friday Blogaround
Here's the week from the LC:
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- A Blog Around The Clock: one huge spider.On to the World Series...
- archy: vile hyperbole.
- Bark Bark Woof Woof takes on Pat Buchanan.
- Bloggg: I wonder who Moi wants to win the Series.
- Dohiyi Mir: family news.
- Echidne Of The Snakes: reader appreciation day.
- Florida Progressive Coalition Blog: mail call.
- ...I Am A Tree: band on the run.
- Left Is Right: Chamber of Commerce pwn'd.
- Pen-Elayne on the Web: There's a rep for that.
- Rook's Rant: limp Republicans.
- rubber hose at the movies.
- Scrutiny Hooligans: how to run for city council.
- Steve Bates: money talks.
- Stupid Enough Unexplanation: getting humble.
- The Invisible Library reviews The Demolished Man.
- WTF Is It Now?? Hitler vs. the Balloon Boy.
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Thursday, October 22, 2009
Classic Thursday Night TV
Batman (1966)
In honor of one of our Memory Lane exhibits at the South Florida International Auto Show this week.
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In honor of one of our Memory Lane exhibits at the South Florida International Auto Show this week.
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What's In a Name
A few years ago, the Ford Motor Company came out with a new sedan called the Five Hundred. It was a nice-looking car, aimed at the buyers who were going for the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, but the car didn't sell very well. Then the folks in Dearborn had an idea; they would rebrand it as the Taurus, using the name of one of the most popular cars that Ford had ever come up with since the Mustang, but had been discontinued in 2006. The "new" Taurus sales picked up, and proved that what you call something does matter, at least in the perception of the public.
That's basically what's happening with the public option in the current debate over healthcare reform. Apparently some folks are struggling with both parts of it: "public" suggests government-run as opposed to government-assisted, and "option" -- at least to some -- means "mandatory." So the proponents of the plan have rebranded it as "Medicare Part E" -- the "E" meaning for "Everyone." Catchy.
It's also nice to see the folks on Capitol Hill are catching up; a lot of people have been saying that the simplest way to get healthcare reform was to simply change the age requirements for Medicare and make it available to everyone. It's efficient, it works, and while it's not the cure-all for the problem, it goes a long way in addressing it. And, by the way, it is proof that the government can run something well.
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That's basically what's happening with the public option in the current debate over healthcare reform. Apparently some folks are struggling with both parts of it: "public" suggests government-run as opposed to government-assisted, and "option" -- at least to some -- means "mandatory." So the proponents of the plan have rebranded it as "Medicare Part E" -- the "E" meaning for "Everyone." Catchy.
The strategy could benefit Democrats struggling to bridge the gap between liberals in their party, who want the public option, and centrists, who are worried it would drive private insurers out of business.Since it looks like the polls are showing that people are getting behind the idea of a public option no matter what you call it, it can't hurt to make the connection of the idea to something that most people understand and like; even the town hall rowdies were saying that they didn't want healthcare reform to mess with Medicare (irony, again, being in short supply this summer). And it will make things tougher for the Republicans to go on the attack against it since they probably would not like to be seen as the opponents of a popular program. The GOP's biggest fear is that it will work and prove them to be -- yet again -- on the wrong side of doing the right thing.
While much of the public is foggy on what a public option actually is, people understand Medicare. It also would place the new public option within the rubric of a familiar system rather than something new and unknown.
It's also nice to see the folks on Capitol Hill are catching up; a lot of people have been saying that the simplest way to get healthcare reform was to simply change the age requirements for Medicare and make it available to everyone. It's efficient, it works, and while it's not the cure-all for the problem, it goes a long way in addressing it. And, by the way, it is proof that the government can run something well.
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Still Dick
Former Vice President Dick Cheney gave another speech in front of another fawning audience of right-wing torture enablers and still thinks that the ends justify the means.
Isn't it about time Mr. Cheney went back into the shop to get the bolts in his neck tightened?
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In short, to call enhanced interrogation a program of torture is not only to disregard the program’s legal underpinnings and safeguards. Such accusations are a libel against dedicated professionals who acted honorably and well, in our country’s name and in our country’s cause. What’s more, to completely rule out enhanced interrogation in the future, in favor of half-measures, is unwise in the extreme. In the fight against terrorism, there is no middle ground, and half-measures keep you half exposed.To hear someone who had no problem outing a CIA operative and putting her and her contacts' lives in danger for the purpose of political revenge claim that "the United States has never lost its moral bearings" is a little too ironic, even for him. On the other hand, he does have a point: the voters soundly rejected Mr. Cheney and his wormtongues last year, which proves that they knew what's moral as well as legal.
For all that we’ve lost in this conflict, the United States has never lost its moral bearings – and least of all can that be said of our armed forces and intelligence personnel. They have done right, they have made our country safer, and a lot of Americans are alive today because of them.
Isn't it about time Mr. Cheney went back into the shop to get the bolts in his neck tightened?
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