September, 2011 archive
Tent City Retirement Paradises 0
On this Labor Day, remember that Republicans want to hand the fruits of your labor over to Wall Street.
The “Why” of “Just Say No” 0
A retired Republican staffer explains why he retired after three decades–his disgust at the tactics of the contemporary Republican Party. A nugget:
A deeply cynical tactic, to be sure, but a psychologically insightful one that plays on the weaknesses both of the voting public and the news media. There are tens of millions of low-information voters who hardly know which party controls which branch of government, let alone which party is pursuing a particular legislative tactic. These voters’ confusion over who did what allows them to form the conclusion that “they are all crooks,” and that “government is no good,” further leading them to think, “a plague on both your houses” and “the parties are like two kids in a school yard.” This ill-informed public cynicism, in its turn, further intensifies the long-term decline in public trust in government that has been taking place since the early 1960s – a distrust that has been stoked by Republican rhetoric at every turn (“Government is the problem,” declared Ronald Reagan in 1980).
The media are also complicit in this phenomenon. Ever since the bifurcation of electronic media into a more or less respectable “hard news” segment and a rabidly ideological talk radio and cable TV political propaganda arm, the “respectable” media have been terrified of any criticism for perceived bias. Hence, they hew to the practice of false evenhandedness. Paul Krugman has skewered this tactic as being the “centrist cop-out.” “I joked long ago,” he says, “that if one party declared that the earth was flat, the headlines would read ‘Views Differ on Shape of Planet.'”
Click and read.
Via Jay Bookman.
If You’re Wondering Why It Doesn’t Feel like Much of a Holiday . . . 0
Andy Borowitz reports:
The Labor Day celebrations are expected to kick off Monday afternoon in Beijing with a barbeque attended by over seven million people and presided over by former NBA star Yao Ming.
Details at the link.
Billionaires Run Amuck 0
Thom Hartmann explains:
QOTD 0
G. K. Chesterton, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.
Afterthought:
This is impetus for the Republican War on Science
On Card Sharks and Other Shysters 0
The idea of gambling as a revenue stream has always caused me disquiet.
My conservative Southern Baptist upbringing perhaps predisposes me against gambling to raise public revenue.
So too does my study of U. S. Southern history: after the Civil War, most Southern states instituted lotteries of some type, having no tax base left. In almost every case, lottery administrators ended up in South America living the sweet life of other people’s money.
At the same time, I do enjoy the ponies on a nice summer day. I wouldn’t play poker, but a penny a point at bridge wouldn’t faze me; I do not have a blanket objection to friendly wagers amongst those who play fair and can afford it. These days, a game of penny ante poker can cost less than an evening at the movies.
It’s justifying state lotteries and, to a much greater extent, slot machine palaces as sources of tax revenue that makes me queasy.
I think that, thanks to Renee Loth’s column in the Boston Globe, I have discovered the source of my disquiet. Here’s the snippet of discovery:
Here’s why. Gambling revenue – like user fees, naming rights, specialty license plates, and other forms of “voluntary’’ contributions to government – erodes a fundamental idea of democracy: that we’re all in this together. Instead of all people contributing equitably to the common good, a casino economy fractures the social compact. And it asks the most from those who can afford it least.
Clearly, we are not all in this together.
Those who have the most are in it the least, so the alternative is the fleece.
The Clothes Make the Man 0
. . . and he found himself in the rough.
He wasn’t dressed as a clown – just wearing some colorful clothing after an outing at Terry Hills Golf Course. But deputies say he was intoxicated.
Via Wait! Wait!
Stray Thought 0
“Smart TV” is a contradiction in terms.
The Golden Fleecing 0
Excerpt from the transcript:
Exactly. I think in the end, the most crucial decision that Bush made right after 9/11 — and he said it explicitly by the end of September of that year — was we don`t want the American people to sacrifice. You know, maybe longer lines at airport check-in, but that was that. Go to Disney Land, go shopping. And there would be no taxes to pay for what would turn out to be two wars.
I think that injected a cancer into the American political culture just as you were saying. If we don`t pay for wars, why do we have to pay for anything? And I think you see the seeds now of this anti-government movement that`s in some ways paralyzing the country.
See the full contract at C&L.
Stormy Weather (Updated) 0
Mike Gruss, writing in my local rag, points out that the clean-up costs from Irene look to be quite high, despite it’s not having been another Hazel.
He then points out a storm is not an entertainment event and should not be so judged. A nugget:
If it’s on TV, to them, it’s all equal. That’s how Hurricane Irene, despite ruining cherished comic-book collections and newly installed air-conditioning units, became a box-office bust.
Afterthought:
After an informal survey of some of my friends (the persons who showed up an the TWUUG dinner), it appears that the Weather Channel was the primary hyper.
The local media coverage was fairly sane. Some of it was lame, but it wasn’t hysterical.
Addendum, Later that Same Day:
The Feral Genius comments from her post in Connecticut:
(snip)
In conclusion: despite the catastrophe unfolding in Vermont, the millions still without power on the East Coast, the dozens dead and all the other damage caused by Hurricane Irene, I personally suffered none of the ill effects the media warned me about. Thus, this was a minor fizzled-out nothing of a storm, and the warnings about it mere hype and bullshit. ’Cuz it’s all about me. Only me.
Fundamentally Arrogant 0
Charles Madigan muses on punishments from God at the Chicago Trib. In the process, he encapsulates much that is wrong with the religious (sic) right.
A nugget (emphasis added).
Plates shifting, as plates have always been shifting. That’s what earthquakes are all about.
I think it is blasphemous to suggest we can know the mind of God, or even to assume that whatever God is, it is all about us. I am quite certain that God does not punish evil here on Earth because there is so much of it that goes unpunished, so much of it that is rewarded, in fact.
QOTD 0
George Chapman, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
And let a scholar all earth’s volumes carry, he will be but a walking dictionary: a mere articulate clock.
Dustbiters 0
One would expect that, sooner or later, the FDIC would run out of banks to close.
Looks like later.
Surrounded by Enemies 2
Peter Bergman discusses the Republican fascination with enemies on EYKW.
It’s less than 12 minutes. Listen (NSFW).
He’s more optimistic than I.
Chauncey de Vega Interviews “Whiteness” (Updated and Kicked to the Top) 2
The WARN interview. Just go read it.
An Exclusive Interview with “Whiteness,” Senior Adviser to the Tea Party GOP and Governor Rick Perry
Addendum, the Next Day:
Lawyers, Guns, and Money recalls when a court decreed that Finns were white:
(snip)
This is from the 1908 court decision deciding that, in fact, Finns are white.
The excerpt from the 1908 court ruling is silly and sad at the same time.
Via Atrios.
Afterthought:
Over the years, there have been many attempts to prove the existence of “race” with “science.” Every one has been shown to be bunk.
But bigotry sure does.
The Republican War on Science 0
God forbid that schools teach stuff.