First Looks category archive

Steve has a truth theory. I urge you to read the whole post–he covers a lot more ground than this excerpt indicates:

One must question the lack of substantive action on the part of the Bush administration with regard to tainted toys from China…toys that are often manufactured in China by large corporations seeking cheap labor and higher profits. If we’re willing to make the argument that it is prudent to prevent ill Americans from obtaining Canadian medications that are arguably safe and beneficial, then why aren’t we also acting forcefully and preemptively to protect healthy American children and prevent them from obtaining unsafe toys manufactured in China?

I’ll answer my own question. We do so because the Bush administration places more weight upon cozying up to corporate interests and protecting their profits than he does upon looking out for the welfare of American citizens. Should the two concerns intersect, all the better; should they not, then we apparently turn a blind eye to danger.

There was a small furor over a planted question at the Democratic candidates’ debate last week.

(Full disclosure: I avoid the debates, whether in primaries or general elections because I think they are more of a waste of time than Windows solitare.)

Susie has more.

Tbogg:

Repeat after me: George Bush is not America.

Back story.

The Bushie cast-offs.

(Oh, yeah, and listen to lots of NPR.)

Not much posting lately. Real life has sort of intervened. In the mean time, I’ve been learning about my new phone.

I think it’s all set up.

I’ve added this, and this, and this.

Oh, yeah, and some proper wall paper.

This has been another edition of What Digby Said.

Before he makes another hilarious phone call.

Details here.

An Abyssinian cat from Missouri, named Cinnamon, has just made scientific history. Researchers have largely decoded her DNA, a step that may aid the search for treatments for both feline and human diseases.

Bet they still can’t tell us what’s going in that furry little mind.

Some thoughts from the Demon Princess(emphasis added):

Once upon a time long ago, I was visiting Western Germany, & one of my hosts asked me (an Irishwoman, & in all sincerity), “What is the difference between your liberals & your conservatives in America?” I had to admit then, “Not much,” with a laugh, but that was some time ago, & I no longer think it’s a wryly amusing matter.

The question was prescient.

In fact, I now think that our complacence as liberals & our willingness to tolerate the pernicious effect of corporate money in politix as well as our inattention to other matters such as how easy it is otherwise to jerry-rig voting machines, & to jerrymander voting districts, has come back to bite our asses, big time.

Worse, & I hate to even think it, much less say it out loud ~ our high level of tolerance & blind adherence to 18th Century Enlightenment principles, based on calm, rational discussion & belief that if we provide a “marketplace of ideas” and conduct ourselves appropriately, “the truth will out,” and a sort of rational sanity will prevail.

That was before the Neocons snuck up on us, consolidating their power slowly, & now, in the full flower of the Bush years, our own liberal brand of tolerance has allowed the rabid neo-cons to storm us like the radical bunch of Berserkers they are, hell bent on undermining every legal underpinning of democracy here at home and wreaking untold havoc on the rest of the world.

The problem is that the “marketplace of ideas” paradigm only functions well where accurate information is shared in transparent fashion. We’re fed only propaganda, shallow jingoism, lies, distortions & cover-ups, & it’s getting mighty hard to defend our core principles in the face of all that noise.

Tomorrow, Tangier Restaurant, 18th and Lombard, Center City Philadelphia. Good food, good companionship, and it isn’t always all about politics.

I’ll be visiting a sick friend, but you can be there.

As a Southerner, I know the mixed feelings about the Confederate battle ensign.

But, nonetheless, I also know what it means to most of the world.

Indeed, my brother summed that up in a quotation in this post.

So, as far as I am concerned, when Cheney’s cronies fly the Stars and Bars, it sends a message.

Or, probably more likely, it tells a truth.

I don’t care how many times I see one of these fly over, it’s still as impressive as the first time.

(Warning, check your volume before clicking the link.)

Golly gosh gee, Batman, you can’t believe every email you receive.

Even if it does seem to make sense.

A while ago, I explained how contemporary conservatism is morally and politically bankrupt.

To summarize, it’s bankrupt because it doesn’t work at providing compentent governance; it just makes the rich, richer and the poor, poorer.

But, of course, that’s what it’s for.

Tim F. expands on the idea (while also taking a few well-earned swings at liberalism) at Balloon Juice.

Persons who act in your and my name betray American values.

ASZ.

IEDs via Phillybits.

It ain’t always what you expect.

Andrew Cohen on corporate law-breakers (emphasis added):

An immunity-for-intelligence quid pro quo is “unacceptable,” said Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking Republican Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). Meanwhile, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is a member of both committees, told The Post that briefings he received from his Intelligence Committee aide, who had reviewed the documents extensively, suggested that the surveillance program is illegal. “It[‘s] an executive power grab that is not justified by the statute or by the Constitution,” Feingold said.

Lawmakers must ensure that their new surveillance bill has better judicial and congressional oversight than the previous version. They should also consider whether there is a compelling reason to protect the assets of big corporations at the expense of individual privacy. This story, though, is rapidly becoming a symbol for all that is wrong with the legal war on terror.

Looming Out of the Fog That Same Evening:

Glenn Greenwald, via Atrios.

The introduction to the World Series, with silly actors in stupid scenes spliced into cuts of real ball players doing real things, is one of the most painful piles of pitiful perflufful I’ve ever seen.

But it is typical of an organization that likes to Make Stuff Up.