Thursday, December 31, 2009
Fact Checking Cheney
Rachel Maddow should win an Oscar, a Tony, a Pulitzer, and an Oscar for this brilliant piece of journalism.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Gotta admire right wingers
Remember when they tore into Bush for being on vacation when 9/11 happened? And for being on vacation when the shoe-bomber happened? And how livid they were at Bush for taking 6 days to comment on the shoe-bomber attack?
He was their guy but that didn't stop them from calling him on these slip ups.
Oh wait... that didn't happen, did it?
He was their guy but that didn't stop them from calling him on these slip ups.
Oh wait... that didn't happen, did it?
Move Your Money
Fed up with the big banks and how they have fucked us over, time and time again, with the help of politicians from both parties, including the current administration? Fight back -- move your money.
Find out more about Move Your Money, and go visit moveyourmoney.info
Find out more about Move Your Money, and go visit moveyourmoney.info
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
About unity and bipartisanship
About one year ago, Bill in Portland Maine made this prediction:
My concern with Obama during the primaries was his call for bipartisanship. I didn't trust it then, I don't trust it now. It's like saying we can negotiate with terrorists. His reluctance to play hard-ball, not only with Republicans but conservative Democrats, weakened the stimulus bills and is primarily responsible for a weaker health care bill.
Despite the mess he inherited from Bush, and because of his "can we all get along attitude," Democrats have been on the defensive, and Republicans on the offense, instead of the other way around.
It's not that the intention isn't noble -- it is -- and I believe this president knows well enough that today's Republican party isn't interested in governance. I just don't think that president Obama and the Democratic leadership have the right strategy to take advantage of that, both legislatively and politically.
And here I'll make my first prediction for 2009: President-elect Obama's grand vision for unity and bipartisanship will run into a buzzsaw, even as America's collapse worsens. The scorched-earth Republicans simply can't help themselves. To them carnage and destruction are just part of their master plan. Collateral damage on a wide scale is of little consequence as long as their country clubs don’t double-book their tee times.Spot on!
My concern with Obama during the primaries was his call for bipartisanship. I didn't trust it then, I don't trust it now. It's like saying we can negotiate with terrorists. His reluctance to play hard-ball, not only with Republicans but conservative Democrats, weakened the stimulus bills and is primarily responsible for a weaker health care bill.
Despite the mess he inherited from Bush, and because of his "can we all get along attitude," Democrats have been on the defensive, and Republicans on the offense, instead of the other way around.
It's not that the intention isn't noble -- it is -- and I believe this president knows well enough that today's Republican party isn't interested in governance. I just don't think that president Obama and the Democratic leadership have the right strategy to take advantage of that, both legislatively and politically.
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Decade of Zero
Paul Krugman calls it "The Big Zero." A decade that gave us nothing good.
Fasten your seat belts.
But from an economic point of view, I’d suggest that we call the decade past the Big Zero. It was a decade in which nothing good happened, and none of the optimistic things we were supposed to believe turned out to be true.And sadly, many of the people who contributed to this nothing (Summers, Geithner, Bernanke, etc.) are in power now, and advocating much of the same nonsense that brought us to where we are. And a whole political party is grounded on the ideas that sunk us.
Fasten your seat belts.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Before you panic about terrorist attacks
Nate Silver crushes the numbers:
Over the past decade, according to BTS, there have been 99,320,309 commercial airline departures that either originated or landed within the United States...Nate provides further details here.
There were a total of 674 passengers, not counting crew or the terrorists themselves, on the flights on which these incidents occurred. By contrast, there have been 7,015,630,000 passenger enplanements over the past decade. Therefore, the odds of being on given departure which is the subject of a terrorist incident have been 1 in 10,408,947 over the past decade. By contrast, the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are about 1 in 500,000. This means that you could board 20 flights per year and still be less likely to be the subject of an attempted terrorist attack than to be struck by lightning.
If Bush were still in office...
... we'd be laying the ground work to accuse Yemen of having weapons of mass destruction.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Debate on the left
It's great to see the debate on the left about the health care reform bills. This "do not follow the heard" mentality is one of the wonderful aspects of being a liberal. But I worry when it goes so far as to run the risk of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
During the entire debate, I have no heard a single idea that would remove from the Senate the likes of Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman, Ken Conrad, and others of their ilk. And as long as they're there, there's no point in starting over -- we'd only wind up in the same place we are today, minus the lost time.
During the entire debate, I have no heard a single idea that would remove from the Senate the likes of Ben Nelson, Joe Lieberman, Ken Conrad, and others of their ilk. And as long as they're there, there's no point in starting over -- we'd only wind up in the same place we are today, minus the lost time.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas and more
I wish to all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. And in addition to peace on earth and all that good stuff, I wish affordable health insurance and cleaner air from renewable resources to all.
Historic
Kevin Drum on the prospect a health care bill becoming law:
A trillion dollars in benefit for low and middle income workers. 95% of Americans insured. Medical bankruptcies on the verge of disappearing. And for the first time ever, an acknowledgement that decent healthcare ought to be universal in the United States. This is historic.I call it a good step in the right direction.
Health Care and Christmas
Republicans are doing again what they do so well -- talking in slogans. And Christmas is a great excuse to tie their "love" for Jesus with Jesus's desire to let people die and go bankrupt.
Today on the floor, Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) said that Americans would be getting “a lump of coal” this Christmas.And some conservatives are so mad they are taking down their Christmas trees and ornaments.
today on C-SPAN, a caller — “Bunny” from Kansas — was so upset over the health care bill’s passage that she said she would be taking down all her Christmas decorations. “I have taken my Christmas wreath off my house. I have taken all the lights down,” she said. “This is supposed to be a nation under God, and it isn’t. They absolutely have ruined Christmas.”Poor Bunny. Losing sucks.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Impeach Obama
He accepted the Nobel prize. He should be impeached.
"Huh?" you say.
Yeah, he violated the constitution. WorldNetDaily tells me so:
"Huh?" you say.
Yeah, he violated the constitution. WorldNetDaily tells me so:
My concern about Barack Obama's acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize is that it was patently unconstitutional.
I guess that should surprise no one given Obama's penchant for unconstitutional activity.
Yet, this one is flagrant, personal and, worst of all, petty.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Good luck, Mr. Griffith
Parker Griffith, a Democratic congressman from Alabama announced that he's leaving the Democratic party to join the Republican party. This makes a lot of sense for two reasons: 1) only 37% of his district voted for Obama; 2) he has basically voted against all major Democratic initiatives.
But, there's a wrinkle for mister Griffith. It appears the Republican party is not going to be so welcoming. Red State and the Club for Growth have indicated they will support a "true Republican" in the primaries to run against mister Griffith.
Also, we have this interesting tidbit, which I'm sure will be used against him at some point:
Here are the videos used against him when he was running as a Democrat:
But, there's a wrinkle for mister Griffith. It appears the Republican party is not going to be so welcoming. Red State and the Club for Growth have indicated they will support a "true Republican" in the primaries to run against mister Griffith.
Also, we have this interesting tidbit, which I'm sure will be used against him at some point:
ABC News' Jake Tapper tweeted that an old NRCC attack against Griffith that called him a "shameful" doctor for "warehousing cancer patients" to "make more profits" has been removed from YouTube.
Here are the videos used against him when he was running as a Democrat:
Eugene Robinson: Seize the moment
Eugene Robinson's OpEd piece on the health care reform bill is pure gold. Read it.
... No longer will it be the policy and practice of our nation to ration health according to wealth.
... once the idea of universal health care is signed into law, it will be all but impossible to erase.
... For anyone who believes it is shameful that the richest, most powerful nation in the world cares so little about the health and welfare of its citizens, this is the moment. It should be seized, not squandered.
... We have a system now in which Americans go bankrupt trying to pay doctors and hospitals to keep them alive. When you have the opportunity to change this, you take it -- even if it means winning ugly.
Monday, December 21, 2009
I would be so proud...
Kill-billers and teabaggers
I was away for about one week and am back to say that lefties who want to kill the health insurance reform bill are beginning to sound like teabaggers.
Even a one page bill would be an improvement over the health insurance status quo. Anything we get, considering the filibuster rule and the Democratic big tent, is an accomplishment worth bragging about.
Pass the damned thing now and improve it later.
Even a one page bill would be an improvement over the health insurance status quo. Anything we get, considering the filibuster rule and the Democratic big tent, is an accomplishment worth bragging about.
Pass the damned thing now and improve it later.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
30. Not 29, not 31
Someone noticed that it's quite uncanny how often the number of times US carries out strikes against the enemy a the report says that we killed 30 members of the opposition, with qualifiers such as "about," "more than," "close to." Not 29, not 31, not any other number. 30. See details here.
What's so magical about that number? Sounds fishy and gimmicky.
Why would anyone take these reports seriously anyway? After all, it's war reporting.
What's so magical about that number? Sounds fishy and gimmicky.
Why would anyone take these reports seriously anyway? After all, it's war reporting.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Out of their hole
So the 10 Democratic Senators charged with forging a compromise health care reform bill came out of their hole last night. Does anyone know if it means 6 more decades of winter at the mercy of insurance companies, or will we make some strides towards improved health care and another step towards a single-payer system?
We shall see. Meanwhile, we wait for the CBO scoring of the bill.
We shall see. Meanwhile, we wait for the CBO scoring of the bill.
OK, Mike, ball's in your court
Sarah Palin on Mike Huckabee granting clemency to the man who killed four cops:
“It’s absolutely tragic and just unfathomable what has happened there, and I do feel bad for Huckabee,” Palin said. “But it was a horrible decision that he made.”
As governor of Alaska, she said she had never been in the position of having to grant a prisoner clemency, adding that “most Alaskans know me well enough to know that I don’t have a whole lot of mercy for the bad guys.”
“I’m on the good guys’s side,” she said. “I’m all about redemption and recovery and reform and all that. But I will always error on the side of punishing even stricter, even harder on the bad guys.”
Um... count to ten, Mike. Now... go!
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Action needed, now more than ever
56 newspapers in 45 countries sound alarm bells:
Unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet, and with it our prosperity and security. The dangers have been becoming apparent for a generation. Now the facts have started to speak: 11 of the past 14 years have been the warmest on record, the Arctic ice-cap is melting and last year's inflamed oil and food prices provide a foretaste of future havoc. In scientific journals the question is no longer whether humans are to blame, but how little time we have got left to limit the damage. Yet so far the world's response has been feeble and half-hearted.We really are at the mercy of people of good will.
Monday, December 07, 2009
Fake bags
It has puzzled me for a long time why the makers of fancy expensive bags don't go after the sale of fakes. Walking down Canal St. in New York City, it's easy to see how these fake bags, and other fake products, are sold openly.
Well, if Kevin Drum's reasoning makes sense -- and it does to me -- it explains why famous makers of bags and other luxury items turn a blind eye to the sale of fakes:
Well, if Kevin Drum's reasoning makes sense -- and it does to me -- it explains why famous makers of bags and other luxury items turn a blind eye to the sale of fakes:
Think about the kind of person who buys a fake Gucci bag. It's probably somebody who really likes the idea of owning a Gucci bag and would buy one if she had the money. But she doesn't, so she buys a fake at a purse party. And she likes it! She especially likes the fact that other people think she owns an expensive bag. Still, it gnaws at her. When people ask if it's Gucci, she has to lie, and she doesn't really like that. What's more, the longer she owns the fake, the more she understands the subtle differences that identify the real thing. Eventually she realizes it's possible that really sophisticated people — i.e., the very people she most wants to impress — can tell it's a fake immediately and are laughing at her behind her back. That makes her nervous. But she's really gotten attached to Gucci during the time she's carried around the fake. So she starts saving her money. Or maybe she gets a raise. Or something. And then she goes off and buys a real Gucci, one that not only looks good, but that she can take out in public without feeling nervous that someone will find her out.
That's not everyone, of course. There are also people who just flatly can't afford a real Gucci and never will. But in those cases Gucci isn't losing anything when they buy a fake.
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Palin-like Prose
Slate asked it's readers to submit paragraphs written Sarah Palin style. Here's one of the runner-up entries:
"It was only then, after I had removed the saddle from the moose, that I noticed the sweet sound of the warblers singing while perched on the fence post reminding me that unlike New York, Wasilla would always have my heart which not only pumps red, but also white and blue."Fun reading. :)
Friday, December 04, 2009
Harry Poter and the Health Care Reform Bill
In the land of fascist right wingers, much is made about the number of pages in the Health Care Reform bill. Senator Whitehouse made a good point:
it has fewer words than a Harry Potter novel! I don’t think it is too much to expect that members of the Senate should be prepared to leaf through the equivalent of a Harry Potter novel when they are embarked as on as a significant of an effort as we are in reforming the health care system.Seriously, if 10-year-olds can read a novel, the least we should expect from US Senators is that they read the damn bill without complaining.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
War dates
Every time there's talk about setting some kind of date for some war activity, the fascist right wingers go bonkers, claiming that giving away such dates helps the enemy. Does it really?
I have zero military training, so maybe I'm wrong, but if I were a military planner at war with someone, would I believe anything they say? I don't think so. Heck, I don't think there's an American who would say he or she would be surprised if the president shifted whatever date he mentioned. If we don't believe it, how could any enemy who has two brain cells to rub together?
I have zero military training, so maybe I'm wrong, but if I were a military planner at war with someone, would I believe anything they say? I don't think so. Heck, I don't think there's an American who would say he or she would be surprised if the president shifted whatever date he mentioned. If we don't believe it, how could any enemy who has two brain cells to rub together?
Charlize
Gotta love a woman with this sense of humor:
OSCAR award-winning South African actress Charlize Theron, 34, put up another good performance when she pulled “Ireland” during a rehearsal for the World Cup draw.And she ain't bad looking either:
The actress was pulling Fifa’s leg over Ireland’s failed bid to become the 33rd team at the 32-nation Cup.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Be good for goodness sake
Social Norms
White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag argued that a fine for those who don't get health insurance will work, not depending on the amount of the fine, but more so because being covered will become a social norm:
And so it will be with mandated health care insurance.
The seatbelt example is a good one. Even if they dropped all laws requiring it, I just can't imagine being in a car without a seatbelt on. We also see this with cigarette smoking. While it's against the law to smoke in certain public places, I now see lots of people outside of my apartment building standing around smoking. Even smoking at home has become more undesirable.As an example, Orszag cited seatbelt use, saying that there is more adherence to seatbelt laws than speeding laws because of social norms.
Orszag argued that if someone got in a car and driver was a bit over the speed limit they wouldn't complain, but a person would say something if the driver weren't wearing a seatbelt.
And so it will be with mandated health care insurance.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Bush: Osama's best friend
Bush allowing Osama to escape to justify Iraq and keep the war going through the 2004 election is news how? It has been clear for years.
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) claimed on MSNBC this afternoon that the Bush administration purposely let Osama bin Laden get away in 2001 so they could use al-Qaeda as an excuse to invade Iraq.
