Bizarro Americano

My web silence was an exercise in self-control. Otherwise I would be screaming and have to be put away in a rubber room. The flap over Park 51 is absolutely one of the most disgusting displays of bigotry in a year filled with them. I was waiting when the Republicans could come up with some patriotic kitsch to accuse Democrats of being un-patriotic. Karl Rove this morning went on television saying that President Obama hurt America's image abroad by endorsing the Muslim community center. I think sanctioning torture may have a more negative effect on our image than our President defending the Constitution of the United States and freedom of religion.

The reader would do well to read the New York Times coverage of the original project and the overwhelming response in Manhattan when it was proposed in December and the enthusiasm for the center's imam, who is a sufi. Yesterday, Fox news' radical Muslim cleric, the new Jeremiah Wright, was exposed by Huffington Post as an adviser to the FBI on counter-terrorism. But it doesn't matter. Senator Cornyn sent out a stream of e-mails from the National Republican Senate Committee asking voters to demand the position of the mosque from each Democratic candidate in the toss-up Senate races. Officially,the so-called mosque is now an wedge issue. Rep. King of New York had previously said immigration would be the wedge issue. But it looks like they have found one with more emotive punch. And it doesn't matter if you rationally dissect the whole argument.

It's important to see the logic of this episode for what it reveals about what we have come from during the Bush era. The "un-patriotic" position is to defend the constitution and the right of freedom to worship, the patriotic position is to ignore and violate the constitution for the nation's good. We barely lived through eight years of that nonsense but the "mosque" episode shows how in-grained this mentality is among conservatives. If we are to be "sensitive" to the feelings of the 9-11 families, could we at least recognize that 400 of the 3,300+ who died that day were Muslims.

Taking that logic further, Greta Van Cistern suggested that Glenn Beck should change the venue of "Restore His Honor" rally from the Lincoln Memorial where Dr. King gave his "Dream" speech to somewhere else because it offends "some people"--like me. And what about all those confederate memorials, when my family lost half its males in the Civil War. On the John Stewart Show, they came up with another logical consequence of this attitude. Catholic Churches have the right to build churches near grammar schools but should they, given recent scandals?

Hitler fan, Pat Buchanan actually acted as a voice of reason by saying that Newt Gingrich had gone too far about likening the community center to Nazis putting up signs near the Holocaust Museum or the Japanese putting up a Shinto temple near Pearl Harbor. Pat explained this as Newt having to ramp up the rhetoric because he is aiming at the same base as Sarah Palin in 2012. Mike Barnacle called Newt a political arsonist. Former Bush appointees and Republican Muslim-Americans appeared to express horror at the whole firestorm and say that there were no adults left in the Republican Party. Many of the orginal critics started pulling back saying they were for the right of Muslims to worship but they don't have to exercise that right. And now it really are the Democrats who have the problem because they are wishy-washy compared to the strong "real Americans".

Meanwhile in Texas, the courts ruled that a Sikh Temple, which had just been built, had to be destroyed because it offended wealthy suburbanites who worried their property values would be depressed. You might recall shortly after 9-11 Texans took to killing Sikhs because they thought they were Muslims. The Sikhs had to take to the airwaves to explain their religion and how they were not "them". I can't wait what will happen when the revised Texas school books go into effect.

The Queen of the Birthers, Orly Taitz lost her Supreme Court case. She had appealed her fine for wasting the court's time. First she tried teabag friendly Clarence "Chuckles" Thomas who turned her down. She then sought to authenticate his signature. Then she sought Judge Alito, who referred her request to the whole Supreme Court. Its ruling means that she can't pester them again.

In positive news, Rod the Blago was only convicted on one count in his corruption case. I know he's a scoundrel but he's entertaining in his ineptitude. The one count is something that has bugged me about federal cases for some time. Rod was convicted of "lying to the FBI". If you listened to his press statement, he said that he told the FBI agent he wanted a court stenographer to record the interview and the FBI refused. I am sure some lawyer will tell me why lying to the FBI when you are not under oath or charged with anything is a crime. But what about the law against self-incrimination?

The judge ruled a mistrial on the remaining charges. Now that Rod is broke, Illinois taxpayers will have to foot his defense bill. The prosecutors argued that just because Rod was inept and could not pull his pay-to-play off still is a crime. I can understand why a juror might have a tough time finding guilt if a crime wasn't pulled off. Rod was lucky he got a jury trial because they represent only 1% of all federal trials. Former Supreme Court Justice Reinhquist warned the American legal profession that this trend was seriously threatening the right in America of a trial by jury. The primary reason for this is that defendents can not afford a defense and often the feds use Rico Laws to seize one's assets before any guilty pleas. In this case, the prosecution wanted to seize Rod's house.

The Ninth Circuit Court granted a stay on the Prop 8 ruling until the appeal is heard. The first and most important thing is that they granted a stay but did not discuss at all the reasons for it. The Prop 8 proponents argued that the gay couples, who brought the constitutional challenge, would not be harmed by a stay because they didn't plan to get married that week anyway. The good news is that the Ninth Circuit wants the case resolved quickly and adjusted their calender from December to September to begin hearings. Lastly, they requested Prop 8 proponents to show why this case should not be dismissed for lack of standing. Judge Vaughn Walker has already argued that they would not have standing in this case. A law professor wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the anti-gay crowd may be hoisted by the conservative petard because courts have severely restricted who has standing in various cases from environmental policy through other general interest cases. In this case, the Ninth Circuit has assigned a Merits Committee to rule on standing by December 6.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the longest serving independent member of Congress in American history, has endorsed the McColm Social Security plan of ending the cap on the FICA tax. Sanders wrote an op-ed calling out all those claiming Social Security is going bankrupt and pointing out what everyone has been saying that it can pay out every dime to people through 2039 and then it could only pay out 78% of the benefits owed. With the end of the cap on the tax, it would last an additional 75 years into the 22nd century.

Poor Paul Krugman, a Nobel prize winning economist, has to do battle with the Social Security crowd. His op-ed in the New York Times barely contained his annoyance with the stupidity of those arguing for a cut in benefits and an extension in age. This time Bernie Sanders sounded more professorial. Krugman does make the point that demographics may mean that the 2039 date for the trust fund may never come. It's just a hypothetical that economists believe may not be real.

Whoops. The Roper poll paid by AARP showed that 85% of adults oppose cutting Social Security to reduce the deficit and 72% "strongly oppose". Two-Thirds say their family would be hit hard if Social Security were cut. 80% say that Social Security alleviates the financial burden of taking care of parents. What's interesting is that the poll found that only 21% knew that if the Trust Fund were exhausted that Social Security would still pay only slightly reduced benefits.

The Roper Poll found that half of all non-retired adults would be willing to pay higher payroll taxes and 57% of those under 50 would be willing to pay such a tax so that Social Security would be there for them.

I awoke this morning to see a Christian television network broadcast a presentation by a white male in his 30s about why Democracy as an experiment was doomed to fail. This character explained that everyone could vote--that was the problem. The informed and the ill-informed. The informed ,according to him, were those who understood "the authentic common good", who had the long term interests of the civilization in mind. These people voted pro-life, anti-gay marriage and for God's laws. The uniformed voted for abortion on demand so they could have endless sex without consequences and the self-gratification of same sex relations. These uninformed were all narcissistic, showing the fallen nature of mankind. By voting in this manner, they were destroying civilization.

The only solution for this white male was a "benevolent dictatorship", which would enforce Christian values and prevent human beings from falling into self-destructive behavior. America was a good experiment but it was doomed to fail because of its sinfulness. This new form of government would preserve civilization from the "barbarians" like the Christian kingdoms of Europe in the Middle Ages. The only citizens with rights would be God's people. I wonder who makes that decision. It reminds me more Salazar in Portugal than Franco in Spain. This new ideal. I want to create a theocracy under the rule of the spaghetti monster. Frankly, I have never heard such alarming nonsense said in a matter-of-fact way even on the most extreme websites.

To lighten the mood, I have been listening to Brian Wilson's "Re-imaging Gershwin". Some cuts are great and others tend to spoil the Gershwin with Beach Boy production values.