Arizona's ethnic cleansing continues apace. The Los Angeles Times reports that Latino merchants are fleeing the state in droves for fear of the new immigration law. See undocumented aliens tend to buy things from Latino merchants and the shop-owners don't want the police snooping around. Rage Against the Machine is holding an LA-based concert to encourage the boycott of Arizona. Local rock bands in Pheonix think that it might be better for bands to come to the state and openly protest the law. All in all, the tourist business is evaporating much like it did during the boycott over Arizona's refusal during the 1990s not to honor Martin Luther King Day. That boycott cost the state hundreds of millions in revenue. It's likely this one will be even more costly.
Local Arizona television stations are beginning to investigate the assertions of Gov. Jan Brewer about the problem itself and have found almost everything she has said is flat out wrong. She refuses to comment on camera about these little discrepancies. One fine piece of reporting discovered that one group will profit handsomely by the law--the Corrections Corporation, which runs private prisons and detention centers for illegals. They apparently are paid over a $140 million a year for their services in Arizona alone.And the catchy thing about the new law--which its proponents will not tell you is that it ensures undocumented workers will stay longer in the States, even if detained. So who benefits--the chief of staff of the Governor,who was an employee of Corrections Corporation, and his wife, who is a lobbyist for the company, as well as a senior policy aide, who also was an employee of the company. We don't know whether Gov. Brewer herself is on the take for this deal. So rather than run a nice tourist resort or hotel, it's more profitable for you to run a prison for undocumented illegals--a new boom business in the state.
It seems John McCain keeps tripping over himself with his embrace of the Arizona state law. It seems his sheriff for that "Danged Fence" not only appeared willingly on a white power radio station. But he even said that the only politician who really interested him was David Duke. You'll recall I wrote that the real sheriff from the area of the fence was an Hispanic-American who thought the whole thing was ridiculous. The A3P, the new white power group based in California, has donated to the Arizona state legal defense fund to pay to defense the state against all the lawsuits.
So how does one of the chief inspirations for the teabaggers, George Washington, feel about immigration? After all if you are a conservative constitutionalist, you must obey the Founding Fathers. This Founding Fathers thing is not turning out very well for the teabaggers. Washington said," The bosom of America is open to receive not only the opulent and respectable stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all nations and religions; whom we shall welcome to a participation of all our rights and privileges..."
Having come from undocumented aliens, it seems to me that white Americans need to be a little humble about this subject. Even the native Americans came from across the Bering Straits so none of us are "from here". Do undocumented immigrants create more crime? Actually, the statistics show they create less for the obvious reason they fear deportation. Do the undocumented take more of our medical services as was argued by the Right during the healthcare debate? A Kaiser Permanente study actually showed that white Americans go to the Emergency Room 20%, while undocumented immigrants represent 13%. Do undocumented immigrants take away from American jobs? Actually the CATO Institute did two studies that show just the opposite--undocumented immigrants add to the economy and their presence in the United States creates jobs. The last Administration had the US Government conduct similar studies, which showed the undocumented immigrants are overall an economic boon to the country. Will the fence stop the traffic of undoumented workers? Apparently, there are studies that show it won't and that politicians even argue it's merely symbolic.
For a very nice essay on all this, read Jorge Ramos' A Country for All:An Immigrant Manifesto (Vintage, May 2010,153 pages). Mr. Ramos, a journalist for Univision, makes the above points but with much more detailed data. After you read Mr. Ramos' essay, you realize that the great immigration problem is totally manufactured--then and now. While he won't say it, it's all about race and ethnicity and has been since the 1920s, when we really started controlling immigration.
America first tried to restrict immigration with the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which was meant to curtail the Chinese population in California and the Western states. It coincided with the Gold Rush and the flood of Easterners trying to settle in California. And then America didn't return to the issue until 1921 with the Quota Law,which placed numeric limits on immigrants from certain countries and was heavily influenced by the racial studies being done by American groups, who advocated the intellectual superiority of certain groups over others. Then, inspired by JFK, there was the Immigration Act of 1965, which opened the door to immigrants from all over the world. For the last three decades, various groups such as the National Academy of Sciences and the Rand Corporation have done countless studies, which show the immigrant--legal or undocumented--contribute more to our society than they take away. In fact, one study showed that when the Immigration Act of 1986 was passed, that it was the tax revenues from immigrants that stabilized the economy during that time of deep recession.
If you were a member of my political party, The Pragmatist Party, you would legalize the undocumented and call it a day. Instead, we have proposals for immigration reform ,which will be a nightmare for undocumented immigrants already here. They will have to wait 13 years before they can become citizens. And the fence will be created to the tune of about $15 billion and will only interrupt the migration of animals and probably bring a few to the brink of extinction. And all this is if immigration reform passes. If it doesn't, we will see more nativism and racism against Latinos and the deportations will accelerate as they have been durng the Obama Administration.
Of course, you could adopt the Rush Limbaugh solution of shipping all undocumented back to their countries. The Pew Foundation estimates there are 12 million undocumented here. Homeland Security says 10.5 million. These could all be rounded up in the public view of the world and interned in the Glenn Beck FEMA camps and then flown back to their countries. While our own self-image as a nation of immigrants would be destroyed forever and we would have put the final kinife into out world image, at least this program would serve as an economic stimulus for our airlines and as a side benefit then the rest of us could get meals and free baggage again.
So let's check off the Immigration issue as another thng that doesn't concern me. Next issue is Social Security, which is under attack again with the Republicans threatening to raise the retirement age and cut benefits in the holy name of the national debt. The Social Security has literally nothing to do with the national debt. Harry Reid talked at the Netroots Nation conference that he had just received two reports on the state of social security. Both concluded Social Security will pay full benefits until I am 100--not 86 as I wrote before--and then would pay off about 80% benefits after that for about a period of 10-15 years and then to 60%--all this if we do nothing. There is virtually no compelling reason to raise the retirement age to 70, especially if you have any consideration of blue collar workers, which apparently we do not. So anyone telling you Social Security is in trouble, they are simply lying to you. Even my ideas of raising the FICA limit, which I think would be a good idea, was based on me being deluded into actually thinking there was a problem and I am marinated in politics. What is happening to the rest of Americans.
My last note for today concerns the troubling appearance in the teabagger movement of anti-semiticism. We already know about the racism and nativism but I hadn't seen any overt signs of anti-semiticism, although that is part and parcel of the white supremacist groups who have infiltrated the movement. Throughout the Midwest teabaggers are circulated a DVD, which purports to demonstrate that President Obama is in league with the Rothschilds to control the United States and turn it into a socialist country. My gut instinct is that this is the work of the LaRochites who have been trying to play the teabaggers. The motif is as old as the Third Reich. The Rothschilds were said by Hitler to be the ringleaders of the Jewish conspiracy to control the world's economy. Now the threat to the United States is President Obama and Jewish bankers. Sort of like Jewsvelt or Ike the Kike--highlights from our own sordid history of anti-semiticism. Why I flag this is that Countdown ran the results of a survey given GI's in World War II, which revealed an immense amount of anti-semiticism in our armed forces at that time. Then I discovered the appearance of this DVD, which shows the disease is never dead. As one survivor of the Holocaust commented about the teabaggers "the monster never stays in its grave."
Showing posts with label Arizona Immigration law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arizona Immigration law. Show all posts
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Octopus Picks and Headless Bodies
The Psychic Octopus has made its final picks for the World Cup. Germany will beat Uruguay and Spain wins the whole thing topping the Netherlands. Place your bets. The octopus has never been wrong the whole time. People are so incensed over the creature's predictions it has received death threats.
Speaking of death threats, Dana Milbank ought to be worried about his Washington Post column today joyfully entitled " Headless Bodies and other immigration tall tales from Arizona." Milbank eviscerates Governor Jan Brewer and the immigration hysterics. Besides the fact that everything said by supporters of the Arizona Law is wrong, I guess you just have to get into the mindset to accept such nonsense. General Boykin has. He's on Christian radio stations alerting the country to whole towns in Mexico converting to Islam and secret cells being infiltrated into the United States by smugglers of illegal immigrants. Since President Obama will do nothing about this, the Southern California Christian Militia is calling on fellow militia men to flood the border and in particular patrol the 80 mile stretch from the border to Tucson, which Fox News says Obama seceded to Mexico. This raises the important question,"What gun would Jesus use?"
Governor Brewer, who was chosen by God to be Governor of Arizona, says that law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded. Apparently Daniel Pearl was one of them. Tastless I admit. But apparently, the Arizona Guardian Website checked with medical examiners in all of Arizona's border counties and they had never seen an immigration-related beheading. Well, John McCain says that Phoenix has become the number 2 kidnapping capital in the world and after all he's a war hero. Apparently, that's not true either. Kidnapping reports are going down and almost every other city on planet Earth has a higher rate.
OK, the utter mayhem on the border has just rattled the Arizona politicians so they exaggerate a little bit. I mean the Arizona authorities simply had to take matters into their own hands because President Obama has allowed a porous border to be used by rampaging Mexican Muslims bent on creating death panels and forcing border towns to adopt sharia law. They're picking off law enforcement officers like flies. Well, that's not quite true either. Although less than 25% of deaths are linked to immigrants.
The Arizona Republic conducted a report based on the FBI and local police agencies and found that the crime rate in the border towns was ..well.. pretty much the same for the last decade. In 2000, for instance, there were 23 rapes, robberies and murders in Nogales, Arizona. After a decade of population growth, there were 19 such crimes. The Pima County sheriff forgot to get the memo. He says "the border has never been more secure." But Vietnam war hero and POW John McCain says the violence simply is the worst he has ever seen even during bombing raids over Vietnam. The horror is such his whole family are contemplating evacuating at least a dozen of their homes in the state.
The FBI statistics actually show that violent crime rates in all the border states are lower than they were a decade ago. President Obama claimed last week in a moment of delirium that "the southern border is more secure today that any time in the past 20 years." But as Bill O'Reilly said last night President Obama by suing Arizona is waging war of the people of America.
This is an outrage. Governor Brewer claims that the majority of people immigrating illegally "are coming here and they're bringing drugs, and they're doing drop houses and they're extorting people and they're terrorizing families." I guess even the Muslim Mexicans are afraid. It's so bad that the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector has apprehended more than 170,000 undocumented immigrants since October 1, but only about 1,100 drug prosecutions have been filed in the whole state of Arizona in that time. But Bill O'Reilly says that there are over 1,500 violent illegal immigrant felons in jail in Phoenix so I guess the Tucson Border Control missed this. Sarah Palin said that as President she would send as many National Guardsmen to the border as was needed for this national crisis. I'm sure they would be see this as relief from serving several tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It's so bad that these illegals are leeching across borders all the way to Georgia where one legislator claimed yesterday that illegals were costing the state $1 billion a year. Not since the Italians flooded our shores with anarchists has there even been such a crisis. And where is Eric Holder? Well, apparently in the fall, Homeland Security and the FBI busted up a ring of smugglers who were responsible for roughly 80,000 people coming across the border every year. Fox News apparently was busy that day.
Or maybe they were on to an even bigger story--the nation-wide conspiracy of the New Black Panther party to intimidate voters. Not since ACORN managed to put Obama into the White House has something so dastardly been plotted. And President Obama does nothing.
What's a White Boy to Do but Join a Rock and Roll Band. But this might support the secular, socialist government.
Speaking of death threats, Dana Milbank ought to be worried about his Washington Post column today joyfully entitled " Headless Bodies and other immigration tall tales from Arizona." Milbank eviscerates Governor Jan Brewer and the immigration hysterics. Besides the fact that everything said by supporters of the Arizona Law is wrong, I guess you just have to get into the mindset to accept such nonsense. General Boykin has. He's on Christian radio stations alerting the country to whole towns in Mexico converting to Islam and secret cells being infiltrated into the United States by smugglers of illegal immigrants. Since President Obama will do nothing about this, the Southern California Christian Militia is calling on fellow militia men to flood the border and in particular patrol the 80 mile stretch from the border to Tucson, which Fox News says Obama seceded to Mexico. This raises the important question,"What gun would Jesus use?"
Governor Brewer, who was chosen by God to be Governor of Arizona, says that law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded. Apparently Daniel Pearl was one of them. Tastless I admit. But apparently, the Arizona Guardian Website checked with medical examiners in all of Arizona's border counties and they had never seen an immigration-related beheading. Well, John McCain says that Phoenix has become the number 2 kidnapping capital in the world and after all he's a war hero. Apparently, that's not true either. Kidnapping reports are going down and almost every other city on planet Earth has a higher rate.
OK, the utter mayhem on the border has just rattled the Arizona politicians so they exaggerate a little bit. I mean the Arizona authorities simply had to take matters into their own hands because President Obama has allowed a porous border to be used by rampaging Mexican Muslims bent on creating death panels and forcing border towns to adopt sharia law. They're picking off law enforcement officers like flies. Well, that's not quite true either. Although less than 25% of deaths are linked to immigrants.
The Arizona Republic conducted a report based on the FBI and local police agencies and found that the crime rate in the border towns was ..well.. pretty much the same for the last decade. In 2000, for instance, there were 23 rapes, robberies and murders in Nogales, Arizona. After a decade of population growth, there were 19 such crimes. The Pima County sheriff forgot to get the memo. He says "the border has never been more secure." But Vietnam war hero and POW John McCain says the violence simply is the worst he has ever seen even during bombing raids over Vietnam. The horror is such his whole family are contemplating evacuating at least a dozen of their homes in the state.
The FBI statistics actually show that violent crime rates in all the border states are lower than they were a decade ago. President Obama claimed last week in a moment of delirium that "the southern border is more secure today that any time in the past 20 years." But as Bill O'Reilly said last night President Obama by suing Arizona is waging war of the people of America.
This is an outrage. Governor Brewer claims that the majority of people immigrating illegally "are coming here and they're bringing drugs, and they're doing drop houses and they're extorting people and they're terrorizing families." I guess even the Muslim Mexicans are afraid. It's so bad that the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector has apprehended more than 170,000 undocumented immigrants since October 1, but only about 1,100 drug prosecutions have been filed in the whole state of Arizona in that time. But Bill O'Reilly says that there are over 1,500 violent illegal immigrant felons in jail in Phoenix so I guess the Tucson Border Control missed this. Sarah Palin said that as President she would send as many National Guardsmen to the border as was needed for this national crisis. I'm sure they would be see this as relief from serving several tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
It's so bad that these illegals are leeching across borders all the way to Georgia where one legislator claimed yesterday that illegals were costing the state $1 billion a year. Not since the Italians flooded our shores with anarchists has there even been such a crisis. And where is Eric Holder? Well, apparently in the fall, Homeland Security and the FBI busted up a ring of smugglers who were responsible for roughly 80,000 people coming across the border every year. Fox News apparently was busy that day.
Or maybe they were on to an even bigger story--the nation-wide conspiracy of the New Black Panther party to intimidate voters. Not since ACORN managed to put Obama into the White House has something so dastardly been plotted. And President Obama does nothing.
What's a White Boy to Do but Join a Rock and Roll Band. But this might support the secular, socialist government.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Republicans Eat Their Own; Next They'll Eat You
This Sunday we start with President Obama's quoting Thomas Jefferson at this morning's commencement speech at Hampton University in Virginia. "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free,it can expect what never was and never will be."
The Republican caucus' in Utah apparently didn't get the message. Bob Bennett, a sixteen year veteran of the Senate and an eerily consistent conservative, was defeated by the teabaggers and his fellow Senate colleague Jim DeMint, who campaigned against him. Without an effective Democratic Party in the state, we are assured a teabagger Senator. In my view, a larger implication for the Republican Party is that Mitt Romney's presidential bid is DOA. He campaigned among his fellow Mormons for Bennett on the rather rational basis that Bennett actually had some knowledge of economics and had obtained seniority, which would benefit the Mormon Kingdom. With Romney-backed Scott Brown disappointing teabaggers and Romneycare mirroring Obama's program as well as his career as a hedge fund manager, the GOP can not make any mid-course corrections to be anywhere near Romney in terms of economics or policy. His recent disavowals of his past positions will convince noone as his conversion to the anti-abortion position didn't convince evangelicals during the last Presidential primaries. Besides, Mitt Romney is a Mormon, which is considered a cult by fundamentalists.
But Bennett's defeat also highlights the radical turn of the GOP. It can't really be characterized as extreme conservative since the diffuse ideology of the teabaggers is almost anarchism with a theological face. We already saw Arlen Specter drummed out of the GOP by the Club of Growth and Pat Toomey. And in Florida, a decent Govenor Charlie Crist, once considered a candidate for the vice-presidential nomination, has been driven out of the Republican party. In California, both the teabagger and Carly Fiorina are running against another consistent conservative Tom Campbell calling him a "liberal", despite his high rating by the American Conservative Union. John McCain has basically melted down during his primary challenge by J.D. Hayworth, teabagger, birther and friend of Jack Abramoff, trying to out teabag his rival. I also doubt that this will convince anyone. In Kentucky, Mitch McConnell's candidate for the Senate, Trey Grayson, is certain to be defeated by Rand Paul, Ron's son and a candidate recently endorsed by James Dobson, former creator of Focus on the Family. Here again Jim DeMint has supported Paul against his colleague's choice.
While Arizona faces an ever-growing backlash across the country for its Juan Crow law, southern states and GOP candidates for Governor are embracing the law, no matter the future damage done to the Republican Party. Tim James in Alabama, Nathan Deal in Georgia and Andre Bauer in South Carolina are embracing the law and whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment for the Republican primaries. For an excellent analysis of this read Ed Kilgore's piece in www.fivethirtyeight.com . Kilgore points out that Hispanic migration into the southern states, including Virginia, has increased but that Hispanic voters do not represent any key constituency yet. They have grown to only about 6% of the vote in some Southern states. So they are perfect to become another racial whipping boy for the neo-confederates. I believe this accounts for Lindsey Graham's recent retreat on immigration reform.
House Republicans are measuring the drapes and they are rumored to be planning to go bold if they take back the House. Even though John Boehner has a perfect record of voting against everything Barack Obama ever proposed and against anything that could benefit the American people, he will be under enormous pressure from wingnuts like Michelle Bachman, who actually gives voice to the "new republican". In the Senate, I also expect that Jim DeMint will wage a leadership challenge to Mitch McConnell, whether the GOP gains the chamber or not.
Which leaves us Sarah Palin losing thousands of facebook friends because of her endorsement of Carly Fiorina in California instead of DeVore, Jim DeMint and the teabaggers candidate. With Mitt Romney basically neutered by the teabaggers, Palin, whom I still believe is the leading candidate for 2012 despite my other posts contradicting this, faces being drummed out of the teabagger movement. Can she come back after her error? She has endorsed Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and other teabaggers. Or does her deviationist position in California mean she has to be purged from the Politburo?
The implications for the country are nasty. As I've posted before, there seemed to be a 50/50 split between the libertarian faction and the fundamentalist Christian faction of the teabaggers. I think Dobson's embrace of Rand Paul indicates that these two wings are not mutually exclusive. Of course, intellectually there are but not in real life. Sarah Palin's libertarian streak received more attention during the 2008 campaign than her Dominionist religion. Yet as this works its way through our political system, the fundamentalists can live with the total abandonment of public education and the removal of the federal government from any social welfare network. The clash comes over maintaining such a large defense budget and overseas commitments. The war against Islam and total support for a right-wing Israel are critical to the fundamentalists. Since both factions agree with total free market capitalism, the corporate funders of all the astroturf groups behind the Dick Armey teabaggers will be delighted.
Susan Jacoby in her book Freethinkers: The History of Secularism in America warns that the reason Americans don't pay attention to the fundamentalists Christians in politics is because ,by and large, Americans have been conditioned to believe that the influence of religion is almost always benign. She also recalls the moments where religion played a positive role in advancing certain reforms such as the civil rights movement. But she also reminds everyone that the fundamentalist Christians were always for segregation and always against the civil rights movement in all its dimensions. She writes that the huge expansion of the fundamentalists in America started with the civil rights movement and was propelled forward with the pro-choice decision by the Supreme Court and it has not stopped. Finally, they seized control of the Republican party and eventually the White House.
And we also forget that the Libertarians also share many of the same conspiracy theories. Ron Paul for years embraced the John Birch Society and the theories of the New World Order as did Pat Robertson. Pat Robertson had to mute his conspiracy theories because they were so anti-semitic it jeopardized the evangelicals business plans for a Bible theme park in the Sinai. Also remember that Tim LaHaye of the Left Behind series, which plays a major influence among the fundamentalists, was for years a high-ranking official of the John Birch Society.
So where the outsider sees insurmontable philosophical and policy differences, there exists a strong set of commonalities. For conservative pundits and think tanks, there doesn't seem to be anything challenging about this fusion, even though they disdain their roughness and lack of sophistication. They are perceived as useful idiots for the final dismantling of the social welfare system in the United States and the instruments of rolling back any reforms since the New Deal. In my frequent conversations with the remnant of rational conservatives, they still believe there are no enemies on the right. And they will pay a frightful price for this, just before the rest of do.
Progressives are beginning to post blogs advocating adopting some of the teabaggers strategy and technique against incumbent Democrats. Unfortunately where they are mounting primary challenges, the race will favor the Republicans such as in Colorado. While the Democratic Party is a motley crew of factions and interests, it now remains the only modern political force in the country. Fracturing it now would leave the country without any governing force.
I believe the stakes for the country could never be higher. We can debate whether the United States should remain a major power in the world. But the election of libertarian/ findamentalists would ensure--without debate--our certain demise from the world scene. I also feel that the very idea of America--the reason I voted for Obama--would be terminally challenged. And even dismissing these fears, pursuing the lack of economic policies advocated by these people would doom us to the position of a third world country within a very short time. We would be ensured even worse discrepancies in wealth, prolonged and permanent large numbers of unemployed and the final destruction of our public school system, which is being threatened daily as it is. And the chilling fact is that none of this is relevant to the worldview of these people. They simply do not care.
The Republican caucus' in Utah apparently didn't get the message. Bob Bennett, a sixteen year veteran of the Senate and an eerily consistent conservative, was defeated by the teabaggers and his fellow Senate colleague Jim DeMint, who campaigned against him. Without an effective Democratic Party in the state, we are assured a teabagger Senator. In my view, a larger implication for the Republican Party is that Mitt Romney's presidential bid is DOA. He campaigned among his fellow Mormons for Bennett on the rather rational basis that Bennett actually had some knowledge of economics and had obtained seniority, which would benefit the Mormon Kingdom. With Romney-backed Scott Brown disappointing teabaggers and Romneycare mirroring Obama's program as well as his career as a hedge fund manager, the GOP can not make any mid-course corrections to be anywhere near Romney in terms of economics or policy. His recent disavowals of his past positions will convince noone as his conversion to the anti-abortion position didn't convince evangelicals during the last Presidential primaries. Besides, Mitt Romney is a Mormon, which is considered a cult by fundamentalists.
But Bennett's defeat also highlights the radical turn of the GOP. It can't really be characterized as extreme conservative since the diffuse ideology of the teabaggers is almost anarchism with a theological face. We already saw Arlen Specter drummed out of the GOP by the Club of Growth and Pat Toomey. And in Florida, a decent Govenor Charlie Crist, once considered a candidate for the vice-presidential nomination, has been driven out of the Republican party. In California, both the teabagger and Carly Fiorina are running against another consistent conservative Tom Campbell calling him a "liberal", despite his high rating by the American Conservative Union. John McCain has basically melted down during his primary challenge by J.D. Hayworth, teabagger, birther and friend of Jack Abramoff, trying to out teabag his rival. I also doubt that this will convince anyone. In Kentucky, Mitch McConnell's candidate for the Senate, Trey Grayson, is certain to be defeated by Rand Paul, Ron's son and a candidate recently endorsed by James Dobson, former creator of Focus on the Family. Here again Jim DeMint has supported Paul against his colleague's choice.
While Arizona faces an ever-growing backlash across the country for its Juan Crow law, southern states and GOP candidates for Governor are embracing the law, no matter the future damage done to the Republican Party. Tim James in Alabama, Nathan Deal in Georgia and Andre Bauer in South Carolina are embracing the law and whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment for the Republican primaries. For an excellent analysis of this read Ed Kilgore's piece in www.fivethirtyeight.com . Kilgore points out that Hispanic migration into the southern states, including Virginia, has increased but that Hispanic voters do not represent any key constituency yet. They have grown to only about 6% of the vote in some Southern states. So they are perfect to become another racial whipping boy for the neo-confederates. I believe this accounts for Lindsey Graham's recent retreat on immigration reform.
House Republicans are measuring the drapes and they are rumored to be planning to go bold if they take back the House. Even though John Boehner has a perfect record of voting against everything Barack Obama ever proposed and against anything that could benefit the American people, he will be under enormous pressure from wingnuts like Michelle Bachman, who actually gives voice to the "new republican". In the Senate, I also expect that Jim DeMint will wage a leadership challenge to Mitch McConnell, whether the GOP gains the chamber or not.
Which leaves us Sarah Palin losing thousands of facebook friends because of her endorsement of Carly Fiorina in California instead of DeVore, Jim DeMint and the teabaggers candidate. With Mitt Romney basically neutered by the teabaggers, Palin, whom I still believe is the leading candidate for 2012 despite my other posts contradicting this, faces being drummed out of the teabagger movement. Can she come back after her error? She has endorsed Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and other teabaggers. Or does her deviationist position in California mean she has to be purged from the Politburo?
The implications for the country are nasty. As I've posted before, there seemed to be a 50/50 split between the libertarian faction and the fundamentalist Christian faction of the teabaggers. I think Dobson's embrace of Rand Paul indicates that these two wings are not mutually exclusive. Of course, intellectually there are but not in real life. Sarah Palin's libertarian streak received more attention during the 2008 campaign than her Dominionist religion. Yet as this works its way through our political system, the fundamentalists can live with the total abandonment of public education and the removal of the federal government from any social welfare network. The clash comes over maintaining such a large defense budget and overseas commitments. The war against Islam and total support for a right-wing Israel are critical to the fundamentalists. Since both factions agree with total free market capitalism, the corporate funders of all the astroturf groups behind the Dick Armey teabaggers will be delighted.
Susan Jacoby in her book Freethinkers: The History of Secularism in America warns that the reason Americans don't pay attention to the fundamentalists Christians in politics is because ,by and large, Americans have been conditioned to believe that the influence of religion is almost always benign. She also recalls the moments where religion played a positive role in advancing certain reforms such as the civil rights movement. But she also reminds everyone that the fundamentalist Christians were always for segregation and always against the civil rights movement in all its dimensions. She writes that the huge expansion of the fundamentalists in America started with the civil rights movement and was propelled forward with the pro-choice decision by the Supreme Court and it has not stopped. Finally, they seized control of the Republican party and eventually the White House.
And we also forget that the Libertarians also share many of the same conspiracy theories. Ron Paul for years embraced the John Birch Society and the theories of the New World Order as did Pat Robertson. Pat Robertson had to mute his conspiracy theories because they were so anti-semitic it jeopardized the evangelicals business plans for a Bible theme park in the Sinai. Also remember that Tim LaHaye of the Left Behind series, which plays a major influence among the fundamentalists, was for years a high-ranking official of the John Birch Society.
So where the outsider sees insurmontable philosophical and policy differences, there exists a strong set of commonalities. For conservative pundits and think tanks, there doesn't seem to be anything challenging about this fusion, even though they disdain their roughness and lack of sophistication. They are perceived as useful idiots for the final dismantling of the social welfare system in the United States and the instruments of rolling back any reforms since the New Deal. In my frequent conversations with the remnant of rational conservatives, they still believe there are no enemies on the right. And they will pay a frightful price for this, just before the rest of do.
Progressives are beginning to post blogs advocating adopting some of the teabaggers strategy and technique against incumbent Democrats. Unfortunately where they are mounting primary challenges, the race will favor the Republicans such as in Colorado. While the Democratic Party is a motley crew of factions and interests, it now remains the only modern political force in the country. Fracturing it now would leave the country without any governing force.
I believe the stakes for the country could never be higher. We can debate whether the United States should remain a major power in the world. But the election of libertarian/ findamentalists would ensure--without debate--our certain demise from the world scene. I also feel that the very idea of America--the reason I voted for Obama--would be terminally challenged. And even dismissing these fears, pursuing the lack of economic policies advocated by these people would doom us to the position of a third world country within a very short time. We would be ensured even worse discrepancies in wealth, prolonged and permanent large numbers of unemployed and the final destruction of our public school system, which is being threatened daily as it is. And the chilling fact is that none of this is relevant to the worldview of these people. They simply do not care.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Clearing the Desk
The co-founder of Focus on (Your) Family and the Family Research Council, the Reverend George Alan Rekers returned to the Miami airport from a vacation in Bermuda with a male prostitute. The Baptist minister claimed he had undergone an operation and needed someone to carry his luggage for him. The "travel assistant" was hired through Rentboy.com, where he advertised his qualities as having a "smooth,sweet, tight ass" and "a perfectly built 8-inch cock (uncut)" and being wild and likes lots of fun. Rev. Rekers' most recent achievement was helping write the new Florida law preventing gays from adopting. Rekers' Facebook entry mentioned his luggage troubles (he should have used "baggage") and joked ,of course, he wasn't gay. He only learned of his companion's profession once they were overseas, although he did use Rentboy to procure his services. His companion was very discrete in describing the whole transaction. E-mails have surfaced that the Rev. really enjoyed the whole experience and wanted to take him to London.
Rev. Rekers is known for his quiet role in influencing almost all anti-gay legislation on the Hill and through the various states. He virtually commutes to legislatures. Among his many works are "Who am I, Lord?" and "Growing up Straight: What Families Should Know about Homosexuality." He is also on the board of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which sponsors "going straight" cures for gays.
Meanwhile Kansas Democrats are demanding Senator Brownback denounce his roommate Rev. Lou Engle, Republican prayer leader for his support of legislation in Uganda to "kill gays". Unfortunately for Engle , his performance in urging the Ugandans to kill gays was on tape.
Grover Norquist, alleged conservative leader, denounced President Obama using the term "tea baggers" for the tea party people, saying it was like using the "N" word. Grover, dear, that's what they called themselves before the media pointed out the meaning of the gay slang.
Neo-Nazis have circulated flyers to declaring Cinco de Mayo as the day to "catch illegal immigrants". The Neo-Nazi role in the bill has become more overt as Arizona papers exposed the number of Republican legislators who follow the Stormfront website.
Arizona isn't faring too well. Tucson and Flagstaff have joined the mayor of Phoenix in suing the state over SB1070. The Phoenix Suns are sporting Los Sons uniforms for the next playoff games. The Major League Baseball Players Association has called on Major League Baseball to move the All-Star Game next year and reconsider Spring Training in Arizona. Chicago has asked the White Sox to get out of the Cactus League. Several Ladino Major League Players are refusing to play games in the state. And the Diamondbacks have been picketed around the league.
Feeling left out, Virginia's Attorney-General the "Cooch" has opened an investigation into the research of Dr. Michael Mann, a leading climate scientist here in Virginia. Cuccinelli is demanding the professors' scientific papers and research so as to determine whether the professor is guilty of defrauding the taxpayer by applying for research grants. Presumably, the Catholic Cuccinelli will be consulting the Inquisition's methodology in handling Galileo.
Virginia's Governor "Jobs" McDonnell happened to spend the early days of the Gulf oil disaster at a conference advocating off-shore drilling sponsored by none other than BP. As if to demonstrate their obtuseness, House Republicans led by "Tan Man" Boehner yesterday held a press conference reiterating Republican support for offshore drilling. I guess they didn't want to be accused of political correctness. And they wanted to draw a sharp contrast with Obama ,who has put all future plans on hold until safety reviews can be conducted. Dubai-base Fox News turned down ads criticising America's dependence on foreign oil. Maybe Cheney put in a word with the Saudis on this point.
The BP oil spill is a disaster on a scale we can't comprehend. The oil should be hitting the current that takes it to the Florida Keys very shortly. Even my oil and gas guys in Texas are apprehensive about the total environmental damage that will occur. But Ann Coulter says we shouldn't do anything about it. But that hasn't stopped Ann and Rushbo from actively trying to prevent sea turtles from nesting near Palm Beach. Curious double standard. Governor Perry says it was a warning from God. The Governor of Alabama says residents shouldn't sue BP but pray. As of today, BP has successfully lowered a concrete pyramid over one leak and will try two more tomorrow in an attempt to stop the leaks and pump the oil into tankers.
When considering this ecological disaster, Americans should remember that the oil isn't American oil ,it's international. The total effect of full-blown drilling throughout the country would only yield a maximum of one year of America's total consumption. The net effect would be a few cents on a gallon of gas at the pump. Is destroying the environment worth it?
The vendor who tipped Police off to the Times Square bomber is Aliou Niasse, a Muslim who sells framed photographs of New York City. By early this afternoon, Faisal Shahzad has been linked to Jaish-e-Muhammed, one of Al Qaeda's farm teams.
In the military commission trial of Mr. Khadr, the young Canadian, his interrogator testified the defendent was exposed to "fear techniques". What the defense could not get on the record was that the interrogator has been court-martialed by our military for "torture" and "abuse of prisoners".
At the Heritage Foundation yesterday during Eric Cantor's critique of Obama's foreign policy, an audience member called the President a "domestic enemy" much to the applause of the gathering. Cantor had to refute this but he looked liked he had been teabagged.
Rev. Rekers is known for his quiet role in influencing almost all anti-gay legislation on the Hill and through the various states. He virtually commutes to legislatures. Among his many works are "Who am I, Lord?" and "Growing up Straight: What Families Should Know about Homosexuality." He is also on the board of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), which sponsors "going straight" cures for gays.
Meanwhile Kansas Democrats are demanding Senator Brownback denounce his roommate Rev. Lou Engle, Republican prayer leader for his support of legislation in Uganda to "kill gays". Unfortunately for Engle , his performance in urging the Ugandans to kill gays was on tape.
Grover Norquist, alleged conservative leader, denounced President Obama using the term "tea baggers" for the tea party people, saying it was like using the "N" word. Grover, dear, that's what they called themselves before the media pointed out the meaning of the gay slang.
Neo-Nazis have circulated flyers to declaring Cinco de Mayo as the day to "catch illegal immigrants". The Neo-Nazi role in the bill has become more overt as Arizona papers exposed the number of Republican legislators who follow the Stormfront website.
Arizona isn't faring too well. Tucson and Flagstaff have joined the mayor of Phoenix in suing the state over SB1070. The Phoenix Suns are sporting Los Sons uniforms for the next playoff games. The Major League Baseball Players Association has called on Major League Baseball to move the All-Star Game next year and reconsider Spring Training in Arizona. Chicago has asked the White Sox to get out of the Cactus League. Several Ladino Major League Players are refusing to play games in the state. And the Diamondbacks have been picketed around the league.
Feeling left out, Virginia's Attorney-General the "Cooch" has opened an investigation into the research of Dr. Michael Mann, a leading climate scientist here in Virginia. Cuccinelli is demanding the professors' scientific papers and research so as to determine whether the professor is guilty of defrauding the taxpayer by applying for research grants. Presumably, the Catholic Cuccinelli will be consulting the Inquisition's methodology in handling Galileo.
Virginia's Governor "Jobs" McDonnell happened to spend the early days of the Gulf oil disaster at a conference advocating off-shore drilling sponsored by none other than BP. As if to demonstrate their obtuseness, House Republicans led by "Tan Man" Boehner yesterday held a press conference reiterating Republican support for offshore drilling. I guess they didn't want to be accused of political correctness. And they wanted to draw a sharp contrast with Obama ,who has put all future plans on hold until safety reviews can be conducted. Dubai-base Fox News turned down ads criticising America's dependence on foreign oil. Maybe Cheney put in a word with the Saudis on this point.
The BP oil spill is a disaster on a scale we can't comprehend. The oil should be hitting the current that takes it to the Florida Keys very shortly. Even my oil and gas guys in Texas are apprehensive about the total environmental damage that will occur. But Ann Coulter says we shouldn't do anything about it. But that hasn't stopped Ann and Rushbo from actively trying to prevent sea turtles from nesting near Palm Beach. Curious double standard. Governor Perry says it was a warning from God. The Governor of Alabama says residents shouldn't sue BP but pray. As of today, BP has successfully lowered a concrete pyramid over one leak and will try two more tomorrow in an attempt to stop the leaks and pump the oil into tankers.
When considering this ecological disaster, Americans should remember that the oil isn't American oil ,it's international. The total effect of full-blown drilling throughout the country would only yield a maximum of one year of America's total consumption. The net effect would be a few cents on a gallon of gas at the pump. Is destroying the environment worth it?
The vendor who tipped Police off to the Times Square bomber is Aliou Niasse, a Muslim who sells framed photographs of New York City. By early this afternoon, Faisal Shahzad has been linked to Jaish-e-Muhammed, one of Al Qaeda's farm teams.
In the military commission trial of Mr. Khadr, the young Canadian, his interrogator testified the defendent was exposed to "fear techniques". What the defense could not get on the record was that the interrogator has been court-martialed by our military for "torture" and "abuse of prisoners".
At the Heritage Foundation yesterday during Eric Cantor's critique of Obama's foreign policy, an audience member called the President a "domestic enemy" much to the applause of the gathering. Cantor had to refute this but he looked liked he had been teabagged.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Lawless Roads
*Graham Greene
Let's start with the good stuff before descending into the swill.
Andrew Sullivan artfully described the present scene yesterday:
"I see the rise of religious fundamentalism and the emergence of purely symbolic, policy-free movements to 'take our country back' as partly psychological expressions of loss in the face of modernity's complexity and diversity."
My favorite millenial diarist at the Daily Kos appeared again with some upbeat observations. His tag line is "pleasedon'tbeafake". He followed up his previous observations by saying that people under 30 give Democrats a 29% margin, while no other age group gives them double digits. He noted that this was only a 22% margin in 2006. He urges Democrats to make 2010 a realignment election more like 1934 than 1994. He points to an almost 75-90% support of the millenials for gay marrigae, immigration reform and climate change legislation. He calls millenials partisans, who should be mobilized. He outlined a brief plan of action that would urge millenials with the slogan "Vote every time." He promises a third installment on his plan and reminds us that millenials have alot of time on their hands in August. What's interesting is that Howard Dean ,appearing on Countdown, sounded alot of the same themes about younger voters not buying into the Republican lines. My instinct is that Dean is playing a more active role in broader Democratic, establishment politics than previously thought.
And if that doesn't motivate you to vote --our young people shaming us--then maybe this will. Tomorrow on May 1 , the religious Right is holding a rally here in Washington "to beg God to forgive America for having elected wicked leaders like President Obama" Sponsored by the America Family Association, the rally will be led by prophetess Janet Porter, who says that America is under the curse of God for having "made the choice of death by electing Obama" even though God warned us not to. The rally is supported by such luminaries as James Dobson , former director of Focus on (Your,Not My) Family, Randy Forbes, Trent ("Obama is an enemy of humanity" Franks, Louie "hate crime laws only protect pedophiles" Gohmert and Rep. Steve King, one of Iowa's best and brightest. At the rally, which will be attended by members of Congress, you will be given the new "Christian Manifesto", which provides a roadmap for America to return to its" bibical roots".
51% of Americans ,according to the Gallup Poll, support the Arizona immigration law. South Carolina under the leadership of the Love Governor wants a similar law but secessionist Rick Perry of Texas does not. The Republican candidate for Governor of Colorado wants to go farther and adopt a policy of racial profiling. The Republican Party is in the midst of a civil war over this issue. Illegal college students have trekked to Washington to be embraced by the Cuban-American Republican congresspeople. Rep. Connie Mack criticized the bill as "frontier justice" and said it echoed a time when the Gestapo picked up people in Nazi Germany. Then again, an Arizona Republican legislator said that the slight delay in its application had the purpose of "instilling fear" into the immigrants. And Chief Arpaio went on the prowl last night with his men dressed all in black to seize Spanish-speaking loiters. His criteria for an illegal immigrant is "they speak Spanish."
The more you examine the Arizona immigration bill the worse it is. For example, if United States citizens are stopped and can not prove their citizenship on the spot, they face six months in jail. Apparently, there are several hundred such people already in jails in Arizona that are citizens. One wag commented that conservatives claim Obama wants to create a European-style social welfare state, while they want to create a European-style surveillance state. Already two lawsuits have been filed challenging the law.
Rachel Maddow had on her show last night the head of FAIR, the immigration reform group, who claim credit for drafting this great legislation. The head of FAIR took the occasion to attack those "discredited smear artists" of the Southern Poverty Law Center, even though Dr. Maddow never mentioned them. The SPLC has been tough in examing the white supremacist roots of this group and their personnel. As I've written before, they are funded by the Pioneer Fund in New York City, which sponsors research and activities to prove the racial superiority of white people. FAIR has tried to distance themselves from these connections but one in particular stood out on the show. FAIR funded Proposition 200 in Arizona, which was very similar to the recently passed law. The Proposition was organized by a group named Protect Arizona Now, which was led by one Virginia Abernathy. Ms. Abernathy gained unwanted notoriety when she proudly proclaimed to the local newspapers that she was an "ethnic separatist". Her ethnic group declared as "European-American". I guess these people want to create the Bantustan structures of apartheid South Africa.
Mike Huckabee doesn't like the bill since America is like Disneyland, once you're in, you can go on all the rides--that's liberty.
From the ridiculous to the sublime, our own Attorney General the Cooch is sending out mailers extolling his historic role in suing the federal government on healthcare reform. Having been elected less than a year ago to our eternal shame, he's asking for your donations so he can continue the fight. The C in conservative stands for Cash.
Master wordsmith Frank Luntz has produced another meme against financial reform. First, you'll recall it was an endless bailout, then it was bad for Democrats. But now it will create a "checkbook tax".
"Hell no" John Boehner dismissed any talk of immigration reform this year. In fact, so did President Obama until he landed in Washington from his Midwest tour. Charles Schumer, Senator Menendez and Harry Reid within hours submitted the outlines of such a bill to the Senate. Watch the place explode over the next two months. As if to drive the stake in the GOP's heart, the House passed a bill calling for a referendum on the status of Puerto Rico.
And small government Gov. Bobby Jindal asked for federal assistance in cleaning up the oil spill that is engulfing the Gulf Coast, making the disaster several times worse than the Valdez. Drill, Baby, Drill.
Democrats shut down the Florida House yesterday in protest of the bill requiring ultrasound before an abortion.
And, surpise, Tony Scalia in the Washington case about whether anti-gay activists have to reveal their names in a dispute over who backed a referendum said," Democracy is not for crybabies. You can't hide your political positions." Wild.
Let's start with the good stuff before descending into the swill.
Andrew Sullivan artfully described the present scene yesterday:
"I see the rise of religious fundamentalism and the emergence of purely symbolic, policy-free movements to 'take our country back' as partly psychological expressions of loss in the face of modernity's complexity and diversity."
My favorite millenial diarist at the Daily Kos appeared again with some upbeat observations. His tag line is "pleasedon'tbeafake". He followed up his previous observations by saying that people under 30 give Democrats a 29% margin, while no other age group gives them double digits. He noted that this was only a 22% margin in 2006. He urges Democrats to make 2010 a realignment election more like 1934 than 1994. He points to an almost 75-90% support of the millenials for gay marrigae, immigration reform and climate change legislation. He calls millenials partisans, who should be mobilized. He outlined a brief plan of action that would urge millenials with the slogan "Vote every time." He promises a third installment on his plan and reminds us that millenials have alot of time on their hands in August. What's interesting is that Howard Dean ,appearing on Countdown, sounded alot of the same themes about younger voters not buying into the Republican lines. My instinct is that Dean is playing a more active role in broader Democratic, establishment politics than previously thought.
And if that doesn't motivate you to vote --our young people shaming us--then maybe this will. Tomorrow on May 1 , the religious Right is holding a rally here in Washington "to beg God to forgive America for having elected wicked leaders like President Obama" Sponsored by the America Family Association, the rally will be led by prophetess Janet Porter, who says that America is under the curse of God for having "made the choice of death by electing Obama" even though God warned us not to. The rally is supported by such luminaries as James Dobson , former director of Focus on (Your,Not My) Family, Randy Forbes, Trent ("Obama is an enemy of humanity" Franks, Louie "hate crime laws only protect pedophiles" Gohmert and Rep. Steve King, one of Iowa's best and brightest. At the rally, which will be attended by members of Congress, you will be given the new "Christian Manifesto", which provides a roadmap for America to return to its" bibical roots".
51% of Americans ,according to the Gallup Poll, support the Arizona immigration law. South Carolina under the leadership of the Love Governor wants a similar law but secessionist Rick Perry of Texas does not. The Republican candidate for Governor of Colorado wants to go farther and adopt a policy of racial profiling. The Republican Party is in the midst of a civil war over this issue. Illegal college students have trekked to Washington to be embraced by the Cuban-American Republican congresspeople. Rep. Connie Mack criticized the bill as "frontier justice" and said it echoed a time when the Gestapo picked up people in Nazi Germany. Then again, an Arizona Republican legislator said that the slight delay in its application had the purpose of "instilling fear" into the immigrants. And Chief Arpaio went on the prowl last night with his men dressed all in black to seize Spanish-speaking loiters. His criteria for an illegal immigrant is "they speak Spanish."
The more you examine the Arizona immigration bill the worse it is. For example, if United States citizens are stopped and can not prove their citizenship on the spot, they face six months in jail. Apparently, there are several hundred such people already in jails in Arizona that are citizens. One wag commented that conservatives claim Obama wants to create a European-style social welfare state, while they want to create a European-style surveillance state. Already two lawsuits have been filed challenging the law.
Rachel Maddow had on her show last night the head of FAIR, the immigration reform group, who claim credit for drafting this great legislation. The head of FAIR took the occasion to attack those "discredited smear artists" of the Southern Poverty Law Center, even though Dr. Maddow never mentioned them. The SPLC has been tough in examing the white supremacist roots of this group and their personnel. As I've written before, they are funded by the Pioneer Fund in New York City, which sponsors research and activities to prove the racial superiority of white people. FAIR has tried to distance themselves from these connections but one in particular stood out on the show. FAIR funded Proposition 200 in Arizona, which was very similar to the recently passed law. The Proposition was organized by a group named Protect Arizona Now, which was led by one Virginia Abernathy. Ms. Abernathy gained unwanted notoriety when she proudly proclaimed to the local newspapers that she was an "ethnic separatist". Her ethnic group declared as "European-American". I guess these people want to create the Bantustan structures of apartheid South Africa.
Mike Huckabee doesn't like the bill since America is like Disneyland, once you're in, you can go on all the rides--that's liberty.
From the ridiculous to the sublime, our own Attorney General the Cooch is sending out mailers extolling his historic role in suing the federal government on healthcare reform. Having been elected less than a year ago to our eternal shame, he's asking for your donations so he can continue the fight. The C in conservative stands for Cash.
Master wordsmith Frank Luntz has produced another meme against financial reform. First, you'll recall it was an endless bailout, then it was bad for Democrats. But now it will create a "checkbook tax".
"Hell no" John Boehner dismissed any talk of immigration reform this year. In fact, so did President Obama until he landed in Washington from his Midwest tour. Charles Schumer, Senator Menendez and Harry Reid within hours submitted the outlines of such a bill to the Senate. Watch the place explode over the next two months. As if to drive the stake in the GOP's heart, the House passed a bill calling for a referendum on the status of Puerto Rico.
And small government Gov. Bobby Jindal asked for federal assistance in cleaning up the oil spill that is engulfing the Gulf Coast, making the disaster several times worse than the Valdez. Drill, Baby, Drill.
Democrats shut down the Florida House yesterday in protest of the bill requiring ultrasound before an abortion.
And, surpise, Tony Scalia in the Washington case about whether anti-gay activists have to reveal their names in a dispute over who backed a referendum said," Democracy is not for crybabies. You can't hide your political positions." Wild.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Who Let The Dogs Out?
The Facebook group that prays for Obama's death reached 1 million "friends".
The RNC is accusing Obama of not considering any black nominees for the Supreme Court. This has already gone viral. I guess Judge Sears doesn't qualify as black. She's actually a friend of Clarence Thomas so maybe that disqualifies her.
Kris Kobach, the man who drafted the Arizona anti-immigrant law, is running for Secretary of State in Kansas. An old protege of John Ashcroft, who came out and backed the law,Kobach has secured a contract from the state of Arizona to train police in how to recognize illegal immigrants. He also put in the bill that citizens can sue Arizona if the law isn't enforced. His front group is already set up to act as attorneys for the citizens. The C in Conservative stands for cash.
Republicans are going nuts over the law. Even Johnny Reb, Bob McDonnell, the Governor of Virginia, has condemned it. Former Governor Ridge has condemned it. Karl Rove has condemned it because he knows that his 40-year Reich depended on the Ladino vote. Bob Barr has condemned it for its violations of civil liberties. Barry Goldwater's biographer, Lee Edwards over at Heritage claims Barry would have condemned it. Jeb Bush has dropped everything to race up to Washington to lobby for immigration reform. The GOP sees the fastest growing minority in America escaping from their grasp.
A sign of this was Drudge started the morning with a big photo spread of millions of demonstrators and claiming Hispanics would be marking May 1 in 70 cities. Within an hour everything disappeared concerning the Hispanic marches. Los Angeles is reporting they expect the march there to far exceed the 2007 march when they were demanding immigration reform. I'm hoping they are a rousing success and have demonstrators who are carrying arms in the open. That would make the white open carry geezers have a heart attack. Let's see what kind of coverage they get from Fox--same as teabaggers?
The GOP quickly morphed into Flip Wilson and "The Devil Made Me Do it" excuse. John McCain led the pact with Sarah Palin not far behind saying that it was the fault of the Obama Administration and Congress not to enforce the laws that made Arizona to adopt the statute. When pressed on when is the right time to pass immigration reform, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner said it couldn't be done this year. Lindsey Graham, once a supporter of comprehensive reform, claims it can't be done until 2012.
President Obama in Iowa told a townhall meeting what his basic outline is for immigration reform and said that it had to be done with Republican support. He also thought the will wasn't there in Congress. However, today Senator Harry Reid and Charles Schumer indicated they would move forward, even without Republican support.
ARIZONA ICE TEA wants everyone to know they have nothing to do with the state of Arizona. The CEO of the New York-based company claims they are being slaughtered by the Arizona boycott. So buy one of their Arnold Palmers--half lemonade, half ice tea--to rectify the problem.
The Mayor of Phoenix is suing the state because he says the city can not afford to lose another $300 million like they did during the whole flap over Martin Luther King Day. In 2008, Arizona took in $18.5 billion in tourist dollars and even a drop in a percentage of this will severely hurt the state. Mexican tourists contribute a few billion of this.
Texas Republican Debbie Riddle is introducing an identical law in Texas. Tennessee Republicans are doing the same with a birther bill thrown in. Oklahoma legislators said they will not because their 2007 anti-immigrant law cost the state $1.8 billion in revenues.
Shakira and Linda Ronstadt are showing up for a concert in Arizona and Shakira promises to make statements against the law while there. But remember Jan Brewer says she was chosen by God to lead Arizona during this trying time.
A Texas congressman said that Barack Obama was a judgement of God on the United States. So, I guess that means Mike Huckabee is right,"America is a miracle of God's." So Obama must be the blessing. Abraham Lincoln once commented that he didn't worry about whether God was on his side but whether he was on God's side.
Am I good or not? Ben Nelson did admit today he talked to Berkshire Hathaway about their views on the financial reform bill's regulation of derivatives and they said they were against. Ben was just protecting the $6 million I reported yesterday. Kudos to Ezra Klein, who reported what I said in-house here yesterday--the Republicans caved on filibustering the bill because Mitch McConnell wanted to go to the Kentucky Derby and didn't want late night voting to interrupt his plans. And, if you know the Senate, you know that's true. You have to have a real sense of priorities.
How did "Drill, Baby,Drill" turn out? Actually, quite fantastic, the first such off-coast well has been producing 5,000 barrels a day. The only problem is that it's all leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. This has prompted Governor Crist to reverse his position on off-shore drilling; the President to call the governors of all states near the spill and declaring the Administration might put the whole policy on hold.
You know the Right has gone coco-loco when Glenn Beck criticized President George W. Bush for being a "progressive". He also complained about Arizona being criticized for adopting Nazi-like laws, saying this diminished the crimes of Hitler. It seems to me he does that already by likening President Obama to Hitler.
The financial reform debate is actually just heating up. Goldman Sachs and the banks have unloaded millions to be funnelled through some of the front organizations that handled the healthcare reform debate. So, watch for the teabaggers to get their marching orders soon. Frank Luntz' interim memo is to aim at wavering Democrats by saying the bill is bad for them. We'll wait for the second memo when the debate gets in the open.
There are two things in my mind that one should watch--the regulations of derivatives and the consumer protection agency. There will be a full-court press to water these provisions down. And root for Senator Bernie Sanders' amendment to cap credit card rates at 15% like credit unions. As he pointed out three American banks issue two-thirds of all credit cards.
It's nice to see the head of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumpka out and about. Today's he's marching on Wall Street. But Trumpka has been the most visible AFL-CIO chief since Lane Kirkland and George Meany. It's good to see their public presence.
Barack Obama fled the capital to visit with the white folks in Iowa. After rhubarb pie (my favorite) and coffee, he held a townhall meeting to a thunderous reception. During the long presentation, he flagged the next political debate in the country. He warned the audience that we will be forced to make tough decisions in the months and years ahead. He emphasized that people who want government to do things must be aware of what these activities cost. He pointed out that his three year freeze on discretionary spending and some other measures he's taken will pay for everything during his first term, including the stimulus package. But he warned that the structural deficit he inherited will take years to address. He pointed out why the belief you can cut foreign aid simply doesn't touch a drop of our deficit. He emphasized that the deficit was composed of equal parts Social Security, Medicare and the Defense Budget.
Barney Frank is convening his own study on the deficit and explicitly aiming at the Defense Budget. The problem with the military/ terrorism budget is that it has doubled since 1998 and is considerably higher than during the Cold War when we had conventional enemies. Barney Frank is bragging his group is bipartisan but this means he has included the CATO Institute, which proposes cutting defense in half. At least, it's not the House Republican Plan to privatize social security and Medicare.
Doubts have arisen about the Deficit Commission appointed by President Obama because it is composed of Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats and not progressives. Erskine Bowles, a former Clinton official, said the Commission would be going after social security and Medicare like gangbusters. With the exception of Andy Stern, I don't see anyone including military expenditures in the mix. And that would be dreadfully wrong.
The great state of Oklahoma--where the wind...--is being sued for its mandatory sonogram anti-abortion bill by physicians. For the past year, women's rights have taken a beating in the U.S. of A. where dozens of states have been inching to restricting access to abortion and contraceptives. That's why I thought the Iranian police chief who said he would arrest women with suntans might have been from Arizona. Florida just passed yesterday by three votes a bill that would force women, even those raped, to watch an ultrasound of the fetus before agreeing to any abortion procedure. The feminist should mount up for one last ride--against the American Taliban.
But Oklahoma, home of Dr and Senator Tom Coburn, who opposed the healthcare bill, seems to have set the record for budget shortfall this year. As a result, they have dropped to 49 in healthcare--just one step ahead of Haley Barbour.
Tom Tancredo finally discovered the truth. Obama is deliberately hiding his birth certificate to drive conservatives nuts and make them look like they're crazy to the public.
The RNC is accusing Obama of not considering any black nominees for the Supreme Court. This has already gone viral. I guess Judge Sears doesn't qualify as black. She's actually a friend of Clarence Thomas so maybe that disqualifies her.
Kris Kobach, the man who drafted the Arizona anti-immigrant law, is running for Secretary of State in Kansas. An old protege of John Ashcroft, who came out and backed the law,Kobach has secured a contract from the state of Arizona to train police in how to recognize illegal immigrants. He also put in the bill that citizens can sue Arizona if the law isn't enforced. His front group is already set up to act as attorneys for the citizens. The C in Conservative stands for cash.
Republicans are going nuts over the law. Even Johnny Reb, Bob McDonnell, the Governor of Virginia, has condemned it. Former Governor Ridge has condemned it. Karl Rove has condemned it because he knows that his 40-year Reich depended on the Ladino vote. Bob Barr has condemned it for its violations of civil liberties. Barry Goldwater's biographer, Lee Edwards over at Heritage claims Barry would have condemned it. Jeb Bush has dropped everything to race up to Washington to lobby for immigration reform. The GOP sees the fastest growing minority in America escaping from their grasp.
A sign of this was Drudge started the morning with a big photo spread of millions of demonstrators and claiming Hispanics would be marking May 1 in 70 cities. Within an hour everything disappeared concerning the Hispanic marches. Los Angeles is reporting they expect the march there to far exceed the 2007 march when they were demanding immigration reform. I'm hoping they are a rousing success and have demonstrators who are carrying arms in the open. That would make the white open carry geezers have a heart attack. Let's see what kind of coverage they get from Fox--same as teabaggers?
The GOP quickly morphed into Flip Wilson and "The Devil Made Me Do it" excuse. John McCain led the pact with Sarah Palin not far behind saying that it was the fault of the Obama Administration and Congress not to enforce the laws that made Arizona to adopt the statute. When pressed on when is the right time to pass immigration reform, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner said it couldn't be done this year. Lindsey Graham, once a supporter of comprehensive reform, claims it can't be done until 2012.
President Obama in Iowa told a townhall meeting what his basic outline is for immigration reform and said that it had to be done with Republican support. He also thought the will wasn't there in Congress. However, today Senator Harry Reid and Charles Schumer indicated they would move forward, even without Republican support.
ARIZONA ICE TEA wants everyone to know they have nothing to do with the state of Arizona. The CEO of the New York-based company claims they are being slaughtered by the Arizona boycott. So buy one of their Arnold Palmers--half lemonade, half ice tea--to rectify the problem.
The Mayor of Phoenix is suing the state because he says the city can not afford to lose another $300 million like they did during the whole flap over Martin Luther King Day. In 2008, Arizona took in $18.5 billion in tourist dollars and even a drop in a percentage of this will severely hurt the state. Mexican tourists contribute a few billion of this.
Texas Republican Debbie Riddle is introducing an identical law in Texas. Tennessee Republicans are doing the same with a birther bill thrown in. Oklahoma legislators said they will not because their 2007 anti-immigrant law cost the state $1.8 billion in revenues.
Shakira and Linda Ronstadt are showing up for a concert in Arizona and Shakira promises to make statements against the law while there. But remember Jan Brewer says she was chosen by God to lead Arizona during this trying time.
A Texas congressman said that Barack Obama was a judgement of God on the United States. So, I guess that means Mike Huckabee is right,"America is a miracle of God's." So Obama must be the blessing. Abraham Lincoln once commented that he didn't worry about whether God was on his side but whether he was on God's side.
Am I good or not? Ben Nelson did admit today he talked to Berkshire Hathaway about their views on the financial reform bill's regulation of derivatives and they said they were against. Ben was just protecting the $6 million I reported yesterday. Kudos to Ezra Klein, who reported what I said in-house here yesterday--the Republicans caved on filibustering the bill because Mitch McConnell wanted to go to the Kentucky Derby and didn't want late night voting to interrupt his plans. And, if you know the Senate, you know that's true. You have to have a real sense of priorities.
How did "Drill, Baby,Drill" turn out? Actually, quite fantastic, the first such off-coast well has been producing 5,000 barrels a day. The only problem is that it's all leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. This has prompted Governor Crist to reverse his position on off-shore drilling; the President to call the governors of all states near the spill and declaring the Administration might put the whole policy on hold.
You know the Right has gone coco-loco when Glenn Beck criticized President George W. Bush for being a "progressive". He also complained about Arizona being criticized for adopting Nazi-like laws, saying this diminished the crimes of Hitler. It seems to me he does that already by likening President Obama to Hitler.
The financial reform debate is actually just heating up. Goldman Sachs and the banks have unloaded millions to be funnelled through some of the front organizations that handled the healthcare reform debate. So, watch for the teabaggers to get their marching orders soon. Frank Luntz' interim memo is to aim at wavering Democrats by saying the bill is bad for them. We'll wait for the second memo when the debate gets in the open.
There are two things in my mind that one should watch--the regulations of derivatives and the consumer protection agency. There will be a full-court press to water these provisions down. And root for Senator Bernie Sanders' amendment to cap credit card rates at 15% like credit unions. As he pointed out three American banks issue two-thirds of all credit cards.
It's nice to see the head of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumpka out and about. Today's he's marching on Wall Street. But Trumpka has been the most visible AFL-CIO chief since Lane Kirkland and George Meany. It's good to see their public presence.
Barack Obama fled the capital to visit with the white folks in Iowa. After rhubarb pie (my favorite) and coffee, he held a townhall meeting to a thunderous reception. During the long presentation, he flagged the next political debate in the country. He warned the audience that we will be forced to make tough decisions in the months and years ahead. He emphasized that people who want government to do things must be aware of what these activities cost. He pointed out that his three year freeze on discretionary spending and some other measures he's taken will pay for everything during his first term, including the stimulus package. But he warned that the structural deficit he inherited will take years to address. He pointed out why the belief you can cut foreign aid simply doesn't touch a drop of our deficit. He emphasized that the deficit was composed of equal parts Social Security, Medicare and the Defense Budget.
Barney Frank is convening his own study on the deficit and explicitly aiming at the Defense Budget. The problem with the military/ terrorism budget is that it has doubled since 1998 and is considerably higher than during the Cold War when we had conventional enemies. Barney Frank is bragging his group is bipartisan but this means he has included the CATO Institute, which proposes cutting defense in half. At least, it's not the House Republican Plan to privatize social security and Medicare.
Doubts have arisen about the Deficit Commission appointed by President Obama because it is composed of Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats and not progressives. Erskine Bowles, a former Clinton official, said the Commission would be going after social security and Medicare like gangbusters. With the exception of Andy Stern, I don't see anyone including military expenditures in the mix. And that would be dreadfully wrong.
The great state of Oklahoma--where the wind...--is being sued for its mandatory sonogram anti-abortion bill by physicians. For the past year, women's rights have taken a beating in the U.S. of A. where dozens of states have been inching to restricting access to abortion and contraceptives. That's why I thought the Iranian police chief who said he would arrest women with suntans might have been from Arizona. Florida just passed yesterday by three votes a bill that would force women, even those raped, to watch an ultrasound of the fetus before agreeing to any abortion procedure. The feminist should mount up for one last ride--against the American Taliban.
But Oklahoma, home of Dr and Senator Tom Coburn, who opposed the healthcare bill, seems to have set the record for budget shortfall this year. As a result, they have dropped to 49 in healthcare--just one step ahead of Haley Barbour.
Tom Tancredo finally discovered the truth. Obama is deliberately hiding his birth certificate to drive conservatives nuts and make them look like they're crazy to the public.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Morning Coffee--New Guinea Dark Roast
Yesterday Drudge ran a piece headlined "Obama Plays Race Card". Anytime you read something like that watch the other side because that's what they're doing. The Race Card is question was the video sent by David Plouffe with Obama appealing to Organizing for America people that for such high takes mid-term elections there must be an effort to get out the Black, Latino and Women vote. In short, everyone Republicans are counting on not to show up. But I thought the one interesting twist to Obama's statement was his assertion that he wants first-time voters--in this case a 29-year old woman--to cast their second vote in the mid-term elections. This follows the Obama strategy to enlarge the voting base--which is diametrically opposed to the decades old strategy of Karl Rove to shrink the voting base by using wedge issues. This is the President who went out of his way to campaign on Indian reservations.
Meanwhile, the Arizona immigration law has spurred a wild array of responses. Civil rights leader and Hitler-admirer Pat Buchanan writes in "Whose country is this?" that illegal Hispanics are taking jobs away from blacks. He then goes on to say Barack Obama is failing his constitutional duties of upholding the law--which Pat says requires sending the 12-20 million illegals back home. He accuses Obama of being too beholden to the Hispanic lobby to uphold the law and condemning black Americans to poverty. Pat quotes Ronald Reagan as saying "a country that can not control its borders is not a country anymore." He laments the Balkanization of the country into ethnic enclaves like say white gated communities (no, he did say that.).
Governor Brewer of Arizona claims that the state will not suffer any economic consequences from boycotts. San Francisco passed a resolution to sever all business contracts with firms based in Arizona. The Arizona Republican opined that the real damage is done to the public's belief that the law is color-blind and you have a presumption of innocence. New York Times Supreme Court report Linda Greenhouse is so infuriated with the law that she claims she is not going to back to Arizona as long as it's not a "police state".
I received an e-mail from a rightwing Arizonan who wrote his friends that La Raza is pouring people into the state to protest and they're even bringing in Koreans! He protests that the media coverage of the law deflects attention away from the tea party movement and the huge national deficit. He also worries that the state will be sued and suffer financially. He hopes the law will be ruled unconstitutional since it really is bad. I guess so La Raza will stop busing people in from California.
The Arizona Indian nations have weighed in led by the Navahos. "So the squatters are trying to kick out the foreigners, how ironic?"
Some Latinos are reacting with good humor. One car read "I'm Mexican. Pull Me Over." Some vandals drew swastikas on government offices with refried beans.
Rachel Maddow gets kudos for tracking down the authors of the bill and establishing that they were funded by a New York C,Milton Eisenhowity foundation that encourages eugenics and the preservation of the bloodlines of early American settlers. The group is another one of these front organizations claiming to argue for immigration reform.
Kudos again to Rachel Maddow for her segment on the rehabilitated John Birch Society. Unfortunately, it seems that like Scott Brown the John Birch Society is using her name in vain to raise money. But Rachel solved one of the longest outstanding mysteries in American history. No, not flouride in the water. Who was Dwight David Eisenhower's Communist control officer? After all the John Birch Society maintained that Ike was an overt Communist agent. The answer is--none other than his brother Milton. Another mysterty solved--the anti-Christ is Javier Solana and Ike's control officer was brother Milton.
One aspect of the segment was new to me. The John Birch Society was created in 1958 for the expressed purpose of carrying on the legacy of Joe McCarthy. What Rachel doesn't mention is how the John Birch Society got rehabilitated. She had on as a guest Sam Tenenhaus, author of The Death of Conservatism ( random House, 2009), who suggested that conservatives no longer had any major thinkers to keep the movement honest and that the fringes dominated because there are no enemies on the Right. For a follow-up, she should have on Frank Schaeffer who can tell her that the John Birch Society came back through the Religious Right, especially Tim Lahaye and his Left Behind series. LaHaye was a long-time, high-ranking member of the John Birch Society.
Barack Obama almost went black on us at the memorial service for the coalminers in West Virginia. He even got some call-backs from the all white audience as he started to get into his preaching rhythmn when he talked about God. In mid-eulogy, he started into his preaching cadence and came back to it at his finale. I still believe one of his best speeches during the campiagn was at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Georgia when he preached about the Walls of Jericho. I wish he would do more of this but then he would only invite more angry reactions.
The real non-news story is about Obama's own poll numbers. He's been clocking about 50-51% in Gallup's tracking poll, some 20 points above any other person in our political system. What's interesting is that going back to last April, he's consistently maintained the same approval rating.
In the breakouts of the polling data, there are no great surprises. Obama has large approval ratings across the country, except in the South where he is about 40%. The Northeast continues to love him at about 67%. His approval rating among women far outstrips that among men. Everybody under 60 give him above 50% approval ratings; the youth most of all. But over 60, he slips, particularly among white males. Among whites in general, he is at 44% and among white males of the teabagger movement he drops dramatically. But remember he won only about the same 44% among white males last time--which correlates with past Democratic nominees.
Now in Sunday New York Times Democrats admitted they could lose the House this year. This piece was followed up by various talking head reports and the usual woe is us. The House changing back so soon? Hasn't happened in quite some time. If we were in a normal situation where one party was Center-Left and another Center-Right, I could see it as a reaction to keep the system in check. But Center-Left and Radical Right, I'm skeptical. As we've seen, the situations in states are galvanizing voters, especially among the demographics who usually don't vote in by-elections.
But let's say it happens. Bless Michael Steele. He's recruited over 20 African-Americans to run for the House. Some of these candidates admit it's opportunism because they would be farther up in line than their Democratic counterparts for committee positions. Now, let's say 15 of these candidates win and the margin for Republican control in the House rests with these new members. Can anyone believe that with their Democratic Black Caucus members nagging them that they could go along with "Hell No" John Boehner? Could the Republicans really maintain their authoritarian discipline in this situation? They had to have two people stand next to Rep. Cao the last session to make sure he didn't vote for healthcare reform. Things could get interesting.
Over the weekend another potential assassin was arrested in North Carolina. A nerdy white male with rifles and diagrams of scopes was apprehended at the airport because he wanted "to meet President Obama." He had police emergency lights in his car and scanners to monitor police radios. His website showed he was a music technician and a member of A Million Republicans, a group created by Tom DeLay. He had driven from Ohio to North Carolina for the occasion. All of this is giving white people a bad name. I wish they would cut it out.
Meanwhile, the Arizona immigration law has spurred a wild array of responses. Civil rights leader and Hitler-admirer Pat Buchanan writes in "Whose country is this?" that illegal Hispanics are taking jobs away from blacks. He then goes on to say Barack Obama is failing his constitutional duties of upholding the law--which Pat says requires sending the 12-20 million illegals back home. He accuses Obama of being too beholden to the Hispanic lobby to uphold the law and condemning black Americans to poverty. Pat quotes Ronald Reagan as saying "a country that can not control its borders is not a country anymore." He laments the Balkanization of the country into ethnic enclaves like say white gated communities (no, he did say that.).
Governor Brewer of Arizona claims that the state will not suffer any economic consequences from boycotts. San Francisco passed a resolution to sever all business contracts with firms based in Arizona. The Arizona Republican opined that the real damage is done to the public's belief that the law is color-blind and you have a presumption of innocence. New York Times Supreme Court report Linda Greenhouse is so infuriated with the law that she claims she is not going to back to Arizona as long as it's not a "police state".
I received an e-mail from a rightwing Arizonan who wrote his friends that La Raza is pouring people into the state to protest and they're even bringing in Koreans! He protests that the media coverage of the law deflects attention away from the tea party movement and the huge national deficit. He also worries that the state will be sued and suffer financially. He hopes the law will be ruled unconstitutional since it really is bad. I guess so La Raza will stop busing people in from California.
The Arizona Indian nations have weighed in led by the Navahos. "So the squatters are trying to kick out the foreigners, how ironic?"
Some Latinos are reacting with good humor. One car read "I'm Mexican. Pull Me Over." Some vandals drew swastikas on government offices with refried beans.
Rachel Maddow gets kudos for tracking down the authors of the bill and establishing that they were funded by a New York C,Milton Eisenhowity foundation that encourages eugenics and the preservation of the bloodlines of early American settlers. The group is another one of these front organizations claiming to argue for immigration reform.
Kudos again to Rachel Maddow for her segment on the rehabilitated John Birch Society. Unfortunately, it seems that like Scott Brown the John Birch Society is using her name in vain to raise money. But Rachel solved one of the longest outstanding mysteries in American history. No, not flouride in the water. Who was Dwight David Eisenhower's Communist control officer? After all the John Birch Society maintained that Ike was an overt Communist agent. The answer is--none other than his brother Milton. Another mysterty solved--the anti-Christ is Javier Solana and Ike's control officer was brother Milton.
One aspect of the segment was new to me. The John Birch Society was created in 1958 for the expressed purpose of carrying on the legacy of Joe McCarthy. What Rachel doesn't mention is how the John Birch Society got rehabilitated. She had on as a guest Sam Tenenhaus, author of The Death of Conservatism ( random House, 2009), who suggested that conservatives no longer had any major thinkers to keep the movement honest and that the fringes dominated because there are no enemies on the Right. For a follow-up, she should have on Frank Schaeffer who can tell her that the John Birch Society came back through the Religious Right, especially Tim Lahaye and his Left Behind series. LaHaye was a long-time, high-ranking member of the John Birch Society.
Barack Obama almost went black on us at the memorial service for the coalminers in West Virginia. He even got some call-backs from the all white audience as he started to get into his preaching rhythmn when he talked about God. In mid-eulogy, he started into his preaching cadence and came back to it at his finale. I still believe one of his best speeches during the campiagn was at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Georgia when he preached about the Walls of Jericho. I wish he would do more of this but then he would only invite more angry reactions.
The real non-news story is about Obama's own poll numbers. He's been clocking about 50-51% in Gallup's tracking poll, some 20 points above any other person in our political system. What's interesting is that going back to last April, he's consistently maintained the same approval rating.
In the breakouts of the polling data, there are no great surprises. Obama has large approval ratings across the country, except in the South where he is about 40%. The Northeast continues to love him at about 67%. His approval rating among women far outstrips that among men. Everybody under 60 give him above 50% approval ratings; the youth most of all. But over 60, he slips, particularly among white males. Among whites in general, he is at 44% and among white males of the teabagger movement he drops dramatically. But remember he won only about the same 44% among white males last time--which correlates with past Democratic nominees.
Now in Sunday New York Times Democrats admitted they could lose the House this year. This piece was followed up by various talking head reports and the usual woe is us. The House changing back so soon? Hasn't happened in quite some time. If we were in a normal situation where one party was Center-Left and another Center-Right, I could see it as a reaction to keep the system in check. But Center-Left and Radical Right, I'm skeptical. As we've seen, the situations in states are galvanizing voters, especially among the demographics who usually don't vote in by-elections.
But let's say it happens. Bless Michael Steele. He's recruited over 20 African-Americans to run for the House. Some of these candidates admit it's opportunism because they would be farther up in line than their Democratic counterparts for committee positions. Now, let's say 15 of these candidates win and the margin for Republican control in the House rests with these new members. Can anyone believe that with their Democratic Black Caucus members nagging them that they could go along with "Hell No" John Boehner? Could the Republicans really maintain their authoritarian discipline in this situation? They had to have two people stand next to Rep. Cao the last session to make sure he didn't vote for healthcare reform. Things could get interesting.
Over the weekend another potential assassin was arrested in North Carolina. A nerdy white male with rifles and diagrams of scopes was apprehended at the airport because he wanted "to meet President Obama." He had police emergency lights in his car and scanners to monitor police radios. His website showed he was a music technician and a member of A Million Republicans, a group created by Tom DeLay. He had driven from Ohio to North Carolina for the occasion. All of this is giving white people a bad name. I wish they would cut it out.
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