++It is only appropriate for my 600th post this year, which will end up being the biggest year for this blog,that I mention recent books.
++Ypu might have read the short interview with John Ashbery in the last Sunday New York Times. In it, he seemed to be going all Romantic on us in discussing his favorite poetry. It's for that reason, I find his new book of poetry,Breezeway, surprising and excellent. His tone is a very elegant Surrealism that improves on his earliest efforts in this regard. Highly recommended.
++Leonid McGill has returned. Walter Mosley in And Sometimes I Wonder about You brings the New York private eye back as well as McGill's missing father who had abandoned him for Communist causes. McGill's wife tries to commit suicide, his young son disappears into the literal underground of New York,a derelict former Hedge Fund Manager hires him to find a distant cousin, and a Boston billionairess tries to make him believe a family is missing a daughter in New York. Maybe it seems confusing but Mosley makes it tight as a drum. And love is the answer.
++William Pepper has been an activist in the civil rights movement and became close to Martin Luther King during the days when King turned his attention to the Vietnam War, the Urban poor and the Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike. In 2003,Pepper published An Act of State: The execution of Martin Luther King. After decades of investigative research and thousands of interviews, he pieced together how Martin was executed. Anyone familiar with the Kennedy assassination would get the narrative:Military Snipers sent into Memphis to case the city; the mafia from the South pay an assassin;the government has the Lorraine Motel move King to a more exposed location,the black Memphis police are replaced by whites and you get the picture.
++I heard former CIA analyst Ray McGovern mention an story he heard Obama donors tell him about the President's response to their plea that he do more aggressively progressive things. "I just remember what they did to Martin." I've heard a similar story having to do with people in the national security establishment make similar threats to the President. But Ray McGovern went on to describe the assassination of Martin Luther King,Jr. as an act by the United States government. And he mentioned this book, which is very well documented.
++Almost at the same time I heard Ray McGovern,I saw Chris Hedges' speech at a meeting in Montana. Why Hedges did his theme of how Americans must revolt like the Czechs,he reverted to an old favorite about how Woodrow Wilson started the precedent of crushing all progressive movements and how this continues with the government actions against the Occupy Movement. Not coincidentally the coordination of the military with the local police as in the case of King still is a government M.O.
Showing posts with label Chris Hedges. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Hedges. Show all posts
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Sunday, January 13, 2013
American Spectacle
++Watching the political scene at this time resembles Walter Mosley's scifi series "Crosstown to Oblivion". Magical visions of hope and change are crushed by a repressive system that lacks understanding and tolerance.
++President Obama has an approval rating now some 5 points higher than the average of his whole first term. But somehow the Senate protests his cabinet choices as if a President doesn't get his choices. This is highly unusual historically. The last cabinet choices that was rejected,according to my memory, was John Tower,who was a natural choice for Defense but his drinking problems came to light. For this president, we have had the Senate chase off Susan Rice and now are gunning for Chuck Hagel.
++For someone who has taken office or don't anything remotely controversial for years, the flap over Hagel is supposed to be either a refutation of the neocons and an assertion of independence of judgment or the approval of an anti-Israel white man soft on defense. The magnification of this nomination as a bone of contention and a decision on the entire fate of the planet seems absurd. But maybe that is the point. Maybe we need manufactured crises on a daily basis because our political system has become so dysfunctional.
++Paul Krugman on the Bill Moyers show said that President Obama chose a good, tough negotiator as Secretary of Treasury in Jack Lew. Progressives have qualms about Jack Lew because he was instrumental in the de-regulation of the economy under Clinton. Republicans now pledge to block the nomination. Their reason is because Jack Lew played an instrumental role in creating President Obama's first budget. They have not mentioned his role at Citibank and his advocacy of de-regulation which you would think would be a plus.
++Paul Krugman told Moyers that the recession at this point is unnecessary. If Congress had passed Obama's job bill, we would be down to 6.7% unemployment. As Krugman reminded everyone, full employment is 5% by all models. But he said that President Obama will not be able to pass anything and will have to spend the next few years protecting the social welfare net.
++Alas, the Treasury Department nixed the idea of printing the $1 trillion Platinum coin--an idea supported by Paul Krugman. The White House continues to say they will not negotiate over raising the debt ceiling. In an unusual coordinated effort by congressional Democrats,they presented the White House with a letter supporting President Obama taking any legal measures to avoid negotiating with Republicans on this issue, including invoking the 14th Amendment, which the White House has previously rejected.
++The White House is studiously ignoring the political noise and confusion of the GOP as it prepares for this year's legal initiatives. Joe Biden will be presenting "gun safety" initiatives this coming week after his meetings with various groups, including the NRA. The White House is going full-tilt on immigration reform, presenting a comprehensive program, which would include a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. The President has also announced plans to speed up the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan.
++One of the daffy criticisms of President Obama's recent Cabinet picks is the lack of diversity. John Kerry,Chuck Hagel,John Brennen,and now Jack Law. So they are all white males, replacing all white males, minus a woman. Somehow the fact that Eric Holder, Kathleen Sebelius,Secretary of Energy Chu,Janet Napolitano remain doesn't count. President Obama is considering nominating Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a Republican, as Transportation Secretary.
++If you only followed the White House actions recently, you would think we are in normal political times. But the most noise is still coming from the Right and more radical noises are becoming mainstream. Right-wing talk show host Michael Savage called for the creation of a nationalist party led by a charismatic leader. He thought the tea party has failed because they lack charisma. Glenn Beck is trying to merge libertarianism with survivalism with a new building project to house "patriots" compete with a research center on our founding principles. The NRA has revved up its lobbying efforts to stop anything on gun control pretending that the Second Amendment is absolute. Paul Ryan introduced into the House a Fetus Personhood Bill,like those rejected over the past year in the states. The House again is trying to defund Planned Parenthood as Texas and Oklahoma are doing. And the beat goes on.
++In the states will have more wing nut laws. Governor Scott in Florida fibbed about the cost of Medicare to the state in order to reject federal funds. Bobby Jindal has moved to eliminate income and corporate taxes in Louisiana and raise taxes on the poor. Governor Snyder in Michigan has signed two restrictive abortion bills and a Right to work Bill. He also has a new Right To Work ad campaign and aims to create a bureaucracy to administer the law. Virginia is introducing anti-reproductive rights legislation and the soon to be candidate for governor Ken the Cooch urges Christians to go to jail to protest the contraception mandate in the Affordable Health Care Act. Several states have adopted laws to allow teachers to be armed in classrooms and to provide training in firearms for school administrators.
++Meanwhile Jerry Brown has announced California has finally conquered the state's deficit.
++The Obama White House finally responded to the petitions of those wanting to secede from the union by suggesting we are one nation. They destroyed the hopes of scifi fans by arguing rather eloquently against building the Death Star.
++If you like old news clips, check out Oliver Stone's The Untold History of the United States. Stone has some funky political biases. He likes FDR, Henry Wallace, Joe Stalin, JFK, Gorbachev, so far. Basically every other President was a corporate stooge and a willing instrument of the military-industrial complex. But the footage of the early nuclear age is riveting.I haven't seen the segment on W and Obama.
++If people want a serious issue to complain about, Obama has been disappointing on civil liberties and the laws on wiretapping and detention.
++If you want to get depressed, Chris Hedges' "The Death of the Liberal Class" is out in paperback.
++President Obama has an approval rating now some 5 points higher than the average of his whole first term. But somehow the Senate protests his cabinet choices as if a President doesn't get his choices. This is highly unusual historically. The last cabinet choices that was rejected,according to my memory, was John Tower,who was a natural choice for Defense but his drinking problems came to light. For this president, we have had the Senate chase off Susan Rice and now are gunning for Chuck Hagel.
++For someone who has taken office or don't anything remotely controversial for years, the flap over Hagel is supposed to be either a refutation of the neocons and an assertion of independence of judgment or the approval of an anti-Israel white man soft on defense. The magnification of this nomination as a bone of contention and a decision on the entire fate of the planet seems absurd. But maybe that is the point. Maybe we need manufactured crises on a daily basis because our political system has become so dysfunctional.
++Paul Krugman on the Bill Moyers show said that President Obama chose a good, tough negotiator as Secretary of Treasury in Jack Lew. Progressives have qualms about Jack Lew because he was instrumental in the de-regulation of the economy under Clinton. Republicans now pledge to block the nomination. Their reason is because Jack Lew played an instrumental role in creating President Obama's first budget. They have not mentioned his role at Citibank and his advocacy of de-regulation which you would think would be a plus.
++Paul Krugman told Moyers that the recession at this point is unnecessary. If Congress had passed Obama's job bill, we would be down to 6.7% unemployment. As Krugman reminded everyone, full employment is 5% by all models. But he said that President Obama will not be able to pass anything and will have to spend the next few years protecting the social welfare net.
++Alas, the Treasury Department nixed the idea of printing the $1 trillion Platinum coin--an idea supported by Paul Krugman. The White House continues to say they will not negotiate over raising the debt ceiling. In an unusual coordinated effort by congressional Democrats,they presented the White House with a letter supporting President Obama taking any legal measures to avoid negotiating with Republicans on this issue, including invoking the 14th Amendment, which the White House has previously rejected.
++The White House is studiously ignoring the political noise and confusion of the GOP as it prepares for this year's legal initiatives. Joe Biden will be presenting "gun safety" initiatives this coming week after his meetings with various groups, including the NRA. The White House is going full-tilt on immigration reform, presenting a comprehensive program, which would include a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. The President has also announced plans to speed up the withdrawal of combat troops from Afghanistan.
++One of the daffy criticisms of President Obama's recent Cabinet picks is the lack of diversity. John Kerry,Chuck Hagel,John Brennen,and now Jack Law. So they are all white males, replacing all white males, minus a woman. Somehow the fact that Eric Holder, Kathleen Sebelius,Secretary of Energy Chu,Janet Napolitano remain doesn't count. President Obama is considering nominating Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a Republican, as Transportation Secretary.
++If you only followed the White House actions recently, you would think we are in normal political times. But the most noise is still coming from the Right and more radical noises are becoming mainstream. Right-wing talk show host Michael Savage called for the creation of a nationalist party led by a charismatic leader. He thought the tea party has failed because they lack charisma. Glenn Beck is trying to merge libertarianism with survivalism with a new building project to house "patriots" compete with a research center on our founding principles. The NRA has revved up its lobbying efforts to stop anything on gun control pretending that the Second Amendment is absolute. Paul Ryan introduced into the House a Fetus Personhood Bill,like those rejected over the past year in the states. The House again is trying to defund Planned Parenthood as Texas and Oklahoma are doing. And the beat goes on.
++In the states will have more wing nut laws. Governor Scott in Florida fibbed about the cost of Medicare to the state in order to reject federal funds. Bobby Jindal has moved to eliminate income and corporate taxes in Louisiana and raise taxes on the poor. Governor Snyder in Michigan has signed two restrictive abortion bills and a Right to work Bill. He also has a new Right To Work ad campaign and aims to create a bureaucracy to administer the law. Virginia is introducing anti-reproductive rights legislation and the soon to be candidate for governor Ken the Cooch urges Christians to go to jail to protest the contraception mandate in the Affordable Health Care Act. Several states have adopted laws to allow teachers to be armed in classrooms and to provide training in firearms for school administrators.
++Meanwhile Jerry Brown has announced California has finally conquered the state's deficit.
++The Obama White House finally responded to the petitions of those wanting to secede from the union by suggesting we are one nation. They destroyed the hopes of scifi fans by arguing rather eloquently against building the Death Star.
++If you like old news clips, check out Oliver Stone's The Untold History of the United States. Stone has some funky political biases. He likes FDR, Henry Wallace, Joe Stalin, JFK, Gorbachev, so far. Basically every other President was a corporate stooge and a willing instrument of the military-industrial complex. But the footage of the early nuclear age is riveting.I haven't seen the segment on W and Obama.
++If people want a serious issue to complain about, Obama has been disappointing on civil liberties and the laws on wiretapping and detention.
++If you want to get depressed, Chris Hedges' "The Death of the Liberal Class" is out in paperback.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Happy New Year's Everybody
++The oldest democracy seems to be finishing up counting the votes from true last election. Florida's voter suppression efforts did succeed--over 50,000 people failed to vote because of the long lines and 60% of them were Democrats. But with New York State still counting, President Obama did make history by going over the 51% mark, joining Dwight Eisenhower as the President who last won back-to back elections with 51% of the popular vote. His lead now is over 5 million votes over Mitt Romney.
++Liberals and progressives who rolled this past election are now back in the Obama sold us out mold. Early comments on the Fiscal Cliff express dismay about the Presidents compromise of letting the tax cuts end for only those earning $400,000 or more and his comment that he had put forward the Chained Social Security Plan. By Monday afternoon, Obama betrayed more people by seemingly agreeing to a compromise on the estate tax allowing it to drift upwards to $6 million. Of course,the fact he got the Republicans to agree to raising any taxes is miraculous. The Chained Social Security offer, which has vanished, was linked to an extension of the debt ceiling for the rest of his term. But I suspect we will see dismay with Obama for the next 4 years. Liberals and progressives will have to then ask themselves what comes next?
++Following up on the comment by Chris Hayes about the mini-Golden Age of progressive and radical policy critiques, I recommend watching Chris Hedges' talk in Los Angeles. It is currently posted at www.Democraticunderground.com. Chris Hedges was a classmate of mine at Harvard Divinity School and did not become a Presbyterian minister like his father because he was "called" to become a free lance journalist covering El Salvador. His talk is about the history of suppressing populist and progressive movements in the United States and how we became what we are.
++President Obama said yesterday that he would pursue gun control legislation if the people wanted it. The recent grotesque killing at Sandy Hook struck a cord with foreigners observing this country from abroad. A pro-American French philosophy and journalist Bernard-Henri Levy wrote a lament about seeing our country engulfed in gun violence. Howard Fineman, vacationing in New Zealand, heard Kiwis lament how we can no longer govern ourselves both in fiscal matters and with gun violence. The Shining City on the Hill looks tarnished from abroad.
++This year ends where this blog began with a country so atomized that it can not seem to grapple with the large ,real problems that it confronts. There seems to be little hope on the horizon for a "progressive"energy policy since the fossil-fuel industry has bought up Congress. The House Republican Caucus was bought up by Chevron during the last election. There is little or no hope that the subsidies to the oil companies will be sunset. Any progress in the days ahead will be on the margins.
++The United States will have to start considering the very real issue of poverty once again. It has been over a generation since poverty has made its way into our political dialogue.
++The war on the social safety net will continue throughout Obama's second term. Virtually none of the discussion to date makes any sense or is based in reality. Expect that to continue.
++The Republicans are likely to hold the House until 2020 or until a new Census. They are likely to be more obstructionist, not less because they only fear primary challengers from the right. The Democrats will inch upwards in 2014 but not by much.
++We have to hail Nate "The Great" Silver for his great year where he shows that being a Wonk or a Nerd is still worthwhile. Nate deserves his award as "Out" magazine man of the Year. My own special award goes to Sam Wang, who showed that a neuroscientist can know more about politics than the politicians. And Kudos to Allen Richtman for once again calling the Presidential election without even looking at poll numbers. And "kos" of the Dailykos for getting all the elections right with even a better record than Nate Silver.
++Tonight begins same sex marriages in Maryland and Maine has already started. Congratulations to all the happy couples.
++This has been a Bipolar year. You have the triumphs of Elizabeth Warren and Heidi Heitkampf to the U.S. Senate,the election of the most diverse class of Democratic representatives and Barack Obama's smashing victory. But we have seen a rash of mass murders, even extending beyond Sandy Hook, and the devastation of my homeland, the Jersey Shore, with Hurricane Sandy. We have seen the worst drought since the Dust Bowl days in the Midwest and the South. Abroad we have seen the slaughter of the Syrian people, the destruction of Timbukutu, and the reversion to repression in Egypt.
++My hope for the coming year is that this will not become the new normal-environmental destruction,massive human rights violations, and an economy that goes into recession because of our political dysfunction.
++A healthy New Year to all. Prosperity if you can get it.
++Liberals and progressives who rolled this past election are now back in the Obama sold us out mold. Early comments on the Fiscal Cliff express dismay about the Presidents compromise of letting the tax cuts end for only those earning $400,000 or more and his comment that he had put forward the Chained Social Security Plan. By Monday afternoon, Obama betrayed more people by seemingly agreeing to a compromise on the estate tax allowing it to drift upwards to $6 million. Of course,the fact he got the Republicans to agree to raising any taxes is miraculous. The Chained Social Security offer, which has vanished, was linked to an extension of the debt ceiling for the rest of his term. But I suspect we will see dismay with Obama for the next 4 years. Liberals and progressives will have to then ask themselves what comes next?
++Following up on the comment by Chris Hayes about the mini-Golden Age of progressive and radical policy critiques, I recommend watching Chris Hedges' talk in Los Angeles. It is currently posted at www.Democraticunderground.com. Chris Hedges was a classmate of mine at Harvard Divinity School and did not become a Presbyterian minister like his father because he was "called" to become a free lance journalist covering El Salvador. His talk is about the history of suppressing populist and progressive movements in the United States and how we became what we are.
++President Obama said yesterday that he would pursue gun control legislation if the people wanted it. The recent grotesque killing at Sandy Hook struck a cord with foreigners observing this country from abroad. A pro-American French philosophy and journalist Bernard-Henri Levy wrote a lament about seeing our country engulfed in gun violence. Howard Fineman, vacationing in New Zealand, heard Kiwis lament how we can no longer govern ourselves both in fiscal matters and with gun violence. The Shining City on the Hill looks tarnished from abroad.
++This year ends where this blog began with a country so atomized that it can not seem to grapple with the large ,real problems that it confronts. There seems to be little hope on the horizon for a "progressive"energy policy since the fossil-fuel industry has bought up Congress. The House Republican Caucus was bought up by Chevron during the last election. There is little or no hope that the subsidies to the oil companies will be sunset. Any progress in the days ahead will be on the margins.
++The United States will have to start considering the very real issue of poverty once again. It has been over a generation since poverty has made its way into our political dialogue.
++The war on the social safety net will continue throughout Obama's second term. Virtually none of the discussion to date makes any sense or is based in reality. Expect that to continue.
++The Republicans are likely to hold the House until 2020 or until a new Census. They are likely to be more obstructionist, not less because they only fear primary challengers from the right. The Democrats will inch upwards in 2014 but not by much.
++We have to hail Nate "The Great" Silver for his great year where he shows that being a Wonk or a Nerd is still worthwhile. Nate deserves his award as "Out" magazine man of the Year. My own special award goes to Sam Wang, who showed that a neuroscientist can know more about politics than the politicians. And Kudos to Allen Richtman for once again calling the Presidential election without even looking at poll numbers. And "kos" of the Dailykos for getting all the elections right with even a better record than Nate Silver.
++Tonight begins same sex marriages in Maryland and Maine has already started. Congratulations to all the happy couples.
++This has been a Bipolar year. You have the triumphs of Elizabeth Warren and Heidi Heitkampf to the U.S. Senate,the election of the most diverse class of Democratic representatives and Barack Obama's smashing victory. But we have seen a rash of mass murders, even extending beyond Sandy Hook, and the devastation of my homeland, the Jersey Shore, with Hurricane Sandy. We have seen the worst drought since the Dust Bowl days in the Midwest and the South. Abroad we have seen the slaughter of the Syrian people, the destruction of Timbukutu, and the reversion to repression in Egypt.
++My hope for the coming year is that this will not become the new normal-environmental destruction,massive human rights violations, and an economy that goes into recession because of our political dysfunction.
++A healthy New Year to all. Prosperity if you can get it.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Is Chris Hedges' Right? The Battle is Over and We lost
Author of "Empire of Illusion" and former Harvard Divinity Student, Chris Hedges just published a piece on truthout saying that the fatal shift in wealth in the United States is a fait accompli and that this was not some conspiracy but was done transparently as lobbyists since Jimmy Carter's time wrote our laws. He writes that the elites will not take care of Americans. We are doomed to become an immensely large underclass. He also says that the elites will not step in when it all unravels.
Pointedly, he concludes the elites don't have a vision. I agree. They just want more. Hedges urges us to create monastic-style communities where we can keep the vision of democracy and a just society alive. It would be nice to treat Hedges' essay as another Cassandra-like note in an age of high anxiety. But there is too much truth in what he says to dismiss him out of hand.
If Viktor Fankl is right that humans are compelled to create meaning, one can't help pondering what Hedges has to say. Hedges has been out front for years on the issue how our media simply creates spectacles and our "news" is driven simply by accenting personalities, while people pick our collective pockets. Since Hedges is my age, it may be the natural aging process and increased cynicism that comes with age. But I don't think so.
How does one explain the extolling of ignorance in our society? Take the right-wing's obsession of birtherism. This weekend I read an amazing piece by an AP reporter, who decided to go to the Hawaii Hall of Records and look up Barack Obama's birth certificate for himself. Right there in front of him was the yellowing record of President Obama's live birth. The amazing part of the article was that only one other person had ever examined it before the AP journalist. This is three years into the manufactured controversy. Yet birtherism is now a requirement for all Republican candidates for office. Apparently fact-based reality has no place in the marketplace of ideas.
How bad has it become? If you are a fiscal conservative, then you have to support the People's Budget of the Progressive Caucus. Unlike President Obama's budget and the Ryan plan , it actually eliminates the deficit and balances the budget and actually produces a surplus. Of course, it also raises taxes, cuts defense spending and gets us out of Afghanistan. But when was the last time,the only conservative option was the progressive one? To me that's scary.
This weekend I was in Barnes & Noble, seeing what the new releases are. One title caught my eye--Why CEOs need a philosophy? It was how the philosophy of Atlas Shrugged applies to business. Does anyone remember a short-time ago the brief spurt of interest in corporate resonsibility? Or that after the meltdown of 2008 Business Schools decided to introduce ethics into their curriculum? Now we get "Going Gault". Even Michael Gerson, the former speechwriter for George W. Bush,has written an op-ed in the Washington Post lambasting Ayan Rand's philosophy as adolescent and warning all who go there to watch out.
The target of Gerson's attack was the Republicans who have embraced the eradication of America's social welfare net. A curious thing has happened to the House Republicans who voted with minor exceptions to get rid of Medicare and Medicaid. They are being pummelled at their townhall meetings by constituents opposing these measures. One townhall meeting I watched a woman raised what is an on-going theme for elected Republicans--whether in Congress or in state houses--"You didn't campaign on this. You didn't say you were going to do this. That's not fair." In townhall meetings around the country, I was proud of my fellow baby-boomers who were "reassured" by the Republican congressperson their retirement was safe but constantly asked their representative about their children and grandchildren. In townhall meeting after townhall meeting, average people suggested that taxes should be raised on the wealthy and corporporations.
If you were born after 1957, you can forget about it. I find it ironic that the generational wars were ignited by a non-Baby Boomer to take all entitlements away from his own generation. Paul Ryan could never have gone to college unless he and his brothers and sisters hadn't received Social Security when his father dropped dead at the age of 55. Yet someone who concretely benefited from entitlements now that he doesn't need them anymore can take them away from everyone else.
Within a day after the House passed the Ryan budget, there were at least five articles commenting on the unlikelihood that the health insurance industry would insure seniors. They don't like Medicare Advantage. But so far, we have yet to hear a peep from the health insurance industry about whether they would indeed insure the elderly under the Ryan proposal. It's just crickets. You would think Ryan, who is funded by the industry to a large extent, would have persuaded one of his patrons to speak up and say it was a great idea. None have and no one in the MSM has asked industry spokespeople about the deal.
Jim Hightower also weighed in on current developments by writing about the plutocracy in the Midwest states. Populist Hightower points out that the Midwest governors are not conservatives they are just serving the plutocrats. You don't have to look anyway else but Michigan where the basic elements of democratic government are being stripped away under the Emergency Financial Laws. In Minnesota, a GOP state senator tried to push the idea that voting was a privilege, not a right. Soon we will have to produce evidence we own property.
Chris Hedges and Jim Hightower are right in claiming the financial elites want more and now they want what assets the pubic sector have. But the question I have is why after the economic situation of the last decade do we believe that the private sector has any special knowledge or talents applicable to the public sector? It was the public sector which had to bail their asses out of disaster. We now the private sector can make profits--but can they create jobs anymore or even a sustainable economy for the country?
I suppose I should take solace in Hedges' call for the creation of monastic communities to keep the democratic ideals alive. After all my namesake St. Columba from Iona,an isolated island off Scotland, kept civilization alive with his library of 13 books during the Middle Ages. With all the teachers being fired or being bullied by the billionaire's club, there will be alot of talent to forge the next civilization. But the unravelling will be ugly.
Pointedly, he concludes the elites don't have a vision. I agree. They just want more. Hedges urges us to create monastic-style communities where we can keep the vision of democracy and a just society alive. It would be nice to treat Hedges' essay as another Cassandra-like note in an age of high anxiety. But there is too much truth in what he says to dismiss him out of hand.
If Viktor Fankl is right that humans are compelled to create meaning, one can't help pondering what Hedges has to say. Hedges has been out front for years on the issue how our media simply creates spectacles and our "news" is driven simply by accenting personalities, while people pick our collective pockets. Since Hedges is my age, it may be the natural aging process and increased cynicism that comes with age. But I don't think so.
How does one explain the extolling of ignorance in our society? Take the right-wing's obsession of birtherism. This weekend I read an amazing piece by an AP reporter, who decided to go to the Hawaii Hall of Records and look up Barack Obama's birth certificate for himself. Right there in front of him was the yellowing record of President Obama's live birth. The amazing part of the article was that only one other person had ever examined it before the AP journalist. This is three years into the manufactured controversy. Yet birtherism is now a requirement for all Republican candidates for office. Apparently fact-based reality has no place in the marketplace of ideas.
How bad has it become? If you are a fiscal conservative, then you have to support the People's Budget of the Progressive Caucus. Unlike President Obama's budget and the Ryan plan , it actually eliminates the deficit and balances the budget and actually produces a surplus. Of course, it also raises taxes, cuts defense spending and gets us out of Afghanistan. But when was the last time,the only conservative option was the progressive one? To me that's scary.
This weekend I was in Barnes & Noble, seeing what the new releases are. One title caught my eye--Why CEOs need a philosophy? It was how the philosophy of Atlas Shrugged applies to business. Does anyone remember a short-time ago the brief spurt of interest in corporate resonsibility? Or that after the meltdown of 2008 Business Schools decided to introduce ethics into their curriculum? Now we get "Going Gault". Even Michael Gerson, the former speechwriter for George W. Bush,has written an op-ed in the Washington Post lambasting Ayan Rand's philosophy as adolescent and warning all who go there to watch out.
The target of Gerson's attack was the Republicans who have embraced the eradication of America's social welfare net. A curious thing has happened to the House Republicans who voted with minor exceptions to get rid of Medicare and Medicaid. They are being pummelled at their townhall meetings by constituents opposing these measures. One townhall meeting I watched a woman raised what is an on-going theme for elected Republicans--whether in Congress or in state houses--"You didn't campaign on this. You didn't say you were going to do this. That's not fair." In townhall meetings around the country, I was proud of my fellow baby-boomers who were "reassured" by the Republican congressperson their retirement was safe but constantly asked their representative about their children and grandchildren. In townhall meeting after townhall meeting, average people suggested that taxes should be raised on the wealthy and corporporations.
If you were born after 1957, you can forget about it. I find it ironic that the generational wars were ignited by a non-Baby Boomer to take all entitlements away from his own generation. Paul Ryan could never have gone to college unless he and his brothers and sisters hadn't received Social Security when his father dropped dead at the age of 55. Yet someone who concretely benefited from entitlements now that he doesn't need them anymore can take them away from everyone else.
Within a day after the House passed the Ryan budget, there were at least five articles commenting on the unlikelihood that the health insurance industry would insure seniors. They don't like Medicare Advantage. But so far, we have yet to hear a peep from the health insurance industry about whether they would indeed insure the elderly under the Ryan proposal. It's just crickets. You would think Ryan, who is funded by the industry to a large extent, would have persuaded one of his patrons to speak up and say it was a great idea. None have and no one in the MSM has asked industry spokespeople about the deal.
Jim Hightower also weighed in on current developments by writing about the plutocracy in the Midwest states. Populist Hightower points out that the Midwest governors are not conservatives they are just serving the plutocrats. You don't have to look anyway else but Michigan where the basic elements of democratic government are being stripped away under the Emergency Financial Laws. In Minnesota, a GOP state senator tried to push the idea that voting was a privilege, not a right. Soon we will have to produce evidence we own property.
Chris Hedges and Jim Hightower are right in claiming the financial elites want more and now they want what assets the pubic sector have. But the question I have is why after the economic situation of the last decade do we believe that the private sector has any special knowledge or talents applicable to the public sector? It was the public sector which had to bail their asses out of disaster. We now the private sector can make profits--but can they create jobs anymore or even a sustainable economy for the country?
I suppose I should take solace in Hedges' call for the creation of monastic communities to keep the democratic ideals alive. After all my namesake St. Columba from Iona,an isolated island off Scotland, kept civilization alive with his library of 13 books during the Middle Ages. With all the teachers being fired or being bullied by the billionaire's club, there will be alot of talent to forge the next civilization. But the unravelling will be ugly.
Friday, May 7, 2010
The Age of American Unreason
Susan Jacoby's book has been revised and updated in a post-election paperback (Vintage,2009). Inspired by Richard Hofstadler's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, this book covers the waterfront in terms of our culture wars, the fight for real science, the deterioration of our public discourse and the rise again of Christian fundamentalism. On the later, she is very good, pinpointing the re-emergence of fundamentalism as a reaction to the 1960s and she has an excellent understanding that this is not just some Third Awakening as characterized by George W. Bush but a new institutionalization of fundamentalism in all aspects of American life. She is also very good about the deterioration of our public educational system and the losing struggle for our civic culture. This is more a cultural critique than a political treatise. But she has some keen observations of how the elite foreign policy establishment, for example, has totally overlooked the role of Christian fundamentalists in shaping our Middle East policy. And if we scoff at Jan Brewer saying that God made her Governor of Arizona, Jacoby tells us we should believe that she really, honestly believes this. She provides a very necessary caution for any analysis of the Christian Right, take their statements seriously, they really do believe these things.
It's a wonderful read for her side observations. For instance, she says that her love of books came from watching two parents read and that books were always around the house. For her, books were to provide entry into the adult world. Which is what alot of parents should share with their children. Today, 4 out of 10 American adults do not even read a book a year. If books are seen as valued, maybe children would read earlier and retain that interest through their lives. Otherwise, they'll grow up believing that humans played with dinosaurs or that the Constitution was inspired by God and is dependent on the 50 states (Sarah Palin).
Jacoby is a very good observer about our Culture of Distraction and how we became so cretinistic. In many ways, this book is a good companion to Chris Hedges' Empire of Illusion. Her stints overseas as a Washington Post reporter gives her an excessive view of how cultured other countries are.
One strange fact from the book: Of all the United States Government--military and civilian--we sent to Iraq, only 6 spoke Arabic fluently. This means we waged a war for the last six years without understanding a word any of the Iraqi citizens ever said. The implications of that are mind-boggling.
If you want to pursue the issue of what went wrong with Christianity--at least its American version, read chapter 25 of Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity--the First Three Thousand Years (Viking 2010)which covers the Culture Wars from 1960 until the present day. This 1,000-page history is what used to be called magisterial.
Susan Jacoby's book explains why our lawmakers have such a hard time figuring out what our Constitution means. It's not that the population has dumbed down but also our elected representatives as well. Joe Lieberman's TEA Act--Terrorist Expatriation Act--is a great example of a proposal that is so counter to every fiber of constitutional law. Even Tan Man Boehner scratched his head about this one, saying he didn't think it was constitutional and he has supported many a anti-constitutional measure over the last decade. Or Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions' op-ed today in the Washington Post on the founders' view of the Supreme Court and why none of Obama's choices fit the criteria even though he has chosen a new pick as yet. Or Sarah Palin's comment yesterday about the constitution that I referenced above. If political leaders can't get our own heritage straight, why expect the general population to know anything about the law or the Constitution?
Today continued the hounding of the President on his anti-terrorism strategy. Even though NYPD police chief said the coordination between all arms of government was " seamless", this has not deterred conservative pundits from proposing more illegal things. Charles Krauthammer writes today that we have to change the Miranda law in this age of terrorism, even though the Times Square bomber has been talking up a storm. Krauthammer raises the possibility that maybe one of these days the terror suspect won't talk. So far in over 300 cases brought to civilian courts, every one of the accused has talked incessantly after being Mirandized. Maybe we should create a Star Chamber of conservative pundits like Marc Thiessen who would be called upon to torture the one guy that doesn't talk. For all their bluster, maybe they should be given direct responsibility for their ideas. This would give them practical experience. Ralph Peters, now a columnist for the New York Post. claims that all these misadventures are because we as a culture have appeased Muslims and we must become tough against this religion.
The Republicans are still bleating on about how after 9/11 there were no terrorist attacks on American soil. I counted about 20 since 9/11 but that includes anti-abortion killers, the Washington sniper,two envirommental terrorist attacks in the Pacific Northwest and at least one real Muslim attack. Then if we know that American diplomatic posts abroad are considered American soil, the number increases dramatically.
As for American Muslims, they're a pretty nasty bunch. Of the 14,000 murders last year in the U.S., they committed 14. They have one of the lowest crimes rates of any minority in the country. Even when you consider the Somali terrorist recruits from Minnesota and the kids from Northern Virginia and the American Muslim at Ft. Hood, this is not a vast recruiting pool for Islamic terrorists. Over 40% of the Muslim community says they are "thriving" during this time of Recession, about the same number as well-to-do white Americans. Almost all have college degrees and a plurality have more than one degree. The most upwardly mobile of the group are Muslim women.
BFD Biden was right. Today's job figures came out and 290,000 jobs were created last month, which is the largest monthly number since 2006. Yet, unemployment increased because of the expanded labor pool. This is an example of the problem I wrote about yesterday where I said even with a rapid recovery we are facing a persistant period of high unemployment. The Republicans--those great job creators--won't let you forget it. The RNC blasted off a fax today about how this level of unemployment is Obama's new normal and that all his taxes--fill in the blank--is stopping job growth and turning our economy into a European one. A few more months of these numbers and the RNC fax machine will stop on this issue.
Charlie Cook, who is a big believer in the GOP taking back the House, warned today that they are risking this by not courting the independents and moderates with their extreme right agenda. Polling numbers reveal a shrinking enthusiasm gap between the GOP and Dems but more importantly GOP-leaning Independents have cooled on today's Republicans. Only 36% say that they reflect their values--a dramatic fall from the high 70s of last year. That's why you see a Charlie Crist as an independent leading Rubio by 8 points in the Mason-Dixon poll. The same applies to Lincoln Chaffee's bid for governor of Rhode Island. As the economy heats up, some of these fissures will become apparent. Even younger Republican House members are telling Tan Man Boehner not to start measuring the drapes. I think the GOP's overt triumphalism is going to be their achilles heel.
Yesterday a Democratic blogger outlined his reasons why he didn't believe Democratic losses this year will be as bad as believed. He pointed to the 1994 elections and how Democrats misplayed their agenda and were perceived as incompetent. He also pointed to the 2006 elections and how the Republicans literally didn't have a legislative agenda and that voters rebelled at their lack of time in session. This year he says that no one can accuse Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid of being incompetent and not getting results. For that reason, he concluded that while Americans are mad at government--they often are--, that doesn't mean they want to trade the status quo in for new Republican leadership. I think that's a point well-taken. Losses yes but nothing to totally shake up the current situation. I would campaign against Tan Man--who must be the creepiest person we've seen around town in years. Even Newt at his most obnoxious never made one's skin crawl like Boehner.
TPM caught John McCain going to a fund-raising lunch at the Chamber of Commerce as the Senate debates a new camapign reform bill opposed by the Chamber. John's remarks to the ambush was to attack Labor's campaign financing, despite the fact that too would be limited. He has travelled a bridge too far.
Rev. Long Stroke Rekers was set up by "liberals" according to the religious right,because he had been an effective campaigner against gay rights. For his part, Brent Bozell claims that Obama is anti-gay for his remarks about teabaggers. He says that if Bush said the same thing about the Tea Party people he would be severely criticized.
The oil spill threatens the Redneck Rivera on the Gulf Coast and Bobby "Small Government" Jindal has sent to the Obama Administration a laundry list of aid requests to virtually bail out the entire economy of Louisiana.
The UK election is over and if you are in the least bit interested you might consult Andrew Sullivan's blog. He's the only one really interested.
Call me very skeptical about all the news reports about the Times Square Bomber wannabe. I don't believe he was actually trained and I don't believe with what has been said that he's connected to any real terrorist group. The only one who seems skeptical along with me is Rachel Maddow, who the last few nights keeps knocking all the reports down. I'm still of the belief that he did it because Chase Manhattan closed on his house.
It's a wonderful read for her side observations. For instance, she says that her love of books came from watching two parents read and that books were always around the house. For her, books were to provide entry into the adult world. Which is what alot of parents should share with their children. Today, 4 out of 10 American adults do not even read a book a year. If books are seen as valued, maybe children would read earlier and retain that interest through their lives. Otherwise, they'll grow up believing that humans played with dinosaurs or that the Constitution was inspired by God and is dependent on the 50 states (Sarah Palin).
Jacoby is a very good observer about our Culture of Distraction and how we became so cretinistic. In many ways, this book is a good companion to Chris Hedges' Empire of Illusion. Her stints overseas as a Washington Post reporter gives her an excessive view of how cultured other countries are.
One strange fact from the book: Of all the United States Government--military and civilian--we sent to Iraq, only 6 spoke Arabic fluently. This means we waged a war for the last six years without understanding a word any of the Iraqi citizens ever said. The implications of that are mind-boggling.
If you want to pursue the issue of what went wrong with Christianity--at least its American version, read chapter 25 of Diarmaid MacCulloch's Christianity--the First Three Thousand Years (Viking 2010)which covers the Culture Wars from 1960 until the present day. This 1,000-page history is what used to be called magisterial.
Susan Jacoby's book explains why our lawmakers have such a hard time figuring out what our Constitution means. It's not that the population has dumbed down but also our elected representatives as well. Joe Lieberman's TEA Act--Terrorist Expatriation Act--is a great example of a proposal that is so counter to every fiber of constitutional law. Even Tan Man Boehner scratched his head about this one, saying he didn't think it was constitutional and he has supported many a anti-constitutional measure over the last decade. Or Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions' op-ed today in the Washington Post on the founders' view of the Supreme Court and why none of Obama's choices fit the criteria even though he has chosen a new pick as yet. Or Sarah Palin's comment yesterday about the constitution that I referenced above. If political leaders can't get our own heritage straight, why expect the general population to know anything about the law or the Constitution?
Today continued the hounding of the President on his anti-terrorism strategy. Even though NYPD police chief said the coordination between all arms of government was " seamless", this has not deterred conservative pundits from proposing more illegal things. Charles Krauthammer writes today that we have to change the Miranda law in this age of terrorism, even though the Times Square bomber has been talking up a storm. Krauthammer raises the possibility that maybe one of these days the terror suspect won't talk. So far in over 300 cases brought to civilian courts, every one of the accused has talked incessantly after being Mirandized. Maybe we should create a Star Chamber of conservative pundits like Marc Thiessen who would be called upon to torture the one guy that doesn't talk. For all their bluster, maybe they should be given direct responsibility for their ideas. This would give them practical experience. Ralph Peters, now a columnist for the New York Post. claims that all these misadventures are because we as a culture have appeased Muslims and we must become tough against this religion.
The Republicans are still bleating on about how after 9/11 there were no terrorist attacks on American soil. I counted about 20 since 9/11 but that includes anti-abortion killers, the Washington sniper,two envirommental terrorist attacks in the Pacific Northwest and at least one real Muslim attack. Then if we know that American diplomatic posts abroad are considered American soil, the number increases dramatically.
As for American Muslims, they're a pretty nasty bunch. Of the 14,000 murders last year in the U.S., they committed 14. They have one of the lowest crimes rates of any minority in the country. Even when you consider the Somali terrorist recruits from Minnesota and the kids from Northern Virginia and the American Muslim at Ft. Hood, this is not a vast recruiting pool for Islamic terrorists. Over 40% of the Muslim community says they are "thriving" during this time of Recession, about the same number as well-to-do white Americans. Almost all have college degrees and a plurality have more than one degree. The most upwardly mobile of the group are Muslim women.
BFD Biden was right. Today's job figures came out and 290,000 jobs were created last month, which is the largest monthly number since 2006. Yet, unemployment increased because of the expanded labor pool. This is an example of the problem I wrote about yesterday where I said even with a rapid recovery we are facing a persistant period of high unemployment. The Republicans--those great job creators--won't let you forget it. The RNC blasted off a fax today about how this level of unemployment is Obama's new normal and that all his taxes--fill in the blank--is stopping job growth and turning our economy into a European one. A few more months of these numbers and the RNC fax machine will stop on this issue.
Charlie Cook, who is a big believer in the GOP taking back the House, warned today that they are risking this by not courting the independents and moderates with their extreme right agenda. Polling numbers reveal a shrinking enthusiasm gap between the GOP and Dems but more importantly GOP-leaning Independents have cooled on today's Republicans. Only 36% say that they reflect their values--a dramatic fall from the high 70s of last year. That's why you see a Charlie Crist as an independent leading Rubio by 8 points in the Mason-Dixon poll. The same applies to Lincoln Chaffee's bid for governor of Rhode Island. As the economy heats up, some of these fissures will become apparent. Even younger Republican House members are telling Tan Man Boehner not to start measuring the drapes. I think the GOP's overt triumphalism is going to be their achilles heel.
Yesterday a Democratic blogger outlined his reasons why he didn't believe Democratic losses this year will be as bad as believed. He pointed to the 1994 elections and how Democrats misplayed their agenda and were perceived as incompetent. He also pointed to the 2006 elections and how the Republicans literally didn't have a legislative agenda and that voters rebelled at their lack of time in session. This year he says that no one can accuse Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid of being incompetent and not getting results. For that reason, he concluded that while Americans are mad at government--they often are--, that doesn't mean they want to trade the status quo in for new Republican leadership. I think that's a point well-taken. Losses yes but nothing to totally shake up the current situation. I would campaign against Tan Man--who must be the creepiest person we've seen around town in years. Even Newt at his most obnoxious never made one's skin crawl like Boehner.
TPM caught John McCain going to a fund-raising lunch at the Chamber of Commerce as the Senate debates a new camapign reform bill opposed by the Chamber. John's remarks to the ambush was to attack Labor's campaign financing, despite the fact that too would be limited. He has travelled a bridge too far.
Rev. Long Stroke Rekers was set up by "liberals" according to the religious right,because he had been an effective campaigner against gay rights. For his part, Brent Bozell claims that Obama is anti-gay for his remarks about teabaggers. He says that if Bush said the same thing about the Tea Party people he would be severely criticized.
The oil spill threatens the Redneck Rivera on the Gulf Coast and Bobby "Small Government" Jindal has sent to the Obama Administration a laundry list of aid requests to virtually bail out the entire economy of Louisiana.
The UK election is over and if you are in the least bit interested you might consult Andrew Sullivan's blog. He's the only one really interested.
Call me very skeptical about all the news reports about the Times Square Bomber wannabe. I don't believe he was actually trained and I don't believe with what has been said that he's connected to any real terrorist group. The only one who seems skeptical along with me is Rachel Maddow, who the last few nights keeps knocking all the reports down. I'm still of the belief that he did it because Chase Manhattan closed on his house.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Book A Mundo
The first series of shipments have arrived. There are two surprises from my trolling the book stores this weekend. The Stories of Ray Bradbury (Everyman, 2010) with an introduction by Christopher Buckley, and The Library of America's volume Marshall: The Writings. The reason we believe there could be a strong Supreme Court is because of John Marshall, who established its control and authority over interpreting the Constitution. Some of us look forward to the day we have one again which we can respect.
Most of today's shipment are oldies but goodies:
Chris Hedges American Fascists: The Christian Rights and the War on America (Free Press 2008). Some of Hedges analysis revolves around the religious right formed by Pat Robertson types, which now in the age of Obama have been surpassed by a more virulent strain. While not up to Hedges' standards, Leah Burton's Theo Palinism: The Face of Failed Extremism ( 2009) gives you a glimpse of how extreme are Sarah Palin's religious views and their political implications.
For a social scientific view of our current climate, Marc Hetherington and Jonathan D. Weiler have produced Authoritarianism & Polarization in American Politics (Cambridge, 2010).
Former conservative or maybe still an old-time conservative Kevin Phillips wrote American Theocracy : the Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century in 2006 (Viking, 2006) to warn us about the changing face of the Republican Party and how it became dominated by the Religious Right. The book is dedicated to the millions of Republicans--present or lapsed--who opposed the Bush dynasty. In this book, he writes that this toxic combination would destroy the country. In Bad Money updated last year (Penguin, 2008) he writes about our overreach through the war in Iraq, a terrible energy policy, the housing bubble and how the crisis of American global capitalism might be our dance in the sunset.
Kevin Phillips' books forced me back to Bruce Bartlett's The New American Economy:The Failure of Reaganomics and a New Way Forward (Palgrave, 2009). Bruce Bartlett was one of the fathers of supply-side economics and was a treasury official under George H.W. Bush. His sharp criticisms of the conservative movement in the last few years led to his ostracism in a manner reminiscent of the recent episode involving David Frum. Barlett was one of the Republicans who agreed with Paul Krugman that the stimulus package was too small. Bruce Bartlett has his own blog and often you will see his writings discussed by Andrew Sullivan on his Daily Dish.
I was going to spend Easter writing about the religious fundamentalists studied by Bob Altemeyer but decided to spend my time thinking happier thoughts. His findings about religious fundamentalists explain such things as Diaper Dave Vitter, the Louisiana Senator caught as a customer of a Washington prostitute and in New Orleans as a cross-dresser, being able to still campaign on family values and be given a lead role by the Republicans in arguing against Healthreform. He was the clever man who introduced an amendment to prohibit funding to ACORN, another urban myth. Or the case of Promise Keeper Senator Ensign paying off his aide while he had an affair with his wife and yet moving on without missing a beat. It seems Senator Ensign will soon be indicted. Altemeyer explains alot of this by using Dietrich Bonhoffer's notion of "Grace on the Cheap" where someone declares him or herself born again and therefore able to continue to commit such acts. This also explains the degree to which such politicians will be forgiven and these egregious acts will be forgotten.
The sexytime RNC continues to meltdown with the resignation this afternoon of the leading fundraiser and the chief of staff. I have been bombarded by e-mails of Rasmussen polls showing everything from teabaggers having greater popularity than Obama and Republicans sweeping all the 2010 mid-term elections. I have trouble with all this. Even Nate Silver predicted great moves by the Republicans and Charles Cook predicts the Republicans will win back the House. But looking closely at www. swingstate. com and even the Cook polling data, you see that the Democrats probably bottomed out and that their losses in the House look to be in the neighborhood of 20-25 seats. But if things only marginally improve, they should even trim that number. That's why I find it hard to go as desparate as even Nate Silver, whom I deeply respect, or Charles Cook.
But I leave you today with this sobering thought, given the beliefs of the Republican base ,which I have written about before, if Republicans win back the House, I feel they will be compelled by their base to impeach President Obama. These are people without regard to the national interest or the affect such a move would make on the prestige of our country. If you are oblivious to the damage done to the country by the last administration and you really believe in American exceptionalism, then why would you care about our standing in the world?
Just a thought.
Most of today's shipment are oldies but goodies:
Chris Hedges American Fascists: The Christian Rights and the War on America (Free Press 2008). Some of Hedges analysis revolves around the religious right formed by Pat Robertson types, which now in the age of Obama have been surpassed by a more virulent strain. While not up to Hedges' standards, Leah Burton's Theo Palinism: The Face of Failed Extremism ( 2009) gives you a glimpse of how extreme are Sarah Palin's religious views and their political implications.
For a social scientific view of our current climate, Marc Hetherington and Jonathan D. Weiler have produced Authoritarianism & Polarization in American Politics (Cambridge, 2010).
Former conservative or maybe still an old-time conservative Kevin Phillips wrote American Theocracy : the Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century in 2006 (Viking, 2006) to warn us about the changing face of the Republican Party and how it became dominated by the Religious Right. The book is dedicated to the millions of Republicans--present or lapsed--who opposed the Bush dynasty. In this book, he writes that this toxic combination would destroy the country. In Bad Money updated last year (Penguin, 2008) he writes about our overreach through the war in Iraq, a terrible energy policy, the housing bubble and how the crisis of American global capitalism might be our dance in the sunset.
Kevin Phillips' books forced me back to Bruce Bartlett's The New American Economy:The Failure of Reaganomics and a New Way Forward (Palgrave, 2009). Bruce Bartlett was one of the fathers of supply-side economics and was a treasury official under George H.W. Bush. His sharp criticisms of the conservative movement in the last few years led to his ostracism in a manner reminiscent of the recent episode involving David Frum. Barlett was one of the Republicans who agreed with Paul Krugman that the stimulus package was too small. Bruce Bartlett has his own blog and often you will see his writings discussed by Andrew Sullivan on his Daily Dish.
I was going to spend Easter writing about the religious fundamentalists studied by Bob Altemeyer but decided to spend my time thinking happier thoughts. His findings about religious fundamentalists explain such things as Diaper Dave Vitter, the Louisiana Senator caught as a customer of a Washington prostitute and in New Orleans as a cross-dresser, being able to still campaign on family values and be given a lead role by the Republicans in arguing against Healthreform. He was the clever man who introduced an amendment to prohibit funding to ACORN, another urban myth. Or the case of Promise Keeper Senator Ensign paying off his aide while he had an affair with his wife and yet moving on without missing a beat. It seems Senator Ensign will soon be indicted. Altemeyer explains alot of this by using Dietrich Bonhoffer's notion of "Grace on the Cheap" where someone declares him or herself born again and therefore able to continue to commit such acts. This also explains the degree to which such politicians will be forgiven and these egregious acts will be forgotten.
The sexytime RNC continues to meltdown with the resignation this afternoon of the leading fundraiser and the chief of staff. I have been bombarded by e-mails of Rasmussen polls showing everything from teabaggers having greater popularity than Obama and Republicans sweeping all the 2010 mid-term elections. I have trouble with all this. Even Nate Silver predicted great moves by the Republicans and Charles Cook predicts the Republicans will win back the House. But looking closely at www. swingstate. com and even the Cook polling data, you see that the Democrats probably bottomed out and that their losses in the House look to be in the neighborhood of 20-25 seats. But if things only marginally improve, they should even trim that number. That's why I find it hard to go as desparate as even Nate Silver, whom I deeply respect, or Charles Cook.
But I leave you today with this sobering thought, given the beliefs of the Republican base ,which I have written about before, if Republicans win back the House, I feel they will be compelled by their base to impeach President Obama. These are people without regard to the national interest or the affect such a move would make on the prestige of our country. If you are oblivious to the damage done to the country by the last administration and you really believe in American exceptionalism, then why would you care about our standing in the world?
Just a thought.
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