The hard right's heads exploded with the decision ruling Prop 8 unconstitutional. One Free Republic post decried how our culture has become a sewer. Others moaned why vote anymore.
And Pat Buchanan said gay marriage was unnatural. And Newt said that the decision ignored the wishes of millions of people.
In the last few days, we've been treated to some nice reminders about our better angels. Judge Susan Bolton striking down the most egregious portions of the Arizona immigration law. Mayor Bloomberg speaking at Governor's Island with a full array of religious leaders giving us a little history lesson on religious tolerance in Manhattan. In defending the construction of the alleged mosque near the site of the Twin Towers, he reminded the audience that the early leaders of New Amsterdam denied Jews permission to build a synagogue and that early Quakers were forced to leave the area after they were denied the right to worship. Aside from the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish community backed the decision to allow the construction of the cultural center in large numbers so much so that the Muslim community has been spending the last days thanking individual Jewish leaders.
Before we hear that Obama is allowing The Gay to infiltrate our government and banning the worship of Cheezits, it's useful to point out who the three judges who have ruled for gay marriage have been. The Boston judge who ruled that DOMA, the federal ban against gay marriage, was unconstitutional is Judge Joseph Tauro,a Nixon appointee. The Chief Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court who penned the opinion upholding gay marriage in that state was Judge Mark Cady, a Republican appointed by Governor Branstad. And last night's hero, Judge Vaughn Walker was first appointed to the bench by President Ronald Reagan and elevated by George H.W. Bush. And, of course, the lead lawyer in the courtroom was America's most famous conservative attorney, Ted Olson, former Solicitor General of the Reagan Administration and the man who made George W. Bush president at the Supreme Court.
Apparently these remnants of the old Republican Party appreciate that the GOP's greatest achievement and legacy to the nation was the 14th Amendment. This has been so woven into the tapestry of our culture that we need to be reminded from time to time that you can not vote away someone's fundamental human rights. That's why it is stunning to see three sitting Republican Senators ask for hearings on the 14th Amendment as it applies to birthright citizenship. Even Alan Keyes, who has for years ventured off into our political fringes, appeared as the voice of reason yesterday objecting to any re-examination of the 14th Amendment.
Rights by plebiscite can lead to dangerous things like a vote on torture, which would have passed in the George W. Bush Administration, or on depriving illegal immigrants due process, which would pass in the most Republican areas of the country today. As Vaughn Walker wrote yesterday,you can not deprive people of their rights because of dislike, prejudice, or religious superstition.
It's now a race to the Supreme Court between the Massachusetts DOMA case and the California Prop 8 case. I would urge everyone to read Judge Vaughn Walker's Findings of Fact in the final opinion. He presided over a trial and during that trial the anti-gay side had ample opportunity to raise all their objections and evidence to the harm gay marriage would do to the institution of marriage, to the state, to the culture. Evaluating all the witnesses and their expertise, Vaughn Walker wrote out 80 Findings of Fact, which cumulatively demolished the anti-gay position in very measured, cool prose. His analysis of the quality of the anti-gay witnesses was more unrestrained and contemptuous.
The Findings of Fact provide a little guide to how to argue this issue to the layperson. But for the future appeals, it provides a bedrock of the case, which will be extremely difficult to overturn. The 9th Circuit Court--the next stop--will have to pay Walker due deference on the Findings of Fact and will only be able to adjust the Findings of Law. Legal experts believe that the 9th Circuit will fast track a decision, thereby setting the stage for the Supreme Court. For this, Judge Vaughn Walker already has peppered his decision with references to cases decided by Judge Kennedy.
The early bet is that a Supreme Court decision would be 5-4 in favor of gay marriage as the case has been argued so far. The deciding vote would be Kennedy, who has already penned decisions affirming rights of gays. But since this is the Roberts court, anything can happen. They could bring back slavery after the Citizens United fiasco, where foreign corporations gained more rights than average American citizens.
Public Policy Polling today came out with a poll that even surprised them. In the 27 Senate races they are monitoring for the 2010 midterms,24 of these races show moderates abandoning Republicans in greater numbers than they did McCain in 2008. Perhaps, the strategy of obstructionism is being perceived for what it is--an attempt to stop anything that might benefit average Americans.
Tan Man Boehner railed against the Jobs Bill because it favored those special interests groups-- those policemen and teachers. I'm sure he's just annoyed Nancy Pelosi called the House back next week to vote on the bill. He wants to relax and catch up on his golf. But House Republicans came out with their new jobs bill of their own--cut the corporate tax rate in half. At the same time, they have strenuously opposed cutting taxes for small businesses. Doesn't anyone feel some real "special interests" are at work here.
Ezra Klein appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show the other night to say that the Republicans have shrewdly backed the Democrats into a corner on the tax issue. I disagree. The Democrats are going to push forward in September their plan to raise the taxes on the top 1% and enshrine tax cuts for the rest of America. Republicans will have to publically defend the tax cuts for the upper brackets rather than get away with the scare tactics of massive tax increases across the board. If Republicans filibuster, then they would seal a tax increase for the entire country. Something I'm sure Democrats will point out everyday. And if Democrats cave, then they can say they sacrificed for the middle class and the Republicans will still be saddled with backing the very rich.
For the mid-terms, the Democrats would be well-advised to adopt a simple slogan such as "Who is working for you?" Make the choice plain and dramatic. Democrats this year are inheriting an atmosphere of total distrust of government. People forget that one other legacy of the Bush-Cheney years was the total collapse both here and abroad in faith in our federal government. Despite all the achievements of the Obama Administration and the House this past year,there is enough disinformation out there that arguing precise policy positions seems reactive. This is what the Republicans are banking on. But instead, every day the American public is treated to the negative behavior of Republicans in Congress. Whose on your side? That question is easier to answer than the pros and cons of a new Consumer Agency.
Senator Debbie Stabenow has introduced bill S3706 in the Senate to rectify the situation with the 99ers. This admits it will be almost impossible to pass. But it can serve as an organizing point for the unemployed, who are beginning to become more active.
It is rumored that Elena Kagan will be confirmed today. We've had another week of smears by some Republican Senators. So the radical, pacifist, sharia law-loving, homophile will get to take her seat in the fall session. She's probably receive in my view approximately the same vote total she got when she was confirmed as Solicitor General.
And, yeah, A-Rod hit his 600th. Next up he'll surpass Sammy Sosa this year.
Showing posts with label Conservative attacks on Elena Kagan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conservative attacks on Elena Kagan. Show all posts
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Disaster Alert--Obama is on Vacation
No sooner does President Obama start for the doors and the Beltway has a 3.6 earthquake. Summer and Obama vacations almost always spell disaster. Remember last August and the tea party eruptions? Just have to keep your fingers crossed. Of course, the GOP has blasted the First Family for leaving town since there is a crisis with the BP oil spill in the Gulf. And even more damaging are the Drudge reports that Obama has played Golf ten times, while Rome burns.
But even Politico finally fessed up that Tan Man Boehner has played Golf 199 times just this year. I guess now we know why he's tan. Democrats are seizing on this to mount a billboard in his district highlighting this fact. Can you imagine the legislative schedule if the Republicans actually won back the House? The champion vacation taker is George W. Bush, who spent three whole years of his eight years in office either at his ranch or at Camp David.
The Tan Man was in fine form this past week after Wall Street Reform finally passed--with all of 3 Republican votes. Conferring with K Street lobbyists, Boehner emerged to a press conference to advocate a one-year mortatorium on all federal regulations. Can you imagine how paralyzed the government would be?Mitch McConnell is saying that Republicans really shouldn't spell out their agenda because as Republican Congressman King from New York proclaimed the media would just pick it apart. Republicans held a video conference to gather ideas from regular people--the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Home Builders of America--just folks. Mark Pence of Indiana appeared on Fox to defend Senator Kyle's statement that we must renew the tax cuts for the rich and that extended unemployment benefits were too costly. Pence used the old canned conservative argument that tax cuts for the rich generated more government revenues. Unfortunately, for him, the record has now been documented by OMB and other institutions that they massively increased the national debt. It was alright to advocate them with pie-in-the-sky projections when no one knew but now the verdict is in.
The Republicans are handing Democrats issues if they know what to do with them. An MSNBC poll of the public revealed that in every sector of the economy Americans overwhelmingly wanted more, not less regulation. As for the great social security cutters, Time magazine asked," If Congress and the President had to reduce spending, in which areas would you want tthem to cut?" 55%--wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 46%--other defense spending. 34%--unemployment compensation. 20%--Medicaid. 17%--education. 16%-Medicare. 12%--Social Security. Any bets whether the military/terrorist complex is included in the Cat Food Commission findings this December?
Apparently, Americans have not gone crazy despite the 24/7 right-wing echo chamber. Even more surprising is that Texas really hasn't gone nuts either. The Texas Freedom Network Education Fund released its survey conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. The survey wanted to gauge public opinion on the intersection of politics and religion with the public schools. Coming after the Texas School Board's total revision of American history, this only seems appropriate. Are people in Texas so crazyas to agree to purge Thomas Jefferson from history and substitute John Calvin? Well, I guess not.
72% of likely Texas voters want teachers and scholars, not politicians to be responsible for writing curriculum requirements for public schools.
84% of Democrats, 63% of Republicans and 76% of Independents through all major urban areas want experts in charge of writing curriculum standards.
68% said that the separation of church and state is a key constitutional principle but 49% said that religions should have some influence in public schools.
But this finding doesn't mean that Texans want to sign on to the religious culture wars.
80% of likely Texas voters agree that high school classes on sex education should teach about" contraceptions,such as condoms and other birth control, along with abstinence."
88% think public schools should be required "to protect all children from bullying, harassment and discrimination in school, including the children of gay and lesbian parents or teenagers who are gay".
55% of likely Texas voters oppose using publicly funded vouchers that allow some students to attend private and religious schools.
As I've previously noted, something seems to be happening in the Texas governor race. Democrat Bill White has outraised GOP's Rick Perry and with Linda Chavez-Thompson as his Lt.Gov he has a good chance to swing the Latino vote. Locals polls show post the Arizona Immigration Law that Latinos has shifted dramatically to White.
Meg Whitman has tried to become Latino friendly in her race against Jerry Brown, even though her primary campaign ran ads for more restrictive immigration laws. But you wonder why someone would spend $100 million of her own money and counting to win any office. Meg has a keen sense of business. Her core campaign idea is to eliminate the California Income Tax. Pretty nifty. So she recoups her campiagn expenditures if she wins by eliminating the tax of her income. This is populism at work.
Meanwhile in Arizona, our experiment in ethnic cleansing continues. It seems Arizonans are not dying at a high rate, it's the illegals coming across the border. Death rates are reaching historical proportions. But the great news is that militiamen led by a real neo-Nazi are patrolling the border. The federal government claims they haven't broken any laws---yet.
The NAACP passed a rather tame resolution calling on the Tea Party gang to denounce those in their ranks who are racist. Naturally, they were attacked as racist by Sarah Palin and the tea party spokespeople. Those Obama as Hitler signs were plants from the "Crash the Tea Party" group, who are also alleged to be responsible for the group's bad spelling. However, Mark Williams on the Tea Party Express was demoted for posting a racist parody of blacks rejecting the Emancipation Proclamation on the group's website. This was on the day he appeared on Fox to call the NAACP racist.
the Tea Party Folks who posted a billboard in the small Iowa town that served as River City in the Music Man have pulled it down for fear of reprisals. It likened President Obama to Hitler and Lenin.
The anti-gay marriage group, NOM has started their summer tour of the states to rev up support for marriage. In Maine they drew 50 people, in Massachusetts another 50 and in Albany, New York a record 100. It's not going so well.
The great New Panther Party Voter intimidation pseudo-scandal, which has received round the clock coverage by Fox, was dealt a blow. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission, which is now rigged with conservatives, wants to study the "case" with an aim at attacking the Department of Justice. The case has one major flaw. There is no one claiming they were intimidated by the New Black Panthers at the polls. In fact, DOJ did prosecute one New Black Panther but on other grounds. Well, Abigail Thernstrom, a Bush appointee to the Commission, slammed her fellow conservatives as trying to use this case to "topple Eric Holder and President Obama if possible." She went on to say there was no merit to the accusations at all. The idea is to run this as the Willie Horton ad for 2012.
What's amusing in all this is that the man allowing this to become a Fox News special feature is Roger Ailes. Only this week Glenn Beck called Roger Ailes a "hero of the civil rights movement". The sublime reason for this is that Roger Ailes booked Martin Luther King, jr. on the old Mike Douglas show. Other than that Ailes was a prominent figure in devising Richard Nixon's southern strategy, which oozed racism.
Speaking of Glenn Beck, who is morphing more frequently than John McCain, the great showman said that Jesus Christ conquered death and did not return with his resurrection to seek revenge on the Jews who killed him. Spoken like a real Mormon. Beck's theology doesn't come from Mel Gibson's pre-Vatican II Catholicism but an old strain of American evangelical thought that Jesus is really of the Nordic race. There was a school of thought still lingering on the mudflats that Jesus simply couldn't be Jewish and, according to American racial theories, he exhibited characteristics of the Nordic race. This reached it's high-tide in the early 1930s. It is embarrassing that a leader of the American evangelical movement Rev. Buchen embraced Hitler and advocated the world be run by global fascism. Beck's own Mormonism was actually encouraged in Hitler's Germany, when Jews were being exterminated and the Christian churches were shut down or silenced.
I have to channel some of this insanity. Since this stuff is so repulsive, I'm switching to our Chamber of Commerce, which despite its claims of representing small business advocates the policy positions of our top 19 corporations. Progressives immediately took the bait about the Chamber's new call to cut social security spending and no regulations. But they missed the visionary aspects of the new platform. The Chamber has publically called for the privatization of our highways , waterways and opening public lands to more timber cutting. This comes at a time when free-market Hong Kong has just adopted its first minimum wage bill. The Chamber has gone back to the late 19th century for its motivation.
I am reviving my paper organization--The Newark Whaling,Sealing and Holding Company. This company estabished in 1833 at the height of our dependence on whale oil had one ship and managed in its short history to capture one whale off the coast of Valapraiso, Chile. it wasgiven the whaling rights off the New Jersey coast but it's ship sank and the original company was financially ruined. I've decided to revive it again to launch a new career in the privatizing of our waterways. I first thought I would aim at the Los Angeles River, now paved with concrete, but instead decided to privatize the Delaware River in keeping with the company's state of origin. With a Republican governor in New Jersey and a likely one in Pennsylvania this year , the political climate in these two states lends itself to privatizing the river border between the two states. And in keeping with the Tea Party spirit, I will stand on the bow of a rowboat and wade ashore in Trenton in honor of George Washington. Hopefully, I can receive a government loan to finance this endeavor.
If that doesn't work, I seek political asylum with the Six Nations in upstate New York. The Haudenosaunee lacrosse team was denied entrance into the UK for a lacrosse tournament because they were travelling on Iroquois Nation passports. Hillary Clinton had to intervene to OK them leaving the states on the passports but British authorities denied them admission because after all they actually invented lacrosse. Also, they invented federalism and had a great influence on Benjamin Franklin and his attitudes on federalism. And also, they built the Brooklyn Bridge. But no dice. They couldn't play but they looked great in their jerseys and long hair. They shouldn't feel bad. Lacrosse great Oren Lyons, one of their spiritual leaders and advocate for Indian rights, was deprived for decades a place in our own Lacrosse Hall of Fame, which had been exclusively for white players. Finally, they had to let him in because they were ashamed that the Hall would not include one of the greatest players of all time and someone from the people who invented the sport.
Zbig says that we are all suffering from an Obama malaise--and he should know about malaises since the Carter days. Bloomberg's poll reports that Obama is crashing wildly--at 52% approval rate; Gallup has been the same for about six months; and other polls show a 9 month plateau.
Charles Krauthammer warns conservatives they are seriously underestimating Obama. Charles, I thought you said he was the next Carter.
Anyway, Mr. Godwin will be sworn in to replace Harry Byrd on Tuesday and an hour later Harry Reid plans to call another vote on extending unemployment insurance. And we will see. Elena Kagan , Gallup tells us, has the lowest approval rate of someone about to be approved since they have been polling this odd question. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions claims that he may filibuster. This would then put Elena Kagan in the elite company with Abe Fortas, the only other Supreme Court nominee every filibustered, in the history of the United States. I doubt whether it will happen.
But that's the type of thing that happens when Obama goes on vacation. Phew, I noticed his plan has left Bar Harbor. Maybe we have averted a national disaster.
But even Politico finally fessed up that Tan Man Boehner has played Golf 199 times just this year. I guess now we know why he's tan. Democrats are seizing on this to mount a billboard in his district highlighting this fact. Can you imagine the legislative schedule if the Republicans actually won back the House? The champion vacation taker is George W. Bush, who spent three whole years of his eight years in office either at his ranch or at Camp David.
The Tan Man was in fine form this past week after Wall Street Reform finally passed--with all of 3 Republican votes. Conferring with K Street lobbyists, Boehner emerged to a press conference to advocate a one-year mortatorium on all federal regulations. Can you imagine how paralyzed the government would be?Mitch McConnell is saying that Republicans really shouldn't spell out their agenda because as Republican Congressman King from New York proclaimed the media would just pick it apart. Republicans held a video conference to gather ideas from regular people--the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the Home Builders of America--just folks. Mark Pence of Indiana appeared on Fox to defend Senator Kyle's statement that we must renew the tax cuts for the rich and that extended unemployment benefits were too costly. Pence used the old canned conservative argument that tax cuts for the rich generated more government revenues. Unfortunately, for him, the record has now been documented by OMB and other institutions that they massively increased the national debt. It was alright to advocate them with pie-in-the-sky projections when no one knew but now the verdict is in.
The Republicans are handing Democrats issues if they know what to do with them. An MSNBC poll of the public revealed that in every sector of the economy Americans overwhelmingly wanted more, not less regulation. As for the great social security cutters, Time magazine asked," If Congress and the President had to reduce spending, in which areas would you want tthem to cut?" 55%--wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. 46%--other defense spending. 34%--unemployment compensation. 20%--Medicaid. 17%--education. 16%-Medicare. 12%--Social Security. Any bets whether the military/terrorist complex is included in the Cat Food Commission findings this December?
Apparently, Americans have not gone crazy despite the 24/7 right-wing echo chamber. Even more surprising is that Texas really hasn't gone nuts either. The Texas Freedom Network Education Fund released its survey conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. The survey wanted to gauge public opinion on the intersection of politics and religion with the public schools. Coming after the Texas School Board's total revision of American history, this only seems appropriate. Are people in Texas so crazyas to agree to purge Thomas Jefferson from history and substitute John Calvin? Well, I guess not.
72% of likely Texas voters want teachers and scholars, not politicians to be responsible for writing curriculum requirements for public schools.
84% of Democrats, 63% of Republicans and 76% of Independents through all major urban areas want experts in charge of writing curriculum standards.
68% said that the separation of church and state is a key constitutional principle but 49% said that religions should have some influence in public schools.
But this finding doesn't mean that Texans want to sign on to the religious culture wars.
80% of likely Texas voters agree that high school classes on sex education should teach about" contraceptions,such as condoms and other birth control, along with abstinence."
88% think public schools should be required "to protect all children from bullying, harassment and discrimination in school, including the children of gay and lesbian parents or teenagers who are gay".
55% of likely Texas voters oppose using publicly funded vouchers that allow some students to attend private and religious schools.
As I've previously noted, something seems to be happening in the Texas governor race. Democrat Bill White has outraised GOP's Rick Perry and with Linda Chavez-Thompson as his Lt.Gov he has a good chance to swing the Latino vote. Locals polls show post the Arizona Immigration Law that Latinos has shifted dramatically to White.
Meg Whitman has tried to become Latino friendly in her race against Jerry Brown, even though her primary campaign ran ads for more restrictive immigration laws. But you wonder why someone would spend $100 million of her own money and counting to win any office. Meg has a keen sense of business. Her core campaign idea is to eliminate the California Income Tax. Pretty nifty. So she recoups her campiagn expenditures if she wins by eliminating the tax of her income. This is populism at work.
Meanwhile in Arizona, our experiment in ethnic cleansing continues. It seems Arizonans are not dying at a high rate, it's the illegals coming across the border. Death rates are reaching historical proportions. But the great news is that militiamen led by a real neo-Nazi are patrolling the border. The federal government claims they haven't broken any laws---yet.
The NAACP passed a rather tame resolution calling on the Tea Party gang to denounce those in their ranks who are racist. Naturally, they were attacked as racist by Sarah Palin and the tea party spokespeople. Those Obama as Hitler signs were plants from the "Crash the Tea Party" group, who are also alleged to be responsible for the group's bad spelling. However, Mark Williams on the Tea Party Express was demoted for posting a racist parody of blacks rejecting the Emancipation Proclamation on the group's website. This was on the day he appeared on Fox to call the NAACP racist.
the Tea Party Folks who posted a billboard in the small Iowa town that served as River City in the Music Man have pulled it down for fear of reprisals. It likened President Obama to Hitler and Lenin.
The anti-gay marriage group, NOM has started their summer tour of the states to rev up support for marriage. In Maine they drew 50 people, in Massachusetts another 50 and in Albany, New York a record 100. It's not going so well.
The great New Panther Party Voter intimidation pseudo-scandal, which has received round the clock coverage by Fox, was dealt a blow. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission, which is now rigged with conservatives, wants to study the "case" with an aim at attacking the Department of Justice. The case has one major flaw. There is no one claiming they were intimidated by the New Black Panthers at the polls. In fact, DOJ did prosecute one New Black Panther but on other grounds. Well, Abigail Thernstrom, a Bush appointee to the Commission, slammed her fellow conservatives as trying to use this case to "topple Eric Holder and President Obama if possible." She went on to say there was no merit to the accusations at all. The idea is to run this as the Willie Horton ad for 2012.
What's amusing in all this is that the man allowing this to become a Fox News special feature is Roger Ailes. Only this week Glenn Beck called Roger Ailes a "hero of the civil rights movement". The sublime reason for this is that Roger Ailes booked Martin Luther King, jr. on the old Mike Douglas show. Other than that Ailes was a prominent figure in devising Richard Nixon's southern strategy, which oozed racism.
Speaking of Glenn Beck, who is morphing more frequently than John McCain, the great showman said that Jesus Christ conquered death and did not return with his resurrection to seek revenge on the Jews who killed him. Spoken like a real Mormon. Beck's theology doesn't come from Mel Gibson's pre-Vatican II Catholicism but an old strain of American evangelical thought that Jesus is really of the Nordic race. There was a school of thought still lingering on the mudflats that Jesus simply couldn't be Jewish and, according to American racial theories, he exhibited characteristics of the Nordic race. This reached it's high-tide in the early 1930s. It is embarrassing that a leader of the American evangelical movement Rev. Buchen embraced Hitler and advocated the world be run by global fascism. Beck's own Mormonism was actually encouraged in Hitler's Germany, when Jews were being exterminated and the Christian churches were shut down or silenced.
I have to channel some of this insanity. Since this stuff is so repulsive, I'm switching to our Chamber of Commerce, which despite its claims of representing small business advocates the policy positions of our top 19 corporations. Progressives immediately took the bait about the Chamber's new call to cut social security spending and no regulations. But they missed the visionary aspects of the new platform. The Chamber has publically called for the privatization of our highways , waterways and opening public lands to more timber cutting. This comes at a time when free-market Hong Kong has just adopted its first minimum wage bill. The Chamber has gone back to the late 19th century for its motivation.
I am reviving my paper organization--The Newark Whaling,Sealing and Holding Company. This company estabished in 1833 at the height of our dependence on whale oil had one ship and managed in its short history to capture one whale off the coast of Valapraiso, Chile. it wasgiven the whaling rights off the New Jersey coast but it's ship sank and the original company was financially ruined. I've decided to revive it again to launch a new career in the privatizing of our waterways. I first thought I would aim at the Los Angeles River, now paved with concrete, but instead decided to privatize the Delaware River in keeping with the company's state of origin. With a Republican governor in New Jersey and a likely one in Pennsylvania this year , the political climate in these two states lends itself to privatizing the river border between the two states. And in keeping with the Tea Party spirit, I will stand on the bow of a rowboat and wade ashore in Trenton in honor of George Washington. Hopefully, I can receive a government loan to finance this endeavor.
If that doesn't work, I seek political asylum with the Six Nations in upstate New York. The Haudenosaunee lacrosse team was denied entrance into the UK for a lacrosse tournament because they were travelling on Iroquois Nation passports. Hillary Clinton had to intervene to OK them leaving the states on the passports but British authorities denied them admission because after all they actually invented lacrosse. Also, they invented federalism and had a great influence on Benjamin Franklin and his attitudes on federalism. And also, they built the Brooklyn Bridge. But no dice. They couldn't play but they looked great in their jerseys and long hair. They shouldn't feel bad. Lacrosse great Oren Lyons, one of their spiritual leaders and advocate for Indian rights, was deprived for decades a place in our own Lacrosse Hall of Fame, which had been exclusively for white players. Finally, they had to let him in because they were ashamed that the Hall would not include one of the greatest players of all time and someone from the people who invented the sport.
Zbig says that we are all suffering from an Obama malaise--and he should know about malaises since the Carter days. Bloomberg's poll reports that Obama is crashing wildly--at 52% approval rate; Gallup has been the same for about six months; and other polls show a 9 month plateau.
Charles Krauthammer warns conservatives they are seriously underestimating Obama. Charles, I thought you said he was the next Carter.
Anyway, Mr. Godwin will be sworn in to replace Harry Byrd on Tuesday and an hour later Harry Reid plans to call another vote on extending unemployment insurance. And we will see. Elena Kagan , Gallup tells us, has the lowest approval rate of someone about to be approved since they have been polling this odd question. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions claims that he may filibuster. This would then put Elena Kagan in the elite company with Abe Fortas, the only other Supreme Court nominee every filibustered, in the history of the United States. I doubt whether it will happen.
But that's the type of thing that happens when Obama goes on vacation. Phew, I noticed his plan has left Bar Harbor. Maybe we have averted a national disaster.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Cry Havoc
Sometimes I take a break to see whether we have reached a plateau with insanity in our politics. It's clear we have ramped it up even higher.
The Montana Republican Party wants to outlaw "homosexual acts" in the state. What precisely are sexual acts committed by gays that are not committed by straights? Even teabagging.
The Idaho Republican Party has come out for the repeal of the 17th Amendment. Is this a cost-cutting measure to save on the expense of elections for Senators?
13 states are introducing anti-immgration bills modeled after Arizona.
The President's Financial Reform package got side-swiped by the death of Senator Byrd. This almost happened last year with Healthcare Reform, when Republicans insisted he had to be wheeled in at midnight to vote. The Secretary of State in West Virginia claims the Governor will nominate a successor and an election would be held in 2012. The Governor promises not to name himself but will have someone in place for the energy bill debate.
Joe Biden told Democratic party activists at a fund-raiser that at least seven Republican Senators were threatened that they would lose their committee assignments if they did not support the filibusters.
The conference had to recovene on the Wall Street reform bill because Republicans, some of whom are vital to its passage, were opposed to any fees being placed in the banks. Instead, they wanted the government to pick up the cost of the reform. This seems to be an on-going theme--the government should pay for the damage of the Gulf disaster and not the corporation that caused it.
The Tan Man John Boehner made news with his interview with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow captured some of his madness. But they missed the really salient parts of his remarks. While it is true he wants to raise the age of retirement to 70, more importantly was the fact that he wants to cut social security benefits now and revamp entitlement programs to pay for the wars. It was clear from his whole interview he really doesn't have much of an understanding of any of the issues facing the country. Today in Racine, Wisconsin President Obama ridiculed Boehner's statement that the economic crisis in the country was like "an ant". Boehner also said that Obama was killing the America he grew up in. Perhaps he was referring to the fact that the Cincinnati Reds are no longer the powerhouse team of the late 1950s and early 1960s. And this man wants to be Speaker of the House.
Conservative Utah Senator Bob Bennett, who lost his party's nomination to a teabaggers, spoke to the Ripon Society and blasted the GOP as a party of slogans, not ideas. He actually said Republicans would win back the House and that would be a bad idea since they wouldn't know what to do with it.
Nate the Great Silver at www.fivethirtyeight.com updated his Senate predictions, saying that Democrats gained slightly after the primaries. He's still at about a 55-45 Senate. He does write off Arkansas and North Dakota as 100% lost for the Democrats.
On the Kagan confirmation, all you have to understand is that only one Republican on the Judicial Commitee has to vote for her to have the nomination move to the whole Senate floor.
So enjoy the hearings for the amazing insight they provide us of the inner mind of today's Republican Party. The first day was spent lamenting school integration and the civil rights period--of course in code. But Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions spent his time attacking Thurgood Marshall and his activism. He was in fact referring to Marshall's days as a civil rights lawyer. In one moment, Sessions slipped by saving the Citizens United was today's Brown versus School Board. I guess the last people to be freed in the United States are corporations--or maybe he was referring to foreign corporations. Sessions was also concerned that Elena Kagan thought of the military as second-class ctitizens. When Mr. Sessions was the Alabama attorney-general, he refused to investigate the series of black churches burning down. Maybe a Justice Kagan wouldn't mind army military barracks burning down.
Tom Coburn, who never ceases to amaze me,wanted to know her views of mixed marriages. He went on to say that his state opposed mixed marriages. He really meant same sex marriages. But with the thrust of the Republican comments the first two days, you would think they really do want to repeal civil rights. One of the most repulsive scene was Senator Kyl, slamming Thurgood Marshall as "out of the mainstream".
The best stuff is really from the Christian Right community and their allies. 800 Orthodox Rabbis signed a letter condemning Elena Kagan, which was circulated by the Christian groups. The rabbis said that her confirmation would trigger a wave of "anti-semiticism" in the United States , which would "threaten the existence of the state of Israel". Tim LaHaye, Mr. Left Behind and an officer in the John Birch Society, sent out another apocalyptic warning about Kagan saying she is for "global law" and threatens traditional values. Focus on Your Family and other Christian Rght groups in the Beltway said that Kagan would promote the homosexual agenda and naturally trigger the end of Western civilization as we know it. One of the groups sent around an assertion that Kagan believed that Blue Cross-Blue Shield should cover sex change operations. And of course with her support of Sharia law,this would be bad news.
Kagan got the best line off in the last three days when Lindsey Graham asked her where was she when the Christmas gonad bomber was caught. "On Christmas, like most Jewish people I was at a Chinese restaurant." Ah, New Yorkers.
I know the South Carolina GOP likes to inject anti-semiticism into their campaigns but I disagree with the progressives that this was what Graham was trying to do. By all accounts, he's going to vote for her and the tenure of his remarks that day was to support her against accusations she was anti-military.
Republican candidates this year are being told not to give interviews to the lamestream press because this year's crop of candidates are nuttier than fruitcakes. But we got a big break from Sharon Angle, the teabagger from Nevada, who granted an interview with the Las Vegas press. She is against extending unemployment benefits because people earn more from unemployment than the lesser paying jobs they could have. She is for the government subdizes small businesses. And she is absolutely against abortion under any circumstances even incest and rape because God has a plan. However, she backed away from her previous suggestions that voters might have to kill Harry Reid. She;'s become a nicer, gentler fruitcake.
The Montana Republican Party wants to outlaw "homosexual acts" in the state. What precisely are sexual acts committed by gays that are not committed by straights? Even teabagging.
The Idaho Republican Party has come out for the repeal of the 17th Amendment. Is this a cost-cutting measure to save on the expense of elections for Senators?
13 states are introducing anti-immgration bills modeled after Arizona.
The President's Financial Reform package got side-swiped by the death of Senator Byrd. This almost happened last year with Healthcare Reform, when Republicans insisted he had to be wheeled in at midnight to vote. The Secretary of State in West Virginia claims the Governor will nominate a successor and an election would be held in 2012. The Governor promises not to name himself but will have someone in place for the energy bill debate.
Joe Biden told Democratic party activists at a fund-raiser that at least seven Republican Senators were threatened that they would lose their committee assignments if they did not support the filibusters.
The conference had to recovene on the Wall Street reform bill because Republicans, some of whom are vital to its passage, were opposed to any fees being placed in the banks. Instead, they wanted the government to pick up the cost of the reform. This seems to be an on-going theme--the government should pay for the damage of the Gulf disaster and not the corporation that caused it.
The Tan Man John Boehner made news with his interview with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow captured some of his madness. But they missed the really salient parts of his remarks. While it is true he wants to raise the age of retirement to 70, more importantly was the fact that he wants to cut social security benefits now and revamp entitlement programs to pay for the wars. It was clear from his whole interview he really doesn't have much of an understanding of any of the issues facing the country. Today in Racine, Wisconsin President Obama ridiculed Boehner's statement that the economic crisis in the country was like "an ant". Boehner also said that Obama was killing the America he grew up in. Perhaps he was referring to the fact that the Cincinnati Reds are no longer the powerhouse team of the late 1950s and early 1960s. And this man wants to be Speaker of the House.
Conservative Utah Senator Bob Bennett, who lost his party's nomination to a teabaggers, spoke to the Ripon Society and blasted the GOP as a party of slogans, not ideas. He actually said Republicans would win back the House and that would be a bad idea since they wouldn't know what to do with it.
Nate the Great Silver at www.fivethirtyeight.com updated his Senate predictions, saying that Democrats gained slightly after the primaries. He's still at about a 55-45 Senate. He does write off Arkansas and North Dakota as 100% lost for the Democrats.
On the Kagan confirmation, all you have to understand is that only one Republican on the Judicial Commitee has to vote for her to have the nomination move to the whole Senate floor.
So enjoy the hearings for the amazing insight they provide us of the inner mind of today's Republican Party. The first day was spent lamenting school integration and the civil rights period--of course in code. But Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions spent his time attacking Thurgood Marshall and his activism. He was in fact referring to Marshall's days as a civil rights lawyer. In one moment, Sessions slipped by saving the Citizens United was today's Brown versus School Board. I guess the last people to be freed in the United States are corporations--or maybe he was referring to foreign corporations. Sessions was also concerned that Elena Kagan thought of the military as second-class ctitizens. When Mr. Sessions was the Alabama attorney-general, he refused to investigate the series of black churches burning down. Maybe a Justice Kagan wouldn't mind army military barracks burning down.
Tom Coburn, who never ceases to amaze me,wanted to know her views of mixed marriages. He went on to say that his state opposed mixed marriages. He really meant same sex marriages. But with the thrust of the Republican comments the first two days, you would think they really do want to repeal civil rights. One of the most repulsive scene was Senator Kyl, slamming Thurgood Marshall as "out of the mainstream".
The best stuff is really from the Christian Right community and their allies. 800 Orthodox Rabbis signed a letter condemning Elena Kagan, which was circulated by the Christian groups. The rabbis said that her confirmation would trigger a wave of "anti-semiticism" in the United States , which would "threaten the existence of the state of Israel". Tim LaHaye, Mr. Left Behind and an officer in the John Birch Society, sent out another apocalyptic warning about Kagan saying she is for "global law" and threatens traditional values. Focus on Your Family and other Christian Rght groups in the Beltway said that Kagan would promote the homosexual agenda and naturally trigger the end of Western civilization as we know it. One of the groups sent around an assertion that Kagan believed that Blue Cross-Blue Shield should cover sex change operations. And of course with her support of Sharia law,this would be bad news.
Kagan got the best line off in the last three days when Lindsey Graham asked her where was she when the Christmas gonad bomber was caught. "On Christmas, like most Jewish people I was at a Chinese restaurant." Ah, New Yorkers.
I know the South Carolina GOP likes to inject anti-semiticism into their campaigns but I disagree with the progressives that this was what Graham was trying to do. By all accounts, he's going to vote for her and the tenure of his remarks that day was to support her against accusations she was anti-military.
Republican candidates this year are being told not to give interviews to the lamestream press because this year's crop of candidates are nuttier than fruitcakes. But we got a big break from Sharon Angle, the teabagger from Nevada, who granted an interview with the Las Vegas press. She is against extending unemployment benefits because people earn more from unemployment than the lesser paying jobs they could have. She is for the government subdizes small businesses. And she is absolutely against abortion under any circumstances even incest and rape because God has a plan. However, she backed away from her previous suggestions that voters might have to kill Harry Reid. She;'s become a nicer, gentler fruitcake.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
The Common Good and the Clueless
The Quote of the Day:
"The great crisis among us is the crisis of "the common good," the sense of community solidarity that binds all in a common destiny--haves and have-nots, the rich and the poor. We face a crisis about the common good because there are powerful forces at work among us to resist the common good, to violate community solidarity, and to deny a common destiny. Mature people, at their best, are people who are committed to the common good that reaches beyond private interest, transcends sectarian commitments, and offers human solidarity."
Walter Brueggeman, Journey to the Common Good ( Westminster/John Knox Press, 2010). Dr.Brueggeman is a theologian of the United Church of Christ and was a distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. His book is a detailed examination of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament on the subject of the common good and is heavy going if you are not into biblical exegesis. The book was started at the end of the Bush Administration and has an afterword of hope for the Obama years. Brueggeman believes that our economic collapse, more than the 9/11 attacks, has eroded our social cohesion more than anything in recent memory.
For the secular-minded, I have been reading Amitai Etzioni's The Common Good, (Polity, 2004), which reminds me of the dry, arid prose of ethical humanists. If communitarianism interests anyone, I highly recommend Robert Bellah , who has an insightful and riveting prose style. I have been reading Robert Bellah since college and Habits of the Heart is his examination of American traditions of seeking the common good.
Has anyone noticed how our major economic units deliberately ignore the law. Health Secretary Katheleen Sibelius has been fighting the major insurance companies since health care passed for them to adhere to the new requirements and to stop jacking up premiums before the fianl phase of health care reform kicks in. The major American banks were bailed out and are now churning profits again but they have systematically ignored President Obama's entreaties to loan to small businesses and to modify home mortgages for those in desparate need. And now the oil companies virtually stone-walled on the major environmental disaster of my lifetime, yet are pushing for more rights to offshore drilling. And now we are being treated to Pete Peterson's road trip through America to dramatize the situation of our debt, which, in his opinion, demands eliminating all entitlement programs.
This week James Galbraith, author of The Predator State, tells us our deficit has "zero" importance. Galbraith, joining Paul Krugman, in fighting off the"We are Greece now"mantra from the right, points out that the projections of our debt level imply that virtually nothing will be done in the next few years to lower health care costs, the biggest culprit beside the military/ terrorist complex, and that can be done to shore up social security. He also points out that there are very few times in the history of our country where we didn't have a deficit and he argues that to maintain any economic progress the government must continue to have one. But this is Keynesian economics, not supply-side orthodoxy.
Ron Brownstein of the Los Angeles Times wrote this week that if our little job engine that could keeps producing jobs at the current rate, our economy in 2010 will have created more jobs this year than the entire Bush-Cheney years together. Brownstein goes further to analyze the fallacy that tax cuts to the rich and the corporations create jobs--in fact the largest periods of jobs growth in the last two decades came when these policy items were jettisoned. For the rest of America, USA Today reports that Americans are paying the lowest rate of taxes since 1950, a fact that runs counter to the tea party crowd's boisterous assertions.
In keeping with their anti-science, anti-job philosophy, the Republicans proudly defeated the House bill to provide additional funding for math and science research and job creation by adding an amendment that would require federal employees to watch porn. Democratic congressmen fled the bill. I guess Republicans were thinking about the recent discovery that the SEC employees under movement conservative Chris Cox were all watching porn on the internet instead of investigating Bernie Madoff and other criminals.
The "Quitter from Wasilla" said "We are all Arizonans now." I guess we didn't sign up for her war in Georgia. Arizona is getting slaughtered by the national boycotts so much so that Governor Jan Brewer urged citizens of the state to vacation at home this year. If there were any doubts about the racist intent of the immigration law, they were erased this week as the state prohibited any ethnic studies in public school and ended the legal requirement that certain businesses had to have interpreters for Spanish-speakers.
John McCain cut an ad about controlling illegal immigration with a very white sheriff from the central part of the state. The "Build the Danged Fence" ad drew ridicule and a great parody using Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars. The actual sheriff from Nogales where the ad was filmed--a very Mexican-American looking figure--came out and blasted both the ad and the whole law. Still South Carolina's Jim DeMint tried to scuttle the financial reform bill in the Senate this week by submitting an amendment calling for the building of the border fence. All this forced Michael Gerson, former Bush speechwriter and Washington Post columnist, to admit that the Republican party is clearly now anti-immigrant and will be perceived as such.
That's apparently not all they're against. Pat Buchanan wondered why the Supreme Court had to have so many Jews in his criticism of the nomination of Elena Kagan. There is considerable irony here in that Pat Buchanan is responsible for the Republican strategy of selecting Catholic conservative judges. Now we have six Catholics on the Court. This not-so-veiled anti-semiticism was picked up in a more polite way by a conservative legal activist ironically named Miranda, who claimed Elena Kagan came from the New York Jewish socialist culture. He commended this culture for its vibrant contribution to American society but reminded his readers "but it's still socialist."
After Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal printed a picture of Elena Kagan playing softball, the New York Post dutifully followed with two articles about whether softball was a lesbian sport. Pat Buchanan chimed in on the Morning Joe show that everyone knows that lesbians are associated with softball. Rush Limbaugh reinforced the homophobic theme by calling Kagan " a Chaz Bono look-alike." So, Jewish, Socialist, Lesbian. For the record, I always felt that woman's professional basketball was the lesbian magnet and I noticed that Condi Rice made a big pitch for women's basketball this week without comment from detractors.
Elena Kagan as a lesbian Emma Goldman without experience and a thin-paper trail has Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions all a twitter. He claims that her objection to Don't Ask, Don't Tell showed what her real priorities are. Of course, this is all aimed at prolonging the process as long as possible so nothing can get done in the Senate. Newt Gingrich is demanding that Obama withdraw her nomination.
In my view, Elena Kagan is not really meant to replace John Paul Stevens, but is an early replacement of Ruth Bader Ginzburg, freeing up Obama for a different type of choice at that time.
But not all Republicans are going down this path. The band of legal brothers seem to be embarrassed by all this. None other than Ken Starr strongly came out in favor of her and Miguel Estrada wrote movingly about why she should be confirmed, stated that obviously his view might hurt her chances. Michael McConnell, the former federal appeals court judge nominated by W, stated, "She has had a remarkable and truly unusual record of reaching out across ideological divides." The two knew each other as law professors at the University of Chicago. I worried when even Johnny Yoo has endorsed her. Laura Bush, who seems off her meds this week after endorsing same sex marriage and pro-choice positions, also supported Kagan's nomination.
Dana Millbank, writing in the Washington Post, brought to the nation's attention the lunacy in the Republican Party of Maine and wondered whether they were expecting "a Viking invasion." The Portland newspapers reported that the Knox County caucus, which wrote the teabagger platform for the party, had trashed the schoolroom where they met, went through the teacher's desk and destroyed the copies of the Constitution he had, which were printed by the ACLU. One of the vandals was quoted as saying the caucus was disturbed that the teacher seemed to be a "Communist".
The NRA, which is always for the common good, again endorsed allowing people on the terrorist "don't fly" list to be able to purchase guns. Their position was affirmed by Sarah Palin. Sister Sarah also told the NRA that if Obama could, he would take away their guns. This despite Obama allowing guns into the national parks, which I think is wrong. And if Sarah could she would ban books. Oh, she did in Wasilla.
Here in Virginia , Governor Big Bob "Jobs" McDonnell passed his measure that allows citizens to openly carry guns into a bar but they are not allowed to drink. The NRA is insisting that gun carriers must be allowed to drink, while openly carrying. This is the new big debate in Virginia, which made the Daily Beast's number 2 corrupt state in the nation.
A "birther " group by the shadowy name of The New Legion for Christ based in Downer's Grove, Illinois, has funneled $1 million to the Republican primary for Governor in Alabama, home testing grounds for Karl Rove. Did the funds go to Judge Moore of Ten Commandments Fame or the candidate who was for teaching evolution before he was against it?
Haley Barbour wants y'all to come down and swim on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The oil spill is just like a "gasoline sheen around ski boats."
Glenn Beck received an honorary doctorate from Liberty University, home of the Falwells. He sensitively acknowledged that his Mormon faith presented problems for his fundamentalist audience and he did cry almost a dozen times during his speech. The first time I think was authentic when he acknowledged that he stopped going to college after the first semester because he didn't have enough money. He had many inspiring words of wisdom for the students. "Taxis smell the worst in summer." "Life is tough and only gets tougher and then you die." "Date someone who loves you as much as I do." "Shoot to kill". I'm convinced he's in some type of "scream therapy".
Democratic congressman Oberstar asked why Republicans have over 120 personal earmarks in the upcoming appropriations bill when they took a public pledge to suspend earmarks for a year.
America's oldest bloggers are back and in great form. For snarky, uninhibited commentary on our political scene from people who have lived a long life, check out http://www.margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/ . They succinctly put into perspective the problems Obama faces and have some snide comments of their own about the past inhabitants of the White House.
A raft of polls have come out this week which conclude that Americans are truly confused. For the first time in a while, Americans favor Democrats retaining control of Congress. But only 33% of Americans want to re-elect their own congressperson. In four polls I examined, Democratic approval ratings are far above Republicans in Congress. In terms of defending the average America versuis corporate interests, Obama is in the mid-55%, congressional Democrats only in the mid-30s, and Republicans at 20%. In a Roper poll, a teabagger complained that Republicans have gone too far Left! On the key right track-wrong track question, right track moved up two clicks to 42%, the third consecutive week of positive movement.
A Gallup Poll put concerns about the economy over the unemployment issue of the first time. This is disturbing because the U6 unemployment rate is till over 17%, an alarming high figure. A Washington Post/ABC poll show that Americans trust Obama overwhelmingly over Republicans to handle the economy, regulate the financial industry, the deficit and healthcare. In the Pew poll, Republicans still have a slight edge on national security. But the Pew poll does indicate that 60% like Obama personally ( a measure separate from approve, which I always take as important) and that 60% blame Bush for both the economy and the deficits. This latter number should strengthen the Democrats hand in resisting the conservative demands for gutting Social Security and Medicare under the pretense of deficit reduction.
Charles Cook is remaining tough. He still believes the Republicans will win the House. he also says that only Representative Cao from Louisiana will be the sole Republican defeated this fall. Cao took over from disgraced Democrat Jefferson, the representative found by the FBI with bribe money in his refrigerator. Cao had wanted to vote for healthcare refom but Tan Man Boehner placed two GOP handlers at each side of Cao during the vote.
Fast Eddie Rendell, the term-limited Governor of Pennsylvania, advises Democrats to go down firing. If you're going to lose, then lose for what you believe in. Rendell wisely advises Democrats to tie their Republican competitors as close to the teabaggers as possible. This seems to have been picked up in local races in the Midwest where Republicans are trying hard to avoid proclaiming their positions on the teabaggers call for the repeal of the 17th Amendment, the one that allows for the direct election of Senators. In several races Democrats are exploiting this in ads.
A strange ad by Texas secessionist Governor Rick Perry against Democrat Bill White claims White got stimulus money for the Houston metro by "cooking the books". It's unclear whether the crime is getting a $1 billion for the Houston Metro or cooking the books.
Carly Fiorina is pumping more of her cash into the Republican primary in California to try and salvage her sinking ship.
Tuesday's primaries will get alot of hype in the press but it's unclear whether they will mean anything other than local politics was the dominant factor. Progressives are cheering on Sestak in Pennsylvania and Halter in Arkansas, while Obama is for Specter and Blanche Lincoln. In Kentucky, expect Rand Paul to top Trey Grayson, Mitch McConnell's choice. Rand Paul is backed by the teabaggers, libertarians, fundamentalists, Jim deMint and Sarah Palin. Grayson was backed by the Republican establishment.
"The great crisis among us is the crisis of "the common good," the sense of community solidarity that binds all in a common destiny--haves and have-nots, the rich and the poor. We face a crisis about the common good because there are powerful forces at work among us to resist the common good, to violate community solidarity, and to deny a common destiny. Mature people, at their best, are people who are committed to the common good that reaches beyond private interest, transcends sectarian commitments, and offers human solidarity."
Walter Brueggeman, Journey to the Common Good ( Westminster/John Knox Press, 2010). Dr.Brueggeman is a theologian of the United Church of Christ and was a distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. His book is a detailed examination of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament on the subject of the common good and is heavy going if you are not into biblical exegesis. The book was started at the end of the Bush Administration and has an afterword of hope for the Obama years. Brueggeman believes that our economic collapse, more than the 9/11 attacks, has eroded our social cohesion more than anything in recent memory.
For the secular-minded, I have been reading Amitai Etzioni's The Common Good, (Polity, 2004), which reminds me of the dry, arid prose of ethical humanists. If communitarianism interests anyone, I highly recommend Robert Bellah , who has an insightful and riveting prose style. I have been reading Robert Bellah since college and Habits of the Heart is his examination of American traditions of seeking the common good.
Has anyone noticed how our major economic units deliberately ignore the law. Health Secretary Katheleen Sibelius has been fighting the major insurance companies since health care passed for them to adhere to the new requirements and to stop jacking up premiums before the fianl phase of health care reform kicks in. The major American banks were bailed out and are now churning profits again but they have systematically ignored President Obama's entreaties to loan to small businesses and to modify home mortgages for those in desparate need. And now the oil companies virtually stone-walled on the major environmental disaster of my lifetime, yet are pushing for more rights to offshore drilling. And now we are being treated to Pete Peterson's road trip through America to dramatize the situation of our debt, which, in his opinion, demands eliminating all entitlement programs.
This week James Galbraith, author of The Predator State, tells us our deficit has "zero" importance. Galbraith, joining Paul Krugman, in fighting off the"We are Greece now"mantra from the right, points out that the projections of our debt level imply that virtually nothing will be done in the next few years to lower health care costs, the biggest culprit beside the military/ terrorist complex, and that can be done to shore up social security. He also points out that there are very few times in the history of our country where we didn't have a deficit and he argues that to maintain any economic progress the government must continue to have one. But this is Keynesian economics, not supply-side orthodoxy.
Ron Brownstein of the Los Angeles Times wrote this week that if our little job engine that could keeps producing jobs at the current rate, our economy in 2010 will have created more jobs this year than the entire Bush-Cheney years together. Brownstein goes further to analyze the fallacy that tax cuts to the rich and the corporations create jobs--in fact the largest periods of jobs growth in the last two decades came when these policy items were jettisoned. For the rest of America, USA Today reports that Americans are paying the lowest rate of taxes since 1950, a fact that runs counter to the tea party crowd's boisterous assertions.
In keeping with their anti-science, anti-job philosophy, the Republicans proudly defeated the House bill to provide additional funding for math and science research and job creation by adding an amendment that would require federal employees to watch porn. Democratic congressmen fled the bill. I guess Republicans were thinking about the recent discovery that the SEC employees under movement conservative Chris Cox were all watching porn on the internet instead of investigating Bernie Madoff and other criminals.
The "Quitter from Wasilla" said "We are all Arizonans now." I guess we didn't sign up for her war in Georgia. Arizona is getting slaughtered by the national boycotts so much so that Governor Jan Brewer urged citizens of the state to vacation at home this year. If there were any doubts about the racist intent of the immigration law, they were erased this week as the state prohibited any ethnic studies in public school and ended the legal requirement that certain businesses had to have interpreters for Spanish-speakers.
John McCain cut an ad about controlling illegal immigration with a very white sheriff from the central part of the state. The "Build the Danged Fence" ad drew ridicule and a great parody using Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars. The actual sheriff from Nogales where the ad was filmed--a very Mexican-American looking figure--came out and blasted both the ad and the whole law. Still South Carolina's Jim DeMint tried to scuttle the financial reform bill in the Senate this week by submitting an amendment calling for the building of the border fence. All this forced Michael Gerson, former Bush speechwriter and Washington Post columnist, to admit that the Republican party is clearly now anti-immigrant and will be perceived as such.
That's apparently not all they're against. Pat Buchanan wondered why the Supreme Court had to have so many Jews in his criticism of the nomination of Elena Kagan. There is considerable irony here in that Pat Buchanan is responsible for the Republican strategy of selecting Catholic conservative judges. Now we have six Catholics on the Court. This not-so-veiled anti-semiticism was picked up in a more polite way by a conservative legal activist ironically named Miranda, who claimed Elena Kagan came from the New York Jewish socialist culture. He commended this culture for its vibrant contribution to American society but reminded his readers "but it's still socialist."
After Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal printed a picture of Elena Kagan playing softball, the New York Post dutifully followed with two articles about whether softball was a lesbian sport. Pat Buchanan chimed in on the Morning Joe show that everyone knows that lesbians are associated with softball. Rush Limbaugh reinforced the homophobic theme by calling Kagan " a Chaz Bono look-alike." So, Jewish, Socialist, Lesbian. For the record, I always felt that woman's professional basketball was the lesbian magnet and I noticed that Condi Rice made a big pitch for women's basketball this week without comment from detractors.
Elena Kagan as a lesbian Emma Goldman without experience and a thin-paper trail has Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions all a twitter. He claims that her objection to Don't Ask, Don't Tell showed what her real priorities are. Of course, this is all aimed at prolonging the process as long as possible so nothing can get done in the Senate. Newt Gingrich is demanding that Obama withdraw her nomination.
In my view, Elena Kagan is not really meant to replace John Paul Stevens, but is an early replacement of Ruth Bader Ginzburg, freeing up Obama for a different type of choice at that time.
But not all Republicans are going down this path. The band of legal brothers seem to be embarrassed by all this. None other than Ken Starr strongly came out in favor of her and Miguel Estrada wrote movingly about why she should be confirmed, stated that obviously his view might hurt her chances. Michael McConnell, the former federal appeals court judge nominated by W, stated, "She has had a remarkable and truly unusual record of reaching out across ideological divides." The two knew each other as law professors at the University of Chicago. I worried when even Johnny Yoo has endorsed her. Laura Bush, who seems off her meds this week after endorsing same sex marriage and pro-choice positions, also supported Kagan's nomination.
Dana Millbank, writing in the Washington Post, brought to the nation's attention the lunacy in the Republican Party of Maine and wondered whether they were expecting "a Viking invasion." The Portland newspapers reported that the Knox County caucus, which wrote the teabagger platform for the party, had trashed the schoolroom where they met, went through the teacher's desk and destroyed the copies of the Constitution he had, which were printed by the ACLU. One of the vandals was quoted as saying the caucus was disturbed that the teacher seemed to be a "Communist".
The NRA, which is always for the common good, again endorsed allowing people on the terrorist "don't fly" list to be able to purchase guns. Their position was affirmed by Sarah Palin. Sister Sarah also told the NRA that if Obama could, he would take away their guns. This despite Obama allowing guns into the national parks, which I think is wrong. And if Sarah could she would ban books. Oh, she did in Wasilla.
Here in Virginia , Governor Big Bob "Jobs" McDonnell passed his measure that allows citizens to openly carry guns into a bar but they are not allowed to drink. The NRA is insisting that gun carriers must be allowed to drink, while openly carrying. This is the new big debate in Virginia, which made the Daily Beast's number 2 corrupt state in the nation.
A "birther " group by the shadowy name of The New Legion for Christ based in Downer's Grove, Illinois, has funneled $1 million to the Republican primary for Governor in Alabama, home testing grounds for Karl Rove. Did the funds go to Judge Moore of Ten Commandments Fame or the candidate who was for teaching evolution before he was against it?
Haley Barbour wants y'all to come down and swim on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The oil spill is just like a "gasoline sheen around ski boats."
Glenn Beck received an honorary doctorate from Liberty University, home of the Falwells. He sensitively acknowledged that his Mormon faith presented problems for his fundamentalist audience and he did cry almost a dozen times during his speech. The first time I think was authentic when he acknowledged that he stopped going to college after the first semester because he didn't have enough money. He had many inspiring words of wisdom for the students. "Taxis smell the worst in summer." "Life is tough and only gets tougher and then you die." "Date someone who loves you as much as I do." "Shoot to kill". I'm convinced he's in some type of "scream therapy".
Democratic congressman Oberstar asked why Republicans have over 120 personal earmarks in the upcoming appropriations bill when they took a public pledge to suspend earmarks for a year.
America's oldest bloggers are back and in great form. For snarky, uninhibited commentary on our political scene from people who have lived a long life, check out http://www.margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/ . They succinctly put into perspective the problems Obama faces and have some snide comments of their own about the past inhabitants of the White House.
A raft of polls have come out this week which conclude that Americans are truly confused. For the first time in a while, Americans favor Democrats retaining control of Congress. But only 33% of Americans want to re-elect their own congressperson. In four polls I examined, Democratic approval ratings are far above Republicans in Congress. In terms of defending the average America versuis corporate interests, Obama is in the mid-55%, congressional Democrats only in the mid-30s, and Republicans at 20%. In a Roper poll, a teabagger complained that Republicans have gone too far Left! On the key right track-wrong track question, right track moved up two clicks to 42%, the third consecutive week of positive movement.
A Gallup Poll put concerns about the economy over the unemployment issue of the first time. This is disturbing because the U6 unemployment rate is till over 17%, an alarming high figure. A Washington Post/ABC poll show that Americans trust Obama overwhelmingly over Republicans to handle the economy, regulate the financial industry, the deficit and healthcare. In the Pew poll, Republicans still have a slight edge on national security. But the Pew poll does indicate that 60% like Obama personally ( a measure separate from approve, which I always take as important) and that 60% blame Bush for both the economy and the deficits. This latter number should strengthen the Democrats hand in resisting the conservative demands for gutting Social Security and Medicare under the pretense of deficit reduction.
Charles Cook is remaining tough. He still believes the Republicans will win the House. he also says that only Representative Cao from Louisiana will be the sole Republican defeated this fall. Cao took over from disgraced Democrat Jefferson, the representative found by the FBI with bribe money in his refrigerator. Cao had wanted to vote for healthcare refom but Tan Man Boehner placed two GOP handlers at each side of Cao during the vote.
Fast Eddie Rendell, the term-limited Governor of Pennsylvania, advises Democrats to go down firing. If you're going to lose, then lose for what you believe in. Rendell wisely advises Democrats to tie their Republican competitors as close to the teabaggers as possible. This seems to have been picked up in local races in the Midwest where Republicans are trying hard to avoid proclaiming their positions on the teabaggers call for the repeal of the 17th Amendment, the one that allows for the direct election of Senators. In several races Democrats are exploiting this in ads.
A strange ad by Texas secessionist Governor Rick Perry against Democrat Bill White claims White got stimulus money for the Houston metro by "cooking the books". It's unclear whether the crime is getting a $1 billion for the Houston Metro or cooking the books.
Carly Fiorina is pumping more of her cash into the Republican primary in California to try and salvage her sinking ship.
Tuesday's primaries will get alot of hype in the press but it's unclear whether they will mean anything other than local politics was the dominant factor. Progressives are cheering on Sestak in Pennsylvania and Halter in Arkansas, while Obama is for Specter and Blanche Lincoln. In Kentucky, expect Rand Paul to top Trey Grayson, Mitch McConnell's choice. Rand Paul is backed by the teabaggers, libertarians, fundamentalists, Jim deMint and Sarah Palin. Grayson was backed by the Republican establishment.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
It's All Over But The Counting!
Allan Lichtman has a tradition of making early election predictions based on his Keys to the White House. Lichtman developed his Keys in collaboration with Volodia Keilis-Borok, a world reknown authority on the mathematics of prediction models. Retrospectively, the keys accurately account for the results of every presidential election from 1860 through 1980. Prospectively, the keys predicted well ahead of time the popular-vote winners of all seven presidential elections from 1984 through 2008.
Lichtman's keys show that the choice of a president doesn't turn on debates, advertising, speeches, endorsements, rallies, platforms, promises or campaign tactics. The presidential elections are primarily a referendum on the party or person holding the White House.
For Lichtman , the enactment of the landmark health care reform bill secures the important Policy Change Key 7 (wonderful way to think about it) and it means that the Democratic Party has only four of the keys against it--six are considered fatal. So, according to this model, President Obama can even endure a serious setback and still win re-election. And the Democratic ocratic can reverse any key against it at this point.
On the negative side, President Obama could face a scandal or an unexpected foreign policy disaster. Or the economy would slide back into recession in election year. However, all he needs for Lichtman is a foreign policy triumph--say capturing or killing bin Laden; or robust economic growth and he averts any possible defeat.
In this his earliest predicton, he calls Barack Hussein Obama the winner of the 2012 Presidential elections. He emphasized the healthcare bill solidified the most critical key in his model. His model has never been wrong so here's hoping.
So from the professor at American University, let's go to the Obama-meter. This measures how President Obama is fulfilling the 504 promises he made during the campaign. I tend to think the Obama-meter is rather tough in their judgments. But here's the take: 110 kept;34 compromised;19 broken;82 currently stalled;256 in the process of being fulfilled; and only 3 not started. That's still not bad for someone who hasn't been in office for 18 months. It looks like at the time of his re-election bid, he will have fulfilled or partially kept over 400 of his promises.
The three outstanding are 1. Direct rebuilding efforts from the White House after a catastrophe; 2. appoint a Chief Financial Officer to oversee a disaster; and 3. invest $50 billion into the manufacturing of more efficient cars.
When I come up for air, I'll talk about the continuing blather of bummertude. Just shut off the tube and radio on the Kagan nomination. She only needs 1 Republican vote to get to a vote in the Senate. Everything now is just noise.
I must say I have been impressed by Senator Dodd, someone whom I have always opposed in foreign policy, and his management of the Financial Reform package making its way to the finish line. This is one of those pieces of legislation ,which is monumentally significant, but which no one will ever be able to explain to anyone's political advantage. I'm not sure after all the serious work on the bill and the amendments that the Republicans have the cojones to try and block it. It also occurred to me that there are no longer any Republicans--either members of Congress or staffers--who can actually write a serious piece of legislation. This became very obvious during the healthcare debate and it's very obvious now during the debate over amendments to the Financial Reform package.
No we are not Greece but we can't let the deficit hawks use the European problem as a pretext for gutting social security and Medicare. The more that comes out about the Republican plan the worse it gets--it would solve our deficit problem--with a draconian austerity program and the elimination of entitlement programs--in... drumroll--70 years! This is alot like the Long War program under the Bush Administration. Totally impractical and unable to sustain political support beyond the moment.
And the mid-terms get uglier than ugly. More later.
Lichtman's keys show that the choice of a president doesn't turn on debates, advertising, speeches, endorsements, rallies, platforms, promises or campaign tactics. The presidential elections are primarily a referendum on the party or person holding the White House.
For Lichtman , the enactment of the landmark health care reform bill secures the important Policy Change Key 7 (wonderful way to think about it) and it means that the Democratic Party has only four of the keys against it--six are considered fatal. So, according to this model, President Obama can even endure a serious setback and still win re-election. And the Democratic ocratic can reverse any key against it at this point.
On the negative side, President Obama could face a scandal or an unexpected foreign policy disaster. Or the economy would slide back into recession in election year. However, all he needs for Lichtman is a foreign policy triumph--say capturing or killing bin Laden; or robust economic growth and he averts any possible defeat.
In this his earliest predicton, he calls Barack Hussein Obama the winner of the 2012 Presidential elections. He emphasized the healthcare bill solidified the most critical key in his model. His model has never been wrong so here's hoping.
So from the professor at American University, let's go to the Obama-meter. This measures how President Obama is fulfilling the 504 promises he made during the campaign. I tend to think the Obama-meter is rather tough in their judgments. But here's the take: 110 kept;34 compromised;19 broken;82 currently stalled;256 in the process of being fulfilled; and only 3 not started. That's still not bad for someone who hasn't been in office for 18 months. It looks like at the time of his re-election bid, he will have fulfilled or partially kept over 400 of his promises.
The three outstanding are 1. Direct rebuilding efforts from the White House after a catastrophe; 2. appoint a Chief Financial Officer to oversee a disaster; and 3. invest $50 billion into the manufacturing of more efficient cars.
When I come up for air, I'll talk about the continuing blather of bummertude. Just shut off the tube and radio on the Kagan nomination. She only needs 1 Republican vote to get to a vote in the Senate. Everything now is just noise.
I must say I have been impressed by Senator Dodd, someone whom I have always opposed in foreign policy, and his management of the Financial Reform package making its way to the finish line. This is one of those pieces of legislation ,which is monumentally significant, but which no one will ever be able to explain to anyone's political advantage. I'm not sure after all the serious work on the bill and the amendments that the Republicans have the cojones to try and block it. It also occurred to me that there are no longer any Republicans--either members of Congress or staffers--who can actually write a serious piece of legislation. This became very obvious during the healthcare debate and it's very obvious now during the debate over amendments to the Financial Reform package.
No we are not Greece but we can't let the deficit hawks use the European problem as a pretext for gutting social security and Medicare. The more that comes out about the Republican plan the worse it gets--it would solve our deficit problem--with a draconian austerity program and the elimination of entitlement programs--in... drumroll--70 years! This is alot like the Long War program under the Bush Administration. Totally impractical and unable to sustain political support beyond the moment.
And the mid-terms get uglier than ugly. More later.
Monday, May 10, 2010
When the Ship Comes In
Elena Kagan has been launched with a TV ad and Obama's video e-mail to Organizing for America members. I would loved to be introduced the way she was by the President. Although do we really need to have each nominee have a story? The bottom-line like Sotomayor, she's a moderate liberal. Now we're being told she's a blank slate and a risky pick because all we have to go on is her writing, his professional experience and her teaching career. And she was even paid $10,000 as a consultant to Goldman Sachs, owners of America.
To alienate the Left, it's been reported that Elena Kagan said there is no federal constitutional right for same sex marriage, although that's not how Ted Olson will be argue it before the Supreme Court. All marriage laws are local. And she reportedly advised Bill Clinton to ban late-term abortions. To the right, she's a closeted lesbian--I guess that's the new term for professional woman--and an activist judge who will "subvert the Court's pro-business tilt." Little Billy Kristol today retrenched, saying she would have to apologize for her stance on military recruitment on campuses. College dropout Rush Limbaugh said " she's elitist." While I went to the University of Chicago and Harvard for my graduate work, I do distrust people who went to Princeton for their undergraduate--even Sonya Sotomayor. And, horrors of horrors, she's another woman from New York City.
Jim Inhofe from the state of Oklahoma has already stated he will oppose because she puts political correctness above our national security--in regard to the DADT policies. Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions claims she's an activist, who will not follow the original intent of the Constitution like, for instance,the Supreme Court's decision on Citizens United, which ignored the Founding Father's anti-corporate animus and expanded the notion of legal person to let foreign and domestic companies give unlimited funds to political campaigns. I'm being snarky. The GOP will definitely try to get her on the record in terms of the constitutionality of the health care bill.
While Michael Steele today embraced slavery by slamming her support of Thursgood Marshall's statement that the Constitution was flawed, some blogger happened to discover George Washington's letter to his nephew where Washington reflected that the Constitution was "not free from imperfections." Of course, the natural answer is that it had to be imperfect otherwise why would it need amendments. And, let's not forget, after slaves were freed, there was quite a wait to give women their rights.
Patrick Leahy got the gist right,"The President could have nominated Moses and the Republicans would have objected and asked him for his birth certificate."
The strategy of the GOP is to fling paper in the air and make accusations after accusations until something sticks. Their ultimate goal is to delay any other agenda items of the President and to push this past the August recess because "that forces the red and purple state Democrats to have to go home and face their constituents." It's simply another form of obstructionism.
In the last few days there has been a rash of other states who want to emulate the Arizona immigration law. However, immigration reform has gotten a boost from the evangelical community. It's not because they repented or re-read the New Testament. It's they did the math. Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy wing, Matthew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, Rev. Samuel Rodriquez, an Hispanic evangelist, and Rick Tyler of Newt Gingrich's group announced they would lobby Congress for quick passage of immigration reform.
In their statement, they said,"We must allow the millions of undocumented and otherwise law-abiding persons living in our midst to come out of the shadows".
Richard Land, speaking about Hispanics voting Democratic, stated the objective bluntly," Hispanics are hard-wired to be like us (Southerners) on the sanctity of life, marriage and issues of faith. I'm concerned about being perceived as being unwelcoming to them." You Betcha.
This will be fascinating to watch as it plays out, especially in the list of states in the South, which I wrote about yesterday.
But here in the original capital of the Confederacy, Bob "Jobs" McDonnell has appointed Fred Malek, Sarah Palin's adviser to chair the state commission to restructure government. Fred is best known as the man Nixon appointed to develop lists of all the Jews in the Nixon White House. So I guess his new job is to follow the Governor's passion and find out how many gays work for the Virginia government.
And finally the BIG FLOP. Billionairess Meg Whitman once had a 50-point lead against teabagger Steve Poizner, then two weeks ago it dropped to a 22 -point lead. Yesterday after ads linked her to Goldman Sachs, she only leads by 2 points. I'm having a tough time wrapping my mind around the victory of Governor Moonbeam, Jerry Brown.
One hopeful note--One third of all birthers approve of Obama's handling of the Presidency. My response to a conservative e-mailer today was that even they know the white boys screwed up so now we have to get foreigners to clean up the mess.
Remember: "Every day in the United States of America is secular."
To alienate the Left, it's been reported that Elena Kagan said there is no federal constitutional right for same sex marriage, although that's not how Ted Olson will be argue it before the Supreme Court. All marriage laws are local. And she reportedly advised Bill Clinton to ban late-term abortions. To the right, she's a closeted lesbian--I guess that's the new term for professional woman--and an activist judge who will "subvert the Court's pro-business tilt." Little Billy Kristol today retrenched, saying she would have to apologize for her stance on military recruitment on campuses. College dropout Rush Limbaugh said " she's elitist." While I went to the University of Chicago and Harvard for my graduate work, I do distrust people who went to Princeton for their undergraduate--even Sonya Sotomayor. And, horrors of horrors, she's another woman from New York City.
Jim Inhofe from the state of Oklahoma has already stated he will oppose because she puts political correctness above our national security--in regard to the DADT policies. Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions claims she's an activist, who will not follow the original intent of the Constitution like, for instance,the Supreme Court's decision on Citizens United, which ignored the Founding Father's anti-corporate animus and expanded the notion of legal person to let foreign and domestic companies give unlimited funds to political campaigns. I'm being snarky. The GOP will definitely try to get her on the record in terms of the constitutionality of the health care bill.
While Michael Steele today embraced slavery by slamming her support of Thursgood Marshall's statement that the Constitution was flawed, some blogger happened to discover George Washington's letter to his nephew where Washington reflected that the Constitution was "not free from imperfections." Of course, the natural answer is that it had to be imperfect otherwise why would it need amendments. And, let's not forget, after slaves were freed, there was quite a wait to give women their rights.
Patrick Leahy got the gist right,"The President could have nominated Moses and the Republicans would have objected and asked him for his birth certificate."
The strategy of the GOP is to fling paper in the air and make accusations after accusations until something sticks. Their ultimate goal is to delay any other agenda items of the President and to push this past the August recess because "that forces the red and purple state Democrats to have to go home and face their constituents." It's simply another form of obstructionism.
In the last few days there has been a rash of other states who want to emulate the Arizona immigration law. However, immigration reform has gotten a boost from the evangelical community. It's not because they repented or re-read the New Testament. It's they did the math. Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy wing, Matthew Staver, dean of Liberty University School of Law, Rev. Samuel Rodriquez, an Hispanic evangelist, and Rick Tyler of Newt Gingrich's group announced they would lobby Congress for quick passage of immigration reform.
In their statement, they said,"We must allow the millions of undocumented and otherwise law-abiding persons living in our midst to come out of the shadows".
Richard Land, speaking about Hispanics voting Democratic, stated the objective bluntly," Hispanics are hard-wired to be like us (Southerners) on the sanctity of life, marriage and issues of faith. I'm concerned about being perceived as being unwelcoming to them." You Betcha.
This will be fascinating to watch as it plays out, especially in the list of states in the South, which I wrote about yesterday.
But here in the original capital of the Confederacy, Bob "Jobs" McDonnell has appointed Fred Malek, Sarah Palin's adviser to chair the state commission to restructure government. Fred is best known as the man Nixon appointed to develop lists of all the Jews in the Nixon White House. So I guess his new job is to follow the Governor's passion and find out how many gays work for the Virginia government.
And finally the BIG FLOP. Billionairess Meg Whitman once had a 50-point lead against teabagger Steve Poizner, then two weeks ago it dropped to a 22 -point lead. Yesterday after ads linked her to Goldman Sachs, she only leads by 2 points. I'm having a tough time wrapping my mind around the victory of Governor Moonbeam, Jerry Brown.
One hopeful note--One third of all birthers approve of Obama's handling of the Presidency. My response to a conservative e-mailer today was that even they know the white boys screwed up so now we have to get foreigners to clean up the mess.
Remember: "Every day in the United States of America is secular."
Conservatives Attack Elena Kagan
Before her nomination, Elena Kagan was supported by the National Review and Bill Kristol among other conservatives. To the disappointment of the Left, she had recruited conservative law professors to teach at Harvard Law School, where she was dean. But now that she's actually been nominated, conservatives must mouth the talking points of the lunatic fringe.
Besides Michael Steele's attack on her for criticizing slavery, the Christianists have entered the fray. Focus on (Your) Family basically said she was a liberal activist with no judicial experience. But her real Achilles Heel was her"emotional and legal commitment to the LGBT agenda". Notice how nicely they worded this.
The American Family Association was more forthright. "We can not have another sexually abnormal individual in a position of important civic responsibility." What about Diaper Dave Vitters and his lingerie collection? "Social conservatives must rise up and say no lesbian is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court."
Sarah Palin didn't even go there. American law should be based on "the God of the Bible and the Ten Commandments. Judeo- Christian belief is the basis for America and we should be using it as a guiding force for creating all future legislation."
A FYI--40 out of 112 Supreme Court Justices did not have prior judicial experience. The last one you might recall was William Reihnquist, the former Chief Justice. There is absolutely no requirement for a Supreme Court justice to be either a judge or a lawyer.
Conservatives are also attacking her for her position against DADT, saying that the U.S. military discriminates against gays. As to her gayness, the Republicans had circulated a statement to CBS news when she was being considered saying she would be the first openly gay on the Supreme Court. At that time the White House demanded CBS take it down and said that she wasn't. Who knows and who cares?
She has also said that military commissions were lawless, which is correct. But she disturbs me by saying that some terrorist detainees can be detained indefinitely without trial. She also seems to hold views of the power of the Presidency which are excessive but not in the realm of the unitary executive treachery of Johnny Yoo and Dick Cheney.
While I wanted my lady heroine Elizabeth Warren nominated she suffered from the Ariana Huffington hex, Elena Kagan is more than qualified and she would remain liberal on social issues such as pro-choice and civil rights. If Obama had wanted to make a real point and provoke hysteria, he would have nominated a native American like I suggested in a post last year before the Sotomayor nomination. Preferably a tall Navaho who would look like Chief Dan George and who could call Clarence Thomas "Chuckles". But America is not secure enough for an American Indian on the bench.
In my mind, this was a small "p" political nomination of someone who could actually talk to the other side. As I've written before, unless Roberts suffers another epilepsy attack, the court will remain right for the next two judges. I also think he was putting in place someone who really would replace Judge Ginzberg now leaving him flexibility later.
Besides Michael Steele's attack on her for criticizing slavery, the Christianists have entered the fray. Focus on (Your) Family basically said she was a liberal activist with no judicial experience. But her real Achilles Heel was her"emotional and legal commitment to the LGBT agenda". Notice how nicely they worded this.
The American Family Association was more forthright. "We can not have another sexually abnormal individual in a position of important civic responsibility." What about Diaper Dave Vitters and his lingerie collection? "Social conservatives must rise up and say no lesbian is qualified to sit on the Supreme Court."
Sarah Palin didn't even go there. American law should be based on "the God of the Bible and the Ten Commandments. Judeo- Christian belief is the basis for America and we should be using it as a guiding force for creating all future legislation."
A FYI--40 out of 112 Supreme Court Justices did not have prior judicial experience. The last one you might recall was William Reihnquist, the former Chief Justice. There is absolutely no requirement for a Supreme Court justice to be either a judge or a lawyer.
Conservatives are also attacking her for her position against DADT, saying that the U.S. military discriminates against gays. As to her gayness, the Republicans had circulated a statement to CBS news when she was being considered saying she would be the first openly gay on the Supreme Court. At that time the White House demanded CBS take it down and said that she wasn't. Who knows and who cares?
She has also said that military commissions were lawless, which is correct. But she disturbs me by saying that some terrorist detainees can be detained indefinitely without trial. She also seems to hold views of the power of the Presidency which are excessive but not in the realm of the unitary executive treachery of Johnny Yoo and Dick Cheney.
While I wanted my lady heroine Elizabeth Warren nominated she suffered from the Ariana Huffington hex, Elena Kagan is more than qualified and she would remain liberal on social issues such as pro-choice and civil rights. If Obama had wanted to make a real point and provoke hysteria, he would have nominated a native American like I suggested in a post last year before the Sotomayor nomination. Preferably a tall Navaho who would look like Chief Dan George and who could call Clarence Thomas "Chuckles". But America is not secure enough for an American Indian on the bench.
In my mind, this was a small "p" political nomination of someone who could actually talk to the other side. As I've written before, unless Roberts suffers another epilepsy attack, the court will remain right for the next two judges. I also think he was putting in place someone who really would replace Judge Ginzberg now leaving him flexibility later.
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