The world ends this Saturday and it won't come too soon. I actually envy the people who sold everything and have been wandering around the country waiting for Rapture. The local Tea Party leader here in Alexandria repainted his bus with the end-time warning, replacing his teabagging mottos. There is a little Jack Kerouac to all this. Jack wandered the country in his beat days searching for satori. So the end time won't happen. At least, they'll have some good stories.
In the immortal words of Charles Krauthammer, Newt is "toast". The Newt is all in knots after his criticism of Golden Boy Paul Ryan and the push back from movement conservatives. Newt is on a fifteen state tour and began it in Iowa where local Republicans took after him in person. His defense was that he had been taken out of context and that he had not been prepared for the grilling he received on Meet the Press. Meet the Press would only say that the Newt had appeared on the show some 35 times before.
Even Rushbo told his audience that Newt's comments on the Ryan Plan were inexplicable.
Teabagger Congressman West objected to Newt's suggestion that we have a history test for voters, reminding everyone that such tests were outlawed with the Civil Rights Act. Newt claims his remarks about President Obama as the "best food stamp president" were not racist. And I suppose references to the President's playing basketball or turning America into Detroit were benign. Republicans are beginning to count the days until Newt's campaign ends. Heavy betting is placed on a June date.
It also isn't helping Newt's reputation as a fiscal conservative that he wracked up $250,000 in bills at Tiffany's. Earlier he was caught out on owing taxes in Georgia and elsewhere.
I liked Newt's line to an angry conservative that he should not believe the liberal media because they always distort what conservatives say. What liberal media? The Nation, Mother Jones, the Progressive, Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz. That's it.
Jon Huntsman looks tanned and ready for the plunge but he outraged conservatives because he re-iterated that global warming was a real scientifically proven phenomenon.
Luckily for everyone--if she survives Saturday, Michelle Bachmann will speed up her announcement to run for President.
Paul Ryan has opted out of the Wisconsin Senate race. Observers felt that he was trying to recoup from being blasted for his Medicare scheme. Ryan doubled down on it in Chicago during a speech and said that President Obama was inciting class warfare. Please, Mr. President, let's go.
The Republican Wisconsin senate slot looks like it's Tommy Thompson for the asking.
I'm amazed at all the Repubican congresspeople around the country who, when confronted by their vote for the Ryan budget, say casually that it's only one plan. But it's the only plan you guys voted into law. Quayle, Jr. was terrific in his townhall meeting where he just flat out lied about tax subsidies for oil companies. He just claimed they didn't exist. I guess this will be the new strategy--just pretend it didn't happen.
2012 may well be a bizarre election. Right now, there is a good chance that the Democrats will win back the House. And the Republicans win back the Senate. That would be very unusual if President Obama wins re-election. It's never happened that an incumbent President with control of the Senate wins and loses the Senate. Right now,to lose the election, President Obama must lose Virginia, Ohio and Florida. And that isn't even certain if he picked up two other smaller states.
On the three states, remember you have three Republican governors and three Republican attorney generals. While voter backlash in Ohio and Florida should favor President Obama, we know what aggressive attorney-generals can do for Republicans. Bush's 2004 election depended on malleable officials in Ohio. And Koch-funded lawyers did the trick in Florida in 2000. So anything can happen.
Eugene Robinson warns Democrats not to get cocky when looking at the GOP's clown car of candidates. He promises there will be a serious candidate at the end of the day and the GOP will have buckets of money to wage a competitive campaign.
I'm heading out to John Boehner land tomorrow so will be off-line for a few days. The Tan Man tried to explain to his teabagger friends that the United States will have to raise the debt ceiling several times in the next few years and he was roundly booed. Polls actually showed that a plurality actually want the United States to default on its debts.
Paul Ryan told his Chicago audience that the Wall Street he knows doesn't mind if the debt ceiling isn't raised that fast. The entire Chamber of Commerce and every business association is screaming just the opposite.
The situation on the debt ceiling has gotten so desparate that Democrats are using Ronald Reagan's own letters to Congress urging them in the 1980s to raise the debt ceiling and the reasons why the United States can not default.
Treasury Secretary Geitner promises at least a double dip recession, a possible re-run of the 2008 global financial metldown and skyrocketing costs for everyone, including the United States to borrow in the future.
What people seem to miss about the debt ceiling is that we already spent the money owed. This has nothing to do with incurring more debt. It's to pay for the wars, the Bush tax cuts and Medicare D.
Which brngs me to Mitch Daniels. It's almost impossible for me to imagine the Budget Director who created this mess to be a viable Presidential candidate. But he has gone over the line and actually defunded Planned Parenthood in Indiana. So he's declared a position in the war against the uteri--which is a pre-condition for seeking the republican nomination. If you look under his hood, he is as right-wing if not more so than Wisconsin's Scott Walker, who said he will endorse him.
So I am on the Road again. And if Rapture comes, all our troubles will be over.
Showing posts with label Mitch Daniels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mitch Daniels. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Mike Huckabee's Right Decision
Mike Huckabee earned political capital last night when at the end of his Fox News show he announced he was not running for President in 2012. I have no idea what the little wobbly e-mail was all about before the show but the decision reflected his body language for the last several months.
Huckabee did not exaggerate his chance to win the Republican nomination in the opening remarks of his speech. With proportional rules this year, he would be a strong contender until the end. Early commentators just focused on his winning the 2008 Iowa caucus and said he would have a shot in South Carolina. As he noted last night, his polling showed strength outside the South, even in places like New Jersey. While his money-machine could not match a Romney,his organizational strength among evangelical Christians would have compensated.
But at the end of the day,he enjoys his new life and is earning real money for the first time. His statement about why he wasn't running also revealed some of the problems his candidacy would pose. An ordained Southern Baptist minister,he focused his attention last night on his future role of backing pro-life candidates and his record as Governor of Arkansas reflected an almost whimsical application of his religion to clemency on prisoners convicted of atrocious crimes. His genial personality hides a fairly right-wing politician and one who would have had enormous appeal.
This opens the door as she noted to Michelle Bachmann leaping into Iowa as the Crusader Rabbit of the Christianists. Observers say that she will split the heavily evangelical vote in Iowa and allow for the emergence of a moderate. That's nice Beltway spin that ignores the current reality of the Republican Party.
Prior to his decision, Mike Huckabee warned Republicans that President Obama was far more difficult to beat than they believe. He also criticized the role of the Club of Greed (Growth) in shaping the Republican agenda.
Huckabee's decision can cut both ways for Indiana Mitch Daniels. Huckabee articulated why you don't run for President, even though he said that his wife and children would have supported the decision. But it was clear that such a decision upends everything. With Mitch Daniels' family having doubts,this may just reinforce the view that 2012 may be a great time to take a pass. Others suggest he opens the door wider for Daniels.
Daniels has to carry the burden of his role as George W's budget director and will be forced to explain how we charged two wars and Medicare D on the national credit card, while he argues that debt is the greatest issue since Communism. I would humbly suggest that his record as Governor of Indiana is a forerunner to the radical platforms of Scott Walker and Rick Snyder. He's privatized the Indiana Toll Road, selling it to European interests,busted unions, attacked teachers and sold off some state services to American corporations, which has provoked a strong backlash. The man who would bring down Mitch Daniels is Matt Taibibi,author of Griftopia, who could explain Daniels' governorship in ways that people would understand.
One Republican woman, after Huckabee's decision, said that the current field gives the seven dwarves a bad name. A leftwing blogger rather perceptively recalled the Democrats' situation in 1972, when the party was divided, noting that many of the same concerns about the economy and war are very similar to today. But he noted the Democrats just blew their chance. Other Republican strategists say that it is now Tim Pawlenty's race because he would be the candidate acceptable to all factions of the party, even if he has a lackluster personality. They note that his trajectory is similar to Michael Dukakis' in 1988.
But for pure entertainment value, the Newt knows how to throw out one-liners. The Newt says that he knows how to make America like Texas, while Obama knows how to make America look like Detroit. You can take the Southerner out of the South,but you can't take the South out of the Southerner. In the last week alone, the Newt has managed to blow the race dog whistle at least once a day.
Right now The Republican field looks like a train wreck. And in the world of political operations it is beginning to be late in the day.
Huckabee did not exaggerate his chance to win the Republican nomination in the opening remarks of his speech. With proportional rules this year, he would be a strong contender until the end. Early commentators just focused on his winning the 2008 Iowa caucus and said he would have a shot in South Carolina. As he noted last night, his polling showed strength outside the South, even in places like New Jersey. While his money-machine could not match a Romney,his organizational strength among evangelical Christians would have compensated.
But at the end of the day,he enjoys his new life and is earning real money for the first time. His statement about why he wasn't running also revealed some of the problems his candidacy would pose. An ordained Southern Baptist minister,he focused his attention last night on his future role of backing pro-life candidates and his record as Governor of Arkansas reflected an almost whimsical application of his religion to clemency on prisoners convicted of atrocious crimes. His genial personality hides a fairly right-wing politician and one who would have had enormous appeal.
This opens the door as she noted to Michelle Bachmann leaping into Iowa as the Crusader Rabbit of the Christianists. Observers say that she will split the heavily evangelical vote in Iowa and allow for the emergence of a moderate. That's nice Beltway spin that ignores the current reality of the Republican Party.
Prior to his decision, Mike Huckabee warned Republicans that President Obama was far more difficult to beat than they believe. He also criticized the role of the Club of Greed (Growth) in shaping the Republican agenda.
Huckabee's decision can cut both ways for Indiana Mitch Daniels. Huckabee articulated why you don't run for President, even though he said that his wife and children would have supported the decision. But it was clear that such a decision upends everything. With Mitch Daniels' family having doubts,this may just reinforce the view that 2012 may be a great time to take a pass. Others suggest he opens the door wider for Daniels.
Daniels has to carry the burden of his role as George W's budget director and will be forced to explain how we charged two wars and Medicare D on the national credit card, while he argues that debt is the greatest issue since Communism. I would humbly suggest that his record as Governor of Indiana is a forerunner to the radical platforms of Scott Walker and Rick Snyder. He's privatized the Indiana Toll Road, selling it to European interests,busted unions, attacked teachers and sold off some state services to American corporations, which has provoked a strong backlash. The man who would bring down Mitch Daniels is Matt Taibibi,author of Griftopia, who could explain Daniels' governorship in ways that people would understand.
One Republican woman, after Huckabee's decision, said that the current field gives the seven dwarves a bad name. A leftwing blogger rather perceptively recalled the Democrats' situation in 1972, when the party was divided, noting that many of the same concerns about the economy and war are very similar to today. But he noted the Democrats just blew their chance. Other Republican strategists say that it is now Tim Pawlenty's race because he would be the candidate acceptable to all factions of the party, even if he has a lackluster personality. They note that his trajectory is similar to Michael Dukakis' in 1988.
But for pure entertainment value, the Newt knows how to throw out one-liners. The Newt says that he knows how to make America like Texas, while Obama knows how to make America look like Detroit. You can take the Southerner out of the South,but you can't take the South out of the Southerner. In the last week alone, the Newt has managed to blow the race dog whistle at least once a day.
Right now The Republican field looks like a train wreck. And in the world of political operations it is beginning to be late in the day.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Love Revolution Continues--Paul is in
75-year old Ron Paul decided to announce on Friday the 13th. The Texas congressman is making his third bid for the Presidency because his ideas are more popular than ever, he says. In 1988 he ran on the Libertarian ticket but running as a Third Party candidate in a general election is almost impossible the way our system is organized. Paul has an enthusiastic college constituency, which approves of his anti-war and drug legalization stances. For the past two election cycles he usually wins the sraw polls at conservative meetings because of the influx of Paultards. When he doesn't, it's usually because the Romney folks have greased a few palms.
Ron Paul is the real Godfather of the Teaparty movement before it was co-opted by the Koch Brothers and the Religious Right. He,along with Howard Dean, pioneered the use of the internet for political fund-raising and organizing. He invented the Money Bomb, which still serves him well. After the first GOP debate in South Carolina, he brought in $1 million in small contributions over night.
His appeal is that he is like someone's grandfather speaking without a filter. Even with push back from the media, he doesn't backtrack or mince words. He's at the stage on life that he doesn't care how it comes out. Take for instance his appearance on CNN and MSNBC where he was pressed on whether he would have voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He didn't flinch. He went on about how government put in the laws on slavery, segregation and Jim Crow. He was all for taking away the government laws for discrimination but those should not interfer with laws on private property. In other words, everyone has the right to discriminate on their own.
The implications of this thinking came out more clearly on his statements on the Diane Reihm show where he talked about the devastation of the Alabama tornedoes. FEMA shouldn't provide assistance and the government should not provide insurance for these areas. This is a man from Galveston, Texas, which experiences hurricanes and devastating floods. He said that this was your responsibility. If you wanted to live near water or in a Tornedo alley, that was your choice and you should get private insurance. But if disaster happens, you are on your own. Project that onto New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. In your guts, you know he's nuts.
Ron Paul will provide some great comic relief during the Republican primaries because, in a way, he is right the Republicans privately think alot like him these days. Eliminate the IRS and the FED. Go Back on the Gold standard. He may even agree with his son Rand Paul that health care as a right is a form of slavery for doctors. At least, we'll hear someone refreshingly blunt--sometimes on the mark and sometimes nutty as a fruitcake.
In a darkened room, before a small audience at the University of Michigan,another candidate--Mitt Romney--tried to cope with his single policy achievement--his health care plan in Massachusetts--and tried to contrast it with the Affordable Health Care Act. Even before the speech, the Wall Street Journal had an 1,800 word editorial blasting him and his credibility. Some Republicans even think that editorial doomed Romney's chances. After Romney made his Powerpoint presentation, the entire Fox News echochamber blasted him from show to show. The Obama Administration gave him the veritable hug of death by praising his speech and his ideas.
Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post said that the only idea dumber than is speech was the time Romney strapped his Irish setter to the top of his car when his family went on vacation. Greg Sargeant said that Romney had to deal with this Albatross now ad hope that it fades as the election year proceeds. I think that was the general idea. But the reaction from Republicans was universally negative.
Jay Cost may have put his finger on Romney's real problem. Romney comes from the Northeastern Republicans,who are more moderate and haven't got a contender since 1960. He goes on to say that a Northeastern Republican could not be counted on for winning their own states, while Westerners and Southerners can and this accounts for their strength. So far, Romney is way ahead in the polls in new Hampshire, his recently adopted state, but no where else.
Conservatives, who control the Party, simply do not trust him. They said that he had to defend his health reform plan because he had run out of flip-flop room. Their grave reservations on Romney began with his reversal of his pro-choice positions as Governor of Massachusetts, his stance on stem cell research and on gay rights. They even note that his faint dog whistle about Obama not understanding America in his speech fell flat. And, despite spending an enormous amount of time in the last few years cultivating the Christian Right, Romney is still seen as being a member of a cult--Mormonism.
Throw in the mix Jon Huntsman, the recipient of a fawning piece in this edition of Time magazine. Both Romney and Huntsman are from prestigious and wealthy Mormon families. But apparently the two families have a feud dating back years. Recall that Huntsman backed John McCain over Romney when he was the governor of Utah. I always felt that Huntsman was the future presidential candidate for the Republicans. While he explained his service in the Obama Administration as one of national duty, I don't think that's enough this coming year to persuade a party which has gone further and further to the Right. It's clear, however, he's seriously thinking of running when he is cultivating Republican strategist Mike Weaver.
The temporary dissatisfaction of the Republicans for their candidates has shown up in the recent AP/Roper poll, which says that 45% of Republicans are dissatisfied with the present field. One man nail it,"They are a bunch of cold fish." There is no one right now that fires up the crowd. Peggy Noonan expressed surprise that the media were taken aback by Newt Gingrich's entry into the race. She added she has yet to meet anyone in the Republican Party that backs him.
The dissatisfaction seems to spread among the moneymen, who have refrained from getting heavily involved as yet. So it's no surprise that Laura Bush called Mitch Daniels' wife to persuade her to OK his run. While I simply do not understand the enthusiasm over Mitch Daniels, it has become clear that his family is the obstacle to a run. The fear is that Mitch Daniels' wife will have to explain the episode when she abandoned her family and ran off with a married doctor to California. Then she returned and re-married Daniels. It's so confusing, I doubt whether anyone will care.
As we wait for Mike Huckabee's announcement, the Newt has gotten off several salvos at President Obama, calling his the "greatest Food Stamp President in our history." Newt says this election is the most important since before the civil war. One of the interesting things I found out about Newt is that he had a seperate religion for each of his wives--Lutheran, Southern Baptist and Catholic. While you may not notice it, his entire election campaign will be waged by the most extreme of the Religious Right, whom he has cultivated for years.
As of last night, I thought Huckabee would bow out of the race. Ed Rollins, who is usually reliable about these things, suggested it to the Wall Street Journal yesterday. But by this morning, Huckabee was giving off very different vibes--saying that the fireworks will begin shooting when he makes his announcement and things will get crazy very fast. But I'm not so sure you can announce on your own show. And I'm not so sure even Fox would allow it. So stay tuned.
For those Republicans in the hinterland wanting New Jersey's Gov. Chris Chrissie to run, the latest approval polls in that state show he's in the toilet at 38% and people believing President Obama would be better than the Governor are at 2-1.
Christianist Michelle Bachmann is polling her supporters whether she should run. Her claim to fame in her e-mail is that she was the first to introduce a bill to repeal Obamacare.
Fellow Christer "Frothy Mix" Santorum seems to have an interesting problem on his hand. The Senate Report on the Ensign sex scandal notes that the betrayed husband turned to Santorum for help and Santorum tipped Ensign off that his affair was going to be made public. Ah, the problems of Family Values.
The Veepstakes have started as well. Virginia's Bob McDonnell, South Carolina's Nikki Haley and New Mexico's Susana Martinez are already names in the mix. Nikki Haley, the Sikh-turned-Christian, says she is the "flavor the day". Martinez would put an Hispanic on the ticket for a party desparate to shore up the the GOP's diminished base among minorities.
Rachel Maddow bet the former communications director of the RNC about the republicans chances in Wisconsin. He said that in 2012 the GOP has a good chance at Wisconsin, Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina, which Obama won last time. While he tried to make out that the thousands of protestors in Wisconsin were bussed in to protest against Scott Walker,his real optimism couldn't be shared with a general audience. The Republicans are going full-tilt in national efforts to suppress the vote in 2012. That's why the lackluster field doesn't concern people like him. The road to victory is being paved another quieter way.
Ron Paul is the real Godfather of the Teaparty movement before it was co-opted by the Koch Brothers and the Religious Right. He,along with Howard Dean, pioneered the use of the internet for political fund-raising and organizing. He invented the Money Bomb, which still serves him well. After the first GOP debate in South Carolina, he brought in $1 million in small contributions over night.
His appeal is that he is like someone's grandfather speaking without a filter. Even with push back from the media, he doesn't backtrack or mince words. He's at the stage on life that he doesn't care how it comes out. Take for instance his appearance on CNN and MSNBC where he was pressed on whether he would have voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He didn't flinch. He went on about how government put in the laws on slavery, segregation and Jim Crow. He was all for taking away the government laws for discrimination but those should not interfer with laws on private property. In other words, everyone has the right to discriminate on their own.
The implications of this thinking came out more clearly on his statements on the Diane Reihm show where he talked about the devastation of the Alabama tornedoes. FEMA shouldn't provide assistance and the government should not provide insurance for these areas. This is a man from Galveston, Texas, which experiences hurricanes and devastating floods. He said that this was your responsibility. If you wanted to live near water or in a Tornedo alley, that was your choice and you should get private insurance. But if disaster happens, you are on your own. Project that onto New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. In your guts, you know he's nuts.
Ron Paul will provide some great comic relief during the Republican primaries because, in a way, he is right the Republicans privately think alot like him these days. Eliminate the IRS and the FED. Go Back on the Gold standard. He may even agree with his son Rand Paul that health care as a right is a form of slavery for doctors. At least, we'll hear someone refreshingly blunt--sometimes on the mark and sometimes nutty as a fruitcake.
In a darkened room, before a small audience at the University of Michigan,another candidate--Mitt Romney--tried to cope with his single policy achievement--his health care plan in Massachusetts--and tried to contrast it with the Affordable Health Care Act. Even before the speech, the Wall Street Journal had an 1,800 word editorial blasting him and his credibility. Some Republicans even think that editorial doomed Romney's chances. After Romney made his Powerpoint presentation, the entire Fox News echochamber blasted him from show to show. The Obama Administration gave him the veritable hug of death by praising his speech and his ideas.
Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post said that the only idea dumber than is speech was the time Romney strapped his Irish setter to the top of his car when his family went on vacation. Greg Sargeant said that Romney had to deal with this Albatross now ad hope that it fades as the election year proceeds. I think that was the general idea. But the reaction from Republicans was universally negative.
Jay Cost may have put his finger on Romney's real problem. Romney comes from the Northeastern Republicans,who are more moderate and haven't got a contender since 1960. He goes on to say that a Northeastern Republican could not be counted on for winning their own states, while Westerners and Southerners can and this accounts for their strength. So far, Romney is way ahead in the polls in new Hampshire, his recently adopted state, but no where else.
Conservatives, who control the Party, simply do not trust him. They said that he had to defend his health reform plan because he had run out of flip-flop room. Their grave reservations on Romney began with his reversal of his pro-choice positions as Governor of Massachusetts, his stance on stem cell research and on gay rights. They even note that his faint dog whistle about Obama not understanding America in his speech fell flat. And, despite spending an enormous amount of time in the last few years cultivating the Christian Right, Romney is still seen as being a member of a cult--Mormonism.
Throw in the mix Jon Huntsman, the recipient of a fawning piece in this edition of Time magazine. Both Romney and Huntsman are from prestigious and wealthy Mormon families. But apparently the two families have a feud dating back years. Recall that Huntsman backed John McCain over Romney when he was the governor of Utah. I always felt that Huntsman was the future presidential candidate for the Republicans. While he explained his service in the Obama Administration as one of national duty, I don't think that's enough this coming year to persuade a party which has gone further and further to the Right. It's clear, however, he's seriously thinking of running when he is cultivating Republican strategist Mike Weaver.
The temporary dissatisfaction of the Republicans for their candidates has shown up in the recent AP/Roper poll, which says that 45% of Republicans are dissatisfied with the present field. One man nail it,"They are a bunch of cold fish." There is no one right now that fires up the crowd. Peggy Noonan expressed surprise that the media were taken aback by Newt Gingrich's entry into the race. She added she has yet to meet anyone in the Republican Party that backs him.
The dissatisfaction seems to spread among the moneymen, who have refrained from getting heavily involved as yet. So it's no surprise that Laura Bush called Mitch Daniels' wife to persuade her to OK his run. While I simply do not understand the enthusiasm over Mitch Daniels, it has become clear that his family is the obstacle to a run. The fear is that Mitch Daniels' wife will have to explain the episode when she abandoned her family and ran off with a married doctor to California. Then she returned and re-married Daniels. It's so confusing, I doubt whether anyone will care.
As we wait for Mike Huckabee's announcement, the Newt has gotten off several salvos at President Obama, calling his the "greatest Food Stamp President in our history." Newt says this election is the most important since before the civil war. One of the interesting things I found out about Newt is that he had a seperate religion for each of his wives--Lutheran, Southern Baptist and Catholic. While you may not notice it, his entire election campaign will be waged by the most extreme of the Religious Right, whom he has cultivated for years.
As of last night, I thought Huckabee would bow out of the race. Ed Rollins, who is usually reliable about these things, suggested it to the Wall Street Journal yesterday. But by this morning, Huckabee was giving off very different vibes--saying that the fireworks will begin shooting when he makes his announcement and things will get crazy very fast. But I'm not so sure you can announce on your own show. And I'm not so sure even Fox would allow it. So stay tuned.
For those Republicans in the hinterland wanting New Jersey's Gov. Chris Chrissie to run, the latest approval polls in that state show he's in the toilet at 38% and people believing President Obama would be better than the Governor are at 2-1.
Christianist Michelle Bachmann is polling her supporters whether she should run. Her claim to fame in her e-mail is that she was the first to introduce a bill to repeal Obamacare.
Fellow Christer "Frothy Mix" Santorum seems to have an interesting problem on his hand. The Senate Report on the Ensign sex scandal notes that the betrayed husband turned to Santorum for help and Santorum tipped Ensign off that his affair was going to be made public. Ah, the problems of Family Values.
The Veepstakes have started as well. Virginia's Bob McDonnell, South Carolina's Nikki Haley and New Mexico's Susana Martinez are already names in the mix. Nikki Haley, the Sikh-turned-Christian, says she is the "flavor the day". Martinez would put an Hispanic on the ticket for a party desparate to shore up the the GOP's diminished base among minorities.
Rachel Maddow bet the former communications director of the RNC about the republicans chances in Wisconsin. He said that in 2012 the GOP has a good chance at Wisconsin, Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina, which Obama won last time. While he tried to make out that the thousands of protestors in Wisconsin were bussed in to protest against Scott Walker,his real optimism couldn't be shared with a general audience. The Republicans are going full-tilt in national efforts to suppress the vote in 2012. That's why the lackluster field doesn't concern people like him. The road to victory is being paved another quieter way.
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Lair of the White Worm*
*A Ken Russell movie you can miss.
Heard Howard Dean on the Young Turks. Howard Dean said that the Senate Health bill was basically written by two former employees of Wellpoint and United Health. He still is for it but suggests a Medicare buy-in for people 55 or older, since we are the high price people in health care. He believes the compromise with the Republicans could be to drop the mandates because that is the only part that is unpopular with the American people. On the other hand,that would not satisfy the insurance companies who desparately need these new customers. I think it might be clever if Obama dropped the mandates and forced the Republicans to put them back in the bill because they would have to answer to their insurance funders.
A spokeswoman for the Commonwealth Fund said the full implications of their report are not all the dire cost escalations which I quoted yesterday but rather that Americans, who still had health insurance, would see a rapid deterioration in the care they receive. She said doing nothing would not maintain the status quo as Republicans argue but start the steady decline in the American healthcare system.
Frank Luntz must feel the most important person in Washington today. How would you like to be a writer and everyone in town reads from your script. "Scrap the bill", "Start Over Again","take commonsense measures","the American people only support incremental change" were repeated over and over again from Republicans both in the Health Care Summit and on the television stations all weekend. All of these are verbatim quotes from his memo. I'm waiting for a Republican to suddenly talk for him or herself. Can you imagine being a Senator having to use talking points written by a consultant for everything?
A constituent of John McCain's wrote a letter to an Arizona newspaper questioning where the man's integrity went. The writer pointed to McCain's past support for sensible immigration reform, cap and trade legislation to combat global climate change,a debt commission and health care reform. And all these positions have been dramatically reversed because he faces a primary challenger who is bonkers. The writer asks why the 72-year old McCain doesn't stick to his principles and if he loses, do a Joe Lieberman and run as an independent. Good question because there are no strong Democratic candidates for the seat and John can't very well turn back again once he defeated his rightwing challenger and convince people he really doesn't believe what he says now.
I've noticed that since John McCain appears on the Sunday Talk Shows every week since he lost to President Obama that now no one reports anymore what he says. This is the Orrin Hatch syndrome. Hatch for years appeared on Meet the Press and was so convinced all American knew who he was that he ran for the Republican presidential nomination only to discover no one knew who he was or at least listened to anything he had to say.
Former Freedom House board member Dick Ravitch has assumed the position as the only mature adult in Albany with the David Patterson scandal forcing the Governor to announce he was not running again. Ross Douhot, the new ersatz conservative New York Times columnist, has embraced another former Freedom House board member Mitch Daniels as his candidate for President since Mitt Romney can't make anyone like him. Mitch, the former head of the OMB, has vowed that states must radically reduce spending in the next few years. His message is sour and his personality is perfect for Indiana but nowhere else. Maybe he can get another Freedom House trustee Peggy Noonan to write his speeches for him.
The unemployed are forming a union. One of their first acts is to call for Jim Bunning to be thrown out of the Baseball Hall of Fame for his one-man stunt to block the continuation of unemployment compensation. His stunt also means a layoff today of thousands of transit workers around the country and a cut in doctors' fees for Medicare by over 20%. Nice going Jim. By the way, Sandy Koufax has been acting as spring training pitching coach for the New York Mets.
Pat Robertson said God was even more upset with Chile than Haiti because of the prosecution of Augusto Pincohet. But commentators point out that Chile's good government has mitigated that country's disaster as contrasted with Haiti poor government performance. So good government may be the answer to counter God's wrath. Maybe the United States could learn that. I can see this becoming part of the Good Governance program for USAID. Who knows it may actually persuade some countries.
Republican talking heads say the healthcare bill is unpopular with the American people. Actually, every point on the Obama 11-page plan had a majority support except for mandates. If anything,if you bury deep into the polling data, it shows that the American people do not believe the health reform bills go far enough. The so-called "public option" has overwhelming support in both red and blue states and it's the only element left out of the Senate bill.
MENTAL TEST: Over the next few years, jot down names of Republican talking heads, commentators and op-ed writers for potential names of people who would serve in another Republican administration. As Ronald Reagan said, "Personnel is policy." Just do this and review the list and I am sure you will be horrified.
Whether you agree with Paul Krugman or not, it was embarassing to see him as a guest on one of the Sunday talk shows where all they talked about was the replacement of the White House social secretary. When he interrupted to talk about the growing number of unemployed, Sam Donaldson pipe up,"Welcome to Washington, Paul." This isn't Stoogeland for nothing.
I'm getting a little fed up with the conservatives alleged reverence for Ronald Reagan. Almost every conservative that has been quoted by the press as wanting to go back to the days of the Big Ron were part of the gang of conservatives who turned against him during his second term. Later these same characters turned against George H.W. Bush and went over to Ross Perot. This stuff also applies to conservative attacks on Ron Reagan, Jr. Big Ron's problem with Little Ron was around the issue of ballet. However, the adopted son Michael now dons his father's political mantle and attacks young Ron when Michael only reconciled with his father when he was stricken with Alzheimer. What a bunch of opportunists.
Heard Howard Dean on the Young Turks. Howard Dean said that the Senate Health bill was basically written by two former employees of Wellpoint and United Health. He still is for it but suggests a Medicare buy-in for people 55 or older, since we are the high price people in health care. He believes the compromise with the Republicans could be to drop the mandates because that is the only part that is unpopular with the American people. On the other hand,that would not satisfy the insurance companies who desparately need these new customers. I think it might be clever if Obama dropped the mandates and forced the Republicans to put them back in the bill because they would have to answer to their insurance funders.
A spokeswoman for the Commonwealth Fund said the full implications of their report are not all the dire cost escalations which I quoted yesterday but rather that Americans, who still had health insurance, would see a rapid deterioration in the care they receive. She said doing nothing would not maintain the status quo as Republicans argue but start the steady decline in the American healthcare system.
Frank Luntz must feel the most important person in Washington today. How would you like to be a writer and everyone in town reads from your script. "Scrap the bill", "Start Over Again","take commonsense measures","the American people only support incremental change" were repeated over and over again from Republicans both in the Health Care Summit and on the television stations all weekend. All of these are verbatim quotes from his memo. I'm waiting for a Republican to suddenly talk for him or herself. Can you imagine being a Senator having to use talking points written by a consultant for everything?
A constituent of John McCain's wrote a letter to an Arizona newspaper questioning where the man's integrity went. The writer pointed to McCain's past support for sensible immigration reform, cap and trade legislation to combat global climate change,a debt commission and health care reform. And all these positions have been dramatically reversed because he faces a primary challenger who is bonkers. The writer asks why the 72-year old McCain doesn't stick to his principles and if he loses, do a Joe Lieberman and run as an independent. Good question because there are no strong Democratic candidates for the seat and John can't very well turn back again once he defeated his rightwing challenger and convince people he really doesn't believe what he says now.
I've noticed that since John McCain appears on the Sunday Talk Shows every week since he lost to President Obama that now no one reports anymore what he says. This is the Orrin Hatch syndrome. Hatch for years appeared on Meet the Press and was so convinced all American knew who he was that he ran for the Republican presidential nomination only to discover no one knew who he was or at least listened to anything he had to say.
Former Freedom House board member Dick Ravitch has assumed the position as the only mature adult in Albany with the David Patterson scandal forcing the Governor to announce he was not running again. Ross Douhot, the new ersatz conservative New York Times columnist, has embraced another former Freedom House board member Mitch Daniels as his candidate for President since Mitt Romney can't make anyone like him. Mitch, the former head of the OMB, has vowed that states must radically reduce spending in the next few years. His message is sour and his personality is perfect for Indiana but nowhere else. Maybe he can get another Freedom House trustee Peggy Noonan to write his speeches for him.
The unemployed are forming a union. One of their first acts is to call for Jim Bunning to be thrown out of the Baseball Hall of Fame for his one-man stunt to block the continuation of unemployment compensation. His stunt also means a layoff today of thousands of transit workers around the country and a cut in doctors' fees for Medicare by over 20%. Nice going Jim. By the way, Sandy Koufax has been acting as spring training pitching coach for the New York Mets.
Pat Robertson said God was even more upset with Chile than Haiti because of the prosecution of Augusto Pincohet. But commentators point out that Chile's good government has mitigated that country's disaster as contrasted with Haiti poor government performance. So good government may be the answer to counter God's wrath. Maybe the United States could learn that. I can see this becoming part of the Good Governance program for USAID. Who knows it may actually persuade some countries.
Republican talking heads say the healthcare bill is unpopular with the American people. Actually, every point on the Obama 11-page plan had a majority support except for mandates. If anything,if you bury deep into the polling data, it shows that the American people do not believe the health reform bills go far enough. The so-called "public option" has overwhelming support in both red and blue states and it's the only element left out of the Senate bill.
MENTAL TEST: Over the next few years, jot down names of Republican talking heads, commentators and op-ed writers for potential names of people who would serve in another Republican administration. As Ronald Reagan said, "Personnel is policy." Just do this and review the list and I am sure you will be horrified.
Whether you agree with Paul Krugman or not, it was embarassing to see him as a guest on one of the Sunday talk shows where all they talked about was the replacement of the White House social secretary. When he interrupted to talk about the growing number of unemployed, Sam Donaldson pipe up,"Welcome to Washington, Paul." This isn't Stoogeland for nothing.
I'm getting a little fed up with the conservatives alleged reverence for Ronald Reagan. Almost every conservative that has been quoted by the press as wanting to go back to the days of the Big Ron were part of the gang of conservatives who turned against him during his second term. Later these same characters turned against George H.W. Bush and went over to Ross Perot. This stuff also applies to conservative attacks on Ron Reagan, Jr. Big Ron's problem with Little Ron was around the issue of ballet. However, the adopted son Michael now dons his father's political mantle and attacks young Ron when Michael only reconciled with his father when he was stricken with Alzheimer. What a bunch of opportunists.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
Remember when the only reason to watch the Winter Olympics was the hockey. Some people liked the figure skating but I grew up wondering when the American skier would fall down. Billy Kidd, our only medal hope, usually fell or finished 7th. Now in Vancouver, the United States has a slight three medal lead over Germany and could actually win the whole thing! It must be the cool outfits.
On the cultural front, just got Johnny Cash's last album in his American series "Ain't No Grave", where a stricken man sings out his life. The series produced by Rick Rubin consisted of Johnny just recording any songs he liked and Rubin would re-digitalize the cuts to Johnny's approval. I wish other artists did the same thing to capture what disappears in their rehearsals and from their albums. From the past albums, one of my favorites was "My Own Personal Jesus".
On DVD, David Straithern appears as the judge in Heavens Fall, a film about the Scottsboro Case. Watching it, the whites all reminded me of today's Republicans.
Now the consensus in Washington is that Republicans will take both the House and the Senate this year. My advice to Democrats is to move all 290 laws passed by the House and being filibustered by the Senate Republicans through reconciliation. All the major reforms for our financial system are all there. The only missing reform is Immigration Reform. But the rest would be an amazing accomplishment and the rest of the country would get a sense of how productive Congress has actually been.
We are waiting for another snowstorm in Washington. So if Bob Dylan and Joan Baez could brace the snow to sing at the White House, how many Republicans will not make the health reform summit? I think the standard of courage is a bit lower.
The newly minted Senator Scott Brown has instantly alienated his supporters by voting against the filibuster on the Senate Jobs Bill. This is the $18 billion low-end version stripped of all the tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. An interesting fact--the House passed the Jobs bill in June and this was the Senate version, which had been bottled up ever since. Republicans wanted to filibuster the bill because lobbyists were angry with them because Reid stripped out all their goodies. Remember we're talking about people wanting to kill a jobs bill in the middle of a Depression--keep that in mind.
Republican Virginia delegate Marshall blamed handicapped children on abortion and entertained the crowds by citing Exodus as his medical text. This is part of the local debate to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides needed medical services to rural women in this state. Our closet Christian fundamentalist governor Bob McDonnell vows to veto any funding for Planned Parenthood. He also signed an executive order making it legal for the state to discriminate against gays, thus withdrawing Tim Kaine's 2006 order to the contrary.
Republican Governors are on a roll. Mitch Daniels, who was head of George W's OMB, has mebarked on dismantling his state's education and health system. He warns that all governors will have to follow suit. Our own Virginia governor did it the same day, making sharp cuts in education and health services but in a stealth manner without a public debate. Maryland's Republican legislators were trying to do the same with regards to Maryland's educational system.
Down East magazine, the grandfather of regional and state magazines, reports that evangelicals are quietly beginning to dominate Maine. We saw how they were mobilized to defeat marriage equality but the magazine reports that evangelicals are claiming that they will take care of all their parishioners' needs. I guess this is the Republican gameplan for all of us.
Other bloggers have reported what I had observed about the so-called Conservative Comeback--it's all old people. Political activism has increased among the 65-82 year olds, the demographic Republicans dominate. I received bitter e-mails from the colonostomy conservatives when I pointed out that Ron Paul was their new leader. They claim Ron Paul filled CPAC at the end with young college kids in order to "rig" the vote. Normally Mitt Romney rigs the vote. What we have is the beginning of a genuine war between generations. The senior citizens have theirs and intend to keep it, while younger Americans can go hang.
After finishing Patti Smith's memoir and Keith Haring's Journals, I began to think that we may be on the verge of a new counter-cultural revolution. Keith Haring wrote about how fragile life appeared to him when he was in his early 20s and how global issues seemed to overwhelm him. I can imagine a younger generation feeling the same way today. Employment among the young is at astronomical levels and soon we will have an open debate in this country of stripping them of all entitlements enjoyed by an older generation. I can not see--especially with the emphasis the right puts on political violence--that the young may begin to act out their frustrations. The push back may come in increased social restrictions being pushed by the Religious Right.
The young Ron Paul supporters at CPAC cheered his anti-imperial message. Ron Paul laid out his historic position that we are spending $1 trillion on the military-terrorist complex and have hundreds of bases around the world, which contribute nothing to the ntaional interest. The loudest cheers were for withdrawal from Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the Middle East. This was in sharp contrast to the Bush-Cheney crowd's attacks on Obama for national security and the calls to torture. It is Paul's anti-war message has been why the Campiagn for Liberty has won support on college campuses.
For Glenn Beck fans, I found an oldy but goody from my library, which undercuts his belief that Fascism comes from the Left. I don't know whether this book is published anymore but it traces the roots of fascism in Italy, Germany, France and England and their intellectual followers. The paperback version was published in 1973 with an introduction by Stephen Spender--The Appeal of Fascism by Alastair Hamilton. Hamilton recounts all the right-wing syncophants for fascism and why it appealed to intellectuals. A few years later we got Jean Francois Revel's Totalitarian Temptation to go after the Left.
Glenn Beck has labelled Scott Brown a "progressive Republican", which is his version of a curse. I finally understood Ron Paul's disdain for Woodrow Wilson. As he explained to CPAC, it was Wilson's crackdown on dissent and the arrest of anti-war protestors. He went on at length to explain the case of Eugene V. Debs, who remained in prison until Warren Harding pardoned him. Beck's Wilson phobia is more rooted in economics and his support of democracy. It has nothing to do with a crackdown on civil liberties. But never fear Beck had little good things to say about Republican Presidents. He hates Theodore Roosevelt and claims Abraham Lincoln did not do enough to save "state's rights". I wonder why not. George W was a big spender--which he was. The only common President both Beck and Paul liked was Calvin Coolidge.
But as I have written, this all is a sideshow. Today, it's been reported that Wall Street and the Banks are pouring money into the Republicans. In the Senate, Republicans are trying to get a $1 trillion tax break for major corporations. Remember these people created zero jobs over the last decade and only 26% of them pay any tax at all on their income. What we are seeing is the alignment of corporate America supported by the oldest generation to finally bring the country down. Alan Greenspan, devotee of Ayn Rand, commented how unequal the recovery has been. The inequality in our economic system will continue to grow if these new policies are adopted. It's clear that the marching orders to Republican Governors are to thoroughly dismantle any remnants of the social welfare state. The fact that no advanced political economy can survive in this manner totally escapes these people.
A little flap has occurred in Washington over Brookings' wargame over Iran. The premise was that the United States would be dragged into a war if the Israelis attacked Iran's nuclear sites. The various outcomes were not encouraging and that was what triggered the conservative reaction. Now having worked since the late 1980s to support democratic change in Iran, I don't take a backseat to anyone on this issue. But a few things have emerged that have tempered my views on the so-called Iranian nuclear threat. The resistance exposed the Natanz facility in 2002. Now eight years later, Iran has only been able to enrich uranium to 19.7%, far below the high levels required to produce a nuclear device. At this rate, I will be in a nursing home when they actually produce a bomb or I'm more convinced--they need to buy one. In my view, the outstanding military threat posed by Iran to Israel is conventional--ballistic missiles with conventional warheads--and terrorism through their support of Hizbullah and Hamas. Even though 70% of Americans believe Iran has nuclear weapons, it seems very unlikely they will acquire them anytime within the next decade. So all the warhawks, in my view, are deranged and should be shut down. We went through this nonsense with Iraq and all we did was create an Iranian colony.
One of the more disappointing events has been the publication of the OPR report on the DOJ lawyers who wrote the torture memos. While Yoo and Bybee got slaps on the hand, there are no recommendations that they be disbarred. I know the Obama White House would like this all to be in the past, but what is to prevent another set of knuckleheads reviving torture as an instrument of American foreign (or domestic) policy? There are no penalties for going back to a policy that disgraced this country and we have seen that 54% of Americans still believe it might be necessary to torture terrorist suspects under some circumstances.
Given my daily quota of right-wing e-mails, I'm amazed at how scared conservatives are. I am amazed that they can actually leave their homes. That's probably because they think the ceiling is going to collapse on them, also. The list of what they fear is amazing: minorities, gays, taxes, Obama's "socialism", the national debt (they ignored before), Iran, terrorists, Islam,climate change legislation, health care reform, gay marriage, public schools, the confiscation of guns,universities, science,and the list continues. There is virtually nothing they do not fear.
I'm reminded that conservatives were hesitant to fight Hitler and were absolutely convinced we had lost the Cold War. Their love of Whittaker Chambers was not because he fingered Alger Hiss but because he was a homely man, probably gay, who fought an Ivy League educated, attractive man and won and still wrote how Western culture had so deteriorated that we already had lost the Cold War. I even heard born-again conservative David Horowitz this last year actually proclaim that we had lost the Cold War and that the communist agenda for America was coming to fruition. One has to be reminded that when Reagan decided to win the Cold War, he had to enlist a small army of social democrats, former liberals and labor activists to actually fight in the trenches because none of the conservatives had any experience in standing up to communists. The same applies to the so-called fight against Islamic Fundamentalism--conservatives already believe this fight is lost and that Obama is accelerating the defeat. I'm still trying to guess where Islamists have scored their great geopolitical victories.
On the cultural front, just got Johnny Cash's last album in his American series "Ain't No Grave", where a stricken man sings out his life. The series produced by Rick Rubin consisted of Johnny just recording any songs he liked and Rubin would re-digitalize the cuts to Johnny's approval. I wish other artists did the same thing to capture what disappears in their rehearsals and from their albums. From the past albums, one of my favorites was "My Own Personal Jesus".
On DVD, David Straithern appears as the judge in Heavens Fall, a film about the Scottsboro Case. Watching it, the whites all reminded me of today's Republicans.
Now the consensus in Washington is that Republicans will take both the House and the Senate this year. My advice to Democrats is to move all 290 laws passed by the House and being filibustered by the Senate Republicans through reconciliation. All the major reforms for our financial system are all there. The only missing reform is Immigration Reform. But the rest would be an amazing accomplishment and the rest of the country would get a sense of how productive Congress has actually been.
We are waiting for another snowstorm in Washington. So if Bob Dylan and Joan Baez could brace the snow to sing at the White House, how many Republicans will not make the health reform summit? I think the standard of courage is a bit lower.
The newly minted Senator Scott Brown has instantly alienated his supporters by voting against the filibuster on the Senate Jobs Bill. This is the $18 billion low-end version stripped of all the tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations. An interesting fact--the House passed the Jobs bill in June and this was the Senate version, which had been bottled up ever since. Republicans wanted to filibuster the bill because lobbyists were angry with them because Reid stripped out all their goodies. Remember we're talking about people wanting to kill a jobs bill in the middle of a Depression--keep that in mind.
Republican Virginia delegate Marshall blamed handicapped children on abortion and entertained the crowds by citing Exodus as his medical text. This is part of the local debate to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides needed medical services to rural women in this state. Our closet Christian fundamentalist governor Bob McDonnell vows to veto any funding for Planned Parenthood. He also signed an executive order making it legal for the state to discriminate against gays, thus withdrawing Tim Kaine's 2006 order to the contrary.
Republican Governors are on a roll. Mitch Daniels, who was head of George W's OMB, has mebarked on dismantling his state's education and health system. He warns that all governors will have to follow suit. Our own Virginia governor did it the same day, making sharp cuts in education and health services but in a stealth manner without a public debate. Maryland's Republican legislators were trying to do the same with regards to Maryland's educational system.
Down East magazine, the grandfather of regional and state magazines, reports that evangelicals are quietly beginning to dominate Maine. We saw how they were mobilized to defeat marriage equality but the magazine reports that evangelicals are claiming that they will take care of all their parishioners' needs. I guess this is the Republican gameplan for all of us.
Other bloggers have reported what I had observed about the so-called Conservative Comeback--it's all old people. Political activism has increased among the 65-82 year olds, the demographic Republicans dominate. I received bitter e-mails from the colonostomy conservatives when I pointed out that Ron Paul was their new leader. They claim Ron Paul filled CPAC at the end with young college kids in order to "rig" the vote. Normally Mitt Romney rigs the vote. What we have is the beginning of a genuine war between generations. The senior citizens have theirs and intend to keep it, while younger Americans can go hang.
After finishing Patti Smith's memoir and Keith Haring's Journals, I began to think that we may be on the verge of a new counter-cultural revolution. Keith Haring wrote about how fragile life appeared to him when he was in his early 20s and how global issues seemed to overwhelm him. I can imagine a younger generation feeling the same way today. Employment among the young is at astronomical levels and soon we will have an open debate in this country of stripping them of all entitlements enjoyed by an older generation. I can not see--especially with the emphasis the right puts on political violence--that the young may begin to act out their frustrations. The push back may come in increased social restrictions being pushed by the Religious Right.
The young Ron Paul supporters at CPAC cheered his anti-imperial message. Ron Paul laid out his historic position that we are spending $1 trillion on the military-terrorist complex and have hundreds of bases around the world, which contribute nothing to the ntaional interest. The loudest cheers were for withdrawal from Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the Middle East. This was in sharp contrast to the Bush-Cheney crowd's attacks on Obama for national security and the calls to torture. It is Paul's anti-war message has been why the Campiagn for Liberty has won support on college campuses.
For Glenn Beck fans, I found an oldy but goody from my library, which undercuts his belief that Fascism comes from the Left. I don't know whether this book is published anymore but it traces the roots of fascism in Italy, Germany, France and England and their intellectual followers. The paperback version was published in 1973 with an introduction by Stephen Spender--The Appeal of Fascism by Alastair Hamilton. Hamilton recounts all the right-wing syncophants for fascism and why it appealed to intellectuals. A few years later we got Jean Francois Revel's Totalitarian Temptation to go after the Left.
Glenn Beck has labelled Scott Brown a "progressive Republican", which is his version of a curse. I finally understood Ron Paul's disdain for Woodrow Wilson. As he explained to CPAC, it was Wilson's crackdown on dissent and the arrest of anti-war protestors. He went on at length to explain the case of Eugene V. Debs, who remained in prison until Warren Harding pardoned him. Beck's Wilson phobia is more rooted in economics and his support of democracy. It has nothing to do with a crackdown on civil liberties. But never fear Beck had little good things to say about Republican Presidents. He hates Theodore Roosevelt and claims Abraham Lincoln did not do enough to save "state's rights". I wonder why not. George W was a big spender--which he was. The only common President both Beck and Paul liked was Calvin Coolidge.
But as I have written, this all is a sideshow. Today, it's been reported that Wall Street and the Banks are pouring money into the Republicans. In the Senate, Republicans are trying to get a $1 trillion tax break for major corporations. Remember these people created zero jobs over the last decade and only 26% of them pay any tax at all on their income. What we are seeing is the alignment of corporate America supported by the oldest generation to finally bring the country down. Alan Greenspan, devotee of Ayn Rand, commented how unequal the recovery has been. The inequality in our economic system will continue to grow if these new policies are adopted. It's clear that the marching orders to Republican Governors are to thoroughly dismantle any remnants of the social welfare state. The fact that no advanced political economy can survive in this manner totally escapes these people.
A little flap has occurred in Washington over Brookings' wargame over Iran. The premise was that the United States would be dragged into a war if the Israelis attacked Iran's nuclear sites. The various outcomes were not encouraging and that was what triggered the conservative reaction. Now having worked since the late 1980s to support democratic change in Iran, I don't take a backseat to anyone on this issue. But a few things have emerged that have tempered my views on the so-called Iranian nuclear threat. The resistance exposed the Natanz facility in 2002. Now eight years later, Iran has only been able to enrich uranium to 19.7%, far below the high levels required to produce a nuclear device. At this rate, I will be in a nursing home when they actually produce a bomb or I'm more convinced--they need to buy one. In my view, the outstanding military threat posed by Iran to Israel is conventional--ballistic missiles with conventional warheads--and terrorism through their support of Hizbullah and Hamas. Even though 70% of Americans believe Iran has nuclear weapons, it seems very unlikely they will acquire them anytime within the next decade. So all the warhawks, in my view, are deranged and should be shut down. We went through this nonsense with Iraq and all we did was create an Iranian colony.
One of the more disappointing events has been the publication of the OPR report on the DOJ lawyers who wrote the torture memos. While Yoo and Bybee got slaps on the hand, there are no recommendations that they be disbarred. I know the Obama White House would like this all to be in the past, but what is to prevent another set of knuckleheads reviving torture as an instrument of American foreign (or domestic) policy? There are no penalties for going back to a policy that disgraced this country and we have seen that 54% of Americans still believe it might be necessary to torture terrorist suspects under some circumstances.
Given my daily quota of right-wing e-mails, I'm amazed at how scared conservatives are. I am amazed that they can actually leave their homes. That's probably because they think the ceiling is going to collapse on them, also. The list of what they fear is amazing: minorities, gays, taxes, Obama's "socialism", the national debt (they ignored before), Iran, terrorists, Islam,climate change legislation, health care reform, gay marriage, public schools, the confiscation of guns,universities, science,and the list continues. There is virtually nothing they do not fear.
I'm reminded that conservatives were hesitant to fight Hitler and were absolutely convinced we had lost the Cold War. Their love of Whittaker Chambers was not because he fingered Alger Hiss but because he was a homely man, probably gay, who fought an Ivy League educated, attractive man and won and still wrote how Western culture had so deteriorated that we already had lost the Cold War. I even heard born-again conservative David Horowitz this last year actually proclaim that we had lost the Cold War and that the communist agenda for America was coming to fruition. One has to be reminded that when Reagan decided to win the Cold War, he had to enlist a small army of social democrats, former liberals and labor activists to actually fight in the trenches because none of the conservatives had any experience in standing up to communists. The same applies to the so-called fight against Islamic Fundamentalism--conservatives already believe this fight is lost and that Obama is accelerating the defeat. I'm still trying to guess where Islamists have scored their great geopolitical victories.
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