There They Go Again

The recent furor over the performance of Reggie Brown at the Repub Leaderhip Conference is only interesting for what it shows about the Repub mindset. Brown's inept and unfunny attempts to impesonate President Obama, was apparently a big hit with the delegates but not with the organizers, who cut Brown's performance short.

First of all I want to say that I'm not a fan of "political correctness" but I'm not a fan of what has come to be known as "political incorrectness" i.e. that there is something brave about being gratuitously offensive (Howard Stern, Don Imus etc.)
The point though is that the GOP is still trying to pull a "Willie Horton;" pandering to racial bias while trying to claim that they are not themselves racist.
How long are we going to let them get away with it?

The Reign of the Hairball

Grover Norquist, head of "Americans for Tax Reform" and other rightist groups, may be the most responsible for the "tax phobia" that has become a dogma of the GOP. Recently, though, he decided that a Senate proposal to repeal ethanol subsidies was the equivalent to a tax increase. This brought a rebuke from top Repubs like Tom Coburn and John Kyl. It may be premature to say that Norquist is finished but it will become harder for him to always get what he wants.

Let's Talk About Who Gets Wealthy

Tim Pawlenty, the latest GOP fair haired boy, recently gave a speech outlining his economic program. Like all Repubs, his theory of economics consists of 2 words: tax cuts. The Repubs continue to believe that low taxes and low wages are a panacea for prosperity. If that were true, the economic collapse of 2007-2008 would not have happened. But arguing with Repubs is like arguing with members of the Flat Earth Society.

Palwenty defends his stance saying "This isn't about whether some people are going to get wealthier or not." Au contraire, it very much matter who wins and who loses. Palwenty, and the other Repubs, want to impose an economic plan who only benefits a small group of speculators who don't produce anything or even sell anything, but merely engage in elaborate gambling schemes. Palwenty is simply selling the same old "trickle down" nonsense.

Who's Fooling Whom?

I don't like the way that tabloid celebrity sleaze is trying to nudge its way into the public discourse. But the revelation that Arnold Schwarzenegger impregnated his former housekeeper is too egregious to ignore. It's sounds peculiar that Schwarzenegger was able to do such a thing and cover it up for more than a decade. All the while John Edwards indiscretion was splashed over the media ( and Edwards is now facing criminal charges on top of that.) It must be that media bias would allow a right wing politician to cover up his philandering. In fact allegations of Schwarzenegger's sexual aggressiveness having circulating for years. Then why didn't anybody bother to look int them? So much for the media having a "liberal" bias.