Any White Guy Will Do

A recent poll by the Associated Press shows that 52% of white Amnericans harbor negative attitudes towards Blacks and other minorities. This is in contrast to 2008 when 48% did so. The apparent worsening of racial bias, if it is true, is troubling. It would suggest that racism has become an extricable part of American life and culture.

The politics of racism has been going on since Reconstruction, if not earlier. If it has fallen right now, maybe it never will. Or what can you say except "It was billionaire jagoffs like Mitt Romney who took your job, your home, and your future. But I guess the privilege of having a white skin is more important."

The Best and Brightest?

While the dust hasn't settled about last night's debate, so it's not entirely clear who won. Still, Romney claimed that Syria is Iran's "route to the sea." Is it possible that Romney is igonrant of the existence of the Persian Gulf? Or that Syria and Iran don't even have a common border? This is from a guy who graduated from Harvard with graduate degrees in law and business. And he doesn't know geography? Sheesh!

Romney is Pointless

Reading Romney's Five Point Plan for the economy is an excercise in incongruity. His energy plan is basically "drill away," but what about the environmental costs? Who's going to pay for that? He also wants to cut the deficit while reducing taxes on business; voodoo economics all over again. I don't see how anybody can take this seriously.

Tonight is the final presidential debates. Supposedly it will focus on foreign policy. I just hope the President doesn't blow it.

Romney In A Bind

Mitt Romney's performance at Tuesday night's debate reveals his problems with half the electorate. He trying to claim that as Governor he had tried increase the hiring of women but he made a remark of about "binders full of women" that didn't go down so well. He also blamed single mothers for crime. And he has also jumped on the GOP's anti-birthcontrol campaign. Does this mean that Romney has a problem with women? Maybe not with the women of his own class. But he does seem to lack empathy for the people who weren't born with his privileges.

Who's Up, Who's Down?

One way in which the corporate media managed to trivialize the public discourse is by reducing politics to a kind of spectator sport. That's the reason why I no longer watch political shows like "This Week" or "McLaughlin" because of that annoying tone of "who's up who's down" like they were talking about the play-off standings. This was especially evident during the discussion of last week's debate between Vice President Biden and Paul Ryan. There's a concensus the Vice-President won the debate by forcing Ryan to get specific about what the Repubs intend. President Obama would be well advised to adopt this strategy at his next debate with Romney.

Another curious thing is how many right-wing pundits like Greta Von Susteren were complaining about how "mean" Biden was. We all know how bullies react when their intended victims fight back.

Romney's Rah-Rahs

The curious thing about how Mitt Romney is now supposed to have "won" last Wednesday's dabate. Supposedly he won simply by not uttering any more boners. What's really going on is that the Corporate Media has always been rooting for Romney. Is that any great surprise? In politics, however, perceptions can become their own "reality," which means that if Pres. Obama really wants to win, this election, he'd better start fighting back.

The thing is though that if the election were held today, Obama would win. He would get at least 281 electoral votes (only 270 are needed to win.) Good news? Except that I remember how in 1988 Michael Dukakis blew a 17 point lead and in 2000 Al Gore lost an election he should have won by all accounts. What is it with the Democrats that they lose even when they should win?

Troubled Skies

The recent labor troubles at American Airlines give a picture of what is wrong, not only with the Airline business, but with much of american business in general. Recently NPR aired a story titled American Airlines Fliers Fed Up As Labor Clash Rages
by Wade Goodwyn that explains the the roots of the labor dispute:

In 2003, with American on the verge of collapse, the pilots, mechanics, ground crew and flight attendants gave back nearly $2 billion in concessions. Later, it emerged that the airline's top managers quietly awarded themselves millions in bonuses, and tens of millions more when they retired. The workers have never really gotten over that betrayal.

Now you'd think that the hot shots who run American would realize that maybe you shouldn't treat pilots like janitors or some other unskilled sector. But the CEO caste doesn't care whether they run the companies into the ground. As long as they get their big salaries and bonuses. So now American is being hit with widespread flight cancellations and many are wondering whether the airline is doomed.