Lest We Forget

Before the year 2013 ends it's time to remember that it also marks the 40th anniversary of the final US withdrawal from Vietnam. Even after all this time, it is believed that some 400,000 veterans of that war are suffering from PTSD and other psychological problems. It's ironic how "patriotism" has become a kind of public exhibition, and marketing tool, but this country still has not lived up to its commitment to its veterans. After 40 years, Vietnam remains the war that America keeps trying to forget but that refuses to go away.

This cannot be encouraging to the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, who face many years not only of trying recover from their physical and psychological wounds while they have to fight the very system that sent them to war. It seems that when young people enlist the recruiters often promise them the moon. But when they have become veterans in need the response from the VA, for instance, is something along the lines "I don't know what the recruiter told you but" ... etc. It does make you wonder what kind of country we are.

Mandela's Legacy

Let us reflect on the passing of Nelson Mandela, a heroic fighter for freedom (in the true sense of the word) and justice. He will always be an inspiration and an example for all who struggle for a better world. Mandela's legacy is so great that even many right-wing pols here in the US, like Newt Gingrich, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz, feel compelled to render him homage.

It barely merits repetition but there are people out there who maintain that Nelson Mandela was a "communist" and a "terrorist." I suppose those people think that racial equality is somehow "communist." As long as people like that exist the struggle for justice will need to go on.

How Offensive!

This is from Salon.com

A black female professor at Minneapolis Community and Technical College was formally reprimanded by school officials after three of her white male students were upset by a lesson she taught on structural racism.

The professor is Sharon Gibney and she teaches a Introduction to Mass Communication class. Apparently the white male students complained about Gibney even mentioning racism. Racism has often taken the form of whites claiming to be offended. In Jim Crow times they were offended at the thought of having to ride in the same cars or drinking from the same water fountains as black people. In recent times, the "Tea Party" is largely fueled by people being offended at having a black president.

I suspect that the three complainers are the kind of right wing punks who go around staging confrontations on for instance, college campuses just to draw attention to themselves. But it also points out another trick that racists have resorted to in recent years. The claim that they want a "color blind" society, but that doesn't mean a society without racial bias but rather one in which the reality of racism is swept under the rug. A return, in short, to Jim Crowism.

The Vatican's Dirty Bank

It seems to be getting worse for the Vatican. The new Pope Francis says he is seeking to reform the influential Vatican Bank. There have no long been allegations that the Vatican Bank has been laundering money for criminal organizations like the Sicilian Mafia and the Calabrian NDrangheta. Now it is alleged that Catholic clergymen are actively involved with organized crime. You would think that the Catholic Church's dirty record, of mass murder and torture, and widespread pedophilia, now racketeering they would at least clean up their own act before interfering in the public business.

Last Week's Elections

Last week's show some sign of optimism, maybe. Chris Christie was re-elected governor of New Jersey, which isn't all that great, except that Christie is now considered a "moderate" in the GOP. Compared with the likes of Ted Cruz, he sort of sounds like that. Christie originally came to office as a Tea Party blow-hard( and he's still a blow hard) except that when Hurricane Sandy devastated New Jersey, Christie had to admit that there was a use for the Federal Government after all. That didn't sit to well with hardcore Tea Partiers.

Of greater interest is Terry McCauliffe's victory in Virginia. It seems that Old Dominion voters weren't to happy with the GOPer shut down. Also, Ken Cuccinelli, the extremist GOPer candidate offended a lot of women voters. McCauliffe's victory provides clues to how the Democratic party put together a winning electoral coalition. Question is whether they will do so.

What's Wrong With the White Guys?

I hate to put it in those terms but after Paul Ciancia, a self described "patriot," went on a shooting rampage last Friday at Los Angeles International, you've got to wonder. There's this long list of angry white guys, from Timothy McVeigh to Ciancia, who are committing their own form of individualist fascism; terrorist attacks supposedly against "the government," but in realist against democracy itself. There's the problem of allowing mentally unstable people to have easy access to guns and ammunition. Maybe that's the real reason. Personally, I have no problem with White people, however you define them.

Obama's Real Problem

In the wake of the federal shutdown debacle, the GOP is widely despised and in internally divided. Yet the Obama administration continues to pursue a "Grand Bargain" with the congressional GOP in which it will trade cuts in Social Security for some kind of tax increase. The big lie here is that Social Security benefits are not the cause of the Federal deficit. It's the Bush tax cuts which are the root cause of the deficit, which in real terms is actually decreasing anyway. It seems that Obama is obsessed with going down in history as "The Great Conciliator" that he is going to throw away his last chance to make the historic change he promised. It seems that the Democrats will do in 2014 what they did in 2010: rescue defeat from the jaws of victory.

Something Has Got To Give

Even thought Congress has passed another deal to re-open the government it only lasts for 90 days. When we consider that the GOP, not just the Tea baggers, are the kind of people that never learn anything and never forget anything, we could be facing the same rigmarole in January or February. How long can this continue? One possibility may come from the business interests who are funding the Tea Party. These interests want the low-tax low-wage regime to continue, but do they really want to continue backing fanatics, like the Tea Baggers, who are willing to wreck the economy? Maybe the business interests need to think about that.

Recessionism Defined

Perhaps the best definition of recessionist economics was written by Samuel Gompers President of the AFL 1886-1924. Writing in the January 1919 issue of "The American Federationist" Gompers summed up the recessionist position:

"Then too there is ever present that ill-advised and time refuted old school of political economists who always prescribe their dogma of reduction in wages for industrial ills whenever there arises any great question of industry, trade, commerce or finance. Their ever ready remedy for industrial stagnation is to cut wages and increase the hours of toil. With their philosophy or sophistry they would forestall or meet a condition of shrinkage in the markets of industry by still further reducing wages and lengthening the hours of work. To these false prophets and malpractitioners of economics, the law of supply and demand is the Alpha and Omega of their concept of political economy and sociology. Obviously it has never occurred to these men that by reducing the consuming power of the great masses and causing extended unemployment, privation and suffering of the people, industrial stagnation would not be abated or lessened, but on the contrary would be made more acute." (57)

Still true today as it was then.

The Dogma of Recessionism

The pet economic theory held by GOPers here in the states and by German bankers in Europe has a new label; "expansionary fiscal contraction." It is the theory that cutting public spending is supposed to be good for the economy. This theory, lets call it EFC for short, has come under attack by many economists. The economic data indicates that EFC actually causes economic contraction. In this country EFC has caused widespread unemployment and weak economic growth. In Europe EFC is pushing the poorer countries into economic collapse and possibly political and social breakdown. It would be fair to say that EFC is to economics what colloidal silver is to medicine: a dangerous piece of quackery.

Irresponsible Government Will Be the End of U.S.

It's odd how people who are always preaching about "personal responsibility" will hide behind every excuse in order to avoid responsibility for their own actions. The federal government is just hours away from another shutdown. House GOPers are doing this in an ultimately futile attempt to shutdown what they call "Obamacare." In doing so they are risking an economic disaster of unforeseeable consequence. The only good sign is the stock market is falling. Maybe the big financial interests who control the GOP will call the Repub leadership and tell them to stop their foolishness. The disadvantage that President Obama and other leaders have is that they try to act in the interests of all the people. The Repubs on the other hand only act in the interests of those who vote for them and the special interests who finance their careers. The question is, which tendency will come out on top.

The Lunatics Are Running the Asylum

House Repubs are trying to shut down the Federal Government again, this time it's an attempt to defund what they call "Obamacare." Meanwhile Ted Cruz, who actually boasts of his resemblance to Joe McCarthy, is trying to launch his own "filibuster" of the budget process. Is it possible that the Repubs don't know what they're doing? A government default would wreck the world economy and they're willing to do that just to make a point. The GOP has pandered to the lunatic right to such an extent that they're now in a position to destroy the country.

Confronting the Big Box Future

Recently an item appeared in Huffington Post title "Why Generation Y Yuppies are Unhappy" defining generation y as those born between the late seventies and mid nineties. The gist of the article is the young people in that age group have unrealistic expectations about their career prospects and thus are doomed to unhappiness. It's a complicated issue and one that goes back beyoned generation y. In fact, by the late eighties young people were being advised "Don't look for a career, look for a job." Things have only gotten worse since then with the term "career" becoming obsolete. Forget about working for the same company all your life you probably won't work in the same field. It's no longer uncommon to change jobs several times in one year.

The problem goes back to the 1980's when Americans began to confuse optimism with fecklessness. The generation that came of age were convinced they were going to get rich by playing the stock market or flipping real estate. Most of them didn't of course; everybody can't get rich just as everybody can't be a movie star. They also filled their kids with all kinds of "follow your bliss" malarkey that left unprepared for the harsh truths of the real world.

I'm really bothered when people say "anything is possible" because in fact lots of things are impossible; squaring the circle for one or building a perpetual motion machine. A generation that grew up hearing nonsense like "find your passion" "follow your dreams" are now confronting a reality in which their best prosepect is working at a big box store. Yes, that's right, you've been lied to but the failure of the earlier generations has become a recurring theme in the modern world. Might as well smell the coffee.

Whatever Happened to Do No Harm?

The potential US attack on Syria has become a political football. Congressional Repubs like Mitch McConnell oppose a US strike even while they call for a more "muscular" foreign policy. But then the Repub demographic base consists of people who don't get the concept of cognitive dissonance. The Obama administration, however, has the same problem. How would bombing Syria help matters? It would say that "We're angry with you" but bombs and missiles but what would be the actual result? If Assad stays in power it will be a failure for the US. But if he is overthrown Syria could be merely destabilized like Egypt and Libya. The real moral imperative is not to "do something anything" but to not make matters worse.

What Is the Liberal Position Anyway?

It has become common lately for liberals to complain that President Obama has "betrayed us" on issues like NSA surveillance or the recent drift into attacking Syria. But at the same time the Obama administration has not received much useful advice on the questions of defense and security. The problem is that any Democrat who is elected President, no matter how Liberal his or her inclinations may be, will be confronted with an environment in which the Conservative view of national security, defense, and much of foreing policy has become the "default" view. There are no liberal policy positions to serve as alternatives to the conserative view.

The reasons for this are complicated. Since the 1980's many liberals have taken the position that "We don't have to propose any alternatives, all we have to do is criticize." But in order to have an impact on policy, we need to have credible policy alternatives on issues like national security and defense. These are real problems that need to be addressed. It is not enough to criticize existing policies, we need to offer credible alternatives.

The Fog of Crisis

The term Fog of War has come to refer to the lack of certainty in military operations. If you stop and look at it, not only wars but other kinds of crises can also produce a "fog" of uncertainty and ambiguity. The war in Syria is an example. Allegations that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons have been flying around the media and have been accepted as fact by Sec. of State John Kerry. These allegations have not been conclusively proven, however, but nvertheless the Obama administration is now been pushed to take military action against the Assad regime.

Such action would accomplish nothing. The US could drop bombs or fire missiles at Syria and that would not solve anything. Syria's problems are for the Syrians themselves to resolve. Syria isn't ours to fix anymore than was China, Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan.

While America Burns

The Roman Emperor Nero did not actually fiddle while Rome burned in 64 AD; the violin hadn't been invented yet and some historians think Nero wasn't even in Rome at the time. But today we have a Congress that is screwing around while California burns. Even while the California Repub Dana Rohrabacher maintains that global warming is a "hoax." In the meantime funding for fighting wildfires has been cut by Congress. This is on top of cuts to education and scientific research. Oh yeah, and the nation's bridges are falling apart. A person with brains would think that the Repubs are deliberately trying to destroy America.

Can We Deal with Irrationality?

When we consider the events that led to WW2, we are haunted by one question. At what point should people have realized that Adolf Hitler was not just an "aggressive nationalist" but a threat to world peace, and possibly to civilization itself? It's a complicated question and one that has many dimensions. But I think that one important indication is that Hitler was unappeasable. He continued to make more and more demands, and there was no end point except world domination.

Irrationality, of course didn't end with Hitler. Political extremism, takes many forms. We can see Al Qaeda, who's extreme and twisted version of Islam has led it to conduct a global campaign of terror, much of it directed at Muslims they don't approve of. In the wake of the attacks of 9/11/2001 we Americans thought that Al Qaeda was going to lead some kind of Pan-Islamic Jihad. In reality, all they have done is wreak death and destruction.

The problem happens when people adopt beliefs that are unarguable, that must be accepted or rejected. When persons adopt the position that you are either with them or against them, then how can they be dealt with?

Rancid Priebus Passing Gas

Rancid Reince Priebus, chairman of the RNC, is venting gas because CNN is planning to make a movie about Hillary Rodham Clinton. Priebus and the RNC are threatening to exclude CNN and NBC from covering the 2016 GOP debates. The Gopers don't seem to realize that they would only be hurting themselves. The Gopers still insist that the "liberal media" is against them. The fact the media is actually controlled by corporate interests doesn't bother them. Gopers believe what they believe even that the earth is flat and the moon is made of cheese.

GOPer Doubletalk and BS

Mitch Daniels, the GOPer ex-governor of Indiana and current President of Purdue University, is trying to censor Howard Zinn's book A People's History of the United States. Daniels thinks that Zinn's book is

is a truly execrable, anti-factual piece of disinformation that misstates American history on every page. Can someone assure me that it is not in use anywhere in Indiana? If it is, how do we get rid of it before more young people are force-fed a totally false version of our history."

Notice the language that Daniels uses; he wants to "get rid" of a particular book simply because he disagrees with it. This is the tendency of a potential dictator. The right wing war on science has turned into a war on intellectual freedom. The simultaneous attacks on science, trying to surpress the evidence for global warming , for instance, is part of the same tendency. It is right-wingers like Daniels who are trying to shove their propaganda down everybody's throat. When called on it, Daniels is now trying to make himself out to be the victim. Which is another trick that conservatives at all levels like to pull (compare, for instance, the Paul Deen kerfuffle). Another instance that the rightists might talk about "freedom" but are actually trying to impose their ideology on evryone else.

Hilter Would Be Proud

The right wing campaign against food stamps (which are no longer stamps but more like debit cards) is a good example of how right wing opinion makers use lies and distortions to affect policy. The big lie the right is promoting that "lazy, no good" aid recepients are eating on crab meat while the "good white working" (by implication White) people have to get by on hamburger. It's all a pack of lies but it workds for the right wing. The right has a vast apparatus starting with bloogers and talk radio blowhards who can infiltrate the right wing message into the mainstream media. The right used these tactics to destroy welfate and affirmative action. If they do the same to food aid, will be left with people starving to death in the streets. What good would that do?

Adolf Hitler himself pioneered the use of big lies to achieve political ends. In his book Mein Kampf he wrote "in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying."

The US Office of Strategic Services summed up Hitler's use of political lying: "His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it."

The american right has adopted a similar policy of spreading political lies in order to achieve their ends. Does conservatism lead to fascism? That's a question for another time.

The Law is an Asshole

Specifically Florida's "stand your ground law," which allowed George Zimmerman to go free after murdering Trayvon Martin. Basicall, that law allows whites to kill blacks or anyone else they don't like. It's worse than vigilantism, it's a return to legalized lynching. That proves that racism in it's most violent forms is still alive today.

Line Them Up and Shoot!

I recently came across an interesting article on Huffington Post. A series of behavioral studies of upper class individuals revealed some interesting facts about how the rich behave. According to the findings:

Seven studies using experimental and naturalistic methods reveal that upper-class individuals behave more unethically than lower-class individuals. In studies 1 and 2, upper-class individuals were more likely to break the law while driving, relative to lower-class individuals. In follow-up laboratory studies, upper-class individuals were more likely to exhibit unethical decision-making tendencies (study 3), take valued goods from others (study 4), lie in a negotiation (study 5), cheat to increase their chances of winning a prize (study 6), and endorse unethical behavior at work (study 7) than were lower-class individuals. Mediator and moderator data demonstrated that upper-class individuals' unethical tendencies are accounted for, in part, by their more favorable attitudes toward greed.

There you have it. The rich aren't rich because they are smarter, have more talent or work harder than everybody else. They got rich by acting like scumbags. These assholes are complaining about having to pay taxes. They are lucky we don't stand up against the wall and shoot them!

The full title of the article is

Higher social class predicts increased
unethical behavior
Paul K. Piffa,1, Daniel M. Stancatoa, Stéphane Côtéb, Rodolfo Mendoza-Dentona, and Dacher Keltnera
aDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720; and bRotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON,
Canada M5S 3E6
Edited* by Richard E. Nisbett, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, and approved January 26, 2012 (received for review November 8, 2011)

Published in Psychological and Cognitive Sciences.

Beware Doughnut Hamburgers

To keep matters straight, celeb Chef Paula Deen is in trouble not for saying "n--r" 30 years ago, but for saying that an African -American employee was "black as a board." Paul Deen however, is acting like she's the victim. It's an example of how the denial of racism is prevalent among Whites, and not just Southerners. This is taking place while Trayvon Martin was murdered just for being Black. Deen's bahvior may not be on the same level as killing a person, but she still keeps racist attitudes alive, and that doesn't help things.

Stubborn Stupidity Reigns in Texas

The Texas legislature is considering a bill that make abortion impossible to obtain by hitting abortion providers with various bogus restrictions. Anti-abortion fanatics tend to be ignorant, stubborn jerkasses preoccupied with interfering in other people's lives. They tend to be bigots and religious creeps, the kind of vermin who comprise the "Tea Party." The Late Molly Ivins referred to Texas politics as "the laboratory of bad government." Today, Texas politics has bedome more like a toxic wate dump. Texans have often shown a stubborn adherence to bad ideas; slavery, racial segregation, and religious fundamentalism, which is retreating in the rest of the country. The average Texan is a moron who will keep shoveling the same pile of manure because he thinks there' a pony in there.

Of course many other ex-confederate states are also trying to pass abortion restrictions. Is there a connection between the two? It would be interesting to find out.

Another Reason to Hate Ayn Rand

The impact that Ayn Rand and her pseudo-philosophy of "Objectivism" have had on Right-wing thought is probably not as great as Milton Friedman or Fredrick von Hayek but several top GOPers have taken to quoting her notions. Rand, who thought that selfishness was a virtue and that wealthy capitalists were superior beings, was basically a crackpot with a large vocabulary. It now turns out that she was admirer of a notorious murdere named William Edward Hickman. Hickman kidnapped a girl 1927, then killed and dismembered her. When caught he tried to blame someone else. Hickman was convicted and executed. It turns out that Rand admired Hickman for his ruthlessness. Which goes to show how twisted her thinking was.

The PRISM problem

The PRISM program actually started in 2007 under the Bush administration. It enjoyed the support of many Repubs who now claim to be "outraged" by the surveillance. The program has been defended by its proponents as having stopped many terroritst attacks. President Obama says "You cannot have 100% security and 100% privacy and 0% inconvenience" which may be true on the surface. But the program demands that we sacrifice too much privacy for a questionnable policy. Such mass based monitoring did nothing to prevent the terrorist attack committed by the Tsarnaev brothers, for instance. In fact such free lance terrorism might become the principal threat in the future.

In the case of the Tsaranevs, it was already known that they could be terrorists, but there was a lack of thoroughness. There has been an American tendency to rely on technology alone. That has to be reconsidered.

Get Over Yourselves Already!

The right wing follies continue, with right wing groups complaining about how they were "abused" by the IRS. The thing is that all they have "suffered" are delays in applications for tax exempt status. I think these crybabies would also feel "vicitmizec" by long lines at the Post Office. These rightists have actually gotten what they wanted; an underfunded government that doesn't work very well. So shut the hell up already!

When Progress Sucks

Salon.com has an interesting article with Jason Lanier, who points out that the Internet is actually destroying jobs and undermining the middle class. He points out how Instagram, for isnstance, helped drive Kodak into bankruptcy: "So Kodak has 140,000 really good middle-class employees, and Instagram has 13 employees, period. You have this intense concentration of the formal benefits, and that winner-take-all feeling is not just for the people who are on the computers but also from the people who are using them. So there’s this tiny token number of people who will get by from using YouTube or Kickstarter, and everybody else lives on hope. There’s not a middle-class hump. It’s an all-or-nothing society."

Economists speak about "creative destruction," how industrialization for example was ultimately a good thing because it created more jobs even as it drove individual artisans out of business. But the computer revolution, by contrast, is merely destroying jobs without creating anything in its place. That may be the reason why economic conditions continue to get worse in spite of all the new gadgets that keep coming out,

What to do about mass insanity?

The Right-wing have passed from hysteria into psychosis. Recently some a radio host called Pete Santilli said he wanted to shoot Hilary Rodham Clinton in the vagina. Some years ago, if somebody had said something similar about Condoleeza Rice, for example, he would've had Homeland Security up the wazoo. But these right wing morons get awai with it. The American right are a bunch of mentally unbalanced idiots with guns; a dangerous combination anyway you look at it.

This pandering to the insanity of the right wing continues at all levels. Witness the so called scandal about the alleged "targeting" of Tea Party groups by the IRS. What actually happened is that these groups didn't want to comply with IRS regulations because, amongst their other problems, Tea Partiers just don't want to follow the same rules as everybody else. The GOPers are trying to exploit the issue, big surprise, but many Democrats and even the Obama administration are pandering to the Tea Party petulance.

How long are we going to let them get away with it?

Respectable Racism

Jason Richwine was forced to resign from the Heritage Founcation. He is the co-author of a report that purports to show the dire consequnces of Hispanic immigration to the US. Richwines 2009 doctoral dissertation purports that Hispanics have lowere IQ levels than whites. This is similar to the claims that Charles Murray made against African Americans. It should be pointed out that the use of IQ tests has come under serious question in recent years, and should not be seen as difinitive. But there's the larger issue of racism at the higherst levels of academia. Richwine got his PhD at Harvard University which can certainly be considered the highest levels of academis. We usually think of racism as being a problem for the uneducated and uninformed. But the Richwine case seems to indicate that racism extends all the way to Harvard.

Niall Ferguson Admits He's Stupid

Niall Ferguson is a pseudo- historian known for advocating a vicious form of neo-conservatism. Last week at the Altergris conference Ferguson attacked the John Maynard Keynes saying that Keynes didn't care about the future because he was gay and an an 'effete' member of society." The whole thing sounds very stupid of course. It's an example of "right wing logic" which lumps everything they dislike into one category. Ferguson's comments have even drawn fire from certain right wing opinion makers.

Ferguson is now backtracking admitting that his comments were "stupid." His entire world view is stupid. Ferguson is a relic of the 1980's who preaches militarism, imperialism, and recessionist economics.

Soemthing Completely Different

Recently British businessman James McCormick was convicted of fraud. McCormick was director of ATSC (UK), a company which sold the ADE 651 a device which could supposedly detect explosives, drugs, ivory and even human bodies. It turns out that the ADE 651 is a fraud. The device, which has appeared under different labels, was used extensively in Iraq and Afghanisitan as well as countries ranging from Mexico to Thailand. It would make an interesting story; the ADE 651 as an allegory for greed, scientific ignorance, and corruption all leading to the fiasco of the Iraq war.

After the Dust Settles

We still don't everything about last week's bobmbing in Boston or what the motives of the Tsarnaev brothers might have been. In addition to investigating this one incident we should also have an inqury as to whether there was some intelligence failure or what we can do better to prevent another incident like this. We don't need any posturing nonsense from Repub pols like John McCain or Lindsay Graham who want Dzhokar Tsarnaev to be declared an "enemy combatant." Such a move would declare that America is a "war zone," and would do nothing to correct the problem. We should also resist any tendecny to engage in Isalmophobia or Chechenophobia. The situation calls for good old American coolness.

When Right is Wrong

Margaret Thatcher has died. To some she was the "Iron Lady" to the others she was "La Pasionaria of Privilege." I'm not an expert on British politics, but it's fair to say that Thatcher became the role model for Ronald Reagan and most right wing politicians, in the West at any rate. We should remember how she played a role in encouraing Bush II to invade Iraq. Though in her later years she allegedly made statements to the effect that invading Iraq was a mistake. In fairness, people who recognize their mistakes are preferable to those who persist in their stupidity.

How's That Again?

Marty Kaplan is a blogger for the Huffington Post and apparently some kind of "liberal" personality. His latest post strikes a strange note. "Daddy's Been Arrested" about Michael S. Steinberg, a 41-year-old stock trader for New York hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors, who was arrested by the FBI at his $8 million Manhattan co-op. (Think about that number!) This is related to the scandal involving SAC employees indicted in the investigation of its founder, Steven A. Cohen, whose net worth is around $10 billion. Four of them have pleaded guilty. Apparently the FBI is trying to reel in and flip Cohen's conspirators in an alleged insider trading scheme, and Steinberg -- Cohen's golden boy -- is their latest catch. But here's the thing. It's like we're supposed to feel sorry for Steinberg and his ilk.

Since his name surfaced in the investigation, Mr. Steinberg has occasionally spent evenings in New York hotels to avoid being handcuffed at home in front of his two children. Federal agents refused to let Mr. Steinberg surrender of his own volition at F.B.I. headquarters downtown, expressing the view that white-collar defendants should not be given special treatment.

Oh really! Steinberg and his kind have caused so much economic harm to 99% of the planet's population. Not satisfied with the legal pilfering they can do, the now break the law as well. And we're supposed to feel sorry for them? Personally, I don't give a rat's hindquarter's for Steinberg, Cohen, or their defenders.

Repubs Hate America

I think that's what if comes down to: Repubs, for all their flag waving and strident displays of "patriotism" really hate America. The real purpose of their "budget sequster" is to force the economy into recession and punish America for not voting for them. The budget cuts are having an adverse effect on all levels of education, from College Aid to Head Start. But then an uneducated and uninformed populace would be in the interest of the Repubs and the Corporate interests they serve.

Send Them To Waziristan!

This is the tenth anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, and that country was hit with a new wave of bombings that left 60 people dead. Al Qaeda claimed responsibilty, which shows that invading Iraq did nothing to put that group out of commission. In fact, the entire Middle East is actually less stable. The sacrifices we made-- 5000 dead, and 32,000 wounded, as well as nearly 1 trillion dollars were for nothing. Well, the was did "accomplish" one thing; it got GWB his second term. But only an idiot would argue that invading Iraq made the Middle East either more peaceful or democratic.

The appalling thing is that there are still those who defend the invasion in Iraq. Listening to their arguments is a sickening exercise in "counter factual" thinking. But even worse is how many of these people are still taking seriously as "pundits," how they continue to push for war against Iran, for instance. All these neo-conservatives should be rounded up and flown to Waziristan. See how their bombastic mania goes over there.

Boy Blunder At It Again

Paul Ryan, who never lets facts or figures stand in his way, has unveiled the new GOP budget proposal to drastically slash Federal spending, repeal the President's healthcare reform, and replace Medicare with vouchers. Ryan calls it "The Path to Prosperity," a verbal distortion as grotesque as anything in George Orwell's "Newspeak."
Ryan and the rest of the Repubs are economic destrutionists, who are trying to destroy the national economy for the sake of their twisted ideology.

The Decline and Fall of Bob Woodward

Those of us who remember the seventies came to see Bob Woodward as a hero. The way he together with Carl Bernstein exposed the Watergate scandal has become the epic standard of investigative journalism. To confront any Presidency is daunting to confront the corrupt and abusive Nixon White House can be considered heroic. However, recently Woodward has gotten into a spat with White House Economic Director Gene Sperling over an email exchange in which Sperling wrote "I think you will regret staking out that claim." Woodward is now claiming on tv appearances that the Obama White House is threatening him. He's even gone on Fox tv, whcih is usually a sign of moral degradation. Anyway, reading Sperling's full email shows that there was no threat implied. What's happened is that Woodward has gone from being an insurgent to an insider, because forty years is a long time.

"The Makers" on PBS

Last night PBS showed one of its best programs of all time; "Makers: Women Who Make America." It shows the history of the women's movement from World War II to the seventies. One important aspect of the show is that it sets the record straight on the Feminist movement. In spite of all the distortions that have been circulated, Feminism wasn't about "women versus men" but the progress of human equality. It is important to remember why Feminism was necessary in light of the current attack on reproductive rights and the right=wing attempt to turn back the clock on gender equality.

Let's Get One Thing Clear

The continuing battle over the Federak budget is enough to confuse anybody. It doesn't help that all the partisan rhetoric that's being vented it's hard to keep things straight. That pressure from GOP Congressmen led to the increase in the payroll tax which will fall most heavily on wroking people. The GOP pretend to be against tax increasses but in fact they only object when taxes are aimed at the rich. The GOP have no problems with tax increases on ordinary people. Their strident "anti tax" rhetoric merely covers their real agenda.

Repubs Against Democracy

Among the issues that President Obama addressed in the State of the Union last night was long waiting lines to vote. The problem is that Repub politicians at the State level have been busy making it hard for people to vote. They target minorities, the elderly, and young people but in general the more people exercise their right to vote the worse the repubs do. While names and labels can be misleading in politics we have come to be presented with a clear choice. The Democratic Party, which however inoconsistenltly favors democracy versus a "republic" of property owners. Which one will we choose?

The Downton Downer

I don't understand the popularity of "Downton Abbey." The show is not only a soap opera but a very boring one as well. Just look at how recently it has become a collection of soapy plot devices. Bates is convicted for a crime he did not commit. Edith gets jilted at the altar. Even Sybil's death was handled in a way that seems to suggest that the creators of this show have run out of ideas.

I suspect the reason why many Americans watch dippy British shows like "Downton" is because they still have some kind of inferiority complex. It's like these people still assume that anything British must be superior or something. I don't happen to agree.

Ding Dong Etc.

It turns out that Fox tv has fired Sarah Palin. Even they got tired of her nonsense. Palin's political star only lasted four years. Some people think Palin still has a political career, maybe even a shot at the Presidency in 2016, but it's hard to see how. Palin has pissed off most of the GOP establishment as well as most right-wing opinion makers. Now she doesn't even have a forum on Fox. Never fear, Fox news has a conisderable number of opinion makers waiting in the wings.

Up The Wrong Tree Again

The conflict in Northern Mali rages on. Islamist extremists linked to Al Qaeda have taken over the north of the country and threaten to take over the rest. This would turn Mali into a new terrorist hot spot. This only occurred because of the collapse in Libya last year, which provided an opportunity for Al Qaeda to expand. This should be the last we shoulc hear of any good coming out of the "Arab spring." From now on it can only get worse.

Shut the $#* Up Already!

The newest stupidity from the Neo-Conservatives, the same people who brought us the disaster in Iraq and all it's consequences, including the economic mess we're in. It's funny how the Neo-cons for all their intellectual pretensions,never seem to get the point. Their recent campaign against the nomination of ex-Senator Chuck Hagel is a case in point. The Neo-Cons accuse Hagel of being an "Anti-Semite" because he had made statements supposedly "insensitive" toward Israel. Yeah right.

On the one hand, this just might be partisan spite, like the shooting down of Susan Rice. On the other, the Neo-Cons can't let go of their obsession with Iran. If they can't push the Obama administration into a war with Iran, they can create a climate in which the next Repub president can find an excuse to go with Iran. Attacking Iran, will do nothing to stabilize the Middle East. It will only make matters worse, bogging us down in another quagmire. Neo-cons are a good example of idiots who have convinced themselves of their cleverness.

On and On It Goes

The recent kerfuffle over the "fiscal cliff" was avoided but not solved. Too odd things have happened. The Congress forgot to include aid for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Which caused Repub pols like Chris Christie and Peter King to lash out at their own party. Like most Repubs Christie and King are against government spending when it's being spent "other people." Now another battle is brewing over the Federal Spending Limit.

The news out of Washington is starting to soulnd like that boring and pretentious show "Downton Abbey." The difference of course is that you can't tune out the follies in Washington.