Medley: Federal Politics Archives

Archives for Category "Federal Politics"

November 30, 2008

Tab Dump

Well, I didn't manage to finish off NaBloPoMo very well. Oh well. Here's a few things clogging up my browser tabs at the moment:

Ten Myths Conservatives Believe about Progressives. And how to rebut them at the dinner table.
Climate change impacts are happening faster than the models predict. We are in deep doo-doo.

Tim O'Reilly writes about why he loves Twitter.

I don't know who first used the term "ambient intimacy" but it's a great description of what begins to happen on Twitter. I know not just what people are thinking about or reading, but enough about what they are doing that our relationship deepens, just like real-world friendships. People who follow me on Twitter learn that I'm making jam or pies, or gardening or riding my bike or feeding the horses, things that I'd never (or rarely, since I'm doing it here) share on my blog. I know a lot more about many of my professional contacts that makes them more into friends. And in the case of my family, who keep their updates private and visible only to a limited group of real friends, we can keep in touch in small ways that mean a lot. I get special moments of my wife or daughters' day that we might not have shared otherwise. It's truly lovely.

And a quick update on TheLittleGuy. He had a good Thanksgiving. Some of his Maine family visited him. And Uncle Genehack gave him his first lesson in beer. And TLG handled all the commotion very well. He's been cranky this weekend - we keep thinking it's his next (third) tooth coming in, but it hasn't shown up yet. Tomorrow he starts going to 'school' (a daycare that transitions to pre-school over time). I have the usual and expected terribly mixed feelings about that.

Now - three and half weeks until Christmas and I've done almost no shopping or prep at all. We are definitely having a tree for the boy's first Christmas, though. So, you know, send him presents. ;-)

<=> | in: Democrats / Federal Politics / General Musings / Journaling / Parenting

November 17, 2008

Opportunity Cost

As George W. Bush's administration continues its quest to prove that Republican and rightwing governing philosophies can indeed bankrupt the richest nation on earth (yes they can!) Atrios and TPM point out one of the many opportunity costs and suggests we take healthcare costs off the books of these companies we're bailing out:

if we're throwing around billions and trillions of dollars we might as well get something good. Instead of writing a big check to the auto companies or loaning them money we could, you know, enroll all their employees in the new national health insurance system.

And before some wingnut starts screeching about "socialism" (without any understanding of the term), tell that to the trillion taxpayer dollars your hero George Bush just gave to his cronies on Wall Street, mm'kay?

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Economics / Federal Politics

November 15, 2008

Cabinet Rumors

There are rumors swirling around the Beltway that Obama is considering Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State. I live a mile outside the Beltway, so the only reason I know this is because of what I read on the Intarwebbies. That is to say: I'm in no way privvy to Beltway rumors. Alas.

Anyway, just as I thought she would not run for President (and was wrong), I'll be very surprised if she's seriously considering this. It just goes to show why no one hires me for my political strategy acumen. I haven't gone digging around very much, but the best discussion I've found so far is the comment thread at FiveThirtyEight.com. Some seriously Machiavellian stuff people come up with. I'm impressed. My favorite that would not have occurred to me:

1) Biden chose to accept the VP nod for ONE TERM ONLY. He will NOT run again in 2012.

2) Clinton agreed to back off her delegate fight on condition that Obama PROMISED TO REPLACE BIDEN in 2012 with HER.

3) She wins the VP slot in 2012 - and steps into the Presidency in 2016.

It's not my favorite because I want it to happen, it just amuses me how obsessive people can get about Hillary Clinton.

Booga booga!

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Federal Politics / Foreign Policy

November 6, 2008

Change and the President-Elect

I am seriously impressed with Change.gov. But then again, I remember back in the day when seeing a URL out in the wild was noteworthy and exciting. Now the President-elect is using the web publicly as a tool for his transition. Oh, it makes my geeky little heart proud.

I liked 12 Frogs' commentary on change:

Listening to Obama’s speech last night was inspiring. Yes, it made me cry. I was still thinking about his speech this morning when I realized: I’m the first person in my family to go to college. I’m a happily and legally married lesbian. Yesterday I voted for Barack Obama, and he’s going to be the first black man to be President of the United States. And I’m not even forty yet. Change happens.

Yes we can.

Some pretty cool pictures of Obama over at The Big Picture (an excellent photo blog thingie not always about politics). My favorite is #20 with #s 11 and 27 close seconds.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Federal Politics / Photography

November 5, 2008

Still Stunned

I am still stunned that after nearly electing George W. Bush twice, this country has elected Barack Obama. Happy about it, but stunned. There is loads of commentary around the web - much more eloquent than anything I could come up with at the moment. (One selfish thought I had was that at least we don't have to move - another 4 years of a crazy Republicans in the executive branch and I don't think I could have stayed in town.)

Steve Benen asks the question I always wonder about - what would it take to get those who like to proclaim that the U.S. is a 'center-right' country to think otherwise. What kind of evidence would be sufficient? How would we know if the country shifted away from being 'center-right' (whatever-the-f-that-means, anyway)?

Would a Democratic Congress do it?

How about a Democratic President with a Democratic Congress?

How about a Democratic President, Democratic Congress, and a Democratic majority among the nation's governors?

How about a Democratic president, Senate, House, governors, and polling data showing Americans support universal healthcare, are pro-choice, oppose the war in Iraq, and support the Democratic agenda on everything from the environment to the minimum wage to international diplomacy?

And John Scalzi provides a useful reality check, lest anyone expect truly great progress under Obama.

Your next president is going to disappoint you. Barack Obama does not fart cinnamon-scented rainbows. He is not trailed by angels and unicorns. Reality does not reshape itself to his wishes. Dude’s a human being, and a politician, and he’s going to have to work with other human beings who are also politicians. Per point 2, some things you want him to do he won’t be able to do, and some of the things you want him to do he won’t want to do, so they won’t get done. He will make mistakes. He will make errors. He will be caught flat-footed from time to time. He will be challenged by antagonists, foreign and domestic, who will have an interest in seeing him faceplant. He will piss most people off. His approval rating will drop below 50%. He is going to disappoint you. Get used to the idea.

Simply halting the various insanities of Bush-Cheney will be very welcome. After that, I'd put energy, infrastructure, and fixing our horrible health care system as areas where I'd like to see some real effort. Obama was a Constitutional law professor, and notwithstanding his FISA stance, I have some hope that he knows and understands the value and importance of civil liberties and human rights.

Here's the text of Obama's acceptance speech. I thought it was very good.

This victory alone is not the change we seek - it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other. Let us remember that if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers - in this country, we rise or fall as one nation; as one people.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Democrats / Federal Politics

November 4, 2008

Fired Up! Ready to Go!

Barack Obama was in Manassas, Virginia last night. (Making Light notes the historical symmetry of that.) We didn't go, but there are reports that about 90,000 people showed up. Here's a clip of the end of his speech there:

Speaking of Making Light - Bruce Schneier will be holding court there tonight to discuss the election returns as they come in. Rafe over at rc3.org might do a live blog, too - I'll be at both places (altho probably not participating much at ML) and on twitter (and my twitter feed is pumped to Facebook) and I'll be on IM pretty much all day (except when I'm at the polls - although I might have access to Googletalk from there). Let's chat!

<=> | Comments: 1 | in: Democrats / Federal Politics / Weblogs & Citizen Writing

November 2, 2008

Two Endorsements of Obama

John Scalzi explicitly endorses Obama. A snippet:

Bush is the standard bearer for the GOP because the GOP wanted him. He was (in what will likely soon be more than one sense of term) the ultimate president for the modern GOP: a genial figurehead for the general population to have its figurative beer with while the “smart guys,” rather less attractive (no one wants to have a beer with Karl Rove), do their thing in the background. Bush was what the GOP wanted him to be and did everything they wanted him to do. Its problem is not that Bush wrecked the GOP brand, but that through him the modern GOP became what it was always going to be, in the end.

[...] It’s appalling that the GOP base holds up Palin as the sort of person it wants as president of the country, and it points to the sort of intellectual and moral vacuousness that party has that the rest of us simply can’t afford anymore. McCain’s decision to pick her as his running mate is something politics wonks will discuss for decades, one of those credibility-destroying moments that in retrospect simply defies belief.

Tim O'Reilly's endorsement is also noteworthy and goes into more depth on several issues (connected transparent government, the financial crisis, climate change, and net neutrality). A snippet:

[W]e need a president who can harness the best and brightest our country has to offer, a president who is conversant with, and comfortable with, the power of technology to assist in solving these problems, a president who is good at listening, studying, and devising solutions based on the best insight available, rather than on narrow ideology. We need a president who can forge consensus, not just among the partisans in our own fractured democracy but around the world. We need a president who can inspire our citizens and our global partners to forgo narrow self interest and embrace the possibilities that we can achieve if we work together to build a better future.

[...] Perhaps the most alarming aspect of what has happened in those years is the way that fear has been used to claim extraordinary power for the Presidency. Those of you who know my background know that my degree is in Greek and Latin Classics. So it's perhaps forgivable that historical parallels with ancient Rome are quick to come to my mind. The claims of the Bush administration to be above the law, its claims that the threat of terrorism demand the suspension of civil liberties, are eerily reminiscent of the events that led to the end of the Roman Republic. Faced with an invasion by pirates (the terrorists of 68 BC), Pompey the Great was given extraordinary powers. Within a decade, Rome was a dictatorship, led by the one Senator who had supported Pompey's exaggerated claims, Julius Caesar.

Of course, we are a long way from that point, but the drift of our country towards authoritarianism is alarming. John McCain has been trying to paint Obama as the candidate of big government. Yet it is the Right, not the Left, that is bringing us the biggest, most powerful, most centralized, and most intrusive government that America has ever seen.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Federal Politics

November 1, 2008

Pre-Election Quick Post

Somehow in and amongst all of the infant care and sleep-deprivation, I never managed to blog the things I wanted to during my leave. So it goes. But I did want to jot down a few quick notes before the election next week, just to get them out of my head. In no particular order:

There was never any chance that Hillary Clinton was going to try to screw up the Democratic convention. Similarly, the people who thought that McCain's pick of Palin would appeal to disaffected Hillary supporters demonstrated how little they think of women. I wasn't a Clinton supporter, but after observing the way she and her candidacy were treated, I have much less confidence in the Democratic party when it comes to women's issues. Of course, watching Democrats compare Howard Dean to Osama bin Laden during the last cycle was a good way to have a lot less patience for the whining this cycle about Clinton's hardball tactics.
Barack Obama is a superior candidate and will make a decent President, but he's not demonstrated to me that he's any kind of great progressive. I expect to be disappointed a great deal during the next 4 years if he wins. That's far better than the alternative, however.
It really puzzles me when people refer to the last few election cycles and claim that the Republican party is a party of ideas. Umm, no. They are the party of anti-ideas, if anything - all about tearing down and destroying ideas and institutions that others have worked on. Really, the notion that ranting about taxes and Social Security, working to suppress the vote, and shouting "small government" all the while dog whispering to closet racists and religious wackos is about ideas completely devalues the term. Of course, Republicans are also good at screwing with language, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Four years ago when Obama gave his speech at the DNC, and people started salivating about the possibility of him running for President. I just shook my head. I told TheGuy: If this country elects Barack Obama after nearly electing George W. Bush twice, than we are truly a schizophrenic nation. I still think that.
Speaking of the stolen elections in 2000 and 2004, it's going to be weird to hear the phrases "the President" and "Mr. President" and not feel queasy - again, assuming Obama wins by a large enough margin that it can't be stolen. I tried not to write those phrases very often when referring to the Occupant, and for several years I think I managed to not ever refer to Dubya as the President.
Recovering from the Bush Administration's malfeasance - a disastrous eight years by virtually any metric - is going to take a long time. My kid, and his kids (if he has any), will still be paying for what Dubya and Cheney and all those who enabled them have done. I've already apologized to TLG several times for this - even though I never voted for them. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who votes for McCain-Palin is now doing harm to my child and his future. I was ticked off at those who enable the rightwing wackos before, but when it comes to TLG, MamaBear's claws really come out. Grrrrrr.
Obama would not be able to accomplish what he's done without Howard Dean's 2004 campaign and subsequent work at the DNC. I don't think Dean is given nearly enough credit, generally (although given that Obama is keeping Dean on at the DNC, at least for now, there's some hint that he's aware even if others aren't). There was an article I read recently about the Obama campaign in which the only reference to Dean was to say that they used Meet-Up. Bzzt. Fail. There was a lot more innovation to the Dean campaign than Meet-Up, and Obama (good for him) is capitalizing on it. Digby's got a short piece about this, but there's a lot more to be said. Not that Dean's the type to go out and demand credit. Paul Begala and the rest of those annoying Democrats who sneered at the 50-state strategy can kiss mah grits!
Virginia's going blue baby. If Virginia goes for Obama, TheGuy and I will take our share of the credit thankyewverymuch. We are after all part of the population boom that's moved here to "communist" northern Virginia in the last decade. The only place I've seen McCain lawn signs around here was in a pretty hoity-toity part of Alexandria. Elitist swine. (Haha.)
David Sedaris on undecided voters:
To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

I mean, really, what’s to be confused about?
Oh.. there was more.. but this is enough for now, I guess...

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Democrats / Federal Politics

October 18, 2008

Tabbity-Tab-Tab.

And still mooore tabs - this is an endless battle.

Chris Clarke is blogging again. In this entry he writes about Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, Obama, sexism, racism, the environment and such-like.
But the primary tenet of feminism is that women are ethically, intellectually, and politically the equals of men. To refrain from criticizing Palin’s ecocidal policies (among so many other things) based on her gender is an insult to the more than one hundred million women in the US who manage not to be power-mad Christofascist thugs. And failing to call her out on it just because she’s accepted the label “feminist” as part of the dissembling context of the most ridiculous Presidential campaign in recent US history not involving Lyndon LaRouche is, to my mind, to debase the work of millions of other feminists.
Comparing depths of oppression is always a bad idea, but people do it. Echidne responds to the notion that racism is worse than sexism because women can get cabs more easily. Sure, but women can't freakin' go outside as freely as men.
In most societies women who go out alone at night are at greater risk than men who go out alone, because women have to deal not only with the risk of getting mugged but also with the risk of getting raped. They are seen as prey. So women adjust to this, accommodate themselves to this, stay at home and agree to live lesser lives because of their sex.

I have never met a woman who isn't aware of this difference, who isn't used to carefully mapping out routes to new places, who isn't cautious about going anywhere at night on her own. But despite this and all those take-back-the-night marches the idea that women should somehow have the right to go out alone and not be at any greater risk than anyone else is -- what? A stupid idea? Impossibly idealistic?

Whatever it is it is also a human rights issue.
John McCain is an adulterer. Somehow, the press doesn't care though. IOKIYAR. (It's ok if you're a Republican.)
Read your email (in gmail) without touching your mouse. I must confess I don't take advantage of keyboard shortcuts nearly as well as I should. It is a failing in my geekiness.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Civil Rights & Feminism / Energy & Environment / Federal Politics / Media Dysfunction / Personal Organization / Republicans / Technology

October 14, 2008

Tabs Tabs Tabs

Sports make for happy families? Sure (but so do other things) - but with everything so organized and scheduled, there's no opportunity for pick-up games. Nevertheless, as soon as TheLittleGuy is wobbling around on two legs, we're going to be schlepping him to the fields at the rec center and saying "run around, run around!" I have a whole entry (in my head) about my concerns about the nature deficit for children.. one of these days.
How to Fight a Rumor - Hint: don't just ignore it.
Michael Berube is blogging again, and has a snarky open letter to "conservatives." Read the whole thing. A snippet:
Folks, I don’t think you understand how we truly feel about you. We mock you and tease you, I know, and you hate us for it. But we don’t hate you back. Really, we don’t. We’re secular pluralists, after all, and we know we have to find ways of sharing this planet with people who can’t stand secular pluralists. We really just want you to leave us alone. Still, we have our limits. The way you’ve behaved over the past decade or two leads us to believe that you’ll do whatever it takes to make the next decade or two a living hell for everyone who’s sincerely trying to clean up all the messes you’ve made. And we just can’t be bothered with that nonsense right now. This is too important.
Digby on the possibility of some progressive shock doctrine. If only Obama and other Democratic leaders would seriously consider these kinds of ideas.
Digby and Avedon on how Republicans really don't respect you at all - they talk a good game, but when it comes right down to it, they hold the vast bulk of the citizenry in contempt.
They don't respect you and they don't want to have to pretend they do. They want you to show them deference and they know you won't do that if you feel like a free person in a free society who doesn't have to take crap from some petty tyrant who thinks you should feel honored to kiss his ring. Republicans are pissed off because it's so hard to get good help these days - help that knows they are just the help, that knows their place, that uses the servants' entrance and calls them "sir" and doesn't question them. A strong middle-class - that is, a secure workforce - gets bolshy and tells abusive employers to bugger off, and the ruling class doesn't like that.
A bit more from Merlin Mann on redoing 43 Folders with a re-oriented focus:
This is now a site for people who want to finish things that they care about — but who still occasionally need help, inspiration, and the courage to push all the bullshit off their work table. This is about clearing that space every day, and then using it to do cool stuff that makes you proud.
Really, really Not Safe For Work (lots of nasty language - you've been warned). Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart send a letter to John McCain about his campaign's use of one of their songs. Ouch.
For anyone who hasn't seen it yet - Keating Economics. The Obama campaign explains John McCain's unethical behavior from the 80s, for those who've forgotten or were too young to notice.
A Suzanne Vega song was the basis for improving the mp3 compression scheme. She listened and thought a little bit of the warmth was lost.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Civil Rights & Feminism / Democrats / Economics / Entertainment / Federal Politics / Health & Food / Music / Parenting / Personal Organization / Religion & Politics / Republicans / Technology

October 13, 2008

More Tabs

Many have already written about the horrible racist hatemongering and incitement to riots that McCain and especially Palin have been up to in recent days. They have been more blatant and more extreme than even Dubya was, with his dogwhistle appeals to people who, for whatever reason, are a-feared of the brown people. There is a virulent strain of racism and bigotry in America though, and it is appalling that McCain and Palin see fit to stir it up. Digby notes:
Validating a bogus accusation that your political rival is a terrorist in our current environment is the most irresponsible thing I've seen a campaign do in many a year. They know they are very likely going to lose this election. And McCain certainly knows that the main reason he is losing is because of the dramatic failures of fellow failed Republican George W. Bush. But even knowing that his candidacy was always very likely doomed is not stopping him from releasing this poison into the bloodstream of the body politic, a poison which will be with us for a long time to come.
Paul Krugman (who just won the Nobel Prize for economics) discusses the insane rage at McCain/Palin rallies, reminds us of all the crazy BS spewed about the Clintons and observes:
What it came down to was that a significant fraction of the American population, backed by a lot of money and political influence, simply does not consider government by liberals (even very moderate liberals) legitimate. Ronald Reagan was supposed to have settled that once and for all.

What happens when Obama is elected? It will be even worse than it was in the Clinton years. For sure there will be crazy accusations, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some violence.

The next few years are going to be very, very tough.
If I were a proper blogger, I could probably make good use of Sweetcron - The Automated Lifestream Blog Software. Maybe one of these days.
Scalzi is apparently sometimes criticized for writing about politics on his own website. Some people threaten not to buy his fiction books because of things he's written on his site. He has a response to such nonsense:
Why yes, fiction writers should write about politics, if they choose to. And so should doctors and plumbers and garbage collectors and lawyers and teachers and chefs and scientists and truck drivers and stay-at-home parents and the unemployed. In fact, every single adult who has reason enough to sit down and express an opinion through words should feel free to do just that. Having a citizenry that is engaged in the actual working of democracy matters to the democracy, and writing about politics is a fine way to provide evidence that one is actually thinking about these things.

[...]The idea that practicing any profession somehow obliges or even encourages a vow of silence on any subject, politics or otherwise, that might offend someone somewhere, is odious. Everyone should be encouraged to say what they wish to say about the important matters of the day. Everyone should feel that participation in the life of their community and their state and nation is a critical act. To do less invites ignorance and ultimately tyranny.
The last three sentences are sort of an old school blogger's manifesto, I think.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Economics / Federal Politics / Personal Organization

October 8, 2008

Another Tab Dump

rc3.org

I've said it a hundred times - you should just read Digby every single day. Digby is by far the best political analyst around. A few days ago she discussed George W. Palin:
She isn't a politician at all. She's a caricature of a politician, as he is. They are both figureheads who represent something important to voters who believe that the biggest problem in the world is that pointy headed elites are incompetent because they lack comm on sense. And the funny thing is that it's the product of one of the harshest conservative criticisms of liberalism over the years ---- the self-esteem movement. Both George W. Bush and Sarah Palin are self-esteem symbols, put forth to prove to people who have been convinced that liberal elites are ruining everything, that the world would be better led by someone just like them. It's the ultimate social promotion.
Also on the topic of Palin, Echidne and Katxena discuss the complexities of dealing with people's reactions to her. As with Hillary, there's just so much sexist junk to wade through even though there are plenty of contrasts to Hillary from a policy perspective. Katxena:
I keep hearing comments about how great it is that she doesn't dress like most female politicians, eschewing pantsuits and solid reds and pinks -- to which I respond that it would be really great if we would stop talking the clothes of female politicians. I also hear comments that it's disrespectful of her to refer to her opponents as Joe and Barak, when they go out of their way to refer to her as governor -- to which I respond that she's got to demonstrate that she's at their level, that she's part of their club.
Echidne:
Yet she IS the first Republican female vice-presidential candidate and this allows her to be viewed by the sexists among us as the best women can offer (or at least the best Republican women can offer). It allows the sexists among us to make fun of all women in the disguise of making fun of only Sarah Palin. And trying to differentiate between these two intentions is almost impossible.

Note that my post is not intended to denigrate Sarah Palin's qualifications. A country which has had eight years of George Bush and his qualifications and found them just fine shouldn't suddenly get all red-faced and furious about her qualifications or the lack of them. But Palin is not the kind of an individual who is picked to be the First in a new and important arena, certainly not if the intention is to have her break the path for other women to follow (always assuming that she'd let them). Yet there she is.
That One '08 - While I didn't see the snubbed handshake in the second debate the way most seem to have (I thought McCain was putting on a show of introducing Obama to his wife), I did find his reference to Obama as "that one" in the debate to be rather jarring. Plenty of people are apparently finding it racist as well.
Flu Season approaches - Making Light reminds everyone to get your flu shots. I think I may try to get mine this weekend, actually - if we can squeeze it in. And here and here is some helpful info on making flu pre-packs for yourself and everyone in your household. We've fallen off a bit in keeping our emergency stores up-to-date, but a flu pre-pack seems manageable.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Civil Rights & Feminism / Democrats / Federal Politics / General Musings / Health & Food / Religion & Politics / Republicans

September 25, 2008

More Tab Dumpage

Merlin Mann, who helped make blogging about GTD and related productivity stuff a little cottage industry has become a bit disillusioned with it all and is rethinking what he's doing with his site. Kottke has the rundown. Mann's essay "Better" is thought-provoking. It's the productivity guru's version of the advice to not be lukewarm and to remove stuff from your life that is not really useful to you. In my own sphere (my GTD system, btw, has gone all to hell during the pregnancy and post-partum babycare), I've been thinking lately that while I can be pretty ruthless about getting rid of stuff sometimes, I have a harder time letting go of sources of ideas. For example, I keep piles of unread magazines around, I subscribe to way too many weblog feeds, I have a whole bookcase full of unread books, and so on. I think I need to become better about culling sources of input that just chew up my time and offer very little return, all the while provoking guilt and anxiety while sitting there being 'unread'.
How SEC Regulatory Exemptions Helped Lead to the Collapse, or, as Atrios likes to call it, the "big shitpile" that we the taxpayers are going to have eat thanks to gross mismanagement and an irrational anti-regulatory fetish on the part of too many. The Republicans have finally found something government is good for - transferring wealth from you and me and other poor and middle class folks to the very wealthy. As a reader over at TPM pointed out:
Is it just me? With this last enormous bail out of our Wall Street Investors/Corporate America, I have this picture in my mind of these cartoon Republicans sweeping out the last of the people's money from the vaults. It took eight years, but they managed to get it all. The War/Private Contractors, the Oil Companys, the deregulation and fleecing of America. These Republicans started their tour of duty eight years ago with the coffers overflowing, flush with cash.
Too bad we wasted all those billions upon billions in Iraq, huh?
Eve Ensler on the nightmare that is Sarah Palin:
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered.

[...]Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an e nvironment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States. She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.

[...]This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S., but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Civil Rights & Feminism / Energy & Environment / Federal Politics / Parenting / Personal Organization / Religion & Politics / Republicans

September 24, 2008

More Tabs and Stuff

TheLittleGuy's Amazon wishlist

6 Food Mistakes Parents Make. So far, TLG shows no sign of having food issues. That is to say, he's doubled his birth weight at just three months and shows only the slightest signs of slowing down. He doesn't seem to care whether I eat broccoli or garlic or curry or whatever. And he will drink breastmilk warm or cool. He is a man on a mission! His father and I are both omnivores and not particularly picky, although for years as an adolescent I refused to put tomato sauce on my spaghetti (I'm over that now.) Nevertheless, I fear having a picky eater, not least because I will seriously lack patience for dealing with it. On the other hand, he's packing on enough reserves from breastmilk now that he'll probably be able to afford to turn up his nose at a few meals down the road. Ha!
Another parenting tip - Wil Wheaton writes about playing games with kids - Rules 17a and 17b seem like they'll be useful:
Rule 17a is a house rule we invoke when we're learning a new game. It basically states that, at any time, a player can say, "You know, I just realized that I did this stupid thing that I wouldn't have done if I had a little more experience in the game. I'd like a do-over." If the majority of the players agree (and we always do) then we just back up a little bit, and play on. It reduces the risk of doing something bone-headed that you can't ever recover from, and it keeps the game fun.

[...] Rule 17b: Depending on your kid, the game, and some X factor that I leave to you as a parent, you could give your child up to three "roll again" markers, like poker chips or glass beads or whatever, that she can use at any time to re-roll a particularly bad dice roll. They can use it whenever they want to, but once the marker it used, it's gone for the rest of the game, so your child will have to choose very carefully about when she's going to use it. This would be especially great with a couple of smaller kids, because the parent isn't put in the position of awarding do overs and giving the appearance of favoritism [...]
I thought the point made in this article - that Sarah Palin is Future Shock personified - is spot on. The entire m.o. of the Republican party in my lifetime is to appeal to people's worst natures, fomenting fear of the other, fear of change, fear of the future, and rewarding reactionary wingnuts in thrall to a cynical theocratic and authoritarian impulse. Surely, surely Palin can be the nadir of this wave of this brand of politics and after this nutty election is over we can start to move on from it. Anyway, the pullquotes:
What I do remember sticking with me was the notion of accelerating change, an idea which did then and still does make the hairs at the back of my neck tingle. I also quite clearly remember Toffler’s most succinct definition of the syndrome which gave the book its name, a definition which didn’t even necessarily refer to anything technological: to suffer from future shock was simply to be paralyzed by “too much change experienced in too short a period of time.”

For a long, long time thereafter, I’d sit in idle moments and wonder just when future shock was going to happen. In my childish conception, it was something that would happen all at once, be precipitated by some obvious event - the proverbial straw - and stand out just as vividly and obviously as an outbreak of the flu when it did roll across the land. It took me years to understand the words as pointing toward something more poetic and metaphoric than clinically diagnostic. It’s a thought I’ve had occasion to dig up and reconsider this last week. Because this is what I’ve come to understand: Here we are. This is it.

[...] The gloss of down-home authenticity - the mooseburgers, “snow machines,” and other rustic tat that figure so centrally in her instant legend. The young-Earther retreat from science and all its methods. The palpable resentment of coastal elites (even as this time around it doesn’t seem that term is shorthand, as it so often is, for “Jews”). The instinctual, immediate recourse, upon achieving even the most local and limited sort of power, to the heavy-handed suppression of free inquiry. The things that endear this onetime nowhere-burg mayor to Americans are, as clearly as can possibly be, indicators that a whole lot of people think tomorrow came too soon.

What you get when you swallow too much change too quickly isn’t a mass outbreak of twitching, hebephrenic breakdown, nor some neo-Amish wave of technological renunciation. You wanna know what it looks like? A hockey mom and former beauty queen with an upswept ‘do and a pregnant daughter in high school. Sarah Palin is future shock personified.
Catherine Jamieson has opened the Utata Gallery and Art Center. This looks amazing. I wish I lived closer (it's in Vancouver.) I also wish I had time to do some proper photography. Alas.
Bit overtaken by events, but I appreciated Obama's response to the Republican faux outrage about his 'lipstick on a pig' remark:
This whole thing about lipstick. Nobody actually believes that these folks are offended. Everybody knows it’s cynical. Everybody knows it’s insincere.
I would like to see more of him calling out the usual Republican phony bs for what it is.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Federal Politics / Parenting / Photography / Religion & Politics / Republicans

September 23, 2008

Reducing Open Tabs in FF

Fire Jim Bowden laments what a poor job ownership of the Washington Nationals is doing. It has been pretty much a disaster of a season. I don't expect playoff contention, but the team has mostly been a farce this year. Terribly disappointing, as I was hoping to use baseball as my fun distraction during TLG's first few weeks and months. A team this bad is not really fun.
Awhile back I linked to a youtube of John Legend singing "Pride - In the Name of Love" and wished I could get the audio somewhere. It's finally been released on a cd. A Barack Obama fundraiser cd no less!
In Lipstick on a Wingnut, Katha Pollitt explains some of the many, many things that should frighten any thinking person about Sarah Palin being able to even glimpse the White House from her house.
It takes chutzpah for a mother to thrust her pregnant teen into the world's harshest spotlight and then demand the world respect the girl's privacy. But then it takes chutzpah to support criminalizing abortion and then praise Bristol's "decision" to have the baby. The right to decide, and privacy, after all, are two of the things Palin wants to deny every other woman, and every other family, in America.
And her hypocrisy on women's fundamental rights as human beings is only the beginning.
Balloon Juice with a fine rant on this bailout craziness:
In other words, folks spent years making billions upon billions of dollars on risky transactions, more money on the stock of companies that was artificially high based on those transactions, more money bundling all those transactions into more transactions, and made a killing, and when it turns out the whole thing is a big pile of shit, you and I get the god damned bill.

I do not ever want to hear another damned word about the free market. I don’t want to hear another thing about letting the market regulate itself. I don’t want to hear about the free flow of capital. I don’t want to hear about government getting out of our lives.

None of it. From superfunds to super-bailouts, I am tired of other people getting rich being irresponsible and then being told I have to pay to clean it up.

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Economics / Federal Politics / Music

August 21, 2008

Don't Make Me Laugh, Lexington

The Economist

Anyway

Obama Fatigue

Mr Obama needs to reframe the election so that it is less about him and more about the issues. And he needs to abandon the rhetorical high ground for the nitty-gritty of policy.

failing

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August 7, 2008

Laptop Border Searches and Language Appropriation

this Post article

With about 400 million travelers entering the country each year, "as a practical matter, travelers only go to secondary [for a more thorough examination] when there is some level of suspicion," Chertoff wrote. "Yet legislation locking in a particular standard for searches would have a dangerous, chilling effect as officers' often split-second assessments are second-guessed."

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Civil Rights & Feminism / Federal Politics

June 17, 2008

Quick Update

never

not

<=> | Comments: 0 | in: Democrats / Federal Politics / Journaling / Parenting