It appears now clear that the shooter in today's spree at a Safeway in Tucson is a loon of the second amendment remedies kind. His My Space and You Tube pages seem to bear that out.
Whether the primary motivation for today's shooting spree is political or not (and the circumstantial evidence suggests that it is), this episode once again calls for a stop to the violent rhetoric employed by the right-wing, no longer just fringe but becoming mainstream day after day.
Think of the calls to second-amendment remedies invoked by Harry Reid's opponent, Sharron Angle, in the November election. Think about the rhetoric of people like Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, all of whom demonize their political opponents, often suggesting the very essence and future of America is in jeopardy and that liberals must be stopped at all costs.
The curtain of denial erected by right-wing extremists and endorsed by respectable conservatives (a class seemingly going the way of dinosaurs) must fall.
The anti-intellectualism that many right-wingers boast of leads to ridiculing civil discourse and to the less balanced elements on the right-end of the political spectrum literally thinking that they must take up arms to defend the Constitution (which they do not understand), the nation (against anyone who has a different opinion) and the idea of an America so retrograde as to induce horror in those of a progressive mind. Their ideal of America is so fantastic as to elicit sympathy for those who have conceived it, and so out of touch with the actual past that the likely future invoked by demagogues seems all too real to the extremist wing of the conservative movement. Because, after all, those who know nothing of the real struggles, the real injustices and the real horror of the real past are doomed to repeat it.
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Congresswoman Giffords (D-AZ) Shot In Tucson
Chilling news from Arizona. A gunman shot Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford (D-AZ) in the head at a Safeway in Arizona. Ms. Gifford is reportedly still alive and undergoing surgery. It is now also known that a federal judge was also shot and killed during this incident, and several others were injured (18 people, according to the Sheriff's office at a press conference).
A 22 year-old man has been detained for the shooting. The motive is still unclear, but Ms. Gifford's office was vandalized last year hours before the House vote on health care reform, so it is not inconceivable that this might be a politically motivated crime.
Newly-elected Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner said: "Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society." True, and before the motive is ascertained we all would do well to withhold judgement on this violent act. Still, the Tea-Party and the Republican Party have raised the violent rhetoric in recent years (think of the McCain-Palin rallies of 2008 and of the anti-health care reform rallies last year). Obviously right-wing politicians and activists carry a lot of the blame for the current violent climate, and for episodes such as the killing of Dr. Tiller, death threats to the President, and so forth, no statement to the contrary notwithstanding.
A 22 year-old man has been detained for the shooting. The motive is still unclear, but Ms. Gifford's office was vandalized last year hours before the House vote on health care reform, so it is not inconceivable that this might be a politically motivated crime.
Newly-elected Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner said: "Acts and threats of violence against public officials have no place in our society." True, and before the motive is ascertained we all would do well to withhold judgement on this violent act. Still, the Tea-Party and the Republican Party have raised the violent rhetoric in recent years (think of the McCain-Palin rallies of 2008 and of the anti-health care reform rallies last year). Obviously right-wing politicians and activists carry a lot of the blame for the current violent climate, and for episodes such as the killing of Dr. Tiller, death threats to the President, and so forth, no statement to the contrary notwithstanding.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
It's Not The Number of Jobs, Stupid!
I hear a lot of talk from Repuglycans about fostering a business environment that will result in millions of jobs being created, and I find it insulting: The type of jobs Republican policies lead to creating is minimum wage jobs, or only marginally better.
When your philosophy, like the Republican Party's, is that unions are evil, that any type of market regulation is noxious for business, that you should cave in to big business--scratch that: that you should pave the way for business to exploit workers in America in exchange for jobs not being shipped to India, then the jobs you are seeking to create are not living wage jobs: they are modern-day slave jobs. Hence, when you say that you are trying to create millions of jobs for American workers you are not being square with the American people.
The Repuglycan philosophy about jobs is summarized in the headline of the latest post over at the Daily Kos: Low-wage jobs lead in new hiring. In other words, get ready to work more, for less money and with slimmer benefits than you had before. And since the money you make now determines your social security benefits in the future, prepare to work for a very, very long time, since retiring is out of the question. Oh, and try to stay healthy, or--as former Representative Alan Grayson said last year--if you get sick the Repuglycan health care plan for you is this: die quickly (i.e., keep the costs for your employer to a minimum.)
You want proof that Repuglycans see you as modern slaves? They just renamed the Education and Labor Committee as Education and Workforce Committee. What's in a word? Says the WSJ: "Workforce is a term employers are likely to use, while labor is more evocative of the union movement—after all, they call it the American Federation of Labor." A minor shift in words, but a major shift in attitude.
When your philosophy, like the Republican Party's, is that unions are evil, that any type of market regulation is noxious for business, that you should cave in to big business--scratch that: that you should pave the way for business to exploit workers in America in exchange for jobs not being shipped to India, then the jobs you are seeking to create are not living wage jobs: they are modern-day slave jobs. Hence, when you say that you are trying to create millions of jobs for American workers you are not being square with the American people.
The Repuglycan philosophy about jobs is summarized in the headline of the latest post over at the Daily Kos: Low-wage jobs lead in new hiring. In other words, get ready to work more, for less money and with slimmer benefits than you had before. And since the money you make now determines your social security benefits in the future, prepare to work for a very, very long time, since retiring is out of the question. Oh, and try to stay healthy, or--as former Representative Alan Grayson said last year--if you get sick the Repuglycan health care plan for you is this: die quickly (i.e., keep the costs for your employer to a minimum.)
You want proof that Repuglycans see you as modern slaves? They just renamed the Education and Labor Committee as Education and Workforce Committee. What's in a word? Says the WSJ: "Workforce is a term employers are likely to use, while labor is more evocative of the union movement—after all, they call it the American Federation of Labor." A minor shift in words, but a major shift in attitude.
It's Complicated
There is a new keyboard out for the Android OS, called 8pen.
The premise is correct: QWERTY keyboards where created for the typewriter/computer, so they lead to clumsy typing and many errors. But the droid solution seems worse than the problem it's trying to solve.
Watch the 8pen demo (that's the name of the new keyboard). If you are not dizzy by the end you are a more adaptable animal than I am.
My bet? It will be a flop, though it might eventually lead to better typing systems for smartphones than the one we currently endure.
The premise is correct: QWERTY keyboards where created for the typewriter/computer, so they lead to clumsy typing and many errors. But the droid solution seems worse than the problem it's trying to solve.
Watch the 8pen demo (that's the name of the new keyboard). If you are not dizzy by the end you are a more adaptable animal than I am.
My bet? It will be a flop, though it might eventually lead to better typing systems for smartphones than the one we currently endure.
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
America, The Brainwashed
On a recent trip to Italy, I spoke with a friend who works for a large Italian insurance company. We discussed health insurance. He is an intelligent, well-educated man, one year older than I am. He expressed his bewilderment that any country would place the health care needs of its citizens almost entirely in the hands of for profit entities whose first and foremost concern is dividends for shareholders. I agree: No civilized country would leave so much little regulated power over its citizens' lives in the hands of insurance companies.
If you live in the U.S. and years of pledging allegiance to the flag, chanting "number one" in the face of the obvious, and getting up for your national anthem before sport events have left you under the false impression that you live in a civilized country then read this: Blue Shield of California seeks rate hikes of as much as 59% for individuals. Then, for good measure, read this: 2nd person denied Arizona transplant coverage dies.
Death panels, socialist medicine, government between a patient and his doctor, insurance companies will go out of business, I pledge allegiance to the flag..., God Bless America, America is a Christian nation... that lets the poor die un- or under-insured, too far gone to come to its senses, and deserving of what's coming.
If you live in the U.S. and years of pledging allegiance to the flag, chanting "number one" in the face of the obvious, and getting up for your national anthem before sport events have left you under the false impression that you live in a civilized country then read this: Blue Shield of California seeks rate hikes of as much as 59% for individuals. Then, for good measure, read this: 2nd person denied Arizona transplant coverage dies.
Death panels, socialist medicine, government between a patient and his doctor, insurance companies will go out of business, I pledge allegiance to the flag..., God Bless America, America is a Christian nation... that lets the poor die un- or under-insured, too far gone to come to its senses, and deserving of what's coming.
Journalistic Malpractice
In Fiscal Shock renowned economist and Nobel Prize Winner Paul Krugman calls out the media on the pass they regularly give to Republicans, who rail against deficits and yet epitomize fiscal irresponsibility.
Scathingly, Krugman writes: "Republicans have, after all, been the party of fiscal irresponsibility since 1980; the GW Bush administration confirmed, if anyone was in doubt, that unfunded tax cuts are now in the party’s DNA."
Scathingly, Krugman writes: "Republicans have, after all, been the party of fiscal irresponsibility since 1980; the GW Bush administration confirmed, if anyone was in doubt, that unfunded tax cuts are now in the party’s DNA."
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
The Proof Is In The Pudding (UPDATED)
You think Washington works with your best interest in mind?
Get this: Fed Moves To Gut Predatory Lending Regulation.
You and I don't matter. Money for the oligarchs does, only money for the oligarchs.
UPDATE:
It seems the Fed has now reversed its opposition to tougher rules against foreclosure abuses.
Get this: Fed Moves To Gut Predatory Lending Regulation.
You and I don't matter. Money for the oligarchs does, only money for the oligarchs.
UPDATE:
It seems the Fed has now reversed its opposition to tougher rules against foreclosure abuses.
Talking The Talk? Then Walk The Walk.
Sen. Schumer (NY) is right: Those politicians who oppose any form of government-funded health care should give up their own government-funded healthcare.
You Cannot Be Both
You can be a republican politician with presidential ambitions or you can be serious but, as Keith Olbermann deftly showed last night, you cannot be both.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Monday, January 03, 2011
Ralph Nader, via Chris Hedges
Read this important piece by Chris Hedges on the necessity of making a stand and on rejecting the political status quo, the two-party system.
It rather reminds me of this quote, the attribution of which is uncertain: "The United States is also a one-party state. But with typical American extravagance, they have two of them."
It rather reminds me of this quote, the attribution of which is uncertain: "The United States is also a one-party state. But with typical American extravagance, they have two of them."
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Let The Circus Begin
Darrell Issa, the richest representative in the House and likely House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chair, wasted no time in calling Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times."
This type of judgement is particularly bewildering coming after Issa's silence on the most corrupt and corrupting Republican administration in recent history at least, the W. administration.
This type of judgement is particularly bewildering coming after Issa's silence on the most corrupt and corrupting Republican administration in recent history at least, the W. administration.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Robert Reich on the Political Parties' Narratives
Robert Reich has the usual insightful take on the situation of the American economy, and American politics, in the latest issue of the American Prospect. Below are some highlights.
I disagree with Prof. Reich that Obama's biggest failure has been the inability to connect the dots. It is not that Obama has been incapable of connecting the dots, it's that he has not been willing to do so, for reasons that--I suspect--are much less excusable than inability. We are living through yet another smokescreen presidency, on the inevitable road to the destruction of the American middle-class. Obama is not a victim of his inability, he is an accomplice in for-profit spinelessness.
Also, in addition to the rise of income to the top that Reich highlights in his article, another thing that has risen at the same pace as the influence of money in politics is the influence of right-wing evangelicals on the American landscape. Instead of decrying the corrupt influence of money in politics, most evangelicals have been trained on the idea, which they are spreading uncritically, that government--not corrupting wealth--is the cause of most or all societal evils, that the current embodiment of the free market, free in name only, is essential to the prosperity of Americans, and that salvation lies in believing in a gospel that denies science, progress, and the need for social justice and that promotes and rewards the cult of the mavericky individual and uncritical submission to irrational ideas.
In any case, and in spite of some negligible flaws, you should read the whole article, Telling Tales, to educate yourself against Republican misinformation, which is a 24/7 business.
And while you are at it, read Reich's predictions on what 2011 has in store for us. The first concerns the political strategy of the Tea Party in 2011; the second one is about the outlook for the U.S. economy in 2011.
For three decades, an increasing share of the benefits of economic growth have gone to the wealthiest 1 percent. Thirty years ago, the top got 9 percent of total income. Now they take in almost a quarter.
[...] The vast middle class no longer has the purchasing power to keep the economy going. (The rich spend less of their income.)
[...] As income and wealth have risen to the top, so has political power. Money is being used to bribe politicians and fill the airwaves with misleading ads that block us from hearing this story.
[...]This is the story Obama, Democrats, and progressives must tell. Stop talking policy. People don't think in terms of policies. Policies make sense only to the extent they illustrate a larger story. Obama's biggest failure has been an inability to connect the dots.
I disagree with Prof. Reich that Obama's biggest failure has been the inability to connect the dots. It is not that Obama has been incapable of connecting the dots, it's that he has not been willing to do so, for reasons that--I suspect--are much less excusable than inability. We are living through yet another smokescreen presidency, on the inevitable road to the destruction of the American middle-class. Obama is not a victim of his inability, he is an accomplice in for-profit spinelessness.
Also, in addition to the rise of income to the top that Reich highlights in his article, another thing that has risen at the same pace as the influence of money in politics is the influence of right-wing evangelicals on the American landscape. Instead of decrying the corrupt influence of money in politics, most evangelicals have been trained on the idea, which they are spreading uncritically, that government--not corrupting wealth--is the cause of most or all societal evils, that the current embodiment of the free market, free in name only, is essential to the prosperity of Americans, and that salvation lies in believing in a gospel that denies science, progress, and the need for social justice and that promotes and rewards the cult of the mavericky individual and uncritical submission to irrational ideas.
In any case, and in spite of some negligible flaws, you should read the whole article, Telling Tales, to educate yourself against Republican misinformation, which is a 24/7 business.
And while you are at it, read Reich's predictions on what 2011 has in store for us. The first concerns the political strategy of the Tea Party in 2011; the second one is about the outlook for the U.S. economy in 2011.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Proud To Be An American?
Does America have anything to be proud of these days? Well, if she treasures social injustice, iniquities, and cold-heartedness, maybe she does. Not if you read these articles, however, which I really recommend to the heartless Republicans who seem to abound these days.
America In Decline.
Health Care And The Wages Of Sin
The sooner you guys see the error of your ways, the better for all.
America In Decline.
Health Care And The Wages Of Sin
The sooner you guys see the error of your ways, the better for all.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The Great Republican Pro-Life Hyprocrisy
It is a well-known fact that, for many Republican anti-abortion politicos, “life begins at conception and ends at birth.” So says, Carol Joffe, professor at the University of California, San Francisco.
That quip is well-exemplified by the ongoing Republican effort to block funding for essential health care for 9/11 responders. Read Carol Joffe's article to get your blood to boil, then write the Republican Senators like Tom Coburn and Jon Kil who are beyond shameful in their politicking on such a vitally important issue of humanity.
Politicians should not be punished for holding ideas antithetical to our own, but for the hypocrisy they openly display when they defend their turf against all reason.
That quip is well-exemplified by the ongoing Republican effort to block funding for essential health care for 9/11 responders. Read Carol Joffe's article to get your blood to boil, then write the Republican Senators like Tom Coburn and Jon Kil who are beyond shameful in their politicking on such a vitally important issue of humanity.
Politicians should not be punished for holding ideas antithetical to our own, but for the hypocrisy they openly display when they defend their turf against all reason.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Is It Any Wonder So Many Americans Will Believe Anything They Are Told?
Ponder this: 40% of Americans believe in Creationism.
The rest of the insanity just follows from that belief.
The rest of the insanity just follows from that belief.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Funny? Not quite.
When there is so much truth in comedy, laughter often leaves to make room for tears. Read Andy Borowitz's take on President Obama's "tax deal" with his Republican überlords.
Incidentally, I thought this was the President who said something like "our job is not to get re-elected; our job is to get results for the American people." Or something to that extent.
Incidentally, I thought this was the President who said something like "our job is not to get re-elected; our job is to get results for the American people." Or something to that extent.
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Republicans 80,000,000,000 - America's Middle Class 0
The President, this President, is a tool.
With some help from some corrupt Dems, but mainly of his own doing, President Obama has once again agreed to capitulate to Republican demands: The Bush tax cuts for the wealthy are going to be extended for 24 months, in exchange for an extension of unemployment benefits for 13 months. That is good news for the unemployed, and even better news for people who did not need more money in the first place. Notice how the deal is lopsided in favor of the country's true owners.
Russell at Obsidian Wings put it best: "I must have missed the memo where the Democratic POTUS is the Republican leadership's marketing liaison."
Progressives are at a loss for words to describe the betrayal they have had to endure for the last 23 months. Reagan must be celebrating the Republicans' good fortunes in hell.
With some help from some corrupt Dems, but mainly of his own doing, President Obama has once again agreed to capitulate to Republican demands: The Bush tax cuts for the wealthy are going to be extended for 24 months, in exchange for an extension of unemployment benefits for 13 months. That is good news for the unemployed, and even better news for people who did not need more money in the first place. Notice how the deal is lopsided in favor of the country's true owners.
Russell at Obsidian Wings put it best: "I must have missed the memo where the Democratic POTUS is the Republican leadership's marketing liaison."
Progressives are at a loss for words to describe the betrayal they have had to endure for the last 23 months. Reagan must be celebrating the Republicans' good fortunes in hell.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving or, as American Indians know it, National Day of Mourning.
To those who chastise me for being a relativist, I like to point out that absolutism is a matter of lack of perspective.
Have a happy one, anyway.
To those who chastise me for being a relativist, I like to point out that absolutism is a matter of lack of perspective.
Have a happy one, anyway.
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