The most intriguing aspect of his presidency has been how he combines intelligence and intellect.
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Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Without Superfund Tax, Stimulus Aids Cleanups
The Superfund program, established nearly 30 years ago to clean up the nation’s most contaminated industrial sites, has been underfinanced since a tax expired in 1995.
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read more | digg story
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Real Criminals; Neither Lynndie England nor the AIG Traders
The intellectual forefathers and mothers of the insane conservative economic policies that have brought us to where we are include Ludwig Von Mises, Freidrich Von Hayeck, Milton Friedman, Alan Greenspan, Tom Freidman, Robert Rubin, Larry Summers, and Ayn Rand. Phil and Wendy Gramm pushed through the Gramm/Leach/Bliley Act [...]
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Faith, Hope and Brain Waves
Research on the neurological basis of religion and the power of spirituality.The enemy is not religion," writes Newberg, "the enemy is anger, hostility, intolerance, separatism, extreme idealism, and prejudicial fear -- be it secular, religious, or political."
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read more | digg story
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Right On Red/Media Matters/Fox News/Media Bias
Right On Red November 07, 2008 On Thursday, 20 or so fundraisers, grassroots organizers and political strategists met in Virginia to discuss the future of the conservative movement, soon to be in exile from the federal government. Ross Douthat, senior editor at The Atlantic and author of Grand New Party, says a split is emerging in the center-right mediasphere over what to do next.
Excerpts:
sort of their infrastructure building mostly through D.C. think tanks which conservatives had long dominated. And on the liberal side and the progressive side, there wasn't really anything.
BOB GARFIELD: But the right would say that the left has always had that infrastructure, called “the media.” [LAUGHS]
ERIC BOEHLERT: Right, and then that’s certainly been sort of the talking point and the propaganda from the right for almost four decades. But I would just go ask any veterans from the Clinton Administration if they thought for eight years the D.C. press was sort of on their side, as they chased down Whitewater [BOB LAUGHS] and impeachment and Travelgate.
BOB GARFIELD: Yeah.
ERIC BOEHLERT: I mean, they were at war with the press for eight years.
More Excerpts:
BOB GARFIELD: Well, what role do you suppose that they will have in the reconstitution of the conservative movement?
ROSS DOUTHAT: Kind of the same role that you've seen on the left, actually, during the Bush years, whether it’s this leftward turn that MSNBC has taken or the exploding left wing blogosphere - the Netroots, Daily Kos and so on. These are not hard-hitting intellectual places. They are sources of left wing populist anger against the excesses of the Bush Administration.
Talk radio and Fox News and so on will become sort of a focus for rock-ribbed Republican partisan mobilization. You know, the genius of the Obama campaign was that it managed to piggyback on that kind of angry left wing grass roots, but he himself projected a unifying post-partisan image and message to the rest of the country. And that’s what the Republicans will have to do. It’s very hard to pull off, and it’s very easy to see that kind of anger pulling the party downward into a permanent minority status. But it could go either way.
BOB GARFIELD: Well, that’s what I'm so fascinated in is this question of anger pulling the party downward.
ROSS DOUTHAT: There’s definitely a sense in which partisan media creates a sort of cocoon. For years, conservatives always talked about the liberal cocoon and they would say liberals who just read The New York Times and The New Yorker, and so on, never really understood that there was a world beyond those institutions. And so, you have the film critic Pauline Kael’s famous line about, you know, how could Nixon win? I didn't know anybody who voted for him, right?
BOB GARFIELD: Hmm.
ROSS DOUTHAT: But as conservatives have built up their own infrastructure, they've also built up their own cocoon. And you've seen this over the last four to six years, where for a long time, in the midst of the Iraq War, if you turned on Fox News and listened to talk radio, all you heard was that things were going well and the liberal media wouldn't report the good news. That kind of cocooning, I think, is usually the source of political defeat.
BOB GARFIELD: Ross, thank you very much for joining us.
ROSS DOUTHAT: Hey, it was a pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.
BOB GARFIELD: Ross Douthat is a senior editor at The Atlantic and coauthor of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream.
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/11/07/06
Comment by Susanthur:
I enjoyed this article because it explained and cleared up some things for me. I live in Louisiana, the deep, deep south and just about everyone is Republican. After 5 years of Political Study, I found myself voting Democrat in this election on the anti-war issue after my husband's many Military deployments. No one here can understand my position and some are very angry because of my vote. I hear from so many that I do not know what is going on and my vote is very wrong and very, very mistaken. These statements are from people that are big Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Hannity fans. I on the other hand get my info from various locations. I love Charlie Rose, Bill Moyers, Gwen Ifill/Washington Week, Meet the Press,McClatchy Newpaper, New York Times, Times Picayune, Time and US News Report Magazine,FactCheck.com, American Prospect, Council on Foreign Relations, Washington Post---I could go on and on. I seem to not get enough info -not enough hours in the day.
So, this concept of building up a sort of Cocoon was fascinating.
But my question is ---who is in the cocoon?
Me or everyone else here in Louisiana? And if I am in my own self made Infastructure/Cocoon/Bubble and really do not know anything about what is really going on ---where do I go for some truth?
I really am beginning to believe---NO ONE really knows anything what is really going on.
I did see trust was a very big issue for me these past few years. I was fed-up with Bush and Cheney and I had no trust for the people that was in power.
I like what I see in Obama--his decency, the calm and adult behavior, his respectful attitude. Some of my trust is back even though I know all politicians lie. As a matter of fact, if you are human--you lie. All humans and governments, lie. Not a judgment ---just a basic fact. And because of this basic fact, I will keep my Independent Voting Status.
I do know one thing for sure as of right now.
I have hope for America again and I am happy. I would never want to go back to what we had the last eight years. The last five for me as a military family member was pure---HELL.
Excerpts:
sort of their infrastructure building mostly through D.C. think tanks which conservatives had long dominated. And on the liberal side and the progressive side, there wasn't really anything.
BOB GARFIELD: But the right would say that the left has always had that infrastructure, called “the media.” [LAUGHS]
ERIC BOEHLERT: Right, and then that’s certainly been sort of the talking point and the propaganda from the right for almost four decades. But I would just go ask any veterans from the Clinton Administration if they thought for eight years the D.C. press was sort of on their side, as they chased down Whitewater [BOB LAUGHS] and impeachment and Travelgate.
BOB GARFIELD: Yeah.
ERIC BOEHLERT: I mean, they were at war with the press for eight years.
More Excerpts:
BOB GARFIELD: Well, what role do you suppose that they will have in the reconstitution of the conservative movement?
ROSS DOUTHAT: Kind of the same role that you've seen on the left, actually, during the Bush years, whether it’s this leftward turn that MSNBC has taken or the exploding left wing blogosphere - the Netroots, Daily Kos and so on. These are not hard-hitting intellectual places. They are sources of left wing populist anger against the excesses of the Bush Administration.
Talk radio and Fox News and so on will become sort of a focus for rock-ribbed Republican partisan mobilization. You know, the genius of the Obama campaign was that it managed to piggyback on that kind of angry left wing grass roots, but he himself projected a unifying post-partisan image and message to the rest of the country. And that’s what the Republicans will have to do. It’s very hard to pull off, and it’s very easy to see that kind of anger pulling the party downward into a permanent minority status. But it could go either way.
BOB GARFIELD: Well, that’s what I'm so fascinated in is this question of anger pulling the party downward.
ROSS DOUTHAT: There’s definitely a sense in which partisan media creates a sort of cocoon. For years, conservatives always talked about the liberal cocoon and they would say liberals who just read The New York Times and The New Yorker, and so on, never really understood that there was a world beyond those institutions. And so, you have the film critic Pauline Kael’s famous line about, you know, how could Nixon win? I didn't know anybody who voted for him, right?
BOB GARFIELD: Hmm.
ROSS DOUTHAT: But as conservatives have built up their own infrastructure, they've also built up their own cocoon. And you've seen this over the last four to six years, where for a long time, in the midst of the Iraq War, if you turned on Fox News and listened to talk radio, all you heard was that things were going well and the liberal media wouldn't report the good news. That kind of cocooning, I think, is usually the source of political defeat.
BOB GARFIELD: Ross, thank you very much for joining us.
ROSS DOUTHAT: Hey, it was a pleasure. Thanks so much for having me.
BOB GARFIELD: Ross Douthat is a senior editor at The Atlantic and coauthor of Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream.
http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2008/11/07/06
Comment by Susanthur:
I enjoyed this article because it explained and cleared up some things for me. I live in Louisiana, the deep, deep south and just about everyone is Republican. After 5 years of Political Study, I found myself voting Democrat in this election on the anti-war issue after my husband's many Military deployments. No one here can understand my position and some are very angry because of my vote. I hear from so many that I do not know what is going on and my vote is very wrong and very, very mistaken. These statements are from people that are big Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Hannity fans. I on the other hand get my info from various locations. I love Charlie Rose, Bill Moyers, Gwen Ifill/Washington Week, Meet the Press,McClatchy Newpaper, New York Times, Times Picayune, Time and US News Report Magazine,FactCheck.com, American Prospect, Council on Foreign Relations, Washington Post---I could go on and on. I seem to not get enough info -not enough hours in the day.
So, this concept of building up a sort of Cocoon was fascinating.
But my question is ---who is in the cocoon?
Me or everyone else here in Louisiana? And if I am in my own self made Infastructure/Cocoon/Bubble and really do not know anything about what is really going on ---where do I go for some truth?
I really am beginning to believe---NO ONE really knows anything what is really going on.
I did see trust was a very big issue for me these past few years. I was fed-up with Bush and Cheney and I had no trust for the people that was in power.
I like what I see in Obama--his decency, the calm and adult behavior, his respectful attitude. Some of my trust is back even though I know all politicians lie. As a matter of fact, if you are human--you lie. All humans and governments, lie. Not a judgment ---just a basic fact. And because of this basic fact, I will keep my Independent Voting Status.
I do know one thing for sure as of right now.
I have hope for America again and I am happy. I would never want to go back to what we had the last eight years. The last five for me as a military family member was pure---HELL.
Politics and Good Friday
Excerpt: But the last thing I want to do is to fight the "Christian Right" with a "Christian Left" that equally seeks to dress up it secular preferences in religious garb and claim the Kingdom for itself. Where does that leave this Christian? Well, for one thing, it makes me strongly support the separation of church and state on religious grounds, which used to be a pretty common attitude among Protestants in this country. And it also tends to make me a "liberal" in the American meaning of that word, if only because political principles like diversity or equality should come naturally for Christians, and also because "conservatism" has too often involved the tendency to semi-divinize too many things of this world, from race, class and country to The Market. That may just be a prejudice, and I may be wrong about all sorts of individual political judgments I make, just like anyone else. That's why we have political debate and political parties and elections. But please don't tell me that God demands that I vote for your candidate or support your "Christian" political cause. Unless you are willing to claim the role of Prophet, with the spiritual dangers that involves, you shouldn't even go there. If these ruminations offend any readers, or seem a ridiculous extrapolation from a meditation of the crucifixion or Good Friday, I apologize. But when I survey the wondrous cross, I see a world that has killed the living Word, and does so every day, and that can only be redeemed spiritually, not by those carrying crosses who confuse Christ's resurrection with the appropriation of divine power to their own earthly causes, however well-meaning. And this Holy Week is as good a time as any for Christians active in politics to seriously reflect on how Christ seeks to shapes our activism with His loving hand--even as we nail it to a cross. http://blog.beliefnet.com/progressiverevival/2009/04/politics-and-good-friday.html
The Tensions between Politics and Religion?
The ordinary resources of empirical observation and ordinary human knowledge give us no warrant for supposing that all good things are reconcilable with each other.--Isaiah Berlin
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/linker/archive/2009/04/12/all-good-things.aspx
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/linker/archive/2009/04/12/all-good-things.aspx
Rush Builds A Revolution
Thank You,Comrade Rush!
How Rush Limbaugh and other right wingers are building socialism in America
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/14/AR2009041402556.html?wpisrc=newsletter
How Rush Limbaugh and other right wingers are building socialism in America
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/14/AR2009041402556.html?wpisrc=newsletter
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Palin's New Disaster - The Daily Beast
The governor is reeling after nominating for attorney general a man who allegedly defended the right of men to rape their wives. Now, Max Blumenthal reports, she may dump him to save herself.
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Thursday, April 9, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
At What Point Did Republicans Become the Party of Hysterics?
Looking around the wingnutosphere today, I can't help but notice that it's SUCH A SCARY TERRIFYING WORLD.
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Naomi Klein Interview | The Progressive
Naomi Klein InterviewBy Matthew Rothschild, February 2009 Issue“We don’t have a right to be disappointed” by Obama, says the author of The Shock Doctrine.
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Friday, April 3, 2009
Rumsfeld's Dr. Strangelove
Excerpts: Committee voted to repeal a 10-year ban on the research and development of "low-yield" nuclear weapons—defined as nukes having an explosive power smaller than 5 kilotons. (The House committee will take up the measure this week.) The Bush administration has lobbied heavily for the repeal. Democrats oppose the idea on the grounds that "mini-nukes"—by blurring the distinction between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons—make nuclear war more thinkable and, therefore, in the minds of some, more doable.
Some in the Bush administration are living proof of this objection. They want to demystify nuclear weapons, strip away the taboo against their use, and insinuate them into the arsenal of U.S. war-fighting tools. A key figure in this effort is Keith Payne.
Note the phrasing. It's startling enough that Payne suggests attacking (even non-nuclear) mobile missiles with nukes. But he goes further, suggesting that we attack whole "areas" where mobile missiles are merely "suspected" to be deployed. And he suggests attacking these with "multiple" nuclear weapons. Payne also argues that nuclear weapons might be needed to destroy "deeply buried facilities … such as underground biological weapons facilities." He leaves unanswered why simply disabling such a facility—which he admits can be done with conventional weapons—wouldn't be good enough. He then says the need to destroy these sorts of targets means we cannot afford to make deep cuts in our nuclear arsenal but should instead continue to build new types of nuclear weapons.
http://www.slate.com/id/2082846/
Some in the Bush administration are living proof of this objection. They want to demystify nuclear weapons, strip away the taboo against their use, and insinuate them into the arsenal of U.S. war-fighting tools. A key figure in this effort is Keith Payne.
Note the phrasing. It's startling enough that Payne suggests attacking (even non-nuclear) mobile missiles with nukes. But he goes further, suggesting that we attack whole "areas" where mobile missiles are merely "suspected" to be deployed. And he suggests attacking these with "multiple" nuclear weapons. Payne also argues that nuclear weapons might be needed to destroy "deeply buried facilities … such as underground biological weapons facilities." He leaves unanswered why simply disabling such a facility—which he admits can be done with conventional weapons—wouldn't be good enough. He then says the need to destroy these sorts of targets means we cannot afford to make deep cuts in our nuclear arsenal but should instead continue to build new types of nuclear weapons.
http://www.slate.com/id/2082846/
The Big Takeover: we're officially, royally screwed
The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution
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read more | digg story
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