Sunday, July 31, 2011

And, On The Other Hand, When It Comes To Immigration ...

... here's someone who has decided that peace on earth DOES begin with him.

May there be more small town Southern Republican mayors like him!

Let There Be Peace On Earth, But Let It Begin With Anyone But ME

That's why government spending will never go away, no matter who's in power.  It's always easier to demand that someone else make the sacrifices.

It would be different if we could think like Americans, and less like partisans.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Something Else That I've Been Saying For Years

Andy Warhol once said that someday, in America, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.  Perhaps this is why the next fifteen minutes is all we can think about.

Proof Positive Of Screwed-Up Priorities

We can afford to blow up the world we live on, but can't afford to explore new ones.  Here is one painful example.

I don't begrudge comforts for men and women in uniform; they don't get enough support as it is, even from politicians who pretend to support them (while they dodged the draft).  But, surely, surely, if there's any sanity left in this country, we can do better than this.

Or can we?

The irony, of course, is that the initial impetus for our space program was in fact military in nature.  Maybe we need to cobble together evidence of terrorists on the Moon.  Let's put the neocons to work on it.

There Is NO Such Thing As Moderates!

And now, we have scientific proof.

Then again, that doesn't change the fact that most Americans want to work together.

Are They Responsible?

Of course they are.  Violence begets violence, and a violent word is simply a violent deed in verbal form.  And they've produced a violent torrent that knows no boundaries.

To paraphrase a certain former NRA president, from one of his better movies, "Damn them!  Damn them all to hell!"

The Revolution Is Definitely Coming!

And no, it won't be televised.  Grover Norquist probably wishes that it were.  If he didn't know before this that he's the number one target, he knows now.

Why Does The Right Pretend Global Warming Is A Hoax?

Because it feeds on the despair of the jobless.  And because it knows that the solution is the real job-creator.

This Makes Me Proud To Be A Small-Business Owner

They're the real job-creators in this country.  And, when it comes to taxes, they get it.  Which simply proves that current tax policy is neither about good governance or popular opinion.  It's all about the raw power of the "winners."

As July Ends With America On The Brink Of Default ...

... I finally post something for the month.

Obviously, the completely manufactured crisis over the so-called "debt ceiling" has been the dominant issue this month.  Brought to you by the same people who couldn't wait to raise it for Republican Presidents, unaffordable tax cuts, and unfunded wars--the three key ingredients behind our exploding national debt, not Social Security, Medicare, and social programs generally.

If you have the stomach for it, and you've been following this story, you know that (as usual) Democrats have been making endless concessions, and Republicans have responded by asking for more concessions.  No news here:  Democrats want to be liked, and Republicans want to rule--and everyone suffers as the country's credit rating goes off the deep end.

Given that the dynamic is the typical one, some people have wondered what the Republican end-game is, and whether the goal is to deliberately smash the economy once and for all, and then use the smashed economy against Obama in 2012.

Would that it was that simple.

I personally believe that the United States is the ultimate "too-big-to-fail" entity.  As bad as our debt and deficits are, we're still in every measurable sense the richest country in the world.  Not to mention the one with the biggest military arsenal; the international community is not going to let a country with as much nuclear hardware as we have fall into chaos.

And the Republicans in Congress know this, too.  That's why their debt-ceiling strategy has another purpose:  to serve as impeachment bait.

If Obama is forced to rely on the Fourteenth Amendment provision that requires the credit of the United States to not be questioned, the GOP House will use that to introduce articles of impeachment--and then attempt to force the first African-American President in our history to resign.

And the last part of that sentence contains the hyphenated reason that they want him to resign.  Theirs is not the party of limited government, personal responsibility and a strong national defense.  Theirs is the party of privilege.

And, since race has always been connected to privilege throughout our history, theirs is also the party of race.

We have a few more days in which to see whether they get their way.  Here's hoping, and praying, that they don't.