Paul Rasmussen’s letter (Dec. 4) indicates that his grasp of the
U. S. Constitution is insufficient.
While the power to declare war is expressed in the Constitution, it is given solely to Congress. Hence, no “wars” fought since WWII – not Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Afghanistan nor Iraq – can properly be called “wars” in the strictest constitutional sense. Since December 8th 1941 there have been “police actions,” “conflicts” and “operations,” but no wars. If a constitutionalist, Mr. Rasmussen should decry all recent American blood and treasure sacrificed in such unconstitutional “wars.”
Mr. Rasmussen correctly states that there is no reference to “health care” in the Constitution, yet he must also know that there are no references to Social Security, Medicare, or the federal highway system either. Still, most Americans enjoy having these things in their lives. The “Necessary and Proper” Clause of the Constitution gives Congress implicit powers to execute laws and delegate powers covering the aforementioned services, and if Congress so wishes, health care as well.
I hope that Congress does just that.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Local preacher doesn't now the 1st thing about the 1st Amendment...
...But in the “FAITH/ReligionViews,” section, our Valley Frontiersman nods to the 1st Amendment and gives Reverend Ron Hamman of the Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla free reign to spout some of his strange and insupportable views on a weekly basis. It seems “FAITH” (belief in something for which there is no proof) is the only place the views of the good pastor belong.
In earlier Frontiersman missives, Pastor Hamman has suggested that no person more liberal than he could conceivably respect the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. This may not shock those who call Hamman “Pastor,” but it would surprise a majority of Americans in this center-left nation.
Pastor Ron posits that the only true word of God is in the King James Bible. I don’t know from where Pastor Ron is credentialed in theology, but he must know that the Bible as we know it was translated from Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek-to-Latin-to-Old and Middle English, and cobbled together by committee with many subtle and not-so-subtle changes along the way. Why claim the King James as the only authentic “word,” when no serious biblical scholar thinks so?
So worked up about the evils of “sodomy” is Pastor Ron, that he recently suggested: “Will the Antichrist be a Homosexual?” He doesn’t come right out and say that he or she will be, but he leaves precious little room for doubt to any of his readership. Pastor Ron’s not doing a “God Hates Fags” a la the infamous Fred Phelps (also of an “independent” Baptist church), but he really ain’t that far from it.
Most recently, Pastor Ron assumes a competence in constitutional, as well as biblical scholarship, declaring that a government tax on a church is in violation of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and that secular humanists, “Are evil and don’t want to be exposed.” On the second claim, Pastor Ron has me dead-to-rights. I admit that I am these things: husband, father and grandfather, schoolteacher, blood donor, community theater actor, recycler, secular humanist and apparently, evil-doer.
As to the Constitution, however, I fear Pastor Ron’s scholarship needs a little brush up. My research can find no constitutional restriction on Congress when it comes to church taxation, nor is there any such restriction on state or local governments. A little history: tax exemptions for churches and religious groups are a holdover from America’s European roots. They were customary in the early Republic, and now, even when protected by law, are not automatic, universal or total. This is no small thing. Churches may own more than 20% of all land in the U.S., and the average American family pays up to $1000 to fill the revenue gap caused by religious tax exemptions. In short, evil-doing secular humanists are subsidizing the churches of Pastor Ron, Pat Robertson, the pope, the Latter Day Saints, the Moonies and the Dalai Lama. Pastor Ron should maybe cut us some slack.
The instrument by which this these tax exemptions are made is the 501(c)3 “corporation.” Used by churches, charities and non-profits to avoid the IRS, Pastor Ron finds the 501(c)3 a restriction on what he sees as his 1st Amendment “right” to sermonize against the evil-doing secularist, homosexual (and potential Antichrist), liberal government agenda. In order to keep his 501(c)3, however, he may not politic from his pulpit.
Sorry, but rules are rules, and if Pastor Ron really wants to compete in the market place of political ideas, he’ll have to come out from under that 501(c)3 tax shelter that we secularists help pay for. We, however, are not holding our breath.
In earlier Frontiersman missives, Pastor Hamman has suggested that no person more liberal than he could conceivably respect the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. This may not shock those who call Hamman “Pastor,” but it would surprise a majority of Americans in this center-left nation.
Pastor Ron posits that the only true word of God is in the King James Bible. I don’t know from where Pastor Ron is credentialed in theology, but he must know that the Bible as we know it was translated from Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek-to-Latin-to-Old and Middle English, and cobbled together by committee with many subtle and not-so-subtle changes along the way. Why claim the King James as the only authentic “word,” when no serious biblical scholar thinks so?
So worked up about the evils of “sodomy” is Pastor Ron, that he recently suggested: “Will the Antichrist be a Homosexual?” He doesn’t come right out and say that he or she will be, but he leaves precious little room for doubt to any of his readership. Pastor Ron’s not doing a “God Hates Fags” a la the infamous Fred Phelps (also of an “independent” Baptist church), but he really ain’t that far from it.
Most recently, Pastor Ron assumes a competence in constitutional, as well as biblical scholarship, declaring that a government tax on a church is in violation of the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and that secular humanists, “Are evil and don’t want to be exposed.” On the second claim, Pastor Ron has me dead-to-rights. I admit that I am these things: husband, father and grandfather, schoolteacher, blood donor, community theater actor, recycler, secular humanist and apparently, evil-doer.
As to the Constitution, however, I fear Pastor Ron’s scholarship needs a little brush up. My research can find no constitutional restriction on Congress when it comes to church taxation, nor is there any such restriction on state or local governments. A little history: tax exemptions for churches and religious groups are a holdover from America’s European roots. They were customary in the early Republic, and now, even when protected by law, are not automatic, universal or total. This is no small thing. Churches may own more than 20% of all land in the U.S., and the average American family pays up to $1000 to fill the revenue gap caused by religious tax exemptions. In short, evil-doing secular humanists are subsidizing the churches of Pastor Ron, Pat Robertson, the pope, the Latter Day Saints, the Moonies and the Dalai Lama. Pastor Ron should maybe cut us some slack.
The instrument by which this these tax exemptions are made is the 501(c)3 “corporation.” Used by churches, charities and non-profits to avoid the IRS, Pastor Ron finds the 501(c)3 a restriction on what he sees as his 1st Amendment “right” to sermonize against the evil-doing secularist, homosexual (and potential Antichrist), liberal government agenda. In order to keep his 501(c)3, however, he may not politic from his pulpit.
Sorry, but rules are rules, and if Pastor Ron really wants to compete in the market place of political ideas, he’ll have to come out from under that 501(c)3 tax shelter that we secularists help pay for. We, however, are not holding our breath.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Senator Lisa Murkowski and Health Care article had me ...
Reading my Nov. 12th Anchorage Daily News, I realized that Alaska's Senator Lisa Murkowski had turned into her father, Frank, who was Alaska's US Senator for so many years, before becoming our least popular governor ever. Slowing down progress was very “Frank,” unless there was a pipeline involved. So it is with Lisa, who, at a Chugiak, AK “town hall,” said of the health care bill now in the Senate: “We can pull this thing back.” Sounds like Frank to me.
As for her town hall, the 150 – plus, mostly retired participants were apparently happy with their health care as is. Here’s why. Participant Ron Bauers proclaimed, “I think we have a pretty good health care system now.” Bauers probably has good health care. But what of the 46 million uninsured, or the 44,000 who die each year for lack of health insurance?
Also against the health care bill were Harry Young, whose years in the military allows him great health care, courtesy of the government, and Ed Singer, retired teacher, who undoubtedly has a government-paid health care plan himself.
Being like dad seems more important to Lisa than getting decent health care to Americans who don’t have a government retirement plan like her, her dad Frank, or most of her Chugiak town hall crowd.
As for her town hall, the 150 – plus, mostly retired participants were apparently happy with their health care as is. Here’s why. Participant Ron Bauers proclaimed, “I think we have a pretty good health care system now.” Bauers probably has good health care. But what of the 46 million uninsured, or the 44,000 who die each year for lack of health insurance?
Also against the health care bill were Harry Young, whose years in the military allows him great health care, courtesy of the government, and Ed Singer, retired teacher, who undoubtedly has a government-paid health care plan himself.
Being like dad seems more important to Lisa than getting decent health care to Americans who don’t have a government retirement plan like her, her dad Frank, or most of her Chugiak town hall crowd.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Guilty...?
In two consecutive days (Sep. 19 and 20, old news I know), we got two Daily News opinion pieces, from two conservative columnists who tell us that race hate against President Obama from the right is a figment of the liberal imagination.
Mssrs. Goldberg and Jenkins discount racial slurs and code words since the Fall of 2008, including some from our own former half-term governor, pictures comparing America’s 1st Lady to a chimp, the president portrayed as a witch doctor (replete with bone-through-nose), post cards of the White House lawn as a watermelon patch, the unhinged ravings of Glenn Beck, culminating in the Caucasian-only, 70,000 strong bizzarro “9/12” T-bag Mardi Gras in D.C. I could show Goldberg and Jenkins some of the disgusting emails forwarded to me by Republican acquaintances in the south.
The list goes on, but Goldberg and Jenkins are having none of it, telling us instead that there’s no real evidence to support the charge of racism, and that it’s simply a plot by Democrats to stifle earnest dissent against Obama’s socialist agenda.
Neither Goldberg nor Jenkins will ever admit that to many white Americans, Obama has committed the heinous crime of being president while black.
Sorry I haven't posted for so long, but I've been in engrossed in our community theater production of Agatha Christie's SPIDER'S WEB. This is our final weekend for the run, and I hope to be blogging and writing letters-to-editors and commentarying at large again soon. Hope you missed me.
Sandy and Joe, Jose and Stella, are you ready for some sunshine and cervesa Pacifico?
Mssrs. Goldberg and Jenkins discount racial slurs and code words since the Fall of 2008, including some from our own former half-term governor, pictures comparing America’s 1st Lady to a chimp, the president portrayed as a witch doctor (replete with bone-through-nose), post cards of the White House lawn as a watermelon patch, the unhinged ravings of Glenn Beck, culminating in the Caucasian-only, 70,000 strong bizzarro “9/12” T-bag Mardi Gras in D.C. I could show Goldberg and Jenkins some of the disgusting emails forwarded to me by Republican acquaintances in the south.
The list goes on, but Goldberg and Jenkins are having none of it, telling us instead that there’s no real evidence to support the charge of racism, and that it’s simply a plot by Democrats to stifle earnest dissent against Obama’s socialist agenda.
Neither Goldberg nor Jenkins will ever admit that to many white Americans, Obama has committed the heinous crime of being president while black.
Sorry I haven't posted for so long, but I've been in engrossed in our community theater production of Agatha Christie's SPIDER'S WEB. This is our final weekend for the run, and I hope to be blogging and writing letters-to-editors and commentarying at large again soon. Hope you missed me.
Sandy and Joe, Jose and Stella, are you ready for some sunshine and cervesa Pacifico?
Saturday, September 19, 2009
This time, it HAS been more than a month...
So, I wanted to share my thoughts regarding health care and reaction of Alaska's and Mat-Valley's own home-grown "Conservative Patriots Group:"
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What to make of a recent article about the so-called “forum” on health care reform, hosted by the Conservative Patriots Group (CPG), and moderated by right-wing talk show jock Glen Biegel? CPG president Jennie Bettine claims that the forum was not “canned” in any way, yet according to reporter Todd Disher, Biegel began the discussion by referring to an “alleged” 47 million uninsured Americans, and no physician on the panel had anything positive to say about the current health care reform proposals before Congress.
Yet, I read the papers, and it seems that at least 2/3 of the letters and opinion pieces published that are from physicians are in favor of health care reform, with a strong public option. How come none of those docs were included on the CPG panel? And why does Biegel speak of 47 million “alleged” uninsured much the same way CPG’s website treats “alleged” global warming – as a hoax.
Here’s a gem from one of the physician panelists: “Slavery was abolished in 1865. I’m not going to be a slave to the government. I’ve already served my time.” This panelist was apparently referring to his 21 years in the US Army as a condition of servitude equivalent to that suffered by the ancestors of black Americans. A condition of servitude which he “re-upped” for, numerous times. A condition of servitude which allows him a good retirement, so that he could begin a whole new practice in a lucrative medical profession as a civilian, go on panels, and bemoan his previous government enslavement. Is this what passes for health care debate these days?
The article’s most thoughtful and insightful statement came from surgeon Brent Taylor, who said, “America needs to decide if health care is a right or a privilege.” According to Taylor, coming to a consensus on that issue will move health care in America forward. I think Dr. Taylor is correct. Obviously, “health care for all” is not one of the enumerated rights as amended into the Constitution. But don’t forget the 9th Amendment in the Bill of Rights, which states: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” This means that just because a right isn’t listed in the Constitution, doesn’t mean we don’t have that right. Add to that the phrase from the Constitution’s Preamble, ”Promote the general Welfare” and I believe you could make a case that health care, at least in the 21st Century, is indeed a right.
The Conservative Patriots Group’s name suggests that they are indeed patriotic, and if you needed proof of that patriotism, go to their website, where you’ll find on their home page (along with a link to their “Global Warming Hoax” page), an American flag. Imbedded in that flag is the Preamble to the Constitution, including the words “Promote the general Welfare.” If the Founders of this country were so forward thinking, why can’t these patriots be?
Sunday, August 16, 2009
It seems like more than a month...
Since I posted last...oh, that's right, it HAS been over a month. A few things happened since June 10: Our friend and investment guy, Howie Powder was killed in a
motorcycle v. truck accident (motorcycles never seem to win these encounters). Howie was a one-of-a-kind, and the genuine article. How many other guys would unicycle in a 12 hour enduro bike race? We miss him.
Our 1st Grandchild, Else Adele Siedler was born on June 19th 2009, to the indomitable Dederick and Andrea, who, among other things are attempting to restore a 1920s "Craftsman" style home (out-of-pocket, I might add), raise a child, a dog and cat, all the while assuming an apparent state of relative beatitude. And it seems to work.
Whilst in visitation mode, Genie and I doubled-down against the possibility of coming under the all-seeing eye of Obama's Death Panel, and purchased a small condo in Eugene, Oregon. Oregon being the closest ideological surrogate to Canada, and with American $$ too. Too late did we realize that Oregon has such a liberal assisted suicide law. Nuts.
Pinot Noir tastes great even in 100-degree temps, as long as your in McMinnville, OR, and have good friends helping you taste the vino and the food. That's what Joe and Aurora Boyle did with Genie and I at the end of our sojourn, at the International Pinot Noir Celebration in McMinnville. Too good, too memorable, gotta do it again, perhaps next year...
Then it was the return of Artie (my Dad), and it was fishing, fishing and more fishing. My dad may have lost a step, but he has never lost the "Art of the luck and the luck of the Art." Good beer and whiskey, very good cigars and a wonderful time rounded out the days since I last posted. Tomorrow, the children come back to school...
motorcycle v. truck accident (motorcycles never seem to win these encounters). Howie was a one-of-a-kind, and the genuine article. How many other guys would unicycle in a 12 hour enduro bike race? We miss him.
Our 1st Grandchild, Else Adele Siedler was born on June 19th 2009, to the indomitable Dederick and Andrea, who, among other things are attempting to restore a 1920s "Craftsman" style home (out-of-pocket, I might add), raise a child, a dog and cat, all the while assuming an apparent state of relative beatitude. And it seems to work.
Whilst in visitation mode, Genie and I doubled-down against the possibility of coming under the all-seeing eye of Obama's Death Panel, and purchased a small condo in Eugene, Oregon. Oregon being the closest ideological surrogate to Canada, and with American $$ too. Too late did we realize that Oregon has such a liberal assisted suicide law. Nuts.
Pinot Noir tastes great even in 100-degree temps, as long as your in McMinnville, OR, and have good friends helping you taste the vino and the food. That's what Joe and Aurora Boyle did with Genie and I at the end of our sojourn, at the International Pinot Noir Celebration in McMinnville. Too good, too memorable, gotta do it again, perhaps next year...
Then it was the return of Artie (my Dad), and it was fishing, fishing and more fishing. My dad may have lost a step, but he has never lost the "Art of the luck and the luck of the Art." Good beer and whiskey, very good cigars and a wonderful time rounded out the days since I last posted. Tomorrow, the children come back to school...
Friday, July 10, 2009
The "Palinic" Era draws to a close, maybe...
And by now you've seen and heard lots about Sarah's quit snit. Most of us think she's doing it because she really isn't a fighter, can only feel validated with total adoration, and will probably make a bundle on the book and lecture circuit among her base, the fundamentalist southern "values" voters, who are about the only group that hasn't either left the Republican Party, at least in spirit.
Below is from the Huff Post about what Conservative journalist Peggy Noonan had to say about Sarah since Sarah's abandonment of Alaska's ship-of-state:
HUFFINGTON POST, JULY 10 2009:
One of the most refreshingly honest moments of the 2008 campaign came when Peggy Noonan, a columnist and former Republican speechwriter, was caught on a live mike calling the choice of Sarah Palin to run on the Republican ticket "political bullshit." She smoothed over her harsh remarks in a subsequent column, saying she liked Palin even if she wasn't sure the choice would be successful. But now that Palin has resigned as Alaska Governor, Noonan apparently feels free to speak openly.
Noonan wrote:
"In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. 'I'm not wired that way, I'm not a quitter,' 'I'm standing up for our values.' I'm, I'm, I'm."
In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying.
Below is from the Huff Post about what Conservative journalist Peggy Noonan had to say about Sarah since Sarah's abandonment of Alaska's ship-of-state:
HUFFINGTON POST, JULY 10 2009:
One of the most refreshingly honest moments of the 2008 campaign came when Peggy Noonan, a columnist and former Republican speechwriter, was caught on a live mike calling the choice of Sarah Palin to run on the Republican ticket "political bullshit." She smoothed over her harsh remarks in a subsequent column, saying she liked Palin even if she wasn't sure the choice would be successful. But now that Palin has resigned as Alaska Governor, Noonan apparently feels free to speak openly.
Noonan wrote:
"In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. 'I'm not wired that way, I'm not a quitter,' 'I'm standing up for our values.' I'm, I'm, I'm."
In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
A Missive on Health Care Reform...
...that was sent by me to the Anchorage Daily News yesterday follows. I don't know if the paper will run my letter, so I'm running it here:
Senator Lisa Murkowski claimed (Compass, June 19) that the health care bill in Congress was both “unworkable” and “unaffordable,” citing cost estimates, a “broken” Medicare, and what she believes is an onerous “massive government intervention.”
Fast-forward to the June 20th town hall forum hosted by Senator Mark Begich, during which the vast majority of attendees supported a “public option” in a much needed health care overhaul. Add to that, polling data that show 72% of Americans want a government-run plan, that most Americans are willing to pay more in taxes to have one available, and that the government would do a better job running health care than the insurance industry. And add to that, the fact that 115,000 (18%) of Alaskans are uninsured, along with nearly 50 million other Americans.
What is patently clear is that the current health care system in the U.S. is unworkable and unaffordable, and shamefully so. The Republican health care “plan” hasn’t changed since the 1930s. Senator Murkowski would do well to stop regurgitating Republican talking points and help Senator Begich to push through the health care reform Americans and Alaskans so badly need.
Senator Lisa Murkowski claimed (Compass, June 19) that the health care bill in Congress was both “unworkable” and “unaffordable,” citing cost estimates, a “broken” Medicare, and what she believes is an onerous “massive government intervention.”
Fast-forward to the June 20th town hall forum hosted by Senator Mark Begich, during which the vast majority of attendees supported a “public option” in a much needed health care overhaul. Add to that, polling data that show 72% of Americans want a government-run plan, that most Americans are willing to pay more in taxes to have one available, and that the government would do a better job running health care than the insurance industry. And add to that, the fact that 115,000 (18%) of Alaskans are uninsured, along with nearly 50 million other Americans.
What is patently clear is that the current health care system in the U.S. is unworkable and unaffordable, and shamefully so. The Republican health care “plan” hasn’t changed since the 1930s. Senator Murkowski would do well to stop regurgitating Republican talking points and help Senator Begich to push through the health care reform Americans and Alaskans so badly need.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thought all should know...
It's a girl! Born to Deder and Andrea Siedler in Eugene Oregon at one-ish in the afternoon today, June 19, an 8# baby girl. Baby, mother...and father reportedly doing well. Name to be named as soon as official. Proud first-time grandparents Bill and Genie are buoyant and elated. Newly minted grandfather Bill can scarcely wait until newly minted granddaughter is old enough that he can say to her: "Pull my finger!"
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Not Only Is...
The American Right-Wing much, much better armed than the American Left, it is much, much more likely to use those arms on those whom it perceives to be the reason white, fundamentalist Christian males are losing their long-held privileges over minorities. Privileges right-wingers think of as "rights" for them, and "special rights" for anyone who's not them. Secession talk in Texas, the killing of Dr. Tiller, the Holocaust Museum security guard and the killing of three cops in Pittsburgh, PA have surely made the Department of Homeland Security report on right-wing extremism look prescient now, even though it was originally panned by Fox News and other conservative media outlets.
Much the same thing happened when Clinton became president, and it's only more so since the election of Barack Obama. This phenomenon is particularly evident here in Alaska, where gun store owners have proclaimed, "Obama is the best gun salesman I've ever had." I can attest to this attitude from personal experience. I recently went into the Wasilla Sportsman's Warehouse looking for ammo. Asking why the shelves were empty, the guy behind the counter explained the shortage by confiding to me, "Some people think there's gonna be a war." I was tempted to ask him with whom this war was to be fought, but I already knew. Even stranger days may lie ahead.
Much the same thing happened when Clinton became president, and it's only more so since the election of Barack Obama. This phenomenon is particularly evident here in Alaska, where gun store owners have proclaimed, "Obama is the best gun salesman I've ever had." I can attest to this attitude from personal experience. I recently went into the Wasilla Sportsman's Warehouse looking for ammo. Asking why the shelves were empty, the guy behind the counter explained the shortage by confiding to me, "Some people think there's gonna be a war." I was tempted to ask him with whom this war was to be fought, but I already knew. Even stranger days may lie ahead.
Friday, June 5, 2009
The once-a-fortnight blog continues...
With this gem from the Daily Kos, quoting Bill Maher:
"Rush [Limbaugh] and his ilk have come up with a name for the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court that's been 99 percent white men for 200 years, and that name is 'reverse racist.' She is a racist and someone has to stop her because for too long white men have been kept down by powerful Puerto Rican women!"
---Bill Maher
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Back here in the Greatland, Anchorage Daily News columnist Elise Patkotak combines the Religious Right's mis-belief that America's laws are somehow based on the Ten Commandments - and their fear of gay marriage. Demonstrating that only two commandments of the "Decalogue" are actually in law (#6, "Thou shalt not kill," and #8, Thou shalt not steal). Further, Elise reminds us that all known cultures and civilizations since humans became human have embraced those very two concepts, regardless of religion. How else could any culture survive?
She adds that:
"If your religion requires you to shun gay people, shun away. But your god cannot take away their civil liberties because the Constitution make it crystal clear that those rights and liberties did not come from any god." I particularly like the way she boldly uses the lower case "god." It shows that Elise is not afraid to demand that religious people need to succeed in what Oliver Wendel Holmes referred to as the "market place of ideas," and cannot expect the rest of us to defer to religious views only because their religious.
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New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winner in economics Paul Krugman puts the current financial crisis' roots squarely where they belong. In the administration of Ronald Reagan, hero of the Republican Party, who signed the law that gave the banking industry"a license to gamble with the taxpayers money" due to the catastrophic long-term effects of deregulation. Go to the NYT website and find it.
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Finally, it looks like two petty crooks (bribery) who were once representatives in the Alaska State Legislature may actually get out - part of the fallout from the US Senator Ted Steven's(R-Alaska) affair, where the USDOJ (under Obama) dropped all seven charges to which Uncle Ted was convicted (under Bush). This was due to mishandling of Steven's case by prosecutors, NOT on the evidence. Ted's age (82) was also a factor in Attorney General Holder's decision to not retry.
Not quite so lucky are former state reps. Pete Kott and Vic Kohring, as even though they may be released temporarily, their convictions may still hold up. After all their was indisputable video evidence of the bribes-for-votes for both of these guys. Hell, Vic (my own former representative) went down for like, 200 bucks and a bottle of vodka. Stay tuned on this one.
"Rush [Limbaugh] and his ilk have come up with a name for the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court that's been 99 percent white men for 200 years, and that name is 'reverse racist.' She is a racist and someone has to stop her because for too long white men have been kept down by powerful Puerto Rican women!"
---Bill Maher
__________________________________________________________________
Back here in the Greatland, Anchorage Daily News columnist Elise Patkotak combines the Religious Right's mis-belief that America's laws are somehow based on the Ten Commandments - and their fear of gay marriage. Demonstrating that only two commandments of the "Decalogue" are actually in law (#6, "Thou shalt not kill," and #8, Thou shalt not steal). Further, Elise reminds us that all known cultures and civilizations since humans became human have embraced those very two concepts, regardless of religion. How else could any culture survive?
She adds that:
"If your religion requires you to shun gay people, shun away. But your god cannot take away their civil liberties because the Constitution make it crystal clear that those rights and liberties did not come from any god." I particularly like the way she boldly uses the lower case "god." It shows that Elise is not afraid to demand that religious people need to succeed in what Oliver Wendel Holmes referred to as the "market place of ideas," and cannot expect the rest of us to defer to religious views only because their religious.
__________________________________________________________________
New York Times columnist and Nobel Prize winner in economics Paul Krugman puts the current financial crisis' roots squarely where they belong. In the administration of Ronald Reagan, hero of the Republican Party, who signed the law that gave the banking industry"a license to gamble with the taxpayers money" due to the catastrophic long-term effects of deregulation. Go to the NYT website and find it.
_________________________________________________________________
Finally, it looks like two petty crooks (bribery) who were once representatives in the Alaska State Legislature may actually get out - part of the fallout from the US Senator Ted Steven's(R-Alaska) affair, where the USDOJ (under Obama) dropped all seven charges to which Uncle Ted was convicted (under Bush). This was due to mishandling of Steven's case by prosecutors, NOT on the evidence. Ted's age (82) was also a factor in Attorney General Holder's decision to not retry.
Not quite so lucky are former state reps. Pete Kott and Vic Kohring, as even though they may be released temporarily, their convictions may still hold up. After all their was indisputable video evidence of the bribes-for-votes for both of these guys. Hell, Vic (my own former representative) went down for like, 200 bucks and a bottle of vodka. Stay tuned on this one.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
I'm "Batchin-it"...
For the next few days with "Bunches" out to NY to collect our daughter, see some of the sights available on the NY side of America. Warm and sunny enough here in the Greatland to beat last year's miserable global-warming-denial-of-a-summer already, and it's only the middle of May. I'm crossing fingers.
Sarah (our governor) Palin has sided with fellow beauty pageant contestant Miss USA California, claiming that the 1st Amendment's freedom of speech clause covers Miss Prejean's somewhat impolitic statement, seemingly (and biblically) anti-gay rights. Our Governor thinks that the freedom of speech is unrestricted by privately owned ("The Donald" Trump)and funded events like the Miss USA bimbo-fest. This is of course, not true, which is why Al Campanis, Jimmy-the-Greek and others have famously been fired or retired by their media bosses when caught practicing bigotry. Not by the bosses, but by the public.
While it is a true example of sisterhood that an aging former beauty queen is standing up for a silicon-enhanced current beauty queen, neither of them seem to "get" the 1st Amendment: You can speak your mind...but there may be consequences. We bloggers should understand this too.
Sarah (our governor) Palin has sided with fellow beauty pageant contestant Miss USA California, claiming that the 1st Amendment's freedom of speech clause covers Miss Prejean's somewhat impolitic statement, seemingly (and biblically) anti-gay rights. Our Governor thinks that the freedom of speech is unrestricted by privately owned ("The Donald" Trump)and funded events like the Miss USA bimbo-fest. This is of course, not true, which is why Al Campanis, Jimmy-the-Greek and others have famously been fired or retired by their media bosses when caught practicing bigotry. Not by the bosses, but by the public.
While it is a true example of sisterhood that an aging former beauty queen is standing up for a silicon-enhanced current beauty queen, neither of them seem to "get" the 1st Amendment: You can speak your mind...but there may be consequences. We bloggers should understand this too.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Late to the party again...
But The "Tea Baggers" on April 15th here in Alaska count among themselves one Chuck Heath, father of Sarah "Caribou Barbie" (Heath) Palin, observed at the Wasilla Tea Party wearing a grin and a "Joe the Plumber" sweatshirt, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Question: Is there anything so galling as a former public employee who lives on a handsome retirement (payed for by the local taxpayers), and who so gleefully attends tax protest demonstrations? Word is that Chuck was an exceptionally good teacher, so I'm sure he feels he earned his retirement. fine. Why protest against others getting theirs?
Our local publicly-owned electric utility here in Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley has completed its annual membership meeting, board elections and bylaw referendum. In other places news of this sort would rarely make the shopping fliers, but this is the Wasilla-Palmer-Mat-Valley, so its BIG news. The relatively new "liberal" majority on the Matanuska Electric Association (MEA)board was re-elected, even after ordering manager Wayne Carmony to cashier Bruce Scott and Republican political gadfly Tuckerman Babcock. MEA has long served as a Laundromat for Republican patronage jobs, which explains Scott and Babcock's tenure there. Frankly, it couldn't have happened to two of more deserving practitioners of the professional sinecure. Tuckerman, who ran for Alaska State House as a conservative "let the private sector do it" candidate back in 1990, never so much as threw a paper route, and has probably never known a "private sector" job. I'd say good riddance, but the slippery smug and unctuous Tuckerman will re-emerge in some other form, shape-shifter that he is.
A University of Miami study indicates that religious people tend to "live longer than the norm for their demographic group." This should perhaps be unwelcome news to secular humanists like myself. Upon reflection, however, the secularist and non-theistic among us must consider that the average religious person spends 3 - 6 hours per week in Sunday School and church,or on the way to and from church. We non-religious put those hours to other uses: taking a walk, watching football, reading, doing chores, having a mimosa in the hot tub, making love, sleeping in or writing blogs, all kinds of relatively more productive endeavors. I figure the religious have to live 2 - 8 years longer than we un-churched just to make up for all the time they wasted - in church.
Question: Is there anything so galling as a former public employee who lives on a handsome retirement (payed for by the local taxpayers), and who so gleefully attends tax protest demonstrations? Word is that Chuck was an exceptionally good teacher, so I'm sure he feels he earned his retirement. fine. Why protest against others getting theirs?
Our local publicly-owned electric utility here in Alaska's Matanuska-Susitna Valley has completed its annual membership meeting, board elections and bylaw referendum. In other places news of this sort would rarely make the shopping fliers, but this is the Wasilla-Palmer-Mat-Valley, so its BIG news. The relatively new "liberal" majority on the Matanuska Electric Association (MEA)board was re-elected, even after ordering manager Wayne Carmony to cashier Bruce Scott and Republican political gadfly Tuckerman Babcock. MEA has long served as a Laundromat for Republican patronage jobs, which explains Scott and Babcock's tenure there. Frankly, it couldn't have happened to two of more deserving practitioners of the professional sinecure. Tuckerman, who ran for Alaska State House as a conservative "let the private sector do it" candidate back in 1990, never so much as threw a paper route, and has probably never known a "private sector" job. I'd say good riddance, but the slippery smug and unctuous Tuckerman will re-emerge in some other form, shape-shifter that he is.
A University of Miami study indicates that religious people tend to "live longer than the norm for their demographic group." This should perhaps be unwelcome news to secular humanists like myself. Upon reflection, however, the secularist and non-theistic among us must consider that the average religious person spends 3 - 6 hours per week in Sunday School and church,or on the way to and from church. We non-religious put those hours to other uses: taking a walk, watching football, reading, doing chores, having a mimosa in the hot tub, making love, sleeping in or writing blogs, all kinds of relatively more productive endeavors. I figure the religious have to live 2 - 8 years longer than we un-churched just to make up for all the time they wasted - in church.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
I should call this "Bill's Blog-A-Fortnight"...
Or "Think Again, Every Two Weeks or So." Anyway:
In her plaintive response to President Obama’s plan to redirect funds from the anti-ballistic missile program to defense programs deemed more worthy, Governor Palin claimed: “Alaska's strategic location and the system in place here have proven invaluable in defending the nation....”
If, by “invaluable” our governor means “not of value,” she is spot on. The “mid-course” missile defense program is – according to the Pentagon – rife with technical problems, waste, cost overruns, and mismanagement. The billions we’ve spent on this program only show that we’ll buy a system that, even under ideal test conditions, fails more often than it works. Cold fusion would be neat to have too, but the technology for it, and the missile “shield” placed in Alaska has yet to prove feasible, much less cost effective.
The fact that Ted Stevens brought the system, and the billions of federal dollars which go along with it, to Alaska has more to do with Palin’s complaint than Obama’s funding decision, or North Korea’s recent (unsuccessful) missile launch. After all, defense spending is the gift that keeps on giving for Alaska, as it has been for decades. Besides, our governor still has national aspirations.
In her plaintive response to President Obama’s plan to redirect funds from the anti-ballistic missile program to defense programs deemed more worthy, Governor Palin claimed: “Alaska's strategic location and the system in place here have proven invaluable in defending the nation....”
If, by “invaluable” our governor means “not of value,” she is spot on. The “mid-course” missile defense program is – according to the Pentagon – rife with technical problems, waste, cost overruns, and mismanagement. The billions we’ve spent on this program only show that we’ll buy a system that, even under ideal test conditions, fails more often than it works. Cold fusion would be neat to have too, but the technology for it, and the missile “shield” placed in Alaska has yet to prove feasible, much less cost effective.
The fact that Ted Stevens brought the system, and the billions of federal dollars which go along with it, to Alaska has more to do with Palin’s complaint than Obama’s funding decision, or North Korea’s recent (unsuccessful) missile launch. After all, defense spending is the gift that keeps on giving for Alaska, as it has been for decades. Besides, our governor still has national aspirations.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
From my perspective...
It becomes abundantly clear that local Alaskan outdoor writer Howard Delo subscribes the notion that “Just because your paranoid doesn’t mean somebody’s not out to get you.” Central to two of Howard’s missives, (“2nd Amendment is very clear,” 3/3/09, and his latest, “I just don’t believe it”, 3/10/09) is the idea that President Obama, the jackbooted ATF and the Democrat controlled Congress is going to kick down his door and haul off all of his guns, presumably to the recycling center, where they’ll be melted down, presumably into the next generation of energy-efficient GM vehicles.
First, for 230 years the 2nd Amendment was not “clear” in a legal sense, until last year’s 5-4 Supreme Court decision that struck down the D.C. handgun ban. In this decision, the majority held that there was indeed an “individual right” to keep and bear arms. But even Justice Scalia (on the majority side) wrote: “Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited,” meaning that reasonable restrictions to gun ownership can be applied, and do not constitute an ”infringement” of rights under the 2nd Amendment.
In his Spectrum of March 3rd, Delo says: “Just try passing a law restricting free speech in the print media…” In fact, there are plenty of laws restricting the “free speech” clause of the 1st Amendment. Laws regarding: incitement to riot, so called “fighting words,” libel and slander, national security, obscenity – the list goes on.
For that matter, there are laws restricting the “free exercise” of religion clause of the 1st Amendment. Same thing for the 4th (privacy rights) and the, 5th and 6th (rights of the accused) Amendments. And U.S. Supreme Courts through the years have found all of these legal restrictions constitutional. This is why neither I nor Mr. Delo can own a operational bazooka, or a claymore mine, or a howitzer, at least not without a really expensive license.
On the same day as Delo’s Spectrum, Erik Heiker wrote in to give us the old slippery slope argument that: “Gun restriction is always a precursor to gun confiscation.” I moved from Alaska to Illinois for a couple of years back in the ‘80s. According to long-standing state law, I was legally bound to register my guns with the county sheriff. Two years later I moved back to Alaska, and who’d believe it, but my guns weren’t confiscated at all. In fact, I hear that gun registration that does not lead to confiscation has been going on in Illinois for decades – who’d a thunk it? And that’s in Confiscator-in Chief Obama’s home state.
But back to Howard Delo. In his March 10th “OUTDOORS” column, he claims that Obama will do anything - short of making us choose between our 1st born child and our guns (and/or bibles) – to trash the 2nd Amendment. Yet a cursory investigation at FactCheck.org or other non-partisan websites will disabuse the more thoughtful among us of these idiotic NRA Kool-Aid-induced accusations.
As an Alaskan gun owner, I don’t particularly want restrictions on my 2nd Amendment rights. I don’t hunt, but I want the right to keep a handgun for personal protection, and the protection of my family. Living in Alaska, we view registration as anathema. Were I back in Illinois, I’d do as Illinoisans do and register my guns. It’s part of the beauty of the concept of federalism.
First, for 230 years the 2nd Amendment was not “clear” in a legal sense, until last year’s 5-4 Supreme Court decision that struck down the D.C. handgun ban. In this decision, the majority held that there was indeed an “individual right” to keep and bear arms. But even Justice Scalia (on the majority side) wrote: “Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited,” meaning that reasonable restrictions to gun ownership can be applied, and do not constitute an ”infringement” of rights under the 2nd Amendment.
In his Spectrum of March 3rd, Delo says: “Just try passing a law restricting free speech in the print media…” In fact, there are plenty of laws restricting the “free speech” clause of the 1st Amendment. Laws regarding: incitement to riot, so called “fighting words,” libel and slander, national security, obscenity – the list goes on.
For that matter, there are laws restricting the “free exercise” of religion clause of the 1st Amendment. Same thing for the 4th (privacy rights) and the, 5th and 6th (rights of the accused) Amendments. And U.S. Supreme Courts through the years have found all of these legal restrictions constitutional. This is why neither I nor Mr. Delo can own a operational bazooka, or a claymore mine, or a howitzer, at least not without a really expensive license.
On the same day as Delo’s Spectrum, Erik Heiker wrote in to give us the old slippery slope argument that: “Gun restriction is always a precursor to gun confiscation.” I moved from Alaska to Illinois for a couple of years back in the ‘80s. According to long-standing state law, I was legally bound to register my guns with the county sheriff. Two years later I moved back to Alaska, and who’d believe it, but my guns weren’t confiscated at all. In fact, I hear that gun registration that does not lead to confiscation has been going on in Illinois for decades – who’d a thunk it? And that’s in Confiscator-in Chief Obama’s home state.
But back to Howard Delo. In his March 10th “OUTDOORS” column, he claims that Obama will do anything - short of making us choose between our 1st born child and our guns (and/or bibles) – to trash the 2nd Amendment. Yet a cursory investigation at FactCheck.org or other non-partisan websites will disabuse the more thoughtful among us of these idiotic NRA Kool-Aid-induced accusations.
As an Alaskan gun owner, I don’t particularly want restrictions on my 2nd Amendment rights. I don’t hunt, but I want the right to keep a handgun for personal protection, and the protection of my family. Living in Alaska, we view registration as anathema. Were I back in Illinois, I’d do as Illinoisans do and register my guns. It’s part of the beauty of the concept of federalism.
Monday, March 16, 2009
A comment or two...
From some pithy thinkers of late.
One is a recent reader's comment from Paul Krugman's NYT blog regarding Rush Limbaugh and the Republican Party. It reflects my thoughts as well as any author thus far in this early Obama presidency:
"Rush Limbaugh openly states that he hopes for the failure of this presidency and its policies — and clearly states that any honest Republican shares his view. But isn’t wishing that the policies fail the same as wishing that the country fails? If one disagrees with the policy decisions, it’s legitimate to say so. But if the policies work, the intellectually honest thing to do is to reevaluate one’s own belief system. Wishing for their failure though is patently ideological, and ultimately an act of metaphorical suicide bombing. 'I’ll go down with the whole country just to make sure they’re never proven right'".— A. Devero
Another is from Ed Phillips, an old friend and retired real-life economist from Alaska, now from beautiful Kalama, WA. I get the big point but not the finer ones, really:
"There are real reasons to criticize the Obama fiscal policy. It's too bad the conservatives have chosen to retreat to a 1920's pre-Keynesian argument. They have adopted what is know as "The Treasury View".,promoted by the British Treasury in the interwar (WW1/WW2) and held by very few economists otherwise, even then.
This view holds that any increase in government expenditure must come at the expense of private expenditure. Public expenditures financed by taxes or deficits (future taxes) are held to "crowd our" private expenditures. This argument is plausible if the economy is at full employment and/or government borrowing increases interest rates, thereby reducing private investment and consumption. It seems that in periods of recession and/or depression the full employment constraint is not operative and it is possible to increase government expenditures financed by deficits and not crowd out private expenditures. This was recognized before Keynes and public works projects as a means of reducing unemployment was recognized by the economics profession by the early 20th century. A British commission in 1912 or so explicitly advocated such a policy.
In 1932 members of the University of Chicago Economics Faculty including Frank Knight, Jacob Viner, Henry Simons and Paul Douglas( Yes, the Paul Douglas that became a US Senator) sent a letter to Congress advocating public works projects financed by deficit spending and monetary expansion. Sounds very Keynesian.
In fact the efficacy of deficit spending and public works projects was orthodox nostrum before Keynes. His major contribution was to give it a theoretical underpinning. Had the Roosevelt Administration been willing to become Keynesian (follow the advice of Chicago) before WW2 the Great Depression may not have been "Great".'
Fox News "Analysts" claims FDR prolonged the Depression. If he did, it's because he spent too little, tried to balance the budget after 1936, and needed WW II to get us out of the "Great" depression. Here's to Obama not making the same mistake.
One is a recent reader's comment from Paul Krugman's NYT blog regarding Rush Limbaugh and the Republican Party. It reflects my thoughts as well as any author thus far in this early Obama presidency:
"Rush Limbaugh openly states that he hopes for the failure of this presidency and its policies — and clearly states that any honest Republican shares his view. But isn’t wishing that the policies fail the same as wishing that the country fails? If one disagrees with the policy decisions, it’s legitimate to say so. But if the policies work, the intellectually honest thing to do is to reevaluate one’s own belief system. Wishing for their failure though is patently ideological, and ultimately an act of metaphorical suicide bombing. 'I’ll go down with the whole country just to make sure they’re never proven right'".— A. Devero
Another is from Ed Phillips, an old friend and retired real-life economist from Alaska, now from beautiful Kalama, WA. I get the big point but not the finer ones, really:
"There are real reasons to criticize the Obama fiscal policy. It's too bad the conservatives have chosen to retreat to a 1920's pre-Keynesian argument. They have adopted what is know as "The Treasury View".,promoted by the British Treasury in the interwar (WW1/WW2) and held by very few economists otherwise, even then.
This view holds that any increase in government expenditure must come at the expense of private expenditure. Public expenditures financed by taxes or deficits (future taxes) are held to "crowd our" private expenditures. This argument is plausible if the economy is at full employment and/or government borrowing increases interest rates, thereby reducing private investment and consumption. It seems that in periods of recession and/or depression the full employment constraint is not operative and it is possible to increase government expenditures financed by deficits and not crowd out private expenditures. This was recognized before Keynes and public works projects as a means of reducing unemployment was recognized by the economics profession by the early 20th century. A British commission in 1912 or so explicitly advocated such a policy.
In 1932 members of the University of Chicago Economics Faculty including Frank Knight, Jacob Viner, Henry Simons and Paul Douglas( Yes, the Paul Douglas that became a US Senator) sent a letter to Congress advocating public works projects financed by deficit spending and monetary expansion. Sounds very Keynesian.
In fact the efficacy of deficit spending and public works projects was orthodox nostrum before Keynes. His major contribution was to give it a theoretical underpinning. Had the Roosevelt Administration been willing to become Keynesian (follow the advice of Chicago) before WW2 the Great Depression may not have been "Great".'
Fox News "Analysts" claims FDR prolonged the Depression. If he did, it's because he spent too little, tried to balance the budget after 1936, and needed WW II to get us out of the "Great" depression. Here's to Obama not making the same mistake.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Just got back....
From the LIONS gun show here in my little corner of "Land-of-the-Northern-Redneck," and boy was it crowded! Full disclosure: I do like guns. But I am not a member of the NRA, who I believe pedals paranoia to angry white guys. I am a gun owner who doesn't like a lot of other gun owners, and doesn't share their monomania about the 2nd Amendment, slippery slopes, torches and pitchforks.
When the US Supremes decided that there indeed was an individual right to bear arms over the D.C.handgun ban lawsuit), it was hailed by the trigger-happy right as validation for the false belief by many that there were no restrictions on gun ownership. The unintended consequence of the ruling, however, opens all gun ownership in the USA open to "reasonable restriction." Just as there are reasonable restrictions on our 1st Amendment (yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater, "fighting words..."), 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Amendment rights, there are assumed to be reasonable restrictions on Amendment #2. The debate should be about what constitutes "reasonable." At the gun show, President Obama and HR 45 were the big topics of conversation, none of it complimentary, among the 99% white male patrons. So let the debate begin, eh?
Can anyone tell me why a vendor at a gun show thought it was necessary to wear a t-shirt that proclaimed of its wearer:
Christian
Heterosexual
Patriotic
American
?
I would have automatically assumed as much, given the venue.
When the US Supremes decided that there indeed was an individual right to bear arms over the D.C.handgun ban lawsuit), it was hailed by the trigger-happy right as validation for the false belief by many that there were no restrictions on gun ownership. The unintended consequence of the ruling, however, opens all gun ownership in the USA open to "reasonable restriction." Just as there are reasonable restrictions on our 1st Amendment (yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater, "fighting words..."), 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Amendment rights, there are assumed to be reasonable restrictions on Amendment #2. The debate should be about what constitutes "reasonable." At the gun show, President Obama and HR 45 were the big topics of conversation, none of it complimentary, among the 99% white male patrons. So let the debate begin, eh?
Can anyone tell me why a vendor at a gun show thought it was necessary to wear a t-shirt that proclaimed of its wearer:
Christian
Heterosexual
Patriotic
American
?
I would have automatically assumed as much, given the venue.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Good to be back w/odds & ends...
You could go to the US Senate or the CBO website and try to find out, but generally I'm OK w/ the filter of the media version of the stimulus package. I'm too busy earning a living and stuff to consecrate my meager energies to the details of a $1 Trillion bill!
Get over Geithner, anyone who thinks he is unworthy to lead the Treasury Dept. Drowning puppies, selling crack and molesting children makes you unworthy, not tax dodging, which is, after baseball, the great American pastime. Obama rolled Daschle to soon also. All those in favor of universal health care, which I think would be perhaps a great job "stimulus" all by itself, who's going to do a better job than Tom Daschle would have?
I usually turn the channel if Pelosi's on, she w/the-deer-in-the-headlights look. The same look dumb-ass Mitch McConnell has, except he's got the goggles to go with it. Since Bush's "abstinence only" programs have proven a complete failure, I'm all in favor of $$$ for contraception, cause it works, and to rub the Religious Right's nose in it. I don't think it belongs in the "stimulus" plan, however.
I encourage all to go to Andy Borowitz's website and find "Obama Refuses to Answer Questions Regarding the Size of His Package." Hilarious.
Get over Geithner, anyone who thinks he is unworthy to lead the Treasury Dept. Drowning puppies, selling crack and molesting children makes you unworthy, not tax dodging, which is, after baseball, the great American pastime. Obama rolled Daschle to soon also. All those in favor of universal health care, which I think would be perhaps a great job "stimulus" all by itself, who's going to do a better job than Tom Daschle would have?
I usually turn the channel if Pelosi's on, she w/the-deer-in-the-headlights look. The same look dumb-ass Mitch McConnell has, except he's got the goggles to go with it. Since Bush's "abstinence only" programs have proven a complete failure, I'm all in favor of $$$ for contraception, cause it works, and to rub the Religious Right's nose in it. I don't think it belongs in the "stimulus" plan, however.
I encourage all to go to Andy Borowitz's website and find "Obama Refuses to Answer Questions Regarding the Size of His Package." Hilarious.
Monday, January 19, 2009
All of the Excitement...
Surrounding the imminent inauguration of one Barack Hussein Obama, further aligned by the calendar and perhaps the stars with the birthday of Martin Luther King, is a wonderful thing to behold for both my demographic (we used to say ""my generation") of Boomers who came up in the North. Even more so for my particular life circumstances: Chicago Heights by way of South Chicago, then on to Upstate NY where there were probably three black families in a working class town of 10,000. Old enough to remember MLK's untimely - or perhaps timely, death (if you're going to die for the cause of racial equality, why not 1968?), yet young enough to reasonably expect to see at least Obama's 1st full term. Seems all that ennui from after Barack's election has dissipated at least until the last inaugural ball. And no, we're not dressing up, chilling champagne and pretending while watching TV, the way some people dress up for soap opera weddings, or suit up to watch football games. I'm way too sophisticated for that. Doesn't mean I won't cry a little, if only from the relief of the humiliation of 8 years of #43 and dodging a Sarah-Palin-death-by-meteor-for-America.
I also had to cry a little when I learned that Julian Michels, AKA "my other dad," had quietly left this planet on January 14. Julian, who went by "Mike" among his many friends and fellow scientists in the little town of Norwich NY, or "Hoo-le-Han" among his six (including me) rambunctious children, was a tall man with a necessarily stoic and calm demeanor. In my memory, his only "vices" were the occasional glass of Thunderbird wine, and a predilection for the "Condensed Reader's Digest" versions of contemporary literature. He and Mae (AKA "my other mom," who took her leave of the planet ahead of Julian, probably to get their room ready at the elder hostel-of-whatever-comes-next)also possessed an impressive - and to me - ancient collection of National Geographics. Julian and Mae were kind and generous, especially with meat, mashed potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and iced tea, almost any evening, even if I'd already eaten dinner once at my house. Julian and Mae's son Jeff writes that Julian's departure leaves five smaller families where there was once one. Five families, but six kids - 'cause even after 40-some years, I'm still one of them.
I also had to cry a little when I learned that Julian Michels, AKA "my other dad," had quietly left this planet on January 14. Julian, who went by "Mike" among his many friends and fellow scientists in the little town of Norwich NY, or "Hoo-le-Han" among his six (including me) rambunctious children, was a tall man with a necessarily stoic and calm demeanor. In my memory, his only "vices" were the occasional glass of Thunderbird wine, and a predilection for the "Condensed Reader's Digest" versions of contemporary literature. He and Mae (AKA "my other mom," who took her leave of the planet ahead of Julian, probably to get their room ready at the elder hostel-of-whatever-comes-next)also possessed an impressive - and to me - ancient collection of National Geographics. Julian and Mae were kind and generous, especially with meat, mashed potatoes, corn-on-the-cob and iced tea, almost any evening, even if I'd already eaten dinner once at my house. Julian and Mae's son Jeff writes that Julian's departure leaves five smaller families where there was once one. Five families, but six kids - 'cause even after 40-some years, I'm still one of them.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Hang 'Em High...
Is the movie quoted by Alaska State Representative and ardent Republican, Jay Ramras.
As reported in the Anchorage Daily News, death penalty fan Jay Ramras was fittingly (yet unknowingly) ironical in his statement: "I'm like Clint Eastwood on this issue, 'hang 'em high.'"
It appears that Ramras and like-minded Republican legislators are attempting to bring the death penalty, gone since 1957, back to Alaska.
Notice the perverse brio of Ramras'boast (one wonders if he's also inclined to quote Groucho Marx in DUCK SOUP: "Line them up against the wall and 'pop goes the weasel!'"").
However, Rep. Ramras is evidently knowledgeable about neither Eastwood nor the western film genre. In the 1968 movie, the words "hang 'em high" were spoken not by the character played by Eastwood, but by "Hanging Judge Fenton," played by the recently departed Pat Hingle.
So where’s the irony? Ramras and other death penalty advocates should note that the man hung in the film was played by Clint Eastwood, condemned by an overzealous justice system for a crime he did not commit.
As reported in the Anchorage Daily News, death penalty fan Jay Ramras was fittingly (yet unknowingly) ironical in his statement: "I'm like Clint Eastwood on this issue, 'hang 'em high.'"
It appears that Ramras and like-minded Republican legislators are attempting to bring the death penalty, gone since 1957, back to Alaska.
Notice the perverse brio of Ramras'boast (one wonders if he's also inclined to quote Groucho Marx in DUCK SOUP: "Line them up against the wall and 'pop goes the weasel!'"").
However, Rep. Ramras is evidently knowledgeable about neither Eastwood nor the western film genre. In the 1968 movie, the words "hang 'em high" were spoken not by the character played by Eastwood, but by "Hanging Judge Fenton," played by the recently departed Pat Hingle.
So where’s the irony? Ramras and other death penalty advocates should note that the man hung in the film was played by Clint Eastwood, condemned by an overzealous justice system for a crime he did not commit.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Anyone here remember...
Trooper-gate? You know, where Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was accused of using her office to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the Alaska State Troopers? And when that never happened, she had the commish of public safety cashiered? And the state's legislative ethics committee found that Sarah had violated the law, yet a hand-picked (by Sarah) state personnel board found her not guilty of any ethical or legal infractions? Well, get ready for parts II and III.
First, we have a state drug investigator and the troopers union alleging political meddling (see today's www.adn.com for details)in the belated arrest of Sherry Johnston. Sherry Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, who's sire to the baby of Bristol Palin, who is Sarah Palin's daughter...got that? It seems that the state's drug enforcement unit had enough on Levi's mom to arrest her for trafficking in OxyContin (Rush Limbaugh's favorite) back in October, but they were told in so many ways not to make the bust until after the November presidential election. This is according to AST Drug Investigator Kyle Young, who was involved in the case, and the Alaska Public Safety Employees Union. If allegations prove true, Governor Palin's once seraphic rep will suffer again.
Then comes this nugget from Alaska Daily News opinion writer and local right-wing radio host Dan Fagan, further accusing Sarah (or surrogates) of setting up her erstwhile son-in-law (the aforementioned Levi Johnston) with an electrician's apprenticeship up on Alaska's North Slope. On its face, it might not seem that egregious a thing, save for the fact that Levi is not qualified (no high school diploma, no GED), and he shot to the head of a 100-person waiting list, and no one, including the people who are in charge of the apprenticeship program, can explain why. As a former Illinoisan, I'm reminded of Richard K. Daley's Chicago, no?
Fagan goes on to postulate that Governor Palin's numbers have been suffering steadily since going under the bright lights of national political scrutiny, and that these revelations do not help her. Polls, Fagan says, indicated that should Sarah challenge U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski in 2010, Sarah would lose big. He even claims Sarah's chances for a 2nd term as governor are only 3 in 10.
If nothing else, all this makes for an interesting next couple of years here in the "Greatland."
First, we have a state drug investigator and the troopers union alleging political meddling (see today's www.adn.com for details)in the belated arrest of Sherry Johnston. Sherry Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, who's sire to the baby of Bristol Palin, who is Sarah Palin's daughter...got that? It seems that the state's drug enforcement unit had enough on Levi's mom to arrest her for trafficking in OxyContin (Rush Limbaugh's favorite) back in October, but they were told in so many ways not to make the bust until after the November presidential election. This is according to AST Drug Investigator Kyle Young, who was involved in the case, and the Alaska Public Safety Employees Union. If allegations prove true, Governor Palin's once seraphic rep will suffer again.
Then comes this nugget from Alaska Daily News opinion writer and local right-wing radio host Dan Fagan, further accusing Sarah (or surrogates) of setting up her erstwhile son-in-law (the aforementioned Levi Johnston) with an electrician's apprenticeship up on Alaska's North Slope. On its face, it might not seem that egregious a thing, save for the fact that Levi is not qualified (no high school diploma, no GED), and he shot to the head of a 100-person waiting list, and no one, including the people who are in charge of the apprenticeship program, can explain why. As a former Illinoisan, I'm reminded of Richard K. Daley's Chicago, no?
Fagan goes on to postulate that Governor Palin's numbers have been suffering steadily since going under the bright lights of national political scrutiny, and that these revelations do not help her. Polls, Fagan says, indicated that should Sarah challenge U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski in 2010, Sarah would lose big. He even claims Sarah's chances for a 2nd term as governor are only 3 in 10.
If nothing else, all this makes for an interesting next couple of years here in the "Greatland."
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