The audacity of Republican ‘leadership’

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Michael

The U.S. and Russia have long had a deal – dating to the Cold War, in fact – where they have allowed ground inspections of the other nation’s nuclear arsenal. This helps to ensure the other side doesn’t have a secret buildup happening. This deal adds meaningful weight to reduction treaties. It also contributes to security for both sides – but especially the U.S. – because there is more transparency in terms of where nuclear arms are being sent around the world, if anywhere.

But the Party of No doesn’t really give a shit.

One of President Obama’s top foreign-policy goals suffered a potentially ruinous setback when the Senate’s second-ranking Republican said the U.S. nuclear treaty with Russia should not be considered until next year.

The statement Tuesday by Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) stunned the White House and Democrats, who scrambled to save the pact. It came just days after Obama declared that ratifying the treaty was his top foreign-policy priority for the lame-duck session of Congress.

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) needs 67 votes to pass. Because of Democratic losses in the midterm elections, it would be harder to approve next year, requiring at least 14 Republican votes rather than nine now.

Kyl is making a political stand designed purely to embarrass the President. His actions serve no purpose – especially since Obama has already done a little backscratching by committing money to modernizing the country’s nuclear complex already, as requested by Kyl. The toolsac just wants to make a political move.

Kyl, of course, is taking his cues from Sen. Mitch McConnell. You know, that’s the guy who said the Republicans Party’s number one goal over the next two year is to kick Obama out of office? Yeah, that guy. For once a Republican wasn’t bullshitting. This is really their whole plan – do whatever it takes to embarrass the President. And then when the economy starts to recover as a result of natural growth plus all the Democratic policies put in place that have strengthened our country, they will take credit for that. I promise that when we start seeing good growth and shrinking unemployment over the next 18-20 months, the Republicans will start taking credit – despite getting nothing done by being the Party of No.

But let’s not bother to inspect Russia’s shoddy nuclear complex. I’m sure no weapons will end up in the wrong hands. What reason do we have to be distrustful of that nation, anyway?

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Here are some facts

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Michael
  • The Obama Administration has put in some excellent policies, including age restrictions on credit cards and cutting out the middle man in loans (this second one brings some amusement with it: conservatives claim to hate the government interfering with the private sector, but they don’t seem to realize that the only reason this part of the private sector could thrive was because of government backing. They should approve of this move – except they blindly hate Obama).
  • The second bailout was the right move. It prevented a collapse of the credit markets from the Bush recession.
  • Many of the businesses that got bailouts are paying back that money.
  • McCain would have just followed the Republicans (as has been his thing over the past few purely political, dishonest years of his life) and slashed social programs all over the place; people would lose homes, only making things worse.
  • Tax cuts alone don’t create jobs. They do, however, increase debt.

Filed under: Politics and Social | Tagged: , , , , | 8 Comments »

Quickies

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Michael
  • The Tea Party is a response to a black president.
  • Most of the job loss in the Bush Recession occurred before Obama’s policies were even in place.
  • One major factor in the political polarization of the U.S. is the gerrymandering of districts – from both major parties.
  • Paul LePage knows nothing.
  • Matt Damon is excellent.

Filed under: Misc | Tagged: , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Thought of the day

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Michael

I don’t much get into debating Obama’s policies because the political environment is so polarized and thus not conducive to discussion with most people, but I do rather hate the FOX Noise-driven rhetoric I constantly hear. From “socialist” to “death panels”, there’s a lot of lying. There’s certainly plenty of the same from Democrats, but the Republicans are just better at it. They demonstrate as much in the way they’ve convinced people that the stimulus bill failed. In fact, without the stimulus unemployment would be another 2 points higher. But the Republicans aren’t going to mention that figure.

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Barton is in line with the Republican Party

Posted on June 21, 2010 by Michael

As everyone knows by now, Rep. Joe Barton apologized to BP for the $20b fund Obama strong armed from the company. The reason Obama was able to do this was because of the non-free market style economy the U.S. has which allows for the threat of greater, government-enforced penalties. Of course, the free market would be entirely flaccid in trying to wrest any real funds from BP. Thank goodness the U.S. has never had such an awful, awful system.

But Republicans and their sister Teabagging party wish we had a free market system. It sounds like liberty – despite the inevitability of monopolies, limited (if any) rights for workers, and no real enforcement of safety standards, retirement plans, or anything else that makes modern life comfortable. But it sure does sound swell. And that’s why they like it. It isn’t that it actually makes a majority of people happy or that it results in a strong economy. In fact, one of the few free market economies – Hong Kong – has only been able to experience any success because of the supporting structure of communist China. On their own, free markets will fail. If they don’t, the well-being of the people subjected to the whims of the few who become powerful will come under greater and greater strain over time.

But forget all that. It still sounds nice. Liberty! Boy, oh, boy! That’s why Rep. Barton made his apology.

What Obama managed to accomplish with BP runs counter to the free market principles the Republicans and Teabaggers support (until they need/want roads, schools, a place to put the homeless, a war on drugs, etc, etc). Rep. Barton is perfectly in line with the Republican Party on this one. Obviously they ran away screaming because of the political fallout of the situation, but if everything they’ve ever said was in the least sincere, then they hate that BP is being forced to pay.

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At least they aren’t all crazy

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Michael

Despite Dubya being the worst president after James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Millard Fillmore, and Franklin Pierce, his messed up ideology is not wholly pervasive within his family.

She may have been born into a Republican family, but Barbara Bush, the 28-year-old daughter of former President George W. Bush, sounded more like a Democrat this weekend during an interview with Fox News. When “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace asked her whether she supports President Obama’s health care reform plan, she responded: “I guess I’m glad the bill was passed.”

…

“Why do, basically, people with money have good health care and why do people who live on lower salaries not have good health care?” she said. “Health should be a right for everyone.” She is president of the Global Health Corps, an organization that champions global health equity.

The article goes on to cite Laura Bush’s support for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, as well as her support for abortion rights and same-sex marriage. It’s nice to at least know that whole family isn’t a bunch of loons.

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Some benefits for gay couples

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Michael

It’s a step in the right direction.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday expanded benefits for same-sex partners of federal employees, a move likely to be welcomed by gay rights activists who have questioned his commitment to their causes.

Obama said he had directed government agencies to offer a number of new benefits to the families of gay and lesbian federal employees, including family assistance services, hardship transfers and relocation expenses.

How horrible. More families have more equality. Next logical stop: sex with animals. R-right?

Of course, the only way any of these families can actually get more than a taste of equality is through full marital rights – you know, those legal rights that are legally conferred upon people through a legal contract.

Filed under: News, Rights, Same-sex marriage | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Bigot gets fired

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Michael

Jonathan I. Katz is a ridiculous excuse of a human being. Here’s what he says about gay people.

Unfortunately, the victims are not only those whose reckless behavior brought death on themselves. There are many completely innocent victims, too: hemophiliacs (a substantial fraction died as a result of contaminated clotting factor), recipients of contaminated transfusions, and their spouses and children, for AIDS can be transmitted heterosexually (in America, only infrequently) and congenitally. The icy road was lined with unsuspecting innocents, who never chose to ride a motorcycle. Guilt for their deaths is on the hands of the homosexuals and intravenous drug abusers who poisoned the blood supply. These people died so the sodomites could feel good about themselves.

What of those cursed with unnatural sexual desires? Must they forever suppress these desires? Yes, but this is hardly a unique fate. Almost everyone has desires which must be suppressed. Most men and women think adulterous thoughts fairly often, and find themselves attracted to members of the opposite sex to whom they are not married. Morality requires them to suppress these desires, and most do not commit adultery, though they feel lust in their hearts. Almost everyone, at one time or another, covets another’s property. They do not steal. Many people feel great anger or intense hatred at some time in their lives. They do not kill.

I am a homophobe, and proud.

This bigot was given a prominent position within the Obama Administration, working on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. To compound Obama’s error, the guy is also a global warming denier to some extent. (“To some extent” = global warming is happening and is caused by people, but it’s somehow good for us.) A person such as this deserves to be shunned and pushed away from any prestigious position or stature – that should be obvious. In fact, it should have been obvious that such a person shouldn’t have been given any sort of distinguished label in the first place. Fortunately, at least hindsight is 20/20.

Dr. Chu has spoken with dozens of scientists and engineers as part of his work to help find solutions to stop the oil spill. Some of Professor Katz’s controversial writings have become a distraction from the critical work of addressing the oil spill. Professor Katz will no longer be involved in the Department’s efforts.

Good.

Filed under: News, Rights | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Obama expands rights for all

Posted on April 27, 2010 by Michael

I’m not sure how I managed to miss this story, but Obama has expanded visitation rights in hospitals that will primarily benefit gay couples.

The president directed the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation in a memo that was e-mailed to reporters Thursday night.

Administration officials and gay activists, who have been quietly working together on the issue, said the new rule, once in place, will affect any hospital that receives Medicare or Medicaid funding, a move that covers the vast majority of the nation’s health care institutions.

While those who irrationally hate gays because they think homosexuality is all about sex (and that’s just icky!) are going to paint this as special rights for gays, it is an expansion of rights for all.

Obama’s memo to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius orders the development of new rules to ensure that hospitals “respect the rights of patients to designate visitors” and to choose the people who will make medical decisions on their behalf.

This is common sense. Even with legal documents in place, gays and some unmarried straight couples still face horrific discrimination in hospitals. Specifically, this recent memo is in response to the case of Lisa Pond and Janice Langbehn.

Ms. Pond had filed a living will, a binding legal document, that appointed Ms. Langbehn to make medical decisions for her should she become too ill to speak for herself.

But even after copies of that document were faxed to the Florida hospital where Ms. Pond was dying, nurses refused to allow Ms. Langbehn and the couple’s three children into the room.

It is difficult to imagine that a heterosexual couple — even an unmarried heterosexual couple with a similarly long-standing relationship — would be treated the same way.

In another case (from the same link), a couple had designated each other as the person in charge of medical decisions should the other become ill.

Like Ms. Pond, Ms. Ritchie had a living will that designated her partner to make medical decisions for her. But hospital officials wouldn’t provide Ms. Reed with any information on her partner’s condition. Without that information, she couldn’t possibly make informed medical decisions, as Ms. Ritchie had intended.

Things like this are the successes of bigoted voters who go to the ballot box thinking they’re protecting some institution. This isn’t about abstract social constructs. It is about human beings. This goes beyond the petty narrow-mindedness that pervades so many; the happiness of others is what matters. Equal rights for all will increase happiness while not affecting the currently privileged one bit.

What is so damned hard about this? Institutions matter only insofar as they protect people.

Filed under: News, Politics and Social, Rights, Same-sex marriage | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

How to garner my respect

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Michael

Just before the last primary run-up for president, Giuliani said he was cheering for the 2007 Red Sox because he cheers for the American League in lieu of specifically cheering for the Assholes. That’s a load of shit. I don’t care what the circumstance is. Ever. Red Sox and Assholes fans are only to cheer for their own team and whichever team is facing their rival. That’s it. No waffling.

That’s why Obama impressed me so much recently. Even though he pulled a similar cheer-for-the-team-of-the-current-campaign-town crap with the Rays and Phillies in ’08, he’s been consistent with his home team, the White Sox. I’ve even heard him disparage the Cubs as “not real baseball”. I don’t hate the Cubs or anything, but I love the comment, the commitment. But what’s even better is this.

After jogging out to the mound before the Nats-Phillies game with his head uncovered, Obama toed the rubber, pulled his familiar Sox cap from his glove and tugged it tight over his head. The crowd sounded momentarily conflicted over the president’s pledge of allegiance, but still cheered once Obama went into his windup.

And since I’ll probably never again have a time when this is relevant, here’s where I sat for a White Sox/Red Sox game in ’08. (The White Sox, unfortunately, won, 5-3.)

Filed under: sports | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

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