-- Leonardo da Vinci
Friday, February 24, 2012
Quote Of The Day
Feb 24th, 2012
"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
-- Leonardo da Vinci
-- Leonardo da Vinci
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Bartlett On The Daily Show
Feb 23rd, 2012
Once again, the strongest allies progressives have against the current GOP are generally real conservatives. Interesting times...
Once again, the strongest allies progressives have against the current GOP are generally real conservatives. Interesting times...
Where Some Fear To Tread...
Feb 23rd, 2012
Dave Weigel spent some of his time covering the Mesa, AZ GOP "debate" asking Santorum supporters about their motivations...
"Three months ago, Public Policy Polling asked Republican primary voters whom they liked. Three percent of them chose Rick Santorum. This week, PPP asked again. Thirty-three percent of Republicans planned on voting for Santorum, putting him one hot breath away from Mitt Romney.
Who are these people, and why did they switch to Rick? I interviewed voters outside a Santorum speech in Tucson to find out."
Our favorite? Meet Ann Doherty, "teacher."
"I started supporting him when he became more electable, honestly, because that’s what conservatives are looking for. They’re not necessarily looking for the right candidate. They’re looking for someone who can beat Obama. If that turned out to be a 7-year-old with an aneurysm, it would be enough."
As Bruce Bartlett snarked earlier, "Remember, their votes count the same as yours."
Dave Weigel spent some of his time covering the Mesa, AZ GOP "debate" asking Santorum supporters about their motivations...
"Three months ago, Public Policy Polling asked Republican primary voters whom they liked. Three percent of them chose Rick Santorum. This week, PPP asked again. Thirty-three percent of Republicans planned on voting for Santorum, putting him one hot breath away from Mitt Romney.
Who are these people, and why did they switch to Rick? I interviewed voters outside a Santorum speech in Tucson to find out."
Our favorite? Meet Ann Doherty, "teacher."
As Bruce Bartlett snarked earlier, "Remember, their votes count the same as yours."
Quote Of The Day - Here and Now Edition
Feb 23rd, 2012
"Folks, I have often warned you that President Obama is an anti-religious zealot, which is surprising since he is also a devout secret Muslim."
-- Stephen Colbert
-- Stephen Colbert
Another GOP Debate... Again
Feb 23rd, 2012
I didn't have the stomach to liveblog last night's angry-white-man-distortion-fest. Sullivan, whether to his credit or as a sign that he really is a masochist, did so HERE. His takeaway:
"Maybe I've lost my mind after all these debates, or maybe I secretly want him to win (because he would finally expose all the insanity that has been building in this party and needs venting). But I thought Santorum was on form tonight. My sense is that he will not lose his current momentum after tonight. I didn't feel Newt tonight. Romney doesn't wear well. Paul was great and funny and human.
But there was a winner, it seems to me. He's in the White House."
I didn't have the stomach to liveblog last night's angry-white-man-distortion-fest. Sullivan, whether to his credit or as a sign that he really is a masochist, did so HERE. His takeaway:
"Maybe I've lost my mind after all these debates, or maybe I secretly want him to win (because he would finally expose all the insanity that has been building in this party and needs venting). But I thought Santorum was on form tonight. My sense is that he will not lose his current momentum after tonight. I didn't feel Newt tonight. Romney doesn't wear well. Paul was great and funny and human.
But there was a winner, it seems to me. He's in the White House."
Yup.
Quote Of The Day
Feb 23rd, 2012
"Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all."
-- John W. Gardner
-- John W. Gardner
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Romney Watch - Et Tu, Mittens?
Feb 22nd, 2012
by F. Grey Parker
Barry Goldwater once said,
There was a time when I had some regard for Mitt Romney. He once seemed contemplative and fair. There is plenty in his record to respect no matter how much he's running from it lately.
But that's just it... he's really running from it. What's more, what he is running to is un-American.
A few months ago, he was not just the GOP elite establishment's choice. He also seemed the smart choice. Not anymore.
I believe that yesterday, Romney not only sealed the fate of his campaign but also that of his party.
Barry Goldwater once said,
"Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize that religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternatives."My. How things have changed.
There was a time when I had some regard for Mitt Romney. He once seemed contemplative and fair. There is plenty in his record to respect no matter how much he's running from it lately.
But that's just it... he's really running from it. What's more, what he is running to is un-American.
A few months ago, he was not just the GOP elite establishment's choice. He also seemed the smart choice. Not anymore.
I believe that yesterday, Romney not only sealed the fate of his campaign but also that of his party.
Quote Of The Day
Feb 22nd, 2012
"The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded upon the Christian religion."
-- George Washington, 1797
-- George Washington, 1797
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
How Social Conservatives Are Derailing The GOP, cont...
Feb 21st, 2012
Josh Holland notes that one of the interesting things to come out of the GOP's war on contraception is a fracture in messaging:
"Most progressives have come to hold a grudging admiration for the conservative movement's message discipline. We're often impressed by the way the entire movement repeats and reinforces its preferred narrative on most issues – from the most obscure bloggers in the fever swamps of wingnuttia to the Republican caucus in the senate. There's real power in that discipline."
At first, the arguments against the so-called "contraception mandate" were framed exclusively as an issue of "religious liberty." I thoroughly debunked this nonsense HERE. My expectation was that the establishment would keep order, the wing-nuts would follow and, as usual, I would have to keep making my point in an attempt to expose the underlying hypocrisy.
However, when you use a dog-whistle you can't always control how the hounds respond. From the recent disgusting pronouncements of Dana Loesch to the extreme proposals of Republican Senator Roy Blunt which would expand conservative demands for exceptions beyond the religious and into the "moral," the discipline of GOP propaganda which we once expected is showing signs of collapse.
The real and underlying fear among "conservatives" over changes in women's roles over the last two generations has erupted and is "throwing them off message and making it clear to the public at large that this fight is first and foremost about women's role in society, and not “conscience” or “liberty” or any of the other talking points that might have won the American people over to their side in the debate.
And that clarity will play out in this election cycle. As Greg Sargent notes, over the past three months pollsters have seen a dramatic, 18-point swing from Romney to Obama among unmarried women, and the president now leads the supposedly “moderate” contender by a stunning 65-30 margin among that group. When it comes to this bizarre fight over contraception, social conservatives are proving to be their party's own worst enemies."
And it's still only February.
Josh Holland notes that one of the interesting things to come out of the GOP's war on contraception is a fracture in messaging:
"Most progressives have come to hold a grudging admiration for the conservative movement's message discipline. We're often impressed by the way the entire movement repeats and reinforces its preferred narrative on most issues – from the most obscure bloggers in the fever swamps of wingnuttia to the Republican caucus in the senate. There's real power in that discipline."
At first, the arguments against the so-called "contraception mandate" were framed exclusively as an issue of "religious liberty." I thoroughly debunked this nonsense HERE. My expectation was that the establishment would keep order, the wing-nuts would follow and, as usual, I would have to keep making my point in an attempt to expose the underlying hypocrisy.
However, when you use a dog-whistle you can't always control how the hounds respond. From the recent disgusting pronouncements of Dana Loesch to the extreme proposals of Republican Senator Roy Blunt which would expand conservative demands for exceptions beyond the religious and into the "moral," the discipline of GOP propaganda which we once expected is showing signs of collapse.
The real and underlying fear among "conservatives" over changes in women's roles over the last two generations has erupted and is "throwing them off message and making it clear to the public at large that this fight is first and foremost about women's role in society, and not “conscience” or “liberty” or any of the other talking points that might have won the American people over to their side in the debate.
And that clarity will play out in this election cycle. As Greg Sargent notes, over the past three months pollsters have seen a dramatic, 18-point swing from Romney to Obama among unmarried women, and the president now leads the supposedly “moderate” contender by a stunning 65-30 margin among that group. When it comes to this bizarre fight over contraception, social conservatives are proving to be their party's own worst enemies."
And it's still only February.
Santorum Watch - Obama Equals Hitler Edition
Feb 21st, 2012
Way back in 2010, while stumping for Republican candidate Pat Toomey, GOP darling and potential 2012 Presidential nominee compared the sitting President to a schoolyard drug dealer and argued that he posed the same threat to the world as Hitler. I shit you not.
Way back in 2010, while stumping for Republican candidate Pat Toomey, GOP darling and potential 2012 Presidential nominee compared the sitting President to a schoolyard drug dealer and argued that he posed the same threat to the world as Hitler. I shit you not.
Panicky Gasbag Cries Conspiracy
Feb 21st, 2012
Dick Morris has no legitimate way to counter the recent wave of positive economic data that benefits the President. His solution? Crazy talk.
via Media Matters
Dick Morris has no legitimate way to counter the recent wave of positive economic data that benefits the President. His solution? Crazy talk.
via Media Matters
Newt Watch - Turning Up The Crazy
Feb 13th, 2012
It's understandable, I suppose, that Gingrich would be trying to beat Rick "Crazy-Pants" Santorum at his own game. After all, Santorum's star seems to be rising with the GOP base in direct proportion to his widening orbit away from both reality and decency.
But, two of Newt's recent statements are particularly unbelievable:
Defeating President Obama is now "a duty of national security" because "he is incapable of defending the United States."
Uh huh. Tell that to Qaddafi and Bin Laden.
Even more rich is this gem from Raw Story:
"At a campaign event in Suwanee, Georgia, the former House Speaker told supporters that he would bring back cheaper gas because "you can’t put a gun rack on a Volt."
Hee haw.
 |
| Image via Salon |
But, two of Newt's recent statements are particularly unbelievable:
Defeating President Obama is now "a duty of national security" because "he is incapable of defending the United States."
Uh huh. Tell that to Qaddafi and Bin Laden.
Even more rich is this gem from Raw Story:
"At a campaign event in Suwanee, Georgia, the former House Speaker told supporters that he would bring back cheaper gas because "you can’t put a gun rack on a Volt."
Hee haw.
Institutional Inequity
Feb 21st, 2012
On the heels of the latest Council of Economic Advisers Report to the President, Bruce Bartlett sums up what we already know pretty well today:
"...a tax system that lightly taxes capital and heavily taxes labor is necessarily going to benefit the wealthy. As this chart illustrates, federal tax rates on the wealthy have been falling since 1978, when Congress cut the maximum capital gains rate to 28 percent from 35 percent."
It is notable that Bartlett refers to capital gains in this piece as "unearned" income as opposed to the "earned" income of labor.
The current field of Republican Presidential hopefuls would never use such language. In spite of the fact that the realities of the last ten years have disproved the supposed benefits of so lopsided an approach to federal revenue, their plans, if elected, are to make the disparity more extreme.
Every one of them has proposed lowering taxes on dividends and capital gains further while actually raising them on the lowest quintile's labor.
Bartlett's takeaway:
"...the tax system in the United States violates the fundamental principles of income taxation. Those are "vertical equity," which says that those with upper incomes should pay a higher effective tax rate than those with modest incomes — as far back as Adam Smith, ability to pay has always been a core principle of taxation — and "horizontal equity," which says that those with roughly the same income ought to pay roughly the same taxes." EMPHASIS OURS
Of course, what the heck does Bartlett know? He's merely one of the Reagan Revolution's architects as well as one of the preeminent economists of our age.
Santorum Watch - Home Schooling Edition
feb 21st, 2012
When I noted yesterday that the least insane of Rick Santorum's statements recently was his assault on public schools, I was unaware of an interesting (and unsurprising) piece of information.
Stephen D. Foster writes:
"Rick Santorum has been very vocal about his preference for home schooling. There’s a reason for this of course. He holds a grudge. Santorum enrolled his children in the Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School and stuck the taxpayers for 80% of the costs which were paid through the Penn Hills School District. In November 2004, Penn Hills asked Santorum to repay $67,000 in tuition costs because he and his family were spending most of the year in Virginia and did not meet the qualifications for residency status. So Santorum pulled his kids out of school and has home schooled them ever since. If parents are supposed to be responsible for teaching their own kids, how come Santorum wasn’t home schooling his children before 2004?"
Santorum is a hypocrite of a very rare breed.
When I noted yesterday that the least insane of Rick Santorum's statements recently was his assault on public schools, I was unaware of an interesting (and unsurprising) piece of information.
Stephen D. Foster writes:
"Rick Santorum has been very vocal about his preference for home schooling. There’s a reason for this of course. He holds a grudge. Santorum enrolled his children in the Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School and stuck the taxpayers for 80% of the costs which were paid through the Penn Hills School District. In November 2004, Penn Hills asked Santorum to repay $67,000 in tuition costs because he and his family were spending most of the year in Virginia and did not meet the qualifications for residency status. So Santorum pulled his kids out of school and has home schooled them ever since. If parents are supposed to be responsible for teaching their own kids, how come Santorum wasn’t home schooling his children before 2004?"
Santorum is a hypocrite of a very rare breed.
Regarding Alice Stewart
Feb 21st, 2012
Of course she didn't mean to call President Obama's positions on environmental issues "radical Islamic" policies.
So fucking what?
That she slipped so casually in her role as Santorum's National Press Secretary speaks volumes regarding what is acceptable when that camp is behind closed doors.
Of course she didn't mean to call President Obama's positions on environmental issues "radical Islamic" policies.
So fucking what?
That she slipped so casually in her role as Santorum's National Press Secretary speaks volumes regarding what is acceptable when that camp is behind closed doors.
Dominionists On Parade
Feb 21st, 2012
Well, Franklin Graham certainly distinguished himself this morning. Appering on Joe Scarborough's show, he openly questioned the faith of the sitting President and smeared the Mormon faith. Graham said at one point that because Brack Obama's father was a Muslim, "Islam regards him as a son of Islam." He also makes sure to remind the audience, several times, of Obama's attendance at services in Jeremiah Wright's church.
No dog whistles there.
Coversely, he declared that there is "no question about" whether Rick Santorum is a Christian. What's more, he makes no bones about his trust in Newt (the prevaricating philanderer) Gingrich's faith.
The panel was justifiably shocked. A visibly angry Willie Geist shot back at one point, "So, Newt Gingrich is a Christian, but you’re not sure that President Obama is?"
Well, Franklin Graham certainly distinguished himself this morning. Appering on Joe Scarborough's show, he openly questioned the faith of the sitting President and smeared the Mormon faith. Graham said at one point that because Brack Obama's father was a Muslim, "Islam regards him as a son of Islam." He also makes sure to remind the audience, several times, of Obama's attendance at services in Jeremiah Wright's church.
No dog whistles there.
Coversely, he declared that there is "no question about" whether Rick Santorum is a Christian. What's more, he makes no bones about his trust in Newt (the prevaricating philanderer) Gingrich's faith.
The panel was justifiably shocked. A visibly angry Willie Geist shot back at one point, "So, Newt Gingrich is a Christian, but you’re not sure that President Obama is?"
Monday, February 20, 2012
Quote Of The Day
Feb 21st, 2012
"The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Quote Of The Day - President's Day Edition
Feb 20th, 2012
-- Abraham Lincoln
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
-- Abraham Lincoln
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