Some Interesting Conservative Thought On Libya

March 22nd, 2011

Since the start of hostilities, there have been some genuinely intriguing observations over at the National Review. Kevin D. Willaimson writes in response to some derision regarding the use of our military dollars:

"With all due respect to Mr. Felzenberg and Mr. Gray, I’m not sure that our Libya campaign shows the folly of cuts in defense spending. One might argue as easily that our $1 trillion or more in defense spending shows the folly of the Libya campaign. We’re lobbing missiles that go for about $750,000 a copy into a country for the entirety of which I would not trade the change behind my sofa cushions, inasmuch as Libya strikes me the very definition of a negative asset, one that we are in the process of taking custodianship over."

"Yes, I wrote $1 trillion. Even though the last DOD budget was only — only! — about $550 billion, supplementary war funding brings the number up to about $663 billion. But lots of military spending takes place outside of DOD: at NASA, at DOE, DHS, Veterans’ Affairs, etc. And NASCAR, for Pete’s sake. Throw in all that, and the interest payments on debt incurred for previous military spending, and you get a number between $1 trillion and $1.4 trillion, depending on how you count it up. I’ll be conservative and call it a cool trillion. That’s a lot of money for a national-security system that has repeatedly, predictably, reliably failed to address our actual security threats."

Although I disagree, at points strenuously, with Williamson's recommendations for change, it is refreshing to see the truth about our defense budgets so plainly stated at NRO.

Goo-Goo Syndrome

March 22nd, 2011

We know what the right is up to. They are following a blueprint handed to them from their modern hero, Paul Weyrich, in 1980. What they are doing is not new. The fierceness and ugliness with which they are doing it is. Divide, disenfranchise and denigrate. Make sure that stupid people are listening to you and that you are fueling the fire of their fears. 

The Right Wing: Having It Both Ways

March 22nd, 2011

"You can't fire both teachers and Tomahawk missiles."

The Daily Show
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Russell Pearce Advocates Treason

March 22nd, 2011

And you thought Arizona's Russell Pearce had already hit the limits of crazy... Yeah, he disseminated neo-Nazi propaganda. Sure, he "used to be" a close friend of avowed white supremacist JT Ready. This takes the cake, though. In the clip below, he openly and casually endorses that Arizonans make a declaration of treason.

AFA Spokesman Calls President Obama "Boy"

March 22nd, 2011

Amazing. If you had any doubts about the SPLC designating the American Family Association as a "hate group," this ought to dispel them. Their increasingly vile spokesman, Bryan J Fischer, referred to the African American President of the United States as "BOY."

Quote Of The Day 2

March 22nd, 2011

"Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing." -- Edmund Burke

The Right Hates Obama For Doing What They Want Him To Do

March 22nd, 2011

A CNN poll of American opinion on the Libyan conflict seems to have inadvertently shone a light upon the sheer madness of right wing emotionalism:

Overall, 70% of Americans support the "No-Fly Zone" strategy currently underway. (GRAPHIC BELOW)

Taking a closer look at public opinion on "Obama's handling" of the situation, the views of self identified "conservatives" get just plain preposterous (HT to Dave Weigel):

50% of all voters approve of "Obama's handling"
41% of voters do not approve of "Obama's handling"

63% of Republicans say they disapprove of "Obama's handling" 
76% of Tea Party "supporters" disapprove of "Obama's handling" 

73% of Tea Partiers approve of the "No-Fly Zone"
78% of Republicans approve of the "No-Fly Zone"

Pssst... The "No-Fly Zone" IS "Obama's handling" of the Libyan situation. 

Defending Ourselves To Death

March 22nd, 2011

In a typically thoughtful piece by Jim Manzi discussing the current Libyan misadventure, I found this observation:

"Yes, we ”spend more on our military than all other major powers combined.” But, depending on how you measure it, the U.S. has about 20 – 25% of world GDP. In the long-run, we cannot win an arms race with the whole rest of the planet."

We are also not the world's policeman. Please consult the following graphics. The first makes clear that it is not merely the corporatist revenue schemes of the last ten years, but the previously unheard of increases in military industrial spending that poise our nation for admittance to the dustbin of history.

A Sad Devotion To A Failed Religion

March 22nd, 2011

The near fundamentalist conservative mantra that "pro growth tax cuts always create jobs" is no longer merely dubious or cynical or even statistically wrong. It is either delusional or it is willfully evil. Last week, Scott Keyes of Think Progress interviewed Newt Gingrich regarding his beliefs regarding revenue, corporate tax loopholes and growth. Newt's responses are nothing less than stunning. It's one thing that Newt declares continued allegiance to this particular falsehood:

"GINGRICH: I just want to say this because it’s an important difference in how we approach this. If we give you an incentive to do something right that creates more jobs, that is not a loophole. That’s an incentive. If you then intelligently follow that incentive and create more jobs, we should celebrate that as a good thing."

Fair enough. If, however, the policy in question not only fails to create jobs but actually corresponds to the worst job creation in American history, the appropriate response is not to argue a decade later that you need to do more of it. What's genuinely frightening and corporatist to a degree not heard since the early part of the last century (the second quote) is this:

"GINGRICH: First of all, if they make millions and millions in profit, they probably employ thousands and thousands of people and those thousands and thousands of people are contributing a lot to America."

Read that again. He declares that corporations need pay nothing. Because their workers pay taxes. Corporations shouldn't. I should. And you should. And that single mother working from week to week should. Again, this is either madness... or it is pure fucking evil.

The Top 1%

March 22nd, 2011

The devotion to tax cuts as a recipe for job growth is universally endorsed by the American conservative movement. This is increasingly hard to fathom. During the last decade, the most dramatic conversion of this theory into actual policy was undertaken. We must face the fact that the results of this experiment have not only failed to maintain balanced economic expansion relative to population, they have actually crippled it. The resulting collapse in revenue has put our country's credit rating at risk. If we do not eliminate a vast majority of corporate tax loopholes and raise the top marginal personal rate by at least 3 to 4 percentage points, the dream of America is very likely lost. Even the architects of trickle down theory are declaring this continued article of faith to be a disaster. I stipulate that furtherance of these tax codes is closer to insanity. Late last year, the following graphic was published by Jay Kimball. Let us revisit it, shall we? The vast American middle class could never have been created in the first place had this monetary system been in place from the 30s through the 70s.

Quote Of The Day

March 22nd, 2011

"There is nothing more likely to start disagreement among people or countries than an agreement." -- E.B. White

Radiation Causes More U.S. Fleet Departures

March 21st, 2011 3:28pm CST

As we noted last week, major withdrawals ordered the U.S. 7th Fleet further away from Japan in light of elevated radiation detections.

Just in from Fox:

"Two US Navy ships pulled out of the base at Yokohama due to fears over rising radiation"

USS George Washington

"The USS George Washington and the USS Lassen left the base, which is located south of Tokyo, as a precautionary measure to ensure a state of readiness in the long term for the defense of Japan, The US Navy said in a statement."


The defense of Japan? If you think these assets are positioned for any other purpose than rapid readiness to combat North Korea's potential aggression, you are kidding yourself. We do not radically alter the locations of these units lightly.

Do You Think God Is A "Conservative"?

March 21st, 2011

By Stephanie Baselice

The “liberal/conservative” divide in current culture is a division of identity not a division of actual opinion on policy. And it is fake. This divide was manufactured in the boardrooms of corporate owned media for the benefit of a tiny minority of billionaires. 

"How Does A President Negotiate With Congress"

March 21st, 2011

"He's an Eisenhower in a room full of McCarthys" -- Andrew Sullivan on President Barack Obama
 That, in essence, is why this Daily Show bit is so tragically funny.

The Daily Show - The Correspondents Explain: The American Presidency - Congress
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Fukushima Continues...

March 21st, 2011 10:40am CST
Please give to Japanese Relief HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

The catastrophe at Fukushima continues. From CNN:
"Gray smoke spewed Monday out of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's No. 3 reactor, a setback that came despite fervent efforts to prevent the further release of radioactive materials at the stricken facility. Those who had been working nearby were evacuated to safety shortly after the smoke was spotted around 4 p.m. Monday , a Tokyo Electric Power Company official told reporters. This is the same reactor that has been authorities' top priority -- and concern -- in recent days. Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with Japan's nuclear and industrial safety, said measurements taken soon after the smoke was spotted did not indicate any spike in radiation. He said that there was no evident explosion, and no one was reported injured."

The Nuclear Question

March 21st, 2011
Please give to Japanese Relief HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

By F. Grey Parker
I have received hundreds of e-mails over the last several days from readers wondering "where" I had gone and, more pointedly, why I had "stopped covering" the events at TEPCO's Fukishima Dai-Ichi and Dai-Ni facilities. I have been right here.

Let me start by saying this: I believe the concepts of nuclear power make perfect sense. Surprised? Don't be. We're dealing with provable physics. It's not subject to whim or ideology. Science does what it does.

Science is verifiable, it is repeatable and it is consistently obedient to elemental laws. What I don't believe in is man. The limits of each cannot achieve parity. Bottom line.

I oppose nuclear energy as an option more fervently now than ever before. My long-time, two-fold argument against it not only remains unchanged but has been utterly affirmed by the events in Japan. The question of workable spent fuel storage and the limits of human discipline render the pursuit of this thing we can do extremely unwise. The profit motive as we tend to demonstrate it also renders our species nearly unworthy of the knowledge itself.

The atom doesn't lie. Industrialists seeking the shortest path to the largest treasure do.

Akio Komori Director of TEPCO in Japan

TEPCO did. For decades, they institutionalized a predictable culture of venal greed that mars most huge industrial energy initiatives. Reports were altered. Corners were cut. Decisions were made to enhance profit over sustainability.

At times, immediate safety was secondary to the steady flow of favorable quips about "growth" by the CEO. These are the obvious risks when unbridled greed is improperly regulated in capital driven systems. We have dealt with this flaw in our nature in arguably every endeavor where a few sought to enhance their wealth by enticing the many.

Sometimes, though, the stakes really are just too high.

Meet "the spent fuel rod":



There is no question that the energy demands of world society are at the breaking point. But know this. The disaster of failing to meet the future has already happened. What I have described before in this space as "Hoover Dam Thinking" is no longer possible as the global economy is presently defined.

There's no easy money in it.

San Onofre Nuclear Plant, West Coast U.S.A

More to come...

Sleep tight...

Moving Right Along...

March 21st, 2011

Now that we have a new Middle Eastern theater of military action to be afraid of, let's just forget all about the the worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl.

In all seriousness, Please give to Japanese Relief HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

Quote Of The Day

March 21st, 2011

"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression.  In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." -- Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

Quote Of The Day

March 20th, 2011

"I know from experience it is up to the working people to save themselves and the only way is through a strong working class movement."-- Rose Schneiderman

Quote Of The Day

March 19th, 2011

"Courage consists not in hazarding without fear; but being resolutely minded in a just cause." -- Plutarch