Mystery J

One Day - MLK

2012-01-17T08:36:00.000-06:00

I came across the following article. It states the Martin Luther King Jr.s "I have a dream" speech is not public domain. It stated that Sony was sending takedown notices. While I should have posted this yesterday. Here it is.

Newt's Battle to Define Mitt

2012-01-08T20:48:00.000-06:00

it is going to look something like this.

Politico reports

What a difference 4 years make

2011-12-08T08:36:00.001-06:00

Two ads by GOP candidates for President. The 1st from Governor Mike Huckabee in 2007 and the 2nd by Governor Rick Perry in 2011.

I don't agree with Governor Huckabee on a lot of issues. However, this was a classy and effective ad.

I agree with Governor Perry even less. I hope this is simply indicative of his own personal lack of class and not a reflection on the GOP as a whole.

This might be a good time for Sister Sarah to do some "refudiating".

BONUS VIDEO:

Compare & Contrast 1 is bigoted and 1 has class

2011-12-07T21:23:00.000-06:00

Two Videos

2011-11-21T09:08:00.000-06:00

OWS / Tea Party: Two sides of the same coin

2011-10-13T11:24:00.000-05:00

I happened upon this post after following a couple of links on the subject of OWS and the Tea Party.

I mentioned in a post a couple of days ago my belief that moneyed interest were able to hijack the sentiment and passion of the Tea Party Movement and misdirect it through slight of hand.

"Voters can be persuaded that their moral well being is more important than their financial well being. What I have been amazed at and confused by was how successful the Rick Santellis, Koch Brothers, Karl Roves, Grover Norquists etc could fool these voters with financial issues."

Blogger James Sinclair posits his opinions on the similarities of the two movements in his post Occupy Wall Street vs. The Tea Party.

"We should pay less attention to the individual lunatics, and more attention to what a movement is really about. Occupy Wall Street, at its core, is a reaction to the increasing power and influence of large corporations. The Tea Party, at its core, is a reaction to the government's constant interference with private enterprise. But wait a minute—aren't those things connected?"

The fact that there is a very large group of people in America that are reacting to the increasingly "large and powerful influence of large corporations" scare politicians that rely on said powerful large corporations. This is one major reason you will see the establishment right wing and the corporatist attempt divide the two movements. You will see the elite attempt to dismiss and undermine the validity of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

If the supporters of these two movements were to combine their anger and energy in the same direction it would be a force for true change in America.

Maybe the best part of Mr. Sinclair's post was his third footnote.

By all means, leave a comment if you think I'm wrong, but it's a myth that big corporations are anti-government, right? They don't want to have to compete in a free market, they want to "compete" in an artificially restricted market.

An attempt to dismiss Occupy Wall Street: Rebutted

2011-10-11T12:41:00.000-05:00

5 Myths of Occupy Wall Street

1) Myth: The protesters are pushing for anarchy, support violence and communism.

2) Myth: Most Occupy Wall Street protesters don’t know what they’re protesting.

3) Myth: The protest is simply a liberal tea party.

4) Myth: Occupy Wall Street is a paid group aimed at re-electing Obama.

5) Myth: The protesters are hypocrites. They say they hate the banks, but they bank. They buy from big corporations. They’ve been spotted at McDonalds.

David Weidner of MarketWatch debunks the 5 basic myths

The devils greatest trick was convincing the world he didn't exist

2011-10-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

The greatest hoax of the last couple of decades has been the ability of the right wing to co-opt members of the struggling lower middle class and lower class and pretend they speak for them while enacting policies that enable the super-rich.

I understand how the super rich have been able to use social issues to achieve this goal. Voters can be persuaded that their moral well being is more important than their financial well being. What I have been amazed at and confused by was how successful the Rick Santellis, Koch Brothers, Karl Roves, Grover Norquists etc could fool these voters with financial issues.

The quote above comes from John Cole over at www.balloon-juice.com and his post title Long Division

To clarify for those that need clarifying, I am not suggesting that rich = devil. There is just a familiarity with what has occurred over the past 30 years and the old saying about the devil.

Understanding Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-10T14:36:00.001-05:00

Moderate to Conservative Blogger Andrew Sullivan discusses the movement and it's necessity.

Why Occupy Wall Street is here to Stay

This is not socialism. It's pointing out how capitalism, unchecked by government, can kill itself. But if this issue is left unresolved or defended in the brain-dead fashion of many in the GOP, it will soon become so.

Impassioned, Informed, Enraged.

2011-10-10T09:02:00.001-05:00

Is America primed for a progressive populist movement. I often felt that much of the rage of the tea party was reasonable but somehow misdirected. I will suggest that the Koch Brothers, Dick Armey, Grover Norquist's etc. were successful in manipulating outrage at Wall street and outrage about Barack Obama's election intertwined it and directed the outrage away from the root cause.

Occupy Wall Street is redirecting the rage back toward the causes of our current situation. Now when you have a movement that is as open as suggesting we are the 99% there are going to be people on the fringes speaking out and many members of a media that are ruled by ratings will be focusing on these few.

Right now there are few people speaking to the rage with as much knowledge and passion as Elizabeth Warren. Check out this latest video where Warren provides a historical breakdown:

What do Presidents Reagan, Obama and 73% of Americans have in common

2011-10-07T14:38:00.000-05:00

A Picture is worth a alot of Elizabeth Warren's Words

2011-10-04T15:13:00.003-05:00

Created by: Online MBA Programs

Herman Cain takes the lead

2011-10-03T12:45:00.001-05:00

Public Policy Polling (a democratic, but highly accurate polling firm) has ran 3 state polls over the past week and Herman Cain has used his bounce from the Florida straw poll to take the lead in all three.

West Virginia, Nebraska,and North Carolina shows Cain in the lead over Gingrich and followed by the field. This tells us a couple of important things, 1) the GOP base has not settled on anyone (specially on Romney) and is still looking 2) that debates matter.

June 2nd. That was when I wrote my post about watching out of Cain. We will have to see how things play out in the next couple of weeks to see if his bounce lasts or if Christie might burst his bubble.

Herman Cain may have put the nail in Perry's short lived misadventure into national politics. The story of Perry's hunting camp the racist signage present might have been manageable with the GOP base that would instinctively rallied around Perry as being the victim of a liberal media witch hunt. Herman Cain spoke up and has put Perry in a corner on the is story and more importantly Perry's supporters. This could be a very good sign of Cain's ability to go for the kill.

The Question remains is Cain simply the latest Palin, Trump, Bachmann, Perry or will he maintain his upper level of support once he weathers increased media scrutiny. My biggest question is in all his time on the radio subbing for Neil Bortz is there audio that is going to be difficult to defend.

Here are some thoughts on some of the questions I asked above. They come from progressive organization Mother Jones , but are quoting leading conservatives.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/herman-cain-rick-perry-niggerhead-controversy

RedState, Erick Erickson concluded, "It also seems to be a slander Herman Cain is picking up and running with as a way to get into second place." Glenn Reynolds remarked that until now, Cain's "big appeal is that he's not just another black race-card-playing politician." Over at the Daily Caller, Matt Lewis called Cain's remarks "a cheap shot, and, perhaps a signal that Cain is willing to play the race card against a fellow Republican when it benefits him."

Must watch video of the day

2011-10-03T09:46:00.000-05:00

Is the perfect GOP candidate out there?

2011-10-03T08:59:00.000-05:00

Bill Maher analyzes the prospects.

The Herminator wins in Florida Straw Poll

2011-09-25T10:56:00.001-05:00

After Herman Cain's surprise win in Florida yesterday I thought I would link back to a quick post I put up earlier in the summer.

Election Perspective

My only point at this time is,I expect Mr. Cain to gain some more serious traction in the near future within the Tea Party segment of the Republican party. If Palin doesn't run (which I have serious doubts that she will) a sizable portion of her base could follow Mr. Cain.

The breaking it down. Elizabeth Warren for Senate

2011-09-21T13:03:00.002-05:00

The end of DADT

2011-09-20T14:38:00.002-05:00

I respect and thank all those who have and continue to serve our country. A special thanks to those that did so with an extra weight on their shoulders.

Tea Party Congressman Calls For Tax Breaks To Put Out Raging Wildfire In District

2011-08-31T12:25:00.000-05:00

The Onion breaks the story

Tea Party Congressman Calls For Tax Breaks To Put Out Raging Wildfire In District

"We must act now. The longer the oppressive tax burden on honest, hardworking individuals remains unaddressed, the larger and more deadly this fire will become."

Yes it is a lazy way to blog, but damn the Onion can be spot on.

A little sunshine please

2011-08-26T09:11:00.001-05:00

The recent spate of economic news has been worrisome at best. It is nice to see good news hit. In particular there is good news in the area of manufacturing. The Los Angeles Times headline says it "Carmakers' rebound is driving jobs in U.S."

From a trough two years ago, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., Chrysler Group and other auto companies have added almost 90,000 manufacturing jobs, a 14% increase, according to federal employment data.

These are good jobs with solid pay rates and benefit packages. The kind of jobs that built an American middle class. These are the type of jobs and this is the type of manufacturing that has positive spill over effect for related industries and connected communities.

This kind of expansion is important to the economy. Including factories, suppliers and dealers, the U.S. auto industry employs about 1.7 million workers and supports an additional 6.3 million private-sector jobs, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. The center said those positions represent more than $500 billion in annual compensation and more than $70 billion in personal tax revenue.

It is a small drop in the vast ocean of the American economy, but as the rains of Irene and the forecast of a possible double dip it is worth the time to read a little good news.

Of course, as all things jobs related this will touch on Presidential Politics. Take a quick look at Obama v. Romney re: the Auto Bail out.

You don't need evidence when you "absolutely believe"

2011-08-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

Representative can't explain how Bush Tax Cuts "created" jobs.

If most conservatives were honest they would simply say Rich deserve tax cuts because they work harder and tax money just pay for the lazy. Instead they try to make up excuses. Remember Bush's initial justification for Tax cuts was the government was running a surplus( yes a surplus when he ran for election ) Then when the economy softened the justification was to spur the economy. So to follow if the economy is good cut taxes for wealthy if economy is bad cut taxes for the wealthy. Follow that.

You can see why it would be hard to point to hard evidence. I kinda feel sorry for the guy, because you know he "absolutely believes".

Mandatory Reading - Warren Buffet edition

2011-08-15T09:37:00.000-05:00

Warren Buffet lays it all out. With you know facts and figures, not talking points. Such as:

Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.

I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.

I could copy and paste the whole article as he makes strong argument after strong argument based on factual reality and not emotional response. (probably the same way he invest his money).

I will include a couple of links to this commentary as it is on the New York Times website and I am not certain how their paywall will affect the links.

Warren Buffet

Warren Buffet

Debt by President.

2011-08-02T09:51:00.000-05:00

Top 5 Contributors to US Debt

1) Reagan
2) Bush (W)
3) Nixon / Ford
4) Bush (HW)

5) Carter

Damn facts and their liberal bias.

And now for something totally unrelated History of Rap part 2

2011-07-20T21:19:00.002-05:00

Bachmann pulls to the front, Cain settles into the middle of the pack

2011-06-28T09:56:00.000-05:00

In the horse race news of the GOP Primary fight PPP is out with a couple of polls providing good news for Michelle Bachmann and to some extent Herman Cain.

"In Oregon Bachmann gets 29% to 28% for Romney, 10% for Ron Paul, 9% for Newt Gingrich, 7% for Herman Cain, 6% for Tim Pawlenty, and 2% for Jon Huntsman. In Montana she leads with 25% to 22% for Romney, 11% for Gingrich, 10% for Paul, 9% for Pawlenty,8% for Cain, and 4% for Huntsman."

Bachmann has jumped to the top of the pack in Iowa, Montana, and Oregon in the most recent polling. Cain is sitting comfortably in the middle tier of candidates. I suspect the Cain would be polling slightly higher right now if Rep. Bachmann hadn't caught on so wildly. (Quick note: Montana and Oregon polls do not include Palin).

The real take away at this early junction is that there is a solid faction of maybe the "establishment Republicans" that are attempting to solidify around an "electable" candidate such as Romney and a solid anti-Romeny pro "purity" faction searching for their candidate. Today that candidate is Michelle Bachmann.

The wave of polling just prior to these last three releases showed said consolidation around Romney and these most recent polls maybe showing a reaction to this perceived agreement on Romney. All this said, the long term significance is limited. At this time the most significant aspect of this polling is for Pawlenty. If Bachmann sucks all the oxygen out of Iowa and Romney runs the table in New Hampshire the Pawlenty campaign may be very short lived.

As expected Cain jumps in popularity

2011-06-16T11:12:00.000-05:00

As I predicted back in a June 2nd post Herman Cain is jumping in popularity among the Republican faithful.

The latest poll from PPP shows Herman Cain in 2nd behind Mitt Romney.

Romney leads our newest poll with 22% to 17% for Herman Cain, 15% for Sarah Palin, 9% for Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty, 8% for Michele Bachmann, 7% for Ron Paul, and 1% for Jon Huntsman.

It's interesting that Cain has surpassed Palin as the candidate of choice for the 'I'd rather lose than sacrifice' crowd.

Quick 2 Cents

2011-06-14T09:21:00.002-05:00

I was only able to watch last night's debate for a short period of time. My limited take away is that Bachmann may have eliminated Palin as a candidate. While I believe Rep. Bachmann may at times be on the edge of courting the batshit crazy members of the party, she showed an ability that Palin never has.

Michele Bachmann seemed to be comfortable and in command at the podium. She was able to generate red meat sound bites in a manner that Sarah simply can't do. Ms. Bachmann should be very well positioned to assume large groups of Sarah's following and a number of former Huckabee supporters. Those who were looking to support Cain, may also be inclined to give Bachmann a second look.

(I don't think Palin was ever running) If Palin were to jump in the race seemed to be breaking down to two camps. Romney was winning the "reasonable" "mainstream" better chance to win camp and Palin representing the "purity" "passion" camp. It appears the Rep. Bachmann may have leap frogged to the front of the pack in the latter camp.

All this being said, tomorrow is another news cycle and things can change quicker than the weather.

After putting together this quick post I drifted upon 538's article which articulates some of the same themes as above.

"The comparison between Ms. Bachmann and Sarah Palin is perhaps made too easily. But as I remarked on Twitter during the debate, if there is a constituency of voters trying to decide between the two, Ms. Bachmann has a lot to offer. She’s considerably sharper on her feet than Ms. Palin, and has more discipline. She does not have the baggage of “blood libel,” a reality show, or having prematurely quit her term as governor. Her family story — a mother to 23 foster children, as she frequently reminded us — is every bit as compelling. She has considerably better favorability ratings — Americans who are familiar with her split about evenly on whether they like her or not, which is not true for Ms. Palin. She has a geographic advantage in Iowa, has devoted more time to her presidential campaign and has a reputation as a strong fundraiser."

Updated: with necessary caveat re: Bachmann via Jonathan Bernstein

"Yeah, I'm still very much a Michele Bachmann skeptic. Yes, she got good reviews last night. Also, Herman Cain got good reviews after the last debate, and Donald Trump had momentum before that. She's less implausible than those two, but next time she'll have to do more to impress, and we'll see where it takes her."

Twitter oh Twitter what have you wrecked now? - Kinder edition

2011-06-07T16:51:00.004-05:00

I first became aware of Lt. Governor Peter Kinder's twitter problem back in February. This Politico article describes the tweet in question.

In February, he tweeted that his Democratic friends “can’t stand being reminded of the century-long vicious, racist, bigoted, KKK, segregationist, history of their party” — and added a smiley face to the end.

I remember responding with something to the effect of

"@PeterKinder Are you going to stick with defending liberal Republicans over Conservative Democrats?"

It became pretty clear once I started following him on Twitter that he had a discipline problem and a poor sense of appropriateness. More tweets followed and at times I responded to the thin air of the twitterverse. I recall Lt. Governor Kinder repeating the "lie of the Year" that Health Care Reform cost thousands of jobs, and I was finally blown away by the fact that he felt it was appropriate for a sitting state goverment official to be linking to Andrew Bretibart. To be honest I was embarrassed and said so. Kinder added his uninformed two sense to the hugely important Common at the White House debate.

It appears I am not the only one embarrassed by Lt. Peter Kinder's actions. Politico provides a tale of Missouri Republicans concerns about Kinder's chances at winning the Governors race in 2012.

Fox News the Next Crossfire

2011-06-07T08:32:00.024-05:00

Jon Stewart is often credited with destroying the long running CNN franchise Crossfire with his appearance.

I have often thought that he is intent on the same result for Fox News. He is known for a relentless attack on Fox News' lack of ethical "journalism". One may suggest his focus on Fox "News" is partisan. His response might be something like this.

I know I criticize Fox News a lot, but only because you're a terrible, cynical, disingenious News Organization

Fox News the Lupus of News!

It appears that Fox "News" is having a bit of a ratings slide as per the following article. Are the two related?

Jon Stewart's ratings are higher than all of Fox News

"Jon Stewart is the biggest threat to Fox News’ future out there. He is literally teaching his audience, which is bigger than FNC’s, how to see through the partisan propaganda that Rupert Murdoch has based his network on. Stewart is educating an entire generation of viewers on how to watch cable news, or more specifically how not to watch Fox News."

As a result:

This effect is especially strong with views under the age of AARP eligibility. It appears that Fox News is preaching to the Choir while The Daily Show is winning the converts. (disclaimer: 16 months ago Glenn Beck was the king of TV, so things can change) The difference this time the popularity is based on busting the bubble of the blowhard.

"While Stewart is on the rise, Fox News had a really, really bad May. Total viewership was down 10%, and Fox News lost viewers in the 25-54 demo in every prime time show. Bill O’Reilly was down 9%, Sean Hannity was down 6%, and Greta Van Susteren dropped 12%."

For the record, My guess

2011-06-06T14:25:00.002-05:00

RE: the Weiner affair.

Here is my guess on what went down. My guess is that Mr. Weiner did in fact send the pictures to a lady in question. The lady in question is, I believe a middle aged women. I am guessing that the pictures were part of an on going chat between Rep. Weiner and this unnamed lady and were either solicited or at least welcomed.

In addition I believe somehow one or all these pictures got in another persons hands. At this point the picture was posted to Rep. Weiner's Yfrog account. Thus creating the story allowing for the release of the additional pictures and the story of the unnamed lady.

I am guessing it wouldn't be much of a real story if Rep Weiner simply sent some embarrassing pictures to a lady who asked for them or at the least welcomed them in a consensual manner.

Watching a Breitbart scandal unfold is like watching a "magician" do a card trick, your always looking for the mis-direction. Frequently with the Breitbart gang the trick is to lead with the crazy over the top innuendo attention getting headline grabbing statements. They allow the news cycle to carry the headline and then afterward, the truth trickles out. Resulting in everyone remembering the front page story and not the page 6 retraction.

I really got this sense when Breitbart announced that this unnamed lady would come forward - tomorrow. A day after the release of the additional photos. Why? My guess is the tale the lady will tell will not be as damaging as the imaginations of everyone speculating overnight.

Rep. Weiner will be addressing the situation today at 4:00 3Central. We'll know more then, maybe.

For the record I looked my response to the Rep. Chris Lee affair back in February and my response was

KurtJack "If the picture(s) was all there was to the Rep. Chris Lee story I would defend him, that this was no one's concern."
9 Feb

Update:

And I was wrong!

American History "Tea Party" edition

2011-06-03T12:19:00.000-05:00

Palin gives Bachman a run for her money on American History.

Mistakes made, leasons learned?

2011-06-03T09:46:00.003-05:00

When the new jobs number were released this morning(a very anemic 54,000) I instantly harkened back to a column by @Paul Krugman. The article spells out the danger of a too soft and too short of a stimulus. He argued you'll get one chance at a stimulative fix to the economy and that if you come up short danger lies ahead.

I believe the analogy was taking a running start at climbing a steep hill. If do so you better make sure you make it to the top of the hill. If you don't you'll end up slide back down the hill worn out and not prepared to make another stronger run at it.

I had intended to search for the article, quote and link it. Well Mr. Krugman beat me to it this morning with his column "The Mistake of 2010".

Update:

Here is the original post

Here is the exclamation to the analogy

I’d add that there may also be a political tipping point: if the stimulus package is too weak, conservatives will pile on after it fails to deliver, claiming that the whole concept has been discredited.

Election Perspective

2011-06-02T09:43:00.003-05:00

I wanted to get this down somewhere and felt if I tweet it some might find it offensive.

I have for awhile now said Huntsman is the GOP candidate that I think has the best chance of truly challenging Obama. His recent showing in a PPP poll of Iowa shows the major hurdle he has in front of him. PPP only found one Republican voter in Iowa that supported him as their first choice.

I have also been keeping an eye on Herman Cain for a few months. I first heard about him on the net somewhere writing a poem about Jesus. Then about a month ago when reading through the comment section of a story on the GOP hopefuls, it clicked.

This particular commenter said he was supporting Cain, because Cain would split the black vote and win the Republican vote ensuring a path to the Whitehouse. I initially dismissed that as simplistic thinking along the lines that Palin would split the women vote.

Cain did not embarrass himself in the first televised debate about a month back. He has seen his popularity within the GOP base increase of late. I just saw an article that said Herman Cain's candidacy proves that the tea party isn't racist. Hmmm. I am not trying accuse anyone of anything. That logic does sound an awful lot like "I am not racist, some of my best friends are black". Substitute candidates for friends.

My only point at this time is,I expect Mr. Cain to gain some more serious traction in the near future within the Tea Party segment of the Republican party. If Palin doesn't run (which I have serious doubts that she will) a sizable portion of her base could follow Mr. Cain.

Thoughts on North Africa and Middle East

2011-02-21T15:29:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged much, but watch the twitter feed to the right of the page for thoughts and links. www.twitter.com/kurtjack

A quick clip of Liberal vs. Rush Limbaug RE: Ronald Regaon

2011-02-05T20:39:00.002-06:00

two cents / two points

2011-01-29T09:14:00.002-06:00

Two interesting aspects of the Egyptian situation.

1) the importance of the population dynamic. The percentage of the population under 30 years old.

2) The US centric response of many in America. How this is about us, how this affects us, what we should / should have done.

EGYPT, I have few thoughts to offer, here are some resources

2011-01-29T08:34:00.001-06:00

Live Blog

Al Jarzeera English

Watch my titter feed to the right.

Insult to Injury

2011-01-16T10:39:00.001-06:00

A local perspective from Tucson

But it is insulting to the memory of those lost, to the needs of those wounded physically and psychically, to the calm professionalism of those who responded, and to the community that has rallied with symbols of hope and actions of support, to criticize a moment when we came together.

My reactions

2011-01-12T21:08:00.000-06:00

I am in agreement with Charles Krauthammer on assessing the Presidents address

Charles Krauthammer, however, cautions against minimizing the importance of the speech, saying it will have a lasting impact,

arguing President Obama was very effective and established himself not just as head of party and head of government but also as head of state.

Why oh Why could this not have been the response.

2011-01-12T12:54:00.000-06:00

Not a politician or a political consultant, but try this on for size.

"While I have been falsely accused of having had an impact on these horrendous actions the wounds that I have suffered in no way compare to the loss of the 6 beautiful people and their families in Tucson. While America has great struggles to work through, now is a time for all of us to unite in our sympathy of the true victims of this heinous act."

Need I say more

2011-01-12T12:37:00.000-06:00

"Today has been set aside to honor the victims of the Tucson massacre. And Sarah Palin has apparently decided she's one of them," - Josh Marshall.

Randomness continued There is no equivalence

2011-01-11T18:12:00.000-06:00

Andrew Sullivan has a few thoughts I wanted to pass along

"If the [North Koreans] start anything, I say nuke ‘em. And not with just a few bombs," - Glenn Reynolds.

"I’m not filling out this [census] form. I dare them to try and come throw me in jail. I dare them to. Pull out my wife’s shotgun and see how that little ACS twerp likes being scared at the door," - CNN's Erick Erickson.

“My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed," - South Carolina Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, on people who receive government aid.

“[NPR executives] are, of course, Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism," - Roger Ailes.

I have referenced Sullivan before and here again I think is a solid sentiment from a moderate libertarian (if such thing exist)

Random thoughts on the unthinkable.

2011-01-11T15:07:00.000-06:00

Still jotting thoughts. We know it is common in times of war to dehumanize our enemy. "Japs", "Gook", "Savages". I am guessing (as I have been very fortunate, not to be in this position) it is somewhat easier to deal with taking out life if that life is less then human.

Is it possible, that while Laughner was not influenced directly by cross hairs or speaking of watering the tree of liberty with blood, that our opponent is not merely wrong but evil, Un-American and tyrannical and the conspiratorial talk of Obama and his Democrats trying to undermine America allowed him a similiar sense of less than human. Is this the atmospherics that are being discussed. Is it possible that a person who is struggling with reality may more easily convince himself that such an action is reasonable. I don't pretend to know the answer.

A couple of other random thoughts.

Does the fact that his target was specifically a politician and a sitting member of the House of Representatives make it "political" by default?

Does the atmosphere of heavy metal, rap etc contribute to the radicalizing of the disturb can you argue that music does and pundits and politicians don't or vice versa.

Last thing for now. Even if you are convinced that absolutely nothing said or done over the past 2 and half years contributed to this attack, isn't appropriate to take a look and see if your actions and speech are acceptable. Does this not call for a time for self-reflection instead of knee-jerk defensiveness.

Consideration

2011-01-11T09:39:00.000-06:00

In continuing the dissection of the America's reaction to the shootings in Tucson here is an article that I think makes a very strong and objective argument. It is admittedly from a left leaning site. However, it is a very reasoned perspective. Please take a look it expresses a lot of the various thoughts running through the current diaglogue.

American Prospect

As we debate what kind of rhetoric is and isn't objectionable, it would help if we could make some specific distinctions and keep some important things in mind. To that end:

A terrorist by any other name?

2011-01-11T09:17:00.000-06:00

My obsession over the past few days has been the reaction to the Tucson Assassination and Terror attacks. I am reading and listening as much as I can. At this time there is too much emotion and sentiment to put everything into a nice little box. Here is just one of the many thoughts that have crossed my mind. Should this attack be referred to as a terrorist attack. How many times since 9/11 have we been warned about the potential of a terrorist running into a mall with an automatic weapon and opening fire. If the main goal of a terrorist is to cause terror was this suspect successful. Below is a quote that I came across in my reading.

Rasmussen Reports

Tierney, who described the alleged shooter as nonideological, thinks his friend's motive was "mainly to just promote chaos. He wanted the media to freak out about this whole thing."

Enough already

2011-01-10T13:24:00.000-06:00

6 innocent people are dead. Several more are injured. Sarah Palin, Glen Beck, and Laura Ingraham are the victims.

Give it a fucking rest. Even if people were directly blaming you (and they are not), and no one is going to take away your freedom of speech, just give it break.

Shut the fuck up for a little bit. Okay. Zip it. You'll have plenty of time to spew what ever it is you want to spew. No, you come back the first the day on the air and spend 30 seconds saying how bad you feel for the families and the next hours of how the left does it (bullshit). Give it a GD break.

A couple of thoughts

2010-12-21T14:16:00.000-06:00

I have a couple of thoughts that have been running around in my head I just wanted to jot down. Not going to spend much time building the case.

First, in a way is a follow up form an earlier post regarding turning the corner. Reports are that apparel sales are up 10% sounds like a good sign, still you never know until everything is all wrapped and final numbers are released sometime next early next year. The other thing is that Obama has had a good 6 weeks since the election. His tax compromise is proving to be very popular and possibly helping chance the dynamic of the current President - Congress relations. There has been a food safety bill passed, DADT ended, START is going to pass, and the possible passage of the 9/11 first responders health bill. All these are successes for the President and a number of Republican Senators are looking like Deadenders on these matters, looking at you McCain.

The second thought ties in to the above. A number of these successes have been a result of help from a handful of moderate Senators. I have thought for several months now that Joe Lieberman, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins could exercise real power over the Senate if they so choose. Now add into the mix Scott Brown, Lisa Murkowski, and Joe Manchin into the mix and you have 6 swing votes that could truly affect the work that gets done in the Senate.

Now keep in mind President Obama has played very nice with Snowe, Collins, and Brown. He voiced his opinion to keep Lieberman closer as opposed to throw him overboard. There was a long period where these actions were and are still extremely bewildering to many who have so stronly supported in the election. These actions haven't really seen any payoffs until these last few weeks. It was Collins and Lieberman that saved the DADT repeal. Brown has been instrumental in that vote as well as the START treaty passage. Murkowski seems to have sowed a bit of independence as a result of having to go the write in path to regain her Senate Seat. Manchin is a wildcard (I guess that is another word for chicken) we will have to watch to see if he continues to vote as a republican or provide the occasional Democratic vote in the Senate.l

The repeal of DADT has passed the cloture vote Update: Passes the Senate!

2010-12-18T10:57:00.001-06:00

I suggested a couple of days that once it became obvious that DADT would fall more senators would get behind it. Well I was close, final vote was 43 - 33 (with 24 choosing not to go on the record) last vote was 57 - 43. Picking up 6 more votes.

Congratulations to Republican Senators Brown, Collins, Snowe, Kirk, Murkawski. Congratulations to (ahem, hard to say) Senator Lieberman for resurrecting the vote and to Majority Leader Reed.

It is a good day in America.

Final vote count on passage
65 - 31. That is a pretty large jump from the earlier 57 - 43 picking up 8 yes votes and losing 12 no votes.

Once again congratulations America.

PS: on a very umimportant side note. It was a thrill seeing Mr. McCain flailing in the wind. Yes Mr. McCain "That one" beat your ass once again, should be used to it by now I'd think.

Quotes of the Day No make the Week, or more like the Holiday Season

2010-12-17T09:04:00.000-06:00

"It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority laid out...without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just senators themselves but all of the staff,"

Republican Senator Jon Kyl said, according to MSNBC.

In response to the concept of working the week between Christmas and New Years as disprecting Christians and their families.

"It just goes to show the disconnect between those we elect to represent us and those who get out there to do the work. Because I'm here to say you won't find a single New York City fireman who considers it a sign of disrespect to work in a New York City Firehouse on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day."

New York City Fireman, First Responder, Cancer patient

What a difference a year makes - Joe Lieberman edition

2010-12-16T11:10:00.000-06:00

I awake this morning with hopeful news that the repeal of DADT may finally be imminent. The hero of the day is none other than Senator Joe Lieberman. I am not going to formulate any opinions, simply will point out that it was just a year ago that Senator Lieberman was the thorniest of the thorns in the sides of Democrats. He essentially was a one man road block to the passage of the Public Option.

Today he is potentially being heralded as a civil rghts hero.

It appears that the Senate has 62 votes to pass the repeal of DADT. Senators Lieberman and Senator Collins have kept this issue alive long enough for the House to pass it and force the Senate to have to decide whether or not to proceed with a vote.

A summary: the President campaigned for the repeal and is asking for it, the Republican appointed Secretary of Defense is for it, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is in favor, 70% of the troops state it would not be a problem, and the general public approve of the repeal by about 75%. We now have 38 Republican Senators from southern and rural states who may run out the clock on our Service Men and Women who have volunteered to serve us. If this happens, it will morally wrong and the grandest example of how broken the Senate is procedurally.

(a possibility to watch out for if it makes it for a vote, and it is destined to pass you may see a number of Senators who are currently on the wrong side of history decide to vote for the repeal. So history can show their support. I suspect if that happens we will see far more than 42 votes to pass the repeal.)

Daily Show does it again

2010-12-14T08:42:00.000-06:00

Having issues embedding Daily Show content to the blog. Stewart and the gang rip the GOP and their unending hypocrisy re: 9/11. Nothing more for me to add. take a look.

Pragmatic Progressive (What does it all Mean)

2010-12-07T20:41:00.000-06:00

David Kurtz over at TPM discusses today's press conference. I believe it would do disappointed liberals good to watch. It may not make them feel any better about the deal. I do think it will illustrate the origin of the deal from President Obama's perspective.

I wrote a few post back I wrote "Disconnect"

I believe he has a vision of the way he would like things to be and a vision of what is possible for things to be. He fights for what he thinks he can achieve instead of spending too much energy on reaching for the stretch goals. This particular aspect is infuriating to many on the left. I understand why and I would hope that many of those on the left would attempt to appreciate the reality we are in instead of the ideal we dream of.

David Kurtz says much the same following the press conference today:

Today, he very clearly and loudly said: that savior persona is not me. I am the pragmatist. And you know what, I don't have a whole lot of patience for the idealists. I share their ideals, but I don't share their approach and I'm not going to get bogged down in recriminations over not living up to some abstract ideal.

President Obama wrote that he was a blank canvass that many people would cast their ideals of what / who was upon and he would disappoint a number of people. I believe this what is happening in large part. I feel that this is about what I expected.

That does not make me like this deal any better. I once wrote that I am a pragmatic progressive and I believe this is a test of philosophy.

2010-12-07T14:39:00.000-06:00

Illinois is about to pass Civil Unions law. The following is a simple, honest, eloquent speech in favor of its passage.

My hometown of Bars and Churches

2010-12-06T09:30:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite reading spots on the web is Daily Dish They discuss a number of various important political and social topics. In addition there are a number of diversionary discussions as well. Of late there has been an ongoing conversation regarding corner pubs in America or the lack there of. Andrew Sullivan asks in a nostalgic look back to his birth place of England. He doesn't find the corner pub or it's culture here in America.

I have to say I was a bit dumbfounded by such a thought. This definitely was not my experience. Just this morning a graphic was produced that explains the disconnect with Mr. Sullivan's US experience on the East coast and in DC compared my experience growing up in the Middle of Midwest. A close examination of this maps shows I grew up in an area with more bars than grocery stores. It actually seems insane to compare the two as it's not even close in Quincy. Take a moment a read a few of the comments they hold as true to Quincy as they are for Wisconsin.

The red dots indicate areas with more Bars and the yellow dots areas with more grocery stores. compare.

David Brooks provides an assesment, seems reasonable

2010-12-06T09:14:00.000-06:00

David Brooks is not beloved by the left. However, he offered up this quick assessment in a discussion forum with GOP budget "wunderkind" Rep. Paul Ryan.

Disconnect

2010-11-30T09:22:00.000-06:00

I am sensing a disconnect between myself and the vast array of left leaning political observers. I am talking about President Obama's announcement re: a two year pay freeze.

The pay freeze is symbolic, no question about it. It will have essentially no impact on the federal budget. I agree on this part with all the loud voices on the left. Although, I suggest the symbolism is important. I greatly suspect that the vast vast majority of Americans, especially those who do not consider themselves rabid partisans on either side of the spectrum to welcome this symbolism.

Many people have endured the Great Recession having to do with less. Not just those who are un- and under-employed. Even the employed have had to pay for higher health care premiums and deductibles, have had to go without raises or bonuses. There has been sacrifice over the past two years. The impression, rightly or wrongly, is that public empolyees have been exempted from this latest economic downturn. Here in Columbia Mo the most recent election for County Commissioner was decided solely on the issue of County Commissioners getting paid too much. It was a very effective campaign. (In truth the new commissioner has no ability what so ever to affect this, he kind of left this out of his ads). It resonated very well.

I may be considered an Obama apologist. Though, I have always considered Obama to be a reach across the aisle, practical liberal. I believe he has a vision of the way he would like things to be and a vision of what is possible for things to be. He fights for what he thinks he can achieve instead of spending too much energy on reaching for the stretch goals. This particular aspect is infuriating to many on the left. I understand why and I would hope that many of those on the left would attempt to appreciate the reality we are in instead of the ideal we dream of.

All that being said, I can fully get behind President Obama's move to a temporary pay freeze on the following conditions (not that he cares), that he continue to fight for the expiration of the tax cuts on income over $250,000, as well continuing to fight for unemployment benefits, health care reform etc. Many on the left see this move as a complete and utter cave to the Republican Party. I see it as an honest assesment of a way forward in governing in manner that is truly best for America and not what is best for the Liberals of America.

Liberals tend to be upset with this approach, in light of the way Bush governed for the previous 8 years. I agree, it was the Bush agenda to ram rod their way through the political process for very partisan, personal and political reasons. We must remember Obama did not run as the liberal version of Bush he ran on being the opposite of Bush.

"Keep it local Stupid"

2010-11-26T09:52:00.000-06:00

Now that we have established everyone is going to spend boat loads of money. The question is where to spend it. Take a look at a little chart comparing spending at locally vs. non-locally owned business. Remember tomorrow is Small Business Saturday.

Turn the corner

2010-11-23T09:03:00.000-06:00

I am just going to lay out a theory I have.

Nov 2nd 2010 is when it all changed.

For the past couple of years people have been scared, divided, broke, unemployed, uncertain. This has manifested itself in tea parties, econcomic contraction, partisan divide and gridlock. We yelled at each other during the health care debate, yelled at each other during the campaign. Then we voted. It was a big cathartic convulsion.

Compare it to a fever breaking, you build up to heavy sweats and then it's all gone. Now, I don't suggest it is all gone, but I do believe people are ready to turn the corner. They are tired of being concerned, afraid, paranoid. America for the most part wants to get on with it's life. I think youl'll see the extremes settlle down, people will return to the malls, and the conversation return to more mundane items. Two areas I think we can look at to see if this is correct are shopping figures for this Christmas and Obama's approval ratings. I have learned you can't look at any one day of shopping to figure out how the season will go, you have to wait for the post mortem. Regarding Obama's numbers, according to RealClearPolitics.com just before the election he had a 45 - 51 approval rating = -6 as of today he is 46 - 48 = -2 that is ok swing for 3 weeks, again we will have to wait to see how it plays out.

All in all, I think people are just ready to have Happy Holiday season.

Warren Buffett's two cents.

2010-11-22T09:23:00.000-06:00

Mr. Buffet write's a thank you letter.

One of the things I find confounding about the Tea Party Movement is their hatred for the Bail Out. I don't know if they were paying attention, if they forgot, or don't care. The bail out was not a preferred action. The bail out occurred under Bush. The Bail out saved our asses. Now there can be constant debate about the particulars, but Buffet takes us back to the big picture and reminds us of what happened.

Nor was it just business that was in peril: 300 million Americans were in the domino line as well. Just days before, the jobs, income, 401(k)’s and money-market funds of these citizens had seemed secure. Then, virtually overnight, everything began to turn into pumpkins and mice. There was no hiding place. A destructive economic force unlike any seen for generations had been unleashed.

Buffett continues

I don’t know precisely how you orchestrated these. But I did have a pretty good seat as events unfolded, and I would like to commend a few of your troops. In the darkest of days, Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner and Sheila Bair grasped the gravity of the situation and acted with courage and dispatch. And though I never voted for George W. Bush, I give him great credit for leading, even as Congress postured and squabbled.

It is good to see there are still grown ups out there. While I disagreed with the manner in which the Bush administration started the process, I never saw it as anything but necessary and I am happy with the manner in which the Obama administration did a course correction on some of the implementation. The bail out's very success is what allows for people to criticize it. The success is what minimized the catastrophic impacts. The lack of those catastrophic impacts is what many haters point to, in order to say the bail out was unnecessary.

I knew her back when: Samantha Fish

2010-11-16T09:21:00.002-06:00

Girls with guitars - "Bitch" from Lighthouse Pictures on Vimeo.

The President Responds.

2010-09-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

President Obama is well known to operate on a very even keel. Slow and steady wins the race mode. This has served him extremely well. At times it can be confusing and confounding. The right way too often reads it for weakness and the left often doesn't have the patience for it. The video below may be considered another example. In response to a Fox "News" question President Obama gives a strong answer addressing the Islamic Community Center in New York City and the Quaran burning in Florida.

Many people have commented of all the flaws that they found in President Bush he had done a good job of holding the anti-islamic hatred in check by reminding America was at war with Terrorist and not Islam. President Obama had not clearly enunciated that sentiment forcefully until this press conference. I think this answer below starting at 1:30 mark is as fine and powerful and passionate answer President Obama has given on this subject. Will it matter, hard to tell. I suspect that those who need to hear it the most aren't listening much to what President Obama has to say. But, it needs to said and repeated.

.

First, these two situations are not equal. They both concern freedom of religion and speech. They both have to right to do it. That is where the similarity ends. The book burning is a deliberate publicity stunt of a "pastor" with 50 congregants. The stunt should be repulsive to anyone who passed high school history, watched Schindler's List, hell even if you watched "Hogan's Heroes" you have a pretty good idea about the message that book burning holds. Outside of Auschwitz video's of Nazi book burnings is probably the strongest link to a round them up and kill them all message one can send. The very fact that Gen. Patreaus and Defense Secretary Gates felt the need to get involved is pretty good sense of how serious the ramifications these actions would have had.

Second, I understand that there are a number of people who are genuinely hurt by what they hear about the "Ground Zero Mosque". That feeling is real. The problem is there a great number of people "leaders" who know the facts, mislead people to stir up the pains of the other (Palin, Gingrich, Beck) for their own agenda. Can you spell demogogue.
Would the hurt have been so real had these people been told of an Islamic YMCA with a prayer room being built in a vacant Burlington Coat Factory near strip joint, Off Track Betting Parlor, and a number of Bars. Somehow doesn't have the same impact.

Credit where Credit is due...

2010-08-30T09:03:00.000-05:00

Over the past 7 days two of America's most famous personalities had very good weeks. Just a week ago today liberal bloggers and talking head types were discussing and relishing the impending embarrasment that Sarah Palin was going to experience at the hands of Alaskan voters. I am speaking of the Republican Primary for Senate. Palin had endorsed and recorded robo-calls for Tea Party favorite Bill Miller against sitting Senator Lisa Murkowski. Miller was not given a chance and liberals were salivating to make hey out of Palin's demise as a political king maker. It wasn't to be Miller currently holds a 1500 vote lead over Murkowski and 10's of thousands of absentees to be counted. Regardless of the final count Palin can rightfully tout her influence on that election.

Secondly, Mr. Beck held his rally at the Lincoln Memorial over the weekend. I have never suggested that Mr. Beck is a stupid man regardless of the some of the completely stupid things he espouses. He is at heart an entertainer and is therefore not bound by any set of central fact or theme. That being said he held a "successful" event this weekend. The crowds were reported to larger than expected and impressive by most any measure. (although not near the size of Obama's inauguration. That only matters in that a number of supporters suggest that it was) It was by all accounts a peaceful rally less the offensive signage and propaganda that has at times been displayed at such gatherings. It appears that Beck made a smart tactical decision to turn this from a political rally to religious or spiritual rally. That allowed for a more peaceful and united theme.

Reason.tv an arm of Reason Magazine a truly libertarian publication was on the scene and filed what is a good thorough and even handed report of the events. Take a look.

Ask and you shall receive, Ron Paul Libertarian Icon speaks out

2010-08-23T12:14:00.000-05:00

A few post back I called on Libertarians to speak out against the demogaugery from right regarding the Burlington Coat Factory Mosque. Well Rep. Paul has issued a statement as such.

I was going to give you taste of the piece. I think it is better if you take a moment to read it.

PS I don't think Ron Paul issued this statement as a result of my request. Well maybe he did.

Triva Time:

2010-08-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

Quick name the crazy radical who "blamed" the US for 9/11 with this quote.

When people said they hate us, well, did we deserve 9-11? No. But were we minding our business? No. Were we in bed with dictators and abandoned our values and principles? Yes. That causes problems

Move along nothing to see here, Next stop beware of the scarey....

2010-08-22T12:12:00.000-05:00

Have you noticed it too?

It seems some force out there stirs up the country about how Obama is going to destroy America. Death Panels, Indoctrinate School Children, Obama's Katrina, Burlington Coat Factor Mosque. The news media and fox news followers get their emotions raised to a fevered pitch.

Then the truth comes to light and we move onto the next big scare whether it is a fake Acorn scare, or 2 black guys scaring away votes form a predominately black inner city voting location, or well we'll have to see what is next, but I am sure it is going to be scarey.

This brings me to one of the earliest scares and rallying cries "Government Motors". You know when mean ole Obama forced all the good people of GM to go into bankruptcy, just so he could socialize the auto industry and payback his union thug buddies.

The Economist provides a rare reconsideration of this as GM announces that they are preparing for an IPO.

Many people thought this bail-out (and a smaller one involving Chrysler, an even sicker firm) unwise. Governments have historically been lousy stewards of industry. Lovers of free markets (including The Economist) feared that Mr Obama might use GM as a political tool: perhaps favouring the unions who donate to Democrats or forcing the firm to build smaller, greener cars than consumers want to buy. The label “Government Motors” quickly stuck, evoking images of clunky committee-built cars that burned banknotes instead of petrol—all run by what Sarah Palin might call the socialist-in-chief.

I recall arguing at the time that President Obama's actions were a result of a very unique set of circumstances that he inherited. (I will note that he didn't just happen into this job, he actively pursued it) These actions have now had 18 months to play out. No one is satisfied with where the economy is currently sitting one can make a very convincing argument that our economic situation could and would have been much much worse. Like wise one could make an argument (not very convincing in my mind) that a do nothing approach would have been preferred. What I think no can reasonably make is that Obama's goal is to reign as Socialist in Chief . The Economist comes to a very similiar conclusion.

Socialists don’t privatise

That does not mean, however, that bail-outs are always or often justified. Straightforward bankruptcy is usually the most efficient way to allow floundering firms to restructure or fail. The state should step in only when a firm’s collapse poses a systemic risk. Propping up the financial system in 2008 clearly qualified. Saving GM was a harder call, but, with the benefit of hindsight, the right one. The lesson for governments is that for a bail-out to work, it must be brutal and temporary. The lesson for American voters is that their president, for all his flaws, has no desire to own the commanding heights of industry. A gambler, yes. An interventionist, yes. A socialist, no.

Enough is enough once again. Muslim bashing edition

2010-08-17T10:10:00.001-05:00

I have not watched Countdown with Keith Olberman in quite a long time. Mostly due to scheduling and partly to do with his overreaching and over the top approach. That said, I think he has genuinely said what he feels and not simply acted as a College Football Cheerleader. I was very pleased to see his most recent special comment toned down, but precise on facts. For in this case the facts tell the story and the story needs no embellisment. This "controversy" reminds very much of the hoopla the fanatical right stirred up this time last year re: the President indoctrinating our school children. Somehow, our children survived unscathed and maybe a few of them were inspired. The right has moved on from that battle (never seem to bring it up anymore) to fresher concerns. Like slicing and dicing the Constitution they so claim to love and telling a religious group where they can and can not learn to cook and play basketball. Take a look.

I have often said that Libertarians generally have the purest form of political philosophy. I don't agree with it, but it easy to be consistent. Keep gov't out and honor private property. Libertarians and small c conservatives should be on the front lines of fighting back the xenophobia that is currently on display. "All muslims" are no more responsible for 9/11 than "all Catholics" are responsible for molesting little boys. We don't demand that churches be built more than 4 blocks from any playground.

Game Time is over let the Adults in.

2010-06-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

Last week's apology by Rep. Joe Barton to BP about made my head explode. Once my gut reaction subsided slightly, I attempted to think it through as objectively as possible. I was still completely dumbfounded on this one. Nearly a week later the Republicans are still figuring out how to respond. The truth of the matter is there were a number of them spouting the same BS leading up to this moment. Barton simply did it from the seat of a US House of Representatives Committee seat. It is one thing for a politician to go all wacky. When they do it with the air of officialdom that is a whole new ball game.

Now the leadership has absolutely no choice but to put the hammer down and fast on Barton. This can't be a Republican story for them, they need a scapegoat to protect them. Barton is the one. Don't be surprised if there is not more news about him losing seniority, chairmanship etc. One has to ask what about the rest who got out in front of Barton with these similar statements. Bachman, Pence, etc.

I enjoy when a conservative thinker calls BS on "conservative" politicians. I came across this posting from The American Conservative Magazine takes an objective look at this situation. It is well worth the read.

Impact of Deepwater

2010-06-02T09:28:00.002-05:00

Pollster takes a look at Deepwater and Obama from a polling and political impact. It is nice to read a poliltical article that is not simply one side cheering or booing the other side.

I'm sorry you can't sit there!

2010-05-20T10:45:00.001-05:00

If you haven't heard the story yet, just wait for it. You should probably hear about it soon enough.

Rand Paul GOP nominee for the Kentucky Senate Seat was on The Rachel Maddow Show last night.

Rachel attempted to pin Dr. Paul on his position in regards to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The nugget is "does the federal government have the authority to outlaw the practice of discrimination in private businesses"

I have read a number of pieces on the interview and Mr. Paul and I found the piece below by Andrew Sullivan to especially good and I recommend it. I have often called myself an pragmatic progressive. There are many issues that I would be considered far left on, however, I accept certain political realities and I am prepared to calculate those realities into my political formulation. One might consider Andrew Sullivan as a pragmatic libertarian.

Andrew Sullivan on Rand Paul on Rachel Maddow

A comment that I came across from a blogger known as Atrios put this way.

Government regulates – and, of course, provides the necessary conditions for the existence of – private business in all kinds of ways. So when people have a particular concern about, say, the Civil Rights Act, as opposed to, say, parking requirements, it’s reasonable to wonder why.

I am not going to suggest Dr. Paul is a racist, he made the point several times that he is not. I think in this matter it probably is not important if he is personally a racist. As Sullivan points out what is more important is what the effect of the position is.

Really? ( you want to go back to the "good" ole days. )

2010-05-19T08:54:00.001-05:00

A picture is worth a $1,000

2010-04-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

A graphical recap of the economy over the past year.

President takes on America's poll obsessed punditry

2010-04-05T09:30:00.000-05:00

Been a little too obsessed to post lately.

2010-03-22T08:28:00.003-05:00

I love this.
I truly believe America wakes up this morning a little better, fairer place to live.

Who is responsible for this?

2010-03-11T15:09:00.000-06:00

Take a quick look at Health Care Reform's popularity since the beginning of the year.

Have you no Sense of decency!!!!

2010-03-09T08:53:00.002-06:00

The "Al-Qaeda 7" is a smear campaign going on right now that I have been watching over the interwebs. It has gotten coverage but not what it deserves. A group of right wing necons. Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol are smearing Department of Justice lawyers who have been assigned to act as defense attorney's for detainees in Gitmo.

This is a situation in which I will simply ask you to read what Eugene Robinson has to say on this matter as he does a much better job than I could attempt.

"The word "McCarthyism" is overused, but in this case it's mild. Liz Cheney, the former vice president's ambitious daughter, has in her hand a list of Justice Department lawyers whose "values" she has the gall to question. She ought to spend the time examining her own principles, if she can find them."

No Good Lazy Bums.

2010-03-05T19:26:00.002-06:00

This graph dovetailed with a thought process I had when I was out running. It is a simplification of Conservative dogma. Essentially a free market based system is most effective and better because it rewards the hardest working smartest people. The government should not waste money and effort on the poor. They are poor because they don't offer the market anything.

This graph is kind of a visualization of my thought. Best get richer and more powerful. First they outperform and drain the resources of the "lazy" and weak. After that has been drained they set their targets on the middle class. A person could be the hardest working mechanic in the world but does he stand a chance against a Wall Street Banker, A Corporate Executive. If the free market is to be allowed to allocate the resources to best and brightest (now the biggest) are we not destined to world with a handful of Billionaires.

All I can tell you is that we have had seriously lazy middle class over the last 20 years according to the graph above.

A pictures is worth a Billion Dollars

2010-03-04T14:32:00.002-06:00

Budgetary impact of two Bush Tax Cuts, and Proposed Health Care Reform. Note Tax cuts were passed via Reconciliation HCR passed 99% through Supermajority (slight fixes proposed via Reconciliation).(Thanks Rachel)

What a good discussion on HCR sounds like

2010-03-04T14:13:00.002-06:00

Ezra Klein of the Washington Post has been the best pro reform analyst reporting on the whole process. While he is in favor of Health Care Reform he deals in honest analyst. He had a conversation with Representative Paul Ryan. Rep Ryan has come out of this as probably the most knowledgeable Republican in this debate. The two have a good conversation, while they might not agree they have a seemingly honest and honorable conversation. It is worth a read. It is a little detailed but well worth it.

And Go!

Be careful who you pick a fight with

2010-03-04T07:47:00.001-06:00

@maddow (Rachel Maddow) ran me down on her show last night over my views on health care reform. Wonderful badge of honor. #utpol #utgop
about 5 hours ago via web

Dear @OrrinHatch: http://is.gd/9CnhP I didn't actually address your views, sir, just your misrepresentation of the facts.
about 1 hours ago via web

something to sleep on

2010-03-03T21:52:00.000-06:00

Funny or Die's Presidential Reunion from Will Ferrell

Hillary Scott of Lady Antebellum / Stops by my Wife's store

2010-03-03T21:21:00.001-06:00

I got to say it's hot when she says "Kurt"

Hey look the Dems are coming around too.

2010-03-02T13:17:00.003-06:00

Remember down below when I talked about using reconciliation to pass fixes and not to pass Health Care Reform. Well you know what it is catching on. Here are a couple of examples

New York Times

As for the legislative strategy, the Democrats are not trying to pass an entirely new bill under the reconciliation process.

Instead, a reconciliation measure would include only provisions to change the Senate-passed bill in ways reflecting compromises with the House and the White House. Then, in a legislative two-step, the House would adopt the original Senate bill, the House and the Senate would approve the package of changes, and Mr. Obama would sign both into law.

Even Conservative Democrat Kent Conrad Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee is talking the the talk when speaking with Ezra Klein.

So I never thought reconciliation would work for a comprehensive bill. But we don’t need to use reconciliation for the comprehensive bill. That bill passed with the supermajority, with 60 votes, not using reconciliation.

If the House passes that legislation as well, it can go straight to the president. But there’s a potential role for reconciliation in what we call a sidecar. It’s there to improve or perfect the package, and it only will include items that score for budgetary purposes.

Speaking of that Coffee Party thing

2010-03-01T21:10:00.001-06:00

A release of liberal activism

2010-03-01T13:04:00.006-06:00

Shorty story, Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln who has been hiding behind the bipartisan rock all year on Health Care has just received a Primary opponent. (I don't say that lightly, reminder she is the one who appealed to the President to basically push back against those in the Democratic party on Health Care Reform and spend more time and effort working with the Republicans?)

The announcement came this morning. A sudden rush of of excitement burst forward from the Left. This can easily witnessed by the Act Blue page for her opponent.

Act Blue is a web site set up to accept donations for Democratic politicians. Take a look at his haul in just a few short hours. Bill Halter.

For comparison sake, note that he was at $63,000 as of 1:00 pm central time.

Add that to the story of Coffee Party Movement. A lady started a webpage in response to the uncivil hyper negative energy of the Tea Party. The Movement was featured in the Washington Post last Friday and the number of people that signed on was explosive. Look at the Facebook page to see the current number last count was 34,000.

The Traditional media is catching up (Will the Democrats)

2010-02-27T10:36:00.009-06:00

Not that anyone is really paying attention to this blog (that's ok), EJ Dionne of the Washington Post got around to commenting on something I pointed out a couple of post back. This is in regard to Chuck Todd's point regarding reconciliation.

Here is an excerpt form my post:

"Here is the reality the Senate has passed health care reform with the requisite 60 votes. If the house were to simply pass the exact same bill this is all for nothing game over. What is being considered under Reconciliation is a very small portion of the bill. Honestly, most of the stuff that they are considering items that they truthfully against."

The major point and it is a genuine point, is that the Senate is not looking to pass Health Care Reform through Reconciliation they are looking to fix the reform they have already passed (with 60 votes no less).

And again a big chunk of the things they want to fix are things pretty much everyone including republicans agree with. They are taking out the special deals that everyone found so distasteful. John McCain pointed out one such problem. The special treatment that Florida seniors receive in the Senate bill. He as a Senator from Arizone (with it's own sizable senior population) is upset about it. You know what, there are a lot of Democrats that are upset about that as well. President Obama agreed with McCain to McCain's amazement. The President and the Senate Dems are talking about fixing those deals along with a number of other tweeks.

The bottom line, the Republicans are taking their stand not based on the fact they think the Cornhusker kickback and the special deal for Florida is good policy. They are staking out there position to either 1) kill any thing from passing or 2) forcing the Democrats to pass the bill exactly as it is. The second option would allow them to campaign against the dirty back room deals. The deals that Democrats are attempting to exorcise in the Reconciliation package.

So if Republicans vote against the reconciliation fixes they are actually voting to keep these sweetheart deals in the legislation hoping they can turn around say how terrible they sweetheart deals are.

More to the point EJ Dionne gives kudos to Chuck Todd for catching this very important truth where the rest of the media (and democrat stragetist) have failed. EJ is hoping the rest of the media wakes up to the reality the Senate vote will be merely to pass fixes not pass Health Care Reform.

"Kudos to Todd for stating a truth that just about all of us have missed"

It will be interesting to see if the Democrats sharpen their focus with this more accurate description going forward. I think one reason so many in the press and escpecially on the Democrats side was they were expecting the Republicans to simply fight against reconciliation itself. Therefore, the press and the Dems were more focused on the counter argument to that position.

Score one for objectivity (sort of)

2010-02-26T11:40:00.000-06:00

When is aid not welfare?

2010-02-26T11:25:00.004-06:00

This is a phenomenon that doesn't speak only to conservatives, but a wide swath of the American public. You can see in the myriad of proposals to "drug test welfare recipients". Often this expresses itself state houses and facebook polls etc.

The concept always tend to be received very positively. Andrew Sullivan comes across a chart that show an interesting dichotomy. Conservatives are highly in favoring of cutting welfare but not nearly as much in favor of cutting "Aid to the poor".

My answer to this dilemma is the same as Sullivans.

"Er: Welfare means aid to the black poor, surely? And aid to the poor means white, right? Not that hard to figure it out."

A sliver

2010-02-25T21:10:00.004-06:00

Chuck Todd was the first talking head I have heard to make this important point.

The Republicans can't argue against Reconciliation in good faith once the facts are clear.

They have to grease with their argument with, "it has never been done on a scale of this size" (nevermind the fact that the tax cuts I believe were Considerably larger) and approved via Reconciliation.

Here is the reality the Senate has passed health care reform with the requisite 60 votes. If the house were to simply pass the exact same bill this is all for nothing game over. What is being considered under Reconciliation is a very small portion of the bill. Honestly, most of the stuff that they are considering items that they truthfully against.

Keep in Mind

2010-02-24T21:00:00.002-06:00

It would probably be accurate to state that this is a talking point that Democrats are pushing regarding the usage of Reconciliation (the novel idea of a majority vote). That doesn't make it invalid.

Elsewhere, political scientist Joshua Tucker found a Congressional Research Service report (pdf) listing every time reconciliation was used between 1981 and 2005, and he built a rough model testing which party used the process more frequently. During that period, there were 19 reconciliation bills, 11 of which were signed by Republican presidents, five of which were signed by Democratic presidents, three of which were vetoed by Democratic presidents, and none of which were vetoed by Republican presidents. "By my admittedly simple classification scheme," Tucker concludes, "this would suggest that 14 of the 19 times reconciliation was used between FY1981 - FY2005, it was used to advance Republican interests."

It's On!!!! ........................CSPAN

2010-02-24T18:59:00.000-06:00

The mushy middle / waiting to rise again?

2010-02-23T08:29:00.002-06:00

I have often said that America needs at least a third party if not 4th or 5th. However, I have always envisioned that a constructive third party would center on fiscal responsibility and socially liberal or libertarian.

Goverment involvement in certain areas is not intrinsicly bad, but one does have to be vigilant about it's execution. Likewise, the government really doesn't have any business in the bedroom or the doctors office. I just read a piece by Michael Smerconish. He is based in the Philly area he would be considered a moderate republican, he is a talk show host, and he was open to Obama as President.

He relates his decision to switch is party affiliation from Republican to Independant. He points out that currently there are more self identified independents than either Democrats or Republicans. So maybe that third party is forming itself.

Even closer to home

2010-02-22T12:57:00.001-06:00

Missouri preserves sales tax exemptions on yachts, no such luck no bassboats, rowboats etc. Oh by the way we are going to need to cut funding for education, thank you.

McClatchy News

A little closer to Home

2010-02-22T11:56:00.002-06:00

Somehow ths article came to my attention. It was posted on Biggovernment.com a website of Breitbart who was an apprentice of Matt Drudge. None the less it does shine a light on the questionable dealings of local governments. Keep this in mind when you are told that local governments do things much better than State or Federal Government.

Here is the link.

The story tells about how all dems and reps voted payment of a management fee to a political contributor. Mind you both dems and reps voted for this deal. what I find particularly interesting was the first comment in the comment sections of this story.

"I am concerned that the manner in which the federal government is operating is eerily like how the Krupps munitions factory was still billing the Nazi’s - after Hitler committed suicide."

What? So small town officials questionable ethics = Obama is hitler. Still guessing on this one.

Speaking (again) of Hypocrisy: Schwarzenegger style

2010-02-21T13:07:00.004-06:00

Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger calls out fellow republicans for their hypocrisy on the stimulus.

"Well, you know, to me I find it interesting that you have a lot of the Republicans running around and pushing back on the stimulus money and saying this doesn't create any new jobs, and then they go out and they do the photo ops and they are posing with the big check and they say, isn't this great?" he said. "Look what the kind of -- the kind of money I provide here for the state, and this is great money to create jobs, and this has created 10,000 new jobs and this has created 20,000 new jobs. And all of these kind of things. It doesn't match up."

Republicans have been attempting to fire back at Democrats for not returning the tax cuts many received under Bush. Here is the difference and it is a big one. The Republicans argument is that the Stimulus does not create jobs at best and hurts job creation in all probability. They then turn around and solicit funds for and brag to their constituents about all the jobs they have help create and save through these very same funds (that don't create jobs and probably hurts job creation.) This pretty much has to be the definition of hypocrisy.

I often say it is more difficult being a liberal, due to the fact that often liberal answers don't often fit on a bumper sticker. In reality issues are complex and often times the answer is complicated. Republicans have settled on lower taxes, small government fits well sounds great, but in reality it doesn't mean shit when they are in control See the 8 years under Bush. That being said the issues of Repulicans performing their doublespeak on the stimulus might be one the Democrats feel they can take advantage of. Hypocrit fits very well on a bumper sticker. It is something everyone can understand and many Republicans were kind enough to provide thier own little visual aids with those big checks in hand. Democrats have every right to take those big checks and beat the republicans over the head with them as matter of fact they have a responsibility to do so. They also need to continue to focus and doing what is necessary in order to make sure the recovery works it's way down the workers of the country and not just the boards.

Taking a stand for the Good Ole' Boys (Toyota that is)

2010-02-20T12:32:00.003-06:00

In case you haven't heard it yet, you will soon. The Toyota Recall situation is... Wait for it.... Drum roll please.... Obama's fault.

Yes, that's right you heard it The Obama Administration is behind all of Toyota's current problems. Let me give you a quick rundown. Obama forced GM to sell to the Union and to the Gov't. Obama has too make sure GM survives, you know he owes the Unions and now the Unions own GM. So in order to make sure GM thrives so the Union can increase it's power and money Obama is scaring Americans away from buying Toyota's.

I am guessing I don't need to spell the complete ignorance of this. But I do find amusing is that people spouting this kind of talk are the same people who are flag flying, don't talk bad about our President in time of war, buy USA (shop Walmart) crowd. These are probably the same people that would come into the Electronics store I used to work at and complain because all we had were Hitachis, Toshibas, Sharp etc.

Although this does provide a reason to take a look at somehting that has occurred over the past 20 years. The number of plants / dealerships etc that foreign automakers have put in the USA. Additionally these automakers located in the parts of the country that have had low wages and little unionization mainly the south. Some twenty years later the foreign auto makers have developed a large network of influence through their economic investment in the south. So we have a interesting (if not hypocritical) irony development. Much of the southern population and the specifically many southern politicians are more and more willing to side with Foreign automakers over the US automakers. Those of you who can think back 20 years. Can you imagine a Southern politician standing up and defending a Japanese auto maker back in the 80's.

There is an article over at TPM that goes into detail about the roots that Toyota has developed in the USA and how that might aid them during this rough spot. (Full disclosure I drive a Toyota RAV4, a Honda Accord, and the previous car was a Mazda Protege. As you can see I have nothing against foreign autos.

The last note regarding the conspiracy theory mentioned above. It is my thought if there was a customer in the car market who was considering a Toyota but are concerned would first consider a Honda and then turn their attention to Ford. Ford seems to hitting their stride as of late. Their decision not to partake in the government assistance and their recent string of cars puts them in a much better position to take advantage of the current Toyota problems.

While we are on the hypocrit thingy

2010-02-18T16:01:00.000-06:00

Feet off the furniture

Can't quite figure out that Hypocrit thing

2010-02-18T12:04:00.001-06:00

Critical Mass

2010-02-18T11:23:00.003-06:00

Many of those that are left me are renewing the push to pass a public option in the Senate (it has already passed in the house). While I am in total agreement that a public option is vital to comprehensive health care reform, I am uncertain of the reality of it passing. This renewed push received a boost with a letter written and signed by 4 Senate Democrats asking Senate leader Reid to pursue a vote on the Senate floor.

Huffington Post: Public Option Support Surging In Senate

Daily Kos: New: Public Option Through Reconciliation Scoreboard: 16 Signers + 3 Supporters = 19

Reid's response was that he was personally in favor of a public option but someone had to show him the votes for passage. Upon on that word many activist have renewed their calls to their Senators to push for a sign of support. The number has climbed to 19 who have either directly signed onto the letter or expressed their support for passing a public option through reconciliation (simple majority, as opposed to a 60 vote super majority).

There are a lot of people and organizers on the left whipping up people's excitement about this possible resurgence. Is it misplaced? Well, of course it is too early to tell. Let's look at the significance of the last few days. Essentially we have 19 Democratic Senators who have basically stated what their position has always been. I don't believe there truly has been an surprise endorsements for this idea. That being said momentum does seem to play a big part in passing legislation.

20 or 25 supporters doesn't change the game, it basically reaffirms it. Now if the number climbs into the high 30's / low 40's of Senators "going on the record" that would be nearing the necessary critical mass. There 57 Democrats plus 1 independent to draw from. Therefore the Dems can only lose 8 votes. Evan Bayh's announced resignation is hard to read. Instead of feeling free to vote with the party he will feel free to vote against it.

At this time I am not getting my hopes up. I will continue to watch as various members of the left whip up the activist and see how this plays out. One other way to look at this is a bargaining position. President Obama is set to host the Health Care Summit next week. It probably makes a lot of sense for the Democrats asking for more than they will probably get in order call the final bill a compromise. In a nutshell the President can say ok Dems want Public Option Reps want tort reform and selling across state lines here is where we meet in the middle. Which is pretty much where the the current Senate bill is right now.

Is this the work of Plouffe?

2010-02-18T10:04:00.000-06:00

Here's another look

2010-02-18T09:43:00.002-06:00

Pollster.com discusses the graph comparing job losses between Bush's and Obama's tenure. I found it interesting and is good for reference. Although I don't the second graph negates the first, nor do I think he intends to.

Have a look for yourself.