If you have the right to broadcast your religious beliefs, I have the right to shoot them down.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Hint: my birthday is coming up.
I like this. I want to put it on my car.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A day of change
I'm sitting here at work listening to Obama's inaugural speech because everybody is riveted to the screen. Fortunately, I'm pretty good at multi-tasking. As he speaks of the challenges that lie before us, I'm compelled to reflect on the hope and change he promises.
Obama made it pretty clear that he's not planning to govern from the left. The Left made it pretty clear they expect him to do it anyway. The Right are sharpening their blades in gleeful anticipation of cutting his policies to shreds now that they're back in the obstructionist role they perfected. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Obama will be able to leverage the public support he currently enjoys to function effectively and neuter the Republican noise machine. I wish I could say that I have hope.
Obama's cabinet picks have been a mixed bag, at best. Some neocons from the Bush administration, a genuine scientist for the Energy Department and a lot of former Clinton appointees. Eric Holder has been encouraging in his statements about torture and investigating the crimes of the previous administration, but he brings a lot of baggage from his work with Clinton and the stigma Republicans have tried to attach to him. Overall, Obama is looking like a centrist.
We don't need a centrist right now. We need someone who is going to change our national dialogue the way Reagan changed it in the 80s. We need someone who will help repudiate the conservative ideology, not try to make nice with it. Conservatives still wield significant power in the nation because we've allowed conservatives to take control of our media. Unless we hammer home the notion that it wasn't conservatives that failed us but the entire conservative ideology, we're going to end up with another Bush administration. Obama has promised change, but unless he leverages his public support to move the nation farther left, any change he brings will be short-lived.
It's important to "reach across the aisle" and cooperate with political opponents. The key there is "cooperation." Republicans signaled to the nation in 2006 that they were not going to cooperate at all with the Democratic majority that took control of Congress, and they followed through on that promise. They're signaling now that any cooperation that takes place with the Obama administration will be on their terms, not his. It's almost as though they think they swept the last two elections, instead of the other way around. But they're on the defensive, and they know this game very well. They'll gnash their teeth, rend their clothes and howl to the press who will repeat every word verbatim without ever once investigating the claims being made. The Republicans have become confident that their every word will be taken as gospel because no one (outside the blogsphere which they're trying to simultaneously discredit and subvert) is willing to challenge them.
We've just spent the better part of two decades with conservatives calling the shots, and we're now facing problems we haven't seen for two generations. I fully expect this crisis to far surpass the Great Depression, not just because of our economy but the problems we've created for ourselves in the global community. We need to lay the blame for these problems at the feet of the Republicans, because they are most directly responsible for making them happen. We won't do this if our leaders insist on being centrists. Being centrists only work if the opposition is willing to meet us in the middle. There may be more Democrats in office than Republicans, but there's far more support for the Right than the Left in our government.
It's too early to pass judgment on Obama and his administration. He just now finished taking his oath of office, and he hasn't even had a chance to sit in the big chair to start making any decisions. His cabinet still needs time to get themselves installed and address the vast scope of the crisis we now face. I'm not going to abandon all hope just yet. But I will point out that based on first impressions, I'm not expecting more than a brief respite from the nightmare of the last eight years.
Obama made it pretty clear that he's not planning to govern from the left. The Left made it pretty clear they expect him to do it anyway. The Right are sharpening their blades in gleeful anticipation of cutting his policies to shreds now that they're back in the obstructionist role they perfected. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Obama will be able to leverage the public support he currently enjoys to function effectively and neuter the Republican noise machine. I wish I could say that I have hope.
Obama's cabinet picks have been a mixed bag, at best. Some neocons from the Bush administration, a genuine scientist for the Energy Department and a lot of former Clinton appointees. Eric Holder has been encouraging in his statements about torture and investigating the crimes of the previous administration, but he brings a lot of baggage from his work with Clinton and the stigma Republicans have tried to attach to him. Overall, Obama is looking like a centrist.
We don't need a centrist right now. We need someone who is going to change our national dialogue the way Reagan changed it in the 80s. We need someone who will help repudiate the conservative ideology, not try to make nice with it. Conservatives still wield significant power in the nation because we've allowed conservatives to take control of our media. Unless we hammer home the notion that it wasn't conservatives that failed us but the entire conservative ideology, we're going to end up with another Bush administration. Obama has promised change, but unless he leverages his public support to move the nation farther left, any change he brings will be short-lived.
It's important to "reach across the aisle" and cooperate with political opponents. The key there is "cooperation." Republicans signaled to the nation in 2006 that they were not going to cooperate at all with the Democratic majority that took control of Congress, and they followed through on that promise. They're signaling now that any cooperation that takes place with the Obama administration will be on their terms, not his. It's almost as though they think they swept the last two elections, instead of the other way around. But they're on the defensive, and they know this game very well. They'll gnash their teeth, rend their clothes and howl to the press who will repeat every word verbatim without ever once investigating the claims being made. The Republicans have become confident that their every word will be taken as gospel because no one (outside the blogsphere which they're trying to simultaneously discredit and subvert) is willing to challenge them.
We've just spent the better part of two decades with conservatives calling the shots, and we're now facing problems we haven't seen for two generations. I fully expect this crisis to far surpass the Great Depression, not just because of our economy but the problems we've created for ourselves in the global community. We need to lay the blame for these problems at the feet of the Republicans, because they are most directly responsible for making them happen. We won't do this if our leaders insist on being centrists. Being centrists only work if the opposition is willing to meet us in the middle. There may be more Democrats in office than Republicans, but there's far more support for the Right than the Left in our government.
It's too early to pass judgment on Obama and his administration. He just now finished taking his oath of office, and he hasn't even had a chance to sit in the big chair to start making any decisions. His cabinet still needs time to get themselves installed and address the vast scope of the crisis we now face. I'm not going to abandon all hope just yet. But I will point out that based on first impressions, I'm not expecting more than a brief respite from the nightmare of the last eight years.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Revisionism redux
So our revered drug addict is at it again:
The funny thing? I seem to recall Conservatives running the show for the majority of the past two decades.
I'm getting really tired of conservatives trying to go back and blame their screwups on liberals. Rove is doing it, Bush is doing it, pretty much everyone on Fox News has been trying to change history as it happens ("terrorist fist-jab," anyone?) and Limbaugh is right there on the fringes leading the charge.
It's all the fault of the Liberals!
But...conservatives have dominated government more often than not since Reagan started appointing federal judges.
Liberalism! The media has a well-known liberal bias!
So how come all of the media pundits repeat conservative talking points and liberals got pushed into blogs?
If it weren't for Liberals, we'd have won the war and straightened out our economy!
Except liberals were literally shut out of the process of government for years while the war was going on and the economy was bubbling over.
I'm rich, and I say it's all the fault of the Liberals!
So yeah, that's pretty much Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and all the rest of the blowhards in a nutshell. Tell me if I'm wrong.
Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what's gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don't care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: "Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails." Somebody's gotta say it.
The funny thing? I seem to recall Conservatives running the show for the majority of the past two decades.
I'm getting really tired of conservatives trying to go back and blame their screwups on liberals. Rove is doing it, Bush is doing it, pretty much everyone on Fox News has been trying to change history as it happens ("terrorist fist-jab," anyone?) and Limbaugh is right there on the fringes leading the charge.
It's all the fault of the Liberals!
But...conservatives have dominated government more often than not since Reagan started appointing federal judges.
Liberalism! The media has a well-known liberal bias!
So how come all of the media pundits repeat conservative talking points and liberals got pushed into blogs?
If it weren't for Liberals, we'd have won the war and straightened out our economy!
Except liberals were literally shut out of the process of government for years while the war was going on and the economy was bubbling over.
I'm rich, and I say it's all the fault of the Liberals!
So yeah, that's pretty much Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and all the rest of the blowhards in a nutshell. Tell me if I'm wrong.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Conservative blinders
Digby brings to my attention the words of the venerable conservative icon Rush Limbaugh:
Ah, the hypocrisy of the Right Wing mindset.
This is what I like to refer to as "conservative blinders." You're focused exclusively on short-term interests because things are precisely the way you want them. Nevermind that they're going to change, and nevermind that you're not going to like the change. Things are the way they are right now and thus there's no need to change anything.
Gasoline is under two bucks in most place right now but we had a taste of what life is like when it's over four bucks. The price of oil is under $50 a barrel right now, but we had a taste of what life is like when it's over $150. What makes you think those prices aren't going to skyrocket again? What makes you think it's safe to drive SUVs without concern for the future, either to our pocket books or to the global environment? Things are the way we want them right now, and the future will just sort itself out, right?
Short-term policies are a specialty for the GOP. Deregulating industries are good for the nation -- in the short term. Global warming is a problem for the future, so we'll let our children and grandchildren worry about it when it comes time to pay the bill. About the only long-term thinking the GOP ever engages in amounts to gambling: their policies are good for the rich and you want to be rich, right? So support our policies in the increasingly rare event that you get to be rich like us!
I don't want Detroit to start putting out efficient, environmentally-friendly vehicles because they're going to be cheaper. I want Detroit to do it because it's going to be better for everybody in the long run. I don't want my children or their children to have to pay the bill we're creating for them. Of course, if they can't put out a car that won't fall apart while I drive it, I'm still not going to buy from them. My Corolla just passed the 225000 mile mark on its original engine, and it shows no signs of dropping any time soon. Until Detroit can match that, I'm going to continue to buy Corollas in the future.
At least, I will when I have the money to do it. For some reason, the GOP is good at producing policies to protect the rich, but not so good at producing policies that help people achieve that increasingly rarefied status.
With gasoline prices now under two bucks in most places and dropping, and the price of oil (I checked it right before the program) below $50 now ($49 a barrel it was earlier today.) So with the gas price under two bucks and oil plummeting, what would you say, Pelosi and Reid, if the car companies could become profitable by selling SUVs or go broke by turning out the green cars that you're going to demand they make?
Ah, the hypocrisy of the Right Wing mindset.
This is what I like to refer to as "conservative blinders." You're focused exclusively on short-term interests because things are precisely the way you want them. Nevermind that they're going to change, and nevermind that you're not going to like the change. Things are the way they are right now and thus there's no need to change anything.
Gasoline is under two bucks in most place right now but we had a taste of what life is like when it's over four bucks. The price of oil is under $50 a barrel right now, but we had a taste of what life is like when it's over $150. What makes you think those prices aren't going to skyrocket again? What makes you think it's safe to drive SUVs without concern for the future, either to our pocket books or to the global environment? Things are the way we want them right now, and the future will just sort itself out, right?
Short-term policies are a specialty for the GOP. Deregulating industries are good for the nation -- in the short term. Global warming is a problem for the future, so we'll let our children and grandchildren worry about it when it comes time to pay the bill. About the only long-term thinking the GOP ever engages in amounts to gambling: their policies are good for the rich and you want to be rich, right? So support our policies in the increasingly rare event that you get to be rich like us!
I don't want Detroit to start putting out efficient, environmentally-friendly vehicles because they're going to be cheaper. I want Detroit to do it because it's going to be better for everybody in the long run. I don't want my children or their children to have to pay the bill we're creating for them. Of course, if they can't put out a car that won't fall apart while I drive it, I'm still not going to buy from them. My Corolla just passed the 225000 mile mark on its original engine, and it shows no signs of dropping any time soon. Until Detroit can match that, I'm going to continue to buy Corollas in the future.
At least, I will when I have the money to do it. For some reason, the GOP is good at producing policies to protect the rich, but not so good at producing policies that help people achieve that increasingly rarefied status.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
An Open Letter in Protest of California's Proposition 8
http://www.mayerdan.com/2008/11/an_open_letter_to_the_supporte.php
You have given your time, your money and your energy to a cause that has attempted to create a second-class citizenry in the United States of America. You have given your time, your money, and your energy to the cause of corrupting the Constitution of California with the first mention of discrimination against its own people. You have given your time, your money, and your energy to the cause of destroying thousands of loving unions between two people. And, congratulations, you succeeded. So, now the question that you should ask yourself: Are you happy now?
We certainly are not. In fact, we are furious. The problem is, you see us as gays and lesbians, but we see ourselves as Americans. You would do yourself a huge favor to look back through the history of this great country and see that in the war of oppression against Americans, your side has always lost. Not only have you lost, but your failures are seen as epic and painful embarrassments that we, as a country, try our hardest to forget. We don't want to believe that America would allow segregation, Japanese internment camps, prohibiting women from voting, and most ironically, the anti-Mormon movements of the 19th century.
The only difference between this Civil Rights movement and all of those that have come before us is that you can't tell us apart by the color of our skin, our sex, or the country that our parents came from. We are your sons, your daughters, your mothers, your fathers, your brothers, your sisters, your cousins, your doctors, your lawyers, your teachers, your public servants… and not one of us looks like the other. Actually, we look just like you.
Maybe you didn't think Obama would win, but he did, and you will hear the echoes of his landslide in our calls of "YES WE CAN" until we are equal.
We are Americans, and we will not give up. We never have, and we never will. The only end in sight is equality, so for the sake of your children's pride in the actions of your generation, please get out of our way.
You have given your time, your money and your energy to a cause that has attempted to create a second-class citizenry in the United States of America. You have given your time, your money, and your energy to the cause of corrupting the Constitution of California with the first mention of discrimination against its own people. You have given your time, your money, and your energy to the cause of destroying thousands of loving unions between two people. And, congratulations, you succeeded. So, now the question that you should ask yourself: Are you happy now?
We certainly are not. In fact, we are furious. The problem is, you see us as gays and lesbians, but we see ourselves as Americans. You would do yourself a huge favor to look back through the history of this great country and see that in the war of oppression against Americans, your side has always lost. Not only have you lost, but your failures are seen as epic and painful embarrassments that we, as a country, try our hardest to forget. We don't want to believe that America would allow segregation, Japanese internment camps, prohibiting women from voting, and most ironically, the anti-Mormon movements of the 19th century.
The only difference between this Civil Rights movement and all of those that have come before us is that you can't tell us apart by the color of our skin, our sex, or the country that our parents came from. We are your sons, your daughters, your mothers, your fathers, your brothers, your sisters, your cousins, your doctors, your lawyers, your teachers, your public servants… and not one of us looks like the other. Actually, we look just like you.
Maybe you didn't think Obama would win, but he did, and you will hear the echoes of his landslide in our calls of "YES WE CAN" until we are equal.
We are Americans, and we will not give up. We never have, and we never will. The only end in sight is equality, so for the sake of your children's pride in the actions of your generation, please get out of our way.
Monday, October 20, 2008
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