The Hope of the World

Newsweek gave Henry Kissenger three pages this week to foam at the mouth of his quill pen about the lessons of Vietnam. His concluding sentence:

• THE ADMINISTRATION AS WELL AS CRITICS SHOULD CONDUCT THEIR DEBATES WITH THE RESTRAINT IMPOSED BY THE KNOWLEDGE THAT THE UNITY OF OUR SOCIETY HAS BEEN THE HOPE OF THE WORLD.

Well, excuse me for thinking that protesting an illegal, unjust, murderous war must be restrained to preserve unity. Particularly the unity of a country whose government, of which Kissinger was part, murders war protesters, breaks in to their doctor's offices looking for embarrassing information, and many other dirty tricks. Unity my ass. And then, the delusional assertion that such mythical unity is the HOPE OF THE WORLD. Yeah, right. The hope of the world regarding the U.S. is that it will find someone other than a bunch of maniacs to run the place.

See also.

Requiem for Project for a New American Decade (almost)

Sleaze campaign expose

Barack Obama has a web page exposing McCain's sleaze campaign tactics. On it, he has the quote

"Sooner or later people are going to figure out that if all you run is negative attack ads you don't have much of a vision for the future, or you're not ready to articulate it."

The site displays the quote using McCain's own Optima font.

Hoover Barbie

I saw Margaret Hoover on Today show. She was doing her impersonation of Right Wing Talking Barbie, reciting talking points from the right wing lie machine. One of their lies is that Barack Obama has never 'reached across the aisle' to pass 'significant legislation'. The Lugar/Obama Nuclear Proliferation Act proves the opposite is true. See also Lugar's comments to MSNBC.

Today Scott McClellan endorsed Obama. His ability to reach across the aisle is becoming more apparent.

True Values

The financial crisis has given us a powerful lesson on the true values of the American establishment. We have been deluged with propaganda on the need for American taxpayers to spend $700 billion to bail out Wall Street. This shows capitalists don’t care about "free market" economics.

In 2005, we were subjected to a similar deluge of propaganda about Social Security. The conservatives, citing projections that Social Security taxes will no longer exceed expenditures in 2018, were trying to divert Social Security funds to their Wall Street cronies. That attempt failed, but last week they succeeded in a different money grab.

Americans face many other problems: 40 million Americans lack health insurance, our bridges are crumbling, executives earn 8 figure bonuses for sending good paying jobs overseas, college is unaffordable for many. None of these problems, which directly impact the quality of life for ordinary Americans, inspires urgent action. Only when the Wall Street crybabies might have to experience what they have been inflicting on the rest of us all these years, does our government (with Treasury Secretary on temporary assignment from Goldman Sachs) show any urgency, writing a check for $700 billion with no strings attached.

Lipstick on a Pit Bull

How much lipstick does it TAKE to turn a pit bull into a hockey mom?

A hell of a lot.

Elitist my ass. These people are corrupt, money grubbing hypocrites out to line their own pockets. They make mortgage brokers look like Mother Teresa.

Freedom isn't Free?

Maybe you have seen the obnoxious bumper stickers that the fascists put on their gas guzzling trucks, for which obtaining the fuel apparently requires that American kids be sent to die in Iraq. The bumper stickers say "Freedom isn't Free."

But the fascists don't believe their own propaganda. When it comes to paying taxes, they don't think anyone should pay. Especially Joe the lying plumber's assistant.

Of course, most of these assholes are really fascists who oppose freedom anyway.

"Socialism" accusers are Racist

The foaming at the mouth right wingers have been going overboard in the presidential campaign calling Obama a socialist, communist, marxist, etc. Even McCain has join in this chant.

Nevermind that Obama was the democrat least supportive of single payer health care, or that his health care plan is a lot like Mitt Romney's. Nevermind that he is as beholden to Wall Street as any other mainstream politician.

I believe that the reason for this gusher of distortion comes from the racist core of the Klan wing of the Republican party (that is, the mainstream of the Republican party.) The racists know that it would be counterproductive to their cause to overtly advocate against Obama as a black man. Thus they use 'socialist' as a code word for black man, despite the utter absence of any socialist policies in Obama's platform.

McCain's insecurity

I am not too good at psychoanalysis, but I know a pattern when I see it. McCain has twice deflected attention away from himself and towards surprisingly ordinary individuals. First it was his choice of Sarah Palin as vice presidential nominee, and now it is his near obsession with Joe the Plumber in the last debate.

This does not seem particularly helpful to his campaign. People want their generals to lead, not to cower behind privates. Sure, they want their leaders to understand them, to have their interests in mind, and maybe they like to see that they can kick back and enjoy themselves like an ordinary person. But when the job calls for skills that are more than ordinary, you ought to play those up, not emphasize your plumber's smile or your taste for fresh moose.

I am not quite sure why McCain does this. Maybe he has a deep seated hatred for elites, stemming from his elite pedigree as the son and grandson of admirals. Maybe that explains has 'maverick' persona. Or maybe he is just insecure, and surrounds himself with people who do not make him feel insecure, as his more natural peers might.

Either way, I would be happier with a guy who knows how a leader is supposed to act as president. We don't need any more "My Pet Goat" acts.

Drowning in their own greed

Dean Baker uses the title phrase most accurately.

Google "Bottle Service at the Marquis" for a look at the true despicable culture of the Wall Street Crowd. Not the lowly associates making bloated salaries and blowing them at the bar are responsible for creating the evil. But they cooperated with it.

Understanding the Bailout for Dummies

Note to middle class Republican voting true believers in the free market: your party is playing you for suckers.

Follow the money.

Pretty Vacant

Palin cannot name a Supreme Court case that she disagrees with other than Roe v. Wade. She says that historically, she is sure there are others. I am just quivering in anticipation of the headlines in the newspapers she reads ('Which ones do you read?' 'All of them') "Palin opposes McCullough vs Maryland" "Palin opposes Dred Scott decision".