Bits and Pieces
I see where others in the Progressive cause have recognized what I have about the proposal for jobs (Opportunity Knocks for the Democrats). Firedoglake.com ran this story which is my favorite: Obama Unsure on Whether to propose Jobs Ideas that Can’t pass or a Jobs Ideas that Can’t Pass. Meanwhile E.J. Dionne was on Hardball recommending basically the same thing. He could not see why the President wouldn’t lay out a plan that would actually create jobs because no matter what he does the Republicans are going to shoot it down. Meanwhile I heard the Washington Media questioning Richard Trumka, head of AFL-CIO when he said the they would not support politicians who proposed half measures. Their stock question is, but what’s the point if it can’t get by the Republican Congress. The point was standing up for things we really believe in instead of what won’t work and won’t get by Congress anyway and giving voters a real choice in 2012. Finally there is a ray of sunshine in political circles. We can only hope Obama stumbles upon it.
Meanwhile on the N.J. front, there was another lesson for Obama if he is not buried in his I am the man of compromise bubble. There was Governor Christie, who I rarely agree with or like, taking on the press on his handling of the Irene threat, showing who was in charge and being very, oh should I say it, Presidential. It was clear who was in charge and what he believed when reporters asked him if he (government) over reacted, he took them on. He knows what he believes and is unafraid to stand for it. It is everything Obama isn’t and needs to be if he is ever going to be an effective leader (Daily Beast).
The papers today indicated that Irene is going to be one of the top 10 costliest disasters ever. Meanwhile more of the Republican morons are jumping on the band wagon of only paying for the repairs by stealing money from other programs instead of borrowing. Think about it. What is really happening is a disaster hits and it simply takes more money out of the economy and further depresses our recovery (both economic and from Irene). Paul Krugman addressed this in purely economics terms to demonstrate how this is just basic bad economics in his blog (Disaster Relief Economics). As he pointed out, where were they when we decided to go to war and wanted to pay for it with borrowing instead of cuts to other programs.
Dick Cheney, in the form of Darth Vader, is out there again reinventing history. This is a very good thing for Democrats because he reminds a very fickle voting population about the mistakes that were made. I found it interesting that he wears it as a badge of honor that he is a war criminal. “He did what had to be done.” Meanwhile Col Lawrence Wilkerson (Collin Powell’s Deputy) explained how “what had to be done” (torture) got them bad intelligence. This remind anyone beside me of Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men”? When questioned by one interviewer on whether what they did in Iraq lowered the world’s esteem of the United States, he simply replied he did not believe that. Like the rest of his brethren in the Republican party, facts are purely subjective. He is truly an evil man who has little use for the law or democracy.
Finally, there is an editorial on controlling feral pigs where they have become a problem (Hawaii, Texas, California) (High above the Hog). I could not help myself. All I could think of was is this about feral pigs or piggy Republicans who are doing great damage to our country as they swill from the trough and make sure none flows over to the rest of us. We need a national control program so that the damage they cause is greatly reduced (feral pigs and Republicans). One suggestion from this article on feral pigs that we might want to listen to for Republicans is this: “Most important, we must deal with the hunters who are helping pigs spread. Laws on the transportation and release of hogs should be toughened so that the penalties reflect the damage done.” I read that as the corporations and monied interests who are controlling our politics today, creating the Tea Party (and then turning them loose), and owning the lobbyists. You know we could learn a lot from nature if we would just pay attention.