Christoper Hitchens of Vanity Fair pretty much sums it up for me on why I can't stand the Republican Party and their most frightening manifestation, Caribou Barbie:
"In an election that has been fought on an astoundingly low cultural and intellectual level, with both candidates pretending that tax cuts can go like peaches and cream with the staggering new levels of federal deficit, and paltry charges being traded in petty ways, and with Joe the Plumber becoming the emblematic stupidity of the campaign, it didn't seem possible that things could go any lower or get any dumber. But they did last Friday, when, at a speech in Pittsburgh, Gov. Sarah Palin denounced wasteful expenditure on fruit-fly research, adding for good xenophobic and anti-elitist measure that some of this research took place "in Paris, France" and winding up with a folksy "I kid you not."
It was in 1933 that Thomas Hunt Morgan won a Nobel Prize for showing that genes are passed on by way of chromosomes. The experimental creature that he employed in the making of this great discovery was the Drosophila melanogaster, or fruit fly. Scientists of various sorts continue to find it a very useful resource, since it can be easily and plentifully "cultured" in a laboratory, has a very short generation time, and displays a great variety of mutation. This makes it useful in studying disease, and since Gov. Palin was in Pittsburgh to talk about her signature "issue" of disability and special needs, she might even have had some researcher tell her that there is a Drosophila-based center for research into autism at the University of North Carolina. The fruit fly can also be a menace to American agriculture, so any financing of research into its habits and mutations is money well-spent. It's especially ridiculous and unfortunate that the governor chose to make such a fool of herself in Pittsburgh, a great city that remade itself after the decline of coal and steel into a center of high-tech medical research.
With Palin, however, the contempt for science may be something a little more sinister than the bluff, empty-headed plain-man's philistinism of McCain. We never get a chance to ask her in detail about these things, but she is known to favor the teaching of creationism in schools (smuggling this crazy idea through customs in the innocent disguise of "teaching the argument," as if there was an argument), and so it is at least probable that she believes all creatures from humans to fruit flies were created just as they are now. This would make DNA or any other kind of research pointless, whether conducted in Paris or not. Projects such as sequencing the DNA of the flu virus, the better to inoculate against it, would not need to be funded. We could all expire happily in the name of God. Gov. Palin also says that she doesn't think humans are responsible for global warming; again, one would like to ask her whether, like some of her co-religionists, she is a "premillenial dispensationalist"—in other words, someone who believes that there is no point in protecting and preserving the natural world, since the end of days will soon be upon us. "
Monday, October 27, 2008
Socialist or Marxist, it's just a matter of degree
Obama, in a 2001 NPR radio interview, referring to the Warren Court during the civil rights era:
So the problem is we, as a country, have not been able to break the restraints placed on government by the Constitution. Therefore, the government cannot provide for all of the needs of the citizenry.
This is very scary stuff.
It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as its been interpreted and Warren Court interpreted in the same way, that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. Says what the Federal government can’t do to you, but doesn’t say what the Federal government or State government must do on your behalf, and that hasn’t shifted and one of the, I think, tragedies of the civil rights movement was, um, because the civil rights movement became so court focused I think there was a tendancy to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change. In some ways we still suffer from that.
So the problem is we, as a country, have not been able to break the restraints placed on government by the Constitution. Therefore, the government cannot provide for all of the needs of the citizenry.
This is very scary stuff.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Tough questions
This interview of Sen. Biden is tough, and he obviously doesn't like it. I think the press should be asking all of the candidates tough questions.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Damn Jacoby's
First we have Jeff Jacoby writing columns for the Boston Globe and not adhering to the Massachusetts liberal line (read a few of his columns and you will see that he probably has no friends in Boston,) and now we have Mark Jacoby allegedly committing voter registration fraud because he lied about his place of residence. This is the worst case of registration fraud I've heard about it. Acorn only registers imaginary people, dead people and felons; this guy had the temerity to claim he was a resident of California when he hasn't lived there in a few years.
Anywho, good for the California legal authorities for stepping down hard on voter registration fraud. This should not be acceptable practice by anyone. I look forward to reading about them arresting Acorn voter registration workers.
Just for the record, Jeff and I have established that we are probably not related, and Mark Jacoby is my first cousin, but not the Mark Jacoby arrested in California. Oh, and Cousin Mark who posts here is not Mark Jacoby either. He is not nearly fired up enough to go out and commit voter fraud.
Anywho, good for the California legal authorities for stepping down hard on voter registration fraud. This should not be acceptable practice by anyone. I look forward to reading about them arresting Acorn voter registration workers.
Just for the record, Jeff and I have established that we are probably not related, and Mark Jacoby is my first cousin, but not the Mark Jacoby arrested in California. Oh, and Cousin Mark who posts here is not Mark Jacoby either. He is not nearly fired up enough to go out and commit voter fraud.
"W" and Colin Powell
Yesterday afternoon I went to watch Oliver Stone's "W" and it caused me to wonder even more if indeed Colin Powell was going to end up endorsing Barack Obama today. And lo and behold this morning I turn on "Meet the Press" and Powell gave the most comprehensive and effective endorsement of Obama I have yet heard.
In the movie, Colin Powell is shown as constantly feuding with Cheney and Rummy, and being the lone hold out on the decision to invade Iraq. By the end of the movie, it was implied that Powell felt used by the administration, and saddened that he had made the final sales pitch to the UN on Saddam and the weapons of mass destruction.
By the way, the movie is interesting and funny, but it is a work of fiction and speculation. If you love President Bush you won't like it, but I didn't think it was all that harsh.
In the movie, Colin Powell is shown as constantly feuding with Cheney and Rummy, and being the lone hold out on the decision to invade Iraq. By the end of the movie, it was implied that Powell felt used by the administration, and saddened that he had made the final sales pitch to the UN on Saddam and the weapons of mass destruction.
By the way, the movie is interesting and funny, but it is a work of fiction and speculation. If you love President Bush you won't like it, but I didn't think it was all that harsh.
Search Me
As a service to my many, many readers I wanted to pass on this wonderful site. SearchMe is really cool. You just put in a search term and it pops up sites in the same format as the music covers on an iPod. When I "Stumbled Upon" it, the site was set for "Politics" and had stories from news sites all over the world. It is very cool, go give it a try.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
McCain doesn't want to win
The first topic of the debate is the economy and taxes. Joe the plumber was told by Senator Obama that "he would have to sacrifice so we can spread the wealth around." McCain brought that out, but when Obama said he was going to cut taxes for 95% of earners, McCain did not point out that giving a tax cut to the 50% who don't pay taxes is impossible. This is a redistribution of taxes from taxpayers to non-taxpayers through refundable credits not a "tax cut".
I really don't have a problem with taxing those who make the money, but it is wrong to take that money and give it to people who contribute nothing to the treasury. That is classic socialism, and McCain is either uninformed or too much of a pussy to point it out.
McCain deserves to lose if he can't explain the fundamental differences between himself and Senator Obama. A pox on both their houses.
End of rant.
ADDED:
If I were gullible enough to believe Senator Obama rather than knowing how easily he dismisses his past, I might vote for him. Unfortunately, if any time is spent looking into his past as a community organizer, Chicago politician and his association with the very worst people in American society; from the Chicago mob, William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Acorn and on and on, then it is impossible to believe that he is really reformed from his past self.
A pox on both their houses. Intelligent men playing the American public for total fools. I might vote for Cynthia McKinney, at least she is honest about her stupidity.
I really don't have a problem with taxing those who make the money, but it is wrong to take that money and give it to people who contribute nothing to the treasury. That is classic socialism, and McCain is either uninformed or too much of a pussy to point it out.
McCain deserves to lose if he can't explain the fundamental differences between himself and Senator Obama. A pox on both their houses.
End of rant.
ADDED:
If I were gullible enough to believe Senator Obama rather than knowing how easily he dismisses his past, I might vote for him. Unfortunately, if any time is spent looking into his past as a community organizer, Chicago politician and his association with the very worst people in American society; from the Chicago mob, William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Acorn and on and on, then it is impossible to believe that he is really reformed from his past self.
A pox on both their houses. Intelligent men playing the American public for total fools. I might vote for Cynthia McKinney, at least she is honest about her stupidity.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
The trouble with Obama
Guns? Absence of religion? Lack of self-esteem? Poor parenting? The entertainment industry? Who's to blame for Mr. Barack H Obama's appalling homilies? Numerous professionals (and not-so-professionals) have speculated and mulled, publicly and privately, over what has caused Obama to mold the mind of virtually every citizen -- young or old, rich or poor, simple or sophisticated. Before I launch into my rant, permit me the prelude caveat that if we're to effectively carry out our responsibilities and make a future for ourselves, we will first have to stop this insanity.
As my mother used to tell me, "It's about time Obama stopped claiming his raving canards were influenced by outside sources and just admitted he was wrong." For better or for worse, honest people will admit that his belief systems oscillate between disruptive pauperism and immature ruffianism. Concerned people are not afraid to tell you things that Obama doesn't want you to know. And sensible people know that Obama's secret passion is to destroy that which is the envy of -- and model for -- the entire civilized world. For shame!
There are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who use terms of opprobrium such as "condescending, obdurate carpers" and "self-centered malefactors" to castigate whomever Obama opposes and there are those who name and shame his chums for their balmy acts of poststructuralism. Obama fits neatly into the former category, of course. Mark my words: I wonder what would happen if he really did impose infernal new restrictions on society just to satisfy some sort of insufferable drive for power. There's a spooky thought. I am familiar with Obama's goals, I understand how he operates, I have long recognized his tactics, and I know just about where Obama now stands on the ladder to total power. I can therefore say that, surely, I hate it when witless pinheads like him go on with such vigor about subjects they don't even know about. I could write pages on the subject, but the following should suffice. It strikes me as amusing that Obama complains about people who do nothing but complain. Well, news flash! He does nothing but complain.
To paraphrase a line from Hamlet, "Extremism, thy name is Barack H Obama". He doesn't want me to expand people's understanding of his ungrateful subliminal psywar campaigns. Well, I've never been a very obedient dog so I intend not only to do exactly that but also to create and nurture a true spirit of community. I wouldn't even mention that it is not difficult to see the undercurrents of irreligionism in his prank phone calls if it weren't unmistakably true. Obama does not merely shout obscenities at passers-by. He does so consciously, deliberately, willfully, and methodically.
Obama has been trying for some time to sell the public on an interventionism-based government. His sales pitch proceeds both pragmatically and emotionally. The pragmatic argument: Obama is the ultimate authority on what's right and what's wrong. The emotional argument: The Earth is flat. As you can see, neither argument is valid, which should indicate to you that Obama's favorite tactic is known as "deceiving with the truth". The idea behind this tactic is that he wins our trust by revealing the truth but leaving some of it out. This makes us less likely to snap Obama's cult followers out of their trance. So you see, I indubitably seek nothing but justice.
(I found a rant generator! http://www.pakin.org/complaint/ That is why this doesn't really make any sense.)
As my mother used to tell me, "It's about time Obama stopped claiming his raving canards were influenced by outside sources and just admitted he was wrong." For better or for worse, honest people will admit that his belief systems oscillate between disruptive pauperism and immature ruffianism. Concerned people are not afraid to tell you things that Obama doesn't want you to know. And sensible people know that Obama's secret passion is to destroy that which is the envy of -- and model for -- the entire civilized world. For shame!
There are two kinds of people in this world. There are those who use terms of opprobrium such as "condescending, obdurate carpers" and "self-centered malefactors" to castigate whomever Obama opposes and there are those who name and shame his chums for their balmy acts of poststructuralism. Obama fits neatly into the former category, of course. Mark my words: I wonder what would happen if he really did impose infernal new restrictions on society just to satisfy some sort of insufferable drive for power. There's a spooky thought. I am familiar with Obama's goals, I understand how he operates, I have long recognized his tactics, and I know just about where Obama now stands on the ladder to total power. I can therefore say that, surely, I hate it when witless pinheads like him go on with such vigor about subjects they don't even know about. I could write pages on the subject, but the following should suffice. It strikes me as amusing that Obama complains about people who do nothing but complain. Well, news flash! He does nothing but complain.
To paraphrase a line from Hamlet, "Extremism, thy name is Barack H Obama". He doesn't want me to expand people's understanding of his ungrateful subliminal psywar campaigns. Well, I've never been a very obedient dog so I intend not only to do exactly that but also to create and nurture a true spirit of community. I wouldn't even mention that it is not difficult to see the undercurrents of irreligionism in his prank phone calls if it weren't unmistakably true. Obama does not merely shout obscenities at passers-by. He does so consciously, deliberately, willfully, and methodically.
Obama has been trying for some time to sell the public on an interventionism-based government. His sales pitch proceeds both pragmatically and emotionally. The pragmatic argument: Obama is the ultimate authority on what's right and what's wrong. The emotional argument: The Earth is flat. As you can see, neither argument is valid, which should indicate to you that Obama's favorite tactic is known as "deceiving with the truth". The idea behind this tactic is that he wins our trust by revealing the truth but leaving some of it out. This makes us less likely to snap Obama's cult followers out of their trance. So you see, I indubitably seek nothing but justice.
(I found a rant generator! http://www.pakin.org/complaint/ That is why this doesn't really make any sense.)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
State of the Race
McCain-Palin have had a bad few weeks, but I feel that we are about to enter a new phase of the race for the White House, with only 1 month to go to election day.
According to the polls Obama has a 5-6 point national lead, and the swing states are trending toward him as well. Supposedly McCain is pulling out of Michigan (although Sarah Palin wants to fight on??). The question for me is, is McCain going to keep sinking, or are we about to see another turnaround in the race? I have NO idea, but I'm expecting the race to tighten for the following reasons:
1) Palin did well enough in the VP debate to excite the Republican base again. I think the talking heads were really worried after the Katie Couric interview, but she showed she can put words together and attack Obama.
2) McCain is probably about to go strongly negative. I expect to see ads with Jeremiah Wright figuring prominently very soon.
On the other hand, voters may decide that because the economy is so bad right now, that it is time to change parties in the White House. Also, I am not sure how Palin plays with the swing voters. She is like fingernails on a chalkboard to liberals, I know that, but for middle of the road voters, I'm not sure how she plays.
According to the polls Obama has a 5-6 point national lead, and the swing states are trending toward him as well. Supposedly McCain is pulling out of Michigan (although Sarah Palin wants to fight on??). The question for me is, is McCain going to keep sinking, or are we about to see another turnaround in the race? I have NO idea, but I'm expecting the race to tighten for the following reasons:
1) Palin did well enough in the VP debate to excite the Republican base again. I think the talking heads were really worried after the Katie Couric interview, but she showed she can put words together and attack Obama.
2) McCain is probably about to go strongly negative. I expect to see ads with Jeremiah Wright figuring prominently very soon.
On the other hand, voters may decide that because the economy is so bad right now, that it is time to change parties in the White House. Also, I am not sure how Palin plays with the swing voters. She is like fingernails on a chalkboard to liberals, I know that, but for middle of the road voters, I'm not sure how she plays.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Republican Implosion
As a Democrat, I have to shamefully admit that I am not putting "country first," mentally at least, and have been thoroughly enjoying the spectacle of the Republican implosion of the past few weeks.
Can anything beat the Palin Show with Katie Couric for cringe inducing humor? It's sad when Tina Fey doesn't even have to change Sarah's words to get laughs on Saturday Night Live. Maybe tonight Palin will pull it all together -- she had better is all I can say.
John McCain seems like a scatter-brained cranky old man. Could he have screwed up worse regarding the mortgage bailout bill or the first debate lead-in? He seems like he changes his stance by the hour, on any number of topics. Barack Obama is supposed to be the risky choice?? And why won't he look Obama in the eye during the debate or shake his hand in the Congress? What's up with that? Can't you at least be civil Mr. McCain?
From reading the right-wing nut jobs on my favorite Texas A&M website, it seems that almost all of the posters are ready to vote out the Texas Republican Senator Cornyn because he voted for the Wall St. mortgage bailout bill. "He's not a true Conservative!!" "He's a RINO 'Republican in Name only'". If they are stupid enough to vote out Cornyn and put in a Democrat (Noriega) this November, I am more than happy to help them!
I'm sure I need to enjoy this week while it lasts.. I can't imagine it's going to get any better than this!
Can anything beat the Palin Show with Katie Couric for cringe inducing humor? It's sad when Tina Fey doesn't even have to change Sarah's words to get laughs on Saturday Night Live. Maybe tonight Palin will pull it all together -- she had better is all I can say.
John McCain seems like a scatter-brained cranky old man. Could he have screwed up worse regarding the mortgage bailout bill or the first debate lead-in? He seems like he changes his stance by the hour, on any number of topics. Barack Obama is supposed to be the risky choice?? And why won't he look Obama in the eye during the debate or shake his hand in the Congress? What's up with that? Can't you at least be civil Mr. McCain?
From reading the right-wing nut jobs on my favorite Texas A&M website, it seems that almost all of the posters are ready to vote out the Texas Republican Senator Cornyn because he voted for the Wall St. mortgage bailout bill. "He's not a true Conservative!!" "He's a RINO 'Republican in Name only'". If they are stupid enough to vote out Cornyn and put in a Democrat (Noriega) this November, I am more than happy to help them!
I'm sure I need to enjoy this week while it lasts.. I can't imagine it's going to get any better than this!
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