25 | April | 2011 | Existential Ennui

Tags

big oil, DOMA, Donald Trump, gay rights, GOP, Humor, Middle East, oil prices

[h/t Joe.My.God]

The situation in Syria continues to be beastly. Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad continues to reign death upon his people, determined to retain power at all costs. Following in the footsteps of Qaddafi and Bahrainian King Hamid bin Isa Al Khalifa, Assad orders his military to fire upon peaceful protesters as well as those who try to recover bodies from the street or venture from their homes.

The situation is dire in Syria and Libya. Yemen is erupting once again in protest as the agreement whereby the Prime Minister would resign by the end of the month has apparently fallen through. Ali Abdullah Salah has gone back on his promise. Bahrain is heating up once again, no doubt encouraged by the bravery exhibited in Syria and Libya.

Much bloodshed is in store I expect, yet I believe that in the end, these uprisings feed each other, and ultimately they will prevail. No one can predict what these countries will look like in the end. No doubt some will fare better than others. Yet change will come and the Middle East will never be the same. I can imagine the fear that the Israelis feel since they no face potential unrest all around them. But that has always been the potentiality there it seems to me.

Sooner or later, I think all dictatorial regimes must conclude that over the long haul, such governments cannot prevail. One can only hope that Washington learns a lesson here, and regardless of the “strategic position” we cannot make nice with governments that repress their citizens all the while the elites live lives of splendor and comfort.

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Speaking of dictatorships, we have our own here in America. Big oil continue to hold the country hostage to higher and higher gas prices, resulting in increasing “pain at the pump” as well as rising prices for just about everything.

Meanwhile the Oil Conglomerates continue to reap enormous rewards from their speculation in oil futures and from oil subsidies which the GOP thuggery continues to vote for them in Congress. It’s absurd, its immoral, and yet there is no public outcry. While the GOP is feeling the wrath of the people when it comes to Ryan’s medicare killing legislation offer, no such hew and cry arises against them for their continued support of recession-deepening oil subsidies.

Absurdly, the American public blames the White House who has almost no control over the issue.

Obama calls for more regulation of speculators and the GOP responds predictably with “drill baby drill.” Experts of course point out that Obama has authorized more drilling and that won’t cure our current problems in the least for 4-5 years, besides the fact that THERE SIMPLY IS NOT ENOUGH OIL WITHIN AMERICAN CONTROL TO MAKE AN REAL DIFFERENCE IN THE LONG RUN.

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“If God had meant us to see the sunrise, he’d have scheduled it later in the day.” [h/t Exploring our Matrix]

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a “Member of Congress” But I repeat myself.” “Mark Twain” [h/t Under the Lobsterscope]

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This is just one of those posts that make you sing with happiness. Remember when President Obama informed us that the Justice Department would no longer defend certain provisions of DOMA? And he told Congress, it was up to them to do so. So they did. They hired a law firm by the name of King and Spaulding.

Well, the law firm took a longer look at what it was going to defend, and said, “thanks but no thanks” claiming they had not “thoroughly vetted the decision” meaning that they realized after some legal study that the provision in question (which called for the denial of federal recognition of same-sex state law marriages) was indefensible. Least that is what I read between the lines.

Such a law simply fails on equal protection grounds. This is the basis upon which the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a refusing issuance of a marriage license to same-sex couples must fail. It’s not at all about “judicial overreach” or the common “legislating from the bench” but rather it is the simple exercise of placing the proposed ban against the constitution and finding it comes up short.

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This is so much fun, it ought to be illegal. They are eating their own again. If The Donald could be called one of their own that is. Rove is trying to get the conversation off the damn birther issue foreseeing that it only plays to the GOP, and will never enthrall the Independents. In fact it will drive Independents away.

Meanwhile Trumpy is telling Rove to go take a retirement! Trumpy thinks birtherism is just a hot issue that can be ridden to success in 2012.

Meanwhile, thoughtful? GOPers like McCain make fun of the The Donald by suggesting that “he’s having a ball getting all this attention” and basically dismiss him as a showman. In that they are assisted by the Democrats who virtually laugh at the idea of his being a real candidate.

It is all hard to understand and makes my head hurt. For, one thing is clear. If you poke a stick at an egomaniac, he tends to respond. Keep making fun of Trumpy and he will run. So it makes sense to poke him if you are a Democrat, but not so much if you are a grubby GOPer.

But then maybe Trumpy is a secret Democrat who is trying to destroy the GOPers from the inside?

It all gets so confusing. As I said, it makes my head hurt. So I’m going to recreate Easter dinner. Bye.