What a Difference a Day, errr, Month? Makes?

Tags

AFA, astrology, Bryan Fischer, DADT, dinosaurs, evolution, gay rights, Glenn Beck, GOP, homophobia, Huckabee, Media, Obama, Palin, polling, right wing extremists, Romney, science, Tim Pawlenty, voters

Well, slap me with a wet noodle. You remember me? Mad woman. Not literally mad, as in certifiable, but angry mad, ready to dump a sitting president and turn the page? Yes, you do remember.

Well, it’s hard to admit that at 60 years old, I’m still an idiot a lot of the time. Moreover, I spent some under grad years studying the fine art of politics as well as living through lots of political times. You’d think I would know better.

It appears that the brilliance of Barack Obama once more is most apparent to most of the people. This has not happened over night, and certainly isn’t a result only of the speech of a life-time in Tucson. The polls were edging upward before then.

But, things have changed, and one can but cast a bemused look upon Republicans who are looking at empty hands and wondering, “has it indeed slipped from our grasp once again?” Riding high in November, the GOP is beginning to mutter. To be sure, nothing is set in concrete yet, and given the fickleness of the public, it would be unwise to assume that “it’s in the bag” for 2012. Not at all.

Still, one has to be amazed at the resilience of the President. Today, he beats Romney and Huckabee in mock match-ups and slaughters the grifter, Palin. The big switch is the Independents who have moved to the Obama column. This poll straddled the Tucson tragedy, and has some impact but doesn’t include the speech given by Obama. There is only a 6 point differential between those who think we are on the right track-wrong track, down from a 24 point differential a couple of months ago. Obama’s approval rating has moved up to 53%.

We shall see what the future holds. But clearly most of us who were ready to move on were simply wrong. Obama has played his poor hand extremely well, and has accomplished much in the lame duck session.

The GOP will have a tough time selling a “NO” or repeal everything scenario I suspect with voters. The polls, dang ’em, just keep getting in the way of the agenda.

***

Speaking of agenda, the Extremist Right didn’t take civility on as a mantra for long. Once they realized that nobody except them viewed the President’s speech as a chastisement of the Left, they went back to their usual ranting. One, I”m told, said, “but the President must have been pointing to the Left, there is nobody on the Right who needs such a chastisement!”  Delusion lives on it seems in the rock heads of the Extremist Right.

***

Proof that nothing changes, Tim Pawlenty, who on Jon Stewart, the other night, refused to agree that there is something new in the vilification of Obama that has not been present in American politics before. Stewart suggested that painting the President as  Hitler, as a Socialist, as not an American, and as not a Christian didn’t reflect true beliefs but were being used as political ploys by certain GOP members and sympathizers. Pawlenty continually feigned ignorance of Stewart’s true meaning and kept pointing out that there was vitriol on both sides.

Now Pawlenty has appeared with Bryan Fischer, of American Family Association fame, and claimed that he would re-institute DADT if president. It’s not so much that he said this, bad and deluded as that is, but that he appeared with hate-monger Fischer at all. Fischer is a virulent homophobe, one who decries giving the Medal of Honor to a “defensive” action instead of a killing hero. As to DADT, Fischer has vowed to over turn it and has claimed that McCain would lead their forces. McCain has repudiated any such notion.

Pawlenty, who for a moment, suggested he would not have acted as Palin, seems unwilling to stand up for any real principles, but again, simply plays to the lowest common denominator of the Republican base. His chances of being the nominee are nil.

***

Efforts are underway to induce Fox Noise to fire Glenn Beck. Jewish Funds for Justice submitted a 10,000 name petition to the News Corp, calling on them to end their association with the hate-mongering extremist. I admit that we try to watch Beck from time to time, just to see, but frankly, after ten minutes, it’s so awful you just can’t. He parades a slew of pseudo-scientists, historians, economists, etc., to “prove” his wacky mean and dangerous conclusions, all to a live audience of nodding automatons. It’s surreal.

The petition included some of the more egregious accusations of Beck, which makes references to Hitler some 400 times in eighteen months. His comments are widely regarded as anti-semitic and a distorter of the Gospel. For instance he claims that social justice issues are a perversion of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

***

Don’t know if you heard this, but the darn earth moves. Okay, so you probably knew that. But it moves in relations to the stars, and THAT is a damnable thing. If you are into astrology. Which I’m not, but still. I’m an Aries, and so is the Contrarian. At least we were. I don’t know what he is, being an April 8. But me? I’m a April 15, and that now makes me a Taurus. I don’t like it. I am trying to figure out who to complain to. Is nothing sacred?

***
Warning: the following may be hazardous to the mental health of closed minds. Others read on. A new dinosaur has been found! A small guy, but pretty darn mean. Read all about Dawn Runner, who hails from Argentina, at PBS’s Rundown Blog. He’s most primitive.

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• Tim Pawlenty Wants To Return To The Days Of DADT (lezgetreal.com)
• Jon Stewart To Tim Pawlenty: ‘Why Is The Right So Fearful Of Tyranny?’ (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
• From Palin to Pawlenty, GOP Presidential Prospects Grapple With Arizona Massacre (politicsdaily.com)

Looking at the Finer Side of Life

Tags

bible, blizzard, DADT, fundamentalists, gay rights, God, Humor, KJV, Pat Robertson, Poetry, spirituality, virtual church

If your mother was anything like mine, complaints about dinner were met with “the little children in China would be happy to have carrots to eat.” If I groused that I didn’t get the one toy I wanted for my birthday, I was told, “the little children of Africa have probably never gotten a toy.”

So, sadly, and with great grumpiness, I can’t complain about the snow here in Iowa. The stupid East Coast just had to go and have a BLIZZARD. How rude! Coupled with the deluges in California and consequent mudslides, I’m unable to feel the least bit sorry for myself.

And that never sits well with me!

Being able to complain is just, well, so American.

But, I’ve taken an oath of sorts to try to listen to my better angel, at least until the new year. It’s just that there isn’t so much good news as you would think out there. We’re a surly bunch, and we like news that at minimum makes us feel better relative to our fellow humans. That’s just the way we are. How else to explain the likes of Cops on Patrol, and Bridezilla, and Hoarders?

Anyway, if you want to feel uplifted and also called into your better self, do go and read this lovely poem from the Franciscan Missionary Society–Christmas Blessing. H/T from Vox Nova.

***

Speaking of faith, it’s puzzling, and always has been that fundigelicals prefer the KJV (King James Version) of the bible. They cling to it as THE definitive word of God. I’ve never been quite sure why, since it’s basically not a very good translation, and the language, though beautiful isn’t also easy to understand.

History Today has a great article on the history of the KJV. If fundigelicals actually knew this history, I suspect they might be a bit less enthused about it. It was directed, in some sense, to be a polemic for the right of kings, and thus against the interests of the Puritans who were a bothersome lot in England and elsewhere. The only reason why the Puritans in this country ended up using it, was because the Geneva Bible had been suppressed in England and the KJV was the only one they could get their hands on. Worse, the first printings of the KJV were so bad that they were almost heretical–referring to God’s ass at least one occasion!

***

I’ve linked to Andy Borowitz before. His political humor is great. Today he explains what Pat Robertson has to say about the East Coast blizzard. As you can expect, God is punishing somebody that Pat doesn’t like. Go  read it and have a chuckle.

***

Speaking of political humor, Mo over at Whatever Works, offered this gem. It’s a site called Political Irony. Lots of jokes, cartoons, a rundown of the talk show political humor. Just lots of fun stuff. I’m sure I’ll be pilfering from it regularly. Add it to your reader or subscribe to never miss a post!

***

Speaking of more political humor, I saw this in my travels yesterday:

Of course it hurts. You’re being screwed by an elephant.

***

Do you have a ritual for Christmas that you never miss? We watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, you know, Clark and his merry band of Griswolds?  We laugh at the same things again and again. It’s a tradition. By the way, the ham was delicious and we can’t stop eating ham sandwiches! Today we are switching to turkey enchiladas, which finishes off the Thanksgiving turkey. And NO it hasn’t been the fridge since November!

***

We are getting three days of melting starting tomorrow! We are so excited. We can’t keep the smile off our faces. We may actually be able to get out without being blown out! Temps of 35, 40, 45 for the next three days! Heaven! Oh and rain too. Then freezing, so no doubt it will be slick as snot on Saturday or Sunday. We looked up our snow cleats for our boots! We are ready!

***

This is a laugh. I mean, it really is funny/sad/pathetic/hysterically knee-slapping humorous.

Brian Fischer of the AFA, the homophobic “family values” group (one of thousands) wrote a “gotcha” column the other day.

“You dumb old gays! You had a pass to get out the army, should the food prove not gourmet, or the shower room not to have the hunks to ogle. You could go to the commander and announce your gayness. Well, no more,” Fischer gleefully slobbers, spittle flying,  his wild eyes darting. “No, your commander will say, ‘sorry Nancy boy’ back to barracks for you! Those days of special preference are over. You’re in the for the duration.”

Yes Margaret, there really is a crazy man who said that. I swear. Makes you blink and look around carefully. Once again, you fear, you might have slipped into the Twilight Zone.

***

Ideas that Create has a post on virtual churches. Can they offer anything “real”? It’s a provocative look at an Internet phenomenon. See what you think.

***

Finding all those retrospectives creepy? Especially the ones that tell you who died this year. I forgot some of them and was shocked all over again.

***

Keep warm!

Related Articles

• The bible that even atheists worship (independent.co.uk)
• The KJV and the English Language (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
• FAIL part 2: Bryan Fischer takes another crack at the ‘feminization’ of the Medal of Honor (pinkbananaworld.com)

There: Now You Went and Did It

Tags

DADT, Facebook, foreign policy, Fox News, global warming, Individual Rights, Julian Assange, Kyl, Mark Zuckerberg, Media, START treaty, tax bill, Time's person of the year, wackos, wikileaks

I know. I said yesterday that I had no opinion on Wikileaks. I still don’t. But I’m starting to lean. Like the Tower of Pisa, if I tip too far, it is inevitable that I will topple over.

Why am I leaning?

Because more and more this is starting to resemble the aftermath of 9/11. Remember when Congress was declaring  for “Freedom Fries” and everybody was stumbling over each other to be more patriotic than the next gal?

Remember the upshot of that: the Patriot Act?  Where we pretty much handed over our rights to the government to ignore them any time it chose in the name of “national security” and protecting the “homeland.” The name alone was reason enough to vote against it. But I think one person did. Everybody was afraid to be on the “wrong” side and not be a patriot.

Today, people are starting to fall all over each other to be on the right side of the Wikileaks affair. We are hearing calls for assassination of Julian Assange, new laws to make him a terrorist, and of course the usual chorus from the right–censor the news and if necessary prosecute! Meanwhile corporate entities who provide financial mechanisms to support Wikileaks are closing their doors. No doubt corporate America may have concerns itself over what may come out about them and government shenanigans.

” . . . I think that we also should be censoring the American news agencies which enabled him to do this and also supported him and applauding him [Julian Assenge] for the efforts. So that’s kind of aiding and abetting of a serious crime.” (quoted from Allen West, newly elected Rep. from Fl.)

Once one of these snowballs starts, they usually end up in a bad result. And then we all feel “safe” and everyone moves on to the next “crisis”. Except the laws remain and are ready to be used by exactly the sort of people we don’t want messing with our rights–the extreme right. With one foot now in the door, and salivating at the prospects of 2012, this is no meaningless concern.

Imagine (if you can stomach it) the power to censor the press in the hands of one Sarah, who is already on record as declaring that all media are lame, except for her Foxy supporters. Imagine. That’s an Imagine not the likes that John Lennon had in mind.

So, as I said, I’m leaning.

***

I’m thinking that Time, in making its decisions about who they will name “person of the year” is now rending it a contest sent out to high schools across America. Recall the “mirror” one? Well, in their INFINITE wisdom, infinitely small that is, they have chosen Mark Zuckerberg, the kid who started Facebook.

While no biggie, it seems that this is the best they could come up with? It just seems a lazy choice. Zuckerberg and his creation are of no serious import in the world it seems to me. While I laud his offering of much of his wealth to cure societal ills, well, what is new about that?

Who would you have liked to see get the nod?

***

Here are some things I read late yesterday without linkage:

• Rush Limpaugh has taken to calling the First Lady, Michelle the Butt. Each time, he corrects himself to Michelle La Belle, but he’s don’t it in excess of six times and it’s clear it is deliberate. Rush has a thing for demeaning women, once claiming that Hillary Clinton couldn’t join the armed services because they didn’t have combat boots large enough to get over her thick ankles.  Rush is a piece of crap.
• Somebody somewhere found a new planet and it’s very carbon rich, raising the possibility that it is full of diamonds. That should make Kays and Zales and all the rest giddy with anticipation!
• Romney is against the parts of the tax bill that give aid to the unemployed and so forth because their raise the deficit by a few billion. But he is inexplicably for the parts that give tax cuts to the rich, when that deficit, over 10 years, figures to be in the trillions. Another case of assuming your base is too stupid to understand.
• The House is re-introducing  a new DADT bill, alone. That allows the Senate to try again. We may just make it! That is, if we can explain to Sen. Manchin that his concerns were addressed by the Joint Chiefs and the report that emanated from the Pentagon. He’s new, he didn’t know any better.

***

You know when the GOP claimed it wouldn’t do a thing unless they got their precious rich people their tax break? Well, on the verge of getting it, they are (didn’t we know they would) still balking at doing a thing. And some of so darn angry at giving the Dems even a tiny benefit, they are willing to screw everyone.

Kyl, the other dingbat from Arizona, is claiming that Reid is “disrespecting” the Holiest of celebrations for Christians by threatening to keep the Senate in session over the holidays. DeMint is threatening to have the entire START Treaty read aloud, wasting a good day, in order to screw that up. And Colburn is threatening to do the same with appropriations bill.

What part of compromise don’t these people get? They will destroy America before they will stop this petulant game of politics first. Never in my life have I seem a group who has less concern with the public good than this bunch of asshats.

***

Foxy lies continue to be unearthed. Just last week or so, memos came to light that Fox had directed it’s reporters and commentators to use the term “government option” rather than public option in regards the health care bill because the former didn’t poll well. Now we see that Fox employees were ordered to not report anything about this being the “warmest decade” on record without “immediately” citing that there is data claiming this is untrue.

…we should refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question. It is not our place as journalists to assert such notions as facts, especially as this debate intensifies.

The directive, sent by Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon, was issued less than 15 minutes after Fox correspondent Wendell Goler accurately reported on-air that the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization announced that 2000-2009 was “on track to be the warmest [decade] on record.”

What’s on the stove: homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Stay Warm!

Related Articles

• Michael Moore On Countdown: “We Owe A Debt” To Julian Assange (mediaite.com)
• Time Chooses Mark Zuckerberg Over Julian Assange For Person Of The Year (observer.com)
• WikiLeaks and the Power of Patriotism (pbs.org)

Muttering in Circles

Tags

Catholicism, Christmas, DADT, Democrats, essay, GOP, pets, poverty, teabaggers

I’m bored. I’m also, shocking I know, feeling lazy.  Okay, pick yourself up off the floor. I should have warned you.

I am not quite sure why that is. I’m not unhappy. Far from it. I’m rather serene actually. That is a word that seldom bumps up in a sentence next to I. Spooky.

I’m laid back. This too is “not me.”

I should be livid. I really should. I should be laughing up a storm at the Republicans. Do you know they managed in one 24-hour cycle to piss of huge sections of the electorate? Latinos, social security recipients, and gays. Wow, that’s some accomplishment. To say nothing of the fact that the “teasippers” are none to pleased with them either. I think an award of some sort is in order.

I’m not despondent. Frankly this is really scary, given the time of year. After all, there is white stuff on the ground, not the green I prefer, nor the brown I can tolerate. I am into live and let live as far as the weather is concerned. You KNOW that is not me.

I’m quite happy with my church. I feel good there. I feel “right.” I had a rare utterly spiritually elevating moment, my voice almost breaking at a Hallelujah. I was staring at the crucifix, and, well, how does one explain? You don’t of course, you just glory in the moment. You realize once again why you trudge twenty miles with temps in the teens to be in this place. Go figure.

The Contrarian is doing very well. Was it due to my unceasing prayers? I don’t know. But his balance, after YEARS is much much better. He sleeps later in the morning. Miraculous, or just a lucky choice? Does it matter? It’s all God to me.

We got that appointment at the Cedar Rapids VA. He likes his new doctor. She didn’t like the medications he had been prescribed in Iowa City. She changed them. He’s breathing a good 50% better now. She has him on Aleve for his rotor cuffs. He’s barely mentioning his shoulders now, and insists on “dressing himself” which entails finding armholes alone and fiddling with bib straps. He’s been out for going on two hours, pulling logs and cutting them up for splitting. Did the same thing yesterday. I’m relieved, and for the first time in months, don’t find myself worrying.

I’m proud of the House Democrats. Somebody has to stand up to power and say, “this is not right, and we are not going along!” A secret: Obama as the ability to convince me of just about anything. And he almost persuaded me to go along with this “deal”. But he’s wrong here. He has to stand for something. And if he won’t then we have to.

So, I’m bored in a good way. Friday is a good day to be bored on I think. The Contrarian has been threatening me with “Singing in the Rain” on Saturday. I trumped that with some disaster movies, about earthquakes and polar ice something or other. I like smash-em up disaster movies. I’ve told you that.

The opening page on WordPress is the featured blogs of the day. There are an inordinate number of writing blogs. I find that odd. They talk about writing. Isn’t that cheating? Writing about writing isn’t writing, it’s explaining why you are so bereft of ideas you can only talk about what you are doing. Egocentric? A bit.

Not what I do. I’m chatting with myself, in front of you. Intimate isn’t it? Get to see how the wheels turn and such? Fascinated, aren’t you? No? Well, excuse me. I’ll whisper.

We have one cat who will not go outside in winter. Hates getting his little paws into the snow. So we finally had to relent (you don’t want to know the alternative), and put in a litter box. Now the other freakin’ three are using it too. Have they no shame?

Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cat exhibit shame. Cats walk across a table, knocking a coffee cup off and smashing it, and look at you. “You might want to clean that up so I don’t cut myself when I jump down.”

Dogs know shame. They can look at you and you are sure they wish they could disappear down a hole, they are so embarrassed. Dogs are simply more human than cats.

We decided to have ham for Christmas. Then I added a potato casserole. Then some glazed carrots. Then the left-over dressing (now in the freezer–I haven’t left it since Thanksgiving!), then the cranberry sauce also left over. Then some raw veggies. Rolls. Sigh. . .you see how this stuff multiplies? It’s a freakin’ dinner. But I’m standing my ground on dessert–I’ll buy sumpin’ at the grocery store. Not baking.

But I’m sorta baking. Gotta do sugar cookies. I mean that’s required. And some truffles. They are easy. And some  nut clusters.

And some lights on my humongous umbrella tree. And maybe the crèche. Some candles for the table?

And then there is New Year’s Day. Finger food. Pizza, and chicken tenders with barbecue sauce or blue cheese dressing. And raw veggies with a chipolte-spinich dip.

Sigh. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Now that IS depressing.

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• Revolting? Democratic Lawmaker Allegedly Muttered “F*ck The President” (mediaite.com)

US Politics for Dummies

Tags

Congress, DADT, Democrats, Dream Act, economy, GOP, Latinos, lobbyists, social security, Susan Collins, tax cut bill, teabaggers, Unemployment insurance, US Politics for Dummies, voting

No, we really don’t have to practice US politics for dummies here at AFeatherAdrift, for the simple reason that you readers are both sophisticated and knowledgeable. Those that need to be reading, aren’t of course. That would be the GOP, in case you were unsure.

The Dream Act passed the House. The Dream Act has, of course, no chance of passing the Senate. The brilliant requirement of having to have a super majority on any vote means that little gets done there. And most assuredly, even less than little gets done, when the GOP is about the business of “just saying no.”

The Democrats don’t have the votes to invoke cloture, so they are tabling the Dream Act. But The Reaction makes a good point, and one that at least won’t be lost on some GOPers, if there are any sane ones left that is.

Even in losing, the Democrats go down on record as the party who favors the sane, moral, and rational position, that young Latinos who were brought to this country as children, and who have completed high school, and either military service or college, can get legal residency in this country and move forward to citizenship. The GOP, on the other hand, continue to favor nativism and the cruel  and harsh persecution of undocumented aliens in this country.

The GOP continues to show the country deliberately and with clear intent, that it is the party of the rich and the white. Tell us how that works for you come 2012.

***

I thought that as part of the cave-in on tax cuts for the rich, we were getting an extension of unemployment benefits for an additional 13 months. According to Crooks and Liars, that just ain’t so, and the cap is still 99 weeks and you’re through. That is no compromise at all, as I see it. Read the link and see what you think. I’m completely unclear and now see the Democratic House anger as very justified. Guess I’m ready to oppose this damn bill too.

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Can’t say as I’m surprised. It turns out that a slew of newly elected GOPer’s have hired lobbyists to run their congressional offices. Teabuggers ran on the argument that Washington was broken and a den of iniquity peopled with corruption and special interests who no longer did the people’s will. It seems to be business as usual, and that is exactly what we expected to happen. The poor teabuggers will soon find out that they have been taken for the proverbial ride. So much for “we the people” and all that rot. We warned ya, ya know.

***

I just want to personally thank GOPer’s in both the House and Senate for blocking a measly one-time payment of $250 to those who collect social  security and have been denied cost of living increases for two years running. Add another group that the GOP has lost in 2012. But do protect the right of the obscenely rich to avoid taxes Repukelicans.

***

I read this, but can’t find the link. It seems that teabuggers are mighty unhappy with the compromise tax cut extensions. They had been taken in by the promises of fiscal responsibility promised by the GOPers. Does the word sucker come to mind? Anyway, the novel answer being given by some Restuplicans, is that all that fiscal responsibility doesn’t start until the new Congress is sworn in, so it’s still business as usual until then. Now that’s an argument you can believe in! Enjoy your new master, teabuggers!

***

We all talk a lot about economic things, but frankly, most of us, (myself included) don’t understand this stuff all that well. Corrupting Conservatives, gives us a good primer on what all this tax business and economic growth actually mean. This is truly US politics for dummies in an economic nutshell. Do stop by and learn.

***

Was it just a week ago or so that Susan Collins said she was in favor pretty much of repealing DADT but couldn’t unless there was a tax cut bill negotiated, the “holy grail” of the GOP? Yes, well, now it seems that Ms. Collins has been instructed to stop that talk, and to get in marching line with the GOP. She is reconsidering her position. Olympia Snow, already did her bit to be immoral and unprincipled, she helped kill the Dream Act in the Senate. These people have no shame, and it proves that you can’t trust any Resucklican. They all lie.

Collins continues to make more demands on Reid, and the we shall see. Some are optimistic, but I’m too used to being screwed to expect the right outcome. Time will tell.

We all know why this is happening of course. Collins is being targeted by the teabuggers and well, re-election trumps principles doesn’t it? I mean, of course, nothing can be more important than retaining my government job.

***

What’s on the stove? Ribs in the oven with some smoky paprika mac and cheese and homegrown corn on the side. I’m getting hungry even as I type. It’s Iowa food today!

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• Senate Tables DREAM Act, House Rebuffs Tax Cut Extension Deal (lezgetreal.com)
• Senate delays ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ vote – msnbc.com (news.google.com)
• Biden urges Dems to embrace Obama’s tax-cut plan (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Paul Abrams: Democrats (and Bloggers): Stop Arguing, Unite Behind “Hostage” Banner, and Win. (huffingtonpost.com)

Driving Off the Cliff

Tags

DADT, Democrats, evolution, fundamentalists, GOP, life, McCain, Obama, Pauline theology, religious right, science, scientific integrity, tax cuts, theology

As we speak, the Senate is voting on two tax bills. Both are failing of course, since the GOP is holding tough with its demand that the rich get even richer. They take care of their own.

Sadly, this might have turned out differently had the White House not waved the white flag almost immediately after the midterm elections. Emboldened, the GOP knows that it cannot really fail since the President apparently doesn’t have the stomach to do as the American people ask: actually fulfill a campaign promise to end the tax cuts for the rich.

As we have said before, Obama can win this if he holds the line and lets the GOP argue that it is better to increase the deficit by 4 trillion in order to protect the buying power of the likes of Paris Hilton and as Think Progress suggested LeBron James. Where are the jobs after 10 years of tax cuts for the rich? I ask ya?

***

One of the things we expected from this Administration, was scientific integrity returned as the standard of doing business. Obama promised that scientists would be free to do their work and report their findings without being edited. A policy statement was authorized. To date, no such policy has been forthcoming, and a significant number of scientists in the FDA and AG, report being urged to exclude or alter information. Read about it at New Scientist.

***

For a different prospective on DADT: The Reaction asks: What do Bulgaria, Jordan, Poland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the US have in common? Go read the article and see. Oh oh, yes, we do have friends in low places.

***

Ethics Daily reports that a slew of right-wing Christians leaders met a couple of months ago at a Dallas airport to work out how to get rid of Obama and install a right-wing friendly president in the Oval office. Scary rundown of names.  (H/T to Ahab at Republic of Gilead.

***

Don’t know if you caught the big news from NASA. Life as we know it, has well, you know, C H A N G E D. It’s a subtle point, but once “gotten” its like huge. It’s like Star Trek! Okay, thoroughly confused? Let me ‘splain. (Remember I told you a couple of years ago, that most anything can be explained or understood via an episode from Star Trek?)

The Enterprise went to investigate a mining colony on a dead planet. Miners were turning up dead. What they discovered was that the planet was not dead, but a silicon-based life form was doing fine there, except that miners were killing the “eggs” of the mother Horta.

Once they made contact, they patched up the wounded Horta with some cement which worked just fine, and everybody got along famously.

The point is, that we have so far only identified life as being carbon based. And that requires a number of other elements to be viable. One of those elements is phosphorus. Trust me on this, I just read it in a book I’ll be reviewing for you next week.

Anyway, in a lake in California Mono, to be specific, a microbe has been found that doesn’t have any phosphorus in its DNA. Rather it has arsenic, yes you heard that right. It’s a bacterium that is different from any life form on this planet. No idea how it got here either.

What this means is that when we turn on the telescopes and scan for the stuff we think means life, we can’t just stop at the carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur, nitrogen and phosphorus, but must also scan for arsenic. What is life just got a whole lot broader. The possibilities are well, huge.

I feel all warm and cozy now, sure that surely we are not alone. A little alien may be among us, or perhaps even in our carbon based environment, other types of life can arise. Who knows? Science is wetting its pants and agog with excitement. But they get excited about a new species of newt too.   (Note the link is to the post of Dec. 2–I have loads of trouble with this reader feed)

***

See, there are theologians and biblical scholars. And then there are wannabes. I’m one of those. But in this category, theology,  there are Wannabes and wannabees. I’m the latter. John is the former. If you are feeling all theology-y, then drop over and read what John has to say about how Paul acquired his theology on the road to Damascus. (pssst. it probably didn’t happen there, since Luke is probably not giving a historically accurate account of Paul’s travels here, but it assuredly happened to Paul somewhere!)

***

If’n you want to see a psychoanalysis of Mr.’s McCain and Obama, then Crooks and Liars is your choice. Lots of interesting commentary from varied sources, make these two almost equally delusional.

***

We got about two solid inches of snow. We can get out. We tidied up the bird feeder and put the “open” sign up. The dogs are sleeping. The cats are sleeping. I’m being a good wife and cooking liver ‘n onions for my husband. Don’t mind eating it, just hate fixin’ it. Going to church tomorrow. Lookin’ for some college football to watch. Havin’ ham for Christmas. Reading a lot these days, publishers have been kind. That is a tour of my synapses, known as roamin’ round the noggin.

Laters.

Related Articles

• Keith Olbermann Reports On Alien Life Discovery, Totally Pwns NASA in Star Trek Knowledge (mediaite.com)
• NASA’s Press Conference On Alien Life (geekologie.com)

It’s Time to Stop the Enabling

Tags

DADT, editorial, gay rights, GOP, John McCain, Media, Politics, President Obama, tax cuts

Mr. President:

I finally have had to admit that I’ve been enabling you, and it’s got to stop. This won’t be easy, in fact it will be most painful, but it must be done. Things cannot go on like this.

There have been good and noble reasons for my stance as protector. You have been unfairly and maliciously attacked since it became most clear that you would win the election and become our President.

There is not doubt that those who attacked you have done so on no basis of any unfitness on your part. It has stemmed, rather, from a mixture of utterly foul racism, and perhaps even worse, a personal addiction to power on their part. There are few if any in the Republican party today who are not solely motivated to achieving political power, and they don’t care who is harmed. There are virtually only a miniscule who actually feel any desire to govern in the people’s interest.

There is not a semblance of interest in putting the country’s needs first. These GOP/TeaParty adherents dance to big business and its slush fund for politicians with an occasional nod to whatever base seems to scream the loudest and promise it’s vote to anyone who will agree to enact their sordid agenda of hate.

You have been subjected, as perhaps no other President in history, to a slanderous excuse for a press. One is shamelessly pushing its own agenda, and actively lies to pursue it. They trust that their uneducated and incurious followers will not check out their lies. The rest of the media is too lazy and also too beholden to big business to ferret out the truth.

You have been accused of everything, proven guilty of nothing. You have been assailed as a racist, a Muslim, a communist sympathizer, a fascist, a socialist, and a Kenyan.

You are in fact a great communicator.

But Sir, you are a lousy negotiator.

The GOP has stated directly and probably to your face that it intends only one thing: to get rid of you and resume control of the government. They have made it clear that they will stoop to any low to achieve this. They are children who have been in the midst of a temper tantrum since Nov 5, 2008. Most importantly: They are not going to change.

You cannot continue to try to be bipartisan. You issue a statement that your meeting with the GOP went well, and there are points of compromise on the horizon. They reply with a letter demanding a full capitulation on the Bush tax cuts or they will filibuster any other bill put forth, no matter how much it harms our domestic situation, economy, or foreign affairs. They do not care, they want their way.

You Sir, cannot continue to abide this behavior. You have the bully pulpit. You can take air time any time you wish. You can use charts (Ezra Klein has a great one on what the Bush tax cuts for the rich would do to the deficit. I’m sure he will lend it to you). You must state the case , again and again if necessary. You must plaster the airwaves with truth.

You campaigned on ending the tax cuts to the rich. You cannot compromise on this, especially when it is really just capitulation. Let them threaten, and let them filibuster. Let them shut down the country and then explain that to the millions who are now destitute without unemployment insurance. Let them try to explain why it is so important to protect the rich, while destroying 9/10’s of the population.

Let them explain why trickle down economics is the only way to create jobs, when the charts and numbers, show conclusively that not one job was created in eight Bush years under these policies.

On DADT, Sir, again you promised the end of the awful practice, that demeans millions of our citizens, those both serving, and not. It shames us all. I know you thought, after the election when you sat down with John McCain, that you were speaking to a principled individual. You thought he would stand by his promise that if the military was ready to end it, he would be onboard.

Sir, John McCain, and the rest of the GOP are not honorable people by and large. They are only out for themselves. And for whatever reason they are against you here even when the military is on your side. Some are homophobic, some just hate you, some just want power back, and a very few are wickedly misreading scripture.

On both these issues, the public is on your side. You have the ability, as did Harry Truman, to end DADT by Presidential Administrative Order. Harry integrated the Armed Forces with the stroke of a pen. You can too. Yes, I understand, the GOP can threaten to play with the budget. Let them. And then let them explain.

You have the  facts, morality, and truth on your side. When will you realize this? More importantly, as I said, you have good majorities in the electorate on your side as well. You haven’t yet made the case on how well the stimulus has worked. The figures are out there. Tell the people in simple but clear language. Use charts.

I can’t continue to defend you. I can’t continue to hope you have an ace up your sleeve that I’m not aware of. You don’t. You need to fire half your staff and find some folks who have some grasp of reality.

Time is running short. If you fail in these campaign promises, you will not be re-elected, and we will find ourselves in all likelihood with a dunce in the White House. You owe it to us, the public, not to let this happen. It is your moral duty to DO SOMETHING!!!

Related Articles

• John McCain’s Sad, Permanent Crusade Against Gays in the Military [Polidicks] (gawker.com)
• GOP Moves Goalposts on DADT, Dream Act (pinkbananaworld.com)
• Political corruption: GOP embraces the Ken Lay way (thehill.com)
• John McCain on DADT (pinkbananaworld.com)
• The Dickishness Of The GOP (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
• The state of play for DADT repeal (washingtonmonthly.com)