tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54970782024-03-13T11:12:21.359-04:00The PatriotBehind every fortune lies a crime.
-TolstoyMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.comBlogger370125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-90216310178074226972016-11-10T13:53:00.001-05:002016-11-10T13:54:15.439-05:00Somebody's President<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3XyOTlBhptY/WCTCAga_1VI/AAAAAAAAM2g/zUBhnQk0NGY3UngRccbIUvZvppCG0hQEACK4B/s1600/dump.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3XyOTlBhptY/WCTCAga_1VI/AAAAAAAAM2g/zUBhnQk0NGY3UngRccbIUvZvppCG0hQEACK4B/s400/dump.png" /></a><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Here we are, the day after. Everyone still breathing? Good. Some
of the hysteria has begun to die down, although I must admit it seems like the
nation is still one whisker away from freaking right the fuck out. The protests
last night warmed this old patriot’s heart. It was like the Boston Tea Party, but with less civil disobedience and more I-Phones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, the corporate media focused on the
one idiot who thought that burning the American flag on CNN would be a great
background for a protest selfie, thereby undermining any respect the nascent
anti-Trump street protest movement might have garnered from the public at
large. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Circle that firing squad,
lefties! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Speaking of CNN, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
was walking through the kitchen at work this morning and was treated to the
spectacle of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a slightly manic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chris Cuomo interviewing a preternaturally
calm Rudy Giuliani about the plans for the first 100 days of Pussygrabber’s
administration. Someone was making a smoothie so I couldn’t hear what Rudy was
saying, but it dawned on me with considerable sadness that this would not be
the last time I see America’s Mayor on CNN holding forth about mass deportation
and denying climate change, rather he and the rest of the Basket of Deplorables
(Gingrich, Christie, Palen), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>would be
our constant companions on our upcoming <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>4 year journey to Mount Doom. As depressing a
sight as I have ever seen. Little known fact: I was with Rudy Giuliani on 9/11.
By “with him” I mean he was cowering in the basement of 100 Church Street as
the second plane hit the Trade Center, as I was walking out the front door. We
parted ways soon after. I walked back to Brooklyn after the second tower hit
the ground, and he walked into the history books, lauded for something I don’t
think he quite deserved. But I digress.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For years I have
tried not to get bogged down in the unseemly battle between the alt-right
Republicans and the corporate Democrats. While it wasn’t that hard to pick a
side, it was pretty tough to lustily cheer for my team. Without beating the
dead horse too soundly, I really thought that the Democrats had turned the
corner when Bernie started picking up states in the primaries. I was shocked at
his success, and dare I say it, optimistic? Of course, like all things too good
to be true, it didn’t last. Bernie was run out of town by Sheriff
Wasserman-Schultz, and later trotted around by the Clinton campaign, siphoning
off the anger that should have been directed at the DNC for casting him aside.
I don’t blame Bernie. If Clinton had won he stood to gain a position where he
could have exercised immense influence, well, as long as he didn’t push for
anything TOO crazy. With a Trump victory, Bernie goes back to the Senate and
back to a role at which he excels, being a pain in the ass. Here’s hoping he
gives Paul Ryan and Trump a case of hemorrhoids so bad they can’t sit down
until 2020. </span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-91028062344180115742016-11-09T15:07:00.000-05:002016-11-09T15:07:13.043-05:00It's Mourning in America
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Patriot
is not surprised. Racism, America’s original sin, staged a coup this election,
aided and abetted by the upper middle-class, who decided that aligning themselves
with the KKK was preferable to the unseemliness of confronting their own complicity
in the subjugation of women and minorities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In all fairness, it should be noted that 53%
of well-educated white women also cast their votes for President Pussygrabber,
thereby demonstrating that privilege and class trump, (ahem), <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gender and
feminism as motivation for selecting a president.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Of course,
there is plenty of blame to go around. The Patriot reserves special ire for the
DNC and the feckless moderate democrats, who talk a good game when it comes to
matters of freedom in the bedroom, but reveal themselves to be fairly conservative
when provided with an actually progressive candidate like Bernie Sanders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether Bernie would have won against Trump
is an open question. I believe he would have, others think not, but I sure
would have preferred to go down swinging rather than have the hopes of my
children dashed on the rocks of a bland, mediocre candidate like Hillary
Clinton. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The magnitude
of this loss is still seeping in. This morning I contemplated an FBI under the
control of a paranoid, demented Rudy Giuliani, and a Department of Justice under
the control of Chris Christie. To say nothing of the fate of a Supreme Court to
which Trump may have up to four appointments. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What else? <span style="color: #222222;">He has
already <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/trump-energy-team-mike-mckenna-myron-ebell-228672" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">named prominent climate change denier</span></a> <span style="color: black;">Myron Ebell of the
Competitive Enterprise Institute to lead his transition work at the EPA and
fossil fuel lobbyist Mike McKenna for the Department of Energy. Worse to come,
I’m sure.</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">While backlash
racism accounted for a large <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>part of
that heretofore hidden Trump vote, (really a latent anti-Obama vote),
additional blame can be laid at the feet of the Democratic Party, who long ago
abandoned the interests of the white working class (hell, the entire working
class), to focus on <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cultivating their
relationships with Goldman Sachs and Wall Street. As Thomas Frank wrote in an
excellent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/09/donald-trump-white-house-hillary-clinton-liberals"><span style="color: blue;">article</span></a>
in the Guardian <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>this morning, “Maybe
it’s time to consider whether there’s something about shrill
self-righteousness, shouted from a position of high social status, that turns
people away.” Yes, do look into that, Democratic leaders. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bernie knew.
He so clearly defined the problem and offered a real solution that the party
elites couldn’t possibly accept. Turn away from elitism and embrace the working
class. They couldn’t swallow it and that’s why they destroyed him. Red-baited
him from the left. Clinton couldn’t even bring herself to support a $15 an hour
minimum wage for Christ’s sake. There was more anti-Bernie rhetoric coming from
moderate Democrats than there was from Republicans. I spoke to more than one
Trump voter who said if Bernie was running they would have voted for him. He
understood them. He cared about them. She cared about getting elected. The
general election was over the minute she became the nominee. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I don’t know
what’s in store for us over the next four years. My hope is that the turgid
nature of our political system will wear Trump down like it does to everyone
else who takes office with grand ideas, only to be confronted with the reality
that governing is really, really hard. Running a country is not like running a
corporation. You need to be able to forge consensus to get anything done. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe he decides after one term that his
talents are better used elsewhere. We can only hope. </span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-49088875998227755972010-12-17T12:51:00.001-05:002010-12-17T12:53:25.882-05:00Millionaire Tax Relief<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TQujJKC5wlI/AAAAAAAAAnA/2wMwL1QQD8M/s1600/Boat+Bush+TaxCuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TQujJKC5wlI/AAAAAAAAAnA/2wMwL1QQD8M/s320/Boat+Bush+TaxCuts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Julian Assange has been released from a British prison and is now giving interviews from the splendid estate where he is confined under what his lawyer describes as “mansion arrest.” He is, as he should be, unrepentant and feisty, pledging more document releases and legal battles. If only the Democrats in the White House and Congress had one tenth the backbone of a Julian Assange the poor in this country might stand a fighting chance. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Unfortunately, such strength is in short supply down in DC, where the Democrats capitulated late last night, passing Obama’s millionaire tax relief bill after token opposition from the so-called “liberal” caucus. Arguments have been made by the “less liberal” caucus that this bill was a necessity to ensure that unemployment insurance could be extended, but no matter how much lipstick you slather on that pig, it’s still a pig. This bill creates no jobs and, with its supposedly temporary payroll tax holiday, basically guarantees that the social security trust fund will become insolvent. Republicans are not stupid. Mean, arrogant, batshit crazy, yes, but stupid, no. They know that starving Social Security now will make it all that much easier to sell a gullible public on the idea that there is an urgent need for “reform”, which would likely take the form of privatized accounts with the certainty of Wall Street involvement. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Some Democrats recognize the danger. From the Times:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">“Representative <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/n/jerrold_nadler/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Jerrold Nadler.">Jerrold Nadler</a>, Democrat of New York, said he feared the one-year cut in the Social Security payroll tax, to 4.2 percent from 6.2 percent on income up to $106,800, would weaken Social Security because Republicans would insist on it being made permanent, and Democrats would relent. “We know that politically once you make that tax cut it will be impossible to restore it,” Mr. Nadler said.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s interesting, and a little pathetic, that Nadler takes it for a given that the Democrats will roll over on the issue of restoring the tax, but he’s probably correct. Certainly there’s nothing in the recent actions of Congress or the Administration that would lead one to believe they’re spoiling for a fight. On anything.</div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-49558583408865806142010-12-15T13:41:00.000-05:002010-12-15T13:41:05.202-05:00Keeping an Eye on Things<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TQkLtgKkwYI/AAAAAAAAAm8/JWWZ-1Jfinw/s1600/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TQkLtgKkwYI/AAAAAAAAAm8/JWWZ-1Jfinw/s1600/images.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"> Sorry folks, I’ve been a little off this week. I’ve been fighting a cold that’s taken some zing out of my stinger and I’ve been running around after work a bit lately. It doesn’t mean I’ve given up being outraged and disgusted, but my body has been permitting a little less outrage these past few days.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">With the help of Michael Moore and some other members of the Hollywood set, Julian Assange was granted bail yesterday, yet he continues to sit in prison so the government can appeal the judges ruling. So it goes. <span> </span>If that poor bastard gets out of prison before the US Government indicts him and hauls him off to Gitmo he should consider himself lucky. Meanwhile, Wikileaks keeps churning out the hits. Cable after cable proving that the cynical leftists were essentially right about, well, almost everything. Yet the administration is pissed off because someone turned over their rock and shined a light on the snakes underneath. Amazing. This government has extended the Bush administration’s full frontal assault on civil liberties without apology. Wikileaks is just their big fat chicken flying home to roost for the holidays. Michael Moore in his letter explaining why he contributed to Assange’s bail fund said, “Openness, transparency -- these are among the few weapons the citizenry has to protect itself from the powerful and the corrupt.” Is it any surprise that the powerful and corrupt are calling for show trials and executions? Nah.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Moore goes on to aptly describe what I think is the real benefit to having Wikileaks out there firing rhetorical missiles into the heartland-the possibility for future government restraint. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;">“Might WikiLeaks cause some unintended harm to diplomatic negotiations and U.S. interests around the world? Perhaps. But that's the price you pay when you and your government take us into a war based on a lie. Your punishment for misbehaving is that someone has to turn on all the lights in the room so that we can see what you're up to. You simply can't be trusted. So every cable, every email you write is now fair game. Sorry, but you brought this upon yourself. No one can hide from the truth now. No one can plot the next Big Lie if they know that they might be exposed.” </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I agree that the government needs to be exposed, but unlike Moore I’m not entirely convinced that they’ll change their ways overnight, certainly not without a constant parade of Private Mannings and Julian Assanges holding the torch up to their misdeeds. Repressive governments are like vampires. Once you turn the lights out they’ll come slinking back in the dark to resume sucking your blood. They can’t help it. It’s their nature, the poor dears.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Remember people, whether you accept the paradigm or not, there is a class war going on in this country. It’s the wealthy and powerful against the rest of us, just like it’s always been. You don’t have to take my word for it. <span> </span>Here’s the unvarnished opinion of the incoming chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., <a href="http://blog.al.com/sweethome/2010/12/spencer_bachus_finally_gets_hi.html" target="_blank">who</a> told the Birmingham news that "in Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks." </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">At least he's intellectually honest. That must count for something.</div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-18090309996743009622010-12-13T15:40:00.003-05:002010-12-13T15:42:06.722-05:00A Taxing Plan<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Obama’s capitulation on tax breaks for the rich has finally gotten some of the mainstream Democrats pissed off to the point where they are articulating sentiments heretofore unheard in the polite company of the two party system. Here’s one unhappy Obama voter: </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">“At this point, only 3 kinds of people think their vote counts for anything: 1) the absurdly naive, 2) the authoritarian cheerleader, and 3) the perpetually stupid. Pick your category.”</span><br />
<h2><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">That bit of cynical wisdom comes from a comment made on Salon.com responding to an article by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, which concluded that anyone who still sees government as our last bulwark against privilege and power is aghast at Obama's tax deal.</span></h2><h2><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">Nevertheless, the unwashed masses actually support the tax plan, probably because they aren’t mentally tying that 2% payroll tax holiday to the cat food they’re going to be eating when social security goes belly-up. Well, live for the moment has always been the American way.</span></h2><h2><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">The government giveth and the government taketh away. Citizens in New York won’t see that much in savings even with the tax cut. The $67 to $178 a month you'll be saving will just go to things like fare hikes and parking meters. One financial planner opined that, "It sounds like you'll be able to live a better life—but when you work it out, it doesn't create any new disposable income." The dirty secret about taxes is that you will never, ever get a real break. The less money the feds have to give to the states, the more local taxes will rise to meet local expenses. It’s a shell game, and you are the nut.</span></h2>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-7250956753958659962010-12-10T09:24:00.002-05:002010-12-10T13:30:15.635-05:00Way Over Yonder in the Monarchy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TQJH-Hseb5I/AAAAAAAAAm4/sx7lJ_OqijM/s1600/fdpolice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TQJH-Hseb5I/AAAAAAAAAm4/sx7lJ_OqijM/s320/fdpolice.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TQI1B7mAQFI/AAAAAAAAAmw/esnw6kpiUfE/s1600/britthugs.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TQI1B7mAQFI/AAAAAAAAAmw/esnw6kpiUfE/s1600/britthugs.gif" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Things are starting to heat up in Europe. Last night Prince Charles and his wife were taking the Rolls out for a spin when they were set upon by a mob of socialists and anarchists with pitchforks. The crowd was chanting “off with their heads” and “Tory Scum” while smashing the car’s windows and attempting to drag the royal personages into the street to administer a little mob justice. A commenter at the NY Times noted that this might be the first attack on members of the Royal Family on the streets of London since George III's carriage was attacked en route to the opening of Parliament in October 1795. You remember George the III; he was King at the time of the American Revolution. Plus ca change. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The look of utter shock on the royal faces was pretty telling. It was the same startled look of privileged people everywhere who are confronted with agitated serfs. In their heart of hearts the uber-rich and powerful believe that poor and working class people owe them a free life of luxury. Thus, the incredible consternation when they realize the people would just as soon string them up as look at them. Let’s hope the privileged have many more such shocking surprises in their near future.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The attempted regicide occurred after a day of pitched battles between students and police on the streets of London. It is unfortunate that the attack on the royals has diverted some attention from the fact that England appears to be convulsed in chaos, largely brought on by the government’s attempts to restore the economy on the backs of the workers and students. The students, quite rightly, see the writing on the wall and realize that if the government isn’t stopped now, England will start to resemble the United States, with no healthcare and unattainably expensive higher education. Another commenter on the Times web site hit the nail on the head: </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;">“Why shouldn't the students attack Prince Charles's limousine, paid for no doubt by tax money that could be used to subsidize higher education tuition? English students don't want their educational system becoming Americanized: available to those with money, a heavy if not impossible burden for those who don't.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Back here in the colonies, the silence has been deafening. We’re all too busy staring at our little screens and venting our frustrations on Facebook to be bothered to get out in the streets and fight for our due. The government is well aware of citizen apathy and takes full advantage thereof. Yesterday I heard a Republican, Jim DeMint float a proposal to make unemployment insurance into a loan, rather than an entitlement, to be paid back with interest and administered by Wall Street. You would think that in a country with 10% unemployment this would elicit howls of protest from the citizenry. You would think, but you would be wrong. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The only thing that gives me a glimmer of hope, just a glimmer mind you, is that the comments on the last few articles in the Times about the European protests are brimming with barely contained anger at the government. With the Obama tax sellout and the coming evisceration of the social safety net, it feels like we’re sitting on a big pile of gunpowder. I just wonder who is going to light the match.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-67703153723450164212010-12-08T12:57:00.001-05:002010-12-08T12:58:02.808-05:00Free Speech Under Fire<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TP_G1Xi0yZI/AAAAAAAAAms/43GhKPlkz_Q/s1600/wikileaks_article.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TP_G1Xi0yZI/AAAAAAAAAms/43GhKPlkz_Q/s320/wikileaks_article.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal">One of the most valuable things to come out of the Wikileaks brouhaha is that average citizen can finally observe the lengths to which the Unites States government will go to squelch speech that doesn’t agree with the sanctioned narrative. Usually the government uses dirty tricks against someone they’ve defined as a pain in the ass, well outside of the media glare. Tactics like destroying someone’s reputation and sending them down the road to financial ruin have typically been reserved for the more marginal left wing activists, who were unlikely to garner much sympathy from the general public in any event. Here, we have an intelligent, charismatic anarchist who cleans up well and looks good on television-a totalitarian government’s worst nightmare. As a consequence, they were forced to use their biggest guns, and fire them in full view of the media.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Obama’s government, (let’s not lose sight of that salient fact), has thus far exerted pressure on Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, Twitter, the Swiss Banking and legal institutions and the mainstream media, sufficient to drive Wikileaks to the brink of nonexistence, all because it was doing what journalists are supposed to do-report the news. I seem to remember learning way back in civics class that a free press was a vital component of a free society. The fact that most of the media outlets in this country have abdicated any pretense that they are still practicing anything resembling investigative journalism, seems to have given the government the idea that they are free to squash dissent with cavalier impunity.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Even I was taken aback by Lieberman’s call to investigate whether criminal charges could be brought against the NY Times for publishing the Wikileaks cables, but I guess that is part of the whole plan to re-frame the debate. Two weeks ago, Wikipedia was regularly described in the media as “whistleblowers”. Over the past week, news organizations Reuters, NBC, and the Associated Press have formally decided to stop identifying WikiLeaks as a "whistleblower" organization. Clearly, the media is attempting to turn public opinion to the government’s view of Wikipedia, that is, that they are cyber terrorists.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">From the Atlantic: “Gawker's <a href="http://gawker.com/5707657/julian-assange-to-turn-himself-in-to-police?skyline=true&s=i">Ryan Tate</a> thinks it is telling that the three news outlets amended their style guidelines to fit with the White House's official characterization of the leaks. "What a coincidence!" he marvels. Tate is also skeptical of the AP's claim that "a website that specializes in displaying leaked information" is a clearer and more accurate designation. "[That] rolls right off the tongue," Tate scoffs.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Language is power. If you can frame the issue with your language, you’ve won more than half the battle in the court of public opinion. Here, the government has pressed the bankers and the media into service to achieve its totalitarian aim to stifle dissent. This should be resisted firmly by every patriot worthy of the name. </div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-29069347094551141642010-12-07T13:59:00.000-05:002010-12-07T13:59:10.464-05:00Wikileaks Needs Your Support<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TP6D8KPx6CI/AAAAAAAAAmo/1tMZtf7KdEU/s1600/wikileaks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TP6D8KPx6CI/AAAAAAAAAmo/1tMZtf7KdEU/s320/wikileaks.jpg" width="138" /></a>Take two days off and the world explodes. I’m not sure which story merits more consideration today, Obama’s complete capitulation to the Republicans on the tax “compromise”, or the concerted global effort to shut down Wikileaks. The Obama tax cut disaster was a foregone conclusion, so I guess venting my spleen at the administration wouldn’t add anything to the conversation. I’d simply like to suggest two words to the suddenly disillusioned Democrats who really, really thought that this time Obama was fighting for their interests: Primary. Challenge. He could care less about you. Dump him in the ditch like a sack of old potatoes and try to find someone liberal enough to stave off the utter dismantling of the social safety net. I’m not saying you’re going to be able to do it, but for heavens sake, at least try. And take that ring out of your nose. The party has led you around by the nose long enough. </div><div> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Let’s review today’s developments in the Wikileak saga, shall we? Assange was arrested (no surprise there) and denied bail (also not surprising) in England where he will presumably be held long enough for the United States to charge him under some particularly Orwellian section of the Patriot Act. Attorney General Eric Holder is lauding the arrest, which doesn’t bode well for Assante’s future. As I was writing the preceding paragraph, I noticed that Mastercard, Paypal and Visa both shut down electronic donations to Wikileaks, thereby resolving any lingering doubts you may have had about the whether the government and bankers are one and the same. The move also deprives Assange of the funds he will undoubtedly need to avoid ending up in a CIA prison somewhere in Bumfuckistan. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It is perhaps worthy of note that Mastercard, Paypal and Visa continue to allow organizations like the KKK to utilize their services. Not sure about their reasoning there.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Fortunately, Philadelphia-based Xipwire has stepped in and <a href="https://xipwire.com/give/wl">set up a page</a> where Wikileaks supporters can donate. "Our motivation is really simple," Xipline founder Sharif Aleandre explained in an email. "While people may or may not agree with WikiLeaks and the documents it has released, we feel that PayPal's recent decision to refuse to process donations on their behalf effectively silences voices in this democracy. In fact, it was the Citizens United case that basically equated donations with free speech and if the Supreme Court decided that our government doesn't have the power to regulate that speech then it's our opinion that corporations certainly shouldn't have that power either."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I can’t fault his reasoning. Reaction on the interwebs to the concentrated attack on Wikileaks has been pretty intense. Most savvy internet users know that this is bigger than Wikileaks. Glen Greenwald rightly noted over at Salon that <strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">'What's really going on here is a war over control of the nternet </span></strong>and whether or not the internet can actually serve what a lot of people hoped its ultimate purpose was, which was to allow citizens to band together and democratize the checks on the world’s most powerful factions."<strong><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">If governments are allowed to dictate what can or cannot be published and debated in the public square, the chilling effect on free speech cannot be denied. </span></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-weight: normal;">Donations to Wikileaks can be made <a href="https://xipwire.com/give/wl">HERE</a>. You can also donate $10 by texting WL to 56624.</span></strong></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-70771567532483651042010-12-03T13:39:00.003-05:002010-12-03T14:41:29.576-05:00Fat Cats vs. We the Sheeple<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TPk7WBAk3uI/AAAAAAAAAmk/LsqTMBH4QZk/s1600/fat-cat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TPk7WBAk3uI/AAAAAAAAAmk/LsqTMBH4QZk/s320/fat-cat1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Deficit reduction is the hot topic in the MSM these days. Various ostensibly "bipartisan” panels are meeting behind closed doors and deciding exactly how much fleecing the citizenry can stand, in order to ensure that a regular supply of money flows unimpeded into the higher income brackets. The media has been dutifully reporting the recommendations presented by these panels of aristocrats (or, aristocats?) without question; certainly without positing other, more obvious solutions that would impact the wealthy more than the rest of us. In other words, its business as usual. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Excuse me, but General Electric paid NO corporate income tax last year, and you want me to work until I’m 70 years old to pay some bankers year-end bonus? Go fuck yourself!! You know who else paid no federal income tax last year? Bank of America. Yup, one of the largest recipients of taxpayer bailout money had sufficient profits to pay out millions of dollars in bonuses to its top executives, but had a federal tax liability of exactly zero. Let’s see, who else……..oh, I almost forgot, Exxon Mobil also paid NO federal income tax last year, despite raking in $10.3 billion in pretax income. How do they do it? Easy, they report all of the losses in the United States, and declare all of their overseas income, which they don’t have to pay taxes on. Yup, the US Government rewards giant corporations for moving their operations overseas by giving them massive tax breaks.<br />
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I'm really having trouble wrapping my mind around this. Rather than suggesting that corporate welfare be eliminated to substantially reduce the deficit, the bipartisan commission actually suggested REDUCING the corporate income tax rate to 26% from 35%! (Presumably this would only apply to those corporations whose accountants aren’t smart enough to figure out how completely elude their tax liabilites.) It's still kind of breathtaking to actually see it written down in the same document that purports to be a responsible approach to the deficit.<br />
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Other highlights from the commission:<br />
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-Collapsing today's five income tax rates into three brackets: 8 percent for the lowest incomes, 14 percent for middle incomes and 23 percent for the wealthiest. (Note the wealthiest would see the most significant reduction in their federal taxes under this plan);<br />
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-Ending $1.1 trillion in popular tax breaks ranging from deducting mortgage interest to receiving health insurance from employers on a pre-tax basis. (That would broaden the tax base and make virtually all Americans pay more in taxes.);<br />
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-Increasing the federal gas tax by 15 cents a gallon to pay for transportation improvements. (I actually agree with this one);<br />
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-Raising the age at which Americans can get Social Security benefits - to 68 by 2050 and 69 by 2075 - reflecting that Americans are living and working longer. (Unless you are poor, or black, in which case you’ll likely die at your desk).<br />
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The deficit reduction seems to forget the fact that the 6-8 billion dollars we’re spending EVERY MONTH in Afghanistan would be better spent here at home, but are you really surprised?<br />
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And then there's the tax cuts, which honestly deserve a post all to themselves.The most conservative estimates show that continuing the Bush tax cuts for those making over 250k a year adding adding four trillion dollars to the deficit. Let me say that slowly. Four. Trillion. Dollars. Yet the Deficit Commission declares that they need to get their money by strip mining Social Security and Medicare, Medicaid and from raising taxes on the middle class? Bullshit! (<a href="http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2010/12/03/obama-using-unemployed-as-an-excuse-to-get-what-he-wanted-all-along/">Firedog Lake</a> has a great posting on the Obama administration's duplicity on this issue.) <br />
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The current hysterical urgency surrounding the need for immediate deficit reduction, smells a lot like the manufactured urgency that was used to sell the bank bailout package. Remember how that ended up? Don’t buy it. There’s money aplenty. (After all, we keep printing it when we run out.) This is all a matter of choices, and the banks and the fat cats are making those choices right now, while we the people are distracted by dancing B list celebrities and shiny electronic things. I don't know about you, but I'm more than a little concerned that Americans are behaving more sheepish now than at any time in our history. Now would be an excellent time to get out in the streets and make a little noise. Anybody? Anybody?Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-7584043658144590282010-12-01T09:10:00.000-05:002010-12-01T09:10:35.576-05:00My Wiki is Leaking<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TPZXQIfoMpI/AAAAAAAAAmg/U6jUY3IqQQw/s1600/assange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7SYac612BJQ/TPZXQIfoMpI/AAAAAAAAAmg/U6jUY3IqQQw/s320/assange.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><img src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/video_object.png" style="background-color: #b2b2b2; " class="BLOGGER-object-element tr_noresize tr_placeholder" id="ieooui" data-original-id="ieooui" /> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">How pissed is the US government at Julian Assange? Well, if I were him I wouldn’t go for any long walks in public without armed guards. Everybody from the CIA to Interpol is no doubt looking for a way for Assange to have an unfortunate single-vehicle accident on a secluded mountain road. Plan B includes fictitious charges of rape followed by a <span> </span>lengthy prison term where Julian could be more easily dispatched by an intelligence operative disguised as an inmate. This is how our government has dealt with this sort of thing in the past, so I have absolutely no doubt that Assange is for all intents and purposes, a walking dead man, unless he has a secret stash of photos of Obama and Hillary Clinton with a transsexual hooker. Even then, I’d still fear for his safety. The only thing that gives me hope is that the CIA is pretty clueless about how to do anything. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">It has been strangely satisfying to watch the administration freak out about having its foreign policy lies exposed for the entire world to see. I only wish these revelations had come out when Bush was still president. He probably would have ordered a drone strike on Sweden and invaded Western Europe to grab Assange and subject him to extraordinary rendition somewhere in a neutral third country. The Obama administration’s response has been a bit more restrained, although it’s starting to sound a little hysterical. I think it’s worthwhile to read Daniel Ellsberg’s take on the government’s response. The man who leaked the Pentagon papers had this to say about the State Department’s assertion that lives would be put at risk as a result of Wikileak’s publication:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: justify;">That’s a script that they roll out, every administration rolls out, every time there’s a leak of any sort. The best justification for secrecy that they can find is that lives are at stake. Actually, lives are at stake as a result of silence and lies, which a lot of these leaks reveal. Certainly the same charges were made about the Pentagon Papers and turned out to be quite invalid over the years, the same things that Hillary Clinton is saying now about WikiLeaks. As a matter of fact.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Pretty standard, that script. Maybe the media will have the temerity to question the administration on that point. Nah, who am I kidding?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Assange’s life expectancy is sure to be further shortened once he turns Wikileak’s attention to the financial sector, which he has promised to do next. I mean, fuck with the government ok, fuck with the banking system? Swim with the fishes.</div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-9239881506517811672010-11-30T09:07:00.002-05:002010-11-30T09:16:46.960-05:00I Need to Take A WikiLeakWhatever you think of the propriety of the recent document dump that the anarchists over at Wikileaks have graced us with, one thing is inarguable-there really are some awfully stupid people in charge of national security. As my wife aptly pointed out in a text message to me this morning: “Really, an army private has access to what King Abdullah says in his bathroom? Hahahaha.” Every time I start to think that maybe there is something to all those conspiracy theories out there, I’m confronted with the reality that governments are completely incapable of keeping any secrets.<br />
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<i>Our </i>government sure is pissed about this latest release of secret diplomatic cables, although one wonders how secret they really were when roughly three million people had access to them. Their protestations of injury ring a little hollow to me. This is a government that justifies its intrusion on the lives of its citizens with increasingly oppressive security and surveillance by intoning, “you have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide." Talk about being hoisted by your own petard. The government is clearly pissed at having thousands of ready examples of how their back room maneuvering was completely at odds with their propaganda, circulating so freely on the interwebs. Compared to what's in those the diplomatic cables, our government's everyday press releases and public pronouncements on the same subjects appear to have been totally fabricated. <br />
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As Norman Solomon noted over at the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norman-solomon/wikileaks-demystifying-di_b_789027.html">Huff Post</a>, “In a democracy, people have a right to know what their government is actually doing. In a pseudo-democracy, a bunch of fairy tales from high places will do the trick. No government wants to face documentation of actual policies, goals and priorities that directly contradict its public claims of virtue. In societies with democratic freedoms, the governments that have the most to fear from such disclosures are the ones that have been doing the most lying to their own people.”<br />
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The foregoing does much to explain why the administration has been much more interested in assigning blame for the leaks than discussing their contents. Concentrating on what is in the cables would open up all sorts of uncomfortable subjects for discussion in the main-stream media. (Although, I wonder. They usually report the administration's nonsense as factual without letting anything like best-practices journalism get in the way.) Since diplomatic malfeasance reaches across the aisle these days, Congress is similarly outraged. Not at the contents of the cables, but at their dissemination. Peter King-(R)NY has gone so far as to suggest that Wikileaks be charged under the USA Patriot Act as a terrorist organization. Joe Lieberman (Lieberman-CT), frames the leak as an attack on our national security, and presumably would recommend torture and indefinite imprisonment in a secret CIA prison for Julian Assange.<br />
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I’ll close this entry with the same question Solomon posed in his article, which is a really, really good question: “[W]hat kind of "national security" can be built on duplicity from a government that is discredited and refuted by its own documents?” Indeed.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-56602209383207177542010-11-29T15:08:00.002-05:002010-11-29T15:08:42.809-05:00A Triumphant ReturnHi, I’m back. I might explain my absence at some point, or I might not. This blog might still be about politics, or it might not. I haven’t decided yet. All I know is that I find myself getting bored and feeling mildly depressed that I don’t have some outlet for my mental diarrhea. Since this page was already set up I figured, why not? With all the Cialis spam clogging up the comments section it looks like I have a readership in the millions. Why not build on that base?<br />
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Speaking of the base….tsk, tsk Obama. Freezing the salaries of Federal employees is one sure fire way of dooming your re-election hopes for 2012. Not that I give a crap. You lost me somewhere between the Wall Street bailout and that blow-job you gave the insurance companies that you call “health care reform”. Nevertheless, what kind of president cuts middle-class salaries in the middle of a recession in a country where 70% of the economy is driven by consumer spending? A one-term president, that’s who.<br />
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I only hope that at some point prior to the drubbing you’re bound to receive at the polls two Novembers hence, your fixation on deficit reduction draws your sleepy eyes towards the disaster in Afghanistan. Our little foray in nation-building in the Middle East is costing us six billion dollars a month, which is enough to hand each and every American taxpayer a million dollars. Imagine how putting all those dollars into the stream of commerce would stimulate the economy? But Americans aren’t bankers, are they? So we won’t be the recipient of any government largesse this holiday season, will we? In fact, all the grannies and disabled widows and the blind people will have to tighten the belt another notch this year because there isn’t enough money in the budget for a cost of living increase. Bah, humbug indeed. <br />
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And yet….we both know that the money really is there, don’t we. Unfortunately it’s locked up in yachts and mansions and private jets, all purchased with our tax dollars that you gave to the bankers in the naïve hope that some of it would trickle down to the masses and stimulate the economy. I, for one, have always been able to tell the difference between getting stimulated and getting fucked, and I must say this feels more like the latter than the former.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-64134859549142378282009-07-10T15:41:00.000-04:002009-07-10T15:42:32.597-04:00Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old BossI haven’t been posting here regularly, mostly because it seems like an exercise in futility. Obama has proven himself to be a Bush-lite clone whose administration has bent over backwards to line the pockets of the bankers and corporations. I see little evidence that the man has done anything but continue the Republicans’ agenda of screwing the American people by presiding over the biggest wealth transfer in the history of the republic. When I think of all of that taxpayer money going to Wall Street and then hear that Obama is planning to tax employer provided health benefits, do away with the mortgage exemption and continue the war in Afghanistan without an end strategy, I have to draw the conclusion that Ralph Nader came to years ago: there is no fundamental difference between the Republican and Democratic parties. <br /><br />The situation with the government’s bail-out of General Motors is a great example. I can’t say it better than some letter-writers to the Times today whose thoughts are excerpted below:<br /><br /><br />"I simply don't understand why our government chose to back G.M. Wasn't the rationale behind the handouts to save millions of jobs and local economies? Taxpayers have invested 50 billion dollars into this company only to watch hundreds of thousands of jobs being slashed with the transition to the "new G.M." Left behind are the little guys.” <br /><br />“Most offensive was GM's chief attorney's claim that the Union members left behind opposed the sale because they were "envious" of the UAW workers, and that such workers had naively and delusionally imagined a "conspiracy" between GM and the government. As someone from a working-class background who belongs to a union, and whose family members have benefited from union membership, I find it appalling that President Obama would and his administration would sanction such contemptuous, class-ridden, smears against working Americans. These people lost their health benefits because of you, Barack. They were not a jealous, disgruntled paranoid mob, but rather workers who now face retirement without their union benefits. Shame.”<br /><br />“Odd that corporate socialism is desirable(GM, AIG, Chrysler, Citi) but public socialism such as health care for all causes our president and congress to have second thoughts.<br />I guess they're just dancing with the ones that brought 'em.”<br /><br />Not odd my friend, just business as usual in Washington.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-79751123242409018662009-05-06T13:50:00.000-04:002009-05-06T13:51:03.818-04:00Torturing the TruthI completed the Long Island ½ marathon on Sunday with a new PR for the distance-1:47.53. This marks the third consecutive ½ marathon in the last year where my time has improved. I do realize that at some point the limitations of flesh and bone will invariably intersect with the decreasing numbers on the clock and I will be forced to confront the reality of aging and diminishing performance. But not quite yet. Running has saved my more times than I can count so I will keep at it until they carry me off the road kicking and screaming.<br /><br />Speaking of kicking and screaming, it appears that the Obama DOJ has decided not to prosecute the attorneys who wrote the so-called “torture memos,” which gave the CIA permission under color of law to torture suspected Al Qaeda operatives to extract information about future attacks on the United States. Instead, they plan on wagging a stern finger at the naughty lawyers and suggesting that they be reported to their local bar association for disciplinary action. I don’t know where these lawyers practice, but the only thing that will get you disciplined by the bar where I live is if you flagrantly steal a client’s money. Using flimsy legal arguments to justify torture that ends in death? We call that zealous advocacy ‘round these parts.<br /><br />I had thought that when I pulled the lever for a Democrat in this last election that I would be doing my part to help reverse the general collapse of the rule of law in the United States. The Patriot Act, warrantless wiretapping, torture were legacies of a reactionary Republican administration, or so I thought. It is worth recalling that we prosecuted Japanese soldiers who used waterboarding in WWII. Why is Obama willing to look the other way while those who perpetrated the act in our name get away with murder?Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-38410601311703561732009-05-01T15:31:00.001-04:002009-05-01T15:31:50.588-04:00RunningThis Sunday I’ll be towing the line at the Long Island half-marathon; the second year in a row I’ve braved the boredom of the Wantagh Parkway in pursuit of inner excellence. This will be my 3rd ½ marathon in the last year. I discovered that the distance is perfect for the time constraints I have; the training isn’t so onerous that I’m away from the house for too long on the week-ends, and the race (with any luck) is over in less than two hours. At times I wish I could get back into running full marathons, ultras even, but I simply do not have the time to adequately train and also spend enough quality time with the family. Plus, when I’m running a race my 41 year old knees start telling me that 13.2 miles is QUITE enough. Erin is kind enough to allow me an hour on Saturday and Sunday to run, unencumbered by either guilt or a baby jogger, so I have been learning to squeeze as much joy out of my runs as possible. <br /><br />The north shore of Long Island is a great place to run but it can also be fairly challenging. Despite the relatively empty roads and bucolic scenery-views of the Sound abound-there are also a lot of very wealthy people driving around in big cars while simultaneously talking on cell phones. I have had to jump the curb many times to avoid being flattened by Bentleys and Hummers whose drivers were more intent on their phone calls than on what was going on in the space around their cars. After running for 20 years on the roads you develop a 6th sense of which cars pose the most danger, even if you’re jamming down the road blasting your i-pod. There are also a lot of hills, but I prefer running up hills to running on the flats. <br /><br />Have a good week-end everyone.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-2254028039601175442009-04-29T13:26:00.002-04:002009-04-29T13:27:03.069-04:00Obama, Prosecute the War CriminalsObama’s decision not to prosecute the perpetrators of the torture that was carried out in secret military bases, torture that resulted in the death of at least 100 people is completely inexcusable. Article 2.2 of the U.N. Convention Against Torture, to which the U.S. became a State Party in 1998 under Ronald Reagan is quite clear:<br /><br />"No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."<br /><br />The Bush administration and its legal enablers violated the treaty. Treaties which have been ratified by the United States Senate have the same force and effect as laws passed in the United States. Those responsible MUST be put on trial and, if found guilty, sent to prison. Yes it was a group of pretty despicable people who were subjected to this treatment, but that shouldn’t matter. Laws against torture and abuse of prisoners were not put in place to stop crimes against people we like, but to stop interrogators from misusing their power to harm people we despise. It is very strange to me, this idea that we should just “move on”. Why? As a letter writer to the Times astutely noted this morning, if some average Joe imprisoned somebody in his basement, chained them from the ceiling, kept them awake for 11 days straight, and waterboarded them 183 times resulting in their death you wouldn't question for a moment the need for prosecution. In fact, in most states, murder of this sort is a first degree offense and would subject the perpetrator to the death penalty. Yet Obama, in the name of God knows what, has decided that this is somehow an inappropriate path to tread down. Perhaps he doesn’t want to start taking whacks at the increased presidential power that Bush seized during his reign of terror for fear that his own power would be truncated. Who knows? <br /><br />Nevertheless, Presidents are not above the law and history will not treat us kindly if we choose to look the other way at this monumental crime for the sake of political expediency.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-23728789401674766192009-04-29T09:00:00.001-04:002009-04-29T09:00:15.877-04:00100 DaysLike most of you I was raised with the aphorism, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” Of course I routinely ignored that advice during the Bush tenure, but I promised a few people I would give Obama the benefit of the doubt before subjecting him to the same sort of critical review due politicians of lesser intellect and stature. So, I took a little hiatus during the first 100 days of the Obama administration, hopeful that when I returned I would be able to report that the ship of state was sailing along smoothly under the steady hand of our taciturn commander-in-chief. Well…….not really. Obama has proven himself an able leader and a masterful politician, but in some areas he has fumbled badly and should be brought to task for his mistakes. For example, he has deeply disappointed the left and hasn’t made any new friends on the right-so much for change in Washington. He has supported the Bush administration’s assault on the Constitution and failed to prosecute the perpetrators of torture at the CIA. The stimulus plan gives too much money to Wall Street, etc., etc. At least he is taking a stab at healthcare and I can’t say enough positive things about his push towards green energy and support for a high-speed rail system. But he won’t get a free ride from this blogger. Not anymore. <br /><br />For a part-time blogging hack like myself, Obama poses a dilemma. He is so active, on so many fronts, that it is impossible to analyze his performance in the amount of time I have to devote to this blog. So I’ll take little bites and chew thoroughly. Stay tuned.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-62149808463708666992009-03-30T14:46:00.001-04:002009-03-30T14:46:45.359-04:00Baby You Can Drive My CarObama’s finger wagging at Detroit is mighty curious considering that the amount of money being sought by the automakers is a mere drop in the bucket compared with the bail-out of the fat cats on Wall Street. I guess you get what you pay for. The financial sector has spent over $20 billion over the last ten years to curry favor on the Hill and in the White House, and now they’re calling in their chips.<br /><br />You could also argue that the auto industry is being treated like garbage because the government blew the bank bailout badly by pouring $350 billion down the drain with no benefit on Main Street. The political reality of the moment is that somebody has to get in it in the shorts to satisfy the public's need for blood. The sheeple glued to CNN apparently buy the party line that the collapse of GM and Chrysler was the fault of the union line worker (damn those people who can afford THREE meals a day on their salary), rather than bone headed management decisions. Couple the public perception with the fact that the industry’s influence in Washington is on the wane and presto, the auto industry gets to die in place of the financial industry that caused our current problems.<br /><br />Yes, the banking industry is important to the American economy, but the banking industry is not wholly composed of BofA, Citibank, et al. As long as they remain the sole focus of the discussion and the people are browbeat into believing that their rescue is absolutely necessary, it becomes clear in whose interests these banks are being saved. Hint: it ain’t ours.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-68962744837205543512009-03-27T10:10:00.000-04:002009-03-27T10:12:27.016-04:00Legalize ItI’m coming off hiatus to issue a stern wag of the finger at Obama’s cavalier treatment of the marijuana legalization issue in his internet town hall meeting yesterday. As anyone with ½ a brain knows, and Obama has much more than ½ a brain, the war on drugs has been a total failure. There are over 1 million Americans in jail for the victimless crime of possession of marijuana. Ending the prohibition on drugs would solve numerous problems. Crime rates would plummet (big time organized crime, small time stealing, possession), taxes go up as drugs are sold legally like liquor. The cost of the War on Drugs (billions wasted) eliminated. Prison costs cut in half. The money saved can be used to treat drug addiction as a medical condition and there would be a lot of money left over. Whole countries are now being destabilized because of drugs. Why is Obama a coward on this issue, when the solution is obvious?<br /><br />Maybe because decriminalizing pot would actually be counter to his goals. Prisons create jobs. Building prisons creates jobs. Spending billions on the War on Drugs every year creates jobs. All those potheads getting locked up are just more Americans sacrificing in the name of economic recovery.<br /><br />I’m starting to think that this guy is too slick for his own good. One week after the Attorney General seemed to indicate the feds would no longer raid pot clubs, DEA agents busted a medical marijuana facility in San Francisco the night before his speech. If this is the position an administration filled with intelligent thinkers is going to take on this issue, I have to question their motives. This one is a no-brainer.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-3650909328223125092009-02-25T09:33:00.000-05:002009-02-25T09:34:35.746-05:00Back in the USSAThe Patriot recently returned from a short vacation to Italy and has been having some trouble readjusting to the American lifestyle. Some of this may be related to lingering jet lag, but I suspect a good deal is malaise at returning to a country that seems so small minded and paranoid compared to its European neighbors. Returning to US soil through Immigration and Customs was a humiliating experience; poorly educated bureaucrats drunk with their own power, screaming at people for talking on cell phones and deigning to ask impertinent questions about what line to stand in while waiting to be evaluated for the rubber glove treatment. So it goes. We may have gotten rid of Bush, but his legacy lives on in the police state that he created and which Obama shows little interest in dismantling.<br /><br />I’m not holding out Italy as some sort of paradise. Far from it. But what Italy, and the rest of “old Europe” have going for it is a lifestyle outlook that eschews consumerism in favor of simple pleasures like friends, good food, and an appreciation of leisure. Before you all write in to flame me, I am aware that Europe has issues with rigid class structures and an appalling record on dealing with immigrants. Nevertheless, the small cars, small apartments, rigidly enforced recycling program and focus on living life rather than buying crap you don’t need is something American’s should pay attention to. For better or worse we’re all going to have to start living small.<br /><br />I watched Obama’s speech last night and I was not at all impressed. After a few minutes, I felt as if I was hearing the campaign rhetoric repackaged and rebranded for a slightly different audience. The speech was long on style and short on substance. With the stock market still in freefall and the "details" of our economic salvation yet to be revealed, this administration can hardly be said to have taken the bull by the horns-despite the lofty rhetoric. <br /><br />Many of the ideals espoused by our Dear Leader lacked a basis in anything approaching objective reality. Obama sternly lectured that corporate executives will not be allowed to profit form the financial bailout-and yet refused to push for any strings to be attached to the money. He stated that bold action was necessary to save the country from the economic crisis and yet was short on specifics. I have a few ideas. How about bold actions like FBI forensic accountants pouring over the books of bad banks looking for fraud. How about bold action to claw back the bonuses paid to executives from the last round of TARP money? None of this is in the stimulus plan he was crowing about last night.<br /><br />I see no evidence that Obama's plan to fix the banks does what the American people are demanding-hold those who gambled with the public's money accountable-or what the economy requires. His plan seems to be little more than a continuation of the philosophy of the Bush years.<br /><br />While our president speaks of “necessary sacrifice”, the centerpiece of the economic recovery plan is apparently more lending and more debt. Oh, and printing more money to pay for everything. Am I alone in finding this approach to be, well, insane? Wasn’t it the accumulation of debt and laxity in lending that started us down the rabbit hole?Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-31646610734294986622009-02-10T13:27:00.002-05:002009-02-10T13:29:32.377-05:00Meet the New BossI would have thought that this administration would have had a better read on the pulse of the populist rage sweeping the county, but I guess I was wrong. The new stimulus plan is a disaster and it won’t work. It also isn’t very much different from the first TARP plan, who’s funds disappeared down the rabbit hole of $40,000 commodes and corporate jets.<br /><br />The architect of Tarp II is none other then Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, erstwhile head of the New York Federal Reserve and overseer of the financial meltdown. Why Obama put this man in charge of The Treasury when his short-sightedness was instrumental in causing the problem in the first place, I don’t know. The man couldn’t even be bothered to pay his own taxes, but he is rewarded by control over the entuire financial system. Nice.<br /><br />As intended by Mr. Geithner, the current stimulus plan stops short of intruding too significantly into bankers’ affairs even as they start to receive corporate welfare. The $500,000 pay cap for executives at companies receiving assistance applies only to very senior executives, who will likely find a way around it anyway. The plan also will not require shareholders of companies receiving significant assistance to lose most or all of their investment. Perhaps most galling, while the administration will “urge” banks to increase lending, it will not attach any conditions to the billions of dollars in new government money. This plan is hardly different from the Bush administration’s approach of greasing the palms of the same companies and executives who peddled risky loans and investments at the heart of the crisis. How is this a change from “the failed economic policies of the last eight years?” <br /><br />I think the plan is a mistake. I also think that any plan which props up home values, and extends more credit to overextended consumers is ill conceived at best. Irresponsible use of credit got us into this mess in the first place. How is extending more credit so people can resume living beyond their means going to solve this financial crisis?<br /><br />This is just more protection for the wealthy and their money. I cannot understand the thought process behind a government decision that risks economic catastrophe to protect the wealthiest Americans while enraging everyone else. I think the administration will come to deeply regret this decision.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-29586928687203665532009-02-06T09:38:00.001-05:002009-02-06T09:38:44.568-05:00Down the DrainThe Senate on Wednesday voted to expand the economic stimulus package with a tax credit for homebuyers of up to $15,000, a provision championed by Republicans as addressing a root cause of the recession. The tax credit would give buyers 10 percent of the price of a primary residence bought within one year, up to $15,000, and is intended to stabilize plummeting home prices. This single-minded obsession government has with propping up housing values is misguided at best and seriously damaging to the economy at worst. Housing prices have to continue to fall until they are in line with incomes and the government should not do anything to screw around with the natural correction currently going on in the housing market.<br /><br />The tax credit assumes that people have sufficient liquid resources for a 10-20% downpayment. The US has had a negative savings rate for the last ten years and the value of most people’s investments has been cut by ½ in the last quarter of the last year alone. I doubt too many Americans are sitting on a big wad of cash they feel would be best spent gambling on the unstable housing market right now. <br /><br />The housing industry needs to downsize. There are over 2,000,000 excess housing units in the US, most of them overpriced. There was far too much construction during the boom. This not only created an excess of housing but also an excess of unsustainable jobs. Having an economy based upon building houses and selling them to each other rather than on the production of tangible goods or innovative technologies is the difference between a consumption economy and a production economy. Consumption economies are inherently unsustainable and bound to fail. <br /><br />And frankly, the whole ideology of saving the economy by spending was discredited, wasn’t it? We're supposed to spend our way out of this? With what real income? With what credit? Isn't spending imaginary money what got us into this mess in the first place?<br /><br /> “Businesses are panicked and fighting for survival and slashing their payrolls,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com. “I think we’re trapped in a very adverse, self-reinforcing cycle. The downturn is intensifying, and likely to intensify further unless policy makers respond aggressively.” The Obama administration needs to stop fucking around with bipartisanship and come up with some drastic solutions to what is fast becoming a spiraling economic disaster. 598,000 jobs were lost in January of this year. A half million jobs. In one month.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-10458398769329813502009-02-02T14:52:00.001-05:002009-02-02T14:52:55.514-05:00ParentingThere has been a lot of discussion in the blogosphere about a “study” that was done last week by Parenting magazine which broke the startling news that married women, as a whole, are pissed at their husbands. The reason? According to author Martha Brockenborough:<br /><br />"We're mad that having children has turned our lives upside down much more than theirs. We're mad that these guys, who can manage businesses or keep track of thousands of pieces of sports trivia, can be clueless when it comes to what our kids are eating and what supplies they need for school. And more than anything else, we're mad that they get more time to themselves than we do."<br /><br />I am going to reserve comment for a minute on how completely banal and stereotypical such a depiction of lazy husbands and nagging wives sounds. I have to wonder though, who lives like this? Are there really still places in America where Everybody Loves Raymond is an accurate depiction of life in the suburbs? My gut instinct is that this “scientific” survey is nothing more than a reflection of the views of a cross section of the irate mommies who read Parenting magazine. In other words, white, upper middle class women who, for whatever reason, are stuck in lousy relationships with men they have little in common with.<br /><br />The real problem? Our relationships are out of whack because our economic system is out of whack. If both parents are working full time the home is always one step away from chaos. Our children are not only being being raised by strangers out of necessity but they are being taught rigid social conformity as if it is some kind of civic virtue. (We sacrifice art and music in school for business and math and expect that we are going to have well-rounded kids-but that’s another posting entirely). <br /><br />Our society needs to follow the European model and give more support to families with children. A fraction of that bailout money could go a long way towards paying for programs that allow more flexible work hours and options for part time work for both parents. We should demand that Obama and Congress pass laws that insist that companies allow more work-from-home options, and provide paid maternity and paternity leave. We need an economy that brings the buying power of our wages out of the 1970, and we need universal, single-payer health care, and publicly funded college, and retirement. Don’t tell me the government can’t afford it. If we can afford the banking bailout and bankroll two wars simultaneously, we can afford it. <br /><br /><br />Fuck Parenting magazine and their facile approach to a serious social problem. Instead of fomenting a war between the sexes, if they have any interest in helping parents they should use their platform as a bully pulpit to steer some of the billions of dollars going to bail out the Wall Street Fuckers to support working families.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-87566564598862586162009-01-30T14:45:00.000-05:002009-01-30T14:46:10.706-05:00Pull Back the TarpIs anyone surprised, really surprised, that the Wall Street folks took our taxpayer bailout money and gave it to their already super-wealthy friends as bonuses? I sure ain’t. You cannot give a crack addict more crack and delude yourself into thinking he’s going to share it with others. Obama was right to express his anger at the misuse of the TARP money, but that doesn’t go far enough. While there may be no legal means by which he can claw back the compensation already paid, he can certainly place stringent conditions on the dispersion of future funds. The question is whether he has the will. Have a nice week-end everyone.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5497078.post-40399328731888675952009-01-27T13:40:00.002-05:002009-01-27T13:42:00.518-05:00The First Seven Days<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5Crutkowm%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:snaptogridincell/> <w:wraptextwithpunct/> <w:useasianbreakrules/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:browserlevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if !mso]><object classid="clsid:38481807-CA0E-42D2-BF39-B33AF135CC4D" id="ieooui"></object> <style> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } </style> <![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I promised <st1:place st="on">Erin</st1:place> the day of the inauguration that I would refrain from making any negative comments about Obama until at least 100 days had passed. At the time I expected this period of self-imposed silence to be a teeth-gritting, hand-wringing sort of affair. I imagined sitting in front of the keyboard, vein throbbing in my head, willing my fingers not to smash out a bitter screed of betrayal and dashed dreams. Much to my pleasant surprise, this has not been the case. Yes, I know it’s only been seven days, but the ability of a politician to keep his promises and tell the truth usually has a half-life measured in hours, not days. Consequently, there is reason to hope that the next 93 days will be as filled with fresh-baked cookies and hot chocolate as these first seven were.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Obama’s first week in office has been such a clear repudiation of the Bush years that one scarcely knows where to begin. Let’s begin with this, a partial transcript from an interview-the first of his presidency- Obama sat for with Al Arabiya:</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries….[t]he largest one, <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Indonesia</st1:place></st1:country-region>. And so what I want to communicate is the fact that in all my travels throughout the Muslim world, what I've come to understand is that regardless of your faith – and <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> is a country of Muslims, Jews, Christians, non-believers – regardless of your faith, people all have certain common hopes and common dreams.
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br />And my job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect. But if you look at the track record, as you say, <st1:country-region st="on">America</st1:country-region> was not born as a colonial power, and that the same respect and partnership that <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there's no reason why we can't restore that. And that I think is going to be an important task.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Quite a sea change, isn’t it? Contrast that with the Bush administration’s paranoia and inability to draw fine distinctions between terrorists and, well, anyone else. Quite refreshing. In the same interview, the President acknowledges that the tone of a conversation is just as important as its content-something else lost on our last president:</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">“[T]he language we use matters. And what we need to understand is, is that there are extremist organizations – whether Muslim or any other faith in the past – that will use faith as a justification for violence. We cannot paint with a broad brush a faith as a consequence of the violence that is done in that faith's name.”</p><p class="MsoNormal">
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Obama has more faith in religion than I, but the point that we, as a country, will use our collective intellect to discern intent from context is something I can get behind 100%.
<br /></p> Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08606902928721266606noreply@blogger.com5