Tuesday Mashup (3/29/11) (updates)

I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with Kevin Ferris of The Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday, but I suppose I’d better get him out of the way (here, from Sunday)

…"(The $61 billion in spending cuts proposed by the House GOP) are the first actual cuts in memory. Even Ronald Reagan was only able to slow the growth of welfare-state spending.”

First, this tells us what we would be looking at in the tragic event that those $61 billion in cuts were signed into law (which isn’t going to happen anyway). Second, it’s funny to me that Ferris’s “memory” stretches back to The Sainted Ronnie R, but apparently not back to Bill Clinton, the last president to balance a budget, as noted here.

So, Ferris’s column only appears about twice a month anymore, or so it seems. And even with a workload as light as that, he still can’t even find the time to use that Google thingie to make sure he knows what he’s talking about.

Next, that sleazy weasel (and House Majority Leader) Eric Cantor tells us here (of course) that the Dems would be to blame for the government shutdown that looks more and more likely (the logical consequence of Kevin Ferris’s previous cheerleading).

I think it’s particularly hard to make that case given the right-wing bloviation as noted here.

Update 3/30/11: I don't call Cantor a sleazy weasel for nothing, people (here - and as always, thanks to those mind-numbingly stupid life forms in Virginia who keep sending him back to Congress every two years).

Update 4/5/11: Oh yeah, a government shutdown would be the Dems' fault - sure (and nice costume - um, yeah...more here also).

In addition, “The Donald,” in a typically craven attempt to suck up to the Repug “base,” has recently gone all “birther” concerning our closet Kenyan Marxist pre-zee-dint.

Well, as noted here, those who live by the bogus birth certificate right-wing talking point…

Further, Marc Thiessen is in full-on umbrage mode over President Obama’s speech on Libya, as noted here…

No serious person is arguing that we should “repeat in Libya” what we did in Iraq. No serious person is arguing that we should send hundreds of thousands of ground troops to march on Tripoli and topple Moammar Gaddafi they way we marched on Baghdad and toppled Saddam Hussein.

Actually, I think Thiessen is correct, but not in the way he realizes (as noted here – actually, I wouldn’t consider Austin Bay to be a “serious person” either…and as you can see here, Thiessen is merely regurgitating right-wing propaganda anyway).

Continuing…

The Libyan rebels were well on their way to marching on Tripoli, until Obama’s dithering at the United Nations gave Gaddafi time to drive them back to the gates of Benghazi.

Uh, no – as noted here…

As Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's forces closed in on the rebel capital of Benghazi, Thursday, the Obama Administration not only came around to the idea of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, but sought -- and won -- U.N. Security Council authorization for ground attacks on regime forces threatening to storm the rebel "capital" of Benghazi. Western and at least two Arab air forces (believed to be Qatar and UAE) stood ready to launch attacks "within hours" of the vote, according to the Guardian quoting Western officials, in order to stop a regime advance on Benghazi.

All of this is particularly stunning hypocrisy even from an ideologue as jaded as Thiessen, who signed a letter here along with his PNAC pals demanding “immediate” action on Libya.

Continuing with his WaPo screed…

(Obama) might also have mentioned the other mission that we have handed over to NATO — the mission in Afghanistan. Feel like responsibility for the war in Afghanistan has been handed over to our European allies? If so, you’ll love the transfer of responsibility for the war in Libya.

Funny, but Thiessen told us the following about NATO here (when Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History occupied An Oval Office)…

“And (Dubya) transformed NATO from a defensive alliance into an expeditionary alliance that is now leading the fight in Afghanistan.”

Sooo, when it comes to Afghanistan, NATO is good, but when it comes to Libya, it stinks?

Well, as noted here, this is typical for Thiessen – I guess he’s actually right on Opposite Day, or something.

Finally, with the devastation that has occurred in Japan due to the earthquake/tsunami and the ongoing threat posed by the reactor, I should note that I’ve seen a few posts where the authors are concerned about what kind of nuclear dangers we could face in the event of a similar natural disaster in this country.

I think it’s wise to keep that in mind. My concern, though, is over what would happen to the natural gas extraction biz as opposed to the generation of nuclear power.

This tells us that Luzerne County, PA has an emergency response plan, which is good, and Sullivan County in New York state has a hazardous mitigation plan which, as of March a year ago, didn’t contain any provisions for what to do in the event of an emergency while drilling for natural gas, as noted here (actually, what I found here was pretty typical for our country as a whole, which was that plans for natural gas drilling were kept from the public, a fact that became obvious after a pipeline explosion in San Bruno, CA). Also, this tells us more about the threat from “fracking” here in our beloved commonwealth.

I do actually have something positive to say about this, and that is to note that the EPA’s site has a good bit of information on hydraulic fracturing here (though, sadly, a nation-wide mitigation plan in the event of a catastrophe appears to be nowhere in sight).