Happy 80th birthday to Reagan toady Ed Meese – this is from the archives in 1988 (mentioning Poppy Bush and “The Duke”); this is what Mark Russell was referring to, by the way (Meese is mentioned at about 4:10)…
…and kudos to Amnesty International for this (and here are some more bad memories of Former President Nutball – sorry if this causes indigestion)…
…and concerning this story, I only wish to add the following…
R. Maddow tells us Of New York Haiku street signs Are you kidding me?
Sean Inanity, for saying here that we should invade Kuwait and Iraq “to take all their oil” – Number One: he’s living in at least a ten-year time warp if he thinks these are valid options, and Number Two: If Inanity was conscripted to fight in an actual battle in an actual war, he would probably wet himself.
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Columbus, Georgia’s ironically named “House of Mercy,” which, as noted here, is a private charity for the homeless that “refus(es) to serve gay and lesbian homeless people” (reminds me a bit of a bad SNL sketch, though it’s sad but true I know)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Not-running-for-reelection-in-2012 Dem Senator Holy Joe Lieberman said something here along the lines of “there’d be no place for JFK in the Democratic Party” today.
Actually, if we could, we’d welcome our 35th president with open arms. However, there definitely is no longer a place in the Democratic Party for Lieberman, nor has there been for some time (in addition to cheerleading the Iraq war and abrogation of the rights of innocent Muslims, there was Lieberman’s support of Catholic hospitals refusing to provide emergency contraception for rape victims, saying infamously that “"In Connecticut, it shouldn't take more than a short ride to get to another hospital”).
Dregs of the Year Nominee
For all the good he frequently does, President Obama gets it here for somehow, after all this time and reviewing the results from that stupid debt commission (which was a Repug idea, let’s not forget), STILL not getting it on Social Security (h/t Atrios).
Do Gooder of The Year Nominee
Governor Bully himself for appointing a Muslim judge to the New Jersey Superior Court (the bar is set low, I know, but we’re talking baby steps here)
Dregs of the Year (Possibly the Millennia) Nominee
Ultra-right-wing blogger Travis Corcoran, who praised the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords with a blog titled “1 Down, 534 To Go” here (throw this wingnut’s sorry ass in jail right now and spare us the expense of a trial – put him with Loughner…I’m sure they’d be pals)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Little Ricky Santorum here, for basically saying that Obama can’t be pro-choice because he’s black and is obligated to recognize the “civil rights of the unborn” (a repulsive, as well as legally specious, comment like this is what you would expect from someone who has faded fast in the field of Repug 2012 presidential nominees behind Romney, Palin, Perry, Cain, etc.)
Do Gooder of the Year Nominee
Tulsa, OK Repug (!) Mayor Dewey Bartlett for saying here that the stim “worked,” and it’s unfair for U.S. House Repugs to attack it (thank you)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Seattle, WA Metro and County Executive Dow Constantine for deciding to cancel (after first approving) ads to appear on a dozen Seattle public buses depicting what a grassroots group called the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign claimed were Israeli war crimes here (memo to Constantine: the First Amendment applies to free speech even if it makes people upset – particularly so if people get upset, actually)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Defeated Repug U.S. House candidate Jesse Kelly here for wondering if he could run again for the seat of Arizona rep Gabrielle Giffords given her recovery from a gunshot wound to the head – Giffords defeated him last November of course (not a hint of common decency here from Kelly, who really should be one of the people trying to hide under a rock over his promotion during the campaign of target shooting to raise campaign funds)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Clarence Thomas of The Supremes, for not disclosing his wife’s income due to teabagger-related activities (hey now!) on his financial disclosure forms (this post from Think Progress describes how Scalito plays games with this requirement also – as usual, rules are for little people as far as this bunch is concerned…and Democrats, of course)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
This goes out to anybody who wrote to the Bucks County Courier Times in defense of The Beloved Mikey Fitzpatrick, saying he was where he should have been with Pete Sessions (or words to that effect) at that “reception” instead of at the swearing-in with “Man Tan” Boehner.
Fitzpatrick goofed royally. He and his pals should be adults and just admit it (sigh – see what I said above about Republicans and rules in the Thomas citation).
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Joel Cheatwood, a senior vice president at Fix Noise (and if that isn’t a Dickensian name, I don’t know what is), gets it here for saying that ‘The Glenn Beck Program,’ probably above and beyond any on television, “has denounced violence repeatedly” in response to this post linking to a New York Times story today by Brian Stelter about Beck’s jeremiad of sorts against 78-year-old (nice) Frances Fox Piven.
And Beck “has denounced violence repeatedly,” huh?
CNN gets a mention for airing Moon Unit Bachmann’s SOTU response, which was opposed by both Democrats and Republicans (here).
This is because CNN has a longstanding romance with the Tea Party Express, the PAC (that put) on the Bachmann speech. Later this year, the network and the PAC (and potentially other Tea Party groups) are co-sponsoring a presidential debate between Republican candidates.
CNN should have no affiliation with any enterprise involving any teabagger group. It should go without saying that that should be the case, but unfortunately, it needs to be said.
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Anybody who thinks this guy is some kind of expert on the budget...
The proposals by Paul Ryan and the U.S. House reps would privatize and ultimately gut Social Security and, once more, allow me to point out that Social Security has no impact on the deficit. And as for health care, the repeal advocated by Ryan and his party, according to the CBO, would cost about $320 billion (these and other Ryan falsehoods are exposed here).
If Ryan is an economics guru, then I’m a nuclear physicist (and as noted here, Ryan “voted for eight straight Republican budgets that increased spending by a staggering 50 percent”).
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Ceridian Cobra Services (and the “Cobra” part is particularly apt), a Colorado health insurance company that dropped the coverage of Vietnam vet Ronald Flanagan because his wife accidentally underpaid their premium by two cents (heartless...here)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Arizona State Senator Linda Gray, who said here that Gabby Giffords was shot because abortion was legalized (God almighty, the citations have poured in for January alone – at this rate, it will take 20 "Do-Gooders and Dregs" posts to cover this crazy stuff!)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Don Imus, for calling Rachel Maddow the “worst kind of coward” and a “gutless, sniveling worm” here for not defending Keith Olbermann when he resigned from MSNBC (for the record, Maddow said it was between Olbermann and MSNBC, which is utterly true) – um, try commenting on stuff you actually know about, “I-man,” like making sexist, derogatory remarks to African American women basketball players and news announcers and spending what amounts to $3 grand a night for the kids at your cancer ranch (at least that’s what was on his tax forms at the time…and it gets federal tax exempt status? Sweet!)
Oh, and here is another smooth move by this dried up old weed (calling the attacks on CNN’s Anderson Cooper in Egypt “a stunt to gain publicity”...you mean, like your name calling directed at Gwen Ifill and the Rutgers women’s basketball team?).
Do Gooder of the Year Nominee
Ugandan gay rights activist David Kato who, tragically, was bludgeoned to death in January (here)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Repug Ohio Gov. John (“I Don’t Need Your People”) Kasich here (I might be tempted to buy his moronic excuse if it weren’t for the appalling lack of diversity in his cabinet – oh, but he was talking about State Senator Nina Turner’s political party, and not her race…sure he was)…
Dregs of the Year Nominees
The Obama administration gets it here for a decision to withdraw a rule requiring employers to report musculoskeletal injuries to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (and a Do Gooder citation to National Nurses United for calling them out over it).
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Moon Unit Bachmann gets it here for unveiling her teabagger plan to cut $400 billion in federal spending, including $4.5 billion from the VA.
You know what? At a certain point, I get so fed up with the antics of these clowns that I almost get to the point where I don’t care what they do anymore (almost). Instead, here’s what I think we should do; find a building somewhere big enough to put a billboard on top of it noting this crap from Bachmann (and do this for other wingnuts as they do nutty stuff too), and on the entire side of that building, list the names of the people who actually voted for this dingbat so it becomes a matter of public record (and if the ACLU wants to go ahead and sue, sure, go ahead…maybe a month after the billboard is put up and the names are listed).
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Steve Kroft of “60 Minutes,” for all of the snide little tricks he tried to play on Julian Assange of Wikileaks in the interview Kroft conducted in January noted here
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Reagan judicial appointee Roger Vinson for voiding the entire health care law, or trying to, here (more here)
Do Gooders of the Year Nominee
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his investigators for this (i.e., busting the Tucson gun show dealers for not doing background checks...again, I wish he would be this good on OWS later, but sadly, no)…
Dregs of the Year Nominees
“Democrats” in the U.S. House Dan Boren of OK (of course), Mark Critz (PA), Nick Rahall (WV), Mike Ross (AR), and Heath Shuler (NC) get it for co-sponsoring Repug Chris Smith’s utterly monstrous “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act,” which somehow differentiates between “violent” and “non-violent” rape here (I hope I can never imagine the sickness of people like Smith who contemplate this stuff at all, let alone think it a fit topic for legislation).
(And for the record, Boren, Rahall and Ross all have daughters, Critz and his wife have two children – no information on gender that I can find – and Shuler and his wife have two kids named Navy and Island...uh huh...so you’re guess is as good as mine as to whether or not they could be directly impacted by this misery too.)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
“Country First” McCain (never points out which one, of course), for referring to the pro-Democracy movement currently engulfing the Middle East as a “virus” (here – sure he’d be singing its praises if Number 43 were still taking up space in An Oval Office, which, fortunately, he isn’t any more...and speaking of McCain and Dubya, I give you this, which is funny considering that, as noted here, McCain said Rummy “deserved our respect and gratitude”)
Do Gooder of the Year Nominee
Federal Judge Keith Starrett of the Southern District of Mississippi, who threw out a challenge to the health care law here (he’ll probably get a fraction of the coverage that Vinson got for his bogus teabagger ruling, though…and most shocking of all, Starrett is a Bushco appointee!)
Do Gooder of the Year Nominee
The bar is set low here I know, but Repug U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss admitted here that “tax increases have to be part of the mix to reduce the deficit” (will never excuse his foul, disgusting attack on Max Cleland years ago, but credit where it’s due…and he damn well better not “walk it back” - of course, no word on whose taxes would be increased, I realize).
Dregs of the Year Nominees
The Idaho Board of Pharmacy earns a dubious mention here; they basically ruled in January that it was OK for a Nampa pharmacist to refuse to fill a prescription ordered by a Planned Parenthood nurse (the scrip was for methergine, which is used to prevent or treat bleeding from the uterus…so basically, the board ruled that it was OK to run the risk that the lady who needed it would bleed to death).
OMG, it’s another attack of the dreaded “lady parts”! Quick, hide the kids!
People, this garbage isn’t going to change unless we start electing politicians who actually aren’t bought and paid for by the “pro-life” “values” crowd. Elect people who “walk the walk” on women’s issues like this (which really are family issues - doing the right thing, I mean), and then, when these idiotic laws are repealed and “conscience” providers still withhold vital medicines like this, throw said providers in jail.
Here, K.O. tells us how Frank Luntz is trying to “spin” the Occupy protests on behalf of the GOP (ummm, call me a filthy, unkempt liberal blogger, but somehow I don’t think that’s going to be good enough anymore, based on this and this)…
…and kudos to MA Attorney General Martha Coakley for this (going after BOA, Wells Fargo, Citi, J.P. Morgan, and a few other financial miscreants in a statement announced today)…
...“Worst Persons” (turns out Irrational Spew received about a third of its funding from Big Pharma while it was criticizing Obama and the health care law…let’s see now, “conflict of interest” – drat, where is that dictionary again? Wonder why it's missing from the clip; Moon Unit Bachmann gets the runner-up for alleging it's the law for a man to marry a woman and vice versa...uh, no, and she was also guilty of this boo-boo; but Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich, the presumptive Repug nominee according to him, thinks it’s fine and dandy for school age kids to clean toilets – looks like he set the “wayback” for about a hundred years ago at least)…
…and when I think of the Repug presidential candidates on my TV and computer, this song comes to mind.
Yep, it's that time again (getting a jump on some people with this, I'll admit, partly because posting will get flakier through the month), and I'd better start getting this wrapup for 2011 together because I have a lot of stuff; like last year, it will probably take me up to New Years Eve to get to it all, so here goes.
And what is the point of this, I hear you ask? Well, aside from this being my own obligatory “year end” list, I’m noting here a lot of stuff that I happened to come across during the year that I, for the most part, didn’t post about but wanted to comment on anyway. Doing this is challenging every year, but it's particularly challenging this year - if I make it to the end of these posts, I'll tell you why.
(And by the way, unacknowledged hat tips are probably owed here to Eschaton, Daily Kos, Think Progress, Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Balloon Juice, firedoglake, MSNBC, and a few other sites here - many thanks.)
“How About ‘Tempestt Rhadhami Is In The Kitchen With Allah’?” Citation (also heard of “Allah In The Family” – touché)
Katie Couric said here that “we need a Muslim ‘Cosby Show’” (and they’re off for 2011 – she would leave the “third eye” network later in the year)…
Dregs of the Year Nominee (and past winner)
Hangin' Judge JR of the Supremes gets it for waxing nostalgic here about what he thinks was a better time apparently, and that would be the Depression - should also contrast how many Obama/Clinton nominees have been confirmed versus Dubya's (but true to form, Think Progress beat me to it here).
Dregs of the Year Nominee
His World's Neal Cavuto, for claiming that "low corporate tax rates are good for the markets" when the graphic he presents onscreen says otherwise (here)
Do Gooders of the Year Nominees
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in NYC gets it for striking down a 2008 FCC order fining 44 ABC-affiliated stations $27,500 each ($1.21M in total) for a 2003 episode of NYPD Blue in which a partial view of a woman’s breasts and buttocks appeared (the legacy of Janet Jackson and “the tit that wouldn’t die” from the 2004 Super Bowl...here).
I usually pile onto this bunch, but it’s nice to compliment them for a change.
Do Gooder of the Year Nominee
Dave Graham, a California homeowner who sued Bank of America in small claims court and won $7,595 from the bank after it burned him on a mortgage modification – as noted here…
Graham, who lives in Big Bear City, Calif., applied for a loan modification under the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program, which is supposed to give eligible borrowers a "permanent" five-year modification if they make reduced payments during a three-month trial period.
Graham said his trial dragged on for 18 months. He said he made every payment until Bank of America told him in May that he didn't qualify for HAMP, and that he'd lose his home unless he paid about $7,000 to make up the difference between his normal monthly payments and the reduced payments he made during the trial period.
Basically, Graham got screwed over by BoA on HAMP and may lose his home anyway – “Skank of America” will probably appeal, but kudos to Graham for not taking this shit.
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Antonin Scalia of The Supremes for this (giving Roberts a run for his money, I see)…
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Repug U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama – I think the question in the title here says it all…
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Our own U.S. House Rep from PA-08 Mikey Fitzpatrick, who missed his own swearing-in ceremony but found time to read his section of the Constitution in that idiotic sap that the Repugs gave to those zany teabaggers here (gee, Mikey, “President pro temporary”? That’s a new one!)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Former Bushie budget director (which should make him automatically unserious to any sentient being) and Indiana governor Mitch Daniels gets a nod; as noted here, he wants to raise the retirement age because younger people will “live to 100” because “they’ll be replacing body parts like we do tires” (of course, as Think Progress makes clear, the “pay no price, bear no burden” crowd is also enjoying longer life spans, while those life spans of everyone else are growing shorter – must be nice in Daniels’ ivory tower…please don’t feed the rabble, or they’ll only come clawing back for more...I guess the "Occupy" forces would prove this later, to their credit, though I hardly consider them to be merely "rabble")
Dregs of the Year Nominees
The Obama Administration and FCC chair Julius Genachowski for approving the Comcast/NBC merger, for all the reasons noted here (I think these people need to open a dictionary and look for the term "public interest")
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, who says here that he opposes judicial filibusters (as Think Progress points out here, he’s a flat-out liar)
Dregs of the Year Nominees
The individuals who own the Symphony House condominiums in Philadelphia near the Avenue of the Arts (otherwise known as Broad Street) who, despite already losing in court, are trying to drive the Jamaican Jerk Hut restaurant out of business because they apparently have a problem with “live reggae music, which (the restaurant) offers to customers on the lot next (door) on weekends in spring and summer months“ (and the sad part is that they may succeed, since Jerk Hut owner Lisa Wilson says the lawsuit “has been killing our business” – h/t Atrios, noted here)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Freshman Repug U.S. House Rep Robert Hurt of Virginia, who wanted to repeal the health care law but (just like Steve King in Iowa) wanted to keep his own plan paid for by the government, of course, as noted here (Hurt is the scumbag who beat Progressive Dem Tom Perriello, so he merits extra special attention as far as I’m concerned...more here)
Do Gooder of the Year Nominee
Steven Daglus, a Republican committeeman in Illinois who found 26 ways to trim the Arizona budget and thus provide Medicaid coverage to those in the latter state in need of organ transplants (and yep, somehow I’m sure the Arizona State football team will do just fine without financial assistance...here)
Dregs of the Year Nominees
The Kentucky state legislature gets a dishonorable mention; it would be the first state to pass a bill forcing women to see ultrasound images of the fetus before abortion procedures (Didn’t Oklahoma try something like this also? And I think any male member of the Kentucky “lege” supporting this should have ultrasound images taken of their penises that would be made available for public viewing…fair is fair - here)
Do Gooders of the Year Nominee
The History Channel, for deciding in the end not to air the trash JFK biopic by torture pornographer Joel Surnow (as I've said, if he wants to make a fictitious JFK movie, that unfortunately is his right, but sell it to Spike TV, USA, SHOWTIME or somewhere else...I think it ended up on Starz or SHOWTIME, one or the other - here)
Corporate Media Pundit Interaction Of The Year (So Far, And I Don’t Mean This In A Good Way)
Digby gives us the gory details here of an interview Wolf Blitzer conducted with Paul Begala and Mary Matalin about what supposedly constitutes a “minimum wage” inside the Beltway (h/t Atrios)
Do Gooders of the Year Nominees
The Egyptians Muslims who defended Coptic Christians in that country here, who were the target of terror attacks ("we live together or we die together"...powerful, courageous stuff – somebody alert Pete King, who’s no doubt continuing his propaganda against SCARY MUSLIMS!!! anyway...unfortunately, the "worm turned" a bit on this later in the year)
The Last Word, As They Say, On Obama v. Dubya on Jobs
Sarah Palin for this – see screen shot at bottom of post; thank God that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords recovered to a degree (and screw Palin’s condolences, by the way; try toning down your ultra-nutso rhetoric first)
Do Gooder of the Year Nominees
Bill Badger, Joe Zamudio and Patricia Maisch, bystanders in the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Federal Judge John Roll and 11 others who restrained alleged gunman Jared Loughner before he could reload (here – Judge Roll, who, as it turned out, just stopped by to visit Giffords at the place of the shooting, was killed, along with 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green)
Dregs of the Year Nominees
Palin aide Rebecca Mansour and conservative radio host Tammy Bruce for saying here that the gun sights on the map of “targeted” U.S. congressional districts, including that of Gabrielle Giffords, were “surveyors symbols” (yeah, “survey” this, wingnuts – h/t Eschaton)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Pundit Ross Douthat of the New York Times, who said here that “the attempted murder (of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords) is a potential gift to liberalism.” (I consider that remark to be an obscenity, much like his recent garbage about how JFK's "pay any price, bear any burden" wording during his inaugural was the same as Dubya's propaganda in the runup to the Iraq war)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Kristol Mess, for saying here that saying that criticizing Sarah Palin over the Arizona massacre that severely wounded Rep. Giffords is “McCarthyism” - particularly repugnant given that Kristol’s old man defended “Tail-Gunner Joe” as noted here.
Do Gooder of the Year Nominee
Ousted Dem U.S. House Rep Paul Kanjorski for standing up here to J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon (tells you how stupid the voters are who voted out someone advocating on their behalf...Kanjorski went too far on Lex Luthor Scott, though)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Repug U.S. House Rep Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who said here that accused Tucson, AZ shooter Jared Lee Loughner was the “liberal of liberals” (wonder if this woman bathes in the same toxic sludge that constitutes what passes for her thought processes?)
(And by the way, noting this, in a related vein, isn’t Judson Phillips the guy who said Keith Ellison shouldn't serve in the U.S. House just because he’s a Muslim? And by the way, I am continually impressed by Ellison whenever I see him speak on TV; highly knowledgeable on the issues that matter and articulate.)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Trent Humphries of the Tucson Tea Party, who blamed Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords here for her own shooting (at a point, you have to wonder what kind of a country we’ve become to produce life forms like this character)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Gotta love “Man Tan” Boehner for hosting an RNC party (a fundraiser, no doubt) here the night of the memorial service for Rep. Giffords and the other Tucson shooting victims (“hell no you can’t!”)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
CNN’s Erick (“Son of Erick”) Erickson, for claiming that Obama, while asking the country to observe a moment of silence for the Tucson shooting victims, is “accommodating atheists” here (tell me how long Erickson would last on CNN or anywhere else if he were a liberal…as if we’d have him)
Do Gooders of the Year Nominee
The Obama EPA under the direction of Administrator Lisa Jackson for, as noted here, revoking the largest mountaintop removal project for coal mining in its history in West Virginia – well done (here…get ready for the outcry from, among others, “Democratic” Senator Joe “Lock And Load” Manchin)
Dregs of the Year Nominee
Recently-sworn-in Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin, for screwing up the oath of office here (looks like Mike Fitzpatrick and Pete Sessions ended up having some company on this; that state deserves her …and oh yeah, blame “the weather” – good one)
Do Gooder of the Year Nominee
Retiring closer Trevor Hoffman, pitcher for the San Diego Padres – as SI’s Tom Verducci tells us here (bottom of page)…
He won the Lou Gehrig, Hutch and Branch Rickey Awards because of his humility and charity. (Here's one personal story about Hoffman's classy manner. After I once wrote a story about him, I received an all-time first from an athlete: a hand-written thank you note from him.) Hoffman was known for being the template of what a leader and teammate should be: unselfish and accountable. Such a legacy, beyond anything cast in bronze, is what truly should endure.
And for the record, Hoffman finished his career with a 2.87 ERA and 601 saves, and he pitched more games without winning the World Series than any right hander in history, as Verducci tells us – good luck to him (Hoffman, I mean).
I'm going to miss Barney Frank (here...not sure what's up with the spacing)...
…and even though I definitely don’t agree with, say, Bill Maher’s opinion on religion, after watching this clip, I can still understand it (as usual, Fix Noise opens up the right-wing “puke funnel,” as Atrios calls it, and pours the byproduct all over us…work with me on this, people)…
..."Worst Persons" ("J-Lo" and her Fiat commercial get the "bronze"...wonder what else was air-brushed or whatever into that ad?; Mann Coulter gets the runner-up...and how lame is it for a conservative to get bleeped on "Morning Joe"? Also, I think Keith means Wayland Flowers; but USA Ammo gets the top citation for its commercial telling us of the dictatorial threat of...Forest Whitaker? And I'm not completely sold on the goatee, for what it's worth)...
Some true hilarity from the New York Times here…Adam Nagourney told us last Saturday that California’s light rail project is a “boondoggle” (headline), was full of “brashness and ambition” and faced “what might seem like insurmountable political and fiscal obstacles” (paragraph 3); it would be finished “by 2033,” and “Republicans in Congress are close to eliminating federal high-speed rail financing this year” (paragraph 4); “‘Somebody please stop this train,’ The Washington Post wrote — while Republicans here have denounced it as a waste” (paragraph 5); “This will go down in history as one of the great white elephants in California history,” said Bob Dutton, the Republican leader of the State Senate. “It’s a boondoggle. The state cannot afford it.” (paragraph 6); and “The governor has enthusiastically embraced the plan, no matter that at 73, he seems unlikely to be around for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that is projected to be more than 20 years away” (paragraph 9).
Oh, and do you want to know what we learn in Paragraph 10? That the project is projected to generate about 100,000 jobs.
Talk about burying the lede…
Next, I give you more revisionist history from Ross Douthat (here, using the excuse of a new book by Stephen King on JFK to beat up our 35th president).
See, according to Douthat, JFK was “evasive on civil rights.”
One hundred years of delay have passed since President Lincoln freed the slaves, yet their heirs, their grandsons, are not fully free. They are not yet freed from the bonds of injustice. They are not yet freed from social and economic oppression. And this Nation, for all its hopes and all its boasts, will not be fully free until all its citizens are free.
We preach freedom around the world, and we mean it, and we cherish our freedom here at home, but are we to say to the world, and much more importantly, to each other that this is a land of the free except for the Negroes; that we have no second-class citizens except Negroes; that we have no class or cast system, no ghettoes, no master race except with respect to Negroes?
I would say that JFK sounds amazingly “non-evasive” – here is more from Douthat…
(JFK’s) Churchillian rhetoric (“pay any price, bear any burden ...”) provided the (Vietnam) war’s rhetorical frame as surely as George W. Bush’s post-9/11 speeches did for our intervention in Iraq.
I consider that observation to be pretty much an obscenity. I honestly don’t recall any speech (certainly not this one) by JFK calling for pre-emptive war against a country that was wrongly alleged to sponsor the worst foreign-based terrorist attack that occurred on our soil.
For the record, here is exactly what JFK said (from here)…
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
Or course, as noted here, using any possible excuse, no matter how ridiculous, to fluff Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History is old hat for the Times’ quote-hire conservative columnist (he’s better than Bill Kristol, the guy he replaced way back when, but not by bloody much...two extremes of really bad as far as I'm concerned).
Continuing, former John McCain campaign advisor Douglas Holtz-Eakin said the following (here)…
Faster growth is the key and will require a new, disciplined policy approach that does not allow social engineering, a green agenda, union activism or class warfare to trump the need for a vibrant private sector.
I guess there are a lot of ways to respond to the patent absurdity of that remark (our wonderful “job creators” in this economy are taking their sweet time about, I must say), but for starters, allow me to point out that Holtz-Eakin pushed for a corporate tax holiday that doesn’t create any actual jobs here, and earned a Paul Krugman smack down for making “shameful” assertions about health care reform here (and by the way, regarding Holtz-Eakin’s denigration of “green” jobs, it should be noted here that the U.S. exported almost $2 billion in solar technology last year).
Finally, I give you the following from Irrational Spew (here, on the subject of repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board, part of the health care law)…
Of course, Democrats like Barney Frank and groups like the NCPSSM don’t actually agree with Republicans on what needs to be done with regard to Medicare spending; they live in a fantasy land where Medicare’s $23 trillion in unfunded liabilities can be solved by eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse” (and massively increasing taxes).
(And by the way, I thought Krugman had some good stuff recently on supposedly "massively increasing taxes" here.)
Hmm, let’s see now…eliminating “waste, fraud and abuse.” Now which non-Mitt Romney Repug presidential hopeful spoke out about that?
Why, it would be none other than flavor-of-the-month Baby Newton Leroy Gingrich (here)…
As far as an alternative, Gingrich trotted out the same appeal employed by Obama/Reid/Pelosi — for a “national conversation” on how to “improve” Medicare, and promised to eliminate ‘waste, fraud and abuse,’ etc.
Yes, I know, file this under “blind squirrel finding you-know-what,” even though I seriously doubt that this will help Newt to win over his beloved “base.”
And speaking of Barney Frank, I want to wish the Massachusetts 4th-District democrat good luck in his future endeavors (he just announced that he won’t run for another term). Lord knows he’ll be missed, but he’s definitely earned the time to do what he wants.
