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Category: Politics Page 46 of 73

Anthrax Investigation: Not At All Resolved

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On August 19, 2008

In DC, Personal, Politics

The more the official line is examined, the more it falls apart. That “weaponized” nature of the anthrax used? Well, not so much:

Among the new details Monday was that, contrary to statements made over the years by other government officials, the mailed anthrax had not been coated with additives to “weaponize” it, or make it more deadly.

In other words, the public had been repeatedly lied to for years. But don’t worry, this was just the work of one crazy man.

Yup.

Nothing to see here.

Move along.

If Pakistan Can Do It . . .

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On August 18, 2008

In Politics, Society

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf resigns ahead of impeachment proceedings.  Excerpts from resignation speech here.  A bit of analysis here.  Let’s hope there’s such thing as a quiet retirement from politics in Pakistan.

John McCain, Funny Man

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On August 16, 2008

In Politics

Check out his Greatest Hits:

1.  The rape joke.

2.  The “Bomb Iran” song.

3.  The one about killing Iranians.

4.  The Chelsea Clinton joke.

5.  The one about waterboarding.

6.  The other ones about waterboarding.

7.  The Fidel joke.

8.  The Alzheimers jibe.

9.  The IED joke.

10. The one about the French.

And if that’s not enough, there’s always the flip side:

But despite his penchant for a little not-so-gentle ribbing, McCain doesn’t cope very well on the receiving end. During his 1992 Senate campaign, a little inter-spousal teasing got out of control when, in front of aides and three reporters, his wife Cindy playfully twirled his hair and noted that he was thinning a little on top. His reply? “At least I don’t plaster make-up on like a trollop, you cunt.”

The US *Denied* Military Assistance to Israel?

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On August 13, 2008

In Policy, Politics

From Haaretz:

The American administration has rejected an Israeli request for military equipment and support that would improve Israel’s ability to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

[ . . . ]

The Americans viewed the request, which was transmitted (and rejected) at the highest level, as a sign that Israel is in the advanced stages of preparations to attack Iran. They therefore warned Israel against attacking, saying such a strike would undermine American interests. They also demanded that Israel give them prior notice if it nevertheless decided to strike Iran.

Shockingly responsible behavior on the Administration’s part.

The Myth of the Free Market

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On August 13, 2008

In Policy, Politics

If you read TPM, you may have occasionally noticed that their TPM Cafe hosts regular book discussions.  Sometimes they interest me, sometimes I gloss right over them.  But the latest – concerning James Galbraith’s The Predator State – has had me reading every word.  Today I picked up the book itself, and if it turns out to be as promising as it seems, I will certainly have a bit to say about it.

And why would I have anything to say about it?  Well, in leading up to the book’s central claim – that “predator” industries have captured and manipulated the government for their own benefit – Galbraith examines the cover by which this goal was achieved.  That is, wholesale acceptance of the good of the “free market.”

The “free market” is one of those things that so many of us educated in the US system (I may have grown up around the world, but I got a solidly American education) take as a fundamental given.  The phrase might as well be “American as mom, apple pie, and the free market.”  Despite the fact that most Americans’ last real conversation about economic theory occured in high school (or maybe a basic macro course in college), our political discourse is saturated with claims and suppositions about the “free market.”  I don’t know how many times I’ve been in a discussion with someone who has no challenge in identifying the problem in excruciating detail, but when it comes to solving it, simply says “we’ll just leave it up to the free market!”  And this just makes my head pop.  Over and over again.  Why?

As I have been saying for years, there is no such thing as a free market.

It simply does not exist outside of theory.  It is as imaginary as philosophy’s Evil Demon (Ed) or perfect efficiency in physics.  And yet it is a fundamental given in our common discussion.  The Predator State examines and – as best I can tell – demolishes that myth.  But first, it asks what the myth accomplished in the first place:

It serves here, as it did there, mainly as a device for corralling the opposition, restricting the flow of thought, shrinking the sphere of admissible debate.  Just as even a lapsed believer kneels in church, respectable opposition demonstrates fealty to the system by asserting allegiance to the governing myth.  This in turn limits the range of presentable ideas, conveniently setting an entire panoply of reasoned discourse beyond the pale of what can be said, at least in public, but reputable people.  There is a process of internalization, of self-censorship.  Once the ruels and boundaries prescribed by the myth are understood, adherence becomes reflexive, and at the end of the day people come to think only what it is permitted to think.  The know when they might be “going too far.”

Indeed.  If this piques your interest (and I really hope it has), start with Galbraith’s own post over at TPM Cafe, and read forward from there.  If you’re feeling a bit cautious about it, that post contains a number of links to reviews of the book, and this article summarizes the aims of the book.

Mark Penn Is An Amoral Asshole

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On August 11, 2008

In Personal, Politics

For many reasons, few of which I’ve explained here, I once thought that Hillary Clinton was the best person to carry the Democratic flag in 2008.  But as much as I was comfortable in that decision, I maintained doubts about her candidacy.  And more than a few of those doubts were related to the company she kept:

The Penn memo suggesting that the campaign target Obama’s “lack of American roots” said in part: “All of these articles about his boyhood in Indonesia and his life in Hawaii are geared towards showing his background is diverse, multicultural and putting that in a new light.

“Save it for 2050. … Every speech should contain the line you were born in the middle of America American to the middle class in the middle of the last century. And talk about the basic bargain as about the deeply American values you grew up with, learned as a child and that drive you today. Values of fairness, compassion, responsibility, giving back

“Let’s explicitly own ‘American’ in our programs, the speeches and the values. He doesn’t. Make this a new American Century, the American Strategic Energy Fund. Let’s use our logo to make some flags we can give out. Let’s add flag symbols to the backgrounds.”

Fuck you, Mark Penn.  Fuck you from me and every other American that isn’t interested in your hateful and narrow little heartland view of a county that doesn’t look like you.  Fuck you and your willingness to attack the very things (say, “fairness, compassion, responsibility, giving back”) that makes this country great in service of a petty political victory.

It *Does* Happen Here

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On August 9, 2008

In Distribution, Law, Politics, Society

So many times in the course of conversations about privacy and politics, people are otherwise share my same general socio-political moorings express great doubt that the US government would ever spy on people for any reason other than crime prevention.   While I’m never at a loss for counter examples, I’ll have to say that the best documented examples are often a generation or two old, and probably carry a little less currency, as a result.  Well, governments – state and federal – have been obliging me lately.  First we had Maryland police closely tracking the activities of dangerous people like anti-death penalty activists, and now we’ve got a straight admission from the FBI that it spied on reporters from the Washington Post and New York Times.

It not only can happen here, it *does* happen here.

The Olympics: Make It What You Want It To Be

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On August 8, 2008

In Personal, Politics, Society

Objectively, the Olympics are a scam.  It’s a conspiracy between global corporations interested in advertising, local governments looking for an excuse to shovel public money to favored private contractors, and the Skekis (also known as the International Olympic Committee) who suck the lifeblood out of young men and women.  If this were the last Olympics ever, it would probably be a net good for the world.

But it won’t be.  So make of it what you will.  Living in the center of the ’96 Olympics was among the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had.  The people, the energy, the – forgive me, Francis – post-history feeling to all of it (it was 1996, after all).  Not even some wingnut with a bomb could ruin it for us.  After the experience of those couple of weeks, I will always be up for hanging out in an Olympic city.

It’s more than a party, though.  It’s – despite NBC’s best efforts to ensure I never care about someone’s triumphantly-overcoming-tragedy again – the story of thousands of people who have busted their ass for most of their lives to be there.  It’s the amazing people it produces, like Otto Peltzer (follow and read that).  It’s people.

And finally, it’s among the very few events where we can truly say that “the world is watching.”  And that, my friends, leads to profound and important actions like this:

The Olympics can still be shaped by individuals.  All of the people in these (amazing) Opening Ceremonies pictures?  They are individuals, like you and me, who worked incredibly hard to be there.  Don’t cede the good of the Olympics to spite the bad.

~

If you want to watch the Olympics online, and live in the United States, NBCOlympics.com is probably the place for you.  I say “probably”, because 1) while it will show most events live, it will delay online access for any event it plans to broadcast until *after* its been broadcast, and 2) there’s some ridiculous deal by which access is only available to those US viewers living in areas served by NBC’s “partners”.  They check this by asking for a zipcode (I have a friend who lives in 22203, and it works perfectly).

If you’re getting screwed by the inability of the IOC and world broadcasters to find a way to make the Olympics accesible to you, you might be interested in this article on the “alternative” means of watching the events.

Extraordinarily Disappointing

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On August 8, 2008

In Politics, Society

Nothing much else to say about this, I guess.

Update: from Elizabeth Edwards.

Friday Notes: 08-08-08 Edition

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On August 8, 2008

In Cycling, DC, Law, Politics

The end of another week.  So much to write about, so little time.  Here’s what I wish I’d talked more about, this week:

Steve Clemons takes Obama to task for abandoning his Muslim-American outreach chief over an absolutely ridiculous issue (brief concurrent corporate board service with a questionable fellow):

I think that this is outrageous — and those on the left who appreciate Obama and what he may mean for this country must become as tenaciously committed to what is right and what is good — and fighting for that — because those on the other side of these debates are trying to compel Obama to dilute himself.

[ . . . ]

Obama should say it. Convince the American public that he’s not setting up a zero sum game between Muslims on one side and Christians and Jews on the other.

Obama is a Christian. I get that. I’m a secularist hard core — but I won’t stand by to watch more good people be flushed down the political drain because they are Muslims trying to work for a balanced and level playing field in America.

The rest is well worth reading.

~

The Lori Drew case is a case full of disgusting facts – appalling adult behavior (on all sides) contributed to circumstances that drove a young girl to suicide.  One of those adults is now being prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for violating the MySpace.com terms of use agreement.  That’s right, Federal prosecutors are trying to treat not complying with those ridiculous click-through agreements on nearly every web site you use a crime.  Thankfully not everyone is losing their mind over this (horrible) situation, and the EFF, Public Citizen, and others have stepped in with an amicus brief demonstrating just what a bad idea this is.

~

There is an art to writing interesting reviews, and John Brownlee demonstrates it in this review of Monkeylectric . . . uh, bike lights.

~

The more I read about the Bruce Ivins/anthrax story, the less I know.  Serious coverup vibes coming from that.

~

Here’s a test – which one of these are jokes? Bike Commuter Banned for EPO or Race Walker Banned for EPO?

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