July 31, 2011
How Dumb Are Americans?
Here's the thing. If we had a President from the Republican Party the Democrats in Congress would not go along with a deal over the phony "debt ceiling" crisis like the one we're getting. Nor would they previously have gone along with the rest of Mr. Obama's history of preemptive legislative surrender. So, if after the next election Mr. Obama remains in office it's a sure thing — an absolute certainty — that under his leadership the Republicans will get much more of their agenda accomplished than if they had a Republican President. How weird is that? The real question, then, is whether American voters are able to think strategically about this situation as a higher order problem. It's the sort of thing pollsters never ask because they think it presumes too much. But, as far as I know, we've never before had a President who's a right wing Republican masquerading as a Democrat. Logically, the correct solution (or at least the first step) is to throw Mr. Obama out in 2012 but to elect a strongly Democratic Congress. I think that if such an option begins to be publicly discussed in a way that's nationally noticed the chances may turn out to be better than 50/50 of getting it done.
July 28, 2011
Next Up, the Attic
The dumpster measures 11 feet long by 8 feet wide by 4 feet tall. In fact, it's huge. The door is very convenient. It's solid, relatively new, no rusted bits, with fresh red paint. From Monday afternoon, when it arrived, until this afternoon, I managed to clear out the garage. Whew!! That filled it about 2/3 of the way. I could fill the rest with yard waste (larger branches, shrubs, etc.) but will probably scour the attic first for easy discards. The attic, though, to be honest, deserves a dumpster of its very own, perhaps later in the fall.
July 24, 2011
A Further Reflection on the 'Constitutional Option'
I've tried to argue that the 'constitutional option' should be as broadly constructed as possible. I didn't manage, however, to cast the argument broadly enough or in the best light with appropriate historical analogies. To see how the argument should be made, take a look at the op-ed by Eric A. Posner and Adrian Vermeule in Saturday's New York Times. They've nailed it: the President has a duty — underscore duty — to save the country when no one else can.
Continue reading "A Further Reflection on the 'Constitutional Option'"...
July 18, 2011
Zombies on the March
How the GOP Became a Death Cult
By Werther*
Does anyone still remember the GOP of the chowder and marching society, Jell-O salads, Buicks, and cloth coats? Is it conceivable that a Republican could have written the following? —
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
That was President Eisenhower, writing to his brother Edgar in 1954.
July 12, 2011
"Evil Will Always Triumph Because Good Is Dumb"
These so-called debt ceiling "negotiations" in which the normal legislative process gets short-circuited seem more than a little reminiscent of a passage from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
"But now the spell was wholly different. They heard the gentle remonstrance of a kindly king with an erring but much-loved minister. But they were shut out, listening at a door to words not meant for them: ill-mannered children or stupid servants overhearing the elusive discourse of their elders, and wondering how it would affect their lot. Of loftier mould these two were made: reverend and wise. It was inevitable that they should make alliance."
These "negotiations," let's be honest, are not really about the debt ceiling, or even about social programs. They're about power. More precisely, they're about how much power Mr. Obama and the Republicans are willing take away from average Americans, and for how long.
Continue reading ""Evil Will Always Triumph Because Good Is Dumb""...
July 10, 2011
A Note Re Comments
From time to time someone will leave an anonymous comment, posted through the EP blog interface with what looks like a real email address. Except that the address is phony. Usually such comments are fairly snarky — and I've noticed an above average number of them popping up complaining about Glenn Carle. Look: if you have some kind of critical opinion you might ask yourself whether you want to tell me your real email address. If you don't, and if I check and catch a phony address, your posted comment goes straight into the trash. Better for both sides, I'm sure. Legitimate, civil criticism is fine. Cowardly mud tossing, not so much...
July 9, 2011
DEBTOCRACY (English Subtitles, a short ad starts)
Clydes Coffeecake
Clydes is a chain around here. Sometimes very good. Sometimes not so bad. Occasionally awful. Always reasonably priced. Sharon and I used to go to a nearby Clydes (in Chevy Chase) fairly regularly for many years but after they remodeled in 2005 the kitchen became iffy — so these days we might try their specials every few months, if that. But for Father's Day I figured their wild salmon special might be a good bet so I packed my dad, Sharon, and Sharon's daughter into the Jeep and we went to brunch. The salmon was quite excellent, actually, but I thought the star of the show was their complimentary coffeecake, which for some reason I hadn't remembered ever having. Delicious, simple, light coffeecake. So just gently kidding the waitress I asked for their recipe and, to my astonishment, she actually printed it out for me, as follows:
Summer Break
It's summer, and it's time to take a break. I was going to take just two weeks off, mainly with the aim of cleaning out my garage to the point where I could sweep the floor and park my Jeep inside, but thinking about it I remembered that the last time I took a break, around Christmas, I got pneumonia and was sick the whole time so, to be fair to myself now I should take enough time to be able to relax. Four weeks will do the trick. I'll keep blogging but the regular podcast schedule will resume on Friday, August 12th (with a possibility of my posting a short podcast 'special comment' before then if the debt ceiling crisis produces major news). I hope you enjoy your summer, too!
July 5, 2011
The Little Ship That Shouldn't Have
The Greek Coast Guard recently blocked a ship, "The Audacity of Hope," from sailing from the port of Parama to Gaza, carrying humanitarian aid and pro-Palestinian American activists. According to the Greeks, the captain of the ship was endangering the lives of passengers (36 passengers, to be exact, plus 10 journalists and 4 crew), so they arrested him and threw him in jail. Now released, charges remain pending. The ship remains in port. Liberal activists here in the U.S. are outraged that Greece would bend to the will of Israel and the U.S. to prevent this non-violent protest. To that I say, bullcrap!
