During the BP Oil Catastrophe last summer, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal insisted that the construction of artificial sand berms was a sure-fire means of containing the spill. Government and independent scientists objected: No underlying science supported the project, it would expend money and resources better used elsewhere, the berms couldn't possibly be built in time to do any good, and they might well be counterproductive. Just federal bureaucrats getting in the way of state leadership, Jindal bawled, and amidst the general caterwauling to Do Something Anything, the government reversed its position and allowed Jindal's vanity project to proceed.
Well, as Rachel Maddow reports, it turns out the Obama administrations concerns were justified. The berms, reported a bipartisan commission, were of no use but did cost a lot of money (and, incidentally, were a gold mine for Louisiana dredging interests; this was really little more than Jindal acting as a bagman for special interests). Watch:
Showing posts with label Rachel Maddow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rachel Maddow. Show all posts
Friday, December 24, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Back Door Men
Republicans to Unemployed: Drop Dead. Msnbc.com treats this as a "blow to Obama," but it seems to me that it's a blow to the 15, 000, 000 Americans who are out of work. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), whose lapdog acquiescence to the Bush-Cheney economic "policy" that made this mess, piously opined that it's better for a few people to be desperate than to add .002 percent to the national debt that he also helped create. In other words, if you want to work and can't, the least you can do is bend over and make an immeasurably insignificant contribution to debt relief...
No one can say that last week was dull. After panning President Obama's Oval Office speech on the BP/Halliburton catastrophe, pundits fell all over themselves the next day in praise of his effectiveness in negotiating the escrow account. Obama then relieved Stanley McChrystal of command in Afghanistan, again to high marks (here and here).
But, the oil still gushes, the black pool continues in, and the American people yearn for an Augustine who will read a children's book for seven minutes and then order the tide to return from whence it came. No matter that this didn't work for Augustine, George Bush, or anyone else: The point is to act like you know what you're doing and be the kinda guy who Joe the Plumber can have a beer with when it's all over.
The usually astute Rachel Maddow drew progressive accolades for her alternative speech, through which she recommended that President Obama make promises that he couldn't possibly guarantee, alienate everyone he must work with, and attend to the spill with a Jimmy Carter-like focus to the exclusion of everything else (something voters just love). She paid lip service to a mainstay of the Gulf Coast economy ("short-term income") and all but said "jobs schmobs" in her ringing commitment to "mitigate" the economic impact of a long-term drilling moratorium. Maddow also mischaracterized the reconciliation process, something which one hopes she'd have more than a working familiarity with by now...
Michael Gerson braves up and derides Al Franken's characterization of the Roberts Court as having "...consistently and intentionally protected and promoted the interests of the powerful over those of individual Americans." The former Bush speech writer accuses Franken of hyperbole, then compares the Minnesota senator to a member of a French Revolution directory. The author of the phase "Axis of Evil" expresses disgust with Franken's "bile" and implies that Franken said things that he didn't say. The long-time political aide and speechwriter all but calls Franken a poser, then passes himself off as a Constitutional scholar...
JUST A SONG: Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone. Look out ma, here comes the elephant boy...
McChystal went pretty quietly, slinking out the back entrance while Obama announced the firing. John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and the Connecticut Toad telegraphed support in advance, signaling that the GOP wouldn't oppose the president's decision. Mainly, that's each and every senator harbors fantasies of the presidency and wouldn't want to be undermined by the likes of McChrystal. In any case, he had to go: If you can't control yourself and your staff, how can you prosecute a failing war against the Taliban?...
The Texas GOP just doesn't go in for back door shenanigans...
Progressivism and liberty...
No one can say that last week was dull. After panning President Obama's Oval Office speech on the BP/Halliburton catastrophe, pundits fell all over themselves the next day in praise of his effectiveness in negotiating the escrow account. Obama then relieved Stanley McChrystal of command in Afghanistan, again to high marks (here and here).
But, the oil still gushes, the black pool continues in, and the American people yearn for an Augustine who will read a children's book for seven minutes and then order the tide to return from whence it came. No matter that this didn't work for Augustine, George Bush, or anyone else: The point is to act like you know what you're doing and be the kinda guy who Joe the Plumber can have a beer with when it's all over.
The usually astute Rachel Maddow drew progressive accolades for her alternative speech, through which she recommended that President Obama make promises that he couldn't possibly guarantee, alienate everyone he must work with, and attend to the spill with a Jimmy Carter-like focus to the exclusion of everything else (something voters just love). She paid lip service to a mainstay of the Gulf Coast economy ("short-term income") and all but said "jobs schmobs" in her ringing commitment to "mitigate" the economic impact of a long-term drilling moratorium. Maddow also mischaracterized the reconciliation process, something which one hopes she'd have more than a working familiarity with by now...
Michael Gerson braves up and derides Al Franken's characterization of the Roberts Court as having "...consistently and intentionally protected and promoted the interests of the powerful over those of individual Americans." The former Bush speech writer accuses Franken of hyperbole, then compares the Minnesota senator to a member of a French Revolution directory. The author of the phase "Axis of Evil" expresses disgust with Franken's "bile" and implies that Franken said things that he didn't say. The long-time political aide and speechwriter all but calls Franken a poser, then passes himself off as a Constitutional scholar...
JUST A SONG: Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone. Look out ma, here comes the elephant boy...
McChystal went pretty quietly, slinking out the back entrance while Obama announced the firing. John McCain, Lindsay Graham, and the Connecticut Toad telegraphed support in advance, signaling that the GOP wouldn't oppose the president's decision. Mainly, that's each and every senator harbors fantasies of the presidency and wouldn't want to be undermined by the likes of McChrystal. In any case, he had to go: If you can't control yourself and your staff, how can you prosecute a failing war against the Taliban?...
The Texas GOP just doesn't go in for back door shenanigans...
Progressivism and liberty...
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Breaking News: Republicans Are Hypocrites
Few people have a better nose for hypocrisy than Rachel Maddow. Here, she points out the irony of Republicans excoriating the federal government for letting illegal immigration get out of hand while at the same time refusing to do anything about it:
John McCain's rhetoric blaming President Obama for failing to secure the border is, unsurprisingly, especially egregious. As McCain well knows, a Clinton-era crackdown on illegal immigration into southern California called Operation Gatekeeper diverted migrant traffic to Arizona. Rather than continue north, most stayed in the state, taking advantage of Arizona's strong economy and employer willingness to hire them at low wages. For 11 years through two presidential administrations, McCain kept his mouth shut until 2005 , when he co-sponsored (with the late Edward Kennedy) the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, which never made it out of committee. The bill, which combined amnesty, guest worker, and border security programs, served as a template for similar bipartisan legislation attempts in 2006 and 2007, none of which succeeded after coming under pressure from all sides of the immigration debate. In other words, after 14 years of opportunity on this issue (longer, if you consider that McCain was first elected to the Senate in 1982), by his own standards McCain's record on this issue is one of silence and failure. And, yet, this is all the fault of Barack Obama, who in 1994 taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago.
Equally brazen are Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and notably execrable Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). McConnell says "I just don't think the time is right" for immigration reform. Well, Mitch, if not now, when? This wouldn't have anything to do with you wanting to be majority leader, would it? After all, immigration reform would help Harry Reid's tough reelection campaign in economically ravaged Nevada.
As for Saxby Chambliss' demurral that "we've" got a lot of work to do, work on what? All the Republicans do is vote no and filibuster. How hard can that be? Ah, the audacity of dopes...
You think Rachel was through? Are you kidding? Yesterday was a huge day for Republican hypocrisy as they piously emoted about the need for financial reform while filibustering debate on the issue. That's right: They want to parade their self-righteous indignation in front of cameras while unanimously refusing to discuss the matter on the Senate floor. The Democrats, though, sense public opinion on their side and plan to pressure the Republicans by forcing a vote every day. At last!...
Songs of innocence...
United States counties protected by levees (Thanks, Editilla)...
Jon Stewart explains the Arizona law so that even an spelling-challenged teabagger who thinks immigrants should larn American can understand it. Read on for the account of a white supremacist opening a youth club in Odessa, KS...
The law polls well, but that's because of the difficulty of devising a neutrally-state question about a hot button issue that is nonetheless complex. I wonder what the poll results would be were the question put like this:
What do these numbers tell you?...
The most sensitive man in America?...
Utterly Hilarious Dept: Like...like...like a quitter...on the roof.
Lazyboy asks the hard question: If everyone grows up with self-esteem, who is going to dance in our strip clubs?
John McCain's rhetoric blaming President Obama for failing to secure the border is, unsurprisingly, especially egregious. As McCain well knows, a Clinton-era crackdown on illegal immigration into southern California called Operation Gatekeeper diverted migrant traffic to Arizona. Rather than continue north, most stayed in the state, taking advantage of Arizona's strong economy and employer willingness to hire them at low wages. For 11 years through two presidential administrations, McCain kept his mouth shut until 2005 , when he co-sponsored (with the late Edward Kennedy) the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act, which never made it out of committee. The bill, which combined amnesty, guest worker, and border security programs, served as a template for similar bipartisan legislation attempts in 2006 and 2007, none of which succeeded after coming under pressure from all sides of the immigration debate. In other words, after 14 years of opportunity on this issue (longer, if you consider that McCain was first elected to the Senate in 1982), by his own standards McCain's record on this issue is one of silence and failure. And, yet, this is all the fault of Barack Obama, who in 1994 taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago.
Equally brazen are Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and notably execrable Saxby Chambliss (R-GA). McConnell says "I just don't think the time is right" for immigration reform. Well, Mitch, if not now, when? This wouldn't have anything to do with you wanting to be majority leader, would it? After all, immigration reform would help Harry Reid's tough reelection campaign in economically ravaged Nevada.
As for Saxby Chambliss' demurral that "we've" got a lot of work to do, work on what? All the Republicans do is vote no and filibuster. How hard can that be? Ah, the audacity of dopes...
You think Rachel was through? Are you kidding? Yesterday was a huge day for Republican hypocrisy as they piously emoted about the need for financial reform while filibustering debate on the issue. That's right: They want to parade their self-righteous indignation in front of cameras while unanimously refusing to discuss the matter on the Senate floor. The Democrats, though, sense public opinion on their side and plan to pressure the Republicans by forcing a vote every day. At last!...
Songs of innocence...
United States counties protected by levees (Thanks, Editilla)...
Jon Stewart explains the Arizona law so that even an spelling-challenged teabagger who thinks immigrants should larn American can understand it. Read on for the account of a white supremacist opening a youth club in Odessa, KS...
The law polls well, but that's because of the difficulty of devising a neutrally-state question about a hot button issue that is nonetheless complex. I wonder what the poll results would be were the question put like this:
Should a majority ethnic group pass an immigration law with serious fairness, constitutional, and economic implications purely out of frustration with a minority, 80% of whom reside legally in the affected area?
What do these numbers tell you?...
The most sensitive man in America?...
Utterly Hilarious Dept: Like...like...like a quitter...on the roof.
Lazyboy asks the hard question: If everyone grows up with self-esteem, who is going to dance in our strip clubs?
Monday, September 8, 2008
Come Into My Parlor
Somebody was hard at work last night on our porch swing:
Saturday, two other Obama volunteers and I registered voters at an intersection in downtown Kirkland. 80% of eligible voters in King County are already registered, and the office staff told us in advance that they would be happy with 3-4 new registrants. We got ten, however -- some first-time voters, one brand new citizen, and a couple of address changes. We also heard a lot of encouragement and support. The campaign regards Washington as a swing state, but in truth if Obama is in big trouble if he can't win here. They just don't want to take anything for granted, and that kind of running scared is a good thing...
...Still, how can this be anything but depressing? "An elderly woman in a New Jersey hair salon is overheard complaining about Barack and Michelle the other day, about how blacks supposedly have larger bones than whites, and about how she’s fleeing America if Obama wins..."
Saturday, two other Obama volunteers and I registered voters at an intersection in downtown Kirkland. 80% of eligible voters in King County are already registered, and the office staff told us in advance that they would be happy with 3-4 new registrants. We got ten, however -- some first-time voters, one brand new citizen, and a couple of address changes. We also heard a lot of encouragement and support. The campaign regards Washington as a swing state, but in truth if Obama is in big trouble if he can't win here. They just don't want to take anything for granted, and that kind of running scared is a good thing...
...Still, how can this be anything but depressing? "An elderly woman in a New Jersey hair salon is overheard complaining about Barack and Michelle the other day, about how blacks supposedly have larger bones than whites, and about how she’s fleeing America if Obama wins..."
Even Republican operatives admit the truth of the matter: "'“I know a lot of Republicans who are aware of surveys in this race that ask the ballot question ‘Who are you voting for?’ and then ask the ‘Who are your neighbors voting for?’ question,” says a GOP operative, referring to a common pollsters’ tactic of seeing through obfuscation revolving around race. “And between the first and second question, you see a five-to-ten-point shift in the answers. There’s a great big lump under the rug...'”
In Defense of Community Organizers. This letter appeared Sunday in the Seattle Times:
Along with many other Roman Catholics, I was deeply offended at Sarah Palin's demeaning reference in her acceptance speech to Barack Obama's experience as a community organizer in Catholic parishes on the South Side of Chicago.Father O'Brien might well have added that without community organizers, Sarah Palin wouldn't have the right to vote, much less serve as governor of Alaska or run for vice-president...
Community organizing is so important to Catholic social teaching that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has operated the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, its domestic anti-poverty and social-justice program, since 1969.
In 1968, the U.S. Catholic Bishops issued "Economic Justice for All," a pastoral letter on Catholic social teaching and the economy, which said, "Human dignity can be realized and protected only in community."
In the 1980s, Obama worked in several Catholic parishes, supported by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, rather than pursue a lucrative career on Wall Street.
The McCain campaign owes an apology to the thousands of community organizers, the organizations that have supported them, including the Campaign for Human Development, and particularly the countless working families who have been helped in communities across our country.
— The Rev. Roger G. O'Brien, senior priest, Archdiocese of Seattle
Don't forget Rachel Maddow's debut tonight on MSNBC...
The R's make a big deal out of Sarah Palin being a middle-class mom who has worked her way up to governor blah blah blah -- a typical woman who realized atypical aspirations. But you know, when I was in high school, I couldn't stand the Sarah Palin types: The entitled beauty queen cheerleader who wouldn't give the rest of us the time of day had she known we were alive which she didn't. This story in yesterday's Seattle Times only reinforces my perception...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
