The John Galt Theory of Lemonade Stands

Here in Chicago we have a personal finance columnist named Terry Savage, who works for the Sun-Times. I rarely read her because 1) I rarely read Chicago newspapers, and 2) especially not the Sun-Times, and 3) I heard her talk about Social Security once and it wasn't conventional wisdom, it was unconventional stupid.

Came across this "column" of hers this morning. Nice to know nothing has changed, and I still don't have to read her. I'll bet she keeps your ball if it goes in her yard.

1,000

In celebration of the 1,000th post here on Sempringham, which this is, I'll share something I found in the back of a closet today: an old family photo.



It's about 34 years old, in fact. That's me and my bride. The Union Army did not issue Adidas sneakers as part of their standard uniform.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll notice our wedding rings are on our right hands and the U.S. on the belt buckle is backward. That's because images taken using this process (coated glass plate producing a positive image, with no intervening negative) produced reverse images. I could flip it, I guess, but why?

I'm getting a little tired of liberals trashing Obama. They're not paying attention. Rachel Maddow gets on to that (via Andrew Tobias):

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

That's not too bad for a year and a half in office, with the world's economy falling down around us.

It's Better Than Crying, I Guess

From my brother, Mike, on the left coast:

BP Spills Coffee. It's a very small spill on a very large table.

McChrystal

When the Obama Administration was young, the book to read was Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals, about the Lincoln cabinet.

As I write this, Gen. Stanley McChrystal has had a 20-minute meeting with the President, and did not stick around for a meeting on progress in Afghanistan. Smells like toast from here.

Good thing.
A far better book to be reading right now is Lincoln and His Generals, by T. Harry Williams. McChrystal is Obama's McClellan.

There's more than one general in this Army. I'm sure one can be found who knows what loyalty and chain of command mean.

A Man of Honor

Ran across this little tidbit a week or so ago, while doing research in 19th century newspapers:

William A Smith, who died a few days ago in Richmond, Va., enjoyed a unique distinction. He resigned a seat in Congress because he did not think he had sense enough to properly represent his constituents.

The guy deserves a statue.

Energy Dependency

Two Teds recommended this to me. For good reason.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
An Energy-Independent Future
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Kicking Some Ass

I've always liked Fareed Zakaria, and I think he pretty much nails it here, even though I don't think there's nothing that the federal government can do about the oil spill.



There is so much going on right now. The Euro is in danger of meltdown. The North Koreans could nuke the South Koreans any day. The Turks and Brazil are siding with Iran. And I think there's a war or something going on in Afghanistan.

And meanwhile the bobblehead dolls that read the news want Obama to waste time on being mad for public consumption.

Come back, Walter Cronkite. Your country needs you.

GOP Follies

This guy is in a run-off election for the Republican nomination for a Congressional seat in Alabama.



It's looking more and more like the GOP will not be fielding many sane candidates in this year's off-election. Sharron Angle, who will be Harry Reid's opponent in Nevada, apparently not only wants to phase out Social Security and Medicare (a position she describes as "non-negotiable"), but reinstate prohibition. It remains to be seen how popular that position will be in Nevada.

South Carolina

It's my home state. Gail Collins merrily sums up what's happening there, politically.

Department of Useless Information

Yesterday, Andrew Tobias kindly linked to a post I did last year. You remember it: it was that hilarious "commercial" for Somalia: Libertarian Paradise.

Since then, little ole Sempringham has gotten 500+ hits.

Not a single one left a comment.

No reason they should; it's just almost interesting.

Our Chattering Class

Steve Benen over at The Washington Monthly's blog, Political Animal, has a perfect illustration of why George Will is now, and always has been, a horse's ass.

If you don't think you can stomach 55 seconds of Will's pontification, you don't have to watch; Benen gives you the gist. And Benen beautifully sums up criticism of Obama on the BP atrocity so far:

At this point, the discourse seems to boil down to a) those who want to see the president don a wetsuit and head to the Gulf floor; b) those who want to see the president don a cape and fly around the planet really quickly in order to reverse time; and c) those who want to see the president pound on podiums and lose his cool, as if that would make a difference. (Thanks, Maureen Dowd, for comparing Obama to Spock again. That never gets old.)

Must-See Video

Sometimes the truth is funny!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Democracy in Action

Don't miss this video of the Ukraine Parliament's deliberations about whether to extend a lease on a Black Sea port to the Russian Navy.

Say what you want about them, at least it came to a vote. We should do so well.

Goldman Sachs

Hi everybody! Long time, no see!

I thought you might enjoy this article about the Goldman Sachs case, via Andrew Tobias. It's short and sweet, if a little arrogant, and some of the comments are worth scrolling down for, too.

I was particularly interested in one commenter's suggestion that Apple (currently trading at about $270 a share) will triple. Oh, my! From his mouth to Nasdaq's ear.

We were in our local Apple store to look at the iPad last week. Suellen told the very friendly sales person, "We're not going to buy one today," to which she replied, "Well, we don't have any more. They're all sold out."

"When are they expected in?"

"Don't know, but we can put your name on a list and we'll put one aside and call you when it comes in."

Quote of the Day

Hat tip to Kevin Drum, who has a greater tolerance for reading about Tea Party folks than I do:

From tea party supporter Jodine White of Rocklin, California, trying to explain how she reconciles her desire for smaller government with her support for Social Security:

That’s a conundrum, isn’t it? I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security. I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind.

The quote is from a NY Times piece about the Tea Party.

Better Than We Deserve

During the hell that was the Reagan-Bush-Bush years, I was a broken record: "In a democracy, we get the quality of government we deserve."

Now, I'm not so sure. Why, after all those years of screwing everything up – EVERYTHING! – do we all of a sudden have a President who's smart, stays calm, and makes me proud?

I love the way he laughs at the Washington news folks:

The Dutch Nail Bush

From a Dutch comedy program:

Wisdom from the Right

I thought I read this in a story about Sen. Bennett of Utah, but maybe I heard it on NPR. Either way, it was too good not to pass on:

"We should be like Illinois and limit our politicians to two terms: one in office, and one in prison."

Addendum: Gail Collins on the Illinois Lt. Governor race.

The Moral Majority

In case you missed it, Bart Stupak is a Congressman from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Stupak is strongly anti-abortion – so anti-abortion, in fact, that he was perfectly willing to let 30 million Americans live without health insurance, and tens of thousands die because of that every year, unless the Health Care Reform bill stated up one side and down the other that no government funds would be used for abortions (a point of settled law, by the way).

And when he got that, he still would not vote for it until Obama agreed to issue an Executive Order that no federal funds would be used for abortions. So you'd think that might cover things with the anti-abortion crowd, wouldn't you? Wrong.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

It's really time for the "pro-life" crowd to rethink their strategy.

Let's Have a Little Laugh

Pretty impressive squirrel!

Well THAT Didn't Take Long!

Two days ago we were talking about conservative Republican David Frum, and his observation that the Republicans had really screwed things up for themselves by taking the low road on Health Care Reform.

If there's one thing Republicans can't stand, it's somebody who tells the truth. So we knew Frum was going to pay. It didn't take long. Via Huffington Post, here's a letter he wrote to Arthur Brooks, head of the American Enterprise Institute:

Dear Arthur,

This will memorialize our conversation at lunch today. Effective immediately, my position as a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute is terminated. I appreciate the consideration that delays my emptying of my office until after my return from travel next week. Premises will be vacated no later than April 9.

I have had many fruitful years at the American Enterprise Institute, and I do regret this abrupt and unexpected conclusion of our relationship.

Very truly yours,
David Frum

If you're not familiar with the American Enterprise Institute, it's one of those sham outfits that do so well in Washington. They hire a bunch of PR guys to write op-eds and go on radio programs to represent a certain point of view. What's sham about it is that they call these guys "Fellows" or similar pretentious names, to imbue their words with lofty import. The inside-the-beltway press loves them because they're close at hand and give their programs and articles an appearance of probity and balance. The Cato Institute and Hudson Institute are similar organizations. If you see a guy from any of them, just think: "paid shill."

Like we said on Tuesday: good luck finding work, David. Surely you knew what the American right does with apostates.

Update: By being terminated by the "think" tank, Frum's family will lose their medical insurance. Sad. Ironic, but sad.

Can You Still Laugh?

Thanks to Talking Points Memo for highlighting this little video:

Mr. Maverick

Remember when you respected John McCain? Seems like such a long time ago, doesn't it?

In his latest hissy-fit, McCain promised the Democrats in Congress "There will be no cooperation for the rest of the year," because they had the temerity to pass the Health Care Reform bill.

Which led to this exchange at yesterday's press briefing:

Helen Thomas (God bless her): McCain said he's going to oppose everything.

Gibbs: Well, yes, I find it curious that not getting your way on one thing means you've decided to take your toys and go home. I don't think -- it doesn't work well for my six-year-old; I doubt it works well in the United States Senate, because we have issues that are important for his constituents and for all of America.

Look, again, when it comes to financial reform people are going to have an opportunity to weigh in on behalf of the banks or on behalf of consumers. And I'll let their vote on that dictate which side of that ledger they feel most comfortable on.

Chip Reed: Are you comparing McCain to a six-year-old?

Gibbs: I'm saying that I think the notion that if you don't get what you want you're not going to cooperate on anything else is not a whole lot different than I might hear from a six-year-old.

McCain must have been apoplectic.

Update: This just in from Washington — Senator John McCain has threatened to hold his breath until Gibbs apologizes.

Deep Thought

The Republicans are communists. This is obvious, because they are attempting to pick up where Lenin failed, and create a classless society:

Dog Bites Man – An Honest Republican!

David Frum again, from Media Matters.




Unfortunately, it's too little, too late. The poor guy. Fox owns the GOP now. Good luck getting work.

Health Care Reform a Disaster – for the GOP

It got done.

Josh Marshall offers a perspective that I share here. Seven months in politics is a long time.

Bart Stupak, who held everything up in order to get stronger language against abortions, gets called a "baby killer" by a brave member of the Texas delegation who so far has declined to step forward and identify himself.*

David Frum, a conservative Republican, thinks the Health Care Reform bill was a disaster. For the Republicans. A taste here:

Conservatives and Republicans today suffered their most crushing legislative defeat since the 1960s.

It’s hard to exaggerate the magnitude of the disaster. Conservatives may cheer themselves that they’ll compensate for today’s expected vote with a big win in the November 2010 elections. But:

(1) It’s a good bet that conservatives are over-optimistic about November – by then the economy will have improved and the immediate goodies in the healthcare bill will be reaching key voting blocs.

(2) So what? Legislative majorities come and go. This healthcare bill is forever. A win in November is very poor compensation for this debacle now.

So far, I think a lot of conservatives will agree with me. Now comes the hard lesson:

A huge part of the blame for today’s disaster attaches to conservatives and Republicans ourselves.

At the beginning of this process we made a strategic decision: unlike, say, Democrats in 2001 when President Bush proposed his first tax cut, we would make no deal with the administration. No negotiations, no compromise, nothing. We were going for all the marbles. This would be Obama’s Waterloo – just as healthcare was Clinton’s in 1994.

Only, the hardliners overlooked a few key facts: Obama was elected with 53% of the vote, not Clinton’s 42%.

*Update: It was Rep. Randy Neugebauer of Texas, a co-sponsor of "birther" legislation. Neugebauer has apologized, and claims he said "It's a baby killer!", "it" being Obama's Executive Order on the subject – the same Executive Order that NOW is furious about.

How We Got Health Care Reform

It looks like, in a few hours, things will look considerably less bleak for millions of Americans. Yet, in January, the chances for passing Health Care Reform looked bleak. What happened?

This article in the NY Times hits the high spots. Samples:

Scott Brown, the upstart Republican, had just won his Senate race in Massachusetts, a victory that seemed to doom Mr. Obama’s dream of overhauling the nation’s health care system. The White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, once Ms. Pelosi’s right hand man on Capitol Hill, was pushing Mr. Obama to scale back his ambitions and pursue a pared-down bill.

Mr. Obama seemed open to the idea, though it was clearly not his first choice. Ms. Pelosi scoffed.

“Kiddie care,” she called the scaled-down plan, derisively, in private.

In a series of impassioned conversations, over the telephone and in the Oval Office, she conveyed her frustration to the president, according to four people familiar with the talks. If she and Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, were going to stick out their necks for Mr. Obama’s top legislative priority, Ms. Pelosi wanted assurances that the president would too. At the White House, aides to Mr. Obama say, he also wanted assurances; he needed to hear that the leaders could pass his far-reaching plan.

“We’re in the majority,” Ms. Pelosi told the president. “We’ll never have a better majority in your presidency in numbers than we’ve got right now. We can make this work.”

Sort of makes Rahm look like not such a brilliant tactician as a lot of folks were making him just two weeks ago.

Today's the Day

Today's the Health Reform vote. Yesterday Obama gave a powerful speech to the House Democrats. It's worth watching.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

No matter how the vote turns out, I sure am glad this guy got elected President.

I Was Going to Give This a Really Offensive Headline, But Thought Better of It. It's Tempting, Though.

Maureen Dowd said it better than I did: "...in a moral tug-of-war between the sisters and the bishops, you have to go with the gals." And she doesn't try not to offend.

Abortion and Health Care Reform

I've been scratching my head for weeks about why abortion opponents, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, especially, oppose the Health Care Reform bill. Read Chicago Cardinal Francis George's press release about it if you have a strong stomach.

I'm going to try very hard to say this without being insulting. I've already failed, but let's face it — Catholic cardinals need to be a little more humble, and they still haven't got that message. Now that I've told them, I'm sure they'll settle down.

Here are three facts:

• Medical bills to carry a child to term are 3-4 times more than they are to have an abortion. And a child's health care needs don't end at birth.

• Many women have abortions because they cannot afford to have a child.

• And here's the big one: As T.R. Reid wrote in Sunday's Washington Post: "There's a direct connection between greater health coverage and lower abortion rates." By all means, read the whole article. Reid writes:

The connection was explained to me by a wise and holy man, Cardinal Basil Hume. He was the senior Roman Catholic prelate of England and Wales when I lived in London; as a reporter and a Catholic, I got to know him.

In Britain, only 8 percent of the population is Catholic (compared with 25 percent in the United States). Abortion there is legal. Abortion is free. And yet British women have fewer abortions than Americans do. I asked Cardinal Hume why that is.

The cardinal said that there were several reasons but that one important explanation was Britain's universal health-care system. "If that frightened, unemployed 19-year-old knows that she and her child will have access to medical care whenever it's needed," Hume explained, "she's more likely to carry the baby to term. Isn't it obvious?" [my emphasis]

Isn't it obvious?

Apparently not to to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It seems that if they can't reduce the abortion rate their way, they'd rather not reduce it at all. Oops, another insult.

Postscript:

The leaders of more than four dozen U.S. congregations of [Catholic] women religious are urging members of Congress to "cast a life-affirming 'yes' vote" on the Senate's version of health reform legislation.

Those women have got guts. The Grand Inquisitor, Ratzinger, is already after them.

Do They Ever Get Embarrassed about How Gullible They Are?

Are you ready for the next paranoid right-wing wacko hysteria?

Did you know that Obama plans to BAN SPORT FISHING?

What can you even say to that?

Can't Get Enough of that CO2

While sniffing glue in a plastic bag, the South Dakota legislature made a remarkable discovery:

In South Dakota, a resolution calling for the “balanced teaching of global warming in public schools” passed the Legislature this week.

“Carbon dioxide is not a pollutant,” the resolution said, “but rather a highly beneficial ingredient for all plant life.”

So suddenly they're tree huggers?

What You Can Get for $260,000

Coldwater, Michigan, which is halfway between Chicago and Detroit.

1886 Victorian.
Pocket doors.
Circular driveway.
Stained glass windows.
Transoms.
Two dining rooms.
Glass front library bookcases.
Hand carved stairway.
Seven fireplaces.
Maid's quarters (well, of course!)
Property taxes: $2,000

See it all here. Sigh.

Estimated annual upkeep: Too scary to contemplate.

The Way I Found 'Em

You might think I was talking politics too much, but I had nothing to do with this:

Click on the picture for a better view.

A Great Newspaper Destroyed

Paul Krugman, who writes for the New York Times, on the Wall Street Journal:

Frankly, there was a time when I thought the Journal was better on business/economic news than the Times. But no longer; and it’s not just things like referring to the estate tax as the “death tax” in news stories. Overall, coverage is getting cruder, with more tendency to report opinions as if they were news, and substitute prejudices for real analysis.

... There’s a pretty good chance that we will end up with only one great national newspaper.

Call it the Rupert Murdoch Effect.

Jobs First, Then the Deficit

Politico receives its share of scorn, most of it richly deserved. The columnists dwell on cocktail circuit trivialities, their attention spans are short, and their insights are conventional, to be generous. Ideas that take more than a paragraph to express are not their forte.

But let me point you to a collaborative column by David Walker, former head of the Government Accountability Office and a deficit hawk, and Lawrence Mishel, President of the liberalish Economic Policy Institute, which is running on Politico right now.

President Barack Obama is in a difficult position when it comes to deficits. Today's high deficits will have to go even higher to help address unemployment. At the same time, many Americans are increasingly concerned about escalating deficits and debt. What's a president to do?

The answer, from a policy perspective, is not that hard: A focus on jobs now is consistent with addressing our deficit problems ahead.

The difficulty is that many politicians and news organizations often cast deficit debates as a dichotomy: You either care about them or you don’t.

But this is rarely accurate. The fact that the two of us, who have philosophical differences on the proper role of government, find much to agree on about deficits is a testament to the importance of dropping this useless dichotomy and finally talking about deficits in a reasonable way.

As in every economic downturn, federal revenues have fallen steeply because individuals and corporations earn less in a recession. High unemployment also results in higher expenditures for safety net programs, like Medicaid, unemployment benefits and food stamps.

Not surprisingly then, a huge recession can yield a huge deficit. Efforts to put people back to work and help restore the economy, like the recovery package passed last February, can also increase short-term deficits.

[snip]

That’s why we agree that job creation must be a short-term priority. Job creation plans must be targeted so we can get the greatest return on investment. They must be timely, creating jobs this year and next. And they must be big enough to substantially fill the enormous jobs hole we’re in. They must also be temporary — affecting the deficit only in the next couple of years, without exacerbating our large and growing structural deficits in later years.

Funding key investment and infrastructure projects to promote economic growth and offering a job creation tax credit are among the policy ideas that meet all these standards. In addition, temporarily renewing extended unemployment benefits can lead to more jobs throughout the economy.

Garrison Tells It Like It Is

Thanks to my sister, Kay, for sending this column from Garrison Keillor.

It is a large moment for Democrats, learning to stick with a good man through a rough period when the people who crave disillusionment have become disillusioned. It's like a winter vacation in the Caribbean when it rains buckets and you eat some bad shellfish and a shrieky teenager says you've ruined her life forever. You smile, take a shower and organize a volleyball game. You have to work at it. It's work.

The rest is here, and manages to wrap in Sarah Palin, Warren Beatty ("15 women, maybe 18, 25 tops"), and J.D. Salinger.

In his following column, Keillor has the same take on the Tea Party folks that I do, only funnier, and well written.

What's Happening in Afghanistan?

Kudos to the NY Times for its reporting in the past couple of weeks on the operations around Marja, Afghanistan, a Taliban stronghold. This assessment of how the Afghan troops are doing seems even-handed, if pessimistic.

Do you think C.J. Chivers is hoping to have something to do with getting Captain Amanullah replaced? The Captain would do well in Chicago politics.

Take 30 Seconds to Learn and Laugh

Apropos of nothing, I came across this little Indian commercial. You might have to pause the video to read the explanation of the vermilion dot at the beginning – it goes by faster than I could read it.

All Things Pakistan

There is a large Pakistani community in Chicago, though I suspect not as large as it was before September 11, 2001. When they came to the Social Security office, Pakistani males seemed, as often as not, to be verbally abusive toward the female employees, though merely contemptuous of the males. They were also heavily involved in efforts to "game the system" to obtain Social Security numbers they should not have.

So you see, I did not have a high opinion of the Pakistanis I came into contact with. The fact that the Pakistan government played footsie with the Taliban for so long did nothing to improve my opinion.

That's changing now due to blog called All Things Pakistan. If you go there now, you'll find a funny recipe for a dish called rice masala. The author writes in a pre-Fannie Farmer (i.e., pre-standardized measure) world for people who don't usually cook (Pakistani men?).

Most of the posts are about Pakistani culture and politics, and are a window into a world I don't know anything about. The poly sci major in me finds it pretty fascinating.

But I got off the track at the very beginning of this post, because what I wanted to do was share this little video I found there:

Scary

Don't miss this NY Times story about the Tea Party movement.

I've been pretty dismissive about them until now, thinking they'll get tired of it all in a year or two. Here's a story about a somewhat similar movement in France that went nowhere.

But these people are living in an alternate universe.

They're anti-tyranny. Here's proof:

At a Tea Party protest in Las Vegas, Joe Heck, a Republican running for Congress, blamed both the Democratic and Republican Parties for moving the country toward “socialistic tyranny.” In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican seeking re-election, threw his support behind the state sovereignty movement. And in Indiana, Richard Behney, a Republican Senate candidate, told Tea Party supporters what he would do if the 2010 elections did not produce results to his liking: “I’m cleaning my guns and getting ready for the big show. And I’m serious about that, and I bet you are, too.”

They're against the tyranny of democracy, I guess.

GOP Studies Health Care in Hawaii

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Apparent Trap
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Thank you, Breesus!

What a game!

The on-side kick was a brilliant call.

Insane or Stupid

A blogger for The Economist has a more measured response to the Research 2000 poll of Republican attitudes.

The Land of Lincoln – 21st Century Edition

This from Talking Points Memo:

The little-known pawnbroker who won this week's Democratic primary election for Illinois lieutenant governor was arrested in 2005 after his prostitute girlfriend alleged that he put a knife to her throat and pushed her against the wall -- an incident that could create a major headache for Governor Pat Quinn.

Scott Lee Cohen denies that he laid a hand on the woman, and says he didn't know she was a prostitute -- he thought she just worked in a massage parlor.

Where do we get these creeps? What is it about these guys (John Edwards, David Vitter, John Ensign, this cretin) that makes them think they're doing us some kind of favor by running for elective office? It seems like the only people who are ashamed are their poor families.

Between 20% and 50% Insane or Stupid

Bruce Bartlett is one of those Reagan wiz-kids who started this country on it's 30-year decline. Now he's shocked at what he's done.

According to Bartlett: "I can only conclude from this new poll of 2003 self-identified Republicans nationwide that between 20% and 50% of the party is either insane or mind-numbingly stupid."

He might be underestimating. Take a look at those poll results.

Tomorrow's Election

Today's Gail Collins column had an interesting note at the bottom it:

This column appeared exclusively in the Web edition of The New York Times on February 1, 2010.

It was a better column about tomorrow's election in Illinois than I've seen anywhere, including the Chicago Tribune and the Sun-Times. Hey, those papers have to try to survive in Chicago. Gail Collins doesn't.

Collins failed to mention that we've got former Governor Blagojevich's sister-in-law running for office, too. She is another daughter of the Chicago councilman that helped put Blago into office in the first place.

The local television and radio stations should have a very nice rainy-day fund by now, considering all the political ads they've been running, and they're nearly all negative, of course. There are some real crack-pots running for office (the Republicans) and some real sleeze-balls (the Democrats). It's a tough choice (not).

What a wonderful city.

Races to watch:

Does Mark Kirk (R) get skunked by the Tea Party candidate in the Republican Senatorial primary? (I doubt it.)

Does Joe Laiacona beat Deb Mell (the sister-in-law) for State Representative? (I doubt it. This is Chicago.)

Does Alexi Giannoulias, the 33-year-old "bank executive" whose bank is under federal oversight, get the Democratic Senatorial nomination to take Obama's seat? Is this the best the Democratic Party can offer up?

Does Dan Hynes, who went negative from Day 1 and gave the Repugnants lots of ammunition to use against his opponent, should the opponent win, beat Pat Quinn, who took the governor's chair when Blago was booted?

Oh, it's just too ugly.

Just for Fun

This little video took the $100,000 top prize in Nikon USA's Nikon Festival contest.

We Need to Get Out

Gail Collins nails it again.

Umida Akhmedova

Via a couple of posts on The Online Photographer, and a BBC story, I learned of the photography of Umida Akhmedova, of Uzbekistan.

Determined to destroy the reputation of Uzbekistan before most people have had a chance to form one, the authorities there have arrested her for "defamation and insulting Uzbek traditions." If convicted, she faces six months in prison, or three months at hard labor, for her 2007 collection of photographs of Uzbek people in their daily lives. [Click on the picture above for a better view of her alleged defamation. Then hit the back arrow to return here.]

Here are 51 of the photographs. You be the judge.

Untitled Post

As you know (because I keep telling you), this is a high-class blog. We don't use family-unfriendly language here. But I have to quote Jason Linkins at Huffington Post:

If you're looking for a concise way of capturing today's Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, how about: "We are all royally, hopelessly f****d for the rest of recorded time"?

If you'd like a more measured, less honest, appraisal of the decision, try here.

The Supremes – the Ted Bundys of Jurisprudence – decided yesterday that corporations are people, money is speech, and Congress can place no limit on the ability of corporations to corrupt the political system. The Reagan Revolution is complete.

Consider this, from Linkins' article:

In the 2008 election, Barack Obama and John McCain combined to spend about $1 billion, a number that Politico's Jeanne Cummings called "an unprecedented figure." And the combined expenditures of the entire 2008 cycle came to "a record-shattering $5.3 billion in spending by candidates, political parties and interest groups on the congressional and presidential races."

By means of comparison:

TOTAL AMOUNT OF BONUSES PAID OUT BY GOLDMAN-SACHS, 2009: $16 billion

TOTAL AMOUNT OF BONUSES PAID OUT BY JPMORGAN CHASE, 2009: $27 billion

TOTAL AMOUNT OF BONUSES PAID OUT BY MORGAN STANLEY, 2009: $14 billion

TOTAL AMOUNT OF BONUSES PAID OUT BY CITIGROUP, 2009: $25 billion

We are all royally, hopelessly f****d for the rest of recorded time. Since Exxon/Mobil will be calling the shots on climate change policy, that shouldn't be too much longer.

Cue Jim Morrison:

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise:
The end.

H.L. Mencken Comes to Mind

A college friend lives in Massachusetts. He was always a more thoughtful person than I, so I recommend his take on yesterday's Mess in Mass[achusetts].

Usury

It is a fact not well publicized that I once marched in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Only – unlike most Parade marchers – I was not a member of a marching band. Instead, I was a member of the Bergenfield High School Marching Concert Choir!

I don't know if there had been marching concert choirs before, or have been since, but Macy's had paid someone to write a theme song for their parade, and needed somebody to sing it. I guess since our marching band had been in the parade every year since Day 1, it would be logistically easier to just send a couple of extra buses and bring along the choir, too.

This is the song we sang on national television:

Here come the brass bands, snappy and syncopated.
Here come the floats, star-spangled and animated.
Here come the biggest balloons ever made
It's Macy's Thanksgiving Day – BOOM! – Parade.

It's a gaaaaaay holidaaaaaay!
Come on along you're all invited
And you'll be delighted.

By this time we were out of camera and microphone range and the song just fell apart. Mercifully.

So you understand that when I talk about Macy's, it comes from the heart.

Now jump ahead about 40 years. I'm living in Chicago, and a band of boobs called Federated Department Stores, Inc., doing business as Macy's, has bought Marshall Field's, the venerable Chicago retailer. All well and good, but Federated then announced they were changing the name of the store to Macy's. It has been widely boycotted ever since, and Federated is undoubtedly losing money on it. The few times I've been in the store, it has been relatively empty. You just don't throw away a trademark like that without repercussions, and if a brick and mortar store loses customer loyalty in the Age of Amazon – well, good luck with that.

Nevertheless, the Monday after Christmas this year, looking for a particular picture frame and exhausting all other possibilities first, we held our noses and forced ourselves to go into a Macy's store. We found what we needed, and as we were being checked out the sales clerk told S. about a special deal: sign up for a Macy's credit card, and get 20% off the purchase price.

Do I need to tell you?

On the bright side, Macy's probably made no money on the deal. On the other hand, there's that credit card.

When we got the bill, we discovered two things:

• In addition to the purchase price and any interest, Macy's charges a flat fee of $2 a month for any month you carry a balance. They assume you will carry a balance, and charge the $2 up front.

• The interest rate for this purchase, considering just the $2, is 135.2%, annualized. You read that right.

Financial Reform

From economist Joseph Stiglitz, via Andy Tobias:

There used to be a social contract about the reasonable division of the gains that arise from acting together within the economy. Within corporations, the pay of the leader might be 10 or 20 times that of the average worker. But something happened 30 years ago, as the era of Thatcher/Reagan was ushered in. There ceased to be any sense of fairness; it was simply how much the executive could appropriate for himself. It became perfectly respectable to call it incentive pay, even when there was little relationship between pay and performance. In the finance sector, when performance is high, pay is high; but when performance is low, pay is still high. The bankers knew – or should have known – that while high leverage might generate high returns in good years, it also exposed the banks to large downside risks. But they also knew that under their contracts, this would not affect their bonuses.

I was going to suggest we need a term to refer to these scoundrels, just as "robber barons" was applied to 19th century "captains of industry." From this Wikipedia article, I learned that "robber barons wasn't used until decades after the real robber barons had left the scene, and that somebody has already proposed "Robber Boomer Barons." I think we can do better than that. I was going to suggest "Republican," but nobody deserves to be called that.

Haiti

If you didn't see this report on 60 Minutes, watch it now:




Now let's have a round of applause for Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson.

Financial Reform

Congress's Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission held its first hearing yesterday. NPR reported that so many Senators and Congressmen are on the take, um, I mean receive large donations from the financial industry, that most of them are hoping it will just fade away.

The heads of the four largest banks – or maybe "financial conglomerates" would be a more accurate description – testified yesterday. These are the "best talent" that's attracted by the obscene bonuses. Krugman says they're clueless, and we should ignore whatever they have to say.

I have a better idea.

Airport Security

Chicago Ted sent along this interesting article from the Toronto Star about the difference in the approach taken on airport security in Israel to that in North America. It's well worth your time.

One quibble, though. I'm not sure if the reporter or the security expert is fudging this up, but fudging it is.

Officers are looking for nervousness or other signs of "distress" — behavioural profiling. Sela rejects the argument that profiling is discriminatory.

"The word 'profiling' is a political invention by people who don't want to do security," he said. "To us, it doesn't matter if he's black, white, young or old. It's just his behaviour. So what kind of privacy am I really stepping on when I'm doing this?"

There may be some issue about behavioral profiling I'm not familiar with, but as far as I know, it's racial profiling that gets people upset. Handling the issue in such an off-hand way doesn't raise my confidence level. The notion that it's a "political invention" adds suspicion.

It's like the phrase "politically correct." We are encouraged to sneer at political correctness. But wherever it's used, you can substitute the phrase "respectful of people who aren't like me."

Addendum: Chicago Kris had a great comment on the article.

Way back in 1990, when we went to Israel, it struck me that the security guys in Tel Aviv were asking very basic questions, then staring intently at me while I answered. Contrast that with the American airport official reading the scripted question, never taking his/her eyes off the computer screen. In American airports, the only person who looks you in the eye is the Starbucks barista.

Miep Gies

Miep Gies died yesterday at the age of 100.

A good friend, who is Jewish, once asked/assured me, "If we were living in the Nazi era, you would have hidden us, wouldn't you?"

The long pause before I answered was disconcerting, I'm sure.

The glib, easy answer is "Yes, of course I would." The difference between right and wrong is not usually so easy to discern.

But sometimes doing what is right takes incredible courage. Giving a glib, easy answer does not consider the sad fact that during the Holocaust, the number of people whose courage failed them vastly exceeded the number of people who, like Miep Gies, did what was right. To be honest, my courage has sometimes failed me for lesser things.

Consider how, when 9/11 had us so scared, we went so crazy. I had an employee who trembled with fear because she thought some pocket lint might be anthrax.

Politicians became cowards. They'd say things like "9/11 changed everything," and "My opponent has a pre-9/11 mindset." Interpretation: "I'm so scared I have lost my ability to do anything but react in fear."

Now consider the fear level with Nazi troops marching through our neighborhoods.

Giving the glib answer does not sufficiently honor those who said "Yes, of course I will hide you," when it was not a glib, easy answer at all.

Our Future is Bleak

Steve Benen over at Political Animal is really on a roll.

If it feels like, rhetorically, the entire political establishment is spinning its wheels, it's because that's true. For a year, the nation has confronted incredible challenge[s] that demanded serious, credible debates. And for a year, we've ended up listening to -- and responding to -- total nonsense.

Instead of debating the stimulus package, Republicans wanted to explore a five-year spending freeze. Instead of debating health care reform, Republicans wanted to talk about death panels. Instead of debating cap-and-trade policy, Republicans wanted to talk about "Climategate." Instead of debating national security policy, Republicans want to pretend the president doesn't use a word [terrorism] he uses all the time.

And he concludes: "Our political system has to mature quickly or our collective future is bleak."

And now we have the Tea Party "movement", the spawn of Republican rhetoric and its detachment from reality. Our political system is regressing, not maturing. And we see ourselves as the leaders of the Free World. Nobody's going to follow us there.

Benen has two additional great posts here and here.

Are There Any Real Reporters on TV News Anymore?

Steve Benen at Political Animal had the same reaction I did to an ABC News story this evening about Democratic retirements. Which was, basically, "Is this reporting? Or is somebody writing a story from a Republican news release?"

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) is retiring. So is Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). And before anyone could catch their breath, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) announced he's not seeking re-election, either.

It led ABC News to report that "Democrats are dropping like flies."

It is not shaping up to be a pretty week for the Democrats. [...]

You will certainly hear a lot of talk from Republicans that Democrats are beginning to face the reality of just how tough the current political landscape looks for them and they are running for the hills.

Does saying there's "a lot of talk from Republicans" (when isn't there?) qualify as reporting? How about actually doing some counting?

In the House, 14 GOP incumbents have decided not to seek re-election, while 10 Democratic incumbents have made the same announcement. Does this mean Republicans are "dropping like flies"?

In the Senate, six Republican incumbents have decided not to seek re-election, while two Democratic incumbents have made the same announcement. Is this evidence of a mass Democratic exodus?

Among governors, several incumbents in both parties are term-limited and prevented from running again, but only three Democrats who can seek re-election -- Parkinson in Kansas, Doyle in Wisconsin, and Ritter in Colorado -- have chosen not to. For Republicans, the number is four -- Douglas in Vermont, Rell in Connecticut, Crist in Florida, and Pawlenty in Minnesota. (Update: the GOP number is five if we include Palin in Alaska.)

Sigh.

Good work, ABC.

Update: Talking Points Memo has a rundown on the mid-term elections as they look right now.

The New York Times gets into the act. Gee, where do they get the idea for these unique articles?

Meanwhile, Gail Collins nails it.

Just Can't Get Enough of that Dudamel

Watch, especially, the section between 1:40 and 2:40. Can't think of another conductor who leads with his eyebrows.

Everybody's Picking on Brit Hume

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Some called him unprofessional. But he's just ignorant. Nothin' new here.

From the Ridiculous to the Deadly

I found two stories this morning that make it hard to make a case for organized religion:

This one and this one.

Good thing I wasn't planning on trying to make a case for organized religion.

Something for a Long Weekend

Talking Points Memo serves up the Ten Top Political Comedy Videos of 2009.

Don't miss the birther video.

Happy New Year

I am very disappointed about a number of things: even though the Fox Tea Bagger movement is more popular than the Republicans, nobody has yet put a stake through the GOP's heart.

The Supreme Court appears poised to give corporations the same rights as people. You think things are bad now!

Health Reform is a mess, but apparently the best we can get.

Afghanistan. Oh, Afghanistan.

As usual, Gail Collins sums up the year pretty well.

Despite it all, I believe as strongly as ever that Obama is the right man for the job right now. Bullied Pulpit had a good post last week that explains why.

Happy New Year. Here's hoping 2010 is the start of a long run of outstanding years for you!

The Self-Regulating Food Industry

The GOP's 30-year campaign to "get government off our backs" – because as Saint Ronnie said: "the government IS the problem" – is really starting to pay off.

Let's see, we had the housing bubble, followed by the financial meltdown, followed by the worst recession since the Great Depression. A startling success.

Now we're starting to find out what a government that didn't believe in government let people put in our food. I dare you to read the first five paragraphs of this story, then go have a hamburger at McDonald's.

Merry Christmas!

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The Worst of 2009

Time to start our list of The Worst of 2009. Pretty quickly I can come up with:

1) Anheuser-Busch, for it's adolescent Bud Lite advertisements, shown during football games, that ask "How can you tailgate without any tail?" and complain about "putting on a condiment". Ha-ha. Get it? Condom-ent. Ha-ha. How did things get so vulgar? Who are they really selling beer to?

2) The pharmaceutical industry, for Viagra/Cialis ads. Obama once said he'd like to be able to enjoy a football game with his daughters without having to explain to them what erectile dysfunction is. Indeed.

3) The banking industry, those "best and brightest" "masters of the universe" whose stupidity and larcenous behavior destroyed the economy. And who are at it again.

4) Fox News, for its fraudulent reporting, including fabricated news film. Goebbels would have been so proud.

5) The pharmaceutical industry, for campaigning against health insurance reform.

6) The Republican Party, for always appealing to worst instincts of the least informed in order to protect the most materially blessed, and for making sure America misses the boat on the emerging energy economy. We'll be buying our windmills from China.

7) The Chicago Bears.

8) Joseph Lieberman. What a tangled psyche.

9) Those television ads for lawyer referral companies, trolling for medical malpractice and personal injury cases, promising "We can get you money!" Talk about your ambulance chasers and bottom feeders! You can make a lot of money in this world if you have no shame.

I don't think Palin, McCain, or Cheney rate an honorable mention. They're just weird. Okay, Cheney is evil, but out of office he's mostly just entertainment. But we gotta have ten, because these lists always have ten.

Who have we missed?

Christmas Cheer – Not!

Tom Friedman bemoans America's inability to do anything important.

Maureen Dowd retaliates for being taken off McCain's Christmas card list. Not that what she says isn't true.

Looks like the prison at Guantánamo is going to be operating until at least 2011. Cowardice seems to be the main reason.

Speaking of Guantánamo, don't miss this story about a former prisoner there.

Lieberman

Gail Collins apologizes to John Kerry, and takes back an apology to Joe Lieberman. More about this later.

Usage and Use Are Not Interchangable

Thanks to Suellen for spotting this amusing little review of the reprint edition of Fowler's original A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, a book which holds an honored place in our house.

The writer is a little critical, so at the end of the essay covers his back in a clever way.

When We Were Crazy

I can't tell you how depressing it is to have memories that are half a century old, but here it is:

When he was in high school, my older brother, Ted, was something of a science geek. Between building models of missiles, I remember that he built a Geiger counter and performed an experiment that measured the amount of radioactivity that made its way to Bergenfield, New Jersey, when the Chinese began testing their nuclear bombs (which, as Tom Lehrer pointed out, we called "a nuclear device"). As I recall, and Ted correct me if I'm wrong, the increase in radioactivity was quite measurable.

Imagine that.

The madeleine that set off that memory was this little walk down history lane by Josh Marshall, who reminds me – if I ever knew – that in 1962 alone the U.S. conducted 105 nuclear tests (two every week). And we put some of them on the tips of missiles, one of which veered out of control!

I'll have to hold on to this factoid. Sometime when I get really discouraged about the rate of progress the world is making, when the Fox News morons and Ayn Rand cultists seem to be in the ascendancy, I'll pull that out and feel a little better.

Endnote: In fact-checking this post, I realize it must have been a Russian or American nuclear test Ted was monitoring, since the Chinese didn't start testing until 1964. But I left the story the way it was because 1) memory plays tricks on you, and 2) I like the Tom Lehrer quote so much I just had to leave it in.

And because I love you:

Nobel Laureate

I watched Obama's Nobel speech on streaming video this morning. I'm glad I did. It will be criticized by some as "professorial," which it certainly was. You can read the text of it here. But this professor is Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful military force in history.

What kept going through my mind was how grateful I am to have this guy representing this country on the world stage. What an improvement.

He was speaking, I think, more to the European audience than an American audience. He provided his rationale for being a Nobel Peace Price laureate at the same time he has ordered American troops into battle. He spoke to his audience as though they were intelligent people who might, after the Iraq War, have their doubts about whether American leadership would generate anything but an endless succession of wars.

I repeat: it treats his audience as intelligent people who can handle thinking about complex ideas.

Compare and contrast:

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Update: The NY Times editorial about the speech is worth a read.

Health Insurance Reform

Where have I been? Well, one morning a couple of weeks ago I was doing my customary morning reading when I noticed I was really, really angry about what I was reading. So I took my blood pressure, and saw a number I'd never seen before.

"This ain't good," thought I.

So I've been working on anger management, which in a world with Republicans in it is a real challenge.

Gail Collins manages to laugh at it all.