Skip to content

Yet another example of IOKIYAR

Monday, March 19, 2012

Another post from another liberal about the media’s failure to point out that most of what comes out of Romney’s mouth is a lie. For some reason, while reading this article, my mind flew back to another campaign that took place a long long time ago, in a political galaxy far far away.

The time was the year 2000 and the place was America before everything changed on 9/11. The candidate was Al Gore, who, according to the press, had a problem telling the truth. We were assured, for instance, that he had claimed to invent the internet, though he hadn’t. Hadn’t invented it, and hadn’t made the claim, that is. He was accused of other deviations from the truth, all of which, on close examination, turned out to be no deviations at all, but they had been branded deviations by the right, and that was sufficient for the press to repeat them. What difference did it make, for while there was no truth to the claims, there was a manufactured truthiness about them. You can learn the details of this ancient history at this site, and get more details by searching around on Bob Somersby’s former site, here.

Some might argue that the press learned its lesson from 2000 and now it is just being extra careful before it implies or says that Mitt (or Little Ricky, or Newt, or every other Republican ) is a liar. Perhaps it feels that if one can come up with any construction of the language used- no matter how strained or contrary to sense, grammatical principles, mathematical laws, or scientifically proven facts- that would make a statement arguably true, then the press feels duty bound to let the statement pass, lest it unfairly sully the reputation of an honorable Republican. For after all Mitt is an honorable man; So are they all, all honorable men.

Some might make that argument. Others, far more cynical, might argue that, were Al Gore to run for office again, the liar narrative would be reincarnated in a flash. Such people might point out that there appears to be a rule among members of the press corps that it is impolite to point out that Republicans lie, because that is what they do, that is what they are expected to do, and it is therefore incumbent upon us to look the other way when they do it. Democrats, on the other hand, are expected to play it straight, so not only is it incumbent on the press to point out when they lie, but it is also perfectly fair to pass on Republican talking points that allege that they lie, even when they are not, in fact, lying. In Washington, this is known as fair and balanced reporting, which has not, in lo these many years, been confined to Fox.

 

Filed in Republicans | | Comments (0)

Obama video

Sunday, March 18, 2012

I’ve been a critic, but when you compare Obama to what we could have gotten, or could get, it’s hard to complain too much. This well done video does a great job of highlighting Obama’s achievements, which none of us should forget.

 

 

Filed in Obama | | Comments (0)

Spring is Icumen in

Friday, March 16, 2012

Some pics selected more or less at random from those I took today at the Boston Flower Show.

 

 

 

 

 

And one shot of the Boston skyline.

 

 

Filed in Pictures | | Comments (0)

How Pacs work, set to music

Thursday, March 15, 2012

A primer on SuperPacs from ProPublica

 

Filed in Corporate Crime, Video | | Comments (0)

All the sharks, jumped

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

There was a time, on this blog, that I actually was capable of writing what passed, at least in my own mind if nowhere else, for satirical or humorously mocking pieces about Republicans, but I admit my powers seem to be fading. I’ve blamed myself, to myself, until today I had a revelation. It is, quite literally, impossible to satirize the self satirizing, or to mock the self mocking. At least it is if you presume your audience has the slightest shred of intelligence, for satire and political humor both involve the exposure of a target’s weakness, whether it be stupidity, hypocrisy, irrationality, paranoia or the toxic mix of all of the above that is the brand of the modern Republican party. But this presupposes the need to expose these things; that they are, at least to some extent, practiced in a nuanced enough fashion that they need exposure. But we are so beyond that point in this post-post modern age. This is the age of out and proud stupidity, full frontal hypocrisy, blatant irrationality, and open and notorious paranoia. What’s to expose? What is there to satirize? These barreled are shooting themselves.

Latest case in point is the right wing’s effort to blame the Obama administration for the Sandra Fluke episode. The specifics of the plot are many and varied, but apparently they are all variants of the theme that the Obama folks set up the Republicans to deny Fluke the opportunity to testify, planning in advance to have her testify before a rump hearing of their own, knowing full well that Rush would engage in a vitriolic disgusting attack on her, thereby forcing Republicans to choose between doing the right thing and defending, Rush, knowing that the Republicans would never offend Rush, and knowing also that they could then make contraception and the right of women to be treated as human beings an issue in the campaign. All this, the Democrats, the party that has never in my lifetime managed to push any talking point in unison, planned in advance, with the hapless and hopeless Republicans falling for it every inch of the way, with Rush dutifully stepping up to spew the expected vitriol.

Rush himself is getting into the act:

By the way, the movie Game Change, the HBO movie that premiered on Saturday night (that’s designed, once again, to castigate and destroy Sarah Palin all over again)? The same public relations firm representing Sandra Fluke represents Game Change. The same PR firm that handled Sandra Fluke’s episode is handling Game Change, and you know who it is? Anita Dunn, formerly of the White House! The Mao Tse-tung admirer, by her own admission. Anita Dunn, Obama’s former adviser, is the PR firm for the movie Game Change and for Sandra Fluke. It’s all part of a plan. It is not accidental. None of this stuff just happened. "Whoa, looky over there what just happened! It’s all orchestrated.

There it all is, a pile of warm and steaming stupidity, hypocrisy, irrationality, and paranoia that defies ridicule. It says to all and sundry: you cannot expose anything I have not already revealed. You cannot satirize me. I am beyond mockery. You might consider pitying me, but I defy even that.

 

Filed in Republicans | | Comments (0)

Arizona goes where Congress has not yet tread

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Do Republicans really think they have a winner here? Do they really think they can win by locking up the narrow minded white elderly, mostly male vote?

Arizona House Bill 2625, authored by Majority Whip Debbie Lesko, R-Glendale, would permit employers to ask their employees for proof of medical prescription if they seek contraceptives for non-reproductive purposes, such as hormone control or acne treatment.

So, not only can they deny benefits for birth control used for contraception, they can make you prove to their satisfaction that you have a non-slutty need for the pill. Surely Ms. Lesko would agree with Ohio legislator Nina Turner that we men also need someone to watch over us. No doubt she’ll amend her bill, and her male compatriots will surely sign on, to incorporate Turner’s ideas:

 

Specifically, Turner’s bill would require men to receive psychological counseling to verify that they have a medical reason for taking erectile dysfunction medications, such as Viagra, before they can legally obtain a prescription for it. It would also require doctors to inform men, in writing, about the potential risks of drugs like Viagra.

Filed in Republicans | | Comments (0)

We don’t need no education

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

There are times when you really have to wonder if this country has a chance to survive.

I am a regular reader of Paul Krugman’s blog as well as his column in the Times. I would have assumed that his blog readers would, by a process of self selection, be relatively intelligent and somewhat comfortable with the maths. But apparently quite a few of them, but to be clear, not all, have math abilities that are fuzzy in the extreme.

The specific point at issue at the moment is as follows: North Dakota has a relatively low unemployment rate, thanks in part to a recent spike in energy related jobs (the state is allowing itself to be raped). The claim has been made that opening up other state to oil extraction would have similar results in other states. Krugman has been struggling, in multiple posts, to explain why an increase of X number of jobs in North Dakota might have a huge impact on the unemployment rate there, while an increase of that same X, or even a slightly higher Y, in, say, California, would be almost statistically meaningless. Apparently, some folks can’t quite wrap their heads around that, which makes you wonder if there’s any hope for a country in which so many people are so innumerate.

I had first hand experience of this phenomenon when I was on the Groton Town Council. People could not understand that the increase in their property valuations during a revaluation year did not necessarily mean an increase in their taxes. If all values rise in exactly the same proportion, the absolute tax would be dependent solely on the mill rate. If your valuation increases, but its percentage increase is less than the average percentage increase, then your taxes go down assuming a constant mill rate. It was absolutely amazing how the folks whining about their perfectly justified assessed value increases could not or would not understand this.

I guess we are all, or too many of us anyway, Mississippians now.

Filed in Rants | | Comments (0)

It’s what’s in his lyin’ heart

Monday, March 12, 2012

Wow. Only conservatives get to be this disingenuous. A while back Rick Santorum lied about the Dutch euthanasia law. He said that one in 20 Dutch deaths are the results of euthanasia, many involuntary. A lie from first to last. Here’s his spokesperson not answering a Dutch reporter’s question about Little Ricky’s big lies.

 

 

Via Foreign Policy via Balloon Juice

 

Filed in Republicans | | Comments (1)

Consolidation in the world of god

Sunday, March 11, 2012

At the Washington Monthly, Ed Kilgore notes that there has been an uptick in church foreclosures in the past year. He notes that the usual suspects that see problems for religious liberty in Obama’s religious neutral requirements imposed on insurance plans, don’t seem to have a problem with the banks destroying the religious infrastructure.

Part of me is cheering on the banks. Every church that is boarded and shuttered is one less monument to superstition and ignorance. But there is a real danger here, for in the fine American tradition of monopoly building, it looks like what is going on is a consolidation.

The church foreclosures have hit all denominations across America, black and white, but with small to medium size houses of worship the worst. Most of these institutions have ended up being purchased by other churches.

Bigger churches, no doubt.

Many Protestant denominations have a tradition of local control, an outgrowth of the antipathy toward the bishops and Popes when Protestantism was young. Those were also days when very smart people engaged in endless religious debate, and even the lowly parishioner was well informed about these issues. Doctrinal disputes, at least among the evangelicals, appear to have receded in importance. A shared sense of victimization and fear of the rational unites the religious these days, to the point where the nutcase Protestants are perfectly happy to make common cause with the whore of Babylon. (That would be the Catholic Church, for the untutored) Religion is becoming commodified, and we may have reached a point where the average church going crazy will accept the Wal-Martization of religion with the same sheep like indifference with which he or she accepted the Wal-Martization of the rest of America. In other words, any purveyor of the toxic mix of hate, fear, superstition and ignorance that is religion in America will do.

Religion is big business, so these foreclosures may just be accelerating an inevitable trend: the concentration of religious power and money (in this country, is there a difference?) into the hands of a few powerful men (and as the last few days have proven, they will be men). This in turn poses a threat to the functioning secular majority, as the corporatized churches will make common cause to further their shared business plan. You can’t shear sheep unless you have sheep, and all religions depend on the manufacture of more sheep to grow their businesses. You can’t grow good sheep without inculcating superstition and preserving ignorance, a business plan that sits well with the Republican party and the corporations it is their true mission to support, both of which depend on those same sheep to obtain and preserve power. They may not be a majority, but they will work together to achieve their ends. It’s worked well so far, and as the Mom and Pop churches are replaced by the big franchises it will work even better, as church money flows toward the Republicans and as Republicans, as they have done for the banks and secular corporations, find ways to send taxpayer dollars flowing back to the churches.

 

Filed in Religion, Republicans | | Comments (0)

Friday Night VIdeo

Friday, March 9, 2012

This is a week late, but I would be remiss if I didn’t note Davey Jones passing with something by the Monkees. Now, to the purist they were not a group at all, being as they didn’t play their own instruments, at least at the start, but then, they did do their own singing, at least I think they did. Given that rather salient fact, it stands to reason there would be no videos of them actually singing one of their songs, so I shall break a rule here and play what you might call a music video, which appears to be an outtake from one of the shows. Yes, boys and girls, we really did watch this sort of thing.

One thing the Monkees had going for them is that their music was penned by some good writers, and the instruments were played by good studio musicians. They were a ginned up TV band, but all things considered, the music was pretty good. This song, one of the best, was, in my opinion, sung far better by its composer, Neal Diamond, who, in my humble opinion, has been somewhat underrated. But this is Monkees night, so here’s a Monkees version.

Filed in Music | | Comments (0)