"the warm heart of the Republican party"

Had to use that quote for the post title because it's not the sort of idea I would ever see expressed anywhere.

They can't admit it. It goes against all their conditioning, all their training. They simply cannot admit that, for going on 40 years now, the warm heart of the Republican party—namely, the conservative movement and the fundamentalist Protestant right, both of which rose to power in the late-70's—has converted that party into an identity-based cult, and now the reactor's gone super-critical and nobody can remember which buttons to push and which dials to spin. At this point, their identity is their ideology—an ideology of victimhood, and of the fantasy oppressors that people outside the cult see merely as evidence of a changing world. They look at the country's shifting demographics the way that the Heaven's Gate people looked at the Hale-Bopp comet. It's going to take something seriously awful to shake them to their senses and, frankly, I'm not sure I want to live through whatever that has to be.

Thanks for writing me a post, Mr. Pierce. Might as well steal the rest of it. I feel like DD doing this.

 It's because they've become moronized by the weaponized ignorance that spews forth every day from their favorite radio hosts and their favorite TV news stars, and their crazy drunk uncle who can't stay off the Internet, and Alex Jones, and the prejudices and meanness that every human heart is heir to and to which Frank Luntz has made a career of appealing, and the awful journalistic malpractice that has allowed the ignorance to run unchecked simply because it wins elections and the country gets worse, and there's always somebody else to blame.

That's how professionals write. 

Should Have Gone to the US, Bruv

So, if this guy had been here he could have done some real damage.

The stabbing of a man in the London metro in what police described as a terrorist attack provoked a defiant riposte from a bystander that has struck a chord in Britain: "You ain't no Muslim, bruv".

The 29 year old assailant shouted "This is for Syria" as he attacked a 56 year old man and threatened others before being detained by police who used a stun gun, witnesses said.

I realize the people who were wounded likely consider it to have been serious and I am concerned for them. England has annual gun deaths in the hundreds, though. I'm sure the NRA would love to propagandize them into arming up to combat incidents like this. 

BTW, if the bruv had been in our fair land, the majority party in Congress would have been more than glad to allow him to have been armed. 

Senate Republicans voted against barring suspected terrorists, felons and the mentally ill from getting guns on Thursday afternoon, parroting National Rifle Association arguments that doing so would strip some innocent people of their constitutional rights to gun access just a day after yet another massacre on U.S. soil.

Yeeha! Land of the free and the home of the armed. 

Fare Thee Well Kim, We'll Miss You

Actually, I hadn't followed the story very closely, so I didn't know Kim Davis was a Democrat. I'm thinking it may have been in order to get the government job or some such reason. In any case, the GOP is certainly welcome to her.

Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, a longtime Democrat, says she is switching to the Republican Party because she feels abandoned by Democrats in her crusade against same-sex marriage.

Davis made the announcement while in Washington, D.C., to attend the Family Research Council's Value Voters Summit, said Charla Bansley, a spokeswoman for Liberty Counsel, which represents Davis in her legal battles.

"I've always been a Democrat, but the party left me," Davis said, according to Bansley.

Yes, the party certainly did leave you and is all the better for it.

Connecticut Should Be Proud

God, I wish I had Chris Murphy representing my district.

“Republicans simply don’t acknowledge the legitimacy of diplomacy as a tool of American power,” Senator Chris Murphy, a rising star in the party, tells me. “Democrats have to make a loud, passionate case for diplomacy as part of the way we keep ourselves safe. This is going to be the seminal diplomatic achievement of this administration. It will provide us with our best opportunity to make a case for diplomatic engagement with the rest of the world.”

The opening to Cuba would have been the seminal achievement except this is really big. You go, Chris.

Here's Peter Beinart pointing out what I haven't seen anyone address.

 Even if Congress passes new sanctions, it’s quite likely that the overall economic pressure on Iran will go down, not up. Most major European and Asian countries have closer economic ties to Iran than does the United States, and thus more domestic pressure to resume them. These countries have abided by international sanctions against Iran, to varying degrees, because the Obama administration convinced their leaders that sanctions were a necessary prelude to a diplomatic deal. If U.S. officials reject a deal, Iran’s historic trading partners will not economically injure themselves indefinitely. Sanctions, declared Britain’s ambassador to the United States in May, have already reached “the high-water mark,” noting that “you would probably see more sanctions erosion” if nuclear talks fail. Germany’s ambassador added that, “If diplomacy fails, then the sanctions regime might unravel.”

It's cute that Tom Cotton et al think that the U.S. is the king of the world. But it just ain't so. 

Embracing Bernie and The Donald

I was actually already embracing the idea of both of them running, but this is a nice column on the subject. On the comparison thing that I've noted in a recent Kathleen Parker column and apparently it occurs (not surprisingly) on Fox News.

However wrong it feels, Democrats ought to embrace the juxtaposition of Trump and Sanders for at least two reasons. First, it’s accurate. Both candidates are indeed authentic representations of their party’s base. Trump is a near-perfect distillation of the modern American right: The bravado, the bigotry, the raging idiocy, the false confidence, and the lack of ideas – it’s all there in one gloriously manicured body.

I was recoiling at the comparison. Now. Not so much. 

Bernie Sanders may well represent the “extreme” left of the Democratic Party, but he has real ideas; arguments can be made against them, of course, but the point is that he offers something substantive against which to argue. Unlike Trump, he has an actual platform, spelling out what he wants to do and how he intends to do it. From infrastructural decay to climate change to tax reform to higher education, Sanders is proposing solutions. Conservatives may not like those solutions, but they at least have to be reckoned with. This is a fundamental distinction between Trump and Sanders, one the GOP would prefer to ignore.

This is something that I've noticed.

There are crucial differences between Trump and Sanders, some of which are cited above. But the most important difference here is between the two parties. Trump’s circus act isn’t possible in the Democratic Party. There are no celebrity candidates on the left – and certainly none capable of polling at the level Trump does. Democrats have had their share of bad candidates over the years, but they’re bad for different (and less offensive) reasons than GOP candidates. They’re bad for reasons related to their ideas or campaign platform or something politically relevant.

I do have to disagree with this point though. The Green Party seems to have the same problem. 

Only in the Republican Party do unserious candidates emerge as contenders. Only in the Republican Party are half-baked celebrities allowed to hijack the process to promote their private careers. Only among conservative Republicans are hucksters like Trump embraced.

What's a Few Carbon Emissions?

Rep. Stefanik continues to give value for campaign money given.

U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro, voted for a bill last week to postpone states’ compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.

Other Republicans followed suit on Wednesday — 239 voted yes, and four voted no, while 176 Democrats voted no and eight voted yes.

It's so nice to live in an enlightened state (NY, but yes, of mind too).

“New York already caps carbon pollution from power plants, so the Clean Power Plan is really about the rest of the country catching up to what we’ve been doing for years,” Bambrick said. “We would like to see the New York delegation stand up for the interests of New Yorkers and tell the rest of the country it’s time to stand up for what New York is already doing.”

From Environmental Advocates of NY:

Today, just days after Pope Francis appealed for climate leadership, and as world leaders are developing ways to cut carbon emissions, Representative Elise Stefanik cast her first climate vote and supported legislation (HR2042) to block implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan, incite states to ignore federal law, and create a legal boondoggle that would stall climate action for years, if not decades, to come.

They Tax Food In Kansas?

Yes, they really do.

Kansas lawmakers agreed to balance the budget by raising sales taxes, but that means some struggling families will have to pinch pennies even more.

Last week, Kansas lawmakers agreed to raise next month's sales tax from 6.15 percent to 6.5 percent.

Low-income residents will especially feel the hike when paying their grocery store bill.

My heart goes out to people who live in these red-state hellholes. 

Good Health News for Empire Staters

The assembly in our fair (it's all those things) state has voted to one-up Obamacare.

The New York Assembly wants to cut out the middle man.

A bill that passed 89-47 would essentially eliminate insurance companies and cover all New Yorkers' healthcare needs through a so-called single payer system.

Our Senate, unfortunately, is not so fair. 

An identical bill hasn't advanced in the state Senate, so the measure is not likely become law any time soon.

And just to stick another shiv in the idea that there is no difference between Dems and Reps.

The vote fell roughly along party lines.

Oooh, look, 81 sponsors. All Democrats. 

Dems Equal Reps Except When They Don't

I can see why Teddy Kennedy was so fond of Elizabeth Warren. And why the 1% is not.

At its most basic, this was a demand by what Howard Dean used to call "the Democratic wing of the Democratic party" to be taken seriously, to have its issue taken seriously, and to exact a political price from anyone who declines to do so. 

I'd really like to believe the president is being sincere in his belief that this is a good thing. It's difficult to impossible, though. 

Possibly Making Al Franken The Second Best Pol In Minnesota

Thanks to Charles Pierce for the link to this MoJo article on Mark Dayton. Heir to a corporate fortune and a Democrat, how bad is that? I'm just going to link to it because it's kinda long. And it's all so good that it should all be read. Disappointed that it will be his last term as guv there. Happy to see he has Dems to work with in his legislature. Though I know that some think there is no difference.

And then, there is Scott Walker to call bullshit on that idea.

Fuck it, we'll give Al some love, too.

Franken is a fascinating politician. His public profile is practically non-existent, at least by the yappy standards of the cable-news, clickbait era. He is a first-class fundraiser; his work on behalf of Senator Professor Warren was the stuff that dreams are made of, but he never gives you the sense on the stump that he's trading on his celebrity. And, in the Senate, he's gone out of his way to prove himself a workhorse, and not a show-pony, without ever giving the impression that he's overcompensating for having been a next-level comedian for all those years. He is a Minnesota liberal in the tradition of Hubert Humphrey and Paul Wellstone, but both Humphrey and Wellstone were more visible politicians than Franken has been.

Dems equal Reps, blah fuckin' blah. 

My Big Problem With The Opposition To The Iran Deal

And I owe thanks to Senator Rubio for being the subject of an article pointing it out.

After Rubio reiterated that he’d abandon the Iran deal in favor of new sanctions, Inskeep pointed out that those sanctions wouldn’t really work without support from our allies. Here’s how Rubio responded:

RUBIO: Yes, it wouldn’t be as effective, obviously. We would, ultimately, I think, the Europeans are going to have a test anyway because the Iranians are going to violate the sanctions at some point. They’re going to evade it either by trying to take advantage of loopholes in the deal, or they’ll just flat out evade it because they’ve always had a secret component to their, to their program. And at that point, they’re going to have a huge test on their hands, which is, are they willing to live by the agreement that they even signed on to? But from the United States’ perspective, while we want our allies to join us in this endeavor, and certainly sanctions against Iran would be more effective were they in conjunction with our allies around the world, we have to look out for our own national security concerns.

That’s a departure from his previous position that the unilateral sanctions would be “crushing,” and in that way he’s at least showing a little deference to reality. 

Wouldn't be as effective? They would be non-existent. In addition the five countries joining us in these negotiations, what's to stop Japan, South Korea, India and whoever else that wishes to trade with the evil Persians from doing so. The main people being punished are American farmers and producers who will be restrained from trading with them. 

And here's a link to a WashPo piece pointing out that Scott Walker also over-estimates the power of the US.

SYKES: You have said that you would cancel any Iranian deal the Obama administration makes. Now would you cancel that even if our trading partners did not want to reimpose the sanctions?

WALKER: Absolutely. If I ultimately choose to run, and if I’m honored to be elected by the people of this country, I will pull back on that on January 20, 2017, because the last thing — not just for the region but for this world — we need is a nuclear-armed Iran. It leaves not only problems for Israel, because they want to annihilate Israel, it leaves the problems in the sense that the Saudis, the Jordanians and others are gonna want to have access to their own nuclear weapons…

These are the adults in the responsible party. Making that vote for Hillary look easier and easier. 

Meet A Man John Bolton Wants To Kill

In today's CSM, otherwise known as the paper of record here in Hometown USA, we meet a young man who has returned to Iran. John Bolton would have no problem with his being killed in the interest of "regime change." In all fairness, many others would die as well.

His move back to Tehran is part of a reverse brain drain encouraged by the June 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani. Shouting out PINs is just one of many quirks embraced by those young professionals educated abroad who have spurred good prospects in the West to return to live and invest here. 

It’s a bet on the future, and for many a bet on the presidency of Mr. Rouhani, the relatively moderate regime insider who has promised to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue with world powers and revive an economy crippled by sanctions and tumbling oil prices. 

That's it. I just wanted to introduce Salar in case a president is elected who will not share President Obama's interest in actually not engaging in hostilities with Iran. In that case, his life may end. Thanks to the 47 asshat senators who pointed that out.

It Could Have Been Worse

They could have been Rick rolled, or as it's now known, Ted Cruzed. It's just one more instance of the internet having that liberal bias that Al Gore built into it.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the House GOP conference, took to Facebook tocommemorate the fifth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act by asking to hear real-life horror stories from real people. 

Hilarity ensued. I tried to go add my "horror story" of how the government is subsidizing my health insurance to the tune of $273 per month. Oddly, the site no longer exists.

ONLY SLIGHTLY OFF-TOPIC: I was curious as to how many Greens have been elected to, well, anything. I knew there were none in Congress. Otherwise, there actually are a few a levels above dogcatcher.

As of October 18, 2012, there were 134 elected Greens across the United States. Positions held varied greatly, from mayor to city council, school board to sanitation district. 

At least, I believe sanitation district is above dogcatcher.

Differences between Dems and Reps.

Ted Cruz Goes On Talk Show: Spouts Bullshit

Yeah, I know. Quel surpris,eh?

The bullshit is found to be false in today's CSM, which likely is not read by anyone who would consider voting for him. I was going to put the link to this story up anyway, but since Senator Green Eggs and Smarm volunteered to accompany it, what the hey.

Bostonians still digging out from a record snow season may scoff at the news, but global temperatures for December through February were the warmest on record – which is saying something, since that goes back 135 years.

In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s report this week, global temperatures for the period could have been even higher but for cooler-than-average numbers across eastern North America (the United States and Canada).

And of course, Cruz does mention the cold in New Hampshire, where he recently visited and successfully fear-mongered a 3 year old. And while we're on the subject of Texas pols with double digit IQ's, this too, from the paper of record here at Hometown:

Texas may soon allow people to carry concealed weapons on college campuses, thanks to a new bill that was given preliminary approval by the state Senate on Wednesday.

The “campus carry” bill was approved by a 20 to 11 vote along party lines. The Senate is expected to hold a final vote on Thursday, after which the bill will go to the GOP-controlled state House of Representatives. 

While gun-rights advocates and Republican senators support the bill, many student groups and school officials do not.

What do those students and school officials know? Fuckin' libs! Here's one now. 

One of the most vocal opponents of the bill is retired Adm. William McRaven, the architect of the raid to kill Osama bin Laden, and the University of Texas’ chancellor.

"There is great concern that the presence of handguns, even if limited to licensed individuals age 21 or older, will lead to an increase in both accidental shootings and self-inflicted wounds," he wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

And today in Democrats not acting like Republicans comes this bit of news. Try as you read the article to imagine John McCain or Willard Romney taking similar action.

President Obama signed an executive order Thursday to rein in heat-trapping emissions from a major polluter: the federal government.

Hamstrung by a GOP-controlled Congress, Mr. Obama’s order is the latest in a series of executive actions to address climate change. Environment and climate policy have emerged as centerpieces in Obama’s second term – from his plan to cut US power plant emissions 30 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, to last fall’s bilateral climate accord with China.

Truly, as Faux Green candidate Matt Funiciello will tell you, Democrats and Republicans are the same.

Good Sweet Jesus, please go watch this video (hat tip Chas Pierce. The fun starts at 17;55. I hadn't heard about Obama nuking Charleston and Santorum fails to address that. 

Getting Back To Hometown USA

Today we leave the travails of the Levant behind and return to Hometown USA. We had a wonderland of wingnuttery in our local fishwrap today (bless their liberal hearts). In order not to bury the lede, I'll start with the biggest and bestest story. Don't call me between 1 and 2 on Thursday come mid-April.


Green Party congressional candidate Matt Funiciello is becoming a radio talk show host.

His program is to be called "UnCommon Sense." Whether that's because he lacks the other kind is not noted. I should point out that it was good enough for Thomas Paine, however.

“We’re looking to do primarily an interview and call-in show. But we’re also looking to try to make sure that the production value is a little above what would be expected for a public affairs program that was done locally for free,”

Not  sure what "production values a little above" means. More cowbell maybe. Apparently, he believes the wingnuts who listen to Dennis Miller (if any there be) will stick around for his leftwing views. I'll pass on the Miller lead-in.

Funiciello said talk radio is a great way for him to reach conservative-minded voters.
“We’re trying to get the faux conservative and faux liberal mentalities together and come up with something that is other,” he said.

Thinking back on his platform, I'm not sure what conservative, faux or otherwise, would've supported a $15 an hour minimum wage and single payer healthcare. And since I believe he may have labeled me a faux liberal in a Post Star comment thread, I'll mention why he lost my vote quite early on. In his first interview with The Chronicle, he stated we need guns to protect ourselves from tyranny. I'll just say that I hear enough of that from the Right and let Jim Jefferies carry the ball from there. Thanks again, Magpie.

This is a good opportunity to once again bring up the Dems = Reps BS. Matt also, in a PS comment, pointed out to me his support for HR 676 Single Payer Healthcare Bill. Which is great. Love it. Unfortunately, he left the thread and never responded to my response. I pointed out that this resolution was sponsored by John Conyer, democrat from Michigan (bless his everlasting soul), and co-sponsored by 88 additional democrats (bless them as well). Need I mention the zero Republicans who put their names to it? I do need to mention that these democrats put their asses on the line only to be slandered by Matt Funiciello as no different than Republicans.

Moving on from the once and future Green Party candidate for district rep, brings us to a military recruiter who has run afoul of the law here in the hometown.

The former military recruiter who pleaded guilty earlier this month to sexually assaulting two women in Washington County pleaded guilty Wednesday to possessing an illegal assault rifle as well.

Robert S. Haas, 36, of Kingsbury, pleaded guilty to felony criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the seizure of an illegal gun from a storage unit in Glens Falls last April.
He faced four counts of criminal possession of a weapon — two felonies and two misdemeanors — after the rifle, an unregistered handgun, an electronic stun gun and brass knuckles were seized from the storage unit, police said.

But don't you see, he needs that weaponry to defend himself from the tyrannical government that is set on keeping him from raping women. The SAFE Act fails again.

On a normal newsday, this letter writer might have had the post to himself. Today he finds himself in show.

Editor:
I have written in the past that some of the president’s missteps were because he was absent from school when it was taught in history. I may sound like Rudy Giuliani (I can’t join the Mayflower Society either) to point out that he may have been educated in Indonesia. History should be the same worldwide.

The attempt to marginalize the visit of the prime minister of Israel which was treated as a breach of protocol and ignored the importance of what he said. When Neville Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier met with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, President Eduard Benes of Czechoslovakia wasn’t invited, although his country was being divided. History does repeat itself, doesn’t it? I doubt if Parliament ratified the agreement. These days it could have become a reality “by executive action” as so many important matters have become. I don’t recall hearing much about executive action until President Bill Clinton was pardoning so many of those who donated to his library. It must be legal. Could those executive actions be reversed by the next president?

The few well-placed atomic bombs would be in Hitler’s words “the final solution to the Jewish problem.” During the negotiations with Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt said he could charm Stalin while Winston Churchill didn’t want to be so generous. Churchill was right about Munich also. FDR certainly was charming. Iran doesn’t seem to be easily charmed.

HAROLD CRAIG

I'm sorry I don't have the time or energy to Fisk your letter, and I'm not going to respond in print either. Your loss. Of course, I have nearly no idea what you're going on about anyway, except to say "Obama bad." Well, maybe just a few.
  
some of the president’s missteps were because he was absent from school when it was taught in history.

It what? 

History should be the same worldwide.

What?

When Neville Chamberlain, Edouard Daladier met with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, President Eduard Benes of Czechoslovakia wasn’t invited, although his country was being divided. History does repeat itself, doesn’t it?

Hunh? Getting tired of what. Congrats on getting Chamberlain and Hitler in there. Hitler is a Godwin, don't know if Chamberlain has his own yet. 

I don’t recall hearing much about executive action until President Bill Clinton was pardoning so many of those who donated to his library. It must be legal. Could those executive actions be reversed by the next president?

Pretty sure Clinton wasn't the first to extend prez pardons. Gerald Ford comes to mind. As far as reversal; executive actions, yes and pardons, no. That's my guess.

Iran doesn’t seem to be easily charmed.

See my last couple posts before this one. I don't care if they're charmed. That's hardly the point. And whether the Israelis or the Saudis like our negotiating with Iran, I don't care there either.

This From The Liberal Washington Post

So, I know that Mark Frost is reading the WashPo now because it's not as lieberal as the lieberal NYTimes. He did say that the WashPo was coming around to those good Conservative values (such as genocide). I'm sure this psychopathic opinion piece, by someone whom I'm sure moonlights as a serial killer, made his day.

What if force is the only way to block Iran from gaining nuclear weapons? That, in fact, is probably the reality. Ideology is the raison d’etre of Iran’s regime, legitimating its rule and inspiring its leaders and their supporters. In this sense, it is akin to communist, fascist and Nazi regimes that set out to transform the world. Iran aims to carry its Islamic revolution across the Middle East and beyond. A nuclear arsenal, even if it is only brandished, would vastly enhance Iran’s power to achieve that goal.

And sadly yes, it gets more insane from there.

Otherwise, only military actions — by Israel against Iraq and Syria, and through the specter of U.S. force against Libya — have halted nuclear programs. Sanctions have never stopped a nuclear drive anywhere.

Does this mean that our only option is war? Yes, although an air campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure would entail less need for boots on the ground than the war Obama is waging against the Islamic State, which poses far smaller a threat than Iran does.

Some might make the case that sanctions stopped a nuclear drive in Iraq. Of course, it didn't do any good because psychopaths like Joshua Muravchik helped to impel us into war there, too. And since we obviously don't have an army capable of taking on a country 3 or 4 times the size of Iraq and aren't going to have any allies, we'll just drop bombs on them. That won't cause any unintended consequences. 

Fuckin' asshole!

And since I'm here, do Democrats equal Republicans in this instance, Matt?

Since Frost recently said he was a fan of The Atlantic as well as the WashPo, I hope he caught this post by James Fallows (bless his heart).

Right, repeated bombing raids "as necessary." What could possibly go wrong with that approach? Yes, "surely the United States could best Iran." Surely we could polish off those backward Viet Cong. Surely invading Iraq would work out great. (I haven't taken the time to see if the author was a fan of invading Iraq, but I have a guess.) Surely the operational details of these engagements are a concern only for the small-minded among us.

How would we think about a "scholar" in some other major-power capital who cavalierly recommended war? How would we think about some other capital-city newspaper that decided to publish it? The Post's owners (like those of the NYTand other majors papers) have traditionally had a free hand in choosing the paper's editorial-page policy and leaders, while maintaining some distance from too-direct involvement in news coverage. Jeff Bezos, behold your newspaper.

Hat tip to Scott Lemieux at LGM for the Fallows link and for "The Answer is always War."

More Things To Be Optimistic About

Because I listen to the mainstream press now and then, I came to believe the Dems have a "weak bench."

It's bunk.

Thanks. That's all I really needed was reassurance. And you have examples, too.

There's Martin O’Malley, the former Maryland governor, who is actually running. And Elizabeth Warren. And Andrew Cuomo, Al Franken, Tim Kaine, Amy Klobuchar and Mark Warner. Oh, and Michael Bennet, Mike Beebe, Christine Gregoire, Maggie Hassan, Jeanne Shaheen, Sherrod Brown, Kirsten Gillibrand, John Hickenlooper and Deval Patrick.

O'Malley seems very nice. Pretty sure that Warren has said no fewer than a million times that she's not running. And I know that I don't trust our governor with something as big as the US. I would dearly love to see wingnut heads exploding when Franken was sworn in as prez. I adore Kirsten because she fuckin' slayed that SOB Sweeney. And she's been real impressive since then. Stacked up against any Republican they look good to me. Hope they do to a majority of my fellow citizens. 

Thanks, Jonathan Bernstein.

Thinking O'Malley is running for vice-president maybe, but he does sound reasonable. Far as I know he's not as corrupt as governors to the North of him.

But there is O’Malley, and he’s getting a turn in the spotlight now that Clinton is seeming embattled. He’s trying to make the most of it, but he’s frustrating the media by refusing to kick his rival while she’s (sorta) down. In a 15-minute “Morning Joe” interview Thursday, the crew asked him about Clinton’s email issues five times. He mostly deflected the questions – “I don’t feel compelled to answer that,” he told a persistent John Heilemann — trying to turn the conversation back to his ideas about growing the economy and narrowing income inequality.

Good use of the word "compelled."

And omigod, we're not a Christian nation anymore. See the link for all the blasphemous details, suffice to say many are joining me in choosing alternatives. After a flirtation with Druidism, I've settled on being a non-practicing Taoist.

What?

But When You're Right, You're Right

I realize that I don't agree with any of Lew Rockwell's economic views, but I enjoyed the dunning letter he sent me. He's not getting any money, but I'm more than willing to help share his views on neocons. Have at it, Lew:

The ideological movement that calls itself neoconservative is small, potent, and extremely dangerous. Oh, and its members don’t like lewrockwell.com, either.

Founded by followers of Leon Trotsky, they liked Lenin but not Stalin, who killed Trotsky. These left-wing intellectuals now run the conservative movement and the Republican party. How the heck did that happen?

They applied the tactics they learned from Bolshevism to become first, left-liberals, and then, new conservatives. In every mask, they have been very successful, but while there are important neo-liberals (Democratic neocons), they have had the most effect in the GOP.

From the days of Reagan, especially, and their almost total victory under Bush II, the neocons have exerted immense influence not only in politics, but in academia and the media.

Their policies are no longer openly socialist; indeed, they promote a government-controlled capitalism, instead. But their belief in global empire, perpetual war, the police state, central banking, total surveillance, and an omnipotent executive has never changed. Now, however, thanks to them, that’s called Republican conservatism.

Perhaps the first neocon was Leo Strauss, an admirer of the totalitarian Plato, and who advocated rule by intellectuals who, from behind the scenes, would put neocon ideas into practice not only through machinations and the “Noble Lie” (needed to fool the peons into obedience), and through connections to the state’s intelligence organs. The neocons have always been very, very close to the CIA.

Who are the neocons? The late Irving Kristol is properly called their godfather. Bill Buckley was important, too. Today they include such figures as Bill Kristol, John McCain, Charles Krauthammer, and Sean Hannity. Their institutions include everything from the NY Times to National Review, and departments in many universities, too. Oh, and let’s not forget the billionaire donors.

Despite having vast power, the neocons seem to be in perpetual anxiety. They’re like fleas on a beautiful dog—constantly worried about being scratched off.

And what might be the intellectual equivalent of the much-needed flea powder? The ideas of liberty, especially as shown forth by our two greatest anti-neocons: Murray Rothbard and Ron Paul.

I started LRC more than 15 years to support these ideas, and to tell the truth about the neocons, whom Murray had first warned me about. In the Congress and in private life, Ron has been the great anti-neocon champion.

If a grouplet is salaamed from the White House to the Congress, from the Pentagon to the CIA, why worry about opposition? Because neoconism is built on very ignoble lies, and we have the beautiful truth on our side.

So LRC has been smeared from pillar to post from the very beginning. 2014 may be the worst ever. The NY Times had a number of attacks, and have their many allies. A major search engine company joined in, and so did many paper and digital pubs.

There is no attempt to refute the ideas of freedom, peace, laissez-faire capitalism, honest money, private property, of the idea that we do not need a predatory and vicious state ruling over us, that civilization if built on commerce and trade with everyone, on the art of peace, not the weapons and mores of death.

LRC continues to reach young people, all over America and the world. I know we are doing good, because of all the attacks. They’re like anti-congressional medals of honor. But they’have had an effect, especially that giant search engine’s actions. This year, more than ever, LRC needs your help very much.

Whatever donation you can make would be a huge help, to keep LRC going.  Please, bug the neocons and boost liberty, by becoming a Supporter. I can’t tell you how important this is. Please help as much as you can, as soon as you can.

PS: It seems as if the state and its pals are advancing on all fronts, but one of their weak points is youth dissent and youth skepticism towards their lies and schemes. Help me keep this going, in 2015 and going forward. 

Well said sir, they combine the worst of Democratic activism with the worst of Conservative slathering adoration of the military and have infected the politics of both parties. They are an unfortunate aspect where Funiciello is right. But, on the Netanyahu/Iran Diplomatic issue the parties are obviously on a different wavelength. And the two MFers are not on the same wavelength either. 

The Yin and the Yang of Barack Obama

The president is just like George Bush:

The “revelations” from the report poured out to a stunned nation.  There were the CIA’s own figures on the hundreds of children in the backlands of Pakistan and Yemen killed by drone strikes against “terrorists” and “militants.”  There were the “double-tap strikes” in which drones returned after initial attacks to go after rescuers of those buried in rubble or to take out the funerals of those previously slain.  There were the CIA’s own statistics on the stunning numbers of unknown villagers killed for every significant and known figure targeted and finally taken out (1,147 dead in Pakistan for 41 men specifically targeted).  There were the unexpected internal Agency discussions of the imprecision of the robotic weapons always publicly hailed as “surgically precise” (and also of the weakness of much of the intelligence that led them to their targets).  There was the joking and commonplace use of dehumanizing language (“bug splat” for those killed) by the teams directing the drones.  There were the “signature strikes,” or the targeting of groups of young men of military age about whom nothing specifically was known, and of course there was the raging argument that ensued in the media over the “effectiveness” of it all (including various emails from CIA officials admitting that drone campaigns in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen had proven to be mechanisms not so much for destroying terrorists as for creating new ones).

That should finish off the last of the holiday spirit! It's from a report to be published in December 2019 according to the prophet Tom Engelhardt. I feel a ton of guilt just from stupid shit I did as a kid. How people who cause death and destruction to others on the level done by these fucks live with themselves, I'd love to know.

On this level, Obama equals Cheney. Read the rest. It doesn't get better.

Then there's the FDR, Lincoln, LBJ (the non-genocide in Vietnam LBJ); Obama:

However there are a few things that transpired this year that warm the very depths of my cold black heart. I’ve said before that before I shuffle off into oblivion/The Big Empty/infinity-XXL/Bloomington, Indiana, there were a few injustices that I would like to see corrected.

The right of gay-Americans to get same-sex hitched, marijuana to be legalized, and fer-Christ-sakes, accept that the embargo with Cuba was a stupid idea and lets get over ourselves and open up relations and travel with the warm and beckoning tropical nation.

For all intents and purposes, all three happened this year.

As a fellow late-middle-aged, middle-class white male living in America, I join Tbogg in celebrating these 3 bitchin' things America got for Christmas this year.

And some more good stuff from this year from The Nation; including Democrats that are not the same as Republicans. These would be Liz Warren, Zephyr Teachout, Pat Leahy, Barbara Lee, Maura Healey and many more.

There is hope. Yet.

The Christmas Spirit Is Alive And Well

My personal feeling is that 20 or 30 years from now, folks are going to look back on the whole EIT torture shame we are witnessing and will feel about it the same way rational people now feel about Japanese internment, McCarthyism and the lynching of Blacks back in the day. Right now, I hear tell, half the good folks of this here United States are reported to be right there with Dick Cheney in saying it was justified. So, for you future readers of Hometown USA, I present some letters to the Post Star. That was a newspaper. You likely won't have them. I'm going to leave the names off the letters, but provide links.

Isn’t it amazing, time after time we are fed these ridiculous stories, news articles from around the world, while the empty suit occupying our White House lies to us, insults and stabs our allies in the back, demoralizes our military, encourages racial strife, and all but destroys the middle class? Then comes this half-made-up story throwing our CIA under the bus, and bam, front page! Let’s embarrass the Republicans. Surprise all our senators, yes even liberal Democrats went along with these proposals years ago. But now that the voters have embarrassed these snakes, let’s take a last shot at tearing down this country.

We pay our police to keep the riff-raff from our door, then tie their hands. We pay our military to fight these murdering cowards, but our know-nothing liberals must guide them. I lost many good friends on 9/11. I still see the falling bodies. I still see three burning bodies hanging from the bridges. I can still feel the pain of the loved ones who saw the bodiless heads of husbands and children. Do I feel anything for these godless cowards? I only hope the next administration has more guts than this one. Hopefully America will again be respected and feared. We are fighting for our lives.

God bless you, John J. Byrnes III. Thank you for your service. Thank you, America’s police officers, America’s soldiers and the CIA.

Number Two:

I think Mr. Tingley should be ashamed of himself for his commentary concerning the Senate report of torture. First of all, this investigation was done solely by Senate Democrats without any input of many key players involved, most notably members of the CIA. It was obvious from the start that this was a totally biased political ploy concocted solely to distract from the many failures of this administration and he bit on it hook, line and sinker. These “enhanced interrogation” techniques are not torture. If you want to know what torture is, ask some of the POWs of World War II, Korea or Vietnam.

I’m surprised of the views of Sen. John McCain considering what he went through. He mentioned Mai Lai and Abu Ghraib. Sure, there will always be a few atrocities in war, but why not concentrate on the atrocities perpetuated on totally innocent people by the most inhumane barbaric savages of our time?

For anyone to have sympathy for any of this ilk being banged against a wall, have water poured on them or being “inconvenienced” in some way is totally beyond belief.

Yeah, what the hell? They pour Gatorade on coaches all the time. The third contestant for humanitarian of the year:

According to the Dec. 17 Post Star, 141 people, mostly children, were massacred in Peshawar, Pakistan, by the Taliban.

On Page A2 is an article about the killing of at least 25 in car bombings, including a school bus, on which at least 15 primary school students were killed in Sanaa, Yemen, which is blamed on al-Qaida.

Now tell me again why, if some of these terrorists were captured, enhanced interrogation would not be justified to help find the rest of the cowards who perpetrated this outrage.

Yes, won't you think of the children? Of course, if they had grown up she'd have had no problem with their being tortured because they were wrongly "fingered" by someone else being tortured who gave out their names. That's the way the witch trials in Europe and America went, I do believe.

And here is a Christmas gift for Matt Funiciello. This is one of those cases where I cannot argue against the fact that on some levels the Obama WH is absolutely as evil as the Bush/Cheney WH. 

Four years ago today, frustrated Tunisian vegetable seller Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire and started a wave of uprisings in the Arab world that continue to reverberate to this day – though not in the way that many expected.

Sadly, the promise of what some call the Arab Spring has not come to pass anywhere yet, except perhaps in Tunisia, the small country where it all began.

Since then, a democracy protest movement has been crushed, with Saudi Arabian help, in Bahrain, the kingdom that hosts the US Fifth Fleet; Syrian protests for change have deteriorated into the world's bloodiest current civil war, with 200,000 dead, millions displaced from their homes, and the US fighting jihadis who became dominant in the uprising, not the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad.

Yeah, the evil part:

Yet while President Barack Obama spoke of democracy and a change in the way the US does business in the Middle East in those heady days, today his administration and the US Congress, Republican and Democrat, are getting back to business as usual, with security and strategic concerns trumping the lip-service paid to democracy and open societies.

Earlier this month Congress approved a spending bill that calls for $1.3 billion in US cash and weapons for Egypt's military to be conditioned on tangible progress towards democracy. But lawmakers also allowed Mr. Obama to waive this requirement if he thinks security or other interests are more important. Yesterday, State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the administration was delighted with this "flexibility."

OTOH, Obama did take actions in regard to Cuba that neither McCain nor Romney would have done in a million years. And voting for Jill Stein isn't going to make it so.

Oh, and here's Digby on GOP hypocrisy regarding Cuba. 

To think that just last week the man who is preaching today about America’s commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was exhorting us all to thank the people who used torture techniques like “rectal feeding” on prisoners in American custody.

..............................................

(A)s Dick Cheney put it a few years back:

“They’re living in the tropics. They’re well fed. They’ve got everything they could possibly want.”

Fidel Castro couldn’t have said it better himself.

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(W)hen you endorse torture, the least you can do is have enough shame not to sanctimoniously lecture others about morality and high ideals of civilized behavior.