October 24

Salon - Something very unusual happened on The Washington Post Editorial Page today.

They deigned to address a response from one of their readers, who "challenged [them] to explain what he sees as a contradiction in [their] editorial positions": namely, the Post demands that Obama's health care plan not be paid for with borrowed money, yet the very same Post Editors vocally support escalation in Afghanistan without specifying how it should be paid for.

"Why is it okay to finance wars with debt, asks our reader, but not to pay for health care that way?"

September 17

Ian Welsh -One constant theme which needs dealing with is the idea that the country is more conservative than liberal and that centrists are needed to hold off horrible conservative things from happening...

When I look at the US what I see is a banana republic. And then I see people who think that the Senate, or even the House, actually does what the American people want...Oh, Congress will sometimes do what the majority want—when that’s what it was going to do anyway. The plan to fix this is simple enough and always has been. Obama was a right wing democrat and this was clear early... Once he was chosen as the nominee I told people ... to take their time and money and spend it on electing progressive members of Congress, where that amount of money and volunteers could be decisive.

People who hold progressive and liberal policy views are a much larger proportion of the population than the right wing crazies are, they are in fact a majority of the population, though you’d never know it from listening to the gnashing of teeth of some folks.

If the right wing crazies could capture the Republican party, liberals and progressives, who already make up the largest block in the House, and who massively outnumber Blue Dogs, can certainly do the same to the Democratic party.

September 18

Media Matters - The [Acorn "brothel"] story at this point really has a lot more to do with Fox News and conservative media activism than with ACORN.

The undercover videos first appeared on BigGovernment.com, founded by Andrew Breitbart, a protégé of Matt Drudge and a conservative with a long record of highly partisan and inflammatory statements. Giles, daughter of conservative blogger Doug Giles, attended the National Journalism Center in Washington, one of the many right-wing institutions conservatives have established to flood the field with young, motivated, and rabidly partisan "reporters."

On the offense, Breitbart has lashed out at the mainstream media for supposedly burying the story... Many mainstream reporters were indeed worthy of criticism, but for the opposite reason that Breitbart cited. Their real failure was discussing the ACORN issue on Fox News' terms and ignoring the network's role in pushing the smears.

The New York Times covered up conservatives' well-documented ACORN obsession in its reporting. In their reports, all three network evening news broadcasts -- ABC's World News, NBC's Nightly News, and the CBS Evening News -- left out substantive facts about the incidents that mitigate the accusations, exonerate ACORN employees, or undermine the credibility of the filmmakers. Moreover, none reported that Fox News, in its aggressive promotion of this story, had made false accusations.  more

Boise Liberal Examiner (snips) | July 21

Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, with the assistance of political strategist Bob Shrum, has published a moving account on the subject of health care reform, which I recommend to everyone.

What I find so disturbing is the tone of so many critics of health care reform, including Republicans, the media, and many Democrats. No one ever talks about the moral imperative, the disgrace of leaving tens of millions uninsured and threatening virtually everyone else with at least the possibility of losing their coverage during critical times in their lives, like after getting sick or losing their jobs. Whenever the Congressional Budget Office issues another dreary, depressing cost projection, the media and Republicans seize on it, trumpet it with obvious relish, as if to say, "See? We were right all along. We can't reform the system. It's too expensive."

Which of course is code for the fact that the haves will have to pony up for the have-nots. The money is there, one way or another. How can we afford useless, wasteful wars, but not health care for our people? Except for a few, the attitude is one of looking for an excuse, any excuse, to perpetuate this disastrous system, and to push our obscene failure to treat all citizens fairly and compassionately away from our collective consciousness.

a columnist from the heartland gets furious at the health care killers

The Economy Is Still at the Brink

Sandy B Lewis and William D. Cohan | June 6

NYT -Mr. Obama thinks that the way to revive the economy is to restore confidence in it...

We have both spent large chunks of our lives working on Wall Street, absorbing its ethic and mores. We’re concerned that nothing has really been fixed. We’re doubly concerned that people appear to feel the worst of the storm is over — and in this, they are aided and abetted by a hugely popular and charismatic president and by the fact that the Dow has increased by 35 percent or so since Mr. Obama started to lay out his economic plans in March. But wishing for improvement and managing by the Dow’s swings are a fool’s game. more at the link

NYT - IPanic-
Image after the jump. Larger image at link.

Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett | May 23

NYT - President Obama's Iran policy has, in all likelihood, already failed. On its present course, the White House’s approach will not stop Tehran’s development of a nuclear fuel program — or, as Iran’s successful test of a medium-range, solid-fuel missile last week underscored, military capacities of other sorts. It will also not provide an alternative to continued antagonism between the United States and Iran — a posture that for 30 years has proved increasingly damaging to the interests of the United States and its allies in the Middle East.

What do Agonistas think of this NYT op-ed piece?

The Onion - Calling it an essential step toward securing the Texas border and protecting his people's way of life, Gov. Rick Perry announced Tuesday the completion of a 1,953-mile wall designed to keep out millions of unwanted Americans.

According to Perry, the 75-foot-high barricade running along the northern boundary is the culmination of more than 160 years of escalating tensions between Texas and the United States. Though a protective barrier has been under consideration for decades, the Texas Legislature voted unanimously to begin construction on the project immediately following the 2008 presidential election.

"As governor, it is my responsibility to do whatever's necessary to maintain the territorial integrity of Texas," Perry told reporters during a press conference held inside a sniper tower overlooking Oklahoma. "If you are a Texas citizen, you shouldn't have to worry about some American coming in here, using your goods and services, and taking away your job."

plus

Guantánamo Closure Delayed

"Maybe if we leave it open just one more week, we'll find out if they did it."

I know, it's not Friday yet, but the last few days have been torture difficult.

An update on the US financial crisis in Onion video here

Pauline Chen, MD | April 17 (snips)

NYT - Not long ago I finished reading the 1992 memoir "The Puzzle People" by Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, regarded by many as one of the fathers of transplantation.

Beginning with his childhood in LeMars, Iowa, Dr. Starzl describes his education and training under some of the legendary doctors and scientists of the 1940s and ’50s. He tells us of his failures and successes, up through his retirement from the operating room just before turning 65. It is an account of one of the most exciting periods in modern surgery, written in lucid and unflinching prose by a man who not only had a front row seat but also frequently dominated the stage...

I recently spoke with Dr. Starzl, who at 83 continues to be involved in transplantation research and with patients (he excused himself from one of our conversations to take a call from a patient). He shared some of his thoughts on the patient-doctor relationship, health care reform, and on being a patient and doctor. MORE

really worth reading if you've become completely cynical about doctors ~nymole

Chicago | April 3

The Onion - Sources in the Chicago metropolitan area confirmed Monday the existence of an extraordinary "business-man" imbued with the earning power and fiscal strength of 10 ordinary men.

This invincible, superhuman associate is reportedly able to leap from assistant manager to vice president of operations in a single bound...Sources claim the man draws his power from a special hand-tailored Italian suit that strikes fear into the hearts of rival equity firms everywhere...

continued at the link

some topical dark humor for the weekend from the Onion

The Onion - Members of the U.S. Armed Forces were reportedly overcome with feelings of joy, nostalgia, and optimism this week after learning they would soon be withdrawn from Iraq and allowed to finally return home to Afghanistan. "I never thought this day would come," said Cpl. Douglas Robinson, who hasn't seen the barren hills and smoking craters of his beloved Kabul in nearly six years. "Being away from those you left behind, for this long, it definitely starts to take a toll on you." Added Robinson, "I can't believe I'm going home again."

In 2003, thousands of American soldiers were unexpectedly uprooted from Afghanistan and sent off to fight in a long and bloody war overseas. After serving multiple tours of duty in Iraq, the vast majority of these troops said they couldn't wait to get back and have their lives return to normal.

"It's going to be great to be surrounded by all those familiar faces again," said Pfc. Shawn Brunner, staring wistfully at an old and faded photograph of the bleak wasteland. "The tribal sheiks, the frightened villagers, all that wonderful rubble near the Id Gah Mosque. When I'm finally back on Afghan soil, I'll probably kiss the ground."

more at the link

Some bad news/good news market philosophy from yesterday's Nelson Report:

OBAMANOMICS...every commentary we read about the Obama Administration's response to the financial crisis is that for the markets, nothing seems to matter except "fixing the banks"...defined as taking all those toxic loans off the back of the credit market, so business can get what it needs to keep employment from continuing to fall off the cliff.

This is very bad news, it's increasingly becoming clear, since "everyone" also now agrees that the markets will continue to tank, in the absence of a "bank plan" it believes in.

That's because the Obama folks seem to be telling us that there will BE no immediate satisfaction of this "demand", since the President and his advisors realize that whatever they may want privately, Congress isn't going to vote the trillion (or perhaps two-trillion) needed to really clean up bad bank debt.

More after the jump

The Borowitz Report

Huffington Post - In remarks that seemed guaranteed to create controversy, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said today that he was "rooting for the planet Earth to explode" because it would help the GOP retake the White House.

Mr. Limbaugh elaborated on his planet explosion theory, explaining that if the world blows up in the next four years "it will happen on Barack Obama's watch."   more

Marc Fisher in Saturday's Washington Post again suggests: "double it:"

Washington Post - Tonight, the clock shifts forward. Tomorrow, sunset moves from 6:07 p.m. to 7:08 p.m. But our work here is not done. If we really wanted to fill our lives with joy and save energy and money, if we really wanted to move beyond the fiction of our agrarian conception of time and into the modern world, we'd shift to year-round Daylight Saving Time--or, if we really wanted to embrace reality and maximize life, go to Double DST, a big, two-hour push forward of the clocks that would turn our summers into a marathon of gorgeous, endless evenings.  more

After they heard Obama gave AIG another huge wad of their money, they knew it was time- nymole

The Onion -
Drawn by a strange force they could neither resist nor describe, millions of Americans reportedly dropped what they were doing today and, acting as if by instinct alone, gathered into one massive nationwide breadline.

According to witnesses, citizens across the country exited their homes in near unison, leaving behind growing stacks of bills, empty kitchen cupboards, and what was once a life of comfort to form the spontaneous, 2,000-mile-long queue.

David E. RePass asks why Harry Reid once again is letting Republicans set the agenda in the Senate (SP asked a similar question in 'Harry Reid in action' in 2008)

NYT - President Obama has decided to spend his political capital now, pushing through an ambitious agenda of health care, education and energy reform. If the Democrats in the Senate want to help him accomplish his goals, they should work to eliminate one of the greatest threats facing effective governance — the phantom filibuster.

The phantom filibuster could be done away with overnight by the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid. All he needs to do is call the minority’s bluff by bringing a challenged measure to the floor and letting the debate begin.

Gideon Levy | February 13

Haaretz - The Israeli left died in 2000. Since then its corpse has been lying around unburied until finally its death certificate was issued, signed, sealed and delivered on Tuesday. The hangman of 2000 was also the gravedigger of 2009: Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The man who succeeded in spreading the lie about there being no partner has reaped the fruit of his deeds in this election. The funeral was held two days ago...

There was no reason for it to be otherwise. After many long years when hardly any protest came from the left, and the city square, the same square that raged after Sabra and Chatila, was silent, this lack of protest has been reflected at the ballot box as well. Lebanon, Gaza, the killed children, cluster bombs, white phosphorus and all the atrocities of occupation - none of this drove the indifferent, cowardly left onto the street. Though ideas of the left have found a toehold in the center and sometimes even on the right, everyone from former prime minister Ariel Sharon to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has spoken in a language that once was considered radical. But the voice was the voice of the left while the hands were the hands of the right.

On the fringes of this masked ball existed another left, the marginal left - determined and courageous, but minuscule and not legitimate. The gap between it and the left was supposedly Zionism. Hadash, Gush Shalom and others like them are outside the camp. Why? Because they are "not Zionist."
more at the link

Tikkun has called for a national conference in Washington D.C. April 29-May 2nd to "Support Obama to BE the Obama You Voted For." Below are articles related to that goal

1.How to avoid being coopted
Peter Gabel

...
The ideological technique that the force of fear has begun to adopt to try to assimilate and co-opt (y)our victory is to declare that what happened on November 4 was the demonstration that an African American can now win the presidency of the United States. This casts the meaning of the election as a victory for nondiscrimination, as if what we were all celebrating was merely that anyone can now compete for and win the presidency without regard to race.

The corollary of this interpretation will be to test how well you are doing as president by analyzing not how transformative your leadership is but rather how conventional it is—by how well you manage the government, how well you manage foreign affairs, how well you manage the economy, or in other words, by how well you “play the role” of president within a system that is otherwise supposed to go on functioning the same as it ever was.

It is in accordance with this very narrow interpretation of the meaning of your victory that so many conservatives (from George Bush, to Condoleezza Rice, to Brent Scowcroft) have hailed November 4 as a historic moment, and that CNN asked as its first call-in question to its listeners after the election whether your victory should signal the end of affirmative action.

My message to you is this: resist the attempts to normalize your presidency by putting you on a pedestal of nondiscrimination, isolating you as “the leader,” and then gradually tearing you down after your absorption into isolation has demobilized your base. Instead, follow these four principles to help strengthen your base and deepen the meaning of your presidency:

more from this article and others at the link. Excerpt from a second view after the jump.

video via Huffington Post

If you don't bark at Bach or balk at Bach or

bah! nah! hah! or squawk at Bach...:-)

                 

You might want to listen, in whatever dose you can tolerate , to wkcr.org(Columbia University)'s annual Bach festival streaming over the internet  24 hours a day from 9:55 AM December 22 - Tuesday December 30 12:00PM .

A schedule  of what's played when is available at the site for those whose interests or schedule are more finally honed.....

NYT - Time to give thanks. Let’s get cracking.

Sure, this isn’t the absolutely best and brightest holiday season ever. But look at the pluses. There has never been a better time to buy a condo in Reno, Nev., or a plane ticket from Oklahoma City to Disney World. Bargains abound!

And we sleep the sleep of the insolvent innocent. Our retirement funds may have evaporated, and we may be envisioning ourselves deep-frying chicken nuggets on our 85th birthdays. But the good part is that it wasn’t our fault. As a matter of fact, if it had been left to us, the subprime derivative never would have been invented. And a clean conscience is worth more than all the golden parachutes, indoor squash courts and $13 million vacation houses in the world.

Also, we’re thankful that we’re not Iceland.

Of course, we’re glad that George Bush is gone. Or almost. Sure does seem to be taking his time, doesn’t he?
more at the link

The Onion -

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reconsiders adjusting the overnight lending rate.

Background story at the link

Joe Nocera | November 14

NYT - ...
Around 9:45 on Wednesday morning, William Frey took a seat in the hearing room of the House Financial Services Committee. Mr. Frey, 50, is a broker-dealer who trades mortgage-backed securities. A few weeks ago, he caught the attention of the committee chairman, Barney Frank, when The New York Times reported that he had sent letters to servicers of mortgages contained in mortgage-backed securities, threatening to sue if they dared to modify mortgages for struggling homeowners.

Mr. Frank was livid. For months, he has been jawboning lenders to do more to prevent foreclosures, and it has been like whistling in the wind. Yet as slow as banks have been to get with the program (which they are finally starting to do), Wall Street has been worse, doing virtually nothing about the $2 trillion worth of mortgages trapped in securitized mortgage pools, those so-called toxic assets. Indeed, Mr. Frey’s letter seemed to suggest that the big boys on Wall Street actually wanted people to lose their homes.

Within hours of reading the Times article, Mr. Frank and several other Democrats put out a news release demanding the scalp of both Mr. Frey and a second hedge fund manager mentioned in the Times article. Mr. Frank also demanded that Mr. Frey appear at a hearing to explain why he was unwilling to allow mortgage modification. MORE

A cautionary fable to watch while you're waiting ... ~nymole

Voting machines elect one of their own as President