An American Lion

Domestic Intelligence Gathering

2012-02-19T00:21:00.000+01:00

The New York City Police Department has no business working with the Central Intelligence Agency. There is no reason why a municipal police department should be doing anything with the CIA; they are both encroaching on what is well within the purview of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Something here is broken, and it is at the systemic level. The FBI should have control of domestic intelligence gathering and monitor people who are suspected of being terrorists; they can certainly receive information that is freely shared from the NYPD and the CIA. Ultimately, though, the oversight and compliance of the FBI is the only thing preventing the abuse of this monitoring.

Who is watching over the NYPD and the CIA in this case? What judge is able to review what they have been doing? The FBI is required to answer to judges and when it does not, then there is a problem. That problem ultimately results in criminals going free.

As I said, something is wrong here. The CIA should not be doing domestic intelligence gathering and the NYPD is way out of its own lane. Someone at the FBI must be scratching their heads right now. Imagine if every major city in America tried this.

Old Man Yells At Cloud, Cloud Unmoved

2012-02-17T12:09:00.000+01:00

Pat Buchanan has had his Grandpa Simpson moment, and now we can all breathe easier.

For those who haven't bothered to pay attention, his days as a highly-paid pundit have ended with one of the cable news networks. This is hardly censorship and it is hardly even a news item. There is this belief that a television network has to employ people who have different points of view and that they have to be people of substance and quality in order to be taken seriously.

You cannot explain this to free market conservatives, but, when the free market overwhelmingly rejects their nonsense, they think it is censorship. If someone could make money trading on his analysis, they'd be paying him for it as we speak. If the government cannot hand out welfare, why should a television network hand out money to someone who has no ability to draw viewers, stimulate meaningful conversation, and enhance the understanding of a subject? Let them make money; in the marketplace, no one's buying what Buchanan has to sell. If this cannot sink in with people like him, so what? Let him think he's being censored.

There is no one employed by Fox News who can even claim to have Buchanan's long resume. They prefer jokes and clowns over there when it comes to "opposing" points of view. The mere fact that anyone was still paying Buchanan for his opinion into the second decade of the 21st Century is baffling enough. Here was a man who cut his teeth writing nonsense for Spiro Agnew. How did he even last this long?

The Unraveling of Greece

2012-02-17T10:52:00.000+01:00

The country of Greece has quickly begun to unravel. Due to the harsh economic situation there, the idea of property rights, a polite society, and a working political process have all been thrown out the window. And, even though most Americans don't care, it is probably true that most Europeans don't care, either. In many cases, you'll find an anti-Greek attitude that is no better than saying "they're getting what they deserve."

It would be an absolute tragedy if the cultural history of Greece went up in flames or was carted away by thieves. But, even more importantly, the people of Greece are beginning to see a future full of austerity, poverty and austerity. Politics have failed; will Greece fail as a nation? And, can Europe still keep a failed state as a member of the European Union?

Are You Better Off Today Than You Were Four Years Ago?

2012-02-15T13:00:00.000+01:00

I certainly hope that this becomes the centerpiece of the 2012 election. For anyone to say that they are not better off today than they were four years ago is a tragedy, but things are looking up. Not only did this president stave off a second Great Depression, he saved the auto industry, killed Osama bin Laden, and has put in place policies that are creating jobs, fixing health care, and he is bringing the troops back home.

The Republican Party is insane if they keep trying to run with the lie that people are not better off. They most emphatically are.

There's a reason why Republicans don't do funny; the cards at the link are predictable and lame. Someone clearly wanted to do black jokes and make fun of women and how they look but couldn't get that past their supervisors.

Steve Doocy Told Me We Should Move On

2012-02-11T23:31:00.001+01:00

I seem to recall being told that this whole thing didn't matter.

Apparently, it does matter and I don't think we are anywhere near the end of this story. What follows is a badly-needed investigation in the United States that focuses on the role of News Corporation as an American company, breaking American laws, with regards to compromising the privacy of American citizens.

Steve Doocy probably wishes he had been a little more forceful when he said that we should all just move on and focus on all of the other companies that have been hacked into.

Don't Compromise On Basic Health Needs For Women

2012-02-10T17:27:00.000+01:00

If you compromise now, you'll never get religious organizations to join us in the 21st Century. I think that the President needs to be clear and firm on this--if you want to do business, your religious beliefs should not take precedent over the need to cover the contraceptive needs of employees.

The religious freedom of employees to not use contraceptives is not in question here. If you're a Catholic, and if you work for a Catholic hospital, you already have the choice as to whether or not to use contraceptive drugs. If you're not a Catholic, and if you happen to work for a Catholic hospital, the law should say that contraceptive drugs are covered. It's really that simple. And if we follow that plan, then the religious beliefs of said organizations need not be compromised in any way.

There is a very good reason for this. We already hold these organizations to the American standard of law and the various codes and regulations that come with functioning within our society. This is why a Catholic hospital cannot simply allow a bishop to walk around dispensing prescription drugs or allow nuns with no medical training to perform open heart surgery. If you want Federal funds to be a hospital, you have to adhere to American laws and practices and standards. And the law says that employers will cover contraceptive care.

Incredibly Stupid and Historically Ignorant

2012-02-09T22:44:00.000+01:00

I can't for the life of me figure out how this flag came to be used in this manner. The use of the "SS" runes is pretty cut and dried. Do not ever use them. To use them is to associate with white supremacists and people of that nature. How incredibly stupid.

You may read or hear someone try to defend these Marines. The flag is not actually one that would have been used by a Waffen SS unit or any other unit in the SS. It is not authentic. But the fact that these are white runes on a blue flag is insignificant. Even though virtually all of the SS flags were white on black, with death symbols or arrows added in, the runes themselves are the unmistakable aspect of the flag seen above.

For this, there is no excuse and whoever designed that flag knew exactly what he was doing and either the Marines serving with him were duped into thinking it was harmless or they knew what it really symbolized and went along with it.

The designer of this flag has no business serving in the military and should be given a chance to defend himself. If he cannot, then throw him out. This was not an innocent mistake.

George Romney Was a Lobbyist for Alcoa

2012-02-09T21:13:00.000+01:00

Mitt Romney is trying to cast himself as the new John Edwards and appeal to the "populist" streak of the Republican Party, which simply does not exist. No one in the Republican Party cares about the fact that, for a brief period when he was young, George Romney worked as a carpenter or a plasterer. They only care that he got rich fast selling things.

And that's what George Romney was. A salesman. He parlayed his missionary work into sales and started selling aluminum for Alcoa. And when he got good at that, he became a lobbyist for Alcoa. Then he went on to run General Motors. And so on, and so forth.

Populism is dead in America. If your daddy was a big deal, celebrate that. Don't try to pass yourself off as the coal miner's son with a meager upbringing when you have never had to worry about being unemployed or broke. Republicans love trust funds, and Romney is the king of all trust fund children.

Slaughter Comes With a Pretty Face

2012-02-09T11:06:00.000+01:00

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

Syria's first lady, Asma al-Assad, is just the sort of pretty face that tyrants love to show when they're not slaughtering their own people. The charm offensive against the Western media has basically fallen flat, though.

The Assad Regime is pretty much going to slaughter everyone in order to stay in power. I wouldn't expect too many more attempts to try to win over the media.

Your Congressman Sucks and So Does Mine

2012-02-08T23:47:00.001+01:00

Yes, these are awful numbers and I'm still laughing over this comment from a couple of days ago. It was in reply to the idea that you can excuse anything that a Republican in Congress does by yelling "hey but Nancy Pelosi is stupid!"

Well, Nancy Pelosi never ran Congress into the ground quite like John Boehner, did she?

Anyway, I have always held the opinion that Congress will never really enjoy high approval numbers unless it gives free money to every American for a lifetime or finds a small country to bomb after holding a historic vote that allowed a few members to get up and yell about mom and apple pie. It used to be said that "your Congressman sucks but mine is an American hero!" Now, both of them suck and no one realizes that if they would just vote against the incumbent the next time they hold one of them there election thingys, this monumental amount of suckage might just get a little easier to deal with.

Gallup (no link because they're ridiculous) made me laugh completely out loud and roll about on the floor when it wrote "It is difficult to pinpoint any specific recent actions that may have led to the continuing deterioration in Congress' image..."

How about obstructing, doing nothing, and completely sucking for the last year? Is that specific enough? Working people in America are suffering and this Congress can't do anything. Is that enough of a reason why?

You Cannot Wage Diplomacy Without Splenda

2012-02-07T21:21:00.000+01:00

Boo hoo.

Rationed chicken wings? A depleted salad bar? And so it is time to pull several thousand diplomats and contractors out of Iraq? Why stop at half? Get ALL of the diplomats out of that hellhole now. I can't believe that we are not airdropping Splenda right this very instant. Surely there are helicopter gunships who can transfer at least thirty cases per chopper to the embassy complex? Someone can dash up on the roof and grab them one at a time and fling them to the terrified bunnies below.

The great neocon folly has crashed on the rocks of reality.

The Kennedy Legacy Is Whatever the Media Tells Us It Is

2012-02-07T00:31:00.000+01:00

Bless this poor woman's heart, she has had to live with the burden of having been the lover of John Fitzgerald Kennedy when he was President of the United States of America for fifty years now. Hey, everyone has to sell books. I'm sure she'll sell enough to make her retirement more comfortable.

I don't think there are any serious historians who much care one way or the other. She may offer certain clues as to how Kennedy conducted his affairs, and that could be historically significant to whoever decides to write another book about his dalliances. But the legacy of Kennedy is pretty much cemented now. The media believes him to have been a great president who had an enormous impact on American history. I think the more accurate reading of him would be "not much accomplished, served in office for too short of a time, and was rated largely on form over substance."

If half of what you read about him was true, he should never have been President. His addiction to painkillers and his serial adultery left him open to all sorts of things. Can a President be blackmailed? Well, I suppose it could have been possible. Generally, a President should not engage in activity that could leave him open to being blackmailed. Clearly, Bill Clinton didn't care and would not have allowed himself to be blackmailed. He was willing to lie to investigators, but he ultimately owned up to what he did. The public forgave him.

Don't people get tired of being told what is significant and what is meaningful? I don't care what this woman did fifty years ago. Why should anyone care? Why is MSNBC inundating people with what she has to say and why is NBC giving her such a forum? There are women who had affairs with Lyndon Baines Johnson and Dwight Eisenhower. Would they get such a breathless airing with the public? Pretty much every modern president comes with an allegation of having had a mistress or two, although I firmly believe George W. Bush may have been the purest and least adulterous of all of our leaders, except for perhaps John Adams. Does that make him "better" than Kennedy? Well, he did accomplish a great deal more. Whether his accomplishments were good or bad are evaluated exactly where a person falls on the ideological scale. And that's true with Kennedy. He was largely reviled by conservatives in this country; no one seems to remember much about that, either.

This obsession with sex and powerful politicians is boring. It's really only of interest to substance-free outlets like NBC News which is trying to make Brian Williams interesting. Perhaps he should openly cop to screwing his interns.

A House Too Stupid For Words

2012-02-06T20:58:00.000+01:00

The Republican-controlled U.S. House is brimming with the effects of the Tea Party. Here is yet another example as to how ridiculous they are. And while it is true that a lot of people do fall for items that appear on The Onion, not everyone who does is actually a sitting Representative in the U.S. Congress (which leads me to ask, was it a staffer that actually did the Facebook post?).

In any event, this is a Congress that, by and large, takes the cake for ideological purity and reckless incompetence. Throw all of them out? No, throw the stupid ones out.

Russia's Foreign Minister is Delusional

2012-02-05T21:36:00.002+01:00

Watching two diplomats go at it in public is like watching an intellectual prize fight; all the better that it's Hillary Clinton and the Russian Foreign Minister, whose name is Sergey Lavrov. This prize fight goes to Clinton, hands down.

I have to give her, and the Obama Administration, a great deal of credit for being on the right side of the Syrian debate. American troops are probably going to have be considered for some sort of stability operation; as far-fetched as that seems, I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen. So, there's the debate over what to do and whether or not to become involved.

And what a debate it is--the Assad regime is conducting an unrestrained, bloodthirsty crackdown that everyone can plainly see. The world community has to get involved in some measured way when a regime becomes overt in the way that it slaughters its own people (Russia knows a bit about this, but it would be impolite to bring up things like Georgia, Azerbaijan, and whatever else you want to throw in there).

Lavrov, knowing full well that the repressive history of modern Russia over the last twenty years or so equates to several Syrias, found a way to block action and give Assad more time to kill his way out of power. Lavrov knows that an Assad is a temporary thing, and his calculations might be towards favoring some party that is waiting in the wings or it might be to keep the killing underway in order to weaken all of the parties concerned so that Russia can enter negotiations with whoever wants to buy more weapons.

Selling weapons is pretty much all Russia has to offer. It has exactly one base outside of the territory of the former Soviet Union, and it's on Syrian territory. It sells weapons to the Syrian regime and it functions as the sole toehold in the region for the fading Russian empire.

Lavrov is quoted trying to sound high-minded about keeping out of the internal affairs of other countries. He is delusional, however. Syria is a rapidly failing state that will destabilize the Middle East quickly if it progresses any further. Once Syria comes apart, Lebanon comes apart with it, and that's when various groups will jockey for position. Jordan's stability could be threatened as well, and, at some point, Israel will either decide to take steps to ensure that its borders are secure or it will merely sit back and watch everything go up in flames. Who knows?

I don't care why China did what it did. It was either money or weapons, take your pick.

Keep Your Political Nonsense Out of the United States Army

2012-02-04T17:03:00.001+01:00

It has certainly been a while since I have had the pleasure of stopping by "K Lo's House of Crazy" or whatever they are now calling the National Review Online. That's by design. I have no urge to increase the amount of stupid in my life.

However, this is as stupid as it gets.

In short, here's the reality. The chaplains in the United States Army are not free to enter political discussions, nor are they entitled to "free speech" when it comes to preaching or reading letters to whoever shows up for their services (soldiers don't usually show up for services; chaplains preach on Sundays to a larger number of civilians who come on post to visit the commissary or the PX). So, in effect, these "letters" would have been read to civilians, not soldiers. An Army chaplain's soul may belong to his denomination or faith and his soul may belong to the Catholic church, but his rear end must follow the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Failure to follow a lawful order means that the chaplain will be quietly removed from the service (they rarely put chaplains in jail, so let's not go there).

Silencing the chaplains is well within the purview of the Army and this was done to keep politics out of the equation. They would not have tolerated anti-Bush rhetoric from the pulpit, nor would they have tolerated pro-Scientology nonsense either. The Catholic Church has declared war on the idea of civilian control of the military in this case because it knows that it cannot influence American Catholics anymore.

American Catholics, in short, don't care what Rome says about anything anymore. They haven't cared for decades. They will use contraception, they will get abortions, and they will do whatever the hell they want when it comes to the issues that Rome is pushing here. The Catholic church clings to these ideas because it has not accepted a charismatic cardinal from Latin America as pope as of yet. I would very much like to see a pope who understands the necessity of population control and stopping the spread of venereal disease. It would be a welcome change for the church.

And as hard as Kathryn Jean Lopez wishes for a continuation of the status quo, there is no chance that it will involve using chaplains in the military.

Susan G Komen? You Get Nothing

2012-02-03T00:33:00.001+01:00

This was the best one, in my not too humble opinion. And I don't care if you finally got rid of the strange lady who destroyed your brand by bringing her opinions to work with her. You still get nothing. You get nothing forever. You will eat that nothing with humble pie until they repossess your cars and drive you into the woods so that you can pick berries and beg for corporate money.

The Safety Net Is Hardly Ample

2012-02-02T10:23:00.001+01:00

This is where you can glean a little insight into what really ails the conservatives who are trying to defend Mitt Romney. The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin, who is wrong so often it doesn't even matter what she says anymore, can't admit that Romney is a virtual gaffe machine, and he is so out of touch with voters that defending him at this point is like trying to stop a hurricane with single sheet of thin plywood.

The dwindling turnouts, the excessive dollars-to-votes ratio, and the overall lack of enthusiasm for Romney spells the kind of doom that accompanied the likes of Bob Dole and John McCain to the polls. Republican voters are not flocking to the Romney banner--only the establishment embraces him because he is the least-threatening crazy person now running for office. Romney is the candidate who functions as the inbetweener for a party on the cusp of institutional insanity.

The only thing keeping the Republican Party alive right now is the indifference of the American voter. An engaged, informed electorate wouldn't vote for current Republican policies, and the Republican establishment knows it. That's why it needs Romney. He is the candidate who will allow them to cling to a losing strategy of obstructionism and demagoguery. His defeat will see the elevation of the real crazies who have gone total wingnut to even higher acclaim. Eventually, this regional party will exist on bile and fear alone.

When Romney said that he doesn't care about the very poor, and qualified that by saying that there is an "ample" safety net, his gaffe was pretty clear. The safety net sucks. The safety net is coming apart. The safety net is, essentially, a joke and people who are poor suffer mightily in this country. In the wake of Katrina, we are still ignoring race, class, and poverty in this country. We are still ignoring the plight of millions of Americans who have been permanently driven out of the workforce. We are raising a generation of kids who are being fed garbage every single day, and the health problems they are developing will strain that safety net even more.

Romney doesn't care. And Jennifer Rubin is deluded enough to think that his not caring is the sensible way for a candidate for President to act.

Gingrich Goes All In With the Crazy

2012-02-01T09:20:00.000+01:00

Now, that's a classy political ad.

You see, in a Gingrich administration, those same senior citizens would be afford kosher meals while living under either a bridge or on a park bench.

The Jack Booted Thugs Working For Newt Gingrich

2012-02-01T08:58:00.000+01:00

PHOTO: Matt Rourke, AP

There are thugs working for Newt Gingrich. Mean, twisted people who know how to get things done and make people hurt. These vicious punks know that their jack boots and heels are excellent weapons against people who stand in public and exercise the right to free speech.

Have a look at how classy the Gingrich Campaign has become:

Where were the police? This was an incitement to attack a human being. This man was assaulted and someone should be arrested for it.

The Gingrich Campaign is now brutally trying to establish a long game. They have just been beaten in a major race and they are now preparing themselves for the long haul. You can sense the mentality that has taken hold--if Gingrich doesn't get the nomination, no one will. And they will crush their enemies and do whatever is necessary to make that happen.

Gingrich will, of course, start complaining about the heavy-handed, violent tactics of his enemies and speak, at length, about how he has been the victim of thuggery. And then he'll go right on giving his aides pointers as to how to jab people in the ribs or use broken glass and boot heels to get what he wants.

Deadbeat Daddy Jon Voight Endorses Mitt Romney

2012-01-30T09:13:00.000+01:00

Wingnut actor Jon Voight has gone all-in for Mitt Romney, thereby solidifying his betrayal of the hard-right fans who have supported his many thoughtful and interesting op-ed pieces over the years.

His "tell me about it" quip is one worth highlighting, however. For him to suggest that he actually had an active role as a parent in the life of his daughter, actress Angelina Jolie, is hilarious. Voight's personal history is well documented. Angelina Jolie was raised in relative poverty because of his neglect.

He was yet another deadbeat daddy of the 1970s, which was a time when millions of parents basically walked away from their obligations and abandoned children left and right in this country. It took the work of family advocates and activists to establish databases that could track down these deadbeats and force them to pay child support (there's more about that here, but, please note, the laws didn't really get tough until the 1980s and are still not tough enough).

My question is, why even accept Voight's endorsement and then talk about family? How does that square with being a family values candidate and how does that contrast with Newt Gingrich in any substantive way? Why would Romney celebrate the endorsement of a man who ran out on his family obligations?

Step Back and Watch the Republican Party Destroy Itself

2012-01-29T18:39:00.000+01:00

It is somewhat amusing to hear that Allen West has been redistricted out of existence (well, something akin to that, anyway). The Republican Party establishment has a problem, and that problem is represented by loose cannons like West who have their own constituency and support (and therefore don't NEED the Republican establishment).

The GOP, like the Democratic Party, wants members who toe the line. They want members who have to swallow their pride and vote in lockstep with the party in order to get their money and their access and their seat at the table.

Getting rid of Allen West makes sense. The Democratic Party has a problem with Dennis Kucinich; they're simply two examples of the same issue.

Jonah Goldberg Cannot Handle the Fact That Bin Laden Is Dead

2012-01-28T00:12:00.001+01:00

If that doesn't read like someone's sad, sad confession into their tear-stained pillow, I don't know what would. You can practically hear the sobs coming from under the fainting couch.

Jonah Goldberg cannot handle the fact that this President kills terrorists dead. Does this mean that Goldberg wishes that Bin Laden were still alive?

The Bush Administration used the uniformed military repeatedly for visuals. At the height of the Iraq War, President Bush appeared in front of uniforms so often, you would have thought that the White House Rose Garden had been moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

And so, here it is, 2012, and conservatives still cannot handle the fact that a Democrat is in the White House, killing terrorists and using our military to kill even more of them at a faster and faster rate (which won't really solve the problem, but still). It contradicts everything the conservative media has tried to establish as fact for the last forty years or so, which boils down to "the democrats are weaklings who won't defend America."

Two words for Jonah: Mars, Bitches.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard Has a Bad Day

2012-01-26T10:15:00.000+01:00

Australia Day is a little contentious this year. Part of the problem stems from the fact that the protesters weren't entirely calm or polite because they're tired of having to protest all the time.

This poor woman, who is Prime Minister Julia Gillard, had to be dragged away, and lost her shoe in the process. And this on a day celebrating the country.

Hatin' Immigrants Is Never Going to Go Out of Style

2012-01-26T08:24:00.001+01:00

The issue here is a very simple one. The Republican Party, as personified by the likes of Governor Jan Brewer, can't survive unless it demonstrates that it hates illegal immigrants
more than anyone else. Despite the fact that hating people has never really been a great vote getter in the long run, and despite the fact that the agricultural sectors in Alabama and Georgia are taking a huge financial hit, this unhinged tactic has begun to run its course because people don't think demonizing poor people will make their lives better. And Jan Brewer can't survive unless she gets the occasional photo of herself wagging her finger under the President's nose.

Her base loves this sort of thing. You can figure out the rest.

New to the Blog: DISQUS Commenting System

2012-01-25T11:01:00.000+01:00

Even though I'm not convinced that this is a good idea, the comments are now upgraded to DISQUS. Let's see how interesting it can get.