The Passionate Center (leaning to the Left)

It's Not If We Win, It's That They Lose

2009-10-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

Paul Krugman at the NY Times has an excellent piece on the state of the Republican party and their moral bankruptcy these days. It's true that there's an element of what he's talking about in the Democratic party, but it's not as prevalent; it's practically the Republicans' reason for being now. Make sure the other side loses.

Do We Need to Worry About the Nutjobs?

2009-09-20T16:46:00.001-07:00

Frank Rich of the NY Times thinks so, and while the nutjobs are nutty, he thinks there may be a real and legitimate gripe or two beneath the ignorance. He treats the nutjobs with a lot more respect than I currently am, and he's probably right.

We Can Handle 'Em

2009-08-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

As usual, CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen is the voice of reason regarding the Gitmo detainees and what we should do with the ones we don't want to let go: Put them in an American prison. Politicians are trying to block the move. We have worse people who aren't terrorists in there now.

The Milton Berle--Or Is It the Dane Cook?--of Op-Ed Columnists?

2009-07-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

Huh. Today's Washington Post features an article by Michael Gerson, usually a fairly moderate Conservative but today a bit shrill because of his emotional attachment to the underlying issue, trying to make Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out to be a proponent of eugenics through abortion. Eugenics is the science of trying to improve the hereditary qualities of a race or breed, according to Merriam-Webster. I understand the emotion; if I shared his position I would be equally emotional. As it is, I'm no fan of abortion. I think very few are. But I think it's important women have that choice if they decide it's necessary. It's a provocative article that is purposefully unfair to Justice Ginsburg.

Anyway, the interesting thing about this article is that the always shrill nutjob Jonah Goldberg at the LA Times did the same hatchet job last week! The articles are also structured almost identically. Coincidence?

Look at me, shrilly trying to drag someone's reputation down, and with it discredit a whole area of thought with moral outrage when chances are good no moral outrage is warranted.

...Or is it?

Massachusetts Stepping Up to the Plate

2009-07-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

The state of Massachusetts is suing the federal government over the "Defense of Marriage Act" (aka no marriage for fags act). They say it's "an overreaching and discriminatory federal law." That's a state that remembers what America is supposed to represent.

What Do We Do About the Hate Mongers?

2009-06-20T11:45:00.001-07:00

Bob Herbert in the NY Times points out that we shouldn't ignore the hate speech that's going on, especially in the wake of these killings in the name of extremist right wing ideals. He focuses on the NRA and the Holocaust Museum shooting, but I saw more than one article in mainstream sources that minimized the killing of the doctor in Kansas and played up "how many lives he took" and how it's good that his clinic is closing, not to be reopened. If that's not condoning (and encouraging) that behavior, I don't know what is.

Congestion Pricing--Coughing Up a Bad Idea

2009-06-10T10:35:00.001-07:00

Tim Rutten in the LA Times takes a look at the congestion pricing proposal for the LA area "freeways." It's being done in many other areas already and it ain't fair for the lower-income folks. So it ain't right.

Color Me Embarrassed

2009-05-28T17:49:00.000-07:00

ORIGINAL POST 5/27: ...that I live in California. Sheesh. Good thing I'm straight--I have all my rights. Tim Rutten at the LA Times takes apart the ridiculous ruling by the California Supreme Court that says it's okay to deny rights to some people.

UPDATE: Jonathan Chait at The New Republic does an excellent job showing the lack of logic in the anti-gay marriage arguments.

There Are Still Idjits in the White House UPDATE

2009-05-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: The guy responsible for the flyover (a.k.a. let important info fall through the cracks) resigned. At first I thought, "good." Then I thought, it might be nice to have folks in there who have made dumb mistakes and might know how to avoid them next time. Experience is the best teacher. I didn't have much (any) faith in the last admin that might happen, but these guys seem smarter. So far.

ORIGINAL POST 4/28: The ones who thought flying jets around NYC without telling anybody would be a good idea. Mr. Obama is not pleased.

Taking Torture to Task

2009-04-10T10:59:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson looks at a Red Cross report of our abuses at Guantanamo prison. We need to make sure this doesn't happen again anytime soon. And I think the people responsible should be held to account. But I'm afraid that's not going to happen.

Banking...Finance...ZZZZ.... That's What We Need!

2009-04-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I've always found finance and banking boring anyway, but Paul Krugman at the NY Times wonders (rhetorically, actually; I'm pretty sure I know what he thinks) if the banking industry needs to get back to its post-WWII, pre-Reagan boringness. I'm almost positive I've read almost this exact article from him already, but I haven't linked to it, so....

Another New England State Doing the Right Thing

2009-04-07T18:44:00.001-07:00

The Vermont Legislature overrode the veto of the governor to legalize gay marriage. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, baby!

You Say You Want a Revolution....

2009-04-04T11:32:00.001-07:00

Well, a lot of Conservative media types are saying that, and that concerns NY Times op-ed columnist Charles M. Blow. And me.

Focusing on the Important Stuff

2009-04-03T16:18:00.001-07:00

Skin color isn't really important. It shouldn't be, at least. The Washington Post's Eugene Robinson, a guy who isn't blind to the realities of race in America, notes with pleasure the lack of racial discussion when it comes to our president and other leaders in our current government. That's how it should be, of course, but I've also been very impressed. With the exception of the occasional radio yahoo (including, unfortunately, a racist Rush Limbaugh), both pro and con discussion hasn't been remotely about race. Yay!

Bizarro Stooge World

2009-03-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

A new Stooges biopic has signed Sean Penn for the part of Larry, Jim Carrey for Curly (he'll gain 40 pounds to look like him--will he change his entire body type, too?), and...Benicio del Toro as Moe? Really? This is like a bad SNL skit!

House Dems Outta Their Freakin' Minds UPDATE

2009-03-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

ORIGINAL POST 3/19: The House has passed a tax bill to punish the jerkface AIG execs who got huge bonuses, along with any other bonus received from a firm that's being bailed out. They'll have to pay 90% of their bonus in taxes. I'm as honked off about this situation as the next guy, and something should've been done, and something should be done, but this isn't it. I don't want my government taxing punitively. That's a dangerous precedent. If they can do that to the fat cats, they can do it to me. Uh-uh.

UPDATE: Huh. Could've sworn I put in a link above. Ah, well. The Prez isn't as into this idea as he originally thought, although the White House isn't saying exactly why.

Senator Judd Gregg, Republican from New Hampshire, is though:

“It is wrong for members of the United States Congress and the president to propose to use the taxing authority of the government in a manner that is arbitrary, punitive and targeted on a single group of people.”

Setting Things Right

2009-03-10T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is going to make me sound like a yellow-bellied Liberal, but I don't care: Bob Herbert in the NY Times lays into the Conservatives' decimation of our economy and American values in favor of lining the pockets of the rich and he's right to do so.

Teleporter Ended

2009-03-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

That's what it seems like to a lot of people who just found out that the scenic reels for the Viewmaster would end production and distribution. Many seem to be upset (according to this LA Times story), and I admit I find it sad. I also admit I thought those were the most boring ones when I was a kid and I was never that thrilled with them in the first place. Although the 3-D effect and the super clear color were cool.

House of Cards

2009-03-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

I've felt for a long time that our entire economic system was built on a house of cards--that's sitting on sand. Things don't grow forever, they just don't. And we've been trained to not save enough in order to have the latest stuff. I think Thomas Friedman of the NY Times has a similar point of view, and he focuses on the environmental angle of this house of cards...on the beach (oh! oh! Next to the surfline at mid-tide! Yeah, that's good...).

They're Not Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies"

2009-03-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

They're big lies, the LA Times's Rosa Brooks writes. The lies the Bush admin's lawyers concocted to give him "power amounting to virtual dictatorship," according to Ms. Brooks (and me). The most interesting part of the piece are the last 3 paragraphs:

But don't think we're out of the woods. As Hitler demonstrated, some small part of the most "impudent lies" will always remain and stick. Big lies leave little lies in their wake, changing the political discourse in enduring, difficult-to-detect ways.

And that's the challenge we now face: tracing the barely visible effects of the Bush administration's now-repudiated big lies -- through our legal system, our constitutional system, our foreign policy -- and undoing all the damage.

It will take a generation.

"Class War?" Obama Didn't Start It. "Redistributing Wealth?" That Started in the 80's With Reagan Giving to the Rich

2009-03-04T09:47:00.001-08:00

The LA Times's Michael Hiltzik points out that what's being called a "Class War" by Conservatives was really ratcheted up 30 years ago when the rich began taking from the middle class and poor. And our country is the worse for it.

A Comic Truth

2009-03-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

Jump Start by Robb Armstrong is one of my favorite strips. Today's strip got only 2 1/2 stars, which I assume came from Conservatives and/or others who are threatened by black history study leaving the confines of February or are annoyed that somebody thinks it was ever confined to February--which it kind of has been. Anyway, I like it.

No Drama Obama

2009-02-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, not quite true. But the drama is with the people he's trying to bring in. I really like this look at Mr. Obama by Bob Herbert at the NY Times. Is it a love letter? Yes. There were plenty of love letters to Dubyah during his tenure, including after he and his minions started dismantling the Constitution and showing their true colors. And it's nice that someone who is measured and intellectual is being celebrated instead of berated, as if being smart were some kind of handicap. I don't know how long it will last, but it's great now. And I like Mr. Obama's style.

It's the Centrists' Fault!

2009-02-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

That's what economist Paul Krugman of the NY Times says about the problems he sees with where the stimulus package is going. I don't know if it's centrists or Conservatives, but there's a lot of stuff that would keep the economy going (like state aid) that's being hacked out and a bunch of tax cuts that are mistimed at best.

ROTC Doesn't Rot

2009-02-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

Kenneth Harbaugh, a former Navy pilot, writes in the NY Times that it's time for colleges and universities to give R.O.T.C. programs a chance. He talks about it being unconscionable to resist R.O.T.C. as a nation at war, which is ludicrous since we are a nation at a war of choic not necessity, and it's perfectly reasonable to not want to support that. But while I don't like some of his pejorative language (like tossing the word "elite" around for his own purposes), I think he's right about letting them in.

High schools, on the other hand....