It’s Irreparable
I have a lawnmower. A riding lawnmower.
One of the belts is busted. Not one of the small, easy to replace ones. The belt that causes the blade to engage/disengage.
The lawnmower looks like a lawnmower. The engine starts. It sounds like a lawnmower. I can sit on it and even ride it around.
But it does not mow any longer as the engineers intended it to.
Of what utility is it now that it doesn't function as intended? And what of my yard? It is full of dandelions and the proud bird bath is mossy-green.
Tourist Attraction
Oil Spill Threatens Otters, Oysters
"They lied to us. They came out and said it was leaking 1,000 barrels when I think they knew it was more. And they weren't proactive," he said. "As soon as it blew up, they should have started wrapping it with booms."
Heckuva job, Brownie.
Unrelated: Classic Liberal rounds into Rule 5 form for Friday. Oh, and links, too.
Defending Business As Usual
Charlie Crist's departure from the Republican Party is not just a Florida story; it's an American story — a tale of two parties driven by their ideologues, squeezing out moderate candidates, alienating independent voters and isolating the place in U.S. politics where most things get done: the middle.
Crist, a populist governor with a history of bipartisanship, bolted the GOP on Thursday to run for the Senate as an independent. He did so only after it became clear that he would lose his party's primary to conservative purist Marco Rubio.
No matter who wins a three-way race in Florida, the factors that drove Crist from the GOP are a microcosm of broader political and social changes contributing to polarization.
"We have a deadlocked democracy," said Pat Buchanan, a conservative commentator and three-time presidential candidate. "Both parties, held hostage by their extremes, are incapable of tackling the issues that threaten this country."
The article goes on to state that the Republicans are more likely to impose "purity tests."
Well, it's not exactly a surprise that the Republicans have become polarized by this most polarizing of American administrations, or by the kind attentions of Dead Man Walking Reid and San Fran Nan. Obama's simultaneous programmatic demonization of political opponents and forcing of an unpopularly radical agenda naturally has that effect. His policies, simply put, amount to expanding government and its control over American citizens at any cost, and he seems to believe that the costs, as ruinous as they are, are worth it. His critics would say that his administration's inability to address unemployment and the economy in general amount to failure, but that's not true. By any measure, his anti-prosperity agenda has been an enormous success. That's why statements such as this are so telling:
Obama, who made $5.5 million last year, mostly from proceeds of a book that many suspect he didn't write, will tell businessmen when they've earned enough. Is he going to tell Jeffrey Immelt when he's earned enough? Oprah? Actors? Baseball players? Nancy Pelosi? Al Gore? Chicago pols? Government employees?
Were you aware that Obama himself was instrumental in helping to found the Chicago Climate Exchange?
At any point in the past year, Obama could have stepped up and said, "Hey, let's not go over the top criticizing the Tea Partiers. Let's not call them 'tea baggers,' for starters." But he didn't. Instead, taking orders from Mark Potok and the other ideologues at the SPLC, he and his DoJ decided to paint his opponents as potentially violent extremists, despite the fact that the violence at Tea Party events has been committed by SEIU goons and other counter-parties, who've gone so far as to bite the fingers off of peaceful protesters.
Instead, he continued blaming all of his woes on Bush. Running against him, he repeatedly referenced the erosion of civil rights, yet advocates policies such as "net neutrality," that go far beyond anything projected by Bush. He overturned centuries of contract law in order to undergird the unsustainable pensions of union workers, then criticized members of the Supreme Court as radicals during the STFU SOTU. He lied about the costs of health care and continues not to contradict GM's absurd claim that they've paid back their government loans. He lied about not increasing taxes. He supports mobbed up, bailed out ex-banker Giannoulias for Illinois Governor at an astroturfed event in Quincy, even as his administration continues to characterize Tea Partiers as astroturf. He nominates and then backs judicial appointees who neglect to come clean about their backgrounds, even as his other appointees scramble to pay their taxes after the fact. He withholds, at considerable cost, a multitude of personal documents that traditionally are released by presidential contestants, yet backs laws that would be uniquely invasive to citizens, yet considers providing official identification at the polls or for nationals of other countries burdensome, unless it's after amnesty. He treats his press enablers with absolute contempt, he doesn't hold press conferences, and his administration stonewalls requests for information with impunity. He insults our allies and coddles our foes (hey, Iran was just elected to the UN Commission on Women's Rights!). He characterizes America as being in an acute stage of crisis due to the failure of our institutions, except for most of the government ones, while decrying fear-mongering on the other side (Al Gore just bought an $8.8 million ocean-view estate).
In sum, one can't help but conclude that Obama sees government, not as the servant of civil society, but as its raison d'etre.
And Mr. Fournier observes that there's polarization? Goodness. Business as usual is what got us here, dude.
I urge you to read Cass Sunstein's paper on conspiracy theories, if you haven't (pdf). You can begin at page 23 for the really good stuff.
Via a friend in Chicago, Daily Beast crunches the numbers to determine the most corrupt enterprises in the US (apart from government per se). Will the people who lied about the solvency of Fannie and Freddie be prosecuted, too?
Not related: Any of you who are auto racing fans, please check out this awesome article by Jerry Wilson.
What Can Brown Do To You?
A student who says he was falsely accused of rape by a Brown University classmate can move forward with his lawsuit against the Ivy League school, a federal judge ruled.
William McCormick III filed a federal lawsuit that accused the school of failing to properly investigate what he says were false allegations of sexual assault made by a female student whose father is a Brown alumnus, donor and fundraiser.
The student accused McCormick of stalking and harassing her when they were freshmen in September 2006. He says he was abruptly removed from campus after the student later accused him of raping her in her dorm room while she was trying to study.
Brown didn't refer the matter to police and instead handled it internally, the lawsuit says.
McCormick maintains he did nothing wrong, but agreed to withdraw from the school after entering into a confidential agreement with the accuser's family. He says he signed the contract under duress.
Dealing with Rude People
I'm sure everyone of us has dealt with rude people at some point in our lives. Heck, I've probably been one of them before. But today I had an encounter with one of the rudest people I've ever met. I'm in sales and had an 8 AM breakfast this morning that I catered for a client. I left my house at the bright and early hour of 6:30 to get it there on time. I pulled in the parking lot, hauled the boxes of food into the office and was setting up when one of my clients came huffing up to me.
Her-Is that YOUR volvo out there?
Me-Yes it is
Her-Come with me
I follow her out to the parking lot.
Her- Look at YOUR car!
I looked at the car, looked back to her. I tried to understand.
Her- YOU parked ON THE LINE!
Me- blink, blink
I looked at my little volvo and sure enough the corner of my front tire was barely on the line.
Her- It's people like YOU who cause MY Range Rover to get banged up!
She proceeded to speak to me like I was four years old.
Her- You park over the line, then the red sports car parks over their line, then I have to park over my line, and then someone bumps it with a car door.
Now understand that I stared at the little red sports car separating her Range Rover and my volvo, and the sports car is parked squarely in the middle of the parking spot. But her perception is her reality so I didn't even try to argue.
Her- Someone hit my car with their door...
Me- TODAY?
Her- Er, no, but I still had to pay $300 to get it fixed and it's all because of people like YOU!
So here is what I WANTED to say to her:
You ungrateful, hateful bitch, I am soooooo sorry that I have totally ruined your already pathetic, miserable life by parking my car on the line. It's not enough that I got up early and brought you breakfast, but now I have to stand here and listen to you lecture me over some major BS that does not even matter? YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! GET A LIFE!!! (At which point I would proceed to her glorious Range Rover and key "DO NOT PARK OVER THE LINE, YOU MORON" across it.)
Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed. Here is what I actually said as graciously as I could muster:
I am so sorry for any distress I caused you this morning. I will gladly move my car for you. It's really no problem.
I then gave her a very sweet smile.
Her- SO MOVE IT!!!
And then she turned and stormed inside.
In retrospect, the entire situation is quite hysterical, but at the time I was shaken. I honestly can't remember when I was treated so terribly by anyone for simply no reason. It's human nature to want to fight back and respond just as badly. I so wanted to tell her off to feel better about myself. But I'm glad I didn't. You see, one of my client's coworkers witnessed the incident. She was taken aback at how inconceivably rude my client was. And as she kept apologizing for her, she mentioned that my client's husband was dying from cancer. My client spent all night with him in hospital. Wow. I know that's no excuse, but it gave me a peace about how I reacted.
My client never came back in to see me or apologize. I didn't expect her to. But at least I can live with myself today knowing that I did the right thing, at least this time.
-Johanna
Public pension politics: Governor’s races
This is a very interesting electoral year for a variety of reasons, but one of the most interesting is the way pensions has popped up in pretty much every gubernatorial race this year.
Rhode Island:
Rhode Island taxpayers cannot afford the retirement system that promises lifetime pensions to 20,000 retirees and thousands more state workers and teachers, according to General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio, who Monday afternoon became the first gubernatorial candidate to offer policymakers a detailed escape route.
“I think people want to know if you’re stuck in the status quo, or if you want to change things,” Caprio, a Democrat, said in the first of a series of interviews with Rhode Island media outlets this week to promote his plan. “The old way is choking the state.”
....
Public-sector unions, which offer ground support and campaign cash, and represent tens of thousands of voters, have yet to make official endorsements.“I don’t think it takes a lot of analysis to suggest that if a candidate is talking about getting rid of the current pension system … that’s probably not the type of candidate we’re going to get involved in,” said Robert A. Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association of Rhode Island.
Of the current candidates for governor, only Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch opposes fundamental pension changes.
Realize that it's not just Republicans talking down public pensions -- Democrats all over are also making noises about changing the status quo. Perhaps the desperation of the public unions becomes a bit more clear now, for those who thought it was only a matter of keeping Dems in and Repubs out... the Dems have also made a political calculation, and public unions, for all their numbers, seem to be on the losing side.
Casting blame for the costs in part on the man she will face if she wins her party's nomination in June — former governor and current presumptive Democratic nominee Jerry Brown — Whitman said that pension liabilities are "like a train coming through the tunnel at every single Californian." She said liabilities amounted to almost $15,000 for every household in California.
"Think about what you could do with $15,000." Whitman told a gathering of voters in the City of Industry. "It's a child's tuition. It's a mortgage payment. It's a car. It's building an addition to your house. It's getting your life back on track after the economic crisis."
Even Democrats who agree that pension "reforms" are needed — and many do — are skittish about losing labor support, particularly in an election year.
State Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown is one Democrat in a particular dilemma.
The gubernatorial candidate is in a unique position to lead the way toward less generous state retirement benefits, if elected. That's because as governor in the 1970s, Brown empowered public employees in the first place with collective bargaining rights. So he could pull off a "Nixon goes to China" move on pensions.
To quote a wise person, Bugs Bunny, Oh, it is to laugh. Oh, Moid-uh.
Let's look at the op-ed author's take-away message:
But even if the pensions are sustainable fiscally — a doubtful premise — they're certainly not politically. There's too much pension envy out there in the private sector. And it's a political problem Democrats should remedy.
Well, good luck with that.
Respeto
Hablamos nosotros ambos, Daniel e Yo, El Espanol. Daniel lo habla mejor que yo, pero yo puedo decir difinitivamente que en la mayoria de cosas mi hermano es el mayor estudiante. Por eso, no siento malo. Lo que no supieran es que Daniel vivio en Mexico por acerca de un ano (o mas?). Tambien, yo vivi en Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico por un mes con una famila muy generosa.
No se puede decir que nosotros tenemos sentimientos oscuros en el subjecto de La Gente Mexicana. No es el caso en ninguna manera.
And while my Spanish may be rusty and crappy, I am attempting to make a point. Specifically that while I generally love all things Mexico and Mexican - from the peeps to the culture to the art - I do not like the abuses my own country is suffering at the hand of those who take advantage of our good-nature as a country.
This is not a feeling I have only for those from Mexico - or more broadly those from Latin America. This is a feeling I have toward any person who takes advantage of generosity. That is, create a scenario wherein one party is generous and another takes advantage. So, it is not restricted to the issue of illegal immigration... my hackles go up whenever I sense that one party is taking advantage of the goodwill and generosity of another.
In Mexican Culture, as in most cultures, it is perfectly acceptable to insist on respect. Mexicans are very warm people, in general, and they are notoriously kind, charitable, and hospitable. If you have been as blessed as I have been to have lived with a Mexican Family in Mexico, attended Sunday gatherings, and invited to sit at the Dinner Table, there is little chance you could end the night not feeling a little sad that we here in the States have largely lost our bearings. And this longing for Family Unity does not easily go away once the gringo returns home to the more Protestant stoicism of the American Experience.
In Mexico, in many respects, I feel my heart has a home. I sense that I could really have been quite at peace having been born there. In a way, I wish maybe I had been, so comfortable is their culture to my very being.
Yet, I am a US Citizen. And there are many great things about being a US Citizen. In fact, my ancestors would agree. This is how they ended up here.
But there is something very wrong with a rude guest who refuses from the first to respect his host's house.
I appeal to our Mexican guests to treat my home with respect. To represent the Mexican People properly.
While I love Mexico and the Mexican Culture, I fear that those here illegally - especially those here complaining about our generosity - are damaging the image of the Real Mexican - of the Real Mexico. It is not a land of criminals and ingrates, interlopers and squatters. No... it is a land of wonderful, family-oriented, God-loving, generous and talented people.
Unfortunately too many of the Mexicans in the US have forgotten their manners. Ironically, this may be what happens to Mexicans who become steeped in our own gimme-gimme culture. It is sad.
Please - respect our house and home. I am begging you to recall where you come from.
Viva Mexico
Barman Cuts Off Patches
After he says Obama probly the best presi*hic* best presi*hic*dent EVAR!
via JWF
More better dumb: Barney "Boy in the Bubble" Frank says Republicans solely responsible for economic disaster.
You can lead a sheep to water, but you can't make it . . . never mind.
Brown Does O’Bama
Brown steals O'Bama's script...
She added: "He's an educated person, why has he come out with words like that?
"He's supposed to lead this country and he's calling an ordinary woman who's just come up and asked questions what most people would ask him - he's not doing anything about the national debt and it's going to be tax, tax, tax for another 20 years to get out of this mess - and he's calling me a bigot."
Follow Dan!
All the Kool Kidz are doing it...
Creature Commentariat
- Mike Giles on Teh Gays and Teh Fashion of Starvation
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- Enoch_Root on Teh Gays and Teh Fashion of Starvation
- Mary Mullane on Rasmussen: Consumer Confidence Falls to New 2 Year Low and other Polls
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