Month: August 2010

Up Through The Ground Come A Bubblin’ Crude

by digby

Via The Upshot, take a look at this:

BP's Oil on Louisiana's Barrier Islands – FOX8 Story @ Yahoo! Video

According to WVUE correspondent John Snell, local officials dispatched a dive team to a barrier island off of southeastern Louisiana’s Plaquemines parish to scan the sea floor for oil. The team, however, could barely see the sea floor, due to the current murky state of the area waters. But when the divers returned to shore, they made a rather remarkable discovery: tiny holes that burrowing Hermit crabs had dug into the ground effectively became oil-drilling holes. When the divers placed pressure on the ground near the holes, oil came oozing up.

The magical thinkers of planet BP want everyone to believe that the oil has “disappeared.” Here on planet earth we know very well that just doesn’t happen.

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She’s Good Enough, She’s Smart Enough, And Doggone It People like Her

by digby

Sharron Angle proves that in American anyone can rise to the top regardless of talent or intelligence. She’s really quite inspiring:

I don’t know if the Republicans know they are reinventing politics as a demonstration of the bleeding heart self-esteem movement, but nominating Sharron Angle to the US Senate is the political equivalent of giving everyone on the team a trophy.

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This Year’s Model

by digby

Robert Frank has a thought provoking op-ed piece in the WSJ this morning, positing that the rich no longer need the rest of us. It seems that except for fighting, cleaning and garbage hauling, the vast number of Americans are no longer necessary for their economic well being, which is a fairly alarming prospect, although not one that seems particularly surprising at the moment. After all, it’s become increasingly obvious that there’s no longer any reflexive resistance among the ruling class to the idea of a permanent underclass or even a belief in the necessity to keep a stable middle class thriving for economic (much less moral) purposes.

Late last year, the U.S. economy experienced a surprising decoupling. As stocks boomed, the wealthy bounced back. And while the Main Street economy was wracked by high unemployment and the real-estate crash, the wealthy–whose financial fates were more tied to capital markets than jobs and houses– picked themselves up, brushed themselves off and started buying luxury goods again.

Who knows what the next few months and years will bring. But one thing seems clear: the economic fate of Richistan seems increasingly separate from the fate of the U.S.

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[Michael Lind]says the wealthy increasingly earn their fortunes with overseas labor, selling to overseas consumers and managing financial transactions that have little to do with the rest of the U.S. “A member of the elite can make money from factories in China that sell to consumers in India, while relying entirely or almost entirely on immigrant servants at one of several homes around the country.”

That’s a fairly creepy vision, which flies in the face of the old Henry Ford credo that he had to pay his factory workers enough to be able to buy his cars (even if he was a Nazi.)I guess when a country doesn’t make anything it may be inevitable that it becomes a nation of aristocrats and their servants.

Yves Smith says that although the attitude certainly is pervasive, this is probably more hype than reality. They’ve just found a new business model:

Yes, the rich increasingly live lives apart from those not in their economic cohort. But separation is not the same as independence. The Southern plantation owner had little interaction with his slaves (his overseer took care of that), yet he clearly depended on their labor. The financial crisis resulted in the greatest looting of the public purse in history. While the banksters were the obvious beneficiaries, most of the rest of the rich were carried along with them. The sudden recovery in the fortunes of the wealthy was no accident, but the result of a host of policies to prop up asset values.

This line of thinking is hardly new. James Galbraith, in The Predator State, discusses how the corporate elite have come to serve their own interests rather than those of their companies, and have become adept at using the state to further their personal aims. Thus the profit potential of remaining engaged in the US (albeit at as much of a remove as the top echelon can manage) is too great to be ignored.

So the new business of America is looting the coffers of the US treasury. Sounds about right.

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Pick Your Poisonous Republican

by digby

The response to Blue America’s latest ad has been so terrific that we’ve decided to keep going through the election, targeting the Republicans Blue America most loves to hate. But we want you to help us pick which ones to give our very special kind of love to first.

To begin with we thought we’d offer up five choices — 4 House incumbents– Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Steve King (R-IA)– plus one open seat challenger, ex- GOP hitman and Karl Rove’s special DOJ houseboy, disgraced U.S. Attorney, Tim Griffin.

Here’s how you vote:

Just make a donation on the page dedicated to the culprit of your choice. If you click on the picture below (not the link, which will take you to a post or site explaining why they are on this page in the first place) you go directly to their Blue America donation page. Because we’re progressives and not conservatives, a one dollar donation equals the same single vote as a one hundred dollar donation. Now, one of the great aspects of this is that each one of these exceptionally bad Republicans has an exceptionally good Democrat running for the seat. Believe me, that isn’t easy to find. I mean, Republican John Boozman in Arkansas, for example, is just terrible but his Democratic opponent, Blanche Lincoln, is just as bad. We won’t be offering any Hobbesian choices like that. In Arkansas, to stick with that state as the example, the woman running against Griffin is state Senate Majority Leader and proven progressive Joyce Elliott.

So, we’re happy to announce that all of the money raised through this little contest will be used to help voters understand that there’s a difference between the Republican and the Democrat running for the seat that gets the most votes. Who do you think is the worst of the worst?

Michele Bachmann:

Ken Calvert:

Virginia Foxx:

Tim Griffin:

Steve King:

Click on the picture to vote. Every vote counts the same no matter what the amount.

Oh, and it appears that our billboard, which is going up tomorrow, has gotten under Boehner’s skin already

He Said/She Said Lunkhead

by digby

Howard Kurtz is an utter fool for finding equivalence between Shirley Sherrod, Howard Dean, Joan Walsh and Andrew Breitbart for any number of reasons. I would defend Joan on this, but she’s done it perfectly well for herself, and she makes the right point about Dean as well. He is not a journalist. Indeed, among those four named above the only one is Walsh and she is perfectly correct in labeling FOX racist when, among other things, they just spent two weeks ginning up a story about “black panthers” which has no basis and which can only be seen as a tool to sow racist animus.

What makes me want to slam my head into a wall repeatedly is the notion that there is any equivalence between Breitbart and Sherrod. It’s so offensive on so many levels that I can only assume that Kurtz believes that Sherrod rightly pointing out that Breitbart is a racist is the same as Breitbart wrongly pointing out that Sherrod is one. I’ve seen cases of he said/ she said before, but this really takes the cake.

Unless you are a person who believes that racism doesn’t exist — or subscribe to some philosophical view that one can never know if someone else is a racist unless they come right out and admit it — then this is an insulting position for any rational person to take. Sherrod’s own words and deeds speak for themselves. And regardless of what’s in his heart, Breitbart’s do as well. Any fudging of the lines between the two is an act of intellectual obtuseness and/or moral cowardice.

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Dropping Babies

by digby

Good God. I had missed Huckleberry Graham’s specific language in his comments about repealing the 14th amendment. He said “they come here to drop a baby” as if they’re farm animals. And he delivered it with his patented dead-eyed reptilian stare and sneering drawl.

What an asshole. I doubt it will make up for his apostasy on the Tea Party, but it might appease the mainstream Republicans in South Carolina for whom white supremacy is their greatest tribal identifier.

A reader sent in this BBC report about global warming causing more Mexican migration with the wry observation that it might make the right believe in climate change. It would be pretty to think so, but considering the kind of rhetoric we are now hearing from political leaders I think it would be far more likely that we would simply declare war on Mexico — and the weather.

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Republican Idea Men

by digby

There’s a lot of chatter this morning about this article in the WaPo about Paul Ryan and how much heartburn his economic plans are causing the Republicans. I was immediately reminded of a famous article about Newt Gingrich back in 1988 which featured this observation:

His recognition and his gathering power were not the result of the legislation he drafted or helped to pass, which, in fact, was negligible. And he was scorned by detractors for some of his wackier notions –which ranged from the off-the-wall (plans for statehood in outer space) to potential political dynamite (he once proposed abolishing Social Security and replacing it with mandatory I.R.A.’s).

The latter “wacky notion” was, of course, eventually adopted by the entire GOP establishment as “privatization,” which the last administration made a very serious attempt to implement. Paul Ryan still pushes it, even in the face of the recent Wall Street meltdown and as a member of President Obama’s deficit commission, will undoubtedly be proposing “reforms” which may include some elements of that plan once again. What was once a wacky notion is now a zombie article of faith on the right, just waiting for the opportune moment to rise again.

In other words, wacky GOP ideas have a way of becoming mainstream in a fairly short period of time, particularly when they are pushed by the so-called “intellectuals” of the conservative movement who are embraced by the establishment as Very Serious People. Why these people are taken so seriously by anyone other than the Grizzly Mama is anyone’s guess, but the phenomenon is fairly dangerous.

The bigger question is why the Democratic party is so completely useless in dealing with this kind of nonsense.

As Howie points out in his post today:

Krugman tears apart the carefully crafted conventional wisdom that Ryan is “the most intellectually ambitious Republican in Congress.” Obama appointed Ryan to his Deficit Commission– another vote to dismantle Social Security in the name of making sure the wealthy permanent ruling elite never have to pay their fair share of taxes. (Bush couldn’t get it done, so they’ve tasked Obama with the dirty job.) Unlike Obama, though, Krugman– who knows more about how economics actually works than both of them squared, comes right out and says, “the truth is that he’s stone-cold ignorant” (Ryan, not the other one). Ignorant… Randian… what’s the difference? He’s clearly unfit for elective office. And yet… and yet… the DCCC seems stubbornly determined to never, never, never– don’t you dare— take him on. This year he’ll be the most glaring example of a high-profile Republican incumbent in a Democratic-leaning district won by Obama with no plausible opponent, the DCCC having chased Paulette Garin out of the race and replaced her with… well, another Alvin Greene.

Read on to see the whole bizarre story of the Democratic Party refusing to take on Paul Ryan despite the fact that he’s in a Democratic district that went for Obama in 2008. What in the world is going on? I literally can’t think of a good reason for the Party to protect a crude Randian ideologue unless he is a designated untouchable by very powerful people who donate to both sides of the aisle.

Consider this amazing little factoid:

A little update: the infamous Finance/Insurance/Real Estate sector has now shoveled $1,908,465 in thinly veiled bribes directly into Ryan’s campaign coffers– yes, the same Ryan who’s never faced a serious electoral challenge. This is more money than they’ve given any Wisconsin political figure in history– including senators and powerful House members who were already in Congress when Ryan was still skipping rope in his elementary school playground and hadn’t even read Atlas Shrugged yet!

They aren’t giving this guy money for no reason. He furiously whipped the House for TARP when the first vote failed and is a consistent advocate for everything the wealthy could want. That he may believe his own Randian nonsense is a happy coincidence. That the Village takes him seriously as an intellectual is frosting on the cake with a cherry on top.

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American Dream

by digby

I think this illustrates how great it’s going to be when the Catfood Commission reports out that the only way to save the wealthy “producers” this nation needs is to require the American people to sacrifice for their country:

Lawrence, 71, made his getaway in his wheelchair, with $2,000 in cash on his lap. He was headed back to his rented room at the nearby San Diego Downtown Lodge, but he took a meandering route down Seventh Avenue until the police caught up with him five minutes later.

And just like that, the rush was over. But that was all part of the plan.

The way Lawrence tells it, Monday’s robbery of a Chase Bank was just a desperate ploy to get back behind bars, where he believes he will receive better medical care than he has been able to obtain on his own.

[…]

Seeking out treatment for diabetes, colon cancer, Parkinson’s disease, gout, heart disease and glaucoma has just become too much for him to handle on his own, he said.

He’s been surviving on $949 a month from Social Security and other government benefits, and has been getting his health care for free via Medicare and Medi-Cal.

“It got to be harder and harder to get to the doctor in a wheelchair, using the bus and trolley,” Lawrence said. “I got to the point where I stopped going. I said, ‘Heck with it. Let nature take its course.’ My quality of life was gone.”

Marilyn Holle, an attorney for Disability Rights California, said Lawrence’s story is a telling example of the health care system many face.

“There’s a lack of stable housing and a lack of case management,” said Holle, who is based in Los Angeles. “It’s not only about getting someone the treatment, but getting them to and from. And without stable housing, you’re not going to be able to get the services you need.”

Holle said she can see the attraction of prison health care for some.

“You’ve got a place to live and … a prison system providing nursing facility-type care,” she said. “And you live in a community.”

Makes sense. Alternatively, they can always move in with their children …

And think of the peace of mind:

“I’ve been well taken care of,” he said of his prison experience. “I don’t plan to leave prison alive. I feel relieved and glad it’s over.

Via Tbogg.

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Better Stewards

by digby

In case you were wondering where the money went, it appears they just don’t know:

The good news is that these are costs we don’t have to worry our pretty little heads about, unlike unemployment insurance or teacher salaries. Can you put a price on PNAC wet dreams?

Link

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PoMo at Beck U

by digby

Poor Steve Foster at TDE forced himself to sit through another Beck U class and lived to tell the tale. (If it were me, I think I’d probably have to lay in a supply of Patron anejo and aspirin, but that’s just me. Steve sounds surprisingly sober considering what he’s had to endure.)

Here’s a taste:

During the latest “lesson” at Beck U, David Barton was up to his old tricks – cherry-picking historical details and isolated quotes to make his case that the Founding Fathers were devout Christians who really wanted to establish a fundamentalist theocracy.

And like most snake oil salesmen, he also talked really, really fast so no one would notice his bullshit. He has a bright future as the next spokesperson for Goldline.

Barton beat his drum that most of the Founding Fathers held degrees from seminaries, conveniently forgetting that most colleges in those days were seminaries, regardless of discipline.

And he got really upset at the fact that all we’ve been taught about American history for the past 234 years is just nothing but a deconstructionist fantasy dreamed up by dirty liberal feminist hippies to thrust their communist agenda on the innocent youth of America.

The influence of Lynne Cheney is boundless. (In more ways than one.)

Read the whole thing. But considering that we now know that Lynne and Glenn are the intellectual drivers of the Tea Party, I think it’s probably wise to break out the Patron in any case.

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