I won't be blogging for about a week. My brother Clayton passed away early this morning. I will miss him terribly.
Mark
Friday, October 24, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Who's the American?
We've bee hearing quite a bit lately about America. Most of it is coming from Republican lugnuts trying to whip up an us-against-them frenzy as the election cycle comes to a close. There's pro- American (them), anti-American (anybody who disagrees with them), and real American (as opposed to unreal American?). As one might expect, Sarah Palin started this nonsense when she characterized one part of the country as more pro-American than another. She had to back off that assertion, but for others, the game had begun.
Take, for example, Cong. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Leave aside for a moment the fact this person has appeared on cable network shows 23 times since the beginning of September. Never mind that the McCain camp suggests her as a valid surrogate to these same programs. On MSNBC's Hardball last Friday, she made the incredible statement that Barack Obama may hold anti-American views. What those views were, she didn't say. Then she went further, saying the media should investigate her colleagues in the House, and determine who was for or against the nation.
Her words set off a firestorm that was the last thing John McCain needed. In fact, her opponent in the race to hold onto her congressional seat raised $800,000 dollars after her appearance. She's tried to back away from her remarks, saying Chris Matthews of Hardball laid a trap for her. Whatever.
Then there's Cong. Robin Hayes of North Carolina. At a rally in his home state, he "warmed up the crowd" by telling them liberals hate real Americans. Very nice. THen, after the New York Observer printed his remarks, he denied making them. When the Observer reporter stuck by his story, Hayes' spokesperson called it "irresponsible journalism". That is, until a radio reporter turned up with an actual tape. Then the spokesperson said Hayes misspoke. Then Hayes himself came up with a bizarre mea culpa, to the effect that he didn't remember saying it, but he was sorry he did. Say it, that is.
Folks, the wheels have come off the rails. These people, all elected officials, believe they have the corner on what an American is. Stranger still, they think most Americans agree with them. Is there a danger in this type of mentality?
You tell me.
Take, for example, Cong. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. Leave aside for a moment the fact this person has appeared on cable network shows 23 times since the beginning of September. Never mind that the McCain camp suggests her as a valid surrogate to these same programs. On MSNBC's Hardball last Friday, she made the incredible statement that Barack Obama may hold anti-American views. What those views were, she didn't say. Then she went further, saying the media should investigate her colleagues in the House, and determine who was for or against the nation.
Her words set off a firestorm that was the last thing John McCain needed. In fact, her opponent in the race to hold onto her congressional seat raised $800,000 dollars after her appearance. She's tried to back away from her remarks, saying Chris Matthews of Hardball laid a trap for her. Whatever.
Then there's Cong. Robin Hayes of North Carolina. At a rally in his home state, he "warmed up the crowd" by telling them liberals hate real Americans. Very nice. THen, after the New York Observer printed his remarks, he denied making them. When the Observer reporter stuck by his story, Hayes' spokesperson called it "irresponsible journalism". That is, until a radio reporter turned up with an actual tape. Then the spokesperson said Hayes misspoke. Then Hayes himself came up with a bizarre mea culpa, to the effect that he didn't remember saying it, but he was sorry he did. Say it, that is.
Folks, the wheels have come off the rails. These people, all elected officials, believe they have the corner on what an American is. Stranger still, they think most Americans agree with them. Is there a danger in this type of mentality?
You tell me.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Who's the Socialist?
As the McCain campaign flails around like a fighter trying to land a lucky punch on Barack Obama, the dreaded word socialist began to be used to describe Obama's tax policies. It came from Obama's comment about "spreading the wealth around". McCain's people figured that was the opening they needed to cast Obama as someone who would take money from those who earned it and give it to those who hadn't. It's also the perfect catchword for conservative talk radio, even better than liberal.
That's because socialism scares people in this country. It represents, wrongly, the killing of incentive to produce. After all, why work hard if you won't see the fruits of your labor? This is especially true if people are made to think their hard work will benefit some lazy, shiftless person who doesn't have the same level of ambition (they never say opportunity). Anyway, McCain and those who wanted to see him elected thought they had lightning in a bottle.
That is, until someone pointed out to McCain that he'd voted for the biggest socialist program in American history. That's right, the $700 billion dollar bailout of the financial industry. After all, that's what some of his GOP friends in the House called. That's why a good number of them wouldn't vote for it. It was socialism, pure and simple. Americans have until this point been made to believe that socialism involves the redistribution of wealth from rich to poor individuals. Now, hopefully, they know better. The bailout represented taking wealth from taxpayers and giving it to banks.
And so, the word socialism was quietly dropped from the McCain campaign lexicon. You'll still hear criticism about the Obama tax plan, but you won't hear the word socialist. That's now reserved for people in diners to yell at Obama. Just plain folks get the talking points, but not the memo changing them.
It's ironic that, as the "s" word comes and goes, the New York Times does a piece on the one group for which socialism isn't a four letter word. The Socialist Party USA still exists, it's national office located in lower Manhattan. They ought to be having a chuckle about all this.
You tell me. Is the bailout an example of American socialism, and if so, why isn't anyone calling it that?
That's because socialism scares people in this country. It represents, wrongly, the killing of incentive to produce. After all, why work hard if you won't see the fruits of your labor? This is especially true if people are made to think their hard work will benefit some lazy, shiftless person who doesn't have the same level of ambition (they never say opportunity). Anyway, McCain and those who wanted to see him elected thought they had lightning in a bottle.
That is, until someone pointed out to McCain that he'd voted for the biggest socialist program in American history. That's right, the $700 billion dollar bailout of the financial industry. After all, that's what some of his GOP friends in the House called. That's why a good number of them wouldn't vote for it. It was socialism, pure and simple. Americans have until this point been made to believe that socialism involves the redistribution of wealth from rich to poor individuals. Now, hopefully, they know better. The bailout represented taking wealth from taxpayers and giving it to banks.
And so, the word socialism was quietly dropped from the McCain campaign lexicon. You'll still hear criticism about the Obama tax plan, but you won't hear the word socialist. That's now reserved for people in diners to yell at Obama. Just plain folks get the talking points, but not the memo changing them.
It's ironic that, as the "s" word comes and goes, the New York Times does a piece on the one group for which socialism isn't a four letter word. The Socialist Party USA still exists, it's national office located in lower Manhattan. They ought to be having a chuckle about all this.
You tell me. Is the bailout an example of American socialism, and if so, why isn't anyone calling it that?
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