Newsweek’s Howard Fineman seems to be smoking the crack
Howard Fineman on the Chris Matthews Show, discussing the Democrats in 2008:
Mr. FINEMAN: If they can’t win this one, the Democrats deserve to go the way of the Whigs, which is a political party that disappeared. Now why did it disappear? It disappeared because it couldn’t deal with the biggest issue of the time, which was slavery.
MATTHEWS: Right.
Mr. FINEMAN: So I’m thinking, what’s the issue this time that could render the Democrats useless to history? And the answer is–if there is one, the answer is terrorism. And who is dehumanizing whom. Is it the terrorists who are dehumanizing us or we who are refusing to view them as real people? And unless the Democrats can figure out an answer on foreign policy, then there is a chance they could blow it, despite all of what you said.
Yeah. Because clearly, the Republican foreign policy is working well for us, being mired in a quagmire of a war and alienating every single ally we’ve every had. Sorry, Mr. Fineman – the GOP imaginary boogie man of “terrorism” isn’t going to kill off the Democratic Party. Keep trying, though, it’s cute to watch the Republicans spin out.
It does suck that the GOP has fucked up the world and will then be handing it back to the Democrats in ’08 to pick up the pieces, but they couldn’t do worse the the Republicans.
I think Bryan Caplan is a fucking dickhead
Oh, the things I have to say about this New Yorker article on economist Bryan Caplan’s book “The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Politics.”
And alas, no time to say them, because we have to go out the door. But I’m putting Bryan Caplan on the list of arrogant jackholes whose shins I intend to kick if ever I meet them. Someday I need to search for that phrase in all of my blog posts and actually compile the list.
Why do They Hate Us?
From the article “Why do They Hate Us?” by Mohsin Hamid in the Washington Post:
When I mentioned the final campaign of the Cold War to my fellow freshmen at Princeton, few seemed to know much about it. Eighteen years later, most people I meet in the United States are astounded to learn that the period ever occurred. But in Pakistan, it is vividly seared into the national memory. Indeed, it has torn the very fabric of what, when I was born, was a relatively liberal country with nightclubs, casinos and legal alcohol.
The residue of U.S. foreign policy coats much of the world. It is the other part of the answer to the question, “Why do they hate us?” Simply because America has — often for what seemed good reasons at the time — intervened to shape the destinies of other countries and then, as a nation, walked away.
There is so much about the United States that I admire. So when I speak of that time now, and encounter the pose of wounded innocence that is the most common American response, I am annoyed and disappointed. It is as though the notion of U.S. responsibility applies only within the 50 states, and I have no right to invoke it.
Bart Peterson’s Letter to Marion County Property Tax Payers
Making the rounds via email:
July 20, 2007
Dear Neighbors:
We have taken the first important steps toward long-term property tax reform. The Governor’s order of a Marion County reassessment is welcome news to our friends and neighbors who have been shocked by the unacceptable tax bills issued this month. Thanks to the reassessment, Marion County tax bills will be frozen at 2006 levels. Although this immediate fix is enormously helpful, we will continue to push for a special session of the General Assembly to harness the momentum and frustration of the community and translate that into long-term reform of our broken property tax system.
As community concern has risen, so has the flow of misinformation. It is important that we all understand the facts and causes for the dramatic increases many are experiencing. Some have argued that runaway city government spending is the cause of the increase. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We have been frugal, cutting $83 million from our budget, and have led the charge for government efficiency and consolidation. In fact, the city’s portion of the property tax bill has actually decreased significantly since I took office and the city tax rate is about the same as it was in 2003. Further, city and county expenses were only 2-3% of the total property tax increase for Marion County.
The source of the increase is complex. The tax rate in Marion County is made up of dozens of taxing units that are under the control of independent boards and separately elected officials. The real cause of the property tax increases has been a combination of many factors including:
- The elimination of the inventory tax, which has shifted the tax burden from businesses to homeowners this year.
- The apparent under-assessment of commercial property, shifting the tax burden to homeowners.
- The State capped the “property tax replacement credit” which provided annual relief to property taxpayers.
- Many school capital projects hit at the same time this year.
- Mandated state payments for child welfare and juvenile incarceration increased dramatically in 2006 & 2007.
As a result of the reassessment, Marion County Treasurer, Mike Rodman announced that the tax bills are now due on August 10, 2007 and instructed taxpayers to pay the amount listed as due on your tax bill from last year. If you are unsure what to pay, check online at www.indygov.org and click the link for “View your new 2007 property tax.” If you have further questions, call 327-4444. In addition, I have activated a team of lawyers to give assistance during special evening hours.
As I have said from the beginning of this crisis, now is not the time for finger- pointing or playing the blame game. Working together with the Governor, the legislature, and our City-County Council, we will get this fixed.
Sincerely,
Bart Peterson
Boy, I wish he had left off the first sentence of the last paragraph, ’cause that just sounds Republican.
Iraq Vets Describe Common Civilian Casualties
The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness:
“I’ll tell you the point where I really turned,” said Spc. Michael Harmon, 24, a medic from Brooklyn. He served a thirteen-month tour beginning in April 2003 with the 167th Armor Regiment, Fourth Infantry Division, in Al-Rashidiya, a small town near Baghdad. “I go out to the scene and [there was] this little, you know, pudgy little 2-year-old child with the cute little pudgy legs, and I look and she has a bullet through her leg…. An IED [improvised explosive device] went off, the gun-happy soldiers just started shooting anywhere and the baby got hit. And this baby looked at me, wasn’t crying, wasn’t anything, it just looked at me like–I know she couldn’t speak. It might sound crazy, but she was like asking me why. You know, Why do I have a bullet in my leg?… I was just like, This is–this is it. This is ridiculous.”
Rich College Republicans want you to fight in Iraq, so they don’t have to.
Max Blumenthal takes us on a hilarious and shocking tour of the College Republican National Convention, where the GOP’s next generation cheer on the war in Iraq, then make sorry excuses for why they can’t serve.
Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney Ties Dog to Roof of Car
I’m a couple weeks late on this story, but it bears repeating. According to Time Magazine, and itchmo.com, Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney tied his family dog’s crate to the roof of the car for a 12 hour trip on the road. You can visit site to know more about the other packages offered by them.
It was 1983 and Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and now presidential candidate, was going on a vacation with his family. The family was driving from Boston to Ontario, and Seamus, the dog, was also coming along for the trip.
Where did Romney put Seamus? Romney strapped a dog carrier with Seamus, an Irish setter, in it, to the roof of the family station wagon for the twelve hour drive. Fortunately, Seamus survived the long trip on the top of the car, although he protested being on top by releasing his bodily fluids on the car.…
Massachusetts’s animal cruelty laws specifically prohibit anyone from carrying an animal “in or upon a vehicle, or otherwise, in an unnecessarily cruel or inhuman manner or in a way and manner which might endanger the animal carried thereon.”
An officer for the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals responded to a description of the situation saying “it’s definitely something I’d want to check out.” The officer, Nadia Branca, declined to give a definitive opinion on whether Romney broke the law but did note that it’s against state law to have a dog in an open bed of a pick-up truck, and “if the dog was being carried in a way that endangers it, that would be illegal.”
And while it appears that the statute of limitations has probably passed, Stacey Wolf, attorney and legislative director for the ASPCA, said “even if it turns out to not be against the law at the time, in the district, we’d hope that people would use common sense…Any manner of transporting a dog that places the animal in serious danger is something that we’d think is inappropriate… I can’t speak to the accuracy of the case, but it raises concerns about the judgment used in this particular situation.”
Too damn bad that we aren’t allowed to put Mitt Romney down for that stunt. Fucker.
Rich white douchebags count on racism to win in 2008
During a panel discussion of the 2008 presidential election on the July 15 edition of NBC’s Meet the Press, syndicated columnist Robert Novak asserted: “Republicans are very pessimistic about 2008. When you talk to them off the record, they don’t see how they can win this thing. And then they think for a minute, and only the Democratic Party, with everything in their favor, would say that, ‘OK, this is the year either to have a woman or an African-American to break precedent, to do things the country has never done before.’ And it gives the Republicans hope.” Neither host Tim Russert nor any of Novak’s fellow panelists, Bloomberg News Washington managing editor Al Hunt, Republican strategist Mike Murphy, and Democratic strategist Bob Shrum — all of whom are, like Novak, white men — commented on or challenged Novak’s assertion. As Media Matters for America documented, the four Sunday-morning talk programs on the broadcast networks, Meet the Press, ABC’s This Week, CBS’ Face the Nation, and Fox Broadcasting Co.’s Fox News Sunday, feature guest lists that are overwhelmingly white and overwhelmingly male.
Yeah, they’re counting on racism and sexism to help them win next year. Nice.
Feel Good Inc.
Via Shakesville, via Andrew Sullivan, via the Houston Chronicle:
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