Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Is It Time for Post-Bipartisanship yet?

"Grow up Democrats. Do it alone. Face the music. You're the majority." - Rachel Maddow.

Rachel Maddow, PhD, is the only person you need to watch to know what's really going on behind the scenes in Washington - why what's happening is happening. If you want to know why something is the way it is in Washington, just watch Rachel. And she's no shill for the Democrats either.



Sunday, February 07, 2010

George Will: As Big a Fraud as Palin

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6855016.html


Look, all you really need to know is that Paul Ryan's budget was so horribly received in Washington that even John Boehner distanced himself from it, and Democrats have been using it all week to pillory the Republicans with it, asking them for "more please!"

Why? Because for all Will's alleged "simplicity," his entire column is reductio ad absurdum of extremely complex government for an extremely large and complex society. Read it again, and this time stop after every sentence and read between the lines. Take this little gem:

"Medicare and Social Security would be preserved for those currently receiving benefits, or becoming eligible in the next 10 years (those 55 and older today). Both programs would be made permanently solvent."

They would be made "permanently solvent" because they would be dead in 10 years. See that? Slash it to a small tax credit after 10 years and it's gone. Well yeah, I can make any budget "permanently solvent" -- by reducing it to $0. Nice trick, George. Brilliant, Paul.

This is the absurdity of the plan (and the crazies who think like this) in all its elements. What this kind of infantile wishing masquerading as serious commentary is really doing is making a small set of crazy people believe that we live in a world with magic ponies where we don't have to pay taxes and nobody gets hurt, that the world is a small and simple place with simple "common sense" solutions at every turn, if only the bleeding heart evil greedy socialist communist fascist technocrats would just wake up and realize that everything is really very, very, very simple and very, very, very easy. And that makes the crazies very, very, very angry! It's all so easy! So simple! Why won't they see it!?!?!? Ridiculous.

As Obama has said, "Who wouldn't want that? If it's that good, why wouldn't I be doing it already?" The answer to his rhetorical question reveals the intellectual fraud of George Will, Paul Ryan, and the fiscal crazies on the right. The adults in the Republican party (though few) and the adults in the Democrat party, and the adult independents and experts are all trying to deal with the way the world is and not the way in which they wish the world was. We tried the latter approach to governing in the last 8-year administration. How did that work out for them? For us? Do you see any flying magic ponies on American main street? How about in Baghdad or Islamabad? Because the last administration put people in power who actually believed -- and governed under -- the fraud that Will is peddling.

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Monday, February 01, 2010

Still The Party of No

No ideas. (Aside from reading "the bill," has anyone read "the pamphlet"?)

No compromise.

No good faith.

No to America.