Elections have consequences. President Obama’s new budget represents a huge break, not just with the policies of the past eight years, but with policy trends over the past 30 years. If he can get anything like the plan he announced on Thursday through Congress, he will set America on a fundamentally new course.Sounds like a good plan to me!
However, it's a cop-out to simply ascribe this to his illness and let it go at that. Because there is a pattern of "isolated incidents" in which mentally ill people select their victims based on eliminationist scapegoating rhetoric from right-wing ideologues.Dave's post also discusses an important and difficult issue: the connection between hate rhetoric and actual violence. His Orcinus blogger partner Sara Robinson addressed this subject as well in "Know This If Nothing Else: This Was A Hate Crime" 02/10/09, about the in this case anti-Christian terrorist James Adkisson, who was convicted of opening fire in a Unitarian church in Knoxville TN last year, also killing two people. (This reminds me, I haven't been quoting Sara nearly enough here lately.)
Nicely done, Messrs. Hannity, Goldberg, Limbaugh, Savage and O'Reilly -- and all your lesser brethren who keep the hate speech spewing 24/7/365 across every field and into every shop in the country. There is no more debate to be had, no more doubt about it: What you did in the name of "entertainment," and for the sake of the almighty ratings, raised and animated a monster like Jim Adkisson, gave him a list of targets ("the 100 people in Bernard Goldberg's book"), and was directly responsible for the deaths of two brave and decent people. Adkisson was clearly angry and crazy -- but his "manifesto" draws the clearest, brightest line possible between the media he consumed and his actions that terrible Sunday morning.There's clearly an intermediary social process that goes on, though. Limbaugh and the rest create a frenzied attitude among their followers, who then incorporate their extremist attitudes into their personal exchanges.
Just once I'd like to see one of these Confederate Republicans acknowledge how much more their states receive from the Treasury than they pay in taxes. (For Louisiana, it's $1.45 for every dollar paid; for Mississippi, $1.77, etc.) But then what's a little hypocrisy among free lunch conservatives? Jindal also mocked an (imaginary) $8 billion earmark for a high-speed railway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Then he turned right around and solicited funding for a Baton Rouge-New Orleans line.This is not just snark. The real-world model for the Ayn Randish, Limbaughist dystopia that is now the Republican vision for the United States is the segregationist governments of the post-Reconstruction Deep South.
Back before free-lunch hypocrisy became gospel, Louisiana had a social structure like Guatemala's-low taxes on the wealthy, a beaten-down middle class and sprawling poverty. Economically, GOP doctrine consists of ignoring the obvious. Show me a low-tax, "pro-business" paradise like the Deep South before World War II, and I'll show you poverty, disease, illiteracy and stagnant opportunity.
Alternatively, try finding a wealthy country anywhere on earth with the economic policies the Jindals, Limbaughs and Huckabees recommend. They simply don't exist. Hence, the current nearhysteria on the right. We haven't seen its like since the 1960s, when many white Southerners panicked over the prospect of racial integration, the John Birch Society flourished, and billboards depicting "Martin Luther King at a Communist training school" lined rural highways. [my emphasis]
Ken Starr says the power of the people includes the right to eliminate free speech under the California constitution.Tags: jerry brown, ken starr, proposition 8, proposition hate
GREGORY: Dee Dee, this one is for you, and it's from Daniel Conklin, who writes, "Ask Dee Dee Myers how well Robert Gibbs is doing as press secretary. How hard is it to maintain, uh, continuity with the President when he is speaking in front of the cameras as much or more than his press secretary?" This is a good question.And none of the high-end "journalists" in the segment seem the slightest bit embarassed at this explanation that they would be reluctant to antagonize the President's press secretary because the press secretary has such great influence over their precious "access".
MYERS: Hunh! Well, first of all, I think Robert Gibbs is doing a terrific job. He has two, I think, primary assets. One is that he's unflappable in the briefing room. He's, you know, he slows the game down, he's not easily ruffled, doesn't make any big mistakes.
But more importantly, he has a very close relationship with the President and everybody knows it. Which means two things. One, he's in the loop. And, two, he controo-ools access both information and interviews and all of that to the President. And so everyone in the briefing room takes what he says seriously and they also don't wanna mess with him. Uh-
GREGORY: It's so important. It's so good for the press corps and so good for the country to have a vary strong press secretary.
MYERS: Exactly. And I think he's as powerful as any new press secretary probably in the historty of the country because of that relationship. [my emphasis i n bold]
"If you understand Christianity or even Theism – the belief of a sovereign creator God – and evolutionary theory in its dominant form, I find it impossible to reconcile the two," Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said on his radio program Thursday, the 200th birthday anniversary of Charles Darwin.This is evidently the broadcast: Charles Darwin and the Modern Mind 02/12/09. In a blog post of the same title and date, Brother Al links to various of his polemics against natural selection ("Darwinian" evolution). He returns to the subject against in a blog post of 02/16/09, Christianity and Evolution -- Seeing the Problem.
While the Bible doesn't explain all the mechanisms God used to create the world, it gives believers many non-negotiables about what that creation is, who is behind it, and for what purpose it was created, said Mohler on "The Albert Mohler Program". ...
Whereas the Biblical account of creation accepts the role of a Creator, the theory of evolution "suggests that natural selection is indeed the mechanism and that it is entirely natural and in no case supernatural," said the theologian.
"There is no way for God to intervene in the process and for it to remain natural," he asserted.
But the Catholic Church never condemned Darwin, as it condemned and silenced Galileo. ...Cardinal Schönborn, when he became the Archbishop of Vienna, was seen as a possibly more moderate candidate for the papacy. It's too bad to see him adopt such a reactionary, anti-science position. The Church did make it clear that Schönborn's position was not an official Church position.
Yet as recently as 2006 a leading Catholic Cardinal, Christoff Schoenborn, of Vienna, a former student and friend of Pope Benedict XVI caused controversy by saying that Darwin's theory of natural selection was incompatible with Christian belief.
... he firmly rejected theistic evolution.Yet Brother Al himself finds it hard not to display an obvious problem with this Bible-as-science-textbook approach:
"God was not merely fashioning the creation of what was already pre-existent, nor was He merely working with a process in order to guide it in some generalized way, nor was He waiting to see how it would turn out," said Mohler.
"As Genesis indicates, He created the world in order that the world might be the theater of His glory for the demonstration of the Gospel of Christ and He created human beings as the only beings made in His image, as His covenant partner," the Protestant theologian explained.
Although Mohler said he rejected evolution as a way to explain the origin of all things, he acknowledged that there are changes in animals that take place over time.Natural selection is the process of evolution. And if "natural selection ... appears at least to be natural", how can Brother Al say he doesn't accept evolution and that it's incompatible with the Christian faith? He even says that no conservative Christian should deny natural selection.
"No Conservative Christian should deny there is a process of change that is evident within the animal kingdom. And there is even a process of natural selection that appears at least to be natural," he said, adding all one has to do is look at a herd of cattle to find evidence of adaptation and a competition of genes.
The most important problem that Obama and his aides weren't prepared for was the degree to which the Republicans would oppose him. In part, this was circumstantial: the first major bill to test the President's stated desire for bipartisanship was on the subject that arouses the most partisanship: taxing and spending. The Democrats were bent on using the opportunity of the stimulus bill to expand or create as many domestic programs as they could. Against the evidence of the past eight years, the Republicans remained wedded to tax cuts as the way to stimulate the economy. To some extent, Obama set himself up by calling for bipartisanship—especially on this subject. He was acting on his campaign pledge to "change the ways of Washington," or "end the partisan wrangling," which didn't necessarily mean winning bipartisan support for every bill.But then she proceeds to write a strange story interwoven with her account of recent events.
The House Republicans, greatly reduced by the 2006 and 2008 elections, were now as a whole more conservative than they've been in a generation—moderate Republicans having been reduced to a mere dozen or so. There were signs from the outset that the Republicans had no intention of cooperating with Obama. Lacking the leverage to affect policy, or the votes sufficient to defeat Obama's stimulus plan, they could do what they wanted, however short-sighted, without being saddled with responsibility for killing it. Moreover, they concluded from their losses in 2008 that they hadn't been conservative enough; they had come under a great deal of criticism for having presided over too much spending.
The House has been particularly polarized for decades: when each party gains the majority, it takes revenge for having been, as they see it, mistreated by the other. Since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was rushing the bill through the House, it was easy for Republican leaders to get their followers worked up against it.But the part about the Democrats being eager to take revenge on the other side, I guess that must have played out in some other world to which she has access. Shoot, I bet in that world the Dems even made Joe Lieberman beg and plead to be accepted back into the Democratic fold under humiliating conditions! Things played out a little differently in this world, though.
This should have signaled to the White House what was to come. The Republicans in Congress do not want Obama to be a successful president, perhaps dooming their party to minority status for quite a while. And Obama sought Republican support for his bill not solely out of an idealistic desire for bipartisanship itself, but for pragmatic reasons as well: he wanted "cover"—as politicians often do in order to claim broad (however defined) support for their initiatives, especially controversial ones. The Republicans understood this, and they had no interest in helping him out.... followed up with a standard Pod Pundit assumption that because they themselves are devoted to the High Broderist ideal of sweet bipartisanship, the American people must be similarly inclined:
But Obama also knew that his elaborate courtesies to the Republicans—meeting with them, having them over for cocktail parties and the Super Bowl—looked good to voters. In doing these things, he was talking to the greater public.Actually, in this world, it's more likely that he was talking to the Beltway Village, where David Broder is considered a font of wisdom. And possibly following his own inclinations to build the widest possible coalition and disarm potential adversaries, if possible.
Economists have debated for years over the extent to which infrastructure projects stimulate the economy, partly because such projects can take many months to get underway, partly because of government regulations. But the country badly needs to improve bridges, roads, and dams, and eventually there are solid objects to show for this investment. While their stimulative effect may be spread out—as the projects take time to complete—it's also deemed important to prevent an "air pocket" at the end of two years, when people are out of work again.Actually, states and localities were suspending projects already under way and postponing others that were in an advanced stage of planning. The infrastructure money allows many of those to go forward immediately.
Specter insisted that the final bill go no higher than $789 billion (later adjusted to $787 billion), even as he demanded $6.5 million more for cancer research (Specter has cancer). Thus, most unusually, the final amount was less than that voted for in either the Senate or the House (who normally compromise their differences in a final bill). Obama got about as much money for the stimulus bill as the political traffic would bear. [my emphasis]Our press corps was apparently so bored with all these budget numbers - or so lacking in ability to understand them - that most of them didn't seem to find it odd that the House had a higher amount when they first passed the bill, the Senate passed a lower amount, and the final compromise bill that was negotiated was even smaller. Drew at least managed to notice in passing that this was at least a bit out of the ordinary: the two Houses "normally compromise their differences in a final bill", she writes. But she didn't feel moved to actually explain that quite unusual circumstance to us in this important case.
A highly troubling result of the fight over the stimulus bill is that it could make getting another one - which might well be needed - through Congress extremely difficult. To show fiscal prudence, while the stimulus bill was being considered, Obama announced he'd hold a "fiscal responsibility summit" and would take on the problem of entitlements. (Later, he proposed to cut the budget deficit in half in four years, in part by winding down the war in Iraq and in part by allowing Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy to expire in 2011. None of this will be easy.) His address on February 24 mixed a stern reckoning of the failures of responsibility that had led the country to "difficult and uncertain times" with a call "to act boldly and wisely." His agenda included a program of caps on carbon pollution and more investment in alternative sources of energy; health care reform (but not universal coverage); a call for at least one year of higher education for everyone; and rewards for teacher performance (highly controversial in his own party).In his joint address to Congress on February 24, Obama said:
This budget builds on these reforms. It includes an historic commitment to comprehensive health care reform – a down-payment on the principle that we must have quality, affordable health care for every American.And he mentioned health care several other times during that speech. Not once did he specify it wouldn't be a universal health care plan. He did make that case during the campaign. But not in that speech, and I've seen at least one report suggesting he may go for universal coverage, after all.
But one of the conclusions that he and his aides reached after the early, bumpy days was that he should go out on the road more. This is a typical reaction on the part of a president's aides: show him relating to "the people," get outside "the Beltway chatter." Presidents need to maintain popular support in order to get things done, and they draw sustenance from the cheering crowds; it's much more enjoyable than governing.The idea that actually going out and interacting with groups of the public not screened to be Potemkin events - like most of Bush's were - is actually a part of governing seems not to have occurred to her. He must be doing it because it's more fun.
The recent increased amount of presidential travel—to Indiana, Florida, Arizona, and Colorado—may have been another indication that Obama was not particularly happy in the White House, and that 2012 election politics were already on his and his aides' minds. John Dickerson, of Slate, said on Washington Week in Review on February 13 that the President's aides had concluded that it hadn't been helpful for Obama to be seen participating in the give-and-take of Washington, that "that's not what he was elected to do." Yes it is. [my emphasis]Establishment journalists and pundits luu-uuv talking about the horse race. They're ready to handicap the 2012 Presidential race already.
Obama cannot afford to make his calculations about Iraq solely with an eye to domestic American politics. He extended his original proposal of a 16-month withdrawal of active combat brigades to 18 months so as to leave more troops in place to help with the next Iraqi parliamentary elections, scheduled for December 2009. It is ... the case that Iraqi elections can still only go forward if the country is locked down and vehicular traffic forbidden, preventing car-bombings and coordinated guerrilla strikes. It might be possible for the Iraqi military to provide security for national elections in 2013 should the country's future ruler or rulers deign to hold them, but the Iraqi military cannot hope to do so this year.Just to be clear, I would have preferred a rapid drawdown on something like a one-year schedule. The presence of American troops is in itself a major risk of the fighting escalating.
Iraq's military also continues to need logistical support from U.S. forces. ...All of this reflects the fact that Cheney and Bush intended for Iraq to be a permanent US military base.
Although Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has had military successes during the past year, in the southern port of Basra and in Sadr City (east Baghdad), against the Mahdi Army militia, these campaigns depended heavily on U.S. close air support. Iraq lacks an air force and it will take years to create one. One caveat about Obama's pledge to remove troops by the end of 2011 is that he cannot possibly be including the U.S. Air Force, which is almost certainly in for a longer mission, but can operate from bases outside Iraq. Without a navy, moreover, Iraq cannot prevent petroleum smuggling via the Persian Gulf, which drains billions from government coffers annually and strengthens militias against the state, and this sort of patrol will fall to the U.S. Navy for some time to come.
It would be wrong to overlook these simple words: "And under the Status of Forces Agreement with the Iraqi government, I intend to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011." Though the word "troops" referred to the Army and the Marines, not to the Air Force and Navy, what Obama said on Friday was a firm pledge to leave. And by binding himself to a security agreement formally passed by the Iraqi parliament, Obama was eschewing unilateralism and the patronizing hubris that marked Bush's discourse on Iraq. The Iraqi and Arab press understood this point immediately, and led their accounts of Obama's speech with that sentence abour [sic] removing troops. Obama was not signaling any diffidence about ending the Iraq War before the end of his [first] term. He was attempting to provide for an orderly withdrawal that will ensure that U.S. troops are not drawn back in by a subsequent security collapse. [my emphasis]For other views on Obama's withdrawal plan, see also:
When there was a choice [in 2008] between supporting Barack Obama and attending rallies organized by various Maoists, Trotskyists and neo-anarchists opposed to Obama and electoral politics, the grassroots peace movement headed for the precincts by the thousands. What appeared to Ricks to be a failed antiwar rally in Washington was only evidence that the movement was moving on, becoming a voting force in and around the Obama campaign.Unlike the Pod Pundits, who see Obama's withdrawal plan as a sign of his standing up against "the left", Hayden - who is generally considered a figure of "the left" - writes, "The greater danger from Iraq for Obama may lie at home politically if Republicans and the generals, echoed by the mainstream media, protest Obama's withdrawal plan as naïve or worse."
That turned out to be the right strategy for the peace movement when John McCain was defeated in November, but many continued to wonder--with good reason--whether Obama was promising nothing more than partial peace under a new form of military occupation. Now it is clear that somewhere along the way Obama became persuaded that it made little sense to leave 50,000 troops in Iraq when the Pentagon couldn't win with 150,000, the American economy was collapsing and his hands were full in Afghanistan and Pakistan. [my emphasis]
Obama's claim that the U.S. combat mission will end in August 2010 raises the question whether he will call a halt to combat patrols by U.S. personnel embedded with Iraqi units. The sweeping concession made to CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus and Iraq commander Gen. Odierno on the residual force suggests that he will not demand the end of such operations by U.S. troops.Former Sen. George McGovern favors a faster withdrawal, as reported in McGovern: Troops Should Come Home This Year Keloland.com 02/27/09:
The freedom granted to Odierno and Petraeus on the residual force overshadows his concession to the generals and Gates in accepting the recommendation for 19-month timetable for withdrawing combat brigades.
"I give the President credit for setting a date certain, that's something the previous administration would not do," McGovern said.Tags:
But McGovern says waiting 18 months to pull thousands of troops out of Iraq isn't something this country can afford.
"I think we ought to recognize this is a mistake and then cut our losses. I don't mean just race for the border. I mean we should be out of there by September this year not September next year," McGovern said.
And the former Senator doesn't think 50 thousand troops should be left behind to train the Iraqi forces.
"We can't control events in the troubled Middle East. Everybody that's tried to do that has ended up with blood on their hands, blood on the receiving country's hands, and without a clear cut victory," McGovern said.
Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, offered a most interesting response to the revelation that the Obama White House is vetting prayers: "The only thing worse than having these prayers in the first place is to have them vetted, because it entangles the White House in core theological matters."Say, Brother Al, maybe you should check out the Constitution of the United States again, too. It says right there in plain English in Article II, Section 2: "The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States."
An ardent and radical Church/State separationist, Barry Lynn has argued that no prayers at government-sponsored events or ceremonies should be delivered, citing both constitutional and theological reservations. I rarely find myself in agreement with Barry Lynn, but I am with him on this issue -- at least with respect to his argument that this practice "entangles the White House in core theological matters."
Of course it does. When a White House approves or edits prayers, it has entered theological territory and takes on a theological function. The President of the United States is our Commander in Chief, not our Theologian in Chief. [my emphasis]
During Obama's recent visit to Fort Myers, Fla., to promote his economic stimulus plan, a black Baptist preacher delivered a prayer that carefully avoided mentioning Jesus, lest he offend anyone in the audience. ...Like maybe the large Jewish population in Florida?
James Bing, the pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church in Fort Myers, Fla., said he chose to self-censor his prayer. "For some strange reason, the word Jesus is like pouring gasoline on fire for some people in this country," he said. "You learn how to work around that."
Before you choose your wish you better think firstTags: albert mohler, britney, britney spears, christianism
'Cause with every wish there comes a curse
