Category Archives: Political Rants

Political Rants

What’s up with Doc.

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As is typical for me, I’m going to roll through a couple of topics. Who knows where we’ll land, eh?

Haiti redux. Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier returned to Haiti last week, a fact treated as something of a curiosity by the mainstream media. Sure, they referenced the fact that he killed thousands during his 15-year tenure, picking up the club left by his departed “president for life” father (who was himself removed from office via the only constitutional means available to such a leader). But they didn’t examine the circumstances of Baby Doc’s arrival very deeply at all. All Things Considered did a piece on it Thursday night, and they basically navigated around any suggestion of political maneuvering. (They also managed to avoid mentioning the fact that Lavalas, the largest party in Haiti, was excluded from participating in the recent election.)

The most plausible explanation for his return was suggested by Kim Ives of Haiti Liberté on Democracy Now! this past Wednesday. With his return, pressure is being put on René Preval to allow the U.S./French – favored Duvalierist candidate to participate in the run-off for the now disputed Presidential race. Baby Doc is there to rally his supporters, in case Preval hasn’t been getting the message. In as much as there has been talk of sending Preval into exile, I have to think he’s feeling more than a bit pressed. Ives points out that, after having been supine before the demands of the U.S., France, and Canada, Preval is facing deportation over his first disagreement with the international community overlords he has so faithfully served. This is independence?

What’s just as sick is the fact that the 2004 coup, supported wholeheartedly by the United States and France, has been dropped into the memory hole as far as the mainstream media is concerned. The All Things Considered piece, for instance, simply said that Aristide left on an American plane in 2004. True… but hardly “all things considered”. The invented story about his choosing to go into exile has stuck. If these reporters and editors had any integrity, they would provide the crucial context that a.) the country is being ruled by those congenial to the 2004 coup, and b.) the only legitimate mass-based political party in Haiti is banned because it is not sufficiently subservient to the interests of the United States and its allies. Honestly…. if Baby Doc can come back to Haiti and Aristide cannot, there is a political reason for that.

Okay, that’s one topic. And that’s all I’ve got. In all honesty, this irks the hell out of me, so it’s just as well.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Shooting to kill.

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There’s a lot going on these days, but I’ll confine my meandering comments to a couple of topics.

Tucson shooting. Much has been said and written about this horrible event over the past week. There are one or two things that have stuck in my mind. The first is that weapon – a glock with a 30-round clip. Why the hell are these weapons available for purchase? Where did he get the gun, the ammo? And how many shootings like this will it take to put some reasonable control on such out-of-control firepower? Every time this kind of thing happens, we hear the bleating, “Our thoughts are with the victims of this senseless crime,” blah-blah-blah. And yet we do nothing. I thing it’s time for Chris Rock’s $5,000 bullets. (Adjusted for inflation, that’s probably $7,500 per round.)

The other thing is the discourse question. There’s no question but that over-the-top rhetoric inspires violent acts; whether this is one of them, no one has been able to say. It just seems like the combination of nut-case gun-headed political screamers and easy availability of guns is a particularly toxic one. What can be done? $5,000 bullets.

Haiti plus one. Haiti is still in peril, still buried under a pile of rubble a year after that catastrophic earthquake. The international community has offered the same kind of “help” they always have for Haiti – most recently, blocking participation of Lavalas (Aristide’s party), the only truly broad-based political movement in the country, from participating in the November elections. The current ruling party, having taken power in the wake of a coup, seems capable only of nodding obediently to foreign investors.

Sure, you all have been generous in your donations – that’s clear. But as is so often the case, our charitable acts are more than counteracted by the official policy of our government. That has been the same in regards to Haiti since they declared independence 200 years ago. Through economic and military means, we have worked to bring about the destruction of their government institutions, their agricultural sector, and whatever independent development they may have realized. The 2010 quake was just a coup de grace for them.  

Now that it’s 2011, let’s do better by these people. Let’s get our government to stop manipulating them and make a good faith effort to help them rebuild their independence as well as their homes.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Money speaks.

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What is the best thing that can be said about the House majority in the 112th Congress after its first full day of business? My vote would be for the fact that they seem to have the seeds of self-destruction sown deep in their DNA. It’s a teeth-clenching joy to behold, frankly. I’m particularly enamored of the fact that, in the days leading up to the session’s opening, they were swarming the swank venues of Washington D.C., being celebrated by lobbyists, plied with drink, etc. – the whole Abramoff/Delay machine back in action once again. Two of their number – Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) – were so immersed in the never-ending delight of fundraising that they hilariously neglected to make it to the Capitol for the swearing in ceremony, opting instead to raise their right hands to a nearby T.V. screen at the bar/restaurant of choice. Good start, guys.

One wishes that were the full extent of the madness – just the Keystone Cop-like clumsiness – but it goes much deeper than that. The corporations that poured money into this last campaign will be getting just what they paid for: a legislature devoted to ensuring full federal compliance with their legislative and regulatory priorities. They got some love from the 111th Congress, to be sure, particularly in light of what has happened to the economy and the environment over the past two years, but this is a prize of an entirely different order of magnitude. This is a paid-for House, pure and simple.

It is now clear the degree to which corporate money was a factor in the closing days of the 2010 election cycle. Though it ran consistently high, post Citizens United, there was a significant spike at the end. Without question, it is now payback time. They’ve gotten a downpayment in the form of the recent tax compromise legislation. Now the focus will be on disabling the few progressive successes we’ve seen in the last session – aspects of financial reform, such as the Consumer Protection Bureau, parts of the health care legislation, and so on. It is incumbent upon us to press the President, the House minority party, and Democrats in the Senate to hold onto these modest gains.

It is also incumbent upon us to take this lesson to heart – elections have consequences. If we sit them out, someone will still win. And that someone is usually a tremendous tool.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Year 10.

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Wtf, what a year, eh? At least those of us who made it through… made it through. Just a few closing thoughts before that ludicrously pointless ball of Christmas tree lights falls, signaling the arbitrary beginning to another great year.

Economy. At the end of a tumultuous year, we are still at nearly 10% unemployment as it is currently calculated, meaning that it’s probably closer to 16% in real terms, maybe higher. I can tell you that, of the family members and close friends who have lost a job in the past year to 18 months, 2 out of 3 are still looking for work. This is probably a familiar story across the country. And yet, some seem to be doing quite well. American businesses – and I mean BIG businesses – have amassed huge piles of cash over the past year. The stock market – and therefore, investors – are doing better. And on Wall Street, the bonuses were fatter than a Christmas goose once again. (They’ve got a tax cut on the way, too.) Even with all that, they managed to take a swipe at Obama, who has done little more than wag a finger at them. There’s gratitude for you.  

War. Our glorious victory in Afghanistan was about nine years ago, one of the darkest winters I can recall, and the start of a long, bloody chapter in the history of American empire. Anything like the bloodiest ever? Likely not. It is just as well that we remember how many lives were lost in Korea in the early 1950s, in Vietnam in the 1960s and ’70s, in Central America and southern Africa in the 1980s, and elsewhere. Even individually, they make Iraq and Afghanistan seem like relatively minor catastrophes, though either of our most recent wars would put  us into Milosevic territory (and probably beyond). Still, Afghanistan has the distinction of being our longest war, as well as one we should have known better than to ignite (happy as we were to help strand the Soviets there during the 1980s).

Social Programs. Despite (and partially because of) the new health insurance reform bill, this has not been a good year for the social safety net. Political players are positioning themselves to implement massive cuts in Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid over the coming two years. They’ve ginned up fear of the deficit, sapped the federal budget with Obama’s tax compromise, and set up the hurdles in advance, the first being the continuing budget resolution that will run out in March. Watch – that’s when they will bring out the long knives. We’d best be ready for them.  Read Dean Baker’s excellent blog as well as Ezra Klein’s interview with James Galbraith, and start talking to your friends about this … yesterday.

Here’s to a better year next time around.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Service.

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After a whirlwind lame duck session for the 111th Congress, it appears as though gays will soon be able to serve openly in the military. I must emphasize the modifier “soon”, as it is not yet safe to make your sexual orientation known in the service, and it won’t be until the Administration and the Pentagon completes their review process. None the less, this was a long time coming, and I am glad for those in uniform for whom the repeal of DADT means a kind of liberation. DADT was implemented before we started asking way too much of our military – multiple deployments to multiple simultaneous occupations, heavy fighting over stretches of months at a time, high casualty rates, etc. – and it has simply outlived its mandate, in addition to being dead wrong from the start.

That’s all good, but it’s just a step in the right direction. Gay Americans are still second-class citizens, barred from full civil rights as of this moment. As of now, there is an institutional necessity to allow gays to join the military – with an all-volunteer force like ours, we cannot wage two (or perhaps three) simultaneous wars without providing incentives to talented people of every persuasion to participate. The trouble is, when they return to civilian life (those who don’t choose to make the military a permanent career), they find themselves unable to marry, to raise a family, or to hold certain types of positions in some states. Not a dissimilar situation to that of the late 1940s, early 1950s, when black soldiers returned to the segregated south and a nearly equally racist north. My guess is that it’s just a matter of time before the crumbling edifice of discrimination against gays falls entirely to pieces.

It is worth saying, too, that while we’re now legislatively bound to start welcoming gays into our military, we might want to take this opportunity to consider more carefully what we’re asking our military to do. Right now, we are involved in two indefensible conflicts. This is not the fault of those who serve – this is the fault of our policy makers and, by extension, us. It gives me little satisfaction to know that, while gays need no longer serve in fear of exposure and expulsion, they are still compelled to participate in conflicts that are killing thousands while making us decidedly less safe from attack.

If we’re asking people – gay and straight – to sacrifice, let’s make certain it’s for a damn good reason… one good enough that each of us would be willing to sacrifice in kind.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Dear Santa.

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I’ve heard a kind of depressing story the last couple of days about a bureau of the Postal Service tasked with opening letters to Santa Claus. Here’s a somewhat strange version from NPR’s All Things Considered in which Robert Siegel tries to lighten things up with some lame quips. They’ve been finding that, this year, kids are tending less to ask for gaming consoles and the like than stuff like warm coats, shoes, etc. Just a hint of how rough people have it these days – a peek into the Dickensian hellscape inhabited by the millions upon millions of children (and their parents) living in poverty. Our top-down economy is literally killing hope before it even has the chance to learn how to express itself.

I’m not a practicing Christian, nor am I big on organized religion in general, but if there’s one thing valuable about the Christmas season it’s the sense of possibility it can engender in people – not so much the expectation of personal gain, but more the notion that things can be better, that in the midst of an unforgiving universe, we can be fair and decent to one another. So in a way these letters show that, even in the midst of an unrelenting consumer culture, these kids are more focused on those ideals than might be expected. So even though Santa may not be coming for many of them, they are very good little girls and boys indeed.

That’s not to say that Santa isn’t coming for anyone. Not a bit of it. Our nation’s millionaires and billionaires can now expect a little something extra in their Christmas stocking, like another yacht or a Lamborghini, perhaps. Yes, the tax compromise package has been passed by both houses of Congress and is on the way to Obama for his signature. That means low, low taxes for everybody, ludicrously low estate tax rates, and an untold bonanza for the richest 1% in general. Also… a pile of additional, non-investment debt to be paid off at some point uncertain, a significant undermining of the funding vehicle for Social Security, and a paltry 13-month extension to unemployment benefits.

And for those kids, maybe some second-hand shoes for mom. Jesus… this is why we suck.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

On capitulation.

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Okay, so the president has a bit to apologize for. He’s not alone in that respect – plenty of blame to go around here. Fact is, the administration is certainly wrong to criticize the liberal-left for denouncing the deal he cut with Republicans this week. If the president was painted into a corner, it was not by the left. The Congress members who were dead set against raising the tax issue before this past election were “Blue Dog” conservatives, worried about offending their constituencies – the same voters that would soon send more than half of them packing.

It is now these conservative Democrats that Obama is relying upon during the lame duck session to shepherd this deal through the House. It seems likely that most Republicans will support it, so he hardly needs the entire Democratic caucus. In any case, the capitulation happened a long time ago. At this point, the main thing is making certain that unemployed workers get the help they need. I don’t care how we get there, particularly, so long as they don’t give away the store… and reserve the right to start fighting again fresh on January 1.

There will be a lot to fight about, particularly when you consider how the Republicans have been behaving in the wake of their electoral victory. To wit,

  • Jim DeMint has talked about the possibility of making unemployment insurance more like “a loan” to give unemployed people incentive to go to work. No, really… he’s serious.
  • The main talking point on these upper income marginal tax cuts is that they are “NOT tax cuts”, that to not implement them is, in fact, a tax increase.  I heard Jon Kyl plying this one yesterday. A little wordplay here – perhaps they don’t remember that when they invented these tax cuts nine years ago, they put an end point on them. The tax cut has a time limit; when that passes, it’s over. Extend it, that’s a new cut because it involves additional billions. Got that, Jon? 
  • Tax cuts for the rich don’t add to the deficit. Unemployment benefits do.

You get the picture. One last point… it was mentioned in passing on NPR business news today that American corporations are sitting on $2 trillion in cash. Sitting on it.

Again… do these people really need a tax cut?

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Stuff and… other stuff.

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All right, here are a few wild passes at some current issues.

Leaking the obvious. Now that there’s a concerted effort by telecom corporations to shut down access to Wikileaks and a man hunt underway for Julian Assange, perhaps someone should stop and consider how asinine this vendetta truly is. It’s the internet, for chrissake… if the documents get lifted, they will certainly be posted somewhere. And sure, the cables are embarrassing to diplomats, etc. But are any of the most publicized revelations in the latest Wikileaks document dump at all surprising? Consider…

  • Iranian influence in Iraq. Well, there’s a shocker. Iran has been spending money in Iraq, has relationships with many of its senior leaders. Is it possible that anyone would be surprised by this? Iraq is a majority Shi’a country, like Iran. There are longstanding cultural, religious, and political ties between these two neighboring states, and many Iraqi political figures took exile in Iran during the Saddam years. Speaking of which, Iran was attacked by a U.S.-supported Iraq in the 1980s, in an eight-year conflict that cost them probably a million lives. If I were them, I would be deeply interested in what happens in Iraq…. especially since we’re still the power behind the throne.
  • Yemen. The Yemeni leadership lied about their role in approving drone strikes against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Who would have guessed?

What else? The government in Afghanistan is corrupt? Pakistan doesn’t want us to control its nuclear materials? Colonel Qaddafi is weird? Here’s my shocked face. 

Can you say “Stim”? Republicans claim to be looking for ways to create “growth” and jobs. Hey, Boehner, hey Cantor – stop looking! Unemployment benefits are just the ticket. They are conceded to be one of the most effective ways of creating economic activity, because it’s money sent to people who spend it right away. Analysts estimate that about a million jobs would be lost if the extension is passed. With the official unemployment rate nudging 10%, this is no time to demonstrate what cheapskates you are. So Dems, find your spine for five minutes. And GOP, get the hell out of the way. It’s not only smart economics – it’s the right goddamned thing to do.

Political Rants

Let us prey.

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Couple of things to comment on this week. I’ll be brief – it’s a holiday, for chrissake.

Unforced confession. George W. Bush has been hawking his memoir for the last couple of weeks, proudly admitting that he personally authorized the use of waterboarding – a torture technique he considers legal because his legal advisors told him so. “I’m not a lawyer,” he told Matt Lauer in one interview. How far would that get any of us in front of a judge?

No one seems particularly bothered about this, but Bush’s proud admission, along with Cheney’s, is basically a declaration that our justice system is in a shambles; that the law applies only to the powerless and that cruel and unusual punishment is acceptable. Torture is a violation of U.S. statute and of international conventions to which the U.S. is both a signatory and a primary participant. Waterboarding is torture; it has been recognized as such since the days of Torquemada and before, I’ll wager.

Bush and Cheney have admitted their guilt; bragged about it, in fact, with the arrogance of men who know they are safe from accountability. The Justice Department should act upon these admissions without any thought to political expediency. That is not how the law is supposed to work. You break the law, you face justice – that’s how. Mr. Holder? Do your job.

Money rules. The results are in, and the winner of the 2010 election is corporate cash, by a landslide. The financial industry, health insurance lobby, and energy industry mad a massive investment in Republican candidates, both before the Citizens United decision and after, and they’ve certainly gotten their money’s worth. An astounding $3 billion was spent on composing the 112th congress; far more than in the 2006 cycle or even the 2004 presidential race. This piper will be paid, with interest, using the means at the disposal of any legislator; blocking, repealing, watering-down, stalling, inserting poison pills, defunding, delaying, and all of the tactics we’ve seen over the past two years.

Who are the winners? Just watch network or cable television for ten minutes and you’ll see them, preying on the public mind with their multi-million dollar ads about “our energy future” or what you should “ask your doctor” about. That’s who we need to defeat in 2012, and we’d better start working on it… yesterday.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Win for losing.

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Just a few short shots today. Hopefully one of them will approach some acceptable level of accuracy.

Out of work / luck. The House failed to reach the 2/3 majority it needed this week to approve extending unemployment benefits to the millions out of work for an exceedingly long period of time – about 9.6 percent of us, if you count every part-time burger flipper as “employed” (and don’t even count those unemployed but no longer looking for work). Once again, our great lawmakers are playing ducks and drakes with people’s lives, blaming the victim, punishing those who have paid for their bad decisions. Got the number of your congressman/woman? Get on the phone to them and tell them to vote for this sucker, even if it adds to the freaking deficit. This is a question of survival for millions of American families – what’s more important than that?

Gitmo conviction. Justice Department prosecutors have won the case against a Gitmo detainee Ahmed Ghailani, but are losing the propaganda war with respect to civilian trials for terror defendants. I heard ex-governor Pataki on television this week joining the chorus of ersatz conservatives who think evidence obtained under torture is somehow legitimate. Oh, how they value our traditions!

Non-starter. John McCain’s Arizona colleague appears intent on blocking an arms control treaty that any Republican would have been proud of two decades ago. So our agreement with the Russians is dangling by a thread. What sense does this make? Don’t know. What sense does it make to have NATO members sign on enthusiastically to a new “missile defense” regime – i.e., one that the Russians are not intimidated by? I suppose we should follow the money. Missile defense is as close as this or any administration will come to an industrial policy. Military Keynesianism still rocks down in D.C.

That’s all I’ve got, folks.

luv u,

jp