Swift Boat Veterans for ???

The truth has finally come out! According to Louis J. Marucheau’s letter, he and some of his fellow swift boat veterans are angry about Sen. Kerry’s actions after his service in Vietnam. They feel a “deep-seated sense of anger and betrayal” for Kerry’s efforts to end the war and are upset over his testimony before Congress.
However, I’ve seen the ads by this advocacy group. They call into question Senator Kerry’s bravery and service to country while none of Kerry’s post-Vietnam activities are mentioned. Perhaps a better name for this group would be Swift Boat Veterans for Revenge.

State of Hate

Today I am ashamed to be a Missourian. In yesterday's election, the voters ratified an amendment to the state constitution that will ban gay marriage. This is not why we ratified Missouri's constitution.

The constitution should remain as a backbone of our government structure. It is the legal framework of how our GOVERNMENT operates. It should not address the topic of marriage, no more than it should address how drivers licenses are issued.

What scares me about this is if it is one step in the direction of theocracy. I never saw anyone explain the reasons why this amendment was needed without mentioning God or sanctity or the like. Don't these people believe in the separation of church and state?

So now we have discrimination carved into our constitution--one based on supposed "religious" tenants (although more probably based in hate).
Those heavy winds today were from our founding fathers spinning!

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: Those Were the Days

In Those Were the Days, Bruce Bartlett points out the obvious that Clinton was a much better president than George W Bush. However obvious his final point, he does make a good argument of how Clintonomics brought us some of the best days these country has seen in my lifetime.

Op-Ed Columnist: Escape From the Green Zone

Maureen Dowd hits the nail on its head again with her Escape From the Green Zone piece.

Dropping the "F" bomb

My favorite NY Times person, Maureen Dowd, has a great article on Cheney's potty mouth this past week on the floor of the US Senate.

I especially loved when she pointed out the following:

The conservatives defending Mr. Cheney are largely the same crowd that went off the deep end because of a glimpse of breast on the Super Bowl, demanding everything from fines to new regulations to protect red states from blue language.

Political Group Paid Felons to Canvas Voters Door-to-Door

This the story on the Post-Dispatch website. It was also mentioned on KMOX this morning (who seems to just read the Post). It is an AP story so it probably went out everywhere.
The Post Link is http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/News/Nation/38CDC9E64273354E86256EBD0016262D?OpenDocument&Headline=Political group paid felons to canvass voters door to door

I can see the point of some folks hesitancy to have felons out knocking on strangers doors. However, once somebody has served their time shouldn't they be free to make a living? What are and what are not "acceptable" jobs for these people? It seems you could question just about any job (e.g. trash collector might get his/her hand on someone's financial info and...).

I realize we may not want child molestors working in the schools. But, don't these folks deserve every chance at making a living (which might help them not resort to crime)?

I just really dont' see the point of this story except to raise people's level of anxiety about politics in general.

Taxes and other interesting bits

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has a good editorial on the inherent unfairness of our tax code. They make some suggestions on fixing it, but until we have public financing of elections we will have legislators beholden to their wealthy donors and we will never see any real reform. In the meantime, I would settle for just repealing the recent tax breaks to the top brackets.

Well, there you go again. The Catholic Church is turning back the clock a few decades in an effort to make sure noone ever again votes for a Catholic politician. At least that will be the end result if the church continues to stick their nose into how legislators vote and try to push the church’s will upon the rest of us.

A very short story in the NY Times details a sex offenders arrest for not updating his registration. This man has been the subject of protests and has had trouble finding housing. I am mixed on this—on one hand, who wants this filth living in their neighborhood. On the other hand, why don’t we just put them in jail for life if we don’t let them have housing anywhere “on the outside.”

The NY Times also covers why hybrid cars are not popular in the Midwest. They barely cover the REAL reason. Honda and Toyota currently manufacture the only hybrids, while people in the Midwest tend to buy American (obviously not 100% but more so than the coasts). And when the American manufacturers such as Ford decide to finally make a hybrid it is an SUV! When Ford decides to make a hybrid that gets 50-60 mpg, instead of what my small car gets in an SUV model, I will be the first in line to buy one.

An interesting program that New York University is undertaking to help liberal arts majors enter the job market. It would allow them to take classes, not applied to their degree, which would help them learn practical skills related to their area of study. I always thought this was what was lacking in education: the “real world” translation of the stuff they were using. This might end the “I will never use this ‘insert course topic here” in real life” whining.

Black vote, Bush as Reagan, and WGUN Radio

Oooh boy! Juan Williams needs to put down the crack-pipe, at least while he is writing an Op-Ed Piece for the NY Times. His piece covers how black voters should be attracted to Bush over Kerry. I loved the specific line saying that Kerry “rarely been identified with issues that compel black voters — notably affirmative action”. Well, Bush has been vocal on affirmative action, specifically how he doesn’t like it. That alone should make it a moot point to vote for Bush. However, Williams brings up the issue of Bush’s faith based initiatives and how they would be attractive to black churches. Any church—black, white, Catholic, Protestant—should be weary of any money that comes from the federal government, mostly for the strings that would need to be attached to avoid any separation of church/state issues. And wouldn’t churches—again of any color and faith—be appalled by the Republicans lack of support for education, healthcare and social issues?

The Times also has an interesting article warning the Bush supporters to not act so quickly in trying to wrap Bush in the Reagan banner. The eulogy of Ron Reagan Jr is mentioned where he cautions against trying to gain political advantage by promoting religion. There is an profound bit of the article that states: “The remark has provoked intense debate among Republicans about precisely what the younger Mr. Reagan meant. Some saw the reference to religion as a message to the administration on stem-cell research. Others saw it as a possible critique of the war in Iraq. Still others insist there was no deeper message at all.”. Hello, Republicans?! Do you think maybe it is ALL THREE?!

They also cover the NRA’s desire to have their own radio programming. Who really is gonna listen to this? And is going to change ANYONE’S mind?

The guy who took the E-Train, literally took, is back in the news. There is some discussion that he needs help and it is a sad story. This may be too simplistic, but it sounds to me like we should give this guy a job with the transit authority since he seems to be keen to masquerade as an employee.

Op-Ed Columnist: Travesty of Justice

You know that Paul Krugman is not taking any prisoners when he opens his Op-Ed piece, Travesty of Justice, with "No question: John Ashcroft is the worst attorney general in history". Well, that something we Missourians have known for a while--hey we elected a dead man rather than put him back in the US Senate.

Bush wrongly appeals to Vatican

More on the separation of Church and State: According to a NY Times article, Bush requested help from the Vatican to have American Bishops speak out more on political issues. You know, I would almost like to see it happen then have the church’s tax exempt status yanked out from under them! The lesson would be learned quickly then about the history separation of church and state in the United States.

Great piece by Friedman in today’s NY Times urging Israel to take the higher ground and move quickly and totally out of the Gaza Strip. I agree with Friedman that it would be one way to get public opinion to be more positive for the Israelis.

A New York Times editorial covers a topic near and dear to my heart: the safety of electronic voting. They compare the lack of rules, regulation and testing to the well-oiled machine of testing slot machines by the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Reganapalooza is over!

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

But wait…Sylvester Brown of the Post-Dispatch has a great article on how the ceaseless praise for Reagan is hard to swallow. I only agree with Mr Brown about 50% of the time but he is dead on with this one.

The next person who tries to canonize Reagan and his administration as our country’s glory days only needs to read the following on Andrew Sullivan’s weblog. Even gay-bashers (ya know the ones who thought AIDS was punishment for the gay lifestyle) need to realize that Reagan’s inaction on this subject allowed the disease to spread throughout the country, into our blood supply and has had catastrophic effects on our nations healthcare system. Reading this just infuriates me.

Medicaid, Military Deaths, and Make Your Own Novel

Bob Hebert’s column in the New York Times details the Medicaid cuts in one of our poorest states, Mississippi, that included dramatic cuts in eligibility for seniors and the disabled. Medicaid cuts were also attempted by the Republican-controlled state legislature here in Missouri until there was a very loud public outcry. One thing I learned from this article is that Hayley Barbour is now the governor of Mississippi. This fact alone explains a lot of the lack of compassion being show by the conservatives.

Thomas E Ricks, a military reporter for the Washington Post, has a sad article on the death toll in Iraq entitled Sacrafice in the In-Box.

Another Washington Post story compares and contrasts the BushII and the Reagan presidencies (in light of Bush trying to wave the "I am the same as Reagan" flag this week.)

On the Lighter side

Hammin’ it up. A New York Times article details a new, shorter antenna that will allow ham radio operators to install antennas in smaller, compact areas. Watch out retirement villages in Florida!

You too can be an author in print. The Bookends store in Ridgewood, New Jersey is now offering print-on-demand service. You can get 10 copies of your work (up to 200 pages) in paperback form for only $150.00. Only, you say? Well, others charge anywhere from $400-700 just to layout one copy.

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: An Economic Legend

The New York Times > Opinion > Paul Krugman's An Economic Legend in today's NY Time Op Ed section pretty much states that Reaganomics were not all that. The article is a nice primer on supply side vs Keynesian economics, showing a side of his "real job" as a professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton.

Hmm...I wonder if Princeton would let me take just ONE class. If so, I would defintely love to sit in that lecture hall. Of course, he probably is not a full-time classroom professor, but one could hope.

The Real Reagan Legacy

The Washington Post’s Harold Meyerson has a good piece on how Reaganonmics turned back the prosperity of the middle class that was part of the New Deal and began the current state of class warfare.

A related Washington Post story details how partisan politics got their start under Reagan building up to the disaster we have today.

Somehow, Dennis Hastert deems it appropriate to put a provision in a JOBS BILL that will allow churches to participate in partisan politics. The idea is bad, bad bad—but why is this in a jobs bill? Why—because Bush/Cheny wants to rally the conservative church-goer vote and this will help facilitate it (and this may be one bill that will get passed without issue).

Speaking of the dead in current tense

ABC News’ The Note starts their news summary as follows:
“News coverage focuses again today on President Reagan, as he leaves Southern California for Washington, D.C., where he will lie in state at the Capitol until Friday.”

Yo dudes, the guy is dead. I think it would be better to refer it to “his body” leaves So Cal and “his body” will lie in state. He--his spirit--is not actually there anymore.
This might be one of the time when it is acceptable to speak in the past tense.

Smoking is cool?

Page Six does its best to glamorize smoking again, today. I can’t decide if the Rupert Murdoch rag is just so anti-Mayor Bloomberg that they are bashing him via the smoking ban or if they are really trying to promote “smoking is cool”.

The New York Times’ Editorial pages accuse the Bush Administration of mounting “a ‘Wizard of Oz’ defense, urging Americans not to pay attention to inconvenient evidence” as new material keeps coming to light on their actions regarding the torture at Abu Ghraib.

In a related NYT article, Ashcroft says Bush never ordered torture activites. In addition, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the Attorney General is refusing to release any memos related to torture.

Speaking of the Post-Dispatch, Jo Mannies has an interesting article comparing this election year with that of 1992. (If only we could have a similar outcome with Dems pretty much sweeping across the board!)

The Post also has a cute editorial poking fun at the Chalupa Thrower, as well as Missouri law.

Tax Cuts and Obscene Cutting

Paul Krugman has a great piece invoking the memory of Ronald Reagan to criticize Bush’s tax policy, urging the Bush administration to realize the error of its tax-cutting ways and roll back the cuts.

More bad news for SUV drivers when a government study shows they are still prone to rollovers. These things get horrible gas mileage and they don’t handle well on the road. What is the attraction of these vehicles? They obviously are not safe, so it’s not the safety issue. Is it that so many people have such small lives they must have huge vehicles? I guess for men it might be for a lack of penis size, but what’s the deal with the women SUV-owners?

Good news for the day is that African nations are reducing the number of genital mutilations on young girls.

Torture cont'd

Tell me George W Bush, how can you claim to not know anything about torture activities yet you have consulted a lawyer to determine it legality?

We gotta war going on here guys...

The most disturbing thing about the 24/7 coverage of Reagan's death is the complete ignoring of hapennings in Iraq.

New York Time’s Bob Hebert has an interesting OpEd piece on how Bush needs to suck it up and be honest with the American people on the true cost of the Iraqi War and the action in Afghanistan. He also includes an interesting point about “the rest of us have been given a pass. The president has not asked us to share in the sacrifice and we haven't demanded the opportunity to do so. We're not even paying for the war. It's being put on credit cards issued in the names of future generations.” This points out that not only are we going into debt at an outrageous rate, but that we are not being asked to personally sacrifice.

How will Ronald Reagan’s death renew and redefine the debate on stem-cell research? William Saffire thinks it will renew the debate and perhaps lead us to the capability of using stem-cells for disease treatment and therapy.

Pity Christopher West who has the task of trying to put the Catholic church’s prohibitions on sex in a positive light. I guess the one upside to this is that he gets to sell his book and tapes in the lobby after the lecture!

In a “not such a shock” story, the New York Times details how some campaign consultants and managers go on to be lobbyist—lobbying on behalf of corporations and causes to the candidate they just helped elect. Well, this has been going on for years with former office holders, I guess those that help them get there wanted a piece of the pie, too.

Another Republican loss: The Supreme Court refuses to hear a case on the Colorado re-re-districting plan giving a victory to Democrats who won at the appellate level. Perhaps this will change the mind of any other Republican-controlled legislature that might be considering following the path of Texas and Colorado. I believe that our state law-making bodies have better things to do with their time than waste it on redistricting more than once every 10 years.