mjh's blog

The Party of Lincoln

I heard Arnold Schwarzenegger tell the Republicans he is proud to be in ‘the Party of

Lincoln’ (they were quiet, then even hostile when he invoked ‘the Party of Teddy Roosevelt’ — Roosevelt, don’t we hate him? — but

finally cheered at ‘the Party of Ronald Raygun’).

The Party of Lincoln — yeah, I want to hear Georgian Zell Miller embrace the

Party of Lincoln (and Sherman, as y’all know). Best not to remind former Dixiecrats that this is the Party of Lincoln — that dog won’t

hunt. Only way folks have been able to stomach the Party of Lincoln is cuz it’s also not the Party of Civil Rights (delivering the rest

of what Lincoln promised). Sure would be nice to get Raygun on the $5 bill and get rid of ole Lincoln.

How did the Party of

Lincoln get a lock on the South? Where did all those voters who supported George Wallace go? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Just don’t ask Arnold, he was still groping iron when the Federal Government became the enemy of Jim Crow.

If you believe the

government is accountable to the people and not the other way around, you’re a Republican — according to Arnold’s script. BUllSHit.

From day one, this administration has embraced secrecy beyond even the paranoid Nixon. Secrecy is the key to avoiding accountability.

This administration supports countless measures that restrict individual freedom, making us all accountable to the government. This is

the Party of the Patriot Act, the Party of Free Speech Zones, the Party of Ashkraft.

Oh, but everybody loves Arnie. After the

Republicans, the Party of Thurmond, of Helms, of Lott, amends the Constitution to curtail freedom (but only of women and gays — at

first) and codify bigotry (er, I mean, to defend the sanctity of marriage, divorce, infidelity and spousal abuse between a man and his

woman), then they can amend it to allow foreigners to become President (well, white ones). mjh

Another Troubling Indicator

Consumer confidence plunges more than forecast – Aug. 31, 2004

Worries about the job market sent consumer confidence tumbling in August, a research group said Tuesday, in a report that could spell more trouble for the economy ahead. …

Confidence is an important indicator of consumer willingness to spend, especially on big-ticket items. About two-thirds of the nation’s economy is driven by consumer spending. …

Consumers were also less optimistic about the general business climate. The survey found 23.2 percent who believe business conditions are “good,” down from 25.2 percent. Those claiming conditions are “bad” rose to 20.1 percent from 19.1 percent.

Fire Him Anyway

After Citing Doubt, Bush Declares ‘We Will Win’ Terror War

In a speech to the national convention of the American Legion, Bush said, “We meet today in a time of war for our country, a war we did not start yet one that we will win.

That statement differed from Bush’s earlier comment, aired Monday in a pre-taped television interview, that “I don’t think you can win” the war on terror.

I hesitate to fling feces over this because I’m happy (and stunned) to see Bush speak thoughtfully. And, he is right that there will never be a victory in the ‘War on Terror’ any more than we have been victorious in the Wars on Poverty or Drugs. This has simply become a tool for holding onto power.

However, the Right has made his constancy an issue, even though it is evidence of unreasonableness. So, this is just the latest flip-flop from Bush, just one of many. mjh

Chicken Hawks

Where Is The Shame? By BOB HERBERT, NYTimes

What is incredible is that these attacks on men who served not just honorably, but heroically, are coming from a hawkish party that is controlled by an astonishing number of men who sprinted as far from the front lines as they could when they were of fighting age and their country was at war.

Among them:

Mr. Bush himself, the nation’s commander in chief and the biggest hawk of all. He revels in the accouterments of combat. The story was somewhat different when he was 22 years old and eligible for combat himself. He managed to get into the cushy confines of the Texas Air National Guard at the height of the Vietnam War in 1968 – a year in which more than a half-million American troops were in the war zone and more than 14,000 were killed.

The story gets murky after that. We know the future president breezed off at some point to work on a political campaign in Alabama, skipped a required flight physical in 1972 and was suspended from flying. He supported the war in Vietnam but was never in any danger of being sent there.

Vice President Dick Cheney, another fierce administration hawk. Mr. Cheney asked for and received five deferments when he was eligible for the draft. He told senators at a confirmation hearing in 1989, “I had other priorities in the 60′s than military service.” Many draft-age Americans had similar priorities – getting an education, getting married and starting a family.

Attorney General John Ashcroft. He is reported to have said, “I would have served, if asked.” But with the war raging in Vietnam, he received six student deferments and an “occupational deferment” based on the essential nature of a civilian job at Southwest Missouri State University – teaching business law to undergraduates.

Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defense secretary and a fanatical hawk on Iraq. He was not fanatical about Vietnam and escaped the draft with student deferments.

There are many others.

Information Resources

The Christian Science Monitor | Daily Online Newspaper

CJR Campaign Desk Home (Columbia Journalism Review)

FactCheck.org – Annenberg Political Fact Check

Moore At RNC in NYC

Michael Moore adds spice to convention as GOP annoyance By John Nichols, The Capital Times

When Sen. John McCain took a shot at filmmaker Michael Moore in his speech to the Republican National Convention Monday night, he had no reason to know that the man who made the controversial documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11″ was just a few hundred feet away from him. …

Moore is attending the convention on an assignment from USA Today, which has asked him to write a column about the gathering that will re-nominate two of his favorite targets, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. …

Diane Francis, a Texas Republican decked out in full jean shirt and cowboy hat regalia, grumbled about Moore’s film and said, “I hope he’s got security. He could get killed in here.”

But Moore insisted he did not feel threatened. “I saw (conservative commentator) Sean Hannity on the floor at the Democratic convention. He was treated well. I’m sure they’ll treat me well here. You don’t think the Republicans are more mean-spirited than the Democrats, do you?” Moore asked, barely concealing a grin.

Besides, he said, “this is a celebration. I’m here to celebrate the fact that the Republicans only have a couple of months left. I’m here to celebrate the end of the Republican era. They’ve had four years. It’s been rough, but it’s almost over.”

A LOT of Protesters

Christian Science Monitor Blog | Notebook: At

the Conventions Archive August, 2004

How many is ‘a lot’?
By Tom Regan

When I turned on the TV this morning to catch the

news, I confess I was a bit stunned when I heard the “official count” of Sunday’s march in New York.

The local CBS station was

quoting police officials and the Associated Press, who said that around 110,000 people were a part of the process that streamed past

Madison Square Gardens for four and one-half hours.

What! I’m sorry, but that figure is way, way, way too small. I’ve seen several

large marches in Washington, where the official count was 250,000 or more and this march was every bit the equal of those earlier

demonstrations.

So I asked a few of the people covering the convention here in New York their thoughts on the size of the rowd. To a

person, they scoffed at the lower figure. Monitor photographer Andy Nelson, who was in the thick of the crowd, said it was easily

200,000. One police officer outside the hall said he has heard as many as 400,000.

Organizers put the total at half a million. Well,

I’m not sure of that figure either. But I will tell you one thing — it was A LOT of people.

‘a catastrophic success’?

Bush stumps in West Virginia, defends Iraq war

[Bush] called the swift military offensive that led to the fall of Baghdad in April 2003 ‘a catastrophic success’ even though fighting continues despite the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s government.

‘a politician who cannot be trusted’

Face it: Every politician flip-flops By Daniel Schorr | csmonitor.com

Mr. Bush accuses Senator Kerry of flip-flopping when he voted against the funding bill for the war that he voted to authorize. Sure, but how about Bush’s nation-building in Afghanistan and Iraq, having campaigned against nation-building? Or praising the report of the 9/11 commission, whose formation he opposed? Or negotiating with North Korea, which he promised not to do? [mjh: Or supporting the Department of Homeland Security after he opposed it.]

Let’s face it: Every politician at one time or another will have to change his announced position to meet a changed situation. …

The answer to the flip-flop accusation: Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds. Show me a politician who has stuck to his position through thick and thin, and I will show you a politician who cannot be trusted to represent our interests in a changing world.

The incomes of most workers are sinking.

It’s Not New Jobs. It’s All the Jobs. By LOUIS UCHITELLE, NYTimes

The incomes of most workers, adjusted for inflation, are sinking.

The evidence for this assertion is piling up. The Census Bureau weighed in last week with the latest update on family and household incomes. Both declined through the first three years of the Bush administration. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics comes a similar story for individual workers. Whether the measure is median weekly pay or average weekly pay, the increases have been too small since last summer to keep up with a measly climb of 1 percentage point in the inflation rate.

New Bloggers Dictionary

vociferous: witty and sexy, as in “the vociferously liberal Mark Justice Hinton” makes Chuck

uneasy.

reflexively: indisputably thoroughly reasoned, used with utmost respect, as in “It’s your job to

href="http://www.inkstain.net/fleck/archives/001201.html">reflexively attack” all that is wrong with the world; thank you.

title="mjh's Blog: neologismo" href="http://www.edgewiseblog.com/mjh/000193.htm">mjh’s Blog: neologismo

If you want a nation, it is going to cost you something.

Column:Taxes punish rich Americans by Alex Hughes, Daily Lobo columnist

I hate taxes more than just about anything

else on this planet. … I, for one, feel this amount of taxation is absolutely ridiculous. … That is correct. I am calling

progressive taxation a form of communism. … If a person is rich, it is probably for a good reason.

I wonder how

long it is going to take conservative readers to realize that “Alex Hughes” is actually a satirist whose purpose is to make conservatives

seem shallow and dim. Alex confesses, “I hate taxes more than just about anything else on this planet.” I assume “just about” carries the

burden of covering rape, murder, war, and lying to the public for personal profit and political gain.

Outraged, he asks, “Does the

government honestly think it can spend my money more effectively than I can?” Gee, Alex, how many nuclear warheads can you and your pals

afford? Daddy may have given you an SUV, but who gave you the road? Where do voting machines and public schools come from?

Let’s

consider one simple fact: there are things that only a government can or should do (libertarians and anarchists notwithstanding). Even

conservatives have things they want the government to do, like spy on you, restrict your freedom and make war. These things cost money.

Now, it is true, we could have the Coca-Cola Department of the Fatherland (next term), but for the short term, the government needs money

and it gets it two ways: borrow and tax. Taxes are what you and I pay for benefits and services we’re never going to get from

corporations (until we have the Nike Department of War). Borrowed money has to be repaid with interest to large corporations and rich

investors. So, not only are the rich not paying taxes, they are also getting richer from the interest paid out of the taxes you and I

will pay forever.

For many years, conservatives have won converts with a simple mantra: taxation is theft; the government is stealing

your money. To them, there is no commonwealth nor common good; every man for himself. If you want a nation, it is going to cost you

something.

On just one more matter, the Estate Tax, or the Death Tax as marketing-savvy conservatives call it, had one major public

benefit: it delayed the rise of an American Aristocracy. If you allow families to accumulate wealth endlessly, some of them will end up

so stinking rich they can buy anything, even an election.

Alex declares, “If a person is rich, it is probably for a good reason.”

(This is the ‘compassionate’ version of ‘if you’re poor it’s your own damn fault.”) Maybe you’re rich because you worked really

hard; maybe you’re rich because Great-Granddaddy was — it’s not quite the same thing, is it Alex?

Let me suggest you google

“revolutions of 1848.” That was a time when the poor of the world said to the rich: enough! Talk about ‘punishing the rich’; which is

worse, a progressive tax scale or your head on a pike? America was spared this bloodshed because our own greedy rich hadn’t yet taken

over. What a difference 156 years make! mjh

Published 9/7/04 in the Daily Lobo: Letter:Government costs money, needs taxes to do its

job

Do Something, Then Vote!

As I write this, there are about 65 days left until the election. Between now

and then, find some way to make your opinion known. Wear a button, plaster your car with bumper stickers, put signs in your window and on

your roof. You don’t have to be rude, but you don’t have to be sweet, either. Let everyone know there is a groundswell against Duhbya.

NO MORE YEARS! mjh

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