What about the weather?

In the news:

Egyptian protesters have called for a massive demonstration on Tuesday ...

The forecast for Cairo on Tuesday is for scattered showers. That probably won't make much of a difference, but what if it rains hard? Sometimes random events can influence history.


posted by Quiddity at 1/31/2011 07:43:00 AM

Headline over at Fox Nation:

Palin Knocks ‘em Dead in Speech to Safari Club International

Nice way to put it. Especially since the announcement of the speech came a few days after the mass murder at the Giffords' public outreach event.


posted by Quiddity at 1/31/2011 06:32:00 AM

Excerpts / comments on Obama's SOTU:

Impact of free trade and globalization:

Many people watching tonight can probably remember a time when finding a good job meant showing up at a nearby factory or a business downtown. You didn't always need a degree, and your competition was pretty much limited to your neighbors. If you worked hard, chances are you'd have a job for life, with a decent paycheck, good benefits, and the occasional promotion. Maybe you'd even have the pride of seeing your kids work at the same company.

That world has changed. And for many, the change has been painful. I've seen it in the shuttered windows of once booming factories, and the vacant storefronts of once busy Main Streets. I've heard it in the frustrations of Americans who've seen their paychecks dwindle or their jobs disappear -- proud men and women who feel like the rules have been changed in the middle of the game.

Obama does not state that this happened as a matter of policy. A policy that supported free trade. And a policy that he favors.

His solution to the problem?

We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.

Tom Friedman is probably swooning upon hearing those worlds. All we have to do is "out-innovate". Why didn't we think of that during the last 30 years when manufacturing was in decline and wages were stagnant?

Any doubts that Obama is a neoliberal on economics?

To help businesses sell more products abroad, we set a goal of doubling our exports by 2014 -- because the more we export, the more jobs we create at home. Already, our exports are up. Recently, we signed agreements with India and China that will support more than 250,000 jobs in the United States. And last month, we finalized a trade agreement with South Korea that will support at least 70,000 American jobs. This agreement has unprecedented support from business and labor; Democrats and Republicans, and I ask this Congress to pass it as soon as possible.

While these agreements may very well add jobs in places, they will also subtract jobs - but that math is ignored.


posted by Quiddity at 1/25/2011 06:18:00 PM

Big Peace:

You can't make this up. Breitbart has a new website, featuring Frank Gaffney no less. Note the Army stencil font. And the warship. And the soldier.



Not much different from the Fox Nation, to judge by this kind of story.


posted by Quiddity at 1/25/2011 12:27:00 AM

Glenn Beck just will not stop:

Here it is: Beck Connects NYT Article On Beck-Inspired Death Threats To George Soros (10 min video)

Looks as if Murdoch will keep this guy on until a clearly Beck-inspired tragedy occurs.


posted by Quiddity at 1/24/2011 06:24:00 PM

This is creepy:

Totally manufactured, but still...


posted by Quiddity at 1/19/2011 11:25:00 PM

Michael Lind comes out swinging:

In Salon:

If there was a moment when the culture of enlightened modernity in the United States gave way to the sickly culture of romantic primitivism, it was when the movie “Star Wars” premiered in 1977. A child of the 1960s, I had grown up with the optimistic vision symbolized by “Star Trek,” according to which planets, as they developed technologically and politically, graduated to membership in the United Federation of Planets, a sort of galactic League of Nations or UN. When I first watched “Star Wars,” I was deeply shocked. The representatives of the advanced, scientific, galaxy-spanning organization were now the bad guys, and the heroes were positively medieval -- hereditary princes and princesses, wizards and ape-men. Aristocracy and tribalism were superior to bureaucracy. Technology was bad. Magic was good.

I agree with that observation.


posted by Quiddity at 1/19/2011 04:47:00 PM

Obama and Fox News:

During the pre-Superbowl Show on Fox, president Obama will be interviewed by Bill O'Reilly. That's right, the polemicist who recently announced in the wake of the Tuscon shooting that The Tide has Turned Against the Left.

Obama could have requested a straight news personality from Fox, like Shep Smith or Chris Wallace. Why did he agree to speak with, and thus legitimize, Bill O'Reilly?


posted by Quiddity at 1/16/2011 11:06:00 PM

Not as bad as what Giffords experienced:



link


posted by Quiddity at 1/13/2011 04:00:00 PM

This is something a teenager would argue:

From Sara Palin's speech on the Tuscon shooting:

And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols?

People are saying that recently the debate has gotten more heated. To counter that, Palin reaches back two centuries to "prove" that's not so.


posted by Quiddity at 1/13/2011 12:46:00 PM

Sometimes in politics, you simply have bad luck:

One angle regarding the Giffords/Palin debate that's not been mentioned is the fact that sometimes in politics, you experience nothing more complicated than "bad luck". In the case of Palin, she put out a graphic with a crosshairs "on" Giffords, and months later, someone shot the congresswoman. So you have a connection - fair or not - that gets people talking.

Ann Coulter suggested McVeigh should have bombed NY Times building. Nobody did do that. But if it had happened (in a fashion clearly unrelated to what she said), Coulter would be in hot water.

Palin, by using crosshairs, took the gamble that it was worth the political upside to use gun metaphors but with the attendant risk that a shooting might take place. It did. Palin lost that bet. Most people would accept that unfortunate outcome as bad luck, not fight the issue, and move on. Palin won't.


posted by Quiddity at 1/13/2011 04:08:00 AM

No surprise:

If Liberals are Fascists, as Jonah Goldberg asserts, then it's no surprise to see Sarah Palin accuse her critics of issuing a blood libel.


posted by Quiddity at 1/12/2011 10:15:00 AM

Hmm:

From a Salon story:

SALON: Let's talk about that mug shot, because it's pretty striking. .... Why is he smiling?

DOCTOR: That's pretty bizarre, and that's something a person with schizophrenia will do, because their emotions are disconnected from what's going on.

Which naturally leads to the following puzzle: Why, in recent times, are the only people seen smiling in their mug shot, Jared Loughner, Tom Delay, and Rush Limbaugh?

This is a fact, people. One we should not ignore!!!


posted by Quiddity at 1/11/2011 11:26:00 PM

Thoughts on the Giffords shooting:

In politics (and much of human relations) it's practically impossible to prove that "A caused B".

In the Palin/Giffords case, you are left with assessing whether or not you approve of a particular style of argumentation. And events matter. If the assailant had gone after Giffords with a knife, the Palin issue would be significantly muted. But for those of us who don't like shoot-to-kill metaphors, when an actual shoot-to-kill event occurs, it reinforces our disgust with that kind of language.


posted by Quiddity at 1/10/2011 10:48:00 AM

Glenn Reynolds at the WSJ:

Writes stuff like this:

There's a climate of hate out there, all right, but it doesn't derive from the innocuous use of political clichés. And former Gov. Palin and the tea party movement are more the targets than the source.

That's rich, coming from a guy who will connect anything to anything to make a "point" denigrating liberals.


posted by Quiddity at 1/09/2011 08:49:00 PM

Sarah Palin on the college basketball playoffs:

At her Facebook page: (emp add)

Warning: Subject to New Politically Correct Language Police Censorship

by Sarah Palin on Sunday, March 28, 2010 at 1:59pm

March Madness battles rage! My family and I join millions of Americans enjoying college basketball’s finest through March Madness. Underdogs always get my vote as we watch intense competition bring out the best in these accomplished teams.

The Final Four is an intense, contested series (kind of like a heated, competitive primary election), so best of luck to all teams, and watch for this principle lived out: the team that wins is the team that wants it more.

To the teams that desire making it this far next year: Gear up! In the battle, set your sights on next season’s targets! From the shot across the bow – the first second’s tip-off – your leaders will be in the enemy’s crosshairs, so you must execute strong defensive tactics. You won’t win only playing defense, so get on offense! The crossfire is intense, so penetrate through enemy territory by bombing through the press, and use your strong weapons – your Big Guns – to drive to the hole. Shoot with accuracy; aim high and remember it takes blood, sweat and tears to win.

Focus on the goal and fight for it. If the gate is closed, go over the fence. If the fence is too high, pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, parachute in. If the other side tries to push back, your attitude should be “go for it.” Get in their faces and argue with them. (Sound familiar?!) Every possession is a battle; you’ll only win the war if you’ve picked your battles wisely. No matter how tough it gets, never retreat, instead RELOAD!

That kind of language is amusing coming from an eight year old boy who just got his G.I.Joe doll. But not from an adult.


posted by Quiddity at 1/09/2011 02:51:00 PM

Twenty year old Daniel Hernandez:

Very steady person at the Tuscon shooting.


posted by Quiddity at 1/09/2011 02:42:00 PM

David Frum makes a fool of himself:

Did Pot Trigger Giffords Shooting?

Pretty much concludes, "Yes".


posted by Quiddity at 1/09/2011 11:17:00 AM

Jonah Goldberg's first reaction:

Note the order of his concerns:

I’ve been trying to follow the story today while balancing some other obligations. I’ve been reading the instant-reaction on Twitter and on the web and I’ve been trying to filter out the urge to vent my rage at those who immediately shoe-horned these awful crimes into their ideological prism. There have been some truly disgusting displays of opportunism out there. I will confess to having made those kinds of mistakes in the past and I try very hard to learn from those mistakes.

If I had my druthers, the news networks would ban political commentators of all stripes for the first 24 hours after these kinds of tragedies. The rush to be wrong first is just too hard for some to resist. If anyone cares, my column on the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting captures pretty well my feelings about the day.

Anyway, I’m going to hold off commenting until we know more. My thoughts and prayers to the families of all concerned.

posted by Quiddity at 1/08/2011 09:24:00 PM

A good round up on this topic:

Over at The Moderate Voice:

Arizona Shooting Spree Will Likely Alter American Politics


posted by Quiddity at 1/08/2011 09:21:00 PM

Someone was watering the tree of liberty today.


posted by Quiddity at 1/08/2011 01:45:00 PM

No taxes at all?

(Happy New Year, everybody.)

Digby writes: (emp add)

The debate has officially shifted from "deficit reduction" to "cutting spending to reduce the deficit." This has to be one of the fastest internalization of GOP propaganda in history and that's saying something. [Chris] Matthews may be an outlier, but from what I saw today among the gasbags, they are all coming on board very quickly. If I had to guess, it was the lame duck deal that finally took taxes off the table for the Villagers. It's dead as far as they are concerned, so "cut-go" is the only way to reduce the deficit.

As far as I can tell, the "Obama Deal" had no tax increases whatsoever. None.

It's hard to say what matters anymore in this world, but would it have made a difference if there had been some tax increases in there (like eliminating the capital gains rate for hedge fund managers)?

Was a 100% tax cut deal a signpost to future action - in this case nothing but program cuts?


posted by Quiddity at 1/05/2011 11:40:00 AM