Posts Tagged ‘Politics’
Little Bit Of Money Saves Lots of Lives
With all the talk about budget cuts and wasteful spending, there are many cases where spending a little bit of money can save a lot of lives.
From the New York Times: Read more »
Interview With Wisconsin Parent Involved in Protests
Here is my interview with Jen, a Wisconsin parent who has been involved in the growing protest movement.
Some of the points that Jen made were:
– The protests have been peaceful and non-violent. According to her, the police have actually thanked protesters for behaving so politely. On Saturday, there were no arrests.
– The crowds have been getting bigger. News reports put the number at 100,000, which she says is “the largest gathering in Wisconsin state history”, and may even be the largest labor rally in United States history. “Even Fox News” said there were 100,000 people there on Saturday, she said. Jen questioned why the Tea Party rallies, which were not as well attended, received non-stop news coverage.
– According to Jen, the protests are being attended by people of all ages and social classes. The farmer’s union drove tractors to the Wisconsin State Capital building on Saturday. The police and firefighters have expressed support for their fellow public workers, despite the fact that Governor Walker made them exempt from the new “no collective bargaining” bill.
Jen is a parent who started going to the Wisconsin State Capitol building protests to support her kids’ teachers, who are, of course, public workers. According to her, the protests will continue every day, and the big rallies are usually on Saturday.
You can listen to the interview here, or subscribe to the Brett Singer podcast via iTunes. We hope to be able to talk to Jen again to get an idea of what’s happening on the ground in Wisconsin.
Ron Reagan Says Dad Had Alzheimer’s While He Was President
Ron Reagan, son of former President Ronald Reagan, has a new book coming out on January 18 called “My Father at 100“. The “Bedtime for Bonzo” actor would have been 100 on February 6, 2011. In it, he says that his dad probably had Alzheimer’s while he was President, according to published reports.
Although Democrats and Republicans are planning to sing kumbaya to celebrate the Reagan Centennial, an article on TheHill.com says that Ron Jr. “suggests…that the commander in chief began suffering from Alzheimer’s disease while still serving in the Oval Office.”
Oh. Is that all?
Ron did say on ABC’s 20/20 that “It wasn’t like oh my God he doesn’t remember he’s President,” and that he doesn’t believe a diagnosis was made; if it had been, he thinks his father would have stepped down as President, according to TheHill.com.
Personally, I didn’t need to know that the leader of the free world may have had oatmeal for brains while he was in office. I’m no fan of Reagan, and I think that Reagan’s centennial will once again prove that the so-called “liberal media” is nothing more than a creation of the GOP NeoCon Hive Mind. But the man is dead. We don’t need to speculate about whether or not he had Alzheimer’s while he was President.
I also don’t think I would be too thrilled with my kids writing a book about me, even after I was dead. Although if they had to do it, I guess I’d rather it happen after I’m gone so I wouldn’t get all worked up about it. Hopefully they’ll think I’m such a fantastic dad that they’ll have no desire to ever write a book about me unless it’s “My Father Was So Wonderful I Only Have Nice Things To Say About Him.” I doubt that would sell a lot of copies, though.
Reagan’s son says Alzheimer’s likely began in White House years (TheHill.com)
Father Sues To Block NYC Schools Chancellor Pick
From NY1, the story of a dad who decided to use his lawyering powers for good:
Eric Snyder is a lawyer with two kids in the public school system. In his lawsuit, he says the waiver granted to Black by State Education Commissioner David Steiner was illegal because the law states the chancellor must have a master’s degree.
Black needed the waiver because she has no educational background.
Black (who is white, which isn’t relevant but we couldn’t resist) was appointed by Mayor Mike Bloomberg. You remember him. He’s still the mayor of New York, despite the fact that he wasn’t legally able to run for a third term because the people of New York voted for term limits. Twice. But he convinced the City Council to make an exception. Sound familiar?
Snyder sued New York over that one too. He lost. He’ll probably lose this time as well, although maybe not. I like that Snyder is doing this. I wouldn’t, because I don’t do stuff like that and even if I did, it feels like tilting at windmills. Even if that’s true, part of me is glad that there are still some modern day Don Quixotes out there.
Father Launches First Legal Battle Against Schools Chancellor Pick – NY1.com
Jackasses Upset About Obama Fathers Day Message
It seems that some jackasses were upset by President Obama’s Father’s Day message. What did The President say?
From the Seattle Times:
“Nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a stepfather, a grandfather, or caring guardian.”
So that’s what he said. Not a big deal, right?
Oh. But it is a big deal. Like most of the things that President Obama says, this is just another step towards the dismantling of everything that makes our Great Nation great!
The outcry from two – TWO! – jackasses was enough to warrant news coverage.
The more well-known jackass to comment was American Family Association president Tim Wildmon, who, because he has no sense of humor, did not that say President Obama’s statement was wild, man. (Get it? Thank you, I’ll be here all week.) Wildmon told the AP: “This is the first time in our nation’s history that a president has used Father’s Day as an excuse to promote the radical homosexual agenda and completely redefine the word ‘family.'”
Because that’s what happened. Jackass.
The other jackass that offered trenchant commentary on this issue was Jenny Tyree, who is less well-known, at least to me.
Tyree is described as “a marriage analyst for CitizenLink, an affiliate of Focus on the Family”. CitizenLink is a web site or something. Tyree found the President’s mention of the concept of “‘two fathers’ in the proclamation” to be “very troubling”, calling it a “decision to promote a ‘motherless family.'”
Again — because that’s what he was doing. Jackass number two.
If you, like me, have no idea who Jenny Tyree is, she apparently is someone who has devoted her existence to railing against same-sex marriage. As she herself puts it:
My job is to defend one-man, one-woman marriage as God’s created intent and design for humans who are called to bear His image as male and female, and to advance marriage policies in the public arena that build on the wealth of research confirming that children, women and men thrive in stable marriages.
That sounds like a cool job! Beats working for The Post Office, know what I mean?
Nation & World | Active Father’s Day for Obama, critics | Seattle Times Newspaper
Adam and Steve DVD image via Amazon
Bob Etheridge Was Setup And Is A Schmuck [Politics]
The Bob Etheridge video was a setup. He’s still a schmuck.
As Mayor Quimby once said, it can be two things.
In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, here is a reasonably good account of the story at Huffington Post.
And here are the two videos.
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZKie0Z4kaw]
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1BC34jBVo0]
Now:
The reality is that the Etheridge video was clearly a setup. This is the GOP Conservative Hive Mind version of TMZ. They create a situation and hope that someone (usually a member of the Democratic party, whom the GOP Conservative Hive Mind believes is the greatest threat to life as they know it) falls for it.
Etheridge fell for it big time. That makes him a schmuck. He might even have anger management issues. Hell, he might even be a violent maniac. But that doesn’t change the fact that this was clearly an ambush.
Gotcha journalism, if you will.
If it’s not a setup, why does the YouTube account hosting the videos have only two clips, both of the Etheridge incident? Why is it so well edited? Why was there someone else present with a high quality camera ready to document the whole thing? And if it wasn’t a setup, what was it? A “school project”? Give me a break. We’re stupid, but we’re not THAT stupid.
This doesn’t let Etheridge off the hook. He acted like a schmuck. But the situation was fabricated.
Also interesting is that this tactic is what Andrew Breitbart, the neocon nitwit who promoted the Etheridge video, accused the black senators of doing when they walked by Tea Party protesters. He said that by walking by them, they were attempting to provoke a response. Or as he put it on Twitter, which is where everyone knows the most trenchant political debate occurs: “Dem strategy: Coordinated bloc walks in front of ‘tea partiers’ hoping to get youtube provocation to turn tables“. (The implication that a black person walking by a Tea Party protest is something that is likely to provoke a negative response is a curious side note to Breitbart’s reasoning.)
Breitbart, of course, says that was wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. So what about the Etheridge video? Which is more likely – that a Senator would be going to work and happen to walk by protesters? Or that two kids in suits with cameras happened to be waiting for a Senator?
They’re all assholes. Pick the asshole you agree with the most and vote that way, I suppose. But don’t buy into the notion that this is real. Because in all likelihood, it isn’t.
Why a Gall Bladder is Like an Abortion [hcr]
Abortion took center stage in last night’s House vote on the Health Care Reform bill. Jeanne Sager points out why a gall bladder is like an abortion. As someone who has never had an abortion (duh) but has had his gall bladder removed, I liked her reasoning. Read more »
