Not My Agenda

August 23, 2011

With his radio shows, The List and Talking With, John Smart provides a great service  by interviewing a wide spectrum of political activists, religious leaders, and other persons of public import, offering a virtual agora for open discussion, exchange of ideas, and debate.

On the July 27, 2011 edition of Talking With, Smart interviewed Amy Siskind, co-founder of The New Agenda (“TNA.”)  Siskind’s comments were at once obfuscating and revealing.  TNA’s singular goal is to increase the number of women elected to office.  While every true liberal would welcome such an increase, TNA’s method of achieving it is  counterproductive to promoting gender equality, and dangerously corrosive to our society in general.


Replacing (R) & (D) with (XX) & (XY)

Describing itself as an “organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls by bringing about systemic change in the media, at the workplace, at school and at home,” TNA vaguely sets its goals as achieving “safety and opportunity for all women by addressing issues which unite us and by advancing women into leadership roles.”

TNA claims it is a “non-political” organization.  But aside from the token bio of an athlete or link to some actresses charity, (plus a blog devoted to the standard denunciations of society’s affronts to women), TNA is primarily devoted to supporting political candidates.

We also know, from Siskind’s own telling of the story, that TNA’s founding members were political activists: Democrats, feminists, but most importantly, Hillary Clinton supporters.  Once upon a time, they fought for things like universal healthcare, social programs, a fair tax burden, gay rights, protecting the environment, and, naturally, women’s choice.  That was their old political agenda.

Following the Democratic Party’s rejection of their beloved candidate, these women readily abandoned their former principles to embrace a new agenda — help elect women of any political stripe.  TNA doesn’t give a damn what your position is on women’s rights or any other issue.  if you’ve got the XX chromosomes, you’re deemed a better choice for the office than any man could ever be.

If any doubt remained whether TNA has replaced the traditional Left vs. Right political struggle with the battle of the sexes, one need only look at TNA’s perverse labeling of races — “Solid Woman”, “Likely Woman,” “Leans Man,” etc.


Searching for Sexism in All the Wrong Places

An additional objective of TNA is to oppose sexism against any female candidate.  A laudable goal, considering the many & egregious instances of sexual stereotyping in the media and politics.  Sadly, TNA can often be found tilting at windmills, attacking sexism where none exists.  Let’s look at four examples among many:


1) Gypsies, Tramps and Sluts

As proof of Siskind’s theory that “powerful woman are always diminished by being thrown into one of three categories” — either “bitch,” “ditz” or “slut/whore”, she pointed to the accusations of two extra-marital affairs (i.e., “slut”) made against then-gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley. Siskind dismisses out-of-hand the possibility that these affairs actually may have happened.  Yet the allegations by her former speechwriter and another GOP politico were made in some detail, were backed by sworn affidavits, and were considered credible enough to be investigated by at least one local paper.

Moreover, in Haley’s case, such questions were entirely germane.  Haley ran on a “family values” platform, while a large part of her appeal lay in her image as a wholesome mom and obedient, Christian wife.  Haley had also publicly censured her predecessor & erstwhile mentor, Mark Sanford, for his own affair.  To expose the hypocrisy of such a “family values” candidate is no more sexist than to investigate the illicit affairs of Jon Edwards, Arnold Schwarzenegger … or Ted Haggard.


2) Shut Up, Bitch!

Back in 2009, TNA got its panties all in a wad over the perceived sexist slight of TNA’s official Hlllary surrogate, Kirstin Gillibrand.  On the occasion of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, Gillibrand, like every other Democratic Senator, had been allotted five minutes to read into the record a brief, sugar-coated, meaningless endorsement.  The notoriously long-winded Gillibrand “was just over 6 minutes and 15 seconds into what was to have been her five-minute speech” when chairman Patrick Leahy was seized by such overpowering misogyny as to gently remind Gillibrand that her time was up.  When the loquacious rookie senator demanded “a minute more”,  the wimminz-hatin’ Chair gaveled her.

TNA provided this “typical example of sexist behavior” from Leahy, who “apparently … didn’t take his anti-grumpy meds yesterday morning”  — ouch, Amy! Talk about bitchy — with a thought bubble: “Sigh, young lady, what YOU have to say is simply not worth the time of day. Finish off so someone important (e.g. a male senator) can speak.”

Except that Gillibrand was the last speaker before the vote. Except that every other senator came in near or under the allotted five minutes.  Nah … had to be the sexism.


3) The Shrill Word

Like other “gender-degrading” language, use of the word “shrill” has been banned by TNA as a “description of a woman’s natural vocal range:”

As we all know, the word ‘shrill’ has a very negative connotation when used to describe a woman or a woman’s voice. The term ‘shrill’ has recently been used by the media as a purposeful weapon against female candidates, although never male candidates.

This “disparaging adjective is a textbook example of gender-coded language that has been around for a long time…. This type of language is demeaning, misogynistic, and reminiscent of the Victorian era” and so must never, ever be used again. By anyone.

Except for TNA members, like Amy Siskind, who are allowed to call each other “shrill.” Siskind here:

I was driving my kids to their post-camp pre-school dental appointments when my cell phone rang.

Cynthia … was calling to let me know that she was hearing that McCain would announce shortly AND that he had picked a woman!

On the way back from the dentist, the phone rang again — Cynthia was so excited when she called. She was screaming that is was Palin – we both shrilled with excitement.

This must be like how it’s OK for niggahs to call each other “niggah,” but we can’t.  I don’t quite understand the logic, but how could I, seeing as I’m not a Shrill.


4) American History For Ditzes

On Talking With, Siskind accused the media of unfairly peppering Sarah Palin & Michele Bachmann with hard “questions on historical figures and Paul Revere” that male GOP candidates were not asked.  In Siskind’s world-view, this can only be due to misogyny, and totally unrelated to:

  1. The Tea Party claiming philosophical heritage from the American Revolution;
  2. Both Palin and Bachmann exhibiting a glaring igrorance of said American Revolution by making outrageously false statements.

Siskind’s argument might be more persuasive had she presented examples of male TP figures bolloxing American History, and then highlighted the double standard in treatment.  Yet she didn’t (or couldn’t), and instead copped out with her standard interpretation: that every attack on a female candidate is always a sexist attack.


Abortion Is Never an Issue (Unless Amy Says it Is)

TNA insists that abortion rights should never be a factor in women’s voting.  TNA’s 2008 epiphany was that Choice v. Pro-Life only divides women, diverting them from their common goal of helping women everywhere beat men.  So, TNA will never make a candidate’s stance on abortion an issue in a campaign.

Except when Siskind endorses a candidate, as she did with Meg Whitman over Jerry Brown.  The “non-political” TNA felt justified in breaking its no-endorsement pledge because one of Brown’s (female) staffers used one of the FORBIDDEN WORDS to describe Whitman — “whore.”

So, in a Huffy Poo article, Siskind exhorted women, especially former Hillary supporters, to back Meggers — “a working mom” (ROTFLMAO) over Brown and his “long track record of sexism.”  Siskind pointly referred to a decades-old Brown comment implying ambivalence on women’s choice, then falsely claimed that Whitman had never changed her position, when in truth Meggers had flip-flopped at least twice that year.

OK, except when Amy Siskind gets really mad, supporting a woman’s right to control over her own body is not relevant.  Why?  Because GOP “women understand women’s issues. Plain and simple.”

  • That’s why TNA favorite Sharron Angle advised the victims of rape or incest to “make a lemon situation into lemonade”;
  • That’s why TNA favorite Kelly Ayotte dragged Planned Parenthood before the Supreme Court in an attempt to save a New Hampshire law requiring parental notification prior to abortion on a minor;
  • That’s why TNA favorite Nikki Haley voted repeatedly to make all abortions illegal, then as governor vetoed $56 million in education spending;
  • That’s why TNA favorite Sarah Palin nominated a known perpetrator of sexual harassment for the position of Alaska’s public safety commissioner.


Qualified for Pub[l]ic Office

Siskind insists that Michele Bachmann “is very qualified to be President.”  This ‘qualification’ must be Bachmann’s pudenda, since in most circles, a career House back-bencher with zero legislation and marginal real-world experience is not considered “qualified” to be POTUS.  Unless, it seems, you’re a woman (or half-black), then you’re bumped to the head of the list, past truly qualified candidates.

In 2010, TNA lamented the low percentage of female candidates, but gushed giddily about how the GOP was “quietly filling its ranks with women.”  But as I pointed out following the midterms, in 2010 the Democrats still lapped the GOP 2-to-1 when it came to running women.  Yet for some unexplained reason, TNA displays an undue fondness for the GOP.


“I luuuv Susana Martinez!” Siskind exclaimed on Talking With.  And what’s not to love?  She’s got tits and a snatch, thus meeting all of Siskind’s rigorous requirements for public office.  It’s just icing on the cake that Martinez also:

  • Opposes federally-funded abortions;
  • Opposes any form of gun control;
  • Supports an amendment banning same-sex marriage;
  • Supports school vouchers;
  • Vetoed $56 million in education funding;
  • Opposes any tax increases; advocates reducing corporate taxes to ‘create jobs’.

Not to mention that Martinez is a rabid global warming denier and anti-environmentalist who:

  • Accepted $220,000 in contributions from gas & oil donors;
  • Moved to gut state pollution regulations;
  • Named a conspiracy crackpot as environmental chief;
  • Violated the state constitution by ordering that new environmental rules adopted by the state not be published.

TNA had declared the 2010 New Mexico gubernatorial race a “guaranteed win for our side“ because Martinez’ opponent, Lt. Governor Diane Denish, was also female.  Yet Siskind and TNA displayed an unmistakable preference for the Republican.

Why was TNA so lukewarm about Denish?  She had a track record of helping families and young children, and advocated expanding early education funding and nutrition programs.  She was pro-environment with a plan for creating green jobs.  She supported single-payer healthcare with universal coverage for every child. Denish was heartily endorsed by the pro-choice Emily’s List.  As Lt. Governor, Denish lobbied for the passage of DNA sampling known as Katie’s Law — the same Katie’s Law TNA wrongly credits then-county DA Martinez with introducing.


Goodbye, Earl

The real reason behind TNA’s embrace of the GOP?  Revenge, ‘plain & simple.’`  In the minds of these women, the Democratic party was their loser husband, Earl, his rejection of Hillary the last straw in a long and abusive relationship.

When will the women of this nation stop accepting “guilt gifts” from the men in their lives who act abusively?

So these ladies worked out a plan, and didn’t take long to decide that Earl had to die.

When will we finally deliver the tough love and consequences for improper behavior?

Enter the dapper, older gentleman, McCain, to whisper the sweet nothings that these jilted pumettes craved.  Yes, we care about you.  I sooo want a woman as my running mate!  I value your input and your support.   Thelma and Louise  Siskind and co. fell for it hook, line and sinker.  It meant abandoning every liberal principle that fosters women’s rights and real gender equality, but the sweet taste of revenge (maybe with some fried green tomatoes on the side?) was worth it.

Disgusted with Earl’s  the Democratic Party’s sophomoric and sexist “Liberal Dude Nation” antics, TNA has decided to get back by throwing themselves into the arms of another man Party:   “Democratic (and newly Independent) women are finally saying: Enough!  If this keeps up, in 2012, former and current Democratic women might just be pulling the ‘R’ lever.”

And there we have it:  the sad, embarrassing spectacle of alleged modern woman, Amy Siskind, displaying the archetypical, emotional, irrational fury of a woman scorned.


Sexual Apartheid

TNA’s home page prominently features this definition:

sex•ism

Prejudice, stereotyping or discrimination on the basis of sex.

Yet selecting candidates solely on the basis of their their gender — the very agenda of The New Agenda — is sexism in its most raw and ugly manifestation.  “Sexism has no place in this great country,” insists Siskind. Yet, on Talking With, out of the other side of Siskind’s mouth came “voting on gender is a relevant criteria.”

“How did we allow such a high level of acceptable sexism to exist and flourish?” asks Siskind.  That query is a bit of joke from “a lifelong Democrat” who admits she voted GOP for the first time ever “for one reason: McCain selected a woman as his running mate.”

TNA’s smug pride in removing the “divisive” Choice issue is overshadowed by the far greater divide they create by pitting one half of the population against the other.  Is the goal is to establish a political landscape where men & woman are treated equally?  Where, as Siskind claims to seek, “all the candidates are put on equal footing” regardless of gender?  If so, then TNA is heading in the absolute wrong direction by prioritizing gender in its selection and treatment of politicians.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.  The New Agenda is wrong, very wrong.


(c) 2011 by ‘tamerlane.’  All rights reserved.

29 Comments | Elections, Feminism, PUMA | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Matt

A Bipartisan Approach to Strengthening the Economy

July 23, 2011

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

July 23, 2011

WEEKLY ADDRESS: A Bipartisan Approach to Strengthening the Economy

(Note: True Liberal Nexus has acquired the unabridged version of this speech.  Sections deleted from the version released by the White House appear in italics.)

For years, the government has spent more money than it takes in.  The result is a lot of debt on our nation’s credit card – debt that unless we act will weaken our economy, cause higher interest rates for families, and force us to scale back things like education and Medicare.

Now, folks in Washington like to blame one another for this problem.  But the truth is, neither party is blameless.

Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, are just much to blame as Republicans like John Boener and myself.

And both parties have a responsibility to do something about it.

Every day, families are figuring out how stretch their paychecks – struggling to cut what they can’t afford so they can pay for what’s really important.  It’s time for Washington to do the same thing.

Because, just like a family, the government has no way to raise extra cash by selling bonds, printing money, or simply raising the debt ceiling every few months.

But for that to happen, it means that Democrats and Republicans have to work together to do what’s right for the country.  Everyone is going to have to be willing to compromise.  That’s why we need a balanced approach to cutting the deficit.

And by balanced, I mean making all the cuts the Right insists on, without any of the revenue proposals from the Left.

We need an approach that goes after waste in the budget and gets rid of pet projects that cost billions of dollars.

Like my wars. Except we’re not touching any of those.

We need an approach that makes some serious cuts to worthy programs – cuts I wouldn’t make under normal circumstances

— unless I had this debt limit crisis as a smoke screen.

And we need an approach that asks everybody to do their part.

Everyone except the wealthiest 2% of the population.  They’re better than the rest of you, and shouldn’t be imposed upon to give up a penny more of their well-deserved fortunes. 

So that means, yes, we have to make serious budget cuts; but that it’s not right to ask middle class families to pay more for college before we ask the biggest corporations to pay their fair share of taxes.

Which is why the proposal includes a lowering of the top corporate tax bracket. 

It means that before we stop funding clean energy, we should ask oil companies and corporate jet owners to give up the tax breaks that other companies don’t get.

Don’t get me wrong, we will be killing clean energy funding.  But that jet thing alone will cover a whopping .075 % of the deficit reductions.

Before we cut medical research, we should ask hedge fund managers to stop paying taxes at a lower rate than their secretaries.  Before we ask seniors to pay more for Medicare, we should ask the wealthiest taxpayers to give up tax breaks we simply cannot afford under these circumstances.

This assumes that the Republican-dominated congress will allow those tax breaks to expire next year, but I’m going to get the ball rolling by cutting Medicare today.  There’s also a clause that ensures that Social Security, even though it’s self-funding, will be gutted as well.

That’s the heart of this approach: serious cuts, balanced by some new revenues.

To be specific, 74% cuts balanced equally by 26% revenues.

And it’s been the position of every Democratic and Republican leader who has worked to reduce the deficit, from Bill Clinton to Ronald Reagan.

Following in the footsteps of those two presidents, I intend on standing firm and giving my opponents every single thing they demand.

In fact, earlier this week, one of the most conservative members of the Senate, Tom Coburn, announced his support for a balanced, bipartisan plan that shows promise.

That’s no surprise, considering that plan is a conservative’s wet dream co-authored by Coburn.

And then a funny thing happened.  He received a round of applause – from a group of Republican and Democratic senators.

A group known as the “Gang of Six”, the other co-authors of that plan.

That’s a rare event in Washington.

See, I told you my mojo would transform politics.

So there will be plenty of haggling over the details in the days ahead.

But don’t worry — anyone who opposes my plan will be labeled a racist.


But this debate boils down to a simple choice.  We can come together for the good of the country and reach a compromise; we can strengthen our economy and leave for our children a more secure future.

Or we can sell our country down the river, complete the destruction of our economy, leave our seniors out in the cold, and ruin the future for our children.

Well, we know the right thing to do.  And we know what the American people expect us to do.

But the corporate donors to our re-election campaigns expect us to do the opposite.  And they’re the ones running the show, not you sorry dupes.


So, fuck you, America, up the ass, and goodnight.

— Barack


(c) 2011 by True Liberal Nexus.  All rights reserved.

3 Comments | Democratic ineptitude, Economy, GOP evilness, Satire | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Matt

A.B.O.

July 18, 2011

It seems to me a strange thing, mystifying, that the Democratic Party’s incumbent president, who has extended & expanded every odious bush administration policy, has betrayed every liberal principle, has broken every campaign promise, is in brazen contempt of the Constitution and several Federal laws, and has now unilaterally offered to cut Social Security, will be running unopposed in the 2012 primary.

Yes, he entered office inexperienced, but that’s because the king-makers ignored the will of the majority of voters in 2012 to pick a neophyte and incorrigible loafer, a con man selling rainbows and unicorns.

Yes, he’s faced tough opposition from Republicans.  But hey, they are the “opposition” party after all.  And he has only himself to blame for stinking up the joint so bad in his first two years that it cost the Dems the House in the mid-terms.

Even if his administration had in any way resembled a Democratic one, your incumbent is embarrassingly down in the polls vs. a generic GOP candidate, has sunk to 39% in pivotal Florida, and has shown no wherewithal to to turn thing around in the next 18 months.  The fat lady is already clearing her throat.


Change Horses Before You Get Bucked Off

Surely, many Democrats, while gravely disappointed in their hopeless-changeless incumbent, are still fearful of ‘changing horses midstream’ or weakening party unity with a primary fight.   But it’s a wives’ tale that strong primary challenges weaken the incumbent.  The reverse is true:  weak incumbents attract strong primary challenges.  In barry, the Dems easily have the weakest incumbent in American history.  Nobody — I mean nobody — likes him!   Not to mention that he’s not really a Democrat, rather a moderate Republican / corporatist whore.


Cowardly Lions

So where are the all the vultures?  The usual suspects have all declared themselves not interested.  Dennis Kucinich, that quadrennial protest candidate, is confining his protests to the sidelines this time.  Hillary swears she’s done with politics.  Feingold insists he’s not interested.  Every other potential challenger is laying low, protecting their careers’ futures.

Honestly, it’s not hard to see why.  Barry and his droogs fight dirty and nasty.  The first challenger to toss their hat into the ring would be skewered, roasted, drawn and quartered before that hat hit the ground.  It would be ugly. Medieval.

Just look at how barry won his four election battles:

  1. Midnight procedural challenge disqualifying all of his primary opponents;
  2. Leaked opponent’s unsavory divorce records;
  3. Leaked opponent’s unsavory divorce records;
  4. Massive voter fraud & rigging of caucuses, vicious personal attacks driven in to the hilt, race card played to the max; rigged convention.

The barry political-crime machine is masterful at raising huge sums of cash from the corporate tyrants he serves.  (Not to mention airhead bimbos like George Clooney and Tom Hanks.)  While doubts exist his 2012 campaign can match the ocean of money raised in 2008, barry is already way ahead of any potential primary opponents, who’ve raised exactly zero to date.

Since no one Democrat is brave enough to take on barry and his Chicago boys, is there no way to stop the obama juggernaut?


The A.B.O. Slate 

There is a way.  It’s a bit tricky, but is surely worth trying.

Most people aren’t aware that, when you vote for a candidate in a primary, you’re really voting for a slate of delegates pledged to vote for that candidate at the convention.  “Undeclared” delegates are occasionally chosen, seen most recently in Michigan in 2008. (though barry ended up stealing all of those, as well as a few of Clinton’s Michigan delegates for good measure.)

Just writing-in “none of the above” won’t count without a pre-designated slate to receive that vote.  The same goes for writing in a specific person’s name — if no slate of delegates exists pledged to that person, those write-in votes get tallied … then tossed.

What’s required is to run an A.B.O. — Anyone But Obama — slate in each state, delegates pledged to vote at the Democratic national convention for any candidate they like, so long as it’s not obama.

It really doesn’t matter who they nominate, or even whether the ABO slates from the several states chose the same person.  With enough ABO delegates in Charlotte, barry coudn’t receive an outright majority on the first ballot, opening up a floor fight of epic proportions and a brokered convention.  At that point, the cowardly lions might find the nerve to enter the fray and attempt to seize the nomination.   barry’s one billion dollars would be useless.  And if his droogs attempted to rig the convention like they did in 2008, our ABO delegates would simply  burn down the convention hall  march out and hold the vote in a bar across the street.

Who would prevail in this scenario?  Who knows.  Who cares, so long as it is Anyone But Obama.


Getting to Charlotte

Steve Martin once told a joke:  “How to earn a million dollars and not pay any taxes:  1. Earn a million dollars;  2. Don’t pay any taxes.”

Like Martin’s scheme, the devil is in the details of our ABO plan.  For many of us, it’ll require re-joining a discredited party we left in disgust.  However emotionally or ethically unsettling, it’s physically easy.

Far more tricky is getting to Charlotte.  A trip to the national convention is a plum reserved for long-time party loyalists and hacks of individual candidates.  The entire party machinery is in the hands of the obot apparatchiks.  In theory, however, the Democratic Party is the people’s party, and any registered Democrat is eligible to serve as an “undeclared” delegate.  And you, dear reader, are going to be that delegate.

The rules for selecting delegates vary from state to state — in the ones that assign delegates only after the primary, our ABO strategy may need to be modified. Caucus rules are particularly convoluted.

Here’ what you do. Tomorrow, call or visit your local democratic HQ and tell them you’d like to become a delegate, and ask how that works.  They’ll give you the run-around.  Be persistent.  Try not to mention that you oppose obama for as long as possible.  Ask if it’s possible to be an “undeclared” delegate.  Take down the name of the person you speak to.  If they give you information you later find out is false, report them, as they’ve just committed elections fraud.  Report back here in the comments section with what you’ve discovered.

The ABO slate might not succeed, but in trying, we can at least can send a wake-up call to the saner elements of the Democratic Party.  Please — pick Anyone But Obama!


(c) 2011 by True Liberal Nexus.  All rights reserved.

17 Comments | Democratic ineptitude, Elections | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Matt

Remarks by the President on the Monthly Jobs Report

July 10, 2011




My fellow Americans,

I’m happy to report that I’ve finally found a solution to the jobs crisis — I’m blaming it on Congress.

You see, while I’m ready to roll up my sleeves over the next several weeks and next several months, Congress is lollygagging.  This is so frustrating!  I’ve urged Congress not to wait, but to act right now on some brilliant proposals of mine:

  • Invest in rebuilding our roads and our bridges and our railways and our infrastructure.  (I came up with this one);
  • Streamline our patent process.  Widgets & wangdoodles would already be pouring out of American factories, if Congress would only vote on the patent bill sitting there right now;
  • Advance trade agreements that will help businesses sell more American-made goods and services to Asia and South America.  Congress could do that today. That could be done right now.

There are all sorts of bills and trade agreements before Congress right now that could get all these ideas moving. All of them have bipartisan support. All of them could pass immediately. And I urge Congress not to wait.

It’s really not fair that Congress’ inaction is forcing me to work on this, because I’ve already done so much.  In December, I boosted the economy by signing a tax cut that put a thousand dollars in the pockets of American families, which is nothing to sneeze at when you’ve been out of work for over a year.

A lot of middle-class families sure would feel more secure if they knew that tax cut will still be around next year. That’s a change that we could make right now, by making cuts to Social Security.  But Congress is too lazy.

I admit, it’s not entirely Congress’ fault that our economy sucks so bad.   There are many other things I can blame, from natural disasters and spikes in gas prices, to state and local budget cuts.  And those Greeks and Europeans had to go and ruin everything by giving investors the jitters.

These economic challenges weren’t created overnight — they’re W’s fault.  So don’t expect me to solve them overnight — I’ll need another four years at the least.

I get letters from folks hit hard by this economy.  Some of them pour their guts out in these letters. They feel that leaders in Washington have let them down.  To them, I say:  yes, Congress has let you down.

You can see how I’m busting my butt.  But I can only concentrate on one thing at a time, and we can’t solve the jobs crisis until we solve the debt ceiling crisis first. To put our economy on a sounder footing, we’ve got to rein in our deficits and get the government to live within its means, while still making the investments to make us more competitive in the future.  I’ve urged Congress to quickly move in both these contradictory directions, but they refuse to budge.

Still, we’ve had some good meetings with Congress.  We had a good meeting yesterday, and we’re gonna meet again today.  We’re gonna work through the weekend to solve this crisis with as many meetings as it takes.

Once the markets know that we have a serious plan to deal with our debt and deficit, they’ll start investing to grow and hire.  That’ll provide more confidence to the rest of the world as well, so that they are committed to investing in America.  And then — Presto! — the economy will be fixed, and I can go back to my real job, running for re-election.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

— Barack


(c) 2011 by True Liberal Nexus.  All rights reserved.

2 Comments | Democratic ineptitude, Economy, Satire | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Matt

How to Fix the American Economy in Nine Simple Steps

July 4, 2011

 – by ‘tamerlane’


Get off the Pot

It’s going on eleven years since the American economy last didn’t suck. Bush spent eight years

F.P.O. Insert kitchy patriotic image here.

trashing it; barry’s spent another 2 1/2 years fiddling while Rome burns. In desperation, the American people are open to anyone offering a solution, however drastic.

From the Right, Rep. Paul Ryan offered a suitably draconion budget with cuts to the bone across the board, but especially on social services. From the lunatic fringe, Rep. Ron Paul suggested the federal government declare bankruptcy. The moderate republican obama administration, they of the “transformative change” — have been content with a few tweaks — a bailout here, a quantitative easing there, with a smokescreen of serious speeches pledging to seriously do something serious one of these days. From the left have come no comprehensive plans, only shrill warnings not to touch Medicare or Social Security.

Such “plans” are drivel.  Most are just fiddling with the knobs on a broken machine. Proposals like Ryan’s are on par with the medieval surgeon’s bleeding of the patient to dispel bad humours. We sent these people to Washington to get things done, specifically to fix the economy. Since they refuse to piss, it’s time for them to get off the pot. Time for the common folks to take charge.


A Simple Plan

Once you identify the real problem, great or small, the solution turns out to be fairly simple.  While the baboons in Washington sit around scratching their monkey butts, this ordinary American citizen decided to work out a real plan.  You may reject it on principle, or quibble with its details. But it’s comprehensive, is strengthened by synergies, is straightforward, and it’s bold.

Right now, we need bold. The patient that is the American economy has flat-lined, the EMTs need to crank up the defibrillator and quick. In contrast, the prescriptions coming from Washington are about as useful to our patient as “get more exercise” or “try to cut fats from your diet.”

Most of all, I’m convinced my plan will work.


1) “First Thing We Do, Let’s Kill All The Economists”
For the past 30 years, our nation’s economy has suffered the ministrations of members of a bizarre religious cult known as “Economics.” Many splinter sects of this cult exist, each decrying the others as heresies. But all the cults of economics share one trait — they don’t work. All economics is voodoo. Astrology. Tarot reading.

Some sects are not as bad as others, but none have anything at all to do with the real world, and consequently, none have any predictive powers whatsoever. The great scientific thinker, E.O. Wilson, who considers economics “folk psychology” and “mostly irrelevant”, notes that it

“… cannot answer definitely most of the key macro-economic questions that concern society…. The world economy is a ship speeding through uncharted waters strewn with dangerous shoals. There is no general agreement on how it works. The esteem that economists enjoy arises not so much from their record of successes as from the fact that business and government have nowhere else to turn.”

Since Reagan, the United States has fallen victim to the most deluded and destructive sect of the cult, “Libertarian/Anarchist” economics. Known variously as the “Chicago School” or “Austrian School”, its witch doctors included Milton Friedman and Alan Greenspan, both former acolytes of that psychotic priestess of greed, Ayn Rand.

Thanks to their gris-gris, the once mighty bodybuilder of American industry has been transformed into an emaciated heroin junkie. Admittedly, some modern economists, realizing that (again, from Wilson)

“[s]eldom are the premises of [economic] models examines closely. Seldom are their conclusions tested to any depth with quantitative field data. Their appeal is in the chrome and roar of the engine, not the velocity or destination”

are earnestly trying to take a more scientific approach that offers real predictive power.

Ultimately, though, all economists make the same fundamental error of placing the cart before the horse. They tweak our society to fix the economy, when it should be the other way around.

‘But tamerlane,’ you’re surely saying, ‘is it really necessary to actually kill them?’  It sure would be fun, and, one might argue, deserved. But no, all we need to do is ignore whatever they say. That’ll be hard at first, because, like the fortune tellers they are, economists lure us with vague prognostications of the tall, dark stranger we’ll meet in the next quarter with half a million new jobs, or the exotic destination we’ll visit, where housing starts are up 11%.

In place of such gibberish, we’ll rely instead on our own common sense:

  1. Where do we want to go?
  2. What’ll get us there?
  3. Do that, and to hell with the rest.


2) Put Most Bankers in Chains; Put a Leash on the Rest
There’s a colony of parasites lviing in the bowels of our nation’s economy. These parasites produce nothing, provide no real services, yet makes obscene mountains of money just by shuffling around other people’s money. They’re called the financial “industry”, and they need a smack-down.
First off, the up & downs of the stock market are essentially meaningless. Unlike the current Washington baboons who fixate on Wall Street, we’re gonna ignore it. Sure, the stock market is essential in providing investment money for business. But mostly it’s just a pack of gamblers who bet on the success of other people’s businesses. Many now bet on the success or failure of the other broker’s bets. Heck, we’d do no worse aligning our economy to a Vegas sports book.

We’ll let the gamblers play, and even get rich now and again. There will, however, be strict regulations and oversight to prevent the abuses so prevalent on Wall Street that damage our economy. I know what you’re thinking, but that’s how other countries with healthier economies handle things, so put a sock in it. We’ll also be throwing into jail anyone who engages in things like predatory lending. Long sentences. In nasty, rat-infested jails. Filled with mother rapers and father rapers.


3) Create Jobs (Duh)

Every politician chants the same mantra: “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!” By which they mean, ‘in this economy, you’re gonna need three jobs to make ends meet.’ These baboons do nothing tangible to create a base that’d generate real job growth, yet upon the latest report of 100,000 McJobs, they preen like a toddler proudly displaying their first potty.

It’s stupid to promise jobs to people if there’s nothing for them to do. Since we’re not stupid like, say, an economist or a politician, we’ll move right along to the things that’ll create not thousands, but millions, of jobs, and damn good ones, too.


4) Resurrect American Industry

I say “resurrect’ because, let’s face it: we spent the past 30 years intentionally killing off the largest industrial base the World had ever known. The economists clamored for the “World Economy”, then the corporate tapeworms shipped everything off to other parts of the world, mostly China. Now, everyone in Washington says we’ve got to “get competitive” to win back the jobs and manufacturing we so recklessly gave away. But in the Brave New World Economy, “competitive” means working 14-hour shifts for 59¢ an hour without bennies, in dangerous, polluting factories churning out shoddy crap that breaks.

This brew the economist witch doctors cooked up has been great for the world, and great for about 2% of Americans. But it’s sucked big time for the other 98% of us. So guess what, people — “World Economy” has just been cancelled.

There are a few American manufacturers clinging to life, But We’re gonna have to pretty much rebuild a manufacturing base from scratch. Our solution will be bold and it will be broad. The Federal government will:

  1. Invest properly in R&D, the way nations with strong economies — Japan, China, Germany — do;
  2. Kill the sham R&D subsidies (corporate welfare, really) to industries like mega-agriculture and fossil fuels;
  3. Undertake large-scale infrastructure projects that require heaps of both manpower and stuff made in America;
  4. Provide concrete assistance — not just lip service — to innovative & small business start-ups in the forms of loans, support programs, contracts, and tax incentives;
  5. Levy tariffs on foreign imports equaling the cost savings those countries enjoy from exploiting their workers and destroying the environment. The stuff we still make is already of better quality, but now we’re talking honest “competitiveness”!
  6. Close the loopholes in the corporate tax code that allow nominally “international” corporations to enjoy all the advantages of doing business in the US., while shielding their assets abroad from US taxes.


5) Get Cracking on That Green Economy, Already!

To win the latte liberal vote, obama made sweeping promises to create a “Green Economy” that would at once revitalize our economy while saving the environment. Like any good compulsive liar, once elected, barry did squat to fulfill his promise.

Yet the concept is still a sound one. It offers the best hope, in fact, to cure a host of ills. To make any real impact, though, the creation of our Green Economy has to be implemented on a massive, national scale. It’ll be like a 21st century version of the Tennessee Valley Authority, but on steroids.

Like the TVA and its hydro-electric power, our Green Economy will rely on already existing energy technologies. Also like the TVA, Federal underwriting will break the logjam by providing the capital investment the insipid “free market” is unable to muster.

The various elements will range in scale from private households to large power plants:

  1. Provide seed money and investment for large solar-mirror turbines and next-generation wind turbines that truly are “shovel ready”;
  2. Support and expand the military’s initiative toward becoming 50% self-sufficient from renewable energy by 2020;
  3. Rescue the few remaining domestic renewables makers by placing orders for solar panels atop the roof of every federal building in the nation. The resulting economies of scale will make renewable energy affordable for everyone;
  4. Make a “Solar Mortgage” available to every household and business in America. This is a simple yet brilliant idea already being implemented by private local vendors to remove the roadblock of prohibitive initial costs of these systems. Any participating household or business will have a renewable (usually PV panel) system installed that meets their energy needs. The Federal program will pick up the tab. The participant then makes a monthly “mortgage” payment equal to their average monthly utility bill. The term of the mortgage is flexible & based on that payment. Like a bank does with a house, the government covers the upfront cost, then gets paid back over time with interest. As the Solar Mortgage Program would only contract from American vendors, and employ American workers, it helps meet several goals of our overall plan.

Many other innovative programs will be part of the Green Economy initiave. All of them represent an investment in our industry, and our future. The advantages of going green vs. buying fossil fuels — either abroad or at home, is the same as paying a mortgage on a house you own vs. giving rent to someone else.


6) Make-Work Projects
When the previous great depression hit America, Hoover sat idly while millions suffered, waiting for “the market” to eventually sort things out. FDR actually did something — he created jobs through programs like the WPA and CCC. The suffering was ameliorated, while the workers’ paychecks helped spur more economic growth. And some very useful things got built, too — roads, bridges, national parks.

Today, our nation is falling apart at the seams. Our transportation network is crumbling, our large cities rotting. Out West, forests overgrown with brush lead to devastating mega-fires. Let’s tackle all these problems, and more. We’ll employ people — the young, those undesirable 40- & 50-somethings — who’d have no other hope of getting a job. Their paychecks will create other jobs, and we’ll fix up our nation in the process. Yes, this is government fiddling with “the market.” No, this may not force people to “take personal responsibility.” Yes, this is “socialism.” But guess what — Socialism Works.


7) Take Back Jobs Given to Foreigners

The tariffs in #4 above will reverse the ruinous practice of outsourcing jobs. Yet even at home, jobs that should go to Americans are instead taken by foreigners.

  1. Crack Down on Unfair Work Visa Practices — When not shipping jobs oversees, corporate tapeworms import ever-increasing numbers of foreign workers to the US. Arriving on work visas intended only for when a company can’t find a qualified American applicant, these foreign employees are willing to work killer hours for less pay than Americans. Not only do the tapeworms reap the direct payroll savings, the presence of the foreigners allow them to squeeze their American employees on wages and benefits. This practice is not only bogus, it’s unethical and un-American. Under our common sense plan, the INS will be directed to implement a new policy that only issues work visas in the rare instances when truly no suitable American worker can be found. Any corporate tapeworm caught trying to get around this policy will find themselves sharing a cell in that nasty jail mentioned above.
  2. Stop Illegal, & Curb Legal, Immigration — This may be too controversial for some, but it’s worth putting on the table. Fact: There are as many as 30 million illegal immigrants in this country; Fact: That represents 10% of the population; Fact: Unemployment is around 10% OK, it may not be that simple. But let’s dispense once and for all with the canard ‘illegals are willing to take jobs that Americans don’t want.’ No, illegals are willing to work for wages that Americans won’t accept.

The Saga of the Georgia Peaches highlights our muddled thinking on this subject. Following the passage of a strict anti-illegal worker law in Georgia, peach-growers suddenly found themselves at harvest time without their usual work force of illegals. ‘See why stopping illegal immigration is a bad idea,’ they all sung, ‘now y’all are gonna have to pay more for peaches at the supermarket!’  Ignoring for a moment that all these growers had been committing a federal offense, the sky isn’t really falling.

They’ll just have to buck up and hire Americans, pay them (at least) minimum wage, and pass the cost onto us. Yeah, the price of peaches will jump to $6 a pound, but we’ve been paying the real cost all along, only not at the checkout counter. And what we’ll get for that $6 is nothing to sneeze at: unemployment in Georgia goes down, bigger paychecks spread the wealth around, and the State’s social services will be relieved of the departed illegal workers. If that all seems too draconian to you, then pass a goddamn bill naturalizing the illegals who are currently dragging down wages.


8) Kill the Minimum Wage; Institute a Minimum Income
We Americans take strange pride in our byzantine approach to regulations. We have a federal minimum wage, but individual states have their own minimum wages, sometimes special minimum wages for teenagers or part-time workers. One teensy-weensy flaw in our system is that even the federal minimum wage is not a living wage — for anyone not living on their sister’s couch, it leaves you about $6,000 p/a short of what you need to survive.

Just raising the figure isn’t sufficient, so long as there are corporate slaveholders like Walmart who make everyone “casual” employees. Even when the baboons in Washington rouse themselves to belatedly raise the minimum wage, they stupidly enter a fixed figure in the bill, which quickly falls behind inflation. Under our plan, we will create a minimum wage law that sets the wage as a variable linked to inflation, price indexes, etc. Presto! No need to ever pass another bill!

Going further, we’ll establish a Minimum Income (“M.I.”), also a variable linked to indicators. This will be the minimum amount of money a person/household needs to survive. Can’t find a full-time job? No problem! The government will cover the gap between your wages and the M.I. Oh, we’ll also be assigning you to a job, maybe something you’re skilled at, but also maybe sweeping streets or in the kitchen of a retirement home. We’ll also train you for some steady job. Once the M.I. program is in place, we can terminate the various welfare and workfare programs that are so costly and utterly worthless.


9) Damn the Deficit – Full Speed Ahead!

Yo! All you babbling baboons in Washington — sit down, shut up, and pay attention: The federal deficit is not the problem; it’s but a symptom of the problem. Stop trying to fix the deficit — sucking on cough drops won’t cure pneumonia. If you fix the core problem, then the deficit will eventually go away on its own.

Those politicians most eager to cut the federal budget also usually urge that the government “be run more like a business.” I agree. A business in trouble can either react by cutting things like promotion, shutting plants, and laying off workers. Those ones almost always end up closed. Other business respond by taking out loans and expanding operations. They bravely invest, in anticipation of an eventual Return on Investment. These are businesses that usually persevere. Let’s apply this winning business strategy to our nation’s current woes:

Problem: Expenditures are up.
Solution: Cut non-essential costs. The only area where sizable savings can be realized is the military. We operate several wars in branch locations that have yielded zero ROI. We should shut down these operations ASAP, and assign the employees to other departments. There’s also some room to cut our Medicare line of products, but it’s very popular with our customers. All other potential savings combined are relatively minor. Social Security is a wholly self-funded subsidiary which actually extends loans to other departments. Shutting it down it would be counter-productive.

Problem: Revenues are down.
Solution: We have two remedies available to us. First, we should increase taxes — or more accurately, return to previous levels on the upper tax bracket. Earlier reductions of this income stream account for nearly all our current shortfalls. Second, we can take out a loan to cover the difference. Fortunately, as we ourselves print money, we can do this as needed.

Problem: Our plant operations are inadequate.
Solution: The previous management foolishly shut down profitable factories and branches. We need to reverse that by investing in new factories, new markets, and hire the necessary employees. We’ll print some money to cover the start-up costs, but are confident that the ROI will begin to be realized early, and will eventually be significant.


A Simple Plan?

‘Can it really be that simple?’ you ask. My plan is a good one, or at least a good starting point for a serious discussion. But simple and easy are not the same. Too many people with power & influence have too much personally to lose. They’ll make it hard to implement this simple plan.

The question then is, do we let them keep that power, and let them continue destroying our economy and our nation? Or do we wrest that power away, and do what needs to be done to save our country?


(c) 2011 by True Liberal Nexus. All rights reserved.

15 Comments | capitalism, Democratic ineptitude, Economy, GOP evilness, libertarians | Permalink
Posted by Matt

Time For an Air Strike

March 7, 2011

Who's afraid of a 39-year old plane? We are.

For the second day, rebels seeking to overthrow beleaguered Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, were hit by a devastating attack by war planes.

While much of the country is in rebel hands, Gaddafi continues to hold out in the capital, Tripoli.  The rank-and-file of the Libyan army have largely gone over to the rebels, as have most of Libya’s senior diplomatic corps and several key ministers.  Despite a few defections, the Libyan air Force, composed mainly of foreign mercenaries and members of Ghadafi’s local tribe, remains loyal to the dictator.

With the rebels unable to press their initial gains, and now subject to withering counter-attacks supported by Gaddafi’s air force, the situation in Libya threatens to deteriorate into a bloody & protracted civil war with uncertain outcome.


All Quiet on the Western Front

The West’s leaders have largely turned a deaf ear to appeals to intervene diplomatically and militarily.  Only Great Britain, led by the tireless efforts of PM David Cameron, seems eager to take bold action.  Last week, Britain made (a botched) attempt to establish diplomatic contact with the rebel leadership, as an overture to likely recognition of the rebels as the legitimate government.  It was recently revealed that Britain’s crack Black Watch Battalion had been placed on 24 hours’ readiness to deploy to North Africa.

For over a week, Cameron has attempted in vain to spur the West into action.   In Washington, the obama administration is displaying its trademark aversion to decisive foreign policy.  France and Italy insist any action be sanctioned by NATO, while NATO insists any action be sanctioned by the UN.  Russia and China promise to veto any UN involvement.

Cameron is right.  The time to take forceful, military action in Libya is now.  Humanitarian concerns aside, and the lofty ideal (call it crazy) of democracies supporting democratic movements, immediate intervention in Libya makes sense for several pragmatic, selfish reasons:

  • Usher in an orderly transition from Gaddafi to a pro-Western government already forming in Benghazi;
  • Avert the co-opting of the rebellion by radical elements and the establishing of an anti-western regime in Libya;
  • Prevent the recently-raided stockpiles of shoulder-launched, surface-to-air missiles from getting into the hands of terrorists;
  • Avoid general destabilization in the region;
  • Send a clear message to other regimes in in the region facing local pro-democracy movements, hopefully avoiding bloodshed and encouraging peaceful reforms.

While this week’s emergency EU summit may produce a consensus to act, Cameron and Britain may need to take unilateral action to break the logjam of reluctance and cowardice among the West’s leaders.


90,000 Tons of Diplomacy

As President Clinton once noted, “When word of a crisis breaks out in Washington, it’s no accident that the first question that comes to everyone’s lips is: ‘Where’s the nearest carrier?'”

For decades, the United States possessed the unparalleled ability to project its influence around the Globe via its numerous and powerful aircraft carriers. The answer, during this present crisis, as to the location of our carriers is:  ‘otherwise engaged.’   Of the 11 fleet carriers in active service, 4 are in port undergoing maintenance or awaiting decommissioning, 1 is on stand-by, 2 are in the Western Pacific taunting North Korea, with the remainder committed to constant rotation through the Persian Gulf supporting President Bush’ obama’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Because of our entanglement in Iraq and Afghanistan, for the first time in nearly half a century the US fleet in the Mediterranean has no carrier attached.  In late February, the 50-year old USS Enterprise, which had just sailed through the Suez Canal to augment the forces in the Persian Gulf (The USS Abraham Lincoln having just been dispatched from there to the Pacific), did a 180º and steamed back to the Med to meet the Libyan crisis.


Obama’s Prime Directive

If only this Enterprise had a captain as brash and disobedient as its science fiction namesake!  As it stands, obama’s Prime Directive, of never acting internationally if it might possibly hurt his Approvals at home, remains inviolate.

Thus far the Obama team has given the impression of being too often behind the curve on events in the Middle East, both in anticipating the revolutions and in responding to them….   At some point soon, the administration will need to shift from merely reactive mode into asserting more leadership and setting the agenda.

As bad as obama’s foot-dragging during the Egyptian crisis was, the administration’s stubborn, almost petulant refusal to budge in response to the rapidly escalating and far more volatile Libyan crisis is inexcusable, bordering on criminally negligent.

Following reasonable suggestions by observers — and impassioned pleas from the rebels — to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, Defense Secretary Robert Gates dismissed the idea as “loose talk” and condescendingly sneered that a “no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses.”  The commander of US CENTCOM obligingly added, “It wouldn’t simply be telling people not to fly airplanes.”  Gates went on to claim that it would require more airplanes than available from a single carrier.

Gates’ comments are fatuous.  Not only are the military assets already on hand sufficient for the US to unilaterally impose a no-fly zone over Libya, it would be almost child’s play for us to do so.


Piece of Cake

If you accept the word of the obama administration and its lackeys in the MSM, the Libyan air force is a potent threat with sharp, pointy teeth that would maul American air power.  The MSM glibly tosses out figures of 200-250 fighter planes at Gaddafi’s disposal, and points to the ominous threat of hundreds of surface-to-air missiles.

A brief review of expert sources, however, reveals a starkly different picture of the Libyan air force.

Fighter Planes

Of the alleged 200-250 front-line fighters, no more than 70 are actually airworthy:

–  1 Mirage F1 (down from two following a pilot defecting to Malta)

–  30-50  MiG 23

–  21 of the antiquated MiG 21

As well as:

– 39 Su-22 fighter-bombers

– 3  Su-24 fighter-bombers

The pilots and ground crew are mostly foreign mercenaries, neither poorly nor superbly trained.  The aircraft themselves date from the nineteen-seventies and -eighties.  While ammunition is abundant, maintenance is known to have been spotty over the years, with spare parts scarce.  Most of Gaddafi’s planes simply can’t get off the ground.

To face these 50+ front-line fighters, the US already has the 48 F-18 Hornets aboard the Enterprise: three squadrons of the new “Super-Hornet” air superiority fighter, carrying sophisticated tracking and guidance systems for their many onboard missiles, and one squadron of Marines specially-trained in dogfighting.   Contrary to Secretary Gates’ low opinion of them, in a straight-up battle, the Enterprise’s Hornets would make mincemeat out of the Libyans.

(Gates perhaps also neglected to consider the 175 aircraft of all types in service with the US Sixth Fleet based in Naples, or any the USAF assets in Europe and the mid-East.)


Surface-to-Air Missiles

Of legitimate concern are the 88 long-range and 53 short-range anti-aircraft missiles in Gaddafi’s arsenal, all Soviet-made.    But here, too, the obama administration is grossly overstating the threat.   The location of every static Libyan missile battery is clearly known and easily targeted.  As was done over Iraq and Serbia, AWACS tracking planes could detect the instant a missile battery attempted to get a radar lock on one of our aircraft, and F-117 “Stealth” fighters (or possibly the brand-new F-22s in their first combat action) would obliterate each battery in succession.

Most experts consider the Libyan air defenses highly vulnerable: “Advances in electronic warfare and [Electronic Counter-Measures] have made many of the older Soviet-era SAM systems obsolete in a modern air combat environment. Libya’s … systems are no exception.”

One former Air Force chief of staff equates the Libyan missile defense to that of Serbia’s, which was completely neutralized with the loss of but a single plane.  With Libya, this former Air Force official envisions a scenario similar to the no-fly zone imposed over Iraq in 1991:  “Every time the Iraqis turned on a radar, we hosed them.”

AWACS are already monitoring Libya, while long-range stealth fighters are capable of reaching Libya from their bases in the US.  Imposing a No-Fly zone long-term would require additional, land-based combat aircraft, operating either from Europe or out of bases currently at our disposal in Oman, Tunisia, Qatar and Egypt.


Attack Helicopters

By far the greatest threat to the Libyan rebels are the numerous ground-attack aircraft, primarily helicopters, in Gaddafi’s air force.  These include about 38 of the devastating Mi-24 “Hind” heavy gunships, 14 medium attack helicopters, and numerous lighter aircraft that could be pressed into the ground attack role.  (As with the jets, chronically poor maintenance likely means only limited numbers of these aircraft are actually flyable.)  Once air superiority is achieved over Libya, these helicopters can be quickly neutralized, most simply by destroying them on the ground and their airbases along with them.

As noted above, complete and swift victory over Gaddafi’s air power is achievable by just the US assets already on-hand.  Add the potent Italian Aeronautica Militare, with two major bases just 300 miles away on Sicily, the French Armée de l’Air, and the RAF flying from Crete, and it’s obvious that total eradication of Gaddafi’s air power within 48-72 hours would be a piece of cake.

And, without his air force, Gaddafi cannot hold out.  As Der Spiegel notes:

Although a large part of Libya’s army has defected and joined the rebel forces, its air force appears to have remained almost completely loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Indeed, it is one of the main factors still propping up the regime and the most serious threat to the insurgents who control the eastern part of the country.


Making the World Safe for Hypocrisy

Quite frankly, the West’s reluctance to aid the Libyan rebels in their struggle for freedom is despicable, especially considering how eagerly we sullied ourselves in a deal with Gaddafi a few years back, when he promised support against al Quaeda (with a little sweet crude thrown in to sweeten the deal) in exchange for us forgetting his own active role in international terrorism.

On the whole, the Western democracies’ record on promoting democracy around the world is embarrassing.  The USA has little to be proud of:

  • In 1918, the United States took sides in the war in Europe, ostensibly to “make the world safe for democracy”, but really to make the shipping lanes to England safe for American capitalism;
  • In Vietnam, the US was willing to lose 40,000 killed to prop up a corrupt regime and ostensibly save the Vietnamese from the perils of communism;
  • Reagan zealously crushed 700 Cuban construction workers on tiny Grenada who were threatening future malpractice cases, but bugged out of Lebanon, where a US presence could have actually fostered peace;
  • Papa Bush didn’t hesitate to depose a minor tyrant in central America, but carefully preserved the genocidal Hussein sitting atop vast oil reserves;
  • We’ve spent the better part of the past decade mired in Operation Iraqi Freedom, which should really have been named Operation Halliburton Profit;
  • The most obama could muster in support of the Egyptian revolution was a severe tongue-lashing of Hosni Mubarak.

And now, the United States, with by far the most powerful military in the world, is claiming utter impotency to grant the appeal of a popular but outgunned freedom movement to take out the rotting air force of a fading tyrant.


Strike Now

The president and the Secretary of Defense have intentionally misrepresented the situation, by belittling our military capability while grossly over-inflating that of Gaddafi.  Why?  Because, when the interests and profits of capitalists are concerned, we are more than ready to spend copious money, effort and blood.  But when freedom, democracy and human rights are in the balance, we can’t be bothered to lift a finger.

It’s time for an air strike on Gaddafi.  Time to blow his pathetic little air force to smithereens and send him to hell.  Time to atone for our sins all these years.  Time to put our planes where our mouths are, time to use the power we possess to support the ideals we allegedly espouse.  If we do not, we should rightly be deemed a pariah among the nations of the world.


(c) 2011 by ‘tamerlane.’  All rights reserved.

1 Comment | capitalism, International Affairs | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Matt

Lunatic Fringe

February 28, 2011

But a few short months after gaining access to political office, the Tea Party is revealing itself as a demented fringe whose values clash with those of main-stream America.  TP legislators in Congress and several state houses have put forth legislation to:

  • Redefine rape as not rape
  • Kill childhood nutrition programs
  • Privatize all schools
  • Destroy unions
  • Legalize assassination of abortion doctors
  • Sell off public utilities
  • De-fund the EPA and FTC


Repealing the Truth

The cuts to the EPA are not about reducing deficits.  Their purpose is to end regulation of pollution and carbon emissions by the coal and oil industries (the very same industries, it so happens, who bankroll the TP.)  All unnecessary hindrances to commerce, the TPers argue, as they insist Global Warming is a hoax, an international conspiracy.

Last year, Michele Bachmann incited her constituents to armed resistance of any government policies that fight climate change.  This month, the GOP-led House voted to cut funding (all $2.3 million) of the IPCC, calling the highly respected, non-partisan, Nobel-peace-prize-winning, international science body, “corrupt” and “nefarious”.

The Montana legislature is now considering a bill which declares that “global warming is beneficial to the welfare and business climate of Montana.”

Last week on Capitol HIll, TPers in both houses introduced legislation (under the Orwellian title, “Energy Tax Prevention Act”) to “repeal” (sic) the EPA’s “scientific determination that greenhouse gases threaten human health and welfare.”

That’s right, folks — the Tea Party is solving Global Warming by declaring it illegal.


Space Man

In New Mexico, new TP governor Susana Martinez named geologist & former Apollo astronaut Harrison Schmitt to head her state’s Department of Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources.  Schmitt is a verifiable lunatic, and not just because he was the second-to-last man to walk on the moon.

A fervent denier of GW, Schmitt believes “the ‘global warming scare’ is being used as a political tool to increase government control over American lives, incomes and decision making.”  In 2009, Schmitt submitted an unsolicited paper to NASA claiming that, contrary to irrefutable data, the Earth is cooling and that polar ice has returned to 1989 levels.  Schmitt’s paper trots out a series of already-debunked challenges to climate change, then urges a wait-and-see approach until better data can be collected via observatories on the Moon and geological surveys of the surface of Mercury.

In his 2008 letter announcing his resignation from the elite Planetary Society, Schmitt warned that the U.S. would never become a “deep space-faring nation” because “the government-run, politicized K-12 school system will not currently support such [a multi-generational] endeavor.”

Schmitt is both a big fan of, and frequent guest on, the Alex Jones Show, the late-night conspiracy theory & supernatural sightings radio program. It was during a 2009 interview on Jones’ show that Schmitt linked groups like the Sierra Club to the USSR:

I think that there are individuals … who have taken — shall we say captured the environmental movement and turned it into what was previously considered the communist movement. I think the whole trend really began with the fall of the Soviet Union. Because the great champion of the opponents of liberty, namely communism, had to find some other place to go and they basically went into the environmental movement.

Schmitt has a solution to the world’s energy needs: the immediate establishment of private, lunar mining colonies to extract Helium 3 for use in (yet-to-be invented) fusion reactors, a scheme that an MIT report declared “wildly impractical”, with more energy expended on carting the helium isotope back to Earth than could ever be generated.

Schmitt’s presence in Martinez’ administration was intended to lend an air of scientific legitimacy to TP policy. Apparently, Martinez had a change of heart, as Schmitt abruptly disqualified himself by refusing the state-mandated background check.  No doubt a less flamboyantly eccentric GW denier will be found for the post.


Lunatics in Power

TPers claim to be ordinary people, like you or me.  Yet the TP is a minority group whose adherents believe in things like chemtrails, HAARP mind control, global conspiracies, and the existence of Sharia law in Battle Creek.  They twist American History to fit their ideology, and embrace biblical literacy while denying the solid Science accepted by the rest of the world. It’s also a group which hoards gold and ammunition in anticipation of the imminent Armageddon predicted by the likes of Glenn Beck.  Such a group can be described only one way — lunatic fringe.

There’s at least one other instance in recent history of a lunatic fringe coming to power, and things didn’t turn out too good.  Like the TP, that group of lunatics believed an international conspiracy had ruined their nation’s economy.  They too, espoused pseudoscientific theories, and revised History to fit their ideology.  Their political leaders were considered to be crackpots and laughing stocks.  Few took them seriously, but, thanks to substantial funding by a rich industrialist, they were able to win a large bloc of seats in the 1930 Reichstag elections, and take complete control of the government two years later.

Happy days are definitely not here again.


(c) 2011 by ‘tamerlane.’ All rights reserved.

3 Comments | Environment, GOP evilness, tea party | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Matt

Egypt’s Spirit of ’11

February 3, 2011

Over the past week, every official statement from the U.S. government concerning the situation in Egypt has referred to the state of Egypt as an ally.  It’s time the American people recognize that the freedom-seeking people of Egypt are our allies.  So far, we’ve abandoned them in their moment of need.

While discretion and official decorum were appropriate as the crisis unfolded, Mubarak’s latest gambit is the last straw.  The attacks on journalists was a crude attempt to manipulate the story line, and it will backfire.  The insertion of small numbers of mounted, armed thugs into a peaceful march by millions of everyday people is both despicable and desperate.  Moreover, these actions provide clear cause for our government [read: president, if we had one] to publicly call for Mubarak’s immediate resignation.  The best we get is perhaps some back-channel massaging of Soliman by the State Department.


Is There No Hope for Change?

The military holds the key in Egypt, and so far they’ve performed admirably, considering the very fine line they had to tread.  They will sooner or later back the right horse — be it Suleiman or el Baradei — once it’s certain who the right horse is.  The Egyptian military is largely funded by the US, so this should be a slam dunk for us, but the White House appears confused, uninterested, or working off another agenda.

America seems paralyzed by fears of a radical islamic coup in Egypt.  Yet, only were the situation to devolve into a protracted civil war — unlikely, since the vast majority of Egyptians are of one mind in this — would a narrow window open for the Muslim Brotherhood (“MB”).  Among the entire world, only the Israelis — and it seems, our White House — wish to see Mubarak linger.  For the Israelis, it boils down to protecting a single policy: the continued blockade of the Gaza Strip.  That’s petty, it’s narrow-minded, and it actually poses Israel far greater long-term harm by creating an unstable or radical neighbor.


Fear the Bogieman!

A large dose of skepticism is in order when listening to the chicken little alarms in the American media about the MB.  To the psychos on the far right, Tunisia, Egypt — these are but the first tiles to fall in a “domino effect” (a term last heard when referring to Indochina in the 1960’s) of muslim regimes.

Reichspropagandaminister Beck goes beyond that, calling this is a “Sarajevo moment”, the first spark in the “Coming Insurrection” of international jihadism. One must surmise that Beck & Co.’s answer to this crisis is to prop up Mubarak.  That would please the American far right, AIPAC, and Benjamin Netanyahu.  It would, however, majorly piss of 83 million Egyptians.  In truth, continuing to support Mubarak is the best possible way to create the very jihadist regime Beck swears he dreads.

Actually, a MB takeover of Egypt is Beck’s wet dream.  Know why Papa Bush was so dejected when the Berlin Wall came down?  The right-wing had just lost its best bogieman ever, the Soviets.  With 9/11, Baby Bush found a new bogieman to scare the public — Radical Islam.  Like viewers of SAW IV, the American public seems eager to indulge in irrational fears and swallow the right-wing distortion of the news from Egypt.


Egypt’s Berlin Wall Moment

For a more level-headed perspective, look abroad.  For english readers, The Guardian UK and (surprise!) Aljazeera offer the most comprehensive, up-to-the-minute, and balanced coverage.

It’s the German media, however, that seem to have recognized the true meaning, the spirit, if you will, of the coming change in Egypt.  The Germans can relate — it was a peaceful revolution, with people literally using their bare hands to tear down the Berlin Wall, that brought freedom to East Germany after decades.  We Americans, fixated on the bogieman, fail to grasp the importance of this moment for Egyptians, to embrace their passion and determination.  We still talk vaguely of our “Spirit of ’76”; the freedom-seeking Egyptian people today are filled with their own “Spirit of ’11.”  We should be standing by their side, not standing on the sidelines.

In an interview, an Egyptian architect participating in the protests dismissed Western fears of a MB takeover as “inconceivable. We want our freedom, not religious oppression,” he stressed. “People in the West need to finally understand that also in Egypt, the will of the people is inviolable.”


Lip Service

America gives lip service to spreading democracy around the world.  Today, spontaneously, democracy is struggling to arise in Egypt.  One, hard shove is all it that’s required to remove Mubarak and usher in freedom.  America has the ability, but not the inclination, to provide that much-needed shove.
Shame on us hypocrites.
(c) 2011 by ‘tamerlane.’  All rights reserved.

9 Comments | International Affairs | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Matt

Balls For Barry

January 27, 2011

A True Liberal Nation™ Action Item

He’s halfway through his first term now, and Barry has shown no indication that he’s “learning on the job.”  He has, however, steadily improved his golfing skills, and that’s the career path we think he should pursue come January, 2013.  Sorry, Barry, there are no mulligans in politics.

Many people have accused Barry of not having the cojones to be president.  We want to make sure he has plenty of balls for his new career as a pro golfer.  So please join True Liberal Nation™ in our Balls for Barry campaign by donating a golf ball or two, new or used, for Barry’s new career.  Send them to:

Barack Obama, ex-president
c/o
Democratic National Committee
430 S. Capitol St. SE
Washington, DC 20003

Feel free to include a note of encouragement.

We will also be presenting Barry with a set of golf clubs (probably used) as a gift to help launch his new career.  Let us know if you can participate in the presentation ceremony at the White House.

3 Comments | True Liberal Nation™ | Permalink
Posted by Matt

A Valentine for Hillary

January 27, 2011

A True Liberal Nation™ Action Item

This February 14th, don’t forget to send a Valentine’s Day greeting to America’s favorite sweetheart, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

As an activist, First Lady, and US Senator, she’s always worked selflessly to help others.  As a candidate for president, she gained more primary votes than anyone in history. Her tenacity, courage and grace under pressure impressed and inspired the entire nation.  As Secretary of State, she has won the respect and admiration of foreign leaders, heads of state, and her own political opponents at home.

For all of this, Hillary Clinton deserves an expression of our gratitude.  Send a Valentines Day card to:

Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520

Include a note letting Hillary know how much you appreciate everything she’s done.  And ask her to pretty-please do us one more favor — run for president in 2012, and then get this country back on track as only she knows how.

4 Comments | Uncategorized | Permalink
Posted by Matt

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