Month: March 2010
-
16,500 : a “mistake” so egregious as to be a lie
Where did the rabid right get the figure of 16,500 new “IRS agents” that (they claim) will be required to enforce the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act? They made it up. Really. It came from nowhere. In fact, the IRS will add few or no agents, and perhaps hardly any staff at all. …
-
Deep pondering
Does this story serve to expose the hypocrisy of the Republican Party’s self-proclaimed credentials as the “party of family values” (in that the RNC paid for an evening at “a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex”)? Or does it serve to expose the hypocrisy of the equally fictional Republican claim to being…
-
Comment of the Day
There’s a thread at Lawyers, Guns, and Money linking to another story about some people who want to see “Confederate ancestry” recognized as a legitimate group for ethnic protection, and who are using Box 19 of the Census to do it. Commenter kommrade reproductive vigor says: I guess I’m supposed to fill in Confederate Southern…
-
Quote of the Day
From a comment on Political Animal, in a thread about a brick-thrower who wants to “end socialism and the government takeover”, and has time to do so because he’s receiving disability checks from the government. In describing the futility of explaining this contradiction to the brick-thrower, a commenter pointed out, You can’t reason someone out…
-
Republican Party to disband, according to RNC Chair Michael Steele
I mean, what else might he have meant when he said: We will not hand our children a poorer, weaker America than the one we inherited. After eight years of surplus-to-deficit magic, unfunded giveaways, two wars (one of which was of choice), and a demolished financial system, followed by a year marshaling the troops to…
-
Quote of the Day … it’s a little petty but delicious nonetheless
Posted as a comment in a Political Animal article on Mitt Romney’s increasingly desperate gyrations attempting to stay relevant: In fact, the conservative “movement” resembles a clique in junior high school these days. They shout during assemblies, make fun of gay people, and do nothing but posture in front of each other, trying to see…
-
Health care reform passes
So, against all expectation, the Democratic Party managed to hang together and finally pass the comprehensive health care bill. As a lifelong Democrat, I am flabbergasted. I was certain they’d find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and fumble on the proverbial one-yard line. I’m glad to be disappointed, but this…
-
The rising threat to music of the home taping phenomenon
This video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3jkUhG68wY&feature=player_embedded) is a hilarious take-down of the music publishing industry’s allegation that personal filesharing is “killing” music. Part of the fun is figuring out the early 1980s references. Also, I would totally buy a flag that had that cassette-and-crossbones logo… Also, remember that according to former MPAA chief Jack Valenti, [T]he VCR is…
-
David Brooks is disingenuous, delusional, or an idiot
Today, David Brooks had a column on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times. It’s pretty much a standard Brooks piece, bemoaning the lack of civility in Washington today. It is wrong on its facts and wrong on its interpretations and laughably wrong on its understanding of politics. Ezra Klein takes it down analytically.…