In general, I’m not overly impressed with the Presidential Saturday radio address (now of course really a YouTube address). But I liked today‘s, probably because it resonates with something I’ve said before (twice, even).
Happy Birthday, America.
Category: politics
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Lunacon 2009 (1): Friday
Well, Lunacon is officially underway. So far I’ve tried out a new card game (Fluxx) and attended one session (“Those Terrible Middle Ages”). I’ve also discovered that I can walk out my room (418), down two corridors, around a bend, and directly onto the 7th floor. It’s no accident they call the Hilton Rye Town “the hotel that Escher built”.
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A Picture Worth 800 Billion Dollars
In case somehow you think all the talk of “an economy in free fall” is somehow just hyperbole:
An economy in free fall: We've already lost far more jobs than typical and the bottom is not in sight.
This graphic, printed at Swampland, makes clear: We are already in deep trouble. The current stimulus bill is, in anything, too small. Under circumstances like these, rapid and massive spending by the government is the only thing that has ever been shown to have an ameliorative impact. -
Burning Down the House
Listening to the Republican leadership on how to fix the economy is like listening to the arsonist on how to put out the fire.
Somehow the debate on the stimulus package has shifted to the Republicans and their criticisms. Legitimate analyses are always welcome, of course, and when grown-ups want to help make a bill better, it’s a wonderful thing. But we don’t have grown-ups running the Republican party any more. These guys have had nearly fourteen years to try their one-size-fits-all “solution” — tax cuts and deregulation — and their experiment has landed us on the precipice of the worst economic situation since the Great Depression (and we’re not done yet).
The economy is in free-fall and the President is trying to buy us a parachute, but these yahoos can only scream “If we just flap our arms harder, everything will be OK” while nitpicking the brand of rope the President chose for the shroud strands. In some sense, you can see why: For most of them, they have their own golden parachutes that will ensure that, when we hit rock bottom, they aren’t mangled like the rest of us. And since their descent is safe, why help out anyone else?
We are teeteering on the edge of a deflationary spiral, the single most destructive circumstance known to economics. We’re already mired deep in a liquidity trap. Our infrastructure is aging and inadequate, and our competitiors are breathing down our necks.
The next time someone tells you that “government spending doesn’t create a single job or grow the economy”, ask them if they’ll email that you … over the Internet, funded and nurtured by the federal government long before anyone figured out how to make money off of it. Ask them if they’ll ship it to you, via a truck running over the same Interstate that likely makes their comfy surburban lifestyle available. Maybe they’ll type it up using the energy that comes from governmental hydro projects.
Anyone spending money creates jobs. Under many circumstances, the market is clearly superior. Under some others, government is. And under most, it’s still an open question.
Could we please stop listening to the arsonists?
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Health of the Republic: Reset to 50%
It’s been a while since I’ve updated this ticker. And it remains completely arbitrary, of course. But with a new administration taking hold of the reins, it’s time for some (cautious) optimism about the restoration of the Republic. I have genuine high hopes for Barack Obama and his people. I think this is a smart, dedicated man who “gets” America — not the stupid rah-rah of the Bush years, but a deep and abiding commitment to the principles of this great nations — the principles that, in fact, make this nation great.
On the other hand… only 50%? But yes, there are still the forces of malice and stupidity. Over a quarter of the population somehow thinks the 43rd President did a good job. Nearly 20% believe Saddam Hussein sent the 9/11 highjackers! The Republicans are licking their wounds, but they’re not reforming. We face a financial and economic criss of literally once-a-century severity, with a significantly weakened industrial and social base from which to launch a recovery. We are still embroiled in two wars which appear intractable, and we still do have people out there hoping to cause us real harm. And we’ve got all the long-lasting pernicious effects of the Bush administration — from torture to spying to “burrowing” — to overcome.
So, here’s a glass lifted in celebration and anticipation of you, President Barack Hussein Obama. Good luck and godspeed.
Now, let’s get to work.
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Worst. President. EVER.
I know it’s early to ring in with the verdict of history and I know there’s room for reasonable debate. But I feel pretty sure that this will indeed be the epitaph of George Walker Bush, 43rd President of the United States (to our everlasting chagrin and shame). Hopefully the crimes committed by he and his cronies will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and the nation will reach a consensus on exactly how disastrous the past eight years have been – largely, I would point out, through acts of will, not acts of God. While others will compiled fuller lists, and while I intend to steal mercilessly as I compile this, what follows below the fold is my recitation of the sins of W:
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Really interesting MLK clip
Apparently, someone at the BBC unearthed this snippet of an interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in which he is asked about RFK’s 1964 prediction of a Negro President within 40 years. King says he wouldn’t be amazed if it came sooner. (Interesting that RFK was right within 4 years… not a bad piece of prognostication!)
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America the Beautiful
A stirring rendition, courtesy of Beyoncé at HBO’s “We Are One” Inauguration Concert.
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Noted with approval
emptywheel makes an excellent point we don’t hear enough, in commenting on the US Airways crash into the Hudson. Noting that no one died and indeed injuries were comparatively slight, emptywheel reminds us that “This Miracle Brought to You by America’s Unions“.
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Words Fail Me
From the “sunset interview” in People (as quoted at Shakesville):
Which moments from the last eight years do you revisit most often?
THE PRESIDENT: I definitely think about the families I’ve met of the fallen soldiers—about the compassion, love and determination of the families, to make sure that the Commander-in-Chief hears their stories and knows their pride.
I think about throwing out that pitch at the World Series on [Oct. 30] 2001. My heart was racing when I got to the mound. Didn’t want to bounce it. Didn’t want to let the fans down. My heart was pumping so hard, I wasn’t sure if I could lift my arm. I never felt that anxious any other time during my presidency, curiously enough.
I cannot get my head around the self-absorption and (literal!) small-mindedness of this man who would be — who has been and regretabbly still is — President of the United States. January 20 cannot arrive a nanosecond too soon…