Focused Rambling

Are Republicans the "Lemon Populists"?

You know the saying, desperate times call for desperate measures? Well there are definitely some desperate folks in the minority in Congress right now. 8 years of Bush, and a lengthy run in control of Congress (before '06) has firmly placed the Repubs as the party that has brought you today. So even if the Democrats may have done just as poorly if given the chance, it's hard not to say that Repubs failed pretty miserably the last 15 years or so. Which brings us to "lemon populism" . You know populism, right, it's standing up for the little people over the big wigs , it's not usually directly related to conversations by capitalists or "trickle-down economists" . The recent uproar over executive bonuses at AIG , Michele Bachmann's call for revolution to avoid an energy tax, any of Michele Bachmann's other displays of interesting behavior , and the many talk show types, including Limbaugh that are bobbing to the top of the political discourse are taking the easy way out. If you can't find a way to make people angry about the way this country has been run for the last 8 years, you really are a moron, so I guess the right is just using the only tool at their disposal... without ideas or a good reputation, appeal to the people's basest instincts and fears, evidently. And that's when you end up with populist spouters of oversimplified ignorance, and your party becomes the party of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman.

Evolutionary link?

A dive in the Bahamas has led to a discovery for a team from University of Texas at Austin that changes some Evolution thinking . They discovered "giant protozoans" that crawl along the ocean floor, and those protozoans may have created grooves in rocks that had been attributed to worms. So worms might not have been around 1.8 billion years ago... I don't think that was much of a bedrock principle for the theory anyway, but it's always interesting when logical thought is confronted with giant uphill-walking protozoans.

G20 protests, will bankers be swinging from lampposts?.... not sure, but I'm betting there will be cool puppets

Protests are underway at the G-20 summit ... There's always a festive and fun mood at the protests surrounding world leader summits (with some anger mixed in), and this one doesn't disappoint. Of course, it has drawn some attention after a professor from the University of East London predicted that bankers "could be hanging from lampposts during the protest . Professor Chris Knight is no longer employed after that statement. Check here for more from The Guardian on the G20 in general, and the protest specifically... Here's early video from the protest

Guess he couldn't come up with a "Your Momma" follow-up...

Evidently Senator Grassley feels pretty comfortable with Senator Conrad . During a budget debate, Grassley told Conrad "Your wife said the same thing" , in response to Conrad's statement, "You're good". Are you kidding, has it really come to kindergarten put-downs?,,,...

Sham....wow, you just kicked a hooker around...

Vince Shlomi, the Shamwow guy, was arrested for beating up a hooker . If you've seen that infomercial, this story is a thousand times more interesting...If you haven't, here it is...

Oops, Cantor did it again... Britney's new "whip"?

What did he do? He made the news for something unflattering to his position as Minority Whip again. Yesterday I had Cantor straying on votes he would normally be "whipping" others into line on. Then Tuesday night, Cantor evidently skipped Obama's Press Conference to go to Britney Spears show in DC . Now this is really a little ridiculous to care about or report about, but in this case we are talking about a person who masterfully manipulates for a living for a party that would probably not wholeheartedly support the Spears show (maybe its the leather whips, maybe its the lack of clothing, who knows). Regardless, its nice to see Cantor in the news for something he couldn't nuance and control the message on...Below is what Pop Civics thinks of Cantor's role in the party...

Eric Cantor strays from the ranch.... darn tax-and-spend conservative.

GoldenBoy Eric Cantor has taken a couple of falls from grace lately with the Republican Party, by voting with Democrats to strip bonuses from AIG Execs and on the troubled assets plan. Check here for more on Cantor's thoughts on the AIG bonus bill, as he is put on the spot by Lawrence O'Donnell. For the man that spends every ounce of his time and energy "whipping" (as Minority Whip ) the GOP into positions of ignorance and intransigence, it is kind of shocking to hear that he lurched out of lockstep. Could he be attempting to vote for things that he believes have the most merit vs. their ideology? Of course not, he still has a job to do. The amusing part about the AIG vote is that he is being criticized by some Republicans because it involved the one-time special taxation of AIG employees that received bonuses, so the GOP is of course screaming about "raising taxes". Um, it was a mechanism available to recoup the money, not a broad strategy to raise taxes permanently by enacting weird, specific tax rules. But thanks for sticking to the only principle that obviously matters to you and your party. As long as you call taxes something else (like user fees or tolls or something), we can all agree, but call it a tax and you're on the board for attack...

Meat is killing you... go vegan

A study has shown that large amounts of red meat and processed meat increase the chances of heart disease and cancer , with this study finding numbers above 20 percent for the increase of those diseases. Of course, then there is the fact that you have to kill a sentient being to get the meat... but since that is much less offensive than impending death to most, let's stick to the subject. As the article says, it is not just about creating a world of vegetarians, but meat-eaters need to make it a small side part of meals, not the glorious centerpiece. Or, why not go vegan or vegetarian ?

Israeli Human Rights Offenses during Gaza invasion

Reuters reports that a UN report accuses Israel of human rights violations during the Gaza invasion, including targeting civilians and using a child as a human shield . Actually, two reports were presented to the UN Human Rights Council ... one by UN investigators, and one by Richard Falk (the article says Robert Falk, but it should be Richard Falk), the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. Falk was a little more direct, saying that Israel had used "an inhuman form of warfare that kills, maims and inflicts mental harm." Here is what Falk said about the conflict in late December of 2008.

Take your Cheney and go home... or, you break it, you bought it

The love affair is over... seems that Republicans may want Dick Cheney to disappear , as they now confront the legacy created by Cheney's dealings while President (er, Vice President, sorry).