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August 13, 2011 03:03 PM UTC

Weekend Open Thread

  • 55 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Only strength can cooperate. Weakness can only beg.”

–Dwight D. Eisenhower  

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55 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”

  2. Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

    2. But seriously, can you imagine an American Democratic President with the guts to make a statement like that today instead of pandering to the right? Instead of the please don’t think I’m even slightly liberal song and dance we’ve been getting from Dems since Reagan? Ike proudly called himself liberal and I’m guessing he didn’t spend a lot of time begging, either.

    3. which R Senator Mark Hatfield voted against he commented on the expectation that civilian deths would be “minimal” by saying “Compared to what? Not compared to the alternative.”

      Both Ike and Hatfield were good men who, since they had seen war, were much less likely to enter it.

      1. Who I could at least respect, because he knew what it was like to hear real bullets coming at him, in stark contrast to his son.  So when Bush 1 sent us to Desert Shield/Storm, at least I knew he had a clue what he was doing.  

        1. .

          Poppy only got into Naval Aviator school because his Grampa Senator what’s-hiz-name leaned on the War Department.  

          He was the youngest ever “graduate” at Pensacola.  He wet his pants on every practice carrier landing.  

          And the one time he was supposed to land on a carrier after an actual combat mission, he ditched his plane next to the carrier instead, rather than attempt it, killing his crew (1 man.)  The part about killing his crew didn’t make it into the newsreel.  

          Like father, etc., etc.

          .

          1. Which was that at least Bush 1 HAS been shot at, and had a clue about what it meant to be in war.  

            Don’t let your personal bias diminish the fact that Bush 1, at least, had real gunfire aimed at him.  IIRC, you served as well – right?  

          3. Yes, Bush senior had advantages but the man flew numerous missions and earned serious honors.  You don’t have to like him but his impressive WWII military record is legit.

          4. And I don’t see anyone inferring that Bush Senior was a saint, either. Just that he deserves credit where credit is due. 58 conmbat missions isn’t something to sneeze at.

            Attempting to downplay his war record seems kind of petty and beneath you.  

            1. … there’s a 1980 political commercial for him, available on YouTube, that’s jarring by today’s standards: he’s a strong speaker; and he expressly calls for respect for President Carter even as he says Carter hasn’t brought strong leadership or something.

              HW Bush wouldn’t get elected dogcatcher in the R party today. I’d love to get him drunk and see what he has to say about the tea party.

              1. when you’ve got enough money to hire pigs guys like Atwater to do your dirty shit work for you.

                That’s always been the HW way, let the servants handle the chamber pots.

    2. “to rich people like me, especially when we acquire corporations and lay off poor shlubs like you”.  Except he’d never use “shlubs”.  Peons like you?

      1. People:

        *  Mitt

        *  Mitt’s rich friends

        *  Corporations donating to Mitt (even the ones that have been disolved after making those donations)

        *  Unemployed folks with net worths over $100,000,000

        *  Maybe a couple of the nicer folks working at the country-club (but not while they’re on the clock, and not when they need to be laid off for the good of the “people”) on special holidays.

        *  Mitt’s dog

        Not People:

        –  Workers (when they’re on the clock)

        –  Workers (when they’re not working)

        –  Workers (when they need to be laid off so that “people” can make more money)

        –  Unions  (just a bunch of off-the-clock workers not working)

        –  Mitt’s dog (when it’s tied to roof of Mitt’s car)

        –  Unemployed folks with net worths under $100,000,000

        –  anyone named Obama

  5. Continuing the discussion from Tuesday of Mark O. Hatfield, former Oregon governor and U.S. senator, this is from the obit in the Oregonian:

    http://www.oregonlive.com/poli…

    Hatfield, deeply affected by the destruction he witnessed as a veteran of World War II, was an early opponent of Vietnam. Despite that, Richard Nixon — no one’s idea of a dove when it came to Vietnam — publicly floated Hatfield as one of his vice presidential possibilities at the 1968 Republican convention.

    Nixon instead picked Maryland Gov. Spiro Agnew, who was more acceptable to the South. Hatfield went on to battle Nixon over the war as the co-author of a resolution with Sen. George McGovern, D-S.D., to cut off war funding. While the two failed to bring an early halt to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Hatfield became an enduring figure in the peace community.

    Throughout his long Senate career, Hatfield repeatedly opposed defense spending and urged the country to focus on combating world hunger, poverty and illness. As a well-known Christian evangelical who often spoke to religious groups, Hatfield was a beacon for many who believed their faith called them to oppose war and to care for those in need.

    1. But there was a day when they were accepted in the Republican party, but no more.

      Hatfield, deeply affected by the destruction he witnessed as a veteran of World War II, was an early opponent of Vietnam.

      McGovern was a WWII veteran and decorated bomber pilot. Those who have personally witnessed the horrors of war are the ones most likely to urge restraint when the rattling of sabres are heard.

      “I’m tired of old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.”  George McGovern

  7. Interesting column this week from Paul Krugman.  Maybe it’ll show up in tomorrow’s DP (not sure if it’s his turn tomorrow or not).

    Krugman proposes some pretty sensible (and even radical) solutions to the real crisis — unemployment and a sluggish economy.

    For the fact is that right now the economy desperately needs a short-run fix. When you’re bleeding profusely from an open wound, you want a doctor who binds that wound up, not a doctor who lectures you on the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle as you get older. When millions of willing and able workers are unemployed, and economic potential is going to waste to the tune of almost $1 trillion a year, you want policy makers who work on a fast recovery, not people who lecture you on the need for long-run fiscal sustainability.

    What would a real response to our problems involve? First of all, it would involve more, not less, government spending for the time being – with mass unemployment and incredibly low borrowing costs, we should be rebuilding our schools, our roads, our water systems and more. It would involve aggressive moves to reduce household debt via mortgage forgiveness and refinancing. And it would involve an all-out effort by the Federal Reserve to get the economy moving, with the deliberate goal of generating higher inflation to help alleviate debt problems.

    But, naturally, this makes far too much sense.  Therefore, it will not even get a moment’s notice from anyone in Washington, Democrats included.

    1. nothing like what we’re hearing from the Obama money people though I bet Ike would see the sense in it and have the guts to say so.  I don’t believe I’m saying such nice things about Ike!  His election broke my FDR Dem grandparents’ hearts. Instead we’re hearing about massive postal worker lay offs.  Yeah, that ought to help. Fewer people with jobs going deeper in debt and losing more homes.  That’s the ticket.  And Dem pols are so afraid of looking liberal they run from the truth and call it being grown up, bi-partisan and raising civility.

      1. I read the story about the potential layoffs, office closings, and the reasons. People are are paying bills online now (I pay 90% of mine online), emails, online marketing, etc. It’s not like these jobs are being outsourced, technology has changed and made the postal service less viable, and will continue to do so.

        While it’s regrettable workers will lose jobs, should we be subsidizing obsolescence ? Unfortunately the postal service is headed the way of the 8 track tape if it doesn’t respond to the changes taking place.

        I’ve been in the housing and construction business most my life, but because of the collapse of the housing market and what I know is the long term outlook for the industry, I’m in the process of reinventing myself into a new avocation.

        The last thing I wanted to do at this point in my life, but it’s simply reality.

        1. never charged more for junk mail–if the mailers had to pay the standard rate there would have been a lot less of it.  

          And ditto for lower prices for volume users.  

          The Post Office should have been downsizing a long time ago.

        2. The Postal Service is actually profitable and operationally has an annual surplus. It works. It’s in trouble because so much of its income is mandated by Congress (2006) to pre-pay its retirement fund out 75 years within 10 years of the law’s enactment. In other words, by 2016 its retirement fund has to be built up to meet the obligation not only to current employees (as is the expectation for private pensions), but for two extra generations of employees beyond them. It was an obvious attempt to strip it of operational capital and cripple its ability to compete with “private enterprise”.

          Another correction: we (taxpayers) don’t subsidize the Postal Service. Its entire budget is supported by sale of product: postage. Not a dime of taxpayer money goes toward its operation. It’s government mandated, government ruled and regulated but not government subsidized. Congress itself could easily solve this crisis by easing the insane retirement fund mandate, just a little.

          Another fact conservatives will try to keep secret: Postal workers contribute to their retirement fund.

          This whole “crisis” is a made-up excuse to blame the “lazy workers”, bust their union, dismantle the service and hand the business over to FedEx and UPS–that tired conservative privitiazation idealogy.

          Disclaimer: Although I always get great service at 80223 and my letter carrier is a really pleasant, consciencious woman, I’ve never worked for the service nor belonged to a union.

          1. And it’s just one part of the insanity of cutting jobs of all kinds at a time when we need every job, public or private, we can get, even if it means some subsidizing (which, as you point out, is not the case here) for the time being. Emergency triage demands it.

    2. Ditto many of the Democrats in Congress. Even the (non-crazy) Republicans should be behind this because the business community understands the need for this.

      But Obama’s off in who knows what fantasyland.

  9. Interesting analysis of Gov. Perry’s “success” in Texas for the last decade.  Is this the best jobs plan the GOP can come up with?

    That’s 9.5% of Texas’ hourly workforce, which gives it the highest percentage of minimum-wage hourly workers in the nation — a dubious title it shares with Mississippi.

    “We have created jobs, but they are not jobs with good wages and benefits,” said F. Scott McCown, executive director, Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for low-income residents.

    Going forward, the Lone Star State will have to work even harder to create jobs. That’s because Perry signed a budget in May that slashes $15 billion in government spending over the next two years. Also, the federal stimulus funds that poured into the state since 2009 have largely dried up.

    The state budget cuts alone could result in the loss of more than 100,000 jobs, many of them in the public sector, Clower said. Thousands of teachers are already feeling the impact of more than $5 billion in cuts to education funding.

    I guess cutting back on educational opportunities does make sense — why raise expectations that even if you got a college degree, that it will get you anything more than a fry cook and fruit-picker job?

      1. Got one of their $6 salads — probably the most profitable item on their menu, besides the fizzy, sugar water drinks.

        There was a new guy at the drive thru window.  Late 50’s, friendly, polite.  Probably grateful to have a job — any job.  Although 40 years ago, probably not where he expected to find himself today.

          1. My first thought when I saw him was “There but by the grace of God go I”.

            I know exactly how lucky I am — even though my manager is 20 years younger than me, we have an excellent working relationship.

            Luckily, the company is strong, profitable, and the products are in high demand.  As far as I can tell, I’ll have a job for years to come.

            But my nightmare is always the same — what would I do if I lost my health or my job before I am 65?

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