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October 31, 2011 03:34 PM UTC

Monday Open Thread

  • 39 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

“Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.”

–H. L. Mencken

Comments

39 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread

  1. At midnight tonight, NATO will suspend military operations in Libya.

    As fervently anti-war that I am, I say on to Syria.

    I find myself becoming more and more anti-monarchial, especially when despots suck the wealth out of a nation with complete disregard for the citizens they are supposed to provide governance for. In the case of Syria, the human rights abuses are intolerable and need to stop.

    Libya is an example of what can be accomplished when a GROUP of countries decide they have had enough. Syria has had enough.

    1. You may start seeing NATO troops on US soil if that’s the way you feel. I think there is a flaw in the international political system when you get a whole bunch of countries together and THEY decide what is right for another sovereign nation. The world enters dangerous territory at that point.

      I’m all for needed revolution, but not for bullies.  

      1. Realpolitik tells me that such a thing is simply not going to happen. Certainly not with the way things stand today, when we have one of the largest and most technically advanced military forces in the world, and not when the risks of invasion that are presented to the rest of the world are taken into account.

        Oh, and we have the veto thing going for us on the UN Security Council.

        Reality is a good check against theoreticals.

      2. you get a whole bunch of countries together and THEY decide what is right for another sovereign nation.

        your better way goes exactly how…?

        The Bushco, Inc. method? Is it OK to beat my kids if I just keep them in the house?

    2. When the people of a country are doing their very best to remove a dictator, if they NEED and WANT and INVITE help, the US has a role there.

      It just needs to come from the people and they need to be willing to take leadership and leave us as support–just like Libya.

      But it will be challenging for America to cope with the fact that the removal of a brutal regime does not necessarily transform a country into one that desires American-style democracy. There is such a fear of religious government (except, apparently, Israel’s government or a theoretical Christian dominionist President in the US…) in the USA that it is almost impossible for people to accept that the voters in a nation might decide on such a thing. Or a non-democratic government. Or something else entirely.

      We should help Syria, but with the understanding that it won’t transform Syria into a subsidiary of the American system of government. Syria must still be allowed to be Syria.

    3. Except the way I remember it, deposing and killing the rulers of Afghanistan and Iraq somehow did not magically end the war or solve those countries’ problems. Maybe we could wait a couple of weeks and see how Libya turns out before adventuring out to depose the next villain of the hour.

  2. Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

    1. This is almost precisely what Occupy Wall Street is saying.

      You ought to avoid making assumptions that everyone agrees with you on the definition of producers since I for one think that a producer is someone who produces something, as in making things for wages as opposed to those that simply manipulate finances and sit back waiting for investments to grow.

      That is if you’re not making an anti-corporate point. Otherwise, good on ya

    2. yeah folks, ‘turd and his ilk incapable of orginal thought so let’s give a little background from Daily Kos-Mar 02, 2006:  A New Word for the English Language – Ineptocracy.  

      Here’s what I love about these idiots – somebody like ‘turd slurps it up from a daily TeaBagger bloghole without realizing origin & use with perfect relevance back in ’06 for Shrub’s admin.  

      After Bush’s America occupied Iraq, many of the members of the Baghdad American embassy were selected for their loopy ideological beliefs – thereby guaranteeing their ineffectual qualities would rise to the top, (or is that sink to the bottom).  

      Ineptocracy was clearly institutionalized and demonstrated in the second Bush administration when many of the most inept members of the first administration were promoted to higher positions in the government, or were given the Medal of Freedom.  Proof positive that ineptocracy exists.

      how about a primer for these rightie idiots on sourcing material — oops, that would mean these homeskoolers would have to deal with facts which would just cause a lil’ overload in them brains

      1. Nixon gets impeached for covering up a felony.  Clinton gets impeached for covering up a bj.

        GW Bush (insert lengthy list of bungles here) earns sobriquet “Worst President Ever”.  Obama saves us from Great Depression II, and passes HCR, earning him the same title from PO’d Republicans.

    1. The center column, the one with the actual diaries, is sometimes blank when I go to the home page.

      Pols, I think soapblox is showing its age. It may be time to shop for another platform…

  3. Bruce Bartlett – Economist who worked for Republican congressmen and in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush

    “Republicans favor tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, but these had no stimulative effect during the George W. Bush administration, and there is no reason to believe that more of them will have any today,”



    As for the idea that cutting regulations will lead to significant job growth, Bartlett said in an interview, “It’s just nonsense. It’s just made up.”

  4. Richard Muller, a noted Berkeley physicist who’s been a strident critic of climate campaigners, has released a much-anticipated new package of studies, along with all of his team’s data and methods, that powerfully challenges one of the prime talking points of pundits and politicians trying to avoid a shift away from fossil fuels.

    Ironically, this 2-year, $600,000 study was funded in part (25%) by the Koch brothers.

    Ironic, huh?

      1. I think he really was just a skeptic’s skeptic, until he had the time and funding to verify it for himself.  As ajb noted, Muller still hasn’t accepted the conclusion that the main cause is anthropogenic, only that the data on warming is correct.

        Too bad the Koch brothers are unlikely to cough up any more “good money after bad” to further this particular line of research.

  5. I’m 32 years old. I’m politically conservative. I’m married. I have an above-average income and quality health insurance. As such, I probably wouldn’t be cast for a Planned Parenthood commercial, and the organization was never exactly on my list of top-five health-care providers. That is, until two years ago.

    I’ll spare you the details, but my husband and I had a birth-control malfunction one night after one too many glasses of wine. The next morning I realized the unfortunate timing of our misstep. So I did what any woman would do: I freaked out. I started by calling my gynecologist. Surely she’d have a sample packet of emergency contraceptive lying around.

    I was wrong. She told me to call around to local pharmacies for the so-called morning-after pill. But she warned me that, because of some drugstore policies and other personal biases, it might be difficult to find. I called at least eight pharmacies around town; not one was carrying it. I sat on my bedroom floor, astonished that-in America!-I couldn’t access the health care I needed, especially medication that is more effective the quicker you take it.

    I’d nearly decided to leave the situation to fate when I thought of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains (PPRM). I was hesitant: My mental image was of a poorly lit, crowded clinic with substandard equipment and subpar health-care professionals to match.

    As I pulled up to the unassuming clinic on 14th Avenue, I realized that not only was I skeptical, but I was also embarrassed. This is what being irresponsible gets you, I chided myself. I drew a deep breath, opened the door, and walked into a bright waiting room with four other patients. The smiling nurse at the front desk asked how she could help me. I told her about my situation in the least shameful voice I could muster. “Please don’t worry,” she said. “Happens all the time. The packet costs $38. Do you want to buy two so you can have one available at home?” I hadn’t realized how panicked I was until the relief hit. I wanted to hug the nurse; instead I paid for the medication and added a $15 donation.

    It’s been more than two years since that anxious morning, and I’m still grateful to PPRM. Since then, I’ve also been more aware of the attacks Planned Parenthood endures. The most recent assault aimed to rob Planned Parenthood of its federal funding because it provides abortions (although no federal money goes toward those services). The truth is, only three percent of Planned Parenthood’s services relate to abortion. Ninety-seven percent of its services are preventive-annual exams, pregnancy tests, prenatal care, birth control, and emergency contraceptives. This, to me, suggests that one’s stance on abortion should factor into a person’s opinion about Planned Parenthood in only the smallest way. After all, the overwhelming majority of its services go to Americans who don’t have easy access to health care. And some of it goes to Americans like me-people who never knew they needed Planned Parenthood until they really needed Planned Parenthood.

    http://www.5280.com/magazine/2

    1. is that it puts a real life perspective on an issue that people often talk about only in generalities.

      The morning after pill, if more readily available back in the day, would have significantly reduced the need for abortions for countless women.  

  6. Tomorrow the House votes on H.Con.Res.13 – Reaffirming “In God We Trust” as the official motto of the United States

    This is why pansy orangeman Boehner should be afraid of OWS riots — his GOP run House is fuckin’ embarassment.  GOP Reps are a vapid putrid mass of spineless obstructionist parasites deserving our profoundest contempt.

    This is why the electorate hates the elected but the elected have no shame.  Fiddle away Boehner & Cantor & Ryan your days are numbered.

    1. Different ridiculous bills but same screwed up priorities. I’ll agree the GOP is a lot worse, but the problem is from both sides in D.C. (If it wasn’t instead of OWS we’d have a ton of people volunteering to elect Dems.)

  7. From Retired Republican Ohio Supreme Court Judge Andy Douglas:

    In eight days, Ohio voters will go to the polls to decide whether GOP Gov. John Kasich’s deeply unpopular anti-labor law, Senate Bill 5, should remain on the books. Thousands of Ohioans, including right-wing radio host Bill Cunningham, have urged Ohioans to stand behind teachers, police officers, and firefighters and repeal the law by voting no on Issue 2.

    Now, former Republican Ohio Supreme Court Justice Andy Douglas is lending his voice to the repeal effort, noting that before the state passed its 1984 collective bargaining law, it led the nation in safety forces work stoppages. Since collective bargaining became the law of the land, however, there have been no work stoppages. “It would be tragic for our communities to return to those dark days,” he said. “That is what Senate Bill 5 – if it becomes law – would do”:

    DOUGLAS: In the decade before the enactment of Ohio’s collective bargaining law in 1984, Ohio, for four years, led the nation in safety forces work stoppages. The reason was clear. When a city and its safety forces had a dispute concerning wages, working conditions, and adequate staffing, there was no way to resolve the dispute. That is why we passed the collective bargaining law. The law has worked. There has been no safety forces work stoppages in Ohio since the law was passed. It would be tragic for our communities to return to those dark days. That is what Senate Bill 5 – if it becomes law – would do. To fully protect our citizens and police officers and firefighters, Senate Bill 5 must be rejected.

    We need more real Republicans to speak up and add their voice to reasonable policy and policy that benefits the great majorities of Americans.  

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