More stupid

As Sully notes, Republicans support the no-fly zone, but still disapprove of Obama's handling of Libya. Reminds me of when the American people approved of the Clinton healthcare plan, but not if Hilary's name was attached. Stupid. And inconsistent.

Streak update for the afternoon

I am still not sure where we are with Streak. But his blood work showed improvement on the anemia front, but still an explanation for why he is so damn weak and tired. Got him some anti-nausea drugs and hoping that will help his appetite. The good news from this afternoon's visit was the fact that his lymph nodes were ok and so we weren't terribly late on another chemo round.

Is the GOP actively seeking the stupid vote?

It sure seems that way. I know this guy has no shot at the nomination, but his explanation for why he is distrustful of Muslims could be on a GOP motto somewhere:

"His position was sound, he explained, because 'based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them.'"

"Based on the little knowledge I have of ________" should be their motto. "Based on the little knowledge I have of evolution, I think it doesn't sound reasonable." Or, "Based on the little knowledge I have of climate change (and the fact that it was cold last night), I don't believe it exists."

There are two over-riding attributes I see in prominent GOPers right now. First is that unbelievable anti-intellectualism that seems to revel in the Palinesque stupidity of the right. And the second, unfortunately, is the clear fact that the GOP cares not a bit about the poor or the needy. Their only care is for the rich, and the fact that they are ready to cut childhood immunizations is a great example. After all, all the right kind of people can probably afford immunizations for their kids.

Not that the GOP hates the poor. Oh no.

Update on Streak

And the roller coaster continues. The last few days he has struggled. Not badly, but struggled. I am going to get him some anti-nausea medicine from the vet and see if that will make him more comfortable. As it is, he isn't eating that much and that is disheartening. But he still wants to be with us and shows interest in that.

We will see.

Affordable church streaming

And it is called God Streaming. I found it because this guy is following me on twitter.

Call me old fashioned. When I got to church (and that is rarely) I prefer a traditional setting. Streaming is for catching up on tv shows that I don't watch, not for church. But that is just me.

But I will say that the title is arrogant.

Is the no-fly zone a good idea?

Because I really don't know. On one hand, the rebels will most likely lose if we don't help. On the other hand, we have had a bad run of intervening like this in the last ten years.

Gaddafi orders storm of Benghazi; U.N. meets | TPM News Pages

_________


Oh, and just so you know, I am still waiting for a Republican to explain to me why the poor should pay the highest price for the recession, and the rich should be asked to sacrifice, well, nothing. Just in case you were wondering.

The individual mandate

Three years ago, it was a good thing in conservative circles. Now, it is a colossal mistake and in many circles proof that Obama is tyrannical.

Don't tell me the conservative opposition is principled. They aren't. They are simply opposed to whatever Obama and the Democrats are for. That isn't principle. It is a grade school mentality.

War on the Middle class continues

Great story from the NYT on the role that public employment plays in Ohio's middle class, and how the Republicans have declared war on that too.

“What are they wanting?” she said of the bill. “For everyone to be making minimum wage?”

Wages at the bottom of the labor market have stagnated since 1970, with inflation gobbling up gains made over the years. The federal minimum wage buys a lot less today; it represented just 38 percent of the average hourly wage for private, nonsupervisory workers in 2010, down from 47 percent in 1970, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The short answer is, "yes, they do want everyone on minimum wage," but I suspect that the long answer is more complicated.

I think one of our friends at ATK made this analogy, or close, that this is like a home-owner who hired people to work on his house. But then, that same home-owner decided to take a self-imposed cut in wages, and now wants to "live within his means," and has decided to not pay those he hired to work on his house. Sure, he made a commitment, but he has to "live within his means" (did you not hear that before?) and cannot afford to pay for these luxuries, like wages, etc.

The analogy breaks down because many of those Republicans have done quite well in this market and so look at the workers with scorn. Hourly wage? Can you imagine?

Ms. Taylor was washing dishes when the State Senate passed the labor bill this month. She sat down and cried when she heard the news. It does away with seniority and leaves out any job protection for workers with longer service, putting public workers — most of whom are not eligible for Social Security — at risk of losing their retirement income.

“I’m scared,” Ms. Taylor said. “You just start to think, what about this, what about that? This is going to hurt a lot of people.”

The rich get richer, and have conned many in the middle class into supporting the interests of the wealthy over everyone else.

Conservatives shameless? Jumped the shark?

When I see that story I just posted, I wonder what Republicans are even thinking. Do they really think that more guns is really the answer? Do they think that companies will look at Oklahoma and say, "hey, let's relocate there?"

What is more, I truly don't understand my conservative Christian brethren. I just don't. I don't understand their support for tax cuts for the rich and cuts in services for the disabled and poor. I don't think that is Christian, to be honest. Not even close.

Then I see that Rush Limbaugh is mocking Japanese victims, and I have no good faith that my conservative Christian brethren will denounce this as tasteless and unChristian. If this were a just world, Limbaugh would be shamed in public by moral people, and his radio show would be boycotted until he changed. But this is not about morality. It is about racism and hatred and bigotry and all the things that moral people are supposed to reject. Yet, I wonder how many people of faith listen to his show and chuckle--even if uncomfortably?

I just don't get it. I don't get how people can read the stories of Jesus reaching out to people with compassion and kindness and then laugh or support any of this. As I noted in the comments, this is not about either party somehow being consistent for people of faith. I think my conservative friends like to say that they will end up getting things in their party that they don't like--as will I. And I get that, but this is not about that. This is about supporting the undermining of the safety net with no safety net to help.

Conservative Christians made a Faustian bargain some time ago to get some political power, and now cannot even tell their faith from their political philosophy. They cheer torture, mock the poor, and encourage war and destruction. They lobby to cut off foreign aid to the poorest of the poor, and seek to speed up the destruction of the earth--the very same one they claim was created by their loving God. Except, as it turns out, their God doesn't love everyone. Just them.

Count me out.

Goddamn Republicans and their guns

Seriously, Steve, can you talk me down on this?

Okla. Senate OKs Bill Allowing Open Carry Of Guns - Politics News Story - KOCO Oklahoma City

Cutting muscle, not fat

Couple of very useful metaphors for prudent budget management. One is to not "eat your seed corn" as it essentially buys you some short term meals while robbing you of sustainability. Corporations rarely cut R and D for that same reason.

But another is the idea of "cutting the fat" to make us more lean. But clearly, for Republicans it is just about cutting, cutting, cutting. Well, not exactly. They voted lock step to sustain subsidies for big oil, but are more than willing to cut anything that helps the poor. But it isn't just cutting programs for the disabled and the poor, it is cutting things like National Weather Service funding and infrastructure repair. Short term benefits (though minor) that will simply mean long term expense, and possibly much higher expense.

Then there is the complete callousness of their approach. Disabled and poor? Who cares? And even after watching this horrific and unimaginable disaster in Japan, Republicans still want to cut foreign aid.

All, mind you, in a context where raising taxes on Warren Buffett by 3% is unthinkable. If anyone can explain that disconnect absent just pure heartlessness, then I would like to hear it.

Streak doing better

After several very tough days, we saw his red blood cell count go back up this morning. I was not terribly surprised as he seemed to have more energy this morning. Still not feeling the best, but certainly an improvement.

Update on Streak

He came home again last night and had a pretty decent night with us. He was very tired after his day at the vet (just dawned on me that they are boarding a lot of pets during Spring Break, which is why it was so much noisier) and slept for three hours when he got home. He is still tired this morning, but ate a little. We are taking him in here in a few minutes to check his levels again and see where the anemia is.

Thanks for the good thoughts. I have often told Streak that he has a lot of friends, and some have never met him in person.

Because I need to distract my mind

I am reading twitter and FB and other feeds. I am waiting for a call back from my vet about Streak's condition. Just not sure what to expect.

But I saw a couple of news items in the last few days that deserve comment, and by comment I mean outrage. I am still peeved at the Republicans for threatening to force a catastrophic credit default out of purely political reasons, and because they really hate our social safety net. Let me say it very clearly. If you are not willing to consider taxing Warren Buffett and his colleagues a little more (no one is talking about 60% taxation--not even close) but only want to cut programs for the poor--you are not a serious person and should not be involved in a democracy. We can talk about cuts. Hell, there are many programs that I would love to see cut--like sugar and oil subsidies. But if we are going to talk cuts, we have to talk tax increase as well.

Speaking of cuts, check out this NH GOP State Congressman who says that mentally ill and disabled people are "defective" and should be shipped to Siberia. Of course this is an extreme position, and one that undoubtedly will get criticism from the left and right. But we should note that while most Republicans certainly would not say this, their policies are essentially stating it. When you refuse to raise Warren Buffett's taxes even by 3% but are more than willing to cut programs for the disabled and mentally ill, you are demonstrating your priorities. And those priorities demonstrate little concern for the neediest of our society. And great value for those who are already very comfortable.

And this poll that suggests that I am not completely wrong when I suggest that many conservative Christians are far more "conservative" than "Christian." Turns out that despite serial adultery and abandoning a wife struggling with cancer and then saying that he was so focussed on serving his country that he had affairs, Newt Gingrich is still more popular among conservative evangelicals than Obama. Don't ever tell me again that they vote by "the book," or that they vote "moral values." That is an out and out lie. Perhaps they truly believe that they are voting for morality, but this demonstrates that the polling showing support for torture is not an outlier. People who read the Bible on a daily basis (according to them) can still support torture and favor Gingrich? Of course you can, if what you really value is lower taxes and reduced funding for programs that serve the poor. But don't dare tell me that the impulse comes from anything remotely Christian.

Streak update

This has been a rough weekend for our little guy. Actually it has been up and down, with him feeling some better and then declining. Took him back to the vet this morning and his anemia appears to be a little worse. Not sure why, and there are some reasons that are manageable and some that are not.

We left him there for sometime to get some more fluids. Just so hard to say which way this particular episode is going. But optimism is kind of hard to find right now.

Hey, let's invade Libya!

As Sully notes, neo cons are pushing for another war in the middle east, which amazes me to no end. Proof, I guess, that they learn nothing from the past, or perhaps that their goal is to be destructive. What is it that Einstein supposedly said about the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result?

What saddens me is that these people don't care about the cost of war--economic or human. Sometimes military response is the only possible response. But with these people it is the only response.

Too bad they refuse to pay for their wars.

More Republican irresponsibility

Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn are threatening to cause default unless Democrats cut Social Security and Medicare. Never mind that Social Security is funded differently than the others. And never mind that default would be disastrous for all of us--even the Republican assholes threatening this.

But I am also reminded of their false piety and false Patriotism. They are willing to destroy the country if we don't cut funding for people of need.

Don't tell me that Republicans don't hate the poor and the sick. They do.

Would you drive to Amarillo to eat at Subway?

Of course not.

But, as it turns out, that exactly describes our brief, but stressful, vacation. We were headed to Taos for some skiing and relaxation, but just as we crossed into Amarillo, our friends called to say that Streak was not walking. That was surprising as he had been walking that morning and looked relatively normal. We waited a few minutes to see if he was just overly tired, but then decided to return home. Our amazing friends stopped by a little later, and with our neighbor decided that Streak needed to visit the vet.

He is a little anemic (for some reasons that we are pretty clear on now), but is at the emergency clinic getting fluids. We visited him this morning and he looked really pretty good. We will take him home this afternoon and see how he does.

He is one tough little guy, that is for sure. And while we kind of wanted a vacation, we are pretty glad to be home with him and the others.

Anyway.

Republican insanity

As we watch in horror as the tsunami damage unfolds in Japan, I read today that the GOP wants to cut spending for tsunami protection. Why not? Most of them don't live in the path, so why should they care?

But then I read that they are cutting support for the Special Olympics. Jesus Christ.

I think Ezra Klein gets it:

"And that gets to what this debate is really about: not cutting spending or reducing the deficit, but cutting spending Republicans don't like while avoiding any and all tax increases -- even if that means the country has higher deficits and the middle- and working-class bear more of the burden."

Don't tell me that the Republicans don't hate the poor and working class. And don't tell me that they care about the needy.

They don't. And the tsunami cuts show that they are even more stupid than they are callous.

On budgets and morality

As we watched Wisconsin gut collective bargaining in the name of fiscal responsibility, we see state after state cutting teachers' pay or laying off teachers, cutting Medicaid and other services that help the very poor-the very neediest among us. All the while, cutting taxes for the Koch brothers and the wealthy and comfortable everywhere.

All cheered by religious conservatives. When did "protecting the comfortable" become a religious thing? A friend of mine, with deep experience with the disabled posted on Facebook that state cuts threaten the lives and health of Oklahoma's disabled population. All while our governor brags about cutting taxes for the rich.

This Maine librarian seemed to put it best:

"I don't think it's a moral decision, because taking money from people who don't have much money and giving it to people who have more money than the people you took it from seems, well, greedy," she said. "Greed is frowned upon in every major world religion -- and I don't think agnostics and atheists look too kindly upon it, either."

She wondered aloud, "Is this about a quid pro quo? A gift from elected officials to wealthy people who have donated, or will donate, to election and re-election campaigns?"

Finally, as the clock wound down, McDaniel dropped the hammer.

"It's not economically sound. It's not morally sound. And I think you know that," she said. "I would be embarrassed to support something so ludicrous -- taking from the poor to give to the rich.

"Maybe you're testing us, checking to see if we, your constituents, are really paying attention, really listening," she continued. "I hope that's what's going on, because the alternative involves me losing faith in representative government, in democracy and in you, the elected officials."

For me it is about losing faith in the people who most often talk about morality. Except for them, it only means being sexually moral. It never means being economically moral.

As I keep saying, there is a class war going on. But it is the rich attacking the poor and middle class, and a big chunk of the middle class is cheering for the rich.

Go figure.