Finally, a counter to Freedman

One of my colleagues is married to an economics professor and he told me recently that most economics departments are still dominated by Milton Freedman-type economics theory. Every other department has been influenced by broader philosophical trends, but for some reason, the economics field has continued to be quite conservative. With that in mind, I am glad to see that Soros has decided to fund a new economics institute. It isn't that Freedman was completely wrong about everything, or that Keynes was completely right. But our thinking about economics has been too narrowly accepting of free-market ideology, and as a result, we have entire populations (and one political party) that believes that free-market economics is magical while government regulation and intervention is always wrong. This last 20 year period should make us rethink that, but so far, we have continued with many of the same assumptions.

Time to rethink a little.

More on the right wing's violent side

I have read Niewert's blog off and on, and he writes at Crooks and Liars as well. I hope he is overstating the threat, but fear that he isn't. Anyway, here is the book: Amazon.com: The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right (9780981576985): David Neiwert: Books

Interesting interview at Faithful Progressive with author Bethany Moreton

Faithful Progressive: The Faithful Progressive Interview: Author Bethany Moreton, "To Serve God and Wal-Mart"

couple of interesting stories

Associated Baptist Press - Fear Not: What does virtual rumor-mongering say about Christians?: "Gullibility may grow out of fear and anxiety, he added. And that directly relates to what people believe.
“I suggest to my students, ‘Tell me something about your fears, and I will tell you something of your theology,’” Tillman said. “Dealing with our fears -- an action usually dismissed or ignored -- may be one of the keys to understanding just which e-mails we forward and those we don’t.”"

and this one as well, which I can't help but think is a bit related.

Secret Service under strain as leaders face more threats - The Boston Globe.

Good news/Bad news for Republicans

According to a report by Democratic pollsters, the conservative wing of the Republican party does not hate Obama because of his skin color. That is the good news. The bad news is that they do hate him for irrational reasons. They believe that he has a "'secret agenda' to bankrupt the United States."

Better than open racism, and actually confirms a lot of what I see myself, but not terribly wedded to reality. What is further interesting and confirming, is that while this group tends to mock minority groups for their "victimology," they themselves are absolutely whining that their shared beliefs are mocked by elites. Of course, when some of your shared beliefs include a belief that Obama as President wants to bankrupt the country, perhaps some of your beliefs need to be mocked.

slactivist on the conservative bible movement

slacktivist: Apocalypseses

Well, this will ruin your evening

Everyone here knows I am adamantly against the death penalty. I think it is barbaric and beneath us, and I am amazed at the bloodlust that arises in this country. The evidence is growing that Texas has executed at least one innocent man, and I would be absolutely stunned if it were not a very high and shocking number. I know from past reading that Texas has executed people even when their defense attorney slept through trial, or slept with the judge.

And if you want to see the face of this death machine, watch the two clips at Ta-Nehisi Coates' blog. Watch them deny science and say that they are quite comfortable with using folklore and old wives tales to send a man to prison. Or that they consider a person who listens to heavy metal to be likely to worship the devil.

Texas justice is essentially sorcery, and there will be people who say that we can perfect it, that we can close the loop-holes. They're wrong. The problem isn't with loopholes--it's with us. We are fallible. Conservatives, more than anyone, should know that--it undergirds their entire philosophy. They don't think government can perfect much of anything. What makes them think we can perfect murder?

Sigh

At once a cool website from a design standpoint and one of the more offensive paintings I have ever seen. Just check out which side they placed Satan.

The myth of the middle class

Saw a great historian speak Friday night (James Kloppenberg) on Obama's connection to broader political philosophical trends. He made several really great points, but one was how Obama was unconvinced by the idea of "original intent" after noting the intense compromise necessary to get the constitution through. How could there be "one" intent?

During a post-talk discussion, he also spoke to the legacy of Roosevelt and the economic boom of the 1950s. (This column speaks to that as well.) Real quickly, as I run out the door to teach, I am reminded of what seems to be the biggest bit of conservative blind faith--that the middle class came out of some historical ether. The middle class that so many of us grew up in, was a creation of government programs dedicated to a more shared prosperity. That is derided by today's conservatives as "socialism" or worse, but it allowed one hell of a lot of Americans to live the middle class dream. Removing that government hand has led to the decline of that middle class (not the only reason, obviously) and conservatives seem to hold to some fantasy that a libertarian approach to governing will bring it back.

It won't.

What has become of the Republican party

SOF had a rough sinus night so our normal dog walk or sitting outside in the fall weather was shelved for Mucinex and tea. I watched the new Ken Burns PBS documentary on the National Parks and felt sad. Watching people of wealth and privilege work so hard to set aside some of America's treasures made me sad for today. Yeah, their concepts of nature and value were different than many today, and their motives were not always pure, but they valued something for the public good. Can anyone honestly tell me that any elected Republican today would go out on a limb to set aside the Grand Canyon as a national park? When there would be millions in lobbying money from the mining interests right there to urge them the other direction?

Hell, I don't have to play Kreskin. I know that they have gutted support for the Parks and anything public over the last 25 years. I am so sorry for those responsible Republicans who read here. I really am. I am sorry that I think so badly of their party, and so sorry that their party has been taken over by moral twits.

That is exactly what I thought when I read about Liz Cheney's rising star in the GOP. Evidently she goes to public speaking engagements for right wingers and is mobbed by people who just cheer every time she accuses Obama of not protecting America, or when she trots out the ticking time bomb scenario to justify her father's war crimes. She is mobbed by people asking her to run for office. Hard not to come to the same conclusion as this Tapped writer:

"For the GOP, torture is no longer a 'necessary evil.' It is a rally cry, a 'values' issue like same-sex marriage or abortion. They don't 'grudgingly' support torture, they applaud it. They celebrate it. Liz Cheney's unequivocal support for torture methods gleaned from communist China has people begging her to run for office."

I am beginning to understand why so many Republicans believe government is evil. When their people are in charge, it becomes that way.

Sigh.

If you ever wanted to see how much of a rodeo clown Glenn Beck is--just watch this

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan.

I have to say that Katie Couric doesn't come off very well here either, but you see just how little there is to Glenn Beck beyond his roots of a morning radio personality. He isn't terribly intelligent. Smart in how he understands how to be a demagogue, but has no real understanding of the things he is talking about. All he has is some charm and manner of speaking. There is no there, there.

Sigh. Kirk Cameron connects Darwin to Hitler

So I have to post this rather funny and biting video. Not sure who the woman is in the video, and perhaps it is her accent that makes it rather funny, but still, she makes some good points.

The legacy of neconservatism

as the neo-cons say goodbye to Irving Kristol. Here is hoping our troll has moved on, but this is a serious issue, and one that Bartlett has also addressed. It isn't that taxes are the solution to everything, or that all taxes are good. But raising revenues is a responsible thing to do, and has been what responsible political parties have done--both Republican and Democrat. But since the neo-cons took over the Republican party, their response has been to gut revenues, and talk about cutting spending. They have been so effective --probably because, as our troll demonstrated, many conservatives are immune to facts--that most conservatives believe that Republicans have been better on fiscal issues. Hell, I used to believe that too, even after I became a Democrat.

Must read on taxes and spending

From Republican (well, perhaps former by now) Bruce Bartlett on why it is nearly impossible and a pipe dream to constantly talk about cutting spending.

I swear that I am starting to believe that 90% of conservative ideology (no offense to those conservatives nice enough to comment here) is based in some kind of mythology. One of the largest appears to be that Reagan did something magical to the economy and reduced the deficit, and therefore all we have to do is cut taxes and everything will magically be ok.

When I raised these facts with a prominent Republican recently he counted that Reagan had cut spending. But he didn't. Spending rose from 21.7% of the gross domestic product in 1980 to 23.5% in 1983 before declining to 21.2% in 1988. And that improvement came about largely because favorable demographics caused entitlement spending to temporarily decline from 11.9% of GDP in 1983 to 10.1% in 1988. (Last year it was 12.5% of GDP.)

Democrats have done a pretty good job of managing the economy. Not perfect but certainly better than Bush, and better than the Republicans who think that tax cuts are the magical cure to whatever economic situation we face.

More about racism

Stuff Some White People Don't Like | The American Prospect

Dowd says that Joe Wilson is coming from a place of racism

In her most recent column. I am not a huge Maureen Dowd fan, but this column strikes a chord with me. When a Southern senator tells Obama that he should show some humility when he spoke on healthcare, and then this other southern rep with his own iffy track record on race relations calls the President a liar on the house floor--I have to say I wonder.

9-11

I posted this link to my Facebook page only to be accused of "politicizing" those who died that day. This, by the way, from a Republican who thinks that Bush did a great job in the "war on terror." Oh, and who has defended torture to me on several occasions.

But it is the best articulation in some time of the problems of fighting a war on terror by using those tactics. As I patiently explained to my moronic friend, when we decided to change our values in response to terrorism, we did exactly what they were hoping for.

Anyway, read what a couple of military veterans have to say about torture:

"On this solemn day we pause to remember those who lost their lives on 9/11. As our leaders work to prevent terrorists from again striking on our soil, they should remember the fundamental precept of counterinsurgency we've relearned in Afghanistan and Iraq: Undermine the enemy's legitimacy while building our own. These wars will not be won on the battlefield. They will be won in the hearts of young men who decide not to sign up to be fighters and young women who decline to be suicide bombers. If Americans torture and it comes to light -- as it inevitably will -- it embitters and alienates the very people we need most."

"Let's Face It, In a Country of Three Hundred Million People, There are a Lot of Stupid People"

Heh. John Harwood: Let's Face It, In a Country of Three Hundred Million People, There are a Lot of Stupid People | Video Cafe:

"Harwood: I've got to tell you Monica, I've been watching politics for a long time and this is, this one is really over the top. What it shows you is there are a lot of cynical people who try to fan controversy and let's face it, in a country of three hundred million people there are a lot of stupid people too, because if you believe that's it's somehow unhealthy for kids for the President to say work hard and stay in school, you're stupid.

Novotny: Ouch.

Harwood: In fact, I'm worried for some of those kids, I'm worried for some of those kids of those parents who are upset. I'm not sure they're smart enough to raise those kids."

Florida GOP Chairman Warns Against Socialist Indoctrination of school kids

Florida GOP Chairman Warns Against Socialist Indoctrination Of Schoolchildren Through Obama Address On Personal Responsibility.

Gee, I wonder why I think the party is completely morally and intellectually bankrupt.

A rundown of the issues

Or at least some of them. At least someone else is noting that Republicans don't want health care reform and negotiating with them is an exercise in futility. Second, it is nice to see some on the right take on the crazies in their own party, but it seems to be small voices in the wilderness. When Chuck Grassley goes from rational moderate to echoing "death panels" almost over night, you have to think it is because the Senate is run by the crazies.

Oh, and the Wall Street Journal thinks that Dick Cheney should run for President. Gah.