The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

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The Road To Re-Election

By Red Planet on Mon, 11/14/2011 - 7:50am |

 

If Democrats want to prevail in 2012, and over the following term, they need a narrative that people can get excited about.

In 2008, the narrative was strong and clear: a credible black candidate promising "Change You Can Believe In." And the timing was perfect, following upon the heels of the quintessential redneck trashing of U.S. economy and standing in the world.

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Finally, A Real Democratic Jobs Plan

By Red Planet on Fri, 09/16/2011 - 12:21am |

From Rep. Jan Schakowsky. Let's add this to what Obama proposed. And Pass Both Bills!

 

[Note: this job creation act includes NO new tax incentives. Why? Because the way a real woman creates jobs is by hiring people, not by putting money in somebody else's pocket hoping something good will come of it.]

 

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Ugly People Leading Ugly People

By Red Planet on Tue, 09/13/2011 - 11:12am |

 

During a commercial break on Rachel Maddow last night I tuned in about 90 seconds worth of the Tea Party Republican Debate. Just enough to catch the following (not verbatim):

Wolf Blitzer: Sen. Paul, in your opinion, if a 23-year-old man decides he doesn't need or can't pay for health insurance, then has an accident and winds up in a coma, who should pay for his care?

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Obama's Jobs Plan. Not Bold. Not Imaginative. All to be paid for by the Super Committee.

By Red Planet on Fri, 09/09/2011 - 3:26am |

Unavoidably missed the speech, so I didn't get to hear the tone that others here have complimented. But here's a quick break down of the proposal itself, based on reporting by Reuters.

[Note: All comments are my own first thoughts. Maybe it's going to be better than it sounds. It was more $$bucks than I expected, but digging into the details suggests its considerably less bang than I hoped. Anyway, these are first, late night, reactions after reading the Reuters summary of the proposal.]

HIGHLIGHTS (MINE)

  • 16% of the President's jobs plan is fraudulent (maybe more).
  • 39% hands Republicans another excuse to gut Social Security
  • 100% is to be paid for by the corporate-owned Super Committee

Here's the breakdown:

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Don't Rebuild NYC: The case against rebuilding the soon-to-be flooded city of New York

By Red Planet on Sat, 08/27/2011 - 2:41am |

Adapted (with intentional and extensive plagiarism) from "Don't Refloat, the case against rebuilding the sunken city of New Orleans," a Sept. 7, 2005, article in Slate by Jack Shafer

[Note: Do not read if you are offended by satire in the face of human adversity.]

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On The Looming Deficit Of Trust

By Red Planet on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 2:01pm |

There may be many ways to improve Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, but there is a looming question: can we trust the judgement of those who push to address the redesign of these programs in the crisis climate of talks about the budget deficit?

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Nine Mile Road

By Red Planet on Sat, 07/16/2011 - 3:06pm |

There's Wall Street. There's Main Street. And there is Nine Mile Road. Even the folks on Main Street don't know much about Nine Mile Road.

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That Giant Sucking Sound Is Making It Hard To Think

By Red Planet on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 9:13pm |

 

I guess the following is just about all one needs to know about the status of the U. S. working class in 2011. 

Today, the New York Times is reporting that U. S. manufacturing is expanding in maquiladoras along the Mexican border, despite increasing drug violence. Meanwhile, job growth is almost invisible here at home. 18,000 net jobs added last month.

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Obama's Historic Opportunity

By Red Planet on Sat, 07/02/2011 - 4:09am |

In the back and forth following my post on David Frum's article ("A Dose Of Truth From David Frum"), I averred that "Obama was given a historically huge majority in Congress and a correspondingly huge mandate to change things for the better." brewmn corrected me and was right to do so. I was engaged in a bit of unnecessary hyperbole.

Going back to the Great Depression, with few exceptions the Democrats enjoyed regular Congressional majorities, sometimes large ones, from 1933 through 1981. 

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A Dose of Truth from David Frum

By Red Planet on Tue, 06/28/2011 - 10:18pm |

[Barack Obama is] not an alien, he’s not a radical. He’s just not the person the country needs. He’s not tough enough, he’s not imaginative enough, and he’s not determined enough.

In the throes of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s, the president ran out of ideas sometime back in 2009.

In the face of opposition, Obama goes passive. The mean Republicans refused votes on his Federal Reserve nominees and Obama … did nothing. Would Ronald Reagan have done nothing? FDR? Lyndon Johnson?

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