Scott Brown is due to be sworn in today at 5PM. Congratulations, Senator!
House Votes to Up the Federal Debt Ceiling by $1.9T
Fox News is reporting a 217-212 vote in favor of raising the ceiling. (The Senate last week approved the measure in a 60-39 vote.) I have issues in principle with the enabling of progressive drunken-sailor spending, but any Republican attempts to meaningfully cut the budget at this point would be dead on arrival (not to mention being used for political reasons, targeting those affected by budget cuts during the fall campaign).
Palin, Rahm Emanuel and Political Correctness
Last summer White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, in a closed meeting, characterized the attempt of progressive Democrat seeking to attack centrist Democrats, uneasy over the health care reform, as "f**king retarded", meaning that these tactics would be counterproductive in the long term, particularly when the White House needs centrist Democratic votes across a wide range of issues. Sarah Palin, the self-appointed Miss Manners of politically correct discourse and mother of a Down syndrome little boy (Trig), took great offense at the use of the term "retarded", which she regards as an unacceptable slur towards her child (in lieu of more politically correct "mentally challenged" or "special needs") and demanded the termination of Emanuel.
We saw the same kind of political spin and political correctness coming from Sarah Palin last summer in the kerfuffle of David Letterman's bad-taste joke implying a tryst between Alex Rodriguez and Sarah's unwed daughter Bristol, an 18-year-old mother and a national spokeswoman for the abstinence movement. Palin took advantage of a fact-check error by the Letterman staff, which assumed the daughter attending the relevant baseball game was Bristol, not an obscure Palin daughter in her early teens, Willow. Palin ludicrously attempted to argue Letterman, in suggesting a Rodriguez tryst with an unnamed daughter during the seventh-inning stretch, intended to make a joke about Rodriguez' statutory rape of her younger daughter (instead of the older daughter, whom is neither a minor nor a virgin, never mind the fact that her baby daddy was--also an athlete, a hockey player). (Yes, I realize that Koolaid-drinking Palin supporters continue to be in a state of denial.) Palin implied that Letterman was a pedophile for making the joke and refused a visit to Letterman's show so he could make a public apology in person, claiming he was trying to exploit the situation for ratings (ignoring her own role in publicizing a bad joke), and she and her supporters were demanding Letterman's termination. When Letterman addressed the issue an unprecedented second time, he issued an unconditional apology, and Palin accepted, not on behalf of her family but in the name of all young girls (like Willow) exploited by people like Letterman. What strikes me most about this politically correct nonsense is that legitimate conservatives don't engage in just this type of political spin.
I understand use of the term "retarded" is offensive to a number of relatives with special-needs children, and I generally believe one should, as a matter of sensitivity, refrain from using red-flag words. But no one really believes that Emanuel thought the liberal activists aiming ads at centrist Democrats were literally mentally-challenged and used the term to insult them as such. He was really saying the tactics were a bad move. In any event, Emanuel has been doing damage control in the aftermath, issuing public apologies.
I have zero tolerance for political correctness. I'm sure everyone has had experiences like myself; I remember one conversation I had when I was trying to get across some point and found the woman was interrupting me in mid-sentence, repeating a preferred word or phrase. (I don't recall the specifics--it might have been something like using the word "stewardess" instead of "flight attendant". ) What did I take away from this incident? (1) She interrupted me; (2) she was paying more attention to surface-level elements than the message; (3) she was judging me. From the standpoint of civility, those facts seemed more relevant.
The Daily Kos Poll of the 2012 Republican Race for the Nomination
I began writing this segment independently of Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points yesterday, which labeled the poll a fraud, basically aimed at caricaturing Republicans and/or conservatives with respect to more extremist opinions on Obama and positions on social and political issues. Leftist Daily Kos site founder Markos Moulitsis is said to have a project dovetailing with this caricature.
The Presidential poll, showing Palin on top is literally in disagreement with every other post-2008 poll, which generally have former McCain 2008 GOP rivals Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee trading positions at the top. One of the odd things about this poll is that Huckabee fades into the pack, falling behind non-candidates Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich, with single-digit position support, and Romney comes in at least 50% below other polls; another odd thing is the unusually high percentage of undecideds (42%). However, I would not read too much into the results; Sarah Palin, at 16% support, is known to have a small core following of roughly this size across a number of polls, but despite a massive publicity edge over her rivals, she is unable to extend her support beyond that base (most Republicans know that she is not regarded as qualified by most moderates and independents necessary for the GOP to recapture the White House in 2012).
Finally, let me answer the Daily Kos Jan. 31 poll questions:
If the 2012 Primary for President were held today, which of the following would you vote for?
-- Mitt Romney
Should Barack Obama be impeached, or not?
-- No
Do you believe Barack Obama was born in the United States, or not?
-- Yes
Do you think Barack Obama is a socialist?
-- No [He is a progressive statist, with more of an emphasis on (government-proactive) positive liberty, but he stops short of government ownership of the economy.]
Do you believe Barack Obama wants the terrorists to win?
-- No
Do you believe ACORN stole the 2008 election?
-- No [I do think there was fraud, but I consider the economic tsunami the decisive factor.]
Do you believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be President than Barack Obama?
-- No [I agree more with her political philosophy, but he has more federal knowledge and experience. It's true she has modest administrative experience, but only with much smaller-scale state/local governments.]
Do you believe Barack Obama is a racist who hates White people?
-- No
Do you believe your state should secede from the United States?
-- No
Should Congress make it easier for workers to form and join labor unions?
-- No [Loaded question. I support the right to organize, but the current secret-ballot certification policy is adequate.]
Would you favor or oppose giving illegal immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here legally if they pay a fine and learn English? *
-- Oppose
[* I don't like the phasing of this question. It seems to imply amnesty without a commitment to address the fundamental factors underlying illegal entry or any relevant background check for the undocumented worker, which I regard as unacceptable. I'm in favor of a system which establishes a legitimate temporary worker program, tightens the border (a matter of national security), and requires employer verification (with biometric ID). Visiting workers must go through a defined process and go to the back of the line for green card/citizenship. The immigration system must be revised to eliminate chaining beyond the immediate family, with more emphasis on merit-based criteria (including English fluency and professional/entrepreneurial skills), and source country quotas must be reformed. In terms of illegal-entry Latin Americans, I'm willing to consider legal residency if they have employment prospects, apply from their home country and pass relevant security-related criteria with no known criminal/terrorist past, including any relevant period of residency in the US.]
Should openly gay men and women be allowed to serve in the military?
-- Yes [subject to federal restrictions on political activities, military order and discipline, etc.]
Should same sex couples be allowed to marry?
-- No [I do support legally-privileged domestic partnerships/civil unions.]
Should gay couples receive any state or federal benefits?
-- No
Should openly gay men and women be allowed to teach in public schools?
-- Yes
Should sex education be taught in the public schools?
-- Yes
Should public school students be taught that the book of Genesis in the Bible explains how God created the world?
-- No
Are marriages equal partnerships, or are men the leaders of their households?
-- Equal
Should contraceptive use be outlawed?
-- No
Do you believe the birth control pill is abortion?
-- No [I assume we're not talking about the "morning after" pill, which can be.]
Do you consider abortion to be murder?
-- Yes
Do you support the death penalty?
-- No
Should women work outside the home?
-- Yes
Do you believe that the only way for an individual to go to heaven is though Jesus Christ, or can one make it to heaven through another faith?
-- Another faith [I'm Christian, but I believe God does not judge based on factors beyond one's circumstances in life, including his or her background, knowledge, faith, behavior and experience.]
Political Cartoon
Bob Gorrell makes an obvious point that when you have a $3.83T budget, a proposed $20B cut doesn't go very far....
Musical Interlude: Dave Loggins Songs/Performances
Three Dog Night, "Pieces of April"
"Please Come to Boston"
"Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" (with Anne Murray)
