Government

by

We will force you to salute the flag — for freedom!

Last fall, I blogged about a Florida teacher who was suspended for forcing her students to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Texas doesn’t stand for that kind of thing.  They’ve suspended the kid for refusing to stand.  Pledge-of-Allegiance

(Insert comic German accent) “You vill obey und salute the government. Ve do not appreciate individual thought here!”

Of what use is a forced pledge? If someone forces you to say something against your will, what’s the point? How is it meaningful? Does the irony not hit people? “We are forcing you to pledge against your will — for freedom!!!”

The United States Supreme Court held that no one could be forced to say the pledge over fifty years ago in a case involving the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who persuasively argued that such a pledge violated their religious beliefs concerning worshiping objects or something. It has been the law of the land ever since.  Here’s what the court said:

If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein. If there are any circumstances which permit an exception, they do not now occur to us.

We think the action of the local authorities in compelling the flag salute and pledge transcends constitutional limitations on their power and invades the sphere of intellect and spirit which it is the purpose of the First Amendment to our Constitution to reserve from all official control.

But Texas!

Say the pledge because you mean it, and not because you have to. That’s true patriotism.

by

Treason is not patriotic

Why does anyone take these traitors seriously?

It’s bad enough when they literally talk about secession when they don’t get their way.    And when they encourage gun owners to break the law if they don’t like it.  Or support right-wing zealots who talk about killing the President as if that were a patriotic thing to do. And then they support a rich rancher who gives the law a middle finger and literally says he does not acknowledge the existence of the United States.  ranchero Quite often, many of these people fly the flag of the traitors who declared war against our country so they could keep humans in slavery, and they’re proud of that fact.   

And then they proclaim, with a straight face, that they love America and are patriots.

Well, no.  No, they don’t and no they aren’t.  People who love America do not declare treason against it.

Don’t get me wrong — this isn’t just about free speech.  They have every right to protest and speak out against government policies they don’t like.  And hey, there’s even a place for peaceful protests and civil disobedience.

This is none of those things.

We need to speak up and tell these people that they do not represent the views of honest, patriotic Americans.  And we need to call out these hypocrites who yelled “traitor” whenever anyone ever said anything bad about George W. Bush.  (Ann Coulter even wrote a book on that topic, yet she remains completely silent about real actual examples done by people she happens to agree with.)

You know this is true:  If people on the left were doing the things mentioned above, the right would be the first to call them traitors.

And this time, they’d be right.

by

Capitalists when convenient

You can no longer buy a Tesla in New Jersey.

Governor Chris Christie’s bureaucracy just passed a regulation that requires all automobile companies to use franchises to sell their cars.    Tesla_Roadster_Japanese_display

If you can think of any possible reason why such a regulation is needed, please let me know.

This only affects electric car manufacturer Tesla, now prohibited from selling its vehicles in New Jersey since they sell direct.   This regulation prohibits the citizens of New Jersey from being able to shop for a legal product they may want to purchase.  The only beneficiaries of this are the gas-burning automobile manufacturers.  Hey, speaking of them, did you know that they donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Christie re-election campaign?  Pure coincidence, I am sure.

Chris Christie and his Republican friends may talk about the “free market” but clearly that only applies to their  rich friends.  (I could make a similar argument about cable companies and other monopolies that are sanctioned by governments.)

Conservative and libertarian groups who are honest and true to their ideology are outraged (as are liberal groups, of course).   The New Jersey state legislature can still try to pass legislation to redact this (assuming they can get enough votes to override Christie’s veto).

by

Treason is only patriotic when the right does it

Hey, remember when a majority of Americans voted against George W. Bush yet he became President by, let’s say, “less than ideally democratic” means?  Were there any mainstream liberals calling for an overthrow of the government?  I can’t recall any, and a search finds none.

Yet we are constantly hearing such talk from the right concerning Obama — who won twice by huge margins.  These sore losers are not just some crazed radicals (both parties have those) — these are people who get coverage on legitimate talk shows and on legitimate (albeit right-wing) blogs.

The gun lovers are mostly the ones who make these arguments, as if treason were patriotic, but other un-American right-wingers apparently think not getting their way because they are in the minority is the exact same thing as tyranny.  It must be hard to live in a world when you are this delusional, but there you go.  (Here’s where all the people advocating the overthrow of our democratically elected government get mad that I called them “un-American.”  There’s that delusion I spoke of;  how else can you classify someone who is so against democracy?)

Of course, none of this is too surprising, as some conservatives are still upset about the Civil War and make excuses for the slave-owning Southerners who committed treason.

by

The Mommy and Daddy parties

Republicans are the Daddy party, and Democrats are the Mommy party.

If you read enough about politics, you’ve heard this before.    The Daddy party represents “power” and the Mommy party represents “warmth.”  

Daddy provides for our safety, protecting us against the evil outside our door. elephant-donkey  He teaches us to be independent and strong, and to fight when things don’t go your way.

Mommy worries about our comfort.  She tries to get everyone to get along and solve their problems without fighting.   She makes sure everyone wears their sweaters, does their homework, and doesn’t go hungry.

These are, of course, gross simplifications but somewhat revealing.    Democrats believe we are all part of a family and we need to take care of each other;  Republicans believe that you advance by being independent and self-reliant.

Neither of these viewpoints is wrong.  It’s just how you personally see yourself, society, and government.  And if the parties adhere to these roles, we can have reasonable debate.

The problem lately is Daddy.  Daddy is no longer the reliable, strong independent leader — he now lies and deceives to get his way.  Instead of reasonably debating where we should go, he beats up the family until he gets his way (“Do what I say or I’ll shut down the government!”). And then when he doesn’t get his way, he has a temper tantrum.  (“Fine! Then I will block every bill in Congress even if it benefits us all.”) He’s willing to hurt the family for his own selfish goals.

Having a Mommy party and a Daddy party is not a bad thing.  But as columnist Josh Barrow points out, we now have a Mommy party and an “Abusive-Ex-husband-With-a-Substance-Abuse-Problem party.”

by

Lying as policy

All politicians lie.  But currently, only the Republican party proudly promotes lies and deceptions as its policy.

A few days ago, I wrote about the “2.5 million unemployed by Obamacare” lie they are peddling.

I now see that that they are claiming that “Obama caused the government shutdown.”

Here’s how it really went down:

“Hey, President Obama!  It’s us, the Republicans!  Remember how we voted against Obamacare but it still passed?  And how we challenged it in court and lost?  And how we nominated a candidate who ran on a platform of repealing it and he lost?  And how we voted 42 times to repeal it, losing each time?  And how we have tried to defund it and lost?  

Well, we now demand that despite all this, you defund it and thus kill it, or else we will shut down the government.  No?  Okay, you asked for it!

Look, everyone!  We, the Republicans, have shut down the government until Obama gives us what we want!  We’re proud of this accomplishment!

Okay, Obama, now will you defund it?  No?  Well, will you cut the budget in a few places?  No?  Will you  at least cut this one thing?  No?

Wait a minute … the American people hate this.  Our poll numbers are lower than they have been in the history of poll numbers.  

Okay, fine, you can reopen the government.

Wow, the public really hates us.  Guess we have to use our old standby policy to get out of this one.  Everyone, ready?  Good. Start lying.

Obama caused the shutdown!!!”

Fortunately, rational and reasonable people are laughing at this.  Here’s a nice video of journalist Bob Schieffer giggling uncontrollably when Ted Cruz claimed that Obama caused the shutdown:

… And here is an article from last December where Ted Cruz brags about causing the shutdown.

This is just outright lying, isn’t it?  I mean, is there another explanation?

Despite what some defenders claim, this is not the same thing as picking and choosing which facts to highlight when pushing your agenda.  It’s not the same thing as “spinning.”  It’s not even the same thing as not pursuing your campaign promises.  This is lying as policy.  To defend this is despicable.  (And I applaud those Republicans who are refusing to follow the party line here.)

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss the current GOP strategy of creating fake fraudulent websites designed to purposely mislead people into thinking they are donating to Democratic candidates.   I am not making this up.

by

The New Christie Minstrels

Chris Christie apologists are singing the praises of this guy, even going so far as to claim (on Fox News, of course) that this is just another one of those feminist plots to bring down guys who act like assholes — chris-christie because we all know that acting like an asshole is the natural state of men, and women who complain about it are just too touchy-feely and sensitive.

Apparently, this micro-manager who has his nose in everyone’s business in every other regard was supposedly completely unaware of what his closest personal staff was doing, even when he met with them while the whole Bridge blockage was happening.  Yeah, no one is buying that, and polls show that people just aren’t that gullible.

Is this the most serious scandal in the world?  Of course not.  But I am more interested in it because it shows what kind of person he is, and that is something we all need to know if he wants to run for higher office.

Hey, remember when the Romney campaign considered having Christie as the VP but ran as far as possible once they began the vetting process?  Yeah, that was funny!

Anyway, we all know that if you’re a powerful person (say, a governor) you have a staff of people you have chosen — and one thing a staff does is want to please the boss.  Do we really believe that his staff would do these things if they didn’t think he would approve?  Even if he didn’t directly give them the instruction to do this, clearly they were following his example and taking actions that would please him.

And if you believe otherwise, I have a bridge to sell you.

Just don’t try to cross it.

by

The buck stops over there

Governor Chris Christie has found who is responsible for the political closing of the George Washington Bridge, which stranded thousands of people and held up police and emergency vehicles:  It’s Anybody But Him.   

“Not it!” he said at the press conference today.  “Oh, sure, I hired all these people, some of whom were completely unqualified for their jobs. But you can’t hold me responsible for the things done by people who directly answered to me, can you?”chris-christie
 
I mean, what did people expect him to do?  Investigate it once it came to his attention?  Look into it in some way and punish those involved?  No, certainly, everyone clearly would rather that the media do the job, through sources and emails and phone calls and lots of investigations.  Why should a Governor have to, you know, walk down the hall and ask someone?

No, what people expect from the Governor is to laugh it off and sarcastically say, “Unbeknownst to anyone, I was working the cones” as if this was not a serious thing that placed people’s lives in danger.

Hey, you never know.  Maybe in  a few years, working the cones will be his next job.

by

Poetic justice for Republicans

A few days ago, I wrote about how the GOP is trying to get rid of the Tea Party crazies that are driving the party into the ground. They’ve lost a bunch of races they should have won because the party has nominated people so far out of the mainstream that even Republican voters couldn’t stand them.  01-dead-gop-elephant

But it’s their own fault, and they should have seen it coming.

Support for the GOP is at an all time low, partially because they are associated with these people who refuse to compromise, spout nonsense as if it were facts, and whose sole purpose is to get people to hate our own government as much as they do. Admittedly, support for both parties and the President is at an all-time low, but it’s not surprising that support for government is at its lowest when a large segment of one of the parties has “hate the government” as its goal. These people should realize that hatred for the government includes them.

The Republicans only have themselves to blame for their condition, because of gerrymandering.

Over the past fifteen years or so, the GOP has managed to redraw the state lines in the most ridiculous way to create as many safe districts as possible for them. By diluting Democratic votes, they were able to guarantee majorities in states where they did not hold the majority. Here in Pennsylvania, for instance, more people voted for Democrats in the last election yet more Republicans were elected because of the strange way the districts were drawn.

So if you are a Republican politician in a district that is safely Republican, you shouldn’t have to worry, right?  Wrong.

The problem is with primaries.  Hardly anyone votes in primaries, where the parties choose their candidates.  You’re lucky if you get a 20% turnout in a primary election.  That’s 20% of registered voters, not 20% of the eligible voters.

And who votes in primaries?  Just those people who really really care about politics.  And if you really really care about politics, chances are you are much more conservative or much more liberal than the average voter.

So primaries give us the more extreme members of each party.  Then if you gerrymander to remove even the moderates of your own party, you end up with a voting electorate that is at the very edge of political thought — the extremes of the extremes.

These extremes on the right are represented primarily by those who identify themselves these days as “Tea Party” members.  And they think that anyone who does things like compromise in order to accomplish anything are traitors and not Real Americans — even very conservative members of their own party.

So they run “Real Americans” against the incumbents.  Incumbents get scared and refuse to challenge them and sometimes take their extremist views in order to stay elected.  And ultimately, the extremists win the primary either by electing their own favorite or by forcing the incumbent to come to their side.

However, once the fall election comes around, their numbers don’t increase. Moderate voters (that is, the majority of Americans) turn away from these extremists and elect Democrats instead.

In some districts these extremists still get elected in the fall election, and then they go to Washington and shut the government down, which hurts the reputation of the rest of the Republican party.   It drives their poll numbers down and ultimately hurts all of them.

And it’s all their own fault for gerrymandering districts in the first place.  Unfortunately, we are all suffering because of it.

by

Good news for Republicans … and Democrats

The always entertaining Matt Taibbi reports that the GOP establishment is taking action to prevent the party from being completely taken over by idiots.

“No fools on our ticket” is their mantra, and I mean that literally. Elephants-Fighting They are literally saying that they’re “tired of being the Stupid Party.”

This is good news for Republicans who are tired of losing elections in red districts when they nominate people so crazy that even their own supporters vote for the other guy (or stay home).

I may disagree with most Republicans, but the majority of them aren’t stupid idiots.  I have many friends who used to consider themselves Republicans who have seen the party taken over by religious fanatics, conspiracy theorists, evolution deniers, and radicals who refuse to compromise or do the job they were elected to do.   They just can’t support the Sarah Palins, Ted Cruzes, and other  crazies that are identified with the GOP these days.  And who can blame them?

So this change is good news for the party.  Maybe they can rid themselves of these people who cheer when the government is shut down, boo heroic soldiers who are gay, and clap when one of the leaders say it’s better for people to die than to give them health care.

This is also good news for Democrats in two ways:

1.  It will split the GOP and cause an internal war.  This will make it easier for Democrats to get elected in the short term.

2.  If it is successful, we may end up with a GOP of reasonable and intelligent politicians who understand that adults get things accomplished through compromise.

And therefore, in the long run, we all win.