The Obama-Hating Industry

Apparently the charge is being made in what someone has very aptly called "the Republican echo chamber" that college Republicans at the University of Central Missouri were turned away from a recent Obama speech because they were deemed a security risk. Conservative websites and the blogosphere are outraged. The National Review even interviewed one of the "victims."

What happened in Missouri was that a group of college Republicans with tickets to the event arrived at 3:40 and were turned away by the Secret Service because the doors had already been closed, according to what the Secret Service says is standard procedure. The president's address began at 4:00.

All of the official announcements prior to the event told ticket holders that the doors would open at 1:45 and that they should be there then. They were told to be prepared to stand a long time prior to and during the event. It was not stated when the entrance would be closed.

Probably the students turned away (overly entitled little whiners?) preferred to just stroll in at the last minute so they wouldn't have to stand in line and associate with Obama supporters, people like those in the picture, some of whom arrived as early as 5am.

Official UCM Statement Regarding Admittance to President Obama AppearanceWARRENSBURG, MO (July 26, 2013) – The University of Central Missouri has thoroughly reviewed claims of individuals being inappropriately denied admission to President Barack Obama's speech on campus July 24, 2013. These reports are unfounded. No one who presented a ticket was turned away prior to all doors being locked in accordance with Secret Service procedures. We have confirmed everyone who presented a ticket prior to that time was admitted.

 I only post this as an example of the way Obama haters will grasp at anything to try to create a scandal out of it and whose hatred clouds their memories. Or is it possible they don't even know the extent to which Bush was shielded from people who disagreed with him?

Tickets to this event were on a first-come-first-served basis. College Democrats wouldn't have even got tickets to a Bush speech.

The New Republican Symbol

What Republicans Call Governing

After the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created, it took two years and a threat to change the filibuster rules to get Senate Republicans to agree to an up or down vote on Richard Cordray, Obama's nominee to head it. As everyone knows that appointment was just one of an unprecedented number of administrative and judicial nominees that were being held up by Senate Republicans.

And then there is the Republican party policy with regard to Obamacare. There was a story in the news a few weeks ago that Republican Congressmen have adopted the strategy of having their home state offices refuse to provide any information about Obamacare to their constituents who might call with questions. Instead they were instructed to refer callers to Health and Human Services.

Tom Toles had a great cartoon a few days ago that showed the Republicans ripping up the track in front of a train labelled Obamacare, and running away while yelling "it's gonna be a train wreck."

Now I came across this item. It seems that the Secretary of Health and Human Services was negotiating with the NFL and other sports organizations as venues for informing their fans about the new insurance exchanges. When this was made public, the two leading Senate Republicans wrote a letter to the NFL commissioner which resulted in him backing off.

Republicans seem to forget, first, that this is already the law of the land and, second, that they took it to the people in the 2012 elections and lost. To them it is still "a highly polarized public debate."

It is shameful, especially since they don't really have anything to offer in its place except status quo ante.

More Hair; Fewer Heirs!!

No, this isn't me, although I see a resemblance that I never did when he had hair.

He made a nice gesture.

 

Tropical Paradise, My Ass

Cold in Brazil is colder than places where it is the custom of the country. And it isn´t just the surprise factor that makes it seem so. Buildings here are not insulated like they are in the US. We have single pane windows, not to mention the fact that we have to walk outside to get from the kitchen to the laundry room and the TV room. Houses are more open. We have no furnace and not many Brazilians do. The outside temperature is pretty much the inside temperature.

The overnight low in São Paulo last night was about 39 degrees. The high today was supposedly about 57, although I´m skeptical about that. A guy at the gym told me that the wind chill factor last night on Paulista Avenue (most important city-center street) was a little less than 34 degrees. In the south of the country, I´m told it was below freezing. And I´m thinking, Brazil measures wind chill?

Heitor left for Rio on Monday and, after checking the Rio weather forecast in advance, took only bermudas. He forgot to check the São Paulo forecast. When he got back this morning it was only about 44 degrees. He still hasn´t fully warmed up, despite being wrapped in blankets and mufflers. He´s not alone; I´m sitting here in a coat and cap, getting ready to read on the sofa under a heavy comforter.

Going on the word of Carlos, one of my students, this isn´t a record cold spell, but the most extreme in 30+ years, although I haven´t actually verified that. Suffice it to say that Carlos´s reaction to the temperature is enough to make me quit thinking of Heitor as a wuss.

Cultural Racism and Equality Before the Law

In case anyone actually believes, seriously, that the law is applied fairly and equally, consider the case of Marissa Alexander, a young black woman and mother of three children in Florida.

In 2010, she fired a warning shot into the wall or ceiling of their home to scare off an admittedly abusive husband, against whom she had a restraining order, in a confrontation in which she felt threatened. No one was hurt.

She was charged with three counts of aggravated assault with intent to cause injury to another. Because this "assault" was done with a gun, Florida's 10-20-Life sentencing law automatically added 10 years to her sentence. The judge denied her assertion of self defense and did not allow a Stand Your Ground defense.

The NRA was very concerned about George Zimmerman's right to protect himself from the fear of great bodily harm in a situation he, himself, was responsible for. For some reason, the NRA is not one of the organized groups fighting to have Alexander's conviction overturned. A search for Marissa Alexander's name on the NRA website yields nothing related to this story.

Sometimes a Cartoon Is Just Spot-on Perfect

More on Patriotism

Bob Peterson, in a comment on my previous post, wonders what real patriotism looks like, as opposed to what I called patriotism on the cheap.

Merriam Webster defines patriotism as simply “love for or devotion to one's country.” It is not love for or devotion to the military system of one's country. But that is what it seems to have become in the U.S. For most people nowadays, patriotism means support for the military and, conversely, any form of opposition to the country's militaristic stance in the world is deemed unpatriotic. Admit it: you hear the word patriot or patriotism and you think about the military.

It is good to remember that people in nation states all around the world are patriotic, which is to say they love and are devoted to their respective countries. Brazilians, for example, seem to me frequently to be annoyingly patriotic, excessive in their national pride. But that pride and the way it manifests itself has nothing at all to do with the strength of their military.

Soccer is every bit as much the national sport in countries all over the world as baseball is in the U.S. But I don't recall ever seeing ostentatious displays of military personnel or equipment as part of the ceremonies surrounding big games...certainly no fly overs, and not even military personnel marching on field with flags. And we watch a lot of soccer in our house, including championship games from all over the world.

So back to the question of what real patriotism might look like. It might look like a Peace Corp or Vista volunteer. It might look like a college grad devoting the first year or two out of school teaching in the inner city. It might take the form of working to realize the potential of diversity in the U.S. by celebrating the building of community as much as rugged individuality. It might mean agitating to end the nightmarish situation faced my tens of thousands of veterans who are waiting for over a year just to have their benefit claims processed.

In the past, patriotic feelings of pride might have been inspired by the promise of social mobility in the U.S.,

by the unequaled system of public education, or by the economic strength of the middle class. None of these are legitimate sources of pride anymore except when we lower our standards and compare ourselves to...say... Albania.

As we become ever smaller, meaner, more petty and selfish maybe all that's left is the military.

The Business of America

Maybe Calvin Coolidge was right at the time, but the business of American is no longer business. It's militarism. Sure, there are a lot of businesses tied to the military and working actively to make sure the military teat never goes dry. But the first principle, before business, is militarism.

Let's be clear, we are not a peace-loving people. But we sure as hell are a platitude-loving people it seems. Rather than tiring of platitudes, it would seem that we are demanding more all the time.

Watching the pregame ceremonies of last night's MLB All Star game was a shocking reminder of my intolerance for patriotism on the cheap. "We honor our men and women who are serving around the world to protect our freedom." Let's call bullshit.

In the first place, there are no men and women anywhere in the world "defending our freedom." I defy anyone to give a convincing reason for our continued presence in Afghanistan, but one thing is certain: however anyone tries to sell it to us, no one is even going to try to convince us that our national freedom is being challenged in Afghanistan. We went into Iraq on bogus grounds that never did have anything to do with protecting our freedom and, to whatever extent we still have a presence there, it still doesn't have anything to do with protecting our freedom.

Second, if we truly honored the men and women in the military, we would not accept the horrendous bipartisan delays veterans face when it comes to filing claims for benefits. Are you aware that the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have incompatible computer systems that cannot even communicate with each other?

And we wouldn't make outlandish assertions to our soldiers like "you go to war with the army you have, not with the army you might want or wish to have at a later time."

No, what we really seem to appreciate are cheap, empty displays of sentimentality which painlessly convince us of our own basic goodness. We are supporting our troops. We are standing up with our hands on our hearts.

And I ask the same thing I did a year ago when I heard the announcers salute "the men and women who are listening to this broadcast in 175 countries around the world on Armed Forces Network." Why the hell do we have troops in 175 countries around the world? At least we haven't expanded our footprint; I'm almost certain the number a year ago was also 175.

I say again, we are a militaristic nation based on the big lie that we are the exactly the opposite.

Inane Stand Your Ground Law

In Florida, one can legally stalk someone until that person out of fear stands his ground and confronts you. Then when you become fearful of great bodily harm, you can shoot and kill him. Sarcastic as it sounds, I'm serious.

Based on what I've been reading about the Florida “stand your ground” law, and (I assume) the judges instructions to the jury based upon it, Zimmerman's initial stalking of Trayvon Martin because he was a black kid not known in that neighborhood and Zimmerman's disobeying of police instructions became irrelevant as soon as Martin stood his ground and made Zimmerman feel threatened. The law only protects people who stand their ground with a gun.

I hope the Justice Department will consider the same tactic they had to use in the past in order to overcome the injustice handed down by southern juries, i.e. filing civil rights charges against Zimmerman. This seems like almost a textbook case of Martin having his civil rights violated....the right to walk to the store and back to his girlfriend's house with a box of candy without being profiled and stalked by some wannabe cop.

What to Call This? Assholes and Hypocrites?

It seems more than a little unseemly, this full-court press that the U.S. is engaged in to thwart Edward Snowden's attempts to gain asylum somewhere. Ultimately, one supposes, the intention is to give him no place to turn and finally nab him and bring him to justice, as our most self-righteous leaders like to say. The whole world knows what that means.

I'm not going out on much of a limb here when I predict Snowden is going to be granted asylum somewhere, so why don't we quit making assholes of ourselves and accept it?

There was a story in the NY Times today about the pressure the U.S. is applying to Latin American countries about Snowden. There are really only three or four countries that would seriously consider granting asylum to Snowden as a means of thumbing their noses at the U.S., i.e. Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua. But the U.S. is finding it just doesn't have the leverage it had over Latin American countries back in the day. About all we have now is economic and trade policies, which are not without some value it should be noted, and may still have some effect.

For one thing governments in the entire region were up in arms (figuratively) about the insulting treatment of Bolivian President Evo Morales last week. I read that they planned to call an emergency meeting of the Union of South American Nations the day after France, Italy, Portugal and perhaps other European nations refused to allow Morales' plane to enter their airspace because of unfounded rumors that Snowden was on board.

On his return from a meeting of natural gas exporting nations in Moscow, Morales' plane was refused permission to enter French airspace just minutes before it reached the frontier, and was forced to return to Vienna for refueling. Every Latin American leader understandably saw this as a slap in the face of the entire region. Morales called it a high jacking, and he has a strong case. Naturally people down here see the hand of the U.S. in this, and they don't much like it.

For one thing it was a just plain stupid rumor from the beginning. Snowden is at one Moscow airport and Morales, like all foreign leaders, flew into and out of another. To channel Molly Ivins, you'd have to be about as smart as a box of rocks to think Snowden was on Morales' plane.

And then there is that old specter of U.S. hypocrisy again:

....Washington’s push for extradition has poked at a sore spot for several countries that have sought the extradition of people wanted by their justice systems.

Mr. Correa has pointed to the case of two brothers, William and Roberto Isaias, who ran a bank at the center of a huge Ecuadorean financial scandal in the 1990s. They were convicted in absentia of financial wrongdoing in an Ecuadorean court. They now live in the United States, but repeated requests for extradition have been unsuccessful.

And Venezuela has demanded the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, a former C.I.A. operative accused here of masterminding the bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people in the 1970s. He escaped from a Venezuelan prison in the 1980s and went to live in the United States.

“The first thing you need to do to have the moral standing to ask for the extradition of this youth Snowden, whose only act is to reveal the crimes that you committed, is to turn over Luis Posada Carriles, who you are protecting,” Mr. Maduro said this month.

And why has the U.S. protected Carriles for so many years? He was one of our favorite anti-Castro Cubans and, yes, a C.I.A. "operative." Sometimes when you bomb an airplane and kill 73 people you're a terrorist; sometimes you're a freedom fighter, apparently. Most importantly, how do you feel about Castro?

We wring our hands and wonder, "why don't they like us?"

Who Says There Are No More Heroes?

Nelson Mandela is not  a saint, and much that has already been written about him in anticipation of his death has noted his failures, most specifically economic. Since 1994 the rich in South Africa (white) have gotten richer and the poor (black) poorer. But you don't have to go to South Africa to see that reality.

There will be a raft of books and articles assessing Mandela and his legacy. For now, if you want to get a jump on your friends, I heartily recommend the book from a few years ago, Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation, by John Carlin. It was the basis of the Clint Eastwood movie, Invictus.

And in today's NY Times you can read a short but obviously heartfelt tribute by the South African-born op-ed columnist, Roger Cohen, Dreaming of Mandela.

The truth is we did not deserve him. We could not even imagine him. But, as I learned young in South Africa, the human spirit can avert even inevitable catastrophe.

National Priorities

I think we should cut food stamps. We just can't afford them.

From Nicholas Kristof's most recent column.

Our response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and international terrorism has been remarkable, including an intelligence apparatus in which some 1.4 million people (including, until recently, Snowden) hold “top secret” clearances. 

That’s more than twice the population of the District of Columbia. The Washington Post has reported that since 9/11, the United States has built new intelligence complexes equivalent in office space to 22 United States Capitol buildings. 

All told, since 9/11, the United States has spent $8 trillion on the military and homeland security, according to the National Priorities Project, a research group that works for budget transparency. That’s nearly $70,000 per American household.

Not With a Bang, But a Whimper

Oh, by the way, there is no IRS scandal, in case you didn't notice. Oh, sure, the agency spent outrageous amounts on conventions, and its agents are horrible line dancers, but there is no way to make that a partisan scandal with links back to the White House. No glamour there.

Remember Peggy Noonan and others? It was "the worst scandal since Watergate." Don't hold your breath for the mea culpas.

Or maybe it's that damn liberal media again just covering Obama's ass and manipulating the news again. Yeah, that's probably it.

We Are The Master Planners

I'm pleased to see there has been quite a lot of media comment about Scalia's hypocrisy. On the other hand, it was hard to miss.

 

I'm

More Clues for the Puzzle

Since at least one person is still working on this, I will provide a few more clues.

The examples:
003s, 003t, 003ted, 003ts, 003e, 003ing, 003ting and 003ry (I accidentally omitted this last one in my first post).

Do not assume that the sequence we are looking for is 3 letters just because 003 consists of 3 characters.

Finally, the sequence of letters desired is a word, without any of the add-ons listed above.

Tig Notaro...Very Funny

I love it that a Brazilian friend introduced me to this American comic. Perhaps she is already known to everyone else, but she is new to me.




The reason she has small titties is because of breast cancer and a double mastectomy.