Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Dastards!


The Democrats in the Senate are plotting: Coburn warns against majority-vote tactic in weekly Republican address
Yes; they're planning to pass legislation with a Majority Vote. Imagine! allowing a measly majority to determine the outcome of a legislative process!
Well, it's true, in these benighted times, that we really don't want our government to function.
Actually, in this case (Health Care Reform), I blame the President.
One of the things being said against him in the campaign was that a "community organizer" was a poor reccomendation for the presidency. I disagreed. It seemed to me then, silly fool that I was, that someone whose expertise was in getting the various stakeholders in a process to meet and negotiate was exactly what a President ought to do.
Well, I am so out of date here. The President's job today is to roll over the opposition and rule autocratically.
Observe, if you will, the relative efficiencies of George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama. It's no contest. By trying to be collegial in the face of absolute opposition, the President has frittered away his mandate. Mandates are nice, but such limited things. Bush started with one, but 6 months into his presidency, he was accorded a failure. Then he "hit the Trifecta". Remember? Pretty much ruled by fiat the rest of his administration. Pretty much dismantled the federal government in the process.
All the king's horses and all the king's men are unlikely to restore it in our lifetime (well, mine. If you're very young you might eventually see a functional government).

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Nice Euphemism Tom


Yes; When the United States "intervened" in 2003, apparently we didn't attack, or invade, or occupy, or Bomb The Snot Out Of Iraq. It was more like we faced them down and sent them to a 30 day rehab. Like Charlie Sheen. "Ok Iraq, we're taking you off to Betty Ford's for a nice little rest". "U.S. intervention in Iraq" . A few hundred thousand wounded/maimed/dead, and its an Intervention! For the rest, Thomas is, as usual, pretty perceptive regarding the miasma that is Iraq. But still, there are those little-mentioned elements that are so hard to sniff out, one might think there was some denial involved. Why is there such a uniform assumption that everybody loves an Election? In fact, most times most places throughout history, "Free, Democratic Elections" aren't how people select their leaders; or they've been pretty thoroughly corrupted. As for the outcome of such a process being welcomed, I have one example: USA 2000. Ok, another: USA 2008. Lots and lots of people did not consider the eventual selectee for President to be legitimate. The other rarely mentioned factoid about Iraq's elections: the various elective offices are not open to all citizens. There's a Religious Qualification for the office of President, Prime Minister, and, for all I know, Assistant to the Assistant Undersecretary of American Military Cooperation. For some offices, you gotta be Shi'te; for others, Sunni. I think there's a few slots for Kurds, also. Reservations Required.
We distorted our version of elections pretty mightily to get our Puppet Government installed. And looking at the historical record with regard to US Puppets, the next government won't hold up very long.
I personally am trying to decide which government to bet to beat the spread: Iraq or Afghanistan.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

So, What's New?

I guess there really hasn't been any substantive change through the centuries: "Before he left Rome,Caesar, by proclaiming edicts and bending the will of the Senate, had set in place a program to shore up the faltering Roman economy. The problems were many and daunting. With the commencement of the war, money had grown increasingly scarce, even while prices soared. The treasury of Rome had been emptied to pay for Caesar's military campaigns. No taxes were flowing in...." A MIST OF PROPHECIES Steven Saylor, St. Martins Press, 2002, P. 55). Except, of course, that George W. Bush is certainly no Caesar, no matter how much he thinks he is. War(s) - no change. No taxes - no change. "Bending the will (hah!) of the Senate - No Change! It's all very discouraging isn't it.
Just another instance of Maunder's Corollary; "He who does remember his past is still doomed to repeat it".
Other than that, It's a pretty good mystery set in Rome, slightly-B.C.E.