Charles Blow, blowhard

The New York Times columnist Charles Blow is often OK, though seldom of much depth.

Today, he's not even that.

Blow reads the riot act to left-liberals, etc., who threaten to undermine the Democratic party, hand political victories to Republicans, etc. It's a screed that could have been written straight out of the Obama White House, and in fact, I wonder if it was.

Along the way, Blow perpetuates stereotypes such as left-liberalism is largely confined to the coasts (without talking about trying to educate the heartland better — Blow seriously needs to read "What's the Matter with Kansas"), and then gets worse, when he talks about whether a "purging" is imminent or not.

First, Mr. Blow-hard, Democrats don't have the balls to purge anybody.

Second, if there were a purge, Mr. Preznit Kumbaya would try to purge the left-liberals you demonize.

Third, you're right Obama doesn't have a progressive base. I "saw through him" three full years ago.

Fourth, if the progressives really aren't that numerous, how can they be the ones doing the "purging"? Talk about poor logic.

Finally, all of this is why I'm not a Democrat.

Congressional Dems put Obama on hook

Too bad it's "just" on the omnibus spending bill and not the tax-cut "compromise." But, Democrats have decided to instead support just a temporary spending measure.

So, in the new Congress next year, we'll get to see just how much Preznit Kumbaya is willing to degrade himself and political principle chasing after things like "bipartisanship" and "compromise." My guess is that we've not come close to seeing the end of his willingness to degrade himself. And, unless Senate Democrats can hold firm as a caucus on a lot of issues (insert laugh track here), he'll have plenty of opportunities to keep on not reaching the end of his willingnes.

That said, this is yet another argument, at the least, for an upper house of Congress with lesser powers, or, more, for parliamentary government. (Preznit Kumbaya would likely still be a backbencher in such a system, and NOT prime minister.)

A kudo to Cliff Lee - a baseball pitcher MAN

Reportedly, as he considered his free agency landing spot, his wife made a list of pros and cons for Dallas-Fort Worth, New York and then, of course, Philadelphia. No surprise that the traffic in the DFW Metromess was a big No.

That said, a big yes to Philly on the Lee list?

One reason he chose the Phillies over either the stRangers or Yankees?

It's a National League team and "he loves to hit."

Dear Judge Hudson

And supporters of his ruling against Obamacare on Commerce Clause grounds: Any psychologist with half a brain can and will tell you that no decision is itself a decision. Or, inactivity, in this case, is itself an activity.

The new GM? A lot like the old GM

And, like The Who, we won't be fooled again.

Living off SUVs? Check.

Not that "green"? Check. (See Volt, the hybrid that Chevy said wasn't, and that costs $8K more than the Nissan Leaf.)

Relying on rebates more heavily than Japan? Check.

None of this is surprising to those of us who raised our eyes at the bailout of GM and Chrysler, as well as raising our eyes at Obama's bloviating claims for what this means.

As Mr. Niedermeyer points out, Preznit Kumbaya has gone silent on "green" GM in a big way, now touting only the profit bottom line. That said, Niedermeyer also points out that bottom line is being short-term inflated so GM — I'm sorry, the "new GM" — can get off the government dole.

Of course, that may not happen quite so quickly. Besides, the detritus of old GM, while technically not "bankrupt," has gone to die the death of a thousand limbos.

Does WikiLeaks show U.S. is no longer a democracy?

Well, I've thought that, in practical terms, we've become ever more of an oligarchy all the time. And that, with the mythical pseudosuccess of Reagan's pee-down economics, unlike in the Gilded Age, too many sheeple actually refuse to see that.

Well, beyond economic royalists, of course, the U.S. has more and more imperialists more and more nakedly parading about in recent years. And, perhaps WikiLeaks has removed the emperor-by-Beltway-committee's clothes.

So ...

Is the U.S. government's recent actions against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange some indication we don't have a true democracy any more? Judy Bachrach says yes:

What constitutes a democracy? I’m beginning to think, thanks to WikiLeaks, that it’s not simply the right to vote. But the right to discover why you are voting for a specific individual and not voting for another. And there is absolutely no way to understand anything at all unless we are given the facts: names, quotes, background, color, and anecdotes included. You can decry WikiLeaks and Assange all you want. But they are the ones who give us what we need: the information to make intelligent choices about our leaders and what they’re quietly doing, whom to retain and whom to dismiss; the power returned to the people.

http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/new/blogs/bachrach/Lessons_of_Leaks