It Stood Out

Driftglass:

By now, the life cycle of every GOP crisis --

• Fling the country into the middle of a manufactured nation-threatening cataclysm for craven, political reasons;
• Publicly shit the bed so hard trying to extricate themselves from their own clever scheme, the sheer force of it lifts them into orbit;
• Frantically scramble around trying to hang the blame for failing to defuse the bomb they built on the same people who [tried] to stop them from building the bomb in the first place

-- is such a baseline element of modern American political life that anyone who is actually surprised by any of this, or who continues to drop automatically into a "Both Sides Do It" crouch every time the Penguin figures out some new way [to] threaten Gotham City, should seriously consider having themselves put into a medically induced coma until the Second Coming. [Typo corrections mine.]

Because we don't get enough Batman references in our political discourse.

Here, Have Some Class War

Via Zandar Versus the Stupid, Aimai at No More Mister Nice Blog gets to the core of what the Republicans really want, by way of analogy to the Fine Dining Experience, citing a restaurant owner who ran a service-charge, no-tips restaurant.  (Read that whole series of articles if you have the time; it's an amazing peek into a world that everyone [except the people working in it] believes they know about and actually have no clue.)

I'd even argue that Reince Priebus's absurd "offer" to pay for a few employees to keep the military site open for the honor flight vets was an example of a perfectly logical extension of the tipping principle: that people with money should get better treatment than ordinary customers. That the government's attempt to treat everyone uniformly in both the Sequester and the Shut Down is, to the Republican way of thinking, a greater affront than almost anything else. It flies in the face of the "do you know who I am?" principle which underlies Republican thinking about the nature of the world.

Zandar summarizes it all for you:

So no, the Republicans don't care about furloughed federal workers and their families, because the entire shutdown scenario is nothing more than collective punishment against all the people who voted for Obama. Shutting down the government was the plan all along, as this NY Times article points out.

[...]

Make no mistake, this shutdown and the threat of default is collective punishment against those of us who dared to opposed the Way Things Ought To Be. The shutdown is there and the price of that shutdown is the end of the Affordable Care Act. Republicans will destroy our country at this point, and cause trillions in damage and suffering for tens of millions of us in order to get their way.

[...]

We're ten days out from a economic and constitutional crisis, and there's no indication that it will be averted. You, me, and the rest of The Help must be punished, and the Republicans are going to wreck the country in order to do so, then say "We will continue to destroy your family and your economy until you realize that you are beneath us." [Emphasis in original.]

By the way, are you reading Avedon's Sideshow?  You should be reading Avedon's Sideshow.  Go right now and read Avedon's Sideshow.  You can thank me later.

ETA:  At NMMNB, I fell across something called Reading is for Snobs, which has an interesting quote from Marc Thiessen, Republican speechwriter, excerpted from a Washington Post column.

Lest We Have Forgotten

The NSA is still out there.  How they attacked Tor.  (Not the publisher; software for a network enabling on-line anonymity. Originally The Onion Router.)

See? See?

I've been saying for years that conservatives think "Dickensian" is a term of approbation.

Evidence that we are indeed moving toward "Dickensian."

Cries and Whispers

No, not really.

• In memoriam:  Vo Nguyen Giap, general.
• Yes, that is "Radar Love" in the background.
• There's a reason for that elastic cord on your masks:  Zandar of Zandar Versus The Stupid caught an exchange between his Senators on strategy on live microphone.

  What the Wonder Twins here don't understand is the vast majority of Americans are against the idea of shutting down the government over Obamacare. They think that America is going to blame the Democrats for this for refusing to scrap a law that passed in 2010, was upheld by SCOTUS in 2012, and topped by President Obama's re-election 11 months ago.
  
  Like Team Romney a year ago, these idiots think they've already won. They're completely baffled as to how anyone could side with Obama over this. They think Obama will cave any minute now.
  
  The one person these two morons don't care about? You.
  
  Keep that in mind.

• Texas is preventing old ladies from voting.  Mmm-hmmmmmmmmmm.  Via skippy.
• The playoffs are under way.  Oooh, the suspense.  (The Cincinnati Reds have already fired Dusty Baker.)
• Redbone (the band) is Chicano/Native American.  Never knew that.

Mostly Current Events

Remember "Current Events," usually discussed in History classes?  Does that even happen in school anymore?

• Your Congresscreatures are still getting paid.  (Carla Marinucci at SFGate.com, and yes, I noticed that she seems to point more at Democrats than Republicans.)  
• Comprehensive piece from Terrance Heath, Republic of T, on the details and effects of the shutdown.

  Calling the GOP’s antics childish is an insult to children. [...]
  
  With two kids, sharing and taking turns is mandatory in our house. But it’s not always easy. When there’s trouble, it often involves the television. After playing outside, eating dinner, and finishing homework we let our boys watch some television before bedtime. Since children’s shows are usually half an hour long, every 30 minutes they take turns choosing what to watch.
  
  [...]
  
  Once, our oldest was inconsolable over losing a bit of his television time. I asked him in exasperation ,”Well, what would make you happy?” He responded, “A thousand turns!”
  
  I thought about that exchange when House Republicans sent the Senate a continuing resolution tying government funding to delaying or defunding the Affordable Care Act. It came to mind again when GOP concocted an even more ludicrous list of demands for raising the debt ceiling. The difference is that our son stopped his grumbling and pouting, because he knew that he was demanding what he’d never get.[Emphasis added]

• Margaret and Helen.  With a history lesson.
• Comrade Misfit calls excrement on the Tea Party and conservatives.

  Providing a national version of Romneycare is, according to them, the clearest and presentist danger to the Republic that has ever existed.*
  
  Yet when clear evidence is presented to them of Federal government intrusion: Tracking what people do online, who they talk to on their phones and what they talk about, what they purchase with their credit/debit cards and where they are, well, all you hear from the Right is silence.

  You know why, of course.

Why I Love Margaret and Helen, Part n

If brains were leather, Cruz wouldn’t have enough to saddle a junebug.

There is, of course, more.

In Memoriam

Robert Barnard, mystery writer.

Malign or Banana Peels Revisited

I might believe the part about mixing codeine, alcohol, and iodine, but the gasoline is over the top.

Two Things

1. Pittsburgh and Cincinnati are contending for the National League Wild Card.  (St. Louis gets the Central Division title.)
2. Tampa Bay and Cleveland are tied for the AL Wild Card.  Texas might still sneak!

I Missed Bruce Springsteen's Birthday

So have some human interest stuff (that is, interesting if you study humans.  Less so if you are a human.    Mildly offensive to fans of the restoration of the Bourbons and the Hapsburgs):

• Comrade Misfit notes that Senator Feinstein, who used to be against oversight of the NSA, is now in favor of some, and makes some suggestions toward reform, with a warning:

  The intelligence community is also ignoring history by their repeated assurances that they can be trusted not to abuse their powers. History teaches us that power corrupts, period. Power, both large and small, can be counted on to be abused by the person holding the power. The only way to stop such corruption is to have watchdogs, both inside and outside the government.
  
  The "outside the government" watchdogs are supposed to be our free press. They have fallen down woefully on the job.

• Via Zandar:  the governor of Kentucky champions Obamacare.  (Extensive quote from the New York Times, in case you've used up the 10 articles.)  [ETA:   And maybe someone should talk to neighboring Tennessee...]
• Interesting article at Walk On, referring to an essay by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  Yes, they both need to be read.  Also, see this video of James Baldwin debating William F. Buckley in 1965.

In Memoriam

Michael Ward, survivor of the Move (or MOVE) bombing in Philadelphia (alluded to here).

The Season Winds Down

Well, we're still waiting on the Wild Card results, but the division champions are mostly established:  Boston, Detroit, Oakland (AL); Atlanta, Los Angeles (NL).  St. Louis and Pittsburgh will be in the playoffs one way or another, and Cincinnati is one of the four wild card teams. (Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Pittsburgh at the moment, with Texas probably still hoping to sneak in.)

I wonder how much Divisional Championship sweatshirts are going for this year.

"Noh" Theater

With all of this going on it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that what Ted Cruz’s theater is all about is denying people access to affordable private, for-profit health insurance. [Emphasis added]

Southern Beale cuts to the chase.

It's Jello-Smearing Time

Driftglass has a simple post:  "Bill Cosby Explains What goes on in the conservative brain when you say 'Obamacare'."

With video audio.

Loose Items

• The True History of Libertarianism in America (NSFWCORP via AlterNet)  I have, I hope, made it crystal-clear that I am not a libertarian.  Right?
• The Dodgers have clinched the NL Western Division title.  The Red Sox are assured a playoff berth, and will probably clinch AL Eastern Division today or tomorrow.  The Orioles and Arizona have moved into the eliminated column.  Tampa Bay, Texas, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati are holding on in Wild Card standings.  The suspense...
• One of the reasons I love Echidne of the Snakes:

  Third, this is absolutely hilarious, given that conservatives reallyreally want to insert probes (transvaginal ultrasound) in women's vaginas as a precondition for getting an abortion, and those probes are not medically required. Women are not supposed to mind that but they *are* supposed to mind a large puppet ogling their birth canals.

Missing the 19th Century

...which may have been too modern for them...

• GOP in dwindling demographic niche and why outreach hasn't been working for them.

  Instead of asking “Why don’t more blacks, Latinos, women, etc., join us?”, Republicans should ask “How are we failing to address the concerns of blacks, Latinos, women, etc., so that more of them will want to join us?” That’s a question that Republicans can’t ask, because answering would mean changing their tone and their policies. Republicans can’t do that without having the very same rage they encouraged in their base turned against them.

  Republic of T, of course.
• Someone who tweeted foolish things about women's suffrage and individual freedom being incompatible, probably because assuming "women" not equal to "individual." There are times when I can understand the desire of some women to have as little to do with men as humanly possible.  Noli Irritare Leones.  (With all this misogyny, shouldn't monasteries be thriving?)
• [ETA] Someone ignorant who believes women should homeschool children and not waste time working.  This is one of the reasons I couldn't care less about his stance on drugs.

Catching Up

I've been distracted.

• In the American League:  The Yankees (hee!), the Blue Jays, the Twins, the White Sox, the Angels, the Mariners, and Houston (I'm still not used to that) are looking at an early winter, although there are still Wild Card possibilities.
• In the National League:  Phillies, Mets, Dolphins Marlins, Brewers, Cubs, Padres, Giants, and Rockies are out of contention.  They also have Wild Card possibilities.

(I don't see how making baseball more like hockey improves the sport, but I'm a fuddy duddy and you need to get off my lawn.)

PS  It's Talk Like A Pirate Day, matey.  Shiver your own timbers.

The Antagonists

Why we're in trouble:

• Jill at Brilliant at Breakfast on the enmity between (large numbers of) Republicans and (an awful lot of) Americans.
• Yves Smith at naked capitalism features a brief video segment on the failure of Occupy to become a mass political movement.
• Also from Yves Smith:  Banks are above rules.  In certain matters, anyway.
• ETA:  Dave Neiwert at Orcinus on "secessionist" movements and some more America-hating.  A taste, because he's not kidding:

  This is the reaction we've come to know and expect from people on the hardnosed edges of the American right: At the end of the day, they don't really believe in democracy. They don't believe in putting up with other citizens who believe differently, who pray differently, who dress and wear their hair and their clothes differently and eat differently and most of all who think differently from them.
  They like the idea of America as a big all-white nation. They don't like the idea of America as a democracy.
  
  Their antipathy to democracy always creeps out, even in their conspiracy theories (how many times have we heard the far-right refrain, "This is a republic, not a democracy!"), but more importantly in their actions and their political strategies, embodied most recently in the gutting of the Voting Rights Act and the ongoing efforts at voter suppression by conservative Republicans.
  
  And when they realize they are not going to get their way, their solution is not to accept the verdict of democracy. Their solution is to drop out.

It turns out, by the way, that I know someone who voted for Romney. (We all got rather too enthusiastically anti-conservative.)  Oh, well.

Moral Hazard, My Aspidistra

Subsidy-glomming reps want to cut food stamps.  Via Republic of T.

The absolutely hilarious part is that some of the biggest recipients of farm subsidies voted to cut food stamps and voted to keep giving subsidies to rich farmers — like themselves. Fourteen Republicans — with a total net worth of $124.5 million, including $7.2 million in farm subsidies — not only voted take food from the mouths of millions of the poor, the working poor, the unemployed, children, the elderly, and the disabled, but voted to continue putting money in their own pockets.
[...]
And these people want to preach to the rest of us about morality?

"I Was Struck by Lightning, Walking Down the Street"

Leave your body at the door.

• One of the ripples from the Snowden revelations:  Brazil steering away from U.S.-centred Internet.

  While Brazil isn't proposing to bar its citizens from U.S.-based Web services, it wants their data to be stored locally as the nation assumes greater control over Brazilians' Internet use to protect them from NSA snooping.
  
  The danger of mandating that kind of geographic isolation, Meinrath said, is that it could render inoperable popular software applications and services and endanger the Internet's open, interconnected structure.

• How your brain works, or doesn't.

  It turns out that in the public realm, a lack of information isn’t the real problem. The hurdle is how our minds work, no matter how smart we think we are. We want to believe we’re rational, but reason turns out to be the ex post facto way we rationalize what our emotions already want to believe.

It's a dead man's party.

Revival

I keep putting off posting that Orcinus is back.

• On Russia's gay-bashing.
• On reasons to support Orcinus' work.
• Fundraising.
• On disagreeing about Ron Paul.
• On "patriot" communities.
• Why Mr. Neiwert is reviving Orcinus.

Straight-up exposure of the fascist octopus attempts at respectability.

Atque Vale

Jurassicpork on Boston's farewell to Mariano Rivera.

Is That Tiger On Holiday?

The relationship of unions and racial equality.  (Not that this is a perfect relationship.)  With graphs.

Yahrzeit

Yahrzeit.

110 Stories

"110 Stories," by John M. Ford.

Note to self

God always has enough.

(L'shana tova for those who celebrate.)

In Memoriam

Frederik Pohl.

His last and penultimate post.

I used to run into him frequently twenty or so years back.  He will be greatly missed.

Leak at Fukushima

You can ignore the truth but the truth won’t ignore you.

--Iori Mochizuki

Yes, I Went There

Via skippy:  5 complaints of the "Christian" Right, and who is really getting hurt.  (Warning:  Amanda Marcotte)

Y'know, I've never been able to sit through Elmer Gantry.

Also, this is a review of the movie about One Direction in which the obvious comparison does not appear, probably because One Direction:  This Is Us would look even worse.  (I was not impressed by One Direction.  One, the abbreviation is one-dimensional.  Two, I get the appeal of young male singers who prance on stage, but does none of them play an instrument?  Three, get off my lawn.)


"It's been a hard day's night..."