Common Sense for Uncommon Times - Fair and Balanced |
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Random, occasionally rambling thoughts with links to interesting, scandalous, or partisan news of the day. Fair and Balanced 
We owe the liberty and freedom we take for granted to the enlisted men and women in the armed forces. They sacrifice family, ease, and even life laboring in service to all of us. The least we can do for them is honor their devotion with dignified pay scales, decent education for themselves and their children, and reasonable compensation for service away from their families and death on the battlefield. Flag waving politicians who praise the troops on one hand and cut their pay and benefits with the other should be deeply ashamed of themselves.
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Friday, January 31, 2003
Martyrdom news from Iran Damn, these guys just don't get it. Here's a quote from a conservative Iranian daily, "...Can America stand in the way of people seeking Shehada [martyrdom] in God's way? Will the seekers of martyrdom get their wish because of the American presence in the region?" Ask any Marine or Army Ranger if they'll help these youngsters seeking martyrdom. You'll get a short "Bring 'em on!" answer. I think what we'll see instead is a re-run of the Jenin "massacre" and "fight to the death" that ended in a non-massacre and masses of surrendering Palestinians. You would have to be insane to fight for Arafat or think dying to defend Saddam is going to win glory for you. There will undoubtedly be some martyr wannabes, but I hope their mamas can grab most of them and stuff them in a closet until the fighting is over and the troops have gone home. Life, my friends, is precious. Don't waste it. posted by Dave on 2:12 PM | 0 comments link
Politicians With Guts (washingtonpost.com) In praise of opposition to "the street" in Europe. posted by Dave on 8:33 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Thursday, January 30, 2003
Former South African President Nelson Mandela slammed President Bush and his stance on Iraq, saying, "If there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America." Speaking at the International Women's Forum, Mandela said, "One power with a president who has no foresight -- who cannot think properly -- is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust." This is the sort of bombast "committed unspeakable atrocities" that makes people stop listening to the left. What about Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot? Kim Jong Il starving 2 million of his own people? Saddam gassing Kurdish villagers and continuing torture and rape as tools of population management? His entire point on Bush having no foresight is lost because of the ridiculousness of his previous statement. His use of the term holocaust for freeing the Iraqi people mirrors the European hand wringing post 9/11 about Bush lashing out. Instead Bush planned, waited, gathered allies, and struck carefully and with consideration for civilians. The result is a new Afghanistan with perhaps some hope of becoming a nation. Some hope that women will be treated with some modicum of fairness. Some chance that education will be available to everyone. Ask the Afghans if "unspeakable atrocities" applies better to Mullah Omar or Bush. posted by Dave on 9:12 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Lileks keeps rolling along This is for brother Jim, far away. This is the authentic voice of Minnesota, of parents, of Minnesota, of terminally good people confronting the 1930's of the 21st century. How do you know if this is an "appeasing Hitler" moment, or just the US trying to pick up some cheap oil? How do you choose between the German/French "give inspections time" plea and Bush's "it's already been 12 years."? Well, some common sense, some girding of the loins, and some crystal ball gazing clarifies the world immensely. As an Iraqi professor told some visiting Congressmen, "What makes you think WE want to live under Saddam?" This guy is a vicious tyrant, a bully, and a murderer, torturer, and rapist of his own people. That, snidely speaking, qualifies him for a French position of honor, but it puts him pretty far down on my pecking order of good guys. By itself, it's not enough to go after him. Couple it, however, with his stated desire to be the next Saladin, his pursuit of nuclear arms, and his pattern of unrestrained aggression and you've got a situation that could be lethal to the US. We're already stymied, as are the South Koreans, by the presence of a psychotic dictator in North Korea. It's not just that he's already admitted kidnapping, assassination, and bombing a plane filled with the South Korean cabinet. No, Kim Jong Il also has nuclear weapons to go with his giant conventional army within artillery range of Seoul. Do we want to give Saddam that type of leverage? Nuclear tipped missiles within range of Cairoy, Teheran, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or Riyadh? I don't think so. 9/11 taught us one important lesson. Terrorists will reach out and kill us and the more the merrier. Our answer must be forceful, broad, and terminal. Appeasement was bad with Hitler. It could be far, far worse with Saddam. Do I want war? No. I'd much rather see Saddam ride out of town into exile and live happily ever after. Easier on the Iraqis and our stock of precision guided bombs. Do I expect that ride into the sunset? Nope. We're going to have to dig this sucker out of a deep, deep bunker. But we can. And we will. posted by Dave on 4:49 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Tuesday, January 28, 2003
No link. Just a little ranting. The SOTU was a competent effort tonight. Nothing fancy or extraordinary, but not a disaster. The two LIES that bothered me the most are ones Bush and his team have been trotting out for at least a month, and both have been roundly and widely discredited. I was astonished he used them at all. The first was the claim that 93 million Americans would get an average tax cut of nearly $1,100. The raw number is correct but so misleading that even Republicans have been shamed into not repeating it. Non-administration Republicans, that is. The reality is that half of all taxpayers would get a tax cut of less than $250. Many parents who pay heavily into payroll taxes but not income tax, would get nothing and that includes the promised $1,000 child tax credit. On the flip side, millionaires would average more than $80,000. The Democrats plan of a flat $300 for everybody is a whole lot simpler and at least gets the money into circulation now. I wish some ball-toting journalist would nail the administration on this massive distortion of reality. The second, and more shameful, lie was a repeat of the charge that aluminum tubes destined for Iraq were meant for uranium-purifying centrifuges. This has been shot down be everyone from the IAEA to the NY Times to anybody with the common sense that God gave sergeants. They're damn missile tubes for the 81 mm rockets. Perfect fit, right alloy, and they fit a consistent pattern of orders. They're the wrong alloy, the wrong size, and the wrong shape for centrifuges. Bush knows these arent't MWD evidence, but he says it anyway. If he wonders why people are hesitant to believe him, he's only got to look at what he said to understand our skepticism. posted by Dave on 10:52 PM | 0 comments link
opinion.telegraph.co.uk - Blair must turn a deaf ear to the siren calls of appeasers Hey, if you're going to beat the drums of war, at least beat them for the right reasons. Appeasement, under any name, is still a stupid foreign policy. posted by Dave on 9:52 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Monday, January 27, 2003
Eject! Eject! Eject!: WAR David Brooks made a good case for a war with Iraq last Friday on the News Hour. In this quite long essay, Bill Whittle lays out a very reasoned case for bringing to a firm conclusion the Gulf War that was put on hold in 1991. He makes many of the same arguments as David Brooks, but in greater detail. posted by Dave on 9:05 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Saturday, January 25, 2003
A Wartime Leader Can't Be Partisan as Usual (washingtonpost.com) E J Dionne with a brilliant summation of the partisanship that has dismayed so many Democrats who wished Bush success after 9/11. posted by Dave on 11:40 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Friday, January 24, 2003
No Turning Back Now (washingtonpost.com) Krauthammer shows again why he is a giant, pompous boil on an elephant's ass. The situation in Iraq, he declares, requires imminent war. Forget gathering allies, evidence, UN support, or any effort at forcing Saddam into exile. Krauthammer has morphed into a Dr. Strangelove character who chess-like plots to spend the lives of our children serving overseas, all in the name of maintaining the fiction that Bush is a competent leader. So what if Bush has frittered away international good will by bombastic pronouncements. So what if Bush has destroyed our relationship with South Korea in his need to balance the axis of evil with a non-Muslim state. Krauthammer forgives all, froths at all, and leeps unseeing into a full battle frenzy. It's quite a performance for a man sitting on the sidelines. He counsels recklessness and haste and cobbles together cotton candy dreams of the aftermath. He calls out as witness to an American malaise, caused, he says, "by phony-war suspension as we await the inevitable conflict." I don't know about you, but I'll agree that there's a phony war. I don't buy into the inevitability bit, however, and neither should you. We're ready to attack and the writing is on the wall for Saddam. In the best of all possible worlds he'll flee into exile. I'm willing to wait to see if we can create that outcome before I rub my hands in glee and send our kids off to die. I didn't think even Krauthammer was as demented as this. His past diagnosis of Gore's mental state pales in comparison with the self-exposure he provides for us in his work today. He needs treatment. posted by Dave on 12:44 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Seymour Hersh on Bush and Korea If you have nightmares about terrorists, loose nukes, and rogue states, you might not want to read this. If you think President Bush has a coherent North Korean policy, you might not want to read this either. posted by Dave on 9:42 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Saturday, January 18, 2003
The President's Tax Proposal: First Impressions Too good not to quote in its entirety below: President Bush's new tax plan is an answer in search of a question. It would provide little short-term stimulus. It seems unlikely to provide much of a long-term boost to growth or jobs. It is an incomplete way to reform corporate taxes. It would not boost investor confidence. It would provide windfall gains for previous actions, rather than encouraging new activity. It would make taxes more complex. It does not fix the alternative minimum tax. It does not resolve uncertainty regarding the repeal of EGTRRA at the end of 2010. It is fiscally irresponsible and unduly weighted toward high-income households. The plan has two main features: elimination of individual taxes on dividends and acceleration of the many features of the 2001 tax cut. The repeal of dividend taxes is essentially a price support program for investors, which is consistent with earlier Administration advocacy of price supports for farmers and the steel industry. Accelerating the 2001 tax cut—which was designed during boom times in 1999 to stave off a conservative political attack from Steve Forbes but has never been altered to address any changing economic circumstance since then—is also consistent with earlier Administration positions. A consistent political agenda, however, does not always make good economics. posted by Dave on 1:23 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Thursday, January 16, 2003
ABCNEWS.com : NHTSA Head Claims SUVs Are Unsafe But the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Jeffrey Runge, said Tuesday in a speech at an auto-industry conference in Detroit that some of the SUVs are so dangerous, he wouldn't buy one for his daughter even "if it was the last one on Earth." Just so you don't think one wacko wrote a book and that's the end of the story, here's a bold speech by a man who is likely to be fired for telling the truth. posted by Dave on 11:31 PM | 0 comments link
The New Republic Online: Axle of Evil What can I do to persuade you to read this article? Make it your blog duty of the day. We have all been duped by Detroit and ill served by a compliant Congress. Everyone, particularly SUV owners with children, needs to understand the issues raised by Gregg Easterbrook in this fine review of "High and Mighty: SUVs -- The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way" by Keith Bradsher. One key point for those to busy to read the whole thing. Your chances of dying in an SUV are higher than they would be in nearly any mid-sized car. Period. Anybody that tells you an SUV is safer is lying to you. posted by Dave on 10:36 PM | 0 comments link
Reuters AlertNet - Vatican calls Catholic politicians into line I'm all for religious freedom, but it's a two way street. I pity the first Catholic legislator in the US who admits to taking direct orders form an eighty year old Polish guy who tolerates widespread pedophilia. And didn't I read somewhere that the problem with Islamic fundamentalists is that they can't separate their religion from their government. This isn't a road we want to go down. I call on all Catholic legislators to remind the Pope that they are civil, not religious representatives. Their vow is to the Constitution and not the Catholic Church of Rome. posted by Dave on 8:09 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Generating jobs and growth: An economic stimulus plan for 2003 | EPI Here's one interesting Democratic response to the Bush "leave no millionaire behind" tax cut. At the least it points towards some common sense objections to the Bush plan. posted by Dave on 6:15 PM | 0 comments link
Unethical Pizza (washingtonpost.com) Graft usually starts small. I just find it impossible to believe that any Congressman would start treading back into ethically sticky grounds. It's almost as dumb as Gary Hart challenging the media to catch him fooling around. A $50 dinner isn't chopped liver, and there's no reason a congressman who keeps his staff late shouldn't pay for dinner out of his own pocket. Between the dinners and the new junket rules, Congress has fallen off the corruption bandwagon again. posted by Dave on 10:09 AM | 0 comments link
LeCarre says the US has gone mad It's an fiction writer's odd take on American policy, and given the issues he chooses to highlight I would have to agree that our policy would look daft to a foreigner. The part that hurts the most about his comments is the truthful commentary on the woeful ignorance of the public at large. The latest poll results showing that a substantial number of Americans think Iraqis were among the hijackers on September 11 is the smoking gun of propaganda drumbeat that has tied all the world's terrorism to Iraq. There are plenty of good reasons to want regime change in Iraq. More people should know what they are. At the same time, the administration would do itself a favor by sticking to known facts. posted by Dave on 9:40 AM | 0 comments link
FBI? An introductory article to the issues raised by FBI failures in recent years. As Glenn Reynold at Instapundit and many others have been saying, it's time for a hard look at this crime fighting bureau to see if it is up to the assignments it has been given. I'm not optimistic. The string of failures of intelligence go back far beyond 9/11. This is an agency with some incredible talent, wonderful investigators, and world class science. Sadly, it's hobbled by its own culture and a decades long resistance to technology. The final indignity it faces is a bureaucratic pecking order so entrenched that presidents can be ignored with impunity and without impact on career trajectory as long as institutional allegiance has been solid. All solutions to a rebirth with existing talent will involve some form of organizational sepuku. It won't be easy. posted by Dave on 8:49 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Tuesday, January 14, 2003
The King George version of Biblical rewards Read Hertzberg and his Financial Times quotes to see how far Bush is straying from Biblical orthodoxy regarding wealth. posted by Dave on 1:49 PM | 0 comments link
Long Live the Estate Tax! If it's good enough for Bill Gates Sr., it's good enough for me. posted by Dave on 9:32 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Monday, January 13, 2003
Bush Breaks With 140 Years of History in Plan for Wartime Tax Cut ...when Wilson urged higher taxes in World War I, he stressed the nation's obligation to avoid burdening future generations with the war's cost through excessive borrowing: "The industry of this generation should pay the bills of this generation," he said. Bush seems to be ignoring that lesson. Whatever ill or good you want to speak of the boomers, let it no be said that we skimped on paying our share of the bill. Our parents, the greatest generation, made out like bandits by never paying a decent payment into social security, but reaping a bountiful harvest. We, on the other hand, are paying for our parents and building up a trust fund for ourselves, but our fearless leader, he of the "no problem" surplus, wants to spend the bounty of the boomers on tax cuts for the rich and stick our children with tax bills so large they will revolt against paying them. Not for me and not in my name, Mr. Bush. Yo can pay as you go; put back the lock box; tax the dead to hell and gone, and slap a buck a gallon tax on gas. Just don't think my kids ought to pay for the tax cut you and Cheney will enjoy. To that, I salute my Navy veteran son who would surely say, "What the fuck's up with that?" I want to turn over to them a country with no deficits so they aren't stuck paying the deficit and the interest on top of social security. If they want to run up their own debts for their own priorities, let them do it. To stick them with ours is the worst example of fiscal duplicity by any President in the history of this nation. posted by Dave on 1:01 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Sunday, January 12, 2003
Woodward edges out Tim Russert in tough competition for Media Whore of 2002 I hate to do it, but Woodward deserves this award so much that it would be scandalous to deny him the publicity this honor deserves. posted by Dave on 11:44 PM | 0 comments link
A Tax Cut Plan Rooted in the Bush Pedigree With impressive dexterity Kevin Phillips reveals the history of the Bush family into the swamp of favoritism and elitism it represents. He reminds of us of the biparisan nature of the struggle against wealth in this nation's history. Bring back the class warfare of Nixon, Eisenhower, and Teddy Roosevelt... posted by Dave on 2:44 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Saturday, January 11, 2003
Boston Globe Online / Nation | World / Agency skips missile tests to save money Will someone explain to me how much money we have paid Boeing to date on this missile defense idiocy? In 2000, Boeing was to begin flight tests of a new booster - used to carry a missile-intercept device known as a ''kill vehicle'' into space to destroy an enemy warhead by colliding with it - but it encountered technical problems. After a booster launch failure in December 2001, Boeing decided to contract with Lockheed Martin, and later Orbital Sciences, to come up with designs for an intercept booster. My reading of the paragraph above suggests that every cent we paid them to date has just been flushed down the toilet. If they are still looking for designs after years of funding, they haven't done jack... posted by Dave on 9:44 AM | 0 comments link
The Salt Lake Tribune -- S.L. County GOP Purge Reaffirmed "At a recent Central Committee meeting Thompson compared the Republican officers' endorsement of a Democrat to committing acts of murder, rape or child abuse." Folks, I don't know about your political views, but I accept most Americans of both parties as decent, honest Americans. I guess Sarah Thompson wouldn't agree with that characterization of Democrats, or particularly of Republicans who could endorse a Democrat. This viewpoint is why so many would-be Republicans just can't take that final step into purist Heaven. The world isn't as black and white as Ms. Thompson so ardently wants it to be. posted by Dave on 9:37 AM | 0 comments link
Probe of Calif. Energy Crisis Facing Hurdles (washingtonpost.com) It's never too often to remind people of the 25 billion dollar rip off of California by the energy industry. They are still plodding away at FERC and they'll never give us what we deserve, but it's great to be vindicated, and we will be. There was a massive theft from the people of California and the Federal Government let it happen. FERC commissioners in place at the time are criminally negligent. The other party I want to heap blame on is the Republican House delegation from California. They sat on their hands on the energy subcommittees and did nothing to defend the state in order to toe the party line. When California Congressmen and women ignore their constituents in favor of their Texas party bosses it's time for the voters to toss the bums out, both in California and in Texas. posted by Dave on 12:23 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- Thursday, January 09, 2003
Administration’s Use Of “Average” Tax Cut Figures Creates Misleading Impression About The Tax Cuts Most Households Would Receive, 1/9/03 The truth about tax cuts is always elusive, but this paper does a great job dispelling the fallacies that abound when the administration plays with terms like "average". My favorite quote from the article: "Almost half of all tax filers — 49 percent — would receive tax cuts of less than $100." There's no reason not to nickname this cut the Starbucks Weekly. The Bush plan for half of tax payers would buy them precisely one cup of coffee per week. A grande, to be sure, but still just a cuppa java. If you want a latte or a frappacino, you better be in that lucky middle one fifth of the population that gets a whopping $265 per year. With that you can get two cups of java or week or spring for one fancy Frap job a week. Enjoy it. In fact, according to Bush advisors, now that you have advance notice you should start planning how to invest your tax windfall. Here's my plan: Monday, January 13. Starbucks Monday, January 20 Starbucks Monday, January 27 Starbucks... Good luck with your personal tax planning. Feel free to copy mine if you run out of ideas, but just remember that Crispe Creme, McDonalds, and Burger King are scattered across the land. Nobody should let their tax savings languish unspent with so many healthy dietary choices. Here's a final feel good passage from the same article: "Those with incomes of more than $1 million would get tax cuts averaging a whopping $88,900." Dudes and damsels, that's a serious cut. We're talking two new Z cars or a nice Mercedes or Jaguar. That's the cut I want. posted by Dave on 9:26 PM | 0 comments link
Mr. Bush the Wedge Driver The Washington Post calls it right on the issue of "a uniter, not a divider." We'd be far better served if Mr. Bush tried to govern as the President of all of us. As it is, he deserves to be called the Duly Selected President. posted by Dave on 8:53 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Wednesday, January 08, 2003
Anti-green author dishonest, says scientific panel If we held Bush economists and environmental regulators to the same standards, they'd all fail the test. posted by Dave on 7:58 PM | 0 comments link -------------------- Tuesday, January 07, 2003
An Irrelevant Proposal People sometimes wonder why Krugman never has a good thing to say about Bush proposals. I've never had that problem since I see no need to pander to pretensions of balance in my commentary. The fact that Bush is wrong on a universe of issues is not a reason to withhold criticism. From energy to prescription drugs to steel tariffs to ludicrous posturing about North Korea, this President is woefully prepared to be the leader of "all of us". Krugman merely points out today that yet again the President has avoided addressing a real issue in order to repay favors to the richest, least needy Americans. Go for it, Paul. I don't need no stinkin' balance. posted by Dave on 11:44 AM | 0 comments link -------------------- |