The Liberal Doomsayer My blog deals primarily with national politics in the U.S. as well as, on occasion, local politics in Pennsylvania. From time to time, I may have something to say about sports and entertainment as well. I try to interpret information that shapes the news and provide context to current events. I am definitely left of center politically, but as far as I'm concerned, neither major party is perfect. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 2 0 54 4452

Articles from The Liberal Doomsayer

Wednesday Videos 2007-09-05 21:20:00 Theory Of A Deadman ("No Surprise"; "what" myself to sleep, I wonder - don't worry, I can guess; and hey, look on the bright side - at least she took care of the fish)......and Happy Birthday to "classic" rocker Al Stewart, performing an acoustic version of "Modern Times" here with "AJ" in 1995 (everyone automatically thinks of "Year Of The Cat" as his signature song, but this is my choice - speaking of Kerouac, today is the 50th anniversary of the publication of "The Road," and no, I don't know what happened at 6:44 either...quick story: Stewart and Paul Simon were brand new on the folk scene in the '60s when Paul asked Al to pick the best song from the upcoming "Simon and Garfunkel" debut, and Al said "Richard Cory," but Paul went with "The Sounds Of Silence," and the rest is history as they say).For more videos, check the WeShow home page widget (drop-down menu included). ...

Leaving The Truth Blowin' In The Wind 2007-09-05 16:28:00 (Posting is iffy again for tomorrow, by the way.)Boy, did Froma Harrop of the Providence Journal take the long way in this attack of drive-by “journalism” on Ted Kennedy, even predicting his “sorry end” at the close of this column.This excerpt gives you a good part of the setup (describing scorn at Kennedy from “the leftish ‘Daily Show’,” among others)…The source of unhappiness is Kennedy's efforts to kill an offshore wind farm on Nantucket Sound. Cape Wind was to be the first such project in the United States and a source of pride to environmentally-minded New Englanders. Polls show 84 percent of Massachusetts residents in favor. But now it appears that America's first offshore wind farm will be near Galveston, Texas.Harrop tells us that a book co-written by her editor at the Providence Journal with the short, understated title of “Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics and the Battle for Our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound" (phew) portrays the dustup as a ...

"The Shepherd," At Long Last, Leads His Flock 2007-09-05 15:06:00 Thank you, Pope Benedict XVI, for finally speaking out on an issue of critical important to us all, as opposed to creating a controversy through some kind of mangled or badly (un?)-vetted speech (as stated here)…Pope Benedict on Wednesday made another strong appeal for the protection of the environment, saying issues such as climate change had become gravely important for the entire human race.The Pope made his appeal, his second on environmental issues in four days, at the end of his general audience before some 16,000 people in St Peter's Square.'Care of water resources and attention to climate change are matters of grave importance for the entire human family,' he said.'Encouraged by the growing recognition of the need to preserve the environment, I invite all of you to join me in praying and working for greater respect for the wonders of God's creation,' he told his listeners, speaking in English.And regarding matters of faith (allegedly), I have to work extra hard to contr ...

Slam One Dem, You Slam All, MoDo 2007-09-05 14:34:00 Like many of you, I’ve watched the quality of Maureen Dowd’s writing dissipate over time. As far as I’m concerned, she has turned from witty and sharply insightful to mean-spirited, petty, illogical, and – worst of all – genuinely uninteresting.In today’s New York Times screed against Barack Obama (I’m not going to try and dissect all of her attempts to perpetuate the narrative that Obama is inexperienced – he is a bit as a presidential candidate, I’ll grant you that, but he is formidable in his knowledge of both U.S. politics and the world), she offers the following about Hillary Clinton…In the White House, she botched health care and bungled dealing with special prosecutors — remember that talent she had for losing critical files? And in the Senate, she played it safe and became a Democratic Senator Pothole while helping W. launch his disaster in Iraq.Yes, her vote on the Iraq war was a mistake, but to be fair, I think we’ve beaten this to death pretty much by ...

"Going Green" With Diane And Steve 2007-09-05 12:46:00 The Bucks County Courier Times reported today on last night’s debate between incumbent Repug county supervisors Charles Martin and Jim Cawley and Democratic challengers Steve Santarsiero and Diane Marseglia. The theme of the debate was the environment; the debate was sponsored by the Sierra Club (and don’t assume that automatically means a tilt towards the Dems, since they supported Mikey Fitzpatrick last year in the U.S. House election).There are a couple of points I want to highlight in the article, and the first is based on this excerpt…Martin, who has been a commissioner for more than 12 years after being appointed in 1995, said the county has elevated 55 homes and acquired 100 homes as well as created a task force in response to flooding. Santarsiero noted the task force was formed nine months after the last in a series of three floods.Well, did the task force issue a report or recommendations of any kind, aside from elevating 55 homes and assuming the cost of 100 more? Was ...

Arlen Tops Craig's "List" Now, I Guess 2007-09-05 10:33:00 (And I mean that in terms of Specter as a political kindred spirit and nothing more, by the way.)So our senator has come to the defense of Larry (I’m Not Gay) Craig, giving the beleaguered Idaho Repug the idea of now contesting his resignation from the Senate. I think this is an absolutely scurrilous development, and in response, I have only this to say…Thanks, dude!This breathes new life into a story whose “shelf life” was about to expire, keeping the spotlight on the hypocrisy of the “family values” party as it shields someone who has been the subject of innuendo concerning anonymous gay sex for years.Do I ultimately care if all parties consent in the activity and show a bare minimum of discretion? No, though I will admit to be concerned if I ever enter a men’s room to do my typical “business” and see the stall door shaking, a man (presumably) on his knees and hear the sound of low moans.And as far as Craig is concerned, there are other more important reasons for hi ...

Tuesday Videos 2007-09-04 22:00:00 The Rentals ("Last Romantic Day")......and legendary guitar virtuoso Danny Gatton would have been 62 today ("Harlem Nocturne"; the video-audio synch is a bit off, but it still captures his amazing musicianship).By the way, more videos are available from the WeShow home page link - enjoy. ...

A Moment In Romney History 2007-09-04 17:06:00 I guess I should have tied some of this into my prior post about how the Repugs are telling Hispanics in this country to take a hike based on their confrontational position on immigration and so-called “sanctuary cities,” but it seems that Willard Mitt was chanting this mantra recently (and gosh golly, Mitt, it sounds like your whole “down-home” thing plays just oh so well with the voting demographic of this country that is shrinking faster than any other).Well, it turns out that I overlooked the 40th anniversary last Friday of the self-destruction of the presidential hopes of Mitt’s father, George (here).As Boston Globe columnist Neil Swidey wrote last August...On August 31, 1967, George Romney, the voluble, vigorous three-term governor of Michigan and former automotive executive, walked into a Detroit TV station to be interviewed by a local broadcaster with a lousy hairpiece. For more than a year, Romney had been talked about as the Republicans' best chance for winning the ... History

Turd Blossom’s Immigration Faux Pas 2007-09-04 15:49:00 According to Dick Polman in the Philadelphia Inquirer last Sunday (here)…Karl Rove is right.That's not a misprint.President Bush's career guru has long insisted that Republicans will never achieve permanent majority status unless they can connect with Hispanic voters. Since his White House departure, he has warned Republicans that their persistent immigrant-bashing is hazardous to their long-term political health. In Rove's words, "You cannot ignore the aspirations of the fastest-growing minority in America."Wow, I guess the fact that Rove recognizes the obvious is what makes him a political genius (but being the scheming rat that he will always be, I know that you can never count him out).I wonder, though, if he was “trying to connect with Hispanic voters” when he spoke the following (as noted here - there are many, many ways the Repugs have alienated this constituency, but I'll just focus on this for the moment)…"I don't want my 17-year-old son to have to pick tomatoes o ...

Vitter, Vidi, Vici 2007-09-04 15:02:00 Sen. John Ensign, the Senate Republican campaign chairman, denied (in this Philadelphia Inquirer story today) “a double standard… in pushing Sen. Larry Craig (R., Idaho) to resign after a sex sting guilty plea, while remaining silent over Louisiana GOP Sen. David Vitter's involvement with an escort service.”See, Ensign said that Craig should step down because he pleaded guilty, but Vitter shouldn’t because he did not.I don’t know about you, but that makes perfect sense to me. What kind of a godless liberal, al Qaeda-loving heathen would think otherwise?I mean, Vitter apologized for the fact that, as the New York Times reported……his phone number had appeared in a list of clients' numbers kept by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who is accused of running a prostitution ring in Washington. He missed major votes on Iraq in the Senate and made no public appearances, even as accounts of other relationships with prostitutes multiplied in the New Orleans news media.Vitter said that “po ...

Sorry Patrick Isn't Clairvoyant 2007-09-04 14:35:00 So the Bucks County Courier Times today tells us on its editorial page…Our congressman (Patrick Murphy) acted quickly to shed tainted money (received from Norman Hsu, who is currently awaiting trial on felony fraud charges after posting bail at $1 million) – but should have used better discretion to begin with.While the editorial makes the good point that campaign finance reform is needed to prevent scams such as those allegedly carried out by Hsu, I fail to understand how Patrick was expected to somehow foresee this, especially since Hsu had also donated to Hillary Clinton and Gov. Ed Rendell (who has said that he’ll keep his $40,000 Hsu donation unless Hsu is found guilty – Ed can afford to do that since he isn’t running for office any more).And as far as Repug mouthpiece Ken Spain’s criticisms of Patrick (here), my comment is that, unless he can produce an itemized list of where Mike Fitzpatrick donated every dollar that he received from Jack Abramoff, he should shut his ...

All Too Convenient 2007-09-04 12:57:00 Forgive me if I continue to be suspicious, based on this editorial in yesterday’s New York Times, regarding the explanation from Yuri Chaika, Russia’s prosecutor general, about some notable murders in that country over the last year or so.According to the Times, Chaika announced the arrests of 10 people involved in the murder of the crusading journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and perhaps also the killing of an American journalist, Paul Klebnikov, and the deputy head of the Russian Central Bank, Andrei Kozlov (a prior post on this appears here).But now, it appears that a military court has overturned a decision by a lower court to sanction the arrest of Federal Security Service officer Pavel Ryaguzov, who served in the FSB's Moscow branch and focused on ethnic crime groups (Ryaguzov has been linked to a criminal group that carried out contract hits of the type that killed Politkovskaya and the others mentioned by the Times editorial, with 9 other members of the group).Who knows how th ...

Dubya's Fan Dance 2007-09-04 11:28:00 Awww, I think President Nutball needs a big hug based on this story.It turns out that, based on what he has communicated to family friend Robert Draper (whose upcoming book Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush has had excerpts published in the New York Times; ironic title, I’d say - and no shot on an Amazon link, in case you were wondering), Dumbya……must continue to contend with the loneliness and the sadness of serving, all the while not showing the strain. But surely he has a "shoulder to cry on," Draper asks? "Of course I do," the President replies. "I've got God's shoulder to cry on, and I cry a lot."And we all do too, but I’m sure for very different reasons. Also……You would expect that, as Commander-in-Chief, Mr. Bush would have a firm handle on everything that has happened on America's watch in Iraq. But in one exchange he almost blithely admits to Draper: "The policy was to keep the [Iraqi] army intact; didn't happen." How was it then, Draper asks, that ...

Hit Ed Where It Hurts 2007-09-03 22:04:00 The following Philadelphia Inquirer story appeared yesterday, written by reporter Steve Goldstein, about Arlen Specter meeting with Altoona, PA residents, holding a Q&A session about a host of topics (the Iraq war was number one on the list, as it should be).Now I definitely have issues with Specter, including his recent repugnant defense of Larry Craig, but I have to give it to him; if I make it to be his age and survive his surgeries, I hope I'm able to accomplish what he can.However, there's something else in Goldstein's story that I want to highlight, and that's the real "takeaway" from this post.It seems that, according to Goldstein, Ed Snider, chairman of Comcast-Spectacor which owns the Philadelphia Flyers, 76ers, and many other cable and business interests, has contributed to the group Freedom's Watch, the organization that is lobbying members of Congress (primarily Republicans) to support the Iraq war (they have spent $15 million on this effort - please read more here ...

Labor's Many Colors 2007-09-03 12:00:00 I realize this is par for the course when it comes to the Wall Street Journal, but yesterday, this column appeared from Paul Moreno, a professor of history at Hillsdale College.Moreno makes a persuasive argument that unions in this country practiced racist policies in recruitment, training and membership representation, citing incidents where African Americans were used as strikebreakers (particularly during the 1894 Pullman railway strike) but were not granted union representation (though Moreno does not acknowledge the formation of the Colored National Labor Union, organized to achieve a type of racial unity with the National Labor Union that did not take place). Moreno also spins advances in labor such as the passage of the Wagner Act in 1935 that created the National Labor Relations Board to protect the right of unions to organize as affronts to racial equality also.In short, Moreno blames unions for the rise of affirmative action, saying in so many words that the "goals and timeta ...