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: 28 0 2 4214

Articles from The Liberal Doomsayer

And Remember, Markos Served 2007-08-08 11:54:00 Five sons and not one in the military, even though their father, Mitt (“Clap Louder, Dammit! That Pony Has To Be In This Pile of Poop Somewhere!”) Romney is running as the Repug nominee for president?(By the way, to get the “pony” reference, see “Chapter One” halfway down the page here.)I think Seamus showed more courage.Update 1: "The Most Trusted Name In News" strikes again.Update 2: Some context from Attaturk here (R.I.P.). ...

Today's News of C.E.O. Abuse 2007-08-08 10:14:00 (A non-political post coming up here having a lot to do with Philadelphia – by the way, posting will be sporadic for the rest of the week after today.)A family member communicated to me that the Philadelphia Inquirer practiced actual journalism in its “Magazine” section today (having to do with People/Lifestyle/This Week’s Beautiful Celebrity In Trouble stuff), and what is even more unbelievable is that the person responsible was Karen Heller, who, to my mind, is one of the worst features writers who has ever lived.I am quite sure there will be a response to her column today, but she states that Bill Marrazzo, the CEO of WHYY, Philadelphia’s public radio and television station, earned $430,786 in salary and an additional $56,250 in benefits during fiscal year 2006 (as Heller observed, pulling in a “for-profit” kind of salary for a non-profit operation).(Her column is actually a follow-up to the criticism by Arlen Specter of Matt A. Peskin, who makes $255,000 in salary and ...

Tuesday Videos 2007-08-07 23:15:00 I'm not really of a mind to joke about this FISA business, by the way, but I still thought this was clever (based on the '80s dance hit by Rockwell)......Kasabian ("Empire," a logical progression for a society that tramples on the rights of the individual, including the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution)......and now, let's set the wayback to the late '50s-early '60s for this bit of kitsch; the "Jeno's Pizza Roll" commercial brought to us, along with many other clever ads and great comedy bits, by Mr. Stan Freberg, who celebrates Number 81 today (the Lone Ranger and Tonto were played by Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, of course)......and Nancy Sinatra performs "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" on "Hullabaloo" (once again, not Digby's great blog, but the '60s T.V. show from the Dippity-Do, "yeah baby" Austin Powers era, introduced by the Righteous Brothers), a song written by the king of "cowboy psychedelia" Lee Hazelwood, songwriter and producer, who died on August 4th) ...

A Down-Home Whacking 2007-08-07 17:34:00 I guess there are a whole bunch of newspaper columnists in remotely rural areas of this country aspiring to dispense with sage advice disguised as commentary on current events that they hope will be useful (I probably just explained the media existence of J.D. Mullane, among others).This admittedly obvious observation occurred to me when I read this post by Brad Warthen, editorial page editor of TheState.com, South Carolina’s Home Page (don’t know anything else about it except what’s on the masthead). Warthen, though, tries to imagine himself as a “mover and shaker” of opinion, though (like Mullane also, and – truth be told – your humble narrator to a certain degree, though I at least aspire to provide substance).And Warthen has it in for John Edwards. You see, he thinks Edwards is a big phony.Hey, I’ll admit that no politician is perfect, but let’s look at the “evidence,” OK?His face was impassive, slack, bored: Another crowd, another show. Nothing wrong with tha ...

Holding The Betrayers Accountable 2007-08-07 15:32:00 As I continue to figure out just how in the hell I’m going to support a political party that cowers and capitulates at every turn to our criminal ruling regime, I happened to come across this editorial in the New York Times today which should be required reading for every single member of the Democratic Party (regarding the shameless sellout by Congress on FISA, aided and abetted by a handful of “Democrats” including Sideshow Bob Casey).Yes, I’m still angry. I’m going to be angry for a little while.And with this in mind, I should let you know that I came across the following letter in the New York Times recently from Marc Dunkelman, whose title is “Director of the Ideas Primary Democratic Leadership Council” (?) written in response to a column by Noam Scheiber called “The Centrists Didn’t Hold”…Mr. Scheiber’s contention that the Democratic Leadership Council believes that the “teachers unions endanger the republic” must have come as a surprise to the teacher ...

Honoring Our Military 2007-08-07 13:26:00 The following letter appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times on Sunday (I'm not familiar with the original letter Ms. Fulton is referring to - so many of its type to choose from)…Your recent "balanced" report is precisely why so many Americans mistrust the mass media. Next time you report on a rally against governmental injustices and illegal wars, end the article with a quote from the U.S. Constitution, not from some blindly obedient militarist!Every active duty military person, including the quoted Marine, took an oath to preserve and protect the Constitution. He has a right to express his opinion - and I would sacrifice my life to ensure that both he and I retain that right. But his opinion is factually wrong on all counts.Look up the language on impeachment in the Constitution. Impeachment is mandatory for the kinds of high crimes and misdemeanors committed over and over with utter arrogance and claims of "privilege" by draft dodgers Cheney and Bush.Article II, Section 4 read ...

More Plame Blame 2007-08-07 11:52:00 By the way, how many other people besides me noticed the fact that Valerie Plame got hosed again recently?This story notes the following…A federal court last week accepted a Central Intelligence Agency argument that the date on which former covert officer Valerie Plame Wilson's employment at the CIA began should remain classified even though it is irrevocably in the public domain.The date in question appeared in a seemingly unclassified letter sent by CIA to Ms. Wilson and published in the Congressional Record. But when she sought to include the information in the manuscript of her forthcoming memoir, the CIA objected that it is still classified. Now the Court has agreed."To be sure, the public may draw whatever conclusions it might from the fact that the information at issue was sent on CIA letterhead by the Chief of Retirement and Insurance Services," wrote Judge Barbara S. Jones in an August 1 ruling. "However, nothing in the law or its policy requires the CIA to officially ackno ...

Lending A Hand To "The Man" 2007-08-07 10:36:00 This is one “echo chamber” post that I am more than happy to publish.David Sirota notifies us here that he was asked to write a column for Creators Syndicate, to, in essence, fill the shoes of Molly Ivins; I’m sure David and anyone else would admit that's impossible, but all we can do is try our best.He also is asking that we lend a hand on behalf of his column and ask newspaper editors to include his well-written and highly detailed observations amidst the ever-growing volume of right-wing bile that they inflict on us at every opportunity. I will attempt to communicate this to Chris Satullo of the Philadelphia Inquirer shortly; I don’t know who has replaced him as editorial page editor, but I’m sure it isn’t asking too much for him to publicize David’s existence. I will also contact Guy Petroziello at the Bucks County Courier Times and make a similar request.(Oh, and I should point out that I may not have much success with the Inquirer since we cancelled our subscriptio ...

Monday Videos 2007-08-06 22:44:00 A couple of mellow ones tonight, in a bit of a reflective mode - "Quicksand," by Natalie Walker......and Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong singing "Summertime," appropriate for these parts (August means absolutely beastly humidity, so we're right on schedule). ...

Casey Strikes Out 2007-08-06 16:03:00 I forgave you for taking a total pass on that so-called “Justice Sunday” farce that took place in Philadelphia featuring Senator Man-On-Dog during the campaign last year (while your primary opponent Chuck Pennacchio rightly opposed it in person).I looked the other way (tried to, anyway) when you resurrected one of the all-time “zombie lies that never die” about your father being denied the opportunity to speak at the 1992 Democratic Convention because he opposed abortion (he opposed Bill Clinton for the nomination, so he wasn’t given a chance to speak from the podium; that’s as old a tradition as politics itself).I cringed over your opposition to federal funding of embryonic stem cell research because a lot of that scientific study has now moved offshore along with the jobs that go with it, though I made an attempt to understand how you could seriously think that such funding would actually lead to an increase in abortions.I seethed while you refused to support the Reid-Fei ...

Uh, AP? 2007-08-06 15:48:00 I have a question for reporter Amy Lorentzen based on this story; tell me where John Edwards criticizes former president Bill Clinton by name (or even Sen. Hillary Clinton).I mean, that should be the case, right? That is in your headline, after all.You can’t do it, can you? And especially because Edwards states in your story that this is not about any one politician in particular.No, it’s more important for you to create some imaginary dustup between Edwards and the Clintons than it is to analyze or pay more attention to what it is that Edwards is saying.He’s talking about how both of our major political parties (but especially the Repugs) are beholden to corporate interests that continually shut us out of any benefits from this supposedly glorious global economy. I should note, though, that Bill Clinton has said in the past that he tried to ensure worker safeguards in NAFTA, but they were stripped out by congressional Republicans (and is that really so far-fetched of a possibili ...

Broder Piles On 2007-08-06 11:20:00 Believe me when I tell you that I am in absolutely no mood to defend the 110th Congress at this moment, but I am compelled to do so because of this particularly awful column by David Broder that appeared in the Washington Post and the Bucks County Courier Times yesterday.The distinguishing characteristic of this Congress was on vivid display the other day when the House debated a bill to expand the federal program that provides health insurance for children of the working poor.Even when it is performing a useful service, this Congress manages to look ugly and mean-spirited. So much blood has been spilled, so much bile stockpiled on Capitol Hill, that no good deed goes untarnished.How artful of Broder in ultimate “concern troll” mode to heap blame like this anonymously, attacking the Democrats through implication since they’re running the show. And Congress was not ugly and mean-spirited towards Clinton while his administration produced 22 million new non-farm sector jobs and deli ...

Pot, Meet Kettle, Presidential Candidates Version 2007-08-04 22:00:00 Via Atrios, Juan Cole chides Barack Obama for talking about using nukes in Pakistan, reversing his original position, and Hillary Clinton for saying that "all options should remain on the table" (would that Nancy Pelosi felt that way about Dubya and impeachment).I am not pro-nuclear war, but actually, I think Clinton's phrasing is the way to go here. Since she is a grownup, unlike anyone in our current presidential "leadership," she would understand that that language is bland enough to virtually rule out the possibility of a pre-emptive strike with nukes on our part.And I don't feel that Obama committed any particular kind of a faux pas with his reversal into not ruling anything out, staged Pakistani outrage aside (giving up bin Laden would put an end to it, bin Laden's "protected" status notwithstanding). Unlike Cole, I don't think Obama made a "serious error." If this ends up as an "issue" somehow, it will be because our corporate media made it so to reinforce some kind of "craz ...

Friday Videos 2007-08-03 20:39:00 Happy Birthday to James Hetfield of Metallica ("Enter Sandman" - never a bad time to hear Metallica)......Happy belated Birthday to Stan Ridgway of Wall of Voodoo ("Mexican Radio")......Happy Birthday also to Leon Drucker (alias Lee Rocker) of The Stray Cats ("Rumble In Brighton" live - they were huge for a time)......guitarist Paul Reynolds of Flock of Seagulls hits number 45 tomorrow ("Space Age Love Song," with Hawkman from Marvel Comics on keyboards and lead vocals - not sure who the guy is who pops up at 2:43)......tomorrow also marks what would have been the 106th birthday of Louis Armstrong ("Basin Street Blues" recorded in 1959 - many thanks to 14nitetripper at YouTube for this one)......and a great big Happy Birthday wish for a joyous number 81 goes out to the one and only Tony Bennett ("I Left My Heart In San Francisco," with images of "the city by the bay"). ...

Where The Rubber Meets The Road (8/3/07) 2007-08-03 15:40:00 As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week.Iraq bases ban. Members passed, 399-24, a bill to prohibit the United States from establishing permanent military bases in Iraq or exerting economic control of the Iraq oil industry.A yes vote was to pass HR 2929.All Philadelphia-area representatives voted in favor of the bill.Part of me is shocked by the unanimity of the vote here, though, as you can see, the 24 votes against this bill all came from Republicans.Farm bill. Members passed, 231-191, a bill that would extend the system of payments to growers of major crops, expand nutrition programs such as Food Stamps, fund fruit and vegetable programs, and promote conservation.A yes vote was to pass the five-year farm program (HR 2419)Voting yes: Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Joe Sestak (D. ...