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Or was it 2004.
...sorry meant Pat Robertson
2005
I was absolutely stunned by Pat Robinson's remarks on Haiti yesterday. Do the 'Christian' right have a heart or a soul at all?
As tragic as the effects of the earthquake in Haiti are, those effects have been exacerbated by the denuded nature of the topography. Jared Diamond's book "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" details how it occurred that in stark contrast to the Dominican Republican, which it borders, Haiti is a virtually tree-less landscape where soil erosion has left what farmland there is in a dire strait.
In the meantime, on CNN we are hearing of indiviidual Americans much less interested in helping Haitians than might be expected. Perhaps the horrific scenes are too taxing on their senses.
Thom mentioned how the west coast has been given a reminder of the expected "Big One". As a Los Angeles resident, I'd have to say, I'd rather live where I live if a 7.0 hit then say somewhere in the Mid West or New York. I say that because our region is built for such a disaster, I shudder to think about the devastation you'd find in New York because although earthquakes are rare they do happen, and when they do, its expected to be severe.
However, I'm not saying.... "Bring it on."
I do believe Thom had Matt Taibbi on as a guest recently. Taibbi wrote the article in Rolling Stone about Obama’s Wall Street “sellout.” Maybe Thom skipped the part concerning teabaggers, who Taibbi described thus: “A vast horde of frowning, pissed-off middle-aged white people with their idiot placards in hand, ready to do cultural battle.” Teabaggers, it seems, are more notable for what they are against rather than what they are for. They are against “big government” using tax dollars to pay for the health care of dark-skinned immigrants who multiply too fast. They are against liberals. They are against people who use “big words.” They are against the stimulus package. They are against a black man with a “foreign,” slightly terrorist-sounding name. Taibbi also pointed out that these people are utterly clueless when it comes to financial regulation or even the need for it. One gets the impression that when Thom states that they care or understand anything about bank bailouts, that is nothing more or less than wishful thinking on his part. He should have taken Dan Gainor at his word: these people were drawn out by opponents of health care reform (especially since a “fascist-Communist president who was black was proposing it), not because they think about bank bailouts or bonuses.
I perfectly understand Thom’s frustration with this seeming inactivity from left-wing voters to move Obama and the Democrats in the “right” direction. But let’s not choose to see white where there is black, and black where there is white. The teabaggers are about hate and ignorance, and the left should have nothing to do with them. But it would be nice if the left imitated the so-called “energy” of these far-right fanatics (oh please with the “true conservative” moniker), but it would appear that some people would prefer to intellectualize the issues at hand rather than emulate what they see as an embarrassing mob mentality; health care reform just doesn’t seem to lend itself to simple-minded thinking—or the right or wrong approach to clear-cut issues like war or peace. One positive note was that Obama did deign to discuss health care reform with union leaders, and the anger from that front has moved Obama to press for a federal exchange rather than a state-sponsored one. It remains to be seen if this baby step to appease the left is too much for sense-challenged four in the Senate.
I have the next "Very Ugly" for Thom's broadcast. Pat Robertson says that Haiti is being punished for a pact with the devil made to gain freedom from France in the 1800's. I can't believe that any one who follows Jesus would condem a people like that. Jesus would have been the first to help that country as they are the most in need right now.
Catholic Relief Services staff in Haiti is responding immediately to the earthquake that rocked Port -au- Prince, the capital of Haiti. Tuesday night the agency made an immediate commitment of $ 5 million for emergency supplies.
Haitian-based development group Fonkoze. Fonkoze is a well-respected organization that serves the poor of Haiti by offering economic development grants. This work will be critical as Haiti rebuilds
This is mostly very true, however you want your cake and eat it, too! One thing you fail to realize, or accept, is the fact that unions, which have done wonders for the working class over the years have, for many years, through greed and want of power, overstepped their bounds and have become a primary reason for the higher cost of everyday items for us all and a primary reason for jobs emigrating from this country. Competition is what makes the world go around, but the higher costs generated by the unions have stifled our competitive abilities, hence the exodus of jobs from our country and the increasing difficulty many Americans find in affording the necessities.
Do you really want our system of capitalism to go away in order to realize your vision of the world? Or, would you consider fixing it?? And let us not forget, union membership is around 11% of the work force. What about the other 89%, who pays for their higher wages and benefits?? And why should legislation benefit that minority more than the majority?? Money?? Whatever happened to fair play and the wellbeing of the American people??
Sad,
John Lott and his friends win when they tie. Every day they can say 'there is doubt', their friends make out like... cigarette companies.. 'Tobacco..? it's all natural.. like arsenic.
I have friends who send me denialist crap. I've found the best ammunition to counter it is the youtube series by Peter Sinclair. (would be a great guest) eg.; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0JsdSDa_bM
Sunspots or solar activity; horse pucky; (not nice when those pucks melt..) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Sf_UIQYc20
Very clear; check out the series; (greenman3610) he just takes apart each bogus argument..
No connection; just glad to find it so clear and convenient.
Cheers,
Rick
We have seen private 'armies' like Blackwater used to patrol streets in New Orleans as well as Najaf, with illegal action, even killings, in both. These mercenary companies operate with virtually no public oversight and little accountability. What do we do when a Bush-Cheney type executive, or the Pentagon, or even a private multinational corporation, hires them to repress legitimate dissent in our cities, silence critics, grease the skids to fascism?
John Lott made the argument that most of the rise in CO2 is due to non-human causes.
Therefore, he argues that we should do nothing. Well, if you are driving, and a situation arises where it becomes apparent that you are going to have an accident, you still hit the brakes as hard as you can. You don't say "I'm gonna have an accident. There's no way to avoid it, so I wont bother to hit the brakes." You want to hit as softly as possible.
Thom, here is a three minute tape on a book, "The Value of Nothing." The author may be a good guest for your show.
http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2010/01/12/the-opposite-of-consumption...
Why is the Republican Talking Point for the week that this book showed Reid was a racist? It is mainly pre-emptive! Without their hacks flogging this talking point, the headline and the focus of commentators would have been Palin's astounding utter lack of the basic competence needed to be vice president, in the opinion of the people who had to prep her for debates and interviews. The Edwards material and perhaps Bill Clinton's more serious racial gaff would have been the side points, since they are out of the path of future power. A focus on Palin just as they were rolling her out as a FOX "News" commentator would have been a disaster for them. The authors have stated that the Reid item was way down on their list of news broken by their book. Going after Reid made it an attempt to kill a 2nd bird with the same stone. But the main reason for the talking point being all over FOX for days was to keep the focus off of the proof of Palin's utter lack of the basic knowledge needed to be a national leader, or for that matter to be a comentator.
re: Chinese justice: ..hey, it ain't all bad...at least they execute corporate criminals!
"I wanted to be a philosopher, but I couldn't pass the metaphysical." -harry ashburn
The Tea Partiers remind my of my father (...now passed on, peace be on him...) who was a more-or-less typical, angry, anti-liberal working man who was turned rabidly anti-nuclear by the WHOOPS debacle here in Washington State (...in which a complex of five nuclear fission plants went insanely over budget and the end result went right onto his utility bills.)
Perhaps we need to ask Tea Party Populists how they feel about Boeing outsourcing 90% of the construction of the 787 to foreign lands. Small machine shops around Renton didn't get the business; shops in China and Europe did. Maybe that's good for Boeing but where are those machinists now? In food lines, some of them and I'll bet some of them are also at tea parties.
Maybe we need to INVITE tea partiers to our events. Don't just attend theirs; invite them to OURS.
The only thing in my opinion that can turn American around is an informed voter. I do not hink we are even close to that yet.
Thom was exactly right in the discussion that the Tea Party movement is a populist movement and that is WHAT WE REALLY NEED. That is because the political process has obviously failed We the People on all levels. We need to unite with them, in fact the 99% of us need to unite against the top 1% to threaten or carry out a General Strike.
The tea partiers want to blame Obama and Congress when they have simply been purchased by big money from big corporations (everyone has some price). Obama is just another in the line of corporation controlled puppets (just look at who is working for him Geitner and Summers, the Wall Street whores). Obama is just a little smarter and blacker than the previous corporation puppet.
The tea partiers and the progressives do have something in common: we want significant and radical change to the sick, twisted and corrupt system of big corporation/government control of our freedoms. Big money rules and buys legislation for further profit while We the People do all the work and take all the risk.
We do have in common that we comprise the 99%. Nothing will change unless we unite for a common purpose: take the country over on a grass roots level. Keep in mind the Prime Directive: the bottom 99% United to Strike against the top 1%.
I see a headline on msn.com "Obama vows 'aggressive' disaster aid. Seems you may be right about governments common sense priorities if this is the headlines coming out. Instead of a 'compassionate' aid, or at least 'prompt and thorough' aid. We're going to get 'aggressive' about it... I hope is a poor choice of words and not a Freudian slip.
Dan Gaynor's attacked Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac by asking if we'd ever heard of a big company that lost money announcing huge bonusses.
May we assume Gaynor does not know about our banks and investment houses?
Unfortunately, common sense is never a priority for the US government while handling its foreign affairs, doesn't matter if the Democrats or the Republicans are in charge.
Well there will be reconstruction jobs in Haiti, there is little doubt about that. From the photos coming out of Port Au Prince yesterday, it's doubtful that there are more than a handful of undamaged buildings.
I think Obama should call for a temporary expansion of the Peace Corps, call for volunteers and send them over to help clear and rebuild Port Au Prince... once the project is well on its way, he can start bring some of the Peace Corps construction team back to New Orleans.
Sure it may be a fantasy, it also seems (to me at least) common sense.
Construct green in Haiti, along with providing Haitians with jobs and money recontructing that country back.....we can dream!