Parrot Cage

California Republicans learn pragmatism

We were hoping that the California Republican Party would continue its descent into irrelevance by sticking up for their values of gay-bashing, opposing abortion, and low taxes.  That formula nearly eradicated any semblance of a Republican from state-wide office for almost ten years.

Then came Schwarzenegger.  Actually, then came the recall.  Schwarzenegger could never have won a Republican nomination, given his liberalish intonations: minor gay hostility, kinda pro-choice, married to a Kennedy....

Too bad, the California Republicans are selling out their principles to win state-wide office to then implement their principles.  After all, low taxes will never take a backseat to any other value.  That is, if you're a Republican.

Moving towards enlightened immigration

After a rash of "honor" killings, after the assassination of artists, after the burning of Parisian suburbs, and after a bloody furor over cartoons, Europe may start to get serious about its foolish immigration policies. It is not the end of tolerance, it is the beginning of intelligent preservation.

We are unabashed multiculturalists--we live in Silicon Valley and benefit from the wide variety of cultures which enliven and enlighten our community.  However, we also never forget that, if governments are to exist at all, they not only have the right but the obligation to carefully select who they let into their country.

The consequences of Europe's importing of cheap labor, no questions asked, no obligations required, is to threaten the very foundation of liberal democracy.  Of course, much of Europe's immigrant troubles are imperialist karma, with the populations of former colonies looking to the motherland after the invaders permanently destroyed their native homes.

Europe may not entirely grasp the concept of free expression, and old world attitudes (read neo-fascist) can register in the political mainstream, but let's not forget that most of Europe is forged in a socialist tradition that every American progressive should envy.  Without the vast natural resources and natural isolation of the United States, most European countries have created remarkably free societies and robust economies, all the while insuring a vast social safety net: in human history, you rarely find governments which prioritize all three endeavors equally.

Europe's liberal immigration policies are as much a result of their progressive attitudes as every other aspect of their liberal societies.  Immigration to Europe is necessarily inviting to those seeking political refuge as well as those seeking economic opportunity.  Indeed, at times even the United States has exported some of its finest minds to European expatriation when our less than free society proved inhospitable to freedom.  The same system which embraced and protected the world's great artists, scientists, and political thinkers has now become a portal for the enemies of civilization.

That said, the modernization of other Muslims, through immigration to Western countries, is not insignificant.  For every disenfranchised Islamist living in a culture they despise there are hundreds of Salman Rushdies, Deeyahs, and other Muslims adjusting to modernity in their own way.  This might be the way for modernity to seep back into the those Muslim countries of origin.  Ultimately, young people will always reject the antiquated ways of their elders in favor of rock and roll.

Some reason needs to prevail over Europe's open immigration policies, and that reason should not be read as an end to progressive inclusiveness.  It just means that a country has a right to decide who to allow into their homes.

 

In memory of dictators and vanguardians

Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of Nikita Khruschev's earth-shaking "Cult of Personality" speech which pissed all over the legacy of Stalin.  Khruschev exposed what had been officially denied, yet publicly known, for years: that Stalin was a brutal totalitarian who engaged in mass killings, incompetent management of World War II, and the squandering of Russia's agricultural resources.

While Stalin was a murderous thug who clawed his way to power, World War II may have been the key to this fucker dying of natural causes.  In times of war, a country looks to its leader and forgives many shortcomings and brutalities so long as he maintains an illusion of security.  Sound familiar?

Port Insecurity

I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company.

Yes, your President actually doesn't understand why anyone would question handing our ports over to a company owned and operated by a shady Middle Eastern country.  Does he not understand, or is his administration's corruption so brazen that he would risk being pegged as Al Qaida's favorite President just to cash in.

Even some white-ringers are scratching their pointy little heads:

Could it be that President Bush really is the colossally stupid dunce that he's been portrayed by the Left as!
 

But remember, stupid isn't the same as ignorant.  Surprise! Turns out Bush only found out about this scary port deal recently and apparently played no role in its approval.  His professed ignorance won't stop him from threatening his very first veto should Congress block his administration's attempts to hand port operations over to a Middle Eastern country with more ties to Al Qaida than anything manufactured against Saddam Hussein.

Presidential hopeful, and likely Democratic nominee, Evan Bayh sees an opening in Bush's oblivious corruption and is introducing legislation begging for Bush's veto.

There will be the inevitable cries of 'racism!' from those defending this outrageously stupid deal, but whatever happened to conservatives who decry political correctness?  Oh yeah, they sold out.

We do understand that the Coast Guard is in charge of all port security.  However, common sense would seem to dictate that any terrorist wishing to cause mayhem at our ports would know exactly where to find an easy opening.  The logic in defense of the Dubai-based state-run business operating our ports rests primarily in stating that no matter what, the Coast Guard is still in charge.  Worse than that, Bush toadies are suggesting that letting dubious Arab countries operate our ports is simply a bridge to the Arab world.  And just who will be crossing this bridge? 

Execution postponed, perhaps indefinitely

When a judge ordered medical professionals to administer the appropriate cocktail to put Michael Morales to death, he set in motion the only real barrier to capital punishment in this country in the last thirty years.

Turns out, some medical professionals actually take their Hippocratic Oath seriously and resisted the state's efforts to turn them into executioners.

As it stands now, with the state apparently unable to find the appropriately credentialed willing executioners, Morales' life will be spared, if only temporarily.

Now, we oppose capital punishment.  We've never understood those that preach "limited government" and then gleefully hand the State the right and duty to kill its citizenry.  Capital punishment is anathema to a free society, which is probably why it's so popular in a country that would elect George Bush.

We're sure Gov. Arnold will find a way to exploit the situation.  He may even offer to strangle Morales with his bare hands.  This is what happens when you elect bad actors into public office.

Morales gets a temporary reprieve, and after facing down death for two consecutive nights his lawyers are right to suggest that he has endured cruel and unusual punishment.  It's not an argument that wins too much sympathy from state judges who face elections, but it would be accurate.

This waiting game may end when a doctor comes forward to perform the dirty deed.  And that will be a dark day for the medical profession, and for California.

Port Security and Job Security

Is Cokie Roberts the laziest parrot in the parrotocracy, or simply the stupidest?  Cokie always makes it hard to tell the difference.  But that's always the game of the parrot: am I a moron, or do I just play one on tv.

Cokie's always eager to spin for the Republicans, be it for bread or absence of good sense, and this time she's dismissing Democratic opposition to the Bush administration's gawd awful attempts to place our most vulnerable ports into the hands of their oily friends in the United Arab Emirates. 

Now, this shouldn't be Republicans v. Democrats, this issue should be common sense v. stupidity, but Cokie is quick to place nefarious motives behind the Democratic outcry.

We've never understood how someone with such shallow insight and negligible raw intelligence could remain gainfully employed for so long, but Cokie is truly a testament to the American Dream.  Every child in America can reap the Cokie fortunes if both your parents are Congressional Representatives and you then marry an establishment pundit.  Under those conditions no amount of nonsense which whistles between your teeth can keep you from the sweet corporate cash which is your birthright.

Christian Common Cause with Jihadists

Angry Muslim fundamentalists may scare us, but don't forget the Christian fundamentalists.  They may not burn buildings or kill their opponents, but that's only because they don't have to.  You see, they pretty much get their way.

If you don't think there is something terribly dangerous about fundamentalists in this country, consider that some are now expressing their disdain for free expression in solidarity with rabid Islamists currently killing, beating, destroying buildings, to uphold the sacred outrage of blasphemy.

The one positive aspect of the whole Danish cartoon furor is--and this is monumentally positive--that it has created an opportunity to accurately frame the religious right in this country as a movement parallel with the Islamist crazies.  And as we can see from Christian fascists, those parallels may rapidly converge when they stop getting their way... or when we stop fighting back.

 

An Opposition Party Opposed to Winning

We wanted to hold off on immediate commentary about Paul Hackett's departure from the Ohio Senate race until more details were fleshed out.

From Hackett's own account, he was drummed out of the race by party bigwigs to make way for a longtime dues-paying party player.  The bigwigs in question include Senator Chuck Schumer, and to a lesser extent Harry Reid.  Beyond urging him to drop out of the race, they had been urging party donors to withold their support of Hackett.

Ohio Congressman Sherrod Brown had assured Hackett back in the summer that he had no interest in the Senate race.  Schumer and Reid pushed Hackett into the race.  Then, once Hackett started polling better than the incumbent, Brown jumped into the race with both feet.  Sherrod Brown has solid progressive credentials and isn't a terrible guy, but the Democratic establishment figured that he had been a team player long enough that he should get the nod--screw the primary system.

We don't know a lot about Paul Hackett except that he's an Iraq War veteran who loudly expresses his outrage about the incompetence of the Bush administration.  For the Democratic Party, that would seem to be enough qualification for a Senate seat.  Actually, compared to Mike DeWine, Ohio's current scandal-ridden Senator, that bar needn't be terribly high. 

Ohio is entirely governed by Republicans, and that development has been unravelling.  But with the shady election practices of Ohio, the Democrats really need a landslide to overcome the inevitable ballot shenanigans.

If what Hackett says is correct, the fortunes of this country are doomed to be pissed away by a Republican Party which succeeds only through the weakness of their electoral opponents who have started to eat their own.  Again, from what little we know of Paul Hackett, he seemed to be a face of hope for the Democratic Party.  He brings life experience, but also righteous anger: something the hapless Democrats have had difficulties pulling off (cut to John Kerry bellowing "Bring it on!" just before hiding under his desk at the first sign of Swift-Boaters).  Hackett seemed to be leading the charge of new Democrats with bold ideas and the sass to humble the corrupt Republican establishment.  The old lion Democrats are now suffocating their future.

Our contempt for the Democratic Party is boundless;  Nearly as boundless as the Republican Party's capacity for evil.

Paving the way for Swannie

We just noticed that the right-wing rag Pittsburgh Tribune-Review is running an article attacking the Rainbow Coalition (read Black Democrats) for their inherent bigotry against Republicans--uh, that is, against Black Republicans.

It's worth noting that there is no such thing as an organic Black Republican.  Every single African-American that espouses Republican loyalty is paid handsomely to do so.  And indeed, in this job market it's a wonder that more African-Americans don't rush into the Republican camp for a sweet payday.

Author Salena Zito retells false stories of Black Republicans attacked by Black Democrats.  The central thrust of her article is to parrot the thoroughly debunked fairy tale (here, here, and here) about Maryland's Black Republican Lt. Governor Michael Steele getting pelted by Oreos at a speaking engagement.  And to the Republican machine, "debunking" is equivalent to "revisionist history".  As we know, honesty is not a Republican virtue. 

The obvious intent of this article, and to the upcoming media blitz which it foreshadows, is to create cover for Lynn Swann, the newest professional Black Republican to cash in on the Republican gravy train.  Pennsylvania Republicans have figured out that they can't win the governorship without a split in Philadelphia's extensive Black voting block and they are gearing up a pre-emptive strike in the war on Swannie's blackness.  Nevermind that they didn't notice that their target audience are mostly Eagles fans, they figure the blackface might mollify enough voters into forgetting that the Republican Party is actually their enemy.  And what better way to solidify Swannie's blackness than to portray him as a potential victim of bigotry.

But the voters of Pennsylvania need to invoke their prejudice.  They should exercise their inherent bias against inexperienced politicians.  The great state of Pennsylvania may be preserved if the voters don't lose their knee-jerk aversion to electing into the highest executive office of their state someone eminently unqualified to hold that office.  It's not that Swannie is Black, it's that he's nothing else.

Cure for AIDS?

Not sure why this story hasn't gotten bigger play this week, but we just found it: a Brigham Young University Professor may be on the right track to killing the AIDS/HIV virus. 

Now, the last time BYU produced headlines from its science departments it was in verifying a cold fusion process which quickly turned into a hoax.

Actually, a little more quietly, there is a BYU physicist who is leading the charge in contending that the World Trade Center collapsed under prepositioned explosives on 9/11.

Yeah, when your religion is based on the theory that America was inhabited by BC-era Jews, your congregation comes equipped with premade tinfoil hats.

Nevertheless, we are cautiously optimistic about these developments.  We would also appreciate the irony; many Mormons in leadership positions in the mid-1980's preached that the AIDS epidemic was god's cleansing hand.  That brand of hateful faith soon fell out of favor when hemophiliac children started contracting the virus.  A cure for AIDS just might make amends for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' vicious anti-gay history.  Even Mormons can be redeemed.