Note to Republicans - Jesus was really a progressive

Paul Krugman offers up his own Bah! Humbug!

Paul Krugman pointed out the nearly radical leftist implications of Dickens "A Christmas Carol" in his recent Op-Ed in the New York Times - The Humbug Express .

Truth be told - anyone looking closely at New Testament scripture would be forced to acknowledge that Jesus was no capitalist - and even if had leanings in that direction - his philosophy and teachings would have thrown him pell-mell against the religious and economic doctrine of the far right.

Bully Pulpit 101 - Your instructor - Professor Emeritus Jon Stewart

The 911 First Responders Bill…

Also known as the Zadroga bill - was apparently DOA in the US Senate with faint hope that the anemic resuscitation attempts by the democrats would be successful.    The bill itself seemed almost forgotten in the morass of the tax bill, repeal of don't ask, don't tell, and nuclear START treaty.

Enter Jon Stewart and the Daily Show….

After his much-criticized rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial - Jon Stewart did what he does best - he took on one issue - mounted the bully pulpit and shamed the republicans into action.

The bottom line was that the business interests of a robber baron economy were holding this bill hostage.  How dare anyone get in the way of a corporation's off-shore account?  No one wants their beloved loopholes closed and since democrats are beholden to the same interests as republicans - the bill went nowhere.

The republican excuse of last resort - working during the Christmasholiday is disrespectful to Christians

The 911 First Responders Bill - A  slam-dunk morphs into a nail-biter:

Well, The "911 first responders bill" finally passed the Senate. It was by no means a sure thing. How a slam-dunk piece of legislation whose purpose was to provide long term medical care for those who willingly lay their lives on the line could wind up being the nail biter of the millennium will be a topic for historians to chew on for generations.

Senator Jon Kyl feels Christmas should be respected....

One explanation for leaving the "911 first responders bill" unresolved until the new year offered by Senator Jon Kyl was asking the Senate to work over the Christmas holiday season is disrespectful to religious Christians. ( Apparently Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is a heathen) This caused the topic to morph from the merely bizarre to the surreal. Such rank stupidity would have been funny if it weren't such a tragic indictment of our dysfunctional government. After a gaffe like that - what more can be said - except that this whole mess has put a spotlight on the total contempt with which some members of the Senate hold the general public. Apparently, if we can't line their pockets with millions of dollars we don't matter and don't count. In other words, 99% of us are irrelevant to the process of government.

When did tax cuts become more important than 911 first responders?

Tax Cuts vs. Health Care for First Responders:

Since the republicans came roaring back into power after the mid-term elections - the 911 first responders bill is taking a back seat to tax cuts. This is nothing new. Even as a minority party republicans used the filibuster rule to stop debate on this issue several times.   But to put such important legislation on the back burner to the point of deliberately holding it up until democrats give the top 2% the tax cuts they wanted is another step towards the surreal that I find hard to fathom.

We Get the Government We Deserve....

When I was little,  the public was very engaged.  I have vague memories of protests and demonstrations swirling all around me.  The generation ahead of me was caught up in the Vietnam conflict.   There is nothing like the threat of being drafted into a war you don't believe in for promoting political activism in the young.

Politically engaged - but not necessarily politically informed...

Today - with the all-volunteer military - such prods to active engagement and informed activism have been sorely lacking for over 30 years.  If we set aside the obvious meaningless wedge issues such as gays in the military and the 10 Commandments on the steps of a courthouse, it was only the market crash of 2008 and the near-total collapse of the world economy that stirred the American public from its 35-year political stupor.  The fact that it took such a direct whack to the pocket book to waken the public from what appeared to be general anesthesia was depressing enough. But the fact that there is a world of difference between being engaged and being informed is a grim reality that has left the more thoughtful Americans who have been sounding the alarm bells for years tearing their hair in total despair.

Fact-Free News - As candidates for high office are seen fleeing fromthe real press.

No Hard Questions Please!

Sharron Angle, candidate for Senate in Nevada- thought she had it all figured out. The press was there to push her agenda - no more, no less.
The press wasn't there to ask tough questions, they weren't there to create transparency or call candidates out on blatant lies and contradictions.  God forbid a candidate should have to THINK while being interviewed.  Nopers - the press was simply to be an extension of her Facebook image.  Reporters were there to offer her free access to short and sweet soundbites that would augment the message that was already being spread far and wide with the wads of money from fat campaign purses.