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redplanet commented on the diary post Occupy Mancos, CO: The Importance of Small Occupies by wendydavis.
Hello Wendy, Nice post. I can visualize you at the corner of Grand & Main, protesting. Nice. What’s not nice is the juxtaposition of Mancos and Sedona. Oh, well. March was the hottest month on record, I hear. Oh, well. Your posts consistently make good sense, especially when you explain how elections are useful distractions [...]
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redplanet commented on the blog post Santorum questions women in frontline military roles because ‘other types of emotions are involved’ (updated)
For what it’s worth, conscription was discontinued in 1973, but registration is still the law, and the draft can be reinstated at any time.
I firmly believe that if we had a conscripted army of men and women involuntarily drafted, we would be much less likely to engage in our current wars of American Exceptionality that lure us to all the foreign shores that hold oil reserves.
Vietnam era politics suspended the draft, but the all-volunteer army led by Christianist generals has amped up our military adventuring.
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redplanet commented on the diary post Shhhhhh; (Even My Father-in-Law’s Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution) by wendydavis.
You’re on a roll, Wendy. Keep it up.
I can’t see the R-word in our future; we’re mostly way to comfortable for that. But I do have hope that #OWS may turn into a broad political awakening. -
redplanet commented on the blog post American Jobs Act Pay-Fors All on Tax Side
This particular “pay-for” proposal does not exist in a vacuum. It exists in the context of the Super Committee.
Now, Obama asks the Super Committee to pare $1.5 trillion from spending and also pay for the cost of AJA. So the Super Committee needs to come up with $2 trillion.
Obama is engaged in mis-direction here. He’s saying “let’s pay for my jobs plan with new revenues,” while you guys over at the Super Committee still have to cut everything else to the bone.
So if you’re happy that Obama hasn’t said he doesn’t want to cut SS & Medicare in order to pay for his jobs plan, don’t be. He’s just made it that much more likely that the Super Committee will do the job for him.
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redplanet commented on the blog post Obama the Risk-Averse
Why is Obama not doing a good job of positioning himself to win in 2012?
Maybe he’s in a rush to get on with the lucrative post-presidential phase of his career.
I expect Barack Obama to do extraordinarily well for himself, once he’s turned loose on things like memoirs, auto-biographies, speaking engagements, corporate board posts, etc.
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redplanet commented on the diary post Brookings’ “Heckuva Job, Brownie” Moment: Greenspan’s Keynote Address by Dean Baker.
Wait! There’s more to come! Atlas Shrugged, Part 1, will be released in theaters on tax day, April 15, 2011!
Who is John Galt?
Who is Alan Greenspan?
What cult?
6_6 … 9_9
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redplanet commented on the blog post Our Diplomats Need to Spend More Time Surfing the Toobz!
Well. Er. Ah.
I’m not a great fan of the our CIA. It’s difficult to criticize them in this case, however, because it would seem that the Egyptian people were just as surprised as the CIA.
Check out this Al Jazeera story.
Here’s the lede:
The ongoing unprecedented public protests in Egypt have taken most Egyptians by surprise.
Many of the country’s independent and opposition analysts are struggling to explain the latest events and what they mean for the future of Egypt.
They all seem to agree that nationalist feelings and belief in the ability to resist authoritarianism have been revived.
“I swear to God, I cried out of happiness watching the real Egypt reborn again in the middle of Tahrir square on Tuesday night,” wrote Emad el-Deen Hueesin, a columnist and the daily independent al-Shrouq newspaper, referring to the first day of protests that galvanised the country.
“Before this day, I used to be one of many people who believe that the people have become dead. What I saw today is that the people are not dead. They have decided to burn their fear instead of burning themselves.”
