Bob Lord Posted by Bob Lord I’m watching Rachel Maddow tonight cataloguing my buddy Mitt’s many, many lies and flip-flops. The lies often are connected to the flip-flops because, when confronted with a flip-flop, he often says “I never said that.” Well, now that Mitt appears to be closing in on the nomination, Mitt likely will move … Read more
Posted by Bob Lord
So, I’m treating myself to a Sunday morning of reading the Times and my first read was about a blog kept by Sergeant Bales’ wife of all their trials and tribulations. I remarked to Tammy about how it seemed that Bales’ horrific acts may simply have been the product of war injuries, separation from his family, financial struggles, and the horrors of war. In other words, this may be the case of a completely decent human being reaching his breaking point and committing a horrific act.
Then, I saw these pieces: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/us/suspects-deployments-put-focus-on-war-strains.html?_r=1&hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/war-is-brain-damaging.html?ref=opinion
So, can we continue to deny that in order to accomplish its military objectives, the American empire, run by self-centered plutocrats entirely devoid of social conscience, is recklessly and callously destroying the bodies and brains of its poor and lower middle class “volunteers?”
Posted by Bob Lord Why is Hamid Karzai lashing out at Americans? Because he’s insulted over the Koran burnings? Because he’s angry at the loss of Afghani lives? Hardly. We’re talking about one of the most corrupt rulers ever to grace the planet. He could care less about such things. So, why is he lashing … Read more
Posted by Bob Lord
So, if you believe this post, there’s a bit of a struggle over whether the Democratic Party platform will include a plank unabashedly supporting marriage equality.
This should be seen not as a challenge but as an opportunity. I needn’t dwell on the morally right position, correction, morally correct position. But that’s not why it’s such a golden opportunity. Politically, this could be huge.
Posted by Bob Lord
False equivalence bugs me, probably more than it should. It’s a tactic that intellectually dishonest politicians and pundits engage in freely, because they almost never can get in real trouble for it. And the public slurps it up.
I encountered two shining examples of false equivalence in the past few days, both, ironically, involving Sarah Palin. Today, I watched Steve Schmidt on Morning Joe discuss “Game Change,” which premiered over the weekend. For the most part, it was a remarkable mea culpa on Schmidt’s part. No doubt, he truly is regretful for his role in McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin. But then he went on to claim that both parties, blinded by the desire to win, select VP nominees who are unfit to be President and, as the Democratic example, referenced John Edwards. Andrea Mitchell then backed up Schmidt’s absurd comparison. And nobody on the show challenged the phony logic.