OCTOBER 2014 BONEHEAD ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH

 

Wow, what a month for absurdities. I don’t know if there’s something about October or if I’m just finding more bonehead statements. Whatever, here are 12 worthy candidates:

1. New Hampshire GOP state Rep. Steve Vaillancourt raised sexism and ageism to new heights when he called Democratic incumbent Ann McLane Kuster "ugly as sin" and therefore too ugly to win!! His words:

"Let's be honest. Does anyone not believe that Congressman Annie Kuster is as UGLY AS SIN? AND I HOPE I HAVEN'T OFFENDED SIN," Vaillancourt wrote on NH Insider, a New Hampshire politics blog.   His bonehead absurdity is representative of the kind of misogynistic theater of the absurd that inhabits right-wing talk radio shows.
 

2. Louisiana Senator David Vitter is urging colleagues to hold up the $1 billion the white House has requested to combat the Ebola virus because it: “focuses on Africa and largely ignores our own borders.”

Most of the money has been held up for nearly a month, as Republicans on key committees demand more details from the administration. The $1 billion is to be used for the construction of medical facilities, supply distribution, and medical training for military and civilian personnel. Given that speed is critical to fighting the epidemic, the Vitter statement and GOP intransigence are not only absurd, they’re unconscionable.

ECONOMIC INEQUALITY: THE POLITICAL DIMENSION

  By Ronald T. Fox  

"We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." 

                     Louis Brandeis

Is social inequality an inherent feature of free-market capitalism and if so is this necessarily a bad thing? Ideological liberals tend to think so. Most conservatives strongly disagree. To them inequality is a natural result of what happens in a free society where citizens possess vastly different levels of intelligence, education, talent, work ethics and personal drive. Soaring incomes at the top are seen as a just reward for initiatives taken and services rendered, like job creation. The investors of capital produce economic growth which provides economic opportunities for all. As the economy grows, all incomes will rise and an expanding middle class will enjoy a greater share of the national wealth.   

It would be great if this is how things really worked, but as is abundantly clear to most, save those living in the splendid insulation great wealth provides, the America of today presents quite a different picture. Social inequality in the United States is souring, reaching proportions not seen since the Gilded Age. The return on capital has increased much faster than economic growth and incomes have not only failed to rise, they’ve actually declined over the last couple of decades (median middle-class household income peaked at $56,080 in 1999 and it stands at roughly $50,017 now). This development finds average Americans struggling to grab a share of the American Dream. It also finds them increasingly marginalized in our political system. The wealth that has been accumulating at the top of our social strata has generated wide political inequality that is threatening the very foundation of our democratic system. It has turned America into a plutocracy.  

Extreme inequality is harming American society in many ways. I’ve written about some in previous posts (see: Does Economic Inequality Matter?  Economic Inequality and the Failure of Elites,  Economic Inequality and the Cheating Culture, and The Collapse of American Journalism and the Growth of Institutional Corruption). This essay will focus on the political dimension of economic inequality.

THE 2015 DEFENSE BUDGET: A FINAL NAIL IN THE A-10 COFFIN?

 

By Ronald Fox

 

I predicted in a previous post (Say Goodbye to the A-10 Warthog: Shame on the Air Force) that it was likely the Air Force’s A-10 “Warthog” close air support (CAS) airplane would be phased out. The Pentagon’s recently leaked preview of its 2015 budget confirmed the suspicion of many who have followed the issue: the fleet of 350 A-10 attack planes is scheduled to be permanently retired. Should the elimination be finalized, it will be a sad day for combat troops who have grown to love the highly effective CAS aircraft. It will also disappoint military reformers who have long been critical of the Air Force’s “deep strike” strategic bombing mindset, which they argue has been responsible for excessive costs, ineffective air power, and, arguably, longer wars. These reformers would like to see the Pentagon purchase weapons where mission cost effectiveness is the overriding procurement criteria. It is clear, however, that the Pentagon remains fixated on expensive high tech weapons of unproven effectiveness.

IT AIN’T OVER TIL’ IT’S OVER: THE A-10 WARTHOG IS STILL BREATHING

By Ronald T. Fox

The A-10 Attacks

Much has been written about the ability of the Pentagon to get the Congress to do its bidding. Working in tandem with the individual military services, weapons manufacturers and other contractors that desire a piece of the procurement action, and members of the Senate and House who drool over bringing big contracts home to their state or district, the Pentagon can field a formidable machine extremely adept at moving favored legislation.

It also has a formidable propaganda machine capable of shaping public opinion, as Senator J. William Fulbright wrote about decades ago. To build support for a new weapon, the Pentagon and the individual services frequently resort to embellishing the weapon’s capabilities, playing down its costs, and puffing up similar weapons possessed by our enemies. If it meets organized resistance, which is rare, it pulls no punches in fudging facts and discrediting critics. With such tools, it rarely loses a political fight, especially since it can count on pro-military members on Congress who prioritize defense spending over real defense.

The Most Expensive Weapon Ever Made

An excellent case to observe the Pentagon machine at work is its current fight to retire the Air Force’s A-10 Thunderbolt (affectionately also known as the Warthog) and replace its close air support (CAS) mission with a combination of aircraft: the speedier B-1B bomber, F-15E, and the F-16.

Until recently the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was also offered as an effective alternative, but with its cost souring (it’s reputed to be the most expensive weapon ever made) it has become too expensive to risk close to the ground where airplanes are vulnerable (see previous post: F-35 Cost Explodes: Business as Usual at the Pentagon). It seems the Air Force is operating under the assumption that future wars will be high tech affairs against heavily-armed foes sporting sophisticated air defenses, wars that don’t favor the slow-moving A-10. This seems strange given the current saber-rattling over going to war against ISIS, which would present precisely the kind of challenge that favors the A-10.

In two previous essays, I sang praise of the A-10’s virtues in supporting troops on the ground and lamented that it had lost favor with the Air Force and would likely soon be retired (see: Say Goodbye To the A-10 Warthog: Shame on the Air Force and The 2015 Defense Budget: A Final Nail in the A-10 Coffin?). It appears now that I may have been premature in my prediction.

SEPTEMBER 2014 BONEHEAD ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH

 



1. During a September 15 rant on sexual assault, radio pontificator Rush Limbaugh had this so say about a woman saying “no!”:  

“[According to Ohio State policy,] consent must be freely given, can be withdrawn anytime, and the absence of "no" does not mean "yes." How many guys, in your own experience with women, have learned that no means yes if you know how to spot it? ... Are these [policies] not lawsuits waiting to happen? ”   

2. At a fund-raiser for Dominionist Christians, Ted Cruz' arrogance, ignorance, and insensitivity were boldly on display:

“Christians have no greater ally than Israel . . . Those who hate Israel, hate America. . . Those who hate Jews, hate Christians. If those in this room will not recognize this, then my heart weeps.”  

Cruz was understandably booed off the stage.   

3. Donald Trump offered President Obama the opportunity to play golf for free on any of his courses for life. Lest you think the Donald has found some generosity of spirit, he specified one important condition:  

“If Obama resigns from office NOW, thereby doing a great service to the country . . .”

Trump’s disrespect for the President, not to mention anyone other than Donald Trump, aptly captures the era of incivility in which we live.   

4. Leave it to Arizona. Russell Pearce, a former state senator and current vice chairman of the state’s Republican Party—the man who sponsored the state’s draconian anti-immigration law—announced his support for mandatory birth control or sterilization for Medicaid recipients in his September 6 radio show discussion about Arizona’s public assistance programs. In his words:  

“You put me in charge of Medicaid, the first thing I’d do is get Norplant, birth-control implants or tubal ligations.” He continued, “then we’ll test for drugs and alcohol,” before adding that those who want more children should “then get a job.”  

These comments incensed even his fellow Republicans, who called for his resignation, to which he complied on Sept 14^th. 

5. Rob Ford, Toronto's crack-smoking mayor, and Mike Tyson, boxing’s former bad-boy and convicted rapist, expressed their mutual admiration in a press conference in Toronto’s City Hall. Here we have the pot calling the kettle white:   

Tyson emerged from the meeting with a full-throated defense of the good Mayor, suggesting (Ford) is “the best mayor in Toronto’s history.”  Of Tyson, Ford remarked, “We’re cut from the same cloth,”  “There’s no nonsense. I respect him.”

And the winner is . . .

AUGUST 2014 BONEHEAD ABSURDITY OF THE MONTH

There are six candidates this month:


1. Amy Coulter:  “Why can’t we deal with our border the way the nation of Israel deals with Hamas?”

Yes, we should be bombing poor and desperate children trying to cross our border.


2. Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama praising the House for standing strong on immigration:

 “While the Republican House has voted to protect our constituents and the Constitution, Senate Democrats have abandoned both in the face of this clear and present danger.”  Responding to criticism of inaction in the House, he offered this sick apologia: “A non-decision is a decision. Indecision is decision.”   


3. Distressed asset king Sam Zell:

“This country should not talk about envy of the 1 percent. The 1 percent work harder.”   


4. Cypress Semiconductor CEO TJ Rodgers:

 “President Obama is a member of a minority and as such I’m sure during his lifetime he has been prejudiced against . . . Now he’s doing the exact same thing, talking about the top 1 percent as if there’s something wrong with us.”   


5. When asked about the issue of same sex marriage, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker responded:

“I don’t think the Republican Party is fighting it. I’m not saying it’s not important, but Republicans have not been talking about this. We’ve been talking about economic and fiscal issues. It’s those on the left that are pushing it.”

This is a strange coming from a man on record supporting his state’s ban on equal marriage and currently defending it in court. Saying Republicans are done talking about it can't be welcomed news to the LGBTQ community or to the solid majority of Americans who now support same sex marriage and LGBTQ rights.


6.  At a secret strategy conference of conservative millionaire and billionaire donors hosted by the Koch brothers, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had much to say.  He seemed to not know he was being recorded. 

Here’s some of what he said.

“The worst day of my political life was when President George W. Bush signed McCain-Feingold into law.”

Wow!  Lucky man not having to fret over Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, 9/11, Citizens United and other horrors.


“We now have the best Supreme Court in anybody’s memory on the issue of First Amendment political speech.”
“So all Citizens United did was to level the playing field for corporate speech . . .  “We now have, I think, the most free and open system we’ve had in modern times. . . “The Supreme Court allowed all of you to participate in the process in a variety of different ways.”

As if the millionaires and billionaires weren't previously participating.  Damn it, corporations are not persons!


Regarding the proposed constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United:

Well, you and I — and everyone else fighting these absurd and disastrous Supreme Court rulings — are defending the First Amendment.


He also touched on the ability of Republicans to control the budget by placing riders on the spending bill.  To thwart President Obama and the Democrats, he smugly announced:

"No money can be spent to do this or to do that.  We're going to go after them on healthcare, on financial services, on the Environmental Protection Agency, across the board . . .  All across the federal government, we're going to go after it."


 And the winner this month is . . . . .

WHILE THE RIGHT ORGANIZES, THE LEFT SLUMBERS

  By Ronald Fox  

 

There was a time, not so long ago, when I lamented that America was in an extreme conservative moment. Now, I’m sorry to say, that moment appears to be much more enduring that I thought. Despite so many reasons why voters should turn away from ideological conservatives and their GOP brethren-- their declining appeal to women, Latinos, and young voters, hostility to policies that would benefit the overwhelming majority of Americans, such as healthcare, job creation, raising the minimum wage, a fairer tax structure, a greater investment in public works, and protection of the environment, and their blatant promotion of the interests of the wealthy-- conservative Republican fortunes appear to be on the rise with no end in sight.  

Recently three articles appeared in the New York Times that added salt to my oozing political wounds: outside group spending on political advertising is set to break $2 billion in congressional races, up nearly 70 percent since the 2010 midterm election; Republicans are now being given a 60% chance to take over majority control of the Senate; and, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a law limiting collective bargaining rights for most public employees. Ouch! The future seems to hold only more ugliness for the left.