Electronic Pen

STEPHEN PIZZO FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

There's nothing a zealots cherish more than the notion they and their kind are being oppressed. And nothing gets better than outright martyrdom -- which they consider any form of organized opposition to whatever the hell they want.

Yeah, the Tea Party folk are zealots. But so are Christian fundamentalists --- though, to a large extent, I repeat myself.

Self-declared oppression is the weapon of choice of America's ascendant far-right. They are the "injured party," ganged up on by those who don't share their pure love for America, freedom and the American way. Oh, and all things Jesus.

That's how they won the debt ceiling fight, you know. It was the oppressed from Heartland America, the Mr. & Mrs. Smiths, who sacrificed their clean-cut Beaver Clever lives back home - sweet home, and traveled to the dark corridors of Mordor-the-Potomac to set things right -- far right.

And the rest of us (you know, the godless, self-hating American "oppressors") are left wondering what to do about it. Clearly opposing them only plays into their hands. Opposition is proof positive of oppression.

Proof positive comes when we actually catch one of these self-styled Dudley Do-rights up to no good, like the Tea Party congressman Joe Walsh, who pounded the House lectern during the debt ceiling debate declaring, "I will not saddle my children with additional debt,"though he seems to have run out on his three children, to the tune of $121,000 and change.

It's a brilliant strategy. Diabolically so. And it's a strategy that is not only shaping America's future, but the world's as well.

read more

BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT NEWS ALERT

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) issued the following statement today after voting against what he called "an extremely unfair" deficit-reduction package:

"I believe that Vermonters and people across the country are extremely dismayed that all of the burden for deficit reduction will fall on the backs of working families, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor.  This extremely unfair agreement does not ask the wealthiest people in this country, most of whom are doing extremely well, or large profitable corporations to contribute one penny.  This is not only immoral, it is bad economic policy and will cost us hundreds of thousands of jobs.

"It is impossible at this point to determine exactly what programs will be cut or by how much.  That will be determined later in the committee process and I will do everything I can to defend priorities important to Vermont.  What we can say, however, is that vitally important programs for Vermont, like LIHEAP, education, Head Start, child care, community health centers, the MILC program for dairy farmers, Pell grants for college students, nutrition programs, environmental protection, affordable housing, community action agencies, small business loans and many other programs will be on the chopping block.

"Further, the so-called deficit reduction super committee of six senators and six House members will have the power to make devastating cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans.

"All of us understand that the current deficit situation is unsustainable and that we need responsible action to address it.  It is unconscionable, however, that this agreement would place the entire burden on working families and some of the most vulnerable people in our country."

read more

BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

If you're planning to attend, or tune in and watch the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, South Korea in 2018, be aware that one of the biggest financial beneficiaries of those games will be the Rev. Sun Myung Moon and his Unification Church, although it is fair to say that the Reverend, now 91, may not be around to reel in the profits.

Last month, I was at a friend's home for lunch and sushi dominated the takeout fare. Not particularly liking sushi, and being the party pooper that I am, I mentioned the fact that the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church was heavily involved in the world sushi market. "Who," the well-educated younger folks seated around the table wanted to know, "is Rev. Moon?"

Trying to recap more than 50 years of Moon-ness is like having Tolstoy's War and Peace made into a classic comic book.

It's practically impossible to get a handle on the whole thing, but here are some things that come to mind:

• Potential members recruited off college campuses by nefarious means;
• CAUSA International, Moon's anti-communist operation;
• The tax evasion scheme that cost Moon 18 months in prison in the 1980s;
• Support for Richard M. Nixon during Watergate and his close relationship to the Reagan administration and the Bush family (http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/moon.html);
• Ownership of News World Communications, his international news operations which has included the conservative daily Washington Times and United Press International, as well as publications in a number of foreign countries;
• Large financial contributions to keep Jerry Falwell's Liberty University afloat;
• A myriad of front groups that draw in all sorts of powerful religious and political leaders;
• Financial incursions into the black community;
• Well-publicized and predictably arena/stadium mass marriages;
• Support for Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan's Million Family March in Washington DC;
• His coronation as the "king of peace" in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in March 2004, where Moon called himself the Messiah and claimed that his teachings have helped Hitler and Stalin be "reborn as new persons"; and,
• A number of major business operations, including computers and religious icons in Japan, seafood in Alaska, ginseng in Korea, huge tracts of land in South America, a recording studio and travel agency in Manhattan, a horse farm in Texas and a golf course in California;

 

2018 Winter Olympics in Korea

One long-time Moon watcher told me in an email that "Moon doesn't do anything that is not tied to the rest of the plan," and in the case of the 2018 Olympics, it is clear that "all the profits that accrue to Tongil Business [Group] goes to support church activities i.e. support the promotion of Moon in his role as the Messiah."

The Week reported that "According to the Korean Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, the Olympics could bring in as much as $27 billion, while the Hyundai Research Institute estimates that it will inject $61 billion into the economy, factoring in investments, spending, and increased consumption. In Thursday trading, shares in South Korean construction firms and resort companies surged by as much as 15 percent."

After it was determined that Korea would be getting the games, Japan Today reported that "South Korean president Lee Myung-bak promptly announced the nation would invest the equivalent of 40 billion Japanese yen into upgrading facilities."

The magazine Asahi Geino reported that the Yongpyong Ski Resort, which will host some of the events, has close ties with the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, aka the Unification Church.

"The church is the largest shareholder of the Yongpyong ski resort, with 49.9% of shares," says Yoshifu Arita, a well known investigative journalist and currently a member of Japan's House of Councilors. "In addition, the Segye Ilbo newspaper founded by the church [called Sekai Nippo in its Japanese edition] owns another 12.59%.

"In other words, for all intents and purposes, the resort is owned by the Unification Church. In books and other church publications, the hotel, condominiums, ski slopes and other facilities are introduced as 'sacred territory.' The site has also been the venue for 'special training seminars' attended by Japanese church members, at which ... Moon ... participated."

The YongPyong Resort - owned and managed by the Unificationist Tongill Business Group -- is called "The Mecca of winter sports" on its website, has "hosted the World Cup Ski Competition in 1998 and 2000, as well as the Winter Asian Games in 1999." In 2018, it will be hosting the alpine downhill and slalom skiing events.

With the awarding of events of the 2018 Winter Olympics to the Moon-owned ski resort, Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church is back in the news, sort of. Ever since the brouhaha over who would be running the Washington Times (http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributors/2113) and which of the Moon children would be heading the rest of his business empire kind of died down, we haven't heard much from the 91-year-old Moon, who also likes to be known as the True Father, Messiah, King of America, etc.

Sushi, guns and the True Father/Messiah

According to an April 2006 report in the Chicago Tribune, a Moon-run operation called True World Group "which builds fleets of boats, runs dozens of distribution centers and, each day, supplies most of the nation's estimated 9,000 sushi restaurants."

In a 1980 speech titled "The Way of Tuna," - during which he called himself "king of the ocean" -- Moon said: "I have the entire system worked out, starting with boat building. After we build the boats, we catch the fish and process them for the market, and then have a distribution network. This is not just on the drawing board; I have already done it."

And there is Kahr Arms (http://www.kahr.com/), Moon's Worcester, Massachusetts-based gun-making company that is now run by his son, Kook Jin Moon. "I see an irony, if not hypocrisy, that someone who professes peace and says he's completing Jesus's work also manufactures for profit an implement with no purpose other than killing people," Tom Diaz, author of Making a Killing, a book critical of the firearms industry, told the Washington Post in 1999 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/march99/moon10.htm). "What's the message, turn the other cheek, or lock and load?"

In late-July, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence announced a settlement in a 2002 wrongful death suit in which Kahr agreed to pay the family of Danny Guzman, who was killed, and Armandoi Maisonet, who was wounded, nearly $600,000, in a shooting involving a gun allegedly stolen from the company.

In mid-July Kahr announced that it - along with its sister companies Auto-Ordnance (AO) and Magnum Research (MRI) -- would be sponsoring a TV series called "Student of the Gun," which, according to AmmoLand.com, "will give viewers a detailed look at all sorts of firearms and their uses and training applications." (The show is carried on the Pursuit Channel, available to all Direct TV and Dish Network customers.)

As John Gorenfeld, author of King of America (formerly titled Bad Moon Rising) has pointed out, "Years ago, Moon was widely considered a dangerous madman, the next Jim Jones. He inspired TV specials with names like "Escape From The Moonies." His cult separated college students from their families, persuaded them to take to the streets by the hundreds to sell flowers and underwrite Moon's mansions and yacht. So completely did they surrender to Moon that he even assigned them spouses at fabulous stadium weddings."

Another veteran journalist I asked about Moon's relevancy in the second decade of the twenty-first century, pointed out that while "Moon is clearly not as important as he once was, partly because of his age and partly due to the divisions in his empire, he still writes very big checks for the Washington Times and other right-wing propaganda operations. How significant his benefit from the Korean Olympics will be is another question."

read more

MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Republicans can't stop feasting on pork, even as they denounce it.

Last week, BuzzFlash at Truthout asked the question, "Why is GOP hypocrisy so brazen and audacious?"

We focused on freshman Illinois Tea Party Congressman Joe Walsh, who voted no on the debt ceiling/deficit reduction bill on Monday. Walsh, a favorite of cable TV, said he was opposing the bill in order to save a future for his children and grandchildren - and only more drastic deficit reduction would do that and show fiscal responsibility. Walsh, however, was revealed last week to be a deadbeat dad to the tune of owing more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife.

But there are a myriad of GOP hypocrisies, whether having to do with lapsed moral values (e.g. David Vitter paying for prostitutes, or John Ensign having an adulterous affair with his top aide's wife and then paying him off to hush it up) or financial improprieties (Ensign qualifies for a twofer in these two areas). And many, many more.

Which brings us to virtually the entire Republican delegation in Congress decrying pork (earmarks) as not being kosher for fiscal accountability, while indulging in bringing home the bacon to their districts or states (as Sarah Palin tried to do as governor with her "bridge to nowhere," among other federal projects).

The New York Times ran an editorial on Monday exposing just a few examples of GOP hypocrisy on pork:

The road to Washington is paved with broken campaign promises. But few are so rich in hypocrisy as those of House Republican freshmen caught engineering hometown pork even as they vow to slash the federal budget for the supposed good of the nation....

Representative Tim Scott, a Tea Party favorite from South Carolina, helped secure the down payment on a $300 million harbor dredging project back home. Not at all pork, said Mr. Scott, pronouncing the dredging a matter of the national interest. In the case of a new bridge in Wisconsin, Representative Sean Duffy reasons it's no earmark since the legislation listed no specific costs.

Representative Michele Bachmann, Minnesota's three-term incumbent and presidential aspirant, also supports the bridge - and calls for a "redefinition" of what an earmark is. "There's a big difference between funding a teapot museum and a bridge over a vital waterway," is Ms. Bachmann's head-scratching guidance.

No, it's not "head-scratching." It's just being fundamentally dishonest, annoyingly self-righteous and profoundly hypocritical, yet again.

******

If you'd like to receive these commentaries daily from Truthout/BuzzFlash, click here. You'll get our choice headlines and articles too.

read more

MARK PERKEL, LETTER TO THE EDITOR ON BUZZFLASHT AT TRUTHOUT

For those Americans who don't understand the debt deal it's government by hostage taking. Congress forms a gang of 12 who are supposed to agree on a way to cut the deficit. If the gang fails or congress doesn't pass what they recommend, then the trigger is pulled and each hostage is shot.

The hostage for the Democrats is the elderly. The hostage for the Republicans is the military. If a deal fails, then wounded solders and the elderly are out on the street. Is this any way to run a country? Is this what America has come to?

I think Congress should have used themselves as a hostage. Why not pass a bill where if Congress doesn't cut the deficit then they lose their pay? Or why not put their lifetime pension on the table? Here in California if the legislature doesn't pass a budget on time, then they don't get paid. Tell Congress to hold themselves hostage. They should put their money on the table - not ours.

read more

TONY PEYSER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

I might have respected the Republicans
If they'd gone into hibernation
In shame over the disasters they caused
During Dubya's administration.

However, that isn't how they roll ---
Their main goal is catering to the rich
Even if they make our country worse
They can't resist scratching this itch.

They lack a viable candidate for 2012
And the only arrow in their quiver
Is ruin Obama by ruining the economy:
So what if it makes Americans shiver?

This crop of current Republicans is
A defiant, single-minded crowd of
Self-destructive nutcases who the late
Jim Jones would've been proud of.

read more

Recently, BuzzFlash at Truthout talked about how Republican Congressional "deficit reduction" and tax cuts for the rich and corporations don't help and even hurt small businesses in America, because the actual policies facilitate large companies in crushing small business competitors.  But another reason the GOP claim to tax cuts for the wealthy is dishonest in that most small businesses bring home less that $250,000 a year.  That means if the US reinstated the taxes for the rich from the Bush administration, small businesses would not be affected, but our national defiicit would decrease  -- and perhaps some funds could be allocated to really help small businesses. That is because President Obama wants to keep the tax cuts for those households making less than $250,000 a year, but raise them for wealthier households.

The New York Review of Books recently noted, "But relatively few small business owners earn $250,000—in fact, fewer than 3 percent of the 20 million people who file business income on their personal tax forms (the 1040s) earn that much."

As Elizabeth Drew -- seasoned Washington DC analyst (formerly for the New Yorker) -- writes in the New York Review, the Republicans have controlled the debate on "debt reduction" by continuing to move the goal posts, as the White House then gives up more yardage.  But facts cannot be argued, as in the case of small businesses, in reality, getting the short end of the stick from the GOP.  As Drew observes:

The antitax dogma of the Republican Party is strongly rooted in mythology. The theory that tax cuts create jobs has been discredited by the results of George Bush’s tax policies. The Republicans cling to the myth that “small business” owners are the “job creators,” and so they oppose proposals to eliminate the Bush rate cuts for even those earning over $250,000. But relatively few small business owners earn $250,000—in fact, fewer than 3 percent of the 20 million people who file business income on their personal tax forms (the 1040s) earn that much.

In fact, to repeat, the GOP Congressional policy hurts small businesses -- as they are shrinking in America -- by facilitating the growth of mega-corporations that drive small stores and manufacturers out of business.  That turns the Republican Party into a job killer.

read more

MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

For many years, BuzzFlash offered a GOP hypocrite of the week award.

The problem was not in finding someone who fit the "honor," it was selecting one from a teeming cauldron of candidates.

In some ways, hypocrisy is a built-in component of being an inflexible Republican, since a major part of the party is known for its pronounced moral scolding and inflexible stances allegedly based on "principle."

Human nature being what it is, an abundance of Republicans are revealed to be hypocrites on everything from monogamy to feeding themselves at the public trough.

In the debt ceiling political spectacle, a freshman GOP Congressman from Illinois, Joe Walsh, has been a leader of the hard-line "fiscal responsibility" Tea Party faction.

But the hypocritical skeletons are coming out of Congressman Walsh's closet, according to the Chicago Sun-Times:

Freshman U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a tax-bashing Tea Party champion who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility, owes more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife and three children, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December.

"I won't place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids unless we structurally reform the way this town spends money!" Walsh says directly into the camera in his viral video lecturing Obama on the need to get the nation's finances in order.

Walsh's wife is not a happy camper with his hypocrisy: "In 2004, Laura Walsh complained in a motion that despite her ex-husband's claims of poverty, he took a vacation to Mexico with his girlfriend and another to Italy."

The details get more sordid as you read the Sun-Times article:

In addition to the foreclosure on his condominium, Walsh was haunted during his campaign by disclosures of liens on his property from unpaid bills and staffers abandoning his campaign, saying he wasn't paying them.

Keith Liscio, who said Walsh hired him to be campaign manager - Walsh disputes that - has sued Walsh for $20,000 in salary he said Walsh owes him. Both sides are trying to settle that case.

Staffers learned during the campaign that Walsh was driving on a suspended license. His license was suspended twice in 2008 for his failure to appear in court, and he was cited in 2009 for driving on a suspended license, according to the Illinois Secretary of State.

Another noteworthy point is that it appears Walsh's current Congressional salary, $175,000 per year (along with tremendous benefits), is the highest he has been paid in years. He is prospering off taxpayer dollars.

As we wrote the GOP hypocrite of the week articles for many years, we would wonder: Are these con men (and the vast majority were men) or just people with profound psychological repression?

Either way, America loses as we get a daily dose of duplicity instead of public policy that can advance the nation.

read more

TONY PEYSER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Why go out on a limb & bother
To take the time to co-opt him?
He doesn't like his dad, Pat ---
Why don't you just adopt him?

read more

MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

John Boehner's alleged American/global corporation "job creators" are actually job killers in the United States.

It's another example of how the GOP uses Frank Luntz's focus group-molded message points that transform the opposite of the truth into "perceived reality."

As BuzzFlash has noted before, small businesses that do actually generate jobs in the US are actually on the decline. Why? Because large, global corporations, such as General Electric, use tax loopholes and global reach to ship jobs overseas. Many global corporations based in America see the US as a consumer market that has peaked - and they can get cheaper labor and expanded buyers overseas.

But the tax breaks that the US government gives to global corporations that move jobs and profits offshore hurt small businesses that can't compete and don't have the lawyers or size to take advantage of the loopholes.

Recently introduced legislation would cut down on offshore tax havens for global corporations, keeping funds in the US and taking one step to level the playing field for small businesses.

According to the organization Business for Shared Prosperity:

Newly introduced legislation ... would recapture $100 billion in revenue annually - and $1 trillion over the next decade - lost to tax dodging by multinational corporations and wealthy individuals through offshore tax havens.

read more

DANNY SCHECHTER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Move over Osama bin Laden. I know you already have in the physical sense - but you now have an emulator who borrows your tactics and inverts your ideology.

Anders Behring Breivik, is Norway's candidate for the new world's top living evil-doer and terror supremo, having admitted to killing 93 young people and blowing up buildings in Oslo.

While Bin Laden castigated crusaders, Breivik salutes them in a 1,518 page manifesto of madness. And his lawyer has rationalized his murder spree in a similar way to those who have defended Al Qaeda for defending Islam.

The two are almost carbon copies. The Norwegian posted videos on You Tube, while Bin Laden relied on TV communiqués.

One was killing in the name of Islam, the other in the name of Christianity.

Foreign Policy reports, "Breivik's lawyer said that his client admitted to the killings, but rejected "criminal responsibility." He described Breivik as being motivated to carry out the attacks based on a desire to force radical change on Norwegian society.

"He has said that he believed the actions were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary," the lawyer said."

read more

NEWS ALERT FROM SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) today introduced legislation that would phase out private security contractors in war zones.

The legislation recognizes that the United States increasingly has relied on private contractors to wage our wars, wasting taxpayer money, damaging military morale and hurting our reputation around the world.

"The American people have always prided themselves on the strength, conduct, and honor of our United States military. I therefore find it very disturbing that now, in the midst of two wars and a global struggle against terrorism, we are relying more and more on private security contractors - rather than our own military - to provide for our national defense," Sanders said.

"Our continued reliance on private security contractors endangers our military, damages our relationships with foreign governments, and undermines our global priorities," said Schakowsky. "Though we have the finest military in the world, we continue to outsource our security to private contractors, who answer to a corporation rather than a uniformed commander. When Senator Sanders and I introduced this legislation last year, we had 22,000 armed private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, we have 28,178. We need this bill now more than ever. "

read more

HARVEY WASSERMAN FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

America's budget crisis has the world economy at the brink. Social Security, Medicare, aid for needy children, environmental protection and much more are being chopped.

Yet, Congress and the White House may still want to use our money to fund atomic power.

Specifically, $36 billion in loan guarantees may still be on the table for building new nukes. Millions more are slated for "small reactors" and other atomic boondoggles.

A national campaign - including an August 7 "MUSE2" concert - is underway to help stop this. With your help, we can win.

Some realities:

More US energy is now generated by renewables than nuclear power, according to the latest Energy Information Administration report, and the balance is continuing to shift to green sources.

Solar cells are now cheaper and faster to install than new nuclear plants, and will soon be cheaper than coal, according to General Electric.

After a half-century, US atomic power cannot attract private investment for new reactors, cannot obtain sufficient insurance against a major disaster and cannot deal with its wastes.
At least one Congressional study shows the likelihood of default on reactor loan guarantees to be at least 50%.

read more

PAT WELLER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

The debt stalemate continues, but still we can envision the future. Now that a balanced approach of spending cuts and tax revenues has been jettisoned by both parties, the following predictions seem reasonably safe:

1. Spending cuts will affect the poor and middle class exclusively;

2. There will be no shared sacrifice except among the poor and middle class;

3. The middle class will shrink, but they will not be moving up. The poor will become poorer.

4. Corporations will not create jobs as predicted because there will be no demand as a result of the drop in middle class spending;

5. The wealthy, unaffected, will continue to deliver their children to summer camp by private jets;

6. Oil and insurance companies will continue to gouge us, though we will be able to decide for ourselves, through careful shopping, which companies can do it;

7. Unemployment will go up because of the spending cuts;

8. Life will be even more complicated for the disabled and the elderly due to overreaching cuts in entitlement programs;

9. What entitlement programs?

10. Television audiences will increase;

read more

JACQUELINE MARCUS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

A big reason why the federal government is "broke" is because the oil industrialists have had a free pass on paying taxes. They haven't paid their fair share of taxes for nearly 15 years. And here's why: Lobbyists make their dirty deals with the legislators by essentially writing the laws that work in their favor and then the legislators add these dirty deals into the bills.

For example, while House Republicans are well aware of the intolerably hot temperatures from global warming right now, they're getting ready to vote on amendments that increase global warming: According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), "among the most egregious amendments, or riders, are ones that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from setting first ever limits on global warming emissions from power plants and oil refineries and undermine new administration fuel efficiency standards for vehicles manufactured between 2017 and 2025." The vote comes just days after a severe heat wave that set record temperatures in many U.S. cities.

And that's the way it works in D.C. for just about everything regarding benefits for billionaires while at the same time, slashing funding for highways, schools, bridges, libraries, health care, police, firemen and so forth. In other words, Republicans want to funnel our tax dollars to war profiteers and billionaires instead of responsibly funding what taxes are supposed to be used for: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and basically the money that is needed to maintain a country's infrastructure. The Republicans' message to the President and to the American people is: How dare you ask millionaires and billionaires to pay taxes! And that's the central reason why both sides are mired in mud.

There is much to be said about what created the deficit. Try ten years of oil occupational wars that include trillions of dollars of wasteful defense spending for starters. "Any serious battle plan to reduce the deficit must take on the Pentagon," wrote David Morris. "In 2011 military spending accounted for more than 58 percent of all federal discretionary spending and even more if the interest on the federal debt that is related to military spending were added. In the last ten years the Federal government spent more than $7.6 trillion on military and homeland security according to the National Priorities Project."

read more

BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

"Although [Pat] Buchanan doesn't have the influence he did in the 1990s when he commanded a following inside the Republican Party, he remains an influential, even cutting edge figure among a significant sector of extreme paleoconservatives," says Leonard Zeskind, president of the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights.

For a number of years, Patrick J. Buchanan was considered "The Man" in the conservative movement; he took a back seat to no one. He ran for the GOP's presidential nomination and attracted a large following; he hosted and appeared on several cable news shows, including being one of the original co-hosts of CNN's "Crossfire"; his books have been bestsellers; and, perhaps most famously of all, Buchanan's "Culture War Speech" at the 1992 Republican Party convention both enthralled his followers and chilled a good part of the rest of the nation.

In a recent column about the events in Norway, after a perfunctory condemnation of the bombing and murder spree unleashed by Anders Behring Breivik, Buchanan was classic Buchanan suggesting that, "Breivik may be right."

Over the years, as Jamison Foser recently pointed out at Media Matters for America, Buchanan has expressed an, "almost unbelievable dislike of Nelson Mandela and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr."; took up the cause of John Demjanuk, who was"convicted earlier this year of complicity in the murder of tens of thousands of Jews while serving at a Nazi death camp"; defended the white supremacists beliefs of Nixon's Supreme Court nominee, Harold Carswell; and,"praised Klansman David Duke for his staunch opposition to ‘discrimination against white folks.'"

In a June column posted at CNSNews.com, titled "Say Goodbye to Los Angeles" Buchanan commented on the June soccer match at Pasadena's storied Rose Bowl that saw the Mexican team beat the U.S. He wrote that fans rooting for Mexico should consider returning there and they should"let someone take his place who wants to become an American."

Buchanan pointed out that "By 2050, according to Census figures, thanks to illegals crossing over and legalized mass immigration, the number of Hispanics in the U.S.A. will rise from today's 50 million to 135 million." Never one to miss an opportunity to be excessively dramatic/hyperbolic, Buchanan concluded: "Say goodbye to Los Angeles. Say goodbye to California."

When Pat Buchanan spoke, many may have turned their heads, but his core audience, anti-immigrant, white nationalists perked up and listened, and later echoed his remarks.

Despite the reams of "culture war" commentary, including anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and anti-gay rage, for some inexplicable reason, the Washington Beltway crowd has always considered him"a good old boy."

"A cutting edge figure among a significant sector of extreme paleoconservatives"

read more

Body

 

If you thought discussions about raising the debt ceiling were tortured and depressing and solutions seemed out of reach you couldn't find a more unpleasant reminder of how dismal things can get than to watch how the Interior Department goes about putting a budget in place now that the Republicans are in charge. This committee is a microcosm of what is happening to the country as conservatives set about transforming the political landscape according to their ideological predilections

What we are witnessing is in fact a country being run by fanatics elected to Congress by voters who, in a fury of unrequited promises turned to candidates who talked about smaller government and lower taxes without any real sense of what it would take to govern effectively. Conservatives found advocates to do their bidding among the largely uninformed and wildly jingoistic Tea Party crowd. All manner of strange, almost forgotten factions began to reappear and join the fray determined not to miss the opportunity to make a real difference this time around.

That we have ranged so far from the high promise of our founding principles is a sad perversion of what was once a proud heritage. But it isn't a sudden burst of rancor and evil that has set us off course. We have been wandering for quite some time only to find that events have suddenly overwhelmed any sense of well-being we enjoyed when good times masked underlying problems in our economy and clouded our world view. The attacks on 9/11 confused our sense of proportion and allowed the Bush administration to have its way with us. Outrageous decisions were made that have cost the country dearly and for which we continue to pay an enormous price.

The sickening display of partisan maneuvers in Congress as the country's financial future hangs in the balance makes clear that no serious efforts are being made by the majority to address either the deficit or the debt ceiling. Republican attempts to tie a debt-ceiling hike to their favorite political positions are a typical departure from sound legislative practice. And yet because of the November elections the administration feels obliged to carry on discussions as if they were worthy of serious consideration.

The Interior Department budget debate is indicative of the larger budgeting issues working their way through Congress. The arguments are similar in scope, the players equally tenacious. In this debate the EPA is confronted by people who have always wanted to de-fund and destroy it rather than engage in thoughtful deliberations. On top of deep cuts already achieved the 2012 budget takes another whack at this agency leaving it all but dismantled. Similarly, FAA cuts are a response to union organizing. As usual Republicans are willing to manipulate a program and agency in order to satisfy partisan ideology without regard to how the public will be affected.

As feared in the run-up to the election, "The Republican takeover of Congress not only ... gives the Speaker's gavel to John Boehner, it also elevates up to 25 senior GOP lawmakers to the roles of committee chairs... the top contenders are all men. Nearly all are white. Most have deep ties to the business community or the industries they will soon oversee. Some have former staffers who now work in the lobbying world and could seek influence before their committees. And many have gotten the lion's share of their campaign monies the past two election cycles from special interest political  action  committees."  (ABCnews.go.com/Blotter)

Who can forget Joe Barton's apology to BP for what he said was a "shakedown" by the president for a fund he had initiated to underwrite business and private losses caused by the company's oil spill in the Gulf? Barton's arrogance is typical of the Republican mindset and a reminder of the Texas-oil connection that permeates the party's agenda and distorts the political process.

Worst of all, in a general sense, many legislators rely on their ability to regurgitate talking points and sidestep questions. Minority leader Mitch McConnell is an expert at this as is Tennessee's Marcia Blackburn who filibusters even on simple interview occasions. We have arrived at a place in our national conversation where ideology trumps intellect every time.

p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }a:link { }

TONY PEYSER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

 

This one thing that I have recently noticed

I’ll pass along in a manner quite modest.

What name is right for new right wingers?

The one that I rather like is … Teahadist.

 

Anything that Obama has and will ever do

They’re all ready to be condemning:

They possess the collective brainpower of

Your basic run-of-the-mill lemming.

read more

MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

UPDATE: Since this commentary was written in the early afternoon of July 27th, Think Progress has confirmed that President Obama was negotiating a gradual increase of the eligibility age for Medicare to 67. As Think Progress reported:

Jacob Hacker, political science professor at Yale University, has called the scheme "the single worst idea for Medicare reform" since it "saves Medicare money only by shifting the cost burden onto older Americans caught between the old eligibility age and the new, as well as onto the employers and states that help fund their benefits." Worse still, some seniors between the ages of 65 and 67 could "end up uninsured," the Center on Budget And Policy Priorities' Edwin Park predicted. Individuals "with incomes too high for premium subsidies in the exchange and those who qualify for only modest subsidies" could be priced out of affordable coverage, he warned.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, raising the eligibility age to 67 would cause an estimated net increase of $5.6 billion in out-of-pocket health insurance costs for beneficiaries who would have been otherwise covered by Medicare. Seniors in Medicare Part B would also face a 3 percent premium increase, the study found, since younger and healthier enrollees would be routed out of Medicare and into private insurance. Beneficiaries in health care reform's exchanges would see a similar spike in premiums with the addition of the older population. Federal cost savings, meanwhile, would be slim.

Meanwhile, Think Progress also revisited how Timothy Geithner had warned Obama against negotiating on the debt ceiling because it would likely lead to a quagmire.  Obama ignored his advice.

President Obama's view of himself as a consumate behind closed doors negotiator with Republican leaders may be due to hubris, but is certainly not effective; in fact, he generally ends up as the guy at the poker table who started with the biggest stake, but ends up with no chips left to play.

Yes, polls show Democrats, in general, would vote for him again, but it may be due more to a fear that he is the only thing between America and the cult of barbarians at the gate than due to his weak leadership and feckless negotiations.

OBAMA'S OBSESSION WITH COMPROMISE HAS COMPROMISED HIS PRESIDENCY

Regardless of the current political theater taking place over the debt ceiling, what drives much of the right wing - in terms of symbols - is the iconic image of the lone male (usually with a gun) who doesn't flinch from a fight, when his integrity and justice are at stake.

Let's call this "The John Wayne Syndrome."

Ronald Reagan, a Hollywood colleague and buddy of Wayne, was the epitome of this - in large part because he could act the role so well.

This brings us to the issue of form vs. content in the Obama presidency. Obama has positioned himself as a mediator between the Democrats and the Republicans, not as an unwavering leader for a specific agenda or vision. Since his presidency began, he has been primarily on the defensive, caught on the Republican side of the football field with has back to the goal line.

This is where his emphasis on "compromise" may have compromised his presidency. The Republicans, in general, value strength in politics over concession. They tend to look at a man who is frequently backing away from his positions, whatever his lofty rhetoric, as weak and as someone who can be pushed around.

The intangible in all this is that, while most Americans want the "gridlock to break in DC," it hasn't broken. Despite polling that shows Obama is perceived a bit better on the debt ceiling issue than the Republicans, he is starting to lose advance polls against some GOP candidates for the next election.

What Obama may not understand is that most Americans want strong leadership standing up to bullies and thugs, as Gary Cooper did as the sheriff in "High Noon" (popular culture drives our image making, after all). They didn't elect a mediator in 2008; they elected a leader who would break the DC logjam not by showing weakness, but by showing resolve and an ability to forcefully exercise the power of the presidency.

Republican political leaders are jackals at sensing weakness in opponents. In the end, President Obama's insistence on pleading with the GOP to accept legislation that is similar to what they originally proposed as a first-step debt reduction target is a sign of a failed strategy and risk aversion, not strength.

******

read more

Video Nation How much money did we really spend on the bailouts? Where did it go? Are we getting it back? The Nation's Christopher Hayes answers these questions and more.