Good Reason

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Category: politics (page 12 of 19)

Biden veep pick

23 August 2008 / / 1 Comment

So Obama has chosen Joe Biden as his running mate. Everyone go ahead and add him to your spell check dictionary. I’ll wait.

I didn’t know a lot about Biden, so I headed over to (where else) the Wikipedia page about his political positions. He seems sensible enough in most ways. He’ll probably make a good Vice President.

But here’s what occurs to me. Yes, the bolus of infection that is the American Republican Party will explode in an ugly geyser of pus come November. We’ll probably never be rid of it entirely, but it is struggling, and its influence will be greatly diminished in the next election cycle. Even so, the goals of movement conservatism have largely been met. We can understand the effects of a movement by what it leaves behind when it inevitably dies, and movement conservatism has pushed things really far to the right. You can now support abstinence education, Israel, a same-sex marriage ban, and building a wall on the Mexican border, and still be thought of as a reasonably moderate liberal.

Don’t get me wrong — I like his positives, which are many. But remember the lesson of the Overton Window: extremists in a movement defend the indefensible, and thus make the unthinkable thinkable. It’s worked. Some of Biden’s views are out there. Like crazy grandpa out there. Just sayin’.

I’m also a Eucharist abuse sympathiser.

19 August 2008 / / Comments Off on I’m also a Eucharist abuse sympathiser.

Man! Some bloggers have all the luck. Towleroad, who I’ve never heard of, has been targeted by closet case Bill Donahue of the so-called Catholic League. He wants the Democrats to drop Towleroad and Bitch Ph.D from the list of media bloggers for the DNC convention, or else he’ll hold his breath and turn blue. How cool would that be to nettle Donahue to that extent? And how can I get on Bill’s big bad list?

You know, I think I’ve got the Catholic League figured out. It’s just Bill Donahue. There’s no one else there. And the Catholic League website is just his blog. But instead of making blog posts and leaving it at that, he sends his blog posts to the media, and calls it a press release!

I’m going to start calling myself the “Good Reason League”. My first press release:

“I advocate contraception.”

There. That ought to get Bill’s attention.

Has Junior poisoned the brand? GOPers say no.

14 August 2008 / / Comments Off on Has Junior poisoned the brand? GOPers say no.

Forty-one percent of Americans say that G. W. Bush is the worst president in U.S. history. Thankfully for Bush, 50% said, “Well, maybe he isn’t the worst.”

I’m tempted to side with the 41% percent. The Republic is still standing, and anyone worse than Bush would surely have brought it down. On the other hand, Buchanan or Johnson might have been worse. If the question had been worded “worst president in living memory“, then Bush definitely. And for “worst ever”, Bush is on the short list. I do think, however, that 2001–2008 will go down in history as the time when constitutional government in America was the most endangered.

But there was one stat that reminded me yet again that most people who still identify as Republican are unimpeded by such things as reality and good sense.

While 61% of Americans overall say Bush has been bad for the Republican Party, only 28% of Republicans themselves agree. On the other hand, 81% of Democrats – and 68% of unaffiliated voters — rate the president as bad for the GOP.

Imagine. About 70% of Republicans don’t think Bush has been particularly bad for the GOP brand. Why, no. With GOP party identification dropping, and record numbers of Republican congress-critters retiring, Bush has had what can only be described as a salubrious effect on the Party.

I’d have thought Republicans would throw Bush under the bus what with elections coming, but no, they still hold him dear. They really do live in a different universe.

L’affaire Edwards

10 August 2008 / / 2 Comments

I’ve read everyone in the world’s opinions on John Edwards’ affair. The weird thing is, every time I read someone’s comment, I agree with it, even things that contradict other things I agree with.

It’s none of the public’s business. If Edwards had been some moral crusader, then fair game. Moral crusaders think everyone’s sex life is an open book, ergo so is theirs. But Edwards was not one of these, and I’d rather it be something for him and his family to deal with.

It matters because voters think it matters. I wish everyone thought like me, but they don’t. America contains many puritanical hypocrites, who I suppose want to be represented. And if they don’t like someone’s sexual behaviour, they have the right to not vote for them. That’s the game, and everyone goes into politics knowing it.

I’m disappointed in John Edwards. I quite liked him, and would have been glad to see him take the nomination. Imagine if that had happened, and here we’d be in a state of hosedness.

Edwards was reckless and immoral. Cheating on your cancer-stricken wife really sucks balls. And he was stupid. Have we learned nothing from Bill Clinton? Gary Hart?

I’m angry with Elizabeth Edwards, too. She knew about the affair when John was campaigning, but they both chose to go through with it anyway, and risk instant campaign death and four years of President McCain. I think we Democrats dodged a bullet.

McCain is worse. But there are lots of other reasons not to vote for McCain that are actually good, as in this article about why McCain would make a mediocre president at best.

I hope the Edwardses can make a contribution to American public discourse once again, because I’d hate to have this be the last thing we hear about them.

Tire gauge Republicans

6 August 2008 / / 1 Comment

There’s a group of people in America that refuse to take personal responsibility for their problems. They just want the government to do everything for them. They’re called Republicans.

Look at the current tire gauge flap. Obama mentioned in a recent campaign speech that keeping tires inflated could help improve gas mileage. The McCain team has gone nuts over the matter, claiming (dishonestly) that tire gauges represent the whole of Obama’s energy policy. They’d rather drill the Arctic instead.

See, they could take responsibility for making sure that their cars are tuned up properly and have the tires inflated to the right pressure. But they’re too lazy and irresponsible. So instead they want the government to give the go-ahead on more drilling. But giving them more oil will just keep them addicted.

It seems the Democratic Party stands for personal responsibility. Those Republicans are always looking for government handouts.

Card has lost it

26 July 2008 / / 9 Comments

Mormon writer Orson Scott Card has written an amazingly deranged piece of frothing about gay marriage. He argues that if the USA allows gay marriage, we should — nay, must — overthrow the government ‘by whatever means is made possible or necessary’. You really have to read it to see how unhinged he is on this issue.

Here are the highlights.

The first and greatest threat from court decisions in California and Massachusetts, giving legal recognition to “gay marriage,” is that it marks the end of democracy in America.

End of democracy? I think of myself as an interpreter of Mormonism, but even I’m struggling to find a context in which this comment makes sense. It’s not enough to point out that Mormons are millennial dispensationalists who expand personal and local conflicts into end-of-the-world issues. You have to imagine that homosexuality is not just a lifestyle choice that you may disagree with, but some kind of magical force of darkness that is politically dangerous.

How dangerous is this, politically? Please remember that for the mildest of comments critical of the political agenda of homosexual activists, I have been called a “homophobe” for years.

Wonder why. You know who Card reminds me of? My missionary companion from Idaho. He once made some disparaging comments about gay people, and I said, “You know what you are? You’re a homophobe.”

“What’s that?” he said.

“Well, ‘phobe’ is like ‘phobia’ — fear. So it’s a fear of gay people.”

He was incensed. “I’m not afraid of them! I’ll bet the hell out of any of them!”

Just for reference, here are his ‘mildest of comments‘ from 1990:

Laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books, not to be indiscriminately enforced against anyone who happens to be caught violating them, but to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society’s regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society.

The goal of the polity is not to put homosexuals in jail. The goal is to discourage people from engaging in homosexual practices in the first place, and, when they nevertheless proceed in their homosexual behavior, to encourage them to do so discreetly, so as not to shake the confidence of the community in the polity’s ability to provide rules for safe, stable, dependable marriage and family relationships.

Keep ’em in line. Send ’em a message. Good move. Back to the article.

A term that has mental-health implications (homophobe) is now routinely applied to anyone who deviates from the politically correct line. How long before opposing gay marriage, or refusing to recognize it, gets you officially classified as “mentally ill”?

Well, it would help if you stopped, you know, writing insane things. I’m not an expert, but Card sounds psychiatrically actionable.

If property rights were utterly abolished, and you could own nothing, you would leave that society as quickly as possible — or create a new society that agreed to respect each other’s property rights and protected them from outsiders who would attempt to take away your property.

Marriage is, if anything, more vital, more central, than property.

I got a better one: There are laws against littering. But music is much more important than litter, so we should have laws about what kind of music you’re allowed to listen to.

He then argues that marriage is like some kind of slum that straight people have let run down, which is why those horrible gay people now want in.

A vast number of unmarried men and women have such contempt for marriage that they share bed and home without asking for any formal recognition by society.

How dare they!

What is this ‘society’ Card’s talking about, and how is he so sure what it expects of us? And why does he think that society must approve of all our actions? Is he a utopian socialist?

One thing is certain: Card’s devotion to society is absolute, until the very moment it contradicts his views.

Why should married people feel the slightest loyalty to a government or society that are conspiring to encourage reproductive and/or marital dysfunction in their children?

Why should married people tolerate the interference of such a government or society in their family life?

If America becomes a place where our children are taken from us by law and forced to attend schools where they are taught that cohabitation is as good as marriage, that motherhood doesn’t require a husband or father, and that homosexuality is as valid a choice as heterosexuality for their future lives, then why in the world should married people continue to accept the authority of such a government?

How long before married people answer the dictators thus: Regardless of law, marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down, so it can be replaced with a government that will respect and support marriage, and help me raise my children in a society where they will expect to marry in their turn.

What a terrible monologue. But at least he has his priorities straight. Better to tear down the fabric of the republic than for people to think certain things.

It’s crazy stuff, and it all comes to you courtesy of the Mormon Times, the weekly magazine of the church-owned Deseret Times. I’d love to see if the church leadership has anything to say about this call to insurrection.

Condi’s visit to Perth

24 July 2008 / / 4 Comments

Apparently Australian Foreign Minister (and my Member of Parliament) Stephen Smith hit it off really well with US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. So well that he invited her to Perth to hang out.

Well, today’s the day.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in Perth later today.

Dr Rice will be in Perth for about 18 hours, and a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says she will attend a dinner tonight and an event tomorrow before flying to New Zealand.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith invited Dr Rice to Perth when the pair met in January this year.

He says while the visit will include official business, he plans to show Dr Rice the sights of Perth during her stay.

It is her only Australian destination after the ASEAN meeting in Singapore.

So what’s she getting up to over here?

  • Testing the waters for asylum in Australia, in anticipation of her indictment for war crimes at the Hague in 2010
  • Investigating the effects of global warming first-hand, at the beach
  • Surprise appearance at the Big Brother house, checking out how surveillance is really done
  • Just taking it easy, not moving too fast, seeing how things go before making any big decisions
  • Seeing if the economy is any better here, after having messed up everything in the USA
  • The cabaret at Club West — not that there’s anything wrong with that.

UPDATE: It appears that she’ll be dining at the UWA University House, mere minutes from where I’ll be working late into the night. They’ll likely confiscate my red spray paint that was intended to symbolise the blood of the nations.

Obama and bilingualism

12 July 2008 / / 7 Comments

I have two new reasons to like Obama: he stands up against the English-only movement, and then he stands up for his comments against the screaming lunatics.

Here’s the clip.

I get three things out of this video:

1. Obama rejects ‘English-only’ laws
2. Immigrants should learn English
3. Americans, especially the young, should learn foreign languages

Simple enough? Not for the howler monkeys, who turned Obama’s remarks into the outrage du jour.

The Americans for Legal Immigration PAC said in a statement, “Barack Obama has stepped on a political land mine by stating Americans should be forced to learn to speak Spanish.”

Force, schmorce. Listening comprehension is too much for these people. Maybe they need to learn English.

Why would the Right Wing care about this? Simple. Learning a foreign language a) makes you smarter, and b) helps you become more culturally aware. Smart, culturally aware people don’t vote Republican, so they’re just protecting their racket. But doesn’t it make sense that it’s better to be able to do something than to be unable to do something?

So I want to hang this all over them. Let’s see these headlines:

Americans should be ignorant: Republicans
Obama claims ability better than inability
Conservatives say US kids should be uncompetitive

Obama’s response to the flap:

“The Republicans jumped on this. I said, absolutely immigrants need to learn English, but we also need to learn foreign languages,” the likely Democratic nominee said as the 1,000-plus crowd in a school gymnasium cheered. It’s a position he long has held.

“This is an example of some of the problems we get into when somebody attacks you for saying the truth, which is: We should want our children with more knowledge. We should want our children to have more skills. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s a good thing. I know, because I don’t speak a foreign language. It’s embarrassing,” Obama said chuckling as his audience did the same.

I love how he’s not backtracking against the noise machine, and I hope to see a lot more of this.

Great Moments in Presidenting

11 July 2008 / / 1 Comment

Get ready to shake your head slowly.

George Bush surprised world leaders with a joke about his poor record on the environment as he left the G8 summit in Japan.

The American leader, who has been condemned throughout his presidency for failing to tackle climate change, ended a private meeting with the words: “Goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

I get the feeling that we haven’t yet heard one zillionth of the stories about all the stupid crap he’s done. They’ll dribble out slowly over the next decade.

Hero of the Week: L.F. Eason III

10 July 2008 / / 11 Comments

Jesse Helms was a bad man who hurt a lot of people with his unrepentant racism and homophobia. He died decades too late. Though he should not have been honoured in any way, the state of North Carolina ordered the flags flown at half-mast.

But L.F. Eason III, a technician at the Agriculture Department, said no.

“Regardless of any executive proclamation, I do not want the flags at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory flown at half staff to honor Jesse Helms any time this week.

“This is in no way a political decision. I simply do not feel it is appropriate to honor a person whose epitaph of government service was to have voted against or blocked every civil rights issue that came before the US Congress. His doctrine of negativity, hate, and prejudice cost North Carolina and our Nation much that we may never regain.”
…
“I made a decision to refuse to lower our flags at the NC Standards Laboratory to half mast in honor of Jesse Helms as soon as I heard of his death. I cannot in good conscience honor such a man who fought so hard against Civil and Human Rights throughout his life. Even to his death bed, he refused to apologize for the damage he caused. Now, I stand by this decision.

He got fired, and the flags went up anyway. It may seem pointless, like he should have given in. But he didn’t, and for that, Mr Eason is my hero of the week.

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