Where's the Outrage?

Elizabeth Warren

I love this woman.

From HuffPost:

Bailout watchdog and Middle Class advocate Elizabeth Warren has accused Wall Street CEOs of abusing consumer trust and challenged them to step up and support financial reform — for the nation’s benefit as well as their own.

In an opinion piece to be published in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, Warren writes:

For years, Wall Street CEOs have thrown away customer trust like so much worthless trash.

Banks and brokers have sold deceptive mortgages for more than a decade. Financial wizards made billions by packaging and repackaging those loans into securities. And federal regulators played the role of lookout at a bank robbery, holding back anyone who tried to stop the massive looting from middle-class families. When they weren’t selling deceptive mortgages, Wall Street invented new credit card tricks and clever overdraft fees.

The Harvard Law professor and TARP overseer added that the bankers “squandered what little trust was left” when they took taxpayer bailouts.

The piece, titled “Wall Street’s Race to the Bottom,” explains how bankers can reclaim that trust: by supporting a strong consumer protection agency designed to root out the kinds of abuses that helped lead to the financial crisis. Long supported by Warren, this new agency would protect borrowers from abusive lenders by policing mortgages, credit cards and personal loans.

President Barack Obama proposed the agency last year as part of a set of comprehensive financial reforms. The House of Representatives passed a bill in December to create it.

Bankers, however, argue that the agency will add another layer of bureaucracy to government and increase costs, which would ultimately be passed on to consumers seeking credit. Simply put, banks — especially the big ones — despise the very idea of such an agency. (more…)

Tags: Economy // 0 Comments

Murtha was the first hawk to stand up and say that we needed to bring our troops home.

From TPM:

Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) has died at the age of 77, after serving in Congress for 36 years.

Murtha had been hospitalized in the intensive care unit last week due to complications following a gall bladder surgery.

Murtha’s office released the following statement this afternoon:

Congressman John P. Murtha (PA-12) passed away peacefully this afternoon at 1:18 p.m. at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, VA. At his bedside was his family.Murtha, 77, was Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

First elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in February of 1974, Murtha dedicated his life to serving his country both in the military and in the halls of Congress. A former Marine, he became the first Vietnam War combat Veteran elected to the U.S. Congress.

This past Saturday, February 6, 2010, Murtha became Pennsylvania’s longest serving Member of Congress.

A complete biography is available on his website.

Murtha, who was influential on defense matters, led the House movement against the Iraq War. In 2005, he publicly called for withdrawal. (more…)

This is John Murtha on the floor of the House back in 2006.

Tags: House of Representatives, Party Politics // 0 Comments

Drew Brees photo:TED JACKSON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

The New Orleans Saints have defeated the Indianapolis Colts in a fabulous game. Thankfully, we did not see the lopsided games that we saw five or 10 years ago. Maybe, just maybe the NFL has really achieved parity. No, I don’t think so. That was wishful thinking. I think teams are better prepared for the Super Bowl and therefore don’t make the early mistakes that have plagued some of our Super Bowls.

As I thought, both offenses were able to move the ball. Both defenses worked hard to prevent the big play. The New Orleans Saints defense did probably a better job of pressuring Peyton Manning. They made him throw before he was ready. They were the ones that forced the only turnover of the game. I also think that the long field goal that the Indianapolis Colts missed was huge. The fact that the Colts were not able to drive in for a touchdown and had to settle for the field goal was also big. The New Orleans defense made enough plays. They were able to tip enough balls and make enough tackles. In my mind, they are the real story.

Both Drew Drees and Peyton Manning were magnificent. Drew Brees won the MVP. He deserved it. He started off a little shaky. He did settle down and play outstanding for the last three quarters of the game. The Indianapolis Colts defense simply could not make the plays that New Orleans did on defense. They did have a fine defensive stand late in the second quarter. By the way, many are making a big deal out of Dwright Freeney playing well at the beginning of the game. Unfortunately, the Indianapolis Colts need him to play well for the whole game. He completely disappeared in the third and fourth quarters when his team needed him the most. I think his ankle just couldn’t give anymore.

Besides Dwight Freeney, Reggie Wayne did not play all that well. Pierre Garçon cannot play all that well either. He had an opportunity to break the game open in the second quarter and dropped a critical pass.

The play of the game, in my opinion, was the onside kick to start the third quarter. I don’t know how the Indianapolis Colts were not prepared for that. The New Orleans Saints needed to do something to keep the momentum on their side. An onside kick was perfect. On that play, the Colts were outcoached.

Drew Brees did a great job of checking down to his secondary receivers and backs. The deep plays were not open. I remain surprised at how small a role Reggie Bush played in the game. When the game was on the line, he was on the bench. Jeremy Shockey came up big when he needed to.

It was a fabulous game. I’m sorry to Peyton Manning didn’t solidify himself in football lore. Drew Brees maybe writing some football lore of his own. I know they just had a race for mayor in New Orleans. I’m not sure if Drew Brees Wednesday held the race today because I know some would prefer to run him as governor of the state of Louisiana!!

Great analysis from Brian at Advanced NFL Stats -

The Onside Kick

Had the Saints not recovered the onside kick to open the 2nd half, fans and ‘analysts’ would be second-guessing Payton for years. Onside kicks are surprisingly successful when they are not expected. Since 2000, slightly over 60% of unexpected onside kicks have been recovered by the kicking team. An analysis based on Expected Points suggests teams should occasionally attempt surprise onside kicks if they believe their chances of recovery exceed 42%. Let’s also take a look at what WP would say.

In this case, the Saints were down by 4 points. A deep kick would typically give the Colts a 1st and 10 near their own 30, worth 0.32 WP to the Saints. A failed onside kick gives the Colts a 1st down at the Saints’ 40 or so, worth 0.26 WP to the Saints. A successful recovery gives the Saints possession at their own 40, worth 0.39 WP. In total, the onside attempt is worth:

0.60 * 0.39 + (1-0.60) * 0.27 = 0.34 WP

The onside attempt was a good gamble according to the numbers, but not by much–0.34 vs 0.32 WP. it paid off, and the Saints capitalized with a TD drive to take the lead for the first time in the game.  (more…)

Tags: Sports // 0 Comments

It began back in August or July for some of these players. The two-a-days, the film study, weightlifting, the mental and physical preparation has come down to this day.

The New Orleans Saints versus the Indianapolis Colts. If you’d like to look at the hard numbers, Brian is giving the Colts a 52% chance of winning. I know that the smart folks are saying that Peyton Manning is just too much for the New Orleans Saints. That may be true. In spite of all the conventional wisdom, I think the New Orleans Saints will be prepared to play and will play well. Sean Payton is a great coach. All we have to do is go back and look at who the Saints had to beat this year in order to get to the Super Bowl. They destroyed the New York Giants in a game which exposed the Giants’ defense and destroyed their confidence. They dismantled the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets. They beat the Miami Dolphins in almost exactly the same method that the Indianapolis Colts beat the Miami Dolphins. Both teams got behind early then rallied to win in the final quarter.

I look for this to be an offensive battle with both defenses trying to make plays. Turnovers will kill whichever team commits them. New Orleans has an edge in special teams, in my opinion.

I look for this to be a 34 — 31 type game. I’m picking the Indianapolis Colts by three. I think this is going to be a great game.

Tags: Sports // 0 Comments

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Free clinic in Hartford, CT cares for over 1000 Americans. Some were turned away. No one from Congress was there. I guess that healthcare is so yesterday’s news. Check out Big Eddie. He lays into Congress for not doing anything.

I’ll have more to say on this in a little while.

Tags: Congress, Healthcare, Media // 0 Comments

I guess that there are no “moderate” Republicans left. I guess when you are 100% wrong about something you should just make up more shit stuff.

From Political Animal:

We’re supposed to be able to expect a certain degree of rationality from “moderates” like Sen. Susan Collins (R) of Maine. When truly unhinged senators like DeMint and Inhofe make incoherent, blatantly false remarks, no one bats an eye. When Collins does it, reasonable people start wondering if Republicans will ever be able to recover from their current condition.

On Saturday, Collins delivered the official GOP weekly address, and blasted the Obama administration’s handling of the Abdulmutallab case. She claimed, in prepared text, that officials only questioned the attempted terrorist for 50 minutes before he was read his rights and “he stopped talking.” She proceeded to use some absurd, Giuliani-like rhetoric, as if she were just another Republican hack.

We’ve since learned that Collins was completely, demonstrably, unambiguously wrong. The administration handled the matter exactly as Bush/Cheney did, but unlike Bush/Cheney, Obama’s team actually got results. Thanks to this administration’s strategy, the attempted terrorist didn’t “stop talking,” but rather has been “cooperating for days” with U.S. officials. Abdulmutallab has in fact produced valuable, actionable intelligence.

OK, so Collins was wrong. We all make mistakes. She can show some contrition, express her relief that Obama’s approach is helping improve our national security, and we can all move on. Collins’s reputation would be a little worse for wear, but it can recover.

But, no. Collins refuses to back down — even though we know she was completely wrong — and keeps digging herself deeper. Asked to explain the discrepancy between her claims and reality, Collins issued a statement to MSNBC:

“I remain concerned that there was no consultation with intelligence officials before the Department of Justice unilaterally decided to treat Abdulmutallab as if he were an ordinary criminal. If Abdulmutallab is now talking in the context of plea negotiations, that is, of course, welcome, but it implies that the government is willing to grant him a measure of leniency for the information he is willing to provide. We will never know whether the quality and quantity of information might have been superior had he not been given a lawyer who is now guiding him on what to reveal and what not to disclose. The lack of coordination on the front end and the inexplicable, reflexive choice to use a law enforcement approach were dangerous decisions.”

Sigh.

Is Abdulmutallab “now talking in the context of plea negotiations” as Collins suggests? No, she just made that up, and the Justice Department has offered him nothing in exchange for information.

Did we lose valuable “information” by reading the attempted terrorist his rights? No. The FBI interrogated Abdulmutallab, then read him his rights, and then got lots of additional information.

Collins is now clinging to the notion that there “was no consultation with intelligence officials,” but what she may not realize is that the FBI is actually pretty good at this, and there was no reason for the Justice Department to “consult” with other agencies. [Update: Also note, Collins has her facts wrong on this, too.]

Honestly, Collins is coming across as a rookie, right-wing House member, more interested in getting on Fox News than seeming credible. Josh Marshall concluded today that Collins has ended up looking like “an embarrassment.”

Tags: Party Politics, Senate, Terrorism // 0 Comments

I have problem with these rich people stoking their campaigns with their own money. It makes me sick. It is an unfair advantage over “regular” folk. Bloomberg did it. Hillary did it. Now, Carly is doing it. This isn’t right.

From TPM:

Carly Fiorina’s $2.5 million loan to her U.S. Senate campaign has given the former Hewlett-Packard CEO a considerable financial edge over her Republican rivals.

In all, Fiorina’s campaign had $2.75 million in the bank to begin the year, according to a federal disclosure report delivered Friday. She is one of three Republicans vying for the right to challenge California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is seeking a fourth term. (more…)

Tags: Elections, Senate // 0 Comments

We have all seen those financial reports where the “expert” is standing in his office while his co-workers are busily working behind him as he waxes on about stocks. Well, it turns out that one dude was watching girlie pics on his computer in the background. It is really kind of funny.

Tags: Business // 0 Comments

More on the budget and deficits. On Monday I discussed deficit peacocks (folks who talk about balancing the budget but vote for big ticket budget items). On Tuesday, I showed you a graph on budget deficits dating back to 1931. Today I’d like to talk a little bit about the recession and why we needed the stimulus package. I’m going to use an example that Paul Krugman uses in his book, The Return of Depression Economics. The example was originally used in an article entitled, “Monetary Theory and the Great Capitol Hill Babysitting Co-Op Crisis,” by Joan and Richard Sweeney.

Over last two years, I wrote and read a lot about economics. I’m a lot smarter than I was then but I’m still no economics professor. What happens in a recession? Now, as I understand it, a lot of things happen in a recession. The end result is the loss of jobs. Let’s use this babysitting co-op as an example – let’s say approximately 150 couples get together and decide that they will babysit for each other when necessary. They come up with a system so that everything is fair for everyone. They will use coupons. Each coupon is worth one hour of babysitting. The only other thing that I think is important is that couples that join the co-op are given a certain number of coupons and every couple that leaves the co-op must turn in the coupons. Therefore, the currency is stable.

Several couples in this co-op turned out to be extremely frugal and somewhat homebodies. They wanted to accumulate coupons. This led to couples that went out relatively frequently, depleting their coupon supply. They looked for opportunities to babysit but with several couples staying at home, these opportunities were hard to find. This led more and more couples to stay home to accumulate coupons rather than dwindling their supply. As coupons become more and more scarce, and babysitting opportunities became extremely rare, the babysitting co-op was now experiencing a recession.

The problem in the system, the recession, was caused by the imbalance between too much supply (people wanting to babysit) and not enough demand (nobody wanting to go out). How do you fix this problem? The co-op could pass a law and require that couples go out a certain number of times per month. This would cause people to spend their coupons. It would also prevent people from hoarding coupons. That would be one solution. The other solution would be to increase the supply. With couples having an increased supply of coupons, there was no reason to hoard. More couples started to go out and the crisis was resolved.

So, back to the real world. The Obama administration was facing a recession that some thought could turn into a depression if there wasn’t quick action. The Federal Reserve had already infused cash into the system. The Bush administration injected a small amount of cash right before he left office. Think of it as a mini stimulus plan. So Barack Obama and his economic advisers faced rising unemployment, increased foreclosure rates on home mortgages and a GDP that was falling or stagnant. They decided on a stimulus package. The question is how big should the stimulus package have been? Bush signed a $152 billion rebate plan (Economic Stimulus Act of 2008). There’s very little evidence that that did anything. Our GDP is worth somewhere over $14.2 trillion. Bush’s stimulus plan was somewhere around 1% of the Gross Domestic Product. Economists were saying somewhere between three and five percent was necessary truly to stimulate the economy and turn around this recession. The Democrats and the Obama administration settled on $800 billion for political reasons. They really could not get Congress to authorize more money. Remember, we just bailed out the banks. We just bought up toxic assets. The U.S. Treasury was hemorrhaging money. This does not include money that the U.S. Treasury directly infused into our economy (and foreign markets).

The bottom line is that you have to spend your way out of a recession. Once the recession has passed, then we can concentrate on balancing the budget. You can’t balance the budget then stimulate the economy because there would be no economy to stimulate. One of the reasons that the Great Depression lasted so long was because deficit hawks hounded President Roosevelt after it looked like the economy was turning around. He tried to balance the budget too soon and this prolonged the recession/depression. In the State of the Union, you could hear Barack Obama walk the tightrope between fiscal responsibility and the necessity of spending money until the recession is officially over.

Notice that President Obama said almost exactly the same thing while answering questions from Republicans last Friday.

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Tags: Budget, Bush Administration, Economy, Obama administration // 0 Comments

from WaPo:

Please click on photo to see the enlarged version (or click here). Stare at the graph for a minute. It should become clear that neither Republicans nor Democrats have the phrase “balanced budget” in their vocabulary. Reagan didn’t balance anything. He increased spending every year. Isn’t it nice to see a graph that simply lays out the truth?

Tags: Budget // 0 Comments

I can’t think of anything that would be worse… feeling so helpless that you give your own children away.

From CNN.com:

In the devastating January 12 earthquake, he lost the meager home he had sitting on a hillside in Calebasse.

“I can’t stand that they were suffering here,” Laurentus said. “I had confidence in the Americans. I trusted them.”

So Thursday night, when Silsby came with a bus, he placed his girls, Soraya, 4, and Leila, 5, on two seats towards the front. He didn’t pack any of their things, he said. Not even their teddy bear. The American woman had bags filled with clothes, toys and snacks. (more…)

Tags: Environment, Foreign Affairs // 0 Comments

So I was talking with my brother and somehow we got on the topic of movies. I challenged him to tell me the movies he considers the five funniest of all time.

1. Blazing Saddles
2. Caddyshack
3. Monty Python’s Meaning of Life
4. Coming to America
5. National Lampoon’s Vacation

Here’s the opening scene from Blazing Saddles. (BTW, I don’t think that I typed my brother’s preferences in order.) What do you think? What would you add or subtract?

JW adds his list -

1. Seven Chances
2. Princess Bride
3. Rocketman
4. The Kid (1921)
5. It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World

I must admit that I haven’t seen Seven Chances or Rocketman. The Princess Bride is one of my favorites. Here’s a scene:

My good friend TCB weighs in with some great films:

1. Animal House
2. Ghostbusters
3. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
4. Hangover
5. Another vote for It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad Mad World

Wow, these are some really, really great films.  Here’s a clip from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Tags: Movies // 0 Comments

Republicans continue to floor me.

From C&L:

Mitch McConnell is asked why seven of the Republicans who co-sponsored the Conrad-Gregg fiscal commission turned around and voted against it. McConnell says he now wants a spending reduction commission because heaven forbid we can’t have them considering any tax hikes for the rich. Leave it to Republicans to take a bad idea and make it worse.

KING: Well, let’s talk about your side of the equation. Robert Gibbs just complained about it and the president mentioned it in his Saturday radio address. He says there was a proposal. It was sponsored by one Democrat and one Republican. It would create a commission that would spend a few months studying how can we cut federal spending, maybe even propose tax increases; find some way to reduce the federal budget deficit. Now, it then failed last week on a vote in the Senate. And here’s the president’s complaint.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: This past week, 53 Democrats and Republicans voted for this commission in the Senate, but it failed when seven Republicans who had cosponsored this idea in the first place suddenly decided to vote against it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Now, we want to show on our screen the seven Republicans who were cosponsors but then withdrew their cosponsorship and voted against it: the Republican Sam Brownback of Kansas, Mike Crapo of Idaho, John Ensign of Nevada, Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, John McCain of Arizona, Robert Bennett of Utah.

If this was such a good idea that they would cosponsor it — this is what comes up, Senator McConnell, in my travels all the time. People say, why do they always just play politics in Washington? Is this just politics, as the president says, or if it was the same proposal six months ago when they cosponsored it, what was wrong with it last week when a Democratic president wanted it?

MCCONNELL: Well, what was wrong with it last year? I mean, I discussed this very issue with the president right after he came to office, and with his chief of staff, never could get a commitment out of him.

In the meantime, we’ve seen a year, now, in which we’ve been on a spending binge. They passed a budget that doubled the national debt in five years and tripled it in 10.

There’s a lot of skepticism now about whether — and the president endorses this commission a couple of days before the vote. Where was he a year ago when we were talking to him about it?

KING: But why should that…

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Why should that matter? Why should that matter?

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Because I want to go back to your point. I’m sorry for interrupting. I want to go back to your point.

Why should that matter? Yes, the president endorsed it because of political pressure, without a doubt. Democratic senators went to the White House and said, we will not vote to increase the debt ceiling unless you help us out here.

But if it was a good idea, why should — let’s say the president’s playing politics. But if it’s a good idea, why not vote for it? Because you were here several months ago and you said it was a great idea. [Read more →]

Tags: Budget, Party Politics, Senate // 0 Comments

Okay, it’s one of those days when I’m trying to figure out what it is that I want to post. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé took home a bunch of Grammys but I really don’t feel like talking about that. I did not have an opportunity to see the Pro Bowl. I went to the usual blogs to find inspiration — the Daily Kos, Think Progress, Buzzflash, the Huffington Post. Nothing. I did find a funny article on dreams but I surely don’t want to talk about that. I clicked on the link that led me to a New York Times article on the deficit.

I like the topic of the deficits since everybody seems to be in agreement but nothing seems to get done. Okay that statement was sort of right. Both Democrats and Republicans have stated over the years that we need to bring down the deficit. Democrats did what they said they were going to do. Republicans, not so much. Yet, when George Bush was in the White House and the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress, there was no attempt to control the exploding deficit. As a matter fact, to justify tax cuts for the wealthy that were never going to pay for themselves, Bush told us that there was more than enough money for his tax cuts. Neither the war in Iraq nor the war in Afghanistan were paid for. The Bush administration borrowed money for both wars through the supplemental process instead of through the budgetary process in order to avoid more attention.

Now the deficit guys (cleverly described as “deficit peacocks,” since they’re really not hawks) are out in force. They have America worried about how to pay for all of this red ink. Remember when President Clinton handed over the keys to the White House to President Bush? He handed Bush a budget surplus that was projected to be approximately $800 billion per year from 2009 to 2012. Instead, it looks as if we’re spending $1.2 trillion more than we’re taking in during this same time frame. What happened? About 33% of this $2 trillion deficit (the difference between $800 billion in the black and $1.2 trillion in the red) comes from George Bush’s tax cuts and his Medicare prescription benefit. About 20% of the deficit comes from Obama’s extension of Bush policies like the war in Iraq and tax cuts for households making less than $250,000. Only 7% comes from the stimulus bill passed in February 2009. The downturn in the business cycle accounts for approximately 37%.

So the next time a deficit peacock begins to tell you that Obama is ruining the country by driving up higher and higher deficits, you should remind him how we got these deficits. While you’re browbeating this deficit peacock with knowledge, remind him that it appears that Democrats figured out a way to balance the budget while Republicans (Reagan, Bush, Bush) figured out a way to increase the deficit. Republicans do not equal fiscal responsibility.

Tags: Economy // 0 Comments

Lady Gaga

Seriously? Why would you wear something like this? This is Lady Gaga at the Grammys.

Tags: Music // 0 Comments

It sounds like the iPad is much less than I expected. I know that Apple geeks are talking about how great this is but is it really? It looks like it is nothing more than a big iTouch. No phone capabilities. I’m not sure about you but I’m not wild about touch screen keyboards. So, no real typing without buying a keyboard attachment. It has no real memory storage with the largest hard drive being only 64 GB.  Finally, after this big announcement, it ain’t ready to buy yet. You have to wait another 2 months.

From PC World:

The iPad has a lot going for it, but is also a big disappointment in many ways. Almost no product could have lived up to the insane hype leading up to Steve Jobs’s announcement today, but the iPad certainly could have had more groundbreaking features. If Apple really wants to change the world with the iPad and popularize a whole new computing category, they may need to do better. If the iPad had the following features, it would have blown us away.

Multitasking
There’s no multitasking in the OS at all, and not even multiple active web pages in Safari. You can’t listen to Pandora while you surf the Web, or switch back and forth between Facebook at Twitter, or write a document in Pages while talking on a VOIP call.

Adobe Flash
For better or worse, it’s just not the real Web without support for Adobe Flash. We want to watch Hulu on the iPad. It’s sort-of okay on a small phone-sized device, but it’s not okay on a 9.7 inch screen.

Camera / iChat
We don’t expect people to hold up a big slate to take pictures with a back-facing camera, though some augmented reality apps might be neat on the larger screen. What the iPad is really lacking is a front-facing camera and video chat. A device like this would be perfect for such an application. With a front-facing camera, the iPad could be the perfect device for filming and editing personal YouTube videos (you could even see yourself in-frame as you record). (more… )

Tags: Business, General // 0 Comments

This was the opening performance for Hope for Haiti. Alicia Keyes was just awesome. The song was perfect.

Artist: Alicia Keyes

Tags: Music // 0 Comments

A dispute over who will pay the bill has stopped the airlift of critically injured Haitian earthquake victims to Florida.

These folks cannot get the help they need in Haiti.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has written a letter asking the federal government to pay some of the costs of treating these patients in Florida.

Other states have also received a smaller number of these patients and those flights have stopped for the moment as well.

This dispute could not have been resolved while the flights continued?

Some say it is the military that is halting the flights. The military says some hospitals are denying the patients.

Governor Crist is running in a Republican primary for the U.S. Senate against a tea party-type. This primary is closer than had been expected.

Is Governor Crist raising this point to protect himself from a charge that he is allowing Florida to spend money on dark-skinned foreigners?

Could nobody in the federal government contact the White House so the President could order flights to continue? I’m sure that in the end something will be worked out to pay for these treatments.

Meanwhile, it is possible that somebody has died already because they could not get airlifted out of Haiti and receive better treatment.

Can’t people get their acts together when lives are on the line?

It really is sickening. It’s all about money.

The relief effort in Haiti is ongoing. Doctors Without Borders is one of a number of groups that is offering needed help.

Tags: Foreign Affairs, Healthcare, Immigration // 0 Comments

Get up and hit da’ floor.

Artist: Usher
Tune: Yeah

Tags: Music // 0 Comments

• The snow has stopped for now. Yesterday, there were estimates of 2-5 inches of snow in the Asheville area. The weatherman stated that there would be more in higher elevations. It appears that most of the Asheville region has received 7-10 inches of snow. The snow was expected to crank up again before it finally moves out of the area sometime tomorrow afternoon.
• Pres. Obama went to a Republican caucus today. He thought he would keep the lines of communication open. One thing I have to say, I do admire our president. He gave a short speech then took questions from the audience. Some questions were civil. Others tried to make political points. The president did a fabulous job answering the questions and not being cornered. He also pointed out when some congressmen were trying to make cheap political points at the expense of the president. Many major networks carried this event. When it appeared obvious that Pres. Obama was not going to make some major gaffe, FOX News cut away and began running with the story that Obama was lecturing Republicans. I guess it was more important to FOX to stay within their narrative as opposed to actually cover the event in its entirety.
• A really interesting thing went on in England today. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was grilled for about six hours over his decision to take Britain into war with the United States in Iraq. I think it is no surprise that Tony Blair was unapologetic about his decision. Although there were no breakthroughs and as far as I know, and nothing of substance will come from this, I think the exercise is interesting. Can you imagine a congressional committee calling President Bush or VP Cheney to answer questions about the invasion of Iraq? On one level, it would be political theater. On another, it would be nice for us, the American people, to get specific answers to specific questions. I know, I’m dreaming. One thing is clear, with the neoconservatives in charge at that time, I don’t see how we will get any other answer after 9/11. These were not just war hawks. They were hawks on steroids. With Bush and Cheney in the White House, I don’t see how Saddam Hussein could ever avoid war. They asked for, and wanted complete and unfettered access to Iraq in order to search for weapons of mass destruction. No sovereign nation would submit to that. Plus, what Bush, Cheney and the CIA didn’t know was that the Saddam Hussein regime depended upon the threat of weapons of mass destruction in order to stay in power. Saddam Hussein had the Kurds in the north, the Shiites in the south and Iran to worry about. In 10 or 20 years, when we look back upon this mess that we created in the Middle East, we’ll ask ourselves how we let this happen. We don’t have to look any further than allowing neocons in the White House.
• 47-year-old former NFL star Herschel Walker is fighting whom? Why?
• New FOX news contributor and former Gov. Sarah Palin thinks that the GOP and the tea baggers need to merge in one big party of love. (I added that party of love. She just wants them to merge into one party.)
• It took the jury less than 40 minutes to find Scott Roeder guilty of murdering Dr. George Tiller.
• The Errington Thompson Show has been moved to 4 PM on Saturday afternoons. You can still listen to my show through my blog whenever you want to. My guest this week will be Grammy award-winning bassist Larry Fulcher. I have given Larry the following scenario — you know that you’re going to be stranded on a tropical island. You can take your stereo and 20 CDs with you. You’ll be stranded for one year. What CDs would you take? I think you like Larry’s answers. This is a great show.

Tags: Iraq, Legal, Music, Party Politics, Sports // 0 Comments