Very Briefly

✪ The decision by Congress to allow families of 9/11 victims to sue the government of Saudi Arabia may lead to lawsuits against the US for consequences of CIA and military activities; I'm fine with that. 
✪ Investigators have provided extensive proof that a Russian Surface-to-Air Missile was responsible for the downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine; uh huh.   
✪ Speaking of SAMs, isn't it time to start providing shoulder mounted SAMs to the Syrian rebels, even at the risk of them getting into the hands of Fateh al-Shah (al-Nusra)?   
✪ To the dismay of vestigial Blairites, Jeremy Corbyn continues to lead the Labour Party sharply to the left; so, whither the Democrats? 
✪ So now Peres is dead, along with Rabin, Arafat, and the Oslo Accord; Nobel prize points for trying, I guess. 
✪ David Wildstein's testimony at the Bridgegate trial of Christie toadies Baroni and Kelly continues to provide a laugh a minute as corruption in state and local politics scarcely takes a breather; up next, the Cuomo administration.

Just Wondering

Indiana
Just wondering: why would a gay couple insist on hiring a baker with strong religious objections to gay marriage to perch two grooms on top of their wedding cake, or an antagonistic photographer to record the happy event?  One would not anticipate the yummiest fillings between the layers or the most flattering portraiture under such circumstances.

I haven't seen the text of Indiana's new "religious freedom" legislation, but I suspect it's just another example of political pandering; and I'm willing to give Mike Pence and the Indiana legislature a chance to "clarify" the "intent" of the law, and show us all that it's non-discriminatory.  In the meanwhile, maybe everybody should relax a little, and just wait and see.

The Co-pilot
Just wondering: given that Andreas Lubitz was suicidal, why did he decide to take 149 others along with him instead of just crashing one of the gliders he liked to fly into the side of a mountain?  Needless to say, I don't expect an answer to that question.

Lubitz notwithstanding, commercial flight remains extremely safe, albeit uncomfortable and often demeaning.  Should rules be changed?  Perhaps, but sometimes changing the rules makes things worse rather than better.  Let's give overheated heads a chance to cool a bit before taking action.

New York's Budget
Just wondering: why did Andrew Cuomo make little or no effort on behalf of State Senate candidates in the last election, when a bit more effort might have resulted in a Democratic majority in both houses of the legislature?  Did he want a Republican Senate to restrain him from actions that might have been seen as too liberal to support his presidential aspirations?

New York might have had an increased minimum wage, real anti-corruption programs, and real improvement in public education.  Now, alas, it looks like just more business as usual.

Short Subjects

The Ryan Budget

Evil.  What else is there to say?

Okay, there's a little more to say.  Ryan claims that eviscerating SNAP and turning Medicare and Medicaid into block grants to the states will generate enormous economic growth.  Needless to say, even he knows he's wrong.  He's not stupid.  He's just evil.

The Supremes

The most recent decision in favor of plutocracy (McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission) really does not do too much more to empower the oligarchs, because they already had all the power.  On the other hand, it makes the very richest of our plutocrats a bit more powerful than the others — and to that I say, "So what?"

If Clarence Thomas (like so many black men of his age) dropped dead tomorrow, it probably wouldn't matter.  Obama would feel obliged to nominate a "moderate," and what the hell good is that?  (Even the ACLU seems to believe that money equals speech.)

Andrew Cuomo

If I had Mario Cuomo's personal email address, I would advise him to slap his boy around a bit.  Here in New York, it's pretty obvious that Andrew is pursuing the Clinton (Bill, mostly) route to the White House (which mostly involves right turns.)

Andy-Boy has been fucking over Bill DeBlasio (that shameless liberal) while sucking up to Wall Street and the hedge fund managers who no longer have any real limits on how much they can funnel to his eventual campaign.  I wouldn't vote for him if he were running against Rush Limbaugh.  (No, I wouldn't vote for Rush.  I guess I'd go Green again, for all the good that does.)

Changing Direction

Okay, I was kind of obsessed with the evils of religious belief last month, but the holiday season has a way of doing that to me.  Despite John Kerry's current attempts to make progress towards Israeli-Palestinian peace, I will not obsess over the concept of the "Jewish (apartheid) state" for at least a month or two.

So, instead, let's try to parse the significance of Bill DeBlasio's inauguration as Mayor of New York City yesterday.  His address was both populist and progressive, but there was a bit of weirdness involved.  For one thing, he was sworn in by Bill Clinton, the man who led the Democratic Party away from its progressive ideals and into the pocket of Wall Street — the alleged "Democrat" who signed the bill to "end welfare as we know it," would not consider the regulation of derivatives, and signed the bill that ended Glass-Steagall.

Was it a signal?  Hillary was there too.  Did the Clinton presence signal that Hillary is ready to move the Democratic Party back towards the left if she gets her turn to run in 2016?  And if she runs as a progressive, will she follow through if she wins?

Also present was the not especially progressive Democratic Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, also mentioned as a potential candidate in 2016.  Since he currently holds office, if he means to make a progressive turn he'll actually have to do it, right out there in public.  (It also would be nice if he could follow through on his promise to clean up the Albany cesspool of corruption.  New Yorkers used to look down on New Jersey as a cesspool of corruption.  These days, it's kind of a toss-up.)

Andrew's father, Mario Cuomo, anticipated DeBlasio's use of the "Tale of Two Cities" analogy a few decades ago, when he delivered the keynote address at the 1984 Democratic Convention.  To me, it remains the greatest convention speech of modern times, far surpassing the 2004 Obama speech (which turned out to be, largely, bullshit.)  Andrew ought to give it a listen — and so should you.

Obama gets it right

I couldn't be more happy. Our President finally has made a concession to the Democratic Party's liberal base, and appointed the woman on whom I have had a long-term crush, Elizabeth Warren, to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Obviously, she never could be confirmed in the official position by the Senate — every Republican and, quite probably, a few asshole DINOs would vote NO — but as a "special adviser" to the President, she can do the job for the time it takes to write the regulations that make the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau significant.

In the meanwhile, the Tea Party seems to be making life difficult for the Republicans. Sarah Palin lookalike Christine O'Donnell just might make it easier for the Democrats to hang onto Delaware's Senate seat in November. As for Carl Paladino, who will be running against Andrew Cuomo for governor of New York — well, he probably will do better than Rick Lazio would have, given how much money he has to blow on television ads — but, hell, he's no less an asshole than Lazio. New York, I believe, is ready for another Cuomo. While I'm not at all sure that Andy can live up to Mario's legacy — including, of course, the "Tale of Two Cities" speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention — I'm still convinced that Paladino is an asshole.

One way or the other, it's nice to see Obama paying some attention to the Democratic Base. It's about time.

Unnecessary Roughness

Governor David Paterson is pissed. Who can blame him?

Okay, he's not especially popular at the moment. He never was. Trying to act responsibly — shutting down underutilized hospitals and nursing homes — was a major political mistake, and the attack ads from 1199 did a lot of damage. Add to that the fact that he was stuck with a totally unfair share of the blame for New York's sleazy and dysfunctional legislative branch, and that he's not exactly a dynamo of charisma, and it was bound to look bad for him.

So it is not surprising that Obama's political staff decided it would be better if he didn't run for governor next time around. Personally, I don't think Giuliani is much of a threat anymore — he kind of has "loser" tattooed on his forehead — but it wouldn't hurt at all to have a stronger Democratic candidate like Andrew Cuomo.

Okay, so the national party sends an emissary to urge Paterson to withdraw. Fine. The problem is in how it was done.

First, it was just plain bad manners not to invite the governor of New York to Obama's speech to Wall Street last week. Second, it was worse that, simultaneously, the President's chief political adviser, Patrick Gaspard, was telling Paterson to pull out of the race. Third, it should not have been Gaspard, the man behind those 1199 attack ads.

Then it gets worse: practically the complete text of the "confidential" conference is leaked to the press, almost immediately, by an "unnamed source" whose name probably is Patrick Gaspard. Obama not only yanked Paterson's legs out from under him, but he pissed on him when he was down. I truly hope the idiots still drooling over our "idealistic young president" are paying attention, but I'm pretty sure they're not.

Paterson could have been persuaded to withdraw gracefully. They could have offered him some ceremonial role at HUD, or made him ambassador to Anguilla, or something. They didn't.

However lacking David Paterson's skills as a chief executive may be, everybody in Albany agrees on one thing about him — he's a nice guy.

He deserved better.