Odds (against us) and Ends

Edward Snowden

Congratulations to Edward Snowden on getting out of the goddamned airport.  I hate airports, and I don't suppose Russian airports are any better than American airports.  Five weeks at an airport just might cause PTSD.

Weiner and his weiner

Frankly, I never understood the allure of "virtual" sex — but, to each his (or her) own.  Weiner says a lot of the right things, but on the other hand, Weiner's sleazy reputation might make him a weaker mayor than he otherwise might have been.  Also, as I recall, he didn't accomplish jack shit while he was in Congress.  I don't get to vote in NYC, but I kind of like Bill DeBlasio.  The super-rich have had a good run under Bloomberg, but it's time for the poor to have a turn.

Scraping away at abortion rights

Are the "scientists" claiming that a fetus can feel pain at 20 weeks the same "scientists" denying climate change, or just their close (and inbred) cousins?  It would be very nice indeed if scarcely any women needed to seek abortions, but that's not in our immediate future.  Let's hope that the free availability of Plan B will change that equation.

Bradley Manning

Army Colonel/Judge Denise Lind, I suppose, kind of "compromised" when she found the kid not guilty of aiding the enemy but still guilty of violating the WWI Espionage Act, one of the most atrocious pieces of legislation ever enacted in the United States but, sadly, never repealed.  Even more sadly, Our President likes it.  How did he ever get a degree in Constitutional law?

Eliot Spitzer

Okay, back to NYC — Wall Street, women's groups, and city unions are ganging up in a couple of superPACS to defeat Spitzer's run for Comptroller.  Wall Street is understandable — he messed them up big time when he was the state AG.  The women, I guess, just don't like men who patronize top shelf call girls.  As for the unions, I'm not certain — but since they endorsed Scott Stringer before Spitzer got in the race, it may be they're hoping that loyalty will bring rewards.

The Corporate Income Tax

Obama isn't saying which corporate tax loopholes he would close to make cutting the top corporate income tax rate from 35% to 28% revenue neutral, but we can be pretty sure few if any of those changes would be enacted into law, and that a bunch of new loopholes would be added in short order.  Was this Larry Summers' idea?  I wouldn't be surprised.

Some short subjects for June

Edward Snowden

The President, confronted with Snowden's leaks and questions about the formerly "top secret" programs, said "I welcome this debate."  Needless to say, had it not been for Snowden's leaks, no "debate" ever would have ensued, and a warrant was issued for Snowden today so he can be extradited from wherever they eventually find him.  He'd better stay off the phone, and the internet.

Snowden reminds me of those internet wunderkinder — brilliant, alienated — only he's missing the self-serving psychopathy.  How many people his age would give up 200 grand a year for the sake of conscience?  That was his motivation, you know — conscience.

Syria

Syria is a mess — but then so are Iraq and Afghanistan, so it seems very unlikely that American intervention there would help in any way.  Being the world's foremost "superpower" doesn't necessarily mean the USofA can do anything to impose its questionable hegemony anyplace else.

As for the "Arab Spring," it doesn't look too springy.  Egypt and Libya are falling apart, and then there's that prime example of Muslim "democracy," to wit...

Turkey

Ergogan, Turkey's Islamist leader, is more than a little bit out of control, and moving towards "democratic autocracy" (as opposed to our much preferable "democratic plutocracy.")  Had the Biblical God allowed the Biblical Abraham to go through with the sacrifice of the Biblical Isaac, resulting in no Judaic based religions, the world might be a better place today.