Displaying 541 To 570 Of 732 Comments A Viewers Guide to Tonight’s GOP Debate in NH Politics is the art of the possible. In the USA, there is very little political room to get anything done. We do not have a working majority in the USA; and, when we do, that working majority does not last for long. » Posted By agrippa On June 14, 2011 @ 5:37 am 45%, more or less, are going to vote for one of those people. And, most of the old Confederacy is safe Republican. The Democrats, nationally, are about the same – 45% of the voting public will vote Democrat. The voting public is about half of those eligible to vote. At least half the voting age population does not bother to vote. » Posted By agrippa On June 14, 2011 @ 5:34 am Between a Rock and a Hard Place agreed » Posted By agrippa On June 14, 2011 @ 5:39 am This iis, basically, where we are now. News as entertainmemt; journalism following the example of the National Enquirer. This makes politics a variety of entertainment; a kinf football game/soap opera. There is a good measure of avoidance here. The political class is thumping the tub in order to pretend to take action. And, the media really likes the circus. Much of the uninvolved and apathetic general public enjoys the spectacle. Politician as entertainer/celebrity: a black comedy. » Posted By agrippa On June 13, 2011 @ 8:06 am Michelle Bachmann Meets the “God Helmet” I figure that God ( if there is a god) will “know his own”. I have no idea at all what God is thinking; I do not know his intentions. I do know that there are people who affect to know both. They do have a right to that affectation. » Posted By agrippa On June 11, 2011 @ 1:07 pm There is enough evidence to show that human action contributes to climate change, aka global warming. There are several reasons fro the unwillingness to accept that; one is inertia. People, companies and countries will have to go some time and trouble to make the changes that lessen the problem. People, companies and countries do not want to change. » Posted By agrippa On June 9, 2011 @ 6:46 am I think that they are putting on a show. They do not really want to pass anything at all. » Posted By agrippa On June 8, 2011 @ 6:19 pm Funksands, I agree on all points. And, we are seeing a grass roots recovery. » Posted By agrippa On June 8, 2011 @ 11:44 am cher, adlib: It takes a lot of wit and wisdom to distinguish possible from impossible; which is what Obama is trying to do. You neither opt out nor lash out. You do what mortal humans have great difficulty doing: master yourself. » Posted By agrippa On June 8, 2011 @ 5:02 am Quite true, cher. Those states do get money federal money than they send to Washington. They are poor and backward; that is what the political elite there wants. » Posted By agrippa On June 7, 2011 @ 4:32 pm In the GOP today, taxes seem to be what matters; the budget deficit does not seem significant at all. I doubt if people such as Norquist care anything at all about the deficit. The geographic and political base of the GOP is the “old Confederacy”. If you look at those eleven staes, the GOP wants the rest of the country to look like those states. If people donot start paying attention, the country will look like those states. » Posted By agrippa On June 7, 2011 @ 12:56 pm “yellow journalism” Yellow journalism has always been with us. And it is what passes for what is called journalism today. » Posted By agrippa On June 4, 2011 @ 9:51 am Fox News is in the propaganda business; propaganda in service of a political agenda. I do think that the USA is in a period of decay; decay toward stagnation. I think that where we are heading: economic stagnatio of no prosperity and no depression. There are solutions. But the political will is lacking. Political stagnation. » Posted By agrippa On June 4, 2011 @ 8:56 am I regard politics as the art of the possible. Very frequently thr range of possible is quite narrow. The GOP race for the nomination is very interesting. Logically, the nominee ought to be Romney or someone like him, Daniels for example. Moderates like Romney have to cater to the RW – now called the “tea party”. So, … » Posted By agrippa On June 3, 2011 @ 11:21 am Journalism has, most of the time, been very political. There were, and remain, a few newspapers/news journals that tried to be impartial. But, those publications have been in the minority. The political parties have used the press to make their point; and, at one time, the parties or president have had their own newspapers. So, the politcal naure of the media is nothing new. The fairness doctrine worked against that, but that is gone now. » Posted By agrippa On June 2, 2011 @ 2:39 pm One thing: We do not have a working majority in the the USA. A working majority is rare in the politics of the USA. Politics is the art of the possible ; and what is possible has very narrow limits. There could be compromise/negotiation amoung people who respect each other and actually want solutions. That group is very small. Small in number and small in influence. » Posted By agrippa On June 1, 2011 @ 12:34 pm Self service. It is in the political interest of Paul and people like him to put out that rhetoric. It is the only way that he can get any traction. The root cause is that people do not pay attention; so may know next to nothing about public life: governing, current events, politics. With people know nothing of any of that, this rhetoric resonates. » Posted By agrippa On June 1, 2011 @ 12:28 pm At the end of the day, it comes to the ballot box. It comes down to “getting the word out”; and, GOTV. The people who do not pay much attention or think about public life have to start paying attention. This is what planetpov does: tries toget the word out. To me, that is what it turns on: peope waking up and voting accordingly. » Posted By agrippa On June 1, 2011 @ 12:21 pm I think that Romney is the GOP guy with the best chance to win. If he is anything like his father, he has some common sense. Experience in business does not tell me very much. Dionne is right: there is no mandate to reduce government. The GOP thinks that there is. I expect that they are wrong. The tea party is about 20 -25% of the electorate and comprises the most conservative of the GOP. That faction has been around since the beginning of the republic. In Nov 2010, they got out and voted; enough of the 10% who are “indendents” voted GOP and Dems stayed home. In Nov 2012, it may be a different matter. » Posted By agrippa On May 30, 2011 @ 2:11 pm Weekend Music Thread – Vacation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpF6LRLGZLo papageno /papagena! » Posted By agrippa On May 27, 2011 @ 12:31 pm Cher, for those who are aggressively apathetic, it serves as a kind of dismissal of politics; a quite cynical abandonment of public life. For some on the left, it serves a similar purpose. The problem with political life is that it is so much like other parts of life. It is full of flawed – some very deeply flawed/disturbed – people and full of messy compromise and half measures. You so seldom get what you think that you need, in the way that you think need it that it can be quite disheartening. Capitalism is what we have; it is not going away. Imperfect/flawed people ( and that may be the root cause of it all) have to manage it and make a life within it. The issue is trying to keep it going well enough to get by. No human system is ever going to work well. Humans are not smart enough and not wise enough. » Posted By agrippa On May 26, 2011 @ 11:32 am People who say that “both parties are the same” are, in my view, quite wrong. Read what the GOP has been advocating – politically, economically and socially – and compare it to what the Democrats passed in the 111th Congress. As different as chalk and cheese. The people that I am concerned about are the radical GOP governors of WI, MI and OH. They seem to be on a mission to implement their agenda as quickly as they can. The general population does not seem to know or care very much at all. I have never known very many people who know very much about government, politics or current events. Most of those who do know anything about any of that were paid to know; it was their job to know. That concerns me as much what the GOP wants to do. » Posted By agrippa On May 26, 2011 @ 6:55 am I agree that Obama has vision and Netanyahu is, essentially, a nihilist. » Posted By agrippa On May 26, 2011 @ 9:01 am A problem arises when you apply a military solution to a political problem. That, in a way, is what occured with Iraq and Afghanistan. Countries have made that error ( if you can use the word, “error”) in the past, and paid a high price for it. This, too, goes back to the old Roman aphorism, “if you want peace, prepare for war”. Many people have felt that a strong military was needed – maintain a “military option” – in order to resolve an international dispute. I expect that Gates would agree with that. At the end of the day, I think that Obama agrees with it as well. » Posted By agrippa On May 26, 2011 @ 8:58 am Cher, I agree that Chomsky is pure ivory tower at this point; I suspect that he knows that he is pure ivory tower and that is where he wants to be. He does do a good job of pointing out evils. But, as to what to do? That will have to come from people other than Chomsky. » Posted By agrippa On May 23, 2011 @ 2:09 pm It has been my view, and I have seen nothing to modify it, that the economy will “fix” itself. Mainstream economics/political economy has little or nothing in the way of solutions. Those economists who do have good ideas about what needs to be done are, virtually to a man, are heterodox; people like Krugman and Stiglitz are ignored. What we have is “rounding up the usual suspects”. » Posted By agrippa On May 23, 2011 @ 8:52 am Great stuff cher! » Posted By agrippa On May 23, 2011 @ 8:48 am The Republicans’ Meatloaf Strategy I agree. The GOP may have given up on the Presidency for 2012 and do plan to concentrate on Congress: hold the House and get control of the Senate. That will give then what they want: gridlock. The GOP does not want to govern. It wants power ; power to keep out the Democrats. To the GOP, the best governing is in the states of the Old Confderacy. I think that those states are their model. I agree about the “firebaggers”. They are the sort of Jeremiahs who will “speak the truth to power” and run like the devil from any chance to to get power. Power corrupts; if you have you will have all those sorts of wishy washy things like think through complexity and make nuanced decisions. Maybe even have to do that ultimate corruption: compromise. It is far better to be a pure prophet » Posted By agrippa On May 23, 2011 @ 2:26 pm I do not see any practical solutions to the Israel/Palestine problem. A two state solution, which is the best idea available, will be very hard; due to Israel creating “facts on the ground” by having settlements all over The West Bank. It is not a coincidence that Israel has done that. » Posted By agrippa On May 20, 2011 @ 11:51 am Good post about regressive ideals. Free trade is an ideal or doctrine. It is based upon the notion of “comparative advantage”. That is, it is a trade off amoung countries. It was an idea that came from Britain when it exported manufactured products and imported food products. Britain, also, transported these products in both directions. A net gain for GB. Free trade amoung equal countries does work out to be pretty equal in the long run. But, with rich/poor it is not equal. The doctrine of free trade has not worked well for the USA. » Posted By agrippa On May 20, 2011 @ 11:44 amComments Posted By agrippa
Both parties have make sure that their faithful vote and get the extra 6% they need to win.
These guys will have to sound much more reasonable than anyone of them do here.
“No mortal man can, at the same time, serve his passions and his best interests”. That line by Julius Caesar remains true today. We know what history records when leaders serve their passions.
Passion can provide the energy needed to act in a logical and determined way; provided that it is harnessed.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0111500/spanamer/yellow.htm
News is considered, by broadcasters, to be a form of entertainment; and news papers have far fewer reporters covering the “news” at all levels, local, state and national.
Much of that is due to the decline of manufacturing, and other sectors are not strong enough replace maufacturing.
The GOP is under pressure from the most conservative 20% of the country. The GOP may not be able to resist that pressure; it may not really want to resist. The reasonable faction in the GOP does not have the moral and intellectual resources to resist.
In this Congress, the GOP has passed next to nothing. I did not expect them to. The GOP is, basically, an organized hypocrisy.
Chomsky is an interesting fellow; a man, who by his own volition, is outside the mainstream. A man who, personifies, “speaking the truth to power”. He cannot do otherwise as he is a libertarian socialist ( a variant of anarchism) and I do not expect him to get very much air time or ink. For good or ill.
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