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Friday, July 03, 2009
Is This It for Palin?Lots of speculation that Sarahcuda's resignation as governor of Alaska scotches any remaining chance she had of gaining the GOP nomination in 2012 or later. The timing to me seems quite a bit off; she could have finished out most of her term, quitting midyear 2010 and devote the fall to helping GOP candidates for Congress (the Richard Nixon program from 1966). Now it seems just a little too early. Geraghty says stick a fork in her: Departing with little or no warning, after about 30 months in office, is beyond surprising. I'm sure the Lieutenant Governor will do fine, but there's definately a sense of leaving with work unfinished and as her career was just beginning to take off.
I know we've heard a lot of chanting "Governor, it's time to resign," but we meant Mark Sanford. If she's really bowing out of national politics, this pretty much clears the decks for Mitt Romney.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Eat Absolutely Nothing AnywereAnd the planet would be saved according to Ezra: The sense that something is wrong with our food quickly blurs into the suggestion that everything is wrong with our food. It has too much bacteria but also too many pesticides. It is too expensive, but we do not spend enough money on it. We need fewer corporations, or maybe more corporations run by the yogurt guy. With so much wrong, it is hard to know where to start. And sometimes, in fact, it seems that fixing one problem would create another: Making fruits and vegetables cheaper, for instance, is hard to do if you also want them to be organic.
But despite its overwhelming complexity, "Food, Inc." joins "In Defense of Food," "Fast Food Nation," "Super Size Me" and dozens of other polemical books and films in the necessary effort to convince us that checking out at the supermarket is, on some level, a political act, with consequences for ourselves, our families and our world. You can guess the point here; those who care about ourselves, our familes and our world (and who have nice disposable incomes) should pay more for food.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Hatchet Piece on PalinI swear, you'd think she was the President the way the media can't resist kicking her at every opportunity. Todd Purdum slants his article from the word go: Despite her disastrous performance in the 2008 election, Sarah Palin is still the sexiest brand in Republican politics, with a lucrative book contract for her story. If there was a disastrous performance, it was by the mainstream media in 2008, which is part of the reason they're in so much trouble these days financially. The article is tendentious. The most unintentionally hilarious bit comes here: More than once in my travels in Alaska, people brought up, without prompting, the question of Palin’s extravagant self-regard. Several told me, independently of one another, that they had consulted the definition of “narcissistic personality disorder” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—“a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy”—and thought it fit her perfectly. Yes, of course, lots of people have the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual of Mental Disorders lying around for convenient reference, and mention it commonly to traveling reporters. And how about a little pop psychology about the person who's actually the Vice President of the United States, and who's also a bully and an obnoxious jerk? And then there's this: What does it say about the nature of modern American politics that a public official who often seems proud of what she does not know is not only accepted but applauded? What does her prominence say about the importance of having (or lacking) a record of achievement in public life? I dunno, what record of achievement in public life does President Obama have? Purdum's a hack writer and a liberal hired by Graydon Carter; for chrissakes his wife is Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary for Bill Clinton. In fact, since Bill came up, I'll let him have the last word on Purdum: "He's a really dishonest reporter," Clinton said during the tirade that followed, according to Fowler's report. "And I haven't read (the article). There's just five or six blatant lies in there. But he's a real slimy guy."
Reminded that Purdum is married to his former press secretary Dee Dee Myers, Clinton responded in part: "That's all right - he's still a scumbag." The former president added: "He's just a dishonest guy - can't help it." Labels: Sarah Palin, Todd Purdum, Vanity Fair
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sotomayor Overruled on Firefighters CaseOoops. New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.
The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional. Labels: Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court
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