Mittbull - Inherently Dangerous

I watched Romney go on the attack during his recent stump speeches, and it has been interesting to watch how he is trying to come across as being tough, aggressive, etc., etc., etc. What I see mostly is nothing new, namely his willingness to say or do anything, truth be damned, to get himself elected. True, all politicians will do that...to a degree, but Romney has taken it to a new, lower level. Why the pitbull reference? Besides being one of the more aggressive breeds, it is now being considered in some localities, such as my home state of Maryland, to be "inherently dangerous," just like Romney and the GOP's retrogressive agenda for America.

OG in the (White) House

The recent "leaks" of President Obama's deep involvement in selecting drone targets have resulted in most of the media focusing on the administration's pursuit of the leakers rather than any kind of analysis of the consequences of the policy. There have been some good op-eds, which is encouraging, but I'm struck how the Obama administration seems hell-bent on outdoing the Bush administration not only in its use of drone attacks (5 times as many in half the amount of time) but also by the energy and vigor with which they're attempt to construct a legal defense for it. The Bush administration was a bunch of amateurs compared to this group. I guess when the do something (wrong), they really do it right.

That's change we can believe in. <sigh....> Here's the 'toon:

The Pain in Spain

I think Paul Krugman's column today in the NY Times captured best the lunacy and viciousness of the European Central Bank's monetary policy. They are all for bailing out the banks, the very criminals who got Spain into this pickle, but won't lift a finger for the working women and men who were and are the innocent victims of the crisis. Instead the technocrats and plutocrats who love them patronizingly talk of the need for the peones to embrace austerity as if its the path to spiritual transformation.

What's next? They bring back Torquemada and Spanish Inquisition to torture the Spaniards into see the light? I'm sure the Republican-dominated US Congress won't be far behind, and poor Barack Obama will be forced to sell another piece of his ever-dwindling soul to hop on that band wagon.

The butcher Assad has been slaughtering women, children and men for the past year and a half, and the Western powers are only now expressing outrage? But do not fear; Kofi Annan, the great enabler of the Rwandan genocide of 1994, is in on the spot, and his peace plan is working by golly. We've reached, and I quote, a "tipping point."

I've heard all of the geo-political arguments why military intervention in Syria is a non-starter and I understand that arming the wrong rebels (read: terrorists, aka, "the bad guys") might only make things worse. Here's what I don't get. The only thing stopping the UN Security Council from doing anything other than giving Syria another feeble wrist slap is Russia. I can understand if we've lost all leverage with the Assad regime, but have no more strings to pull with Moscow? That's pathetic. Now is the time to go from wrist slap to bitch slap. But I digress...here's the 'toon:

Taking Concrete Steps

I guess I'm a sucker for wordplay but the tag line for this cartoon was, sadly, only all too self-evident. Over the weekend we saw a DVD on the very same subject, and it may have inspired me a little, but I doubt it.

More likely I think I'm just not patient enough to tolerate these diplomatic gabfests where the world's "leaders" enjoy a few ostentatious days living large to address the world's most pressing issues. I'm pretty sure the idea of being in solidarity with those whom they serve never really enters their heads. And it's probably too much to expect that they achieve anything meaningful in the interest of those with the least voice, power, etc. I just wish they'd drop the pretense that they are actually concerned about poverty and get out of the way and let the more serious, competent folks do what's necessary.

Tuck and Get Rolled

Surprise, surprise. The latest employment figures show less private sector job creation, more public sector layoffs and less workers bothering to even bother...And with this being an election year I'm sure Obama and the Democrats will be even less willing to do anything to actually solve the problems confronting this country. Even this morning I heard on the radio another shameless example of Obamian spinelessness.

"Campaign operatives" scrambled after Joe Biden, who has taken on the mantle of the administration's only straight-shooter, had audacity (remember that word?) to say, "I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties. And quite frankly, I don't see much of a distinction -- beyond that."

Good grief. Obama feels compelled to back off of THAT?! Basic civil rights??? Beyond pathetic...

Workers of the world...ah, never mind. Go back to the breadline.

Let My People Go

OK - this is a shameless reprint, but it's oh so timely. This is another local, Baltimore issue, which has gotten some national press due to the Trayvon Martin case. There have been parallels drawn between the two cases, but I'd like to point out two that Dan Rodricks, whose columns I believe are regularly on point, failed to miss: racism and vigilantism. Here's the link to his op-ed today on the case:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bal-columnist-rodricks,0,7089843.columnist

In the Shomrim case, the two members of the "neighborhood patrol," who were both Jewish, told a African-American teenager that he "didn't belong (in the neighborhood." Last time I checked, unless the community is a gated one, anyone has the right to freedom of movement on public sidewalks and roads, anywhere anytime. How sick and racist was that? I'm surprised they didn't tell him, "Show me your papers..."

Second, as other columnists have pointed out both in this and the Trayvon Martin case, the two neighborhood patrolmen crossed the line to vigilantism when they got out of their car to confront the young man. All they had to do and should have done was call 911 to ask for police assistance, even if as it turned out the young man was simply walking to meet his mother at a nearby bus stop.

I'm just disturbed by the continued breakdown of bonds within and between communities. Everyone seems to be in a rush to be able to use and justify the use of violence. It's like people are actually spoiling for a fight. I think we need to get these would be vigilantes off the streets. THEY are the real hoodlums, and I hope that the young man whom they assaulted finds justice.