Get ready for the 2011 Republican Congress

I have a feeling they won't be as cute as this... It's going to be an interesting year.

Merry Christmakwanzakah!

Happy Holidays everyone! I thought I'd post a video that's been making it around the interwebs of people getting the best present EVER! Enjoy!

Don't Ask, Don't Tell REPEALED 65-31!

I've promised myself that I'm going to lose some weight next year. (Yeah!)

It's time to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Amazingly, the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell will probably be brought to the Senate floor sometime in the near future (probably today or tomorrow).  It's time for us to join our allies like Great Britain and Israel in the makeup of their armed forces.  Like the addition of black soldiers and women soldiers, this will only make our force stronger and make our country safer.



Remember, gays are already in the military. They are just lying about it to their co-workers.  And considering that most of the men and women in combat are 18-25, they are from our generation and they most likely have good "gay-dar." They already know that they work with gay servicemembers and it's not a big deal. There will be no "coming out" en masse as predicted. The only thing repeal will do is give a sizeable minority of our troops the ability to be themselves without worrying about being fired from the job they love and denied the opportunity to serve the country they love.

We owe them that much.

Please call your Senator to support repeal.

UPDATE: Please call Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) to thank him for his support at (202) 224-4543.

A filibuster, FOR REAL

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is filibustering filibustered the Obama Tax Deal with Republican leadership.

He's been talking for 4  He talked for 8.5 hours now.

Go Bernie.

The way a filibuster should be done.  I'm looking at you John McCain.

President Obama, Pragmatist

I've long told my conservative friends that Obama was never, nor will ever be, an ideological leftist.  He is a liberal in his beliefs and values, but he is operationally a conservative (which I believe is similar to the American character i.e. black emancipation and suffrage, women's sexual and economic freedom, DADT, etc - "Let's do this major social change but let's just do it very slowly so we can make sure it works out all right").  He is willing to deal and compromise to help move the country slowly, methodically forward in--his own estimation--the right direction. When we look back on his presidency, the story will outline progressive ideas and policies legislated, enacted and executed in a conservative manner.

GOP leadership approves $900B worth of new stimulus-wait...what?

This stimulus is actually the deal on the extension of the Bush tax cuts announced earlier today (technically yesterday) by President Obama.  Key quote from the New York Times article (emphasis mine):

"The package would cost about $900 billion over the next two years, to be financed entirely by adding to the national debt, at a time when both parties are professing a desire to begin addressing long-term fiscal imbalances."

Oh, that's right.  I forgot that it's not deficit spending if you spend it on the crap you want to buy. I get it now Republicans! See, if Democrats want to use the country's credit card to buy some construction workers to fix a bridge, that's deficit spending. But if Republicans want to give more money to millionaires with the country's credit card, money that in all likelihood those millionaires will save.  That money comes from a special magic Republican fund that doesn't come from borrowing!

Remember folks, you only have to find a way to pay for a program if it affects someone who might actually need the money, like unemployment insurance extensions for those laid off during the great recession (those lazy bums) and food stamps (if more poor kids are starving, they might be more motivated to find work, right!?).

Now that I'm done with my little rant, I actually think the deal President Obama got on the "Bush tax cuts" is probably the best he could get considering the circumstances. And if you remember, this deal between the President and Republican leadership, I advocated for earlier on this blog (it's actually former OMB director Peter Orzsag's - but I'll take the credit). And if this deal helps pave the way for the ratification of START and the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, then overall I think it was the right thing to do. Losing some important chess pieces in order to control the rest of the game is worth it.

Statesmen into stockbrokers

David Brooks, conservative columnist for the New York Times, gives his diagnosis of the current iteration of the GOP; crass horse-trading in place of governance.



The full debate "How Much Government is Good Government?" at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI), between Mr. Brooks and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) is a must watch.  Click here to check it out.

Quote of the Day

“We have a gay guy [in the unit]. He’s big, he’s mean, and he kills lots of bad guys. No one cared that he was gay.”
 - quote from a special ops soldier from the DADT survey which was released on Tuesday, November 30th

Senator John McCain's cowardly delay in today's hearings is absolutely shameful.  The overall result of the survey is that 60-70% of the force believes that repeal of DADT would essentially be a non-event.  A plurality of survey respondents described themselves as "neutral" to the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and roughly 30% reported slightly negative or strongly negative feelings.

However when President Truman desegregated the Army in 1951, 80-90% of the force was against it. Desegregating the army was the right thing to do then, and repealing DADT is the right thing to do NOW.

UPDATE: The full report is available and has been posted in a searchable format on nytimes.com.  Click here to read the report in full.

Conan's back!

Thank God. I've missed him so much. Enjoy. "Conan's back...on TBS" (soulful crooning)

You're Getting Another $600B [Keynesian] Stimulus...

Whether you want one or not!  And that's a good thing, because if you haven't noticed the economy stinks right now. Now you might say to yourself, "Hey Ernie, when President Obama was inaugurated the Dow Jones Industrial Average was hovering around 8,000 points and now it's hovering around 11,000 points, that looks like a recovery to me!"   But I say that too many people are not working and Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" is giving lots of ordinary working people a slap in the face.  "But Ernie, how is President Obama going to get through another stimulus package with a Congress controlled by Republicans, who are all in favor of massive deficit reduction?"

He's not going to get a new stimulus through Congress. But thanks to the saner and thanks-be-to-God "unelected bunch" over at The Federal Reserve, the board decided last Tuesday to purchase $600 Billion dollars worth of U.S. Treasury Bonds over the course of eight months. Because U.S. treasury bonds are essentially a fancy savings account for major banks, by purchasing these treasuries there will be less supply and banks will actually have to INVEST IN SOMETHING, thereby giving businesses some capital to create some jobbies.

And guess what, the markets LOVED IT. Tea Partiers hate it, Republicans pretend to hate it, and Democrats pretend that they don't like it either.  But Keynesian stimulus policy works and if the nincompoops in Congress are too afraid of the voters to do what's best for this country then we need to hope that the unelected institutions have the 'cojones' to do the right thing and get people working again.

Trust me, you don't balance the budget by having a 20% unemployment rate.  Remember, the basic definition of Keynesian economics is counter-cyclical government involvement in the economy.  So that means leaning in favor of job creation over deficit reduction.

I give you the new Speaker of the House - Republican John Boehner. As you can see, he's focused on reducing the debt and NOT extending the Bush tax cuts.

It's the Economy, Stupid

Here's a little Ernie punditry a la James Carville, political consultant extraordinaire. 

Democrats tonight will most certainly lose control of the House of Representatives. You will hear a lot of talk in the next few days about how Democrats were "too liberal", or Democrats were "too centrist".  Obama, "should have spent more time on jobs and less time on healthcare".  Or, "Obama had all of the policy right, but didn't communicate effectively as he could have." And on some days, I'm partial to that last media narrative.

BUT, here's the god dang truth.  Most presidents in history have lost the House after a big wave election that brought them to power.  New Presidents have only kept the House for their party 3 times in our history. THREE!  Combine that with the weakness of the economy, which is the mortgage and subsequent financial crisis's fault and NOT Obama's and the opposition party is going to have a pretty good cycle.

If unemployment hovers around 10% in 2012, Obama will not be re-elected.  If it gets back down to 6-8% he most likely WILL get re-elected.  It's that simple. You don't need to make up any other stories to explain what happens in elections.

It's the economy, stupid.

P.S. But let's please remember that anyone who talks about stimulating job growth is a Keynesian (commonly associated with general liberalism).  A classical economist lets the economy collapse for a "natural correction" which is more brutal, but theoretically leads to a faster recovery.

Quote of the Day

“The battle for the American mind right now is between talk show hosts and comedians,” said Alex Foxworthy, a 26-year-old doctoral student from Richmond, Va. “I choose the comedians.”

From the NYTimes coverage of the "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear."

Amen.

"Are you prepared to see your dwellings in flames?"

With all of the BS political ads running these days, it's a helpful reminder to realize that a bygone era of civility and gentlemanly rules never existed. Dirty politics in the U.S. is not new. In fact, it's a very American pastime. The video speaks for itself. True story. Enjoy.

I miss choir...

Here is PS22, a really great public school children's choir from Staten Island, singing Coldplay's "Viva La Vida."  Enjoy.

This is an ad for Soy Sauce?!?

This is what happens to a society when it's culture and economy moves from an agrarian rural society circa 1820 to a modern industrial economy circa 1950s in the span of 10-15 years (during World War II and shortly thereafter).  Just so we're all clear folks, we're talking about our friend Japan.

Click here to enjoy the wonder of it all. Kikkoman Soy Sauce.

Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish

1,000 Pageviews!

Hi Everybody,

I forgot to mention when we hit our one year anniversary on July 24th 2010, so I figured I would do some sort of announcement when we hit one-thousand pageviews.  Well that moment has arrived and I wanted to thank you all for checking out and reading this blog from time to time.  I want to thank my blogging colleague Mike Flynn, 1) for being my friend, but 2) for starting his blog at the same time and being a constant source of input as well as inspiration.  If you haven't checked out his work at Pale Thunder, you're all missing out on some great informal movie reviews and political commentary.

I also want to thank my three readers who have been with me since the beginning; Adam, Colum, and Gram. Adam, thank you for your sarcastic input and conservative wit. You keep me on my toes!  Colum, it's the happiest part of my blogging day when I see that I have one person reading my blog in England and I know that that person is you!  And Gram, thanks for your constant love and support, I hope that my crossing the line here has not upset you on too many occasions!

But overall, thanks to everyone who's checked Ernie Crossing the Line out.  Please feel free to write me and write more comments in this space.  I look forward to having more reader input and will try to do better at putting up more media and commentary on comedy and music.  Also, don't forget to check out blogs of friends which can be found on the right of the page.  Their topics range from the subtleties of enjoying Waffle House, to movie reviews, to governance issues in contemporary Africa.  There's something for absolutely everyone.

Again, thank you for reading and we hope to keep you entertained for another 1,000 pageviews!

Sincerely,

Dave (Ernie)

A Class Act

President Obama making his contribution to (famed sex columnist) Dan Savage's noble It Gets Better project, to help bullied gay youth, on Youtube.

Although he's cautiously stepping towards a real gay rights agenda on Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) and the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to the consternation of some on the left, I think his ninja moves behind the scenes will provide for a more lasting change as I stated here (rather obscenely) in a previous post. (Meaning Grandmas should not read the aforementioned post!)

Nerd in Chief

Peter Baker's must read interview with President Obama.  This interview was used for his NY Times Magazine piece, "Education of a President"

On what he would tell the Barack Obama of December 2008:

"Now in retrospect, I could have told Barack Obama in December of 2009 that if you already have a third of the [stimulus] package as tax cuts, then the Republicans, who traditionally are more comfortable with tax cuts, may just pocket that and attack the other components of the program. And it might have been better for us not to include tax cuts in the original package, let the Republicans insist on the tax cuts, and then say, O.K., you know, we’ll compromise and give you your tax cuts, even though we had already proposed them.

And if you recall, when we initially unveiled what the Recovery Act would look like — in fact, that a third of it was tax cuts — Mitch McConnell actually was, as he phrased it, pleasantly surprised that sort of traditional Republican idea had been included. But very quickly that pleasant surprise turned into attacks on the infrastructure or the aid to the states or what have you.

I would have told Barack Obama back in 2009 that just be warned, structuring the tax cut the way we did, where people basically got a small bump in their paycheck every two weeks, was the right thing to do economically, but politically it meant that nobody knew that they were getting a tax cut. And in fact what ended up happening was six months into it or nine months into it, people had thought we had raised their taxes instead of cutting their taxes."

On whether he has a communication problem or a policy problem:

I think that, when I reflect back on the last two years, I do think that given how much stuff was coming at us, we probably spent much more time trying to get the policy right than trying to get the politics right.

There is probably a perverse pride in my administration — and I take responsibility for this; this was blowing from the top — that we were going to do the right thing, even if short-term it was unpopular.

And I think anybody who’s occupied this office has to remember that success is determined by an intersection in policy and politics, and that you can’t be neglecting of marketing and P.R. and public opinion. And so there are probably areas where we could have been more effective than we’ve been.

It's National Coming Out Day! (and my birthday)

Happy National Coming Out Day Everyone!

I'm sure it's scary to come out to your friends and family, but I'm sure that a national holiday makes it that much easier.

Yes, it was just a mere 27 years ago on October 11, 1983 that Ernie was born, in the small hamlet of Springfield, Massachusetts, also the birthplace of basketball.  But aside from National Coming Out Day being perfectly timed with the date of my birth, October 11th is also remembered for other famous events which occurred upon this most blessed day.

1776 - Benedict Arnold (still on team USA) fights valiantly on Valcour Island
1884 - Eleanor Roosevelt was born
1975 - Saturday Night Live debuts
1975 - Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham are married (oh yeah...) 
2002 - President Jimmy Carter is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
2003 - Pedro Martinez and Don Zimmer fight in ALCS

To read more about this day in history and other days in history. Check out this link at http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/

UPDATE: I totally forgot to mention that the blog The Daily Dish, which inspired me to start this blog, is celebrating its tenth birthday today!  If you haven't checked out Andrew Sullivan's must read blog, then you're missing out on interesting, creative, funny and smart posts on a wide variety of subjects.

If there are no atheists in foxholes...

Then there are no libertarians or conservative Republicans during house fires.  Imagine if you had the option to opt-out of protection from the fire department and could save roughly $75 per year in taxes.  Sounds like a pretty fair deal to me. Would you take that risk?

Well, a family in rural Tennessee found out when they repeatedly refused to pay the option for fire protection from the closest municipality in South Fulton, Tenn.



Well, guess what? That $75 of freedom per year pretty much bit them in the butt. Now I would have probably put out their fire and had them pay every fee they owed plus a massive late fee, but that's not how insurance works, does it?

I'm sure my fellow conservatives will agree, they didn't pay for the service then they shouldn't get it.  That family got to be $75 more free than any of their neighbors from South Fulton, who didn't have a choice whether or not they were going to pay for the fire department, they just had to.

Was it worth it? I don't think so...

Hat tip to Ezra Klein for his post regarding the incident and how it relates to the GOP's bluff about repealing the healthcare mandate.

NEWSFLASH: The Bailout Worked

A new release by the Treasury Department shows that TARP - commonly known as "the bailout" - will not cost taxpayers as much as originally anticipated.  Estimates show that the program, signed into law by President Bush in late 2008 and re-authorized by President Obama in 2009, will cost approximately $50 billion but has the potential to turn a profit for taxpayers.

Although President Obama should have leveraged the use of TARP more over Wall Street banks and hedge funds for stronger financial regulation reform, the program did its job in stabilizing the financial sector at a relatively small cost. (It's important to remember that estimates of the cost of the crisis range from $1.3-1.6 trillion.)

Interesting fact: Although roughly $700 billion was authorized, the program only disbursed roughly $380 billion.

The bailout is a perfect example of why it's sometimes OK to have BIG GOVERNMENT.  I would have liked to stem the financial crisis but unfortunately I don't have $700 billion at my disposal.  The big banks were the ones who didn't have any money anymore, so they couldn't get together and come with a private solution.  Once at the turn of the century, the U.S. went into a recession and J.P. Morgan, not the bank, but the man, bailed out the U.S. government - those were the days!

There are some things that big government shouldn't do. Big government shouldn't set local school curriculum, or set local zoning laws, tell you you can't eat certain foods or smoke, or tell a girl what to do with her body if she gets raped or knocked up by her 15 year old boyfriend.  That stuff is too small for big government to do and it's really not its job.

Anyway, this is a case of big government working.  We don't want big government all the time but we want big government to do big things like this, fighting wars, making sure every state is treating U.S. citizens equally and protecting our food, air and water to make sure its clean.  All of this big stuff we can't do by ourselves and we need big government to do. And when we agree that there are certain big things that we need to do like build more federal highways, reform our outdated healthcare system, update our energy grid, or send our troops to war, it's fair that big government asks us to pay for those things, because those things cost a lot of money.

The White House Loses Rahm-bo

The White House is a little less bad-ass today as Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel has left his post to pursue a mayoral campaign in Chicago.  He is a tough-as-nails politician who knew when to "f*ck the left" and compromise and get shit done. Trust me, if it weren't for Rahm Emanuel we would not have ANY version of healthcare reform that we have today.  He also knew how crazy and ideological our nation's capital of Washington, DC had become, nicknaming it, correctly in my opinion, "F*cknutsville."  Also, most importantly, he was a NU WILDCAT! 

Let's take a look at Rahm's amazing resume.

- Had to have part of his middle finger amputated after severely cutting it in an Arby's meat slicer and choosing to go swimming in Lake Michigan over going to the hospital - Bad-ass
- Intensely studied ballet at the Evanston School of Ballet and the Joffrey Ballet - being secure in one's masculinity - Bad-ass
- Going to a formerly all-women's college Sarah Lawrence so he could study ballet - Bad-ass
- Getting his Masters degree in Communication from Northwestern University - Awesome and Bad-ass
- Joining the Israeli Defense Force in the first Gulf War in 1991 - BAD-ASS
- Running the Democratic congressional campaigns in 2006 and 2008 helping them comeback to power on a strategy of a bigger tent (i.e. pro-life and pro-gun Dems)- Just SMART



Rahm, you will be missed. Is the Ragin' Cajun available?

My street was in the NEWS!

The blog news anyway...

So while I was gone in merry 'ol England, a tornado whipped through my neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn on Thursday, September 16th. Don't worry, no babies or children were harmed during the making of this tornado.

However, I returned to the states to find this on my way home.

Crazy, huh? I missed a TORNADO in New York! Unfortunately, I was only able to snap an "after" picture. With the help of my trusty girlfriend she directed me to a Gawker post that shows us the "right after."

See for yourself below:

What I wrote to OFA today

Obama's campaign arm "Organizing for America" asked people to fill out a survey to gauge voter feelings before the midterm.  Here's what I wrote them:

I am a big supporter of President Obama. I think he has been a pragmatic reformer who is moving the country in the right direction. What he needs to do however, is reclaim his transformational presidency. 

I am thankful for his Clintonian successes and Joe Biden was correct when he said healthcare reform was a "BFD" but I want him to be the transformational figure I still believe HE IS. I want him and his staff on the phone with moderate Republicans all the time. I want him to use his personal emotional talent behind the scenes. Americans want the sense that Congress can work together for the benefit of the country. 

Republicans have been absolute a-holes in this regard, but we knew that would be the case going in. I still want the President to work toward a Capitol Hill that at least seems like it's functioning. He can do it. That's why I voted for him. He needs to reclaim that mantle. Otherwise OFA is just an extension of the Democratic Party, and that's great (and it fights for the things I believe in), but I think we all know the change we sought is something much, MUCH deeper. Let's GO do it!

I LOVE outtakes!

Here is a choice set of them from the great HBO series Eastbound & Down.  Witness the great Will Ferrell do his magic.

"Getting ready to take 'em to market!" - Ashley Schaeffer (Will Ferrell)



Hat tip to Barstool Sports for the original link.

Senate Democrats are big pussies!

You heard me!

Senate Dems are afraid of holding a vote on the Obama administration's policy of continuing the Bush tax cuts for "middle-class Americans" making less than $250,000 per year because some "conserv-a-dems" are afraid of appearing to raise taxes on small business.

As a recent study suggested, ending the Bush tax cuts altogether at the end of this year WOULD BALANCE THE BUDGET BY 2015!  Let's see if Republicans want to take a bite out of that apple. In any case, a majority of Americans support the middle approach advocated by the Obama administration which advocates tax cuts for the middle class over 10 years.

(Note: Ernie actually supports the compromise advocated by former OMB director, Peter Orszag that all of the Bush tax cuts should be extended for two years in-full and then fully expire.)

However, even though a majority of Americans support the Obama administration's proposal Dems are afraid of taking a tough vote that would appear to raise taxes on some segment of the population.  I have respect for Republicans because at least they play to win!

Dems need to find their plums if they want any chance at holding the House and Senate. They'll get votes if they lead with purpose not if they just seem to cover their ass every chance they get!

Conservative Economics 101

This is what happens when you try to balance your budget during a devastating economic recession.  This is not punditry, this is truth.

Ernie analogy - When you've had a massive heart attack, and you're in the hospital and you need expensive surgery but can't afford it, go ahead and put it on your credit card.  Don't wait to save up for the needed surgery, because by the time you do, you'll be dead.  You'll have a better chance of making the surgery payments if you're alive.

Simple ideas toward balancing the budget

In an era where we need to make a lot of big, tough decisions concerning the deficit, it's nice to know that there are some small measures we can take to help that aren't subject to the dominant political forces of our time. We can take these small steps only if we're smart enough to take the low hanging fruit.

"A penny saved is time wasted" - George Carlin

"Things that are worthless are worth nothing and pennies are worth less than nothing!" - guy in video



Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish.

Missing Conan...We're almost done

Conan O'Brien comes back to television on November 8th.  Here's one ad from TBS' creative "Missing You" campaign in support of the show.

What he said...

William Saletan of Slate.com hits the nail on the head concerning religious nutbags and collective responsibility for those nutbags, be they Christian or Muslim.

His short piece is a must read.

Public Speaking Matters

One of my favorite critiques of then Senator Obama during the 2008 Presidential Campaign was, "All that guy can do is give a good speech! You know who gave good speeches and had lots of people listen to him?  HITLER!!!!"

Ah yes, the "the only thing that politician knows how to do is speak!" argument. Classic.  The argument poses that 1.) These promises will all be broken anyway and 2.) Past actions are a much better indicator of leadership than speaking!  There are two ways we can judge candidates: by their records and by their plans for the future.  Now unless you would like to read through all of the policy memos by the Obama administration on agriculture subsidies or the full detail of nuclear defense policy on Mitt Romney's future Presidential website (he's totally running), I'll take a speech that summarizes those policy goals please.

Now watch Governor Jan Brewer (R-AZ) in her opening statement for the Arizona Governor debates.

Even if you agree with her on every policy, in your gut do you feel like voting for her after that? Probably not.

Speeches and opinion articles are ways for politicians to summarize their plans for their office and in order for us to either agree or disagree with their ideas (which likely don't vary much from their party's ideas).  We judge politicians by how they communicate with us and try to win us with their arguments and ideas. A good speaker can solidify the people in his base. A great speaker can win moderates and heck, even perhaps people from the other political party. In short, public speaking matters. Our presidents will be men and women who can communicate their ideas clearly and with brevity and intellect.

Well...most of the time.

It's time to say "Thank You"

I'll never forget the day when my dad brought me to Westover Airforce Base to say thank you to the troops returning from the Iraq-Kuwait war a.k.a. Operation Desert Storm.  It meant a lot just to say thank you for all of the risks those young men and women took just to keep us safe in the world.

Thanks to the Obama administration and the Bush administration, as of today most our troops are finally coming home from Iraq as Operation Iraqi Freedom has ended! (Trust me, if it was a McCain administration, that deadline would have vanished faster than Bill Clinton into a strip club.)

Here are some various organizations to help you say thanks to our brave men and women in uniform. The ones below span from donating your frequent flyer miles or volunteering at a welcome event at BWI.  Either way, find a way to donate some money or volunteer your time just to say "thanks".

www.uso.org
www.yellowribbonfund.com
www.fisherhouse.org/programs/heromiles.html
www.operationwelcomehomemd.org
http://projectevergreen.com/gcft/

Photo Of The Day

Steven Colbert gets his "alpha dog" on with Goofy.  From his trip to Disneyland with his family.

Hat tip to The Huffington Post for the slideshow.

Ross Douthat wants to ignore "the yucky"...

Note to my readers (all 7 of you!): in order to really follow this post, you should really read Ross Douthat's column on Prop 8 and the following response by Andrew Sullivan. Sullivan is a gay Catholic and Douthat is a conservative Catholic.

On his blog, conservative commentator, Ross Douthat of The New York Times has continued to address with thoughtfulness and sincerity the cultural fallout from the overturning of Prop 8 and criticism of his column which argued against the recent ruling and for the idea of preserving heterosexual marriage, on the grounds that it is a special union which can create life and maintains a sound structure to raise that life. Douthat makes some valid arguments, while eschewing some others for good reason, and advocates that having a "marriage ideal" for heterosexuals is still worth preserving.

Douthat's insightful responses to the issue of gay marriage have been thoughtful and serious.  His recent posts on the topic have been building up to this direct response to Andrew Sullivan's eloquent personal critique of Ross's original column about the "marriage ideal" (read it in full here).  In his response to Sullivan, Douthat essentially proposes a desexualized domestic partnership which affords gay people a status of contractual dependency and would be open to any two adults who chose to cohabit be they cousins, siblings, or a parent and his/her Down Syndrome child.

This idea sounds nice and all, but it still discriminates against gay couples not only because it denies the existence of gay love but more-so, because it denies the existence of gay sex.

Let me let you in on a little secret, most Americans could care less about gay love.  They're totally OK with it. Hugs, held hands and rings on fingers: these are the things and symbols that are not that hard to confront.  We love our brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers regardless of gender, right?  Certainly a decent person wouldn't deny anyone love, right?

The issue of gay marriage is not one of love discrimination it is one of sexual discrimination.  Conservatives want to codify in law that one group of people's sexual practices are generally less yucky than the other group's and therefore should be granted a noble and stable institution such as marriage which celebrates moral and "non-yucky" sex.  Conservatives and many Democrats cannot bring themselves to confront the fact that certain sexual practices continue to make them uneasy. Heterosexual penetrative vaginal sex, which can lead to pregnancy, is the only form of sex that most people are comfortable placing in a "moral zone" hence our culture's religiously influenced distaste for oral sex or anal sex, commonly known as "sodomy", even if the participants are two heterosexual married partners also known as "one man + one woman."

Sodomy was only recently legalized on the federal level in 2003 when the Supreme Court's decision struck down Texas' anti-sodomy law in Lawrence v. Texas.  The plaintiffs in the case were two consenting gay adult men who were arrested for having sex in their own house.  Luckily, the Court understood that the Texas police were not applying the sodomy law equally as they did not seek to stop Mrs. Smith from giving her husband, Mr. Smith a blowjob. Texas was only using the law to punish homosexual people for their own private sexual behavior. Remember everybody, according to conservative Christians, homosexuals do not exist, only homosexual behavior exists.

Gay people in the United States are thought to be 1-2% of the population. Now let's imagine another small minority.  But let's say this small minority of Americans are heterosexual and couple off in pairs of "one man and one woman" but their sexual activity only consists of acts of sodomy.

Would we not allow them to get married?
Would we not allow them to adopt children or run a foster home?
Would we not allow them to visit each other in the hospital?
Would we not allow them to give blood?

I mean we're talking about the ideal of two married people "one man + one woman" right? That's the ONLY requirement!

The long story short is this.  The central argument advocated by the proponents of Prop 8 is "to protect the children" as if walking in on "Dad and Dad" or "Mommy and Mom" having sex is more damaging than catching Mom and Dad have sex. If you observe sex really closely, you realize that sex is really yucky regardless of who's having it and what's going where. Ross Douthat wants to create a legal framework where gays have most of the legal rights and responsibilities as heterosexual unions but where they are told to put their sexuality back in the closet, and keep it hidden from the rest of society, lest anyone be grossed out by the thought of two people of the same gender having sex. Gay marriage is no longer just about civil rights it's about allowing gay Americans to fully express their humanity, where their relationships and commitments are just as important and sacred as any straight marriage.

Sex is a beautiful, messy, yucky act that most humans engage in.  Ross needs to confront the yucky and realize that there's no need to protect a sanctuary for moral sexual behavior that never existed in the first place.

On the Cordoba House Muslim Community Center

First of all, let's make clear that the "Ground Zero mosque" is not just a mosque and is not at ground zero.  The planned Muslim community center is going to replace the supposed "hallowed ground" of the old Burlington Coat Factory on Park Place (take a look at the site here).

www.national911memorial.com - South Memorial Pool Vista

Other commentators have aptly pointed out that probably one of the reasons why this particular development of the Muslim cultural center irks so many in New York City and around the country is due to the fact that construction of the new World Trade Center and corresponding 9/11 memorial has been painfully and depressingly slow.

Second, kudos to the President for his brave speech on religious freedom during the White House Iftar Dinner for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (full text) proudly proclaiming our American values of freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Third, shame on the President for then walking back his comments on the following Saturday while on vacation in Florida (video here).

"In this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion," Mr. Obama said at the Coast Guard station. "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about."

Arrggh.  The whole point of electing Obama as the Democratic nominee was so we wouldn't get another Clinton, and we got one anyway!

I digress. This is not hard to understand. If we allow al-Qaeda to scare us into giving up our constitutional values then the terrorists have won.  We don't need to fight them in Iraq or Afghanistan. We can call it quits and come home because our values and ideas are only worth fighting for abroad if we can UPHOLD THEM AT HOME.

The United States Constitution is not the guarantor of anyone's personal moral beliefs; it is instead designed to protect LIBERTY and FREEDOM. Sometimes the Constitution protects rights that we often disagree on in normal discourse, such as the right to have a handgun in dangerous urban neighborhoods or the right to have an abortion without telling one's parents.

However, sometimes the Constitution protects rights that most of us personally disagree with.  Such as the right of a crazy super right-wing minister to protest during military funerals because our culture "tolerates homosexuality." Many conservatives and Republicans are upset with the community center, calling the building location "offensive."

On June 14, 1977, the Supreme Court in National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie held that Neo-Nazis could march through the town of Skokie, Illinois, a town with the largest number of Holocaust survivors per capita at the time.  Now that is offensive.  If the Constitution protects Neo-Nazis who are trying to purposefully give the community they harmed the middle finger, it definitely protects moderate Muslims who are just trying to build a community center, yes with a mosque, in an old worn out building that used to be a Burlington Coat Factory, near the site of a horrible tragedy.

Of all the freedoms in this country we are blessed with, the most important is our freedom of - and freedom from - religion. It is our core principle, it is why we are here, and it is why our young Republic was founded.  If we fail to uphold the principles that led to our founding, the United States of America that we seek so dearly to protect, ceases to exist.

Quote of the Day

I tried to not post this, but I couldn't resist.

"The Republicans don’t have any credibility whatsoever. They squandered whatever they had when they enacted a massive UNFUNDED expansion of Medicare in 2003. Yet they had the nerve to complain about Obama’s health plan, WHICH WAS FULLY PAID FOR according to the Congressional Budget Office. The word “chutzpah” is insufficient to describe how utterly indefensible the Republican position is, intellectually.

Furthermore, Republicans have a completely indefensible position on taxes. In their view, deficits cannot arise from tax cuts. No matter how much taxes are cut, no matter how low revenues go as a share of GDP, tax cuts are never a cause of deficits; they result ONLY AND EXCLUSIVELY from spending—and never from spending put in place by Republicans, such as Medicare Part D, TARP, two unfunded wars, bridges to nowhere, etc—but ONLY from Democratic efforts to stimulate growth, help the unemployed, provide health insurance for those without it, etc.

The monumental hypocrisy of the Republican Party is something amazing to behold."

- Bruce Bartlett, domestic economic policy adviser for President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush in a recent interview with The Economist's blog Democracy In America.

Graph of the Obama tax proposal vs. original Bush tax cuts

So here's a handy little graph from Ezra Klein's blog to help sort out the difference between the Obama budget proposal for only letting the tax cuts for the richest 1-2% expire and the Republican proposal of extending the "Bush" tax cuts as is.  This graph lays out pretty clearly that the Bush tax cuts did largely go to the richest Americans, and not like medium rich, but like really REALLY rich.  As you'll see, between the two tax proposals most of the tax cut amounts are essentially the same for most income brackets.

Also ask yourself, if you really care about cutting the deficit (letting the tax cuts expire in full would cut the deficit by roughly 30%) would you be willing to part with the amount in either proposal?

Full disclosure, I stand to gain an increase in my tax cut of $2 to $7 from the Obama proposal.  My bias is so easily purchased!

Read the full article about the Joint Committee on Taxation's analysis of the two tax proposals here at the Washington Post.

New Guster single "Do You Love Me?" from new album - Easy Wonderful - out October 5th!

Take a listen. Enjoy!



Do You Love Me by guster

Surprise! Republicans are Keynesians too

I thought Republicans really wanted to stop the "runaway spending" of the Obama administration and take a huge axe to the national debt.  But apparently, they realize that doing so during a recession is not the best idea.

Watch below as House Minority Leader, John Boehner of Ohio, advocates to keep the Bush tax cuts at a cost of roughly $3 trillion dollars added to the national debt, because he believes (correctly, in my opinion) that job creation is better for the long-term debt reduction than cutting economic stimulus during a recession.

(FYI, the Obama administration's proposal would keep the "Bush" tax cuts (2001, 2003) for taxpayers making less than $200,000 or $250,000 if they are a couple. This extension would add $2.5 trillion dollars to the national debt)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Where Boehner's reasoning is wrong, is that you can't have it both ways.  Republicans since Reaganism during the 80's have held the Laffer curve as dogma, which means that larger tax cuts means more revenue coming in! That's right! The less money you have coming in, the more money comes in! This makes complete sense, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, according to former Fed chair, Alan Greenspan, this economic model does not ring true. You either stimulate the weakened economy driving up your short term deficit or you try and balance your budget as fast as possible with repercussions of systemic unemployment in the high double digits, furthering economic collapse and deepening the debt due to collapse of tax revenues.

Keynes once famously responded to a critique of his economic theory which advocated government intervention to mitigate current economic cycles of recession and depression. Critics posed to Mr. Keynes, "What about the debt the government owes in the long run?"

He replied, "In the long run, we are all dead."

YAY! and Duh... Same-sex marriage ban ruled UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Prop 8 was just ruled unconstitutional in California. Now be big kids and read the opinion (which starts on page 111)! I'll give you a quote to get you started.

"Race restrictions on marital partners were once common in most states but are now seen as archaic, shameful or even bizarre. FF 23-25. When the Supreme Court invalidated race restrictions in Loving, the definition of the right to marry did not change. 388 US at 12. Instead, the Court recognized that race restrictions, despite their historical prevalence, stood in stark contrast to the concepts of liberty and choice inherent in the right to marry."

Prop 8 Ruling FINAL

Cool multi-track recording - New Whitacre

Check out this track of "Close Your Eyes" from Eric Whitacre's musical Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings. It features a chorus member who recorded himself 4 times on each part on SSAATTBB, that's 32 tracks! A mix of 80's techno, japanese animation or anime, and modern choral work equals pretty awesome. Take a listen.

Valid Republican Idea of the Day! - Wage Insurance

I thought I would inaugurate a brand new segment and start highlighting positive ideas from across the aisle.  And with all of this bitching and moaning from the crazy right about the "handout" of unemployment benefits which Americans pay into, I thought I would highlight a reasonable idea from Republican policy makers that actually has some real merits over the outdated and relatively liberal system.

Wage Insurance

I will concede that my Republican friends are correct when they point out that the first few months of unemployment are probably not the most productive of one's life. You're probably angry and part of you might even be glad that you don't have that crappy job or crappy boss anymore.  You're probably getting productive with potato chips and making a bigger dent in your Netflix queue.

However, unlike some of my Republican friends, I don't believe that most people who are unemployed for an extended period of time are really living it up and enjoying the money that they get from the Federal Government.  I'm sure the relaxing and soul-searching part of unemployment starts to wear thin at around month number three. I also believe that it's a necessary - and highly effective - part of Keynesian stimulus policy. However, the current unemployment insurance model is in need of reform and here are some flaws worth considering:

It's boring and emotionally tiresome - I don't care what kind of job you have or had, people enjoy the feeling of being productive and DOING something. Sitting at home and looking for jobs on craigslist.org, monster.com, or careerbuilder.com all day is just the WORST.
Extended unemployment decays valuable skills -  Being unemployed for a long time doesn't only hurt your ego, it also affects the skills you invariably learn while on the job and makes you less prepared for a new job, when the economy does indeed recover.
Loss of valuable (and needed) productivity - The country and businesses, large and small need workers working, they just don't have the savings or credit access during a recession, especially a recession caused by the collapse of the financial markets that make lending possible.

Here's why wage insurance might have some real benefits over the current system.

In 2008, John McCain, included the idea in his acceptance speech as the Republican nominee for President. Although John McCain's version of wage insurance was not perfect, it still is an interesting method of maintaining overall productivity. John McCain's policymakers advocated that if you got laid off from your job that paid $60,000 per year, and you were able to secure a lower paying job at $20,000 per year, the government would subsidize your wages to as close of your old salary as possible, while continuing job training programs.

Although this particular policy of wage insurance solves the productivity problem, it does not solve the issue concerning the maintenance of valuable skills that help stem the problem of structural unemployment.  You're not going to be learning that new web design program while flipping burgers at McDonalds! My proposal would allow you to choose between traditional unemployment benefits and "wage insurance" benefits directed to your employer as an option that would keep you at your same job by subsidizing your salary to your employer.  That way you can keep your job, keep learning new skills, and your employer gets the labor it needs while getting some time to heal from the government.  You have your job and money in your pocket, the business gets its labor at a temporary - recession/depression - discount, and the government gets a GDP that doesn't shrink dramatically from millions out of the workforce.

Long story short, although there are some kinks to be worked out with this policy this is a Republican idea worth considering.

Your Valid Republican Idea of the Day!

Oh my G-d, you've got to be kidding me!

Israel, are you serious? You're really starting to scare me now.  This week, an Israeli court sentenced a man named Sammy Kashur, 30, to 18 months in prison for "rape by deception" for having consensual sex with an Israeli woman in her late 20s because he lied and said he was a single Jewish man looking for a committed long-term relationship. Mr. Kashur however, is an Arab.  Here's the official summary:

According to the indictment, Kashur met the complainant in September 2008 in downtown Jerusalem, presenting himself as a Jewish bachelor looking for a serious romantic relationship. The couple then went to a nearby building and had sex, after which Kashur left the building without waiting for the woman to get dressed.

Uh...newsflash ladies, men will say anything to get into your pants.  But, seriously Israel, rape? Here's what the Israeli court had to say for itself.

"The court is obliged to protect the public interest from sophisticated, smooth-tongued criminals who can deceive innocent victims at an unbearable price — the sanctity of their bodies and souls."

I'm not too sure this lady was that concerned about her soul, seeing as she hooked up with the guy after meeting him in a grocery store "went to a nearby building and had sex."  I don't think that soul is heaven-ready quite yet, even if he was Jewish.  I think Kashur's public defender, Elkana Laist put it best,

"The test the court adopted is problematic, because it means that every time a man tells a woman he loves her, based on which she sleeps with him, he could be convicted of rape."

Ladies, before you have intercourse with a man who you hope is interested in a long-term relationship, make him take you to a movie and buy you some popcorn or for crying out loud have him take you to dinner and buy you the most expensive thing on the menu before you go "to a nearby building and [have] sex." That way you know he's in it for at least the medium-haul if not the long haul.

And if this story wasn't creepy enough, check out this public service announcement about "lost" Israeli's who, heaven forbid, married outside their faith.

Full of it....

The Republican Party on spending.  Just watch how congressman Pete Sessions of Texas can't identify one program that he'd cut in order to balance the budget and reduce the national debt.  I mean the answer's pretty clear right?  Just stop funding poor kids' breakfasts and foreign aid and you're half way there! Oh wait, these programs are only like 0.08% of the annual budget, not to mention an even smaller chunk of our long-term deficit.  But hey, it sounds good to "live within our means" doesn't it?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We all know the big ticket items that need to be reformed / reduced in order to make a significant dent in our long term debt.

Social Security - slow but steady increase in the retirement age as well as getting rid of the salary cap around $125K?
Medicare - means justified benefits and a raise in salary cap
Medicaid - hospital payment reform and increased primary care access for low income communities
Department of Defense - phasing out and canceling outdated weapons systems and ending $3 Trillion wars

Things were much better when I was young...NOT

Caitlin Flanagan, of The Atlantic has written another essay about the coarsening of sexual culture for our youth!  Waaaaa....Waaaaa, These poor girls are recovering from the land of ubiquitous oral sex and are now revolting to a moral norm of the loving and caring boyfriend. What has happened to the younger generation? How did we let it come to this? When I was a young adult WE didn't do stuff like this blah, blah, blah.  Here's an excerpt:

"What might we expect as the next thing for today’s girls? They just spent the better part of a decade being hectored—via the post-porn, Internet-driven world—toward a self-concept centering on the expectation that the very most they could or should expect from a boy is a hookup...And now the girls have had enough. We’ve sunk pretty low, culturally speaking, when we’ve left it to the 14- and 15-year-old girls of the nation to make one of the last, great stands for human dignity. But they’re making it, by God."

...Barf

Every adult generation bitches and moans about how the kids are "doing it" younger and younger and every time they do they are proven wrong by the statistics that show that sexual activity in adolescents has stayed essentially the same since scientists like Alfred Kinsey began surveying and recording sex statistics in the late 1940s and early 1950s. And the results are...that the average age for loss of virginity worldwide from 1940 - 2010 is between the ages of 15 - 19 years old, regardless of marital status. Culture, no matter how strict and puritan (a la the 1950s) to a "coarse" culture such as our own (the 1990s-00s), has little to no effect on the biological and evolutionary cues of sex and mating practices. Carolyn Butler, of The Washington Post, writes about the new Center for Disease Control survey on sexual behavior in teens:

This survey of more than 2,700 teenagers across the country found that 43 percent of boys and 42 percent of girls between ages 15 and 19 say they have had sex, a figure that's more or less unchanged since 2002 and compares with 55 percent of boys and 51 percent of girls in 1988.

Oh, wait a second. What did I just read there?  Oh, overall sexual activity DECREASED from 1988? Take another look at teenage sexual trends from 1991 to 2009 and you'll find that the only statistics that have increased since 1991 is use of a condom during intercourse and use of birth control.  Sounds like good news to me.  Way to go younger generation.  As we contemplate this information about how this generation is MORE chaste than earlier periods (within that general region of roughly 50% losing their virginity between 15-19), let's hear some more from Ms. Flanagan.

"Unlike the girls of my era, who looked forward to sex, not as a physical pleasure (although it would—eventually—become that for most of us), but as a way of becoming ever closer to our boyfriends, these girls are preparing themselves for acts and experiences that are frightening, embarrassing, uncomfortable at best, painful at worst."

Yes, the world of distant oral sex is much more uncomfortable and painful than having intercourse through their own "Boyfriend Story" as Ms. Flanagan calls it. Here she recounts how even her progressive mother who told her to not get married just so she could have sex, but "just have sex with him" in order to retain her independence and her chance for a career.  According to Ms. Flanagan, her mother could not have envisioned the HORROR of today's youth sexual culture.

"But no matter how forward-thinking, no matter how progressive, those long-ago women might seem to us now, they shared one unquestioned assumption about girls and sex, a premise that, if expressed today, might cast doubt on one’s commitment to girls’ sexual liberation: all of them, to a woman, believed in the Boyfriend Story."

Let me tell you what the "Boyfriend Story" brought Ms. Flanagan's generation.  The "Boyfriend Story" got girls in the 1970s and 1980s PREGNANT, because all of those tender girls did the right thing that didn't hurt their tender souls and they made sweet tender love to their boyfriends - and I'll say it again, THEY GOT PREGNANT.  Some of them got abortions, some of them had shotgun weddings and then divorced in record numbers, and some of those girlfriends watched their "Boyfriend Story" walk out on them when they got knocked up.

Yes, this younger generation performs a lot more oral sex than generations preceding it.  Why?  Because we've learned from our parents that getting pregnant before we're ready can lead to more disastrous results than some oral sex that we may have felt ashamed by.

Are there instances where girls are coerced by corrupt boys and a culture that makes them feel like they have to "hookup" to be cool, or win a guy? Yes, and that is something we need to work on teaching our adolescent boys.  But trust me, if I were a father I'd rather have my teenage daughter be upset about an oral sex encounter that she felt "not pure" about, then be lured by her own perfect "Boyfriend Story" in the back seat of a car and have the rest of her adolescent life be ended by the arrival of a responsibility so big, it could crush her.

The younger generation and sexual culture has evolved to reduce their instances of unwanted pregnancy, we should salute their progress. It's Ms. Flanagan's assertion that certain sex acts are more kind than others just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

U.S.A. (Sigh...)

Hey, 2 readers.  I've been so bummed about the U.S. Soccer team's loss to Ghana (2-1).  Will post soon.

U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

I'll let the goal speak for itself...



[Update: FIFA totally stinks and removed the footage of the USA goal. This reaction below, from Seattle, WA is just as good though. Enjoy :)]



[Update #2 - Found another version of the USA goal that FIFA hasn't gotten too...yet]

Click the jump to see the way goals are meant to be witnessed!

Why Obama should keep McChrystal on as Commander of the War In Afghanistan

Since the Rolling Stone article profiling General McChrystal came out, many Washington pundits have been calling for President Obama to fire him for insubordination. Throughout the profile, McChrystal's quotes have shown a man who expressed all too willingly that he felt he lacked support from top administration officials who disagreed with him about the Counter Insurgency strategy (also known as COIN) and the corresponding surge in Afghanistan. Now the ill-timed comments threaten to weaken his status as Commander-In-Chief, and more importantly, weaken the unified resolve to see the mission through.

McChrystal openly mocked officials such as Vice President "Bite Me" Biden and Ambassador Richard Holbrooke for advocating a purer counter-terrorism strategy with more drones and a lighter military footprint.

This is not good.  We have civilian leadership of the Armed Forces for a reason.  Sometimes in the midst of battle the good general thinks that the battle in front of him can always be won whereas the President must ask the question of whether the battle was worth fighting at all.

This flap is surely going to cause hurt feelings between the President and the General and many other Presidents such as President Truman could and did fire their generals for open disagreement.  I would not blame President Obama if he fired General McChrystal, but I think it is the wrong move.  After the lengthy review on Afghanistan's conflict, the President determined that it was a conflict worth fighting and that Counter Insurgency of "Clear, Build, and Hold" with extremely restrictive rules of engagement was the way forward.  General Stanley McChrystal literally wrote the manual.

Here's a chance for President Obama to illustrate that he's a different kind of President, that hurt feelings won't get in the way of seeing the strategy through.  The strategy might still fail, but at least we tried.  And in this era of foreign policy where the opaque goal is to not get 17 year old men with little to no employment prospects mad at you, unfortunately trying is all you can ask.

New Guster Song - Jonah

Here's Guster's new song, Jonah.  The track can be found on Download to Donate for Haiti, which will hopefully be on their upcoming album due to be released in the fall.  Listen for the Beatles-y part at 1:49.  Enjoy!

Dan Savage on raising his son in a "gay household"

Famed Sex Columnist of Savage Love, Dan Savage talks about raising his son and witnessing his son's process of coming to terms with his sexuality. Touching and funny.

USA vs. England

1783, 1812, and 1950. These are the times we've fought our cousins and won. It's time to add 2010 to our cap.

U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

"We're Like Shrek and Donkey"

'Nuff said.

Jim Gaffigan vs. Offended Christian

Very funny.

On Helen Thomas

What she said about Jewish Israelis moving back to Poland and Germany is despicable and just sad (See it here). She may be an anti-Semite, she may be a racist and she definitely is an anti-Zionist. However, Helen Thomas was one of the few White House Press Corps JOURNALISTS.

(Editorial note: I do not approve with the youtube heading use of "bimbo" to describe President Bush's last press secretary Dana Perino. Ms. Perino is by all reports a nice, smart lady. She's also very hot. And for that we salute her.)

Israel took the bait....

...and lost the moral high ground. It's been awhile since I've posted because there hasn't been an event that really provoked a response until now. (The Gulf Oil spill just makes me feel hopeless and depressed, and there's not much unfortunately that WE can do to solve the problem.)

Israel's response to the Turkish flotilla with humanitarian aid to Gaza was in the vein of recent military operations for the past 3 years: OVERKILL.  But Ernie, the Turks were trying to provoke a response!  Yes, they were but Israel took the bait and then some.  They used an inordinate amount of force and lost their moral high ground in the process.

A 19-year old U.S. citizen was found dead with a bullet in his his chest and four bullets through his head at close range.  (I think you got him guys.) And after all is said and done, the Israeli Defense Forces killed 9 people and wounded many more to stop the dangerous shipment of...musical instruments and coriander.  Wow, guys...WOW.

North Korea, which has a nuclear weapon (or two) likely sunk a South Korean battleship killing 40 sailors and South Korea responded by...resuming high level military drills. Hmmmmmm.  Is something amiss?

I love Israel and I want it to survive.  I wish its people stability, security and happiness. The existence of a Jewish State is an important and essential entity as a spiritual center and an ideological pushback on the world of anti-semitism.  It is because the existence of a Jewish State is so important, that Israel must act in its own self-interest and right now its own self-righteousness is slowly doing itself in.

Israel is a major world power that is lately not acting like one. A real world power understands that it cannot overreact to activists and dissidents.  A real world power allows those activists a space to express their views, however abhorrent, without the overbearing force of a police state.  The era of nation-state warfare is over.  Major world powers and armies are fighting against random groups of young adult men armed with rocks, knives, and light weaponry.  The task of traditional military powers is beating these forces without exacerbating the conditions that produced them in the first place.  Take a page from the Civil Rights movement, you can either be the sympathetic victim or the arrogant douchebag.  The next time Turkish activists try to pour food all over you, don't overreact and win the bigger battle.

Try and reduce the federal debt!

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget has an interactive "game" if I dare call it that, which allows you to check boxes next to government policies which will either increase or decrease the Federal Debt.  The goal of the game is to get the U.S. Federal debt to 60% of GDP by 2018.  I slightly failed, after all of my choices I got to 65% of GDP by 2018.  I'll give a VERY brief summary of the choices I made to try and balance our budget.  Click here and try it out!

Liberal things:

Kept Bush tax cuts only for those making less than $250K/200K - Cost - $2,095B
I reduced our troop presence in Iraq and Afghanistan to 60,000 by 2015 - Cost Savings - $350B
I enacted weapon systems cuts and canceled our missile defense program - Cost Savings - $90B
I increased food stamps funding by $140B - Cost - $140B
Enacted Carbon Tax or Cap-and-Trade system - Cost Savings - $330B

Moderate things:

With regard to most other aid for low income familes and foreign aid,
I did not increase or decrease funding for these programs. - No additional cost or savings.

Conservative things:

Lowered the Federal corporate tax rate from 35% to 30% - Cost - $390B
Raised the retirement age to 68 - Cost Savings - $110B
Reduced Social Security benefits over time - Cost Savings - $80B
Adjusted Federal COLA to a more accurate index of inflation - Cost Savings - $100B
Enacted Tort Reform - Cost Savings - $50B

Libertarian things:

Instituted a 5% VAT (includes reductions in other types of income tax) - Cost Savings - $630B