May 2008 - Political Certainty

It’s more than just being without class. The Right supports chaos, street riots and political assassination.

Last Fall I submitted a post on Ann Coulter and her suggestion that John Edwards should be assassinated; I was accused by the Right’s Orble apologist, SL, of not understanding and appreciating Ms Coulter’s sense of humor. Mc Coulter has also “joked” about killing a Supreme Court Justice

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Senator Obama and Observations of a Jew: Part II

May 27th 2008 20:43

In a previous post, I examined the candidacy of Barack Obama from the viewpoint of a Jewish observer. I explained that my opinions differed greatly from that of my more conservative relatives, many of whom had reservations about the support a President Obama would give Israel. I quoted at some length an article by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times in which Mr. Friedman listed a number of rumors and falsehoods being circulated that suggested Senator Obama would abandon support of the State of Israel.

Mr. Friedman dismissed those concerns and concluded

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Why a Jew should Support Senator Obama.—Part I

May 27th 2008 19:57

The political imperative of an American Jew is complex. What are the priorities? How does this affect the candidacy of Barack Obama? What of the argument that a litmus test is appropriate; the Republicans use Roe v Wade as their test, should Jews use absolute and unquestioning support of the State of Israel as their test?

During the past weeks, I have had an exchange of correspondence with a cousin with a distinctly different political point of view from my own. My inclination is to support and vote for Senator Obama; my cousin, on the other hand, is far more in tune with the strong Zionist beliefs of my paternal grandfather. Our respective viewpoints are tempered by our personal and family situations, ones that are not uncommon in this country. My cousin and her husband lived in Israel for many years and their children and grandchildren now live there. For them, the safety of Israel and its future are not academic or abstract considerations but matters of family members’ survival. I, on the other hand, live in the United States and have the luxury of writing as a theoretical exercise. If members of my immediate family were in an area both threatened and fired upon by those bent on their extinction, I would have my beliefs challenged

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What a good Liberal/Progressive should be reading.

May 22nd 2008 15:09

I have, on occasion, berated Orble writers of the more Conservative stripe for reading and obtaining news from Fox News and its commentators.

I confess that I spend too much time on-line and now that my part-time, seasonal job is over, my sitting at the computer for hours drives The Lovely Joan, my wife for nearly 50 years, crazy

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The GOP has lost touch.

May 19th 2008 01:06

For the past 28 years, the Republican Party professed to believe in and follow the core principle of Ronald Reagan’s view of government. Repeatedly, Mr. Reagan stated, in varying venues and contexts, that “government was the problem, not the solution”. This rule was in the mind of liberal-progressives to be an oversimplification and, in essence, an abdication of government responsibilities. The end, as envisioned by Mr. Reagan, was a minimalist Federal government; regulation of airlines, food and drugs, occupational safety, the financial markets, all were to be left to the mercies of the private sector. If there was an overwhelming increase in foreclosures, a lapse in food inspection because of loss of inspectors, fraudulent manipulation of pensions, less regulation of airplane regulations, then the private market would correct the problem.

With the diminished role for government, there could be a corresponding reduction in taxes, especially for the wealthier population. (This not just editorial bias: nearly all employed persons pay regressive payroll taxes; the very wealthy pay a much small proportion of their income for such taxes

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Talking without knowledge

May 18th 2008 12:46

I have been busy making a list of phrases and clichés that many use to explain a political or social position but which actually demonstrate a woeful inability to address real issues. These expressions appear to me, on the Left side of the Middle, to be used mostly by the Right and supporters of this Administration – but that may be unjust.

There are many examples. For example, my fellow writer, SL, uses “shorthand” expressions such as “dem/libs” or “Billary” or referring to Senator Obama as “Barack Hussein Obama”; others find it clever to add a fictitious additional middle name, Mohammed, for the Senator. Another writer helpfully points out that the Bible speaks of “Adam and Eve” and not “Adam and Steve”. Cute? Certainly but not very helpful to a debate on the rights of gays to marry

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The sky won’t fall if same-sex unions are allowed.

May 16th 2008 17:48

Last December, I posted an article suggesting that the fight against same-sex unions, call them “marriage” or something else, was a fight that already had been fought. The majority of people simply do not care; they realize that what two consenting adults do in private does not truly impact the rest of us. The issue is only relevant in that a minority of people, some cynical political operatives energizing the GOP “base”, others sincere and devout people of several faiths who perceive homosexual relationships to be sin and, therefore, should be forbidden. There are also those who, again, sincerely, feel that allowing such relationships undermine the nature of marriage.

I will not bother with those who employ facile cutesy phrases as God wanted marriage to be between “Adam and Eve” and not “Adam and Steve

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The Truth about “Tort Reform” and the Medical Malpractice Crisis that isn’t

May 16th 2008 10:44

Some time ago, I wrote an article on another site criticizing physicians for accepting gifts from pharmaceutical manufactures. I prefaced my writing with an explanatory note which needs to be repeated:

Speaking of ethical responsibility, full disclosure demands that I state that my daughter and son-in-law are physicians, each of whom demonstrates the finest aspects and practices of his and her profession. I, personally, have an internist/family doctor who is competent, eager to answer every question that I have, after reading WebMD, and a cardiologist who has seen me through by-pass surgery and six years of making sure I do not have to be "opened up" again. I freely acknowledge that, as a patient, I must try their respective patience.
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A Grandson prepares for college.

May 14th 2008 23:19

I have sent the following e-mail to my oldest Grandson on the occasion of his upcoming start of college life.

One word of explanation, his other grandfather is politically the mirror image of me

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Prologue to a Cruise (Part I of what I hope will be an interesting series)

May 14th 2008 18:24

Our upcoming Carnival cruise celebrating our 50th anniversary has some issues! I also need to get stuff off my chest!

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I’m proud of John McCain for avoiding negative campaigning.

May 9th 2008 13:10

Both Senator and Mrs. McCain have stressed within the past several days that his campaign will not be a negative, name-calling affair. Not for them would be the Swift-Boat accusations or the Willie Horton shameless ads of previous GOP campaigns.

So who was it that said that Hamas supported Senator Obama? Who was it that proclaimed that terrorists wanted Senator Obama to be President? Who suggested that Senator Obama was like “The Manchurian Candidate

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I Believe in God, but I wish He’d Keep out of Politics.

May 9th 2008 12:58

I believe in God, attend services too rarely but with appropriate sincerity, and, like many, have difficulty in expressing a reason for my belief other than a practical version of that suggested by the 17th Century French mathematician and philosopher, Blaise Pascal. M. Pascal argued that there either is or isn’t a God, that he could choose to believe or to refuse to believe. If there were no God, then neither belief nor non-belief would have consequence. If, on the other hand, there is a God and he, Pascal, chose to deny His existence, there might be unfavorable consequences.

That may not be the rationale sought by others, but the bottom line is that belief is a matter of faith. I have the greatest respect for those with or without such faith, as long as the person follows what I hold to be the moral imperative: Do not intentionally hurt someone and if hurt is inflicted unintentionally, make it right

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A Break from Politics

May 4th 2008 23:12

Readers of my blogs are familiar with my ranting and raving about right-wing idiots’ and others of all, or no, political persuasion. It is time to pay homage to The Lovely Joan, who has endured almost 50 years of marriage with a very imperfect me. In addition to raising four great children and one grandchild, she was a bowling whiz, and, on top of all of this, managed to raise me to the extent that I often turn shirts and socks the right way before dropping them in the hamper. She is, also, a wonderful cook.

Here are a few of her recipes – I have gained weight through them

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