I love Paul Krugman

I love Paul Krugman. Well, not in a "he's on my top 10 celebrities I'd sleep with list" but you know, more of a sometimes he makes me say "right on!" and stuff. Anyway, this is a long way around the point of he wrote an article on his blog today that hit the nail on the head about Jindal's rebuttal to the SOTU address last night. Read it all here.

I've heard of Jindal, in all his Indian American glory, but I'd never heard him speak until last night. He sounded like he was doing an impersonation of Carl Sagan. It was so strange. And like Krugman, I was totally perplexed by his picking on volcanic monitoring...especially since his state of Louisiana was rendered impotent by a different sort of natural disaster, but a natural disaster nonetheless. It's almost like saying, we don't believe in monitoring potential threats to the population, even though we (more than anyone) should know the danger in ignoring them.

Anyway, Krugman had my heart going pitty-pat with this little bit of magic:

Basically, the political philosophy of the GOP right now seems to consist of snickering at stuff that they think sounds funny. The party of ideas has become the party of Beavis and Butthead.

He said Butt. Hnn.Hnn.Hnn.

The Energy of Cynicism

I am a fan of Feministing. In general, they have relevant posts about issues affecting women. But with these relevant issues one must accept a heavy hand of attitude and a focus on the negative experiences of women in society. Posts over the last several days include a tirade against Hooters, against "offensive" bulemia ads, the hyprocisy of abstinence-only education, an update on the Prop 8 offensive, and the never ending tirade against Vagasil ads . The overriding attitude seems (to me) to be that unless we are ever vigilant, the world will step on our sensibilities, treat us like children, and basically screw us over. What I consider to be Feministing's attempt at women-positive posting equally falls flat. For example, their review of women-positive sex toy shops. Ugh. I can find my own sex toy shops without any help, thanks. LOL

Now I am not picking on Feministing. Not really. Like I said, I enjoy reading their blog. But it brings up an interesting point. I read a lot of other blogs. Liberal political blogs. Blogs dealing with racial issues. Blogs dealing with racial issues as they affect political issues. Economic blogs. Science blogs(including evolution blogs in which cynicism reaches new heights). Off the wall blogs. Let's face it, I read a lot of blogs.

Oh, there are a few blogs them seem to sit squarely in reality. Five Thirty Eight, for example. While the authors may espouse a political leaning, they do so infrequently, and their analysis is unbiased. (Where it is biased, they are quick to point it out.) And Paul Krugman has mastered the short, poignant post that can disagree with someone without being disagreeable. But the vast majority of the blogs I read that have a particular bent don't seem to be able to lift their heads out of their posteriors and realize that other points of view are valid. The general idea of most posts is "these idiots that I'm posting about are so _____ist that they don't even understand what is wrong with their actions. Are you as incensed as I am? You should be!" After enough of these posts, is it any wonder that the readership begins to think that the whole world is _______ist and is out to get them?

Here's a little tip from your friend D: they ain't out to get you.

Now, I will admit to getting my shorts in a knot now and again about something happening in the news. . But, I don't go out looking in the world to get pissed off. I don't look at the world as ready to screw me over at a moment's notice. In fact, all in all, I think the world is a pretty interesting and fun place. Curious sometimes. Frustrating on occasion. But it is what it is and if we don't like it, maybe we should do something about it instead of sitting around bitching. It takes a lot of energy to maintain that constant level of pissedoffness and I can't do it long term.

Which is why you'll see my cynical posts punctuated by posts about my camping equipment (which makes me happy), or my forays into the wild places of So. IL (which makes me happy), or some reflection on my own life (which may or may not make me happy, but was obviously preoccupying me at the time). I can't seem to stay pissed off enough to make me a true warrior against -isms. Or maybe I just have a different take on it.

There are people who say I have a quick temper. In one sense, they are right. I can get very angry, very quickly. However, I also seem to get it out and over with just as quickly. I suppose at some point in my past, I made a choice in dealing with life. I'd rather get mad, get it out, and move on rather than steep and seeth. These bloggers seem to ooze cynicism from every pore. While I may post my take on some particular topic of current events, I am bound to let it go eventually. Usually very quickly. I wonder if that makes me a sub-par blogger. I hope not. I think we all have our take on current events and social ills, but we don't have to let the bastards run our lives.

I like being happy (despite what anyone says). So please, take MY rantings with a grain of salt. They are the idle wanderings of a curious mind. And if you choose to discuss my ideas or give your ideas--if you choose to disagree with me--I may get momentarily excited, but it isn't going to ruin my day or ruin our friendship. I'm just saying. Life is too short to stay pissed off.

It's another beautiful day out there and I'm off to enjoy it.

Who you gonna to take economic advice from? A liberal, elitist Nobel Prize Winner or Joe the plumber?

Paul Krugman, recent winner of a Nobel Prize in economics, wrote an opinion piece today in which he called the Republican party pro-pleurocrat.

Pleurocrat?

*crickets*

No wonder we aren't making any progress with the average Joe. The average Joe can't spell pleurocrat, let along know the definition. Still, despite his use of elitist language, Krugman makes a number of good points. He rightly equates the exodus of lower and middle-class white guys to the Republican party as cattle following a grain truck to the slaughterhouse.

The Republican party built their base by capitalizing on racial and cultural intolerance as well as differences of opinion in the uses of our military. Apparently there is one thing that white guys aren't afraid of and that is being a martyr for their country. No wonder they are pro-one-hundred-years-war in Iraq. Dying is something they are good at. I always assumed that people voted with their pocketbooks. People voted jobs. I found it impossible to believe that people would vote in a manner that hurt themselves, benefited others (especially the "haves"), and would continue to do so generation after generation. But Joe the Plumber is case in point. He claims his differences with Obama were over tax policy. But is it any surprise that he called Obama "Sammy Davis, Jr."? I don't think Joe the Plumber is the same thing as the average Joe. Joe the Plumber is a closet racist. The average Joe is not.

To the Joe the Plumber types, tax policy is a code word for racism. In fact, I am of the general opinon that there are very few low- to middle-class Republicans who are in it for a die-hard belief in the Republican economic policies. Just about anything short of abortion rights seems to smack of racism to me these days. No one is dumb enough to vote against their own self-interests and self-preservation, unless blind hatred is behind it. We have to admit that there is a minority in this country that are white supremacists. They used to be out and loud. now they are closeted and sly. But they are still there. I don't worry about them so much. They no longer hold sway over anyone. Let their asses dry up in Klan country. I'm looking toward the future. They can be part of it, or they can get left behind.

To the average Joe's out there, listen up. Despite everything, McCain has not identified any meaningful way that he will change the course of the economy, but merely continue Bush's "disastrous policies". If Joe the Plumber sets aside his hatred and elects Obama, (thereby becoming an average Joe), he will get a tax break. If Joe the plumber is a racist and votes McCain into office, his individual lot in life might not change, it will probably get worse, but he'll get the satisfaction of knowing that most of the wealth in this country will remain in the hands of the white folks. Bravo, Joe P. Bravo.

Krugman also makes the point about how politicians and journalists, too, are out of touch with the average Joe. The average national income is roughly $44K. John McCain is under the impression that rich people make $5 million dollars a year. Well of course people who make $5 mil a year are rich. Charlie Gibson is under the impression that middle class incomes are $200,000. Is it any wonder that McCain is under the impression that his tax policies will benefit the average Joe? Is it any wonder that Charlie Gibson is under the impression that he is an average Joe? Let's look at the facts:


According to this chart, $150K is rich. Most of us make a third of that, and on average and we spend far beyond our means. But before you point a damning finger at the average Joe, realize that Joe has been spending on the good faith he has rising home equity. And spending on this faith was the only choice he had if he wanted to send his kids to college, and make a better life for himself and his family. Joe had to have faith in the economic indicators that were available to him. And all those indicators said that his home equity was rising and it was safe. He wasn't feeling the pinch. Banks were still willing to loan to him.

But economic indicators do not take into account Republican policies that undermine the entire economic system. Deregulation and smaller government oversight are the drumbeat of the Republican party.

If Joe elects McCain, he'll get the paycheck he deserves. Sometimes poverty is a hard lesson. Trust me. I know.

America Deserves an Explanation

Congress got a wake-up call yesterday. Actually it was more like a big flying F.U. Colossal failure of the bailout package yesterday sent Wall Street sinking and the political machine began to take Tums. How did this happen? It's what I've been saying all along. No one has bothered to explain to the American public anything about this economic "crisis". If you expect Americans to support spending $700 billion to bailout Wall Street and--let's face it--the real American elite have been pulling down six- and seven-figure salaries for decades for little or no leadership or risk, you'd better be damned ready to 'splain yerself, Lucy.

“The risk we run now is we will have a much deeper and more protracted recession than what we had before,” said Mark Gertler, an economics professor at New York University.

He faults politicians and government officials for not doing enough to help Americans understand why the crisis on Wall Street could start to hit home on Main Street. He also thinks no one bothered to spend enough time explaining to Americans how the proposal would work, leading many Americans to see it as simply a handout for Wall Street fat cats.

The proposed $700 billion bailout plan failed to pass the House of Representatives on Monday amid political squabbling and fears that a vote for the plan would impact what lever ordinary voters pull come Election Day.

“This is really a failure, at a massive level, of the political system,” Gertler said.

Politicians have been treating the American public like a bunch of little kids. Fear of runs on banks, massive sell-offs of stocks and the like does not give our elected leaders the right to keep us in the dark and demand we walk in lock-step with an administration we no longer trust. Why should we give billions to already rich people who seem to have no concern for the people they are now raping for tax dollars? Those little guys let their representatives know that they would show their disapproval of a "yes vote" with their votes in the fall. Game over.

If this issue really is bigger than individual elections, Congress needs to grow some cajones and communicate with the American public. I'm pissed off about this. I'm a citizen, too. And I've been TRYING to learn about why this bailout is necessary. I don't think even the media understands. Somehow GWB, Harry Paulson and Paul Krugman get it and I'm supposed to just, you know, believe them. It is a massive breakdown of the political process. As Krugman notes, "We've become a banana republic with nukes." Oh, and we should thank John McCain. Because, you know, he was so instrumental in bringing everyone to the table and getting them on board.