NPR’s Morning Edition just reported that Blackwater, of Iraqi war fame, has changed its name to Xe.
Do they think that changing the name will clear their reputation?
Probably.
Look for it. Don’t let them get away with it.
Trust, but verify.
Sphere: Related ContentThere comes a time, Dear Gentle Reader(s), when so much…er…”stuff”…happens that one simply shuts down for a bit. Perhaps to recuperate?
So it is with one David Lazarus, a business columnist for the Los Angeles Times. His product today is titled, “When outrage fatigue sets in.” His immediate outrage fatigue is directly related to the AIG bonuses, but his symptoms are easily transferred to any of a myriad of stuff happens examples.
The Muckroom over at Townhall.com still has its daily infusion of neo-con and fauxRepublican cant, regardless of the mountains of evidence that the cant can’t make sense anymore (not that discerning people, such as you and I, DGR(s), were ever taken in by it).
The site is simply yawn-inducing.
It’s much more interesting to observe the engineering wonders of a hummingbird which has chosen to construct a nest on a colored glass hanging in a patio.
Forget the right wing. Enjoy the virtual invisible wings.
Trust, but verify.
Sphere: Related Content…be sure, Dear Gentle Reader(s), not to try it.
Scouring through the Townhalldotcom muckroom this morning, one spots this lede: Why the polls say Obama is worse than Bush.
“Really?” you ask. “What polls? When were they released? Why hasn’t there been commentary in the editorial pages of national newspapers?”
It turns out that the column, written by one Kevin McCullough, mentions only one (1) poll, “bi-partisan pollsters Schoen and Rasmussen.”
Never heard of them? A quick Google search will find several pages of references to them and to this poll under consideration. A quick click on three of the citations indicate that the poll is being touted by partisan Republican sites.
In other words, S&R are polling the choir and then preaching to it.
Alas, today’s isn’t the Republican party of the Eisenhower era.
Trust, but verify.
Sphere: Related ContentAndrew Sullivan, Dear Gentle Reader(s), is given to posting discussions of theology (an oxymoron if ever there were one) a-Sundays.
Among today’s entries is a ditty called “An Atheist At 8.” Precocious kid. Not so Sullivan and co-discussionists.
Sullivan and his fellows all fail to make the leap from reality to metaphor. All the discussions rely on the anthropomorphic deity as proclaimed by some in the human race.
C’mon, guys.
These writings are metaphoric!
Not only are they metaphor, but the writing of tribes of the desert are especially given to heat-induced visions. Some of those visions would be cause for an arrest warrant issued by the International Court.
Trust, but verify. (And we can’t; that’s the problem.)
Sphere: Related ContentMuch, Dear Gentle Reader(s), is being made of the “slow” pace of filling the Obama Administration’s Treasury political posts.
However, in the context of the recent divisive nature of our political system—as well as of the context of the blogosphere—isn’t it just a bit admirable of the slow vetting of appointees?
Sad to say, on the one hand, but administration appointees nowadays must pass a scrutiny which demands a virtual “purer than Caesar’s wife” standard. There ain’t many of us around. (Ahem)
There are many aspects of our social contract which must be reviewed. During the review, it must be expected that some of the quotidian chores will be slower than usual—fewer subordinates in place will force heads of departments to delay implementation of some programs.
Maybe an election cycle or two must pass before we can accept, with some grace and humility, an oversight in a tax return or the possibility that a person can grow from a questionable stance on an issue into a more acceptable stance.
The rush to place a willing person in a position of responsibility has too often allowed the foxes entrance to the henhouse. For some slight proof of that, just see the indictment/conviction rate of the Reagan appointees or the current fiscal crises.
Trust, but verify.
Sphere: Related ContentThe Appeal is an interesting book which delineates the dangers of a justice system on the auction block. It turns out, Dear Gentle Reader(s), that the book’s genesis has a basis of fact.
An editorial in today’s The New York Times tells us of a case to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court involving a 50 million dollar award, a 3 million dollar campaign contribution, and a newly elected Kentucky State Supreme Court justice who refused to recuse himself and voted in favor to reverse the 50 million. Guess who received the 3 million in campaign contributions.
Kentucky has given us Senator Mitch McConnell and now Justice Brent Benjamin.
“My Old Kentucky Home” needs refurbishing.
Kentucky voters, Trust, but verify.
Sphere: Related ContentAlas, Dear Gentle Reader(s), the loyal opposition is foundering on the shoals of its historical rhetoric, as evidenced by a column** delineating the speechifying at the recently concluded Conservative Political Action Conference.
Under the title “Conservatives Energized by 'Ideas' at Conference,” Salena Zito tells us that the Republican party must avoid becoming the party of “no,” saying “yes, but,” using Twitter, and that “conservatives believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Wow.
Shall we count the “Ideas”? (Is there anyone who is an Independent or a Democrat who doesn’t believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?)
Any resemblance to the Republican Party of 2009 and 1952 (Eisenhower’s first election) ends with the name.
Trust, but verify (certainly before casting a vote).
*Take your pick—Zito’s choir or my Dear Gentle Reader(s)!
**Available at Real Clear Politics—an excellent source for a range of opinion.
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