If the Confederates Had Reacted to Losing the Civil War the Same Way Republicans Have Reacted to Losing the 2012 Election . . .

Here is What Might Have Happened.

The whining and excuse making of the defeated Republican Party has reached its full crescendo with President Obama’s Inaugural Address.  For months Republicans have complained that Mr. Obama has not been nice to them, and now they are astounded, just astounded that he want to govern on the issues he was re-elected on. 

To illustrate how this works out historically, the following is an actual news report from Richmond in April of 1865 after General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox.  (ok, maybe ‘actual’ is not the completely correct word here.)

Pseudo President Jefferson Davis Calls

for President Lincoln to Bring the Country

Together by Retaining Slavery

Abolishing Slavery Would “Misrepresent the

 Meaning of the Civil War” Says Mr. Davis – Threatens

To Not Lift the Debt Ceiling if Slavery Does Not

Return

Richmond – April 15, 1865.  So called Confederate President Jefferson Davis today denounced President Lincoln for not allowing the Confederates to keep their slaves following the agreement to totally surrender and cease their war against the United States.  Pseudo President Davis had petitioned the White House to allow southerners to keep their slaves as evidence of goodwill on the part of the Union states and President Lincoln.

I call upon Mr. Lincoln to uphold his pledge to bring the country together by allowing every African American residing in the former Confederate states to be a slave, including any who were set free.  Only by recognizing that a minority of the country favors slavery and retaining the institution can President Lincoln truly bring America back together.

Pseudo President Davis said later that he understood that the South had lost the war, and that the Constitution now prohibited slavery, but he commented that the initial version of the Constitution did not outlaw slavery and that in fact he was sure the it was the intent of the Founding Fathers that slavery would last forever. 

As my good friend and great jurist, Chief Justice of the Confederate Supreme Court Colonel Ebenezer Scalia has said, the United States must follow the original intent of the Constitution even if it has been amended, and that, as the only person who really knows what the Constitution means Justice Scalia insists that slavery continue despite any no good liberals who want to abolish slavery by amending the Constitution.

Even worse, according to Pseudo President Davis is that the North has disrespected the South, and has not been acting apologetic to Southerners.  He lamented the fact that the post Civil War programs of the victorious North did not provide for adoption of the Confederate Constitution, and that many in the Lincoln administration said mean things about the Confederacy.

The victorious North did announce that in the future military bases in the South would be named for defeated Confederate generals, an announcement that stunned many in the North who wanted to know what country ever named anything after the generals that it had defeated.

On a positive note, 'Fightin Johnnie McCain', was expected to return to the U. S. Senate during Reconstruction and continue his crusade for the U. S. to declare war on Canada, Mexico, Bolivia, Spain, Austria, Egypt and Iran.  The soon-to-be Senator had said that now that the Civil War was over the U. S. had a moral obligation to continue warring against other nations.

"Only a protracted land war in Asia would be more successful in bringing the nation together" Fightin Johnnie said.

OMG, Space Invaders Are Bankrupt, Cut Down in Their Prime

No More Atari 2600 - Has Pac-Man Chomped His Last Bite?

The very first mass market successful game playing console was the Atari 2600.  Hooked up to a TV set young and old alike could play Space Invaders.  Yes the unit was expensive, unreliable and clunky, but it tapped into a demand for computer games and set the stage for today’s multi-billion dollar industry.

Now apparently the company has reached bottom.

The U.S. operations of iconic but long-troubled video game maker Atari have filed for bankruptcy in an effort to break free from their debt-laden French parent.

Atari Inc. and three of its affiliates filed petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York late Sunday.

But wait, there is hope. The U. S. bankruptcy process is designed to breathe new life into companies that could be viable.

Atari Inc. has secured a commitment for $5.25 million dollars in debtor-in-possession financing to continue operations and release games. If Chapter 11 is successfully completed, the U.S. business could reemerge with its own resources and little or no debt to BlueBay.

so maybe those Space Invaders will live yet another life to bombard the Earth.

Paul Krugman Is Becoming an Optimist – Can Anything Be Done About This

If Left Unchecked It Could Become a National Emergency

There is no better commentator on contemporary issues than the Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman whose columns and blog for the New York Times are the must read for everyone.  Mr. Krugman’s biting but relevant and incisive commentary don’t always score, but even the few misses are interesting.

Mr. Krugman - Hey Paul,
We Need to Old Krugman Back

For some reason Mr. Krugman has now turned optimistic.  He has claimed victory for common sense and the Obama administration in the debt ceiling battle, even though that war is far from over.  And now he waxes positively giddy on the near term.

He (Mr. Obama) hasn’t delivered everything his supporters wanted, and at times the survival of his achievements seemed very much in doubt. But if progressives look at where we are as the second term begins, they’ll find grounds for a lot of (qualified) satisfaction.

Mr. Krugman finds great success in the areas of health care, income inequality reduction and financial regulation.  And while he does issue the required caveat, he is not dismayed at all.

Now, none of what I’ve just said should be taken as grounds for progressive complacency. The plutocrats may have lost a round, but their wealth and the influence it gives them in a money-driven political system remain. Meanwhile, the deficit scolds (largely financed by those same plutocrats) are still trying to bully Mr. Obama into slashing social programs.

So the story is far from over. Still, maybe progressives — an ever-worried group — might want to take a brief break from anxiety and savor their real, if limited, victories.

So what's the problem?  Well first of all foreign policy is soon going to rear its ugly head.  After election revealed a highly divided electorate, Israel is moving towards abandoning any agreement with the Palestinians, and could even be moving towards annexing the West Bank, an action that would doom peace prospects in the Middle East for decades.  China and Japan are threatening war over some useless hunks of rocks called islands (really they are) and both countries are rearing the heads of ugly nationalism that existed in the first half of the last century, with calamitous results.  Oh yes, Iran is still out there threatening to become a nuclear power with U. S. chicken hawks wanting a new war with them, with other people’s children and other people’s money of course.

Ok, so maybe its not fair to point out foreign policy issues with respect to Mr. Krugman.  On the domestic side there is now a far more radical Republican presence in the Congress and these people will think nothing of shutting down the country and destroying the recovery to get their way.  And anyone who thinks that Mr. Obama’s new found backbone in dealing with these people is permanent needs to have a skepticism implant.

And yes, despite claims of ‘health care reform’ the system is totally broken and the Obama health care reform while good in many ways does nothing to address systematic flaws so great that health care for a large portion of Americans may soon be just to expensive to have.  Don’t forget about Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, all programs the country can afford but is not willing to pay for.

So no Mr. Krugman, sorry to prick your bubble of optimism, but the 2014 elections have already started, the Republicans may well capture the Senate and then its off to 2016 where for Democrats people like Joe Biden are considered serious candidates.  That cannot make anyone feel good.

Ronald Reagan Supported Ban on Assault Rifles

Another Reason the Gipper Would Not be a Republican Today

From Taegan Goddard’s wonderful political Forum we have this trip back in history.

_________________________________

Ford, Carter, Reagan Push for Gun Ban

o                                                        May 05, 1994|      

              WILLIAM J. EATON | TIMES STAFF WRITER

         WASHINGTON — Three former presidents endorsed legislation Wednesday to ban the future manufacture, sale and possession of combat-style assault weapons as a closely divided House neared a showdown today on the hotly controversial issue.

Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan sent a letter to all House members expressing their support for the measure, effectively joining President Clinton in urging approval of the ban.

Remember this the next time Republicans say they want someone like Reagan back.

Conservatives Like Hewlett Packard Chief Meg Whitman Believe in a Market System That Rewards Success and Punishes Failure

Except When It Comes to Themselves of Course

One of the things that arises in any discussion of economics with conservatives is that the market system is cruel but fair.  They often bring up the term ‘creative destruction’ which refers to the demise of both individuals and businesses (economically speaking of course) when they simply cannot compete.  The consequences of failure being failure for the people involved is a great thing they say, because it makes for a more efficient system.  It’s why Mitt Romney likes to be able to fire people.

Of course when it comes to their own compensation conservatives have a different take on this thing.  Case in point is Meg Whitman, previously an unsuccessful conservative Republican candidate for Governor of California and current an unsuccessful CEO of Hewlett Packard. But this lack of success hasn’t stopped Ms. Whitman from accepting about $15 million in compensation for her failures.

Why so concerned Ms. Whitman - You Made $15 million and the shareholders lost 40% of their investment
Not your problem or fault is it?

Whitman, who took a salary of $1 last year, reaped a performance-related bonus of $1.7 million, more than $7 million in stock awards and $6.4 million in options, Hewlett-Packard said in a filing yesterday. Whitman, who was already on the board, became CEO in September 2011, just before the end of that fiscal year. In that period, her compensation was $16.5 million.

Wow, performance related bonus.  Well how good was that performance?

Shares of Hewlett-Packard have declined 39 percent in the past year, as Whitman works to turn around the world’s biggest supplier of personal computers after five straight quarters of declining sales and years of botched deals, management tumult and strategic missteps.

Well everyone can see how well Ms. Whitman performed and how lucky the shareholders were to have her. After all, had the shares just performed equal to the S&P 500 Index the shareholders would have had a nice taxable gain, instead of the huge loss.  Oh, wait a minute.

It is still too early to see if Ms. Whitman will be successful in turning around HP, but wouldn’t it be nice if her big compensation waited until she actually did that?  Oops, that’s not the way conservatives operate, pay for performance is something for everyone else, they get paid regardless.

The Chris Christie Presidential Strategy – Winning the 2016 Nomination is Not the Goal

Winning the 2016 Presidency Is

Some professional pundits are shaking their heads in disbelief about the political positions of New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie. Mr. Christie could have been a contender for the nomination in 2012, and is thought to be a near certain candidate in 2016.  So the question that arises is why is Gov. Christie making statements that would seem to alienate the Republican base, the group that is needed in order to win the nomination.

When it comes to the national conservative base, though, the governor is at risk of earning a different one-finger salute.

Christie is already on probation with some conservatives for his praise of President Obama’s work on Hurricane Sandy in the closing days of the 2012 election — something a few critics have even suggested put the president over the top.

Now the potential 2016 presidential contender has lashed out at the National Rifle Association, calling a new ad from the group “reprehensible” for using Obama’s daughters to make a political point.

The answer is fairly straight forward, and reveals the fact that regardless of whether or not one agrees with Mr. Christie on his positions, everyone must admit that this is one heckuva smart political person.  Gov. Christie’s strategy to the 2016 Presidency is clear and straight forward to anyone paying attention.  It involves the following.

1. Huge Re-election victory in 2013 in the NJ Governor’s race.  To do this Mr. Christie must take positions that are popular with the independent and Democratic voters in the state, and that is exactly what he is doing.

2. Assume that Republicans will be so hungry, so desperate and so demanding of victory in 2016 that they will nominate the candidate that has the best chance of winning, not the candidate that has the most Conservative credentials.  This is the position of the late William F. Buckley, basically his gift to the Republican party.

3. By taking strong positions and by showing independence the Governor expects to lead the polls, or be the most electable in 2016.  This, in his opinion, will overcome any reluctance of Conservatives to stop him.  And he will have strong Conservative positions on taxes, spending and most of all, opposition to public employee and teacher unions.

So there it is, the why’s and wherefore’s of how the Governor of New Jersey plans to be President.  Unlike someone like Mitt Romney, whose goal was to get the nomination, Mr. Christie’s goal is to win the general election.  For us observers, it is fascinating and enjoyable to watch a real professional at work.

Two Questions in Celebration of the 2nd Inaugural of Barack Obama

No This is Not a Test - A Test Would Not Be This Easy

The 2012 Election ended with the inauguration of Barack Obama for a second terms as President of the United States.  Now that the nation has lived through four years of Mr. Obama and has watched him change (at least as far as the words are concerned) into a progressive leader there are two questions that come to mind.



1.  Does anybody, really anybody, wish that John McCain had won the 2008 election?

2.  Does anybody, really anybody, wish that Mitt Romney had won the 2012 election?

Didn't think so.

Modern Medical Advances – A Fecal Transplant is Shown to be Effective in Fighting Bacterial Disease

Yes, It is What It Sounds Like

It turns out that not all medical advances are the result of high cost research and result in high cost treatment.  Here’s one that is low tech and low cost, although this could really be a case where the cure may be worse than the disease.

Transplanting feces from a healthy person into the gut of one who is sick can quickly cure severe intestinal infections caused by a dangerous type of bacteria that antibiotics often cannot control.

A new study finds that such transplants cured 15 of 16 people who had recurring infections with Clostridium difficile bacteria, whereas antibiotics cured only 3 of 13 and 4 of 13 patients in two comparison groups. The treatment appears to work by restoring the gut’s normal balance of bacteria, which fight off C. difficile.

And how exactly is this done you may ask. 

It involves diluting stool with a liquid like salt water and then pumping it into the intestinal tract via an enema, a colonoscope or a tube run through the nose into the stomach or small intestine.

Gosh, how to choose between three such appealing options.  On a serious note though apparently over 15,000 people a year die from this Clostridium thing, which is mainly the result of treatment in health care facilities with strong antibiotics which destroy the natural bacteria in one's guts. 

Just another reason not to go to a hospital.

Federal Reserve Official Worried About Inflation, High Interest Rates

The Rest of Us, Worried About the Federal Reserve Official

The term ‘bond vigilantes’ is a creation credited to Paul Krugman, and it is a somewhat derisive term to represent all of the financial experts and economists who predicted huge increases in interest rates and inflation as a result of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy and the government fiscal policy.  The fact that none of that happened has not dampened the enthusiasm of those so-called experts for their position.  Of course, eventually they will be right, just as someone who predicts rain every day for the Sahara will eventually be right.

A Federal Reserve official, Esther George is mightily worried about current Federal Reserve policy.

Bloomberg News

Esther George, first vice president

 of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City

Ms. George told an audience in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday that current Fed policies made her "uneasy" and warned that the Fed "must not ignore the possibility" that monetary policy could contribute to new bubbles that harm the financial system.

Specifically, what is she worried about?  Well this

Ms. George noted bond and farmland prices are at very high levels. If there were a big correction in those prices, it could be "destabilizing and cause employment to swing away from its full-employment level and inflation to decline to uncomfortably low levels," she said.

And that is a legitimate worry, except for a couple of things.  First is that in order for bond prices to fall interest rates must rise, and the Fed can easily manage a ‘soft landing’ to minimize damages.  Furthermore higher interest rates, meaning higher income for savers, investors, pension funds, retired individuals and the like will offset much of any negative impact of the higher rates. 

Of course all bets are off if banks and other financial institutions have invested in long term fixed rate assets and at the same time financed those investments with short term borrowing whose costs could rise.  This stupidity took place in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, and surely banks learned that lesson.  Didn’t they???

Republicans Like Wall Street Journal Columnist Peggy Noonan Are Just Apoplectic Over Their Loss to Obama

Particularly Because He Won’t Adopt Republican Views

The entertainment from the election just won’t stop, although it is sad to see the otherwise somewhat rational and witty and intelligent columnist Peggy Noonan stoop to personal attacks on the President.  Her complaint, Mr. Obama is not being nice to the people who would use the threat of not lifting the debt ceiling to impose their views, or who want to radically change social programs.

What was remarkable about the president's news conference Monday is that he didn't seem to think he had to mask his partisan rancor or be large-spirited. He bristled with unashamed hostility for Republicans on the Hill. 

Well yes Ms. Noonan, here is President who has taken unlimited attacks for four years, yet still won an election decisively, an election that turned heavily on the issues.  So isn’t the President entitled, and correct to say this with respect to the debt ceiling issue.

Pressed by reporters on whether he would negotiate with them to win this outcome, he made it clear he would not. He would have "a conversation." Bloomberg's Julianna Goldman asked: "So you technically will negotiate?"

"No, Julianna," he answered. "Either Congress pays its bills or it doesn't."

There was a logical inconsistency to his argument. A government shutdown would be so disastrous to the economy that he won't negotiate with Republicans if that's what it takes to avert it.

Notice who is at fault here.  Ever since this stupid debt ceiling law was put in place legislators of both parties have voted to raise it when necessary.  Now when Republicans are threatening to extort concessions from their threat to shut down the government it is those threatened who are at fault, not the extortionists.  If Ms. Noonan and others were really worried about the effects of failing to raise the debt ceiling shouldn’t their ire be directed at the ones who would actually do this?  Oh wait, that is them.

The real lesson here is that when everyone sees just how un-hinged Republicans have become over the debt ceiling issue because the President has issued his ultimatum it just confirms what this Forum and other have argued about for months.  Refusing to negotiate the debt ceiling and calling the bluff of the Republican to use this arcane and useless legislation to impose their defeated policies on the nation is exactly the right thing to do.

It’s just a little sad to see even columnist like Peggy Noonan so irrational about the issue.

But here's a thought you might consider Ms. Noonan if you really do want the President to be nicer to Republicans.  Maybe they should be a little nicer to him.  Isn't there some rule about gold or something that should be invoked here.

‘Dear Abby’ – The Person Not the Column – Passes Away

And Here is a Small Tribute - From In Her Own Words

Abigail Van Buren is better known to everyone as ‘Dear Abby’ although her real name is Pauline Phillips.  She along with her late twin sister ‘Ann Landers’ wrote advice columns in the daily newspapers.  The New York Times has a wonderfully written obituary, and at the end is this reproduction of an advice comment that so highly reflects on Ms. Van Buren that nothing else need be said.

Dear Abby: Two men who claim to be father and adopted son just bought an old mansion across the street and fixed it up. We notice a very suspicious mixture of company coming and going at all hours — blacks, whites, Orientals, women who look like men and men who look like women. ... This has always been considered one of the finest sections of San Francisco, and these weirdos are giving it a bad name. How can we improve the neighborhood? — Nob Hill Residents

Dear Residents: You could move.

Republican Candidates for House Seat in Missouri Illustrate The Problems of the Republican Party Moving Towards Sane Positions

To Win the Nomination One Needs to be the Most Extreme Candidate

And Insulting Women Probably Really Helps

In Missouri a member of Congress, Republican Jo Emerson has quit in order to take a high paying job (ok a higher paying job).  A special election will be held to fill her seat, and the Republican nominee is picked by the Republican Party.  So all the potential candidates have to state their positions, and the winner will be the one with the most extreme position.

The selection process is unlike a conventional primary: Instead of the typical campaign where candidates seek support from primary voters, the candidates are instead seeking support from the majority of 85 members of the Eighth District committee.

Here, for example is the rhetoric from the individual considered to be the favorite.

Kinder, who began his campaign by sending a letter to committee members a few days before Christmas, said he is running a positive campaign and touted his success in elections, his support of expanding gun rights, and his opposition to the federal health care law. 

. . .

He also voiced his opposition to new proposals to limit gun rights like a ban on so-called “assault weapons” and high capacity magazines. . .

“Assault weapons is a misused term,” Kinder said, “used by suburban soccer moms who do not understand what is being discussed here.” He reiterated his support of concealed weapons and the “Castle Doctrine.”

Wow, ‘assault weapons’ is a misused term.  In his world maybe ‘assault weapons’ is just another name for water pistols.  And of course women are just too dumb, too stupid, or too whatever to understand the issue so those nice, sweet, naïve women should just let a man like Mr. Kinder take care of the issue for them.

The Republican nominee, whether it is Mr. Kinder or some other cretin will almost certainly win in this Republican District.  The loser, the Republican Party nationally and the nation.

How Much Does the U. S. Medical System Charge to Treat a Bite From a Cat?

Oh, About $55,000 Including the $16.00 Tylenol Pill

David Lazarus, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times was bitten by his cat.  Complications ensued. 

No matter the cause, I found myself last week in a bed at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica with an intravenous drip of antibiotics hooked up to my arm. The fact that I have Type 1 diabetes was a complicating factor.

Surgery was eventually required. And then I had to recover from that.

So now that he has recovered he has decided to tell everyone what the hospital bill was.

Call it the $55,000 cat bite.

That's the rough total in medical costs (so far) for a cat bite on my hand that turned into an infection that turned into surgery that turned into a week in the hospital. Cruddy cat.

 So what was the matter?  Well there is the $4,000.00 a night for the hospital room.  And a bunch of stuff is really inflated.

Another case in point: Sixteen bucks for a Tylenol. Actually, not even a proper Tylenol. That's for the generic equivalent.

Now the good news, at least for Mr. Lazarus (in addition to the fact that he survived being bitten by his cat) is that he had insurance.

My employer-provided insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, will cover $38,448 of the hospital bill. My total amount due: $1,504.47.

That leaves $14,212.53 unaccounted for. Feinberg said it simply has disappeared. Poof!

"It's funny money," he explained. "It's not even there."

The ‘funny money’ is of course the inflated charges that the system charges, they are real for the uninsured or the underinsured, but not real if your insurance company has a deal with the hospital.

So go ahead everyone, talk about how the United States has the best health care system in the world.  And listen to all those Republicans who say competition with private insurance, that is the system we have now, will solve all the problems.  Then figure out how a cat bite can cost $55,000 to treat.

Paul Krugman Declares Victory in the Debt Ceiling Fight – But But But

No So Fast Paul This Fight Ain’t Over

If the Congress does not increase the total amount of debt that the United States government can have then in a couple of weeks the government cannot pay some of its bills.  In 2011 Republicans leveraged this into making President Obama negotiate, with the result that Republicans think they can force him to agree to major cuts in social programs in 2013 and beyond.

Republicans are now signaling that maybe they won’t go down this road again, that they don’t have the political power to do so.

______________________________________

House G.O.P. Agrees to Lift Debt Ceiling for 3 Months

By JONATHAN WEISMAN

·                               Published: January 18,

WASHINGTON — Backing down from their hard-line stance, House Republicans said Friday that they would agree to lift the federal government’s statutory borrowing limit for three months, with a requirement that both chambers of Congress pass a budget in that time to clear the way for negotiations on long-term deficit reduction.

__________________________________

The eminent economist Paul Krugman, the most able writer on contemporary economic policy today, or maybe ever is declaring victory.

When you’re wrong, you’re wrong. I thought that by ruling out any way to bypass the debt limit, the White House was setting itself up, at least potentially, for an ignominious cave-in. But it appears that the strategy has worked, and it’s the Republicans giving up. I’m happy to concede that the president and team called this one right.

And it’s a big deal. Yes, the GOP could come back on the debt ceiling, but that seems unlikely. It could try to make a big deal of the sequester, but that’s a lot more like the fiscal cliff than it is like the debt ceiling: not good, but not potentially catastrophic, and therefore poor terrain for the “we’re crazier than you are” strategy. And while Republicans could shut down the government, my guess is that Democrats would actually be gleeful at that prospect: the PR would be overwhelmingly favorable for Obama, and again, not much risk of blowing up the world.

The rest of us are not so sure.  No votes have been taken, there are a lot of crazies in the House and based on four years experience no one should rule out the President caving.  On the other hand has there ever been any body of legislators quite as imbecilic as the current Republicans in the House?

Mr. Obama Continues to Refuse to Recognize Fox News at News Conferences

But Don’t Worry Fox News

Despite the fact that they call themselves a news station, the truth is Fox News does not report the news, they try to make the news and make things happen in the political arena to fit their beliefs of what should happen.  And in in some cases they make up the news.  So everyone except hidebound conservatives knows they are not a true news station, and this includes the President of the United States.

But as for FOX, these have been relatively lean years in terms of getting the presidential nod at news conferences, particularly in light of the news outlet's reach vis-à-vis some of the other media organizations which have received more questions.

How lean?

A Smart Politics analysis finds that ABC reporters have been called on the most frequently during Barack Obama's solo news conferences followed by CBS, the Associated Press, and NBC with FOX News coming in at a distant ninth at less than half the rate of the top outlets and less than 40 percent of press conferences overall.

But not to worry Fox News, This Dismal Political Economist and a whole bunch of other people hope that someday you will grow up to be a real news organization, and we are sure that when that happens you will be accorded the same rights, privileges and respect as other real news organizations. 

And here’s a bit of advice Fox folks, take a look in the mirror and then take a look at what real news reporting is like.  We’re sure you it will be pretty obvious to you what you need to do. 

Why Won’t Republicans like Phil Gingrey Stop Making Stupid Comments on Rape?

Because the Stupid Comments Are What They Believe – Really It’s That Simple

The Republican Party has a little bit of luck going for it right now because the election is over and the main stream media is no longer interested in writing about the continual efforts of Republicans to say that women cannot become pregnant if they are raped.  Yes everyone thought the issue died with the election, but some Republicans just cannot shut up about it.  Case in point, George Representative Phil Gingrey.

Gingrey’s attempts to explain Akin’s rape remarks left many Republicans frustrated. | John Shinkle/POLITICO

On Thursday, the Georgia Republican didn’t heed that advice, telling a local Chamber of Commerce breakfast that Akin was “partially right” when he said last year that a woman can stop herself from getting pregnant.

“We tell infertile couples all the time that are having trouble conceiving because of the woman not ovulating, ‘Just relax. Drink a glass of wine. And don’t be so tense and uptight because all that adrenaline can cause you not to ovulate,’” Gingrey said.

He also said that Akin’s definition of a “non-legitimate rape” could be “a scared-to-death 15-year-old that becomes impregnated by her boyfriend and then has to tell her parents.”

The explanation here is pretty simple. These Republicans really believe that a woman cannot get pregnant if she is raped, they really believe that women want to use the rape charge just to get an abortion and they really, really believe that women who are raped pretty much deserve it, asked for and that women are at fault not men.

Yes these are pretty disgusting views.  But consider the source, what else would one expect.

Japanese Prime Minister is a World War II Denier – Makes a Good Situation Worse

What’s Wrong with the Japanese?

Because they seem to have an endless supply of mediocre politicians Japanese voters have returned Shinzo Abe to the office of Prime Minister, despite the fact that in a previous incarnation he was a terrible leader.  Having been given a second chance it appears Mr. Abe wants to inflamepassions in a region where the last time passions were inflamed in led to WW II.

In foreign policy the government looks even more alarming. Calling the cabinet conservative misses its revisionist obsessions (see article). It is far from meritocratic, with half the positions going to MPs who inherited Diet seats from their families. Worse, its members are gripped by a backward-looking, distorted view of history that paints Japan as a victim. The great majority of cabinet members favour visits to Yasukuni, the controversial Tokyo shrine that honours war criminals among the soldiers, and reject Japan’s “apology diplomacy” for its wartime atrocities. Almost half of them want school textbooks (which already downplay Japanese atrocities) to be rewritten in ways that obscure the militarism still further. Mr Abe is, alas, steeped in this stuff: his grandfather oversaw occupied Manchuria’s development in the 1930s.

The revisionists’ real argument over perceptions of Japan’s wartime conduct is that their country was treated to victor’s justice. They reject the pacifist constitution that America imposed. Japan was cast as a junior partner, they maintain, and neutered at home and abroad. The education minister, Hakubun Shimomura, says that the years since the war have been a “history of Japan’s destruction”; he and Mr Abe talk about overturning a despised “post-war regime”. 

Really, this is what they apparently think.  Japan’s atrocities during the War are legendary and well documented.  The post war recovery of Japan, made possible by a benevolent and helpful West is what created a peaceful and prosperous society.  And now the Japanese have a Prime Minister and government that tries to re-write history.

This is a baffling portrayal of the economic miracle—overseen by the LDP, no less—that brought peace and prosperity to the region.

The modern Japanese people are citizens to admire, unless of course they revert to the characteristics of the less modern Japanese people, in which case the current and coming economic downturn is what they will have deserved.

Jeffrey Sachs Wants the Wall Street Journal Editorial/Opinion Pages to Get a Fact Checker – He Just Does Not Understand

The WSJ Doesn’t Want a Fact Checker – Because . . .

A gentleman named Jeffrey Sachs who is Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia writes about how the editors of the Wall Street Journal should get a fact checker to ascertain the integrity of what they say and cite.

Today I just want to talk about fact checking. The Journal editorial board is egregious in its misuse of data. It writes what it wants without fact checking. Where is the journalistic profession to call them out?

Mr. Sachs doesn’t get it.  Of course the Wall Street Journal opinion/editorial pages do not want to be submitted to fact checking.  They know full well that if they were held accountable for data and integrity none of their positions would stand.  Fact checking is the last thing they would want.

Gun Regulation Proponents Should Use Anti-Abortion Rights Model to Get Around Constitutional Issues

Learning From the Masters of Denying People Their Rights

There are two large problems with respect to sensible regulation of firearms.  The first is that the public is not yet there in terms of strict regulation of who can own automatic weapons and high capacity magazines, and the second is that the Supreme Court is dominated by Conservatives who somehow believe that the Founding Fathers in writing the 2^nd Amendment wanted everyone to have the unlimited right to be able to gun down fellow human beings.

The solution of the first problem will only come when the gun right fanatics go too far and offend the majority (and maybe allow the killing of a few hundred more children).  But the solution to the second problem is right in front of everyone.  At the state level, where in various jurisdictions there is support for reasonable gun regulation all the proponents have to do is to emulate those states that are restricting the legal rights of women to obtain abortions.

In the states where legislators want to ban abortion rights, but lack the legal authority to do so they are simply putting so many useless and unneeded restriction on the process that the result is de facto  banning of abortions even though they remain legal.  So here is what those who favor regulation of automatic weapons can do, and given that the courts allow these things for anti-abortion rights legislation there should be no problem in promoting them for anti-automatic weapons legislation.

1. Gun sellers Must Meet the Safety Requirements of an Army Arsenal.

In order to sell guns dealers would have to have their facilities at the same standard of construction as an army arsenal.  This is similar to the requirement that abortion clinics meet the standards of a hospital. 

2. Anal Probe for Gun Buyers.

In order to make sure prospective assault weapon owners are qualified, they should have to undergo a complete proctology exam (to make sure their head is securely up their ass), similar to the requirement that women must undergo an invasive ultra-sound before having an abortion.

3. Video Depiction of Gun Violence

Prior to getting their automatic weapon prospective owners would be forced to watch a tsix hour video depicting children being gunned down by crazy people wielding automatic assault rifles.  This is similar to the requirement that women seeking an abortion watch certain videos.

4. A 24 Hour Waiting Period

Anyone seeking to buy an automatic weapon would have to wait 24 hours between the time of making the purchase and getting the weapon.  During that time they would have to be subjected to lectures by victims of gun violence on how their lives were permanently damaged by gun violence.

5. Master’s Degree in Internal Medicine for Gun Sellers

Since the only function of an automatic weapon is to mutilate the organs of a human being, anyone licensed to sell automatic weapons would have to have post graduate degree in anatomy or internal medicine so that they could adequately explain the damage done to the human body by an automatic weapon to prospective gun owners.

Now it is true that none of these measures are directly related to gun ownership, but then none of the anti-abortion measures are related to the safety of getting an abortion.  Like the anti-abortion measures the measures suggested above are just a convenient and apparently legal way to get around a lawful right, and to prevent exercise of that right.

Surely Conservatives, who support all of the similar anti-abortion rights measures would have no problem here, after all, they are the ones who invented this technique.

Convicted Sexual Predator of Children Jerry Sandusky Wants New Trial – But That’s Not the Most Amazing Thing About the Story

Something Else No One Would Believe

Former Penn State Assistant Football Coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused young men for years before he was finally tried and convicted.  He is now in jail, where everyone hopes he will be forever, but his lawyers are doing the lawyer thing and working on an appeal and a request for a new trial.

This is fine, Mr. Sandusky is entitled to the maximum amount of legal defense, even though it appears his appeal attorneys are not all that consumed in the task.  For example they are using the argument that they did not have time to prepare an adequate defense for Mr. Sandusky, but in court they said this.

From the witness stand, Mr. Amendola told Mr. Sandusky’s new lead attorney, Norris Gelman, that he was overwhelmed with documents from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office in the weeks before trial. He said that after receiving several thousand pages of material, he was forced to tell an investigator to stop gathering material regarding the credibility of Mr. Sandusky’s accusers.

“I told our investigator to shut it down, because we have to get ready for trial,” Mr. Amendola said.

On cross-examination, prosecutor Joe McGettigan, who opposed Mr. Amendola at trial, focused on whether the documents would have been useful if he had had more time. “Can you identify any page that would have been helpful to you at trial?” asked Mr. McGettigan.

“No,” Mr. Amendola answered.

But the really astounding thing to come out of the story is this, something which has to be almost impossible.  In fact it is even more improbable than the idea that decent men would cover up crimes against children to protect a football program.

Mr. Sandusky, 68 years old, . . . appeared in court wearing a red prison jumpsuit and smiled frequently despite looking gaunt. He didn’t speak during the proceedings. Upon entering the courtroom, he gestured to his wife, Dottie, who sat grim-faced in the front row. A DOZEN SUPPORTERS  (emphasis added) sat in a corner of the courtroom.

Really, there are twelve people in this universe who support Mr. Sandusky!!  How can that be?