Santa's coming; Spot talked to him yesterday.
And don't forget the goodies for Toys for Tots.
Graphic by Tild.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
DL holiday party reminder
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
A brief defense
Of ballot challengers in the Minnesota senate recount. There has been a lot of repeating of Judge Kathleen Gearin's - intemperate to Spot's ear - remarks about the number of challenges made, including in a Strib editorial today:
The campaigns have been shrinking the number of such ballots -- as well they should. Canvassing board member Judge Kathleen Gearin has been right to scold the two campaigns for allowing the challenged ballot number to swell unreasonably, at one point past 6,000. Frivolous challenges do more than waste officials' time and taxpayer treasure. They also exhibit a lack of seriousness that Gearin aptly labeled disrespectful to Minnesota voters.
We've all seen the pictures of volunteers from both campaigns hunched over an election official looking at ballots. Spot did not see a single one wearing a "frivolous" expression. Some of the volunteers, by the way, have put in as much or more time than the Canvassing Board has on this issue to date, for a lot less in pay.
Spot has said this before, but it is worth repeating. Put yourself in the shoes of a volunteer challenger: a ballot is presented; there is some question what the voter intended, maybe not much, but some, or the ballot contains some stray marks or other distinguishing feature that arguably make the voter identifiable (like voting for your cat for judge).
If the ballot is not challenged on the spot, it's gone forever from further consideration. You know that the election is really, really close, and you don't want to be the one who fails to challenge what may be THE vote that turns the tide.
Again, you're a volunteer. What do you do?
Gosh, Spotty, I'd challenge the ballot.
You have chosen well, grasshopper. There may be a few truly "frivolous" challenges in there, but Spot bets there are many more mistakes of judgment or erring on the side of caution. And the campaign professionals have whittled the challenge numbers down on both sides.
Spot believes that the recount was an enormous undertaking that's been pretty well done by the election judges and the volunteer challengers. Spot has also read accounts by election experts from around the country who also think so.
It is just regrettable that the Judge is so dismissive of the efforts of so many people.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Keep feeding!
Some of you, boys and girls, may remember Spot's mention of the fact that really nothing beyond cajoling has been done to make banks lend out all the "liquidity" they've been receiving. Here's how a cartoonist for Calculated Risk depicts the problem:
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Take me for a ride in your car, car!
What can Spot say about the auto industry bailout that hasn't been said?
Not much Spotty; keep it short.
Such impertinence, grasshopper! Spot has no idea where you get it.
* * *
We've been examining the financial and auto sector bailouts through the techno lens differentiating finance and industrial capitalism. Seven hundred billion for the financial services industry and mortgage problem, and nothing - so far - for what is almost certainly the biggest industrial sector we have left in the United States. The antipathy leveled at the industry, and the UAW auto workers in particular, is breathtaking, especially from some senators from southern states:
DETROIT - Festering animosity between the United Auto Workers and Southern senators who torpedoed the auto industry bailout bill erupted into full-fledged name calling Friday as union officials accused the lawmakers of trying to break the union on behalf of foreign automakers.
The vitriol had been near the surface for weeks as senators from states that house the transplant automakers' factories criticized the Detroit Three for management miscues and bloated UAW labour costs that lawmakers said make them uncompetitive.
But the UAW stopped biting its tongue after Republicans sank a House-passed bill Thursday night that would have loaned US$14 billion to cash-poor General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to keep them out of bankruptcy protection. The Bush administration later stepped in and said it was ready to make money available to the automakers, likely from the $700-billion Wall Street bailout program.
Apparently, this group of senators tried to negotiate directly with the UAW:
Still, autoworkers remain angry with the senators who tried to negotiate wage and benefit concessions from the union, then scuttled the House-passed bill that would have granted the loans and set up a "car czar" to oversee the nearly insolvent companies and get concessions from the union and creditors. Their top targets were Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.); Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who led negotiations on a compromise; and Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who has been a vocal critic of the loans.
But as the New York Times points out, the labor differential between the domestic and foreign automakers isn't even all that great if you take out, especially, the so-called "legacy costs." Here's a graphic from the article:
Certainly, regional factors like cost of living account for part of the differential, too.
There are, of course, many more retired Big Three auto workers than foreign-owned factory auto workers. As Spot has observed earlier, with better accrual and funding of these benefits by management at the time the costs were actually incurred, they wouldn't be such a drain on the companies currently. But, by deferring the expenses for as long as possible, management has been able to inflate its profits, take bigger salaries, and earn bigger bonuses for decades. According to the linked article, the UAW is going to begin picking up the tab for the companies.
Now, it's time to pay the piper, and somehow it's the auto workers fault. Shredding the industry just because you don't like unions is an act of titanic stupidity. And turning these men and women - who are among the most skilled industrial workers in America - into fry cooks isn't going to improve the lot of the rest of us, either.
A thump of the tail to John Cole.
Finally, a question: who is Spot quoting in the title to the post?
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Dont miss it: Drinking Liberally holiday party!
There are several musical acts scheduled to play at the 331 Club that night, starting around 7:30. And as usual, it will be half off bottles of wine and a buck off taps until 9 PM.
Oh! And Santa will be there, too!
And since we're doing a Toys for Tots collection again, please bring along a new unwrapped toy or gift, and high-ranking DL officials will see they get delivered to the Marines. You don't have to bring one to be welcome, but do it if you can. (Cash - check preferred - works, too) If memory serves, they are always looking for gifts appropriate for older kids, too, not just the tots.
Graphic by the incomparable Tild.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Stop me if you've heard this before, part 2
The Coleman campaign pursuing litigation to stop the counting of previously rejected absentee ballots:
In other words, in order to prevent what happened in Florida, we must take all steps to repeat what happened in Florida.
The campaign of Sen. Norm Coleman is taking its case to the state Supreme Court, asking the justices to order counties to follow a standard procedure in identifying wrongfully rejected absentee ballots. It is asking county officials to halt any counting of rejected absentee ballots from the U.S. Senate election until the justices can rule on the campaign's request.
The campaign said that it feared what it called a chaotic "Florida situation" and that it is likely to go to the court today.
In other words, in order to prevent what happened in Florida, we must take all steps to repeat what happened in Florida.
Epic market failures
You're warming to this subject, aren't you Spotty?
Yes, grasshopper.
* * *
[Thursday, December 11th] On Wednesday, Spot posted Keep bailing!, a post about the contrast between the financial services bailout and the (possible) automotive sector bailout. He suggested that the difference in treatment of the two was related to the current dominance of Finance Capitalism over Industrial Capitalism in the United States. Many people - including our friend techno in an essay that Spot linked to before, but you can read it here - say Finance Capitalism has become dominant because of the rise of the Chicago school of economists: Milton Friedman and his circumjovialists.
Spot, what are circumjovialists?
Look it up, grasshopper. It's a word you'll enjoy being able to use.
Anyway, we all know Uncle Milty; he's called in some circles the Maven of Mayhem. Uncle Milty's views of "creative destruction" have led acolytes like David Strom to suggest that maybe all the turmoil in the financial markets wasn't so bad after all! Because, apparently, moderation and prudence can stifle economic growth! But apparently not the only thing that can stifle economic growth, as we're finding out.
Although he doesn't have a link at the moment, Spot remembers King Banaian bemoaning the day when Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, the last big independent investment banks left standing, turned themselves into commercial bank holding companies - in order to, as the linked NYT article says, avail themselves of the Federal Reserve's lending facilities, and in exchange for tighter regulation. The professor shook his head sadly, and said that financial innovation would have to come from somewhere else.
Thanks, Professor, but we've had all the financial innovation we can afford for a very long time! Probably more than we can afford, as a matter of fact.
[Friday, Decemer 12th] So, where was Spot? Oh, yes! The Senate turned down the idea of even the chintzy little bailout. (Spot toyed with using the perfectly serviceable word niggardly, but concluded that some right winger would accuse him of being a racist.)
When we look at both of these situations, we have to place at least some of the blame, probably a lot of it, on the right wingers' holy spirit, the Invisible Hand. In fact, Spot wrote some new words for the hymn tune by the Welshman John Roberts a couple of years ago:
Immortal, Invisible Hand only wise,
Be careful, however, it’ll poke out your eyes.
Its origin Scottish, a myth from the moors,
It mostly appeals to the pikers and the boors.Unthinking, uncaring, and cold as a fish,
Nor gen’rous, nor sharing, a total knish.
Its logic, all simple, its surface appeal,
Will make some scrubs think that it’s the real deal.All laud they would render; O dear sweaty Hand,
E'en as You turn earth into a No Man’s Land.
The Hand gives a dope slap as it bids us goodbye,
Then gives us the Finger, and a poke in the eye.
Spotty, are you clairvoyant?
Might be, grasshopper. You'll have to make up your own mind.
In any event, in the past couple of months, we have witnessed epic market failures. Uncle Alan admits as much regarding the financial sector. Spot submits that the problem with the domestic automobile industry has a lot more to do with the products offered by the automakers (Hummers? What were they thinking?) than the cost of labor. And the auto workers built the cars they were told to build, didn't they?
Blaming the UAW for the industry's problem is a red herring. When you read about "legacy costs" that the industry has, and it allocates a sum to every car being currently produced, it's not the auto worker's fault. It's the fault of a management that failed to properly accrue and fund the cost of future retiree benefits back when they were incurred. Why did management do that? Well, to to make the profit and loss statement look better, which in turn allowed bigger management paychecks. Those guys retired with their bundle years ago, leaving the problem to their posterity.
Why were we so asleep at the switch? Because the market fundamentalists not only told us the "market" would take care of it, we would make things worse if we were foolish enough to interfere with the Invisible Hand.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Is it news or propaganda?
The Franken campaign's new YouTube video about uncounted absentee ballots has generated some buzz. The Coleman people just say it's a new low. Here's the video:
Jay Weiner at MinnPost.com has a post up about the video, too. The caption for the video there is:
Franken video: News or propaganda? You be the judge
Spot doesn't think the Franken people produced the video as "news," although it is "newsworthy." It certainly isn't "news" in the sense of giving the Flat Earthers equal time the way some "news" outlets seem to think is necessary, even when there really isn't another "side." What's Al supposed to do Jay, invite a spokesman for Coleman on the video to call these voters liars?
"Propaganda" is a pejorative term, certainly so in common parlance. So those are our choices? Sorry; Spot chooses "neither of the above," because Weiner's words are not well-chosen.
Spot says it is a well-done advocacy piece. It makes the equal protection argument very well. And you will note that the Coleman campaign does not contest the facts as described by the participants in the video.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Keep bailing!
You know how Spot says sometimes the posts just write themselves, grasshopper?
Yup, you do say that Spotty.
Well, this is not one of them. But it's a very important subject, and Spot hopes the boys and girls will stick with it.
* * *
It has been fascinating to Spot to watch the reactions to the bailouts of the financial services industry vs. the proposed bailout of the Big Three automakers. It's a sign of the times, really, and Spot thinks it is proof that we need to rethink some priorities. There has been some vociferous opposition to both, but seemingly much more so to the auto industry bailout. Why?
After some hemming and hawing in Congress, a $700 billion rescue package was hammered out for the financial services industry. It gave Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wide latitude and authority to take toxic assets off the hands of banks and others and to "inject" capital into financial institutions. That's a great verb under the circumstances, isn't it, boys and girls? The fed has been busy "injecting liquidity" into the system, too.
While Secretary Paulson has gotten his financial Super Soaker out and squirted away to the tune of almost half of the $700 billion, the public has gotten little in return by way of promises to do what is needed: loan the money out and unfreeze the credit markets. And nothing has happened with respect to regulating financial markets, especially the so-called "shadow banking system" that was responsible for some much of the mortgage troubles.
Contrast this with the proposed auto industry bailout. Jeepers, these guys can't get a Good luck; Godspeed! out of Congress. The current offering is $15 billion, which the industry was already going to get for fuel economy initiatives:
WASHINGTON – Congressional Democrats sent the White House an emergency $15 billion auto bailout plan Monday, complete with provision of a "car czar" to oversee the industry's reinvention of itself. The Bush administration said there had been progress toward agreement but pressed further negotiations into the night.
The measure would rush bridge loans to Detroit's struggling Big Three but would also demand that the auto industry restructure itself in order to survive and would put an overseer chosen by President George W. Bush in charge of monitoring that effort, according to the draft obtained by The Associated Press.
At first blush, White House officials suggested privately that the draft plan might fall short of principles behind a broad agreement to give long-term financing only to viable companies. But a later statement from press secretary Dana Perino sounded relatively upbeat about the rescue legislation, which congressional leaders hope to approve in the next few days.
So on the one hand, we have Henry Paulson begging the banks to use the money we "injected," and on the other we have the school marm Nancy Pelosi and other Congressional leaders proposing:
Among the requirements included the draft proposal is one that the carmakers getting federal help get rid of their corporate jets — which became a potent symbol of the industry's ineptitude when the Big Three CEOs used them for their initial trips to Washington to plead before Congress for government aid.
The proposal also would give the overseer — a kind of "car czar" — say-so over any major business decisions by the automakers while they're taking advantage of federal aid. The companies would have to open their books to the government, including informing the overseer of any transaction of $25 million or more and any "material change" in their financial condition.
Under the plan, the carmakers could get emergency loans right away. Then the overseer would write guidelines, due on the first of the year, for restructuring the Big Three automakers.
How much "liquidity" has been "injected" into just AIG so far?
About $150 billion and counting, Spotty. Ten times as much as the current proposal for the whole auto industry.
Right grasshopper. And do you know what those clowns from AIG did after the bailout was approved? They had an executive party.
Maybe draconian terms are needed for the auto industry, but you can certainly say the same thing for the financial services industry. Ironically, one of the arguments for the financial bailout was the meltdown's potential to affect the "real economy." Perhaps it hasn't dawned on Pelosi & Co. that the auto industry is part of THE REAL ECONOMY.
Guys like Kevin Phillips and Spot's DL friend techno might say that the difference in treatment can be explained by the outsized influence of Finance Capitalism vs. Industrial Capitalism in the United States. This is from a brilliant essay by techno:
There has been a lot of invented terminology to describe the change in fortunes of the Keynesians and the Friedmanites. But the MOST descriptive was that it marked the change from Industrial to Finance Capitalism. If River Rouge was the defining symbol of Industrial Capitalism, then the archetypical example of Finance Capitalism was Enron.
Enron embodied the major flaws of Finance Capitalism--it was only possible because of economic deregulation, it relied on a willing suspension of disbelief in all reasonable measures of prudence, it sold cotton-candy products like weather futures, and it relied on industrial sabotage to make its fantasy profit targets.
All of these maneuvers were done in public with the main movers featured prominently on the covers of the business press. Phil Gramm, who shepherded Enron’s enabling deregulation through the Senate, was a regular talking head on the television news shows because he was a true believer who preached, as a trained economist, that deregulation was necessary and virtuous. This was not some sort of invisible conspiracy, this was a seizure of the intellectual high ground.
But, scream the apologists for Finance Capitalism, we are not industrial saboteurs, vandals, and rip-off artists. We are SCIENTISTS and one of our members has been rewarded with a Nobel since 1968.
And sure enough, the defenders of Finance Capitalism have erected an awesome intellectual apparatus to justify their crazy ideas and when all else fails, they point to rising numbers at their Meccas--the trading pits of the various stock exchanges world-wide.
They don't point to rising numbers much any more, do they boys and girls?
This post has passed the magic 1,000 word mark, so Spot will end here for now. But consider: is a prosperous post-industrial America even possible, an America where we just sell each other pieces of paper representing hedges, bets, hunches, and blue sky?
Drinking Liberally: auditions
Spot will also buy a beer for the person who does the best dis of the governor of Illinois; it is Spot's sad duty to inform you he's a Democrat.
Remember, boys and girls, Drinking Liberally meets in Minneapolis Thursday nights, six to nine or so, at the 331 Club in northeast Minneapolis.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Ok, Katie, YOU try it
Yesterday, Katherine Kersten - Katie to you, boys and girls - offered a vicarious rebuttal to Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed. She tells the stirring story of Adam Shepard who, according to Katie, proved Ehrenriech wrong when she said:
Her dire conclusion: America condemns its unskilled workers to a life of poverty and hopelessness.
Shepard, young, healthy and unmarried, without kids and possessing a strong back, proved the American Dream was alive, alive she tells you!
Did he become a professional or part of management somewhere, Spot?
Well, not exactly, grasshopper. The 'Farian and Charlie both have really good critiques of the column, so Spot won't repeat their points here.
Anyway, Spot challenges Katie to put her money where her mouth is. She can go undercover as the recently widowed or divorced 50-ish spouse of a small business owner who has had some reversals over the last few years and spent their savings and cashed in the life insurance: all the money is gone. You can't say, of course, that you have any education beyond high school.
Spend six months, Katie. Spot will even stake you to a bus ticket anywhere in the continental 48; hell, he'll send you to Mexico, if you want.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
And they called the wind . . . "Kershaw" II
Charters are a way of creating public schools. Nothing more.
Regular public schools and charters are just the same, Spotty?
In the sense that both trees and the fungi that live off them exist in the same forest, yes, Spot supposes so. But there are significant ways in which charters differ. We'll examine just a few.
In an earlier post, Spot listed the names of some existing charters in Minnesota:
Skills for Tomorrow (algebra, English, chemistry, and physics are so yesterday), New Voyage Academy (beam me up, Scotty!), Face to Face Academy (another combat school, apparently), Family Academy (where you can bet your arse they don't discuss family-making), Ascention Academy (a Big Coop special no doubt; Spot would like to look at the curriculum for that one), F. Scott Fitzgerald Writing (for all the parents who wanted to write the next Great American Novel but now hope little Johnnie or Janey will), Loveworks Academy (Spot's not touching that one with a stick), Higher Ground (here's a little of the sub rosa Spot was talking about), and one of Spot's favorites, Great Expectations! (Spot added the exclamation point, but it seemed like a natural).
Spot is sure it is just a coincidence that there are churches with coffee shops called Higher Grounds.
Gosh, you don't suppose that's some kind of Christian code, do you Spotty? And an effort to break down the separation of church and state. Some of those other names make you wonder, too.
Yes they do, don't they, grasshopper?
And you can set up a charter with the skinniest of resumes. This is from another of Spot's posts:
To take one simple example of the lack of nuturance and promise that Spot is talking about. Last week, Katie had a column extolling the virtues of a new school coming to town:
Six years ago, Mike Spangenberg was just a typical college kid who wanted to change the world. "I was big on social justice issues," he says. "I wanted to go to law school, because I thought that was the way to gain access to power."
Social inequality was what fired him most. "It seemed so clearly wrong to me that your ZIP code has such a profound impact on your chances in life," he says.
Then one day, during his senior year at the University of Connecticut, Spangenberg was paging through the campus newspaper while waiting for an English class to begin. An ad for Teach for America caught his eye. In a moment, his law school plans evaporated. "I thought, 'Here's my chance -- here's how I can do all the things I care about," he says. A few months later, he began what became four years of teaching in gritty, inner-city Philadelphia.
Now Spangenberg, who grew up in Maple Grove, is back in the Twin Cities. At age 27, he's continuing his crusade for educational equality as director of Stand Academy, a new charter school in downtown Minneapolis.
Mike sounds like a admirable kid, but the key word is kid. Mike would undoubtedly get carded at the 331 Club where Drinking Liberally meets, yet he is apparently going to be put in charge of public resources coming right out of public school budgets. And people like Katie think this is good. And all the while, as we build more big box retailers and chip away at our social institutions like the public schools, the ranks of the feral children, the nihilists, grow.
Spot imagines that the Somali kids love the idea of a School Crusader!
And do you know, boys and girls, who is the financial force behind the development of the KIPP school model, of which Stand Academy will be one? Spot knows you will find this hard to believe, but it's Wal-Mart. You can read a lot more about it by entering kipp schools walmart as a search engine query.
There is no mystery why big business is interested in the "drill and test" model of education: it makes for a more compliant retail work force.
Spot wants to mention one last thing as a difference between public schools and charters. The potential for rejection of students based on disabilities or ethnicity:
A St. Paul mom's concern about the application process for her son to apply to a charter school may force many more Minnesota charters to change their student application processes.
The schools are asking for more information than state law allows, according to the Minnesota Department of Education. The information -- such as whether students are receiving special education services or their ethnicity -- could be used to deny admission.
A perusal of charter school websites by the Star Tribune quickly found a dozen schools asking for details about prospective students that go too far.
One of the talking points of charter school advocates is that they're great for kids that are "hard to reach." But in the western suburbs, for example, there is already a cooperative public school district with all kinds of alternative programs: District 287. The person in charge of 287 is probably older than 27. And don't forget about things like open enrollment, inter-district magnet schools, and the It's Your Choice Program.
In his op-ed piece Sean Kershaw writes that the "last thing we need" is an argument of charters vs. district, that is real public, schools. No Sean, that's the first thing we need. Charter schools are just a source of plunder by an assortment of free booters and a way to undermine public schools.
Technorati Tags: Citizens' League,Sean Kershaw,charter schools,KIPP schools,Independent District 287
Saturday, December 06, 2008
The descent of the 'Farian
The 'Farian has gone over to the Dark Side. Go read him as he contemplates a post barley-pop world.
Friday, December 05, 2008
And they called the wind . . . "Kershaw"
Friday morning's Strib contained a piece of remarkable gasbaggery from Sean Kershaw, a puerile defense of charter schools. Kershaw is the Executive Director of the Citizens' League, the latter being the father of this growing malignancy, as he says:
Twenty years after the Citizens League proposed charter schools, the last thing we need is an argument about "charters vs. district schools," as the report from the Institute on Race and Poverty and the reporting from the Star Tribune suggest. We could eliminate charter schools tomorrow and still have an enormous educational crisis on our hands. Using this report to limit chartering at the Legislature in 2009 would be a big mistake.
You see, Kershaw has the real dog in the fight, so to speak.
But Kershaw's own words demonstrate the failure. Twenty years - that's almost a generation - of letting a thousand charter schools bloom and they really have bupkis to show for it.
Are there really a thousand charter schools in Minnesota, Spotty?
No grasshopper, but Spot likes the turn of the phrase. Their number is in the hundreds.
Kershaw has swung into action, of course, because of the recent report that he refers to from the University of Minnesota Institute on Race and Poverty. Spot refers to that report, and the Strib's article about it, Money rat hold status confirmed:
When charter schools started in Minnesota in the early 1990s, they were touted as a higher-quality alternative for parents, particularly poor and minority families, looking to escape underperforming district schools.
But a study released today by the University of Minnesota's Institute on Race and Poverty finds that most charter schools have fallen short of that promise and perform worse than comparable district schools on state tests. In the process, it said, charters also intensify racial and economic segregation and compound the problem by encouraging districts to compete by creating ethnic niche programs.
"So many people are seeing charter schools as a solution to poor, segregated neighborhoods," said Myron Orfield, the institute's executive director. "The sad part is, they're getting these kids to switch schools and then they're doing worse" than district schools.
And this is on top of a report earlier this year from the Legislative Auditor to the same effect.
You might be inclined to say, boys and girls, and Kershaw would be expected to be a shameless homer for charter school because he is just protecting the baby, and you would probably be right. But one of Kershaw's arguments is especially disingenuous:
Charters are a way of creating public schools. Nothing more. They are vehicles, with a variety of "models." And the data on results show that the distinction between successful and unsuccessful public schools is not between charters and districts.
Sorry, Sean, that's exactly what the Institute on Race and Poverty study showed.
One of the implications of Kershaw's comments is that charter schools are where innovation can be practiced. Indeed, that may be one of the new talking points defending charters, as was displayed in a letter from a charter school teacher that was featured the letter of the day in the Strib earlier this week:
Many of the most innovative schools we have are charter schools. [Spot quarrels with the factual accuracy of that statement, but never mind for now] I hope we begin to appreciate them and not just pressure them to become exactly like mainstream schools. They may be our last, best chance to recover some of the creativity and ingenuity that we have lost over these past few years of Back to Basics mentality.
So it's back to letting a thousand charter schools bloom, eh Spotty?
Exactly, grasshopper. Now you see the point.
But the really, really annoying part about this is that the same people who get all tingly about charter schools are the ones who drained the life out of real public schools with initiatives like No Child Left Behind; it's the Back to Basics mentality mentioned by the teacher. So it's what? Innovation for me, but not for thee?
Spot intends to expand on this in coming posts.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Don't forget Drinking Liberally tonight
Drinking Liberally - Minneapolis meets Thursday nights, six to nine or so, at the 331 Club in northeast Minneapolis.
Technorati Tags: Drinking Liberally,331 Club
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
The late but unlamented
Rachael Paulose bears an even greater burden of obloquy as of today. From the press release:
WASHINGTON, D.C. / December 3, 2008 - Today, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) announced the settlement of a prohibited personnel practice complaint filed by John Marti, an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the District of Minnesota. Mr. Marti previously served as the First Assistant United States Attorney (FAUSA) to the former U.S. Attorney, Rachel K. Paulose. He alleged that in April 2007, Ms. Paulose demoted him to a staff attorney position because he had reported to officials within the Department of Justice that she had mishandled classified material. OSC's investigation showed that Ms. Paulose retaliated against Mr. Marti for making whistleblower disclosures in violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act.
Spot probably wouldn't even bother to mention it now that Rachael has climbed on her Bissell and flown to Washington, except for this trip down memory lane with Katie.
And if you read the press release, boys and girls, you'll see that this little escapade has cost the taxpayers some money. Not to mention mishandling classified information.
That's not very conservative, Spotty!
No grasshopper; it's not.
A thump of the tail to Avidor.
Update: Tbogg comments on Princess Rachel Rainbow Sunshine Jesus Loves Me This I Know Esq. Hilariously.
A further thump of the the tail to the 'Farian.
Further update: Another thump of the tail to Nick Coleman for his column about Paulose today.
It's not nice to mock equal protection
Or due process for that matter. Especially when you've pledged to uphold them.
But, where were we? Oh, yes. Today, Katie tells an hysterical (funny hysterical? you decide, boys and girls) little story about the Senate recount dragging out until 2015! Spot will give Katie credit for her brave attempt at satire, but the story starts out with a premise too rotten for even the most opinionated of columnists at reputable newspapers:
Coleman appeared to hold a decided advantage in the contest after he won the actual vote count in 2008. But as the dispute dragged on, the events following Election Day proved largely irrelevant -- minor skirmishes leading up to the legal, political and public relations battle that was to follow.
Spot, do you think Katie meant "the events of election day," not "following?"
Well, grasshopper, Spot won't presume to know what Katie was actually thinking, but you could make a case that it parses better your way.
In any event, Katie's column is simply part of the right wing's attempt to establish the meme that Norm Coleman won on election day and that the recount is not legitimate.
This is, of course, baloney. The Lege, which wrote the statute, recognized that when votes are as close as this one, recounts are required to be sure that the final count is as accurate as possible.
But Katie and the Bund don't want to abide what may turn out to be the voters' actual judgment on election day. It's why Fritz (one letter short of a palindrome) Knaak has already declared victory several times.
But don't be fooled, boys and girls; we aren't simply auditing the election day tally. We're starting over.
Monday, December 01, 2008
He died in a hail of gunfire
Let's say you are a terrorist, or just a head case, or even a robber; you are heavily armed. You have a couple of machine pistols. You see a two people; one of them is a big galoot who thinks he is the Lone Ranger. The Lone Ranger pulls out his little chrome pistol with the ivory handle, just like the one George Patton carried.
The question is, which one do you cut in half first?
Spotty, I'd shoot the Lone Ranger first.
You have chosen well, grasshopper. The Lone Ranger dies in a hail of bullets and his pretty pistol clatters to the pavement. He never was much of a shot, but he's no match for somebody with machine pistols, anyway.
But in the wake of the carnage in Mumbai, right blogistan is aflame with the idea that armed citizens would have stopped the terrorists cold.
These are the people for whom James Bond movies are made.
In situations like this, even conventionally-armed cops can't stand up to the bad guys (scroll down for the story about Mike Blood). So, unless we're prepared to let the Lone Ranger and his pals carry Uzis around - and Spot for one is not - the deterrent is really small.
In fact, the Lone Ranger is more likely to shoot himself than anything else.
DL: preview of coming attractions
December 4th - Recount This - We'll talk about the now nearly-concluded recount. There will be a few people involved in the recount in attendance.
December 11th - Nothing scheduled yet, but Spot guarantees it will be fun.
December 18th - A Drinking Liberally Christmas (video from last year) - We'll have our holiday party and a Toys for Tots collection.
Remember, boys and girls, Drinking Liberally in Minneapolis meets Thursdays at the 331 Club in northeast Minneapolis from six to nine or so.
Spotty, do people need an invitation to come to DL?
No, grasshopper, of course not. Just be there or be square.
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