mendacious

Extraordinarily mendacious post in the Times today. The head is "The Perils of Pay Less, Get More". David Leonhardt discusses the deficit as if we, the spoiled masses of the US, have ruined the economy over the last twenty years by selfishly clamoring only for more more more for us, and less less less in taxes. It is as if the Clinton budget surplus never existed, and the Dubya deficit did not gut it to slop more riches to the already wealthy.

It's not as if this was a secret. Dubya crowed at the Al Smith Dinner in 2000, "This is an impressive crowd - the haves and the have-mores. Some people call you the elites; I call you my base." This was three weeks before the election.

SEC filings show that "Top executives at the beleaguered New York Times Company reaped hefty rewards last year, with Chairman Arthur 'Pinch' Sulzberger more than doubling his total compensation to $6 million.... CEO Janet Robinson got even more, reaping $6.3 million, a 31.9 percent hike."

The financial plight of the Times company would easily be solved if they dropped the pretense and priced to sell to their community - plutocrats. Hey, 'Pinch'! Charge $50 for the daily edition, $500 for Sundays and $10,000 per year for web access. Keep out hoi polloi, drop the display ads for mass dreck like Ralph Lauren* (Hermes and Coach have new stores for men!) and embrace your base.

Why did I have to read about an $8,500 baseball glove in the WSJ? Rupert's going to drink your milkshake.

*Nothing specific against Mr. Lauren's clothing and accessories. They just happened to be in the banner when I clicked over to the Times.

>>> Firedoglake post of the day: Never mind Kucinich, here comes the fascism!

"this pustule in the white house"

Dan Riehl, whose blog I will not link to, refers thusly to President Barack Obama. Well, one man's opinion. He goes on to describe O as "this accidental, affirmative action jerk." And now we know something about the man behind the opinion.

The man behind the opinion believes that if the GOP doesn't stop O and the Dems, "it becomes not just a right, but a responsibility for the American people to take their country back from the political elites that have already bankrupted it."

Mr. Riehl's post was enthusiastically tweeted by Erick Erickson of RedState and linked to by Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit. These two rank #22 and #17 in the DBKP list of 100 most popular conservative websites.* Glenn Beck's site nestles between them. Instapundit and RedState are each more popular than Sean Hannity's, Bill O'Reilly's or Ann Coulter's sites, more often visited than the Heritage Foundation or Cato Institute sites. It was nice of them to send some affirmative action Mr. Riehl's way (not far enough down the rankings for my taste at #53).**

*Based on Alexa traffic rankings - DBKP here.
**I pulled the rankings from DBKP, but learned of Mr. Riehl thru Alex Koppelman at Salon. That article I happily link to.

health

Something's happening today that's supposed to mean something. This health care summit between Obama and the Republicans. I just can't get interested. The only thing that interests me is what's in the bill that will eventually pass - or fail to pass - Congress. And I have no reason to think that this bill will fix anything in any meaningful way.
I believe the only change that will improve access to health care is a public option or the opening up of Medicare. Anything less is just more blah di blah.
This whole process has been so comprehensively disheartening that I have to remind myself that even if the politicos defy their corporate masters and come up with something that will actually make health care affordable and accessible, the anti-choice folks are just salivating to put the kibosh on it.
If whatever wretched compromise that limps to O's desk includes a mandate that will punish people who refuse to give money to the insulting, inhumane, dishonest health insurance industry - people who would rather risk sickness or death than to pay for the privilege of being abused - even people who can't afford to pay for the privilege of being abused - then I think the result will be to set fires on the right and on the left in this country that will be catastrophic if they burn and calamitous if they are extinguished.
My personal inclinations have become apocalyptic. Rayne over at Firedoglake has a good post urging progressives to increase efforts to steer and take over the Democratic Party. I don't think that's possible any more. The government is sick.

added later: What this country needs is a more fearful ruling class.

Vernon Hunter, RIP

OK, before I turn to the important task of telling you what's wrong with the two photographs I posted below, here's some words about Vernon Hunter, who was killed when Joseph Andrew Stack completed his suicide mission.

Community mourns loss of victim in plane crash
By Bobby Longoria

Staff, Daily Texan Online (University of Texas at Austin daily newspaper)
Published: Monday, February 22, 2010

It was dark inside the Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church on Sunday morning. Members of the congregation locked hands and bowed their heads to pray for their friend, Vernon Hunter, who died Thursday when preliminary suspect Joseph Andrew Stack flew his plane into the federal building where Hunter worked.
Hunter was 68 years old, but friends and family say his vitality and happiness suggested a much younger man. Hunter, an Internal Revenue Services employee for more than 20 years, and his wife Valerie worked at the building located near the intersection of Research and MoPac boulevards. During Sunday’s services, members of Hunter’s East Austin church remembered him as a loving husband, father of three, stepfather of three and grandfather of seven.
“He was a gracious man, just an outstanding soul,” said Gaylon Clark, lead pastor of the church.
Hunter volunteered at the church’s food and clothing pantry and assisted church members with preparing their income taxes. He served two tours in Vietnam and was described as the life of his community.
[break]
Hunter’s family and members of the church said they harbor no ill will toward Stack or his family[....] church deacon Larry McDonald said. “We know Vernon would want us to move on and go on with our lives and be kind to people and giving to people. That’s the way he was.”
[break]
Funeral services for Hunter will be held Friday at the St. James Missionary Baptist Church, and he will be buried with full military honors at the National Cemetery at Fort Hood. As the service ended, church members walked out into the sun bearing Hunter’s philosophy of kindness and love — for which he will always be remembered.
[full article]

It's curious, isn't it? A news search on Vernon Hunter turns up thousands of articles that are mainly about Stack. The article excerpted is the closest I could find to an obituary today. (I set up a news alert - I'll mention it if any/many others turn up.)
It makes me think of Crispus Attucks, generally considered the first victim of the British during the American Revolution, and, as Stevie Wonder reminds us, a black man, as was Mr. Hunter. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. made the bitter joke that students at a high school named after Attucks wore jackets that read "Innocent Bystander High." Will there be a high school named after Vernon Hunter? And what bitter joke might that inspire?
What will the monuments be for Joseph Stack?