This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Nixon

  • Dasvedanya, Don’t Get Any on Ya!

    In the middle of the night, the White House announced that Van Jones, the Green Jobs adviser that didn’t know how to define a green job as of July, has resigned. This came about while the media was asleep at the switch (except for Glenn Beck and Jake Tapper) , and a mild-mannered blogger from the Midwest dug up some documents that Van Jones was another run-of-the-mill Truther. From Breitbart:

    The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Jones’ name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officials had allowed the attacks to occur.

    It’s frightening how much of the world still believes in this ridiculous 9/11 as an inside job conspiracy despite all evidence to the contrary. In the Bangkok ex-pat community alone, I have encountered many well-educated Europeans who actually believe this crap, which is both offensive and disturbing on many levels. For anyone who has spent time in California, it’s no surprise that there are people like Van Jones. But they have absolutely no place at the highest levels of government that would give 9/11 conspiracies legitimacy. This has nothing to do with being conservative or liberal, and it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with racism.

  • Some Level of Federal Indoctrination More Equal Than Others

    Tim Rutten of the LA Times sums up the controversy of Obama’s Sept. 8th speech as the paranoid delusions of the Right-Wing Hate Machine (patent pending) akin to Birther/Muslim type conspiracies found in scary corners of the internet:

    Miller has identified precisely the process at work in the healthcare hysteria and, increasingly, elsewhere where the GOP thinks it can shove the Obama administration into a ditch. Republican officials such as the Florida state chairman are playing a dangerous game with an unhinged segment of public opinion that regards Obama not as an elected official with whom they disagree, but as an illegitimate usurper of the presidency.

    That paranoid fantasy is what’s really behind the “birther” movement and the allegations that the president is — take your pick — a secret Marxist or a secret Muslim.

    A bit extreme in his characterization, since he doesn’t mention the fact that the Department of Education issued a memo for kids to think about what they could do for the president (later revised), which was summed up superbly by Professor Jacobson as a bit “creepy“. BooRadley (who has a lot of kids and might know something about being a parent) already summarized the low-level anxiety at TAH, and noted that the President speaking to school kids is fine, but using the opportunity to stump for the political issue of the day is not.

    But, I’m confused, because I thought the left was always looking to protect school kids from the imperiali$tic/capitalist horrors of Uncle Sam , at least if its the military. Remember the lady in Seattle who wanted to ban recruiters from public parks because her wuss kids might be scared? The Marines in Berkeley getting their recruiting vandalized? Most, recently the ever-moderate Mother Jones exposing a secret plot within the Pentagon to garner information on potential recruits from public schools. Our favorite commentator, Jim Staro, offered his keen insight into the scandal (note the two exclamation points means you really better read this!!):

    This was just more from the cheney/bush cabal acts against the country, and their growing list of proof of crimes against this Nation and Our Constitution, no one was safe, especially our children, needed to fill the ranks of bringing democracy? to others by extreme force!!

    You can only wish that the left would apply some sort of ideological standard on what constitutes outrage in public schools before they attempt to squash all criticism from their political opponents, because I’m now baffled on what is “genuine” outrage.

  • Watch Out, Murtha! You Got Some Competition

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    We all know about the crooked, defense-contract shenanigans of Rep. Murtha from Pennsylvania and his deserted, tax-payer funded airport. But how about this Rep. Neil Abercrombie fellow who recently won the coveted porker of the month from Citizens Against Government Waste (I’m sure you already figured out his party affiliation). Apparently, the congressman is legislating that the construction for the new Marine base(s) in Guam be paid at exorbitant wages to friendly unions/companies that paid for his previous campaigns. The CBO estimates it will add another $10B to the cost, but hey what’s another billion here and there in a crippling recession. The congressman isn’t just robbing the taxpayers to pay for his 2010 governor’s race in Hawaii, he’s bragging about it. From Breitbart:

    His critics say Abercrombie is trying to win the 2010 race for governor at Guam’s expense. They’re worried that ramped-up wages—tripling pay for bricklayers, for example—would lead to a roller-coaster economy with high inflation and a plummet once construction ends in 2014. They also worry the relocation might be scuttled altogether if he gets his way.

    “He is obviously playing to the major portion of his constituency, labor union members, in order to win that election,” said John Robertson, a director with the Guam Contractors Association.

    Abercrombie’s response? “Duh.”

    “Of course I’m playing to working people. The building trades and working people have been the foundation of my political career for 36 years,” he said. “If I didn’t do this, people would say, ‘What’s wrong with him?’”

    I was once marooned in Guam for the better part of a month since some equipment in the engine room on our boat was busted. Very nice folks on the island, but, man, it is really small. It took us about half-an-hour to drive from one side to the other in the Ford Escort we rented, and that’s after we were delayed by a water buffalo standing in the road. It may be important that the Marines relocate from Okinawa in Japan to Guam, but why does a congressman from thousands of miles of way feel like he can turn the place into his own pig pen. Anyone else tired of defense contracts being dictated by political priorities in Washington as opposed to national security priorities?

  • Towards the Edge of Sanity

    It’s a bit surprising that the notable and commendable Joe Gandelman of The Moderate Voice would play the role of liberal demagogue by blaming the current political climate on the standard boogeymen (angry geezers at Town Hall meetings, dittoheads, Glenn Beck, etc.) instead of examining why this type of discourse is occurring. A typical distraction to shame the opposition while the real people in power can’t defend their own crummy policies. From TMV:

    What has changed? The country.

    We are now seeing the triumph of the talk radio political culture — a politics that now is framed in terms of high-concept sound bites, trying to affix labels to those who disagree on an issue, trying to push emotional hot buttons so that the political target is hated enough to serve as a catalyst for a goal (in the case of talk shows to grow and maintain an outraged audience; in the case of politics, to mobilize one side).

    Despite the punditocracy best attempts to portray rubes in fly-over land not onboard the Obama express as racists, nihilists, etc., Obama’s approval rating is dropping faster than a pair of panties on prom night. Joe seems to miss the real story that the level of outrage might be peaking because the President is fast putting the country on the path to massive deficits and European-style socialism. One needs only to look at state governments that overspent their budgets to understand where our country is headed (at least the feds can always print more money!). The Obama Administration rammed through a stimulus package to create jobs and we got more unemployment (especially for vets), he tried Cash for Clunkers which was a major dud, and now they want to seriously intervene in the health care industry (even more than they already do)? Anyone, else seeing a trend here on the level of competence when the federal government attempts to subvert market forces.

    So, it’s difficult to be completely preoccupied with all the birthers and people pounding on windows at Town Hall meetings when there’s stuff going in Washington that is truly frightening. Glenn Beck isn’t going to run the country so badly into debt that the dollar become worthless, Obama might.

  • Found TSO’s Secret YouTube Channel

    Nothing that you can conjure in your wildest dreams will ever be as awesome as this man’s YouTube page. Link from an old buddy in Iraq…not sure where he found this guy.

  • GI Bill Hits a Snag

    Greetings to all the folks goofing off at work on a Friday.  My name’s Nixon and I’m an ex-Navy guy who’s now posing as a hippie at an NGO in Thailand.  Jonn asked me to scare off all the traffic over the weekend by guest blogging here while he’s in upstate NY and TSO is getting in touch with his inner adolescent by singing along to Sister Christian by Night Ranger. Anyways, this first one is about the much touted GI Bill.

    The Obama administration has appointed a young gentleman named Matt Flavin as the White House Office of Veterans and Wounded Warrior Policy. Not sure what the office actually does or how you fit that title on a business card, but fine by me. The more Iraq/A-stan vets in the mix, the more likely we will shed this Timothy McVeigh meme that seems to dog us to this day. WaPo states that Mr. Flavin is presumably in charge of making sure that the transition to the new GI Bill is going off without a hitch:

    Eight months into the Obama administration, Flavin’s fingerprints are on a range of policies expanding benefits to veterans of current conflicts. To ease the processing of claims at Veterans Affairs, Flavin is helping introduce an electronic medical records system. He is trying to smooth the implementation of the new GI Bill to grant more generous education benefits to veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan and other post-Sept. 11 conflicts. And he is crafting policy to better address post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries.

    I hope he works fast, because despite the good intentions of the new GI Bill, the VA is backlogged up the ying-yang with claims. From the AP:

    About two-thirds of the 67,000 remaining unprocessed claims were submitted only in the last 30 days. Claims are taking on average 28 days to be processed, and beneficiaries had been told to get them in at least a month ahead.

    However, that still leaves about 20,000 unprocessed claims that are more than 30 days old. Veterans groups said they’ll continue to monitor the backlog and hold the department to its promise to be caught up by next month.

    Keith Wilson, the department’s education service director, said much of the paperwork backlog may be from veterans simply filing to determine eligibility and not necessarily due housing checks. Any who are will get the full amount due by the Oct. 1 check period.

    If I recall correctly during my college years, after tuition, rent, and books, I had exactly enough money in my bank account to buy a 6-pack of Natural Light and 2 Budget Gourmet TV Dinners at Ralph’s. College students do not have a lot of expendable cash and often count on scholarship money, loans, and (for vets) the GI Bill just to get by day to day. Alex Horton shares a lengthy post about his turmoil in the process. I have a lot of nasty things to say about the Obama administration, but I don’t think there is a secret conspiracy to screw over veterans. However, Matt Flavin and the rest need to un-ass this bureaucratic entanglement or our college-bound vets are going to get boned.