Steven C. Day

by Steven C. Day

Trying to pick the single most troubling aspect to our current toxic — downright spooky, actually — political environment is sort of like trying to pick the most obnoxious feature of Dick Cheney’s persona: there’s just way too much material out there to choose from. Still, if forced to pick the single scariest thing about today’s politics, I’d probably bypass the usual suspects, such as right wing teabaggers and gutless Democrats.

No, at the end of the day, the scariest thing about our politics today has to be the state of the Republican Party itself.

This nation has just two major political parties. That’s it — no cornucopia of choices, just two. And all talk of third parties notwithstanding, it’s likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future. So it is a cause for some alarm that one of those two parties, the Republicans, seems to have lost all interest in serious governance. Republicans don’t even pretend anymore.

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BUZZFLASH'S LAST CHANCE DEMOCRACY CAFE

By Steven C. Day

Well, I guess it’s official. Meaningful climate change legislation — and with it, quite possibly, the last real hope for humanity’s future — is dead in Congress for the foreseeable future: killed, at least in part, incredibly enough, by the current blizzards on the East Coast. You see, if it snows a lot in Washington, D.C. in February this proves that the scientific consensus on global warming is wrong, or so the talking points go. And this is true even though extreme winter weather, just like that reflected in these storms, is predicted to occur under climate change models.

But then why should we care about all that pointed-headed intellectual scientific stuff anyway? After all, we always have Sen. James Inhofe to set us straight.

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BuzzFlash's Last Chance Democracy Cafe

By Steven C. Day

God love him, Joe Lieberman always manages to find a way to change my focus when I’m feeling down.

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BUZZFLASH'S LAST CHANCE DEMOCRACY CAFE

BY Steven C. Day

This is clearly not the time to mince words. So let’s say it out loud. The Supreme Court’s holding in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, handed down yesterday, wasn’t just a bad decision.

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Last Chance Democracy Cafe
by Steven C. Day

4 June, 1940: The Phony War was over. Germany, having easily occupied much of France, was on the march. As Winston Churchill rose to speak, the situation seemed hopeless. Yet, with just this one speech, often referred to as Churchill’s finest hour, he rallied England and the rest of the free world and defined the war to come.

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by Steven C. Day

I know there's a lot of concern out there that Judge Wilbert, a judge who sits right here in my home town of Wichita, Kansas, will send the case against George Tiller's killer to the jury with manslaughter as a possible verdict. Speaking as a lawyer in Kansas (though not a criminal lawyer), let me give you my take.

People in Kansas don't like it when lunatics kill people: go figure.

My guess is that the judge won't ultimately instruct on manslaughter. Even if he does, however, Roeder will be convicted of first degree murder by the jury. There's always the small possibility of a holdout juror (a stealth fanatic who manages to sneak onto the jury), which might necessitate a second trial. The chances of even that happening, however, are extremely low. And that's about as bad as things could realistically go for the prosecution. Manslaughter isn't even a remotely likely verdict.

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by Steven C. Day

Assume that a huge "planet killer" asteroid on a direct collision course with the earth has been spotted – nine months before its projected impact. President Barack Obama proposes an emergency program, in conjunction with the Russians, to knock the asteroid off course before it destroys our planet.

The Republicans in the Senate promptly mount a filibuster against the enabling legislation, thereby delaying action, leading to the destruction of the planet and to the end of all human life.

Now for the top 10 reasons why the GOP let the world be destroyed:

10. Didn't want to offend teabaggers who believed Obama was an alien born on the asteroid.

9. Furious over Obama's refusal to declare the asteroid's approach an act of terrorism and then bomb Iran in response.

8. Believed tax cuts for the rich would be a more effective response.

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Post your progressive New Year’s resolutions here

My family is making a New Year’s resolution to be more “green friendly” next year. To be honest, while I’m a big one for ranting about global warming, I’m not always as good when it comes to watching my own carbon footprint. This year my family is going to try to do better: goodbye, for example, little plastic water bottles: hello, faucet and glass.

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by Steven C. Day

Ever so rarely, like manna from heaven, the Gods of irony give us a gift, bringing a little light into our dreary lives. Such an occasion was there for all to behold on the Chris Matthews show Tuesday night. Chris had invited his wife, Kathleen Matthews — a surprisingly appealing personality given her taste in men — to be a guest on his show.

Kathleen’s assigned role was to interview Chris, thereby giving him the freedom to pontificate at will on the great issues of the day — doing so without the usual inconvenience of having to talk over his guests.

Anyway, during the interview, Chris spoke elegantly and at some length on behalf of the common man. Average working stiffs, he assured us, are outraged by the bank bailout. They can’t stand seeing dudes in suits getting bailouts and bonuses, especially when they themselves can’t get a job. And they especially don’t like Timothy Geithner, because he seems like one of the bankers, and since Barack Obama is always seen with Geithner, he seems like one of the bankers as well.

I guess that must be the thing about people meeting the definition of “the common man”: They’re too damn stupid to tell the difference between a president and a bailed out banker.

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by Steven C. Day

There’s little doubt that I personally stand a much greater risk of dying from a (frustration induced) heart attack in an airport security line than of being killed in a terrorist attack. The recent failed attack on Northwest Flight 253 doesn’t change that.

By the same token, there’s little doubt that virtually every man, woman and child in the United States stands a greater risk of being killed in an automobile accident than of being killed in a terrorist attack. Of course, we could prevent most of those vehicular fatalities quite easily: all that would be required is to set the maximum speed limit on all roadways and highways in the United States at 25 mph, and then to strictly enforce it.

The fatality rate on our nation’s highways would nosedive. But it would also take a hell of a lot longer to get from one place to another.

It’s the old risk/benefit ratio. To most Americans the benefit of being able to travel with reasonable (or even excessive) speed outweighs the increased risk of doing so.

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