Guest Commentary

PAUL BUCHHEIT FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Not an angry response, though. 'Amused' is probably more accurate, since a little research shows that James Q. Wilson's article is filled with the tired old defense mechanisms of people eager to justify a 30-year transfer of wealth to the rich.

Mr. Wilson begins by alluding to the degree of economic mobility that supposedly gives everyone a chance to move up the ladder through hard work and perseverence. He cites a Federal Reserve report which states that less than half of people in the top 1 percent in 1996 were still there in 2005. But he doesn't mention that nearly 90% of them remained in the top quintile of earners after ten years. Ten years. In that amount of time people should be moving up or down as they begin or end careers, but instead they remain close to their starting points.

Other reports make it very clear that the U.S. ranks near the bottom of developed countries in economic mobility. ...

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TONY PEYSER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Instead of saying this is hooey
I give him a shout out for trying
Because they've got nothing else
And have to resort to such lying.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/mcconnells-revisionist-history-congress-gave-obama-everything-he-wanted.php

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BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

While Newt Gingrich was taking it on the chin in Florida, thousands of miles away in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was beating back a challenge to his Likud Party leadership from ultranationalists, thus making it a so-so week for Sheldon Adelson.

Over the years, Adelson's largesse has gone to support Gingrich's assorted political projects, including his run for the Republican Party's presidential nomination; a range of so-called pro-Israel organizations in the U.S.; and, Netanyahu's political career.

Adelson isn't one of those shy billionaires (think Phil Anschutz) who wince every time their name appears in the media, but I'm not sure that even the casino magnate -- listed by Forbes magazine as the eighth-richest man in America with a net worth of $21.5 billion - would have figured that by the time the Florida Republican Party primaries were over, that he would be scrutinized a heck of a lot more than he has been in the past.

As has been widely reported, it was a $5 million donation by Adelson to Newt Gingrich's Winning the Future super PAC, that helped Gingrich purchase the attack ads that paved the way for the former House Speaker's victory in South Carolina.

And it was another $5 million, from Adelson's Israeli-born wife Miriam, which allowed Gingrich to put up any kind of fight in Florida.

Now the Adelson family, made extraordinarily wealthy through gambling casinos in Las Vegas and Macao, will help decide the fate of Gingrich.

...

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STEVE JONAS FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

South Carolina. The first state to pass an Ordinance of Secession, on December 20, 1860. Lincoln had been elected President. He would not be inaugurated until March 4, 1861. He had declared frequently in his campaign that he had no intention of attempting to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states in which it then presently existed, for it was Constitutional, in them. He made it clear that he not an abolitionist in any sense of the term. ...

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BILL QUIGLEY AND SAM SCHMITT FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Question One. The combined pay of the 299 highest paid CEOs in the US is enough to support how many median salary jobs?

45,000? 83,000? 102,325?

Two. The median net worth of black households in the US is $2,200. What is the median net worth of white households in the US?

$4,400? $44,000? $97,000?

Three. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development issues a national survey every year listing fair market rents for every county in the US. HUD also suggests renters should pay no more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. In how many of the USA's 3068 counties can someone who works full-time and earns the federal minimum wage pay 30% of their income and find a one-bedroom apartment at the fair market rental amount?

19? 368? 1974?

Four. How much must the typical U.S. worker earn per hour to rent a two-bedroom apartment if that worker dedicates thirty percent of his income, as HUD suggests, to rent and utilities?

$9.39? $14.63? $18.46?

Five. The wealthiest 1 percent of the US has a net worth which is how many times greater than the median or typical household's net worth?

50? 150? 225?

Six. Which of these countries puts the highest percentage of their people in jails and prisons?

...

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ANN DAVIDOW FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Today's political enthusiasts specialize in fuzzy thinking extraordinaire, an intellectual haven where people can't differentiate between opinion and partisan rhetoric. Recently someone told me the flap over goalie Tim Thomas' refusal to attend a White House event celebrating his team's 2011 Stanley Cup victory was a media-driven dust-up. In reality it represented a failure to understand the difference between expressions of opinion and rude, inappropriate behavior - - sadly, an increasingly common pattern among both politicians and the general population.

There have been times when refusing to appear or accept an award, for example, were legitimate gestures of disapproval, but surely presidential invites should be viewed from a different perspective. Unfortunately ugly behavior on the campaign trail and violent encounters on the ice seem to have morphed into a national, anything-goes form of expression in which only the most egregious misbehavior is taken to task.

During the Bush presidency there was plenty to criticize, and recriminations surfaced with angry regularity, but when Obama was elected critics began their attacks without waiting for events to warrant their explosive content. The notion that one could disagree without being disagreeable no longer obtained and public discourse sank ever lower in terms of how candidates chose to express themselves, license having seemingly been granted to anyone who could grab a microphone or titillate a Hannity or Limbaugh audience. "Joe, the plumber" rose to national prominence by confronting candidate Obama even though he had little to offer in the way of substance and wasn't even a licensed plumber. Likewise Sarah Palin could wax semi-eloquent with a stream of vapid observations held together with a wink and a nod.

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David Swanson for BuzzFlash at Truhtout

While Newt is Bed Hopping and Dishing Out Demagoguery, the World is Burning

1. A war on Iran could kill us all. President Obama said in the State of the Union: "America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal. But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible . . . ...

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MARK KARLIN, EDITOR OF BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT 

Can you imagine the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln - who beat Stephen Douglas and two third-party candidates - being determined by corporate money spent on television, radio and newspaper ads?

The issue of slavery - and possible civil war - were dramatically presented to the nation in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. These occurred in 1858, and - in the absence of television, the radio and the Internet - defined the essential issue of the 1860 presidential race: slavery.

Lincoln had, by the time of the presidential race, already created a lofty rhetorical record that helped propel him to the White House. This included his famous "House Divided" speech in which he declared, "a house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free." Lincoln later denounced "groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong."

With the rise of television a century later, political debates were brought into every home. As the courts allowed more and more money from different sources to be spent on ads, the debates began to take place within the context of the "messaging" (ads) - most of it negative - that had been bought by political contributions.

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TONY PEYSER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

If I'd been moderating at this particular point
I don't think that I would have missed this
Chance to point out that Callista would have
Also been a really wonderful First Mistress.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20120127/D9SH10SG3.html

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NATHANIEL BATCHELDER FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT

Pray cooler heads will guide America in the dialogue and decision-making over Iran's position in the world. Iran does not have nuclear weapons, and there is no certain evidence that such a program is under way. Certainly Iran has the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and the interests of world peace demand that these issues be resolved without military action that could launch a catastrophic war.

Another war would destroy America's painful recovery from the indebtedness of two wars and the 2008 economic crash. Gasoline prices would probably go up another dollar per gallon. The Iraq and Afghanistan war's final costs will exceed $2 trillion. Some estimates say $4 trillion, or even $6 trillion, including lifelong care for veterans physically or emotionally disabled.

Iran has more than twice the population of Iraq, four times the area, many times the military capability, and would seek support from other nations like Russia and China, possibly sparking an unpredictable regional war.

Political hawks and shock-jocks on talk radio condemn calls for negotiations and dialogue to resolve such matters without military action as weakness. The U.S. spends as much on military preparedness as the rest of the world combined, so no one can doubt America's capacity to wage war. It is shocking that the theme song of one national talk show host states, "We'll put a boot up your ass, it's the American way."

The world does not find this amusing or appealing.

...

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