Two Small Bits of Good News

1) Brennan will NOT be CIA head or DNI. It pained me to think that Obama would offer such posts to a man who, whether he initiated such schemes or not, was an apologist for torture, rendition, and domestic spying. I'm glad to see either Obama or Brennan came to the conclusion that Brennan wasn't worth the lost moral stature.

2) A judge in Florida has ruled that gay adoption bans are unconstitutional. This stand against the adoption of children by gays or gay couples is a perfect illustration of the moral corruption and complete hypocrisy of the Christian right. In their world, it's better that orphaned children remain that way than grow up in a loving home with parents of the same sex. Happy to see some common sense and empathy coming from the bench these days.

What a Laffer

I don't know how I missed this a year or so ago. But I find it a small revelation.

http://www.tnr.com/story_print.html?id=880f4273-e2d6-4914-b15b-ffcce401155a

Now, I admit that I really don't follow the evolution of wingnut theories. Mainly because they are all, simply by definition, idiotic and laughable and devoid of intellectual heft, logic, and ethics. And so, I really had no idea how the idiotic, laughable, and logically and ethically challenged theory of supply side economics came about or who Laffer really was. I recently caught a segment of Real Time with Bill Maher on which Laffer was a guest. And all I could think was, this is the loon that Reaganomics hung its hat on? Seriously? Because, not only is his economic "theory" the stupidest thing this student of Econ1/Econ2 ever read, but he is seriously deranged as a personality. I mean, no kidding. The guy reminded me of the denizens of the ward in which I visited my brother when we had him involuntarily hospitalized. Super weird, laughing at everything and nothing at all, and trying to pretend he had nothing to do with any of the Republican policies that he inspired. He is a supremely unsettling and uncomfortable personality, leaving you amused by his alien-ness while, in equal measure, scared to death that anyone took him seriously.

And today, a link that gives me pretty much all the missing pieces (for me, anyway) in the story of how we got to where we are today, economically speaking. I've been railing against Reaganomics for decades now, knowing Laffer and his curve were a part of it. But never knowing that, horror of horrors, he and his curve were the entire underpinning, not just one of many. I knew back in the late 70s that supply side economics was a joke of a theory and felt that even calling it a theory was giving it too much credit. But reading this and finding out how all this silliness ensconced as "serious thinking" among "serious people" became the guiding economic principle right up until it all fell like the house of cards I always knew it to be, I can no longer accept anyone ever claiming that Republicans and neo-cons are serious people with any intellectual heft or credibility. I should have known this, I guess, but better late than never.

Liberalism Lives!

Well, despite my disgust regarding Majority Leader Reid and his inability to get his nose out of Lieberman's ass, Speaker Pelosi has shown a sign she may have recently grown a pair.

Dingell's out and Waxman's in. Despite seniority. Absofuckinglutely amazing.

Nancy whacked him. No doubt. I always said Carmella was tougher than Tony.

Sadness

I don't live or vote in CA but I feel just as responsible for the horrible events of Election Day and the passage of Prop8 as if I did. I will be marching on Saturday here because it's the least I can do and I feel I must do something.

In the meantime, I wish I had the words to say how I feel about this. Thankfully, I have my virtual boyfriend, KO, who says it more movingly and forcefully than I ever could:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUXK7As-yl0

A New Era - An Obama Mandate

I've got some stuff to tell about my election day experiences. I haven't fully absorbed them yet, so I'm not ready to write about it. But suffice it to say, I had what I can only call some profound experiences at the polls, while canvassing, and with students. So profound that I really can't seem to articulate them and am still much too emotional to be able to try since every time I do, I start crying.

I am, however, having some fun reading the last two days. Here are some of my favorites:

Schadenafreude: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/05/soruces-mccain-aide-fired-for-trashing-staff/

High comedy: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/06/us/politics/06mccain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The full McCarthy: http://www.redstate.com/diaries/erick/2008/nov/05/operation-leper/

Pariah: http://crooksandliars.com/nicole-belle/lieberman-what-you-guys-won-i-didnt-m

The stupid...it hurts: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-didnt-know-africa-i_n_141653.html

Either way, I'm cool: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/obamas-replacement-blagoj_n_141561.html

We want the funny!: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/franken-dems-have-recount_n_141569.html

Better than I could say myself: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/the-monster-years/

Gawd, I love that man. I want Krugman for Treasury!!!!!!!!!!!!!