I Like Our Dick Better
by Eric Martin This was impressive.
Month: February 2010
A Working Class Hero Is Something to Be
by Eric Martin There was much fanfare in March of last year, when an indignant AIG vice president, Jake Desantis, quit in a huff over the great injustice of being asked to forfeit a portion of his enormous bonus by dint of the fact that the firm that was scheduled to pay that bonus would … Read more
PSA: To All the People In My Life, Present and Future
by Eric Martin Words of wisdom regarding personal communication protocol from Mithras: Text Me, Email if Text is Too Short, Don’t Call Unless Someone’s Dead, And For F*ck’s Sake Don’t Leave Me a Voicemail No Matter What I wish I could include that on some universal business/personal card, and provide one to each person I … Read more
The Beltway Brothers
by Eric Martin How prevalent, and perverse, has Republican obstructionism gotten? This prevalent and perverse: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs tweets, "Senate proves bipartisanship possible — 70 support tax cuts for businesses who hire the unemployed plus more investment in infrastructure." Except, just a few days ago, the Senate had to block a Republican … Read more
Weekly Pulse: Obama gives GOP rope to hang itself at health care summit
By Lindsay Beyerstein Tomorrow, President Obama will gather with Republicans for the long-awaited televised health care summit. Obama will promote his health care proposal, the Republicans will demand that we start over. Even House Minority Leader John Boehner dimly senses that the GOP is walking into a trap. The public is thoroughly sick of the … Read more
Everybody Knows the Fight Was Fixed
by Eric Martin This post from Kevin Drum ties-in nicely to recent conversations on this site: Sure, you already know this. But it never hurts to post a reminder with a nice graphical memory aid. Nickel summary: the richest of the rich have gotten even richer over the past two decades — 400% richer for … Read more
I’m the Only One to Give Back Your Stolen Guns
by Eric Martin Via Adam Serwer, Spencer Ackerman on just the most recent findings of extreme misconduct, and law breaking, on the part of Blackwater: Employees of the CIA-connected private security corporation Blackwater diverted hundreds of weapons, including more than 500 AK-47 assault rifles, from a U.S. weapons bunker in Afghanistan intended to equip Afghan policemen, according to … Read more
The Party of Life!
by Eric Martin Anti-abortion activists often claim that exemptions from abortion bans for life/health of the mother provide too-wide a loophole and allow for de facto legal abortion. However, this is what abortion bans without such exemptions look like: The cruelty of Nicaragua's extreme abortion ban is undeniable in the case of Amelia (an alias), … Read more
A Century of Fakers
by Eric Martin In a recent piece in Foreign Policy magazine, James Traub struggles to divine the true nature of the Obama administration's foreign policy posture – in particular, the quality of the Obama administration's predisposition to pursue engagement with other regimes and institutions, regardless of the makeup of said organizations. In this, Traub agonizes over the … Read more
The single dumbest thing I have ever read is:
This. (by von) In answer to your question, Professor Reynolds: Yes. If the US Government defaults on its obligations, the US will be forced to run a balanced budget. This because no one will lend a single dime to the US. Kinda like Zimbabwe. Which is not a good thing. (Ask Zimbabwe.) By the way: I don't know what … Read more