As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
A New Day
Erica and I agree that this might be our favorite line from the speech:
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Connecticut In The News
According to the Globe, the Connecticut Supreme Court has "legalized gay marriage", although I feel as though the wording there might be a bit strong. Haven't they simply "illegalized" the state's failure to allow gay marriage? Maybe those things are the same, I don't know. I wish I knew a lawyer.
In any case, what jumped out at me was the following quote from Justice Peter T. Zarella's dissent:
[Update 11/21] See Terk's smart-assed reply.
In any case, what jumped out at me was the following quote from Justice Peter T. Zarella's dissent:
If the state no longer has an interest in the regulation of procreation, then that is a decision for the legislature or the people of the state and not this court.So in his view, regulation of marriage is equivalent to regulation of procreation? Is there any part of marriage law that actually deals with procreation? It seems to me as though it's all about property rights and taxes and whatnot. There has certainly been government regulation of procreation (albeit largely unenforced), but I didn't think it was tied to marriage laws.
[Update 11/21] See Terk's smart-assed reply.
Anti-Elite?
I've spent a fair bit of time recently ranting about the anti-elite tone that the Republicans take, as embodied by the choice of Palin. David Brooks' column in the Times today is a good read on the subject. This section, which is admittedly without citation, surprised me:
The Republicans have alienated whole professions. Lawyers now donate to the Democratic Party over the Republican Party at 4-to-1 rates. With doctors, it’s 2-to-1. With tech executives, it’s 5-to-1. With investment bankers, it’s 2-to-1. It took talent for Republicans to lose the banking community.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Todays Thoughts
1) Hurricanes...Galveston is apparently asking for $2.2 billion to clean up after hurricane Ike. I'm all for the government coming to the aid of those in need, but it seems as though each year brings more and more big storms. At what point does it become pointless? Do we enter a continuous loop of rebuilding and evacuating? Will people simply move away from the region if things continue like this for another decade? How often can the cable news stations use the phrase "storm of the century" before you start to believe in global climate change?
2) The Electorate...It's hard for me to grasp why this election is so close, but I felt the same way about the 2004 election, and we see how that turned out. Is it a simple matter of the declining size of the blue-collar middle class, based on our rapidly disappearing manufacturing sector?
3) Morality...Today's On Point had a discussion of the book Moral Clarity that I encourage you to listen to regardless of your political views. It brought to the surface a sense of outrage that lives inside me, and probably a lot of progressives, and stems from the right's claim to sole possession of issues related to morality. Maureen Dowd and Aaron Sorkin express a similar outrage in an imagined discussion between Obama and Jed Bartlet:
2) The Electorate...It's hard for me to grasp why this election is so close, but I felt the same way about the 2004 election, and we see how that turned out. Is it a simple matter of the declining size of the blue-collar middle class, based on our rapidly disappearing manufacturing sector?
3) Morality...Today's On Point had a discussion of the book Moral Clarity that I encourage you to listen to regardless of your political views. It brought to the surface a sense of outrage that lives inside me, and probably a lot of progressives, and stems from the right's claim to sole possession of issues related to morality. Maureen Dowd and Aaron Sorkin express a similar outrage in an imagined discussion between Obama and Jed Bartlet:
I have some very concrete ideas about right and wrong, and I surely love my country. I am more than willing to believe that 99% of Americans feel the same way about themselves, and though our specific ideas of right and wrong may vary, we're probably not that far apart, so ... what the fuck?BARTLET That was a hell of a convention.
OBAMA Thank you, I was proud of it.
BARTLET I meant the Republicans. The Us versus Them-a-thon. As a Democrat I was surprised to learn that I don’t like small towns, God, people with jobs or America.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
It's the Economy, Stupid
The New York Times quotes Henry Paulson as saying that despite recent events, Americans can “remain confident in the soundness and the resilience of our financial system.”
On the one hand, I think that he's factually correct in the long run: our financial system isn't likely to completely fail us, and there will be better days ahead.
On the other hand, he's trying to manage consumer confidence, and it strikes me as a hard sell to tell the average American that despite the declining value of his or her home, stock portfolio and retirement savings, declining real income, and increasing unemployment, they should be confident and go spend those greenbacks, since that's the cure to the problem.
On the one hand, I think that he's factually correct in the long run: our financial system isn't likely to completely fail us, and there will be better days ahead.
On the other hand, he's trying to manage consumer confidence, and it strikes me as a hard sell to tell the average American that despite the declining value of his or her home, stock portfolio and retirement savings, declining real income, and increasing unemployment, they should be confident and go spend those greenbacks, since that's the cure to the problem.
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