May 31, 2013

Do you feel comfortable with your local cops?

It's interesting...

I live near Boston, about a mile from The Bomber Brothers' last stand. Been living here for 20 years. Perhaps I'm nuts, but our local cops, in my town and in neighboring towns, don't worry me at all. In fact, I like 'em. In my dealings with them, they've always been nothing less than pleasant and helpful. When I saw the picture of the Brookline cop delivering milk during the Watertown craziness... not surprised (but still amused).

Our state troopers... not feeling quite as good, but not awful, either.

But it seems like many others on DU see their local police as threatening. I don't think they have a perception problem - I think that they probably have good reason for this.

So I'm curious to see, in general, how people feel about their local law enforcement. I'm particularly interested in how other Boston-area folks feel - perhaps I'm just being overly optimistic about our locals.

Thanks!

May 30, 2013

Take a moment to thank Alberto Gonzales.

As we all know, our President has had some difficulties getting along with Congressional Republicans.

And while Republicans have a right to be furious with Obama - after all, he hasn't agreed with everything they want - they should damned well be giving him more credit for for all of the Republican things he has done, the Unitary Presidency, the expanded warrantless surveillance, cracking down on those free press nuts, taking on the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid special interests, expanding "free" trade etc. (And, c'mon, you can't really blame Obama for that difficult woman Massachusetts elected to the Senate, God save us!)

And while all of that has helped the wealthiest Americans to become far wealthier despite the rest of America circling ever-deeper down the toilet drain, it hasn't been enough to bring our Republican friends to the Grand Bargaining table.

Until now.

Appointing James Comey to run the FBI was a @#$%ing stroke of brilliance! Genius!

Look, I know the President was disappointed when Alberto Gonzales turned the job down - he's busy doing that thing with the puppies, magnifying glasses, and giant sun lamps. But thank goodness Gonzo turned it down, because in Comey we have something EVEN BETTER: a Bush appointee AND a hedge fund guy. How could ANYONE dispute his readiness to fight mightily for the 1%, in both the judicial AND financial arenas?

No gaps in this guy's resume. He's the real deal, in every way!

I know I've been wrong in the past about winning Republicans over, and I'm willing to take my lumps for that - our Republican friends have been hurt more by Democratic intransigence even more than I thought. But, make no mistake, this time Obama's got the job done.

Grand Bargain Express getting ready to leave on Track 1! Track 1 percent, that is!

Huzzah!

Regards,

Third-Way Manny

May 29, 2013

IRS:

Which best fits?

May 29, 2013

I screwed up: a public apology

Last night, while entirely sober (but sleepy and in a foul mood), I wrote a post that I was sure would be locked in moments.

It wasn't a bad post, so the GD hosts let it stand, even though it was technically on the edge of acceptability (at least in my own opinion).

Within a short time, I was astonished and a little irritated by how many recs the thing was getting, which prompted me to add an update that was an attempt at self-deprecation, but ended up casting aspersions on the GD hosts.

(Irritated by recs? Of course I love recs, but when silly little lightweight posts get more recs than important stuff, like people starving and America going down in flames, it drives me nuts.)

Sorry. My bad. I should have known better.

I did not mean to cast aspersions on the fine hosts in GD, they sure don't deserve it. In fact, they were being amazingly good and tolerant (as usual), by allowing my original screed to stand.

Again, I'm sorry. I'll try to do better in the future.

Peace to all.

Manny

May 28, 2013

I know this post will get locked in 48 seconds, but... [WITH UPDATE]

would it kill people to be nice to each other?

There's no need to call each other assholes or other nasty personal stuff. We can disagree with one another, even disagree mightily, even butt heads, but we're all on the same team and should be civil.

Hell, I don't think I even call Republicans the kind of names we call each other around here.

We're all frustrated for a lot of reasons. So what. Be civil. Or civilization goes to Hell.

UPDATE: I'm amazed that the mods are asleep at the wheel and haven't killed this thread yet, and heartened by the approval of this post's sentiment. However, I will do what the mods are perhaps too drunk or high to do, and PULL THIS POST if I see that it gets any more votes than this one:

The Real Numbers: Half of America in Poverty -- and It's Creeping toward 75%

After all, my post is just whining about DU, but xchrom's is about real human suffering. (Of course, if we stop calling each other assholes, we might be able to do something about real human suffering...)

May 25, 2013

A 14-year-old Pit Bull with a 3-year-old dachshund.

Both devirilized.

On an ice skating rink.

Sick, or what?

Yet some on DU would have no problem with this.

Even Santorum would know what to do here.

May 24, 2013

Pope Francis is changing people's lives

When I was growing up, Papa Goldstein, a veteran, told me of how a Catholic member of his Army unit said he felt really sad, because my dad was a nice guy but he was going to Hell. Jewish, you know. Fate was sealed.

Similar thing happened to me in college. In the midst of a session involving adult beverages, I jokingly asked a Catholic fraternity-mate if I was going to Hell. His response was no joke - he tensed up, got defensive, and wouldn't answer. I was blown away. And this was not Liberty University, if you know what I mean.

I wasn't actually worried about going to Hell, of course. And it was disturbing to see such a high-functioning individual believing in such things. But what blew me away was the sense of separation I suddenly felt between me and my buddy. He didn't think of us as exactly a brotherhood of people: he saw me as an outsider, a very different person with a very different trajectory.

As I've moved through life, I've come to accept that seeing others as outsiders is the root of all evil. We cannot hurt what we know to be the same as us. When we think others are different, the hurt becomes more abstract and easier to inflict for a few shekels or some other cheap thrill.

So it gives me tremendous pleasure to read that Pope Francis seems to believe that good people are good people, that Catholics don't have a monopoly on redemption. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but it seems like a tremendous step forward for the Church and for humanity. We are all basically the same schlubs, trying to have decent lives, who basically want to do the right thing.

I hope that Francis' move means that my son doesn't have to deal with such weirdness in a few years when he's out drinking with his buddies. And that it will be easier some portion of our planet's 1.2 billion Catholics to feel closer to the other 4.8 billion of us. And vice-versa.

I understand that the Pope isn't OK with gays, gay marriage, abortion, and married priests. And probably a bunch of other things. But remember, that's how 90% of people in the US, and probably on Earth, felt about those things just 25 years ago. And Francis doesn't seem to shun anyone - he just disagrees, but will gladly wash their feet.

I may be a pollyanna here (me, a pollyanna?) but seems like Pope Francis has moved his Church's point of view forward by centuries during his brief tenure in Rome. That's quite a lurch, and I'm beginning to understand why the Jesuits are known as God's Marines. This seems to be one heck of a forced march.

I sure hope that Francis moves the dial on the time machine all the way up to the present. But for now, Francis seems to be a bit of lightness on a globe that seems otherwise quite dark these days.

May 23, 2013

I think that everyone in the entire IRS should be fired. Now.

Seeing as the guy who *did* get fired for this fully-fake outrage had nothing to do with it as far as I can tell, let's just fire everyone. That way we make sure we get rid of those who did the not-even-close-to-"outrageous" deed, we make an example of the rest.

We can give Jamie and Lloyd the contract for privatizing the IRS.

May 22, 2013

Would you support imposing restrictions on pit bull posts?

May 22, 2013

Hey Pat Robertson! Wanna convert my Hebraic ass?

Let's make a deal, Pat.

Next hurricane, you take a rowboat a mile offshore from where the thing makes landfall, clad only in your Speedos. No flotation device.

If you survive, I convert.

Pray away the hurricane, and I'll boldly stride into the cave from where my people control the media, put your message on every channel, then lock the door so nobody can stop it. All Pat, all networks, all the time.

Deal?