Monday, January 11, 2010

What ever happened to taxes?

"As it prepares to pay out big bonuses to employees, Goldman Sachs is considering expanding a program that would require executives and top managers to give a certain percentage of their earnings to charity." (From the Times) Christ, what kind of society is America, after all? Relying on the idle rich to give some of their ill-gotten gains to charity--isn't that more like some oldtime monarchy or something? It sure doesn't sound like the US, does it? At least not the US I recall from my youth. The graduated income tax is where we're supposed to get the money to support society; the progressive (get it?) income tax.

Excuse Me?

"For years, the Pentagon has shielded them from public scrutiny: few people have seen alleged teen terrorist Omar Khadr's shrapnel-clouded blind eye, confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed on his knees in prayer, or the shy grin of Yemeni Suleiman al Nadhi."

This quote is from a story about the release by the Red Cross of photos of Guantanomo detainees. I guess our conclusion is supposed to be "Oh sweet Pentagon, you've been so kind." This and torture are the biggest blots on our history ever. We will never live it down and it's clearly the beginning of the end of our hegemony in the world. Why can't they see it? I guess it's just the hopelessly inevitable march of history. But I wish I saw some other country that's better taking over.