If... then

If... then... Two of the worst phrase introducers that journalism has to offer. Cases in point from the Times: If the president sticks to his timetable for leaving Afghanistan, we could lose this war (!) (Senator Graham, what ever made you think we could win this war?); If the new drug tryout works, we'll find the secret to Alzheimer's (commenter on new small company drug). The first one--losing the war--so utterly certain; the second--the drug working--so unlikely and yet so obvious. Why bother to report them? Surely the Times can do better than this?

Oh Joe!

"Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, the independent from Connecticut, suggested legislation that would strip Americans of their citizenship — and the constitutional rights that come with that — if they become involved in terrorism. Speaking on Fox, Mr. Lieberman noted that existing law stripped citizenship from Americans fighting for enemy militaries." (from the Times)

But Joe, you're forgetting we live in the US under the US Constitution, which I believe includes a little matter of innocent until proven guilty. Had you heard of that, dear Senator Lieberman? Or do you admire the Israeli government, which ignores decisions of its Supreme Court, when it suits it? Maybe you don't want to live in, let alone legislate, in the US. Your attitude seems totally at odds with our system of government, the one our soldiers supposedly are dying for right now. "Become involved in terrorism," how would you prove that? Or is it just on the basis of what the police decide, no proof needed. What a stunning remark, Joey baby. Even Glenn Beck, according to the Times, knows better.

For Reconciliation, Read Majority Vote Throughout

Why can't they just say "pass it by majority vote" instead of endlessly going on about reconciliation? No one (very few people) has any idea of what they're talking about. Is the point just to obfuscate? Even the good guys do it. Stop!

Promise change. Don't deliver. Your ratings sink.

How much clearer could it be? Obama was elected to the presidency because he promised change; he had super-high approval ratings when people still thought he would deliver. Now, as it becomes clear that he won't, that he's not even trying to fight the establishment and make real change--in health care, in the economy, in our approach to the world, in adhering to the Constitution--his approval ratings have gone down. It's not because of the tea party people, it's not because he's too radical (!); it's not because he doesn't listen to the Repugs; it's because he's not doing what he said he'd do. People voted for change, they're not getting it, they're disappointed. So simple. The Repugs of course do everything to obfuscate this obvious point, and the press is their effing handmaiden. The press, like the Repugs, doesn't see it because they don't want to see it. Otherwise, how dumb can they be?

So, the fog over the country is not just created by job loss and home loss; people wanted change so much that they actually elected a young Black man, and not by a slim margin. They gave him a Congress dominated by his own party. And nothing much happened --business as usual. So how despairing does that make a people who have been endlessly buffeted by tales of terrorists, to the point that they're shivering in their boots when the wind blows a door shut? This presidency pretty much seems to put the nail in the coffin of the America we all admired and loved. If this election didn't do it, why bother? That feeling is pervasive; the people aren't as stupid as they look. They know they're now owned by the corporate state--they might not articulate it, but they know it. And they don't like it, but they feel completely powerless to change it now. That's how I feel, certainly.

Brief Moments of Happiness

I've decided to appreciate those more. My pets, for instance, give me a lot of those, and I have such a good time as a result, in the idle moments that most of my life consists of. Brief Moments Of Happiness, especially when several of them occur in succession, is probably the high point that one can expect at this stage of life, when the Pervasive Glow Of Bliss is somewhat absent (but not in the least forgotten). Almost entirely absent, actually, although I've had, I think, even more than my share of the PGOB in my lifetime. Now, though, I really must remember to savor those BMOH--when consciously felt and remembered and enjoyed, they virtually add up to that old PGOB. That's the joy of it all.

We like to view ourselves as rational creatures, says David Pogue

Wasn't it a Times writer who had great success with a book called Emotional Intelligence (never read it because having read his pieces about psychology, I guessed he knew very little about his subject)? Well, now, as per the head above, David Pogue, the Times technology editor, adds his support to the national (maybe human) love affair with denial. If you've ever read a word of Freud (or any of his cohort), how could you "like to think of ourselves as rational creatures." Even if you've had any experience in life (and taken it to heart) or have any emotional intelligence at all, how could you think such a thing? Look at how our nation is governed (or not governed) and tell me how rational we are as creatures. Is it rational to deny care to children so rich people can own more things? Is it rational to put aside the nation's health and sanity to get more money to be re-elected? Is it rational to torture? Is it rational to destroy the Constitution and everything it stands for. No, I would submit.

Comments on When Patients Can't Afford Their Care (in NYT)

Couldn't get this posted, so thought I"d put it here. (American Girl was a commenter.) "American Girl is so right." Why do we let these people, whose salaries and benefits we pay for, get away with it? Why is there never a mention of that fact in a news story? It's a fact, really. Why is there never a mention of the fact that other advanced countries manage to give everyone good care at half or less than half of what we pay per person for some care for a few? It's an outrage that just seems to go on and on; an obvious truth that's somehow treated like a secret. It's a betrayal of our country perpetrated by the people we vote into office and give the best medical care our money can buy.