White Plains Grand Jury refuses to indict...

... police officer who shot and killed a man in his own apartment! Can I believe that the district attorney presented a proper case? Absolutely not. How is it possible for police to enter a man's apartment when he doesn't want to let them in, and all because his medical alert button went off by mistake. This is so outrageous that I cannot really believe that even a pussy-whipped collection of toadies could let him go. Is anyone safe inside his/her own apartment at this point? It says the family is going to the federal government. Will they do anything? I sincerely hope so.

Money, after all, IS the root of all evil

I used to laugh at that old saw (the headline) but certainly in our political life, it is all too true. I am so sick of being begged to give money to these millionaire congresspeople (and that's just the Dems). Where do they think I would get all this money? Why didn't they pass single-payer health care; why didn't they pass campaign reform with some teeth; why didn't they stop all these horrifying killings and the degrading of our wonderful Constitution (they did have a majority in both houses when Obama was first elected)? And now they ask me for money--Fuck off is about all I can say. And that's perhaps the most printable of my responses.

The Filibuster Scam

Democrats can't enact Buffet Rule because they don't have 60 votes? Give me a break. Is a 60-vote margin ordained in the Constitution? I don't think so. I know that if they wanted to force a filibuster, they could, so why don't they? Maybe because then all those Senatorial fat cats would have to raise their own taxes? Could it be? Otherwise, why not make the Republican filibuster the raising of tax rates on the rich--wouldn't it be good to make them do it--for the election, I mean? Something smells rotten here and I think it's the Democratic leadership.

On Children's Novels Being Published by their Parents

“What’s next?” asked the novelist Tom Robbins. “Kiddie architects, juvenile dentists, 11-year-old rocket scientists? Any parent who thinks that the crafting of engrossing, meaningful, publishable fiction requires less talent and experience than designing a house, extracting a wisdom tooth, or supervising a lunar probe is, frankly, delusional.”

No, Tom Robbins, what's [immediately] next is a self-financed Presidential candidate. He's old enough, yes, but he has way too much money. If you think Barack Obama is bad, wait for this one: Mitt Romney--sadistic, dishonorable and loony (he just seems sane by contrast with the rest of the Republican field).

And does the press ever mention that this would-be emperor has no clothes? Oh no they just search for stories to put his "beliefs" (as if he had any) in a sane context. We had a Constitution once, remember?

Thoughts after SOTU

Let's step back and get serious here. To whom does the world belong? I think it belongs to the people in it. Surely if we looked at it that way, it would be easier. Take the US (please): There's plenty of money for everyone; the problem is, too much of the wealth is concentrated in too few hands. So why not redistribute the money in such a way that everyone has enough to live decently? Why ever not? For those who are hugely rich, I say TS. It just seems so obviously the right thing to do. And as time goes on, little adjustments can be made to make sure everything's really fair.

But I also don't see how Repugs can just openly say they didn't like anything in Obama's SOTU speech (except the killing part--bin laden). When he talks about fairness and regulation--how can they display their greed so openly, and get away with it? I just don't get it. Dems, bad as they are, are so obviously better at governing than Repugs--it boggles the mind.

Indefinite Detention

I really don't understand why there haven't been riots or demonstrations or front-page editorials protesting or at least marking the end of the United States as we know it. Yes, our Constitution has been slipping away for awhile, but now it seems to be truly a dead letter. It's now legally possible, apparently, for the authorities to detain someone, even a US citizen, forever, without due process. Doesn't that pretty much put paid to any protection the Founding Fathers meant us to have? If someone drops down this rabbit hole, will anyone even know it? Will that person be able to bring a case to the Supreme Court? What will the Court do? I am completely desolate and sick at heart. Is anyone else?

We now LIVE IN A POLICE STATE. It's official. (Well, I live in Mexico, but many people that I love live in the US and it is my native land.) It's no joke. It's serious. I want to scream and rant, but business seems to go on as usual. In the NY Times, other subjects are discussed, as if they mattered. Don't they get it? The state now has the power to take them away, on a whim--oh, if they are associated with someone who is suspected of being a terrorist. Oh I forgot, there does have to be some rationale. But what arm of government could not invent that?

The New Inquiry and The Whine

Leaving aside the fact that The Times didn't provide a hyperlink to The New Inquiry (a journal produced by sadly but unsurprisingly out-of-work young literati), and in fact ran the story in the Fashion section, I am still somewhat appalled by the repeat appearance of The Whine from one of their (The New Inquiry's) editors: "I did everything right...." etcetera etcetera. Since when does doing everything right mean you will get the brass ring? This attitude seems to me at this point incredibly jejeune, naive and grossly, excessively innocent coming from a supposedly savvy, well-read crowd. A lot of people do or try to do "everything right" by their lights and get nowhere at all. Why should young, privileged literati be any different? Gosh, no one ever promised you a rose garden, darlings.