Psychopolitik 2.0

The Fulton County DA shows he can take a hint: There will be charges, possibly murder.

Disgusting:

A senior editor for PC World Magazine was fatally shot in his home in what authorities said Wednesday was a drug-related attack.

Rex Farrance, 59, the San Francisco-based magazine’s senior technical editor, was shot in the chest after four masked men broke into his home Tuesday evening, Pittsburg police said. […]

“We have substantial reason to believe that the victim and his wife were involved in the possession and, potentially, the distribution of illegal narcotics,” said Pittsburg police Inspector John Conaty, who declined to specify what type of drugs were involved.

The couple’s son, Sterling Farrance, 19, blasted the police assertion that they were involved with illegal drugs, saying he grew and stored medical marijuana at the home with his parents’ permission.

“I have a prescription. I’m a patient. It was medical,” Sterling Farrance told the San Francisco Chronicle. “This one officer I remember at the house, he had this predisposition to think it was all illegal.” (emphasis mine)

Clever how the cops use weasel phrases to make it sound somehow damaging when it’s not…

Technically since the Supreme Court disregarded the Constitution & declared that federalism was meaningless, they did have “illegal narcotics” in the eyes of the law.  The catch is, the eyes of the law had forks stuck in them a long time ago, which is the only reason that anyone can subliminally equate having medical marijuana to slangin’ rocks without being mercilessly laughed down.

So the House voted for a minimum wage increase.  Big whoop.  Just over 2 percent of workers in the US make minimum wage anyway, half of those are under 25.   Besides, much of the increase if it gets through is going to be eaten up by payroll taxation (which needs to be abolished entirely), and all the increase is doing is barely even catching up to inflation.  It’ll be worth $5.15 before you know it.
However, in the discussion of it, something peculiar popped up:

Senate Democratic leaders have already signaled they will accept changes designed to shield small businesses from adverse consequences of higher labor costs.

“This bill increases costs for mom-and-pop businesses,” said Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, contending the legislation doesn’t do anything to help offset that burden.

Many businesses want the pot sweetened, perhaps by faster depreciation or other tax breaks or letting small businesses band together to buy health insurance for their workers. (emphasis mine)

Hidden among the typical nibble-round-the-edges stuff, the part in bold actually makes sense right NOW.  Matter of fact, it should go even further: allow individuals to band together to group-buy health insurance w/o having to be attached to their employer at all.    Part of the reason that healthcare has shot up has been systematic bias in favor of employers — mainly large-scale ones — handling it.  Whatever way possible comes up to roll back that centralization, take it.

Blame is a hot potato these days, ain’t it?

In a nationally televised address, Bush acknowledged for the first time that he had not sent enough troops to provide security in Iraq last year. Standing in the library of the White House, he described the situation in Iraq as “unacceptable” to the American people and to himself. “Our troops in Iraq have fought bravely. They have done everything we have asked them to do,” he said. “Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me.”

*snip*

In some of his sharpest language to date, the president placed the responsibility of improving conditions squarely on the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has not delivered on an array of promised reforms and security measures.

“I have made it clear to the prime minister and Iraq’s other leaders that America’s commitment is not open-ended,” Bush said last night. “If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people — and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now is the time to act.”

Y’know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that Bush was applying a standard to al-Maliki that he rejects when applied to himself…

1. Broken promises?  Does “we won’t torture” ring a bell?  How about “these loosened-up rules on enemy combatants will not be applied to US citizens”, remember that one?
2. If you assume that support for the war itself amounts to support for the current Iraqi government — which is illogical, but more than likely how Bush is thinking about it — then that support is in the mid 30’s.  How far down does it have to go before it’s “lost”?
3. Speaking of support, how much does he think he has left?

To get back on “support of the Iraqi people” for a moment: define “Iraqi people”.  Those elections that were raved about amounted to official sanction of sectarian violence, that there are gov’t agents playing both sides of the fence is no shock.  It’s got support alright, but as a glorified death squad — “some are more equal than others” an’ all that…

Well what have we here…a leak of some “secret” military strategy from Israel:

Israel has drawn up secret plans to destroy Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons, Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper said.

Citing what it said were several Israeli military sources, the paper said two Israeli air force squadrons had been training to blow up an enrichment plant in Natanz using low-yield nuclear “bunker busters.”

Now, assuming that they actually are trying for a nuke rather than nuclear power*, US intelligence estimates say that Iran is YEARS away from enriching enough for even one bomb, even if they get all green lights on the way.  Israel can get a second opinion with their spies, but considering the degree to which our operations are linked nowadays, anything they knew we’d know.  Besides that, the region is screwy enough as it is; either part of this scheme taken on its own — Israel attacking Iran, or any nation using nukes at all, even if “low-yield” — would be cause for concern.  But Israel nuking Iran, and claiming it’s in preemptive self-defense?

Gee, that’d go over well…

However, as we in the US know by now, some leaks have a hidden purpose.  This one is no different.  Observe:

Israeli pilots have flown to Gibraltar in recent weeks to train for the 2,000 mile round-trip to the Iranian targets, the Sunday Times said, and three possible routes to Iran have been mapped out including one over Turkey.

However it also quoted sources as saying a nuclear strike would only be used if a conventional attack was ruled out and if the United States declined to intervene. Disclosure of the plans could be intended to put pressure on Tehran to halt enrichment, the paper added. (emphasis mine)

This is a threat.  To Iran, sure, but also to us.  The Israeli government is in effect saying to the US that if we don’t follow them even further into the fever swamps, they’ll singlehandedly escalate our current problem.  Remind me again why Israel is an “ally”?

(* - considering our behavior on this subject, I wouldn’t exactly blame them if they did go nuclear.  I’d rather they not, because after all Iran is run by a total loon, but if I were in his shoes I’d think I was being goaded into it.  Israel and our resident itchy-trigger-finger crew need to learn to differentiate between credible threats and hollow bluster meant more for the home crowd.) 

Anyone tried to leave comments in the past few weeks?  I just recently had Spam Karma reinstalled, and it seems to be malfunctioning, when I go to the page for looking at what was tossed, held in moderation, whatever, it doesn’t show anything, even though it says it’s caught something.

If you’ve tried to comment recently & had your comment eaten, email me, I’ll get this straightened out.

Bush, having to confront a (hopefully) hostile congress, suddenly thinks he can control spending.  How?  He wants line-item veto power:

In a White House statement and Wall Street Journal opinion piece a day before the Democrat-controlled Congress is seated, the president asked lawmakers to give the White House line-item veto power to control spending. […]

Line-item veto power would be a key tool in entitlement reform, Bush said, because money that could be used there is now wasted in a “secretive process” that often doesn’t ever face a vote in Congress.

Well whaddayaknow?  A first chance for the Democrats to show him they mean business.  Bush is being openly hypocritical here, considering all the garbage he passed the last 6 years.  As president, a proper use of prickishness — “you guys went a billion over budget, therefore I’m gonna wipe my ass with this spending bill” — can encourage discipline in congress; forcing them to seriously bicker over congressman so’n’so’s vanity project or congresswoman whatshername’s targeted break to her pals just to override a veto on a routine bill once in awhile can humble ‘em good.  He had 6 years to do that and didn’t, now he wants the power to cross things out of bills — more than likely he’d abuse it.

So, what’s the first response?

[I]ncoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, said the line-item veto puts too much power in the hands of the president […]

Looks good so far, keep going…

[…] and cuts the ability of congressmen to deliver for their constituents.

…Que?

“Every president would like to say to the Congress only the president can add to the investments in communities so that Congress would have to come hat in hand to the president to ask for investment” in their home districts, Hoyer said. (emphasis mine)

Dear vishnu, no…

Here’s a tip: when you hear a politician say “investment”, they mean a handout to their friends.  Also, when they say “deliver to constituents”, they mean keep the pork rolling.  Not a good sign.

Certain things you can count on: the weatherman usually being off, Michael Vick proving he can’t actually play quarterback, and Pat Robertson saying something bonkers:

In what has become an annual tradition of prognostications, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson said Tuesday God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would result in “mass killing” late in 2007.

“I’m not necessarily saying it’s going to be nuclear,” he said during his news-and-talk television show “The 700 Club” on the Christian Broadcasting Network. “The Lord didn’t say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that.”

Robertson said God told him during a recent prayer retreat that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September.

Robertson said God also told him that the U.S. only feigns friendship with Israel and that U.S. policies are pushing Israel toward “national suicide.” (emphasis mine)

Translation: “hurry up and attempt to trigger Armageddon, I’m gettin blue balls!”