Political Irony

Like Nick Hanauer, I am an unrepentant capitalist. But capitalism only works if, as he says, it is well managed. And right now, we are doing a worse than terrible job of managing our capitalists and plutocrats. Income inequality is rising at insane rates. The end result, history has shown us again and again, is either a police state or an uprising. We are already seeing early warning signs of both.

I would add one caveat to his talk, however. Hanauer seems to focus on the minimum wage as a solution, but I think the big problem is not just income inequality, but inequality of opportunity. The American dream is that anyone can succeed if they try, and that is what inspires people (like Hanauer) to work hard and take risks. This only works as long as it is true and people believe it. When people believe that the system is stacked against them, then those people who have the will to succeed will increasingly do it outside the system — like with pitchforks.

Setting the minimum wage to something livable, making a good education available to anyone regardless of wealth, ending discrimination, stopping the wholesale buying of elections — these are all requirements.

Wow. Just wow. I knew that Republicans were the party of no, but I didn’t realize that they would argue that it would be an abuse of power to just do your frickin’ job.

So here is the situation. Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder has resigned. Obama will now nominate someone, who has to be confirmed by the Senate. Only a majority vote is required (no filibusters are allowed), so this should be pretty straightforward.

But wait. What if Republicans gain a majority in the Senate, which polls are projecting that they will do in November? Then the Senate could block approval of any nominee and hold the nomination hostage until their demands are met. Don’t think they would do this? Did you forget that they recently shut down the entire US government because Obama wouldn’t repeal the ACA?

So the GOP is already calling for delays in any confirmation hearings or votes, even though Obama hasn’t even nominated anyone yet.

Republican senator Ted Cruz is leading the charge, declaring in a statement “Allowing Democratic senators, many of whom will likely have just been defeated at the polls, to confirm Holder’s successor would be an abuse of power that should not be countenanced.”

OMG, he is practically drooling at the prospect of taking over the Senate. He wants the Senate to stop doing anything until then.

I fear that the last two years of the Obama administration are going to see even crazier levels of Republican obstructionism.

Are you worried about the Republicans taking over control of the Senate? Apparently you are in the minority. In fact, only 36% of Americans can correctly identify the party that controls both the House and the Senate.

Interestingly, there is virtually no difference between Republicans and Democrats in answering this question correctly.

Around 400,000 people gathered in New York City Sunday to demand action on climate change, making it the largest climate march in history.

The march started with a moment of silence, with thousands walking through Times Square with their fists in the air but without making a sound. Tweeters declared that they had never heard it so quiet.

Politicians and celebrities including Al Gore, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Senator Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Dennis Kucinich, celebrities Leonardo DiCaprio and Gane Goodall, joined activists, scientists, and ordinary people who came from states as far away as Oklahoma to march.

There were also hundreds of climate protests in other countries, including Britain (with marchers Peter Gabriel and Emma Thompson), Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Columbia, Afghanistan, and Bulgaria.

The United Nations Climate Summit starts on Tuesday.

However, the march was largely ignored by Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. “Meet the Press” didn’t even mention the march. I guess it is true that the Revolution will not be televised.

I’m thinking that climate change has become the defining issue of our time. If we stop burning fossil fuels for energy, not only will it stop climate change, it will reduce pollution and eliminate our dependence on foreign energy sources that have led to costly and stupid wars. And contrary to misinformation being spread by the oil industry, it will actually help our economy as we develop newer, sustainable energy sources. If we could land people on the moon 50 years ago, surely we can solve our energy problems in innovative ways. Yes, there will be technical and political problems, but I’m confident we can overcome those. Let’s do it.

UPDATE: Media Matters reports that the Sunday news shows on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, and Fox all failed to cover the massive climate march. Meet the Press, Face the Nation, State of the Union, and Fox News Sunday completely ignored the event, while ABC’s This Week briefly mentioned it. WTF is wrong with our media?

Science once again proves what we already knew. A psychological study of self-identified internet trolls shows that they are sadists, narcissists, and psychopaths. Or as Psychology Today put it:

So next time you encounter a troll online, remember a few things. (1) These trolls are some truly messed up people and (2) it is your suffering that brings them pleasure, so the best thing you can do is ignore them.

Amen.