Something to Know - 1 December

1.   Being a Liberal these days....what does that mean?   If you've seen the movie "Lincoln" you see Republicans working hard to free slaves and lay the ground work for enfranchisement (voting).  At the same time, the Democrats are acting like the Republicans we know of today.  Somewhere around the vintage of Presidents Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft things reversed, and we have the ideologies for each party that we are familiar with today.  Timothy Egan would like to lay it out for you what it means to be a Liberal today:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/a-liberal-moment/?nl=opinion&emc=edit_ty_20121130&pagewanted=print

2.  Tell me we are not seeing the same horror story again.  Sub-prime mortgage investments were what got us into the Wall Street mess the last time.   What is it with Goldman Sachs - the same abettor of the previous financial rupture - doing by pushing the same risky investments again?   Do they want to do the dirty deed before the Democrats put Elizabeth Warren on the Senate Banking Committee, or does Lloyd Bankfein want to see just how stupid we are?:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/30/goldman-sachs-subprime-mortgages_n_2218062.html?utm_campaign=113012&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Alert-business&utm_content=FullStory

3.  Here is one piece of action to watch as it develops.  In the State of Georgia, Senator Saxby Chambliss has indicated that he no longer feels bound by the Grover Norquist pledge.   Well, hissy fits abound now on his side of the conservative politicians.  They are lining up to pile up on him.  I really don't give a rats as about Chambliss, since he really trashed former Senator Max Cleland as a traitor to get elected.  Max Cleland, in service in the military, had both legs and one arm blown off, and Chambliss went and accused him as not being a real hero and not helpful to his country.   Chambliss will get whatever his party dishes out.  However, I want to see how the Georgia Republicans deal with this, and see if it floats them any political power, or if they just wind up eating themselves to a pulp:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2012/11/30/saxby-chamblisss-gop-primary-concerns/?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics

4.  With the help of Matt Taibbi, we have an opportunity to see how the very wealthy are the "job creators" that we hear so much about.  They must work very had at what they do to amass so much money so that they can create so many potential jobs.   Are you kidding me?  This so called "job creator" Mr. Steve Cohen, is nothing more than a sleazy scumbag on Wall Street who just capitalizes on insider trading.  In the eyes of some, he's nothing less than guilty of a felony:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/the-i-don-t-remember-files-part-ii-hedge-fund-chief-stevie-cohen-20121130

5.  George Will.  I visit his column now and then to see what he is up to.  Sometimes it's pretty good, and sometimes its rubbish.   This column of his is perplexing.   He's complaining about the fuzzy standard of political correction in dealing with slanderous racial statements on college and university campuses, in particular the "liberal one".   I am not sure where he gets the list of who is liberal, but his choices are strange.  I think George just wanted to shake his fist at Liberals in general, and this is the best he could come up with.  Rubbish:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-will-colleges-have-free-speech-on-the-run/2012/11/30/9457072c-3a54-11e2-8a97-363b0f9a0ab3_print.html

6.  Gail Collins recaps Mitt Romney's final political and public appearance (gassing up his many cars does not count).  His final act as mooching a free meal from the 44th President, paid for by the tax payers of the USA.   Let's just check it off as a gift to the dearly departed:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/opinion/collins-mitts-oval-office-moment.html?ref=opinion&_r=0&pagewanted=print

 

--
Juan

"With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion." 
       -- Steven Weinberg

"No man ever listened himself out of a job." 
       -- Calvin Coolidge

"In this business you either sink or swim or you don't." 
       -- David Smith

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit." 
       -- Harry S Truman