Politicalprof

The Undeserving Must …So as is my way, I got into an...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:09:41 -0500

The Undeserving Must …

So as is my way, I got into an exchange regarding health care through a Facebook connection. I…

The Business of Higher Ed

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:16:53 -0500

Anyone who is thinking about going into higher education really ought to read these pieces at Lawyers, Guns and Money. It’s grimmer than I wish it was …

And now, Warren Zevon

That’s what she said. ht: JP

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:34:29 -0500

That’s what she said.

ht: JP

"Cookie Monster eat cookies."

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:47:42 -0500

“Cookie Monster eat cookies.”

- Toddlerprof, getting to the heart of the matter in four words.

So apparently Miss Utah doesn't understand the root causes of gender inequality, the pay gap and the policy profile that might begin to address it.

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:42:28 -0500

How many Americans do you figure do?

Seriously. It’s pretty sad that the answer is “almost none.” But before picking on Miss Utah, I’d say you’d need to be able to give a pretty solid answer to that question yourself.

Dear NSA Overlords:

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 19:54:49 -0500

If I am ever nominated for national Father of the Year, please do not replay today’s tape.

Thanks.

It is one of the best things about my life that I don’t...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 13:56:55 -0500

It is one of the best things about my life that I don’t think I know anyone stupid enough to say something like this even anonymously, much less under their user name.

Grow up.

The Problem with "Red Lines"

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 09:56:32 -0500

So much is being made of the Syrian government’s apparent crossing of the “red line” of using chemical weapons in its ongoing and brutal civil war.

The logic is that having crossed a “red line,” the United States and other powers are bound to intervene on behalf of the rebels and against the Syrian government because the “red line” has been crossed.

Notably, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has used similar logic about Iran’s nuclear weapons program — that there are thresholds towards acquiring a nuclear weapon that should Iran cross, the world should intervene.

Now, as it happens I think that intervention in Syria is likely both to be unsuccessful AND to have such a broad array of negative unanticipated consequences that any US intervention is likely to make things worse, not better. But I don’t want to detail that here. Rather, I want to point out something that no one else seems to be addressing:

When you declare a “red line” or any other trigger mechanism for action, you’re putting another country in charge of your foreign policy.

The trigger logic is fairly simple: if X happens, do Y. But you’re not in charge of X. You do Y regardless of whether it makes any sense … because X happened.

It’s like saying if an acquaintance uses a bad word, you’ll punch yourself in the face.

There might be a good case to make for US intervention in Syria. (I can’t make it, but I accept the possibility.) But if we intervene if should be because it seems to be the right thing to do in the totality of the circumstances.

Not because someone else whose actions we can’t control does something stupid.

My afternoon concert has included tambourine, toot horn and...

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 15:20:19 -0500

My afternoon concert has included tambourine, toot horn and maraca …

"You’re born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little..."

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 22:08:17 -0500

“You’re born, you take shit. You get out in the world, you take more shit. You climb a little higher, you take less shit. Till one day you’re up in the rarefied atmosphere and you’ve forgotten what shit even looks like.”

- Michael Gambon, Layer Cake

The Podcast/Video v Text Dilemma:

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 09:46:42 -0500

1. Talking is faster than writing.

2. Reading is faster than listening.

3. It takes more time to listen to things that are “easy” to say than it does to read things that are hard to write.

Welcome to Tumblr.

When Politicalprof puts Toddlerprof to bed while Toddlerprof is wearing Batman PJs ...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 20:27:11 -0500

It’s the 1960s theme getting hummed, not the “modern” Batman theme, let me tell you.

I like how you assumed the person who tried to poison the president and the mayor of New York did it in lieu of them advocating background checks was a guy, as if it was it was a complete certainty. Not only were you wrong, considering it was a woman who framed her husband, but that's pretty discriminatory for a big liberal such as yourself. What if a conservative said, say, a gang crime happened so it was probably a black guy? You'd be up in arms to critisize him and rightly so.

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 15:50:52 -0500

I certainly was wrong about the gender. No question of that one. At least if the current reports are true, which is always in question.

As for the rest of your comments: twaddle.

The difference between the truth and your racial baiting can be explained simply:

—most crimes, including most violent crimes, are committed by white people in America. The fact that people think crime is racialized black is a result of stereotype and racial bias.

—most crimes, especially most violent crimes, are committed by men. This is even more true for terrorism and gun related crimes. Full stop.

The difference is, one is a lie (crime is black) but is perpetuated by racial stereotyping and cultural bias. The other is true in general (crime is male), but was not in this case.

Really, I’d recommend a few statistics classes before coming at me with such silliness.

"Conservative Republicans in our nation’s capital have managed to accomplish something they only..."

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:21:23 -0500

“Conservative Republicans in our nation’s capital have managed to accomplish something they only dreamed of when Tea Partiers streamed into Congress at the start of 2011: They’ve basically shut Congress down. Their refusal to compromise is working just as they hoped: No jobs agenda. No budget. No grand bargain on the deficit. No background checks on guns. Nothing on climate change. No tax reform. No hike in the minimum wage. Nothing so far on immigration reform.”

- Robert Reich, quoted by Charles Blow.

—Politicalprof: as I’ve said before, when your ideology says that government is bad, it follows that government not doing anything is good: government is at least not doing bad. Thus the Tea Party has “won” our recent politics … the question is: will there be a backlash, or will we keep with our current stasis?

A question, I imagine, that will more likely be answered by elections than pundits.

Outsourcing GovernmentOne of the issues that has emerged in the...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:58:04 -0500

Outsourcing Government

One of the issues that has emerged in the discussions about Edward Snowden’s (alleged) leak of the…

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And now we're on to stories about Edward Snowden's girlfriend ...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:22:17 -0500

because she’s young, attractive, and is an ex-ballet dancer who now works in an acrobatic troupe and dances on a stripper pole.

So, one thing’s clear: the media has a lot of information on the actual case, since they are in no way using filler to claim time on what is otherwise a pretty dry — if important — story.

kohenari: Congressman Jeff Fortenberry — who doesn’t represent...

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:52:51 -0500

kohenari:

Congressman Jeff Fortenberry — who doesn’t represent my district but apparently loves to send me email anyway — is determined to get to the bottom of the IRS “scandal.”

To do so, he’s reaching out to Nebraskans to hear their stories of IRS unfairness.

And, apparently, Fortenberry and his staff have a ton of free time on their hands since they believe the “scandal” includes not only the greater scrutiny applied to some conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. Indeed, they’re asking Nebraskans to tell them stories about the unfairness they experienced due to “Difficulty in completing tax form due to complicated form and instructions” or “Audit of tax return.”

I wish I could get my hands on the results for “Other” so I could see how many people wrote in with their belief that the IRS “scandal” includes the unfairness of being taxed at all … since, of course, a bunch of the targeted groups seem to have been ones whose members hold that “philosophical” position.

Politicalprof: Ari’s tone here is entirely justified. I’d only add that from the Congressperson’s perspective, this is really a profile- and fund-raising exercise, not a fact-finding exercise. Congresspeople do this kind of stuff to get their names “out there” since name recognition accounts for a surprisingly large share of the incumbency reelection advantage. It also serves as position-taking on a non-controversial issue: who “likes” the IRS?

It’s fairly common. Indeed, the very common-ness of the practice is the problem: if everything is a scandal, an abuse, etc., then why have a government at all? Which I imagine is a position Congressperson Fortenberry agrees with … until he loses his own paycheck when the government collapses …

Fareed Zakaria on keeping out of Syria. Fareed Zakaria is a very...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:12:23 -0500

Fareed Zakaria on keeping out of Syria.

Fareed Zakaria is a very smart man.

ht: Ta-Nahesi Coates

Question you probably don't think Politicalprof would ever ask himself:

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 12:40:27 -0500

How can it be that peeling paint on a garage door can survive the efforts of a belt sander to get it off before repainting?

Yep: it’s summer.

A brief book review ...

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:17:15 -0500

For those of you who have suddenly or recently gotten interested in drones, drone war, electronic surveillance and e-combat, you should read Peter Singer’s book, Wired for War. It’s systematic, careful … and probably underestimates the technical capacities our technology is leading us towards.

Totally worth the time.