Have the machines achieved sentience already?

Watching the current situation in politics in the post-Citizen's United world, it seems indeed like the machines have taken over. The question seems to be, "when did it happen?"

In the movie Terminator 2, we see that the machines became 'self-aware' (sentient) at a certain point, and then proceeded to attack humans.  In the past (our present day) the presence of a remnant of a future robot is linked to the problem, and the focus is on eliminating it to save the future.  Even though I'm a big Star Trek fan, I'm not going to discuss time travel plot lines and weaknesses. It just makes me wonder where the tipping point was, and whether or not it's already too late to tip it back.

It's not easy to point to one specific action that led to our current state.  I'm just going to ask a few questions, and hope you'll join the conversation.  Where do you agree?  What do you think we can do about it?  Is it too late?

Citizen's United Case

Argued March 24, 2009; Reargued September 9, 2009; Decided January 21, 2010
This is a good place to start.  This is the decision that gave corporations (the machines) the same free speech rights as people.  Money is considered a form of speech, and for some reason, corporations are now allowed to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns, and they don't even have to disclose who's supplying the money!

Bush v. Gore (2000)

Even though Al Gore won the election, the Supreme Court stopped the vote count in Florida, thereby selecting Bush as the president.  During the reign of George II, he was able to appoint Justices Roberts and Alito, two extremists, which kept the balance of the court tilted to the right.

The Nomination of Clarence Thomas (1991)

George H. W. Bush was disappointed in his nomination of David Souter, who did not turn out to be as conservative as hoped.  For Bush's 2nd appointment, he hit a conservative home run with Thomas.  Thomas has been an embarrassment as a justice, never recusing himself for many conflicts of interest.

Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886)

Bancroft Davis

This is perhaps the seed of the whole 'corporate personhood' problem.  The idea that corporations were persons, and entitled to equal protection under the 14th Amendment was actually written by the court reporter, former president of the Newburgh and New York Railway Company, J.C. Bancroft Davis, in what is called a 'headnote' to the decision. Even though the justices in the decision didn't write this, it has stood as a settled concept, and is the direct forefather of Citizens United.  I had heard about this decision from Thom Hartmann, who I believe is an incredible resource of facts and history, and I wish I could hear him more often on the radio.


How this works
So, the machines to me are these Super PACs, who spend unlimited amounts of money to brainwash the populace into accepting the rule of the machines.  We see the Tea Party already, doing the machine's bidding, even though most of the people who see themselves as Tea Party members are doing so against their own self-interest.  The Super PACs have no compunction about truth, they exist to carpet bomb the electorate with disinformation.  It is a self-perpetuating system.

Is it too late?
Will it simply run its course, only to be ignored?
If so, will that happen in time?

Please, let me know what you think about this.

Render Unto Caesar, Take 2

Coin of the Realm

Almost a decade ago, I gave a talk at church that got me into a lot of trouble. But, as time has passed, I have to say I have never found any reason to change my views on the intersection between religion and public life.

The basic idea was found in a famous phrase Jesus is said to have made:

"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."

This spoke to me as a call to appropriateness, that one has to operate in the sphere that makes sense.  It is often said that the freedom to swing one's arm ends at someone else's nose.  Unfortunately, too many times, people's noses are bloodied due to religious disagreements.  Even in a country like the U. S., founded by people trying to escape the state religion of England, we cannot seem to escape our own home-grown Taliban trying to tell us what to do.

Cue up FauxNews, and let's all get outraged that an institution such as a Catholic Hospital or University would have to follow the law of the land when getting government subsidies for health care plans. In every other business, women's contraception is included in basic health insurance, but for some reason, all these people are screaming "1st Amendment!" and decrying Obama for trampling on their religious freedom.

I think everyone is aware of the 1st amendment, but most of us probably aren't aware of how short it is:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

So, all these right-wingers are screaming "freedom of religion," but as far as I can see it, it's pretty twisted. There's only two ways the 1st Amendment deals with religion. First, the government is prohibited from creating or supporting any religion. Second, the government is not to get in the way of a "free exercise" of religion. So, apparently these days, "free exercise" means you get to impose your religious beliefs and practices on others. Really, it's that simple.

There is no reason women should continue to be treated this way in this day and age.  The right to swing your arm (from a religious freedom point of view) ends where it discriminates against the health concerns of women.  I saw something funny on the Ed Show the other night.  Ed can be pretty ham-fisted at times, but this was pretty funny.  He acted as if he had just been handed a major breaking news item.  I don't have the exact quote, but it was something like:

"We have breaking news, it's 2012!"

Really, are we fighting about contraception in 2012?

Breaking News!  (Really!  I'm not kidding)

This story had moved so fast, that the speed of my blogging is no match for what has been happening.  It appears as though Obama has made another brilliant chess move.  He worked out a deal where religious institutions won't have to pay for the contraception, the insurance companies will cover it.  The Catholic hospitals are happy, the women's health groups are happy, leaving only the ayatollahs on the right unhappy, and the insurance companies mildly grumbly about how this sets a precedent.  They won't grumble too loud, as they know it's cheaper to provide for contraception than unwanted pregnancies.

This won't end here; nothing Obama does is ever going to agree with 30% - 40% of the electorate.  But I'm glad to know that our president is standing up for women.  I think many of us were just expecting him to cave on this.  Things are getting interesting.

How Lazy Are Liberals?

Last week, a flood of outside money blunted what could have been a historic exercise of democracy in Wisconsin.  As it was, two GOP state senators were recalled, and that's a good thing.  But we needed to get three to block the wholesale assault on worker rights that's going on there.

So, time to give up and go home?  Whine about how we'll never be able to beat the billionaires?

Today, Texas governor Rick Perry announced his candidacy for President, and it was like déjà vu, all over again. Here was a smarmy Texas governor, spouting obvious platitudes and lies, knowing his billionaire backers would be running interference for him.  Here's a direct quote from his speech today:

"We cannot afford four more years of this rudderless leadership. Last week, that leadership failed, and the tax and spend and borrow agenda of this President led to the first ever downgrade of the credit rating of the United States of America."

Now for those of you not scoring at home, the recent credit downgrade of the US Treasury from AAA to AA+ came from Standard and Poor's, who explicitly laid blame  for the downgrade on the GOP, which can be read in their report [from page 4]:

"Compared with previous projections, our revised base case scenario now assumes that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, due to expire by the end of 2012, remain in place. We have changed our assumption on this because the majority of Republicans in Congress continue to resist any measure that would raise revenues, a position we believe Congress reinforced by passing the act."

I am not here to talk about the deficit, very few people are being honest about it anyway.  I only bring up this example of a hired hand (Perry) willing to lie, knowing vast amounts of cash and power will protect him.  In this post-Citizens United era, I guess it's game over, right?  We should all just give up?

In case you hadn't noticed yet, the conservatives never give up.  The Koch Brothers, and their father before them have been supporting right wing causes for decades.  I believe the election of Barack Obama was a great event, but it also created the illusion that the battle was over.  Obama had the ruby slippers, and all he needed to do was click them, and we'd all go home and be happy.

But, then came the 2010 elections.  When Obama didn't give us the magic flying sparkle pony that farts glitter, we got bored. We didn't show up to vote, and the teabaggers took over Congress.  Things were bad enough with the GOP minority in the Senate able to filibuster any meaningful legislation, now there would be none to block!

So, let's wrap this up.  I think nothing is more important than the re-election of Obama, and the defeat of the teabaggers, and the hopeful return of Congress.  So, the question is, is the game already over?  Is it too late? Will the propaganda machine win?

I don't think it has to end that way.

Treason Enough?

I know it's a harsh word, and perhaps a little too charged, but what is treason anyway?

Today, when the disappointing unemployment numbers came out,  an interviewer asked of Michele Bachmann:  “Does it strike you that as unemployment goes up, your chances of winning office also go up?”  Bachmann responded by saying: “Well that could be.  Again, I hope so.”

Perhaps treason is not the most accurate term for her acknowledgement that a bad economy will help her defeat Obama is 2012.  Disloyal? Unpatriotic? What do you think this means?

Shared Sacrifice

What a Dream I Had

Right now, the Democrats and the GOP have reached an impasse over how to solve the budget deficit.  In short, the GOP wants all savings to come from budget cuts, and none from taxes.  The Democrats are proposing about 17% of the savings to come from closing tax loopholes.

In past times, when this sort of thing has happened, compromises were reached, with roughly half of the savings coming from cuts and half from taxes.  But we are living in an age where compromise is a dirty word, and we need to find some middle ground.

What I'm trying to do is simply start a 'meme' here.  The politicians are waiting for the public to provide enough support to push the negotiations in one direction or another.  I believe that the Democrats (worst poker players ever!) are asking for too little, and we need to return to the classic 50-50 compromise.

How is this supposed to work?
I have no experience with politics or grassroots movements.  I've started a simple one-issue facebook page where all you have to do is click on the 'like' button.  I'm hoping that you will also click on the little facebook 'f' that's just below the title of this blog post.  If for some reason this resonates with enough people, we'll take the next step and share this info with the politicians.  I'm hoping some of you are better at this than I am, and have some good advice too!

Maybe this is a crazy idea, maybe not.  Either way, I don't expect this situation to last for long.  What do you think?

Hostage Negotiations

Negotiating With Terrorists

How does one negotiate with the GOP on the budget?  Using the analogy of the satyrical magazine cover to the left, (apologies to animal lovers, it's a joke!) the basic GOP position is:

If you don't shoot the dog, we'll shoot the dog!

If that seems hard to make sense out of, I think the basic idea is that if the Democrats don't go along with dismantling the government, the GOP will allow the budget default to happen, further weakening the government, hurting the economy, and hopefully, ensuring Obama loses in 2012!

It's a great plan, right?

None Dare Call it Treason

Majority Leader Eric Cantor

Will They Get Away With This?

Something that has seemed obvious to me for quite a while is finally being publicly acknowledged by some Democrats. Yesterday, Democratic senators finally called out the GOP for being willing to hurt the economy, so that Obama will not be re-elected.  Today, Majority leader Eric Cantor dropped out of the budget talks until Democrats stop asking that billionaires pay their fair share of the taxes.  Purely and simply, it would seem the GOP is willing to let the economy collapse to insure that 2012 goes their way.

I think this is treasonous, and the GOP is essentially working for multinational corporate interests, and they don't care about this country.  There, I've said it.  If you agree, don't be quiet about this.

The line it is drawn

Harry Reid after vote.

The curse it is cast.

Today, before the Republicans in the Senate had a chance to wise up, Harry Reid held a vote on radical GOP congressman Paul Ryan's budget proposal, which includes the notorious plan to end Medicare as we know it.  While the bill was solidly defeated 57-40, if it were to be held a week from now, there would be even fewer Republican senators willing to take a stand.

After last night's historic special election in New York's 26th Congressional district, Reid quickly pushed to get GOP senators on record as supporting the GOP budget.  Now, if the Democrats have the resolve to stick to the message (even though they have a tendency to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory), they can spend the next year and a half reminding voters that Senator so-and-so voted to end Medicare.  There are only 10 GOP senators up for re-election in 2012, compared to 23 Democrats, so it would be a stretch to think the Republicans can be reduced to sub-filibuster levels, but in this era of unlimited anonymous election spending by right-wing billionaires, the Democrats need all the help they can get.

Speaking of Medicare, Bob Dylan turned 70 yesterday!

Passing on Wisdom

Biting My Tongue
Today I went to the California Academy of Sciences since I have the week off, and just before I left, after having a nice, overpriced lunch in their killer cafeteria, I went to visit the Foucault pendulum. I had just done a small pendulum lab in my physics class, and felt like just closing the circle, so to speak.

Not to be too technical, but what this pendulum proved, over 150 years ago, was that the earth truly was spinning on its axis in space.  The swinging ball would stay pointed toward some spot in space while the earth turned beneath it.  There's a sign on the side saying essentially just that.

So, there I am, kind of mesmerized, thinking of how I used to watch this same ball as kid, when some dad starts explaining it to a group of kids.  He talks about how some motor swings it back and forth, and how the earth's magnetic field makes the ball move in a circle!

I wanted to tell him he was wrong, that he was misinforming the kids, but I didn't.  I can be a real know-it-all jerk in situations like that, and just sort of suffered silently as he led his little group on to who-knows-what. It's a good thing that parents bring kids to a science museum, right? I'm not really sure what to say here, but I'm sure we've all passed along some sort of misinformation to the younger generation.  I know I have.  Still, I wish those kids could know just how cool this spinning ball was!

Is Your Hair On Fire Yet?

Keith Olbermann

Does Tax Law Make You Crazy?
I've lost track of exactly what day it happened.  All the days seem to be running together since Obama 'caved in' to Yertle the Turtle Mitch McConnell.  Although, depending on who you talk to, I might be referring to the day Obama hoodwinked Mitch McConnell into going along with some more government stimulus.  I guess it depends on whose analysis you believe the most.

Now, given my lazy druthers, I might spend every workday evening in front of the TV, watching MSNBC between the hours of 5 and 8 PM.  I have even been known to watch Chris Matthews if I come home early.  Now, I really don't do this every night, it even gets to me after a while, but I do have a lot of respect for the opinions of Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Lawrence O'Donnell.

During the fifteen minutes or so that I travel to work in the morning, I listen to Stephanie Miller on Green960, and listen to Randi Rhodes (if I get out early enough) or Karel on the way home.

So, let's go back to the day we found out Obama and McConnell had negotiated a deal to give the Republicans their cherished Bush-era tax cuts for the rich folk for another couple of years, and some ruling class props to rich families to evade more estate taxes, in return for an extension for unemployment benefits, and some investments in small business and green energy.  To be honest, it's not easy for us ordinary folk to figure this stuff out, so we turn to people we trust to help sort things out.  So, let's see, how do my political gurus feel about this?

Keith Olbermann says Obama is 'Goddamned wrong' and betrayed his base.

Rachel Maddow thinks Obama completely sold out, and looks somewhat pitiful in the whole affair.

Lawrence O'Donnell thinks Obama got the best part of the deal.

Randi Rhodes, on the other hand says we should relax.  There's more bucks for stimulus than sops to the rich, so Obama got a better deal.  Stephanie Miller also thinks Obama did the only thing he could, and Karel is 'done with Obama.'

Not a very unified picture, is it?

When the news broke, I was angry too, and emailed Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont, who I had heard was going to filibuster the bill. Bernie spoke for almost 9 hours about the evils of the bill, and I agreed with most of what he said.  But then strange things started to happen on the right wing...

Charles Krauthammer, the right wing nutjob pretender to the William F Buckley throne of self-important pundits, wrote an article about how Obama swindled the Republicans, and the Democrats didn't even know it!  Then Rush Limbaugh, the drug-addled Jabba the leader of the GOP tells us that he hopes Obama's tax deal fails!  Pretty much the same words he uttered two years ago that defined the party of HELL NO YOU CAN'T!  And finally, to put the nail in the coffin, if you think you can read Sarah Palin's tweets it would also seem she's against the deal!

Many of my friends on facebook have passionately posted their disgust for Obama selling out, so it's a real mixed bag of feelings out there.

Politics is a very complex, convoluted form of energy transfer.  I think that it probably was the best deal that could have been made, given these circumstances, and who Obama was dealing with.  The GOP was perfectly willing to let taxes go up for all Americans, and let the unemployed sink deeper into poverty, so there was no incentive on their part to 'play nice.' I think the lure of getting these totally unnecessary, totally hypocritical (from a deficit POV) tax cuts was irresistible to McConnell. In return, Obama saved a lot of Americans (the hostages) a lot of pain, and got more stimulus money too.  This is all about jobs, jobs, jobs.  If we're still at this rate of unemployment in two years, there is little hope for Obama, save the possible candidacy of Palin.

Could this deal have paved the way for the historic repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell we witnessed yesterday?  Hard to prove either way.

So here's the deal: We have 2 years

• to take back Congress
• to mount some creditable media pushback to the FauxNews propaganda machine
• to halt the flood of anonymous political money
• to get this country's economy back on track

Otherwise, these tax giveaways for the rich will never expire, and you can kiss America, as we think we knew it, goodbye.

Is your hair on fire yet?