Glenn Beck’s people have it totally wrong
More than a century ago, William Jennings Bryan’s populists saw government as the protector of the little guy. Today, Glenn Beck and his followers see government as the peoples’ oppressor.
Bryan’s people got it right. Becks’ don’t.
GOVERNMENT PROTECTS THE LITTLE GUY
Tags: conservatives, Democrats, Glenn Beck, politics, populists, Republicans, Wall Street, Washington
Why we envy the Mad Men and Women
Despite the dress codes and other strict rules of conduct, the men and women of “Mad Men” had a rather good time. Or was it because of the rules?
The ‘Arab Street’ meets the ‘American Street’
The neocon enterprise of changing other cultures by force seems to have hit a dead-end alley with the passions unleashed against a proposed Islamic center near ground zero.
THE MOSQUE AND THE AMERICAN STREET
Tags: conservatives, culture, terrorism
Weighty Canada — economic and otherwise
Marketwatch’s Canada expert, Bill Mann, makes note of my recent column praising Canada’s bank regulation as a boon to its economy.
Tags: banks, Canada, economy, health care, Washington
The real JetBlue heroes
Steven Slater’s tale didn’t last as long as his 15 minutes of fame. Had it been true, however, he still would have been no hero of mine.
Tags: culture
Liberals: Stop waving fingers at right-wing gargoyles
I have a dear conservative friend with whom I have lively conversations. He’s well-read (informed) and listens to others. But every now and then, I get a call from him in which his voice is raised to a near-hysterical pitch, and I can hear Fox News droning in the background. I give him my ground rule: Never call me until Fox has been turned off for at least 30 minutes.
Now, I can understand Dana Milbank’s concern that the gargoyles of the right are sending their paranoids off on violent rampages. But that column, following E.J. Dionne’s on the smearing of Shirley Sherrod, points to an unfortunate trend in which some liberal pundits seem to be regarding the right-wing hustlers as serious news people. (Dionne does makes excellent points on the “respectable media’s” timidity in handling the lies.)
I occasionally watch Fox to check in on the carnival but never worry excessively about its power. Sure it attracts many gawkers. So do car wrecks. Recall that Fox was in full flower in November 2008, when the American people elected a Democratic House, Democratic Senate and Democratic president.
As for the Sherrod case, I don’t blame Andrew Breitbart. He is what he is — a publicity hound dishing right-wing fantasy for money and fame. Discussing his “journalistic standards” is ludicrous.
Waving fingers at Glenn Beck and his like is pointless. Organizing a boycott of their advertisers would be a far more effective approach. Note what happened to Don Imus when he shot his mouth off in a beyond-the-pale way.
Blame for the Sherrod scandal belongs strictly on the shoulders of the Obama administration. That its smart boys bought into that propaganda without triple-checking the facts is what scares me.
BTW, if some nutbag goes off and kills a bunch of people on the basis of a report on Fox, that’s going to be very bad politically for the right wing. Americans, whatever their politics, are generally decent people.
Tags: conservatives, liberals, media, politics
2010: A Space Odyssey
So you thought machines would liberate man from his life of hectic toil? Ha, ha, ha.
That was a theme in Kubrick’s movie classic, “2001: A Space Odyssey” and a theme of my latest column. The work day in the early 21st Century ain’t no graceful waltz to a Strauss tune.
Happy 4th
Tags: culture, Revolutionary War
An American general in Paris
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette
Gen. McChrystal’s appalling behavior in Paris reveals the streak of boobery in American leaders’ dealings with France.
In preparation for the 4th:
Tags: Afghanistan, conservatives, culture, France
More on Financial Reform
My new column expands on an earlier blog about the romantic conservative belief in ordinary Americans’ ability to bushwhack through the market for complex and tricky financial products, much less the outright frauds.
Here is
HEAVEN MUST WAIT FOR MONEY-SAVVY PUBLIC
