Different Worlds
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Random Blogging, Uncategorized on April 30th, 2012
One of my husband’s favorite stories about his college years concerns a wealthy fraternity brother who, upon learning of the pregnancy of another member’s wife, congratulated him and asked him whether the happy couple had hired a governess yet. A couple of days ago, Mitt Romney spoke to a group of college students worried about [...]
Priorities, People!
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Public Policy and Governance on April 28th, 2012
Well, I see that Congressional Republicans bowed to the inevitable–aka looming voter outrage–and passed an extension of the measure to keep student loan interest rates at their current levels. The rates would have doubled without congressional action, and while the Tea Party faction supported letting the rates increase (who cares about those snotty little elitists [...]
More on Bork
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Constitution on April 27th, 2012
In a recent post, I made the case that Romney’s choice of Robert Bork as his legal/courts advisor should disqualify him from the Presidency. I subsequently ran across a more in-depth discussion of Bork, borrowing liberally from his own writings. This extended essay is well worth reading in its entirety, but let me whet your [...]
OMGs of the Day…
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Random Blogging on April 27th, 2012
Sometimes, it’s really hard to choose the most appalling news of the day. I could begin with the continued embarrassment that is Dick Lugar’s campaign. Yesterday, Lugar was one of 31 (male) Republican Senators who voted against reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act; evidently, “true Indiana conservatives” consider laws against wife-beating an infringement of [...]
Nimble We Aren’t
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Random Blogging on April 26th, 2012
There is a report in this morning’s Indianapolis Star–buried between breathless reports about the Colt’s new quarterback, true, but an actual story with real news in it–about efforts to address Indianapolis’ longstanding sewer problem. When it rains, tons of raw sewage are dumped into our water supply. Citizens, which bought the water and sewer utilities [...]
An Interesting Exchange
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Constitution on April 24th, 2012
Like many other civil libertarians, I have been deeply disappointed by President Obama’s willingness to continue many of the security practices of the Bush Administration. It is especially galling because–unlike Bush–Obama quite obviously knows what the Constitution requires, and has nevertheless been willing to engage in surveillance and other practices which most civil libertarians believe [...]
Romney Sells What’s Left of His Soul
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Random Blogging on April 23rd, 2012
If there is any lingering doubt that Mitt Romney has sold what passes for his soul to the extreme right, his appointment of Robert Bork as his “legal advisor” should remove it. I remember when Bork’s nomination to the Supreme Court was rejected by the Senate in a vote that included several Republicans. I was [...]
Bishops, Nuns and Righteousness
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Random Blogging on April 22nd, 2012
One of the criticisms regularly leveled at organized religion is that theological rigidity and ritual formalities inevitably crowd out human compassion and the thirst for justice. Enter the Vatican, and its recent reprimand of American nuns for emphasizing issues of health care and social welfare over same-sex marriage and contraception. As (Catholic) Andrew Sullivan writes [...]
Lies, Damned Lies and Politics
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Random Blogging on April 21st, 2012
My husband regularly listens to right-wing radio. He enjoys regaling me with the latest in what passes for wing-nut argumentation; when I express annoyance, he generally reminds me that it is important to know what all manner of people are saying. This morning, he presented me with the latest gem being used to defend Republicans [...]
The Buffet Rule and the Self-Made Myth
Posted by Sheila Kennedy in Public Policy and Governance on April 20th, 2012
Predictably, the Buffet Rule–which would have raised tax rates on those making a million dollars or more a year–failed for lack of the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster. The GOP defended its position as necessary to encourage entrepreneurship and job creation, despite literally mountains of data disproving the link between lower taxes [...]
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