Maybe people read my blog after all

Apparently I'm not the only one who sees parallels between the build up to the invasion of Iraq and the sudden onset of deficit-phobia gripping the nation's elites.

The baffling thing about this is that it seems like most Democrats in congress and even the White House know that this is wrong, but there seems to be no will to do anything about it. I understand that the filibuster in the senate limits the actions the government can take, but surely there are ways around this like budget reconciliation. And even if there isn't, the President could at least be sounding the alarm. He's comfortable telling the Europeans why they're being stupid, he should do that same to the senate. At least before the Iraq War there were plenty of Democrats raising hell. Now the White House's position of doing nothing is the better alternative to the Republicans' plan to cut spending resulting in higher unemployment or the Germans' commitment to tight money, destroying the economies of several major countries in the European Union.

Think I'll just move to Argentina. They have cheap steak and booze and let gays get married down there.

Whores

I fail to see what was so awful about what Eliot Spitzer did while governor of New York. So he saw some high class proostitoots? BFD.

He decided to resign in order to spare his state the trouble, I suppose, and for that his name is always preceded by the adjective: "disgraced."

Our New Retarded Economic Consensus

So the western democracies need to get their fiscal houses in order to increase confidence in the bond markets so these countries can keep borrowing at low interest rates, even though interest rates are at historic lows now. Seems to me it would be irresponsible to not keep borrowing now in order to bring the economy to a stage of robust growth and to maybe give some people some jobs. Furthermore, I'm not sure why it's become conventional wisdom that sky-high unemployment caused by a double-dip recession brought on by premature fiscal austerity is going to fill bond markets with confidence.

I feel now about the same way I felt on the run up to the Iraq War. I haven't felt very bloggy lately because it seems that the Great Minds of our society have all gone batshit-crazy, and even my mighty blog posts are powerless to turn the tide.

My greatest hope is that the midterms, whatever happens, will let some of the steam out and the Very Serious People will realize that 10% is not something the country just has to "live with for a while."

But I'm not optimistic.

They have a Wendy's

CNNMoney decided it would make a listicle about the 100 BEST PLACES TO LIVE 2010!...whatever that means. I perused the list and found it to be the usual mix of boring small towns and strip mall banality, but what caught my attention is that Missouri City, TX made the list...at 21!

I'm so old I remember when Mo' City was just a shitty hellhole wedged between Houston and Sugar Land. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against hellholes, in fact I often prefer them, but Missouri City combines the worst attributes of suburbia and southwest Houston. Apparently now this is what communities should strive to become.

Drill, Baby, Drill

Offshore drilling is now completely safe and environmentally friendly.

Why Sovereign Default In The Eurozone Will Be Bad For The United States

One effect of the possible sovereign default of Greece could be a major decline in the value of the Euro compared with the dollar. While this might please the dollar fearmongers of the world (it's fallinggggg!!!!!), it's actually a very bad thing. Yes European travel might be more affordable, but it will do major damage to our attempts to raise exports because the Eurozone is our biggest trading partner.

I would like to echo Matt Yglesias in placing the blame for the possible collapse of the Eurozone on tight-ass, inflation-phobic German bankers. He also does a good job of showing the idea that Greece, Spain, and Portugal are paying for past sins is bullshit. They're in this position because of German deflationary bias.

The Price Of Progress

A straight man laments the decline of the gayborhood.

I believe there will always be areas of cities where weirdos live and congregate. While they might not be as explicitly "gay" as in the past, they serve the same general purpose and have the same vibe.

More Insipid False Equivalencies

Glenn Greenwald rightly takes down Ross Douthat for claiming that Rachel Maddow only has conservatives on her show who want to bash other conservaties. Maddow always tries to get adversarial conservatives on her show but they hardly ever agree to be on.

As a side note, this shows how appearances can lead to uninformed judgements. I've noticed that most conservatives who don't watch Maddow's show assume she is some sort of militant feminist separatist because she has a butch haircut and wears pants, but that's not how she is at all! She's actually very mild mannered and funny, and her show is one of the most informative news programs on the teevee.

John McCain: Man Of Principle

or not.

I've never really been much of a John McCain fan, really. Sure back in 2000 I thought he was better than Bush but I still wouldn't have voted for him (had I been old enough to vote.) However, watching him walk back every instance in which he's broken with Republican party orthodoxy due to his primary challenge from the right has been a rather sad and pathetic sight. All politicians adjust their views to keep in favor with the electorate, but this is ridiculous.

They're All Bad

One of the most irritating things about our stupid political discourse in this country is the elevation of "centrism" above all else, as if having deeply held beliefs about certain issues is a character flaw.

One of the favorite tools of these purveyors of moderation above all else is to draw moronic, often false equivalencies between both sides of a debate. Charles Lane of the Washington Post brings this art to its apotheosis with his comparison of shouting abolitionists with confederate slave-owners. They were both bad because they were both rude!!!!