The Republican Game

Samuel Elliot Morrison and Henry Steele Commager, in their History of the American Republic, argue that Republicans of the 19th century lavished pensions on veterans to spend the money collected by protective tariffs, and prevent a budgetary surplus that might otherwise have fueled calls for the end of the tariffs.

They're still doing it.

If it weren't for our grotesquely outsized military budget, Social Security, which has collected surplus revenues for decades, might be so well invested as to live on dividends, or might have loaned to the US, at Treasury bond rates, the money needed for health care, renewable energy, or universal free education.

All of this is glossed over by the common guy because we have shiny things. Who cares if life in America is getting worse by the year? We have shiny things.

But it doesn't need to be this way. The choice is ours, if we care to make it.

They Had Their Chance

In the 20th century the free marketeers of America were given their opportunity to show what they could do. They had free natural gas, oil, and coal, not to mention millions of acres of timberland at give-away prices, they had the full sanction of the state, and, frequently, government assistance when they failed. And, most importantly they had a vast market, the people of the United States, generally prosperous, who were allowed to keep most of what they earned and spend it as they chose. How did this work out?

Well, simply, it was a disaster, proving mainly that the free market functions worse than even a king or dictator. That's a pretty damning comparison.

In some areas, like health care, we continue to get results that are about as good as other countries like us- but at twice the price. In most regards, the system has created widespread devastation and poverty, maintained only because other nations will still buy our debt, and ready to fail the next time the price of oil doubles.

It seems safe to say that the theories of the free markets are mainly propaganda and balderdash, indulged in by people who have no responsibility (or who, like Pinochet, feel no responsibility) for the welfare of their nation.

This can't be entirely unexpected. In the real world, markets are places that are regulated to provide a place where people buy and sell, but that's a larger story, and not necessary to draw the conclusion we do from the evidence- the "free" market has been a big failure. Stick a fork in it, it's done.

The Irony, The Irony

In an advanced piece of concern trollery, the AP reports concerns about windfarms presenting confusing images to the Doppler radar used to watch for tornadoes- and the possibility that adopting wind power too quickly might lead to false alarms being sounded by the weather service.

Wow, what if we had adopted that cautious approach to energy development when oil was discovered? I'm guessing the world might be a lot cleaner, and already be using a lot more wind power.

It's a little late now, though, to get hyper-cautious about developing a much cleaner and infinitely more renewable energy source. AP fail.

Hunting Down The 'Militia'

With the closing of the borders, pot production in the woods has soared. With Mexican mafias providing the muscle, police are increasingly focused on gaining the upper hand. The jackboots are coming to a forest near you.

I'd always wondered how America would deal with the nutcases who would hide in the woods. Now I plainly see that, after legalization, you turn the police on the 'militia'. If there's anything left of the 'militia', that is, after they have a few run-ins with the Mexican mafia.

The irony, of course, would be the role the so-called 'militia' are playing in the demands to close the borders.

Things To Come

Mike McGinn wants to be mayor of Seattle, and in the process, people are going to get a close-up and personal look at Sierra Club politics. It's about the worst thing that could have happened to the Sierra Club.

I say that as one with an heirloom fondness for the Sierra Club, but increasing questions as to how much of my life I would want them to control. More and more I'm thinking it would be, like, None.

People have wondered for a long time why we get old and die. Right now I'm leaning towards the "build-up of toxins" train of thought.

Dick Cheney and Jack Kennedy

John F. Kennedy famously read the NYT in ten minutes every morning. Of course, he used a trick- his knowledge that the NYT, aside from leaning far to the right, was simply a mish-mash of the conventionall knowledge from unattribued sources. Knowing the topic, Kennedy could synopsize the story as though he'd read it.

Cheney operated in much the same way. Having learned that almost everyone around him was poorly educated and almost brain-dead, he easily bullied and manipulated them, confident in their inferiority. Almost nobody felt sure enough of themselves to contradict him or quit in disgust.

That's the secret of the upper classes. They're stupid and got their positions the old fashioned way- their fathers called in favors. And a giant among them is, for better or worse, a giant.