And I see your true colors

No one can call Glenn Greenwald a pollyanna, at least, not usually. But this time, I think he's being too hopey-changey:

There's a major political fraud underway: the GOP is once again donning their libertarian, limited-government masks in order to re-invent itself and, more important, to co-opt the energy and passion of the Ron-Paul-faction that spawned and sustains the "tea party" movement. The Party that spat contempt at Paul during the Bush years and was diametrically opposed to most of his platform now pretends to share his views. Standard-issue Republicans and Ron Paul libertarians are as incompatible as two factions can be -- recall that the most celebrated right-wing moment of the 2008 presidential campaign was when Rudy Giuliani all but accused Paul of being an America-hating Terrorist-lover for daring to suggest that America's conduct might contribute to Islamic radicalism -- yet the Republicans, aided by the media, are pretending that this is one unified, harmonious, "small government" political movement.

Indeed. Please read the rest of the article. As usual, Glennzilla nails it, and nails the hypocrites in the Conservative & Tea Party movements to the wall.

But at the end, Glenn drops the ball a little:

There literally is no myth more transparent than the Republican Party's claim to believe in restrained government power. For that reason, it's only a matter of time before the fundamental incompatibility of the "tea party movement" and the political party cynically exploiting it is exposed.

Yes, it's only a matter of time before we have a functioning press & media, and opposition politicians with the cojones to make these points loudly and often.

And curiously, during the Bush43 regime, the only supporters of Ron Paul were Ron Paul and a small band of Libertarians. Now we have 1000's of Paulites, all united by what? Dislike of mainstream conservatives?

Maybe. But what else changed Jan. 20, 2009? Could it be the color of the President's skin?

Happy Thanksgiving!

While it's probably too late for most of you, here is an excerpt of talking points for dealing with you conservetard relatives:

Talking Turkey: Ten Myths Conservatives Believe About Progressives

[...]
1. Liberals hate America.

For the record: Liberals love America. In fact, what makes us liberals is that we actually read and believed all those pretty words in the Declaration of Independence about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and in the Bill of Rights about freedom of speech, religion, assembly, privacy, and all the rest of it.
[...]
4. Liberals hate our troops.

We love our troops. We love them so much that we want them brought home safe and sound to their families, as soon as possible.
[...]
5. Liberals are a bunch of elitists who hate decent working- and middle-class Americans.

...as opposed to those sainted corporate men-of-the-people who fly around in private jets and pull down eight-figure salaries while closing plants and cutting 10,000 jobs at a time. That's what real populism looks like, you betcha.

Liberals are funny people. We think that sending well-paid American jobs overseas is a bad idea. We think the minimum wage should be big enough to cover life's necessities, with some left over. We think it's insane that over half the bankruptcies in the country are due to lack of adequate medical insurance.

The whole post is great, I urge you to read it all.

At least you'll be ready for Xmas dinner.



Cross posted at VidiotSpeak

He'll look at you and tell you lies

(all pictures from Jeremy Silman's article about composer David Bell;
click on any picture for a large image)

I touched on this in my last post, wherein a Right-wing editorial writer complained about the WGA. But that's not important right now. What is important is that film and TV production and post-production is leaving L.A. and it's sad, because the best talent pool and facilities for that work are here in L.A.

I was at Paramount Stage M today on the Paramount lot, one of the last remaining scoring stages in town. And it's closing forever next June, 2008. The reason, Sumner Redstone wants to close the facility and turn it into mixing and editing rooms because he's a cheap bastard who doesn't mind the actual music recording, or scoring, being moved to cheaper and less talented European musicians. How's his track record in the film business? Well, just look at Paramount under Sherry Lansing compared to today under Redstone's hand-picked Berman & Gray.

What's ironic is that out on the actual stage, pictured above, workers were busy setting up tables and chairs for a formal dinner tonight honoring, you guessed it: Sumner Redstone.

And the actual support staff on the stage had been trying to get the room repainted for over 10 years, with no luck. But now, with the room scheduled to be demolished in 6 months, the room is freshly painted, for a macabre Last Supper. One might suggest that Redstone is a surrogate for Judas in the painting, with his 30 pieces of silver in his pocket.

Rather sad for Hollywood.

Here are some more great pictures of Stage M. And if you're interested, follow the link to Jeremy Silman's site for a great description of how TV (and film) music are recorded.

Looking into the control room from the stage:



Looking over the mixing console out through the window onto the stage:


Here's another link with some historical info about Stage M.

There's only you and me and we just disagree

The wingnut-o-sphere is in full alert, or cardiac arrest, over the issue of Ahmadinejad speaking anywhere in the US. After all, he's Satan, or something:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has got to be secretly pleased with himself. His visit to the United States so that he can once again harangue the United Nations General Assembly with his warped and twisted view of history and current events has generated so much controversy, he must be hugging himself with glee that his name is on the lips of so many, his every move watched and commented upon.

. . . And if one more lefty throws the coup against Prime Minister Mossadegh (after he had prorogued Parliament over a dispute involving compensation to the Brits for nationalizing the oil industry) in my face as a reason that the Iranians hate us, I am going to slit my wrists. We certainly supported it.

Promises, promises. Dude, talk is cheap.

As the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave™, surely we can handle the speechifying by this 3rd rate dictator, although one can argue that he's not the real power, but merely a mouthpiece for the Mullahs:

He is the highest directly elected official in the country, but, according to Article 113 of Constitution of Iran, he has less total power than the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces of Iran and has the final word in all aspects of foreign and domestic policies.

Oh but wait! Free speech in USA is alive and well after all:

I actually support Columbia University’s decision to invite the Iranian President to speak. Academic freedom must be as close to absolute as possible. Ward Churchill may be a fool but trying to shut him up only makes him a martyr. Similarly, hearing what Ahmadinejad has to say will be an eye opening experience for some, I’m sure. He will condemn himself out of his own mouth and save the Administration from having to gin up outrage over the danger posed by he and his government.

Idiot.

Look, if the U.S. and its Contitution, and Representative form of government is so fragile and small that it can't handle the pontifications of this guy, then they can't handle the rantings of any totalitarian leader.

Oh wait, we have GWBush.

Never mind.

Well the strong seem to get more, while the weak ones fade

The Orange County Register can always be counted on to deliver the highest quality conservatarian spin, and todays editorial is a gem:

A pox on both their parties

I'm leaving the GOP, but not for the Democrats

By STEVEN GREENHUT

Senior editorial writer and columnist

Last weekend, I announced my not-so-Earth-shattering decision to leave the Republican Party. In the era of George W. Bush, Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger, I simply have had enough.

. . .It's long been clear to believers in free markets and limited government that the Democratic Party is committed mostly to European-style socialism. Ever fearful of the free market and hostile to the free choices individuals would make if left on their own (with the sole exception being what they call "reproductive freedom"), the Democrats ceaselessly advocate for more government control of the economy, more far-reaching cradle-to-grave social programs – never mind that such programs can't sustain themselves over the long term, and that government "services" are notoriously wretched compared with those offered by market-based companies in a competitive environment.

Always with the straw men, it never fails. When you frame the discussion in "Have you stopped beating your wife yet" terms, nothing sensible can be resolved.

First, no leftie I know is 'fearful' of the so-called free market, we just know that it isn't the magical beans Jack planted, with abundance flowing freely for everyone.

In fact, the free market as advocated by the right currently has produced some pretty big price increases for consumers, all in the name of greed:

A federal agency says big petroleum-industry mergers in the 1990s reduced competition, made it harder to get cheap, unbranded gasoline and contributed to high gas prices.

And here:

The five largest oil companies operating in the United States are ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP-Amoco-Arco and Royal Dutch Shell. They control 14 percent of global oil production, 48 percent of domestic oil production, 50 percent of domestic refinery capacity, and nearly 62 percent of the retail gasoline market.

These same companies also control 21 percent of domestic natural gas production. Since 2001, these top companies enjoyed cumulative after-tax profits exceeding $125 billion.

This control enables oil companies to manipulate prices by intentionally withholding supplies. Indeed, a 2001 Federal Trade Commission investigation into high gasoline prices concluded that oil firms intentionally withheld or delayed shipping oil to keep prices up. However, the government has done nothing to end these uncompetitive practices.

But Heaven forbid the government, in its role to "promote the general welfare", should stop these mighty Captains of Industry from fulfilling their manifest destiny, to make more profit every quarter.

Second, "far-reaching cradle-to-grave social programs – never mind that such programs can't sustain themselves over the long term" clearly means Social Security.

Even the Messiah of the Right, GWBush, has dropped that song from his set list. Too many people have figured out that it's a lie, and promoting the 'reform' of the program is code for giving the money to the Free Market, where Gordon Gecko can invest it in his latest hedge fund.

Third, "..."government "services" are notoriously wretched compared with those offered by market-based companies in a competitive environment".

Bullshit! From my friend Ezra Klein, one of the left's leading policy wonks on medical care:

Our country's entitlement programs are models of bureaucratic efficiency. Social Security spends less than 1 percent of its budget on administration; for Medicare, it's 2 percent. Compare that with private health insurers, who blow about 14 percent on administration.

A competitive environment spurs 2 things: one is innovation, but the primary is profit. In today's business model, profit, in the form of quarterly dividends, is the driving force.

Don't get me wrong, I like to make a profit on the work that I do, too. But when profit is the over-riding concern, there is simply no motivation to deliver a quality product. From Ford's famous 'Pinto' decision involving predicted death costs, to Vioxx being recalled from the market after too little testing and analysis, it should be clear that profit alone is no guarantee of efficiency and quality.

Here are some quotes from Thomas Jefferson (from Thom Hartmann) on the "Free Market":

"Those seeking profits," Jefferson wrote, "were they given total freedom, would not be the ones to trust to keep government pure and our rights secure. Indeed, it has always been those seeking wealth who were the source of corruption in government. No other depositories of power have ever yet been found, which did not end in converting to their own profit the earnings of those committed to their charge."

He added: "I am not among those who fear the people. They, and not the rich, are our dependence for continued freedom. ... We must make our election between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. ... [Otherwise], as the people of England are, our people, like them, must come to labor sixteen hours in the twenty-four, ... and the sixteenth being insufficient to afford us bread, we must live, as they now do, on oatmeal and potatoes; have no time to think, no means of calling the mismanagers to account; but be glad to obtain subsistence by hiring ourselves to rivet their chains on the necks of our fellow sufferers."

A totally "free" market where corporations reign supreme, just like the oppressive governments of old, Jefferson said could transform America "...until the bulk of the society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery, to have no sensibilities left but for sinning and suffering. Then begins, indeed, the bellum omnium in omnia, which some philosophers observing to be so general in this world, have mistaken it for the natural, instead of the abusive state of man."

As Jefferson realized, with no government "interference" by setting the rules of the game of business and fair taxation, there will be no middle class.

Although this may come as a sudden realization to many, we've really known it all our lives.

For example, every year, millions of Americans revisit Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" about Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob (and Tiny Tim) Cratchit. Yet somehow Americans fail to realize the subtext of the story (and so many of Dickens' other works). That subtext is that the middle class is not a normal thing: exploited workers are the norm. In fact, in the six-thousand-year history of the "civilized" world, a middle class emerging in any nation has been such a rarity as to be historically invisible.

But the Right-leaning OC Register will continue to print editorials like this, and shake their collective fingers at us like Scrooge admonishing Bob Cratchit.

Bastards.