Roy Moore does not lack for chutzpah: Daily Bullshit, May 31, 2016 (updated)

benfell

Updated for a story on how voters feel about the major parties.

Same-sex marriage

Just so I’m clear: Suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore is asking a federal judge for relief from consequences of his attempt to usurp a federal judge’s authority.[1] Okay, then.

Jay Reeves, “Ala. Chief Justice Sues State Agency That Suspended Him For Ethics Charges,” Talking Points Memo, May 30, 2016, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/roy-moore-sues-state-agency-ethics-charges

Hillary Clinton

To the extent that one accepts an incrementalist approach, Hillary Clinton’s arguments in response to dramatic Obamacare insurance premium increases[2] are probably decent. Whether they will wash with voters paying hundreds of dollars more is another question. The real problem is that Barack Obama, just as he sought to take care of banks rather than people,[3] sought to take care of health insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies rather than people.[4] And now, just as happens whenever politicians adopt a trickle-down approach, the people are getting screwed.

Peter Sullivan, “Hillary’s ObamaCare problem,” Hill, May 30, 2016, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/281579-hillarys-obamacare-problem

Harambe the gorilla

The thing that catches my attention about this incident is that the zoo apparently had a gun far closer at hand than someone to consider Harambe’s side of this. The authoritative voices mostly back up the zoo—and they mostly (maybe not the Cincinnati Fire Department) have an interest in advocating for zoos. Witnesses suggest that Harambe’s actions seemed far more ambiguous than the zoo and its backers make it out to be.[5] What doesn’t seem to have happened is that “[w]hen gorilla or other apes have things they shouldn’t have, keepers will negotiate with them, bring food, their favorite treats, pineapple or some kind of fruit that they don’t know and negotiate with them.”[6] And that leads me to suspect that maybe food, fruit, or treats ought to have been at least as close at hand as that gun.

Dylan Matthews’ article is interesting in that it points to the hypocrisy of consuming chicken or eggs. He omits the suffering of cattle in slaughterhouses or of fur-bearing animals in fur farms or of other animals raised and kept for production. He doesn’t touch on the environmental catastrophe of the livestock industry in general.[7] These omissions are curious; mostly, when I see criticisms of meat and animal product consumption, they aim at cattle first.

Mark Curnutte, “Social media turns ugly after zoo episode,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 30, 2016, http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/05/30/social-media-turns-ugly-after-zoo-episode/85145396/

Dylan Matthews, “Harambe the gorilla reveals Americans’ hypocrisy about animal suffering,” Vox, May 31, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11820880/harambe-gorilla-chicken-meat

Tony Norman, “The gorilla had to go. But why keep them?” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 31, 2016, http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/tonyman/2016/05/31/Tony-Norman-The-gorilla-had-to-go-But-why-keep-them/stories/201605310085

Madison Park and Emanuella Grinberg, “‘We’d make the same decision,’ zoo director says of gorilla shooting,” CNN, May 31, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/30/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/index.html

Bernie Sanders

Nika Knight, “Bernie Sanders Slams The New York Times for Ignoring ‘Real Issues,’” Truthdig, May 30, 2016, http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/fighting_for_ca_workers_sanders_slams_nyt_for_ignoring_real_issues_20160530

U.S. Senate

Kristina Peterson, “Business Makes Senate Push,” Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2016, http://www.wsj.com/articles/business-makes-senate-push-1464650851

“Thank you for your service”

The sense I got doing some research towards the end of my Master’s program was that veterans felt omitted from the glory heaped upon World War II veterans and sought some sort of recognition. That’s clearly not the whole story.[8] “However kindhearted that ‘thank you’ is, it’s made without much interest in what they’re thanking you for, which is killing people. And, even if one doesn’t personally do it, you’re part of something where that’s the whole purpose or function of it all.”[9]

Matthew Bell, “‘Thanks for your service’ brings up mixed emotions for US veterans,” Public Radio International, May 30, 2016, http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-05-30/thanks-your-service-brings-mixed-emotions-us-veterans

Brexit

Joel Stonington, “UKIP’s Deputy Chair on Brexit: “A huge gamble for both sides,” Deutschewelle, May 31, 2016, http://www.dw.com/en/ukips-deputy-chair-on-brexit-a-huge-gamble-for-both-sides/a-19295750?maca=en-newsletter_en_Newsline-2356-html-newsletter

Horse Race

Lauren McCauley, “‘Rigged’ 2016 Election Has Voters Feeling Helpless, Unheard, and Ashamed,” Common Dreams, May 31, 2016, http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/05/31/rigged-2016-election-has-voters-feeling-helpless-unheard-and-ashamed

Footnotes

  1. [1]Jay Reeves, “Ala. Chief Justice Sues State Agency That Suspended Him For Ethics Charges,” Talking Points Memo, May 30, 2016, http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/roy-moore-sues-state-agency-ethics-charges↩
  2. [2]Peter Sullivan, “Hillary’s ObamaCare problem,” Hill, May 30, 2016, http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/281579-hillarys-obamacare-problem↩
  3. [3]Neil Barofsky, Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street (New York: Free Press, 2012); David Benfell, “Dickens Redux,” August 3, 2011, https://disunitedstates.org/?p=4279; Silla Brush & Robert Schmidt, “How the Bank Lobby Loosened U.S. Reins on Derivatives,” Bloomberg, September 4, 2013, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-04/how-the-bank-lobby-loosened-u-s-reins-on-derivatives.html; J. Andrew Felkerson, “Bail-out Bombshell: Fed ‘Emergency’ Bank Rescue Totaled $29 Trillion Over Three Years,” Alternet, December 15, 2011, http://www.alternet.org/story/153462/bail-out_bombshell%3A_fed_%22emergency%22_bank_rescue_totaled_%2429_trillion_over_three_years; Henry A. Giroux, “Neoliberalism and the Machinery of Disposability,” Truthout, April 8, 2014, http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/22958-neoliberalism-and-the-machinery-of-disposability; Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, “What Krugman & Stiglitz Can Tell Us,” review of End This Depression Now!, by Paul Krugman, andThe Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future, by Joseph E. Stiglitz, New York Review of Books, September 27, 2012,http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/sep/27/what-krugman-stiglitz-can-tell-us/; Paul Krugman, “The Forgotten Millions,” New York Times, December 6, 2012,http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/07/opinion/krugman-the-forgotten-millions.html; Paul Krugman, “Rich Man’s Recovery,” New York Times, September 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/opinion/krugman-rich-mans-recovery.html; Paul Krugman, “The Excel Depression,” New York Times, April 18, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/opinion/krugman-the-excel-depression.html; Paul Krugman, “The Big Shrug,” New York Times, June 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/opinion/krugman-the-big-shrug.html; Paul Krugman, “Defining Prsoperity Down,” New York Times, July 7, 2013,http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/08/opinion/krugman-defining-prosperity-down.html; Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, “Getting Away With It,” review of The Escape Artists: How Obama’s Team Fumbled the Recovery, by Noam Scheiber, Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right, by Thomas Frank, and The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics, by Thomas Byrne Edsall, New York Review of Books, July 12, 2012, http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/jul/12/getting-away-it/; Bob Ivry, Bradley Keoun and Phil Kuntz, “Secret Fed Loans Gave Banks $13 Billion Undisclosed to Congress,” Bloomberg, November 28, 2011, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html; Gretchen Morgenson, “Questions From a Bailout Eyewitness,” New York Times, October 13, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/business/sheila-bairs-big-questions-about-bank-bailouts.html; Gretchen Morgenson, “One Safety Net That Needs To Shrink,” New York Times, November 3, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/business/one-safety-net-that-needs-to-shrink.html; Gretchen Morgenson and Louise Story, “In Financial Crisis, No Prosecutions of Top Figures,” New York Times, April 14, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/business/14prosecute.html; Michael Powell and Andrew Martin, “Foreclosure Aid Fell Short, and Is Fading,” New York Times, March 29, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/30/business/30foreclose.html; Robert Scheer, “Obama’s Friends in Low Places,” Truthdig, September 24, 2013,http://m.truthdig.com/report/item/obamas_friends_in_low_places_20130924; Yves Smith, “Quelle Surprise! San Francisco Assessor Finds Pervasive Fraud in Foreclosure Exam (and Paul Jackson Defends His Meal Tickets Yet Again),” Naked Capitalism, February 16, 2012, http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/quelle-surprise-san-francisco-assessor-finds-pervasive-fraud-in-foreclosure-exam-and-paul-jackson-defends-his-meal-tickets-yet-again.html; Matt Taibbi, “Why Obama’s JOBS Act Couldn’t Suck Worse,” Rolling Stone, April 9, 2012, http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/why-obamas-jobs-act-couldnt-suck-worse-20120409; Jim Tankersley, “As rich gain optimism, lawmakers lose economic urgency,” Washington Post, May 20, 2013,http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-rich-gain-optimism-lawmakers-lose-economic-urgency/2013/05/20/0e4104d2-bf09-11e2-9b09-1638acc3942e_story.html; Matthew Yglesias, “Statistical Discrimination Against the Long-Term Unemployed,” Slate, April 23, 2013,http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/23/long_term_unemployed_face_ferocious_statistical_discrimination.html; Matthew Yglesias, “Amy Klobuchar Asks Bernanke a Great Question and the Fed Chairman Has No Good Answer,” Slate, May 22, 2013, http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/05/22/klobuchar_asks_the_question_on_the_federal_reserve_and_the_dual_mandate.html↩
  4. [4]Brad Jacobson, “Obama received $20 million from healthcare industry in 2008 campaign,” Raw Story, January 12, 2010, http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/01/12/obama-received-20-million-healthcare-industry-money-2008/; Gaius Publius [pseud.], “Obama Got $20 Million from Healthcare Industry in 2008. Was Killing Single-Payer Part of the Deal?” Naked Capitalism, February 5, 2014, http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/02/gaius-publius-obama-got-20-million-healthcare-industry-2008-killing-single-payer-part-deal.html↩
  5. [5]Mark Curnutte, “Social media turns ugly after zoo episode,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 30, 2016, http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2016/05/30/social-media-turns-ugly-after-zoo-episode/85145396/; Dylan Matthews, “Harambe the gorilla reveals Americans’ hypocrisy about animal suffering,” Vox, May 31, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11820880/harambe-gorilla-chicken-meat; Tony Norman, “The gorilla had to go. But why keep them?” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 31, 2016, http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/tonyman/2016/05/31/Tony-Norman-The-gorilla-had-to-go-But-why-keep-them/stories/201605310085; Madison Park and Emanuella Grinberg, “‘We’d make the same decision,’ zoo director says of gorilla shooting,” CNN, May 31, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/30/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/index.html↩
  6. [6]Ian Redmond, quoted in Madison Park and Emanuella Grinberg, “‘We’d make the same decision,’ zoo director says of gorilla shooting,” CNN, May 31, 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/30/us/gorilla-shot-harambe/index.html↩
  7. [7]Dylan Matthews, “Harambe the gorilla reveals Americans’ hypocrisy about animal suffering,” Vox, May 31, 2016, http://www.vox.com/2016/5/31/11820880/harambe-gorilla-chicken-meat↩
  8. [8]Matthew Bell, “‘Thanks for your service’ brings up mixed emotions for US veterans,” Public Radio International, May 30, 2016, http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-05-30/thanks-your-service-brings-mixed-emotions-us-veterans; Rory Fanning, “Thank You for Your Valor, Thank You for Your Service, Thank You, Thank You, Thank You… Still on the Thank-You Tour-of-Duty Circuit, 13 Years Later,” TomDispatch, October 26, 2014, http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175912/tomgram%3A_rory_fanning%2C_why_do_we_keep_thanking_the_troops/; Doug Rawlings, “Don’t Thank Me for My Service,” Toward Freedom, April 17, 2015, http://towardfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3873:don-t-thank-me-for-my-service&catid=29:activism&Itemid=101; Matt Richtel, “Please Don’t Thank Me for My Service,” New York Times, February 21, 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/sunday-review/please-dont-thank-me-for-my-service.html↩
  9. [9]Tim O’Brien, quoted in Matthew Bell, “‘Thanks for your service’ brings up mixed emotions for US veterans,” Public Radio International, May 30, 2016, http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-05-30/thanks-your-service-brings-mixed-emotions-us-veterans↩

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