DonViejo
DonViejo's JournalPope Francis is a far cry from the Reaganist Pope John Paul II he just canonized
By Andrew Brown, The Guardian
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 4:20 EDT
Inequality is the root of social evil, Pope Francis has tweeted, only a day after he canonised Pope John Paul II, a man regarded by American rightwingers as the spiritual arm of Ronald Reagan. So, Saint John Paul II is now officially stowed in heaven, and his attitude to capitalism has been consigned to the attic where the Catholic church keeps its lumber of discarded opinions.
Francis has been saying things a lot like this for years, most recently last autumn. Each time, the voices of largely American conservatives explaining that he has been misunderstood get a little less self-assured. It is – even for a Republican party hack – difficult to mistake what the Pope meant, although one site has already made a heroic attempt by translating the tweet into Latin: it appears to be a denunciation of injustice rather than inequality. But in last autumn’s essay, Evangelii Gaudium, Francis wrote that: “Just as the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say ‘Thou shalt not’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills … Today everything comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find themselves excluded and marginalised: without work, without possibilities, without any means of escape. Human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded.”
The claim that human beings have an intrinsic value in themselves, irrespective of their usefulness to other people, is one that unites Christianity and socialism. It can be even found somewhere in the shadows of Marxism, but there humans gain their value from history, and when they stand in its way, that’s tough for them, as the millions of Stalin’s victims could tell us. But if you think the market is the real world, it makes no sense at all, since in the market, value is simply the outcome of supply and demand.
The American Christian right is convinced that God so loves everyone that there is no need for anyone else to do so. Pope Francis harks back to a much earlier tradition of distrust for the market, which had been dominant in American Christianity until the rise of Reaganism. Then, a group of Catholic intellectuals, some former Protestants such as Richard John Neuhaus, reacted against the liberalism of the 1960s by proclaiming that the church was far more than social work and that only the market allowed people the moral freedom essential to the Christian vision. Equality was to these people fundamentally immoral.
more
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/29/pope-francis-is-a-far-cry-from-the-reaganist-pope-john-paul-ii-he-just-canonized/
Obama administration’s transportation bill would end some tax breaks for businesses
Source: Reuters
By Reuters
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 12:29 EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Tuesday sent a four-year transportation reauthorization bill to Congress that aims to plug a pending shortage in funding for repair and construction of America’s bridges, roads and transit systems.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said funding would come by ending certain tax breaks for businesses.
That suggests it will have trouble gaining traction on Capitol Hill, especially among tax-averse Republicans in the House of Representatives.
The U.S. Highway Trust fund traditionally has been bankrolled by taxes on gasoline and diesel, but with fuel use stagnant the fund is not bringing in enough revenue to cover the nation’s infrastructure needs. It is projected to run out of money as soon as August.
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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/29/obama-administrations-transportation-bill-would-end-some-tax-breaks-for-businesses/
Sen. Patrick Leahy blocks Egyptian military aid over ‘appalling abuse of the justice system’
Source: Reuters
By Reuters
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 12:26 EDT
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, said on Tuesday he will not approve sending funds to the Egyptian military, denouncing a “sham trial” in which a court sentenced 683 people to death.
“I’m not prepared to sign off on the delivery of additional aid for the Egyptian military,” the Vermont Democrat said in a speech on the Senate floor, explaining why he would hold up the $650 million.
“I’m not prepared to do that until we see convincing evidence the government is committed to the rule of law,” Leahy said.
The Obama administration said last week it would deliver 10 Apache attack helicopters and $650 million to Egypt’s military, relaxing a partial suspension of aid imposed after Egypt’s military ousted President Mohamed Mursi last year and cracked down violently on protesters.
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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/29/sen-patrick-leahy-blocks-egyptian-military-aid-over-appalling-abuse-of-the-justice-system/
Fox News host asks torture-backer John Yoo: ‘Is there a manhood problem’ with Obama?
By David Edwards
Tuesday, April 29, 2014 10:09 EDT
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on Monday talked with John Yoo, the former DOJ Office of Legal Counsel deputy who wrote memos arguing President George W. Bush had unlimited power to use torture on detainees, to find out if President Barack Obama had a “manhood problem” when it came to dealing with terrorists.
Kilmeade began the interview on Fox & Friends by asking Yoo if he was outraged that NBC host David Gregory had asserted that part of President George W. Bush’s legacy was failing to deal with extremism in a sustainable way.
“It’s like saying firefighters are responsible for fire, or during the Cold War, it was our fault and not the Soviet’s fault,” Yoo argued, reminding Kilmeade that the Bush administration had invaded Afghanistan after 9/11.
“I worry that this administration has let its foot off the gas pedal in the war on terrorism, and is actually allowing al Qaeda to rebound,” he added. “I think now… what’s going on is that we are withdrawing from Iraq, we are withdrawing from Afghanistan, we are allowing Islamic extremists to get back into power, and restore the network that we spent so much time destroying.”
Yoo reflected on aggressive actions from Russia and China, and said that Obama “may think he’s hitting singles and doubles” with his foreign policy, “but I worry he’s standing there at the plate and watching third strikes go by.”
“Is there a manhood problem as David Brooks brought up as this president is perceived in the Middle East?” Kilmeade wondered.
Yoo said he wasn’t sure if it was because of the president’s “manhood,” but Obama was pursuing a “passive foreign policy that worries me.”
“American withdrawal from the world is going to have terrible costs on the world and on the United States,” he declared.
Watch the video below from Fox News’ Fox & Friends, broadcast April 29, 2014.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/04/29/fox-news-host-asks-torture-backer-john-yoo-is-there-a-manhood-problem-with-obama/
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Posted with permission
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar blames “poor” Donald Sterling’s “sexy nanny” girlfriend for “cajoling him into r
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar blames “poor” Donald Sterling’s “sexy nanny” girlfriend for “cajoling him into revealing his racism”The legendary former player and member of multiple championship teams says Sterling is a racist but also a victim
ELIAS ISQUITH
Writing in Time Magazine, NBA legend — and onetime Los Angeles Clippers* coach — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar argues that while Donald Sterling is an awful racist whose public shaming is to be celebrated and is well-deserved, Sterling’s mistress used her sexuality to fool the aged Sterling into saying a bunch of racist nonsense and thus should be condemned, too.
After pointing out that Sterling’s history of racism is voluminous and has been part of the public record for years, Abdul-Jabbar writes that Sterling should’ve been shunned from the NBA and polite company long, long ago. Yet rather than continue to explain how Sterling has misbehaved in his business practices as well as his stewardship of the Clippers, Abdul-Jabbar turns instead to Sterling’s mistress, whom the former NBA superstar clearly suspects of recording and releasing the damning audio.
“And now the poor guy’s girlfriend (undoubtedly ex-girlfriend now) is on tape cajoling him into revealing his racism,” Abdul-Jabbar writes. “Man, what a winding road she led him down to get all of that out. She was like a sexy nanny playing ‘pin the fried chicken on the Sambo.’ She blindfolded him and spun him around until he was just blathering all sorts of incoherent racist sound bites that had the news media peeing themselves with glee.”
more
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/28/kareem_abdul_jabbar_blames_poor_donald_sterlings_sexy_nanny_girlfriend_for_cajoling_him_into_revealing_his_racism/
Supreme Court hands major EPA victory to Obama administration
Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The ruling marks an important step to reducing power plant pollution. Scalia and Thomas (predictably) dissented
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court has given the Environmental Protection Agency an important victory in its effort to reduce power plant pollution that contributes to unhealthy air in neighboring states.
The court’s 6-2 decision Tuesday means that a rule adopted by EPA in 2011 to limit emissions from plants in more than two-dozen Midwestern and Southern states can take effect. The pollution drifts into the air above states along the Atlantic Coast and the EPA has struggled to devise a way to control it.
Power companies and several states sued to block the rule from taking effect, and a federal appeals court in Washington agreed with them in 2012.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the court’s majority opinion. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.
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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/04/29/supreme_court_hands_major_epa_victory_to_obama_administration/
Senate To Vote On Minimum Wage Hike: GOP Filibuster Expected
SAHIL KAPUR – APRIL 29, 2014, 10:15 AM EDT
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has set up a procedural vote in the Senate for Wednesday to advance a bill hiking the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, a central campaign issue for Democrats ahead of the 2014 congressional elections.
Sixty votes are needed to break a filibuster, and Democrats are unlikely to get there because not a single Republican senator is on board.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), is strongly backed by President Barack Obama. It would phase in the federal minimum wage hike, from the existing $7.25 per house, to $10.10 per hour over three years.
Harkin will be joined by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Al Franken (D-MN) to tout the bill in the Capitol on Tuesday. Democrats have threatened to hold repeated votes on the measure in the event of a Republican filibuster.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/senate-vote-minimum-wage
Santorum: Obama's 'Minions' Privately Told Me They Thought I Could Beat Him
CATHERINE THOMPSON – APRIL 29, 2014, 9:46 AM EDT
Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum suggested Tuesday that Barack Obama's campaign team told him they were privately afraid the former senator could have ridden a wave of working-class votes to beat the President in the 2012 election.
Appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to promote his new book "Blue Collar Conservatives," Santorum was asked whether he thought he'd win if his family was game to launch another presidential bid. He lost the Republican nomination last time around to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).
"Look, I thought I could have won last time," he said. "I'm convinced. You know I asked one of the Obama minions who were running the campaign 'Hey, why didn't you guys help me? I was up there battling Romney and all these folks at MSNBC were saying wouldn't this be great if Santorum were the nominee, why didn't you help me? Why didn't you go out and bang me a little a bit, hit me you know, as being too conservative?'"
"And the consensus was, 'We didn't want you, because of this,'" Santorum added, holding up his book.
more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rick-santorum-obamas-minions-thought-i-could-beat-him
Surprise! Clippers Owner Sterling A Misogynist, Too
Sordid Subplot Appears To Show Another Ugly Side Of Donald Sterling
DYLAN SCOTT – APRIL 29, 2014, 6:00 AM EDT
There is a subplot in the ongoing saga of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his alleged racism, one that involves his much-younger girlfriend as well as his wife of more than 50 years.
It's sordid and ugly, but it helps to reveal the other side of Sterling: Not only does he appear to hold racially backward views, but he is also apparently something of a sexual libertine with extremely unpleasant thoughts to share about women.
Sterling's attitude about the women in his life made an appearance in the audio recording that exploded over the weekend. He allegedly instructed V. Stiviano, his younger girlfriend, to avoid appearing in public and at Clippers' games with black people. In a more extensive version of the tape published by Deadspin, the voice alleged to be Sterling also let Stiviano know exactly how much she means to him.
"I don't want to change," the voice attributed to Sterling says when Stiviano suggests that he can change his racial views. "If my girl can't do what I want, I don't want the girl. I'll find a girl that will do what I want! Believe me. I thought you were that girl -- because I tried to do what you want. But you're not that girl."
more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/donald-sterling-mistress-wife-lawsuit
White racism won’t just die off: No utopia awaits when retrograde attitudes like Donald Sterling and
White racism won’t just die off: No utopia awaits when retrograde attitudes like Donald Sterling and Cliven Bundy’s are goneSterling and Bundy belong to a different generation, but Paul Ryan and the Supreme Court are enshrining white power
BRITTNEY COOPER
Plantation metaphors are generally considered an inelegant way to speak about America’s ongoing problems with racial discrimination. Such metaphors seemingly gloss over the long civil rights movement, which provided the center upon which 20th-century politics pivoted. Talk of plantations make it seem as though nothing has changed.
What, then, should we do when it is revealed that the Nevada rancher encroaching on public lands, who has captured the hearts of the GOP, also not so surprisingly believes that cotton picking and the institution of slavery of which it was a central part served black people well — especially black women — by giving us “something to do”? What should we do when the owner of the L.A. Clippers insists his mixed-race black and Mexican girlfriend not bring black people to his games, even though the majority of players on the team are black?
(After we scratch our heads at the idiocy that would cause the local chapter of the NAACP to give such a man a lifetime achievement award, after clear knowledge of multiple racist incidents in his past, then perhaps we put the choice words of Lil Wayne and Snoop Dogg on repeat.)
What should we do when the Supreme Court chooses to enable and perpetuate our national campaign of dishonesty about the continued and pervasive challenge of racial discrimination by upholding Michigan’s ban on affirmative action?
more
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/29/white_racism_wont_just_die_off_no_utopia_awaits_when_retrograde_attitudes_like_donald_sterling_and_cliven_bundys_are_gone/
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Name: DonGender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
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