Peace Out.

Peace, or at least its most popular symbol, seems to be enjoying a brief renaissance. Last week at the PBS affair we were treated to peace symbol necklaces made from the fence at Woodstock. I dutifully passed mine on to John Morris, who was Technical Director at the original event.

Last night, Leslie and I attended a soiree at a friend's home. All of the guests were given peace symbols made from some spent glass from the Manhattan Project. We got a big heavy sharp piece of the slag and I am sure hoping that it is inert and not radioactive but if it ain't at least I will save on nightlights.

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I have been in the trenches recently commenting on a far right blog, Bloodthirsty Liberal. Intelligent people with a deep malice towards our president and all things liberal.  It keeps all of us on our toes to have to defend our respective intellectual positions in the thick of the opposition. So I break up the little sycophantic rah rah session. Actually they are very cordial, really. We were in the midst of a spirited discussion about the economic meltdown and we started talking about race. I feel that there is an underlying racist element to the Tea Bag and conservative movement. Witness the photos going around of witchdoctor Obama with a bone going through his nose. Carol, another commenter sent me this snippet.

...If you go looking for it intently, you can turn just about anything into something racial, including my remark in the first paragraph. The problem lies with people who see absolutely everything in racial terms and can’t understand that if Thomas Sowell or Walter Williams were president of the United States, no conservative would have a problem at all. 


Conservatives believe that we now live in a post racial world. In fact in the view of many of them the only people guilty of racism today are minorities themselves. In their view, the blatant racism that has surfaced is the work of a few misguided extremists and after all, both sides have them. Minorities still feel structurally blocked by the system. Are either of the two narratives correct? I wish that I felt that we have gone beyond race but thinks that it still lurks as a largely unspoken component of the conversation.

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Interesting new book out. Joshua Holland's The Fifteen Biggest Lies about the Economy (And Everything Else the Right Doesn't Want You to Know about Taxes, Jobs, and Corporate America). Look forward to reading it. A summary here.


Liberals look at the trashy mortgage credit derivative swaps, conservatives choose to look at Fannie and Freddie. Where does the truth actually lie?


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Attorney General Eric Holder warned today that the feds will go after marijuana smokers, no matter if Proposition 19 passes or not.


Marijuana is illegal under federal law, which drug agents will "vigorously enforce" against anyone carrying, growing or selling it, Holder said.


Funny, this is the same guy who said that the Obama Administration would respect state marijuana laws last year. 


This is what happens when politicians get so-opted. This is why I have little respect for Obama. He has limited governing or political skills and his positions change like the wind. Now his Justice Department is trying to reinstall DADT. Contrast him with a savvy political animal like Bill Clinton and you see why the government is in such bad shape today. It's not all his fault, he was dealt a very bad hand, but there are still plenty of problems that he needs to own up to of his own creation. He's starting to look like Carter. Not impressed.