Problems with Power Families.

Thanks Christy.

Hope the internet keeps ferreting out these conflicts of interest.

“Up front & honest”? You jest. Something about when pigs fly.

My wife works with kindergarteners and they require patience in learning to read but they can do it. Tucker doesn’t seem to have the ability retain information.

Let them know downstairs.

Love the graphic. Perfect for Carlson. Could we cover him with them and mayhaps he’ll disappear?

Since power families won’t be honest about their relatives’ connections, what’s the solution? Better reporting? Should every TV interviewer know the guest’s conflict and ask him/her about it if the guest presents a view that is colored by the conflict? Heh. Imagine such a host’s difficulty in getting guests.

Ergo, we should only elect bastards. Oh, wait! We did that eight and four years ago. (See how dangerous it is when I break with Omerta, eCAHN? *g*)

SD, epu’d from below. I’m here, I’m here. Swim safely. Namaste.

Nah, for Carlson, you’ve got to go for the big guns – Proctocort.

I’m not following your logic. Why does the internet ferreting out conflicts of interest mean that we should elect only bastards?

Oh, dear, you see how dangerous the written word can be? I was speaking to the issue of power families.

Ah, now I can put the lap lump down and make like a tree and leave. *g*

Namaste

I still don’t get it. Why does the existence of Power Families mean we should elect only bastards? Are all non-PF candidates bastards?

Surgeon general’s warning: following barbara’s logic may result in motion sickness.

OT
Mayor of Lansing on WJ is giving vigorous defence of how auto & steel unions helped create the middle class. Good for him.

Nah, nothing that deep. I was merely suggesting that if there were no power families (via bastarddom), maybe we’d have fewer problems. It was just a throw-away comment. My bad. I be sorry.

shit. yesterday glenn greenwald said the beltway culture is “insular, incestuous, unaccountable and bloated with entitlement”. not hyperbole.

Now I get it.

Perhaps a snark tag next time?

hilarious. may i borrow that one?

Sure!

OT: Speaking of power families (sort of) Joan Walch has a great piece on Salon. A scathingn commentary on the W interview with Gibson. I hope this stuff just keeps coming to tell the horrible truth of the work of the past 8 years. These revelations will probably be coming for the rest of my lifetime…

OT – auto industry bailout hearing today. 10am. details at oxdown.

That interview was a tragedy. I’ve never seen a prez look more pitiful. Not to mention how lame Gibson was. Of course I’ve just seen the clips that were shown for purposes of mocking the interview, but it’s hard to believe that the rest was brilliant.

This legacy creation project of W’s is off to a bad start for him. Yipppeee.

Lansing’s Mayor, Virg Benero, has been a powerful voice for a loan to the auto industry. In Congress we have the hand wringing of Reid saying he doesn’t have the votes. Chickenshit bastard!

Yippee, thanks for the laugh. Not brilliant, to be sure, but very, very tragic. Saying he was unprepared for war; how about unprepared for the office from the get-go. A tool.

The mayor is a runnin’ fer gov but bless’em anyhoo.

Did you watch Benero? He was great. More like him. A R caller complained about all the union benefits & work rules, and Benero’s answer was: I’m not going to apologize to you. Followed by his family’s ability to rise to middle classdom thru auto industry jobs and all sorts of other implications about the way this resulted in higher standards of living more broadly.

I loved the fact that he was unapologetic & vigorous.

Did you see on TDS (I think that’s where) they followed the clips of “unprepared for war” with clips of W in the 2000 campaign telling us how he would keep us safe and defend the country. It was brilliant.

It’s a great read. Thanks, RevBev. Snippets follow:

It’s true, though, that Bush didn’t campaign as someone who would quickly start two wars, and commit the U.S. to a belligerent and reckless policy of unilateral preemptive attacks on our enemies based on perceived threats, not hostile actions (that’s the “Bush doctrine,” in case you’re reading, Sarah Palin).

and

One last related distortion was Bush’s lamenting that he hadn’t changed the political tone in Washington. “9/11 unified the country, and that was a moment where Washington decided to work together. I think one of the big disappointments of the presidency has been the fact that the tone in Washington got worse, not better.”

Hmm. Post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy in full bloom.

No, have seen very little of any of it. But Joan recalls the campaign promised of the “humble” foreign policy. Lies from the beginning.

You’re welcome…truly beyond sad. Not only that he was elected…the pervasiveness of his destruction.

Didn’t see him today but have seen him in the past. Live in his neck of the woods so am familiar with his logic and passion.

Any reminder that puts “humble” and W in the same sentence makes my blood boil.

Morning all — just back from a FIL appointment. Sorry to miss the start…glad folks enjoyed the graphic. *g* Now where’s the coffee?

From Merriam-Webster online re humble:

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin humilis low, humble, from humus earth; akin to Greek chthōn earth, chamai on the ground
Date: 13th century
1: not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive
2: reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission
3 a: ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant , unpretentious b: not costly or luxurious

Do you think that he and/or Laura have any idea of the damage? I think Poppa probably does.

I’m looking for models who can put labor back in the picture as it’s importance in the economy. The Rs have successfully perpetrated the myth that corporations create jobs (well, small business if you press them). No one questions it any more. But it’s totally wrong. Consumers create jobs (i.e. demand for products of corporations is what allows corps to add jobs) and consumers are workers.

The only thing Henry Ford got is that, not only did you have to make a product cheap enough for ordinary people to afford, you also had to pay your workers enough so they could afford the products. (Wal-Mart understands the first, but not the second.)

Benero may have a multitude of flaws. That was the first time I even knew about his existence. But loved his defense of workers.

Well, part of that entymology fits, the part about dirt.

Are you refering to the guy that the former Mexican President called the most arrogant man he had ever met?

G’morning, ma’am. Returning to Tucker Carlson et al, this reminds me to ask if the FCC commissioners will change with the new administration. There are a couple of good guys in the group (Adelstein and Copps). Or are we stuck with their five-year terms?

Since the Bushes are, reportedly, neither introspective nor communicative, we’ll never know. I doubt that Poppy has figured it out. It would be too painful for him, so I suspect he’s in denial.

just turned on cspan – this asshole is our commerce secretary? he says there won’t be any innovation in health care (for example new cancer treatments) without the motivation of profits. nothing about basic science, nih funded research, etc. argh.

For an arrogant man, he sure looks dog-faced in his Gibson interview. (No offense to dogs.)

What is “FIL”?

I just picked up a book by Bill McKibben entitled Deep Economy: The Wealth Of Communities And The Durable Future. Got about 3 pages into it at the doc office this morning before getting interrupted, but it’s an intriguing notion about an economy based on overall utility and good versus simply one based on accumulation.

Anyone read it? I was intrigued by the description and am interested in some of the theory and practice info in the book. Would love thoughts/crits if anyone’s read it…

I had to flip it off when he said that Smoot-Hawley was responsible for the depression. Followed quickly by how great the Colombia trade pact would be for jobs if only he could get Congress to pass it.

Father In Law

I listened to McKibben’s End of Nature in 2002. I found him completely OTT, and I’m an environmentalist. I vowed never to read anything else he wrote. His extremism does impedes the goals he is arguing for IMO. YMMV

Hmmmm….thanks. Will keep that in mind as I read this and let you know, then.

Stunning isn’t it? Earlier he said “The effect of currency upon trade is often overstated.” And refused to discuss the unpegging of the Yuan because it should best addressed by only one person.

thanks

Geez, with Guitierrez on cspan and Dana Peroxide on cspan2, I’m up a tree with nothing to watch.

Christy!

Good Morning! This is clear evidence that the Gooper Infestation is still strong in some areas – so, kick-in a crumbling brick on the Bush Wurlitzer, and we’re likely to find Agenda Ideologues racing for the Shadows.

These people don’t want to be responsible for the ‘News’ they worked so hard to Spin out of Ideological Self-Interest.

If you didn’t see Jon Stuart last night, regarding the interview, it’s worth watching. Bush is, at the end, mind boggling. Minus the “affability” and obnoxious swaggering, there is nothing left.

Howard Fineman, the other night, tried to sum it up by saying that Bush really hated government. He said it like I’ve heard it said that he hated graduate school at Harvard and, therefore, did eveything he could to show his dislike. It’s like some kids do when they can’t perform well in an activity, sports, music, etc.; – act like it’s a stupid and useless pasttime.

Please…what does she, DP, have to say?

Yes, let me know. I find there’s a lot of hair-brained stuff that goes on in the environmental community, a lot of complete lack of command of the obvious wrt economics. I prefer the environmentalists who try to work within the constraints of both economics (consumers are fundamentally insatiable and it is folly to expect them not to be) and politics (polluters are effective lobbyists.)

Yet, we got “close enough” to elect him twice. That is pretty sickening as well.

“You know, you guys are just plain meanies. The president is huddled in a corner, sucking his thumb because he’s just so upset about how misunderstood he is. Show a little compassion, people!” /s

That’s what I was referring to in 28.

How great the SOFA is, how they couldn’t grade the auto corp plan yet, but thought the Administration plan was the best one, etc.

Barbara, of course, you are right. As for me, I just wish he had huddled over there alittle sooner, dontcha know.

Morning to you, too — and, yes, it’s not like asking these asshats to simply disclose a personal, familial conflict of interest up front does anything other than inform their readers of potential bias. Which you’d think the readers (or viewers) would be entitled to know in a world where pundits were honest instead of smarmy shills.

But, there you go…

Honestly, I wouldn’t have bothered with this at all were it not for the fact that the pardons will still be coming out from now until the end of BushCo. And if Tucker gets booked on some talking head show to blather endlessly about poor Scooter, the multiple-felony-convicted traitor convicted by a jury of his peers on multiple counts? I want no interviewers to have the excuse not to ask him about his father’s involvement in the Libby Defense Fun, his role in gaining Scooter’s wingnut welfare and so on. Because it’s relevent as to WHY Tucker thinks the way he does and promotes a Libby pardon every chance he gets to open his mouth.

I agree, but “what you mean WE?” :)

That was not Henry Ford’s original idea but one of his underlings, whose name I can’t recall, who convinced him to pay his employees a wage that enabled them to buy the product.

Good question: Not “me & thee” I would assume ;)

Christy,

Here’s another analogy for describing how I reacted to McKibben and his environmentalists ilk: they live in a reality creation world instead of a reality based world. The analogy isn’t perfect but it gets at my point.

I definitely would like to know if I’m wrong. Would be only too happy to revise my opinion & read a book that has productive and possible solutions.

Christy, Do you not assume it’s a done-deal without Tuck?

Thanks. I didn’t know that. But at least Ford listened, which is more than some who we know!

No idea — it’s probable, but that doesn’t give Carlson a pass on being a dishonest, self-interested asshat. He’s been commenting on this case for years now, without once disclosing the conflict of interest that I’ve seen.

Which is why I point this out every fricking time he opens his mouth about it. It’s dishonest to readers and/or viewers who haven’t followed this closely — and he ought to be called publicly on it. It’s one of those things that galls me, and so…I continue to push it forward, because no matter how irrelevent Tucker Carlson may be in the grand scheme of things, he’s still a smarmy weasel. *g*

Will let you know if it’s on the productive side of things — or the “airy fairy” side. If I get more than two chapters in without having to stop in disgust, that’s usually telling. So I’ll know by the weekend…

Remind me what are the consequences of a pardon. I think I remember that you can no longer take the Fifth, once pardoned, and therefore Libby can be called upon to testify about everything Plamegate. Thought that was the reason for commutation instead of pardon.

barbara — while I’m thinking about it, how’s your brothre doing? And how are you doing with it? I’ve been meaning to pick your brain on surviving long-term caregiving. I’m getting worn out already 2 months into my FIL moving in with us, and finding myself wondering the best way to pace myself and make certain this works well for all of us over the long haul. Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated…

Thanks. I certainly understand that perspective. I was thinking more that his influence in the decision is unlikely. But of course, his daddy connection counts.

What a nice morning chat. Thanks. One of us has to go to work pretty soon. Have a lovely day. Rev.

That’s the biggie — for Libby, anyway. It removes the taint of conviction, so you can work toward restoration of voting rights, etc., as well and it allows for a restoration of some level of security clearance in some cases — although Libby’s actions would likely make that a tough one to argue, or should in a common sense world, anyway. (”Um…my crime? Helping to out an undercover CIA agent…but it was for the good of my boss’s reputation at the time and then I spent months on end lying to the public, prosecutors, investigators and others about my misconduct in order to protect my boss’s ass at all costs, damn the consequences?”)

Thanks.

The graphic set me off in a fit of giggles — and so I had to use it. *G*

I’ve had some experience in caring for ill, loved ones and I hope I’m not intruding my offering my $0.02 of advice.

First, recognize that it is a 24- hour job and make a schedule that allows you to handle all your chores and get enough rest … you don’t need two sick people around. Get as much aid/assistance that you can … this is a high stress job and you need all the help you can get.

If you’re not able to handle it, don’t feel guilty about putting him in a care facility … I know how heart wrenching
that is but sometimes, you have to choose the lesser of two evils.

Thanks much — that’s helpful. It is high stress, mainly for me because I’m a hermit by nature and suddenly my quiet is mostly not so quiet these days. Am finding ways to adjust, but finding your equilibrium again takes time.

I’m horrid about making time for myself or “putting my oxygen mask on first and then helping others” as one of my friends describes it. But I’m working on that as well — because it’s better for everyone if I do so. Thanks much for your thoughts — much appreciated.

That is such good advice. I work with alot of long-term care facilities, and families have such stress and responsibilities even in that arrangement. The physical and emotional stressors are multiple and intense. I would also add, for what it’s worth, there is a lot of good material on this topic, books/articles, a search (something like Eldercare, I think). But there is some very helpful information. Truly, one person cannot do it all.

We have been taught a wrong definition of “selfless”, which is the cornerstone of my book(still looking for a Publisher) and this has been going on since the beginning of civilization.

consumers are fundamentally insatiable and it is folly to expect them not to be

are you sure this is innate and not a function of culture (especially advertising and mass media)? i’m not so sure that’s not an assumption made in economics that is true for our culture, but not more fundamentally. not claiming it’s one way or the other – just that we don’t know and that the environmental / resource constraints we face might justify a rethink.

http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/1754

back in nov, i wrote a short diary of an imaginary interview done by the artist ‘pink’ with the bushes (from her song ‘dear mr. president’)…weird how the real one with gibson was just as absurd. mine is set after they are back in texas, can’t wait to hear what is coming out of his mouth by then.

anyone else having a browser issue with the lake? am having serious problems. it’s why i haven’t been here.script warning issues, has taken tthirtyty minutes to post this. already did all of the normal ‘fix-it’ things.

Ive been on for awhile; no problems here. I have no fix-it know how.

What browser are you using?

This is completely FWIW and doesn’t require and acknowledgement as every situation is completely different. My wife’s parents, when they were in their 80’s, recognized that they needed someone nearby to take care of them. With my wife’s help, they sold their home and moved about a quarter of a mile from us. Luckily, they had the resources for her to hire someone to stay with them and she checked on them muliple times per day. The amount of time people stayed with them ultimately increased from about 8 hrs. per day to 24 hrs per day. My wife had to shop to find organizations who could supply approapriate teams to stay with them. At the end, before my mother-in-law passed away, the care was costing at a rate of about 70K per year. As I said, they had the means, which was getting used up at a rapid rate, but it did allow them to stay in their own home and allowed us to have more of a life. Again, FWIW.

Thanks much — appreciate that, too. Navigating what is and isn’t available and possible is exhausting on its own, isn’t it? We’re at the front end of that, and I don’t imagine it getting easier as we move forward, but it is good to know that folks have found ways to deal with all of this under various situations.

went to firefox after the last fdl upgrade, a month or so ago started getting script warnings, from tabs i wasn’t even reading but had kept or reference…realized fdl pages were ‘running’ in the background and warning would come back much later on….now, script doesn’t want to work and goes off into never never land. now, all of a sudden, i am typing this normally, and now, nope, the wheel is hung up. is only happening with fdl. i have an older mac, has always happened with fdl, no other sites. pages don’t even want to load. dunno, bu ti gave up until this morning. decided to see if it would work. it isn’t.

have been able to read older posts most of the time. but reloading live pages and submitting comments not working very well….although for no apparent reason i have been able to type these last 8 or so sentences with no problem. unreal. i didn’t change a thing.dunno.

Hmmmm…am on safari and not having any issues, and haven’t heard of any other problems for folks with Firefox. But will check with the tech folks and lt you know if I hear anything…

Have you tried any other browsers?

I use Firefox on a newer Mac … no issues recently …

people i know who have done this approached it like you would with kids–get him settled-in and comfy and go off and do your thing. he needs his own ’space’ too. i don’t know any way to adjust to the last minuteness of his medical schedule, casseroles and crockpots. lots of soups.

if he is the type of person that had organizational skills or was involved in his family he might have some suggestions for you. he might want to help you figure out how to make it better. feel like he is helping you when he can’t in other ways. maybe there are ways he can make it easier or has an idea or two.
one thing to keep in mind is that he had his routine, his own life, too, and no longer does….make a new plan and let him and your family help you play with it. everyone needs to center into their own routine anew. what is really necessary for them to be content and comfortable and what is necessary for you to provide it? the basics. then enter in what you need and add on from there.

i have a relative who ‘overdid’ things, and as soon as her extra work was pointed out, redesigned how she was doing things, her life was a lot easier. she overdid it because she cared, and got caught up in trying to maintain a level that wasn’t possible, and wasn’t necessary after she looked at what they needed and how she was doing things. she was loading her efforts onto them when they did fine with less work on them, more care on herself, time wise.

and i’m able to type this and submit just fine now. thanks to the fdl fairies. or the mac fairies.

yep, explorer, safari, had to go to firefox with the last upgrade, for some reason it’s working fine, no kidding, hasn’t worked at all for a while, i have no idea……

thanks to all.

Try to catch newtonusr, he’s on at nights mostly … he’s a Mac expert.

thanks. my friend who built this mac says it’s cuz it’s a tri-plane and i try to fly it like a jet. that ‘it’s old’, so, sites ‘won’t want to talk to it’. when he built it, he said it would be good to go for about two years, he was dead on.

good news is, won;t be for much longer. he’s building a G5 for me that we got for a song from another friend!!! yayah!!! said it will ‘run on triggabyte fuel’.

am looking for a monitor now, will end up having about 400 bucks into the whole thing. can’t believe it. a loaded G5 for 400 bucks and lots of baked goods. i am blessed on the friends and family front.

i can’t wait. hello itunes. hello video editing. hello helloooo.

Lansing’s Mayor, Virg Benero, has been a powerful voice for a loan to the auto industry. In Congress we have the hand wringing of Reid saying he doesn’t have the votes. Chickenshit bastard!

Slightly OT, but why does “everyone” [i.e., MSM] assume we’ll get the same Congressional leadership — Reid & Pelosi? Isn’t leadership elected with each new Congress [i.e., every two years]? Thus someone WITH balls could challenge Reid and perhaps win?

Do folks not know this, or is it just assumed that Congressional Democrats will continue plodding along in their go-along-get-along way?

Hmmmm…am on safari and not having any issues, and haven’t heard of any other problems for folks with Firefox. But will check with the tech folks and lt you know if I hear anything…

I generally love firefox, but it doesn’t allow the “show text” feature of fdl to work. Don’t know why. It’s been that way for several versions. Thus my constant cut-n-paste when I comment.

Christy at 62 – You’re so right! And, We know it’s coming, too!

The Backers are going to pull the Puny Libby up on their narrow shoulders and stumble behind Cheerleader Jeffress to a fanfare of:

- “He was Ideologically Pure!”
- Completely Loyal!
- He Selflessly Threw Himself in Front of IIPA Charges Intended for Cheney and Bush!
- He kept His 440-Page File Drawer of “Get Wilson” Evidence Documents (Treated As) Secret!
- He was Unfairly Scapegoated for Rove!
- He Sacrificed His Career in Law, and Gave-Up His Vote, too!

They’ll have Bush Sobbing like a Baby that can’t ‘make something right’ fast enough!

No idea — it’s probable, but that doesn’t give Carlson a pass on being a dishonest, self-interested asshat. He’s been commenting on this case for years now, without once disclosing the conflict of interest that I’ve seen.

Also deserving of a fair amount of scorn & attention: whatever asshat media person it is who lets him pontificate without forcing such disclosure.

PS – my spellcheck is underlining “asshat.” Guess I’ll have to add it to my on-line dictionary.

I generally love firefox, but it doesn’t allow the “show text” feature of fdl to work. Don’t know why. It’s been that way for several versions. Thus my constant cut-n-paste when I comment.

I’ve had the same problem, so I asked about it and was told that the “show text” feature is broken. It doesn’t much work anymore unless perhaps some are using an old version of IE for a browser. I was told that they are working toward fixing it, but nothing so far. Maybe the next time they upgrade they will fix the problem.

I do not know when the “show text” problems arise; but I do not have those problems. I hope it gets fixed for you soon.