BuzzFlash.org - Steven Jonas

Dr. J.'s BF Commentary No. 85: The Mumbai Massacre: Who Benefits?

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:58:01 -0600

by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH

In the past month or two, peace talks have been going on between the new, democratically elected (!) government of Pakistan and the Congress Party government of India (democratically elected, of course). The peace talks would eventually have to get to the status of the disputed region of Kashmir, of course. They would ultimately be considered successful only if a final settlement was reached of that dispute which was set up by the British when they left the Indian Raj split in two in 1947 (three, actually, for the original Pakistan had an East portion, now Bangladesh, and a West portion, now Pakistan). Initiated by the new Pakistani President, a businessman, they have focused at a much lower level, concerning such matters as visa-free travel (at present there are not even scheduled flights between the two nations' capitals), the opening up of trade between the two countries on a broad scale (essential for the Pakistani economy, now heavily dependent on the International Monetary Fund for its survival), and a joint "no nuclear first strike" treaty.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: U.S. Energy Policy: A Brief History

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:15:18 -0600

It is often said that the United States "has no energy policy," that we "need to develop one as quickly as possible," and that it should be based on alternate fuels and more importantly, alternate and renewable energy sources. Well the last two parts are true; the first is definitely not. As we enter an era of debate on and development of a new energy policy, it is very important to understand these facts. We would not be substituting something for nothing. Rather we would be replacing the current energy policy with another one. Further, the new one would be highly antithetical to the interests (to say nothing of the profits) of the developers and defenders of the old one. They would (and indeed will) constitute a very powerful enemy of change. It is impossible to estimate just how far they will go in defending their interests. But these folks have fought dirty in the past and there is no reason to believe that they will change their stripes anytime soon. But no old policy can be changed to a new one if one does not clearly understand just what the present one is.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: Why the Republicans Want to Kill GM

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:51:49 -0600

Remember the original bailout package? Yes, that one was some years ago for some hedge fund or funds. The Republicans were all for that one. Several billions. Then there was the bailout/buyout package for Bear Stearns. Billions more. Lehman Bros. wasn't so lucky (but then again it's primarily Goldman Sachs folks who populate this Treasury Dept., not Lehman folks). Then came the broader financial sector $700 billion bailout, the first draft of which was essentially written on the back of a paper napkin. (OK, that's an exaggeration. It was actually two-and-a-half typed pages long.) That package eventually got into a very long bill. It was eventually passed to help the investment banking sector recover from its excesses of greed in the process of securitizing mortgage loans.

The process was enabled, courtesy of McCain's Treasury Secretary-designate Phil Gramm and the repeal of the New Deal Era Glass-Steagal Act. It had separated investment and commercial banking to forestall exactly the kind of financial meltdown that has occurred over the past six months, courtesy of investment banks not being required to have the reserves to back up mortgage loans at anywhere near the level commercial banks are still required to hold. And then there is AIG, running through government funds at a great rate, currently around $150 billion. Boy those resort/spa costs are high, aren't they? No problem there for the Republicans.

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Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Murdoch Changes; Palin on Africa; Obama and Afghanistan

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:57:11 -0600

Straws in the Wind: Murdoch

If your neck got turned around watching "Fox and Friends" on the Fox "News" Channel almost immediately following the Obama victory, you are likely not alone. I can't say that they did a 180-degree turn, but they went at least 90 degrees, at least in what I saw. No more Ayers/Rezko/Wright 24/7. All of a sudden they were doing three things. The President-elect was being treated with a modicum of respect. They were back to spending lots of time on "schoolgirl gets dumped from school bus two miles from home" stories. The "anti-Democrat Party" red meat that they regularly feed their loyal listeners (such as the soon-to-be-former Vice President) came in smaller amounts and was hardly so red anymore.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: What Certain Folks Will Miss About George Bush

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 10:15:54 -0600

On the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times of November 2, 2008, six contributors were asked to respond to the question "What Will I Miss About President Bush". As The Times said, "The Op-Ed editors asked six writers to reflect on what they have most admired about him." The comments were thus generally encomiums of one sort or another. Although I hate, just hate, bringing facts into situations such as this, especially when it involves right-wingers, who are so sensitive to the introduction of facts into any discussion, I thought that a few comments on the factual side might be in order.

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Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Negative Advertising v. Negative Advertising, On to ACORN, Kristol v. Kristol

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:09:09 -0500

Negative Advertising v. Negative Advertising

As we enter the last week of the presidential election campaign, much has been made and much continues to be made of "negative campaigning." The mainstream media makes much of the issue, even though it has a long-standing tradition in American politics going back to the early 19th century. But I'm confused. The MSM's usual take on what's going on is "a plague on both your houses," as if both campaigns were engaging in the same kind of campaigning that can described as "negative." So the McCain campaign says Sen. Obama is a "socialist" while the Obama campaign says that Sen. McCain voted for Bush policies 90% of the time. Sarah Palin says that Sen. Obama has been "pallin' around with terrorists," while Sen. Obama points out that Sen. McCain's proposed tax cuts benefit only the wealthy. A McCain Minnesota robo-call, which ends with the statement "this call as approved by the Republican National Committee and Sen. John McCain" says that Sen. Obama was a "close associate of the terrorist [Prof. William] Ayers," (demonstrably untrue) while Sen. Obama points out that Sen. McCain is on record as proposing to appoint Supreme Court justices who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.

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Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Powell Endorsement, Fannie and Freddie, The Ayers Thing, continued

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:01:19 -0500

The Significance of the Powell Endorsement

There are many reasons why the Colin Powell endorsement of Barack Obama is significant and will indeed be included in that fairly small category of "endorsements that do make a difference," Republican whining to the contrary notwithstanding. A number of those reasons have been discussed, at length. Two that have received less attention are as follows. President Clinton was perceived in the African-American community as the first "black" President, a "white black," if you will. Similarly, Sec./Gen. Powell is perceived in certain segments of the white community, especially among service members and veterans, segments that otherwise may well be tinged with racism, as an OK black, a "black white," if you will. Thus for these folks, the Powell endorsement gives Obama a very important imprimatur. "Well, if Gen. Powell says he's OK, then I guess he's OK, even if he is black." It's as if the Secretary is giving them permission to vote for Obama, even if he is (literally) an African-American.

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Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Palin; Campaign Racism; Guilt by Association; David Brooks

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:50:09 -0500

Palin's Debate Performance: Where Was the Box?

Palin's debate performance has been much discussed. One element not noticed was the technological advances made by Republican debate managers since 2004. Bush's rectangular control box was clearly visible. (Too bad Kerry didn't ask him about it, but he was much too much of a "gentleman" to do so. Who was it who said "nice guys finish last?" [Actually is was the great Leo Durocher, who managed to manage both the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants in the glory days of New York baseball, 1941-1957, before they both deserted us for California.]) At any rate, they obviously are now masters of miniaturization. But still one wonders just where they hid the Palin control box.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: Follow Your Ideology off a Cliff, and Then Keep Going

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:51:01 -0500

Well the stock market is crashing, credit is freezing up, unemployment is rising precipitously. An institution called the "free market" bears a major responsibility for this state of affairs, perhaps the total responsibility. So how did this happen? Isn't the "free market" supposed to be self-regulatory? Isn't the "free market" supposed to be the best determinant of the best distribution of goods and services in society?

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: Bill Kristol's McCain Rx (but is it covered by Medicare?)

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:55:13 -0500

We liberals and progressives (I count myself one of the latter) were shocked, SHOCKED, I tell you, when The New York Times took on one of the Far Right's loudest barking dogs, Bill Kristol, as a weekly columnist. "How could they do that?" the question was asked. After all, he's got his own weekly right-wing Republican ScreamPaper, Rupert Murdoch's The Weekly Standard. And he is a standard feature of the Fox "News" Channel's flock of "political analysts," otherwise known as Republican flacks. How could they? Well, now we know.

It has been becoming increasingly obvious that the reason The Times took on Kristol has nothing to do with "balance." They've got their resident right-winger, David Brooks (although admittedly somehow he does manage to say something sensible every now and then). And they are suppressive/censorial of certain types of real news such that the highly estimable Media Matters does go after them every now and again. So "balance" it ain't. Actually, with the publication of Kristol's latest column, "How McCain Wins" (The New York Times, Sept. 29, 2008) it has become clear that what The Times had in mind was nothing but exposure -- exposure of what a fatuous, outdated, head-in-the-sand "thinker" (if one can actually use that term to describe Kristol) the man is.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: The October Surprise

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:25:01 -0500

There has been much speculation both about the possibility of a Georgite "October Surprise" this year and if there is one, what it might be. Iran? Pakistan? A(nother) false flag attack on U.S. soil? Any of these could be used as an excuse to launch a military strike against another country (with what weaponry one is not sure, given the state of the U.S. armed forces, but that is another matter).

In going about figuring out what it might be, it is important to review the "Bush Doctrine." It was much in the news a couple of weeks ago. At that time, Charlie Gibson of ABC News inadvertently determined that Sarah Palin didn't have a clue, not only about its original meaning, but also about the various variants that have appeared over time. The doctrine has in fact had numerous variants, not just the original one that the U.S. can attack any other country at any time on the slightest suspicion that at some (indeterminate) time in the future that country might become a threat to the United States.

A variety of right-wing Republican commentators, such as Charles Krauthammer, tried to blunt the discussion by referring to just one of its several manifestations, the "spreading democracy" dictum. But in any discussion of the Doctrine and how it might be used in support of some October Surprise during this election season, before engaging in that discussion, it is useful to go to the horse's mouth to determine just what it really is. And so, let us turn to the estimable Dana Perino, the current White House Press Secretary.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: Controlling the Agenda

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:32:04 -0500

As I noted recently in a BF Short Take, he who controls the agenda wins elections. From FDR through Lyndon Johnson before he got trapped in Vietnam, the Democrats knew this very well, and except for the Eisenhower years, they won consistently. They did so by for the most part focusing on the substantive issues. Goldwater was the first modern Republican who recognized that one could never win by going after programs. What was needed was going after what paid for the programs -- taxes, and then separating the two in the public's mind.

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Technorati Tags: Steven Jonas Barack Obama John McCain campaign tactics Lee Atwater Karl Rove

Dr. J.'s Commentary: God Does Love the Republicans

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:58:33 -0500

As a lifelong Secular Humanist of the Jewish persuasion, it is very difficult for me to admit to the title of this Commentary, but I have finally become convinced of its truth. The events of the last few days have been the culmination of a series of them that began with the election of George W. Bush. And so, there is simply no way around the recognition of the fact. I just want to briefly share my thought process and reasoning with you.

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Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Cut and Run; Controlling the Agenda; A Bin Laden Brother's Bridge

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:14:14 -0500

You Can't Tell the "Cut-and-Runners" Without a Scorecard

Even as Bush (wonder if Cheney went along with this one) announces an agreement "in principle" with the Iraqis to withdraw American forces by some given date (2010? 2011? 2012? it's not quite clear, but by some sure date, McCain proclaims over and over again that while the "surge has worked," unlike the policy of his lily-livered, politically opportunist, unpatriotic opponent, his approach will have the U.S. staying in Iraq until "victory is achieved." (Except that McCain too might order a withdrawal, of some sort, at some time not exactly certain but certainly not uncertain, but certainly in less than 100 years, too). The little details of how exactly "victory " is to be defined and how much it, whatever it is, will cost in American lives and borrowed money, is left unstated by the McCain campaign.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: What's it All About, Georgia?

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:44:09 -0500

Consider the following. A new Mexican government decides to revisit the "Spot Resolutions" offered in 1847 by the then soon-to-be-one-term Congressman from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln had challenged President James Polk's claim that Mexican troops had killed several Americans on U.S. soil, a claim Polk used to start the Mexican War. Later, historical research showed that indeed the shootings occurred on disputed territory, to which Mexico had laid a long-standing claim. And so, this new, nationalistic Mexican government decides to take military action to take back some small bits and pieces of the land that the U.S. took from it in that war, which included much of the Southwest and California. The bits and pieces include such places as Brownsville and El Paso, Texas, home to many Mexicans, significant numbers of whom are being subject to increasing harassment by forces of the U.S. "Homeland Security" Department.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: No Obamallusions

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:52:50 -0500

Since he secured the Democratic nomination for President, Sen. Barack Obama has been moving rapidly to organize, re-organize, and expand his policy staff. One feature has been the increasing presence of "Clinton people" such as Robert Rubin and Madeleine Albright. The response to this from an increasing number of progressives and leftists has ranged from raising caution flags to expressing outright horror: "what's he doing on Israel?" "what's he doing on FISA?" "what's he doing on campaign finance reform?" "what's he doing on 'free trade'?" There are three principal issues to consider here. First, do these appointments indicate any major changes in Sen. Obama's principal campaign theme of "Change We Can Believe In?" Second, whether yes or no, were they predictable? Third, what should the progressive/leftist response be?

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Technorati Tags: Steven Jonas Barack Obama John McCain lesser of two evils

Dr. J.'s Commentary: The Surge is Working -- for Bush and Cheney

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:42:58 -0500

In December 2000, Jim Baker, Republican Controller Extraordinaire, lead the engineering of the prevention of any recounts in the Florida "election" so GW Bush could take over (not "win") the Office of the Presidency by the width of one vote on the Supreme Court. In December 2006, Jim Baker, by now the leader of the "Thoroughly Disillusioned indeed Disgusted with GWBush" sector of the Republican Power Elite produced the final report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, created by Congress. The timing of the Report's publication had been conveniently arranged so it would appear after the 2006 Congressional elections. While the Group was indeed bipartisan, its unanimous report was endorsed by, among others, its two most right-wing members, former Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, whose greatest claim to fame has been as the shepherd of the early career of Dick Cheney, and former Attorney General Ed Meese, under Ronald Reagan easily the most partisan Attorney General this side of John Ashcroft and Al Gonzales.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: The Charlie Black [re]Mark of [Mc]Cain

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:42:58 -0500

So we have had Charlie Black's comments about how useful for the GOP another terrorist attack on the U.S. would be, preferably if it came before the election. "Certainly it [such an attack] would be an advantage to us," he said. The quote first surfaced a couple of weeks ago in a leak of a Fortune magazine interview with him. It got a bit of play last time. Let's hope that it gets more now, for it is really worth while looking at and evaluating.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: An Absence of Heroes

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:13:48 -0500

by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH

When Princess Diana was tragically killed in an automobile accident on August 31, 1997, I was vacationing on Prince Edward Island, Canada. (One does have to note that at least it is likely that the crash was accidental, although some sources believe that it wasn't. What is virtually certain, I have to say as a public health physician, is that if the Princess had been wearing a seat-belt, it is very likely that she would still be with us, unless another accident would have befallen her in the interim.) Watching television that morning and for several days afterwards, one had to be taken with the genuine outpouring of sadness and sympathy that flowed forth all around the world, from people in many, many countries. She was treated as some sort of heroine. And who was Diana? An acknowledged beauty with a marvelous smile, married to the English Prince of Wales, with two even-then handsome sons, one of whom would be a future King of England if the monarchy were to last long enough.

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Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Obama and FDR; Obama a Marxist?; Iran Attack, not

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:55:25 -0500

Obama and FDR

Numerous observers and possibly even more numerous wishful thinkers are comparing Barack Obama to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They do so in the sense that they are hoping that if elected, he will make major changes in American policy (in FDR's context, primarily domestic at the time; in Obama's case, obviously both foreign and domestic.)

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: Irony of Ironies: HRC and the Superdelegates

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:59:39 -0500

On the evening that George McGovern was nominated for the presidency by the Democratic Party in 1972, I stayed up until about 1:30 a.m. EDT to see and hear his acceptance speech on television. (Why so late? Because a representative of every single identity group that had supported him for the nomination insisted on getting podium time before he would speak. That was only the first disaster of that ever so badly run campaign. But that's another story.) Sen. McGovern gave a brilliant speech on a) the necessity of getting the U.S. out of Vietnam with all deliberate speed and b) on the necessity of returning to traditional American values after four years of Nixon. (Sound familiar?)

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Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Maddow/Wright; bin Laden/Bush

Wed, 28 May 2008 13:51:36 -0500

Why the Coverage of Wright was Wrong

Rachel Maddow is the number one (and number two and three) star of Air America Radio. She is now appearing regularly on the (in U.S. terms) left-leaning MSNBC, and even sat in as host for Keith Olbermann on May 16, 2008. To my ears, she is generally correct in her analyses. But she was wrong when asked what was wrong with the Rev. Wright "debate" that went on and on and on, on the mainstream media (with MSNBC's "Morning Joe" talking about little else over a two-week period). She said the problem was lack of balance on dealing with toxic Reverends. That was there surely, and it will likely continue throughout the campaign, as McCain's toxic Reverends never or perhaps barely make it to the radar. They did make a blip last week when McCain unceremoniously dumped two of them. But courtesy of Rove/McCain, you can be sure the Rev. Wright will be back full-time in October. After all, the Republicans have nothing else to run on.

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Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Appeasement, Polygamy, and Let's Be Fair to Bush's Pro-Nazi Ancestors

Wed, 21 May 2008 10:38:26 -0500

Bush Accuses Democrats of Appeasement -- and He's Right!

In that famous speech before the Israeli Knesset last week, Bush accused of the Democrats of appeasement. Apparently he did no know the definition of the term and that right-wing Republican radio screamer Kevin James, who was undressed by Chris Matthews on Hardball certainly didn't. Appeasement is not simply negotiating with an enemy. It is negotiating with an enemy or potential enemy and giving away something significant without getting anything of substance in return. So, when Bush hurled the charge at the Democrats, let's say just in Congress, boy was he right: on tax cuts for the rich, on the original authorization for the War on Iraq, on deregulation, on Supreme Court appointments, on energy policy, on continuing funding (by borrowing only) for the war, on the Patriot and Military Commissions Acts, on giving Congress the third-finger salute on so many occasions that even seasoned observers have lost count. Yes, you name it. The Democrats have been up to their necks in appeasement since the beginning of the BushCheney Regime, of the Regime.

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Dr. J.'s Short Takes: Barr, Paul, "Elitist," Welch, Giuliani, Bush, Clinton

Tue, 13 May 2008 10:29:34 -0500

Ohmygosh. Bob Barr has announced his candidacy for the Libertarian Party's nomination for President. Where does that leave Ralph Nader as a spoiler for the Democrats? If Barr gets the nomination, they will just cancel each other out. Go Bob!

Ron Paul has announced that he is "going to take it all the way to the (Republican) Convention." Wonder what he has up his sleeve. He has taken the "Songbird John" statements from various co-Vietnam POWs of McCain's down from his Web site. Huckabee has taken down such statements too. (They both had them up in February.) Maybe he and Hillary will join as a third-party ticket, you know, both of them "reaching across the aisle." Boy, the aisle could get pretty crowded out there.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: Hillary's Chances, by the Numbers

Mon, 05 May 2008 15:58:23 -0500

The Clintons and their surrogates love to talk about "counting all the votes," "popular vote totals," "caucuses don't count," "Florida and Michigan should," and etc., all aimed at "influencing the superdelegates to do what is best for the party, giving it/us the best chance of winning in November." Of course those popular vote totals, as well as exit poll results, are possibly skewed by some totally indeterminate, undetermined, and undeterminable amount in those states, such as Indiana,

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: Hillary's Magic Numbers

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:18:21 -0500

The calendar is moving on to what was the first American labor day holiday, May 1, "May Day," founded in the 1880s in the hometown of BuzzFlash, Chicago, IL. As it does, time is winding down on the Clinton campaign to claim the Democratic nomination for President or at least prevent Barack Obama, in one way or another, from becoming president (Jonas, S., "Why Does Hillary Keep Running?" The Political Junkies.net, 4/9/08). In doing so, there are currently three magic numbers for Hillary: 178,000, 16 and 1.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: Less Gotcha? No, more!

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:18:01 -0500

Everyone (well, lots of people) have been complaining about the 45 "Gotcha minutes" that Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos ran in the ABC "debate" April 16. Much too much, is the general opinion, with some folks holding out for none. As for me, I take a contrary view. Not enough, I say. Of those 45 minutes, a majority were devoted to bringing up "stuff" about Senator Obama. I guess Gibson and Stephanopoulos just were feeling the pressure to get on to "the issues" so they just didn't have the time to ask Sen. Clinton some similar-type questions that they surely had prepared. Now I don't have access to the ABC prep desks for that "debate," but surely such questions would have included the following, don't you think?

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Dr. J.: Sen. McCain on Christian America, but it's really Jewish (satire)

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:44:35 -0500

It is not widely known that Senator Gentleman Johnny McCain, the maverick, the straight shooter, the straight-talker, has been outspoken on matters religious, concerning our country.

For example (courtesy of The National Jewish Democratic Council, January 8, 2008) he has said that: "a candidate's Christian faith is ‘an important characteristic for a President,' that he would prefer a Christian president, that the ‘Constitution established The United States of America as a Christian nation,' and that ‘America is a Christian nation, and it (sic) is hardly a controversial claim' (The New York Sun, October 1, 2007)." He has also declared that he did not regard non-Christians as qualified to govern in the United States (The Progress Report, "Blackout and Brownout," Oct. 1, 2007). If the party-less Sen. Joe Lieberman ever picks up on that one, one would suppose that it would come as a surprise to him, especially if he actually is angling for the Vice-Presidential nod on the McCain ticket. But hey, you never know.

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Dr. J.: Real Democrats Want Every Vote to Count (satire)

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:16:51 -0500

Last week, in supporting their campaign's decision to "stay in it until the end," former President Clinton said words to the effect of "real Democrats want every vote to count," and also, it could be implied, "want to count every vote." Thus, he said there would be no pulling back, pulling out of the remaining primary contests. Those voters who had not yet had a chance to vote in a Democratic primary had every right to have their votes counted, for their candidates of choice.

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Dr. J.'s Commentary: Why Does Hillary Run?

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:02:47 -0500

Recently both BuzzFlash Editor/Publisher Mark Karlin and I have written only slightly tongue-in-cheek columns suggesting that Hillary Clinton would make a good vice presidential candidate -- on the McCain ticket. After all, McCain could well be looking for a Democrat and his good friend and alter ego Joe Lieberman just won't do: McCain said last fall that non-Christians are not qualified to govern (The Progress Report, "Blackout and Brownout," Oct. 1, 2007).

So how is Hillary sucking up to McCain? Quoting from Mark Karlin's article: "It is the one inviolable rule of party politics; don't promote the other party's candidate at the expense of your own. . . . In the past couple of weeks, Senator Hillary Clinton has violated that cardinal rule again and again as she personally vouched for the readiness of John McCain to assume the presidency, while belittling Barack Obama as nothing more than a speech. . . . ‘[Y]ou'll have to ask Sen. Obama with respect to his candidacy,' she said. . . . Calling McCain, the presumptive GOP nominee a good friend and a "distinguished man with a great history of service to our country,' Clinton said."

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Technorati Tags: Steven Jonas 2008 race Barack Obama Hillary Clinton John McCain 2012 race DLC delegates