THE NEW YORK TIMES: The Great Restoration
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Fisticuffs.
An ongoing discussion/Moment of Clarity.
Words.
"“Defend Wall Street” is not likely to be a winning campaign slogan in 2012. For Republicans, this is an obvious problem. For President Obama and the Democrats, it’s a golden — if largely undeserved — opportunity.
The biggest impact of the Occupy Wall Street protests has been to provide a focal point for generalized economic and political discontent. Frustrated voters on the left and the right may disagree on, say, immigration policy or health care reform. But they can agree on a critique of the financial sector — and, potentially, on specific measures to bring about necessary change.
No, Wall Street shouldn’t be made the scapegoat for all the nation’s woes. But it was the financial Masters of the Universe whose shocking irresponsibility and unbounded greed triggered the 2008 crisis, which almost sent the global economy into the abyss. We’re still dealing with the resulting devastation: massive unemployment, an epidemic of foreclosures, severe fiscal strain on governments at every level.
Wall Street, however, received a huge bailout from George W. Bush. Three years later, things are looking up in Lower Manhattan. Salaries and bonuses are climbing back to levels that gladden the hearts of Ferrari dealers.
It’s true that in the years before the crash, many Americans made what turned out to be unwise decisions. We spent money we should have saved, we bought bigger houses than our families needed, we took out too many student loans. But now we’re having to deal with the consequences of those poor choices, while the wizards of Wall Street smugly rebalance their portfolios, having benefited from what amounts to a free pass.
Enter the Occupy Wall Street protesters with their simple demand for “economic justice” — the right cause at the right moment.
...If Democrats reap a political windfall from Occupy Wall Street, it will not be richly deserved. While it is true that they have been better than the Republicans on issues of economic fairness, that’s not saying much.
Although Obama is disliked by many on Wall Street for his rhetoric about how “millionaires and billionaires” need to pay “their fair share” in taxes, the fact is that he decided not to seek fundamental reforms.
It is also a fact that Wall Street is a major source of campaign financing for both parties.
...By calling attention to this unholy alliance of financial power and political power, the Occupy Wall Street protests struck a nerve. The Republican Party is trapped on the wrong side of this issue. Democrats should be moving boldly, not timidly, to claim the issue of economic justice as their own."
THE WASHINGTON POST: How Democrats can use Occupy protests to their advantage
Words.
"“Defend Wall Street” is not likely to be a winning campaign slogan in 2012. For Republicans, this is an obvious problem. For President Obama and the Democrats, it’s a golden — if largely undeserved — opportunity.
The biggest impact of the Occupy Wall Street protests has been to provide a focal point for generalized economic and political discontent. Frustrated voters on the left and the right may disagree on, say, immigration policy or health care reform. But they can agree on a critique of the financial sector — and, potentially, on specific measures to bring about necessary change.
No, Wall Street shouldn’t be made the scapegoat for all the nation’s woes. But it was the financial Masters of the Universe whose shocking irresponsibility and unbounded greed triggered the 2008 crisis, which almost sent the global economy into the abyss. We’re still dealing with the resulting devastation: massive unemployment, an epidemic of foreclosures, severe fiscal strain on governments at every level.
Wall Street, however, received a huge bailout from George W. Bush. Three years later, things are looking up in Lower Manhattan. Salaries and bonuses are climbing back to levels that gladden the hearts of Ferrari dealers.
It’s true that in the years before the crash, many Americans made what turned out to be unwise decisions. We spent money we should have saved, we bought bigger houses than our families needed, we took out too many student loans. But now we’re having to deal with the consequences of those poor choices, while the wizards of Wall Street smugly rebalance their portfolios, having benefited from what amounts to a free pass.
Enter the Occupy Wall Street protesters with their simple demand for “economic justice” — the right cause at the right moment.
...If Democrats reap a political windfall from Occupy Wall Street, it will not be richly deserved. While it is true that they have been better than the Republicans on issues of economic fairness, that’s not saying much.
Although Obama is disliked by many on Wall Street for his rhetoric about how “millionaires and billionaires” need to pay “their fair share” in taxes, the fact is that he decided not to seek fundamental reforms.
...By calling attention to this unholy alliance of financial power and political power, the Occupy Wall Street protests struck a nerve. The Republican Party is trapped on the wrong side of this issue. Democrats should be moving boldly, not timidly, to claim the issue of economic justice as their own."
THE WASHINGTON POST: How Democrats can use Occupy protests to their advantage
Halloweenhead.
Words.
"Yeah, I am doing what I want, but one of the interesting things about the Internet when you’re a musician is the sociology of the fans, the psychology of being a fan, and observing this negative and positively weird behavior. It’s kind of hard to explain this, but there’s this weird illness with people where it’s almost like they view their [favorite] artist as a football team or something, and all other artists are another team. [Laughs.] Or even sometimes, your records become sports teams. You put out a new record, and it’s like, “Tonight at Dodger Stadium, it’s the Easy Tigers vs. the Heartbreakers.” It’s super-competitive, and it’s a highly judgmental place for a place that should be free of judgment. My feeling about music is that it’s a place to go to get away from fucking negative creeps. And now, what’s really weird is that music is full of negative fucking creeps.
You remember: When we were growing up, if you bought Metal Hammer, or if you were reading Hit Parader, or Kerrang!, or something, it didn’t seem to me like there were a lot of articles saying, “Fuck Mötley Crüe, man. They suck.” Or, “Theatre Of Pain is a shitty record, and nothing is ever gonna be as good as Too Fast For Love.” It was like, “Okay, Theatre Of Pain,” and maybe there would be people that didn’t totally understand the record, or that snideness was there, but it didn’t seem to be, when I was growing up, that snarkiness equaled intelligence. There’s this weird trend in the music community where people have read snarky, highly intelligent reviewers to the point where they have taken the wrong idea. Instead of saying that intelligence equals wit, and being witty about things being fucking awesome or being shit, it’s only manifested itself in saying, “Oh, well, witty people are smart, and when I read witty people, they’re always saying negative things,” so there’s this negative trend. The trend is to find something wrong with everything."-Ryan Adams
THE A.V. CLUB: INTERVIEW: Ryan Adams
Monday, October 17, 2011
Make My.
A "New flava in ya ear!" production starring The Roots & Big K.R.I.T.
ONE THIRTY BPM: Listen: The Roots – “Make My” ft. Big K.R.I.T.
ONE THIRTY BPM: Listen: The Roots – “Make My” ft. Big K.R.I.T.
Princess of China.
A "New flava in ya ear!" production starring Coldplay & Rihanna.
PRETTY MUCH AMAZING: New: Coldplay & Rihanna – “Princess of China”
PRETTY MUCH AMAZING: New: Coldplay & Rihanna – “Princess of China”
Everybody Hurts.
A Moment of Clarity.
Words.
"As the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to grow, the response from the movement’s targets has gradually changed: contemptuous dismissal has been replaced by whining. (A reader of my blog suggests that we start calling our ruling class the “kvetchocracy.”) The modern lords of finance look at the protesters and ask, Don’t they understand what we’ve done for the U.S. economy?
The answer is: yes, many of the protesters do understand what Wall Street and more generally the nation’s economic elite have done for us. And that’s why they’re protesting.
...Money talks in American politics, and what the financial industry’s money has been saying lately is that it will punish any politician who dares to criticize that industry’s behavior, no matter how gently — as evidenced by the way Wall Street money has now abandoned President Obama in favor of Mitt Romney. And this explains the industry’s shock over recent events.
You see, until a few weeks ago it seemed as if Wall Street had effectively bribed and bullied our political system into forgetting about that whole drawing lavish paychecks while destroying the world economy thing. Then, all of a sudden, some people insisted on bringing the subject up again.
And their outrage has found resonance with millions of Americans. No wonder Wall Street is whining."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Losing Their Immunity
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: America's 'Primal Scream'
Words.
"As the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to grow, the response from the movement’s targets has gradually changed: contemptuous dismissal has been replaced by whining. (A reader of my blog suggests that we start calling our ruling class the “kvetchocracy.”) The modern lords of finance look at the protesters and ask, Don’t they understand what we’ve done for the U.S. economy?
The answer is: yes, many of the protesters do understand what Wall Street and more generally the nation’s economic elite have done for us. And that’s why they’re protesting.
...Money talks in American politics, and what the financial industry’s money has been saying lately is that it will punish any politician who dares to criticize that industry’s behavior, no matter how gently — as evidenced by the way Wall Street money has now abandoned President Obama in favor of Mitt Romney. And this explains the industry’s shock over recent events.
You see, until a few weeks ago it seemed as if Wall Street had effectively bribed and bullied our political system into forgetting about that whole drawing lavish paychecks while destroying the world economy thing. Then, all of a sudden, some people insisted on bringing the subject up again.
And their outrage has found resonance with millions of Americans. No wonder Wall Street is whining."
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Losing Their Immunity
SEE ALSO:
THE NEW YORK TIMES: America's 'Primal Scream'
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
"LET'S WORK!"
Words.
"Here in Washington, our leaders seem to be governing under the creed of the old Brooklyn Dodgers: Wait ’til next year.
...Under the wait-’til-next-year logic, Republicans believe that if they can gain control of the Senate, and maybe the White House, all their problems will be solved. Democrats, though less enthusiastic about their prospects, think that if they can make some gains in the House, and if Obama can win a second term, their agenda will have renewed momentum. And so both sides acquiesce in a standstill: a series of short-term funding bills and a supercommittee that postpones the most painful choices until after the election.
But the wait-’til-next-year approach ignores one crucial consideration: The 2012 elections, whatever the outcome, aren’t going to change the stalemate that has gripped this town.
...Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell seems to grasp this in his more candid moments. He has argued that a divided government provides “the best time, and some would argue the only time, to do really hard things, because really hard things done on a partisan basis cannot be accomplished” without creating “a wipeout in the next election.”
...But Americans have already made a clear choice, repeatedly: They want their representatives to compromise. In the new Washington Post-ABC News poll, 64 percent said lawmakers should attack the debt problem with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. But only 25 percent thought lawmakers will agree on a plan.
The lack of faith that lawmakers will do the obvious, necessary things goes a long way toward explaining why Congress enjoys an approval rate of 14 percent. In this case, good things do not come to those who wait."
THE WASHINGTON POST: The waiting for nothing Congress
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