Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Rugby Players Love Coors Light
It's cold in Wisconsin this afternoon--so cold that we're going to break the record for lowest afternoon high temperature on this date. As you may know, I am a certified freak for autumn, my favorite season of the year, and on this day you'd swear it was here. But rather than going out for an afternoon frolic, I am here, resolutely freezing my ass off in the office, combing the blogosphere for worthwhile crap. And here we go.
Historically, the House of Representatives has been the wing-nuttier of the two houses of Congress. The Senate used to be a bit more rational--although that's been changing ever since the 1994 elections, which brought the likes of John Ashcroft and Rick Santorum to Washington. And come January 2005, the new Senate's Republican club could be even further to the right than it is now. Never mind that Alan Keyes won't get elected--the Center for American Progress reported today on four other Republican Senate nominees who have better chances to win. The pip of the bunch appears to be Pete Coors, the Colorado brewing magnate, whose family has long been connected with racist organizations, and who says his top legislative priority will be--wait for it!--lowering the drinking age. Plus you've got two unrepentant lobbyists and a guy who thinks soldier deaths in Iraq aren't all that important or interesting. Nice.
If you're not reading Political Animal on a regular basis, you should be. Today Kevin Drum notes the difference between income inequality--the difference between top and bottom, which has been growing like mad because of growth at the top--and income insecurity--the feeling that you're about one catastrophe away from losing everything. If you think there's more insecurity now than there used to be, you're right:
It's cold in Wisconsin this afternoon--so cold that we're going to break the record for lowest afternoon high temperature on this date. As you may know, I am a certified freak for autumn, my favorite season of the year, and on this day you'd swear it was here. But rather than going out for an afternoon frolic, I am here, resolutely freezing my ass off in the office, combing the blogosphere for worthwhile crap. And here we go.
Historically, the House of Representatives has been the wing-nuttier of the two houses of Congress. The Senate used to be a bit more rational--although that's been changing ever since the 1994 elections, which brought the likes of John Ashcroft and Rick Santorum to Washington. And come January 2005, the new Senate's Republican club could be even further to the right than it is now. Never mind that Alan Keyes won't get elected--the Center for American Progress reported today on four other Republican Senate nominees who have better chances to win. The pip of the bunch appears to be Pete Coors, the Colorado brewing magnate, whose family has long been connected with racist organizations, and who says his top legislative priority will be--wait for it!--lowering the drinking age. Plus you've got two unrepentant lobbyists and a guy who thinks soldier deaths in Iraq aren't all that important or interesting. Nice.
If you're not reading Political Animal on a regular basis, you should be. Today Kevin Drum notes the difference between income inequality--the difference between top and bottom, which has been growing like mad because of growth at the top--and income insecurity--the feeling that you're about one catastrophe away from losing everything. If you think there's more insecurity now than there used to be, you're right:
FDR dedicated the New Deal to "freedom from fear." He believed that government's role was not to provide handouts to the poor, but to provide a certain minimum level of security against the everyday catastrophes that ruin people's lives.Bush was a rugby player at Yale. Although he once told Vladimir Putin he played a year on the varsity, there was no varsity rugby program at Yale when he was there--but what the hell, we already suspect he was loaded a lot back in the day, so why wouldn't he forget? Over at Lying Media Bastards, they've snagged a photo of Bush playing rugby that says a lot about the man we know today.
It is this minimum level of economic security that George Bush and modern movement conservatives want to abolish.
