Letterman To Retire

Last night, one of late night TV's iconic figures, David Letterman, announced his retirement when his current contract expires in 2015.  In over 20 years on "The Late Show," and an additional 11 on "Late Night," Letterman has been as much as a fixture for late night viewers as his late mentor, Johnny Carson, and has shaped comedy with his offbeat, intelligent humor.  His segments "Stupid Human Tricks" and "Top Ten List" were two of Letterman's innovations, among many others.  This morning, we saw Letterman's retirement discussed on news and political networks and on sports channels, demonstrating the wide influence he's had on the culture in the past generation.  Each of his remaining shows will be a treasure, as he winds down a legendary career.

(photo: CBS)

Boomer Bust

When New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy's wife was in labor, Murphy took the first two games of the season off to be with his wife and their first baby, which he's allowed to do under baseball's collective bargaining agreement.  For that, Murphy was criticized by some Neanderthals in the sports talk business, among them former Bengals quarterback and never-gonna-be-husband-of-the-year Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason.  Esiason opined that Murphy's wife should have had a C-section before the season so Murphy wouldn't miss any games (!!).  He's since apologized to Murphy and the Mets. Another clueless cement head, Mike Francesca of WFAN in New York, said, 

"You're a major league baseball player. You can hire a nurse.  What are you gonna do, sit there and look at your wife in the hospital bed for two days?"

The basic drift of the various negative comments was "athletes aren't there for the birth of their kids, that's a woman's job…men gotta earn a livin' playing sports," with the undertone that men who choose to be with their wife and child are somehow weak or unmanly.  What's actually unmanly, and what is too common in the narcissistic world of professional sports, is not being a responsible parent and spouse, and putting your own ego over your family.

Today's Cartoons: Sold!

We wonder what's trending today...hmmm.

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(Signe Wilkinson, via gocomics.com)

(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times-Free Press)

(Jeff Danziger, via gocomics.com)

(Rob Rogers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

The War On The Plutocrats Has It's First Victim, No Wait Second, No Wait ...

As we noted yesterday, the plutocrat Republican majority on the Supreme Court further trashed campaign contribution limits that have been in place since the Constitution-shredding Republican debacle known as Watergate.  Today, in the tradition of other Republican-funding, self-pitying plutocrat billionaires, Evil Koch #1 (Charles) penned an op/ed in the (where else?) Wall Street Journal bawling about how unfairly he and Evil Koch #2 (David) are being treated by the "collectivists."  (Haven't heard that term lately, though we don't make a point of visiting the fever swamps of the John Birch Society/ Ayn Rand/ tea bagger world).  Don't we "collectivists" get it?  Their "free speech" is not only infinitely more deep-pocketed, but it's not supposed to be criticized!

As a public service, and as an antidote to the projection, piety and false umbrage in the op/ed,  we wish to point out a few things to anyone unfamiliar with the Koch brothers' assault on American democracy:

-- they're the compassionate plutocrats who fund the "Americans for Plutocrat Prosperity" ads, most recently those manifestly dishonest anti-Obamacare ads running in key States;

-- they're the civic-minded plutocrats opposing a mass transit project in Tennessee;

-- they're the environmentalist plutocrats who fund deniers of global climate change;

-- they're the grass-roots plutocrats who fund (through "Americans for Plutocrat Prosperity") the credulous cosplay conservative "grass-roots" movement known as the Tea Baggers Party;

-- they're the transparent plutocrats who have created a network of "dark money" fronts to hide fellow plutocrats' funding of far-right causes;

-- they're the small-d democratic plutocrats (along with the American Legislative Exchange Council) funding the voter suppression activities around the country.

Yeah, nothing to worry about from them.

(Image:  The Koch brothers (visual approximation) with apologies to Matt Groening & The Simpsons)

More On Rep. Paul Ryan's "Stinkburger" Budget

The LA Times'  Michael Hiltzik discusses how the budget put forth by media darling (and a stupid man's idea of what a smart man sounds like) Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan (Ayn Rand-WI) is designed to short-change rob the poor and middle class of their rightful Social Security benefits:

As I've written before, when you hear people like Paul Ryan talk as though the country can't afford to pay back the money by redeeming the bonds in the trust fund, what you're hearing is the sound of the wealthy preparing to stiff the working class. If the income tax has to be raised to turn those T-bonds into cash for payment of benefits over the next couple of decades, that's how the rich will be made to repay the people who lent them the money. Some people love to claim that the government has "stolen" the trust fund. The correct reply to that is: "Not yet." 

But if Ryan has his way, yes, the money will be stolen. It's up to you and me to make sure that doesn't happen. 

So, to put all these pieces together, there's no "dubious government accounting" involved here--the dubious accounting is all Ryan's. The trust fund is indeed a real savings account, involving deposits and interest. Yes, the government borrowed the money, and it has paid interest on it every year (duly recorded and published, down to the last dollar, in the annual reports of the Social Security trustees). 

And yes, "the ability to redeem these securities is completely dependent on the Treasury’s ability to raise money through taxes or borrowing." What Ryan doesn't say is that the Treasury's ability to raise taxes and borrowing is effectively unlimited.  

The most important factor is the one that people like Ryan want you to forget: The money in the Social Security trust fund came directly or indirectly from the payroll taxes paid by millions of American workers--100% of it. It was paid by workers in the trust that the government would pay it back. Paul Ryan is hinting, pretty strongly, that he doesn't want to pay it back. 

As Hiltzik points out (and please take time to read his entire article), this part of Ryan's stinkburger budget repeats language in his FY 2012 budget proposal.  It's not "reform."  It's another foray in the far-right's war on the middle class, another stratagem in the fight to increase income inequality in this country.  As Hiltzik says, we have to make sure that doesn't happen.

New Jerseyans Not Buying Christie's Story

According to an Asbury Press poll, by a 61 to 32 percent majority, the people of New Jersey don't believe that their Godfather Governor, Chris "Krispykreme" Christie, is telling the whole truth about the Bridgegate scandal, despite an "investigation" by the Governor's legal team that whitewashed him.  They (52%) also believe that the "investigation" was pre-ordained to clear him, and not to determine the facts.  He now barely breaks a 50% approval rating among New Jerseyans, a stark drop from six months ago.

Whatever the legislative investigation and the investigation by the U.S. Attorney's office leads on Bridgegate, we have a sense that the more damaging scandal from a legal / criminal perspective will be in Krispykreme's alleged manipulation of Hurricane Sandy funds for political advantage.  The apparent attempt to strong-arm the Mayor of Hoboken to approve a Krispykreme-connected private real estate deal in exchange for Sandy funds will be at the top of the list.  We'll wait and see.

Ft. Hood, Again

The press gathers at a gate to Ft. Hood last night, awaiting a briefing on yesterday's shooting spree by an Army specialist.  The shooting left 4 dead, including the shooter Ivan Lopez, and 16 wounded, including 2 very critically.  Lopez was being evaluated for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

In 2009, an Army doctor, Maj. Nidal Hasan, killed 13 at Ft. Hood on a personal "jihad" in retaliation for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.

(photo: Drew Anthony Smith, Getty Images)

Quote of the Day - Stinkburger Edition

"It's like that movie 'Groundhog Day,' except it's not funny. If they tried to sell this sandwich at Zingerman's, they'd have to call it the stinkburger or the meanwich." -  President Obama commenting on the deja-vu stinkburger budget proposal of whiz kid Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan (Ayn Rand-WI), at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (also plugging Ann Arbor uber-sandwich palace Zingerman's). And a medium rare stinkburger it is.

BONUS:  Not to be outdone by the meanness of Lyin's budget proposal, snowbilly grifter and word salad shooter Sarah "Winky" Palin thinks the Ayn Rand apostle didn't go nearly far enough toward Galt's Gulch.

That'll Be Five "Hail Marys" And Your License

News Item:
A campus priest at the University of Alaska was pulled over and arrested for drunk driving (three times the limit) and subsequent weapons charges and marijuana possession.  Rev. Sean Thomson was observed weaving down the highway when he was stopped and a search of him and his vehicle found weapons 'n weed.  Forget the campus, a career in prison ministry awaits him.

Today's Cartoon - Obamacare Derangement Syndrome

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They're having a hard time aligning their fever dreams to reality.  And the angst from the dawning realization they may have put their eggs in the wrong election issue basket!  (Not covered by Obamacare!)

(Tom Toles, once great Washington Post Bezos Bugle)

Setback for Cleaner Politics

In a significant boost to the influence of money in politics, the right-wing majority of the Supreme Court struck down the aggregate limits on Federal campaign contributions.  In their opinion, the Justices said that the overall cap on combined contributions to Federal candidates was a violation of the First Amendment.  That means while an individual's contributions to a specific candidate remain capped at $2,600, the limit that an individual can contribute to all Federal candidates ($48,600) or a party campaign ($74,600) no longer applies.

Public Citizen's Robert Weissman reacted to the ruling by saying,

"This is truly a decision establishing plutocrat rights. The Supreme Court today holds that the purported right of a few hundred superrich individuals to spend outrageously large sums on campaign contributions outweighs the national interest in political equality and a government free of corruption." 

America's tycoons (like the one that brought the suit, wing nut businessman Shaun McCutcheon) believe they have the right to buy politicians who will do their bidding while in office.  That was why a century ago, political reformists including President Theodore Roosevelt tried to limit the role of the plutocrats in politics.  The ruling by the Roberts Court moves us closer to those days of the corrupting influence of big money.

Mid-Week Birthday Song

The lovely and very talented Emmylou Harris turns a young 67 today.  Harris has won 13 Grammys over her career, the latest being the 2014 Grammy for Best Americana Album with Rodney Crowell.  Harris has performed with countless other artists, including Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, and Linda Ronstadt.  Here she is playing Neil Young's "Long May You Run," a wish we extend to her on her birthday.

7 Million and Counting

As we noted earlier, there are now a confirmed 7-million-plus enrollees in Obamacare, and the numbers are rising as people who had started the application process in the HealthCare.gov system by the deadline are taking advantage of extended enrollment time.  Far from what the Republicans have been calling a "train wreck," Obamacare has overcome a near-disastrous kick-off and is beginning to function the way it was intended.   Most importantly, people who were one operation or diagnosis away from bankruptcy can now get affordable health insurance.  Seven million people (and counting) will have a little more peace of mind, and better health care, thanks to this "train wreck" the Republicans have been so desperate to stop.  Once this nascent success story has a chance to mature and sink in, enrollment during the next open period in November will be something to watch.  Repeal that, suckers! (And, yes, we know the fight is never over.)

Meanwhile, Michael Hiltzik at the L.A. Times has a guide to Republican excuse-making that's worth a read (and a little schadenfreude, too).

BONUS:  Inside and outside the right-wing reality bubble.

Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell (Endangered Turtle - KY) bubble world:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that “millions of Americans [are] facing higher premiums, canceled plans and the loss of doctors and hospitals they liked as a result of this law.” Once again, he called for it to be scrapped.

Real world:

Obamacare has cut Kentucky's uninsured population by more than 40 percent, signing up roughly 360,000 residents since enrollment opened up on Oct. 1, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. 

Some 75 percent of them -- 270,000 -- were previously uninsured. That means Kentucky's uninsured population of 640,000 has come down by 42 percent. 

The April (And Always) Fool

Since it's April Fool's Day, we were glad to see one of the world's biggest fools in the news today:  the unhinged hatemeister Glenn "Dreck" Beck.  Dreck is being sued in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts for defamation of character for defaming a Saudi Arabian student, Abdulrahman Alharbi, in connection with last spring's Boston Marathon bombing.   Dreck, who hasn't met a Muslim he doesn't hate, started identifying Alharbi (who was wounded in the bombing, incidentally) as the "third" conspirator and a "money man" for the Tsarnaev brothers, who were the sole perpetrators.  Long after that fact was established, paranoid conspiracy merchant Dreck continued to push Alharbi as a suspect, with absolutely no supporting evidence.

Here's hoping that Mr. Alharbi gets a very, very hefty settlement from the suit.  While it won't stop a nut job like Dreck from spinning his paranoid tales, it'll take some of the jingle out of his pockets.

The Best Number

The best number from yesterday?  The health care enrollment figures under the Affordable Care Act are up at the top, and were certainly impressive and gratifying, but the best may have been:

Zero.

That's the number of American combat deaths in Afghanistan for the month of March, and it's the first time in over 7 years that a month has gone by where there were no American combat deaths in the decade plus-long war.  That's zero families that have to hear that a member of their family has died in combat in Afghanistan.  President Obama has directed the orderly withdrawal of all remaining U.S. combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of this year.