It seems like Senator John Cornyn is on a one man mission to concern troll or make it safe for George Bush and Cheney to retire in this country. Earlier, on the Senate floor Cornyn held up Hillary Clinton's nomination because he was afraid that "future" conflicts of interest could arise between Bill's Global Initiative fundraising and Hillary's duties as Secretary of State, and particulaly with the Middle East. At one point Cornyn went full on Concern Troll, saying he told Hillary, he was blocking things for her own good. LOL.
It struck me as odd for a couple of reasons, first that we heard no such concerns from the GOP about George W. Bush's and his papa George SR. about their deep and intricate financial and personal ties to the Saudi's and others in the region. The infamous and largely secret workings of the Carlyle Group come to mind. And secondly, funny that wingnuts are concerned with problems down the road, when we consider Iraq and other Bush adventures such as the neglect of involvement with the Israel/Palestinian troubles that have led to what we have recently seen.
But the most obvious nervous concern is over the Holder nomination, and Cornyn's and others holding up the vote for a week to get assurances that republicans won't be prosecuted for their crimes during the Bush Administration. All the hand wringing over the Marc Rich pardon and other trivial actions that Holder took that wingers don't approve of, are just a smokescreen for what they really want. A "Get out of Jail Free Card " for republican actions the past 8 years. Especially since Holder has stated flatly that waterboarding is, in fact, torture. By committee rules they can delay it for up to a week, but no longer. I seriously doubt the new Attorney General is going to grant a pardon he's not authorized to grant, before he even gets confirmed. This little Kabbooki dance will be repeated many times the next four years as wingnut convulse themselves into the powerless widjets the American voter has mandated.
It struck me as odd for a couple of reasons, first that we heard no such concerns from the GOP about George W. Bush's and his papa George SR. about their deep and intricate financial and personal ties to the Saudi's and others in the region. The infamous and largely secret workings of the Carlyle Group come to mind. And secondly, funny that wingnuts are concerned with problems down the road, when we consider Iraq and other Bush adventures such as the neglect of involvement with the Israel/Palestinian troubles that have led to what we have recently seen.
But the most obvious nervous concern is over the Holder nomination, and Cornyn's and others holding up the vote for a week to get assurances that republicans won't be prosecuted for their crimes during the Bush Administration. All the hand wringing over the Marc Rich pardon and other trivial actions that Holder took that wingers don't approve of, are just a smokescreen for what they really want. A "Get out of Jail Free Card " for republican actions the past 8 years. Especially since Holder has stated flatly that waterboarding is, in fact, torture. By committee rules they can delay it for up to a week, but no longer. I seriously doubt the new Attorney General is going to grant a pardon he's not authorized to grant, before he even gets confirmed. This little Kabbooki dance will be repeated many times the next four years as wingnut convulse themselves into the powerless widjets the American voter has mandated.
Yes, I have flippantly used the word greed to describe what the basic problem is, even though it doesn’t accurately describe my thoughts on the matter. It’s a single word and connotates a negative, but I also don’t think greed is bad in the context of what business entities should be about.
My own reflections on the current state of affairs has more to do with a kind intellectual and moral laziness brought about by prolonged periods of prosperity, such as we’ve seen since WW2. It was the trauma of the Great Depression that brought about the reforms of how free enterprise should be carried out and is what brought about a large and productive middle class, pretty much unfettered since. It is the illusion that total freedom is the way to go in economic matters and has been championed by the so called Free Trader mentality mostly of Republican Conservative ideology. But I think it was Nietzsche who said something like Total Freedom is the Ultimate Prison. We are learning today of that truth. Nothing like the prospect of an empty pot to focus the mind, and many more people in American are truly afraid their pot may go empty. This is a good thing, as any country, even one as successful as ours, is put in jeopardy when it’s citizens are complacent and take success for granted as permanent.
It is the people who vote for their leaders, who watch the Chicken Coop to keep away the wolves who are most responsible for our current plight, IMHO. And the old maxim of No Pain No Gain will once again prove to be ,hopefully, our friend in the end.