Living in Phoenix, as I do, my daily newspaper is the, sigh, Arizona Republic, which, honestly, we subscribe to mostly for the obituaries. Morbid, I know.
I also, being somewhat masochistic, I guess, read the letters to the editor.
Mostly these are word for word rehashes of whatever garbage the writer heard most recently on Fox News. You can almost hear the spittle flying. It is sad. But it is true.
The other day, though, the Republic printed one from a fellow from Sun City, one of the myriad of bland, beige, boring, retirement camps--uh--I mean adult communities--which ring Phoenix like some breed of suffocating albino snake.
This guy was upset that the crazy socialists would tax away all the rich people. They would be forced to flee America if we tried to raise their taxes. And then where would we be without our rich people? He really meant it, too! He wasn't specific about where all those rich people would go. Couldn't be western Europe. Their taxes are higher than ours. Hmmm. Somalia? Venezuela? Russia?
Being a Sun City-ite, this guy must be of a certain age. Surely he remembers, fondly I'd guess, the 1950's. You know, that Trumpian paradise where blacks, browns, gays, women and students kept their mouths shut. Yeah. That place. The place that conservatives hunger to go back to with a passion that makes one blush. Blush, and then vomit.
Anyway, the top marginal tax rate, the rate the richest Americans theoretically pay, in the 1950's, the Eisenhower years, was 91 or 92%. That's right.
How about the Kennedy years? Same rate.
LBJ? Took a deep plunge to 75%.
Under I Am Not A Crook it was still at 70%. Yeah, that raving socialist Richard M. Nixon was president of a country with a 70% top marginal rate!
The top marginal rate for 2019 is 37%. You could double it, and still be below LBJ's rate, let alone JFK and Eisenhower's.
If things were so much better back then...maybe we should go back to those rates, just for nostalgia's sake. Just to make some people happy again...
Showing posts with label JFK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JFK. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Friday, November 9, 2018
"First Man"
"First Man" is not a great movie.
It's full of good people, including Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. It was directed by Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle, and it tells the story of Neil Armstrong, the 'first man on the moon.' The problem is that Armstrong was apparently so taciturn, so guarded emotionally, that there's not much to hang a drama on.
So, even with all of that talent involved, it's a slightly above average movie. Certainly nowhere close to "The Right Stuff", which is a classic. Not nearly as entertaining as "Apollo 13".
What is interesting, at least for me, is that the film is a stark reminder that as a nation, we used to do great things--or at least attempt them.
As JFK said about going to the moon, "we choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
We don't even attempt hard things anymore. Now all we seem to be able to do is tread water.
We give tax cuts to billionaires, keep Defense contractors fat and happy, make sure every nut has access to all the guns he or she needs, and meddle in women's private lives.
Massive infrastructure rebuild? Na.
Green energy program? Na.
Universal health care? Na.
These are all easier than going to the moon. But...na.
Let's not even think about a concerted national effort to curb the increasingly obvious effects of global warming.
For these things we'd need leadership on both sides of the aisle.
And one side has decided that nothing is as important as keeping their rich backers satisfied and their crazy base in a constant state of agitation.
Just like that, we've turned into a sad, empty husk of what we once were.
It's full of good people, including Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy. It was directed by Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle, and it tells the story of Neil Armstrong, the 'first man on the moon.' The problem is that Armstrong was apparently so taciturn, so guarded emotionally, that there's not much to hang a drama on.
So, even with all of that talent involved, it's a slightly above average movie. Certainly nowhere close to "The Right Stuff", which is a classic. Not nearly as entertaining as "Apollo 13".
What is interesting, at least for me, is that the film is a stark reminder that as a nation, we used to do great things--or at least attempt them.
As JFK said about going to the moon, "we choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard."
We don't even attempt hard things anymore. Now all we seem to be able to do is tread water.
We give tax cuts to billionaires, keep Defense contractors fat and happy, make sure every nut has access to all the guns he or she needs, and meddle in women's private lives.
Massive infrastructure rebuild? Na.
Green energy program? Na.
Universal health care? Na.
These are all easier than going to the moon. But...na.
Let's not even think about a concerted national effort to curb the increasingly obvious effects of global warming.
For these things we'd need leadership on both sides of the aisle.
And one side has decided that nothing is as important as keeping their rich backers satisfied and their crazy base in a constant state of agitation.
Just like that, we've turned into a sad, empty husk of what we once were.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
Decline And Fall
If you're old enough to recall the Cuban missile crisis, or have bothered to read a history of that time, you'll know that most of our top military men were prepared to start a nuclear war over Cuba.
But Kennedy said no.
Advisors of that same mindset now surround our Flaming Orange Anus in Chief.
And he ain't no JFK.
He is, rather, a spoiled child, with the impulse control of a toddler, and the intellectual curiosity of a single cell organism, wrapped up in the body of a bloated, bitter, senior citizen.
The silver lining to all of these dark, dark clouds, is that it might well be a relief to finally get rid of the CIA. Who needs 'em now? Trump is really smart--so smart he doesn't require intelligence briefings. After all, he has Putin to tell him what's going on...
And Vlad the Elector wouldn't mislead DonDon. Would he?
When Rome started to fall, I'm sure there were some sage old hands who believed that this was only temporary, that things would change back, that the Roman Empire was eternal.
Turns out it wasn't.
On the plus side, now that we have the Russians' stooge firmly in place with the full throated support of the GOP, whenever a Republican starts talking about patriotism and how much they love our country we can just laugh in their face.
But Kennedy said no.
Advisors of that same mindset now surround our Flaming Orange Anus in Chief.
And he ain't no JFK.
He is, rather, a spoiled child, with the impulse control of a toddler, and the intellectual curiosity of a single cell organism, wrapped up in the body of a bloated, bitter, senior citizen.
The silver lining to all of these dark, dark clouds, is that it might well be a relief to finally get rid of the CIA. Who needs 'em now? Trump is really smart--so smart he doesn't require intelligence briefings. After all, he has Putin to tell him what's going on...
And Vlad the Elector wouldn't mislead DonDon. Would he?
When Rome started to fall, I'm sure there were some sage old hands who believed that this was only temporary, that things would change back, that the Roman Empire was eternal.
Turns out it wasn't.
On the plus side, now that we have the Russians' stooge firmly in place with the full throated support of the GOP, whenever a Republican starts talking about patriotism and how much they love our country we can just laugh in their face.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Compare And Contrast
Many years ago, back when the world was young, we had a President named John Kennedy. "Jack" to his friends.
And one time, while he was President, he and his wife went to Paris on an official trip.
The French fell in love with the First Lady. It helped that she spoke their language fluently. But even without that, she would've charmed them.
And, instead of having his ego bruised, and blustering about his many accomplishments, John Kennedy introduced himself thus "I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris."
Can anyone, even his most ardent supporters, imagine Donald J. Trump doing the same thing?
No. Because for a crass ego maniacal boor that sort of self deprecating action would be like a little death. It's never not about Donald J. Trump. It can't be. Everything else comes second.
Everything.
Now, admittedly, John F. Kennedy had more class in his toenail clippings than Donald J. Trump has in his entire bloated body.
But still...
Money can buy you many things. Gilded gold chairs. Shiny brass signs with your name on them.
Maybe even the Presidency.
It cannot buy you intelligence, taste, or class.
And one time, while he was President, he and his wife went to Paris on an official trip.
The French fell in love with the First Lady. It helped that she spoke their language fluently. But even without that, she would've charmed them.
And, instead of having his ego bruised, and blustering about his many accomplishments, John Kennedy introduced himself thus "I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris."
Can anyone, even his most ardent supporters, imagine Donald J. Trump doing the same thing?
No. Because for a crass ego maniacal boor that sort of self deprecating action would be like a little death. It's never not about Donald J. Trump. It can't be. Everything else comes second.
Everything.
Now, admittedly, John F. Kennedy had more class in his toenail clippings than Donald J. Trump has in his entire bloated body.
But still...
Money can buy you many things. Gilded gold chairs. Shiny brass signs with your name on them.
Maybe even the Presidency.
It cannot buy you intelligence, taste, or class.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
One Question Above All Others
Since we know that the CIA doesn't answer to the President...not really.
And it doesn't answer to the Congress...at least not honestly.
Historically, whenever they're caught out, they lie and dissemble, promise to be better, and then pretty much continue doing what they want.
So, the obvious question is, who, or what does the CIA answer to?
This is kind of important to know, don't you think?
After all, they're running around the world, with an unlimited budget, doing someone's bidding.
And all the while making enemies for the rest of us.
And it doesn't answer to the Congress...at least not honestly.
Historically, whenever they're caught out, they lie and dissemble, promise to be better, and then pretty much continue doing what they want.
So, the obvious question is, who, or what does the CIA answer to?
This is kind of important to know, don't you think?
After all, they're running around the world, with an unlimited budget, doing someone's bidding.
And all the while making enemies for the rest of us.
Monday, December 15, 2014
You're Telling Me The CIA Lied? No!
The problem with replacing all the top CIA guys is that you'd only end up replacing them with other CIA guys...
And they all lie. And when I say "all" I mean most. And when I say "most" I mean all. And when I say "black" I mean "white". And vice versa. They don't call their world a "hall of mirrors" for nothing. It is the nature of the business.
And it has driven at least a few of them completely paranoid crazy.
I'm not sure how the Brits get around this fundamental issue with MI-6....Perhaps they don't.
Anyway, the last President who talked about truly substantive change to the CIA was a fellow named Kennedy. Remember him?
After the Bay of Pigs JFK was so pissed off about being lied to by his "intelligence" agency that he wanted to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the wind."
And we saw how that worked out in the end...
For the past 67 years we've let this exclusive little club do whatever it thought best to protect US interests, and by that I mean US business interests (often oil related) all over the world. This would include overthrowing governments, assassinations, torture, and all sorts of other cool stuff. Since it is, nominally, part of our government, when its fuck-ups become too obvious, it will, on occasion, allow its wrists to be slapped by Congress. Then it goes back to doing whatever it wants, under the pretense of "protecting" us.
And should you complain too much about this, and be in a position to possibly do something about it, well, they have ways of dealing with that, too.
And they all lie. And when I say "all" I mean most. And when I say "most" I mean all. And when I say "black" I mean "white". And vice versa. They don't call their world a "hall of mirrors" for nothing. It is the nature of the business.
And it has driven at least a few of them completely paranoid crazy.
I'm not sure how the Brits get around this fundamental issue with MI-6....Perhaps they don't.
Anyway, the last President who talked about truly substantive change to the CIA was a fellow named Kennedy. Remember him?
After the Bay of Pigs JFK was so pissed off about being lied to by his "intelligence" agency that he wanted to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the wind."
And we saw how that worked out in the end...
For the past 67 years we've let this exclusive little club do whatever it thought best to protect US interests, and by that I mean US business interests (often oil related) all over the world. This would include overthrowing governments, assassinations, torture, and all sorts of other cool stuff. Since it is, nominally, part of our government, when its fuck-ups become too obvious, it will, on occasion, allow its wrists to be slapped by Congress. Then it goes back to doing whatever it wants, under the pretense of "protecting" us.
And should you complain too much about this, and be in a position to possibly do something about it, well, they have ways of dealing with that, too.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Faith and Begorrah!
Here's a fun new drinking game: Every time Chris "Hardballs" Matthews mentions his book about Jack Kennedy drink an entire fifth of Irish whiskey!**
**for a truly authentic experience, use bootleg whiskey.
**for a truly authentic experience, use bootleg whiskey.
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