Romney's Dangerous Ship of Fools

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Sunday October 21, 2012 · 12:55 PM PDT

2012/10/21 · 12:55

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

One criteria undecided voters must consider in this presidential election are the people who will influence policy direction in either a second term for Obama or during a Romney presidency. Ultimately, we are not just electing an individual but an administration. Assessing the likely character of an administration is especially vital when determining which candidate would be the best commander and chief.

I suspect that even after tomorrow night’s foreign policy debate, since Romney is the challenger, his behind the scenes advisers are largely unknown to undecided voters. Perhaps undecided voters (yes they do exist!) have not given this a moment’s thought.

Hence, when discussing the presidential election with any undecided voters who are your friends, colleagues or relatives, you may want to inform them of a few pertinent items.

intrepidliberal

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Saturday October 20, 2012 · 10:33 AM PDT

2012/10/20 · 10:33

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

On October 17th, Martin Longman, the talented proprietor of the excellent community blog, Booman Tribune had a post entitled “Romney the Destabilizer”. His post referenced recent reports that Romney was encouraging CEO’s to scare their employees into voting for him. Longman was particularly focused on how the post-New Deal consensus between employers and workers that helped nurture the middle class had broken down and the danger Romney represented to our civil society. I posted the following comment in response to Longman’s fine piece:

intrepidliberal

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Saturday October 13, 2012 · 11:17 AM PDT

2012/10/13 · 11:17

The topic below was originally posted on my blog the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

I have not blogged regularly in a long time. Demanding day job, personal obligations, fed up with politics and blogging burnout compelled me to put my activism aside. Life is busy and something had to give.

But I remain a believer in pursuing a more just economic and social compact. So even in my stupor I’ve phone banked recently and donated some of my salary to President Obama and candidates I truly believe in such as Massachusetts senate candidate Elizabeth Warren and incumbent Ohio senator Sherrod Brown. I do not earn much or have a lot of time but we all have to do what we can.

I am frustrated with the Democratic Party and President Obama but the other side is an atrocity machine. Seven years ago an old college friend who had fallen on hard times took to the Internet to expose truths about corporate malfeasance inspired me to start blogging. She is known in the blogosphere as Breaking Ranks and her recent postings on Daily Kos have inspired me again. Even before Americans witnessed Mitt Romney’s lyingthon in the first presidential debate she skillfully posted a meme about the foolhardiness of electing a lying CEO to be America’s commander and chief.

intrepidliberal

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Sunday June 13, 2010 · 5:21 PM PDT

2010/06/13 · 17:21

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

If I didn't care so much, if the stakes for civilization were not so high, if the fate of our ecosystem didn't hang precariously in the balance and our blood and treasure were not so casually tossed aside on behalf of a crumbling empire, I could laugh. A hearty-belly laugh at the absurdity of current events, our mediocre at best leadership, the irredeemable whores of big industry, and the mindless corporate mouthpieces with expensive haircuts masquerading as journalists. Yes, I could laugh at the whole damn mess.

intrepidliberal

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Monday August 31, 2009 · 5:43 AM PDT

2009/08/31 · 05:43

The topic below was originally posted yesterday, on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Like millions of my fellow citizens, I am reflecting after the death of Ted Kennedy. Death is an egocentric experience for the survivors. Indeed, rituals such as funerals, wakes or in the Jewish religion "sitting Shiva," is really about nurturing the souls of those left behind. That is also true when it is a public figure or celebrity that has died. We may never have met them or knew them yet they touched us nonetheless. The Kennedy family understands this better than anyone and is well practiced in rituals that not only honor the dead but comfort the living.

intrepidliberal

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Sunday July 19, 2009 · 4:11 PM PDT

2009/07/19 · 16:11

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

The phrase "knowledge is power" is a cliché in our culture. Yet as often as we hear it from others or speak it ourselves, how often have we contemplated the process of acquiring knowledge? Is there a blueprint for obtaining knowledge and wisdom? Are we encouraging children to be intellectually curious or merely teaching them that every question has an instant and obvious answer?

In her book, The Death of Why?: The Decline of Questioning and the Future of Democracy (Berrett-Kohler Publishers), New York City policy expert Andrea Batista Schlesingerwrites that,

intrepidliberal

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Sunday July 12, 2009 · 1:56 PM PDT

2009/07/12 · 13:56

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

It seems no matter which political party in America holds the majority, a Washington/Wall Street corporate centric axis dominates policy making. Indeed, Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbinrecently observed that banks, "Frankly Own the Place." Among liberal-progressive activists like myself, this condition has facilitated a confrontational mindset.

intrepidliberal

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Sunday June 21, 2009 · 4:40 PM PDT

2009/06/21 · 16:40

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

According to the World Bank, almost forty percent of humanity lives on a daily income of less than two dollars per day. Another 1.1 billion scrape by on less than one dollar per day.

How can anyone possibly survive or raise a family with such a meager income? In New York City, two dollars per day won't even cover my daily Brooklyn/Manhattan round-trip subway commute. Yet billions of low skilled people put food on the table, educate their children, grapple with unexpected emergencies and even save money.

intrepidliberal

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Sunday June 07, 2009 · 4:23 PM PDT

2009/06/07 · 16:23

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

In the age of Barack Obama, both the Republican Party as well as the South appear marginalized and out of step with the rest of America. Yet it wasn't so long ago that the South represented the foundation of America's conservative hegemony. Starting with Dwight Eisenhower in 1952, the Republican Party prevailed in nine out of the next fourteen presidential elections with a reliable Southern base.

Specifically, the Republican Party exploited white Southern resentment against the cause of civil rights and integration. The "Southern strategy" as it was later called, enabled Republicans to end the Democratic Party's previous domination of the South following the Civil War. A key figure in that realignment was the renowned evangelist Billy Graham.

intrepidliberal

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Monday May 18, 2009 · 7:29 PM PDT

2009/05/18 · 19:29

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Former federal prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega has recently made news urging that we don't rush into appointing a special prosecutor to investigate crimes of torture during George W. Bush's presidency. In a provocative April 20th post entitled "Of Black Holes and Radio Silence," Ms. de la Vega wrote:

intrepidliberal

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Sunday May 17, 2009 · 6:48 PM PDT

2009/05/17 · 18:48

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

President Obama will soon announce his nominee to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the Supreme Court. It's a critical nomination with long-term ramifications for civil liberties, executive power, management-labor relations, the environment and consumer rights. Hence, it is vital the public know whether the judicial philosophy and ideology of any prospective nominee to the court is compatible with their sensibilities and values. Ideally, all nominees would be forthcoming about their philosophy as the senate either confirms or rejects them with full knowledge of the sort of justice they're likely to be.

intrepidliberal

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Tuesday April 28, 2009 · 7:14 PM PDT

2009/04/28 · 19:14

The topic below was originally published on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

When an office colleague told me this afternoon that Republican Senator Arlen Specter defected to the Democratic Party, I had a flashback. In the fall of 1987, I was a freshman at Sarah Lawrence College. One of my professors assigned us a paper regarding the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork. A few days of research (research without the Internet!) were sufficient to turn me off to Bork’s strict constructionist perspective as well as his advocacy for excessive executive power.

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Romney's Dangerous Ship of Fools

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My Fellow Americans Do You Really Want To Find Out?

If Only I Could Laugh

We Must Fill the Void Ourselves

The Death of Why?: An Interview With Author Andrea Batista Schlesinger

The Ultimate Organizer: An Interview With ACORN's Founder Wade Rathke

Living On $2 A Day: An Interview With Economist Jonathan Morduch

Billy Graham & the Rise of the Republican South: An Interview With Historian Steven P. Miller

Investigating Torture: An Interview With Former Federal Prosecutor Elizabeth de la Vega

The Next Justice: An Interview With Legal Scholar Christopher L. Eisgruber

As The Specter Turns