Month: April 2010

Playing into their hands

The fecklessness of the Democrat never ceases to amaze. Ezra Klein notes that

Pages 8 through 18 [of the Democratic Proposal on Immigration Reform] are devoted to “ending illegal employment through biometric employment verification.”

Look, the merits of this sort of thing are totally beside the point. Please recall: the facts do not matter. You’ve got the right wing epistemic loop working overtime on every manner of perceived plot, up to and including forced implantation of identifying microchips. The fact that GOPers are themselves (and themselves alone) proposing the forced implantation of microchips…into immigrants? Beside the point. (The facts do not matter) Here we have the death panels, and they’re about to track each and every man woman and child in these United States.

This gift on the part of the Democrat only serves to confirm the wildest fears of the far-right conspiracy nuts, whilst also giving ample cover for your garden variety, non-far-right pol to speak in whistle-tongue about this sort of utter lunacy, thus sweeping up the merely right wing along with the birthers and the rest of the lunatic fringe into one neat package. Apparently it’s considered a shrill move to try to splinter that particular block.

Expect plenty of “definitive proof that Obama is the antichrist” rhetoric as soon as this hits the fan. Maybe even on the floor of the House and/or Senate. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Oilbama

Krugman makes predictions on just how it is that Obama will be blamed for the oil platform explosion and subsequent mess:

Will it be claims that liberals and/or scientific conspirators sabotaged the rig, to undermine good Americans who want to drillheredrillnow? (Michael Crichton already wrote that novel).

Will it be that oil workers, demoralized by the march of socialism, fell into despair and let the accident happen?

Will it be claims that since this didn’t happen under Bush, it obviously shows that Obamanomics is responsible?

Apparently Rush has already started in on choice #1.

I think my vote is more along the lines of

“…and I think it’s clear that this accident only happened because we aren’t drilling enough. These poor companies are over-working what they have because they can’t make a walkable ring of oil platforms that encircles Florida. This sort of lunatic under-drilling leads directly to the sort of accidents we’ve seen off the coast of Louisiana, Wolf. That, and I might just mention that Biden used the F-word.”

Which, by the way, I’m for installing. So there’s that. Thank me later, Florida.

Wolf’s answer to that statement, you ask?

“Alright, we have to leave it there.”

What the fuck else does he ever say?

Tom (Boat) Tancredo!

COLMES: Do you really believe – you know [Obama] was born in Hawaii right?
TANCREDO: I have absolutely no idea where he was born.
COLMES: You’ve seen he was born in Hawaii; he was in two Hawaiian newspapers within two days of his birth.
TANCREDO: Anybody can put an article in a newspaper. Just show me your birth certificate! […]
TANCREDO: Now they very well not want to show it because they want to propagate this whole thing that’s going on about birthers. … They may be doing it for that reason; I don’t know why they don’t want anyone to see it. … They want it propagated because you know –
COLMES: It makes your party look nuts!
TANCREDO: Yeah well maybe that’s why they don’t produce document, I don’t know.

The Talking Cure

NYT reports:

Senate Republicans ended three days of resistance on Wednesday and said they were ready to allow debate of legislation to overhaul regulation of the nation’s financial system. The Republicans, who were gathering to make their formal decision, appeared to back down after Democrats threatened to keep the Senate in session through the night to dramatize the the standoff.

It’s almost as though making them talk is a strateegery that might, you know, work.
But, of course, we’ll face the same exact obstructionist horse-shit whenever debate is declared “over” and a move to end it is taken. What then? Won’t somebody tell me what to do then?!?

Make them vote against the bill. No compromises, no walk-backs, no changes.
I’ll say it again, there are TWO CHOICES here. You vote for cloture or you talk about why you are not voting for cloture. Forever. Or until you vote for cloture. Your choice.
You then are rewarded with two similar choices: you vote for the bill or you vote against it. Period.
We have nothing else to do until November of 2010. We plan to make you eat shit every day until then either way. No breaks. Oh, Senator Bunning, you say you need to take a shit? Well, we’re pretty likely to move at that point too.

Of course, it must be noted that the prior paragraph has absolutely no meaning to the Democrat.

…the e-mail messages you should be focusing on are the ones from employees at the credit rating agencies, which bestowed AAA ratings on hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of dubious assets, nearly all of which have since turned out to be toxic waste. […] of AAA-rated subprime-mortgage-backed securities issued in 2006, 93 percent — 93 percent! — have now been downgraded to junk status.

Paul Krugman, describing the real “shitty deal” that’s barely receiving notice:
the utter scam that is the ratings agencies.

End of an Era

Anchor Brewing Company changes hands:

Fritz Maytag, the washing machine heir who launched the microbrewery movement, has sold Anchor Brewing Co. in San Francisco to a pair of Bay Area entrepreneurs who plan to preserve and expand the iconic brand.

[…]

In 45 years at the helm of Anchor Brewing, Maytag helped spark a revival in the craft of making beer by hand and inspired thousands of entrepreneurs to follow him in creating small, artisanal breweries.

Keith Greggor, 55, and Tony Foglio, 64, two veterans of the spirits industry, say they plan to expand Anchor Brewing’s operations and cement its position as a font of artisanal beers and spirits.

“This is something we want to build on for the rest of our careers and pass on to the next generation,” said Foglio, who will serve as chairman while Greggor runs the operation.

“Combining Keith and Tony’s passion for the Anchor Brewing Co., their industry experience and expertise only means that Anchor will be enjoyed in San Francisco for generations to come,” Maytag, who will serve as chairman emeritus, said in a statement.

Didn’t realize that Maytag was into his seventies. This is a man that, when faced with news that his favorite brewery was about to close, bought it. And, in the course of reinvigorating Anchor’s fortunes, more or less inadvertently set off what became the rebirth of quality brewing in America. Single-handedly saved an entire style (their iconic California Common, or “Steam” beer) from commercial extinction, and went on to essentially create what became known as American Pale Ale (along with Sierra Nevada in Chico, CA) through a beer called Liberty Ale, originally brewed to commemorate Paul Revere’s ride. Along the way, Anchor also carved out a new commercial niche for American style porters (really: robust porter) and stouts, and, most notably to Lemkin, Anchor also produces one of the finest American Style barleywines you will ever, ever encounter: Old Foghorn. Oh, and Anchor happens to be behind a fine winter warmer, typically spiced, whose recipe changes each year.

And it’s through the story of one year’s version of that particular winter warmer (its official name being Anchor Merry Christmas) that you can really get a sense of the whole Anchor story in microcosm by watching Michael Jackson’s Beer Hunter series (the opening scenes of the relevant episode are available here). In the full episode, you can watch as Maytag takes the brewery staff (and Jackson) on an annual pilgrimage to the fields, such that they can follow their beer from harvest through production.

I realize this post is reading like an obituary…but, at least so far, it isn’t.
Anchor is a national treasure. Hopefully these guys realize that. They make the right noises, anyway. Time will tell. Until then: to Fritz Maytag! Your brewery (and this fan) salutes you.