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Endless War: Hurrah, Wii Won! Let’s Keep Fighting!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Glenn Greenwald published an outstanding rebuke of our apparent policy of endless war Nov 23rd in Salon. I think that a certain Nobel Peace Prize winner would benefit from reading more Greenwald:

Anonymous U.S. officials this morning are announcing in The Washington Post that they have effectively defeated what they call “the organization that brought us 9/11″ — Al Qaeda — by rendering it “operationally ineffective”.
… You might think this means that the vastly expanded National Security and Surveillance States justified in the name of 9/11, as well as the slew of wars and other aggressive deployments which it spawned, can now be reversed and wound down. After all, the stated purpose of the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) which provided legal cover to all of this was expressed in the very first line: “To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States.” The purpose of this authorized force was equally clear and limited: “to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons [the President] determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons.”

yet the administration and Congress seem to have little stomach for returning to a peacetime footing with their mentality of Endless War:

Enemies are never defeated; even when they are “operationally ineffective,” they “will remain a major security threat for years.” If their capacity to frighten fades, they just get seamlessly replaced by new Villains (“U.S. counterterrorism officials now assess al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Yemen as a significantly greater threat”). When that doesn’t work, you just manufacture the Terrorists yourself: by converting, directing and funding them and/or doing exactly that which you know will ensure they continue to emerge. And when all else fails, you just find a brand new war that ensures the process repeats itself in an endless loop: the establishment bellwether Washington Post today expressly demanded “regime change” in Iran (“by now it should be obvious that only regime change will stop the Iranian nuclear program”).

This misguided mentality reminds me less of statesmanship and more of children in front of their Wii endlessly restarting yet another mindnumbingly senseless war game.
– Iron Filing

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Rahm Emanual: Standout Standup at Jefferson-Jackson Dinner

Monday, November 28, 2011

I’m not a big fan of Rahm Emanuel but he gave a rousing and eloquent defense of the Obama administration at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Jefferson-Jackson Dinner November 19. I recommend reading the more serious parts in the full transcript here but he began with a top notch blast of standup:

While we meet here tonight, the Republicans are having a debate across town.

I’ve watched a number of them, and I’ve got to be honest, I never thought I’d say this, (pause) I’m beginning to miss Sarah Palin’s insights.

Their debate was called the Thanksgiving Family Forum — which is fitting because I have never seen such a collection of turkeys.

Look at their top candidates: Take Mitt Romney. He said he would be in Iowa tonight. (pause) We should have known he would change his mind.

Newt was at the debate. I heard he had to leave early to spend the holiday with his loved ones … the salespeople at Tiffanys.

And Herman Cain? I was actually hoping Herman would stop by today and see me before the debate, but he was at his tutorial on Libya. The scary part, his tutor was Rick Perry.

In truth, the Republicans do have an impressive field…

Governor Mitch Daniels, Governor Haley Barbour and former Governor Jeb Bush …

The only problem, they’re not on the field.

Rahm made some pretty telling comparisons between the current GOP field and the 2008 Democratic primary contenders as well:

I just want you to think about this for a second. Think of our field in 2008. At our debates in Iowa, we had Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Senator Chris Dodd, and President Obama.

Now think about their field: Michelle Bachman, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum …

I’m beginning to feel sorry for Republican primary voters.

I suppose it’s not an entirely fair comparison since the Democrats are from 2008. However, the current GOP crop doesn’t fair well compared to the 2008 GOP field either. Heck, the 2008 Romney would kick 2011 Romney’s butt.
– Iron Filing

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Middle Class: Meet Wile E Coyote

Monday, November 28, 2011


©Walt Handelsman

Handelsman’s cartoon looks like a history lesson illustration portraying the position of the middle class in 1970. It makes current sense as a variant on Roadrunner cartoons where the coyote spins his wheels over the chasm for 10 years before the 30 year drop to the bottom of the canyon. Humor is never that slow but economies are. What worries me is the anvil that hasn’t hit yet.


Anybody have suggestions for transforming the still from a roadrunner cartoon with a Political Irony quip? I’m thinking the anvil is the looming payroll tax increase or the next debt limit deadline.

I always sympathized more with the coyote than the roadrunner.
– Iron Filing

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Econ4: Economists Encouraging Economic Empathy

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Econ4 is an association of economists who have joined to advance this mission:

The economic crisis we face today is not only a crisis of the economy. It is also a crisis of economics. The free-market fundamentalism that attained ideological dominance in the final decades of the 20th century has been discredited by financial collapse, global imbalances, mass unemployment, and environmental degradation. To confront these challenges, we need an economics for the 21st century.

We need an economics for open minds that breaks free of the closed-minded economic dogmas of the past. We need an economics that aims to secure long-run human well-being, not an economics preoccupied with maximizing short-run output and profits. We need an economics that recognizes that we need to safeguard the Earth for our children and generations to come. We need an economics for people, the planet, and the future.

This video introduction to Econ4: 4 the people, 4 the planet, 4 the future is teeth-grindingly cheesy but the story is great and well worth listening to:

The Econ4 video feels like a commercial but not one targeted to the sophisticated Political Irony demographic (you know – smart, well read, politically active, self-referentially ironic 🙂 ). Considering the lack of economic and civics education in secondary schools today, this might be what is needed to advance the public discussion. Still, I fear Econ4’s message may be way over the heads of Blue Dog Democrats, much less the Tea Party Republicans.
– Iron Filing

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China Threatens Vegemite Shipping Lanes!

Sunday, November 27, 2011


©Tom Toles

I like the quizzical look on the kangaroo’s face, “Where the heck did he come from?” Come to think of it, why do we need a military base in Australia?
– Iron Filing

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Geneology of Romney Campaign Lies

Saturday, November 26, 2011


©Mike Luckovich

Mitt Romney’s very first 2012 campaign TV ad is, according to Politifact, a flat out pants-on-fire lie.

There is a perverse line of deceit leading from Geoge Bush’s 2000 primary campaign, through McCain’s 2008 primary campaign to Romney’s current primary campaign.

McCain’s loss to George Bush in 2000 was largely due to a smear campaign (Rove?) in South Carolina which claimed McCain had fathered an illigitimate black child. Ironically, in 2008, McCain hired one of the same political operatives responsible for this smear.

On the eve of the 2008 Florida primary, John McCain claimed that Mitt Romney had advocated a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. McCain was distorting Romney’s words from an ABC News interview. Governor Romney was asked whether he agreed with President Bush’s veto of congressional legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal, and whether Romney as President would veto similar legislation. Romney’s reply had been “Of course”. No ambiguity there. Florida, with help from McCain’s deceitful tactics, was the turning point leading to Romney’s loss in 2008.

Now Mitt Romney is using the same tactics against Obama. From an ethical perspective, Romney learned the wrong lesson from McCain who had learned the wrong lesson from George Bush’s handlers. Hopefully, this time, it is the wrong lesson politically as well.
– Iron Filing

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G.O.P. to Norquist: “Can We Tax The Poor?”

Saturday, November 26, 2011


This cartoon falls into the category that directly replicates reality. Like Tina Fey’s impression of Sarah Palin – what’s the difference between the cartoon and the real thing?
– Iron Filing

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Yes! Top 10 Ways the Occupy Movement Changes Everything

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Almost all Conservatives accept a meme describing the Occupy Movement as directionless and incoherent. Ironically, many Progressive activists are also perplexed by the amorphous nature of this new movement. Yes! magazine counters with a concise and clear statement summarizing the importance of the Occupy Movement:

Ten Ways the Occupy Movement Changes Everything
Many question whether this movement can really make a difference. The truth is that it is already changing everything. Here’s how.

1. It names the source of the crisis.
Political insiders have avoided this simple reality: The problems of the 99% are caused in large part by Wall Street greed, perverse financial incentives, and a corporate takeover of the political system. Now that this is understood, the genie is out of the bottle and it can’t be put back in.

2. It provides a clear vision of the world we want.
We can create a world that works for everyone, not just the wealthiest 1%. And we, the 99%, are using the spaces opened up by the Occupy movement to conduct a dialogue about the world we want.

3. It sets a new standard for public debate.
Those advocating policies and proposals must now demonstrate that their ideas will benefit the 99%. Serving only the 1% will not suffice, nor will claims that the subsidies and policies that benefit the 1% will eventually “trickle down.”

4. It presents a new narrative.
The solution is not to starve government or impose harsh austerity measures that further harm middle-class and poor people already reeling from a bad economy. Instead, the solution is to free society and government from corporate dominance. A functioning democracy is our best shot at addressing critical social, environmental, and economic crises.

5. It creates a big tent.
We, the 99%, are people of all ages, races, occupations, and political beliefs. We will resist being divided or marginalized. We are learning to work together with respect.

6. It offers everyone a chance to create change.
No one is in charge; no organization or political party calls the shots. Anyone can get involved, offer proposals, support the occupations, and build the movement. Because leadership is everywhere and new supporters keep turning up, there is a flowering of creativity and a resilience that makes the movement nearly impossible to shut down.

7. It is a movement, not a list of demands.
The call for deep change—not temporary fixes and single-issue reforms—is the movement’s sustaining power. The movement is sometimes criticized for failing to issue a list of demands, but doing so could keep it tied to status quo power relationships and policy options. The occupiers and their supporters will not be boxed in.

8. It combines the local and the global.
People in cities and towns around the world are setting their own local agendas, tactics, and aims. What they share in common is a critique of corporate power and an identification with the 99%, creating an extraordinary wave of global solidarity.

9. It offers an ethic and practice of deep democracy and community.
Slow, patient decision-making in which every voice is heard translates into wisdom, common commitment, and power. Occupy sites are set up as communities in which anyone can discuss grievances, hopes, and dreams, and where all can experiment with living in a space built around mutual support.

10. We have reclaimed our power.
Instead of looking to politicians and leaders to bring about change, we can see now that the power rests with us. Instead of being victims to the forces upending our lives, we are claiming our sovereign right to remake the world.

Each Occupy site has it’s own dynamic. This is a diverse movement with regional and even significant local interests. Despite this diversity, the Yes! list is a remarkably good fit for every site I have visited from Boston to Chapel Hill. The Yes! article was adapted from the book, “This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement” just published this November.
– Iron Filing

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Occupy Laundry: City Workers Politely Fold and Label During Eviction

Friday, November 25, 2011

Dramatic confrontations attract the headlines and certainly are motivational to one side or the other but real progress and the best lessons may come from more gentle showdowns. Judy Rebick’s account, full story here, of an Occupy eviction in Toronto caused my spirits to soar because of the triumph of steady determined good will over baser impulses.

Rebick reports that like many occupy sites (for example: Political Irony report on Occupy Boston}:

there was a growing number of homeless people, some with serious mental health issues, who arrived because Occupy created such a welcoming environment in which they could be fully part of the community. It wasn’t easy and there were incidents but from what I could see they were handled with compassion and intelligence.

Occupy Toronto was relatively clean, well behaved and attentive to communications with authorities so there was little justification for shutting down the camp:

The occupiers had every right to be angry. And they were angry but they behaved with amazing discipline, militancy and calm.
… It was agreed that there would be no effort to stop city workers from taking down the tents. And the workers were very respectful, folding and tagging clothing and other items found in the tents and carefully taking them down.
… Perhaps it is true that the police were trying to recover their reputation post G20 but I also think they had a lot of respect for what the occupiers were doing. I heard that a lot of cops were referring homeless people who won’t go to shelters to Occupy Toronto where they would be well treated. The police negotiated every situation with considerable skill.
… I like to think that it was really because of the atmosphere created in the camp, an atmosphere of love and compassion, an atmosphere of commitment and determination, an atmosphere of a loving accepting community. I think maybe the police were affected by it too. I know that I have been.

I believe everyone who reads Judy Rebick’s full report will be affected too. The loss of this camp was a win for Occupys everywhere because of the way Occupy Toronto behaved. It will rise again even stronger. Occupy Toronto taught a good lesson to the administrators, police and everyone.  Occupy Toronto is leading by example in a manner I haven’t seen Martin Luther King Jr.
– Iron Filing

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Newt to Public: Get Out of Your Yard!

Friday, November 25, 2011

This gem is from Mike Stanfill’s blog, The Far Left Side:

stay out, newtFrom the sublime to the truly ghastly, presidential contender and noted scam artist Newt Gingrich opened his big yap to complain about those mean old Occupiers at a Republican forum in Iowa this past weekend. One line that caught my ear was the following:

“They take over a public park they didn’t pay for, to go nearby to use bathrooms they didn’t pay for…”

Which means, I suppose, that Newt himself studiously avoids all public facilities of which he personally did not fund. (Now why do I doubt that?)

With this in mind I offer the image on your left. Feel free to place it on the entrance of any public bathroom you like just in case Newt forgets his position on the subject. At the very least it might mean you won’t have to share Newt’s butt heat the next time you visit the loo.

It is called a public park because it is for the public. What is Newt’s reliable source for the information that Occupiers are not tax payers nor members of the public? Hint: It probably rhymes with Fox. Newt’s always been the angry old man who yells at the kids in his yard. Now we know that he’s the angry old man who mutters and yells at the kids in the park too.
– Iron Filing

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Grover Anarquist

Friday, November 25, 2011

Who is Grover Norquist, you might ask? Well, find out because he is destroying your Congress, your country and the Republican Party

©Bob Englehart

What do you call a person who vociferously hates our government and works tirelessly to destroy our government? A traitor? Perhaps. What if he also would defund the military, police and fire departments? An anarchist? No, he’s a conservative icon and one of the most influential political figures in America. He’s Grover Norquist, grand doyen of the anti-tax pledge ubiquitous on the Republican aisles of Congress.

Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength, an organization promoting higher taxes on themselves, is now confronting Norquist head on:

[Norquist] raised an issue we get all the time which is, ‘Well there’s nothing stopping you guys from paying higher taxes, just send a check to the government!’ And this to me is frankly an absurd position; I don’t consider it to be a very serious argument. Government is not a charity and we can’t rely on voluntary contributions from people to support the things that government does. And I also said to him, ‘Look would you be willing to sign a pledge where you’re willing to forgo all the benefits that government provides? Are you willing to sign a pledge that says you don’t want the U.S. military to protect you? That you will refuse to contact the police if somebody steals from you? That you will refuse to contact the fire department if your house is on fire? Because that’s the equivalent! Why should you get a free ride? Why should you benefit from my willingness to support the government? Let’s do it together.’ And he said, ‘If I don’t have to pay any taxes for it, I would forgo all those things!’ To which my response was, ‘Well there’s an easy way to do that, move to Somalia!’ And his argument was, ‘Somalia doesn’t suffer from too little government, it suffers from too much government.’ I don’t even begin to understand what that means, but again there’s only so much you can go into in these conversations.

Thom Hartmann’s blog points out the overwhelming evidence that Norquist hyperbole is basically anarchist:

There is evidence of Norquist attempting to defund our government into bankrupcy. There are government records, interviews, articles, and books by Norquist that implicate him as an anarchist out to destroy America as we know it. He imfamously announced during a NPR interview (May 25, 2001) what his anti-government movement was planning, “My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years,” he says, “to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.

Ironically, many Republicans are very upset about the small number of naive, youthful anarchists complicating the Occupy Movement yet worship at the feet of a truly dangerous anarchist in their midst.
– Iron Filing

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Heaven Can Wait, Get This Turkey Some Mac ‘n Cheese!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Right Wing Watch captured a charming moment with Pat Robertson on The 700 Club. The video clip answers that age old question: Just how out of touch can one man be?

Apparently our renowned evangelist has never attended a church picnic. Robertson is a lot like that proverbial sweet, kind, well-meaning, out of touch racist uncle except mean instead of well-meaning and without the sweet and kind part.

Daniel Kurtzman compiled this top 10 list of stupid Pat Robertson quotes. Watch out, your head might explode

10. “Lord, give us righteous judges who will not try to legislate and dominate this society. Take control, Lord! We ask for additional vacancies on the court.” –Pat Robertson

9. “Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It’s no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history.” –Pat Robertson

8. “I would warn Orlando that you’re right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don’t think I’d be waving those flags in God’s face if I were you, This is not a message of hate — this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It’ll bring about terrorist bombs; it’ll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor.” –Pat Robertson, on “gay days” at Disneyworld

7. “(T)he feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” –Pat Robertson

6. “I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that’s the way it is, period.” –Pat Robertson

5. “I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected him from your city. And don’t wonder why he hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for his help because he might not be there.” –Pat Robertson, after the city of Dover, Pennsylvania voted to boot the current school board, which instituted an intelligent design policy that led to a federal trial

4. “God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says ‘This is my land,’ and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, ‘No, this is mine.’ … He was dividing God’s land. And I would say, ‘Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations, or the United States of America.’ God says, ‘This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.'” –Pat Robertson, on why Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke

3. “Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up” –Pat Robertson, on nuking the State Department

2. “You know, I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war … We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don’t need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It’s a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.” –Pat Robertson, calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez

1. “It may be a blessing in disguise. … Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. Haitians were originally under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it’s a deal. Ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other.” –Pat Robertson, on the earthquake in Haiti that destroyed the capital and killed tens of thousands of people, Jan. 13, 2010

Hard to believe this guy isn’t running for the Republican nomination again. He’d be a shoo in with the current field.
– Iron Filing

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Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 24, 2011

The Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special with the audio replaced with the Republican debate. Wow.

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Celebrating Giving Thanks Rather Than Thanksgiving

Thursday, November 24, 2011

I have mixed feelings about Thanksgiving. The fourth Thursday in November is the holiday closest to my heart because I deeply believe in being thankful. On the other hand, celebrating an event which led to the eventual genocide of most Native American societies is distasteful. I choose to celebrate Giving Thanks rather than Thanksgiving.

  • I am thankful that the Occupy Wall Street Movement has changed the national conversation.
  • I am thankful for  family and friends who lovingly challenge me.
  • I am thankful for Jon Stewart for being Jon Stewart.
  • I am thankful for Iron Knee for trusting me with his cherished website and I am especially thankful that he will return to the helm of Political Irony in just a few more weeks!

What are you thankful for?

– Iron Filing

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Thanksgiving Themed Cartoons End Soon – Thankfully

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Then the #@*! Christmas cartoons start!


©Ed Stein
Commentary by Ed Stein

I normally don’t like to draw cartoons like this. I’m usually a stickler for at least explaining why I don’t care for a politician or a party or a political idea in a cartoon rather than just ridiculing him/her/it. But, after watching a series of debates between the laughably absurd cast of characters running for the Republican nomination, there’s almost too much to make fun of. Rick Perry’s stumbles, Herman Cain’s serial women problems and worse geography issues, Newt Gingrich’s heavy baggage, and Mitt Romney’s flip-flops lead me to believe that not one of these guys is a serious candidate. Mitt gets something of a pass, given that he’s at least a serious campaigner and a supposedly smart guy, even if he doesn’t know what he stands for from one minute to the next, but all-in-all, it’s hard to believe that this is the best a serious political party can give

I agree with Stein that the current Republican field simply doesn’t deserve treatment much more sophisticated than this. About the only quibble I have is that simply drawing them all as turkeys is a bit cheap. Yes, Mitts a turkey but Cain is a hound-dog, Newt is a bottom feeder, Bachmann is chicken-little, Santorum is an ass, Paul is a money-bomb and Perry is a pet rock. Huntsman must be under the Perry rock because he’s nowhere to be seen.
– Iron Filing (and yes, my version is probably cheaper than Steins and harder to draw too)

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