Don Quixokie

As everyone who has been paying attention should know, the Republicans are pursuing raising the age of entitlement (Social Security, Medicare) and trying to call that entitlement reform. Brilliant, effective! A significant chunk of retirees won't won't survive long enough to collect SSI and Medicare, there by shrinking demand for these entitlements. THERE'S your savings, Nancy Pelosi! THAT'S the money! THAT'S what you were missing! There is a phrase that describes this type of policy, and it was the Republicans who were in white-knuckled terror and outrage when they accuse President Obama of it. Now the Republicans in Congress ARE the DEATH PANEL! I've a suggestion. Everyone reading this who is an American and who is likely to be impacted by this legislation, should it become law, please do this: If you you die between the age of retirement as it is NOW (12-28-2012) and the new age of entitlement eligibility - have it included in your WILL that you have...

In the 2012 election, two states voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Some things are so damn awesome and wonderful, they merit examination. What this means now and in the future is nothing short of incredible. It's the only area of the states rights' argument that I agree with. Though now legal in Colorado and Washington, pot remains illegal under federal law. Whether the Feds will violate the will of the people or allow all states to write their own marijuana laws is the question we wait to see answered. However, in those two states at least, enforcement of the drug war on pot is scaling back. They will test whether or not taxation of pot will indeed be an effective source of state revenue. I can only imagine it will be a better source than state lotteries as you won't need to face odds equivalent to be struck by lightening or eaten by a shark to get some joy. One thing NOT discussed, yet, is the implications for their respective Depts of Corrections. Those s...

[During the Obama administration] There are some things that are just so stupid and ugly that they demand examination. The escalation of the killing and threat of ground war between the Israelis and and the Palestinians in Gaza are a prime example.. Let me make this clear. I'm not a Muslim. But I really don't think that Christ would be copacetic with the actions of the Israelis either. What I am is enough of a historian to be absolutely disgusted. It was the asymmetrical and l-sided nature of the Middle East Conflict that fostered the  use of suicide bombs and terrorist attacks in the first place...a suicide car bomb being one of the few things that could be made on the cheap and nasty that could destroy a tank. Asymmetrical and lop-sided. We can talk all we want about how barbaric and fanatical the Palestinians are. But this is only one side in this conflict armed with tanks, helicopter gunships, and jets. As of this writing (11-19-12 9PM CT), the body count is ab...

Within the catastrophe of Hurricane Sandy there is a golden opportunity, if we choose to make a virtue out of necessity. The utter destruction of century old infrastructure means it must be rebuilt...and CAN be rebuilt with state of the art technology and with the eye toward survivng another Sandy. Sandy has necessitated infrastructure investment far beyond what would have been possible even with a cooperative House and Senate. History is a marvelous teacher. It was the reconstruction of the infrastructures of Japan and Germany after WW 2 which modernized them. Natural disasters destroy infrastructure as thoroughly as war. In the case of the devastation left by Sandy, armies of construction workers and engineers will be at work for years if not decades rebuilding and refitting in New York and New Jersey. What do you call that? God's own stimulus plan. We are also looking a a crash course clinic in getting and delivering aid to populous disaster ravaged areas. The lessons w...

The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or Obamacare has created or uncovered a huge shortage of primary care physicians. Ominous, yes? There is a vast opportunity hidden in this crisis. Conservatives have made much about doctors claiming that they'd rather give up their practice than operate under Obamacare. If the burdens of Obamacare is so onerous to physicians, then that can be remedied with subsidies made directly to doctors who participate rather than insurance middle men. That's for the short term. The fact is that the Federal government has an unmatched ability to promote specific industries and make fertile specific fields of endeavor, witness the World War 2 and post-World War deficit promotion of manufacturing which created the greatest economic expansion the world had ever known. For the long term, America needs an investment on the scale of the GI Bill for education for future primary care physicians. The GI Bill, no less that the government's inve...

Dear Mr President and Staff You are wrong about the Green on Blue attacks being a strategy of desperation. Suicide attacks are a strategy of desperation. Green on Blue attacks are a strategy of pure genius and effectiveness. A winning strategy. If American troops cannot tell friend from foe, all that is left is either a steady march of attrition or indiscriminate bloodshed. Am I cheering for the Taliban and al Qaeda? HELL NO! But "not letting the Taliban win" is NOT a strategy. Just how much goodwill will we generate destroying villages in order to save them in the Graveyard of Empires? If a foreign power had invaded and occupied America for over ten years and taken it upon themselves to refashion our political instutitions in their image, what would brave American patriots do? Has ANYONE asked that question? Fuck timelines, we need to leave Afghanistan NOW!

We have a 2nd Amendment which protects the rights of American to carry arms. It does not protect the right to walk down the street and fire your weapon randomly. Likewise the 1st Amendment protects freedom of speech and religion. But it does not protect the right to shout Fire! in a crowded theater. NOR DOES IT PROTECT SPEECH THAT ENDANGERS AMERICAN TROOPS OR AMERICA'S DIPLOMATIC MISSION! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_free_speech_exceptions Incitement The Supreme Court has held that "advocacy of the use of force" is unprotected when it is "directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action " and is "likely to incite or produce such action". [1] [2] In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the Court struck down a criminal conviction of a Ku Klux Klan group for "advocating ... violence ... as a means of accomplishing political reform" because their statements at a rally did not express an immediate, or imminent intent to do v...