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6301 [lbo-talk] Americans sorta like torture if it works -- rank: 1000

Dick Cheney s pushback on torture this week is well-calibrated: It s an issue on which public sentiment is somewhat more equivocal than President Obama s own view. While most people oppose torture, that view is short of monolithic and opposition softens if it s presumed actually to work, as the former vice president argues. This has been the case for years: Ask people if they support or oppose the use of torture, a straight up or down question, and majorities oppose it. But ask it with g ...

Document Size:	5473
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Apr 23 08:09:47 PDT 2009

6302 [lbo-talk] Conservatives Like Colbert too -- rank: 1000

On Apr 23, 2009, at 7:36 AM, Michael Pollak wrote: > "Liberals will see him as an over-the-top satire of Bill O'Reilly- > type > pundit and think that he is making fun of a conservative pundit," > LaMarre explained. "But conservatives will say, yes, he is an > over-the-top satire of Bill O'Reilly, but by being funny he gets to > make really good points and make fun of liberals. So they think the > joke is on liberals." Ha. Reminds me of Judith ...

Document Size:	5289
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Thu Apr 23 07:16:38 PDT 2009

6303 [lbo-talk] Schafer tries to semi-debunk the infrastructure crisis -- rank: 1000

On Apr 22, 2009, at 3:47 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: >>> More than 26%, or one in four, of the nation's bridges are either >>> structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. > > Schafer's reply to this (from article at the link above): >> > > A "structurally deficient" bridge can safely stay in service if > weight > limitations are posted and observed and the bridge is monitored, > inspected, and maintained. A bridge designed in the 19 ...

Document Size:	9686
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Apr 22 13:10:01 PDT 2009

6304 [lbo-talk] Schafer tries to semi-debunk the infrastructure crisis -- rank: 1000

On Apr 22, 2009, at 1:26 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: > at least in re bridges. I'm not a fan of his, but he seems to have > a couple of points, and if they're wrong, I'd love to have someone > point them out: > > URL: http://www.slate.com/id/2216532 This is Slate's bread & butter, no? A conventional piece that purports to be against the grain. Most of his sources are the Bush administration, no? Not a word from the American Society of Civil Engineers - which, by the way, giv ...

Document Size:	6219
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Apr 22 12:32:12 PDT 2009

6305 [lbo-talk] Identi.ca for Twittering Leftists? -- rank: 1000

On Apr 22, 2009, at 11:20 AM, Alan Rudy wrote: > At the same time, I think many folks resist these kinds of > developments > simultaneously for fear of long and difficult learning curves and Baby > Boomers/academics/leftists' sneering disrespect for Gen Y's > perpetually > chaotic "lack of focus" and the "meaningless" of > always-available/always-in-touch quick-and-dirty communications. Boomers? Ha! Even X'ers are now getting into the act: <http://www. ...

Document Size:	6739
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Apr 22 09:13:07 PDT 2009

6306 [lbo-talk] another Teflon pres? -- rank: 1000

[from The Note] Will anything get to him? The outrage is definitely there, in certain precincts of Republican politics. What s notable, however, is that it mostly has stayed there with little or no effect on Obama, Politico s Jonathan Martin reports. He has been blithely crossing ideological red lines and dancing on cultural third rails -- the kinds of gestures that would have scorched an earlier generation of Democrats -- with seeming impunity. Obama s foes, and even some of his all ...

Document Size:	5500
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Wed Apr 22 06:58:39 PDT 2009

6307 [lbo-talk] nationalizing the banks -- rank: 1000

On Apr 21, 2009, at 12:07 PM, Marv Gandall wrote: > The larger issue is: Who on the left isn't a creeping socialist today? Prof. Emeritus Cox, who refuses to disclose the truth.

Document Size:	4679
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Apr 21 09:21:24 PDT 2009

6308 [lbo-talk] nationalizing the banks -- rank: 1000

On Apr 21, 2009, at 10:47 AM, Marv Gandall wrote: > "Creeping revolutionism" - ie. forming local "cadre" groups of like- > minded > people to press for reforms to foreign and domestic policy which > will lay > the basis for the future overthrow of capitalism. Or creeping > socialism > that dares not call itself by name. That seems right to me. And if the broader political environment changes, then the creep can accelerate to a walk or a run. But I await ...

Document Size:	5120
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Apr 21 08:44:45 PDT 2009

6309 [lbo-talk] nationalizing the banks -- rank: 1000

On Apr 21, 2009, at 8:34 AM, Carrol Cox wrote: > It is important to recognize that RCP's diead "M-L-ism" and "Creeping > Socialism" are simply heads and tails of the same coin, relics of a > dead > past. Both equally "nutty." Thanks for that. So what's un-nutty, Prof Emeritus? Doug

Document Size:	4862
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Tue Apr 21 05:41:25 PDT 2009

6310 [lbo-talk] where's the IHS? Christians freaked -- rank: 1000

<http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46667> Georgetown Says It Covered Over Name of Jesus to Comply With White House Request Wednesday, April 15, 2009 By Edwin Mora (CNSNews.com) - Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram IHS --symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols th ...

Document Size:	5360
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 20 18:37:00 PDT 2009

6311 [lbo-talk] papal logic -- rank: 1000

On Apr 20, 2009, at 6:00 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote: > The internal history of the RCC as an organization over the last > generation -- indeed, since WWII (with a serious but finally > unsuccessful attempt at reaction after 1978) -- has been an > increasingly successful attempt to overlook those troglodytes. Which means overlooking the fundamental dogma of Catholicism, right? It's an organized hierarchical religion, not an affinity group for people who think it's all suggestive and ...

Document Size:	4937
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 20 17:23:34 PDT 2009

6312 [lbo-talk] [OFFLIST] Re: fresh punditry -- rank: 1000

> (1) Your delivery adds a lot and it's shame to miss it; you have a > uniquely sarcastic/sincere radio personna and inflections to match; > and Really? I usually think my delivery is awkward and lacking in fluency. > (2) Sometimes the shows are very topical and listening to them late > isn't as satisfying. > > It probably isn't possible to stagger them. More trouble than it's > worth and most people wouldn't notice. But if other people act like > I did it would be a ...

Document Size:	5296
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 20 15:03:54 PDT 2009

6313 [lbo-talk] papal logic -- rank: 1000

On Apr 20, 2009, at 5:16 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote: > With the collapse of official Marxism-Leninism and the growth of > Liberation Theology among the increasing number of Catholics in what > used to be called the Third World, while neoliberalism grew in the > developed world, Catholicism might be seen ca. 2000 as the largest > body of anti-capitalist thought in the world -- followed perhaps by > Islam... If you overlook the troglodytes in the Vatican.

Document Size:	4926
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 20 14:23:58 PDT 2009

6314 [lbo-talk] nationalizing the banks -- rank: 1000

On Apr 20, 2009, at 5:03 PM, Alan Rudy wrote: > Harvey picked up the creeping socialism them, even (humorously) called > himself a creepy socialist like Doug... to many RCPers lined up for > Qs for > me to stay and be ranted at... even if it meant not saying hi to > Doug - > which bummed me out. Damn, you were there? And Michael Pollak slinked (slunk?) out too. Those RCPers are nuts. But I did make a point, in my afternoon panel, of mentioning the blood-drenched hell that is c ...

Document Size:	5082
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 20 14:13:27 PDT 2009

6315 [lbo-talk] nationalizing the banks -- rank: 1000

On Apr 20, 2009, at 4:41 PM, Marv Gandall wrote: > Pretty strong and provocative stuff: "What does it mean to > nationalize the banks when almost no one really wants > to?...Nationalizing the banks, and mounting the commanding heights, > means attacking that class relation at its core. It would be insane, > at our present level of political development, to talk in those > terms. It seems more promising to me to talk about things that we > can almost imagine doing, at ou ...

Document Size:	5760
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Mon Apr 20 14:00:27 PDT 2009