Truth in Comics

If it's Sunday, it's Truth in Comics.

Friday Cat

Keep it real

I understand the desire to report on the silver lining side of things when it comes to the economy. Yes, it seems we are no longer at the edge of a cliff, however (and especially since it was rosy talk that contributed to the cliff sneaking up on people in the first place) it's important to remember that unemployment is still at record levels (new layoffs are down, but new jobs are nonexistent), the foreclosure mess still has major legs, and the banks are still basically insolvent (no matter how the try to hide behind their accounting tricks). So, while optimism has its place, realism should rule and I'd like to see more of it from a media that lives to gloss over and parrot the company line.

Quote of the Day

"An African-American President with Muslim roots stands before the Muslim world and defends the right of Jews to a nation of their own in their ancestral homeland, and then denounces in vociferous terms the evil of Holocaust denial, and right-wing Israelis go forth and complain that the President is unsympathetic to the housing needs of settlers. Incredible, just incredible." -- Jeffrey Goldberg

Obama's Cairo Speech

Reminds me of why I supported him in the first place. It feels good to be proud again.

Lindsey Graham on Sotomayor

“I believe she [Sotomayor] does have the intellectual capacity, but there is a character problem, there is a temperament problem,” - Sen. Lindsey Graham

With the Sotomayor nomination all but certain to go through, I do not see the point in making character assassinations against a future supreme court justice. This is purely playing base politics at a time the GOP needs to move beyond their base. The fundamental misunderstanding of this fact by the GOP continues to blow my mind.

And, yes, if Sotomayor were a man Lindsey Graham would surely not be making such statements [see Scalia, Cheney, MCCain]. Tone deaf much, Senator.

Blame the Senate Democrats

Closing Gitmo should be a no brainer. With today's Gallup poll showing Americans are not too keen on it closing, it is not. I blame Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats. I know the GOP, led by Cheney, were out in force against the closing, but it wasn't until the Democrats caved that the conversation changed. Suddenly it was bi-partisan to oppose the closing. Suddenly the GOP's rallying cry changed to "look 90 Senators agree."

I understand the Democrats voted against funding, not the closing itself, but they should have known the optics of the whole thing would stink and that the GOP would welcome the wedge. It's time to reeducate the people. Maybe this time the Senate Democrats will play along.

More crazy to come

While I look forward to the olive branches and outreach that Obama will make to the Muslim world this week, I do not look forward to the Right's hysteria that will accompany it. It would be nice if they could hold their criticism until the president is back on American soil, but we know they will not be able to help themselves. It's going to get ugly.

Wanting it both ways

While Senate Republicans seem to have a desire to lift themselves from the gutter Rush, Newt, and Tancredo put them in regarding the Sotomayor nomination, it's clear, after a round of Sunday talk, that they will not. The only difference between them and the more full throated critics is nuance. In the end they are making the same absurd racist charges and hoping the American people, and Hispanics specifically, won't notice. Today's GOP has no problem being led off a cliff.

North Korea

North Korea is clearly a problem. Bombing them, however, would be an even bigger problem [see Iraq]. This is not a hard conclusion to reach. Unless, of course, you're William Kristol.

GM

While I'm not too gung ho about the money being spent to keep GM, and Chrysler before it, afloat, I do credit the Obama administration for doing the best with an awful situation. If GM and Chrysler had gone down without a structure being provided the shock to our economy would have been far worse. We would be talking liquidation, not reorganization. We would be talking massive job losses and bankruptcies all along the supply chain. Whatever the end result is with GM and Chrysler the cushion provided was necessary. As Obama's detractors scream socialism, and make fun of Government Motors, this fact continues to be lost.