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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Americans in all walks of life use connections to get ahead. Cops in Boston, farmers in Iowa, preachers, miners, teachers, UAW members, etc, etc...
Families that have some, any kind of power or influence, pass it on to various family members, and have done so for all time. The example cited in Illinois is pretty fucked, but I'm sure some shlepp car salesman in Bozemen made manager earlier than he should have because his uncle's name adorned the sign above the shop.
Mostly, people are judged by what they do in the position they're in. Earned or otherwise.
It's only in modern times that children usually find their own path in life; traditionally male children would follow in their father's footsteps.
Beau Biden grew up with a father who was a Senator. If his father was a good father, and it seems that he has been, what kid wouldn't want to end up like their dad? Nepotism hinges on an impropriety, rather than just someone who is qualified but also related getting a position.
As for Biden's chief of staff replacing him, to me, that seems like the most democratic short-term solution. Who else but Biden's chief of staff can be expected to share his political opinions and understanding of Delaware's needs? Voters voted for Biden, and in the end they're getting someone who was his right-hand man for years. My guess is voters will end up with someone roughly like who they voted for, which seems about as democratic as it can get considering the circumstances.
Lastly, to imply that connections are somehow inherently bad strikes me as an awfully lonely position to take. Humans have, over history, gathered as tribes, villages, families, cities, and nations because they found themselves stronger together than apart. It's rather antisocial to claim to neither want nor have any connections what so ever.
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I'll hop a donkey. I am paranoid horse carouse,
up and down, merry go rounds. I hate lemonade.
Fresh squeezed powdered drinks make folk burp.
sysprog. Please serve some cupcakes + ice cream.
Jebbie is too old. And some people always fumble.
Fu Man chew mustaches droops. Look melancholy.
YKW say: The tickle is too unpleasant for a society.
I see DiFi is flashing her panties again for all to see:
Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who will take over as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee in January, led the fight this year to force the C.I.A. to follow military interrogation rules. Her bill was passed by Congress but vetoed by President Bush.
But in an interview on Tuesday, Mrs. Feinstein indicated that extreme cases might call for flexibility. “I think that you have to use the noncoercive standard to the greatest extent possible,” she said, raising the possibility that an imminent terrorist threat might require special measures.
Flexibility, not to mention extreme lung capacity, must also be required in order to talk out of multiple bodily orifices...
Mrs. Feinstein issued a statement saying: “The law must reflect a single clear standard across the government, and right now, the best choice appears to be the Army Field Manual. I recognize that there are other views, and I am willing to work with the new administration to consider them.”
...at the very same time. Such a talented lady....
I am sure that the new administration is already aware of her complicity and her "view" that it not become widespread public knowledge.
Blackwater advisory board "invitee" and former CIA High Muckety-Muck, 'Buzz' Krongard's disappointment with Obama's about face on Brennan makes me think there should be even more casualties of his ilk. I wouldn't object if an Obama AG decided to look more closely at Buzz's ties to Blackwater and their activities in Iraq and elsewhere.
Teh Krongard fils are another example of the plethora of family interactions in government. 'Cookie' was interfering in an investigation of Blackwater while denying he knew that Brer 'Buzz' was on their board.
I suppose it shouldn't count against them that, while dues-paying members of the Family in Government Groop, they weren't even close enough to have their stories straight when the conflict of interest turds began to collide with the rotating device otherwise known as Henry Waxman.
In these here parts, it is referred to in grave and stentorian - and, to be honest, more than slightly drunken, on game days - tones as "The Old and Tangy".
I was a huge fan of all things rolling and coasting back before my neck started objecting to the rough treatment. There was even a rumor percolating around the Sandusky Bay (back in the day) that one could actually see my uvula ululating from the top of the Magnum. Now I'm probably over matched by the Jr. Gemini and woud even be content to be thrown out into the lake on a rubber raft and then recollected at day's end in time for the trip to PiB.
In order for bow biden to become AG, the repub AG was given a state Supreme Court seat by the dem governor, with the tacit understanding that the next in line for AG would not seek election to the post after his term expired. My S-I-L works for bow, and thinks he's a schmuck. Although a party dem, appointed by a dem AG, my S-I-L found former AG Jane Bradey very fair and professional as a boss.
Nepotism I'd like to see: Amy Carter
Lastly, to imply that connections are somehow inherently bad strikes me as an awfully lonely position to take ... it's rather antisocial to claim to neither want nor have any connections what so ever.
I don't believe Glenn (or anyone else here--and I exclude the weirdos) has suggested that connections are "somehow inherently bad." Rather, the question ought to be, in a democratic republic, who is to represent the people and their interests? Thus, you pose the issue in a rather upside-down fashion; connections and the human inclination to gather as tribes, villages, families, cities, and nations because they f[ind] themselves stronger together than apart, is beside the point.
Is there anyone, man or woman, who will/can represent the interests of the common citizen? The answer is 'yes.' The problem, of course, is the entrenched nepotism so vividly on display here today. One can argue socially, anthropologically, or in any other discipline's language, yet it cannot obscure those facts: connections+networks+money+functional aristocracy=political payday. The only thing missing--the only thing important for a functioning government--is meritocracy.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
