PolITiGenomics

During the 30 minutes or so after boarding a plane and when you are free to use approved electronic devices, you can get a little reading done. On my last couple trips I had a stack of somewhat dated Newsweek magazines to pore through. Fortunately, there were several good articles, which I now pass along for you consideration (which I type on my computer during the period I am free to use approved electronic devices with the wireless features disabled). First a couple articles on the topic that has been on everyone’s mind now that the Republicans are no longer “responsible” for the growing debt: Fareed Zakaria’s Defusing the Debt Bomb talks about several concrete measures that can be taken to reduce the debt and The Real Greek Tragedy talks about why it is important to do that. Bringing a dose of reality to the debt issues is We the Problem which talks about why the US Congress will not enact any of the needed changes (he only gets it half right by blaming the people, lobbyists are part of the equation too). Shifting topics to the “partisan gridlock” in Washington DC, Ezra Klein’s Stay Out Of It, Mr. President discusses how the mere act of the President, any President, supporting some legislative agenda tees it up for the opposition party to, well, oppose it. This opposition occurs even when there is not much substantive difference between the two parties’ stances on the issue or when significant proposals of the opposition party have been included in the bill (giving credence to Mr. Klein’s thesis is the fact that Republicans no longer support their proposals from the 1993 health care debate that are in the current bill). The actual distance between Republicans and Democrats on issues is discussed in How the GOP Sees It. Finally, Google’s Orwell Moment discusses their flubbed roll out of Google Buzz and why things like that should concern you. I like the Newsweek article because it actually uses Orwell’s name in an appropriate reference to 1984. Most references to 1984 use terms like “Big Brother” in a pejorative way, e.g., “another example of Big Brother watching you.” But what is most powerful about 1984 is not that people saw the hyper-surveilling, truth-manipulating government as an intrusive presence in their life, but as a comforting one. The vast majority of people saw the government as something that brought benefits (peace and stability) and were more than happy to trade some small, meaningless rights for these benefits. What rights are you willing to trade for the benefits of social networking?

Speaking of global climate change and snowstorms, NPR has a story this morning about how a lot of snow in Washington, DC does not contradict the theory of global climate change. For those who missed second grade, the piece contains this information.

A storm is part of what scientists classify as weather. Weather is largely influenced by local conditions and changes week to week. It’s fickle — fraught with wild ups and downs.

Climate is the long-term trend of atmospheric conditions across large regions, even the whole planet. Changes in climate are slow and measured in decades, not weeks.

Judging from the comments on the story, it seems some are not swayed by facts and logic. I am sure their objections are based on sound scientific inquiry and not politically motivated.

It seems there is a shortage of news satire ideas. Two days ago, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report each had similar pieces on global climate change.

Rachel Maddow also had similar sentiments.

(For the slow learners out there, climate and weather are not the same thing. You were supposed to have learned this in second grade.)

Then, again, last night there were similar similarities (yes, that’s intentional) between The Daily Show and The Colbert Report’s reports on the response of Republicans (and Admiral Ackbar) to President Obama’s invitation to participate in a televised bipartisan summit on health care reform.

Well, it’s funny anyway.

Please consider writing your representatives in Congress to support the Fair Elections Now Act (S. 752 and H.R. 1286); a bill that will greatly limit the damage done by the recent Supreme Court decision overturning a century of election law. Change Congress makes it easy to email your representatives. See the video below for one reason why this is important.

Update: Added video.

So much for populist rage. We better be careful to not anger Wall Street tycoons.

I’m not talking about Rob Lowe, but about the corrupting influence of money in politics. Watch the talk Lawrence Lessig recently gave at the conservative Cato Institute to learn how bad it is, and how it is likely to become much worse.

And for fun, watch Stephen Colbert’s take on it.

And finally, do something about it.

Update: Added Colbert video and link to Change Congress.

What should the Democrats learn from their fall from grace over the past year? There are a lot of opinions as to what exactly the recent losses mean and what the Democrats and President Obama should do. Two of the more interesting come from David Brooks in Politics in the Age of Distrust and Drew Western in Obama Finally Gets His Victory For Bipartisanship.

Independent Lens has an interesting piece about copyright, music, and the nature of creativity entitled Copyright Criminals. If you get a chance to watch it, you should.

WELL DONE, SIR!

The man has become a caricature of himself… well, at the very least Jon Stewart has become a caricature of him.

This is pretty funny too.

There really are not words to describe the Supreme Court’s decision yesterday to undo decades of court decisions and over a century of campaign finance law. Fortunately, some people are trying. You can help too.

Some are trying a bit too hard.

Then again, this is just the first pillar to fall. There are literally no limits to the changes in law, election or otherwise, that this decision makes possible.

Update: Changed “some people” help link to Lessig’s article on The Huffington Post and moved the Change Congress link to the “you can help” link.