Obama takes on McCain’s Social Darwinism

Or listen to this new ad.

Face facts: Republicans, at their heart, are Social Darwinists. For Bush, McCain and his followers, the Gilded Age was their utopia.

Update: evidently I am no the only one to think this:

This is conservatism. The dismissal of economic burdens from others making less money than you. The belief that an ideal economy can thrive with a small boat of winners and a giant sinking ship of losers. The insistence that your economic dissatisfaction is illegitimate, and can only be explained by a brainwashing from the media or politicians.

Gramm’s only unique remark was expanding the blame beyond “big media” and “the Democrats” to … everybody. Calling America “a nation of whiners” only made glaring the fundamental elitism of conservatism.

But make no mistake. Gramm is conservatism.

It is precisely his attitude that has shaped conservative economic policies throughout the Bush Era. Massive tax giveaways to those earning more than $250,000. No investment to make education, clean energy and health insurance affordable to all citizens and businesses. No effective oversight of irresponsible corporations plundering the middle-class.

With the Bush Era ending, the choice is ours whether we want to continue being condescended to by conservatism in the coming years, or decide it is time for a progressive vision that puts our government and economy back in our own hands.

Bill Scher gave some examples from conservative pundits.

I should point out that this is not the type of conservatism that you read about in The American Conservative.

Workout notes: change of plans?

Today I took the day off from running and walking; I swam 3100 yards.

I did 500 warm up, 500 worth of drill/swims with zoomers.

Then I did a test set: 1000 yards free (no flip turns; my push-offs were sloppy): 4:19, 8:36, 12:56, 17:15 or: 4:19, 4:17, 4:20, 4:19.

Then 500 strokes, 500 of 50 paddle, 50 free, 100 cool down for 3100 yards.

That was by far my best swim of the year (yes, I know, I am NOT a real swimmer)

My lifetime PR is 15:37 in 2000 (8 years ago) and I was down into the low 16s in 2006 (with flip turns).

But this is a huge improvement over where I have been recently.

I do have about 8 possible training weeks if I want to focus on the Big Shoulders 5K swim this September.

Ever have a workout like this? Keep in mind that the guy that is writing this has finished 100 mile trail races and has qualified for Boston; he was on track to run a good Western States 100 miler this year. Keep in mind that this was a running workout and that a 7-8 minute pace should be no problem for him.

Read what happened at his last workout:

Anyway, the first lap of my warm-up went OK, but I was in some pain. The second lap was OK. On the third lap, it was pretty apparent that I wasn’t going to be able to run fast. Hell, I wasn’t going to be able to run slowly. On my 4th lap, I tried some accelerations. Tried. No go. On the far side of that lap, I noticed that my car appeared to be miles and miles away. I was hoping I could make it to my car.

I thought I was going to fall over. I started to imagine the high school girls freaking out when an old fat guy fell over on the track beside their practice. They wouldn’t know what to do. I would know that it was only sore muscles that had me stuck on the ground. But, they’d be thinking about the possibility of a heart attack that had put me there. “Who’s going to do CPR?” “Not me” “What about mouth to mouth?” “On him? Ewwwwwwwww!” “Quick, call an ambulance” “Wait, no, let’s just leave and all agree that we saw nothing at all”

After one mile, done in 10:23, I called it a day. I drove home and made myself a mojito and grilled some chicken for dinner. The second mojito seemed to dull the pain in my legs for a while, but it hurts again today. My wife and I are planning to run a few miles together this evening. She normally runs at about 12-13 mpm pace. I hope I can keep up.

I’ve had days like that as well; you seem ready but when you get out there, the first mile is HORRIBLE. In walking, it is as if I am laboring at 14, 15 or 16 minutes a mile, or in running, even a 10:30 pace seems impossible, or in swimming, a 1 minute per lap pace feels hard.

What I usually do (say, if I am running) is I do some light walk jogs, and sometimes, by mile 3, I feel better. If I don’t, I quit, go home, and blog.

Exciting News in IL-18

Update: there is an informative diary on the Daily Kos about this. No, it isn’t mine.

I posted this at Prairie State Blue:

I have to admit that I haven’t paid that much attention to the IL-18 U. S. Representative race. It is usually a lock for the Republicans, and Aaron Schock seemed to be a popular choice.

Perhaps I dismissed our chances too soon.

It turns out that the Republicans are bringing in The Decider for a private fundraiser for Mr. Schock!

From the Peoria Journal Star:

PEORIA -

Though his approval rating is one of the lowest of all U.S. presidents, George Bush is expected to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for 18th Congressional District candidate Aaron Schock when he appears at a fundraiser in the Peoria area later this month.

Bush, who last was in Peoria in January 2007 to visit Caterpillar Inc., will visit this time for the sole benefit of Schock. He’ll be at a $500 per head fundraiser at a yet-to-be determined private residence on July 25, Schock said.

“It’s humbling that out of 435 congressional races that (Bush) is willing to take time to help me and that I’m on his radar screen,” said Schock, currently a state House representative.

With Illinois U.S. Sen. Barack Obama at the top of the ballot in the November general election, current 18th District seat holder Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, said Republicans – particularly in Illinois – need all the help they can get.

“Aaron and other Republicans need to make sure that voters know they have to go down the ticket and cross over and vote. It’s going to take money to persuade people that these folks are on the ballot,” LaHood said. “It’s no secret that President Bush is very low in the polls, but I believe based on his visit here 18 months ago, central Illinois has a very good feeling about the president.”

Evidently they feel that Colleen Callahan has a chance else they wouldn’t be wasting their time.

Her website is here.

Her announcement; the total is 30 minutes; each segment is about 7-8 minutes.

You can’t make this stuff up: 10 July 2008 version

First a blast from the past: Bush wrote legislation which would have pardoned himself for any crimes stemming from torture or mistreatment of prisoners.

It ended up passing as Senate Bill 3930.

Now a current issue. Remember the talk about the theft of a communion wafer?

Now the author of the article in question is under attack!

I’ll let P. Z. Myers tell his story:

So far today, I have received 39 pieces of personal hate mail of varying degrees of literacy, all because I was rude to a cracker. Four of them have included death threats, a personal one day record. Thirty-four of them have demanded that I be fired. Twenty-five of them have told me to desecrate a copy of the Koran, instead, or in some similar way offend Muslims, because — in a multiplicity of ironic cluelessness — apparently only some religious icons must be protected, and I would only offend Catholics because they are all so nice that none of them would wish me harm. I even have one email that says I should be fired, that the author would like to kill me, and that I only criticize because Catholics are so gentle and kind.

Oh, and of course, the university president’s office has also received lots of mail demanding my immediate ouster (keep in mind, though…Catholics are no threat to anyone at all.) I don’t know how much, but since Donohue published the president’s email address and not mine, I imagine it’s much greater than what I’ve seen. Those lovely Dark Age fanatics at the Catholic League have started a write-in campaign to start up an inquisition.

So no poll-crashing today. Instead, I would appreciate it if you would write a short note to President Robert Bruininks in support (he’s going to hate me for this). I have to ask for a few constraints, though: only do so if you are willing to sign a real name to it — most of the complaint mail I’m getting uses fake names, making it much less persuasive — and that, unlike the religious screeds I’m seeing, you take the time to proofread and send him something that at least looks like a high school graduate wrote it, which will put you way above the level of the hate mail. Be polite and rational, too!

If you really want to impress, send him regular mail at this address:

President Robert H. Bruininks
202 Morrill Hall
100 Church Street S.E.
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Bill Donohue has a loud, braying voice, and he’s already trying to stir up a witch hunt. We need a counter-campaign from the secular community.

Richard Dawkins also chimed in:

PLEASE WRITE IN SUPPORT OF PZ MYERS.
By Richard Dawkins

Readers of yesterday’s thread “It’s a Goddamned Cracker” will be aware of somebody called Bill Donohue, whose grasp of reality is so poor that he can’t tell the difference between a wafer and Jesus. The shrieking hysteria of Donohue and other Roman Catholics over the temporary removal of a communion wafer from a church service epitomises all that is ridiculous in the religious mind.

Today’s development is that Donohue is now inciting a witch-hunt against PZ, and is trying to whip up Roman Catholics to write to the President of the University of Minnesota, urging him to sack PZ. We need a massive counter flood of letters in support of PZ Myers. Please write, bearing in mind PZ’s two requests:-

1. Please use your own name, not a pseudonym
2. Please take care to write in a good, literate, adult style, in order to increase the contrast between the letters of support and the incoherent, juvenile flaming that will doubtless characterise the letters from the Catholics.

For details of the address to write to, see Pharyngula, here (or PZ’s post below)

Please rally round and show support for PZ, in the face of this hysterical latter-day Grand Inquisitor.

Thank you

Richard

Note: in the comments section of the article that I posted to, I’ve posted my letter.

So, you think that being Christian makes one gentle and moral? Wrong.

Yes: there are gentle, moral Christians, and Muslims, and Jews, and Hindus, and yes, Atheists and Agnostics too, even if I am not one of them.

And for yet another example of insane, delusional behavior in the name of religion: some scumbags threatened to attack and rape an atheist blogger because she expressed her opinion in an outspoken (and mostly acerbic) way!

Some theistards just don’t like me, and apparently think that they should demonstrate their Christian love by raping and killing me for Jesus. From an e-mail:

You are a scumbag and a lowlife. If I ever see you on the street I will smash your face in, rape you and kill you like you deserve. How dare you make fun of religion when you are even more fundamentalist than the people you mock and curse? What gives you the right to mock and curse God? You deserve to die and I will smash your brains in! I know your real name and I know who you are and what you look like so I can easily put an end to your worthless life. I hope someone kills you or you die soon before you can lead more of God’s children to hell! Go serve your master Satan, just don’t cause others to sin! God hates your mockery and you will burn and we Christians will laugh at you from heaven!! You are the most vile and arrogant scumbag I’ve seen and your blog shows your depravity.

You talk about your fans and do you think your fans will protect you when I see you on the street? You’re obviously a pathetic science nerd who cannot fight to save your life and I will send you straight to hell while you deserve. The only people who like you are science nerds who think that they are too smart for God, and you idiots will never win a physical fight with me! Hahahah! Where is your science now, scumbag? Keep worshiping Satan, you will meet him in hell HAHAHAHA!!

I hope to Jesus you repent before you burn in hell with Darwin, or someone kills you! I would gladly do the deed.

So you see, it isn’t just Islam that has people willing to commit vile and violent acts in it’s name.

But oh no, it is the atheists that are the haters, right?