What If They Burned A Koran And Nobody Was There To See It?

I guess we’ll find out as Springfield, TN’s Bob Old decided to go through with his copycat Koran burning after all:

But for all the controversy and hype, his Quran burning took place in front of just a handful of people, most of them from the media.

Old and the Rev. Danny Allen stood together in Old's backyard, answering what they say was a message from God.

Well isn’t that special. In fact, eight journalists showed up for Old and Danny Allen’s pathetic “demonstration,” which clearly was a sad attempt to get some attention since obviously his church wanted nothing to do with it.

Also:

Three protesters stood across the street from Old's home, holding signs that read "My husband fights terrorism and your actions perpetuate it" and "Proud of my country but ashamed of my neighbors."

Okay, Tennesseans. Hope everyone is proud of themselves. Now can we all move along?

[UPDATE]: Read John Shuck on our new imperial religion.

Caturday

Laundry day ... Etta kills 'em, we wash 'em ...

Tennessee Wackadoos REPRESENT!

[UPDATE]: Florida's Koran burning has been cancelled. Wonder if this idiot in Tennessee still plans to go forward.

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Not to be left out of all the fun, a Springfield, TN pastor wants to join in the Holy book barbecue planned for Saturday:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Springfield minister says he also plans to burn a Quran on Saturday to mark the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The Rev. Bob Old told The Tennessean the Rev. Terry Jones of the Dove World Center Outreach in Gainesville, Fla., is doing the right thing by burning the Quran, and so he's going to do likewise.

Jones' plan to burn Qurans on Saturday has caused a furor of opposition, including an urging from President Barack Obama to call off his plan.

However, Old says not only does he plan to burn the Quran, but he intends to post a video of the burning book online.

Says Old of Muslims in America: "If they want to have their religion, they can have it somewhere else."

Wow that's just SO FUCKING AMERICAN, ain't it? Isn't that what the Puritans were told? "If you want your religion go somewhere else?"

I mean, we just knew that some asshole in Tennessee was going to join in the fun, didn't we?

*SIGH*

Look, I really didn't want to pay attention to this wacko down in Florida because clearly he's an attention-seeking media whore of the Fred Phelps variety. The media circus has already been whipped up, it was inevitable, but I just really hoped I could check out of Crazy Town and just not take part in the spectacle. But noooo, of course not, someone right up the highway from Nashville thinks this is a stellar idea! The nation has clearly gone off the rails and frankly I'm tired of having to say "you don't represent me!" over and over again.

People have a right to burn books in this country, it's part of the whole "free speech" thing, so enjoy yourselves. But I just have to wonder at what these folks are going to be thinking come Sunday morning when they show up at church for worship. As you arrive on church property and smell the acrid burned-ash-and-ink smell of your little holy flame fest, are you going to be proud of yourselves? Will you think that God is proud of you? Do you think Jesus looks down from heaven on you and smiles at setting flame to some ink and paper? Really?

Or will there be a tiny bit of shame in your hearts? Maybe the smallest shard of embarrassment that the entire world has looked upon you and your congregation, not with awe at how much you love, but with horror at how much you hate?

Is this how you represent God to the world?

"Vide", inquiunt, "ut invicem se diligant" - ipsi enim invicem oderunt - "et ut pro alteruto mori sint parati"; ipsi enim ad occidendum alterutrum paratiores erunt.

Turning A New Leaf

[UPDATE]: Just in the nick of time, too.

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Sorry, the headline is lame, I’m still on my first cup of coffee (which is how most of my posts are written), but I find this very exciting news:

State officials hope to give a boost to electric car sales with a $2,500 incentive to early buyers of the Nissan Leaf in Tennessee via a program that could later be extended to buyers of other alternative fuel vehicles.

Gov. Phil Bredesen, speaking during a TVA conference on electric vehicles Wednesday, said the state plans to tap a petroleum escrow fund marked for energy projects to provide rebates of $2,500 to the first 1,000 buyers of the new Nissan Leaf electric car later this year.

"There's no reason Tennessee can't take the lead … in the development of electric vehicles," the governor said. "We want their components to be made here and sold worldwide with a 'Made in Tennessee' label."

The $2.5 million state program, which provides perks on purchases in addition to generous federal incentives to buyers of electric cars, makes Tennessee at least the second state with such extra benefits. California has a $5,000 incentive for buyers of all-electric, plug-in vehicles.

I might as well ‘fess up and let everyone know I’ve been on the waiting list for the Nissan Leaf for the past five months. I work from home so it’s perfect for someone like me: My driving is mostly around town doing errands, going to hockey and football games, shopping, etc. I have solar panels on my roof so I won’t have to feel too guilty about the electricity I’m using for fuel. And our garage is perfect for installation of a home charger. Mr. Beale already drives a Nissan but his car was getting some mileage on it. So we’ll trade it in for a Leaf, and we’ve got the hybrid if we need to drive further than 100 miles, which is maybe eight times a year.

Anyway, I’m excited about the new incentives. There’s so much right about this program, not the least of which is the fact that these cars are made right here in Tennessee. I love that I'm creating jobs for my neighbors and also helping the environment.

I know our state gets a bum rap for a lot of the silly stuff we do, but the Tennessee EV program is actually quite advanced. We’re actually way ahead of states like Vermont and Oregon and whatnot, states one usually assumes to be green and progressive. We’ll have a network of charging stations so I could, actually, drive my EV all around the state (and perhaps I will and blog about it):

Jonathan Read, CEO of San Francisco firm ECOtality, said Tennessee would be the first state to take the electric vehicle beyond the 100-mile range that is rapidly becoming the standard for all-electric mass-production vehicles like the forthcoming Nissan LEAF and Ford Focus Electric expected next year.

He said: “With these plans completed, the state of Tennessee will emerge as a leader in EV adoption, and serve as a critical blueprint for how best to connect major population areas with EV infrastructure.

“We are thankful for the input TVA and our partners in each city have provided throughout the planning process. We are taking a smart and strategic approach to the deployment of EV infrastructure so as to best create a connected, highly functional EV charging network,” added Mr Read.

Kim Greene, president of Strategy and External Relations at TVA, said there was a “groundswell of enthusiasm” already growing in the TVA area and the entire state as a result of The EV Project.

I’m just so proud of our state for being leaders in this critically important area. I’m proud of TVA and I’m proud of Gov. Bredesen.

And I’m worried. Just a teensy weensy bit worried. Because here’s the thing that’s so radical about EVs: no internal combustion engine! Wrap your head around that one for a minute. That means no tailpipe. That means no gas station stops -- ever. No need for fill-ups. No need for oil changes. Nada.

The only reason you will ever need to stop at a gas station is to buy a soft drink. And think about how Mr. Haslam’s family makes its money: gas stations. So, if Bill Haslam is our next governor (and it's looking likely) I do have a concern that he will self-servingly try to obstruct this program. It’s mostly a federal program and he can’t mess with it too much, I don’t think, and it looks like it may be too far along for him to screw it up even if he wanted to, but I think it’s a fair question.

Having seen the excellent documentary “Who Killed The Electric Car?” and seen how politics can destroy a pilot program (especially when the corporation behind it isn’t fully on board) I think my fears are justified.

In California, people literally were trying to hide their EV’s from GM. The auto maker went around and repossessed every car it could find when Bush's EPA challenged the state's air quality law which created the market for EVs. Eventually every EV was crushed. Stupidly, of course, but they did it. It was about politics, nothing more, and GM paid for its stupidity and short-sightedness. Let’s hope they learned a lesson because the EV ain’t dead, it’s alive and well and the wave of the future.

And I am just putting Nissan and Bill Haslam and the oil lobby on notice: not again. From my cold, dead hands, people.

Another GOP Healthcare Idea FAIL

Remember the GOP’s big ideas to reform our broken healthcare system? “Competition” across state lines and medical malpractice reform? A new study says medical malpractice comprises a mere 2.4% of healthcare spending. That’s even less than we had thought.

Via The Hill:

The new study — published Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs — found that the annual cost related to medical liability is $55.6 billion. Most of that spending ($45.6 billion) is related to defensive medicine — the tests, drugs and other procedures that doctors prescribe in order to limit the risk of being sued for malpractice.

The researchers said their findings indicate that malpractice-related costs are neither insignificant nor a cure-all for the nation's skyrocketing health spending trends.

"The amount of defensive medicine is not trivial," Amitabh Chandra, a co-author of the study and public policy professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, said in a statement, "but it’s unlikely to be a source of significant savings."

The article quotes Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley as saying something to the effect of “$45.6 billion sure sounds like a lot of money to me!”

*SIGH*

Yes you old crank but not when compared to the entire picture! Are you seriously telling us you don’t understand that concept? In which case, why the hell are you the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee?

And just as an aside, why the hell did The Hill interview Grassley anyway? Why not interview Max Baucus, who is the Democratic chair of the Finance Committee? Why is it whenever there’s a research study of this kind the media always runs to get the Republican reaction? I don’t recall anyone rushing to find out what Democrats thought when that party was in the minority. Republicans rule the media’s world and it’s beyond tiresome.

Things Change

Remember the GOP’s ”Unprecedented 10-point Lead” on the generic ballot?

All gone now.

NOW can we stop paying attention to stupid, meaningless polls?

Today's Post

I'm not here. Today's post is up at The Swash Zone.

Mistakes Were Made

Remember when the Bush Administration fired Lawrence Lindsey for estimating the cost of regime change in Iraq at $200 billion? Ha ha that was so funny.

Today Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard’s Linda Blimes had to revise their $3 trillion war estimate. Upwards:

But today, as the United States ends combat in Iraq, it appears that our $3 trillion estimate (which accounted for both government expenses and the war's broader impact on the U.S. economy) was, if anything, too low. For example, the cost of diagnosing, treating and compensating disabled veterans has proved higher than we expected.

Moreover, two years on, it has become clear to us that our estimate did not capture what may have been the conflict's most sobering expenses: those in the category of "might have beens," or what economists call opportunity costs. For instance, many have wondered aloud whether, absent the Iraq invasion, we would still be stuck in Afghanistan. And this is not the only "what if" worth contemplating. We might also ask: If not for the war in Iraq, would oil prices have risen so rapidly? Would the federal debt be so high? Would the economic crisis have been so severe?

The answer to all four of these questions is probably no. The central lesson of economics is that resources -- including both money and attention -- are scarce. What was devoted to one theater, Iraq, was not available elsewhere.

The rest of the piece is equally depressing.

When you think of all the things that could have been done with that money -- healthcare, teachers hired, environmental restoration, infrastructure rebuilding, job training, scientific research, unemployment extensions -- all the stuff the Republicans are yammering about how we don’t have money to do these things and the free hand of the market should pay for them anyway! while wringing their hands over making our grandchildren pay for the stimulus! when in fact not one of those assholes said anything about our grandchildren paying for this stupid, useless war except CLAP LOUDER. It just turns my stomach, it really does.

But the worst part is that no one went to jail for this. No one’s career was destroyed for this mistake. Hell, there are rumors that John Bolton might run for president. People got rich off the taxpayer teat -- people like Erik Prince, such a nice Christian fellow -- and where is the call for accountability? *Crickets*

I simply don't understand why the nation is not rising up over the biggest national blunder in our history. We'll quite literally be paying for this mistake for a generation, on so many levels. And it's like the entire country is happily choosing to move along, think happy thoughts now, er, maybe not happy thoughts since we're all so depressingly broke but here's a great idea, let's blame the black man in the White House for all of our problems instead of having a come to Jesus moment about our national shame. How's that working for everybody?

I still cannot believe that we invaded a country for no reason and no one has paid for it. The biggest mistake of the Obama Administration was not devoting a little time and energy to a war inquiry like what they're doing in the UK right now, or a truth and reconciliation commission like they did in South Africa. To borrow President Obama's favorite phrase: make no mistake. The physical and psychic wounds of this colossal error run very, very deep. And by not channeling the grief and anger where it belongs, without giving us a chance for national healing, Obama has just heaped a whole bunch of grief and anger on himself.

And I have a special word to our glorious mainstream media. You folks so eager to cover every gathering of Teanuts who seem oh so worried about the national debt, not a one of them ever asks where Dick Armey was when our $3 trillion war was drummed up (originally opposing the war, Armey voted in favor of war authorization after Dick Cheney made him wet his pants.) Our prestigious national news media, so busy picking apart every little thing President Obama does, like what condiments he puts on his burgers and what beverages he drinks -- yet they can’t be bothered to ask how or why the last administration was allowed to bankrupt the nation and slaughter thousands of innocents.

Guess they’re too busy washing the blood off of their hands.

Silent No More

Yeah I know the “silent no more” meme is a favorite Teanut rallying cry but we Lefties find it amusing considering how conservatives basically rule our national discourse. Glenn Beck farts and the media rushes to cover it; Breitbart pulls some vicious lies out of thin air and organizations lose their funding, people lose their jobs, and the national news media takes it as gospel truth.

So while we DFH’s don’t seem to have the same credibility or news-making ability as the folks on the right, we can eat least talk to our neighbors, colleagues, coworkers, etc.

And it seems that we are. I’m hearing more and more stories like this one and this one. John Cole writes:

I made a vow, though. In the interest of politeness, I’ve ignored this stuff in public before. I figure I will do my ranting online. But not any more. Any time I am confronted with this nonsense in the future, I am aggressively and publicly challenging these idiots. I can’t take it any more. The damage Rupert Murdoch and those like him have done to this country needs to be countered.

Good advice to us all. Don’t be afraid to speak out, liberals. Don’t be afraid to rock the boat a little, to make things a little uncomfortable around the dinner table every now and then. Don’t be afraid to “reply all” to that ridiculous e-mail your relatives sent about Michelle Obama banning Christmas because sure as God made little green apples, it will reappear on a wackadoodle politician’s lips a year later.

We’ve been too polite -- to our detriment. We figured no one would take the Glenn Becks and Michelle Bachmanns seriously. We were wrong. Use your voice, liberals.

Take THAT Laurie Cardoza-Moore

Saw this while running around doing errands today:

See! We're not all assholes!

All Tennesseans are not Islamophobes and all Christians are not right wing bigots!

My life is about to get very busy so blogging may be sporadic in the next few weeks (though you know what happens as soon as I say that ...)

Have a good weekend, folks.