Leftover politics

I had enough links left over after yesterday's posting to justify wasting some more time blogging. When I say waste, I mean it. Here's my weekly schedule:

MONDAY. Tripleheader of boring classes. Estate planning at 8, Bankruptcy at 9, Professional Responsibility at 10. Law Council meeting at noon. Work at the SDRC all afternoon. Home by 5:30.

TUESDAY. Tripleheader again. Work at Siegel all afternoon. Home by 6.

WEDNESDAY. Tripleheader. Work at SDRC. Judicial Policy Seminar (very fun, taught by Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Paul Anderson) at 3:30. Home by 6:30.

THURSDAY. Work at Siegel in the morning. Bus to SDRC for the afternoon. Tax Policy Seminar at 3:30. Home by 6:30.

FRIDAY. Best day of the week. Only have to work at Siegel. Home by 5:30

Of course, the evenings require study and actually seeing my wife and dog. I hate this semester. I resolve to cut back on commitments next semester.



Maggie and I have a "Say No to War on Iraq" sign in our front yard now. I got it at the local Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) office, and it is the biggest sign on our block. Ok, it's the only sign on the block. While I was putting this up, a guy passes by on the sidewalk. He says, "mind if I say my piece?" and I say sure. He then tells me that he is employed in the business of selling sprinkler equipment. "All I'm saying is," he says, "those people in the towers weren't helped much by their sprinklers." I said, ok, and he walked away.


I think that the only people on earth in favor of the war on Iraq are the sheep contingent of the American people and the Bush and Blair administrations. Well, maybe Bin Laden wants it too-- I mean, could he ask for a better recruitment tool? Add in the complications of Turkey and NATO and the UN and Bush has the potential to screw up our foreign policy for decades.


People typically get what they deserve in our republic. Why do we vote for Republicans? Why do we accept their weak justifications for their policies that help the plutocrats (I'm sure you've heard of the fact that the vast majority of the benefit to the various Republican tax plans goes to the top 1% of the population) to the detriment of everyone else? A good explanation is found in this editorial from the NYT, in that people want to be the plutocrats and accept the fiction that these tax cuts will eventually help them too. A telling statistic cited in that article, but I mention to emphasize, is the Time poll (scroll down, at the bottom) that asked the American people whether THEY were in the top 1% of the population in terms of income. The answer: 19% of us think we ARE in the top 1%. Fully 20% think they will be in the top 1%. Bingo, we have a constituency. And if these fundamentally unequal policies are questioned the GOP responds that the questioner is trying to play "class warfare." And yet they still win the elections. The mind boggles. These people then respond to the dangers in our society by going after... drug paraphrenalia distributors. GREAT use of limited law enforcement resources, men. Thanks a billion.

Favorite stuff to deconstruct

In the spirit of yesterday's Matrix link, what happens if you get too into the Po(st) Mo(dern) stuff.