God pretzels, or "The Evangelical Economist at Work"

I've probably mentioned here before that I think there's a connection between evangelical Christian beliefs and the political position that all people should be left to the mercy of the "market" rather than aided by government intervention.  The thought process required to maintain these beliefs strikes me as sufficiently twisted that it can be called "the God pretzel."

Quote of the day, 2-20-07

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for superior moral justification for selfishness.
John Kenneth Galbraith

Religious right hyperbole and distortion

As some figures on the right bemoan the "lack of civility" in public discussions, and lament the inability of opponents to discuss their differences thoughtfully and with respect, we get this from the religious right:

Support the troops...when convenient, affordable, expedient, etc.

As if you needed any further proof that all the grandstanding and posturing by Republicans who now use "support the troops" as a universal response to all criticism of Iraq is....grandstanding and posturing:

Quote of the day, 2-18-07

A director who approves the backdating of options faces at the very least a substantial likelihood of liability, if only because it is difficult to conceive of a context in which a director may simultaneously lie to his shareholders ... and yet satisfy his duty of loyalty.
Chancellor William B. Chandler III, in a Delaware Chancery Court decision allowing a shareholder derivative lawsuit to go forward against Maxim Integrated Products, based on that company allegedly backdating stock options granted to executives,  thus guaranteeing that the options would be valuable.

Petraeus praise calls for a real simple, real obvious question

I've now listened to and read numerous comments from the president and his allies about the marvelous qualifications of General Petraeus, the new US commander in Iraq, and no one ever asks the most obvious question in the world.

Gridlock: House Passes, Senate Stalls Iraq Resolution

I knew it had to come to this: Seems the GOP was determined to play 109th rubberstamp no matter what....

Is He A Rethug Yet?

I love stuff like this, as Chuck Barris would say, then again, I love licking a lit road flare....

Home prices.......

Some news stories require no comment beyond the headlines and a brief summary of the stories below them.

What Do They Really Fear?

This is a sort of expansion of my comments to Lee's piece detailing this Weyrich and his dread fear of a return of The Fairness Doctrine....