Author Archives: Larry Franz

The Fire This Time

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More from political cartoonist David Horsey of the Los Angeles Times here:

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/topoftheticket/la-na-tt-republicans-blame-obama-20131006,0,2739790.story

Jonathan Chait’s conclusion to a thoughtful article in New York magazine:

In our Founders’ defense, it’s hard to design any political system strong enough to withstand a party as ideologically radical and epistemically closed as the contemporary GOP. (Its proximate casus belli—forestalling the onset of universal health insurance—is alien to every other major conservative party in the industrialized world.) The tea-party insurgents turn out to be right that the Obama era has seen a fundamental challenge to the constitutional order of American government. They were wrong about who was waging it.

http://nymag.com/news/politics/nationalinterest/government-shutdown-2013-10/

What Would Boehner Do? A Political Cartoonist’s Answer

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The New York Times doesn’t do political cartoons, except the ones on Sunday by Brian McFadden:

{Unfortunately, the link is broken, but you can see the cartoon by going to the address below and then using the arrow on the right until you get to the one for October 6, 2013}

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/07/08/opinion/sunday/the-strip.html#1

There’s a long article in the Times today about how the right-wingers have been planning this crisis for months. It might be too depressing to read the whole article, so here’s a brief quote:

A defunding “tool kit” created in early September included talking points for the question, “What happens when you shut down the government and you are blamed for it?” The suggested answer was the one House Republicans give today: “We are simply calling to fund the entire government except for the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare.”

Boehner was on television this morning, trying to explain his position:

“We’re not going to pass a clean debt limit increase,” the Ohio Republican said in a television interview. “I told the president, there’s no way we’re going to pass one. The votes are not in the House to pass a clean debt limit, and the president is risking default by not having a conversation with us.”

Of course, there are enough votes in the House to open the government and raise the debt limit, which is why Boehner won’t allow a vote to take place. And, of course, Obama had a meeting with Congressional leaders, including Boehner, a few days ago. Senate Democrats have been requesting budget negotiations with House Republicans for months, but the Republicans have refused to meet. What Boehner means when he says “having a conversation” is “giving into our demands”.

Pardon my French, but Boehner is what we used to call at work “a lying sack of shit”.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/a-federal-budget-crisis-months-in-the-planning.html?ref=politics

http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/Weekend-in-Washington-yields-little-on-shutdown-4873299.php

P.S. – Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 3. The Pirates now lead the 5-game series 2-1. It might be over tomorrow.

Baseball Isn’t Boring After All

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For many years, major league baseball has been amazingly boring. In fact, it’s been amazingly boring since around 11 p.m. on October 14, 1992.

That’s when the Pittsburgh Pirates lost the ’92 National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves. It was the 7th and final game of the series. The Pirates had entered the bottom of the 9th leading 2-0. With 1 out, the Braves made the score 2-1. With 2 outs and the bases loaded, an Atlanta pinch-hitter hit a single to left field. The runner on 3rd easily scored, making it 2-2. The runner on 2nd headed for home. There was a play at the plate. The runner beat the throw from Barry Bonds. Atlanta won 3-2 and went to the World Series.

Barry Bonds left to play for the San Francisco Giants and the Pirates had 20 consecutive losing seasons. Nothing they tried worked. None of their games were significant. Baseball was amazingly boring.

This year, mirabile dictu, the Pirates not only had their first winning season, they qualified for the playoffs. They won the National League wild card game Tuesday night. Thursday they began a 5-game playoff with the St. Louis Cardinals. Each team has won a single game so far.

All of a sudden, baseball is no longer amazingly boring. Where there were long stretches of tedium before, as the pitcher stared into space, the batter called time out, the pitching coach walked to the mound, as foul ball after foul ball went into the stands, there is now serious suspense. Is that 2-run lead safe? Will this pitcher make it through the inning? Can this batter get on base? It’s too scary to watch sometimes. Every throw and swing of the bat means something.

Baseball hasn’t changed at all, of course. But as with all things in life, context is crucial. Walking down the street, sitting on a park bench, eating a slice of pizza, anything at all can be meaningful, depending on the circumstances.

If You’re Trying to Understand John Boehner

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Speaker of the House John Boehner could end the government shutdown and raise the federal debt limit quite easily by allowing the House of Representatives to vote on those two things alone. There are enough “moderate” Republicans to join with Democrats in passing the necessary legislation, which would sail through the Senate and be supported by the President. The Speaker has chosen instead to demand changes to the Affordable Care Act that Senate Democrats and the President won’t (and shouldn’t) accept.

The debt limit won’t be a problem for a week or so, but why is Boehner refusing to allow a “clean” vote on the shutdown?

Two New Yorker writers offer their opinions at the links below. One argues that Boehner is primarily a coward. The other argues that he is primarily a hack (i.e. that he has no personal convictions). A reasonable conclusion is that he is a cowardly hack.

The two New Yorker articles:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/10/what-is-john-boehner-scared-of.html

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/2013/10/darkness-in-washington.html

You can share your thoughts with the Speaker’s office here:

http://www.speaker.gov/contact 

People Like the ACA, Whether They Know It or Not

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In Kentucky, of all places. But Kentucky has a Democratic governor who wants to make it work.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/03/1243855/-Kentucky-s-success-makes-a-mockery-of-GOP-Obamacare-foes