Incompetent or Lying, Round II

I've been having a lot of fun following the "feud" between John Stewart and Jim Cramer, and think the whole thing is really pretty funny. However, I came across an interesting piece of tape I really think I should share with you.

Unfortunately I can't cut the part out that I want to share with you, but if you go here:

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and watch the video segment with Cramer that starts around 3:35 into it. Look at his eyes, look at his body language. Does this look like a man who is telling the truth? Or does this look like a man who knows he's lying? If you ask me, those eye movements, and intonation seem to me like a man who actually knows he's telling the truth. I can't prove a thing, of course, but either Jim Cramer has the worst body language ever, or something really fishy was going on during this period of time.

Powell, Limbaugh, and Steel, Briefly

I don't have a lot of time to write about this, but as I have read about how Limbaugh is being anointed by the press the de-facto head of the republican party (I wonder if he'll claim liberal media bias here?) it occurs to me that the problem is that none of the sane, non-racist, non-partisan hacks who were staunch republicans ever stood up to Limbaugh before. None. Ever. I can't remember a single time when a Republican said "limbaugh is going too far."

Now, limbaugh is, physically and ideologically, a juggernaut which the moderate, sane, non-conspiracy theorist loving Republicans cannot stop.

And, much as I admire Powell, and think Steele is closer to him than Limbaugh, I also think this creature could have been stopped, or moderated years ago. As it is, it looks like Limbaugh can take the Republican party into an areay of extremism for years to come, decreasing their political influence over time.

What should the Democrats do to ensure this? DO A GOOD JOB! Uphold the Constitution, and the rule of law. Create jobs, and increase the standard of living. Create educated citizens who are smart enough to be no more swayed by the Limbaughs than by the Creation Scientists or Abstinence Only crazies that still exist.

Nanosolar: Hoax or Just Poorly Explained?

It occurred to me when watching the Congressional hearings with then head of the U.S. Justice Department Alberto Gonzales that here was a man who was using incompetence as his defense against a wave of evidence that indicated criminal wrongdoing. Either way, he needed to go.

Along the same vein I've been reading about Nanosolar. I was first exposed to them a couple of years ago in an episode of Scientific American. Their claim to fame is being able to print solar cells directly onto film, greatly reducing the cost and boosting the efficiency of solar power generation.

But since first reading up on them, the online press seems to demonstrate Nanosolar is following a very spooky pattern of promising, and then not delivering, or failing to provide proof of their statements. So, to their CEO, if you are legitimate, don't you feel a need to do a much better job of providing the press proof you are where you say you are? I certainly am not convinced you are building a factory in Germany, have a production site, or have any capacity to create a solar cell today. I'm totally buying the Photon International article which said your the king of vapor-ware. Actually I was buying it before I even read it.

If you are an investor in Nanosolar, you owe it to yourself to make sure you aren't being Madoffed.

The Most Impotent Writer in the Blogoshere

I'm sorry to say this, but it's been clear to me for years that Glenn Greenwald, who writes over at Salon.com, is the most impotent writer ever. While he may make good, intellectually well reasoned points about the legality of torture and the moral and legal obligations we have to prosecute all those Americans (and here I use the term loosely) who participated, condoned, or allowed torture to occur, the truth is nothing will happen in this country. The political elites have decided, amongst private deliberations, that prosecution is not the way to go, and that's that. So Glenn, take a holiday, take a class in kayak making or something, but give up the writing. I don't think it's going to do a bit of good.

The Shadow War

There's a new war brewing, which is only occasionally mentioned in the media today. While President Obama has been fulfilling his promises of closing down Guantanamo and secret interrogation sites around the world, it seems that he is as commited as Nanci Pelosi to protecting those who broke the law during the Bush administration.

The war is really one of the rule of law vs. executive privilege. The protection a grunt in the field gets vs. that a member of the executive branch of our government.

This war would barely be noticed, until you observe the various players. Dick Cheney's recent interview with Politico, the UK judge who had to forego the legal process for the sake of cooperation with US intelligence, the nomination of Leon Panetta for director of the CIA.

What I'm most disappointed in is that the decisions on whether or not to prosecute war criminals from the US has been made in utter silence. There's been no debate, no explanation, just statements from the power elites that prosecutions will not occur, and deliberate attempts by the Obama administration to prevent the UK from prosecuting those who are guilty, not just in the US but abroad as well. If President Obama feels this is the right way to go about it, let's see his full rationale, not just a knod and a wink behind the curtain of Washington, D.C.

CNN has been conspicuously quiet on the subjects, however, apparently towing the administration line by attacking Limbaugh while at the same time letting these news articles slip away. Mark me, when the level of corruption and deceit actually comes to light, few Americans will be able to look at their leaders without feeling a certain sense of alienation and revulsion.

CNN, Limbaugh and the Opposite of Love

My home page happens to be CNN. I have reasons to like CNN and reasons to dislike it. For the past few days I've noticed an unexpected shift at CNN.com, they've been posting editorials attacking Rush Limbaugh. Now, I'm no defender of Limbaugh, but what's up with that? Is this CNN finally taking up a clear political stance, or are they just towing the party line? Where have they been for the past 8 years?

Enquiring minds want to know!

Michael Steele is no Colin Powell

The Republican shocked me last week by electing it's first black chairman, Michael Steele. I was pretty sure they'd elect another white, southern, closeted racist (if not closeted homosexual) to be the director again this time.

Even though I think this action does prevent the Republican party from collapsing under the weight of it's neo-con fringe, it doesn't do much else. Steele is just OK. Electing Steele is not a sign of leadership, it's a sign of follow-ship. When an organization feels compelled to do something it doesn't naturally want to because it's competitors have done so already, but without necessarily having a meaningful understanding of WHY the competitors did what they did, or WHAT they should do. In a very real way, the election of Steele to head the congress is proof the RNC is rudderless. It's the Sara Palin fiasco all over again.

Don't get me wrong, Steele is an OK guy. He's probably going to be better as Chairman than Palin would have been as a Vice-President, But the RNC doesn't need OK right now. They need a patriot who loves and has a deep and abiding faith in the constitution, as well as a deep and abiding faith in the basic principles of conservatism, and the gravitas to push the neo-con wack jobs like Limbaugh into the mental institutions they belong in. They need a Colin Powell. And they need to understand WHY they need a Colin Powell. Not because Powell is black, but becuase the RNC needs his type of leadership, conviction and clarity, with no thought given to his race or religion.

The neo-racist Limbaugh recently stated on his radio show that he hoped President Obama failed, proving that he was a partisan hack of epic proportions. Does he not realize that if Obama fails, we all fail? Or is he just so rich he can't imagine that it matters to him? Anyway, the point to this is, I don't hope Steele fails. I hope he succeeds in bringing the Republicans back to the mainstream, centrist, pragmatic party they should be. However, I have $40 bucks that says he only succeeds in splintering the party apart, leaving the true conservatives to leave for greener pastures, and the nut-jobs to do more Limbaugh-esque ranting about how we had to elect a black person because he was black.

Even though Michael Steele is just OK, I don't think the RNC deserves anyone as good as him, let alone a Colin Powell, but damn do they need one.