FairAndUNbalanced's podcast

Categories

Political News
general
Policy, Political News
Racism
sexism
Election Fraud
Domestic Terrorism
Foreign Policy, Political News, Obama
Policy, Political News, War
Political News, Racism, War
Political News, Insider Trading
Patriotism
Policy
Religion
History, News
Politics and Bigotry
Policy, Abortion
Capital Punishment
National Security
Scandal and Politics
National Tragedy
Nuclear Arms Race
Policy, Guns, NRA
Political Criticism
Refugees
Political Responsibility
Politics, Tradition, Bigotry
History, National Security
Terrorism and Bigotry
Religion, Policy
Politics, Bigotry, and Immigration
National Security, Nuclear Weapons
Politics and Stupidity
National Security, Ignorance, Trump
Political Freedom
Voting Rights
Political Freedom, Economics
Politics and Courage
Legal, Political History
Politics and Dishonesty
Executive Chaos
Crime and Government
Politics and Humor
Political Corruption
Patriotism and Treason
Academic Freedom
Policy and Politics
Payoffs, Blackmail
Corruption and Justice
Law and Justice
Politics and Murder
Immigration, Trump
Politics and Immigration
History and Racism
Scandal
Obstruction
National Security, Secrecy
Impeachment
Politics, Policy, Bigotry
Believe It Or Not
American Ideals

Archives

2020
July
June
May
April

2019
November
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
January

2015
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2014
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2013
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March

August 2014
S M T W T F S
     
          1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31

Syndication

Fast decisions with little information, without thinking for more than a fraction of a moment, may have kept our most vulnerable ancestors alive. Our modern term for the process is "common sense."

The ability to think things through took us beyond immediate survival to a greater measure of security. Every major advance in human development, from technology to military defense to law, came from analysis. So did much of spirituality. Our relationship to each other could finally transcend personal survival.

Analysis when things don't yet matter is what prevents paralysis when they do. It allows for rapid response that is thought out. It often allows for intelligent, realistic, compassion.

When "common sense" leads to suspicion, fear, and unfounded accusation, it can bring us to the invasion of wrong countries with loss of life and tragic unanticipated danger. When it diminishes compassion, even for frightened children, it endangers the national soul.

- More -

Direct download: Rick_Perry_-_Analysis_Paralysis_an.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 11:07pm EDT

Long before he became President, Senator Richard Nixon went after Democrats. Each was a quisling, "holding a Ph.D. from Dean Acheson's Cowardly College of Communist Containment."

The cowardly containment rhetoric was more than bluster. It was the clarion call of true believers. We were at war, and there ought to be no limits. Conservatives were angry beyond words at the rejection of emotional impulse. The substitution of thoughtful strategy was infuriating.

Turning away from intellect during crisis is a predictable emotional response. But acting on rage can have unintended results.

Similarities of conservatives back then to conservatives today are striking. Containment, and the reactions to containment, are back.

- More -

Direct download: Cowardly_College_of_Containment.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 10:47pm EDT

The disconnect with those he ostensibly represents, the disconnect unintentionally expressed Representative Representative Lee Terry, is actually part of a broader picture.

When we picture ordinary people. We usually think of those we see every week, friends, co-workers, neighbors, worshipers at Sunday service, shoppers we meet in line at the pharmacy. Ordinary people.

As a young student studying government several decades ago, I participated for a few months in a special program that put me in Washington, DC.

I was impressed by one detail that I do not recall ever being reported. It is a detail that explains much of why those we elect so easily forget about us.

 

- More -

Direct download: Public_Servants_Representing_Ordinar.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 11:32pm EDT

Three decades ago, a young man in Baltimore did not deserve to be shot. He did not deserve a life of partial paralysis. The officer who  did not deserve the public censure that became a permanent part of his life.

That case provides lessons we may want to apply to a shooting death, and subsequent police overreaction in Ferguson, Missouri. Justice is needed.

We need to think through what is needed for justice.

- More -

Direct download: Death_Protest_and_Guilt_in_Ferguso.mp3
Category:Racism -- posted at: 9:28pm EDT

Racism is often unexamined except superficially. We skim along the surface of a single assumption. Racists are unspeakably evil. We, and those we include in our circles of friends, are not evil. What could be more clear? They, and we, are not touched by racism, except in our rejection of it.

Most bigotry is not binary, turned off and on as you would a light switch. A line drawn between racism and good will can be fuzzy. Sometimes it is so blurred it is not a line at all. It can be more like a rheostat. The light shines and dims in degrees as the dial is slowly turned.

Few of those who hate the President because he simply does not belong in his position would consider their motivations to be racist. Racism is the province of monsters, on a level with child molesters. In the polite company of Fox News viewers, even those who wear tricornered hats at public gatherings, motives are pure. They must be.

- More -

Direct download: Putting_Skin_in_the_Game_-_Racism_in.mp3
Category:Racism -- posted at: 11:46pm EDT

Mo Brooks and his assertion that white people are suffering as a result of minority advancement, not as a result of a playing field tilted toward the wealthy, comes from a zero-sum view of the world. That view is as common in history as influenza. It is especially identified with conservative reactions to every surge of progress since slavery days.

It isn't hard to exploit that view, especially when it is reinforced by an economy that has been slowed by a Congress dominated by the enemies of equality. A war against white people is a powerful lie to those who feel the effects of economic hardship.

Most analysts seem to think Democrats will win electorally just by waiting for outraged minorities, and those white people whose sensibilities are offended, to reach a combined majority.

A more immediate remedy may be a full throated expression of the truth. We ought to point out the truth because it is the right thing to do. In this case, it is also the smart thing to do.

A responsible populism on behalf of those working hard and still hurting would be justly aimed against those who dominate the halls of power and influence. A powerful falsehood can sometimes be met by a powerful truth.

- More -

Direct download: Mo_Brooks_Slams_the_Hymnal.mp3
Category:Political News -- posted at: 12:45am EDT

I know there is humor to be had in Republicans needing approval from extremists for extremist legislation, and it can seem funny that conservatives demand that President Obama issue Executive Orders exactly one day after filing suit against him for issuing Executive Orders.

Obama vs the Republican Lawsuit becomes Obama vs the Empty Suit.

But, as I think of a high school girl I met just once last year, it's hard for me to dwell on the humor.

- More -

Direct download: Humor_Drains_From_Border_Legislation.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 4:05pm EDT

If families have to tighten their belts during hard times, then government should as well. That's easy to understand, even easier to support. It may lead us into recession that borders on depression, but that's unknown except to those who dwell in the Olympian heights.

Towers of ivory have their expert denizens, but their message is difficult, even when the virtue of clarity is attempted. Government should run deficits during hard times, the bigger the better. Government should pay it back during the resulting times of prosperity. That's the way real mainstream economics works.

What politicians don't understand, especially liberal politicians, is that you can't straddle the fence on some policies. The only way folks will vote for a policy they don't understand is if it is working so well it is not worth thinking about.

- More -

Direct download: Obamaconomy_Worked_After_All.mp3
Category:Policy, Political News -- posted at: 10:42pm EDT

1