Frederick J.
Murphy’s Politics Page
A
page always in progress.
Last
updated 6/20/09.
Visit
my political blog to post comments,
reactions, suggestions, contributions, etc. both to what you find there and
what you find here.
Introductory Comments
Resources
Non-Partisan: Fact-Checking and Polls
Religion and the
Public Sphere
Evolution and Creationism (Intelligent Design)
The Courts: Judicial
Activism and Other Issues
Iraq
I am a political
junkie, so this gives me a way to share my ideas. When I say “junkie,” it may seem as if this
is a “hobby,” since it is not my professional field. But is very much more than a hobby for
me.
In conversations
with friends, colleagues, and students, I find that we are constantly
struggling with how to keep up with current issues. The purpose of this page is to share
resources that I think are helpful to all in informing ourselves so that we can
discuss these issues intelligently, honestly, and having educated
ourselves. The materials here are ones
that I have found particularly informative, and so they are ones I would like
to share with others.
Political
discourse in this country often proceeds on the basis of slogans and ideology,
rather than evidence and argumentation.
This page certainly has a point of view.
But I hope that the materials gathered here are ones that use
intelligent argument based on fact rather than slogans based on pure ideology.
In the interest of
full disclosure, I identify myself as a life-long Democrat, the son of an
ardent union man, and an FDR, New Deal liberal.
That will clearly determine the resources here and the views
espoused. These views are my own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of
my institution, colleagues, students, or friends.
Krugman, Paul. The
Conscience of a Liberal. New
York: W. & W. Nortan and Company, 2007.
ISBN: 9780393060690. Very
readable, carefully supported arguments.
Offers a sweeping analysis of the twentieth century in terms of income
and asset equality, relation of politics to public policy and economics, and so
on. A very important read.
Krugman, Paul. The
Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008. New York: W. &
Norton and Co., 2009. ISBN:
9780393071016. The title says it
all. Very timely.
Frank,
Thomas. The
Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule.
New York: Metropolitan Books, 2008.
ISBN: 9780805079883. What do
movement conservatives want from government?
What do they do when they attain power?
This book gives an answer from the left.
Well documented. Note the blurb
on the back from the prominent conservative commentator George F. Will: “Frank
is a formidable controversialist—imagine Michael Moore with a trained brain and
an intellectual conscience.” Frank
traces the central commitment of conservatism since Barry Goldwater. That commitment is to unregulated capitalism
and the interests of big business. To
that end, the movement has allied itself with whatever works—anti-communism,
demonization of the left, opposition to those who worked against the apartheid
regime of South Africa, libertarianism, privatization of anti-insurgency, etc.
Phillips,
Kevin. The Politics of Rich and Poor: Wealth and the American Electorate in
the Reagan Aftermath. New
York: Random House, 1990. ISBN: 0394559541.
A classic of sorts, by a conservative commentator. A example of intellectual honesty.
Fraser, Steve. My son had the
good fortune of taking a course with this historian at New York University this
past semester (spring 2009). Check out
his books (on Wall Street, unions, the New Deal, the Bell
curve controversy, wealth and power in America, etc.) on the Library
of Congress Web site. Fortunately,
we have his books in the Holy
Cross library. See also his
interview by Bill Moyers. Superb: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06132008/watch3.html.
MacKenzie, G. Calvin, and
Robert Weisbrot. The Liberal Hour: Washington and the Politics of Change in the 1960s. New York: Penguin,
2008. How and why the 60s saw the
perfect circumstances for liberals to advance some of their most important
issues.
Woodward, Bob. Any of his books
on the Bush administration are enlightening, since his access to them was
unprecedented. He unearths the inner
dynamics of the administration that would otherwise be opaque to us.
Dorgan, Byron, Senator.
Reckless! How Debt, Deregulation, and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted
America (and What We Can Do about It). Thomas
Dunne Books, 2009. (The following
description is from Amazon. It is not my
own.) “As
one of only eight senators to vote against bank deregulation, Byron Dorgan
warned America that a free-market system left unchecked is like a driving a car
at ninety miles per hour without brakes. With the recent financial collapse
having proven him right, Dorgan exposes this modern-day carnival of greed and calls
out the corporate executives who reap millions and even billions as a “reward”
for self-interest and mismanagement. More poignantly, he argues that public
officials we elect to represent the best interests of the people have sold us
out, as government has become a partner to Big Oil, Big Media, and Big
Pharma. In his prairie-populist voice peppered with incisive wit, Dorgan
argues that we must rescue the economy from the influence of financial
conglomerates and power brokers, and to hold our public officials accountable
for regulating the economy.”
Fact-checking
www.Factcheck.org. Excellent site by the Annenberg
Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. It is one of the most respected journalism
centers in this country. It truly checks
both sides.
Polls
The Pew Center for the People and the Press.
“Mainstream” News
Sources
These
are easy to find. Examples are the New York Times (www.nytimes.com), the Washington Post (www.thewashingtonpost.com),
the Boston Globe (www.bostonglobe.com), and the Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/home-page). It is amazing how much free content these
sites offer. This raises the question,
of course, about how we as a society are going to support investigative
journalism in the future, a major issue much discussed today. For the present, enjoy and take advantage of
the amount of good information available for free. Often you must register to access the whole
site, but I have done that and have experienced no problems (spam, etc.).
Liberal (Progressive)
Sites
The New Republic. Along with The Nation, one of my two favorite
sites. Subcribe!
The Nation.
Along with The
New Republic, one of my two favorite sites.
Subscribe!
Center for American
Progress. A progressive think-tank.
People for the
American Way. Self-description: PFAW was founded in 1981 by Norman Lear, the late
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, and a group of business, civic, religious, and civil
rights leaders who were disturbed by the divisive rhetoric of newly politicized
televangelists.
Conservative Sites
My Comment: Could
it be that so many decades after the beginning of the New Deal, we remain the
only advanced country that does not provide all of its citizens with access to
healthcare? Why not? Is there any real justification for it? We spend more per-capita on healthcare than
any country in the world, yet we leave close to 50 million people uninsured and
20-30 million people underinsured. This
in a country whose population just recently passed the 300 million mark. In terms of health outcomes, the World Health
Organization rates us 36th in the world. Can there be any justification for this? Pure economic self-interest on the part of
those who have influence in Washington?
Lack of political clout on the part of those who have no
healthcare? Radical individualism, to
the detriment of communal responsibility?
Are we all on our own?
The
journalist T. R. Reid (The Washington
Post) is writing a book comparing health systems throughout the world. A Frontline documentary provides a foretaste
of his research and conclusions. It is
chock-full of facts and is very illuminating.
It is available free online at the following site:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/
Reid’s
book is due out in August 20, 2009: The Healing of America: A Global Quest for
Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Healthcare (New York: Penguin, 2009; ISBN:
978-1594202346.
World Health Organization. Articles, reports,
extensive interactive databases.
Religion and the Public
Sphere
Evolution
and Creationism (Intelligent Design)
My Comments. The debate between those who believe in
evolution and those who do not is absolutely
not simply a disagreement between religious and non-religious people. I am Roman Catholic, and the Roman Catholic
church has accepted evolution. The basic
position is that God created everything, but God did so through what we think
of as “natural means,” including evolution.
Remember that of all the people in the world who consider themselves
Christians, something like 1.1 billion are Roman Catholic, although such
numbers are hard to calculate. The total
number of Christians in the world is something like 2.1, or about a third of
the world’s population. So around half
of the world’s Christians belong to a denomination that accepts evolution. Further, many other Christian groups also
accept evolution.
Beyond
this, Creationists and advocates of Intelligent Design either simply do not
understand science, have decided that religious faith trumps science in every
case, or are simply misleading themselves and others. One basic problem is that they do not
understand what science means by a “theory.”
That is a problem either of insufficient education or intentional
obfuscation. The links below can help
clarify all this.
“Judgment Day: Intelligent
Design on Trial.” A
Nova documentary about the case in Dover, Delaware, in which plaintiffs sought
to overturn a decision of the school board that Intelligent Design be taught as
a legitimate scientific theory and as an alternative to evolution. The documentary is available free
online. The judge in the case had been
appointed by George W. Bush. The film
reenacts the court case, using actual court transcripts. The plaintiffs won. The legal decision stated emphatically that
Intelligent Design is a religious belief, not a scientific theory. He ruled that it is therefore
unconstitutional to teach Intelligent Design as science. You can hear the judge himself read parts of
his ruling on the PBS site.
“Evolution is a Fact
and a Theory.” A clear explanation of the nature of scientific theory and how it relates
to how the words “fact” and “theory” are used in scientific discourse and in
popular speech. See also the very useful
and clear article by Stephen J. Gould on this: “Evolution
as Fact and Theory.”
“Religious Dimensions of the Torture
Debate.” Pew,
April 19, 2009. “Religious” people are
more likely to support torture.
Catholicism
Catholics
slightly more liberal than U.S. average on social issues. Gallup
Poll (March 30, 2009).
Catholic Church
Rejects Torture under Any Circumstances.
"WASHINGTON—An
executive order banning torture signed by President Barack Obama was welcomed
by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, Chairman of the Committee on
International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB).
"In
September 2007 Pope Benedict XVI, echoing the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church,
said "[T]he prohibition against torture 'cannot be contravened under any
circumstance.'"
http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2009/09-020.shtml
The Bush
Administration. Many
scientists and others consider the Bush administration to have been the most
anti-scientific administration in history.
That means that decisions have often been made contrary to scientific
considerations or at least by ignoring them.
“Scientists and Bush Administration at Odds.” An article from
2005 that appeared in U.S. News and World
Report. Contains links to other
articles and reports.
The
Republican Party. There is some question
whether a substantial portion of those who consider themselves Republicans are
also inimical to science. It was
noteworthy that at one debate of the candidates in the Republican primary, the vast
majority of them said that they did not believe in evolution. Perhaps they were reluctant to alienate a
significant portion of their base on this issue, but it is discouraging that
one of the two main political parties in this country seems to be anti-science.
“The
Republican War on Science.” An
interview in Mother Jones with Chris
Mooney, author of the book by the same name.
Union of Concerned Scientists. Please
visit this site and peruse the substantial body of material there. Here is their self-description: “The Union of
Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a
healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific
research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to
secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and
consumer choices.
“What
began as a collaboration between students and faculty members at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969 is now an alliance of more than
250,000 citizens and scientists. UCS members are people from all walks of life:
parents and businesspeople, biologists and physicists, teachers and students. Our
achievements over the decades show that thoughtful action based on the best
available science can help safeguard our future and the future of our planet.”
The
site contains materials documenting the role of science in governmental
policy. It shows that science was
neglected, ignored, and distorted for political reasons during last eight
years, and it finds reason for hope that things will improve under the new
administration. Check out the articles
under “Scientific
Integrity” in particular.
The
Courts: Judicial Activism and Other Issues
The
Federalist Society
“Hijacking the
Courts: The Federalist Society, a Right-wing network of lawyers, judges and
supporters, is undoing civil rights and other gains made through the courts.” 1999.
By George Curry and Trevor Coleman in Emerge.
“The
Federalist Society: The Conservative Cabal that’s Transforming American Law.” 2000.
By Jerry Landay in the Washington
Monthly.
“The Federalist
Society: From Obscurity to Power: The Right-Wing Lawyers Who Are Shaping the
Bush Administration’s Decisions on Legal Policies and Judicial Nominations.” 2001.
A report by the People for the
American Way Foundation.
“The
State of the Judiciary and the Bush Legacy: Individual Rights, Access to
Justice Threatened.” 2008. By Judith Schaeffer, People for the
American Way.
The Supreme
Court
“Civil Rights and
Civil Liberties in the Supreme Court’s 2007-2008 Term.” Report of the
People for the American Way.
“No
More Mr. Nice Guy: The Supreme Court’s Stealth Hard-liner.” Jeffrey
Toobin. The New Yorker. May 25, 2009.
“According to Harvard’s Laurence Tribe, ‘The Chief Justice talks the talk of moderation while walking the walk of extreme conservatism.’” “In every major case since he became the nation’s seventeenth Chief Justice, Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, and the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff. Even more than Scalia, who has embodied judicial conservatism during a generation of service on the Supreme Court, Roberts has served the interests, and reflected the values, of the contemporary Republican Party.”
“Empathy
and the Law.” Stanley
Fish looks at both sides of Obama’s requirement of “empathy” for a supreme
court nominee. Op-ed, NYTimes, May 25,
2009.
Full
Text of Sonia Sotomayor’s Remarks at Berkeley.
A Proposal by Jeffrey Rosen: Democratic Constitutionalism. A middle road between activism of the right and of the left?
The
Disgraceful charges of Racism by Gingrich, Limbaugh, and the rest. Bob Herbert, NYTimes, 6/2/09.
Frank
Rich’s NYT Op-ed on Gay Rights. May 25, 2009.
Scott McClellan
says that the media was too easy on the White House, particularly regarding
Iraq. Obviously,
this is only one of the many ways in which the whole “liberal media” is shown
to rest on a slogan that, repeated often enough, has been believed by many.
Iraq
Top of page.
“Reversing the Great Tax Shift: Seven Steps to
Finance Our Recovery Fairly.” Facts
and figures about income and asset distribution, the recent history of taxation
(who pays what, etc.).
Obama’s Tax Policies and Small Businesses: Fact and
Fiction.
Is it true that
Obama's tax policies would hurt small businesses? The following say No.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2742
Under
Obama's plan, top tax payers would pay less than under Clinton.
Middle-class would do even better.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=2741
Here is a report on the tax implications of
Obama's budget. For those concerned with small business, note that he
will eliminate capital gains taxes on small businesses and will allow them
to carry back losses to apply to profits from previous years. Raising
taxes of those that earn more than $250,000 will affect only 2.2% of small
businesses, and those losses will be offset in many cases by other tax
provisions. The vast majority of small business owners will pay lower
taxes under Obama's plan.
(See also
under “religion.”)
My
Comment: We are actually
having a serious discussion of whether
we ought to use torture. Isn’t it
illegal (domestically and internationally)? Haven’t we promised not to do
it? Isn’t it against what mainstream
religious teaching espouses (“Whom would Jesus torture?”)? If it works (I doubt it, as does the F.B.I.,
the Judge Advocate General, many in military intelligence, the C.I.A., etc.),
does the end justify the means? Are we
all Machiavellians now? Pay careful
attention to just who is advocating the use of torture and who is not.
Report of the Senate Armed Services
Committee: “Enquiry into the
Treatment of Detainees in U. S. Custody.”
“Public
Remains Divided on the Issue of Torture.”
Pew
poll, April 24, 2009.
“Religious Dimensions of the Torture
Debate.” Pew,
April 19, 2009.
Right-wing radio talk-show hosts undergoes
waterboarding and pronounces it "torture." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00K7h_UuOBo
General Petraeus on Closing Gitmo
(for it), torture (against it), and obeying Geneva Convention (for it).
My Comment:I
recently read The War
Within, by Bob Woodward. I learned to respect Petraeus and to
think that his work in Iraq was wonderful and not particularly supported by the
White House as a whole, and that his choice as head of Centcom was great.
But anyone who has bought the line that he was supported by the White House in
general should read Woodward. Hopefully, if we do continue try to find
good solutions to Iraq, Afganistan, and the struggle against extremists
(whatever you think of all that), we will seriously listen to folks like
Petraeus (and other military leaders who are worth listening to.)
"RFE/RL: As you know, General,
the debate over Guantanamo and enhanced interrogation techniques has become
"Topic A" in Washington. In your view, does the closing of
"Gitmo" and the abandonment of those techniques complicate the U.S.
mission in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in the overall struggle against violent
transnational extremist groups or does it help it?
"Petraeus: I think, on balance, that those moves help it. In fact, I have
long been on record as having testified and also in helping write doctrine for
interrogation techniques that are completely in line with the Geneva
Convention. And as a division commander in Iraq in the early days, we put out
guidance very early on to make sure that our soldiers, in fact, knew that we
needed to stay within those guidelines."
Full
Interview on Radio Free Europe:
Politics of
Rich and Poor
See
Krugman’s The Conscience of a Liberal
under “Books.”
“The Rich, the Poor,
and the Growing Gap between Them: Inequality in America.” A 2006 report by The Economist, a prominent British
conservative publication, widely read and quoted.
Phillips, Kevin. The
Politics of Rich and Poor: Wealth and the American Electorate in the Reagan
Aftermath. New
York: Random House, 1990. ISBN: 0394559541.
A classic of sorts, by a conservative commentator. A marvelous example of intellectual honesty.
See
entries for Steve Fraser under “Books,” and watch the video listed there.
Credit
Default Swaps; Derivatives; Undercapitalization; Regulation
Topics
and articles in the New York Times on these subjects.
Krugman
Op-Ed. Reagan’s deregulation laid the
groundwork for the present crisis.
My Comment: Another thorny
issue, much misunderstood. Many
mistakenly believe that Acorn has been accused of voter fraud or at least
conspiracy to commit voter fraud. In
other words, they think that Acorn tried to enter fraudulent voters on the
rolls so that they could illegally swing elections. Not true.
Acorn is not under investigation for that, nor have they been accused of
it. They hired outside people to
register names, a common practice. Those
workers, in order to fulfill quotas, defrauded Acorn by compiling false
names. There is not a single documented
case of anyone showing up to vote under those names.
Bottom line: Acorn has never
been accused of voter fraud, only of voter registration fraud. That is certainly
bad enough, but the devil is in the details. In this case, Acorn
itself was defrauded in a rather pedestrian way ($8-per-hour workers
cheating to make up their quotas). There is a not single case of
anyone voting illegally connected to Acorn.
The stimulus bill does not hand
money to Acorn. It makes money available for things like home
refurbishing, and that money is available through two programs, one signed into
law by Gerald Ford and the other by George W. Bush. Acorn is eligible to
compete for some of these funds, but has never applied for them and does
not intend to do so now.
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/does_the_stimulus_bill_include_a_52.html
Do
immigrants and refugees get more in benefits than a retired U.S. citizen gets
in Social Security? Complete fabrication. Utterly false. Follow the link.
Do
illegal immigrants cost $338.3 billion dollars a year? More than the Iraq war? No. Follow the link.
It’s
Not about Hunting. Guns and Right-wing
violence. Robert Herbert, in the
New York Times. Excellent Piece. Exposes the lies about Obama’s intentions, as
well.
Crazy Claims Examined
Is Barack
Obama Really a Citizen of the United States?
Relevant articles from FactCheck.org.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/has_a_smoking_gun_been_found_to.html
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/has_obamas_birth_certificate_been_disclosed.html