As expected the Supreme Court has decided to consider, but not necessarily decide, two of the ten cases dealing with same-sex marriage cases that had been submitted to it. These cases will likely receive the greatest interest, most anticipation, and thus the largest amount of unbridled pointless speculation during this term, similar to what accompanied the Affordable Care Act in the last term. Like the last time, the verdict may confound many observers because the court has many options, ranging from the very narrow to the very broad, from technical issues of standing to sweeping verdicts on the nature of marriage. [Read more…]

There was a report in the newspaper The Hill about congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) chewing out and then throwing out of an elevator a staffer because the elevator was for use of members of congress only. [Read more…]

While Obama’s fans are basking in the glow of his re-election victory, Glenn Greenwald describes his continuing war on political dissidents in the US and his determination to create a climate of fear so that people will hesitate to speak openly, a technique perfected by authoritarian regimes. [Read more…]

Via reader Norm, I obtained a link to a long and interesting article on the state of the US by the staff of the German news magazine Der Spiegel, titled Notes on the Decline of a Great Nation.

The article takes as its starting point the chaos wreaked by Hurricane Sandy and how it revealed the lack of proper planning and foresight. Other symptoms pointed to that are most glaring is the neglect and decay of basic infrastructure and essential services because rather than pay for these collective goods, the money is being diverted into individual pockets, with most of the wealth going into just a few of them. We are essentially living off the investments made in the 1950s and 1960s.

The article says that what little reinvestment that was attempted was thwarted by Republicans and Tea Party activists seemingly determined to bring the country grinding to a halt in order to prevent Obama winning a second term, coupled with an obstinate determination to view any assertions of decline as borderline treasonous, since it goes against the solemn creed that America is the greatest nation on Earth, always has been, and always will be.

One has to be wary of sweeping generalizations about nations. The US has tremendous human and material resources that it can call upon if needed to reverse the trend. But the warning signs are clearly there that the political decision-making system in the US has become dysfunctional and that something needs to done to arrest the decline.

In a survey taken after the election, the polling firm PPP found that 49% of Republicans thought that the group ACORN had stolen the election for Obama. This is fascinating considering that ACORN no longer exists, having been disbanded a few years ago. Given that about 32% of the population identifies as Republican, this means that about 16% of the voting public believes stuff that has absolutely no basis in reality. [Read more…]