Ninja Monkie Bacchanal

From former Labor Secretary Robert Reich:

I wish conservatives would stop complaining about big government and start worrying about the real problem – small democracy. I wish we’d all worry more about our incredible shrinking democracy.

It seems as if more and more decisions that should be made democratically are being shunted off somewhere to a few people who make them in back rooms. Which programs should be cut, which entitlements pared back, and what taxes raised in order to reduce the long-term budget deficit? Hmmm. Let’s convene a commission and have them decide.

Commissions are a default mechanism when politicians want to hand off difficult issues to “experts.” But reducing the long-term budget deficit has almost nothing to do with expertise. It’s about our nations’ values and priorities. Nothing could be more central to the democratic process.

Democracy requires at least three things: (1) Important decisions are made in the open. (2) The public and its representatives have an opportunity to debate them, so the decisions can be revised in light of what the public discovers and wants. And (3) those who make the big decisions are accountable to voters.

The Daily Kos has a survey of Republicans out. Interesting stuff. For instance this question:

QUESTION: Do you believe Sarah Palin is more qualified to be President than Barack Obama?

Of the Republicans who answered, 53 (!) believe the former governor of Alaska is MORE QUALIFIED to be President of the United States. WTF?!?!!  Anywho, there are lots of little nuggets in this survey.

Time’s JN Small is reporting in Haiti post-earthquake. She has a photographer from TIME LIFE with her. These shots are both amazing and horrifying at the same time.

The best piece of news I have heard all week:

Should the nation’s lawmakers craft legislation according to the ignorance of their constituents, or does their responsibility as leaders transcend the popularity contest of Washington politics?

Here is a GREAT quote from Nate Silver:

There’s more than one way for democracy to become dysfunctional. One way is if the Congress consistently adopts policies that the American people don’t support. Another is if one of the major political parties routinely misleads the public to manipulate public opinion, and the other party aids and abets them by behaving like a bunch of gutless wonders who can’t see farther than the next midterm. Neither outcome is desirable

If these two things don’t make sense immediately, read the posts. They will.

Awesome huh? If you are the prime minister of some god-forsaken country you can get a US subsidiary of one your foreign government-owned firms to buy election ads now. Suh-weet!

Like I said yesterday, the US Supreme Court has FUCKED us in the democracy department.

Excellent point sir…

We just got fucked as a people. From the opinion:

First Amendment protections do not depend on the speaker’s “financial ability to engage in public discussion.” Buckley, supra, at 49

Um...bullshit.

Interesting...

Newly elected candidate must be given an opportunity to vote on things that happened before that person was even elected or else it “denies the will of the people”?

If that is the case, can we go back and vote on the confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito now that Democrats have a sizable majority in the Senate? 

Robert Parker has passed away:

At the age of 77, “just sitting at his desk” at his home in Cambridge, Mass., according to an email sent out by a representative of his U.K. publisher Quercus, Robert B. Parker is dead. The news of Parker’s death on Monday was confirmed by Parker’s U.S publisher, Putnam; an official statement is expected later today, though on Twitter a representative wrote: “R.I.P beloved author Robert B. Parker. You were indeed a Grand Master, your legacy lives on, and you will be missed by us all.” The thriller writer Joseph Finder also confirmed the news directly with Parker’s family, said to be “in shock."And the Bookseller quotes Parker’s UK editor, Nick Johnston: “He was a great talent who will be mourned by all his many fans."

Was he the best author that ever lived? No. Was he one of my favorites? Yes. So much so I named my youngest son after his character Spenser. He will be missed.

I am not even sure where to start with this...

Who’s there?

Crazy.

Crazy Who?

This lady:

A 57-year-old British great-grandmother has transformed herself into her favorite Hollywood icon, Jessica Rabbit from the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”

Annette Edwards has spent over US$16,000 (£10,000) on plastic surgery to make herself look like the cartoon character, first reported Metro. Her surgery consisted of a breast lift, a brow lift, chin implants and Botox injections.

“I’d always been fascinated with the cartoon character Jessica Rabbit,” she told “This Morning”. “I thought she was stunning, and for years I longed to look like my idol."