Morning Joe 12/31/2012 -- If only women were negotiating

Mika was running the show today on Morning Joe, and the topic, of course, was the fiscal cliff. Mika said that if women were negotiating it would all be settled and fixed.

Tom Colburn was on the show. Colburn is one of the only politicians willing to talk straight. He nailed it on several accounts, one being that the fiscal cliff negotiations process entails a handful of professional politicians attempting to manipulate the country behind closed doors. This manipulation failed for Boehner when representatives refused to be manipulated. Colburn said  the Senate should take the bill already passed by the House and send back amendments, then go through the process of legislating like the Constitution intended. Instead, Boehner, Obama, McConnell, Pelosi and Reid are all trying to work it out ahead of time so that particular politicians aren't forced to make hard decisions.

The other point Colburn made is that math/reality is more important and powerful than the political games, so something will have to give no matter what the elite political players think or want. Then Colburn said something that I've said for a long time -- screw the media's attempt to formulate public opinion against the Republicans. I've been waiting for a Republican to stand up and say they don't care how the media will spin the outcome. Michael Steele asked the question. Steele is a moderate who like Scarborough is more concerned with perceptioons than reality -- they will likely tell you that, like eager sophomores, that perception is reality. Steele asked Colburn about the media attack on Republicans when we go off the fiscal, that Republicans will be blamed. Colburn said he didn't care what the media said, that Congress has to do what's best for the country, and that no one is even talking about cutting spending, not real cuts. I can't agree with Colburn more -- everyone has to be responsible and address the math/reality, because political spin is the least of our worries at this point.

The public has to take responsibility for their endless desire for government to provide everything under the sun. Large corporations have to be taken off the government teat. The military/industrial complex has to come under the oversight of reasonable representatives and go through a thorough audit. Everyone in the country has to realize that without limits placed on government, this is what we get, and it will only get worse, with women at the helm or not, unless we limit government power, reduce its scope and allow that saved money and freedom to become productive in the private sector. Obama can play his political game and blame Republicans for all the problems -- he can be a Party Boss -- he can shirk responsibility -- but the math and the reality will be the ultimate winner.

Morning Joe 2/9/2012 -- It's the interventions, stupid

On Morning Joe today the guests were Sam Stein, Michael Steele, Ralph Reed, Chuck Todd, Mark Halperin and Tom Colburn among others I forget. The main topic was the Catholic Church's rebellion against Obamacare mandates regarding contraception and abortion-related issues. Mika was getting talking points straight from the White House on her smart phone. Mika is plugged into the White House, but then so are many others in media.

What's likely happening, according to Chuck Todd, is that the administration gambled on female support outweighing any Catholic male anger over this issue which is clearly meant to inspire the Democrat base. Although most conservatives are restricting their outrage to religious freedom, as Tom Colburn said, it's about the power of government and the need for limits on government power. Social conservatives don't want to push the larger concern of government intervention, because as Rick Santorum has made clear, he believes that government has a role to play in restricting "radical" freedom. Santorum is okay with government controlling marriage, what type of sex is appropriate, what is obscene and what is appropriate, and so on. Social conservatives like Santorum want government to stop intervening in what they think is inappropriate for government to bother with, but, in many other issues of free choice, social conservatives have no problem with restricting freedom and controlling "radical" individualism.

I'm beginning to see a resurgence of social conservative influence in the Republican Party. I agree with the Catholic Church that government has no business telling them what they should offer regarding healthcare coverage, but I hope all the religious warriors screaming freedom understand the importance of freedom in general and not just some narrow version of Christian, religious freedom. Of all the people in the world, Christians should understand the importance of freedom in a broad sense -- Christians are being persecuted all around the globe -- but I'm not confident that social conservatives understand or accept this bigger issue of liberty. When a Christian is killed in a dictatorial country, it's not religion that's being attacked so much as it the different belief and the threat to the dictator's control -- the Christian might make the issue an issue of religious war, but for those persecuting the Christains it has more to do with maintaining control over people and the way they think. If you don't believe it, try to start a large group of free thinkers in one of these countries that maintain the principles of the Enlightenment, then see what happens when that group begins to have influence and threatens the ruler's established and permitted beliefs.

There was talk on the Morning Joe panel of Romney's precarious campaign and the importance of doing well at CPAC -- they say that Romney has to establish himself with the conservatives to allay their fears that Romney is a northeastern liberal in conservative clothing. I support Ron Paul, and the reason I support Paul is because he states what he believes even if conservatives disagree, just like his non-intervention stance. Romney should do the same thing. Well, you say, Paul has no chance of getting elected, so it makes no sense for Romney to state what he believes if it will kill his chances of getting elected. The political games have got to stop. If we aren't going to have a President who is authentic and honest, then it doesn't matter who's President, and if it doesn't matter who's President, then why would Romney even want to win -- for ego? That's the lamest reason of all to run for President.

Romney should stand for whatever it is he believes and he should let the people at CPAC know that he's not there to pander to conservative voters. Hell, there's about four different types of "conservatives". Just give an honest speech, be transparent and maintain integrity, then let the chips fall where they may. But Colburn is right -- the political class and media are focusing on symptomatic problems while our fundamental problems rage on and bring the nation down. We've got to do the hard work of dealing with entitlements, debt, energy costs, foreign wars and the other fundamental concerns which are difficult to talk about. One major fundamental problem -- statism has failed -- should always be front and center. So, Romney should forget about all the conservatives who expect him to kiss their asses and rise above it all to address the need to create a free market and get government out of the business of central planning, crony protection and global policing.

Morning Joe 10/19/2011 -- Contextuality

If you're looking for up to minute reporting on the ups and downs of the Republican Presidential Primary and have little interest in other current news items, then Morning Joe's your huckleberry. However, if you are picky and require contextuality, then I suggest looking further than Morning Joe coverage. Morning after morning, Scarborough and his guests have misrepresented Herman Cain's positions, and they've fluffed Romney's pillow. I promise I won't go into a flurry of mixed metaphors. Romney has had a soft pillow, so far. Romney is the choice of the moderates. Although Scarborough insists he, Scarborough, is a "small" government conservative, it holds as much weight as my insistence that I look like Brad Pitt. But, then I don't understand politics, obviously.

Tina Brown was on this morning and she forced the other guests to admit that Cain has a great success story and deserves more than high school snark and ridicule. I watched S. E. Cupp's interview of Herman Cain yesterday, and Cain is a smart, good man who would do a good job in any position he's in, including president, even with a steep learning curve. Cain would do a better job than Obama has done. Having said that, I disagree with Cain on foreign intervention, and this to me is one of the most important issues facing our nation, and his statement that he will rely on the generals for guidance is not good enough, because generals will favor war. The military/industrial complex has become so big and powerful, it'll require an outsider coming in and auditing the situation and making radical changes.

I haven't seen a complete economic analysis of the 9-9-9 plan, but I know enough about it to know that Morning Joe hosts and guests have presented it out of context. As Bastiat revealed a long time ago, what you can't see in economics is sometimes more important than what you can see, so getting rid of hidden taxes, and the economic growth that would cause, changes the calculations of such a plan. Contextuality is critical when judging such an overhaul of the tax code.

So, John Meacham, Michael Steele, Sam Stein and a few other regulars all had fun ripping into the Republican debate, but these debates are meaningless. In the meanwhile, media minimizes Solyndra, Uganda, Libya, Fast and Furious, the European debt crisis, and, as Tom Colburn, who was on the show, reminded Scarborough, America's debt crisis as it relates to Medicare and SS, and what Colburn didn't mention, Medicaid. The Republican primary is a side story compared to the urgent issues facing America and the world, but most of the first two hours on Morning Joe, again, were focused on Republicans. There has to be a reason for this -- it can't be a huge demand from the public for such daily coverage.