What makes me saddest of all things in the world is this: the vast majority of the time the right thing to do morally is the right thing to do in terms of broad self-interest, and yet we don’t believe that and we do the wrong thing, thinking we must, thinking that we’re making the “hard decisions”.

This spans the spectrum of issues. It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about foreign affairs, where the money used on Iraq and Afghanistan could have rebuilt America and made it more prosperous. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about health care, where everyone knew that the right thing to do was single payer or some other form of comprehensive healthcare, which would have reduced bankruptcies massively, saved 6% of GDP and massive numbers of lives. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about the financial crisis, where criminally prosecuting those who engaged in fraud (the entire executive class of virtually ever major financial firm) and nationalizing the major banks, wiping out the shareholders and making the bondholders eat their losses was the right thing to do, and didn’t happen. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about drug policy, where the “war on drugs” has accomplished nothing except destabilizing multiple countries and giving the US the largest prison population proportional to population in the entire world and where legalizing marijuana, soft opiates and coca leaves would save billions of dollars, reduce violence, help stabilize Mexico and would help tax receipts. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about food, where we subsidize the most unhealthy foods possible and engage in practices which have reduced the nutritional content of food by 40% in the last half century. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about environmental pollutants, which have contributed to a massive rise in chronic diseases so great it amounts to an epidemic.

And on, and on, and on.

Now the fact is that there is no free lunch. When you spend money on war, you can’t spend it on education or health or crumbling infrasture or civilian technology. When you allow oligopolies to control the marketplace and buy up politicians, the cost of that is a decreased standard of living. When you refuse to deal effective with externalized health pollution, whether from soda pop or carcinogens, you pay for that with the death of people you care for from heart disease, cancer and other illnesses.

The response is “we have to do this to protect ourselves/to make a profit”.

No, you don’t.

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History Eraser Button: A few photos of stuff the same distance from the World Trade Center as the "Ground Zero Mosque. Hallowed Ground? How can I tell?

The Reality-Based Community: Prisons Without Walls

Whiskey Fire: I am aware of his work

slacktivist: There is no basis in law, principle, doctrine or morality for opposition to the free exercise of religion by Islamic Americans. And their proximity to the Temple of Mammon on Wall Street doesn't change that.

Rising Hegemon: Never Speak Ill of the Dead

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Youandmedoweagree's Blog, Great Big Lies, Reverend Manny and the Twilight Empire

The Reality-Based Community: Precaution, uncertainity, insurance, and morality

Emptywheel: Blackwater, the next installment

Attackerman: Wonder why people think Netanyahu is an enemy of peace?

43-Ideas-Per-Minute: Adventures in Tweeting: Black Lke Me

Crackpot Press: Meghan McCain: So disappointing

HOLY CRAP: GOP likes Christmas...Christianity and the Crash...Serenity Prayer...Hot, steamy Mormons...Jesus writes to 'Christian' America...Miracle...Warren speaks...Is the Tobacco Industry Pro-Life?...Baghdad goes miserable...Freethought of the Day...Second Circumcision...SCOTUS to hear Religious discrimination case...Stealing Christmas...Proselytizing Sheriff

Economist's View: Will health insurance exchanges work?

The Agonist: The morality of deliberate defaults

The Progressive Puppy: Aaron McKinney now says that Matthew Shepard "needed killing"

The Plum Line: Happy Hour Roundup

No More Mister Nice Blog: Emotionally, it works for him

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: Needlenose, True/Slant, American Nihilist, The Daily Background

The Jimmy Carter Op-Ed piece at The Onion is satire. It is full of obscenities. It is not safe for work, and most of all it does not reflect in the least the dignity, intelligence, and morality of the 39th President of the United States.

I laughed my butt off.

Open Thread below...

Often I feel not so much like a resident of Alabama as an embedded journalist deep behind the enemy lines of wingnut wackiness. Remember this lovely moment from our State Legislature?

This week Alabama's Calhoun County GOP actually honored the punchy State Senator at a dinner, bestowing upon Senator Bishop a boxing trophy. Republicans giving each other awards for bad behavior? Yer kidding.

It is illegal to sell a sex toy in Alabama and six other states. The Supreme Court refused to challenge the law this week. In lower court hearings, the State's attorney argued that "it is enough for a legislature to reasonably believe that commerce in the pursuit of orgasms by artificial means for their own sake is detrimental to the health and morality of the State."

The court agreed.

[The woman who challenged the law,] Sherri Williams, owner of Pleasures stores in Huntsville and Decatur, said she was disappointed, but plans to sue again on First Amendment free speech grounds. "My motto has been they are going to have to pry this vibrator from my cold, dead hand. I refuse to give up," she said.

I don't want C&L readers thinking that Alabamians are prohibited from enjoying sex. It's obvious that Senator Bishop's late mother did, at least once, and we have to assume she did so in Alabama.

If this law's purpose is to outlaw the tools of orgasm, clearly it fails, since we Alabamians can buy (and more to the point, sell) all the video porn, bondage rope, and Boy Butter we want. And smart Alabama shoppers order their sex toys online from Walgreen's anyway. Notice how many of their "sexual wellness products" are "web exclusive" with "free shipping." Coincidence? I think not. (hat tip for the cold dead hand quote to Media Bloodhound.)

Update: WHOA. Too many email inquiries about Boy Butter. Here's the link. You guys are crazy I love ya now get outta here. --BG

I meant to post this a few days ago. We have a winner. If anybody brings their faith into the public square, especially running for office---it's open for a vigorous discussion. If we disagree it's not because of religious intolerance, but rather because it becomes a debatable issue. For Romney to say:

"We need to have a person of faith lead the country."

I can argue vehemently that we don't. Both can lead equally well or horribly bad. Religion doesn't put one on a higher morality plain---although Roy Moore might think so. GWB was supposed to be the chosen one because of his religious beliefs. How has he done so far?

Respondents didn't get around to describing him as "President" until 18th place. "Irresponsible" and "unconfident" round out the list, with "liar," "hypocrite," and "selfish" sprinkled in as well. That's what a 33 percent approval rating will get you.

Jim Wallis is back with more stupidity.

In recent years, the Left and even the Democrats managed to appear hostile to faith and to people in faith communities...

What Democrats have been openly hostile? Whenever they talk about faith----they're labeled a phony. Duncan, Wallis will continually say this stuff so he has something to bitch about all the time----it doesn't matter if it's based on fiction. It gives him street cred for the cable news shows. Kos adds:

Here's the deal -- Republicans have claimed god as their own and perverted religious texts to justify some of the most divisive and hateful policies and discourse in our politics today...read on

As you know, I'm a huge Zappa fan and C&Ler Doug reminded me that he passed away on December 4th, 1993. As a tribute I'll repost this clip which has been a fan favorite.

Zappa: When you have a government that prefers a certain moral code derived from a certain religion and that moral code turns into legislation to suit one certain religious point of view and if that code happens to be very, very right wing almost toward Attila the Hun.

Lofton: Well then you are an anarchist. Every form of civil government is based on some kind of morality, Frank.

Zappa: Morality in terms of behavior-not in terms of theology.

Fanatical Apathy: The early returns in Iraq point to a victory for....Iran!

Iddybud: Pious GOP frauds show us who they really are. They talk incessantly of morality and values but their actions expose them as hypocrites.

War and Piece: And we're supposed to trust the judgement of the people who brought you this?

: Pious GOP frauds show us who they really are. They talk incessantly of morality and values but their actions expose them as hypocrites.

War and Piece: And we're supposed to trust the judgement of the people who brought you this?

Martini Republic: Ihre Papieren, Bitte! Ohio GOP goose-steps closer to totalitarianism behind ethically-challenged Bob Taf

Max Speak vs Grover Norquist

Max Sawicky from the Economic Policy Institute who is also the man behind Max Speak, You Listen, was on CNBC and debated Grover Norquist over the Estate Tax and other topics.

Download | play -QT only-it's a pretty big file so use BitTorrent if you can

Bittorrent-QT

From Max: It was interesting. When confronted with an issue he didn't understand or want to deal with, Grover would say, "Nonsense!", and then go on to make some other irrelevant, spurious point. His two fundamental problems are a) for any given amount of revenue, he can't handle the
question of who should pay more taxes, and who should pay less; and b) thanks to the people he helped to elect, we don't just need to collect the current amount of revenue -- we need a ton of additional revenue, heightening the first problem.

In light of his equating the Estate Tax with the Holocaust, the moral sensibility underlying his accusations of liberal immorality is not very compelling.