Glenn Melancon

Texans for a Brighter Tomorrow

Getting to 50.1%

A friend posed the following question.  “Shaking off the horserace mentality for the moment: does anyone know how the GOP candidate policy positions poll, versus the Obama record & likely campaign platform? Put simply, are these people speaking to the 51%?

Here is how it see it. These candidates are like the local activist who wants to replace evolution with creationism in the science curriculum.

Most people like this are smart enough to keep the agenda quiet. They speak in code and generalities, that have double meanings. Once elected they probe until the find the right moment to push.

Others, however, are convinced by their pastor (Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck) that the majority of Americans really do want creationism taught as science and only a small number of God hating libruls stand in the way of God’s holy truth. These people aren’t afraid to speak their mind freely. They opening push right from the start to radically alter the curriculum.

The first group, like George W. Bush, get elected. When asked about abortion and the Supreme Court, Bush said that he would not make the same mistake as Dred Scott. “Dred Scott,” pundits asked? Believers didn’t have to ask; they knew W just said life begins at conception and he would appoint strict constructionist judges to over turn Roe. For everyone else, Bush spoke gibberish but nothing really frightening. PS “strict constructionist” also appeals to the racists, but that’s another story.

Today’s Republican candidates, except the old Romney, are the local school board candidates who openly campaigning to replace science with faith. The chances of this winning are slim. When Mississippi voters were offered an up or down vote on “Dred Scott,” they chose the ambivalence of “Roe” by an overwhelming margin.

US Needs Demand, Not Degulation

Theory meet fact.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that very few layoffs are caused principally by tougher rules. Whenever a firm lays off workers, the bureau asks executives the biggest reason for the job cuts. In 2010, 0.3 percent of the people who lost their jobs in layoffs were let go because of ‘government regulations/intervention.’ By comparison, 25 percent were laid off because of a drop in business demand.

Cutting regulations will not save or create jobs. Spending, i.e. demand, will.

The opposite is true.  Cutting government spending will makes things worse.  The Conservative government in the UK has been trying to cut its way to expansion and growth.  Growth requires addition, not subtraction.

Revisiting “Who would Jesus Torture?”

Once again, the extremists were on display last night. One of the most disgusting moments was when the self proclaimed “Conservative Christian” audience cheered torture. Resuming torture will, however, betray both our history and our values.

I wrote the following essay on April 28, 2009.

My oldest son will enter the US Army in June. In all likelihood he will go overseas with thousands of our brave men and women. If captured by the enemy, do I want him water boarded? Do I want his captors to strip him naked, to throw freezing water on him, to slap his face or to slam him repeatedly against a wall?

When I think about torture, I’m reminded of the story told in almost every Roman Catholic Church. Hanging on the walls are the Stations of the Cross. They tell how the Romans tortured and then murdered Jesus.

Who would Jesus torture? No one. Torture is wrong. It clearly violates the Golden Rule: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

Torture is also un-American. President Barack Obama was right to let the American people see the torture memos. Now it’s time for him to appoint a Special Prosecutor to conduct a nonpartisan investigation. Here’s why.

Our founding fathers rejected torture, and so should we. They specifically wrote two amendments to our Constitution to prevent it—the Fifth and Eighth Amendments. These Amendments outlawed torture.

The Fifth Amendments says, “No person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” In the Eighteenth Century European monarchies routinely “compelled,” or tortured, suspected criminals. The founders of our Republic wanted America to be different. They recognized the fact that government officials are not infallible. They make mistakes. Torturing an individual to gain information is wrong.

The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution says, no “cruel and unusual punishments [shall be] inflicted.” Torture is both cruel and unusual. It is cruel and unusual to strip a person and put them in a box. It is cruel and unusual to strap a person to a board, invert the board, place a rag in the person’s mouth and then pour water down his throat. Our founders rejected this barbaric conduct.

In 1882 the United States signed the Geneva Conventions and committed itself to the humane treatment of prisoners captured in war. As a treaty, the Geneva Conventions are the “supreme law of the land,” and the President must obey it (US Constitution, article VI, paragraph 2). Article Three of the Conventions clearly states that parties to the treaty may not torture detainees and must treat detainees humanely. Can anyone say with a straight face that the CIA treated detainees “humanely?”

Torturing Al Qaida members also threatens our national security. The torture sessions produced unreliable information. Tortured prisoners simply made up information to end the physical pain and sent our intelligence officials on wild goose chases. The most useful information came by treating the captives humanely. They had been told that Americans were barbaric. When they discovered the truth, they opened up and betrayed their cause.

We can’t move forward without accountability. The Bush Administration tried to sweep this information under the rug. President Bush himself repeatedly lied to the American people, saying his administration did not torture. Thanks to President Obama we know the truth.

The only way to prevent future offenses against our values and our laws is to hold the architects of torture accountable. We must do to ourselves what we would do to others. After World War Two the United States prosecuted Japanese leaders for water boarding Americans. President Obama must appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate and charge those responsible for this potential crime. To ignore his duty as President would be wrong.

For a post 9/11 history of torture see: Ali Soufan’s The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda.

Conservative Culture of Denial

I have no idea about what Herman Cain did or didn’t do, but Conservatives pundits and politicians are making an absurd argument about the law and morals.

Dahlia Lithwick documents their insistence that sexual harassment does NOT exist.  In other words, Cain can’t be guilty because sexual harassment; sexual harrassment is simply a liberal conspiracy and can NEVER happen.  Read it and weep.  Former Senator Fred Thompson actually says it’s a “sexual-harassment scam.”

My question to Conservatives is simple: does sexual harassment exist or is it a scam? All these these prominent conservatives are saying it is fake.  Conservationism has degenerated into “society is faking it.”  Teacher don’t teach.  Vets fake PTSD.  Scientists are lying about global warming and evolution.  The unemployed are simply lazy.

Now, I’m told by not one but a whole range of conservatives that woman are greedy and simply can’t take a compliment.  Reaching up a woman’s skirt is a compliment. Isn’t it?

Professional conservatives are simply weird.

Rep. Joe Walsh (R-IL), whose ex-wife says he owes $117,437 in back child support, was honored by the Family Research Council Action on Thursday for his ‘unwavering support of the family,’ the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Unwavering support for somebody’s family I guess.  Just not his own.  Someone call Ayn Rand.  She would be proud.

I pledge to love my enemy as myself

If the pledge is to affirm “who you are” as a Christian, shouldn’t the pledge say, “I pledge to love my enemy as myself. I promise to wash my neighbors’ feet. I promise to feed the poor, give shelter to the homeless, heal the sick and visit the oppressed in prison”? Weird. It’s like these people never actually read the Gospels.

Greeks lead Western Revolution?

Writing about the future is much harder than writing about the past. Sometimes, however, certain patterns become familiar. Events in Greece are one such pattern. This is how revolutions start. It seems the Greeks have reached their “1932” moment. Average Greeks now know another attempt to “balance the budget” will makes things worse not better. For two years they were told that they could cut their way to prosperity. If the European economy collapses, will the American economy be far behind? Will voters demand more austerity fairy dust or real solutions? Learn from the past or repeat it.

Melancon’s Traditional Cajun Gumbo

WARNING: This recipe takes at least 2 hours or 4 beers to prepare and 3 hours to finish.  It depends on how you measure time.

Gumbo Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

1 package Andouille sausage

2 medium onions (diced)

2 stalks celery (diced)

1 bell pepper (diced)

Tony Chachere’s to season to taste

Roux Ingredients:

4 large heaping spoons of flour

4 large spoons of vegetable oil

First you need to make a Roux:

Pre heat large (medium hot temp), heavy/thick pot (thin, stock pot’s will burn food)

“Equal” parts flour and vegetable oil (four large serving spoons; flour heaps)

Mix together until smooth and covering the entire surface ; it should be thick, like tooth paste, add flour or oil to adjust.

Mixture should bubble.

Watch and stir to keep it from burning; use your nose; you can bring it to the edge of burning before stirring if your nose is good.  If not, stir more often. As the roux cooks, the browning will accelerate. Watch carefully.

Temperature will determine browning speed, super fast is not always better, it should take about 15-20 mins or one beer.

Don’t stop at caramel, go for chocolate cake.

Caramel Roux

Chocolate Cake Roux

When done, remove and let cool in a small bowl,  any “extra” oil will separate.

Prepare Meat:

Peel, half and then slice Andouille,

Cut whole chicken, using momma’s breast trick.  Most people get 8 pieces out of a whole chicken, but my momma made a few more.  She would slice off the wing and take off part of the breast.  She would then slice off the from of the remaining breast.

Momma’s Trick

Brown Meat and Vegetables:

Brown chicken first, browning adds flavor and fat will be used to brown sausage and then vegetables.

Don’t leave any part out. They all add flavor.

There is no need to fully cook meat; it will finish in liquid later.

Brown/saute  onions, celery and bell pepper.

Add first round of Tony’s seasoning.

Brown is too strong a word but saute is too soft.  You want a heat that is in between.  The veggies should darken and soften.  I know the veggies are done because they look like they don’t have any crunch left.  Later they should melt into the liquid. The onions should lose all of their white.

Finish Gumbo:

Add water to remove good things from bottom to the pot.

Add all the meat back to the pot and cover with hot water.

Add Roux and melt into water.

Add seasoning to taste.

Jackie and the boys can handle this much.

Add garlic. Since we use lots of garlic, I cheat.

Bring to a boil. Lower fire and simmer at least an hour, but always as long as you can stand it.  The longer gumbo sits the better it is.  Leftovers are incredible.

Gumbo Simmers to Perfection

Serve:

Serve over rice.  Traditionally, the cook does not debone the chicken before serving, but I do.  It makes the meal more pleasant.  You should also serve with potato salad, but Jackie does that and you have to ask her for that recipe.

Crony Capitalism and the 1%

We can easily see the speck in our neighbor’s eye.  Why can’t we see the 1% in our own?

 “Formed with a $10 million endowment from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies gathered captains of industry in a small circle — with the president’s son Gamal Mubarak at the center. Over time, members of the group would assume top roles in Egypt’s ruling party and government.”

We have lost all sense of dividing public and private affairs. The great success of the 20th century was to set “public policy” and let individuals compete on a level playing field.

Statue of Liberty vs. Herman Cain

Old version, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Statue of Liberty, American Icon

New version, “It’s going to be 20 feet high. It’s going to have barbed wire on the top. It’s going to be electrified. And there’s going to be a sign on the other side saying, ‘It will kill you — Warning.‘” Herman Cain, Tea Party Conservative Hero