Uh Oh

Other people have noted this elsewhere, but I would like to co-sign:

It's almost certain that if Republicans win the House or Senate or both in November, they will do everything in their power to crash the economy. Certainly I would if I were them: all the blame will accrue to Obama. Most obviously, this will take the form of shutting down the government or stopping any kind of further stimulus. But there's also a real chance of an acute crisis between now and 2012 (as opposed to the current chronic, grinding crisis) that requires massive congressional action.

And there's no way Real World Obama could beat them, despite the fact he'll understand it will gravely imperil his reelection campaign. Even Liberal Fantasy Obama probably couldn't beat them at this point, given how profoundly the Real World version has encouraged his opponents and demotivated his supporters.

So we may get a chance to find out just dreadful it is to have a worldwide depression, followed by three new wars in the mideast led by President Palin, followed by an even greater depression. If we're lucky we might also get an Early Christmas global warming catastrophe somewhere in the process.

I have to admit, I may have once again underestimated the ability of the Democratic Party to make the world a much, much worse place.

Well, it least it will be exciting!

—Jonathan Schwarz

Next Generation of Yale Students Successfully Gelds Selves

I was going to title this post something like "Yale Students Now Gelded Like Horses." But then I realized that was an unfair comparison. Gelding is something that's done to horses. Unlike ambitious Yale students, they don't voluntarily geld themselves.

This is from Mother Jones:

Like most famous people who get fired, McChrystal landed on his feet—as a lecturer at Yale. But even though the school year has barely started in New Haven, McChrystal's already triggering controversy there, too. This time, the uproar's not about the Rolling Stone piece. It's about one of McChrystal's first tours in Afghanistan, when he was in charge of the Special Operations task force that included NFL star-turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman.

Amir Bar-Lev, the director of The Tillman Story, a documentary about the late NFL star-turned Army Ranger, is hosting a screening of the film on Yale's campus on September 11. (Elizabeth Gettelman recently reviewed the film for Mother Jones.) The Yale Democrats, who were originally supposed to sponsor the screening, have backed out of the event after learning that it aims to be a "teachable moment" focusing on McChrystal's presence at Yale. Here's the Yale Daily News' Esther Zuckerman:

[Dems President Ben Stango] said his organization supports the film and its message, but that the Dems, who he said consulted Yale faculty and other advisors about the decision, did not want to us the event as a means to protest McChrystal.

"The Yale College Democrats do not attack war heroes," Stango said. "We do not attack members of the Yale faculty."

Poor Ben Stango. I'm sure he has many wonderful qualities and is fantastic at standardized tests. But when you're 20 years old and calibrating your actions for how they'll play on Fox in 2029 when you're nominated to be Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, you're already far down the wrong path in life. (Of course, the joke will be on me in 2030 after his confirmation, when Assistant Secretary Stango calls in the drone strike on the wedding I'm attending outside Jakarta.)

—Jonathan Schwarz

Five Dollar Friday

Explanation of Five Dollar Friday here. Follow who else is giving on twitter.

Every Friday this month, I'll be giving $5 to The Real News. They have an incredibly promising idea—people-funded TV—and deserve the support of everyone on earth who's not an investment banker.

As examples, check out their two pieces below about the state of war in Mexico today. If the people who run the U.S. cared about our national security in the genuine sense, this kind of thing would be on CBS every night, along with serious discussions about drug legalization. But of course they don't care and thus it's not on CBS, so we need to put up the money for this ourselves.

So if you're moved to do so, you can donate here.

—Jonathan Schwarz