Politics Plus

I have often wondered why Republican politicians and pundits display so little empathy for the people their policies harm, or worse.  When a people were dying, because Big Insurance was cancelling their health coverage after that had made payments for years, Republicans ignored these corporate death panels, supported the corporate criminals and accused Obama of death panels that did not exist.  As people are losing their homes, because corporate loan sharks misrepresented the terms of their loans, Republicans ignore these corporate criminals, while fighting tooth and nail to prevent legislation, that requires Banksters to represent their loans honestly and clearly, from taking effect.  The reason may well be that these Republicans lack empathy because the people who own the Republican Party also do.

Psychologist and social scientist Dacher Keltner says the rich really are different, and not in a good way: Their life experience makes them less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish.

In fact, he says, the philosophical battle over economics, taxes, debt ceilings and defaults that are now roiling the stock market is partly rooted in an upper class "ideology of self-interest."

“We have now done 12 separate studies measuring empathy in every way imaginable, social behavior in every way, and some work on compassion and it’s the same story,” he said. “Lower class people just show more empathy, more prosocial behavior, more compassion, no matter how you look at it.”

In an academic version of a Depression-era Frank Capra movie, Keltner and co-authors of an article called “Social Class as Culture: The Convergence of Resources and Rank in the Social Realm,” published this week in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science, argue that “upper-class rank perceptions trigger a focus away from the context toward the self….”

In other words, rich people are more likely to think about themselves. “They think that economic success and political outcomes, and personal outcomes, have to do with individual behavior, a good work ethic,” said Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Because the rich gloss over the ways family connections, money and education helped, they come to denigrate the role of government and vigorously oppose taxes to fund it.

“I will quote from the Tea Party hero Ayn Rand: “‘It is the morality of altruism that men have to reject,’” he said.

Whether or not Keltner is right, there certainly is a “let them cake” vibe in the air. Last week The New York Times reported on booming sales of luxury goods, with stores keeping waiting lists for $9,000 coats and the former chairman of Saks saying, “If a designer shoe goes up from $800 to $860, who notices?”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Common Dreams>

Avoiding the temptation to tar all with the same brush, there are millionaires and billionaires with sufficient empathy to have a well developed sense of social responsibility, and they reject and oppose the class warfare Republicans are waging against America.  But, if it seems that the Republican Party doesn’t give a damn about 98% of Americans, it’s because it’s true.  They reflect their owners.

I was hoping to report to you that Democrats had taken back the state Senate.  Democrats have won two of the three seats they need and the third may have been decided by foul play.  You may remember that I wrote about the Wisconsin Supreme Court contest in which Democrat Joanne Kloppenberg appeared defeated Republican ideologue David Prosser, when the Waukesha County clerk, Republican Activist and former Prosser employee Kathy Nicholaus, miraculously found just enough “misfiled” votes for Prosser to win.  The reason all the other races had been decided so much earlier than this one is that Kathy Nicholaus is at it again.  Results trickled down from Waukesha County, possibly to give Nicholaus enough time to know how much to adjust her personal vote counting database to assure Darling’s win.

A state Democratic Party spokesman accused a Republican official Tuesday night of tampering with votes in the tight 8th Senate District recall race.

With 10 of 11 Waukesha County wards still out — including all of those in Menomonee Falls — party spokesman Graeme Zielinski said, “We believe the election in this contest has been tampered with by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus.

“She’s sitting on votes. We believe that right now, there are severe irregularities in Waukesha County once again. We believe the very fate of the Wisconsin Senate hangs in the balance and is in the hands of a woman who has already shown extreme incompetence.”

“We believe there’s dirty tricks afoot.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Wisconsin Journal Sentinel>

Here are the results.

State Senate – District 2 – General

August 10, 2011 – 03:13AM CT

Wisconsin – 90 of 90 Precincts Reporting – 100%

Name Party Votes Vote % Cowles , Robert (i) GOP 27,543 60% Nusbaum , Nancy Dem 18,039 40%

State Senate – District 8 – General

August 10, 2011 – 03:13AM CT

Wisconsin – 81 of 82 Precincts Reporting – 99%

Name Party Votes Vote % Darling , Alberta (i) GOP 39,471 54% Pasch , Sandra Dem 34,096 46%

State Senate – District 10 – General

August 10, 2011 – 03:13AM CT

Wisconsin – 114 of 114 Precincts Reporting – 100%

Name Party Votes Vote % Harsdorf , Sheila (i) GOP 37,099 58% Moore , Shelly Dem 27,250 42%

State Senate – District 14 – General

August 10, 2011 – 03:13AM CT

Wisconsin – 126 of 126 Precincts Reporting – 100%

Name Party Votes Vote % Olsen , Luther (i) GOP 26,554 52% Clark , Fred Dem 24,365 48%

State Senate – District 18 – General

August 10, 2011 – 03:13AM CT

Wisconsin – 108 of 108 Precincts Reporting – 100%

Name Party Votes Vote % King , Jessica Dem 28,188 51% Hopper , Randy (i) GOP 26,937 49%

State Senate – District 32 – General

August 10, 2011 – 03:13AM CT

Wisconsin – 119 of 119 Precincts Reporting – 100%

Name Party Votes Vote % Shilling , Jennifer Dem 33,192 55% Kapanke , Dan (i) GOP 26,724 45%

Inserted from <Wisconsin Journal Sentinel>

I offer my congratulations to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for giving the rest of us an example of how politicians willing to fight for what is right can mobilize people behind the.  I hope Washington, DC  is paying attention.

It’s difficult to imagine a worse Democratic (using the term most loosely) Senator than Ben Nelson (DINO-NE) who had goose stepped with the GOP on virtually every issue.  When he has voted with our party he committed blackmail of Republican proportions, demanding that Nebraska get a deal that nobody else does, thereby giving Republicans a major talking point against HCR.  He is currently behind in the polls to Nebraska Attorney general Jon Burning, who almost makes Nelson look good.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, a frontrunner to win the GOP nomination against Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), compared poor people to scavenging racoons in a speech this week.

In a video captured by the liberal group, American Bridge 21st Century, Bruning makes the comparison as part of an elaborate metaphor originally focused on environmental regulations. He describes a requirement that workers at a construction project gather up endangered beetles by luring them into a bucket with a dead rat in order to release them elsewhere. But the plan is thwarted when hungry raccoons then eat them straight out of the rat-infested bucket. Which, according to Bruning, is a perfect image to illustrate how welfare recipients receive their benefits [sic]…

Inserted from <TPM>

Here’s the video:

Despicable!

As bad as this Republican is, the only think that makes Nelson better is that he voted for the confirmation of Sotomayor and Kagan.

However, we need a progressive to challenge Nelson in a primary.  If we’re going to lose Nebraska, shouldn’t we at least lose it in a fight and wake a few people up in the process?