Wrote this to the State Journal Sunday, January 31, 2010:
Dear Editor: I was extremely satisfied with your editorial of Sunday, January 30, titled: "All abord to help rail roll." Regardless of where a possible Madison staion is located, High-Speed rail in the upper Mid-West would be a good thing on many levels. I personally would prefer, for convenience' sake, a terminal on East Washington Ave and First Street; but even if the station is at the Dane County Regional Airport only, I want to see this vital infrastructure constructed.

I am very irritated when I read about Republicans like Alberta Darling casting aspersions upon this excellent idea. Pandering to the tea-bagger crowd, Darling complains about the necessary expenditure; she knows quite well the private sector isn't going to provide jobs like these, not without active governmental support. Did Alberta Darling ever complain about the cost of the I-894 Zoo interchange project in Milwaukee? The price-tag for that reconstruction will be more than $400,000,000. The Republican state senator from River Hills just obstructs, to the detriment of her own constituents and the entire region. Let's roll!

Bush's Lap Dog is not properly contrite!

There's nothing like defending the indefensible. On false pretexts, Bush and his poodle Blair launched a completely illegal, unjustified aggression. The damage from which is not yet over.
The article says: "Many British critics also assailed Mr. Blair for what they depicted as his slavish support of Mr. Bush, who, unlike the British leader, has not been called to account publicly for his decisions."
As if either of these turkeys has really been held accountable for:
1,000,000+ Iraqi Deaths
4000+ American deaths
179 British fatalities
Three -Four trillion dollars wasted
And more heartbreak than anyone can even imagine:

Citing 9/11, Blair Defends Legacy at Iraq Inquiry - NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com

Ayn Rand was WRONG

I realize GM and Chrysler particularly hardly deserve any protection, considering their bad behavior, but think of the workers. Evidently, there's an insoluble problem in our culture; an exaggerated sense of "rugged individualism" that has metasthesized into a kind of pathological selfishness. Not to mention the ritualized, institutionalized war-mongering that has led us to the kind of situation Rome experienced before the Fall. Rejoice, if you want, in the end of the North American Empire. But first consider who will be the primary victims.
The downfall of newspapers around the world has been especially bad here, worse than in Europe. Hardly a coincidence, and much of the blame has to be placed on bad business decisions and self-censorship by editors at the behest of big money. "News" about the travails of the Green Bay Packers does NOT belong on the front page. So it's not just the recent preeminence of the internet that's to blame for the end of American Journalism as we've known it. And the Blogosphere, while certainly exiting, has its own pitfalls. Ayn Rand was WRONG, on so many levels.

Benefit for Haiti

Just came from the benefit concert "Madison Musicians Stand With Haiti" at the Barrymore Theater. Tony Brown was just starting to play when I left. Saw a few fellow lefties and various other Politicos of several stripes. A good show, a really good show.

We must support our Military!!!

"All Amercans must support our military;" does that include those of us who believe the present wars are wars of aggression, and completely unjustified? Does that include those of us who wonder why we really need more than 700 US bases in 150 countries? How about those of us who feel annual military budgets of $700 billion+ are, to say the least, excessive? What will be the penalty for not marching in lockstep? I don't support our military, at least as regards the way it is presently behaving.

Air America, RIP, January 21, 2010

Air American officially declared bankrupcy today, and ceased programming immediately, according to a press release. A shame. Even if the "business" side of the network sucked in many ways (the way they fired Mike Malloy was shabby) this is a loss for info-addicts like me who love to listen/call in. Sometimes callers even say something useful and informative. It goes without saying their advertising was a special insult to all intelligent humanoids.

Letter to Cap Times Dec. 24, 2010

Dan A. Goldstein Posted: Thursday, December 24, 2009 5:00 am

Dear Editor: I suppose there is one silver lining to President Barack Obama’s recent escalation in Afghanistan: If he limits the troop increase to a mere 30,000, it seems like an indication that he does not intend to occupy that tortured land indefinitely.
If Obama and the Pentagon want to stay forever, they’re going to have to “seek a wider war,” in the style of Lyndon Baines Johnson. If this is truly a case of “perpetual war for perpetual peace,” the commander in chief will have to increase way beyond 120,000 troops, beyond 180,000 troops -- even beyond 550,000 troops, Nixon’s 1969 peak number in South Vietnam. Maybe Obama can subdue Afghan resistance altogether -- with a minimum 700,000 American soldiers. Stay tuned to see how this disaster unfolds, regardless of how great “our ultimate commitment” turns out to be.
This war will only end when the American people refuse to allow themselves to be hoodwinked by pundits, politicians, generals and contractors who expertly manipulate the ignorant and vulnerable. Peace will require the overwhelming majority of people to become vastly more educated, more aware, more skeptical and more critical than they are now.
Dan A. Goldstein

Letter to Wisconsin State Journal, Jan. 10, 2010

Dan A. Goldstein Posted: Sunday, January 10, 2010 4:00 pm No Comments Posted

Your editorial "Bring on the body scans" reminded me of several recent callers to an Air America program. They nearly tripped over themselves in their zeal to submit to any sort of indignity at the airport checkpoints.
I know that nearly everyone who flies has been scared purple since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But aren't full-body scans about the same as being X-rayed every time one boards a plane?
Do you really trust every TSA employee to act in good faith so that the resulting images aren't traded around the locker room after the shift ends or even sold to the highest bidder?
You needed to give the ramifications of body scanning more consideration before embracing this technology so enthusiastically.
For that matter, do we really want TSA personnel peeking over the bathroom stalls while we're inside? Sure seems like a major infringement of our Fourth Amendment rights, already so eroded by the war on drugs, the war on crime and the war on terrorism.
Benjamin Franklin said "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
We should take his words to heart.
— Dan A. Goldstein, Madison

Times Square

I know some of my friends have expressed no interest whatsoever to go to NYC. But they're missing out on the possibility of a great epiphany. Last month I sat down on a cold, hard stone bench in the epicenter of Times Square. Now, that place is literally the geo-physical manifestation of schizophrenia. One building has on its facade, thirty feet high at least and endlessly flashing and changing dimensions before your baffled and bewildered eyes, a Yahoo! logo. Another has the wrap-around digital lettering wrapping around it till infinity, the yammering, annoying sports spectacular informing you how the Giants fared against Pittsburgh. There is the Great Billboard of Obama in his Weatherproof coat, strolling on the Great Wall of China - an image of the Pres used without permission, which he says he doesn't approve of - I hope he sues.

Anyway, taken together, the locale is sheer madness embodied in cement, electricity and L.E.D. lights. Yet, the Psycopharmalogical Gestapo spends billions annually, convincing people like you and me that you - the figurative, not literal you - are neurotic, psychotic, or whatever label they can foist upon you in order to get you to take your "meds," er, excuse me DRUGS. So that you aren't kept awake at night, hearing the "voices" that were probably drummed into your consciousness by, you guessed it, the images of Times Square you see repeatedly in the background of ABC Nightmare News.

So I say GO to New York, to Times Square, or at least to Vegas. Maye even Disneyworld will do the trick. See for yourself. See how the colors run into insanity. See how it's NOT enough to regard War as Peace. Or to consider the killing of other people's children as a necessary evil designed to secure the loving protection of your own darling young ones. See ever more lunacy. This society will stop at nothing to drive you deeper, ever deeper into distraction. Like the cars that are going to hit the market next year, with full-blown WiFi deluxe features built right into the dashboard!

Jesus H. Bomb, drivers! Just remember while you're speeding down that highway at 60 mph, when you take your eyes off the road for 3.5 seconds to check the Hotmail inbox, you will have gone the length of a football field. That is, if you're lucky enough to survive the momentary lapse of motorized reason you've just indulged!