This is the era of bullshit. It reigns supreme. It is the one asset prized above all else by those who care not to examine or those who would dupe us into believing some bullshit principle. Who needs reason or logic when making an argument when all you have to do is bullshit. News type on tv aren't reporters; they're bullshit artist. They looked good, sound good, but if you really listen they are spouting one nonsensical thought after another. Don Lennon, a supposedly quick witted CNN newscaster with the zany eyes, questions the wisdom of property laws in a marriage with the logic that defies the basic principles of fairness. In the Kobe Bryant divorce case, he argues that a woman shouldn't be entitled to a husband's earnings because she didn't earn it. Sounds a bit 16th Century to me. He is but one example of how the air waves are filled with bullshit from people who haven't a clue as to what they are saying. I don't even want to talk about Fox News where most if not all of their mouth breathers have such a bias laden agenda that to even use the words "fair and balance" is to defy credulity on a level not seen since the Nazi propaganda films. Throwing back their own bullshit at them is a sick pleasure that give me a lot of enjoyment.
It is no wonder that any fool with a gift of gab can delude themselves with the idea that they can be president. They most likely have a penchant to wax on any issue and take pride in their diction and their seeming cogency. What makes matters worse is the contingent of “no nothing” reporters who rather than calling these prevaricators on their outrageous assumptions play along in this foolish parade of fools by asking questions as inane as the initial assumptions. Thus, you have a duplicitous double talking opportunist like Newt proclaiming one non nonsensical position after another – many contradicting his own previous statements on the subject or outright falsehood. Romney can recast himself with bullshit from a middle of the road conservative to a tea party advocate – all of course with bullshit. Bachman looks and talks like she is insane and gets serious attention from the “talking heads” who accept her polemics as if they were rational. And let it be said that commercials are are nothing but sheer bullshit. The most repugnant offender of bullshit is the political commercial that come from any party or organization. Both Democrats and Republicans bring the art of bullshit to a new level of subterfuge when they have the time and money to package whatever of ego driven maniac who is seeking office. These products of the campaign are so rife with bullshit that they should be outlawed.
Fact is our entire waking hours is filled with bullshit. From dawn to dusk, and now even those quiet hours from dusk to dawn are filled with bullshit. From no nothing talking heads who jabber endlessly on the TV, to reality stars and their fake lives, to infomercials designed to sell us useless shit. Yes we are subjected to bullshit at every turn.
There isn't a minute in the day when we aren't bombarded with bullshit. Our government, all branches of it are filled with bullshitters. If the congress and the president were really interested in saving money, they would eliminate any title that relates to bullshit. Public information officers, spokespersons, and all their ilk should be driven from their office and made to serve time in some capacity that benefits humanity, like say picking up dog shit. Fact is the spin masters are good at only one thing and that is twisting facts to make whoever responsible not responsible. Like BP running an ad about how concerned the company is about the environment. Hypocrisy and bullshit go hand in hand. Fact is we have more bullshit than we need. We live in a world of make believe. We are fed bullshit so much that we don't ever get the truth. The war in Iraq has ended. The war made possible because of bullshit. There was no ticker tape parade on Broadway for our troops, nothing but a collective sigh of relief. If blood is to be shed in the cause of something, the cause should have a specific objective. Unfortunately, bullshit wars merely exhaust us, drain our treasury, and sacrifice our young.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Christmas Reflection
I don't know what it is about this season that makes me feel like a child, and like a child I have this compulsion that I want to write a letter to Santa in the hopes that there is a possibility that my wish will be granted. I must admit I thought I would never ask for what I desperately want this year. Sure, it is a long shot but isn't that what wishing is all about.
This year I want to see conservatives take back their party from the nuts who have swooped down from the clouds and shanghaied it. I can't believe that there isn't a single intelligent conservative who will step forward and take the reigns of their runaway train. It is unfathomable how the current collection of candidates vying for the nomination got the gumption to put their name in the running. To witness this charade of the political system is to witness the outright absurdity of the times we live in.
Of course, there is a reason for it. That recent survey that showed that Fox News listeners were less informed than those who don't read or listen to any news at all is the root cause. To be honest, though, the American electorate has never displayed much brilliance or intelligence when it comes to electing their presidents. I recall a lecture way back when in Poly Sc 101 and the prof discussing the result of a political survey of registered and conscientious voters in the fifties that showed the only reason given for voting for candidate Eisenhower was “I like Ike cause Ike is easy to Like.” Jackson Browne observed that we elect our leaders like we buy our soap. Given all that, it is still hard to comprehend how these current contenders could possibly think that they can be president. I believe much of this foolish masquerading as intelligent discourse can be traced back to the current crop of conservative political pundits who spew equal measure of venom and nonsense to the minions who tune in and believe them. The legitimate TV press (which I admit is an oxymoron) lends credence to this craziness by giving credibility to these fools by holding debates and interviewing crazy people as if they were sane. Like, did anyone ask Perry how he got so stupid or was he always dumb. And how about it Ms. Bachman did god really want you to run for elected office. And Rick Santorum do you really equate gay intimacy as bestiality. And Mister Cain how do you equate running a pizza company and philandering to the presidency. As for the Newt, we need only list his questionable ethics on a personal and governmental basis. Of course, Mitt should be asked why he is willing to compromise every principle to get votes. Perhaps a quote from the Bible might be a good lead in. Doesn't the scripture go something like what does a man prosper . . . You get the point.
Yes, with the “fair and balance” reporting of Fox and the minions who couldn't bear the idea that America, the land of the free, could have a black president, we have clowns parading as legitimate contenders. Take the deep rooted racism that permeates this society. mix in the fear of the terrorist, and add a good measure of vitriol and you have a concoction that allows the insane to proclaim righteous indignation of the liberal society. Fact is the progressive movement was slaughtered many years before with the systematic jailing of anyone even remotely tied to progressive politics or labor unions. That was way back in the 1920's when the exploitation of the workers was at its lowest ebb. For all those who forgot about the horrendous working condition (one case where women were burned to death because the doors were locked), not to mention child labor, and polluted food products. The onslaught on labor oriented parties was a direct result of the power brokers of capitalism fearing their right to plunder was in jeopardy so war was declared on any movement that had the audacity to speak for the common man. Funny how calling someone a socialist became a code word for all that is wrong with the world while robber baron got transformed into job creator. Yes indeed this country is the land of make believe, where any fool with a half empty head and a bitter hatred for anything other than his own can get a soapbox and proclaim his patriotism by spouting half truths and out right lies.
The problem rests with the fact that not a single conservative running for the republican nomination is willing to face reality. This economic quagmire we are stuck in was brought about by ill advised tax breaks and fool hardy (possibly illegal) wars that were unfunded. Let us not forget that deregulation set the stage for corrupt bankers to plunder society with illegal schemes. And against this mountain of difficult issues, stooges stand before us mouthing the same tired rhetoric of media personalities who possess not a scintilla of scruples nor an ounce of intelligence. I guess that old saying if you repeat a lie long enough people will believe applies.
This year I want to see conservatives take back their party from the nuts who have swooped down from the clouds and shanghaied it. I can't believe that there isn't a single intelligent conservative who will step forward and take the reigns of their runaway train. It is unfathomable how the current collection of candidates vying for the nomination got the gumption to put their name in the running. To witness this charade of the political system is to witness the outright absurdity of the times we live in.
Of course, there is a reason for it. That recent survey that showed that Fox News listeners were less informed than those who don't read or listen to any news at all is the root cause. To be honest, though, the American electorate has never displayed much brilliance or intelligence when it comes to electing their presidents. I recall a lecture way back when in Poly Sc 101 and the prof discussing the result of a political survey of registered and conscientious voters in the fifties that showed the only reason given for voting for candidate Eisenhower was “I like Ike cause Ike is easy to Like.” Jackson Browne observed that we elect our leaders like we buy our soap. Given all that, it is still hard to comprehend how these current contenders could possibly think that they can be president. I believe much of this foolish masquerading as intelligent discourse can be traced back to the current crop of conservative political pundits who spew equal measure of venom and nonsense to the minions who tune in and believe them. The legitimate TV press (which I admit is an oxymoron) lends credence to this craziness by giving credibility to these fools by holding debates and interviewing crazy people as if they were sane. Like, did anyone ask Perry how he got so stupid or was he always dumb. And how about it Ms. Bachman did god really want you to run for elected office. And Rick Santorum do you really equate gay intimacy as bestiality. And Mister Cain how do you equate running a pizza company and philandering to the presidency. As for the Newt, we need only list his questionable ethics on a personal and governmental basis. Of course, Mitt should be asked why he is willing to compromise every principle to get votes. Perhaps a quote from the Bible might be a good lead in. Doesn't the scripture go something like what does a man prosper . . . You get the point.
Yes, with the “fair and balance” reporting of Fox and the minions who couldn't bear the idea that America, the land of the free, could have a black president, we have clowns parading as legitimate contenders. Take the deep rooted racism that permeates this society. mix in the fear of the terrorist, and add a good measure of vitriol and you have a concoction that allows the insane to proclaim righteous indignation of the liberal society. Fact is the progressive movement was slaughtered many years before with the systematic jailing of anyone even remotely tied to progressive politics or labor unions. That was way back in the 1920's when the exploitation of the workers was at its lowest ebb. For all those who forgot about the horrendous working condition (one case where women were burned to death because the doors were locked), not to mention child labor, and polluted food products. The onslaught on labor oriented parties was a direct result of the power brokers of capitalism fearing their right to plunder was in jeopardy so war was declared on any movement that had the audacity to speak for the common man. Funny how calling someone a socialist became a code word for all that is wrong with the world while robber baron got transformed into job creator. Yes indeed this country is the land of make believe, where any fool with a half empty head and a bitter hatred for anything other than his own can get a soapbox and proclaim his patriotism by spouting half truths and out right lies.
The problem rests with the fact that not a single conservative running for the republican nomination is willing to face reality. This economic quagmire we are stuck in was brought about by ill advised tax breaks and fool hardy (possibly illegal) wars that were unfunded. Let us not forget that deregulation set the stage for corrupt bankers to plunder society with illegal schemes. And against this mountain of difficult issues, stooges stand before us mouthing the same tired rhetoric of media personalities who possess not a scintilla of scruples nor an ounce of intelligence. I guess that old saying if you repeat a lie long enough people will believe applies.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Cancel the Show
Here Comes The Clown
There is a line from an old standard that goes, “It's a Barnum Bailey world just as phony as it could be. . ..” Given the current crop of Republican candidates for president and the press coverage of them, it seems the song with a bit of modification might well apply. You will have to admit Walt Disney came up with better cast of characters when he dreamed up the story of Snow White. Looking at how many debates the Republican candidates have participated in, I am wondering why they just don't spill out of some vintage VW and cavort with their unique take on slapstick.
Thanks to the efforts of cable news – the 24/7 coverage of anything and everything – any fool who has a gift of gab thinks that is enough to qualify them to be president. Given the way the pundits wax on the legitimacy of anyone's candidacy gives credibility to any fool who has the temerity to step forward, and this farce is played out on tv which has become nothing less than a world beyond the grasp of sane people. The unlimited time these cable personalities have to devote to the absurd makes the absurd common place. We have before us fools who only claim of legitimacy centers on their ability to believe in their own delusional aspirations and their idiotic assessment of the issues facing the nation, not to mention remedies that have no basis in reality.
How else can folks who disdain science even attempt to claim they have an ability to solve problems that have evolved after all this time. One ridiculous claim after another spews forth from their cavernous mouths with the so called rationale being that it is belief based. Thus, Rick Perry can spout sheer nonsense and conclude it is my belief. Hell, you can believe the world is flat but that doesn't make it so. Enter, Michelle Bachman who believes that “god” had directed her to the chase. If any other person made that claim, they would be shot up with a psychotropic drug and not released till they were stabilize and their thoughts receded to the point that they were a bit more connected to reality.
Then, enter Cain, a man who compares closing pizza shops with running the country. His 9,9,9 plan is a prescription for selling pizza and is nothing less than that old flat tax proposal. He believes that the way of out of this financial mess is to tax the hell out of everyone with a sales tax. Of course, this plan is not new, but the beauty and genius of the clown is to take things out of reality and make them really big and foolish though we must admit that the tax laws need some simplification so that everyone contributes. Heck, Cain thinks he can talk his way out of anything – I guess the lesson of the last election didn't escape his attention.
Rick S. is a case study in sheer madness. To think you have the moral high ground without a shred of evidence save one's own delusional thoughts is tantamount to being so far out on a rational limb that it is but moments before it snaps and sends one down the rabbit hole of intolerance. Then of course there is the hypocrite of our times, ol' Newt, the bombastic fool who thinks that because he mastered the old Reader's Digest “Word Power” section, he is qualified to be called an intellectual. With his pause inflected non sense about any subject one might pose to him, he attempts to be professorial but to my mind Professor Irwin Corey made more sense. Here is a man so bereft of any redeeming value that he can chastise any who doesn't subscribe to his vision which basically amounts to him acquiring enough power so he can gather enough capital to shower his latest love interest with Tiffany jewelry. These so called candidates decry a national health care system while they feed at the trough that insurance companies fill with campaign funds so that their over paid and morally inept CEO's can fatten their personal fortunes while they over charge for health care. It's like a protection racket but made legal by a Congress who are beyond any redeeming value. The outlier on this fringe grouping is Rand Paul who raised a fool in his image. While surely his philosophy of non intervention by a government maybe practical in areas of personal morality – one wonders what is to be done in areas say like public transportation. Huntsman seems to be rational which is why he is not electable by the standards set by the new right and its tea party activists though he seems to play the game of coming up with some fool hardy idea, like less taxes – when the problem with the deficit is that good old boy W went to war and cut taxes.
Which leads us to Romney, who if it weren't for his totally duplicitous nature, might actually be a viable leader. Where this man falls short of the mark is his lack of a backbone. He did do some good things while governor, though touting yourself as a “job creator” or “businessman” because your raided corporations and laid off people doesn't qualify one as statesman merely another corporate scoundrel. He, at least once upon a time, had the ability to recognize the needs of people and deliver. Yet now he is but a parody of his former self and kowtowing to crazies will eventually make him a crazy. Which brings us to the point that Republicans in their primary have always displayed a distaste for anyone who might be a moderate. Does anyone remember Governor Rockefeller giving the finger to the convention?
In reviewing, these candidates, I wonder how they acquire the chutzpah to come up from underneath their rocks and become so brazen as to think that they actually had the “right stuff.” Was it a certain flavor of Kool-Aid that made them think they were ready? Was it the folks who populated the ranks of the Tea Party who made them believe that just being stupid was enough? What propelled this collection of clowns to come forward? I believe it is the lack of leadership on Obama's part. I believe it is the failure to seize the moment when the President was given all three branches of government because people wanted hope and change. What we got was left over Republican policies and a double down of fool hardy actions. Let's face it, we should be out of the wars, we should have a single payer option, we should have an equitable tax policy, we should have laws and enforcement of laws of the banks and the stock markets, we should have meaningful government actions that improve the lives and the conditions under which we live. This total let down and the example of a man who words got him where he is has open the floodgates and let the flotsam and jetsam of our national politics to spill out. We exist in nothing less than a Barnum and Bailey world where nothing is real, and unfortunately, not even entertaining.
There is a line from an old standard that goes, “It's a Barnum Bailey world just as phony as it could be. . ..” Given the current crop of Republican candidates for president and the press coverage of them, it seems the song with a bit of modification might well apply. You will have to admit Walt Disney came up with better cast of characters when he dreamed up the story of Snow White. Looking at how many debates the Republican candidates have participated in, I am wondering why they just don't spill out of some vintage VW and cavort with their unique take on slapstick.
Thanks to the efforts of cable news – the 24/7 coverage of anything and everything – any fool who has a gift of gab thinks that is enough to qualify them to be president. Given the way the pundits wax on the legitimacy of anyone's candidacy gives credibility to any fool who has the temerity to step forward, and this farce is played out on tv which has become nothing less than a world beyond the grasp of sane people. The unlimited time these cable personalities have to devote to the absurd makes the absurd common place. We have before us fools who only claim of legitimacy centers on their ability to believe in their own delusional aspirations and their idiotic assessment of the issues facing the nation, not to mention remedies that have no basis in reality.
How else can folks who disdain science even attempt to claim they have an ability to solve problems that have evolved after all this time. One ridiculous claim after another spews forth from their cavernous mouths with the so called rationale being that it is belief based. Thus, Rick Perry can spout sheer nonsense and conclude it is my belief. Hell, you can believe the world is flat but that doesn't make it so. Enter, Michelle Bachman who believes that “god” had directed her to the chase. If any other person made that claim, they would be shot up with a psychotropic drug and not released till they were stabilize and their thoughts receded to the point that they were a bit more connected to reality.
Then, enter Cain, a man who compares closing pizza shops with running the country. His 9,9,9 plan is a prescription for selling pizza and is nothing less than that old flat tax proposal. He believes that the way of out of this financial mess is to tax the hell out of everyone with a sales tax. Of course, this plan is not new, but the beauty and genius of the clown is to take things out of reality and make them really big and foolish though we must admit that the tax laws need some simplification so that everyone contributes. Heck, Cain thinks he can talk his way out of anything – I guess the lesson of the last election didn't escape his attention.
Rick S. is a case study in sheer madness. To think you have the moral high ground without a shred of evidence save one's own delusional thoughts is tantamount to being so far out on a rational limb that it is but moments before it snaps and sends one down the rabbit hole of intolerance. Then of course there is the hypocrite of our times, ol' Newt, the bombastic fool who thinks that because he mastered the old Reader's Digest “Word Power” section, he is qualified to be called an intellectual. With his pause inflected non sense about any subject one might pose to him, he attempts to be professorial but to my mind Professor Irwin Corey made more sense. Here is a man so bereft of any redeeming value that he can chastise any who doesn't subscribe to his vision which basically amounts to him acquiring enough power so he can gather enough capital to shower his latest love interest with Tiffany jewelry. These so called candidates decry a national health care system while they feed at the trough that insurance companies fill with campaign funds so that their over paid and morally inept CEO's can fatten their personal fortunes while they over charge for health care. It's like a protection racket but made legal by a Congress who are beyond any redeeming value. The outlier on this fringe grouping is Rand Paul who raised a fool in his image. While surely his philosophy of non intervention by a government maybe practical in areas of personal morality – one wonders what is to be done in areas say like public transportation. Huntsman seems to be rational which is why he is not electable by the standards set by the new right and its tea party activists though he seems to play the game of coming up with some fool hardy idea, like less taxes – when the problem with the deficit is that good old boy W went to war and cut taxes.
Which leads us to Romney, who if it weren't for his totally duplicitous nature, might actually be a viable leader. Where this man falls short of the mark is his lack of a backbone. He did do some good things while governor, though touting yourself as a “job creator” or “businessman” because your raided corporations and laid off people doesn't qualify one as statesman merely another corporate scoundrel. He, at least once upon a time, had the ability to recognize the needs of people and deliver. Yet now he is but a parody of his former self and kowtowing to crazies will eventually make him a crazy. Which brings us to the point that Republicans in their primary have always displayed a distaste for anyone who might be a moderate. Does anyone remember Governor Rockefeller giving the finger to the convention?
In reviewing, these candidates, I wonder how they acquire the chutzpah to come up from underneath their rocks and become so brazen as to think that they actually had the “right stuff.” Was it a certain flavor of Kool-Aid that made them think they were ready? Was it the folks who populated the ranks of the Tea Party who made them believe that just being stupid was enough? What propelled this collection of clowns to come forward? I believe it is the lack of leadership on Obama's part. I believe it is the failure to seize the moment when the President was given all three branches of government because people wanted hope and change. What we got was left over Republican policies and a double down of fool hardy actions. Let's face it, we should be out of the wars, we should have a single payer option, we should have an equitable tax policy, we should have laws and enforcement of laws of the banks and the stock markets, we should have meaningful government actions that improve the lives and the conditions under which we live. This total let down and the example of a man who words got him where he is has open the floodgates and let the flotsam and jetsam of our national politics to spill out. We exist in nothing less than a Barnum and Bailey world where nothing is real, and unfortunately, not even entertaining.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Not so united states
I blog; therefore I am. Or to put it another way, I need an outlet so I can't cope with the crap that parades as government. I think the Tea Party folks are right: the federal government is broken, and they have only themselves and their sycophants in the House of Representatives to thank for lashing out with the final blows that stymies any chance of it ever being repaired. The presidency of George W. Bush with its tax cuts, unwarranted wars, and drug program that profited drug companies contributed to our national crisis. It was nothing short of a rape and plunder of our National Treasury and drove this country into debt that the fools on the right think should be paid for with the funds from the “people's programs.” Obama missed the boat when he didn't charge that idiot and his criminal cohort (Dark Vader himself) with the crimes that they committed as well as the crooks on Wall Street. He had his chance and he blew it. He obviously didn't the learn the lesson in Aesop's fable of the frog and the spider.
But the past is the past and as it reads in the Rubaiyat, Piety nor wit nor all your tears wash out a word of it. So let's not pretend that this is a united country. For in order for us to even use the word united in reference to America we would need to redefine what united means, like a neologism, hmm something like the idiots on the right did when they came up with “job creator” for a billionaire.
To see Speaker Bonehead and his side kick Cantman is to witness a spectacle that could only exist in the Hoover years or perhaps Caligula time. These so called leaders are so steeped into their defense of the rich they literally will destroy this country to prove that they have the power to do it. Not only did these ill informed Republicans gave us the Katrina aftermath; now they want to double down on the ravages that swept across the northeast and simply ignore the pain and suffering of many communities. All of this, of course, is but proof that they don't give a tinker's damn about anything but bloated fat cat bankers and corporate thieves. So lets divvy up what left of this country and split it up – let's have a blue country and a red country. Let's let Bonehead and Cantman lead a bunch of Tea Party states into a new land. Quite frankly, it would be nice just not to have to listen to these idiots talk about our nation. Let them talk about their own red nation, let them create a pollution world where “job creators” can do whatever they want – let them have states where there is no safety net and the old folks can go on dog food or better let them have Paul's plan for medical care. Medicare and Social Security are often called the third rail, but with the new Republican plan, hell they can throw all the folks they want on that rail and let them fry. Also, they can have a land where every embryo is sacred, hell let them mandate that every egg and every spermatozoa is sacred. That would be good cause then they can pass a law that capital punishment can be applied to anyone who doesn't swear allegiance to Creationism. Of course, Rick “god is my pilot” Perry can team up with Michele Bachman and create a tent revival and pray with all the Sunday TV preachers who feel they can beat the crap out of all the kids that don't allow them to diddle.
Best of all, we would have to dismantle the Armed Forces, I would be happy to give the Red States the Pentagon, though I don't think the new found country could support it. Oh, by the way, with out a United States of America there would be no bombs to drop, no armies to fight, no navy, no nothing. I can even imagine the relief that would be freeing ourselves from fighting everyone and everybody. And to stop those assholes in the red states from encroaching on our land and our ideas, we would need only give them the money to build a wall around their land. I got a feeling they may resort to a time when the constitution was being drafted. They would probably want to go back to outhouses because the constitution didn't really mention sewage plants and of course some type of government entity is needed to run them and we know what they think about government.
They can have all the old shit and the blue states can have the modern stuff. President Perry can have all the minimum wage jobs though I see him being impeached given his penchant for going beyond his closed minded racist stance and leaning toward Mexican labor. Sure all this is complicated and would require a great deal of effort but it has to be easier than listening to these leaders of the red states who are just plain ass stupid. That is why the Presidency of Rick Perry is a good cause he believes in secession. One thing though, we got to keep an eye on him because he maybe dumb but he isn't stupid and the worse thing in the world is to hear a Texan tell you he has got a good deal for you.
But the past is the past and as it reads in the Rubaiyat, Piety nor wit nor all your tears wash out a word of it. So let's not pretend that this is a united country. For in order for us to even use the word united in reference to America we would need to redefine what united means, like a neologism, hmm something like the idiots on the right did when they came up with “job creator” for a billionaire.
To see Speaker Bonehead and his side kick Cantman is to witness a spectacle that could only exist in the Hoover years or perhaps Caligula time. These so called leaders are so steeped into their defense of the rich they literally will destroy this country to prove that they have the power to do it. Not only did these ill informed Republicans gave us the Katrina aftermath; now they want to double down on the ravages that swept across the northeast and simply ignore the pain and suffering of many communities. All of this, of course, is but proof that they don't give a tinker's damn about anything but bloated fat cat bankers and corporate thieves. So lets divvy up what left of this country and split it up – let's have a blue country and a red country. Let's let Bonehead and Cantman lead a bunch of Tea Party states into a new land. Quite frankly, it would be nice just not to have to listen to these idiots talk about our nation. Let them talk about their own red nation, let them create a pollution world where “job creators” can do whatever they want – let them have states where there is no safety net and the old folks can go on dog food or better let them have Paul's plan for medical care. Medicare and Social Security are often called the third rail, but with the new Republican plan, hell they can throw all the folks they want on that rail and let them fry. Also, they can have a land where every embryo is sacred, hell let them mandate that every egg and every spermatozoa is sacred. That would be good cause then they can pass a law that capital punishment can be applied to anyone who doesn't swear allegiance to Creationism. Of course, Rick “god is my pilot” Perry can team up with Michele Bachman and create a tent revival and pray with all the Sunday TV preachers who feel they can beat the crap out of all the kids that don't allow them to diddle.
Best of all, we would have to dismantle the Armed Forces, I would be happy to give the Red States the Pentagon, though I don't think the new found country could support it. Oh, by the way, with out a United States of America there would be no bombs to drop, no armies to fight, no navy, no nothing. I can even imagine the relief that would be freeing ourselves from fighting everyone and everybody. And to stop those assholes in the red states from encroaching on our land and our ideas, we would need only give them the money to build a wall around their land. I got a feeling they may resort to a time when the constitution was being drafted. They would probably want to go back to outhouses because the constitution didn't really mention sewage plants and of course some type of government entity is needed to run them and we know what they think about government.
They can have all the old shit and the blue states can have the modern stuff. President Perry can have all the minimum wage jobs though I see him being impeached given his penchant for going beyond his closed minded racist stance and leaning toward Mexican labor. Sure all this is complicated and would require a great deal of effort but it has to be easier than listening to these leaders of the red states who are just plain ass stupid. That is why the Presidency of Rick Perry is a good cause he believes in secession. One thing though, we got to keep an eye on him because he maybe dumb but he isn't stupid and the worse thing in the world is to hear a Texan tell you he has got a good deal for you.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Obama Resign
I don't even know the details. The headlines were enough to spirit this diatribe. Obama backs down and changes the date for his grand attempt to get the nation back to work. All I know is that supposedly there was a scheduling conflict between the jobs speech and a debate of the Republicans running for president. Let's see, on one hand you have the president promoting jobs and on the other, Republicans prancing before a tv audience spouting bs and fabrications all wrapped up in spin. Jobs, or bs, oh, well, why not go with bs, after all, this country has been awash in crap for so long we never find the time for substantive governance and it is more than likely that whatever the president proposed will fall on deaf and dumb ears. The great orator of hope compromises principle after principle and defers to a smoking hack who is two puffs short of being a billboard in Times Square promoting corrupt government. Oh, by the way, Leader Bonehead is a wimp to the tea party wackos who think revolutionary hats and an asinine stand against taxes will rescue this country from all that is wrong.
The misguided people who support these clowns are so blinded by the bs served up daily by right wing idiots who serve the masters of Industry and Commerce that they can't appreciate they are lemmings heading for the abyss. The pied pipers of the right, bleach blond bimbos who spew venom and a bulging cigar chomping Viagra and Oxycontin popping draft dodging pompous loudmouth, charm the unknowing with slogans and cliches that do little but produce a segment of the electorate who haven't a clue as to the actual reasons for the decline of this nation and the ever growing national debt.
Whereas the top 10 per cent continue to amass wealth, the bottom half loses more and more ground – this hurricane like attack on the lower and the middle class erodes the foundation of what made this country great. Which leads me to the conclusion that Obama must resign.
He is ill equipped to deal with what he is facing. He doesn't understand the power of the presidency. He shrinks from his role at each and every turn. Hell, he can't even get them fools in Congress to talk about jobs. The Republican debate, give me a break. There hasn't been a decent and serious debate at the national level in this country in at least fifty years. We have sound bites and spin – bs.
We sure enough have a deficit. And if the president was a fighting spirit he would do something about it without those tea party fools lead by the likes of Cantor and Bonehead. He should up the ante and get busy doing the people's business and let those fools squander their term counting pennies and seeing how they can continue to subsidize billionaires and corporations that just don't need any more wealth. You ask how to act without the squabbling fools in the house? Well let see how:
Stop the wars. Bring the troops home. To hell with this idea that we can bring democracy to a world where people are still living like cave men. Stop the military industrial conflict from sucking billions out of the national treasury. Go after the war criminal Cheney and his thieves at Halliburton who have been profiting and stealing with cost overruns and in the process sacrificing the lives of servicemen. Stop paying the whores on Wall Street. Enforce regulatory action where it protects the consumer and levy stiff fines. Send bills up to the hill that are simple: like a highways and bridges improvement act. Let those silly idiots tell their constituents that their safety isn't as important compared as the tax breaks given the corporate fools who sit atop of companies that don't give a tinker damn about this nation. Replace all those outdated hot water heaters with on demand systems. Get a public option on health care that stops all the insurance companies from gumming up the health care system. Do something positive besides yapping about this or that and riding around in a stupid bus like Sarah “the no nothing” Palin.
The unfortunate truth is that Obama might just not be ready for prime time politics. He is an image of what we want as president, but he isn't the man. We need someone tough. We need a leader not someone who caves at the slightest confrontation. We need someone who wants to lead not someone who wants to play the role. Unfortunately, in this age of spectacle, the country was charmed by a pretender who possessed the superficial qualities that we so desperately wanted especially after the buffoon and criminals we had for eight years. What we got was someone who could act like a leader but unfortunately just can't lead. Funny, he grabbed ol' Bubba's playbook and thought he could follow it to a reelection. His inner circle is good at campaigning and spinning but don't have a clue as to what it means to govern. They are too much with the superficial and not enough with the substance. They should make movies, pleasant two hour things and get the hell out of government. Obama resign! Hand over the reigns to Joe and let see if the democrats can up with someone who will lead the country to a better government, a healthier economy and a party that is concerned with its citizens not corporations. You had your shot and you just didn't get it done. Resign Obama, resign.
Monday, August 15, 2011
We Need More than Two Parties
You gotta wonder about a state like Iowa that has a treat that is deep fried butter. You got to wonder why they re-arrange their lives so that they can be first in all matters related to that spectacle of presidential politics. You got to wonder how folks who take politics so seriously can give any credence to certified nuts. But then again I am one of those liberals who actually processes what I hear as opposed to enjoying the rhythmic sounds of a shrew or the bleating of a Texas libertarian. It is hard to imagine how a cholesterol laden population got to have influence in who will lead this nation. One would think that their dietary habits alone would disqualify them from rendering any in-put, but a plethora of reporters with unlimited air time and very little to report can make even the most absurd event into a story. Enough of casting aspersions on god-fearing butter eating mid westerners. Let's get to the matter at hand.
There really aren't any true conservatives nor for that matter liberals. We have politicians who are incumbents and want to stay near the honey pot. Given the evidence that Congress has no credibility and worse no ability to govern, it would seem we need to scrap the two party system. Currently, Republicans have been hijacked by crazy religious fanatics who believe the world was created in seven days and that prayer is the answer to all our problems though there is no evidence that it helped anyone in the past save those who approach it from a spiritual perspective and understand as C. S. Lewis did that it is a means of reordering one's thinking.
As for the Democrats, well, they have been lead by wimps who cave in for they have no intestinal fortitude nor any moral standards save their primary purpose which is their own re-election. Obama is the wimp in chief; he couldn't even capitalize on a landslide election and move the country towards the polices and practices he spoke about so often while on the campaign trial. He kowtowed to special interest and left the country in the lurch. With an eye on campaign contributions, he saddled up to the money folks and let the country go to hell. I won't even talk about his continuing the fool hardy adventures using the military as jihad fodder. He should be held accountable for his supposed political savvy which was nothing but the futile attempts of an inexperienced hack from Chicago.
What both liberals and conservatives are lacking are true representatives who can articulate the values of the respective groups and have the moxie to stand on principles while the extremists act out. This country is awash in bullshit. No one says anything that hasn't been scrubbed and sanitized and run by pollsters. We live in a world where those in power want to hold onto power at all costs and the first things to be jettisoned from the agenda are those things that got them elected and just might help the country. We live in a world where people can pay people to vote in an election that doesn't mean anything and then to have it presented to us as if it is something. It is indeed curious, very curious.
In the meantime we have just too many reporters reporting on insignificant stuff. The politics of this country are nothing short of a spectacle, a farce – and how any sane and intelligent person can report the crap that they report with a straight face is beyond comprehension. A shake up of the two parties is needed. Senator Bernie Sanders could be the standard bearer for the left. And some conservative, like Alan Simpson needs to come back and lead intelligent conservatives. A serious fracture in the two party system needs to occur before any meaningful change can come about. The parade of clowns who march forward to lead the country consist of crackpots and/or egotists who for some reason want to sit in the Oval Office. This country has lasted for more than a couple of centuries, yet we are in a downward spiral. If we continue on this course, the future doesn't look too bright. A two party system is never a good idea. It is not good to force people into one of two camps; especially, when the camps don't represent one's principles. It is time for the voting booth to have more than the choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Never Trust A Politician or Liberals Unite
When I was in college, way back when, the operant warning was never trust anyone over thirty. It was probably just an expression to highlight the disparity between youth and that mystical age when someone settled into a life of maturity. What we have witnessed since the election of Obama is evidence enough that politicians have only one goal, one objective, and one priority – their reelection. The country, their promises, their vision, their this and their that are little more than deceptive rhetoric designed to dupe the electorate into thinking that they have concerns and principles.
Obama is a case study in modern day political chicanery. He and his campaign staff pulled off one of the greatest scams of all time. To win the primary, he was the embodiment of Kennedy, Johnson (let's forget Vietnam and look to the Great Society), Roosevelt, Wilson (yes he was the peace the man) and even Lincoln. Once in office, he turned out to be little more than a hack Alderman in the bowels of Chicago politics. No greater disappointment has ever been seen in American politics.
But we liberals shouldn't be dismayed for we weren't the only ones to be hoodwinked. Hell, he fooled the Nobel committee into giving him the peace prize. How foolish do you suppose those folks feel?
All this bunk about a Team of Rivals when he assembled his staff was just that – bunk. Hell from day one the objective of his inner circles was reelection. Why else would he give those Wall Street insiders key role in his economic team. He was an orator of the first order, but as was mentioned here before, there is major difference between leading and getting elected. Obama morphed into a Republican stooge of the first order. From day one, he pranced about filling our collective head with optimistic rhetoric while the “loyal opposition” was busy designing a blueprint that would, in effect, derail any attempt at moving the ship of state from any progressive port back to the backwaters of the swampy world where the rich get richer and corporations subsist on the succor of the government while shipping jobs so vital to the economy to countries where they can exploit the workers and pollute the environment. Meanwhile, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner was huddling with generals and expanding the wars and laying the ground work for even more military actions. Man, were the Who ever prescient when they sang, “Welcome to the new boss – the same as the old boss.”
All this and now we have these “no-nothing” tea party freaks running around mouthing slogans and catch phrases they learned from idiot media personalities and thinking they are the vanguard to a new era of prosperity. I know a lot of these old fools think that they are the true Americans but they are nothing short of being throwbacks to a time when people preferred their ignorance to science.
But perhaps these die hard no nothings are providing us liberals with a model. Perhaps their greatest contribution is to show us progressives a way. What us liberals should now do is throw out all these establishment politicians who claim to be liberals and get stick in the mud truly committed folks. We need to begin to elect people who don't back down or compromise or pretend to be conciliatory. We need straight up proponents of social activism. We need a need a liberal caucus who will be just as intransigent as these so called patriots who know nothing of patriotism, I guess we can call or ourselves the Thomas Paine movement. Give us liberty and our country or catch hell from us.
Obama is a case study in modern day political chicanery. He and his campaign staff pulled off one of the greatest scams of all time. To win the primary, he was the embodiment of Kennedy, Johnson (let's forget Vietnam and look to the Great Society), Roosevelt, Wilson (yes he was the peace the man) and even Lincoln. Once in office, he turned out to be little more than a hack Alderman in the bowels of Chicago politics. No greater disappointment has ever been seen in American politics.
But we liberals shouldn't be dismayed for we weren't the only ones to be hoodwinked. Hell, he fooled the Nobel committee into giving him the peace prize. How foolish do you suppose those folks feel?
All this bunk about a Team of Rivals when he assembled his staff was just that – bunk. Hell from day one the objective of his inner circles was reelection. Why else would he give those Wall Street insiders key role in his economic team. He was an orator of the first order, but as was mentioned here before, there is major difference between leading and getting elected. Obama morphed into a Republican stooge of the first order. From day one, he pranced about filling our collective head with optimistic rhetoric while the “loyal opposition” was busy designing a blueprint that would, in effect, derail any attempt at moving the ship of state from any progressive port back to the backwaters of the swampy world where the rich get richer and corporations subsist on the succor of the government while shipping jobs so vital to the economy to countries where they can exploit the workers and pollute the environment. Meanwhile, the Nobel Peace Prize Winner was huddling with generals and expanding the wars and laying the ground work for even more military actions. Man, were the Who ever prescient when they sang, “Welcome to the new boss – the same as the old boss.”
All this and now we have these “no-nothing” tea party freaks running around mouthing slogans and catch phrases they learned from idiot media personalities and thinking they are the vanguard to a new era of prosperity. I know a lot of these old fools think that they are the true Americans but they are nothing short of being throwbacks to a time when people preferred their ignorance to science.
But perhaps these die hard no nothings are providing us liberals with a model. Perhaps their greatest contribution is to show us progressives a way. What us liberals should now do is throw out all these establishment politicians who claim to be liberals and get stick in the mud truly committed folks. We need to begin to elect people who don't back down or compromise or pretend to be conciliatory. We need straight up proponents of social activism. We need a need a liberal caucus who will be just as intransigent as these so called patriots who know nothing of patriotism, I guess we can call or ourselves the Thomas Paine movement. Give us liberty and our country or catch hell from us.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sorkin Obama Needs You, We Need You
There is nothing worse than to watch bad actors performing a bad script. There is something grating, not unlike finger nails on a black board, to watch two-actors mouthing lines that have no meaning, and worse, delivered without pathos. The president and the speaker are in a grammar (no pre school) production of "These Calamatious Times." A three act play about the foibles of letting idiots run the government.
First, we have the president, Mr. Cool who doesn't seem to want to act until the drama has reached a crescendo. He must have some hubris to sit on the sidelines like some high poetentate waiting for that moment when he can swoop in and with his rhetoric give a rendition of a siren's song and lead the befuddled minor players to a happy ending. His cool, detached, "let's get along" demeanor is nothing short of foolishness. He is not a Shakesperian thespian but a Moliere foil.
Second, there is the speaker, a Sarah Bernhardt drama queen, who thinks that if he repeats the same lie over and over it will be taken as fact. Of course, let's not forget his second in command the ever smiling camera and publicity hound from Virginia. To hear these two talk you would think that their Thorazine only kicked in when Obama was elected. Prior that they sat in their chamber listening to W run this country into a major hole while drooling in a cationic stupor.
Let's forget the senate, they seem to be at least trying.
There is something amiss in this supposedly real world. There are these would be actors prancing about shouting slogans and homilies appropo to nothing. You would think that when they started talking about the super rich – millionaires and billionaires – as job creators they would have at least broke out the seltzer water and whoopee cushions. When they talked about the problem being entitlements (read social security and medicare), you would think they couldn't keep a straight face or at least their noses would have grown, seriously grown.
So, here we are, a stalemate of epic proportions with the only ones who will suffer are the those who have the least say. Something needs to be done.
That is why Aaron Sorkin has got to come to the rescue. We need a more intelligent script. We need someone who understand pathos and human nature. We need someone who can craft for us a chief executive with some hutzpah, someone with the guts to fight the banal cabal. The drama now playing in Washington needs to be canceled. It is not interesting. It is too pathetic. It is quite frankly boring.
Sorkin can spice it up; hell he crafted the West Wing. The last time the government held any interest for the public. Sure Obama can be cast as the president. Boener is a a bad choice but heck looks who is waiting in the wings, a Charlie Sheen like character who chose foolishness and tea party trite positions as his crack. But the drama has to be set. Now, I know those representatives won't play along. They maybe dumb and close minded but they aren't stupid. As soon as they see the ratings, once this president gets a serious script, they will fall in line. Cause there is nothing any of these clowns in Washington won't do to get a good review!
First, we have the president, Mr. Cool who doesn't seem to want to act until the drama has reached a crescendo. He must have some hubris to sit on the sidelines like some high poetentate waiting for that moment when he can swoop in and with his rhetoric give a rendition of a siren's song and lead the befuddled minor players to a happy ending. His cool, detached, "let's get along" demeanor is nothing short of foolishness. He is not a Shakesperian thespian but a Moliere foil.
Second, there is the speaker, a Sarah Bernhardt drama queen, who thinks that if he repeats the same lie over and over it will be taken as fact. Of course, let's not forget his second in command the ever smiling camera and publicity hound from Virginia. To hear these two talk you would think that their Thorazine only kicked in when Obama was elected. Prior that they sat in their chamber listening to W run this country into a major hole while drooling in a cationic stupor.
Let's forget the senate, they seem to be at least trying.
There is something amiss in this supposedly real world. There are these would be actors prancing about shouting slogans and homilies appropo to nothing. You would think that when they started talking about the super rich – millionaires and billionaires – as job creators they would have at least broke out the seltzer water and whoopee cushions. When they talked about the problem being entitlements (read social security and medicare), you would think they couldn't keep a straight face or at least their noses would have grown, seriously grown.
So, here we are, a stalemate of epic proportions with the only ones who will suffer are the those who have the least say. Something needs to be done.
That is why Aaron Sorkin has got to come to the rescue. We need a more intelligent script. We need someone who understand pathos and human nature. We need someone who can craft for us a chief executive with some hutzpah, someone with the guts to fight the banal cabal. The drama now playing in Washington needs to be canceled. It is not interesting. It is too pathetic. It is quite frankly boring.
Sorkin can spice it up; hell he crafted the West Wing. The last time the government held any interest for the public. Sure Obama can be cast as the president. Boener is a a bad choice but heck looks who is waiting in the wings, a Charlie Sheen like character who chose foolishness and tea party trite positions as his crack. But the drama has to be set. Now, I know those representatives won't play along. They maybe dumb and close minded but they aren't stupid. As soon as they see the ratings, once this president gets a serious script, they will fall in line. Cause there is nothing any of these clowns in Washington won't do to get a good review!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Obama
It is nice to see the president smiling and golfing with the Republican Speaker of the House. How nice it is to witness the exchanges of pleasantries between key figures in government. As the speaker said, when the president asks, you go. But that only relates to a golfing date, real compromise is, well, left in the mire of political considerations.
Underlying all this civility is the harsh reality that our government is ethically bankrupt and morally inept. While this nation bleeds red ink and sacrifices its youth in the pursuit of a foreign policy that reflects the misjudgments of the previous administration, we are left with a gaggle of elected officials who are opportunists through and through who don't possess a scintilla of the qualities of statesmanship. It would seem all their time and effort are spent with their spin masters to concoct pithy slogans and garner air time. We live in a world where the real issues are jettisoned for political reason, and the common good is lost in the ideology designed to serve not the people but the political hacks who like junkies need cash to further their own greed.
The first two years of the Obama's administration were spent on the banal concept of compromise with a horde of right wingers who vowed to take him down. It would appear that its final two years will be wasted on appeasement to irrational ideologues whose positions are based on rhetoric and bombast. Chaos theory suggests that the most irrational and firm negotiator will gain the upper hand. This seems to be holding true.
When the speaker holds to the position that there will be no new taxes. He is, in effect, suggesting that the more this collective body digs its head in the sand the more likely the problem will disappear. The right would suggest that more debt is not what the American public wants. They refer to what the average American needs to do, but each and every one of us must pay our bills, less the dreaded penalty as high as 25% is added to that bill, -- all the fault of their industry bent legislation. They talk of the future invoking future generations, and underlying all this bombast is a nefarious attempt to rid this nation of any sane and meaningful attempt to insure the fundamental right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
They scream about the health care legislation as if this insurance ridden system we possess has any relevance to the nation's health. They balk at a woman's reproductive health care yet they would expand a drug company's right to introduce dangerous medicines for the cure of menstrual cramps though it might lead to blindness and death (have you really watched the warnings accompanied the ads for medication on TV?). They decried and stopped a public option as socialized medicine, but they now champion Medicare for those currently on it or going into it, yet they want to strip the country of this safety net and replace it with something that will profit the greedy insurance executives bloated with administrative fees. In short, they ignore their culpability in the mess we face, but worse wish to double down on the past failed attempts. The only real solution they have is to expand on the failed polices of allowing the rich to get richer and the poor to serve. They talk of God and country as if they are given their oracles from on high. Their high priests prance around in revolutionary costumes shouting slogans apropos to nothing but ignorance and bigotry. All the while, the supposed champion of the left, Mr. Obama, has jettisoned every campaign promise caving in to every unreasonable demand from the right while saddling up to Wall Street Profiteers in the hope of raising a billion dollars so he can campaign as our learned leader. This politician has the audacity to chastise us on the left as being unreasonable when we cry in anguish at his failed and weak attempts to move a positive agenda.
As the fringe right wing, resolute in their assault on the works of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and yes Johnson, hack away on any semblance of a government committed to equality and justice, Obama, ever the cool calm effete snake oil salesman mumbles on and on using rhetoric as a substitute for leadership. He has met the enemy and surrendered and left the left twisting in the wind.
Underlying all this civility is the harsh reality that our government is ethically bankrupt and morally inept. While this nation bleeds red ink and sacrifices its youth in the pursuit of a foreign policy that reflects the misjudgments of the previous administration, we are left with a gaggle of elected officials who are opportunists through and through who don't possess a scintilla of the qualities of statesmanship. It would seem all their time and effort are spent with their spin masters to concoct pithy slogans and garner air time. We live in a world where the real issues are jettisoned for political reason, and the common good is lost in the ideology designed to serve not the people but the political hacks who like junkies need cash to further their own greed.
The first two years of the Obama's administration were spent on the banal concept of compromise with a horde of right wingers who vowed to take him down. It would appear that its final two years will be wasted on appeasement to irrational ideologues whose positions are based on rhetoric and bombast. Chaos theory suggests that the most irrational and firm negotiator will gain the upper hand. This seems to be holding true.
When the speaker holds to the position that there will be no new taxes. He is, in effect, suggesting that the more this collective body digs its head in the sand the more likely the problem will disappear. The right would suggest that more debt is not what the American public wants. They refer to what the average American needs to do, but each and every one of us must pay our bills, less the dreaded penalty as high as 25% is added to that bill, -- all the fault of their industry bent legislation. They talk of the future invoking future generations, and underlying all this bombast is a nefarious attempt to rid this nation of any sane and meaningful attempt to insure the fundamental right of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
They scream about the health care legislation as if this insurance ridden system we possess has any relevance to the nation's health. They balk at a woman's reproductive health care yet they would expand a drug company's right to introduce dangerous medicines for the cure of menstrual cramps though it might lead to blindness and death (have you really watched the warnings accompanied the ads for medication on TV?). They decried and stopped a public option as socialized medicine, but they now champion Medicare for those currently on it or going into it, yet they want to strip the country of this safety net and replace it with something that will profit the greedy insurance executives bloated with administrative fees. In short, they ignore their culpability in the mess we face, but worse wish to double down on the past failed attempts. The only real solution they have is to expand on the failed polices of allowing the rich to get richer and the poor to serve. They talk of God and country as if they are given their oracles from on high. Their high priests prance around in revolutionary costumes shouting slogans apropos to nothing but ignorance and bigotry. All the while, the supposed champion of the left, Mr. Obama, has jettisoned every campaign promise caving in to every unreasonable demand from the right while saddling up to Wall Street Profiteers in the hope of raising a billion dollars so he can campaign as our learned leader. This politician has the audacity to chastise us on the left as being unreasonable when we cry in anguish at his failed and weak attempts to move a positive agenda.
As the fringe right wing, resolute in their assault on the works of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and yes Johnson, hack away on any semblance of a government committed to equality and justice, Obama, ever the cool calm effete snake oil salesman mumbles on and on using rhetoric as a substitute for leadership. He has met the enemy and surrendered and left the left twisting in the wind.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
A Break Up Letter to Obama
Dear Barry
Well, it is really hard for me to write this letter. You know, when the going got tough, I was there for you. Reverend Wright couldn't scare me away, nor could that thing Hilary said when she said you were really too inexperienced to be president. I stood by you when the aspersions about you nationality were thrown at you. I was there Barry. You see, I believed in the audacity of hope. I believed that there was a better way to conduct our foreign policy then relying on a volunteer army to wage fool hardy wars to prevent the world from blowing up with weapons of mass destruction. Barry, I really did believe in you and what you had to offer. But surely, you can appreciate that even the most die hard awe struck follower grows weary when you constantly grovel for the attention of those who don't even like you. Barry come on you have got to see that those folks really want you to fail.
You ask why they don't like you.
First, let me say that they are never going to like you because you are way too uppity. You are too cool for those tea baggers, cranky old white men and shrill white women with bleach hair who prefer to hang around rich fat old white men. You can't do anything right even when you are playing a rich white man's game like golf. Barry, I know you are only half black but you are smart enough to remember that old miscegenation laws that classified those with only a tenth part in the blood. You really don't think those recent strolls down memory lane in the south praising that antebellum period was just a dress up party. Barry, a lot of white folks just don't like black folks and a lot of them can be found in the disloyal opposition. Fact is fact.
Second, you don't appreciate how much you have hurt me when you turn your back to me or even worse offer me only a plate at the kid's table and not in the formal dinning room. What? You don't understand! Did you forget when you were campaigning you talked about our national shame about health coverage? Didn't you realize that what I thought I was buying was a broad and sweeping change which included a public option so we could finally corralled those claim-denying insurance companies and make it possible for folks to live free of that fear of a catastrophic illness? Funny, if that legislation that was passed had a public option, all those court cases would have not been possible. Do you think that insurance lobby knew that when the bill was being drafted? They are really sharp when it comes to escape clauses.
But Barry, it is those damn wars that have gotten the best of me. You seem to be doing what John McCain wanted to do but that doesn't help you at all with him, does it? And now there is Libya – another step on a slippery slope to who knows what. Don't you get it Barry that when you do what someone who doesn't like you wants you to do and they are still angry and disappointed it is you and now what you do.
I guess whoever is advising you is telling you how you can get re-elected if you follow some basic plan about moving to the center. I guess there is no one talking to you about integrity and keeping your word. I guess you thought your smile and quick wit would win the hearts and minds of those who just don't like you. But Barry you were so wrong. I am afraid you are going to find yourself in no man's land. A disappointment to those who cared and a failure to those who you tried to win. Governing, Barry, is sometimes about compromise but mostly it is about leadership and integrity. It is one thing to do something because you have to, but when you do it side up to those who don't like you; then, Barry it time for the jilted to move on.
Well, it is really hard for me to write this letter. You know, when the going got tough, I was there for you. Reverend Wright couldn't scare me away, nor could that thing Hilary said when she said you were really too inexperienced to be president. I stood by you when the aspersions about you nationality were thrown at you. I was there Barry. You see, I believed in the audacity of hope. I believed that there was a better way to conduct our foreign policy then relying on a volunteer army to wage fool hardy wars to prevent the world from blowing up with weapons of mass destruction. Barry, I really did believe in you and what you had to offer. But surely, you can appreciate that even the most die hard awe struck follower grows weary when you constantly grovel for the attention of those who don't even like you. Barry come on you have got to see that those folks really want you to fail.
You ask why they don't like you.
First, let me say that they are never going to like you because you are way too uppity. You are too cool for those tea baggers, cranky old white men and shrill white women with bleach hair who prefer to hang around rich fat old white men. You can't do anything right even when you are playing a rich white man's game like golf. Barry, I know you are only half black but you are smart enough to remember that old miscegenation laws that classified those with only a tenth part in the blood. You really don't think those recent strolls down memory lane in the south praising that antebellum period was just a dress up party. Barry, a lot of white folks just don't like black folks and a lot of them can be found in the disloyal opposition. Fact is fact.
Second, you don't appreciate how much you have hurt me when you turn your back to me or even worse offer me only a plate at the kid's table and not in the formal dinning room. What? You don't understand! Did you forget when you were campaigning you talked about our national shame about health coverage? Didn't you realize that what I thought I was buying was a broad and sweeping change which included a public option so we could finally corralled those claim-denying insurance companies and make it possible for folks to live free of that fear of a catastrophic illness? Funny, if that legislation that was passed had a public option, all those court cases would have not been possible. Do you think that insurance lobby knew that when the bill was being drafted? They are really sharp when it comes to escape clauses.
But Barry, it is those damn wars that have gotten the best of me. You seem to be doing what John McCain wanted to do but that doesn't help you at all with him, does it? And now there is Libya – another step on a slippery slope to who knows what. Don't you get it Barry that when you do what someone who doesn't like you wants you to do and they are still angry and disappointed it is you and now what you do.
I guess whoever is advising you is telling you how you can get re-elected if you follow some basic plan about moving to the center. I guess there is no one talking to you about integrity and keeping your word. I guess you thought your smile and quick wit would win the hearts and minds of those who just don't like you. But Barry you were so wrong. I am afraid you are going to find yourself in no man's land. A disappointment to those who cared and a failure to those who you tried to win. Governing, Barry, is sometimes about compromise but mostly it is about leadership and integrity. It is one thing to do something because you have to, but when you do it side up to those who don't like you; then, Barry it time for the jilted to move on.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Inside Job and A Liberal's Lament
Why It Is So Hard To Be A Liberal
It is so hard to be a liberal in this world of greed and duplicity even though time and documentaries usually prove our deepest concerns were spot on despite what the Fox mad hatters might say in rebuttal. Yes, we, liberals, are a loyal and consistent block who are called upon to be at the ready to support those causes designed to make our world more egalitarian, more just, more compassionate. We are always hugging trees believing in some way that we must treat Mother Nature as if she were, in fact, our maternal progenitor. Probably, that particular interest is half native American myth and scientific findings. We go back to the earliest days when this country was first arising out of the colonial rule of an anarchistic geopolitical world. Patrick Henry was our iconic voice, “Give me liberty or give me death.” A no compromise commitment to the cause of freedom found a place in the collection of merchants and farmers, many of them slave owners who were only to ready to give themselves liberty with nary a thought for those working their land.
Skipping ahead, our leanings and our causes were eloquently expressed in Lincoln's words at Gettysburg, where a great man could only stomach the ravages of war if it were only in the cause of furthering those noble aspirations that lead to the country in the first place. Muckrakers delved into the horrendous practices of those who cared little if they profited from selling poison to add even more to their hordes of wealth. The liberal tradition was a force that brought about changes needed to keep a progressive nation on a trajectory toward the noble goal of transforming the body politic into a system that is utopian, with a keen eye that utopia is only a goal and that the real achievements are realized when that which is wrong is corrected piecemeal. A kind of step by step approach to improve the conditions under which humans live and die.
Liberals are known to be active citizens. We never miss an opportunity to express ourselves and our belief. Primaries are our arena where we possess a modicum of control over the direction of our party – unlike the indifferent majority of Americans who will stay home secure in their nests as long as their favorite shows are not interrupted and their paychecks continue to flow. This is not to raise us liberals above our fellow citizens but to show the contrast between those actively pursuing a dream, and those who are enjoying what they have.
Politicians know our behavior all too well. The mind bending, mind probing psychologists who have shifted the campaigns from a discussion of issues to a selling of a brand have long been in the forefront of shaping what a campaign is all about. Thus, those who actively participate, the activists, are the first cohort to get “the message” of the person seeking office. In this instance, the candidate with the help of pollsters (really little more than psychological gnomes – gremlins, if you please) craft the words of the candidate to sell the person to the awaiting activists.
I can only speak from the left of this world. Thus the Democrat most likely to win in the primary is the one who speaks to liberal issues. As a group and to the one, we liberals are gullible people. We buy lock, stock, and barrel any candidate who appeals to our sense of rightness. Oh how we swoon when we hear the words we want to hear. If you re-examine Obama's campaign speeches, you see he was playing the chords of our concerns, much as a virtuoso harpist goes through a complicated composition. When he talked, this liberal and many others of my ilk, could close our eyes and see the cherubs flowing above his head while our giants iconic leaders of the past materialize in his many references. Alas, like a hapless sot who awakens after a night of foolhardy revelry head and body wracked with the pain of afflictions, we soon discover we didn't get what we wanted. We got what we had. And if perchance we raise our voice and shout, “hey that's not what we had been promised,” we are told that 1) we don't understand and 2) we are unrealistic and even more not relevant. Thus, we are cast aside like putrid offal, while our knight in shinning armor rides under the banners of moderation and mainstream.
Why all this recrimination? Having just viewed “An Inside Job,” it is clear that the new boss is just like the old boss (I used the tidbit from a Who song before but it is seems to be what it is). While the masterminds of the fiscal meltdown continue with their avaricious ways free of any fear of suffering any consequence to their illegal and immoral actions, the people of this country scrape and crawl out of the fiscal hole that was allowed with deregulation by those whose reckless behavior was designed to make them obscenely rich. While these so called too big to fail financial snake oil salesmen continue to receive obscene compensation packages and tax breaks, we can only sit and watch and be satisfied with the meager crumbs that fall from the mouths of distended moguls whose mere breath sway the course our ship of state. Which brings me to the thugs who roll out of Wall Street into government only to roll back, like a snow ball being rolled in wet snow, though their growth is money. Is it no wonder the dollar is in the tank, when a double talking, double dealing CEO from Merrill Lynch can accumulate hundreds of millions of them while the average Joe has to give away the treasury to get unemployment insurance? And now of course, the ship of state is on a course to get the president re-elected and we liberals will need to be satisfied with the hope we can hold on to our castle no matter how humble it maybe, while the top one per cent ponder beach front property in Boca Ratan or a desert oasis in Palm Springs – hell why not both. We are sure to hear in the state of the union a few phrases that will tug at our heart strings but the vast majority of the president's speech is all a smoke screen for the top one percent huddled in some exclusive back room laying out the strategy that will allow them to continue to plunder this nation wealth.
It is so hard to be a liberal in this world of greed and duplicity even though time and documentaries usually prove our deepest concerns were spot on despite what the Fox mad hatters might say in rebuttal. Yes, we, liberals, are a loyal and consistent block who are called upon to be at the ready to support those causes designed to make our world more egalitarian, more just, more compassionate. We are always hugging trees believing in some way that we must treat Mother Nature as if she were, in fact, our maternal progenitor. Probably, that particular interest is half native American myth and scientific findings. We go back to the earliest days when this country was first arising out of the colonial rule of an anarchistic geopolitical world. Patrick Henry was our iconic voice, “Give me liberty or give me death.” A no compromise commitment to the cause of freedom found a place in the collection of merchants and farmers, many of them slave owners who were only to ready to give themselves liberty with nary a thought for those working their land.
Skipping ahead, our leanings and our causes were eloquently expressed in Lincoln's words at Gettysburg, where a great man could only stomach the ravages of war if it were only in the cause of furthering those noble aspirations that lead to the country in the first place. Muckrakers delved into the horrendous practices of those who cared little if they profited from selling poison to add even more to their hordes of wealth. The liberal tradition was a force that brought about changes needed to keep a progressive nation on a trajectory toward the noble goal of transforming the body politic into a system that is utopian, with a keen eye that utopia is only a goal and that the real achievements are realized when that which is wrong is corrected piecemeal. A kind of step by step approach to improve the conditions under which humans live and die.
Liberals are known to be active citizens. We never miss an opportunity to express ourselves and our belief. Primaries are our arena where we possess a modicum of control over the direction of our party – unlike the indifferent majority of Americans who will stay home secure in their nests as long as their favorite shows are not interrupted and their paychecks continue to flow. This is not to raise us liberals above our fellow citizens but to show the contrast between those actively pursuing a dream, and those who are enjoying what they have.
Politicians know our behavior all too well. The mind bending, mind probing psychologists who have shifted the campaigns from a discussion of issues to a selling of a brand have long been in the forefront of shaping what a campaign is all about. Thus, those who actively participate, the activists, are the first cohort to get “the message” of the person seeking office. In this instance, the candidate with the help of pollsters (really little more than psychological gnomes – gremlins, if you please) craft the words of the candidate to sell the person to the awaiting activists.
I can only speak from the left of this world. Thus the Democrat most likely to win in the primary is the one who speaks to liberal issues. As a group and to the one, we liberals are gullible people. We buy lock, stock, and barrel any candidate who appeals to our sense of rightness. Oh how we swoon when we hear the words we want to hear. If you re-examine Obama's campaign speeches, you see he was playing the chords of our concerns, much as a virtuoso harpist goes through a complicated composition. When he talked, this liberal and many others of my ilk, could close our eyes and see the cherubs flowing above his head while our giants iconic leaders of the past materialize in his many references. Alas, like a hapless sot who awakens after a night of foolhardy revelry head and body wracked with the pain of afflictions, we soon discover we didn't get what we wanted. We got what we had. And if perchance we raise our voice and shout, “hey that's not what we had been promised,” we are told that 1) we don't understand and 2) we are unrealistic and even more not relevant. Thus, we are cast aside like putrid offal, while our knight in shinning armor rides under the banners of moderation and mainstream.
Why all this recrimination? Having just viewed “An Inside Job,” it is clear that the new boss is just like the old boss (I used the tidbit from a Who song before but it is seems to be what it is). While the masterminds of the fiscal meltdown continue with their avaricious ways free of any fear of suffering any consequence to their illegal and immoral actions, the people of this country scrape and crawl out of the fiscal hole that was allowed with deregulation by those whose reckless behavior was designed to make them obscenely rich. While these so called too big to fail financial snake oil salesmen continue to receive obscene compensation packages and tax breaks, we can only sit and watch and be satisfied with the meager crumbs that fall from the mouths of distended moguls whose mere breath sway the course our ship of state. Which brings me to the thugs who roll out of Wall Street into government only to roll back, like a snow ball being rolled in wet snow, though their growth is money. Is it no wonder the dollar is in the tank, when a double talking, double dealing CEO from Merrill Lynch can accumulate hundreds of millions of them while the average Joe has to give away the treasury to get unemployment insurance? And now of course, the ship of state is on a course to get the president re-elected and we liberals will need to be satisfied with the hope we can hold on to our castle no matter how humble it maybe, while the top one per cent ponder beach front property in Boca Ratan or a desert oasis in Palm Springs – hell why not both. We are sure to hear in the state of the union a few phrases that will tug at our heart strings but the vast majority of the president's speech is all a smoke screen for the top one percent huddled in some exclusive back room laying out the strategy that will allow them to continue to plunder this nation wealth.
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