More Reasons I'll Never Be a Conservative, Vol. 867,000

So much time, so little to do...stop, reverse that.... Apparently, the Catholic Church doesn't have its hands full enough with the massive priests and pedophiles tour, they need to be evaluating a group of nuns who appear to have more class in their habits than Pope Bendict has in the entire Vatican. It's like the Vatican's leadership is trying to destroy itself much like the Republican Par...oh, wait a minute, they are one and the same. I particularly like the quote from the lunatic who says the compassionate nuns are being encouraged to do some serious "re-evaluation." Over what? Whether or not the Church is worth their efforts? In light of our troubles with teaching kids how to read (am I the only one who finds it horrible that Massachusetts--gotta love those bluer than blue states--is number one in the nation and still 53% of their fourth graders can't read proficiently?), the failure of the White House and Congress to act on Sen. Harkin's amendment to save 100,000 teacher's jobs is unconscionable. Without solid education for our youngsters, our future as a nation is bleak, bleaker, and bleakest. This is just pathetic--stupid is as stupid does and our leaders seem bent on proving Forrest Gump correct. *ASIDE* I never paid much attention to Sen. Harkin before this year, but he's rapidly becoming one of my favorites. His push on healthcare, fight for the public option, and his teacher's amendment make him aces.... So if Republicans truly believe the auto safety bill is too tough on auto manufacturers, essentially what they're saying is that corporate profits are more important than American lives. Can someone of importance please point out their callousness to the American public? Please? A turd (a.k.a. Karl Rove) visited our great state this week, and said, "I don't need to tell you that the president of the United States has been an absolute disaster when it comes to spending...." Which is especially rich coming from the man who helped elect the idiot who turned a surplus into the largest deficit in U. S. history. Note to the imcompetent reporter (Kathleen Gray of the Free Press) who failed to point this out: you ought to head to the Beltway--your complete and utter cluelessness would fit in perfectly with the other Beltway reporters. Rove also said, "Why is it that special interests are always business, but not unions?" Though I would question his assessment--conservative media points out unions as special interests regularly--uh, I think the short answer would be because UNIONS ARE PROTECTING THE WORKING PEOPLE OF THIS GREAT COUNTRY AND BUSINESSES ARE OUT TO FUCK US OVER. See how simple that was? Thank you AFL-CIO--it's about time somebody stood up to weak-kneed Republican lite Democrats and told them to go fuck themselves when they're not standing up for workers. "Threatening," said Rep. Melton, a "Democrat", "that's the old way of doing things." No, sir, that's how you keep chickenshits such as yourself in line. Between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, I've seen more than enough of "New" Democrats. Give me an old mother fucking Democrat like Teddy Kennedy anyday--somebody who's going to fight for workers, the poor, the middle class, and not spend most of his time supporting conservative policies and kissing Republican ass. Note to ESPN on the Indy 500--unless Danica Patrick wins the mother fucker, don't wake me up. It isn't newsworthy, and I couldn't care less. Peace, emaycee

Odds and Sods

Pete Townshend turned 65 last week--sixty-fucking-five! Man, am I getting old....

An interesting couple of weeks:

Apparently, the rumors of our demise are a bit premature...seems we won a congressional race in PA we weren't supposed to win, Sestak took out Specter, and Halter has forced Lincoln into a runoff. Hell, even the MSM had an inkling on this one--seems the polls they are-a-changin'. I have no doubts we'll lose seats, but it may (key word) not be as bad as once thought. I've always had difficulty accepting the narrative of deep Dem losses this November (though I know it could happen)--people's memories aren't that short (Bush, Repugs 2002-2006), and you have to give voters something to vote for that isn't merely whining (see also, Tea Party). Plus, Rand Paul (and maybe Sue Lowden in NV) seems to be the gift that keeps on giving--there's no way we should win in KY (or Nevada for that matter), and yet we might. Good times....

Seems the not so great state of Tex-ass(holes) has gone ahead with their plans to rewrite American History. Nice pieces by tristero and the King laying out just how ridiculous this all is--if ever, of late, there has been a what the fuck? moment, this is a what the fuck? moment. Thank God for state assemblyman like Leland Yee (D-SF, what a surprise, still the gutsiest liberals in America)--let's hope there's plenty more like him.

There's so much wrong with this piece that I would almost swear it was written by an internet company lobbyist (funny, too, that I received an e-mail from my congressman, the corporate loving, working folks hating, Republican, Mike Rogers, that echoed many of the same points). Business knows best? Really? Kind of like the banks and their derivatives? Kind of like the auto companies and their failures to modernize? I also like the way they refer to the "'net netrality' regime." Regime? Please let's exaggerate when in desperation. The FCC should step in as soon as possible and Congress should let them. If not, we're going to end up with internet service providers who are as inept as our cable providers. Piss poor service, exorbitant rates, and less choice--by all means, yes, let's let the internet service providers reign. Can't fucking wait.

From a recent letter to the editor in the News: "Tea Party members are much closer to the center of the political spectrum than those extremists who seek to discredit them." Wow--who knew? I mean, I had absolutely no idea that those in the political center of this country carried posters of President Obama looking like Hitler, or that used the n-word, or thought Sarah Palin was a brilliant thinker. Please--this is just another in a long line of bullshit letters to the editor that have popped up of late linking the movement to Moms, blacks (must have got the one African-American in Michigan that is stupid enough to buy their bullshit to send that one), or Democrats (only in an alternate universe) that are little more than propaganda to make the Tea Party look more mainstream (think "compassionate conservatism"). Editorial boards may be that ignorant, but the rest of us are not: they are like a sledgehammer to subtlety, the radical right wing. Period.

Holy shit--Wonk almost gets one right. Too bad he had to throw in the usual bullshit "While Democrats are hardly blameless for this ongoing mess, which is manifest in both Washington and Lansing...." How so? Just once I'd like to see some pundit point out exactly--with facts, not Republican talking points--how Dems are responsible for the poisoned atmosphere. What, because we won and Republicans hate democracy? We water down bills, we try to get them to the table, and still they vote no. Is calling them on being the party of no unfair? Hardly--sometimes the truth hurts. The one thing that amazes me is that approximately thirty percent of Americans and Michiganders still believe their bullshit.

Too Little, Too Late, Dept.: This from the campaign brochure that Mike Rogers sent to my home (note to Mr. Rogers--save the taxpayers money and skip my house next time--if the Virgin Mary came down and told me herself that you were right, I still wouldn't believe your bullshit)..."I know times are tough (obviousman strikes again!). The last thing we need is an out-of-control Washington, DC spending money we don't have and sending the bill to our kids and grandkids...." Right...Democrat spending on jobs and healthcare bad, Republican spending on misguided wars and tax cuts for the wealthy good. Because that worked out so well the first time around, Mr. Rogers. Save it for the disciples--those of us with an ounce of sense don't believe you. And I have to live with this pinhead at least until he retires (he's not losing unless he pulls a Souder--and even that wouldn't hurt that much since he's single, last I heard).

Speaking of Souder, it couldn't happen to a nicer fellah. I spent one hellaciously bad year of my life in Fort Wayne, being represented by this buffoon. Good bye and good riddance. A question (and admittedly this is somewhat childish): how in the hell does a guy who looks like the closest he should get to nookie is internet porn end up bedding a pretty darn attractive woman like his mistress? Must be something to that whole power thing....

Final note: the only way the Dems win the governor's race in our beautiful Michigan this year is if a week before the race the Republican nominee is caught, on film, molesting a child. And then just maybe. Therefore, if we're going to get our ass kicked anyway, can we at least give ourselves a chance to not get completely embarrased and nominate the real Democrat, Ving Bernero, and send the Republican lite Andy Dillon home? Thank you....

Peace,
emaycee

A very hungry caterpillar

Every now and again in our daily struggles, one goes through a period where one feels like a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest. As one ages, one realizes these periods are usually short-lived, and eventually the sun peeks through the clouds again and one is ready to continue pushing that boulder back up the hill....

It's been a rugged couple of weeks--nothing major, some setbacks, a couple of stress filled weeks at work that make your back feel like a twisty-tie--and Sunday night I'd had another long day and was completely exhausted (as in twelve or thirteen hours of sleep in the last three days exhausted), but the beautiful boy wanted to play. So he raced around the sidewalk with his garbage truck and I did my best to keep up with him. Periodically in our travels, I had to walk ahead of him after he had stopped and be the stop light (which basically means he tells me whether I'm red or green and he stops or goes accordingly). On our third trip around, while I'm standing there preparing to shout "green," we noticed a caterpillar crawling across the sidewalk. After a couple of futile attempts to get the caterpillar to crawl into my hand (not too terribly disappointed as I'm not particularly a "bug" person), we decided to watch him slither along the sidewalk...and the grass, and the pine bark, which as you might guess, is a rather slow process. But we watched and watched, and the beautiful boy kept asking questions ("Why isn't he going up the tree, Dad?" "Doesn't he need to eat some leaves, Dad?" Where's he going, Dad?" "Dad? How long until he's a butterfly?" "Dad? How come he rolled over on the bark?") which I tried my best to answer with my limited knowledge of caterpillars (i.e., fuzzy worm, makes a cocoon, becomes a butterfly--pretty much the extent of my expertise), until the caterpillar eventually disappeared in a fluffy bush right as Mommy came out to yell down the sidwalk, "It's time for bed, he's got school tomorrow!" The beautiful boy flew down the sidewalk like a bottle rocket to tell Mommy about our adventure--and I smiled as he ran.

You know what? Every now and again, I'd be willing to bet, the one-legged man gets in at least one good boot before he falls on his fanny....

Peace,
emaycee

Pinheads in the Free Press and News, ad nauseum

So many pinheads, so little time... Once again, Nolan Finley is proving he sucks at math (or is very selective in his use of information). While I am not happy at the amount of money banks and financial institutions have funneled to the Dems, it's funny how Finley only mentions Dems having received money. By my calculations (directly from open secrets.org that Finley mentions), the financial industry for this election cycle has given $6.5 million to Republicans, and $6.3 million to the Dems--that strikes me as roughly 50/50, not the three quarters Finley claims has gone to Democrats. Further, when you look at the last 20 years as Finley mentions, $131 million has gone to Republicans, $90 million to Democrats. Please understand I am not defending the Democrats (Chuck Schumer, you know who you are) taking this money--just pointing out, as Finley does not, that Republicans are even moreso guilty. But what really pisses me off about his piece is the fact that once again Conservidiots are deflecting blame from where it really belongs--the financial industry. Yes, Congress and the SEC could have done much better in protecting us, but ultimately, this is about the financial industry's greed and carelessness. So the News thinks President Obama should name a SCOTUS nominee who will "hear cases with an open mind." Funny, but I don't remember this being one of their concerns when GWB was nominating conservative judicial activists Roberts and Alito. Apparently, only Democrats need to nominate justices with an open mind--Republicans are free to nominate ideologues at their pleasure. Frankly, fuck that--Obama should nominate someone who is to the left of Stevens (if that's possible). And young, too, so he/she can spend years hectoring Roberts and Alito. Ron Dzwonkowski (Wonk from here on out) has another of his lame-ass columns on "commonsense folks," this time concerning the federal deficit. Paul Krugman has written extensively on the difference between the deficit itself and what it means versus the politics of the deficit (a good example can be found here). And any initiative that has the Peter J. Peterson Foundation on board is asking for trouble (Digby here). Hard to know where to begin there's so much bullshit in this article, but first off, I find it really hard to imagine that Dave Camp's entire congressional district is full of folks "who still believe in saving up for what you want and not spending money you don't have." Considering that consumer debt skyrocketed in the early aughts, you'd think a few of them would have spent beyond their means. And just what does this every American being "about $42,000 in the hole" supposed to mean, other than being some second rate scare tactic? Like I'm going to have to come up with 42k to make up for it (and good fucking luck with that). No, as the economy improves, so will tax revenues and the deficit will go down. Finally, does Wonk actually believe, given the complete lack of support Republicans have shown President Obama thus far, that "commonsense" Dave Camp is going to do anything other than push the Republican's colossal failure policies? I'll believe it when Rep. Camp starts talking seriously about cutting the defense budget. And just where are we going to cut anyway? Everyone loves talking about pork, but it's not going to put anything other than a minor dent in it. What do we want--even worse roads? Less education for our kids? Less police and firemen? Worse regulation on our food and work safety? I'd love to hear where they're going to cut that is going to do anything but make our lives worse (though I do have a couple of ideas that won't make our lives miserable--get out of Afghanistan and Iraq now, end corporate welfare). What a fucking idiot. I mean, really--a ban on texting is a restriction on free speech? Isn't it really just a ban on not always being able to do what you want when you want to? I mean if the idiotic messages being passed along are that important, couldn't you pull over for a second? Besides, as Oliver Wendell Holmes so famously stated, the right to free speech isn't absolute (i.e., you can't run into a crowded theatre and shout "Fire!" just because you feel like it). If it presents a clear and present danger (the study she cites says studies have shown that phone use while driving increases the risk of accidents), it can be prohibited. You can swing your fist all you want until it comes into contact with my nose. The problem is that too many people just aren't all that responsible (like the idiot who almost slammed into my family head-on tonight because apparently she thought stop signs are optional). Note to those who do use phones and drive: if you ever hit my car while you're talking on the phone or texting, not only will you be going to the hospital for your injuries, but also to have a phone removed from your ass.... Do you suppose if the Hutatree were Muslims they'd be getting released? Just wondering.... Peace, emaycee

A Working Class Response

Every now and again, a piece comes along that makes me remember a) why I finally started this blog, and b) I am proud to be a liberal democrat. This is one of those pieces... A response: We are Main Street. Unlike you, we don't sell thin air--we have to sell real products to real people. 85k a year? Good fucking luck matching that in the real world. Bonuses? They're not six figures--three or four figures if we get one, and it's usually less than 5k. I don't know where you get your information, but hour lunches? Not many of those either. We also work close to sixty hours a week--yes, it's not the ninety you claim to work, but we don't recall a gun being put to your head to either make you work that many or to take the job in the first place. You sound like a Republican (the whining is a dead giveaway)--and since you bozos are so big on personal responsibility, maybe it's time you took a little. My guess is you would be shitty at our jobs for one big reason--we eat a lot of shit here on Main Street and you wimps couldn't stomach the turd sandwiches we eat every fucking day. And by the way, when we fuck up and cost lives and livelihoods--like, say, selling expired baby formula that sickens an infant--we get arrested. Welcome to the legal system in the real world: we don't get the best lawyers money can buy and sympathetic (and probably paid for) judges. We get the best lawyer we can afford and prosecutors looking to add another notch in their belt on their way to running for higher offices. And we don't go to minimum security prisons and play golf--we get the real deal with sociopaths and tossed salads. Don't even start on unions. The only fools are the people who don't believe in them. The United Steel Workers of America got me a decent wage so that I could pay for college. And while I've never had the privilege of belonging to the UAW, living here in Michigan I give thanks for them every day. God only knows how little the corporate overlords would pay the rest of us without their fighting for decent wages and benefits. As for teaching--do you think for a minute we'd let you anywhere near our kids? You ought to thank God for murderers, rapists, and child molesters--they're the only people we'd trust less than you to educate our children (though you'd share a spot with your heroes--pinheads like Limbaugh, Beck, Palin, and their goofy Tea Party robots). You might try picking up a book, though--if you ever had, you'd know that dinosaurs roamed the earth for 160 million years. And you idiots crapped out, in what, 20 years? Apparently you aren't as vicious (or as good at what you do) as you think. So you'd eat what's on our dinner plates. How quaint. We'd puree your pampered asses for breakfast, lunch, and fucking dinner. You idiots couldn't do our jobs--though we'd love to see you try. Watching you run home crying to Mommy after about a month would be good for a few laughs, and thanks to you clowns we could use a few right now. Frankly, I hope the Obama administration wins big--all your talk about trickle down is just that: talk. All we've got for your efforts is 401ks (instead of pensions) that won't last, the smallest job creation in history (thanks to your hero George W.), medical expenses zooming beyond our reach, and the highest unemployment since the last big conservative idiot, Reagan. Thanks for the finger fuck, limp dicks. The only thanks you deserve from Main Street can be summed up in two words: fuck you. Thus endeth the lesson. Peace, emaycee