A long December

Man, it just keeps getting more depressing....

With "Liberal" media like this, who needs enemies? Jesus Christ, the Catfood Commission's recommendations don't make me queasy, they make me feel hopeless for the country's future. There is nothing in them except more gifts for the wealthy. What part of the American people aren't interested in cuts, raising the retirement age, and favor raising the ceiling on Social Security's imposition of taxes don't these ignorant mother fuckers understand? For the life of me, is there no one who understands that we couldn't care less about the deficit? It's fucking jobs, fucking jobs, fucking jobs. Period.

Even more depressing is this--Republicans are now more trusted on Social Security than Democrats. The people who want to destroy it, or turn it over to the whims of the hookers and coke crowd on wall street is more trusted than the party that created it and has saved it for nearly eighty years--think about that. Ahem...maybe it's best you don't.

There's more: the gop has blocked an extension of unemployment benefits for what will probably be the first of many times (and they don't even have control of the House yet) which means there's a good chance the children of nearly two million families won't be seeing presents from Santa under their trees this year--and since spending drives our economy, it will likely be in park for a while longer. Seven hundred billion in tax cuts for the wealthy, but no Christmas presents for the kids of the middle class--and Americans decided to put these pinheads in charge for the next two years. I would have thought...coke and hookers for wall street on one hand...goodies from Santa on the other...would have been a no brainer, but what the fuck do I know? I just actually, you know, give a fuck about my fellow Americans. More important that Obama is a one-term President (not that he doesn't deserve it) than the poor and middle class, uh, eat.

Finally, this piece and this one, show us that we're about to be taken to the cleaners again by the "less taxes on the wealthy mean jobs and prosperity for the rest of us" crowd. No evidence, no past success, but we'll be suffering with less for the great lie. I lived through Reagan's trickle down bullshit, lived through George W.'s less taxes on millionaires is good economic policy, and all I saw through both of them was the wealthier getting wealthier, and the rest of us stagnating. You'll pardon fucking me if I just can't fucking wait for the next round--I'll probably end up with a cut in pay and no health benefits so my company's CEO can own ten houses instead of six. In my favorite words...fuck you, next idiot please!

But the week wasn't entirely lost (brace yourselves): a Free Press columnist, Brian Dickerson, actually calls out republicans for their lie about the cost of Obama's recent trip to Asia--though, being a professional columnist and all, he doesn't call them liars. Nope, he just calls them fucking idiots (in a nice professional columnist sort of way). Good times....

How pathetic is that? The only hope I can find is a relatively calm column chastising republicans for their idiocy. In the immortal words of one Boz Scaggs: "Danger, there's a breakdown dead ahead...."

Peace,
emaycee

Stupid is as stupid does

I couldn't begin to explain this--in the just completed midterms, the LGBT community doubled their support of republican candidates over 2008. Now Terkel's piece makes a few good points--some LGBT constituents no doubt voted their pocketbooks, and some have to be disappointed by the inability of the Obama administration to make many inroads on LGBT issues. But still...how in the hell can any LGBT member vote for a party that routinely denies their lifestyle is hard-wired, will never vote for any issue of concern for their lifestyle (discrimination, DADT, hate crimes), and will fight to their death to make sure same-sex marriage never happens anywhere? How can you deny your basic self that way? How can disappointment or money be more important than your basic civil rights? How in the hell can you vote for a party that hates you? Hell, I'd be willing to bet that if someone proposed sending all LGBT Americans to Madagascar and ridding America of LGBTs forever, 90% of republicans would be in favor.

Swear to God--it's as if America is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. And when it occurs, it isn't going to be pretty.

Peace,
emaycee

Just give me money, that's what I want...

Every year since I moved to the great state of Michigan, the Free Press runs a business piece on the top places to work in southeast Michigan. And also every year, they do a poll on what are the most important workplace factors to employees...and every year, pay and benefits end up at the bottom (only 48% this year considered it an important factor, trailing direction, execution, conditions, career, and managers). And every year...I am amazed. I mean truthfully, the only reason I work is that I get paid--if someone would pay me the pittance I get paid to sit on my ass at home, I'm outta there.

I never really understood it until I read Matthew Stewart's The Management Myth. In a nutshell, Shepherd discusses one Frederick Winslow Taylor, who in the 1920s was commissioned by the Rockefellers to find out what motivates workers to be more productive. Taylor's research initially showed that what motivates workers to be more productive is money. The Rockefellers, being the greedy bastards they were (are), were less than pleased (surprise, surprise) with the outcome. So Taylor, keenly aware of where his paycheck was coming from, rigged the process so the outcome became "workplace culture" (anyone stuck working for a corporation these days is all too familiar with this bullshit). Though Taylor's work has been thoroughly discredited through the years, management still continues to subscribe to the false outcome (again, surprise, surprise--more for the top, less for the people who actually do the work)--and people, being the lemmings that far too many of us are, have pretty much succumbed to the falsehood.

A couple of things I'd like to see in future polls (about as likely as me doing a vertical jump and landing on the moon--the business pages are for businesses, not truth, justice, and the American way): 1) A breakdown of the salaries for which people thought culture (or its derivatives) was more important than pay and benefits--it seems entirely possible that someone making six figures plus would find money less important than someone making $35-40,000 a year. 2) Some follow-up questions, such as: If you had the outside means, would you do your job for free? What if your company cut your pay $10,000 (needless to say, we'd need to leave minimum wage workers out of this question because they'd basically be working for free) per year (or $25,000 to $50,000 for people making $100-200,000 per year): Would money be more important than the other factors at that point? Would you look for a new job? Would you work as hard? Would you still consider your company a great workplace? 3) And how to explain this: only 46% of those polled thought their pay was fair for the work they do, and even less (32%) thought favorably of their benefit package. How can you reconcile money not being more important than culture when you don't think you're being paid (or receiving benefits) fairly?

In the end, I think this is just another case of flawed polling, and the working class getting fucked in the continuing class war.

Peace,
emaycee

Teach your children well

And whatever you do, keep them away from traditional media....

As I've noted before, I really enjoy Leonard Pitts' columns, and don't necessarily always agree with him--but in this one, he's just a little too defensive, and a lot mistaken.

I never really thought much about whether or not Keith Olbermann made political donations, but if I had, I probably would have been more surprised that he didn't make contributions to Liberal leaning candidates than the fact that he has. Mr. Pitts seems to be overly bothered by Olbermann's contributions, but for the life of me, I can't figure out why. Keith Olbermann--like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, or even a peon like the Detroit News' Nolan Finley and his appearances at tea party functions--is not committed to the appearance of impartiality. He is an advocate for the cause of Liberalism, much as the previously noted conservative commentators are advocates for whatever bullshit is passing as thought in republican/tea party circles these days. The claim that he was supposed to have asked permission is, frankly, silly. If Keith Olbermann was peddling conservative drivel like the aforementioned dolts, I wouldn't watch ten seconds of his show. I watch because he's Liberal--and I expect him to put his money where his mouth (so to speak) is.

In the end, I think Mr. Pitts outrage is more his own embarrassment than an integrity issue. I could be mistaken, but I don't recall him writing a column complaining about the O'Reillys and Hannities making political contributions (for the record, I have no problems with them making donations either, other than being a good waste of cash). Perhaps this is because it's much easier to debunk the arguments they make (and about the supposed Liberal media bias) because they live in an alternate reality (which means more or less, they believe it, it's true, facts be damned). It's a lot harder to debunk Mr. Olbermann (or Rachel Maddow or Ed Schulz) for spending the last several years showing us again and again how the media have failed the American people again and again--and in the interest of impartiality, have let a false narrative worsen the lives of Americans, and lessen our nation.

Peace,
emaycee

Across the Pond

Congratulations, our British neighbors! Thanks to your prime minister David Cameron's austerity measures, you, too, can live the American Dream: working two or three jobs for a pittance in wages, for a company that will want to have a say in every aspect of your private life and make your job as tedious as possible without giving you any say in it, living just above the poverty level while the wealth of your nation will be concentrated on the few. And even better, watching the wealthy and their enablers (you know who are are--just take that wealthy guy's penis out of your mouth and speak up with pride at your pitiful financial state despite all the blowjobs) tell you it's all your own damn fault.

Enjoy!

Peace,
emaycee

The revolution will not be televised

Or even occur, for that matter.

It seems the Catfood Commission has laid out some "bold" ideas--bad ideas would be a more apt description. In fairness, the odds of this passing even the Catfood Commission itself is slim, but let's take a peek at some of these "ideas:" 1) Increase Social Security retirement age--Why? Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit. 2) Eliminate popular tax deductions such as the child tax credit and mortgage interest--see end point. 3) Cut income tax rates from 35% to 23%--because that worked so fucking well under George W., with the deficit setting records, the slowest job growth since fucking Hoover, and wages stagnating. What the fuck? 4) Raise gas tax 15 cents a gallon--see end point, again. 5) Freeze pay of most (one assumes big shots and congress would be exempt) federal employees for three years and cut federal work force by 10%--once again, at end point. 6) Limit or end the tax-free status of employer-provided healthcare--end point.

The endpoint: does anyone but me notice a theme here? The entire fucking exercise is on the backs of the middle class and one would be hard pressed to find one area where the wealthy are going to have to cut anything--and stand to only get wealthier. In a few words, fuck you, next idiot please! Who the fuck hired these people--the Koch brothers? Thank God for Nancy Pelosi, who may be the only sane politician left in this country, who said the ideas as set forth are "unacceptable." This set of proposals is utter bullshit and continues those of us who make up the middle class on the losing side of the class war.

Want more proof the revolution is finito? The gutless Obama administration has already given up the next two years and intends to play defense. Yeah, that ought to inspire us to get out and vote in 2012. The bankers are already licking their chops for the incoming republican house--hard to imagine the banks could fuck us over even more than they did under George W., but thanks to Citizen's United, there's even more money to be had by republicans for fellating the bankers at our expense. Oh, and Heath Shuler is still mulling a run against Pelosi for minority leader, calling Pelosi's tenure "unacceptable." Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha--if the Democratic Party wants to head to its extinction, it really needs to listen to people like Shuler.

I really like this piece about rebuilding the Democratic Party, but after 34 years of watching it fail to live up to its ideals, I'm not holding my breath. Charlie Brown may have never given up hope that Lucy would actually let him kick the damn football, but I pretty much have.

Peace,
emaycee

No, really--Hitler says 'Jews are the salt of the earth'

As one might expect from a newspaper that once killed a union (so much for it being a liberal rag--if memory serves, liberals support unions), the Free Press is having an orgasm over the coming destruction of the labor union movement at the hands of the new gop majority.

But this, well this is just a bit much: "The U. S. Chamber of Commerce released exit poll data showing just more than half the electorate believes it will hurt the economy if unions have more say in how business operates."

What the fuck? I mean--superlatively--what the fuck? How in the world can any knowledgeable reporter take this poll seriously? The fucking chamber of commerce? The one that's the most anti-worker, pro-corporate, pro-wall street organization in the world? As someone who, you know, actually has a brain, the first thing I thought upon reading this was, "How come the chamber of commerce didn't ask people as they left the polls if they thought their wages would be hurt by unions having more say in how business operates? Or their benefit levels?" It's no surprise people don't support unions when they're given polling data that's dubious at best, and a lie at worst by an organization that actively seeks to see that they get paid as little as possible and have as few benefits as possible, lest the CEOs might make a few dollars less.

For the record, I actually believe the chamber's poll results. I also believe that the end of the world is near, and it will come at the hands of an obese, balding, forty-three year old Texan who will destroy the earth by blowing mountains of flame out of his ass....

Peace,
emaycee

Mere words cannot describe

Every now and again, I read an article that, literally, makes me want to throw up--for the sheer audacity of its bullshit, the factual misrepresentation, and the jeopardy for which it throws its readers into. Business articles are, by nature, pro business. This business article is pro bullshit. Susan Tompor--whose main claim to fame is writing some of the lamest business articles I have ever seen (we're talking brutal--my six-year-old has more sense than she does)--makes the entirely false claim that the Republican win makes an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts more likely. No, no, no. It makes the the extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy more likely--Democrats never, never, never claimed to want to end all of the tax cuts. Just the ones for the wealthy--who, by the way, are the reason we're in this mess. According to Tompor--and the several wall street toadies she quoted for the article--this will be good for the stock market, and therefore good for all of us. Tompor even goes so far as to tell us that the wealthy--you know, the ones who fuck us over every day at our jobs and in our government--will better be able to commit money to small business if their taxes don't increase. How does she know this? She must have pulled it out of her fat ass because there is no empirical evidence anywhere on this fucking planet that supports that statement. Not a fucking one--and the fucking Free Press actually wasted space on this fucking pinhead. No, the only thing the republican takeover of the House means is that it's back to business as usual for wall street--gambling your 401k money on Ponzi schemes and jeopardizing millions of Americans livelihoods. Anyone who believes differently is a fool. The rich can afford to lose millions in the market--we cannot. Hedge fund managers, investment firms, wealth managers, traders, hookers, and coke dealers--for these folks, the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts is a win. For the rest of us...think back to the fall of 2008. Perhaps the aspect of the article that bothers me the most, though, is the way that the tax cuts for the middle class are an afterthought. We spend the money that drives this economy, we do the actual work (as opposed to sitting on your ass and pretending that you know what you're doing) that drives this economy, we start the small businesses that drive this economy--and in Susan Tompor's world (and the republicans' world as well), we're merely an afterthought. Kind of makes me wonder who's really paying Ms. Tompor's salary.... Peace, emaycee

How not to read the tea leaves

You have to love the naivete of The Detroit Free Press. Apparently, their editorial staff paid absolutely no attention during this past election cycle, and cannot read the basic polls that have been cast over the past few days. They are right--Michigan's new Governor, Rick Snyder, does need to keep the GOP's super majority in check, and focus solely on the economy. The odds of this happening, however, are about the same as me hitting a five hundred foot home run off of Tim Lincecum: absolute zero. They cannot be foolish enough to think that a party that found Mike Castle, Lisa Murkowski, and Bob Bennet too liberal for their tastes is going to be satisfied with a moderate republican in the Governor's mansion; Snyder has to know that if he doesn't toe the radical right line, he's going to face a challenge in 2014 from the far right. And can anybody imagine the chamber of commerce or all the outstate special interest groups who poured millions into Snyder's campaign settling for anything but the utter destruction of the working class and the poor in Michigan (less taxes and less government aid and all that bullshit, that you know, only keeps our state running so we're not as backwoods, as say, the shithole that is Mississippi)? But beyond their wishful thinking, was their total misread of the national electorate: "But the dangers of overreaching (the primary lesson of the from the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency) should be prominent in everyone's mind." Really? I mean, what the fuck, really? Obama overreached? On fucking what? If they're stupid enough to believe that had Obama and the Democrats passed a public option, told wall street to go fuck itself on bonuses, passed real immigration reform, passed a stimulus that actually had teeth and infrastructure improvements that created real jobs, that Democratic voters would have still stayed home, they have no business analyzing the hairs on my ass, let alone what lessons we learned from Obama's first two years. No--know what should really concern Snyder? The fact that a whopping 45% of registered voters turned out for this past week's midterms. What happens in 2012 when those numbers go back up to 60%--and the kids and the minorities and the liberals turn out again? That supermajority could (key word) shrink awfully fast. I will give the Free Press' Stephen Henderson credit for getting this right--the performance of the Michigan Democratic party was beyond brutal, and its Chairman, Mark Brewer, should be sent packing. The only thing Brewer deserves credit for is leading us to the worst ass-kicking in history--he pulled off the nearly impossible and led us to defeat in every major office in the entire fucking state! Well done, Mark (you fucking idiot)! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.... Peace, emaycee

Now I know, we've been had

Wonder how all of those "independents" who voted republican last Tuesday, worried about the partisan rancor of the Democrats (Aside--what the fuck?), looking for bipartisanship, looking to the republicans to boost our dismal economy, feel about this: Mitch McConnell, the Senate's republican leader, saying his party's main goal was to make certain Barack Obama was a one-term President. Note he said nothing about increasing employment. Note he said nothing about decreasing the federal deficit. Note he said nothing about smaller government, helping small businesses, or, even abortion or gay rights. Nope, their number one agenda is defeating President Obama. For all those who voted thinking republicans might be different this time, I have but one word: SUCKERS! Just so you know, when two years down the road the economy is still shit, wall street is still running rampant, the government's size is still the same, the federal deficit is higher, and your precious tax dollars have been wasted on "investigations," IFUCKING VOTED DEMOCRAT BECAUSE I'M NOT A FUCKING IDIOT! Thanks, and have a bitchin' two years.... Peace, emaycee

Sing a song of sixpence....

Sunday silliness... OBAMA (Sung to the tune of Ritchie Valens' "Donna") Obama, Obama Obama, Obama I had a dream Obama was his name Since he took office It's never been the same Cause I love my dream Obama, where can you be? Why can't you see? Public option is gone Wall Street still rules the roost We're left all alone Corporations still give us the boot Cause he never gave liberals a whirl Obama, where can you be? Why can't you see? Well, Obama, you promised change And all liberals got was the screw All the effort and all the time, wasted on you-ou-ou I had a dream Obama was his name He played it safe When republicans got mean Can you save us, Howard Dean? Obama, where can you be? Why can't you see? Obama, Obama Obama, Obama Peace, emaycee

Cutting through the bullshit

Republicans have done a masterful job through the years of turning truth into falsehood and having it become conventional wisdom. Nolan Finley again tries to use his "gee, shucks, I was there, these people aren't racists, it's all the Democrats fault for pointing out the truth" bullshit once again, and I'm sure it'll fly with the tea partiers, the conservatives, and the traditional media, but somebody has to hold their feet to the fire. I'm proud to be that somebody. The reason I fear this narrative from republicans is because of how well they've used it on gay issues in the past. It isn't about hatred of gays--it's a religious difference, it's standing up for traditional values, it's "love the sinner, hate the sin"--(Aside: what the fuck?). And now it's the same for the racism charges: we just don't like Obama, we have black friends, we work with black people who are really nice, my favorite player in name the sport is black. No. No. No. The first sign is their defensiveness on the issue. The second is their trying to play it down just as they did the gay issues. And finally it's their claim that they're just like everybody else, mainstream Americans. Oh, really? Because I've been on this planet for fifty-one years now and to tell you the truth, I haven't met all that many people who are all that much alike. Sure there are people who like baseball, and the color blue, and watching the leaves change color in the fall, but when you really break it down, people are as diverse as snowflakes--even if they share the same genes, no two of them are exactly alike. So when somebody tells me they're just like everybody else, I get worried, good and worried, that maybe I'm dealing with someone who doesn't watch things very carefully, who doesn't think things through, and who has no business governing a nation as diverse as ours, that leads a world as diverse as ours. Toward the end of his piece, Finley says, "There's an astonishing arrogance in the Democratic response. They can't see that it's the way they governed that has turned off voters." Fortunately, for those of us who use our brains, there's an astounding idiocy in Finley's worldview, and our hope for the future. As many people turned out to vote against Democrats, an equal amount stayed home because they were disappointed or disgusted with the party's leadership on issues concerning them--eventually, those people will return, having already seen through the conservative/tea party/republican bullshit and send them packing. My guess is, old Nolan will never even see it coming. Peace, emaycee

After the deluge

I have to admit, in retrospect, the fifty state strategy championed by Howard Dean when he was the chair of the DNC turned out to be a bust. It seemed good in theory: better to have a Democrat with you fifty percent of the time on congressional votes than zero from a republican. In reality, the conservative wing of the Democratic party succeeded only in watering down legislation, and in the end, torpedoing our chances in the just completed midterms.

Ari Berman has written a good piece for The New York Times in which he says the Democrats should boot the Blue Dogs--and he's exactly right. They have added nothing to the party except grief, don't champion the poor and the middle class, and frankly, stand for nothing the Democratic party is supposed to stand for. We could get a lot more done with a smaller but cohesive caucus.

A good start would be to elect Nancy Pelosi as minority leader. She is the one Democratic leader who stood up for our principles, and actually accomplished quite a bit. Should Heath Shuler decide to oppose her, crushing his candidacy would be a big help.

Tim Kaine needs to be out as chair of the DNC--his reign has been a disaster from the get go (the Governor races in Virginia and New Jersey in 2009 should have been a rather obvious warning sign). Fuck the moderates--they always lead us to defeat and half-assed legislation. We need a party champion--would love to see someone like either Alan Grayson or Russ Feingold take on the job, but I doubt we'll see either.

On the bright side, for as big of an ass kicking as we took last Tuesday, it appears we have 190 seats in the House (and a generally more supportive 190 seats for the progressive agenda) which means we only need 28 seats to take back the majority next election. Not likely, but not impossible either.

Further, for all the talk about returning to the blue/red political map of 2004, remember this: liberals didn't turn out, minorities didn't turn out, and young voters didn't turn out. My guess is after two years of republican "investigations," gridlock, and nothing accomplished to help the economy, they all turn out again in 2012. Will the traditional media be telling us in 2012 that we've returned to the 2008 map?

We can only hope....

Peace,
emaycee

Thank you, America!

Contrary to what you may believe, the midterm election results of yesterday did not allow you to "take back your country." Nope, what you did was hand the keys back to the same bozos who let corporations and Wall Street run crazy and nearly destroyed the middle class--and now you've given them the power to finish the job. Well fucking done America!

For a great perspective on the disaster that Barack Obama has been for Democrats and the Liberal agenda, please read this--I think it perfectly sums up my thoughts that Obama is a great campaigner for himself, not so much for the rest of us.

Can somebody please shut up people like Evan Bayh, Paul Begala, and Mark Penn? The last thing Obama or the Democrats need is to be centrists. Here are the facts: young people did not turn out to vote, minorities did not turn out to vote, and Liberals did not turn out to vote. These are among the most Progressive members of our coalition. The Blue Dogs lost better than 50% of their races--the Progessive caucus won 94% of their races. And we need to tack right? Fuck you, next idiot please! And shame on Arianna Huffington for running two of those bullshit pieces--with Liberals like that, who needs republicans?

Don't believe you got swindled by the republicans? Watch this: I was literally screaming at her while she was on the tube last night. It was all bullshit--this election was bought and paid for by corporations, their fellators (yes, you, chamber of commerce) and wall street, so the republicans could do their bidding at our expense. Period.

Looking for a silver lining? The two states that usually lead the way for Liberals, New York and California, had the good sense to stay the course, electing, respectively, a Democratic Governor and two Democratic Senators and a Democratic Governor and a Democratic Senator. All is not lost....

Keep up the fight, never quit--we're the good guys and eventually, we will prevail for all of America, not just old, white people....

Peace,
emaycee

I'm baaaaacccckkkkk....

On Monday November 1, 2010, forty-three seasons of disappointment came to a thunderous end with the victory of the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. It was an exhausting three weeks, and worth every minute of it. Forty three years! Think about that: none of my three kids were born when my love affair with the Giants began, my Beautiful Girl was ten years away from her wondrous existence, I still believed the Catholic Church was a force for good, and the Democratic Party hadn't even made the slightest dent in my conscienceness. What a long strange trip it's been. For posterity: I had to work on the eventful evening, and as the last inning approached, I had to make a decision. Do I stay at work to watch the end (major depressing thought as I don't particularly care for either my job or the company I work for) or try to make it home before the last out? I opted for the latter and headed home. In a most unusual twist, the Giants decided not to have a tortuous last inning and I was barely five minutes into my drive home when the last out occurred. Now many people would have been disappointed by this, but as I drove, for some odd reason, I remembered when my love for the Giants first began at age eight, and lying in my bed listening to their games with Russ Hodges (HR call: "Bye, Bye, Baby!") and Lon Simmons (HR call: "And you can tell it goodbye!") on my family's little black transistor radio (yes, kids, back in the day most games weren't on TV) and for some odd reason it seemed entirely poetic that I would be listening to their first ever World Championship on the radio. What goes around, comes around.... Baseball, as life, is a beautiful game. Peace, emaycee