Rich people hate you

How do I know this?  Let me count the ways:

• Although it's not as good as we would like, the unemployment rate is going down and more people are finding jobs.  Know who's not happy about that?  Rich people!  They want the Fed to cut interest rates so that jobs will stop being created.  No jobs being created, no need to increase wages--kind of like the myth of Sissyphus for the rest of us, though.  Keeping pushing that rock up the hill...oops, back down to the bottom....
• Want to guess who cut back on their charitable giving the most throughout the Great Recession?  Rich people!  Know why?  They've still got theirs and they don't give a shit that you lost yours because of their utter avarice and incompetence.  Easy come, easy go--as long as its the poor and the middle class losing.
• Remember how in high school it wasn't enough for the cool kids to be the most popular and and the best looking--they had to rag on the freaks and geeks, too?  Rich people never outgrew that--only now they lie about everything and demean the poor.
• Like sports?  Nice diversion, right?  The NBA is busy trying to turn Steph Curry and LeBron James into robots.  It's not bad enough that we have robots for bosses and robots reporting our news, now they want to turn our sports heroes into robots, too.  Missed shots and fouling out of the game?  That's so 20th century!
• We're working harder and longer than we did a generation ago--and not only is it killing us, it's killing the people we're responsible for.  Fred died on the job today?  Fuck it, have Wilma do his job and her job for the same money!  Rich people get richer, and we, um, die.
• You know the worst kind of rich people?  CEOs--man, these fuckers give Lucifer a run for his money when it comes to spreading evil on the unsuspecting masses.  And the shit they say--they're about as disgusted by us as they are by a dog turd.  Want to know the worse part?  They're not that smart nor that talented at their job--as evidenced by the link, they're just bigger assholes than the rest of us.
• And in the end, it probably doesn't much matter because we're all disposable to them anyway.  Hell, rich people even have a six step process to get the job done.  Nothing like knowing you're little more than a sopping Huggies diaper.

And yet despite the odds akin to a frog hitting a hole-in-one, so many of us keep on fighting the godless bastards for a fairer and more economically robust future.

On New Year's Eve, here's a toast to those who really deserve one:  us.

Peace,
emaycee

A fine year end list

This one snuck in my e-mail today--it's a list from Low Pay is Not OK of the top 8 reasons why 2014 was a good year for workers.

There's still a long, long way to go in the fight for economic equality, but you can't win if you don't fight back and an awful lot of folks puts their and their families' livelihoods on the line this year to make this a better country and bring a little more economic certainty to the lives of America's working class.

And their work put a lot more distance between hopeless and hopeful for low wage workers.

God bless them all.

Peace,
emaycee

Do not pass go

Once again, the republican party is doing all it can to come to the rescue of the Democratic Party....

Thanks to John Boehner who today gave a pass to Rep. Steve Scalise, the republican whip and #3 leader in the House, for speaking before a hate group, European-American Unity and Rights Organization (its founder is former Klansman David Duke), in 2002.  Boehner called it an "error in judgment."

An extra-marital affair might be an error in judgment.  Hiring a staffer who is involved in some sort of corruption might be an error in judgment.  Losing one's temper and dropping an f bomb in a public forum might be an error in judgment.  Having a few too many and howling at the moon in front of a local reporter might be an error in judgment.

But speaking before a hate group?  Fucking please--Scalise is either so craven for votes that he sold his soul to a group of white supremacists, or (as we're being lead to believe) he's so stupid as to not have vetted a David Duke group before speaking to them.

Either way, it's a piss poor start for republicans and it probably only gets worse for them from here on out.

Peace,
emaycee

Always on the outside looking in

A city in southwest France erected cages around its public benches to keep the homeless off of them.

In an ironic twist that gives me hope there may be a God after all, the cages were erected in such a way that no one could get into them to use the benches.

In a side note, the city's government is run by a conservative political party.

Which goes to show that conservatives are not only assholes in America, but assholes worldwide.

Peace,
emaycee

Body count

A couple of weeks ago, my family attended our local yearly Christmas parade.  While not even close to the scale of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, it does attract quite a few of the townfolk here, and as such, the local police officers help out by directing traffic around the event.  As we walked past them, it was hard not to think, in light of the recent incidents involving Michael Brown and Eric Garner, that any one of the men and women we passed could shoot and kill me or my wife or our son because they've been pissed off all day that their Raisin Bran got too soggy at that morning's breakfast, and thanks to local prosecutors gaming the system, walk away scot-free.

Now I know the odds of any one of us being killed by a police officer are roughly akin to being struck by a bolt of lightning, but what does it say about the state of our trust of the police when a white American male such as myself, living in Podunk, Michigan, looks askance every time he walks past one of the men and women in blue?

I'm not really sure who the hundreds of police officers that turned their backs on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio--a man who is dealing with the reality of police relations--while he spoke last week at a memorial for the two slain officers were trying to convince (maybe the Tea Party fringe approves, but frankly they all think police officers should be paid minimum wage and pay for their own damn life and medical insurance),  but it certainly wasn't their local African-American community.  If anything, it made them trust the police less.

And one can go from police officer to pariah in a heartbeat.

Peace,
emaycee

Governor Gutless caves again

Kudos to our own Governor Rick Snyder for caving once again to the far right fringe here in Michigan and signing a bill which will convene a yearlong test program in three counties to perform drug tests on those who are receiving welfare benefits.  As the link notes, drug testing the poor has proven a colossal failure in Utah, Tennessee, and Florida--but far be it from Governor Gutless to actually do the right thing instead of kiss Tea Party asses as he wastes more and more  precious Michigan taxpayer dollars.

Actually, I'm anxiously awaiting Governor Snyder's signature on a bill that will require his corporate cronies to be drug tested for the corporate welfare they receive from Michigan's fine citizens.  There's actually a chance he'll catch more than he will of the poor--at least his corporate benefactors can afford them.

Peace,
emaycee

It's that time of year

So I'm driving home from work tonight, and I come to a stop at a red light above a busy intersection.  And about ten feet in front of me I see a young man standing in the chilly drizzle, under a streetlight, with a cardboard sign that reads:

"Homeless    Anything Helps    Merry Christmas."

You know what stood out the most to me?  "Merry Christmas."

Now I know a lot of cynical people would think he inserted that line to pull at our heart strings and remind us  that it's that time of year.  But I don't think so--I think it's the quintessential expression of the best part of the often imperfect America spirit, i.e., even though my life's in the shitter doesn't mean I can't earnestly hope yours is doing fine.

And in our often imperfect country, we learn how to take the bad with the good.

Peace,
emaycee

Fear of a mad black protester

And if they're not blaming President Obama for the deaths of two New York City police officers this past weekend, they're blaming people exercising their first amendment right to peacefully assemble,

New York Police Union President Pat Lynch said there was "blood on many hands tonight" including the protestors in his fair city.  (By the way, am I the only one who wonders if this overplaying of their hand by police union leaders makes unions as a whole look bad?)

Not to be outdone, Missouri Senator Roy Blunt said criticism of police tactics from his own constituents led to the deaths of the two police officers.  (Apparently Senator Blunt isn't happy with merely losing 95% of the African-American vote, he's shooting for 100%.)

The only action the protesters in Ferguson and New York City (and those across American who joined them) are guilty of is seeking justice.  The deaths of two men who did a job most of us want no part of and provide a service we all need is tragic--it is not a time to place blame where it doesn't belong.

But it's standard fare--think welfare queen.  Think driving while black.  Think stop and frisk.  Think black on black crime.  It's a whole hell of a lot easier to concoct bullshit about the messengers than it is to debunk their message.

Peace,
emaycee

The only thing we have to fear is their selling of fear

Never missing an opportunity to spew hate and stoke fear, Fox News and Rudy Giulani are doing their best to convince our more ignorant fellow Americans that the shooting deaths of two police officers in New York City this past weekend are the fault of President Obama.  Shocking, I know.

No, the murders are not the fault of the President--they were committed by a young man with a history of mental health problems.

But anybody want to guess the state of affairs in America if either of two tone deaf bozos named John McCain or Mitt Romney had been President when the grand jury decisions on Michael Brown and Eric Garner were handed down?  Or having Sarah Palin wax poetic on the state of race affairs in America?

The jackasses ought to get down on their hands and knees and thank God that we have Obama for our President--his steady hand and empathetic nature have been the only things keeping us from a maelstrom of anarchy from a people thirsting for justice.

Peace,
emaycee

1000

It's been a busy few weeks in the news--protests in light of grand jury decisions regarding the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, the CIA torture report, President Obama's change in policy toward Cuba, the Cromnibus bill.  Lost in the shuffle is a new report from the Pew Research Center which shows that the wealth gap between rich and poor and rich and the middle class is at record levels.

Now, the top .1 percent of Americans own 22 percent of all the wealth in America or more than the bottom 90% of us.  A little more than 300,000 people own more than a little more than 300,000,000 of the rest of us.  It's hard to see how that can be sustainable in what they tell us is the land of hope and dreams.

Not to take anything away from the importance of the stories of the last few weeks, but it's doubtful how much they'll matter in a country where more and more Americans either live in economic misery or have to take up arms just to survive.

Peace,
emaycee

Nothing to see here

I haven't written anything about the recent report released on torture done in our names by the American government, but this poll sure opened my eyes:  by a 59-31 margin--that's right, almost 60% of us--Americans believe the use of torture is justified to obtain information from suspected terrorists.

And it's a slippery slope that leads from beacon of freedom to despotic nation.

I don't know exactly how one changes the thought processes of Americans on a policy that not only stains our national image but shows a decided lack of empathy for human suffering, but I have to wonder how most Americans would feel if rectal feeding or waterboarding were used by suspected terrorists on our men and women in uniform.

I fear I may not like our response to that one, either.

Peace,
emaycee

Broken

You want to see how broken the republican party is these days?  Just look at their response to President Obama's actions concerning our change in policy toward Cuba.

The Cuban Embargo has been an unmitigated failure that has accomplished absolutely nothing over the last fifty years--foreign policy isn't my forte, but you'd be hard pressed to find a more nonsensical continuation of the status quo in our foreign relations.  So when President Obama decided that perhaps a change was in order, republicans immediately become apoplectic and flout failure as a desired goal of American foreign policy.  Or you can be even dumber like Marco Rubio and criticize the Pope for basically doing his job--which is more or less to help people love one another.

This change in our diplomatic relations with Cuba can have two outcomes--either everything stays the same in Cuba (no loss) or things get better for their citizens (big win).  How much of a nitwit do you have to be to not support that?

Another feather in the cap for President Obama for a much needed and welcome change for a bad policy.

Peace,
emaycee

The show must go on

When did we become a nation of such chickenshits?  And what a surprise it is that corporate America is leading the way.

I know I'm probably a minority of one, but what should have been done concerning the 9/11 type threats over the Sony movie The Interview is that we should have said, "Screw you," put the movie in the theaters, and gone about our lives.

Let's hope no one threatens our public restrooms, lest many American be running around with dirty drawers.

Peace,
emaycee

'Tis the season

Oh, the places you won't go if you're poor or homeless in America:

• Just for shits and giggles (hard to see any other reason for it) schools across America are denying children--children--lunches because their parents are too far in debt on their lunch tabs (in some cases as little as $20).  Hungry, Hungry Hippos takes on real life meaning.
• Fort Lauderdale, FL (their city motto:  "We're Fucking Heartless"), home of a law which prohibits the feeding of the homeless, last month arrested a ninety year old man for feeding the homeless.  You cannot make this shit up.
• Just to prove they really are fucking heartless, Fort Lauderdale officials last month also arrested a homeless man for speaking out against their policies during a ceremony to honor, of all things, National Homeless Week.  Proving mightily once again the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction.
• Even though it's been an abysmal failure in Tennessee, Utah, and Florida both in terms of its cost and its ability to find much of any poor people using drugs, numbnuts Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker wants to drug test everyone in his state who collects unemployment or receives food stamps...just so Wisconsin can join the list the failures, too, and  he can appeal to the haters among the republican party faithful in his quest to not be America's next President.  Not bad enough that Wisconsin's poor have to put up with the worst fucking haircut in American politics, they also have to pee in a cup to assuage his Presidential ambitions.
• The city of Manteca, CA recently passed an ordinance (joining a long list of other American cities trying to make being homeless a crime) making it illegal for the homeless to sleep outside.  Hello--homeless=no place to live=no place to sleep other than outside.  The city's police chief noted that if the homeless wanted to leave, it would be their choice.  No it isn't--sleeping isn't a choice, it's a necessity.

The lone bright spot I've been able to find over the past few weeks is that the city of Dallas decided to stop trying to prohibit those feeding the homeless in public and agreed to pay $250,000 in settlement to those charities.

In the movie It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Potter at one point calls helping the least among us "sentimental hogwash."  At the time, his character's lack of empathy was considered villainous.

Now it's public policy.

Peace,

emaycee

The frights of their eyes

Sen. Pat Toomey, the junior Senator from Pennsylvania, went on the air after Elizabeth Warren's super, fantastic, badass, very good week crucifying Wall Street to lament Warren's "nonsense" and called it merely an attempt to invigorate the "professional haters of business" on the Democratic Party's left wing.

Sure worked on an old professional hater of business like myself--and pretty much every other Democrat as well.  She damn near derailed a very bad spending bill that should have been a slam dunk by doing the utterly  unthinkable to a turd like Toomey--standing up for all Americans, not merely the wealthiest among us.

Methinks Toomey doth protest too much--my guess is it's an opening salvo in what will eventually be a losing battle for the Senator and his business benefactors against the likes of Senator Warren.  The American people are getting more and more tired of an economy geared toward Wall Street and not Main Street.  Eventually the working class heroes of this country are going to smell blood in the water.

And thus Senator Toomey's thoughts on Senator Warren's week could be called the speed of the sound of being scared shitless.

Peace,
emaycee

Perry the platypus

Rick Perry, this week:  "Running for the presidency's not an IQ test."

And what a good thing for Mr. Perry that is--his already infintesimal chances for being our next President would be completely fucking non-existent.

And to think we get to enjoy such pearls of wisdom from republican pretenders for the next 23 months....

Peace,
emaycee

The opiate of the (American) masses

A recent report from The Wall Street Journal shows that going to the movies is more and more beyond the means of America's middle class.

You have to wonder just how long our economic system will hold when something as simple as going to the movies becomes economically unattainable for the vast majority of Americans.

In other words, shit meet fan.  Fan meet shit.

Peace,
emaycee

The choice is Warren-ted

The House passed another bad spending bill tonight, full of giveaways to Wall Street and Corporate America and the usual fuck-all for the rest of us.  Unsurprisingly, the White House supported the bill (hell of a week for Jeckyll and Hyde Obama--torture bad, greed good); Elizabeth Warren argued vehemently against it.

All of which got me to thinking...that in all likelihood, President Hillary would have supported the bill, too--and is that really what I want from now until 2024?  Will the middle class last that long?

I've pretty much been a Hillary supporter of the, "oh well, at least our economic travails won't get any worse under her leadership"  but maybe it's time to look at who will make our economic travails better.

Move.On started an online campaign this week to draft Elizabeth Warren for the Democratic nomination in 2016:

In lieu of replacing one Wall Street-centric Democrat with another, it might be the most important online campaign of our time for those of us fighting the losing battle of trying to stay afloat economically.

Peace,
emaycee

Any questions?

The only thing any voter needs to know before the elections in 2016:

Peace,
emaycee

Don't dream it's over...

R.I.P....the American Dream?

Economist Gregory Clark of UC-Davis says he's done the research and Americans have no more chance of social mobility than did those folks who lived in ye olde Medieval England--and that our rate of social mobility has worsened over the past 100 years.

Clark also notes that where you end up financially has mostly to do with where your lineage is at financially, i.e., if you weren't born rich you aren't going to be rich.

He also says that his students have a tough time accepting this--which could go a long way toward explaining why we don't see a lot more progressive politicians in office.

Because the first step toward changing problem behavior is admitting there's a problem in the first place.

Peace,
emaycee

How?

I know there are a lot of good and decent police men and women across the country, but after watching the events of the last few weeks, the decisions not to prosecute the killers of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, the lame ass defenses of murderers by local police unions and spokesmen, how the hell does anybody trust any police officer anywhere?

How?

Peace,
emaycee

Letting lying dogs sleep

As you may or may not have heard, the republican led Michigan legislature is considering a plan to change the way our electoral votes are allotted--it's a somewhat convoluted plan, but suffice it to say that the idea is to allow the republican Presidential candidate to get at least a few electoral votes in Michigan even though he or she has as much chance of winning the states electoral votes based on the way the U.S. Constitution intended it to be as I do of farting $100 bills.  (Aside:  Funny how that whole disregarding the U.S. Consitution seems to get...um, disregarded when it comes to republican wants, isn't it?)

I, though, am one of the few Liberals who wholeheartedly endorse this plan--it's one thing (though it still isn't right) when you disenfranchise 10% of the voters in some podunk state in the South, and completely another when you disenfranchise 60% of the voters across the entire United States (figuring that approximately 40% of voters are Democrats or lean Democratic and 20% are more or less independent).

Pissing off that many Americans would be a final breath for a party already in its death throes.

Wouldn't bother attending the funeral, either.

Peace,
emaycee

Ram tough

In a show of solidarity with the folks in Ferguson, MO, five St. Louis Rams did this yesterday:

Which caused the St. Louis Police Officers Association to go apoplectic and demand the players be disciplined (the NFL said no, thanks) and that the Rams and the NFL issue an apology, because, you know, it wasn't enough that a piss poor and rigged grand jury proceeding let murderer Darren Wilson go free.

Here's hoping that next week the Rams' players give the St. Louis Police Officers Association a one finger salute.

Peace,
emaycee

The shoot me state

No matter how St. Louis Prosecutor Robert McCulloch tries to spin it, it is now a fact that, at least in the state of Missouri, shoplifting has become a capital offense.  Why else would he virtually start his defense of the grand jury's decision to not indict Darren Wilson with a reminder of Michael Brown's actions prior to his being shot to death?

Can you say "police state," boys and girls?

Peace,
emaycee

No, it's actually a shit sandwich

en•no•ble (ɛnˈnoʊ bəl) 

v.t. -bled, -bling.

1. to elevate in character or respect; make noble; dignify; exalt.

2. to confer a title of nobility on.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence, another in a line of republicans who will never be President, fed the republican base more salmonella laced raw meat this week when his administration took steps to ensure that 65,000 Hoosiers could lose food stamps next year, and said while touting the 50,000 people joining the workforce in Indiana since 2008 (uh, Gov, that's less than 9000 people a year, hardly a gloat worthy total), "I'm someone that believes there's nothing more ennobling to a person than a job."

Leaving aside the fact that just off the top of my head, both marriage and parenthood strike me as being considerably more ennobling than any job I've ever had, this smacks of a remark Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's made this week in which he said that denying health care coverage to poor people helps them live the American Dream--i.e., one being made by someone who has lived off the gravy train of American taxpayer dollars for far too long.

Because working in America anymore is about uniformity and not autonomy; it's about forced wage stagnation and not merit raises; it's about incompetent leadership and not entrepreneurship; it's about selfishness and not teamwork; it's about hidden agendas and not transparency; it's about unmitigated power and not cooperation; and most of all it's about unadulterated greed and not accountability.

It's not just a job--it's a shit sandwich.

Peace,
emaycee

Scary video

Do you:

• Know who won the Civil War?
• Know who our current Vice President is?
• Know what country from which we won our freedom?

If you do, then you're miles ahead of these college students at Texas Tech:

Don't know if this is endemic to the state of Texas or if it's a nationwide problem, but I'll goddamn guarantee you that because of it the Beautiful Boy is going to be getting a host of Social Studies lessons from his dear ol' Dad over the next few years....

Peace,

emaycee

Cool video

Like a good neighbor...

During the pregame festivities before the recent Toronto Maple Leafs game against Nashville, the microphone blew out in the middle of the  "Star Spangled Banner"--check out the Toronto fans reaction:

They sang it loud and proud.  I'd be willing to bet you couldn't fill an arena in America out of all 300+ million of us with Americans who knew the words to "O Canada" let alone could sing it with vigor.

Probably the National Health Insurance that makes them smarter....

Peace,
emaycee

Dream weaver

Another republican who won't be our next President, Scott Walker, this week announced that he thinks it's good for low-income Americans to not have healthcare because it will help them live the American Dream.

Pretty sure this qualifies as a "What the fuck?" statement.  And frankly, it's one made all too often by those on the right who have spent most of their careers either playing tiddlywinks in the executive suite of some corporation or living off the generosity of the American taxpayers.

Basically, Walker believes that if we can get every able bodied adult into the workforce, companies will just shower them with all kinds of money and benefits and we'll all be singing in the sunshine.  But right now, that pesky government safety net is getting in the way.

Sure it is--just ask all those minimum wage workers at Wal-Mart, McDonald's, KMart, Walgreens, et al.

And ignore all those jobs that record corporate profits haven't created, or the record wage stagnation, or the record income inequality, or the record number of Americans living in poverty.

Or the millions of jobs that Scott Walker did not create in Wisconsin.

Because Scott Walker apparently has a magic wand that he hasn't used yet, but when he's President, look out.  He'll whip that baby out and all our economic problems are going to be solved.

Book it.

Peace,
emaycee

Every classroom

A recent report from the National Center for the Family and Homelessness shows that 2.5 million American children are homeless, or roughly one in thirty of our kids.

For those of you who have kids, this means that virtually every classroom in your kids school has one homeless child in it.

For those of you who don't have kids, the next time you're walking or driving past any school, take a look at the windows.  Virtually every single window has a classroom with at least one homeless child in it.

In America, the richest nation in the history of civilization.

In America.

Peace,
emaycee

The 2016 dumb ass

Sen. Orrin Asshat (R-Utah) was speaking to the Federalist Society recently where he referred to us as "dumb ass Liberals" and said republicans should keep the filibuster reform laws in place to give Democrats "a taste of their own medicine." (And what a surprise that last one was--methinks they protested so much about filibuster reform because they didn't get to do it first.)

On the bright side, Asshat proves once again that my worries of republicans actually learning to govern are overblown--they're going to go on being their ignorant-ass selves and watch once again from the sidelines as we put another Democrat in the White House and republicans once more become the minority party in the Senate.

Because republicans don't give a shit about America--the only thing they love are throwaway sound bites that keep their dim-witted base fired up over nothing.

Peace,
emaycee

The right to arm bears

The anti-gun group Moms Demand Action has been petitioning the Kroger Co. to not allow open carry in its stores.  Which caused the man at this link to rage like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas against a bunch of Moms who are trying to make the world a safer place for kids,

You know, I'm willing to begrudgingly admit that even though the Second Amendment doesn't say what the NRA thinks it says, that the idea of the right to bear arms has become so ingrained in the American psyche that it's probably never going to change.  But there is absolutely nothing in the Constitution that gives anyone the right to be fucking nuts--and anyone charging around their local Kroger with an assault rifle is fucking nuts.

For fuck's sake--this is America, not downtown Baghdad.

Peace,
emaycee

Impeach Obama now!

It's been ten days since the republicans big night, and it took, oh, all of about 10 seconds for President Obama to realize that with two years left in his Presidency he has nothing to lose by tacking left and taking them head on.  So we've gotten bold movement from the President on Net Neutrality, a climate deal with China, a pox on Keystone XL, and the President saying he'll take executive action on immigration reform because frankly, he's sick and tired of republicans fiddle-farting around for the past year on immigration.

And it's cause for even the intellectual (so-called) wing of their party to call for President Obama's impeachment for um, I guess, doing his job.

My only thought on this is pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease do.

Because there's nothing American voters like more than wasting American taxpayer dollars impeaching a President over nothing while the country has a host of other problems to tackle.

Just ask the husband of our next President.

Peace,
emaycee

There will be blood

For those of you believing some kind of Gandhiesque movement is coming to change the profligate power of corporations in America and return some sort of normalcy to the lives of America's working class, I offer you the following:

• AT &T this week threatened the internet service of millions of Americans if they didn't get their way in the upcoming decision by the FCC on net neutrality.  I would call their bullying Mafia-like, but that would be unfair to the Mafia--the Mafia doesn't run commercials ad nauseum on TV proclaiming how much their customers matter to them.
• Binding arbitration is right up there with net neutrality as being an issue most Americans don't know or understand but really should--as evidenced by this case in Arkansas where a nursing home in all likelihood killed a man and his family can't sue, because unbeknownst to them, they signed away their right to sue for wrongful death and turned it over to an arbitration panel.  Which is really a rigged game, since the arbitration panel is usually paid for by the company and is free to completely ignore any and all American law and make decisions based on any reasoning they desire.  Unsurprisingly, this  anti-consumer tactic has been upheld again and again by the Roberts Court, which is the best court the Chamber of Commerce can buy.

I know most people prefer the path of least resistance, but anybody who thinks any kind of significant change to the current economic abyss is coming without a whole lot of (preferrably wealthy people's) blood being shed is absolutely kidding themselves.

Peace,
emaycee

The will of the people, but not in Michigan

The single most disturbing piece I read on what was one of the most disastrous election nights in Democratic Party history is this recap of the elections in Michigan.  The lowlights:

• For the U.S. House races, Democrats received 1.51 million votes, republicans 1.46.  The result?  Nine seats to republicans, five to Democrats.
• For the Michigan House races, Democrats received 1.53 million votes, republicans 1.47.  The result? 63 seats to republicans, 47 to Democrats.
• In the races for the Michigan Senate, republicans received 1.52 million votes to the Democrats 1.48 (50.2% to 49.6%).  The result? A supermajority for republicans at 27 seats to 11 (or 71% of the Senate seats).

How fucked up is that?  Can you say "gerrymandering?"

On the bright side, republicans can pretty much write off Michigan in the Presidential race for 2016--if that's the best they can do in an election year when everything went their way, they can give it up in a year where the voter profile is not the least favorable to their party.  Kansas we aren't (thankfully).

Might also want to start thinking about those 2020 elections....

Peace,
emaycee

Silver spoon in hand

Seems the right wing is aghast--aghast I say--because Bruce Springsteen and a number of other pop stars performed John Fogerty's "Fortunate Son" at the Concert for Valor yesterday in a tribute to America's veterans.  Seems the song is an anti-war manifesto and not fit for a tribute to those who served.

Unsurprisingly, the right wing is either a) illiterate, b) deaf, c) stupid, or, more likely d) all three.  If you actually read the lyrics, the song is...all about hatin' on the rich folk.  And let's face it, the right wing lives for kissing the asses of American's wealthy.  The people who are upset don't give two shits about those who served in the Armed Forces--they're pissed because Springsteen was hatin' on the rich folk.

The main purpose of this post is a robust "Fuck you!" to the idiots on the right, and an excellent opportunity to link to one of the all-time great pop songs.  Enjoy!

Peace,
emaycee

Chuckles

So...Chuck Todd (perfectly understandable if you're reaction is "Who?") has written a book called The Stranger in which he takes potshots at President Obama.

Leaving aside the fact that the Meet the Press moderator must have only read the Cliff's Notes version of Albert Camus' esteemed novel, why is anyone surprised by this?  The only people who read books like this are either a) insiders, or b) old white people (probably the same ones who are the only people to actually watch his show).  For insiders, it reinforces their world view of Obama; old white people voted against him overwhelmingly twice and it will only reinforce their hatred of the President.

Todd didn't set out to write a Pulitzer winner--he set out to make money.  Hatin' on the Democrats is a (minor) lottery winner.

Just ask Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity, ad nauseum.

Peace,
emaycee

emaycee's believe it or not

So...in the past few days I have gotten e-mails from Mark Pryor, Bruce Braley, and Alison Lundergan Grimes asking me to send money to help Mary Landrieu in her runoff Senate election next month in Louisiana.

Personally, I think Landrieu has as good of a chance at winning this election as I do, and I don't even live in Louisiana (thank God), so it's just pissing good money after bad politics.   But even given that, does she really want three people who lost imminently winnable Senate races by running horrid campaigns to have a voice in her campaign?  Isn't it sort of like someone with perfectly smooth skin asking three lepers to help her keep it that way?

Swear to God, you cannot make this shit up.

Peace,
emaycee

For posterity

In November of 2016, Hillary Clinton will win the Presidency with the same electoral votes as President Obama in 2008, less Indiana (and who cares--the only difference between Indiana and the shithole states in the South is that fewer people in Indiana have southern accents).

In November of 2016, the Democratic Party will take back the Senate by a comfortable margin (55 seats plus).

In November 2016, Democrats will pick up numerous seats in the House (10 plus).

And for all those republicans giddy today over how they're going to turn America into a corporate fellating, survival of the fittest, and third world utopia, two little words:

Fuck you.

The race for 2016 starts today, fuckers.

Peace,
emaycee

Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

A few thoughts on yesterday's horrible, terrible, no good, very bad election results:

• For all the hoopla about republicans taking back the Senate last night, the only blue state loss last night was to incumbent Susan Collins in Maine, and not the slightest surprise.  While the three swing state losses (Iowa, Colorado, and a heartbreaker in North Carolina) were disappointing, republicans won every other seat in rock solid red states.  Their "victory"?  Much ado about nada.
• While the gubenatorial races were a bit more disconcerting, the only real losses were in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Illinois.  All the others were in, again, rock solid red states or to incumbents who win 90% of the time in U.S. elections.
• The average loss of House seats in the sixth year of a President's tenure is 26--we only lost 14 last night.
• Martha Coakley shouldn't be allowed anywhere near an election as a Democrat for the rest of her life.  She has now lost two statewide elections (Governor and U.S. Senate) in the bluest of blue states (Massachusetts) and Democrats should have a clove of garlic hanging from their necks and flash a crucifix anytime she comes near.
• Speaking of...Alison Lundegan Grimes (running against very unpopular Mitch McConnell) and Bruce Braley (running against Michelle Bachmann wannabe and intellectual peer Joni Ernst) should both spend the rest of their lives hiding under rocks for losing very winnable races.  Or, more likely, go into the private sector and leave Democratic politics forever.
• Hagan, Pryor, and soon to be Landrieu--meh, conservadems.  See ya, wouldn't want to be ya.
• Minimum wage increases passed in red states Arkansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Alaska.
• Washington state passed strict background checks, a nice, long overdue, "fuck you" to the NRA.

The only thing that can be said for sure about yesterday is that the republicans have the House and Senate for the next two years.  Any other trends extrapolated from a good day in the red states is complete and utter bullshit.

On to 2016.

Peace,
emaycee

Rand Paul, mega fucking idiot

My biggest concern with the republicans big night last evening was that they would actually decide to govern and give the Democrats a real run for their money in 2016.

And along came mega fucking idiot Rand Paul to calm my fears.

Posting on his Facebook page, Paul decided to put up pictures of defeated Senatorial candidates and beneath each put "#Hillaryslosers."

Because nothing is more Presidential than pulling a stunt that would be lame even for your average high school freshman.

Peace,
emaycee

Our day will come

For all the Donnie and Darlene Downers out there tonight--and with good reason as it's looking mighty ugly for the blue team--keep in mind a couple of points.

For one, I'm not sure I ever remember a more depressing election night than that of 2004, when Bush the Lesser won re-election and republicans had control of both the House and the Senate.  And all night long the pundits were telling us that the country was turning rightward and that republicans might be in power for a generation.

But in 2006, Democrats won back both the House and the Senate--and in 2008 Barack Obama took back the White House in a rout.  It was one mighty short generation.

In 2010 we were told the republican wave bode ill for Barack Obama and the Democrats...but in 2012 Obama won in another rout, we gained seats in the Senate, and got more votes for the House seats (only gerrmandering keep the republicans in power).

In a nutshell, tonight means the republicans have the House and Senate for two years, and nothing else.

And if all else fails, keep whispering "Hillary in 2016, Hillary in 2016..."

It's working for me.

Peace,
emaycee

Grass roots

In my community, every two years we elect members to our local school board.  While I consider myself to be considerably informed on most of the other contested electoral races, to be honest I never have the slightest idea who to vote for in these elections.  So I usually vote for the women candidates because, well, women are smarter than men, and especially when it comes to kids.

So I was thrilled this past Friday when our son brought home a newsletter from school that highlighted the five candidates who would be running for the three open spots (six year terms) on our school board, and what they stood for.  This year I'd know who to vote for for these three spots.

Until I actually started reading the synopses of the candidates.

Of the five candidates, four of them were members of the Chamber of Commerce.  Anyone out there gullible enough to believe the Chamber of Commerce gives two shits about our kids?

So if you're wondering why our schools are underfunded, why our classrooms are getting larger, why charter schools and for profit schools are getting a larger and larger share of the pie (for failing miserably) that should be going to your kids, you might just take a good look at the folks who are running for your local school boards.

Because they're being put in there by the likes of the Chamber of Commerce who, in a nutshell, is probably only second to the republican party in its disdain for the needs of America's working class.

Peace,
emaycee

Suckitude

Labor Secretary Tom Perez noted last week that when it comes to the minimum wage, "we suck."

And when an American worker can work forty hours a week and still live below the poverty level, in a way, yes we do.

But a more truthful statement when it comes to the minimum wage would be "republicans suck."

Because it's not the rest of America's fault that republicans are more content to suck up to the chamber of commerce and big business rather than see that the kids of our workers have food in their bellies.

Peace,
emaycee

Hollow weenies

If there's one theme republicans have been pushing this election season that is the epitome of political bullshit, it's how if they the win the Senate they're going to pass all kinds of legislation and get American back on track.

Fucking really?  Based on fucking what?

Their unprecedented obstructionism over the past four years?  Their complete and total lack of any ideas?  Their record of slowing down Congressional action which resulted in the past two Congresses being the least productive in history?  The mind-boggling number of days off the republican controlled House has scheduled?

If they do win the Senate (and I still believe that's a big if), I hope President Obama takes every piece of legislation they pass and lifts a corner of the bill and lights it with a Bic before throwing it in the Oval Office fireplace.

They don't even deserve the courtesy of his signature on his veto.

Peace,
emaycee

Lions and tigers and perverts, oh my

This is a radio ad, for conservative Michigan State Supreme Court justices Brian Zahra and David Viviano, that Michiganders are being subjected to in the final weeks of the campaign:

“Judges can’t stop sexual predators before they strike. But they can make sure those that get caught pay a heavy price. That’s why Supreme Court Justices Brian Zahra and David Viviano have upheld convictions for sexually abusive criminals. And Viviano and Zahra have made it illegal for sexual predators to use computers to help them commit sexual abuse. Justices Brian Zahra and David Viviano have consistently prioritized the rights of crime victims by upholding tough sentences for violent offenders and sexual abusers. Viviano and Zahra use common sense on Michigan’s Supreme Court. They are rule-of-law judges that apply the law to the facts. They are not influenced by special interests. Supreme Court Justices Brian Zahra and David Viviano use common sense and protect our children and families."

Leaving aside the fact that our State Supreme Court Justices have absolutely nothing to do with the legislation concerning, or the prosecutions of, sexual predators, you're left with the rather repugnant sentiment that somehow Liberal Justices are going to usher in the era of sexual predators in the state of Michigan if Zahra and Viviano aren't elected.

Michiganders aren't that stupid, are they?  Maybe--I know the chamber of commerce and insurance companies sure hope they are.  The republican led Michigan State Supreme Court rivals the Roberts Court when it comes to looking out for Corporate America's bottom line over the needs of working class Americans.

No special interests here...

And the ads they pay for are the equivalent of pointing at the exit and yelling "Stop thief!" in a crowded department store and when everybody looks pocketing the money from the cash register.

Peace,
emaycee

Rag, mama, rag

Rape insurance for Michigan's wives and daughters.  Right to work for less laws.  The privitization of our prison food system, which resulted in maggots in the food and drugs sold by Aramark's employees.  The shutting off of the people's water in Detroit.  Taxing the pensions of retirees.  Tax breaks for big business that resulted in zero improvement in our economy.

And yet, and yet, our supposedly Liberal big city newspaper, The Detroit Free Press, has once again endorsed Rick Snyder for Governor over Mark Schauer here in Michigan.

They said it was a close call, but that they believed Governor Gutless would somehow grow a pair in the next four years and stand up for all that is right and good and buck that tea party dominated Michigan legislature. And that--all evidence to the contrary--he would grow Michigan's economy.

And when I wake up tomorrow morning, I'm going to flap my arms and golly, gee, I'll be able to fly.

God, I am so glad I cancelled my subscription--for fuck's sake, any idiot can see we could elect my son's fucking cat and it would be an improvement over Snyder, except for apparently, the idiots on the Free Press  editorial board.

Peace,
emaycee

The battle of who could care less

In a move that wouldn't even surprise my ten-year-old (who cares for politics as much as most ten-year-olds do, which is to say not a smidge), republicans are already reminding Americans of the partisanship that was created by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and by extension, the Clintons.

No shit.

Leaving aside the fact that the average American's memory has trouble recalling what he or she had for breakfast this morning let alone the hoopla surrounding a political scandal from 20 years ago, the only fucking partisanship I remember from those days was caused solely by republicans.

Kind of like politics today.

But if the Lewinsky scandal is the best the republicans have to offer in 2016, I like Secretary Clinton's chances very much indeed.

Peace,
emaycee

Dealin'

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, locked in a tight race with Jason Carter, blamed recent unemployment figures showing Georgia with the nation's highest unemployment rate on shenanigan's from the federal government trying to sabotage his campaign.

Which caused me to wonder if Georgia's unemployed could blame their bills on shenanigans from the federal government trying to sabotage their checkbook balances.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander, so to speak.

Peace,
emaycee

Private eyes

For all the (deserved) fuss over NSA spying on Americans, often left out of the kerfluffle was corporate spying on Americans.  We can argue until the cows come home about which is worse (I trust corporations less myself), but the plain truth is that both of them speak volumes about how much freedom we actually have.

I note this because of a  recent piece which notes of how companies will check out your car while you are being interviewed for a job to look for tells about your personality (e.g., age of car, is it clean or dirty, what's it like on the inside--car seats, messy, cigarette filled ashtray).  I found it interesting because the back of my car is covered in political bumper stickers (when I say covered, the only way I can put on a new one is when an old one wears away) and because of it, when I interviewed for the job I have now, I purposely parked on a side street and not in the company parking lot because I didn't want those stickers to hurt my chance of getting the job (I've got a family to feed and food ain't free).

Just another reminder of this word of warning:  just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

Peace,
emaycee

Dork away, Dixieland

Conservative author and terminal nitwit Douglas MacKinnon this week postulated that South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida should secede from the United States and form their own country named "Reagan."

Ahem.

Any way they could take Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, too?

While I don't really support these calls for secession, (I am fully aware that roughly 40% of the populations in these states support those of us on the left and that life for the citizens of such a country would be much worse without the beneficence of the U. S. Government), we on the left sure would have a field day with the mayhem that would arise from a nation of yahoos called "Reagan."

Peace,
emaycee

How now brown nose?

In a campaign stop for Rep. Steve King this week, Chris Christie said he and King "think alike."

While I don't see Christie getting the republican nomination in 2016, if he did, the only way he wins the general is to present himself as being a somewhat moderate governors from the Northeast (it obviously did not help Mitt Romney, but Christie isn't Richie Rich, Jr. either).  And as he presents himself thusly, how often do you think his opposition, not to mention every liberal blogger from here to Honolulu, is going to bring that quote up?  Steve King is on a plane for republican nutjobs with such luminous doofuses as Michelle Bachmann and Louis Gohmert.

And herein lies the problem for the modern republican party--they are so beholden to their tea party wing that it makes them virtually unelectable on a national stage.

Good times.

Peace,
emaycee

Only her hairdresser knows for sure

George Zornick of The Nation parses a few words Elizabeth Warren gave in an interview with People magazine and wonders if Sen. Warren is changing her mind about running for President.

In a word, no.

Leaving aside the fact that I'm not a political reporters and even I wouldn't put too much stock in anything that's published in People, let alone speculate politically upon it, how many times does Warren have to say "No" before far too many people on the left believe her?

It seems to me it would be a lot more fruitful to try and pull Hillary Clinton farther to the left than it is to live on Fantasy Island and keep hoping against hope that Warren will run.

Besides, I've been wondering lately what it would mean for working class Americans economically if we had a Secretary of the Treasury Warren....

Peace,
emaycee

This could be heaven or this could be hell

Rep. Steve King of Iowa said this week that he doesn't believe there will be gay people in heaven.

What's most amazing about this is Rep. King's conviction that he will undoubtedly go to heaven--as if  a supposedly loving God directs St. Peter to have a special line at the Pearly Gates for cruel and hateful people to go straight on through.

If such be the case, I'll take my chances in hell, thanks.

Peace,
emaycee

Another reason to hate Ronald Reagan

Not that I needed another one.

Seems that one of the crucial steps in the now thirty years war lead by wealthy elites and Corporate America on the working class that lead us to the point we're at now wherein we're seriously fucked financially, was making Americans hate their government.  As in, if they hate it they won't mind it not being funded, even though that funding generally helped the poor and the middle class.  And guess who benefitted?  Rich folks! As in, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer.

Leading the charge for this was all around nitwit and second rate Hollywood actor, Ronald Reagan, and his government isn't the solution, it's the problem bullshit.  The Reagan Devolution has decimated the middle class and led to more Americans (especially children) living in poverty than when that pesky old government actually funded programs that helped actual Americans.

As one who lived though Reagan/s election, I can't begin to tell you how much I wish I had a time machine and could go back in time to show Americans what thirty years of Reagan's scorched earth economic policy has wrought upon the working class.  And for all his faults, Jimmy Carter could have changed all of that.

With two weeks to go until this years mid-term elections (November 4th!), anyone believing their local and state elections are a choice between tweedledee and tweedledum is sorely mistaken.  Elections, to quote Joe Biden, are a big fucking deal.

And it can be the difference between a strong middle class and a country that cares about its poor, and the crumbling middle class and the war on the poor that the Reagan Devolution gave us.

Peace,
emaycee

Ebola crapola

In a shocking development, republicans are trying to fire up their chickenshit (literally) base for the upcoming elections by doing what they do best:  showing just how lily-livered they are in the face of any adversity, this time the challenge being ebola.  And just to prove it, they are holding hearings next week, the point of which is to spread panic, and not to discuss their continuous defunding of crucial public health programs like the CDC and the NIH, or even their inability to get more funding for ebola research in the midst of the current outbreak because of their noses constantly being up the tea party's ass.

Because in republican bizarro world, little gnomes fall out of oak trees and deliver vaccines and disease control.

Needless to say, republicans are a bit defensive on the subject of their voting against funding for public health concerns, because, hell, everything from plagues of locusts to the whiskey shits are Obama's fault, and never theirs.  And it certainly doesn't help their cause when the head of the NIH tells Americans that we'd have a vaccine for ebola by now if not for the budget cuts.

And once again, we have the republican party showing that they just flat don't give a shit about the well-being of Americans, unless of course you're scared shitless and sitting in a corner with your thumb in your mouth.

Peace,
emaycee

Who's to bless and who's to blame

Now that a third Ebola diagnosis has been confirmed in Texas, a couple of thoughts:

• While republicans are moving forward with their usual bullshit (It's Obama's fault! Government sucks!) doesn't anyone else wonder exactly how much responsibility Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital bears?  Are they, like most corporations anymore, understaffed in order to cut costs?  Are their staff members, again, like most corporations anymore, trying to do jobs that once were done by two and three people?  Why isn't a plan for responding to infectious diseases already in place?  Was it deemed to be not cost effective?  I mean for Christ's sake, a hospital's main function is supposed to be the health and well being of its patients and staff, and it sure seems like it really wasn't at this hospital.
• For all the whining about the response of the White House and the CDC, am I the only one who isn't surprised this happened in a state that is openly hostile to the federal government?  Maybe it gets botched in California or New York, too, but one has to wonder how open to suggestion or quick to seek guidance the powers that be in Texas are.  

All of which is not to say that the White House and the CDC couldn't have done better, but we're getting the standard media laziness which all too often allows Corporate America and the republican party/tea party escape blame for  problems they likely caused.

Peace,
emaycee

Jesus, H. Christ

As I've noted before, I work in a non-profit thrift store.  On occasion, I come across some different items that our customers have donated.  One such item was donated this week--a cassette by one Laurie Beth Jones called Jesus, CEO, which purports to help one use "...ancient wisdom for visionary leadership."

Apparently, I'm a little late to the game.  Ms. Jones released this earth shattering cassette in 1995, and currently has a website which claims her work has been read by over a million people (apparently, I'm not the only one late to the game), and offers her motivational skills learned from her business mentor, Jesus.

Question:  how exactly does Jesus as the guru to CEOs  work when, near as I can tell, (a) Jesus wasn't a psychopath, and (b) wasn't stricken with a terminal case of greediness?

Proof positive that nothing is sacred.

Peace,
emaycee

And immediately a rooster crowed

Twice in the past week, Kentucky Democratic Senate nominee Alison Lundergan Grimes has refused to answer whether she voted for President Obama, on the grounds of the privacy of her voting records being a matter of principle she doesn't wish to violate (on the same lameness quotient as Kerry's "I voted for it before I voted against it.").

While I think it was a chickenshit question (was Mitch McConnell asked if he voted for one of the worst President's in U.S. history, George W. Bush, or for John McCain and Willard Romney, two of the worst major party Presidential nominees in recent history?), and I don't disagree with those who think its both a non-issue and that Grimes should hammer McConnell on Obamacare, Grimes handled the situation about as poorly as humanly possible.  A simple, "Duh! I'm a Democrat!" or in politician speak, "Of course I did, I'm a Democrat--I'm sure Senator McConnell voted for George W. Bush twice, too." would have more than sufficed.

At best, Grimes answer  looks like pandering and at worst it shows a complete lack of political courage.  Yes, President Obama has been less than perfect and is extremely unpopular in Kentucky, but if Grimes can't acknowledge that he was by far and away the best option in 2008 and 2012, I can't imagine that she'd be all that much better than McConnell in the Senate.

And another Blue Dog bites the dust.

Peace,
emaycee

Voters beware...

In a recent talk with reporters, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka called on Democrats to present a more populist message, especially in talking about economic fairness.  He's right, but more important was his caveat to American voters--republicans shut up about issues that are not popular (outlawing abortion, birth control, right to work), but once elected, shove their unpopular agenda down their citizens' throats.

We've seen it here in Michigan where Rick Snyder swore up and down in 2010 that he was neither interested in destroying unions or getting involved in the abortion debate.  Four years later we have a right to work for less law and our women having to buy rape insurance.  And I will guarantee that at least the ones in blue and purple states (e.g. Joni Ernst in Iowa or Cory Gardner in Colorado) are following the same playbook.

Swear to God, every ad we run for the next month should be blunt and simple:  republicans are a) fucking nuts, and b) do not have America's best interests at heart.

At least, unlike republicans, we'd at least be honest with the voters.

Peace,
emaycee

Your slaving job

Welcome to fucked up America:  a recent survey shows that nearly ten full months into 2014, slightly more than half of Americans have not taken a vacation day.

Me oh my.

While a quarter of the respondents aren't eligible for vacation pay (more American exceptionalism), it's still nothing short of pathetic how many people haven't bothered to use their paid time off.  For fucking what?  Can you say "Suckers!"?

Know what isn't surprising?  The same survey shows that of people who make more than $150,000 a year, none reported not taking a vacation day.

Meanwhile, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.  Go figure.

Peace,
emaycee

St. Louis blues

Before yesterday's game 4 of the NLDS between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers, there was a peaceful protest outside of Busch Stadium in St. Louis for Mike Brown, the unarmed young man shot to death by a piss poor police officer in Ferguson, MO.  A group of Cardinals fans tried to shout down the peaceful protesters with the usual conservative drivel of a) get a job, b) go back to Africa, and c) we hate black people (actually "Let's go Darren Wilson"--same thing).

I wasn't surprised by the fact that Cardinals' fans were involved in such chickenshittery--I've attended baseball games all over America and Cardinals' fans are by far and away the biggest assholes.  I also wouldn't have been surprised had this occurred outside a of a Rams game.  Or a  St. Louis University basketball game.  Or a Blues game.

But a baseball game?  Baseball is to sports as Bob Dylan once was to rock 'n' roll--brains wrapped in a melody.  Baseball is a thinking person's game.

Who knew that idiots attended baseball games, too?

Peace,
emaycee

Nothing like a lefty

Like most people, I don't much care for dealing with solicitors who come knocking at the front door of your home.  Making it even worse for me, is the fact that my wife seems to think that the responsiblity for shooing these people away belongs solely to me.

So you can imagine my chagrin today when, up to my elbows in dishwater, the Beautiful Girl said there was someone coming up to the door that I needed to talk to.  As the previous homeowners had a big sign on the front door proclaiming "NO SOLICITING" which we decided not to take down, my response upon hearing the knock at our front door was the usual--"What part of NO SOLICITING don't these people understand?"

I opened the door and gave the young lady standing before me my best scowl.  She merely smiled and said, "Hi, I'm [her name] from Working America--what do you think the most important issue is for Michigan's leaders?"

Immediately, a light went off in my head--I get e-mails from Working America (they're an organization supporting labor rights and groups).  My scowl goes disappeared pronto.  "Jobs."

"Of course," she said, "Now, in the race for Governor are you leaning toward Democrat Mark Schauer or republican Rick Snyder?"

"I'm not leaning," I said.  "I will be voting for Schauer."  A big smile came upon her face.

"And in the Senate race, are you..."

"I will be voting for Peters.  Again, not leaning."

She continued smiling brightly, thanked me for my time, and walked from our front porch.

After I closed our front door, I called out to my wife, "She was a really nice young woman."

And I thank God for young people like her who stand boldly before idiots like me trying to ensure that we have a better state and a better country.

Peace,
emaycee

Ring, ring goes the bell

This past week, Germany ended college tuition fees for all its citizens and for international students.

The thing that amazes me the most--and this may be because I'm an American, and as a nation, we're anything but--is how forward thinking this is for a nation (note that the link mentions many other EU nations have done the same).  This is a virtual guarantee of a chance at a better future, better life, and a better country for every student in Germany, and without being saddled with the $1.2 trillion of debt that American students are stuck with.

It means more doctors, more lawyers, more teachers, and more consumer spending to make Germany's economy grow faster instead of tons of students loans payments going to Big Banks.

And therein lies the rub--as long as we're beholden to Corporate America and Big Business, the chances of America being anything more than a country of the rich, by the rich, and for the rich are nil.

Pay it forward, indeed.

Peace,
emaycee

Crocodile tears

I know that after the last thirty-five years of republican bullshit I'm just a bit jaded, but am I the only one who found republican bitching at today's hearings on security breaches botched by the Secret Service at the White House and surrounding President Obama just a bit hollow?

I mean, please--these people absolutely despise President Obama, they've spent six years dragging the country down just to spite him, and we're supposed to believe they suddenly give two shits about the First Family?  Really, it's just another bunch of photo-ops to them, a chance to bash the government that they've underfunded and given little or no support to so they can have pretty pictures for their gullible base.

The problems the Secret Service has been experiencing need to be fixed pronto, but I'm pretty sure republicans couldn't care less as long as the black guy is in the White House.

Peace,
emaycee

Go tell it on the mountain

Frankly, I've often wondered--as pointed out by Charles P. Pierce in this piece-- why Democrats waste their time on run-of-the-mill TV ads when they could do a montage that shows just how fucking nuts republicans are these days.  Screw the stock footage of their families or walking through the park in shirt sleeves or a pair of jeans--let's put Steve King out there talking about the Mexicans with calves like cantaloupes, or Michelle Bachmann telling America how God doesn't like Obamacare, or Sarah Palin pontificating on the greatness of a fascist like Vladimir Putin.  Tell voters "WHEN YOU VOTE FOR REPUBLICANS, THIS IS WHAT YOU'RE VOTING FOR--FUCKING NUTJOBS!"

There is very little the republican party has to offer to 60-70% of the American public and there is nothing wrong with pointing out that in addition to their utter incompetence, they're also off the deepest of deep ends with a lot of misguided hysteria thrown in for extra measure.

It certainly couldn't have hurt Alison Lundergan Grimes in Kentucky or Bruce Braley in Iowa--they're both on the verge of losing very winnable races for the U.S. Senate by using the vanilla pudding strategy of campaign ads.  Their opponents are nuts--point it out for fuck's sake.

Peace.
emaycee

Profiles in courage

When I first read this piece, which cites data showing that the number of children attending our public schools who are homeless was up for the 2012-2013 school year by 8% to 1.25 million kids, I was, as I usually am, both saddened and angered that numbers such as these are the norm in the richest nation in the history of civilization.

But the more I thought about it, the more it dawned on me how courageous these people are.  I mean, I know how hard it is some mornings to get up in the freezing cold, or when we're a little under the weather, or when we didn't sleep well, or worked late, and have to make that trek from our home to the Beautiful Boy's school.  How much harder must it be to make that trek when you're doing it from Aunt Jo's basement, or some flea bag motel, or your car?  And they do it because they know that if there's one thing that can give their kids a chance at a better life than they have, it's an education.

And thanks to our public education system, their kids have that chance, even if they don't have any money.

If there's any one reason--and there are many very good other reasons--to support, fund, and save our public education system, this is it.  It's the only decent chance some kids have.

Peace,
emaycee

Serf's up!

Digby had a nice piece in her part-time gig at Salon this week discussing how Americans view the so-called American Dream.  Seems most of us (58%) don't believe the hype anymore, and that number is inflated by the fact that 55% of republicans (versus 32% of Democrats) still believe in it.

Go figure.

She goes on to point out that Democrats and republicans have different ideas as to what constitutes the American Dream.  Democrats tend to see it as as middle class dream (house, kids in college, retirement security) and republicans tend to see it as becoming filthy rich.  In a nutshell, the wealthy basically tell all of us that it's good for us that they're rich, without a shred of evidence to support it, and that their being rich is what makes America great, again, all evidence to the contrary, and fucking republicans believe them.

All of which probably explains why the rest of us basically subsidize the South--while they're lolling around waiting for the American Dream to magically make them America's next millionaire, we're working our asses off to pay their bills.

And the wealthy are nowhere in sight.

Peace,
emaycee

For those who believe the crock, we salute you

Devoid of ideas and still frothing at the mouth because a black man is in the White House, republicans took to the airwaves this week to decry President Obama's "latte salute" to two Marines as he departed Air Force One.

And here's a salute to republicans for their steadfast pettiness toward all things Obama:

Pretty much had enough of their bullshit to last a lifetime.

Peace,
emaycee

Folks who will not be our next President

As we near the point when every Tom, Dick, and Harriet is going to begin putting out feelers for their chances to be the republican nominee for President in 2016, I have compiled a list of potential candidates who will never be President to save time over the next two years for political novices, those too busy, and those who have actual lives to live.  Next to each name will be the reason(s) he or she will never be President.

[Note:  You can easily save time on the Democratic nominee as well.  Two words:  Hillary Clinton.]

The list:

• Rand Paul--nutjob and  his Dad is an even bigger nutjob.
• Ted Cruz--nutjob.
• Chris Christie--corrupt and a colossal asshole.
• Michelle Bachmann--nutjob and a dunderhead.
• Herman Cain--nutjob and a pervert
• Ben Carson--nutjob.
• Donald Trump--his very existence.
• Mike Huckabee--ultrareligious nutjob.  Would prefer to be Ayatollah of the U.S.
• Sarah Palin--nutjob, dunderhead, and not enough money in it.
• Jeb Bush--Dad sucked as President and brother sucked as President.  Third time will not be the charm for the Bush family.
• Mitt Romney--phony, and 47%.  Also, Americans only love two-time losers in celebrity third marriages.
• Marco Rubio--phony and blew the biggest speech of his political career in spectacular fashion.
• Paul Ryan--nutjob and Walter Mondale/Bob Dole (both were losing Vice-Presidential nominees who eventually secured their party's nomination for President only to get pulverized in the general election).
• Scott Walker--corrupt and a real prick.
• Rick Perry--nutjob and a dunderhead (glasses don't necessarily make the man).
• Bobby Jindal--phony and stupefyingly dull.
• Rick Santorum--nutjob and santorum (see Urban Dictionary).

There are numerous other minor potential candidates who are not listed because they are, uh, minor candidates.

I'm not saying a republican can't win the Presidency in 2016--I'm just saying it won't be any of these bozos.

You're welcome.

Peace,
emaycee

Leftward ho!

Well, isn't this interesting...

Seems that Hillary Clinton has been getting downright progressive economically in her speeches lately, noting the toll income inequality has taken on the middle class and its toll on working women.

Really Hillary?

Don't suppose it has anything to do with Bernie Sanders visiting Iowa to celebrate his Presidential bona fides or Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley reportedly telling fundraisers he's going to challenge Hillary Clinton, do you?

Neither probably has much chance of winning (though I can definitely see O'Malley as her running mate), but any candidates that can pull Clinton to the left at least economically is a good thing for working class Americans.

A very good thing.

Peace,
emaycee

Broken...broken...broken...broken...record

And another ordinance is passed to criminalize homelessness...this time, the city of Fort Lauderdale (again!) has made sleeping in public a crime punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.  Pretty fucking certain that if the folks sleeping in public had $500, they wouldn't be sleeping in public, but you know, unlike the people who run the Fort L:auderdale City Commission, I actually have a brain (and a heart, too).

I fully understand that the conflicts in Iraq and Syria are a lot more sexy than homelessness, but outside of a few liberal blogs, no one much seems to care about the criminalization of the poor.  Imprisoning the poor or pushing them outside the city limits is neither going to solve the problem nor help anyone to lift themselves up. Woe unto any nation that considers itself an exemplar of greatness but does not help the least of its citizens.

Have to wonder, though, come next spring break how many of those students partying in Fort Lauderdale who pass out in public are going to get sixty days in the pokey.

Peace,
emaycee

Fuck John Boehner

While fellating a bunch of his wealthy benefactors at the American Enterprise Institute this week,  John Boehner took time out to disparage the unemployed, saying,

"...this idea that has been born, maybe out of the economy over the last couple years, that you know, I really don't have to work. I don't really want to do this. I think I'd rather just sit around. This is a very sick idea for our country."

One can only be disgusted by Boehner's abject hypocrisy, though, considering that under Boehner's "leadership" the republicans in the House are responsible for the least productive Congress in U.S. history, who also will have worked a grand total of eight days beween the end of July 2014 and the middle of November 2014.  And for being utterly incompetent, Boehner is getting paid a paltry $223,500.  Fucking sitting around indeed.

The only sick idea is that a worthless cretin like Boehner is anywhere near a position of responsibility in our government.

Peace,
emaycee