The madness of centrism

Brian Dickerson weighs in on two of our more curious brouhaha's currently happening in Michigan and, surprise of all surprises, somehow manages to conclude that even though the republicans are, in a nutshell, fucking subverting democracy, the Democrats are equally to blame.

Fuck me to high heaven.

The first, I've already discussed, concerning the unpopular Emergency Financial Manager law and the ballot initiative failing (though under review by the courts) due to an incorrect font size despite having more than enough signatures.  Which brings to mind the old Harold Laski quote, "When the rules of the game prove unsuitable to victory, the gentlemen of England change the rules."  In America, we call that cheating.

The second involves Michigan's Immediate Effect Law, written into our constitution, which basically states that no law passed by the legislature can go into effect until three months after the end of the legislative session unless it is agreed to by two-thirds of the House (and Senate, where Republicans have two-thirds of the votes).  The republicans currently have a 63-47 advantage, which fortunately, leaves them 10 short of the two-thirds they need.  But true to their nature, republicans are basically ignoring the law and pretending they have the two-thirds they need.

How the fuck the Democrats are at least partially to blame for either of these, as Dickerson implies, is completely beyond me.  This is republican obstruction and partisanship, and the Democrats should be commended for calling them out for their attempts to bypass the will of the people instead of looked at as part of the problem. 

And herein lies the problem with centrism--those who believe in it are so enamored of their fair selves that they've lost all contact with the truth, reality, and placing blame where it belongs.

Peace,
emaycee

Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing

God knows I give the Free Press plenty of grief, so I should give them credit where credit is due. Brian Dickerson's piece on Gov. Snyder's lack of backbone when it comes to Michigan republicans radical (and oftentimes far off the course they promised--shocked, I know, republicans saying one thing and doing another) agenda should be a warning shot far and wide for Democrats and Independents.  Mark my words:  we've all made fun of Willard's "Etch-a-Sketch" candidacy, but that's exactly the direction he's going to take, and once in office, you can bet he's going to turn his back on every bizarre ass act the republicans will try to push through and let them become law no matter how unpopular or radical.  It has happened here in Michigan and set us back decades and a lot of time and capital are being spent to fight battles that shouldn't have to be fought.

Republicans have no respect for anyone outside of their ilk, and the sooner the majority of voters know that, the better.

Peace,
emaycee

The short answer is no

Intrepid Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson wonders whether a case to come before the Supreme Court this fall concerning affirmative action could be enough to swing the Presidential election to the republican candidate. 

I know a close election is good for the bottom line of Dickerson's profession, but let's be real:  unless the Supreme Court's hearing has the magical power of creating more angry white men (just a hunch, but I'm guessing the odds are a wee bit long) it's probably going to have zero effect.  Angry white men aren't going to vote for President Obama regardless of the Supreme Court case, and it's hard to see how the case garners the republican nominee any black, hispanic, asian, or female votes over and above the few they're already going to get.

I pay money for the privilege of reading commentary that shallow....

Peace,
emaycee

They Live

In 1988 John Carpenter made a film called They Live, which was, more or less, a morality play on the gods of consumption and free markets.  Toward the end of the film, there's a great scene where the wealthy elite humans and wealthy elite aliens have an underground meeting to reflect on their financial success at the expense of the masses (who are subliminally coaxed to consume and obey).  This is the image I carried in my head as I read about Gov. Snyder's appearance at the yearly Mackinac Policy Conference (which is, more or less, a circle jerk for conservative dorks and free market apologists).

And there's reason to celebrate for said circle jerk participants--the governor got his budget and continues to be convinced that his tax plan will create jobs.  Screw the fact that there is no empirical evidence anywhere that supports his faith.  Gov. Snyder is going to do his Joel Osteen impersonation and the jobs are just going to magically appear.  Yeah surreee.

And if you listen to Brian Dickerson, he just may be magical--I mean, whoever could have guessed that Snyder could pass his entire conservative agenda with overwhelming republican majorities in the Michigan legislature.  It's about as big of a shock as the New York Yankees beating the local tee ball team.  I will give Snyder credit for being shrewd:  his big centerpieces, a tax cut for corporations, taxing pensioners, and cutting benefits for the poor are right up republicans alley.  I mean, let's face it, republicans worship at the altar of corporate America, and if there's anything republicans hate more than people who receive pensions, it's the poor.  Give me a fucking break--Gov. Snyder is just a shrewder version of Wisconsin's Scott Walker.  The result will be just like Carpenter's They Live--more and more Michiganders living on the fringe and more and more wealth ending up in the hands of the already filthy rich. 

Peace,
emaycee

Conventional idiots

The idea that conventional wisdom says it's impossible to do what Gov. Snyder has done in getting tax cuts for corporations passed while getting tax increases on the working people of Michigan, and that he has defied the odds in doing so is, in a nutshell, complete and total bullshit.  He has an overwhelming majority in both of Michigan's houses, thanks to Citizen's United the republicans have unlimited corporate support financially, and in case anyone hasn't noticed, the poor and the middle class have been getting their ass kicked in the American class war since Bedtime for Bozo Reagan was in the White House.  This is the republican agenda and Snyder has followed the playbook exactly the way he has been instructed to.

Wondering when Grover Norquist will be here to berate and the lead the charge against the Michigan republicans for raising taxes on working Michiganders.  Wait a minute...no, I'm not.  No taxes raised on corporations--no one to pay him for his troubles.  The middle class and poor are such a drag!

Note:  not a single Democrat in either of Michigan's Houses voted for Snyder's proposal.  Bravo Michigan Democrats!

Got to give props to the Free Press and Brian Dickerson for both miraculously remembering that there is that little pesky problem we're having here in Michigan with jobs.  The Free Press did it's usual puckering (they endorsed the mother fucker, after all) for Snyder's ass and his unique (so-called) proposals but did manage to give themselves a later do-over by noting that if Snyder's proposals don't create jobs fairly quickly he's probably toast.  Dickerson acknowledges what those of us on the left have been screaming for months:  this is little more than lipstick on trickle down theory (which didn't work), there's zero evidence that tax cuts for corporations result in more jobs, and that republican claims of this not being a tax cut for corporations are a fantasy.  He basically, though, gives Snyder the benefit of the doubt on his proposals with the caveat that if they don't create jobs, Snyder is history.  Brilliance!

On the bright side, the movement to recall Gov. Snyder has begun collecting petition signatures.  Don't really think it has much of a chance of eventually removing him from office, but with it being concurrent with the Wisconsin Senate recall elections and the completion of gathering signatures to repeal the draconian anti-union laws recently passed in Ohio, it ought to make for a summer of reminding everyone how much republicans suck.

And that is a good thing.

Peace,
emaycee

A little bit me, a little bit you

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees....

So little to cover, so much time...oops, reverse that....

How bad is your budget plan when even the blue dog leaning Free Press (they of the Gov. Snyder is a bold leader, or we endorsed him so we're stuck with him, take your pick) questions its effectiveness, basically calling it a scheme for the rich to get richer at the expense of the rest of America.  Rep. Paul Ryan, your fifteen minutes of fame are just about over....

Susan Tompor tells us to watch out for goblins and ghouls--the S & P issued a negative outlook for the U. S. credit rating which could lead to an eventual downgrade, all because of that nasty little federal deficit.  And don't we need to take the "federal budget by the horns" and fix that nasty little problem?  Anybody remember how well financial analysts like Tompor predicted the economic crash of 2008?  This guy does--and it's why he's not buying the bullshit.  By the way, neither is Nobel Prize winner for Economics, Joseph Stiglitz--he suggests it may the worst move we can make, as evidenced by the the ill effects of austerity measures in Europe.  Remember, boys and girls, NEVER trust a financial analyst--they're just like those traveling medicine shows in the Old West selling their "elixirs."

Brian Dickerson wonders who'll play fair when everyone feels cheated--and I continue to wonder how Dickerson ever got into Princeton (or wish that I had applied).  Apparently social scientists who study dishonesty find a disproportionate amount of people who cheat feel they have been cheated themselves, and Dickerson is afraid that if we all feel cheated, no one will abide by the rules.  I think I can honestly say that a good portion of us feel fucked over by our employers, but we continue to try to do a good job--for simple reasons such as respect and concern for our co-workers, and perhaps that we don't want (or our children) to sink to the level of our tormentors.  It's called "class."  Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

Rochelle Riley continues her quest to go from respected liberal voice on the Free Press to idiotic buffoon a la Mitch Albom with her column on the release of President Obama's birth certificate.  She claims it's Obama's fault...what the mother fucking fuck?  Afraid not, ma'am--it's your fault.  You and your traditional media colleagues who have spent the past two years giving voice to the birthers in the name of objectivity, instead of calling them the idiots they are in the name of truth and honor.  Obama's a long way from perfect for this Liberal, but I think he handled this exceptionally well--if the traditional media had taken his cue and ignored the dimwits, a lot of time and wasted news space could have been saved for the issues really affecting America.  Or even better, like these folks, have a little courage and call it what it is:  racism.

And finally, with leadership--and analysis--like this, is it any wonder that we're fucked?  It seems that Oakland County here in Michigan (my home county) is the silver lining for the state on the economic recovery and job creation front because our leaders "...have long been engaged in long-term fiscal planning, which helped them anticipate the downturn far earlier than most."  Hell, our County Executive, republican L. Brooks Patterson, had a smile on his face which he claimed came from the good news he had to present.  The good news?  Oakland County's unemployment rate will be at 9.8% by the end of the year, and by 2013 (a fucking year and three-quarters from now) it will be at 9.1% as projected by a couple of University of Michigan economists.  Holy Owl Shit, Batman--unemployment as low as 9%--that's some good fiscal planning there, yessiree.  Have we completely lost our collective fucking minds?  Since when is 9% unemployment a cause for rejoicing?  How much fucking worse could it have been without such adept fiscal planning--10%?  11%?  I mean, really--is this the republican plan for claiming success on job creation--letting us believe that somehow they've done good to keep it under 10%?  For Christ's sake, you could not make this shit up--republicans are tuned into some planet in this universe, but earth it ain't.

Peace,
emaycee

The mild-mannered radical (not)

Well the pundits have spoken on Gov. Snyder's budget (at least in the Free Press).... Props to Stephen Henderson--he's usually one of those wishy-washy vaguely liberal (think President Obama) pontificators, and while there's some of that in his piece on Snyder's budget, he basically makes a lot of good points, especially with regard to the EITC. He's right--cutting services for the poor is not going to make Michigan a better state. Now that Rochelle Riley has decided to follow Mitch Albom's career path (mindless, completely thoughtless drivel) thank God the Free Press has added Jill Alper's thoughtful new columns. Alper absolutely nails Snyder's budget--republican bullshit to help corporations and the wealthy elite and do absolutely nothing to create jobs or help the working people of Michigan. Media fail--for a Princeton grad, Brian Dickerson isn't as thoughtful as one might surmise from his educational background. He's buying into the cult of personality surrounding Gov. Snyder, calling him a mild-mannered radical. He got the first half right, but Snyder is no radical. Truly radical would have been to call for a graduated income tax and more investment in Michigan, not less. He's a republican--a nice enough gent, but nothing really much different than Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or any other conservative who thinks the rich should get richer at the expense of the other 98% of Americans. Uh...there was also a piece by John Truscott. Suffice to say, it was his usual fellation of tea party members. Enough said. Perhaps the most telling opinions are these: 62% (32% favor) of Michigan voters oppose the K-12 cuts; a Free Press poll shows horrible numbers for the Governor: 53% (41% favor) are against taxing pensions, 58% (36% favor) against cutting the EITC, 49% (43 % favor) are against replacing the business tax. Even worse for Snyder? His numbers have dropped from 59 favorable/8 unfavorable to 44/27. Whoops! Note to Dems: please remember these policies the next time you cast a vote for a republican in anger. Independents might heed the same warning.... Peace, emaycee

Picking winners

Well looky here--GM, that government backed corporation, showed its first profit since 2004 and its hourly workers will be getting $4000+ in bonuses. See what happens when the government gets involved? Middle class families actually make a little money and get their chance at the American dream.

As Brian Dickerson points out, republicans want no part of government picking winners and losers in the business world--as long as they get to choose the winners. Like Big Oil. And what do the poor and working class get out of the republicans largesse to Big Oil? Fucked out of their hard earned dollars.

You decide.

Peace,
emaycee

Ahem...

In the immortal words of Alvin (yes, the fucking chipmunk), not to toot my own horn, but beep-beep-b-b-b-b-beeeeeeppppp....

Earlier this week, I mentioned that it seemed a bit premature to be anointing Gov. Snyder St. Rick of CEO--that sure enough, he might just be a plain ol' republican politician with his meeting with "business leaders" on state employee wages. While I wouldn't say either Brian Dickerson or the Free Press have ended Gov. Snyder's honeymoon just yet, Dickerson at least points out that the Governor needs to be careful if he wants to keep his above the fray persona intact, while the Free Press pretty much says what I said: the numbers do, indeed, lie. This was also pointed out by Meteor Blades in the Daily Kos, and, two days too late, by Chris Christoff in the Free Press. Problem is, these pieces were all after the fact, and what most (not so thoughtful) people will remember is the $87,000 state employee wage, not that it was wrong.

If memory serves, it seems once I heard tell someone mentioning to beware of a wolf in sheep's clothing....

Peace,
emaycee

Same as the old boss

Post title in honor of the beautiful boy's beautiful obsession with the 'oo....

Oh that Rick Snyder--Michigan's new guv is just so peachy. Brian Dickerson seems to think that Snyder's Michigan Dashboard (supposedly to provide a metric to those issues of the most importance to Michiganders) is a real game changer (hell, he wrote about it twice--thinks Obama should do it, too). He's either naive or incredibly dense to believe that a) this isn't a political idea (there's a sop to just about every political stripe), b) the Snyder administration won't spin the numbers to put itself in the best light (as will his republican cohorts--"Too bad poverty's still above the national average, but look what we did on obesity!"). or c) that any more than a handful of Michiganders will ever look at the damn things. Exactly how this helps our biggest problem--a lacks of J-O-B-S--is a mystery.

Old Nolan seems to think that the powers that be threw out the (political) mold after Snyder's entrance into the political world. Because Snyder threw a couple of crumbs to the left (education from pre-school to college--why this isn't an issue supported by both parties shows how irrelevant the republican party is--and the fighting obesity challenge), he's just, you know, dreamy. Puh-leeze--had a Democrat done the same old Nolan would have his panties in a twist about how little respect the Dem had for republicans. This thread that somehow Snyder is different from other politicians is bullshit: Snyder is a republican through and through and is hell bent on continuing the destruction of the middle class and the further enrichment of the wealthy elite. This piece is all you need to see: Snyder speaking to "business" leaders about how overpaid state workers are. Why isn't he speaking to a group of state workers about this (hint, probably not a friendly crowd)? The pay of state workers is not, and never has been, the cause of Michigan's budget problems. A lack of good paying jobs is. What Snyder is saying, in essence, is that because Michigan's corporations can't create good paying jobs, not only do Michigan's poor and middle class have to have a lower standard of living, they also will be receiving less governmental services. This is a republican goal. My guess, though, is that Snyder's main reason for his speech to Michigan "business leaders" was to get out this figure (which by the way, is completely misleading): that the average wage of a state worker in Michigan is roughly $87,000 (supposedly 55ish in pay, 30ish in benefits). One can see this figure being used in countless editorials, letters to the editor, and right wing radio (amazing that conservatives will tell you, when it comes to tax cuts, that $250,000 a year isn't that much money for a family, but when it comes to state workers, $87,000 in wages and benefits is overpaid) , but never debunked the way it should be. To wit: the average wage at the store I work at is approximately $18,000; less than one third of the people who work at the store make as much or more. The average wage is greatly skewed by the vastly superior pay of those at the top. Snyder's aim is to get that $87,000 figure out there (especially in a state with 13%+ unemployment) to try and win the spin, regardless of its accuracy. This is a republican tactic.

You can paint a turd gold, but it doesn't become a gold ingot. It's still a turd. Much the same can be said of Rick Snyder and his aims.

Peace,
emaycee

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

Questions, I Got Questions

Some depressing news--the poverty rate in the U.S. is at its highest in 16 years. Ummmm.....why do you suppose it is that for as much as republicans are hammering Democrats on the economy, they're not mentioning this fact? Don't you think the Dems would be pounding the republicans on this were the shoe on the other foot? Don't you think this speaks volumes about where the republicans' interest lies?

The Free Press occasionally runs a pair of pieces on their op-ed page(s), called "Opposing points of view" which are sometimes interesting (and sometimes not). This week's dealt with a proposal to limit appeals of conviction to one year (with our shoddy justice system, I didn't even have to read the opposing views to know where I stood--against!). The first piece, by David A. Moran of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, is a well written and compelling argument against setting a time limit. The opposing piece, by Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym Worthy, argues in favor of the time limit because, of all things, justice demands finality. While I have no doubt that some sort of finality is important, shouldn't the real goal of our justice system be to make sure we aren't incarcerating innocent people? Or how about not wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars incarcerating innocent people? Or, hell, even making sure that we have the actual guilty criminals behind bars and not continuing their crimes on our streets? Why is it that it sure as hell seems prosecutors are a lot more interested in adding another victory notch to their belt on their way to running for higher office than justice?

I've read this piece by Brian Dickerson and I'm honestly not sure what point he's making about the tea party--I'm not even sure it's necessarily your usual mainstream media goop about the tea party. Outwardly, he is discussing the success of the tea party and its seeming lack of leaders, but is he subtly questioning this assumption? How come he never made mention of the New Yorker's Jane Mayer's piece about the Koch brothers' stealth financial support of the tea party? How come there was no mention of Dick Armey's Freedomworks and their behind the scenes structuring of the tea party? No idea, but I have a feeling he missed a good opportunity to educate his readers.

Quote of the week: "When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." Often attributed to the first American Literature Nobel Laureate, Sinclair Lewis (interesting discussion of the source of the quote here), has anyone seen or heard a quote that better sums up the tea party ("Fucking idiots!" doesn't count)? Check this out for its "newfound" ties to the religious right....

Peace,
emaycee

Be Still My Beating Heart...Well, Almost

Kind of an interesting week in the Free Press.... Shock of all shocks, Stephen Henderson actually defends Obamanomics, and calls out the republicans for having no ideas and no strategy other than bitching for turning the economy around. And the Free Press editorial board follows it up later in the week with another piece calling out the republicans for having no credible alternative, other than tax cuts (for which there is no empirical evidence for strenghtening the economy). You might wonder why the Free Press has suddenly had a change of heart from their usual Kumbaya mantra, but methinks as the election gets closer and closer, we might see a lot more of this type of narrative: the base just may come home, if nothing else, out of abject fear. Along those same lines, Brian Dickerson finally puts his Princeton degree to good use while pointing out how worried CEOS are about new regulations that will require them to disclose the ratio between their compensation and that of their employees. Dickerson rightly points out that their fears are not that their employees won't fully understand, but will understand all too well how much they're getting fucked by their not so competent leadership. Pinch me, I must be dreaming.... Even old Nolan gets one right in discussing the great state of Michigan's problem with high school dropout rates. And actually proposes ideas that aren't your usual republican LSD trip taker on steroids rant. What the hell...give him a week, and he'll be back to his usual self, but I'll take the occasional surprise. But then there's this and you just have to say what the fuck? Ostensibly, the piece is the weekly business column "At Issue" which (sometimes) discusses various business and consumer issues and gives some sort of analysis featuring arguments from both sides. Apparently this week, that was more than Margaret Collins limited abilities could handle, as she attempted to discuss the upcoming expiration of the Bush tax cuts. In reality, the piece was nothing more than a financial advice column for the wealthiest of Americans (the 315,000 who make $1 million or more who will be affected by Obama's plan to let the cuts expire for those making more than $250k) on how to avoid paying such taxes. In typical business world tone deafness to those of us not fortunate enough to have the ability of carnival booth workers talent for swindling, she poses, as an example, that their increase in taxes will be the equivalent of a BMW Z4. A fucking Beemer! Now that's the way to gain empathy for those wealthy folks--use the price of a car that is more than most people make in a year as an example! And trouble is, there are people stupid enough to fall for this bullshit. Not me--and for those complaing about how much this expiration is going to hurt those poor folks, well, hell, I'll gladly trade salaries for a year with any person making such and happily pay the price of a beemer more in taxes.... In the immortal words of the Wicked Witch as she melted, "What a world, what a world...." Peace, emaycee

Tone Deafness

Livin' a dream.... I don't think there are many of us who have to work with the public who haven't had fantasies like the one Steven Slater lived. I can't even begin to count the number of customers I've dealt with over the last twenty-eight years who seem to think that because they're spending twenty bucks at the place I work, I'm their indentured servant. The customer is always right, yada, yada, yada. In a word: no. I get paid to eat their shit--it doesn't mean I have to like it, or not secretly wish them a severe case of crotch rot. I wasn't really surprised by the corporate/status quo response to this--interviewing his ex-wife (how many exes are going to have good things to say about their former spouse?), calling into question his account, etc. When the Wall Street Journal publishes a piece such as this, it's easy to roll one's eyes and think, yeah suree! It has to be a bit frightening to the powers that be that there are plenty of us who feel the same as Slater, and have frankly had enough. It's only natural that they would send out their trolls to show us the error of our cheering. What surprised me, though, was the utter tone deafness (or else naivete) of those whose job it is to comment on such matters (and may or may not benefit from the status quo). Brian Dickerson seemed to think it was not worth cheering because as stressful as our lives are, we should be grateful we have it so much better than our ancestors (Aside: WTF?). And that it was because airline travel sucks. Mitch Albom--in a column actually more sympathetic to Slater than I would have thought--pretty much stuck to the airline travel sucks meme. Leonard Pitts blamed it on our ever lessening civility. No, no, no. I have no idea what Slater's motivation was, but I have a pretty good inkling why people are cheering it. We don't trust corporations, job satisfaction is at record lows, and frankly, we're all fed up with bullshit raises and increased workload and corporate leadership that is so pathetically weak. We've seen the man behind the curtain, and he isn't nearly as endearing as the Wizard of Oz. And he isn't even coming close to helping us realize our dreams. That's why we're cheering--it was a big fuck you to our fucked up business "leaders" and our fucked up jobs. Peace, emaycee

Hey, Boo

Nothing like watching Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird to stoke the fires in your better self....

There's lazy journalism, and then there's Nolan Finley. This piece encapsulates in a microcosm why I will never be a conservidiot. The terminology is straight out of right-wingnutoville of...well, the fifties, the sixties--Christ, for those old enough to recall, it could have been Archie Bunker on All in the Family (only that was supposed to be satire). The politics is inane (yeah, right, captialism is going to save us, all evidence to the contrary), the comparisons dim-witted and trite (one more idiot calls Obama a socialist and I'm going to puke), and the scare-mongering pathetic (hippies, peaceniks, and tree huggers...oh my!). All of this over the Social Justice Forum, which from what I've read, probably share a lot more in common with the majority of Americans than does Nolan Finley (to quote Elvis, "What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?"). Finley closes with this gem: "If we don't come to our senses in November, this is what the whole country will look like soon." If it means more power to the people, Nolan, we can only hope you're right. Looks a damn lot better to me than what we have now.

Lazy journalism, part two: Brian Dickerson, trying to ensure that the pundits at the Free Press are just as inept as those at the Detroit News, tries to turn an Obama victory (he handled the Gen. McChrystal situation about as well as could be done) into a defeat, claiming the General was deliberately careless with his words because McChrystal thinks Afghanistan is a loser and doesn't want it hanging around his neck, thus leaving the mess for Obama. Nice try, but the plain truth of the matter is McChrystal was careless with his words because he's used to an American media that is more interested in preserving the status quo than speaking truth to power. Unforunately for the General, Mr. Hastings was not your usual lazy icon of American journalism and the cat was out of the bag.

Apparently, there was a group session to discuss the U. S. debt, which all Americans were invited to. Unfortunately, unlike Pete Peterson and his minions, I have to work for a living and wasn't able to attend. My two cents: get out of Iraq and Afghanistan yesterday, create jobs with government spending on infrastructure, cut defense spending in half, raise taxes on corporations and the wealthy, and enact National Health Insurance. I'd also like Salma Hayek to greet me at the door tomorrow when I get home from work wearing a skimpy negligee--just kidding, Beautiful Girl! (Note: Wonk's piece cited above once again noted each of us owes $43,000 for the national debt--I will not rest until this bullshit ceases. It's just a scare tactic, and means about as much as telling me I'm responsible for x amount of stars in the night sky. Want to reduce the debt? Shut the fuck up and spend government money on infrastructure jobs--more taxes collected, national debt goes down. It's as simple as that.)

Nice piece on the only Democrat running for governor in Michigan--we're going to lose anyway, so why not accentuate the differences, and when whatever dipshit Republican wins we have something to run on in 2014. Virg Bernero might be a little rough around the edges, but he's a far sight better than Republican-lite Andy Dillon. Which slogan is better: A) We're going to work for the working people of Michigan, or B) We're going to fuck over the working people of Michigan slightly less than the Republican candidate? Quod erat dictum.

Good to see our teachers rallying in the capitol--the last thing we need is to solve Michigan's (or the nation's for that matter) budget problems on the backs of working people. The problem isn't the teachers--it's the wealthy and corporate welfare.

Is it just me (perhaps it was Obama's election) or does it seem more and more as if the big difference between Democrats and Republicans is that we actually want to solve problems and they just want to whine about why everything can't be like the good old days? Word to the (not so) wise: the good old days weren't so good, and they're long fucking gone.

Peace,
emaycee

That's the week that was

And I suppose you have to be of a certain age (i.e., old) to understand today's post title. Why doesn't this surprise me? Or this? Where's that ballsy tea party attitude? Oh, it's in hiding? That's the way to stand up for the American people--run and hide (or be hidden) when it turns out you really are a racist or a lunatic. Frankly, get out there and say what you believe--if the people buy it (not likely) they'll vote you into office. If you can't do that, go the fuck home and save the rest of us the trouble (yes, we're talking about Rand Paul of Where's Waldo fame, and Sharron Angle, disciple of Carry Nation). Another brilliant "column" from Wonk. Apparently he missed this (or else gets his news from Chris Matthews, who has a "documentary" next week on the Tea Party). Not having lived in Michigan during Mr. Tisch's important achievement (so-called), I can't recall the rhetoric from the debate, but I really fail to see how having the burden of financing education move from property taxes to the sales tax improved Michigan--especially considering that year after year we have more cuts to education, can't find ways to fund education, and continue to fall down to the depths of Mississippi and Alabama in the education our kids are getting. The only effect the Tea Party will have on Michigan is to drag it farther down (though leave it to Michigan to be a day late and a dollar short, as usual). Brian Dickerson continues the Free Press "Kumbaya" Movement (Golly, gee, Beav, if we'd all just get along we'd all be so much better off). In a word: no. You know, the last two big bipartisan efforts I remember were the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War. Those two worked out so fucking well. I don't have the benefit of Mr. Dickerson's Ivy League education (Princeton must be so fucking proud), but I can't see how California's awarding the general election to the two highest vote getters in the primary is going to make things much better. One can suppose in highly partisan districts (both liberal and conservative) that it is entirely possible that the top two vote getters could be from the same party, thus disenfranchising both the opposing parties and independents (and seriously reducing voter turnout). Certainly, the occasional independent candidate might break through, but...there's a reason Centrism begins with a "C": it's for the average and the mediocre. Said it before, will say it again: these times call for bold leaders with the courage to push through bold ideas whether partisan or not, and the bravery to challenge and defeat the corporate special interests that are keeping true change for the working people from happening. We need a class war, not a fucking peace pipe. Period. Not worth a link, but words certainly are telling (from the Free Press business pages): "...Rick Wagoner, the former General Motors chief who was pushed out in March 2009 after 32 years at the company...." Poor, little Ricky--pushed out...with his golden parachute and jumping to other boards of directors with their lots of pay for little work. Didn't have a damn thing to do with the fact that he ran the company into the ground with his lack of foresight, poor oversight, and general incompetence that left thousands out of work with little more than a few months unemployment compensation. I smell...BULLSHIT on the business pages of the Free Press.... Devil's Advocate: While I would not want to downplay the tragedy and significance of the BP oil spill, if we on the left had spent the last two months focusing as much energy on jobs (admittedly a taller order) as we have on this spill, our chances of averting future disasters such as this would markedly improve. Enough Americans will vote for change if their pocketbooks are suffering, and we won't be the change they are seeking. To be blunt: no jobs equals no clean energy agenda and more offshore drilling. Just sayin'.... Peace, emaycee