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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No, it's about fairness

Yesterday, republicans in the Senate voted unanimously against the Paycheck Fairness Act--and then claimed that the Democratic vote was just "politics...so [Democrats] can use it in campaigns."

No, it's about what the name implies--fairness.  The latest study shows that as of 2013, women still only earn 78 cents for every dollar a man earns.  There is no good reason for the gender wage gap to be so large--other than that the republican party is happy to continue its war on women and workers to allow its wealthy benefactors to keep feeding at the trough of avarice.

A recent poll from ABC News and the Washington Post, shows the republican party with an approval rating of 21% and and a disapproval rating of 72%.  Someday some smart son of a bitch is going to figure out that in election races we should be running ads against the republican party and not just individual candidates--guilt by association, so to speak.  Think of it--immigration reform, minimum wage hike, paycheck fairness, marriage equality, the right to choose.  It's a plethora of issues that the majority of Americans agree with us on and we can brand republicans with a scarlet "A" for being assholes.

Because again and again they show that, en masse, republicans flat do not care about average Americans.

Peace,
emaycee

Are any of you folks paying fucking attention?

A recent poll shows republicans with a 10 point advantage on the handling of the American economy going into the 2014 elections.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Look, I know President Obama blew a golden opportunity to transform the economy by focusing on austerity rather than investing in infrastructure and the social safety nets, but for fuck's sake, Francis, look at the record.  To wit:

• 97 of the 100 poorest counties in America are...you guessed it, in red states.
• Since 1960, the U.S. economy has grown 4.35 under Democratic Presidents and 2.54 undedr republican Presidents.
• 42 million jobs have been created under Democratic Presidents since 1960, 24 million under republicans.
• 9 out of the 10 poorest states in America are red states.

Might be time for plenty of folks to pull their heads out of their heinies--we can't afford too much more of republicans doing their worst for us economically.

Peace.

emaycee

Hammer time!

A recent poll shows that 57% of women would be more likely to support a candidate who opposes the Knobby Jobby decision.  Seventy-one percent of women think a candidate who supports corporations being allowed to dictate birth control choices has his or her priorities out of whack.

So...can anyone explain to me why, here in Michigan, where we have a close contest for the Senate seat of retiring U.S. Senator Carl Levin, Democrat Gary Peters isn't absolutely lambasting republican Terri Lynn Land over this issue?  I mean not one commercial--and it's not like Land has any choice other than to back corporate rights on birth control.  Anti-choice forces here would crucify her if she didn't.

And it would be a nice reminder to that majority of women who do support Democrats on why they vote for us in the first place.  And it could be simple, too:  "Terri Lynn Land believes corporation have the right to make your family's birth control choices...."  Fade out.

Sheesh, it's politics--whenever the Gods throw you a hammer, pound away.

Peace,
emaycee

The hammer of justice

It doesn't surprise me that conservatives would turn to ugliness and false witness when it comes to the immigrant children from Central America arriving at the borders of the land of the free and the home of the brave.  Despite their disingenuous "Moi?" protests, it's their M.O.--if you aren't a white Christian, they aren't interested.

It does surprise (and disconcert) me, however, that Democrats are not pushing back on the hate and championing these children as political refugees--it's not only the right move morally, it's also the right move politically.  From President Obama to Harry Reid to Nancy Pelosi and on down the Democratic food chain, there is not one Democrat who should not be celebrating their supporters.   There is not one who should not be speaking out for them like Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley did this week--and without the bogus blowback because his reminder that we are America and we do not abandon helpless children made the Obama administration look bad with its continued calls for deportation that will send them back to the earth equivalent of hell.

My God, they're children from violence ravaged nations.  Let's turn them into productive American citizens--in time, they'll be a whole hell of a lot more worthwhile to America than any republican.

Peace,
emaycee

Please please me

As I was driving to work yesterday, I drove past Loserville, Population 2--a.k.a., a booth with a couple of doofuses calling for the impeachment of President Obama, replete with big ass pictures of the President with a Hitler mustache.

Yikes.

This seems to be a republican theme of late, with the Queen of Dunceville, Sarah Palin, calling for Obama's impeachment over his immigration policies and proving she knows two words of Spanish ("no" and "mas").  Her would be protege, pretender and republican candidate for Senator from Iowa, Joni Ernst, was also caught this week calling for Obama's impeachment earlier this year.

This is one republican initiative that I could not agree with more.  Please, please, please do.  Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!

If they do--guaranteed--we take the House back in 2016, win enough Senate seats to comfortably pass the sixty vote threshhold, and Hillary Clinton wins the Electoral College in the biggest rout since Reagan annhilated Mondale.

The republican party--the gift that keeps on giving.

Peace,
emaycee

The answer my friend...

There's not one issue that I disagree with in this piece about how the Democratic Party gives Liberals short shrift...other than the call for Liberals to ultimately break with the Democratic Party.

I, too, hold many of the views in this piece about what the Democratic Party actually believes (though, um, the piece never really answers the question)--other than the drivel at the end about how it may eventually take a third party to change the economic agenda of our nation.

Both pieces ostensibly are calls to arms about the inevitability of one Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the 45th President of the United States.  Unlike when President Obama was first elected, I harbor no illusions that Hillary Clinton will be an economic populist and usher in a new era for American's working class.  There's as much chance of that as there is of her nominating me to be her Secretary of Labor (I'd be great though--my platform?  "Don't like unions?  Fuck you!").

What I do know, though, is that Hillary Clinton will not be Ronald Reagan putting a dagger in the heart of organized labor, killing wage growth, pensions, and employee covered healthcare (yes, boys and girls, when I first began working I paid $0.00 for my family's healthcare coverage), and beginning the income inequality downward spiral that hasn't stopped yet.  She also won't be Bush the Lesser who put a dagger in the middle class and killed its net worth, stagnated its wages, and put together a Supreme Court that only the Chamber of Commerce (and Corporate America) could love.

I don't believe anymore that we'll elect a true Liberal Democrat to the Presidency in my lifetime.  But I believe we will in my kids' lifetimes, and that's good enough.

A third party will insure we never do.  And it's better to tread water with a lukewarm Democrat than drown with a republican in the White House.

We're going to get to economic Shangri-La eventually--it's just going to take some time.

Peace.
emaycee

Do the right thing

Seems the Democrats are having internal discussions (nothing overly serious) about how it will play politically the bolder President Obama goes on unilateral action (read:  republicans are fucking worthless) to lessen the rate of deportations.

I understand that we live in very political times, but when I read this I wondered (and I'm not an historian) how much Democrats thought about politics when FDR pushed through Social Security or the WPA, or how much they did when LBJ pushed through Medicare and the Civil Rights Act.

You know what I hope?  That the President just does the right thing.  If we look out for the least among us and get our asses kicked this November, we'll still be able to say we made America a better place and that's something republicans will be hard pressed to ever claim.

Peace,
emaycee

November reign

While I haven't seen any polls that make me giddy for this November's elections, it sure doesn't seem like 2010 either.  I mean by this time in 2010 election cycle, everybody on the left was warning that the November results could be ugly--they were and then some.

The feeling this time around seems to be that we might lose some ground but nothing is looking as catastrophic as the 2010 midterms (yeah, yeah, yeah--famous final words, etc., etc.).  It certainly doesn't hurt that republicans seem to have adopted a strategy which calls for shooting themselves in the foot on a regular basis...

...like having Dick Cheney scatter his mug all over TV criticizing President Obama for his Iraq War policy, which would be like the Democrats trotting out James Buchanan, the man who fiddled while the country smoldered, to criticize Abraham Lincoln for his guidance of the Civil War.  Trotting out Cheney is like a cruise line featuring the Titanic on the front page of its sales brochure.

Not to be outdone by the man who wanted to be king, some republican Senators are calling for a government shutdown to block the President's new environmental regulations.  Because the last one worked so well.

My dear republicans, in the immortal words of President Obama, "Please proceed."

Peace,
emaycee

Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?

How fucking hard up for guests must a network be when they invite a fucking football analyst to one of their shows to discuss...Benghazi?

Leave it to Faux News to invite Hall of Fame quarterback (well deserved) and football analyst (not so much) Terry Bradshaw on to discuss U.S. foreign policy.  Guess what?  He doesn't trust (or like) Hillary Clinton.  One supposes he bases this on the numerous papers he's published on foreign policy over the years....

No shit--I wouldn't bet a plug nickel on any expert analysis Terry Bradshaw gave on a football game and he's been doing that for twenty years.  What the fuck does he know about Benghazi other than that it's the trumped up republican outrage du jour?  Who the fuck would possibly care--outside of the 30% of Americans who are clinically fucking nuts (a.k.a., republicans)?

Swear to God, the lame ass at Faux News who approved this stunt, while going through the human assembly line before birth, when God asked "Brains?" thought He said "Trains?" and must have said, "No, thanks."

Peace,
emaycee

Much nothing about adieu

While I'll freely admit that Eric Cantor's loss tonight to David Brat  in his primary in Virginia-07 (largely due to Brat's strict adherence to the Tea Party's edict on hating on the immigrants) is a stunning upset, in the end it isn't going to mean much.  The Democrats are not going to win this solidly republican district, the Tea Party's influence will still remain on the wane, and Immigration Reform is still going absolutely nowhere.

Basically all it means is that the House of Representatives will trade one far right wing nutjob who doesn't give a shit about average Americans for a slightly more right wing nutjob who doesn't give a shit about average Americans.

That and the fact that republicans are really good at voting for the haters.

Peace,
emaycee

A hollow victory

Michigan's legislators passed an increase in Michigan's minimum wage which was signed by Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday that will raise our rate from $7.40 to $9.25 an hour over the next four years.  Some are hailing its importance because Michigan is the first state with republican legislators and a republican governor to pass such an increase since President Obama's call for a hike in the minimum wage to $10.10.

My ass.

What it is, once again (see also the Emergency Manager fiasco), is Michigan republicans doing an end around the will of the people.  See, on Wednesday, Progressive organizers are going to deliver 300,000 signatures to put an initiative on this November's  ballot calling for a $10.10 minimum wage (this measure probably kills the initiative, though no one knows for sure).  Since raising the minimum wage is universally popular and this initiative has an excellent chance of passing, what republicans have done is help pad the bottom line for Wal-Mart, Target, McDonald's, Burger King, et al, while costing hundreds of thousands of Michiganders up to $1700 a year (.85 cents per hour times forty hours a week times 52 weeks).

While republicans introduced the bill (extra perk:  it kills minimum wage as an issue for Democrat Mark Schauer in his uphill battle this year against the aforementioned Gov. Snyder), it passed because virtually all Democrats voted for it (about half of republicans voted for the measure).  How long do you suppose it is before republicans start running ads about how Democrats raised the minimum wage to only $9.25 when it could have been $10.10?

All of this intrigue would be entertaining were this a soap opera, but  we are talking about the financial well-being of real people.  Real people who, thanks to craven legislators, are going to get much less than they should have yet again.

Peace,
emaycee