The art of lying

Forget the talk about Thaddeus McCotter's boneheadedness in costing himself his congressional seat (not to mention that McCotter always struck me more as a somewhat eccentric loyal soldier as opposed to any kind of real leader)--the important part of this week's "Politically Speaking" column comes at the end, when John Truscott tells Jill Alper that Scott Walker's $31 million to $4 million spending advantage in the Wisconsin recall election was offset by Union spending.  Truscott didn't get where he got in life by being an idiot and I'm pretty certain he's well aware of this claim's utter absurdity--but he did get where he got by being shrewd enough to know the republican base (not the brightest bunch) would swallow it hook, line, and sinker.  I would fully expect this to be the line of reasoning for republicans as they continue to buy votes for the rest of this election year--they're just trying to keep up with the Unions.

And another fine example of what Laura Clawson noted yesterday--republicans have completely warped the role that Unions play and the major media outlets (that would be you, Detroit Free Press) have acted as their personal enablers with their lazy journalism.

We could only wish that Unions truly had the power the republicans claim they do.

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

Perdidors

Unfortunately, it's not the idiot and liar who touts the same tired ass republican talking points on Healthcare reform ("Socialism!" "Death Panels!") in the Free Press' new weekly point/counterpoint column featuring Dem Jill Alper and conservidiot John Truscott. It's us, the fools who continue to subscribe to the Free Press and instead of cutting edge opinion get lame ass blow jobs to the tea party and its village idiots. Truscott and his lame ass platitudes was the best they could do? Really? Good to see that the Free Press is just like any other corporation: decided lack of leadership, pandering to the lowest common denominator, and profit at the expense of integrity. Kudos! Not to be outdone, the Detroit News had its usual "gee, how far up corporate fanny can we get our noses" piece this week concerning Obama's call for more careful monitoring of corporate regulation. Never mind that corporations are enjoying record profits or that (with the possible exception of Elizabeth Warren's consumer commission) the Obama administration's corporate reform had all the force of a gentle poke in the ribs--there's too much of it. Their idiocy would be kind of a melancholy funny were it not so anti-working class American. Less regulation will not result in either more jobs or better pay. The one thing it will do, though, is allow corporations to laugh all the way to the bank over how they suckered in conservidiots to do their bidding for them with nothing--zip, zero, zilch, nada--to show for their bidding. Peace, emaycee