Sleeping with the enemy

As you read this post, the word I most want to be in your mind is "naivete."

I'll give Tom Walsh credit--he didn't laugh in Bob King's (President of the UAW) face after his speech at the Mackinac Policy Conference.  He noted that King's speech was well-received by the conservative leaning crowd--take that with a grain of salt, as no one in that crowd isn't hoping that King doesn't end up flipping burgers at McDonald's.  Note to King:  if you're serious about improving the lives of the people you represent, skip functions such as these.  It was a complete and total waste of time and did nothing now and never will to help the members of your union.  The people you spoke to just don't give a fuck about you or the working class.  They--as well as Gov. Snyder--are not your friends.  They are the enemy.

To a certain extent, the Free Press has cautioned about the direction in which Gov. Snyder is leading the state (editorials here and here), especially with regard to the poor.  I'm not sure if the sentiments are heartfelt or a precursor to pivoting away from its endorsement of Snyder if his plan doesn't work, but as is usually the case with editorials, they had the same effect as a can of air freshener does on an elephant fart:  none.

This piece by Stephen Henderson is probably the piece over the past few weeks that has bothered me the most.  Henderson starts out with a good premise--paraphrased, is Snyder full of shit?  (Good, God, man, of course he is.)  And then proceeds to basically fall all over himself about how great Snyder is:  agreeing with 80% of what Snyder is doing (if that's liberal media we're all fucked), praising Snyder's positive energy (hate to break it to you but fucking wishing won't make it so), and claiming how much Snyder has changed the state's culture (Snyder has merely copied Reagan--shaking your hand with a smile on his face while sticking a knife in your back).  Sure, Henderson claims he's concerned as to whether all Snyder's bullshit will show the results we need in Michigan, but frankly, as I noted above, I think he, like the Free Press, is just covering his ass for when Snyder falls flat on his face.

Remember that word at the beginning?  This is why you should think about it:  all of the above are sadly mistaken in believing that somehow we're all going to work together to solve our problems.  The plain truth is that the powers that be do not give a rat's ass about our economic problems, and frankly, those are the only problems that matter to those of us who live paycheck to paycheck (at least for now).  There will be no Kumbaya moment until we convince those that have the gold that they won't have the gold much longer if we don't get our share.

Or to quote a very special man:  Power to the people, right on!

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

That's the sound of the men, working on the chain gang

This, my friends, is really rich. Newt Gingrich, a man who has lived off the public trough, as well as that of corporate benefactors for most of his career, thinks we need a better work ethic. Two words, Newt: fuck you. Why is it that it's always the working man who is supposed to sacrifice? Why don't these numb nuts ever suggest that perhaps the private sector needs leaders whose sole talents are much more than just cutting jobs and begging for corporate welfare? Further, what the fuck is up with this: "'Poor people respond to money,' and will turn to illegal activities if it's not available through other means, he said, as an example of how the free enterprise can lift people." Really? I'd be willing to bet there is a shitload of poor people who do not turn to illegal activities and keep trying to raise themselves and their families through legitimate means--otherwise, approximately 20% of our population would be in prison (or else we have a hellaciously talented bunch of criminals out there) instead of the 1-2% currently residing in prisons.

Thank, God, though, for one Heaster Wheeler of the NAACP who summed Gingrich (and the Republican party as a whole) up perfectly" "Newt Gingrich is less than a joke. If he understood the needs of the urban centers of America where was he when he had the authority to do something about it as speaker of the House?" Preach it, brother! The only accomplishment that would come from Gingrich's ideas for urban centers would be for us to do all the work while the private sector buys low and sells high, i.e. the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Next fucking idiot, please!

Tom Walsh is one of the few Free Press pundits that I can occasionally stomach (he's hardly a liberal, but he once predicted that by the year 2100 we'd have National Health Insurance a la Canada and wonder what the fuck we were thinking before we did), but this is sick. Channeling Bob Dylan as the background music for some radical right winger's pipe dream of making Michigan a right to work state? Uh...I'm pretty sure that as a musician Dylan is a member of the Musician's Union, and considering that they've helped him make a pretty penny, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be too thrilled with making union membership even harder to attain. And why the fuck is it always the union's fault (because the right to work states are in such good shape--always in the bottom five for highest poverty levels like Mississippi)? Why does the working man always have to take the hit for the idiocy of industry leaders who have guaranteed contracts and golden parachutes to counter their failing? I've got a great idea for turning around the economy--end welfare for corporate leaders and give them what the working man gets if they fail: a few months of unemployment (about $350 a week here in Michigan). I bet that'd light a fire up their asses. As it stands now, there's no incentive for not failing--they get paid whether they're successful or not.

A quick answer to a stupid question: Fuck no. It's a slippery slope when you start singling out people to question for any reason. Who's next? Catholics? Bald-headed men? The only outcome of any such law is to move America one step closer to totalitarianism.

Leave it to the political reporters (so-called) of the Free Press to key on some meaningless sniping between two lame ass candidates (Republicans Mike Cox and Rick Snyder) and just give a passing mention to Virg Bernero who "stood up loudly for unions and decried corporate abandonment of the middle class." I mean because their petty sniping over some piddly bullshit is so much more important than the working men and women of Michigan making a decent living. The editorial board of the Free Press wasn't much better: their sole response toward Bernero was to call him out for "ranting on behalf of union positions." For those not familiar, here's how the "liberal" Free Press deals with unions.

Another bullshit poll on healthcare reform: the results show 51% oppose and 43% in favor, but the poll fails to note how many of those opposed are opposed because the bill isn't liberal enough. Or how many will base their vote on it. American media fail indeed....

Peace,
emaycee