Sacrifice? We don't need no stinkin' sacrifice

Probably also funded by the DeVos Family and the Kochs

Keeping in mind that the protests against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Stay At Home Directive here in Michigan earlier this week A) Feature a vast minority of Michiganders, numbering in at least the hundreds, B) Were bankrolled by the DeVos Family and the Koch Brothers (oops, forgot one of them died) Brother, C) For some odd ass reason thought that the flag of traitors from the Confederacy was good window dressing, and that D) Governor Whitmer's approval rating right now is in the mid-60's, which is twenty points higher than the orange shit gibbon in the oval office, can we just thank the stars that these morons weren't around when America was fighting World War II?

I mean if you can't handle six weeks of not being able to get a haircut or buy a juniper bush, how the hell would have have fought off four years of the greatest threat to America's freedom in our history?

If it were up to their clown show, Hitler would be calling the shots here in America.

Oh, wait....

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Greatly exaggerated

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."--Mark Twain

While there is bound to be a healthy dose of schadenfreude for Democrats in light of Rep. Kevin McCarthy's withdrawal from the race for the Speaker of the House, and the seeming disarray of the republican party in general, there also seems to be a lot of hope that this will translate into electoral success for the Democrats.

Forget about it.

I lived through Watergate, one of the worst scandals in American history, and a mere six years after a republican President resigned in utter disgrace, the American people elected another republican to the Presidency in one of the most lopsided Presidential elections we've ever had.  Even the stupidest of cats lands on its feet.

So while we'll still probably take the Presidency again, republicans will garner 48-49% of the vote.  Winning back the Senate is at best a fifty-fifty proposition, and taking the House would take a miracle on par with the raising of Lazarus.  The blue state/red state dichotomy is just too strong.

Still, you have to wonder about a group of people who would scream bloody murder if the local McDonald's hired an incompetent boob, but seem all too happy to hand over the reins of the most powerful nation in the world to a group of people who have shown absolutely no ability to govern simply because they have an "R" next to their name.

Peace.
emaycee

Over the cuckoo's nest

Insane.  Nuts.  Bonkers.  Dotty.  Batty.  Wacko.  Delusional.  Bananas.  Haywire.  Daffy.  Deranged.  Off their gourds.  Out to lunch.  Off their rockers.

You get the picture--adjectives that best describe today's republican party.

To wit #1:  Thirty-four percent of republicans--for non-math majors, that's one out of every three--believe that President Obama is an imminent threat to America.  I'm not even sure there are enough words to describe the sheer lunacy of those who hold such beliefs.  Suffice to say, it doesn't just worry me that I have to share a country with these bozos, but that I have to share an entire planet and still won't be able to get far enough away from them.

To wit #2:  Not content with just the Benghazi bullshit to feed their conspiracy theory lust, conservatives are now floating a story that Nevada Senator Harry Reid's New Year's Day injuries were actually the result of his being beaten up by the Mafia.  While the link absolutely shreds the story, I myself have difficulty believing it because if the Mob had attacked Harry Reid, he'd have kicked the shit out of them.  Hell, he's been kicking the shit out of republicans for years and has had plenty of practice slapping around thugs.

Man, somebody really needs to keep the door to the rubber room closed....

Peace,
emaycee

WTF exemplified

A voice at the table:

Forget about Santorum's response to the woman's rant--by now we should all be more than accustomed to republicans cozying up to their tea party supporters.  Listen to the woman herself--Obama the communist, Obama the tyrant, republicans should have him removed from office (all of which is familiar) and then the part about Obama trying to set off a nuclear device in Charleston.  But most of all, it's the sheer and utter hatred for Obama--who is, by the way, a very decent man who has carried a nation through a very difficult time with nothing but class and courage and done it very well.

This woman has a vote, and I'm sorry, but she is completely and totally fucking certifiable.

And this episode personifies every single fucking reason why we need to defeat republicans in 2016.

Peace,
emaycee

Tennessee dud

Congratulation to the state of Tennessee and its republican leadership, which has joined Florida and its republican leadership (positive rate 2%) and Utah and its republican leadership (.2%) in pissing away taxpayer dollars to drug test welfare receipients and only finding a whopping .2 percent who tested positive for illegal drugs.

Apparently republicans have no problem with our tax dollars being flushed down the toilet as long as it's being done to appease the Tea Party.

Peace,
emaycee

Thine own ass

Seems the tea party folks are a wee bit pissed off  after Thad Cochran's surprising victory in yesterday's Mississippi Senate primary over Chris McDaniel, the great white hope, so to speak, of this year's tea party crop of candidates.

Especially since it now seems the reason he won (Mississippi is one of many states to have open primaries) is because black Democratic voters, fearing the tea party strangulation of their voting rights, turned out in large enough numbers to give Cochran the victory.

And for all intents and purposes, in a state as red as Mississippi, sending him back to the U.S. Senate for another six years.

All of which makes perfect sense--if you live in a state where your party of choice has no chance of winning the general election, a vote in the primaries for the candidate of the other party who is least hostile to your own views would be in your best interest.

Frankly, I'll be surprised if we don't see a lot more of it as the divide between right and left continues to grow.

Peace,
emaycee

Calling their bullshit

Lost in the shuffle this week of Eric Cantor's unprecedented electoral defeat and the implosion of Iraq was the shooting of two police officers (and a bystander) this past weekend in Las Vegas by a pair of "patriots" who have fed at the Tea Party trough and proclaimed the shooting the beginning of a revolution.

Because nothing says revolution quite like shooting a pair of police officers unaware while they're dining on pizza.

I was wondering how the conservative media was going to spin this, but at Fox News, they aren't.  They're just ignoring it.

Because owning up to their mistakes would take moral courage, something conservatives have been sorely lacking for quite some time.

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

Red, red wrath

John Steinbeck's  novel, The Grapes of Wrath,, turned 75 last month.  Arguably the greatest political novel in American history, the book chronicles the Joad family as they are driven out of their Oklahoma home by banks and bad weather in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression, make their way to California, and suffer much like the poor do in today's America--police brutality, many fighting for a few low-paying jobs, hunger, homelessness, and helplessness in the face of the unchecked power of big business and the wealthy.

The novel also accentuates one of the key differences between The Great Depression and The Great Recession:  Americans' reactions.  Today we have what could be characterized as melancholy resignation; then they had what could be called...fucking anger.  And that wrath led to much good change--unions got stronger which eventually led to better pay and benefits and a robust middle class, Social Security, the Safety Net, and a host of other governmental programs called the New Deal which gave working class America a chance against the behemoths of industry and wealth.

Steinbeck noted when he wrote the novel that "I want to put a tag of shame on the greedy bastards who are responsible for this [The Great Depression]."   One would be hard pressed to find anyone outside of Liberal bloggers trying to do the same for the Great Recession.

One of the key successes of the Tea Party Movement was the way they stoked the rage of the republican base and got them to the polls in their landslide election victories of 2010 (which, unfortunately, has inflicted massive damage on the rest of the country).

It seems to me that the Democratic Party would do well to stoke a little anger right here, right now for the 2014 midterm elections.  Today, countless fast food workers around the globe are striking for $15 an hour ($31,600 a year, full-time, for our math challenged conservative foes) and the right to unionize. There are numerous Americans who are just as angry as these workers, and we need to tap into that and send republicans and their obstructionism and callous disregard for the poor and working class in America on their way out the doors of Congress.  Democrats need to get back to their roots, and fight for the poor and working class like FDR did.

Carpe fucking diem!

Peace,
emaycee

Trickle down sociopathy

So I'm reading this really long article on the sociopathological tendencies of the 1% and it dawns on me how far down the corporate ladder these tendencies have reached.  From the vastly inflated sense of self worth, to the lack of caring for others, to the catering to individual wants (executive level management loves to talk about teamwork as long as it deals with the piss ants below them and not themselves) it's amazing how far down  it reaches...right about to those of us who live paycheck to paycheck, or even worse, try to survive on poverty wages.

The only thing scarier was the realization I also had of how many sociopathic traits apply to republicans as well....

Peace,
emaycee

Nebraska? Fucking really?

Seems the fine people of Fremont Nebraska (population 21,000 and some change) have voted a second time on an ordinance which will make it unlawful to harbor (hire, rent to) undocumented immigrants--thus giving them a big Cornhusker middle finger.

With a population just a little over 1.85 million, located in the middle of nowhere U.S.A.. famed for corn and miserable winters and not much else, you'd think a state like Nebraska would be doing its damndest to get hard working folks of any stripe into their state.  I mean Nebraska is one of those states where the best and brightest haul ass the minute the graduation ceremony is over (there's a reason Wall Street and Silicon Valley are not located in Nebraska).  And Fremont wants to boot people looking for a better life out of their city?

It's akin to Hell kicking out the volunteers.

Peace,
emaycee

Cowards of the country

Yesterday in, of all places, Texas (where everything is big, even the idiocy) a group of nearly forty men stood  with their weapons drawn outside a restaurant where, four, count 'em four, women members of Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America were meeting to discuss, um, gun sense in America.  Oh, the irony!

Man, what a pair of cojones each of these men had, standing there defending the right to bear arms, outnumbering defenseless women ten to one!  Regular fucking America heroes!

Wonder if the gutless bastards are members of the tea party?

Nevermind--stupid question.

Peace,
emaycee

The tea party's bitch

Earlier this week, our own Governor Gutless, Rick Snyder, was asked if he thought it was okay for people to be fired for being gay.  As a very successful businessman, Snyder knows damn good and well that it's not--it's bad for business and even worse for attracting businesses to our state.  Nonetheless, Snyder tried to dance a two-step around it.  Unfortunately for Snyder, he dances about as well as most older white men.

Have you ever wondered how good a job being a politician is?  It must be an awfully good one--sure seems like there are lots of republicans who are more than happy to get bitch slapped by the tea party for a couple more years in office.

Peace,
emaycee

Fools and our money

Over the past two weeks, the republicans led a government shutdown that cost the American economy $24 billion dollars.

A recent poll showed that two-thirds of republicans and 93% of Tea Partiers believe the federal deficit is growing.  It's projected to fall this year from $1.1 trillion to $624 billion.

On a recent Sean Hannity show, several everyday Americans who just happened to be Obamacare haters related the evils of Obamacare and how horribly it was affecting their lives.  A smart reporter went back and talked to each of them and found that of the three people/couples on the show, two would save better than sixty percent of what they were currently paying under Obamacare, but hadn't even fucking bothered to check out healthcare.gov.  Sixty percent savings--man, that Obamacare is just awful, isn't it?

From the republican leadership on down to its rank and file, these people know about as much about economics as an amoeba knows about string theory.  That anyone take them seriously when it comes to anything that has to do with the economic well-being of Americans is utterly fucking ridiculous.

Peace,
emaycee

Anarchy in the U.S.A.

Were my daughter not a political reporter in Iowa, I probably wouldn't be as familiar with Sen. Tom Harkin as I am.  Over the past couple of years I've become quite an admirer, especially since Sen. Harkin remains an unabashed Liberal despite not residing in somewhat safer territory like the Northeast or the West Coast.  After today's votes saving the country from economic calamity, I was reminded of something Sen. Harkin said a couple of weeks back:  "Chaos. Confusion.  Tear the system down and that's the way minorities tend to take over."

For all President Obama's faults, for all the Democratic Party's faults, I think we can all be thankful for their stand in favor of democracy over the past couple of weeks, and for not giving in to the Tea Party and the 20% of Americans who live in a bizarroworld where because you believe it, everybody else should have to suffer the consequences regardless of its worth or danger or existence in reality.

The republican party got exactly what it should have got for holding a gun to the heads of the American people and trying to hold our economic well-being hostage:  fucking nothing.

Peace,
emaycee

Amen

Not much more I can add to that....

Peace,
emaycee

Thanks republicans!

Thanks to the Antoinettes, in 2010, a year in which Democrats peformed horridly nationwide electorally, we managed to hold on to control of the Senate.

In 2012, a year in which we had to defend twice the seats republicans did, again thanks to the Antoinettes, we still managed to keep control of the Senate.

I keep thinking--especially with the 2014 Senate campaign showing a long row to hoe once again for the Democrats to keep control--that eventually the republicans will wise up and our winning streak will come to a close.

Not so fast bucko....

Seems one Steve King--whackjob extraordinaire--though as yet undeclared, has climbed to the forefront for the republican nomination for the open seat in Iowa in 2014, even though he is already getting his clocked cleaned by the likely Democratic nominee, Bruce Braley.  Rep. Tom Latham yesterday anounced he would not seek the seat, which is bad news for republicans since he actually had a chance to win a seat that could be crucial to their chances of regaining control of the Senate.

It's of little surprise that the republicans are horrible at governing--they can't even run their own fucking party.

And we should be thankful for that every day.

Peace,
emaycee

Twenty-five reasons to vote for Obama: #3--The Last Line of Defense

There are those who believe--and they may be proven right eventually--that President Obama is willing to trade his legacy or his need to appear bipartisan for some sort of "grand bargain" on Social Security and Medicare, leaving two of our nation's greatest legacies with greatly reduced benefits.

But we don't know that.

We do know, though, that republicans have been hell bent on ending both since T. Rex had to dodge dinosaur shit while stalking his prey.

We don't know what's going to happen in the election of 2014, but we do know that the Antoinettes are as radical a group as has been in this country in generations.  They have no vision for going forward--they want to move us backward to the Gilded Age.

We don't know what four more years of Presidenbt Obama will bring but we do know that it won't bring an end to abortion, a decline in the gains we've made for LGBT issues, more bad justices on SCOTUS, further erosion of union influence, or a dismantling of the EPA.

And for all its faults, Obamacare will begin its most important provisions in 2014.

What another term for the President means is that we will have another four years where we have the last line of defense, knowing that no matter what batshit insane proposals get through our dysfunctional Congress that we have the President to veto them, that no matter what goofy fucking ideas gain public traction that we'll still have the President's bully pulpit to argue against them, that we will have an administration that is at least willing to acknowledge and listen to our ideals and not wave us away with the back of a hand that we'll spend four years daydreaming of severing.

It gives us four more years to elect more Elizabeth Warrens and more Tammy Baldwins, and that would go a long way toward insuring a  more progressive agenda.

Peace,
emaycee

Twenty-five reasons to vote for Obama: #15--Obamacare

Yup, Obamacare.

It gave impetus to the rise of the Antoinettes and cost the Democrats the House in an historic rout by the republicans.  The only reason it didn't cost us the Senate was because of the aforesaid Antoinettes (thanks to republicans in Delaware, Nevada, and Colorado for their help) running in blue/purple states.  It also drives much of the utter hatred of President Obama that continues to this day by the numbnuts on the right.

But still....

For many of us on the left, it didn't go far enough, especially in terms of our desire to have at best, single-payer, and at worst, a public option.  When viewed as a whole, though, it brought us an end to refusing coverage due to a pre-existing condition (biggie here in the emaycee household), coverage for children on their parents policy until age 26, covered well-visits for women, covered well-visits for children, and, after 2014, it will provide insurance to another 40 million Americans.

But the main reason I think it's a reason to vote for President Obama?  A major traditional media fail on the passage of the Affordable Care Act was that the President succeeded where Presidents since Harry Truman have failed and passed a health care act at a time when the economics of healthcare are undoubtedly driving down our economy.  Could it have been better (and by better I don't mean more bipartisan, which is Beltway bullshit)?  Undoubtedly.  But it's a major step forward, historic for having been done, and most important it took political courage and Presidential leadership.

The traditional media and the Antoinettes can piss off; as Joe Biden said, this was a big fucking deal and a major accomplishment for President Obama.

Peace,
emaycee

Smackdown extrordinaire

Looking for a nice little piece to brighten your day, put a little smile on your face?  Guaranteed that this smackdown, written in response to the typically ignorant ass ranting of some Antoinette about how he's going to sell his business and go on welfare if President Obama wins, will do just the trick.

If only we had Democratic politicans who were so presicient and honest.

Peace,
emaycee