Odds and Sods

Pete Townshend turned 65 last week--sixty-fucking-five! Man, am I getting old....

An interesting couple of weeks:

Apparently, the rumors of our demise are a bit premature...seems we won a congressional race in PA we weren't supposed to win, Sestak took out Specter, and Halter has forced Lincoln into a runoff. Hell, even the MSM had an inkling on this one--seems the polls they are-a-changin'. I have no doubts we'll lose seats, but it may (key word) not be as bad as once thought. I've always had difficulty accepting the narrative of deep Dem losses this November (though I know it could happen)--people's memories aren't that short (Bush, Repugs 2002-2006), and you have to give voters something to vote for that isn't merely whining (see also, Tea Party). Plus, Rand Paul (and maybe Sue Lowden in NV) seems to be the gift that keeps on giving--there's no way we should win in KY (or Nevada for that matter), and yet we might. Good times....

Seems the not so great state of Tex-ass(holes) has gone ahead with their plans to rewrite American History. Nice pieces by tristero and the King laying out just how ridiculous this all is--if ever, of late, there has been a what the fuck? moment, this is a what the fuck? moment. Thank God for state assemblyman like Leland Yee (D-SF, what a surprise, still the gutsiest liberals in America)--let's hope there's plenty more like him.

There's so much wrong with this piece that I would almost swear it was written by an internet company lobbyist (funny, too, that I received an e-mail from my congressman, the corporate loving, working folks hating, Republican, Mike Rogers, that echoed many of the same points). Business knows best? Really? Kind of like the banks and their derivatives? Kind of like the auto companies and their failures to modernize? I also like the way they refer to the "'net netrality' regime." Regime? Please let's exaggerate when in desperation. The FCC should step in as soon as possible and Congress should let them. If not, we're going to end up with internet service providers who are as inept as our cable providers. Piss poor service, exorbitant rates, and less choice--by all means, yes, let's let the internet service providers reign. Can't fucking wait.

From a recent letter to the editor in the News: "Tea Party members are much closer to the center of the political spectrum than those extremists who seek to discredit them." Wow--who knew? I mean, I had absolutely no idea that those in the political center of this country carried posters of President Obama looking like Hitler, or that used the n-word, or thought Sarah Palin was a brilliant thinker. Please--this is just another in a long line of bullshit letters to the editor that have popped up of late linking the movement to Moms, blacks (must have got the one African-American in Michigan that is stupid enough to buy their bullshit to send that one), or Democrats (only in an alternate universe) that are little more than propaganda to make the Tea Party look more mainstream (think "compassionate conservatism"). Editorial boards may be that ignorant, but the rest of us are not: they are like a sledgehammer to subtlety, the radical right wing. Period.

Holy shit--Wonk almost gets one right. Too bad he had to throw in the usual bullshit "While Democrats are hardly blameless for this ongoing mess, which is manifest in both Washington and Lansing...." How so? Just once I'd like to see some pundit point out exactly--with facts, not Republican talking points--how Dems are responsible for the poisoned atmosphere. What, because we won and Republicans hate democracy? We water down bills, we try to get them to the table, and still they vote no. Is calling them on being the party of no unfair? Hardly--sometimes the truth hurts. The one thing that amazes me is that approximately thirty percent of Americans and Michiganders still believe their bullshit.

Too Little, Too Late, Dept.: This from the campaign brochure that Mike Rogers sent to my home (note to Mr. Rogers--save the taxpayers money and skip my house next time--if the Virgin Mary came down and told me herself that you were right, I still wouldn't believe your bullshit)..."I know times are tough (obviousman strikes again!). The last thing we need is an out-of-control Washington, DC spending money we don't have and sending the bill to our kids and grandkids...." Right...Democrat spending on jobs and healthcare bad, Republican spending on misguided wars and tax cuts for the wealthy good. Because that worked out so well the first time around, Mr. Rogers. Save it for the disciples--those of us with an ounce of sense don't believe you. And I have to live with this pinhead at least until he retires (he's not losing unless he pulls a Souder--and even that wouldn't hurt that much since he's single, last I heard).

Speaking of Souder, it couldn't happen to a nicer fellah. I spent one hellaciously bad year of my life in Fort Wayne, being represented by this buffoon. Good bye and good riddance. A question (and admittedly this is somewhat childish): how in the hell does a guy who looks like the closest he should get to nookie is internet porn end up bedding a pretty darn attractive woman like his mistress? Must be something to that whole power thing....

Final note: the only way the Dems win the governor's race in our beautiful Michigan this year is if a week before the race the Republican nominee is caught, on film, molesting a child. And then just maybe. Therefore, if we're going to get our ass kicked anyway, can we at least give ourselves a chance to not get completely embarrased and nominate the real Democrat, Ving Bernero, and send the Republican lite Andy Dillon home? Thank you....

Peace,
emaycee

Don't know much about history...

Other than being a gem of a tune by Sam Cooke (as was the cover version by Simon and Garfunkel with James Taylor), there's not much pride in being an idiot. Unless, of course, you're a conservative... A frightening piece appeared in the Free Press (on Easter Sunday, no less--what the hell, a little gift to the Christian right on their day) on conservatives' attempts to change history. It seems everything we've been taught has been skewed too far to the left, so conservatives have decided to just make shit up that better suits their world view. And where else other than Texas, where everything is big, including the idiocy, should it happen? In fairness to Mr. Thomma, he did a nice job of attempting to debunk the Texas conservatives bullshit. Still...when you consider that this is being done in textbooks that will be sent to kids all over America (and makes me think that home schooling for my young 'un might not be such a bad idea after all), why isn't this being given more prominence? I have seen pieces here and there, but this has the feel of one of those conservative ploys that falls under the radar until we're fucked and our kids have been indoctrinated once again into conservative bullshit that lessens their lives (see also, Reagan, Ronald--great President if you're rich, completely fucked over if you're the other 99% of America). To wit: Thomas Jefferson, the man who wrote the Declaration of Indepence upon which our revolution was begun is being downplayed because he strongly believed in the separation between church and state. What the fuck? Don't these idiots realize how many of our forefathers came to this country to escape religious persecution--and our founding fathers were prescient enough to make damn certain that didn't happen in our fledgling country? *Aside* Funny how conservatives love Jefferson, though, when they get to use that "peeing on the tree of liberty with the blood of 'patriots'" bullshit. Did you know that FDR caused the Great Depression? No shit--didn't have anything to do with Republican Hoover sitting on his ass and believing the corporatists would fix everything (which has never been the case), it was the work projects, social security, and all that government spending. It was a "manageable" recession until Roosevelt took over--if you consider 24% unemployment "manageable." Hell, it's no wonder conservatives are shitting themselves over the stimulus package--we've only got 10% unemployment now. So a few kids starve to death--let's make sure the wealthy are taken care of first (they provide the jobs so they say, all evidence to the contrary). Frankly, if it weren't for FDR the lifestyle we enjoy now (and are in increasing danger of losing) would never have happened. Ever hear of the Anti-Renter movement? Or Dorr's rebellion? Me either until the last week--basically they're the real American history (both occurred in the mid-nineteenth century), the poor getting fucked over by the rich until they have had all they can take, fight back, and get tossed a few crumbs while the basic system stays intact. This is the history that our kids should be taught--maybe it will eventually sink in that the wealthy aren't our friends and are not the backbone of our economy. They are the enemy. "The farmers [Anti-Renter movement] had fought, been crushed by the law, their struggle diverted into voting, and the system stabilized by enlarging the class of small landowners, leaving the basic structure of rich and poor intact. It was a common sequence in American history." (Emphasis mine.) That's a quote from the only American history book our kids need: Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. That "People's" in the title, by the way, is you and me--the real backbone of America. Peace, emaycee