No, really--Hitler says 'Jews are the salt of the earth'

As one might expect from a newspaper that once killed a union (so much for it being a liberal rag--if memory serves, liberals support unions), the Free Press is having an orgasm over the coming destruction of the labor union movement at the hands of the new gop majority.

But this, well this is just a bit much: "The U. S. Chamber of Commerce released exit poll data showing just more than half the electorate believes it will hurt the economy if unions have more say in how business operates."

What the fuck? I mean--superlatively--what the fuck? How in the world can any knowledgeable reporter take this poll seriously? The fucking chamber of commerce? The one that's the most anti-worker, pro-corporate, pro-wall street organization in the world? As someone who, you know, actually has a brain, the first thing I thought upon reading this was, "How come the chamber of commerce didn't ask people as they left the polls if they thought their wages would be hurt by unions having more say in how business operates? Or their benefit levels?" It's no surprise people don't support unions when they're given polling data that's dubious at best, and a lie at worst by an organization that actively seeks to see that they get paid as little as possible and have as few benefits as possible, lest the CEOs might make a few dollars less.

For the record, I actually believe the chamber's poll results. I also believe that the end of the world is near, and it will come at the hands of an obese, balding, forty-three year old Texan who will destroy the earth by blowing mountains of flame out of his ass....

Peace,
emaycee

Mere words cannot describe

Every now and again, I read an article that, literally, makes me want to throw up--for the sheer audacity of its bullshit, the factual misrepresentation, and the jeopardy for which it throws its readers into. Business articles are, by nature, pro business. This business article is pro bullshit. Susan Tompor--whose main claim to fame is writing some of the lamest business articles I have ever seen (we're talking brutal--my six-year-old has more sense than she does)--makes the entirely false claim that the Republican win makes an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts more likely. No, no, no. It makes the the extension of the tax cuts for the wealthy more likely--Democrats never, never, never claimed to want to end all of the tax cuts. Just the ones for the wealthy--who, by the way, are the reason we're in this mess. According to Tompor--and the several wall street toadies she quoted for the article--this will be good for the stock market, and therefore good for all of us. Tompor even goes so far as to tell us that the wealthy--you know, the ones who fuck us over every day at our jobs and in our government--will better be able to commit money to small business if their taxes don't increase. How does she know this? She must have pulled it out of her fat ass because there is no empirical evidence anywhere on this fucking planet that supports that statement. Not a fucking one--and the fucking Free Press actually wasted space on this fucking pinhead. No, the only thing the republican takeover of the House means is that it's back to business as usual for wall street--gambling your 401k money on Ponzi schemes and jeopardizing millions of Americans livelihoods. Anyone who believes differently is a fool. The rich can afford to lose millions in the market--we cannot. Hedge fund managers, investment firms, wealth managers, traders, hookers, and coke dealers--for these folks, the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts is a win. For the rest of us...think back to the fall of 2008. Perhaps the aspect of the article that bothers me the most, though, is the way that the tax cuts for the middle class are an afterthought. We spend the money that drives this economy, we do the actual work (as opposed to sitting on your ass and pretending that you know what you're doing) that drives this economy, we start the small businesses that drive this economy--and in Susan Tompor's world (and the republicans' world as well), we're merely an afterthought. Kind of makes me wonder who's really paying Ms. Tompor's salary.... Peace, emaycee

How not to read the tea leaves

You have to love the naivete of The Detroit Free Press. Apparently, their editorial staff paid absolutely no attention during this past election cycle, and cannot read the basic polls that have been cast over the past few days. They are right--Michigan's new Governor, Rick Snyder, does need to keep the GOP's super majority in check, and focus solely on the economy. The odds of this happening, however, are about the same as me hitting a five hundred foot home run off of Tim Lincecum: absolute zero. They cannot be foolish enough to think that a party that found Mike Castle, Lisa Murkowski, and Bob Bennet too liberal for their tastes is going to be satisfied with a moderate republican in the Governor's mansion; Snyder has to know that if he doesn't toe the radical right line, he's going to face a challenge in 2014 from the far right. And can anybody imagine the chamber of commerce or all the outstate special interest groups who poured millions into Snyder's campaign settling for anything but the utter destruction of the working class and the poor in Michigan (less taxes and less government aid and all that bullshit, that you know, only keeps our state running so we're not as backwoods, as say, the shithole that is Mississippi)? But beyond their wishful thinking, was their total misread of the national electorate: "But the dangers of overreaching (the primary lesson of the from the first two years of Barack Obama's presidency) should be prominent in everyone's mind." Really? I mean, what the fuck, really? Obama overreached? On fucking what? If they're stupid enough to believe that had Obama and the Democrats passed a public option, told wall street to go fuck itself on bonuses, passed real immigration reform, passed a stimulus that actually had teeth and infrastructure improvements that created real jobs, that Democratic voters would have still stayed home, they have no business analyzing the hairs on my ass, let alone what lessons we learned from Obama's first two years. No--know what should really concern Snyder? The fact that a whopping 45% of registered voters turned out for this past week's midterms. What happens in 2012 when those numbers go back up to 60%--and the kids and the minorities and the liberals turn out again? That supermajority could (key word) shrink awfully fast. I will give the Free Press' Stephen Henderson credit for getting this right--the performance of the Michigan Democratic party was beyond brutal, and its Chairman, Mark Brewer, should be sent packing. The only thing Brewer deserves credit for is leading us to the worst ass-kicking in history--he pulled off the nearly impossible and led us to defeat in every major office in the entire fucking state! Well done, Mark (you fucking idiot)! Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.... Peace, emaycee

Now I know, we've been had

Wonder how all of those "independents" who voted republican last Tuesday, worried about the partisan rancor of the Democrats (Aside--what the fuck?), looking for bipartisanship, looking to the republicans to boost our dismal economy, feel about this: Mitch McConnell, the Senate's republican leader, saying his party's main goal was to make certain Barack Obama was a one-term President. Note he said nothing about increasing employment. Note he said nothing about decreasing the federal deficit. Note he said nothing about smaller government, helping small businesses, or, even abortion or gay rights. Nope, their number one agenda is defeating President Obama. For all those who voted thinking republicans might be different this time, I have but one word: SUCKERS! Just so you know, when two years down the road the economy is still shit, wall street is still running rampant, the government's size is still the same, the federal deficit is higher, and your precious tax dollars have been wasted on "investigations," IFUCKING VOTED DEMOCRAT BECAUSE I'M NOT A FUCKING IDIOT! Thanks, and have a bitchin' two years.... Peace, emaycee

Sing a song of sixpence....

Sunday silliness... OBAMA (Sung to the tune of Ritchie Valens' "Donna") Obama, Obama Obama, Obama I had a dream Obama was his name Since he took office It's never been the same Cause I love my dream Obama, where can you be? Why can't you see? Public option is gone Wall Street still rules the roost We're left all alone Corporations still give us the boot Cause he never gave liberals a whirl Obama, where can you be? Why can't you see? Well, Obama, you promised change And all liberals got was the screw All the effort and all the time, wasted on you-ou-ou I had a dream Obama was his name He played it safe When republicans got mean Can you save us, Howard Dean? Obama, where can you be? Why can't you see? Obama, Obama Obama, Obama Peace, emaycee

Cutting through the bullshit

Republicans have done a masterful job through the years of turning truth into falsehood and having it become conventional wisdom. Nolan Finley again tries to use his "gee, shucks, I was there, these people aren't racists, it's all the Democrats fault for pointing out the truth" bullshit once again, and I'm sure it'll fly with the tea partiers, the conservatives, and the traditional media, but somebody has to hold their feet to the fire. I'm proud to be that somebody. The reason I fear this narrative from republicans is because of how well they've used it on gay issues in the past. It isn't about hatred of gays--it's a religious difference, it's standing up for traditional values, it's "love the sinner, hate the sin"--(Aside: what the fuck?). And now it's the same for the racism charges: we just don't like Obama, we have black friends, we work with black people who are really nice, my favorite player in name the sport is black. No. No. No. The first sign is their defensiveness on the issue. The second is their trying to play it down just as they did the gay issues. And finally it's their claim that they're just like everybody else, mainstream Americans. Oh, really? Because I've been on this planet for fifty-one years now and to tell you the truth, I haven't met all that many people who are all that much alike. Sure there are people who like baseball, and the color blue, and watching the leaves change color in the fall, but when you really break it down, people are as diverse as snowflakes--even if they share the same genes, no two of them are exactly alike. So when somebody tells me they're just like everybody else, I get worried, good and worried, that maybe I'm dealing with someone who doesn't watch things very carefully, who doesn't think things through, and who has no business governing a nation as diverse as ours, that leads a world as diverse as ours. Toward the end of his piece, Finley says, "There's an astonishing arrogance in the Democratic response. They can't see that it's the way they governed that has turned off voters." Fortunately, for those of us who use our brains, there's an astounding idiocy in Finley's worldview, and our hope for the future. As many people turned out to vote against Democrats, an equal amount stayed home because they were disappointed or disgusted with the party's leadership on issues concerning them--eventually, those people will return, having already seen through the conservative/tea party/republican bullshit and send them packing. My guess is, old Nolan will never even see it coming. Peace, emaycee

After the deluge

I have to admit, in retrospect, the fifty state strategy championed by Howard Dean when he was the chair of the DNC turned out to be a bust. It seemed good in theory: better to have a Democrat with you fifty percent of the time on congressional votes than zero from a republican. In reality, the conservative wing of the Democratic party succeeded only in watering down legislation, and in the end, torpedoing our chances in the just completed midterms.

Ari Berman has written a good piece for The New York Times in which he says the Democrats should boot the Blue Dogs--and he's exactly right. They have added nothing to the party except grief, don't champion the poor and the middle class, and frankly, stand for nothing the Democratic party is supposed to stand for. We could get a lot more done with a smaller but cohesive caucus.

A good start would be to elect Nancy Pelosi as minority leader. She is the one Democratic leader who stood up for our principles, and actually accomplished quite a bit. Should Heath Shuler decide to oppose her, crushing his candidacy would be a big help.

Tim Kaine needs to be out as chair of the DNC--his reign has been a disaster from the get go (the Governor races in Virginia and New Jersey in 2009 should have been a rather obvious warning sign). Fuck the moderates--they always lead us to defeat and half-assed legislation. We need a party champion--would love to see someone like either Alan Grayson or Russ Feingold take on the job, but I doubt we'll see either.

On the bright side, for as big of an ass kicking as we took last Tuesday, it appears we have 190 seats in the House (and a generally more supportive 190 seats for the progressive agenda) which means we only need 28 seats to take back the majority next election. Not likely, but not impossible either.

Further, for all the talk about returning to the blue/red political map of 2004, remember this: liberals didn't turn out, minorities didn't turn out, and young voters didn't turn out. My guess is after two years of republican "investigations," gridlock, and nothing accomplished to help the economy, they all turn out again in 2012. Will the traditional media be telling us in 2012 that we've returned to the 2008 map?

We can only hope....

Peace,
emaycee