I suppose I could be torturing myself by listening to the RNC speeches, but I'd like to save myself that self-induced pain. It isn't so much the stupid lies that hurt my brain, it is the process of them stupidly countering the stupid thing they made up for their stupid listeners. That's a hell of a lot of stupid to endure for the sake of pitter-patting my fingers on this keyboard for people who can't be bothered to laugh at me or say attaboy or acknowledge they were here at all. For cripes sake if it's that damn embarrassing to be caught out reading this drivel, why come in?
Ah, I don't really mean it - well, mostly not. I'm cranky. Look here, I'm not going to apologize for being well Left of the President (publicly...anyhow) and thinking that his inclinations and policies are way too rightish, corporatistic, and plutocratic enabling. What I am is real tired of the lunatics from the GOPerish side of Elsewhere insulting me by putting him rhetorically miles Left of me. You goddam idiots - I'm not even a Socialist and you don't even know what the term means in regard Shinola.
These idiots have no idea that the Health Care model preceding ACA (ObamaCare) was the most bastardized version of socialized medicine probably possible. Every uninsured hospital visit or other medical care was billed directly to either the taxpayers or their Health Insurance Billing. Yeah, I think the Bill that got through Congress stinks, but its smell is nothing compared to the blatant idiocy that preceded it. These people seem to think that the damned health care providers magically generated money to cover those expenses - they got one o' them money trees in the atrium...
If they want to get up in the air about socialism they need to go look at BushCo who provided the military industrial complex with unfunded wars to subsidize their products, or the crony unbidded contracts for services in those wars, or maybe most outrageously the Financial Crook Bailout - that crushed the hell out of most of the population. Now you could almost as accurately describe that as something like the Italian Fascisti program... but that would be rude considering who they Allied with (er... Axised with?).
Despite all their redistribution of wealth, job creator, individualism bullshit they run a program that is essentially the socialism of plutocracy. In the process of stripping wealth out of the country and sending it up to the top of the scale they use the labor and investment of ordinary people to support a system deliberately designed to enhance the earning power of an incredibly small percentage of the populace. They wish to accelerate the process and in the process defeat all those bullshit rhetorical devices they espouse. Jobs are created by demand and people without income do not create that state, wealth is redistributed - upwards and deliberately so, individualism is crushed by the access to power of the few through wealth and nobody takes responsibility other than those most crushed in the process.
I'm cranky. A decent percentage of the voters know what has to happen but it will not and those people will be called the cause of the problem. The vast, too disinterested to figure it out, majority will send us farther down the road we're on and the difference will be how fast we get to disaster. Some of us will vote for the least offensive and maybe along with some of the vast majority it will be enough to defeat the party of rush to wreckage and we can continue to stumble down that same path a bit more slowly.
We have good decent people with a clue like Jeff Merkley and Sherrod Brown and Bernie Sanders in the halls of power and that would be nice if they were more than window dressing. Because we load their ranks with people like Rand Paul or even Joe Lieberman those people become immaterial. Without a lot of similar company they amount to a "feel good" for some of us. Stupidity is going to be the end of us, we won't go out in a bang, we'll go quietly smothered in a blanket of idiocy and that is sad - makes me cranky.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
The Purpose Of A Convention
I've been to State Party Conventions and I've watched on TV and read about National Party Conventions. As best I can tell there are two competing agendas:
Make the base happy to work at the electioneering
Use the Media time to make an introduction to voters you want to win
Platform fooferaw is about the base that is at the Convention or the few at home at the Party meetings. It is the a game of pleasing the Party activists and giving them hope for the future direction of the Party. The wrangling and word corrections are the fodder of the purists and not to be mistaken for serious political strategy. Sure - it does tell you who that group is and where they want to take America and even who they think counts, but it is just a grown-ups game of tiddly-winks.
The selection of speakers and what they have to say starts getting to the heart of the politics. This selection portion involves what the general reputation of the speaker says about their political machinery and also works to bring forward the 'Next New Best Thing' - bestowing a mantle of Party respect and approval - and also puts the Party imprimatur on surrogates and their messaging. Any one speaker can hold a variety of those roles and sometimes without knowing the policy positions of one it would be easy to think they'd been anointed "Next" when what they really are about is tone. Chris Christie fits this slot I believe after listening to commentators proclaim his as "Next" when what I believe his role to been is to play the bully - the hard-assed hard-nose that represents how "tough" the GOP is. Christie would have to perform Mittenesque retroactive redefinitions to fit the role of "Next." The Base won't have that without a r-Money win and that puts Christie pretty far off.
I tried to listen to the speakers, but it was too much and I kept switching to the satellite Blues channel. The gist of what I heard was a play for the Base and even Wife Surrogate didn't seem to be reaching for Undecideds but rather to be trying to reassure the Base. Her "shout out" to women seemed painfully jarring considering the GOP's stance and her Hubby's stance on women's matters like contraception and choice and work rights - not to mention with an entire disconnect from the daily issues facing most women beyond somebody's platitudes. (disclosure: every time this rich bitch opens her mouth my eyes go red) ((don't start up with me, I like strong women and weak ones make me tired)) (((strong women deal with hard things and persevere - not buy their way through)))* Look, the Undecideds are going to choose on something other than race or European socialism or God-bothering and that something other will most likely be who they FEEL will care the most and do the best job of straightening up their economic pain. Damn it, they will not analyze policy points - they'll go with a general sense of that piece. Women who are flat done with the misogyny of the GOP won't change their minds because Anne says they're great and women who haven't decided because they've somehow missed having their heads kicked by it won't care Anne says they have it tough. The undecided audience is primarily white working class of the "don't bother me with this shit until later" variety. These folks are marginally convinced their vote matters and they couldn't be less interested in the high-falutin ideological fights - they just want things fixed for them and they're not real sure who is responsible for them not being fixed. Racist dog-whistling won't do much with them, not because they're committed to equality but because it requires energy to hate and it makes them uncomfortable. These folks need a reason to be reassured that r-Money gives enough of a damn about them to actually do something. I didn't hear that - at all. It is still early but these first out of the gate folks tend to set tone...
I can only hope this GOP thing is a massive failure.
*I realize that was a lot of parenthetical speaking and no I don't give a rat's patoot about MS, I've had women friends with it and they didn't have dancing horses and the money for the best medical treatment in the world and I don't give a damn about her five or eight or whatever kids and gazillion grandkids the hired help takes care of - the women I knew had a real hard go of it and did a pretty good job of living until it killed them. Yeah, it killed them and not a single one of them would have taken it as a badge for respect.
Make the base happy to work at the electioneering
Use the Media time to make an introduction to voters you want to win
Platform fooferaw is about the base that is at the Convention or the few at home at the Party meetings. It is the a game of pleasing the Party activists and giving them hope for the future direction of the Party. The wrangling and word corrections are the fodder of the purists and not to be mistaken for serious political strategy. Sure - it does tell you who that group is and where they want to take America and even who they think counts, but it is just a grown-ups game of tiddly-winks.
The selection of speakers and what they have to say starts getting to the heart of the politics. This selection portion involves what the general reputation of the speaker says about their political machinery and also works to bring forward the 'Next New Best Thing' - bestowing a mantle of Party respect and approval - and also puts the Party imprimatur on surrogates and their messaging. Any one speaker can hold a variety of those roles and sometimes without knowing the policy positions of one it would be easy to think they'd been anointed "Next" when what they really are about is tone. Chris Christie fits this slot I believe after listening to commentators proclaim his as "Next" when what I believe his role to been is to play the bully - the hard-assed hard-nose that represents how "tough" the GOP is. Christie would have to perform Mittenesque retroactive redefinitions to fit the role of "Next." The Base won't have that without a r-Money win and that puts Christie pretty far off.
I tried to listen to the speakers, but it was too much and I kept switching to the satellite Blues channel. The gist of what I heard was a play for the Base and even Wife Surrogate didn't seem to be reaching for Undecideds but rather to be trying to reassure the Base. Her "shout out" to women seemed painfully jarring considering the GOP's stance and her Hubby's stance on women's matters like contraception and choice and work rights - not to mention with an entire disconnect from the daily issues facing most women beyond somebody's platitudes. (disclosure: every time this rich bitch opens her mouth my eyes go red) ((don't start up with me, I like strong women and weak ones make me tired)) (((strong women deal with hard things and persevere - not buy their way through)))* Look, the Undecideds are going to choose on something other than race or European socialism or God-bothering and that something other will most likely be who they FEEL will care the most and do the best job of straightening up their economic pain. Damn it, they will not analyze policy points - they'll go with a general sense of that piece. Women who are flat done with the misogyny of the GOP won't change their minds because Anne says they're great and women who haven't decided because they've somehow missed having their heads kicked by it won't care Anne says they have it tough. The undecided audience is primarily white working class of the "don't bother me with this shit until later" variety. These folks are marginally convinced their vote matters and they couldn't be less interested in the high-falutin ideological fights - they just want things fixed for them and they're not real sure who is responsible for them not being fixed. Racist dog-whistling won't do much with them, not because they're committed to equality but because it requires energy to hate and it makes them uncomfortable. These folks need a reason to be reassured that r-Money gives enough of a damn about them to actually do something. I didn't hear that - at all. It is still early but these first out of the gate folks tend to set tone...
I can only hope this GOP thing is a massive failure.
*I realize that was a lot of parenthetical speaking and no I don't give a rat's patoot about MS, I've had women friends with it and they didn't have dancing horses and the money for the best medical treatment in the world and I don't give a damn about her five or eight or whatever kids and gazillion grandkids the hired help takes care of - the women I knew had a real hard go of it and did a pretty good job of living until it killed them. Yeah, it killed them and not a single one of them would have taken it as a badge for respect.
Boehner's Bar
"A guy walked into a bar..."
You'd have thought he'd have noticed...
Boehner may have over-visited a bar... you'd think somebody'd have noticed.
Should've been tears... that's always fun with Boehner.
There are few national pols I have less respect for... there are r-Money and his faithless side-kick Ayn Ryan.
You'd have thought he'd have noticed...
Boehner may have over-visited a bar... you'd think somebody'd have noticed.
Should've been tears... that's always fun with Boehner.
There are few national pols I have less respect for... there are r-Money and his faithless side-kick Ayn Ryan.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Whither The Paulistas ?
You would think that the Ron Paul supporters would have known they would get mugged at the GOP Convention. I don't know what they thought the reaction would be to how well they worked the rules in the Caucuses and Delegate Selections but it certainly seems wishful thinking that the GOP would ignore it. Well, the GOP didn't ignore it and has gone to lengths to keep things on track (non-Paul track) and following the script of Romney. The Paul crowd doesn't seem to quite understand the authoritarianism inherent in both the GOP and particularly Romney.
They're going to have a few days to watch the GOP Convention follow its script and maybe actually think about it. I'll be damned if I'm going to spend a page debunking bullshit that they think Paul stands for, I'll just go ahead and pretty much accept that they believe the things they say. They are going to get absolutely not spit out of the GOP Platform, the speakers, or R-money. It gets worse than that, the R/R campaign's foreign policy outfit is stuffed full of neo-cons; remember Iraq? There is a stated desire to go to war with Iran... and others. Whatever version of Anti-abortion you pick from the mess that is the GOP/R-money it is in direct opposition to the Paulista's position. (I already said I'm not debunking...) As for the Drug War, any comparison between their positions is ludicrously divergent. You can go on and on, and find about the only thing close is the Platform in regard to the Fed - and you can bet your first born that R-money isn't on board with that. (maybe the 2nd Amendment, also; too)
The Paulistas get truly pissed-off if you bring up the racism of Paul - denying and stomping their feet, but since the R/R campaign is blatantly whistling up the race card there is that congruence; unless, of course, they actually mean their denials. This brings about the crux of "Whither The Paulistas ?" because almost everything they say they believe is in direct opposition to R/R beyond the amorphous assertions about smaller government and that fails their included phrase "less intrusive."
No, Obama is not directly in line with the Paulista's themes, in fact he is pretty awful in regard to a lot of their stuff. The question they have to ask themselves is which of the two actual candidates, c'mon nobody else is a factor, is less bad. Yep, I said it - less bad, you know the "lesser of two evils." What are they going to do with that? There are options:
Vote the least bad real candidate - Obama (he is black)
Vote the most offensive candidate - r-Money (he isn't black)
Vote the protest candidate - whatever...
Stay the hell home
Really, I'd bet on splintering badly, the "not black", the protest candidate, staying home. You may note that the lesser evil gets no consideration in my guess-work. I'll even tell you why two thing drive that consideration - I'm pretty sure the denials of racism are horseshit and less intrusive government counts for nothing against SMALL government - FYIGM ( F*** You I Got Mine). Like almost every small government bullshit booster; the second their break gets the axe they go ballistic.
I'm sorry Paulistas, you're as full of shit as your candidate is and as ignorant of history and consequences as most rocks. The second you come on this blog and swarm me with promises to vote Obama I'll take it back. Don't bother me with the protest candidate vote - it is outcome meaningless other than possibly tilting a very few places Obama. And before you get all over me about being an Obama-ite, I see him as a lesser evil and have stated that repeatedly and kicked the Democrats for their corporatist outcomes.
They're going to have a few days to watch the GOP Convention follow its script and maybe actually think about it. I'll be damned if I'm going to spend a page debunking bullshit that they think Paul stands for, I'll just go ahead and pretty much accept that they believe the things they say. They are going to get absolutely not spit out of the GOP Platform, the speakers, or R-money. It gets worse than that, the R/R campaign's foreign policy outfit is stuffed full of neo-cons; remember Iraq? There is a stated desire to go to war with Iran... and others. Whatever version of Anti-abortion you pick from the mess that is the GOP/R-money it is in direct opposition to the Paulista's position. (I already said I'm not debunking...) As for the Drug War, any comparison between their positions is ludicrously divergent. You can go on and on, and find about the only thing close is the Platform in regard to the Fed - and you can bet your first born that R-money isn't on board with that. (maybe the 2nd Amendment, also; too)
The Paulistas get truly pissed-off if you bring up the racism of Paul - denying and stomping their feet, but since the R/R campaign is blatantly whistling up the race card there is that congruence; unless, of course, they actually mean their denials. This brings about the crux of "Whither The Paulistas ?" because almost everything they say they believe is in direct opposition to R/R beyond the amorphous assertions about smaller government and that fails their included phrase "less intrusive."
No, Obama is not directly in line with the Paulista's themes, in fact he is pretty awful in regard to a lot of their stuff. The question they have to ask themselves is which of the two actual candidates, c'mon nobody else is a factor, is less bad. Yep, I said it - less bad, you know the "lesser of two evils." What are they going to do with that? There are options:
Vote the least bad real candidate - Obama (he is black)
Vote the most offensive candidate - r-Money (he isn't black)
Vote the protest candidate - whatever...
Stay the hell home
Really, I'd bet on splintering badly, the "not black", the protest candidate, staying home. You may note that the lesser evil gets no consideration in my guess-work. I'll even tell you why two thing drive that consideration - I'm pretty sure the denials of racism are horseshit and less intrusive government counts for nothing against SMALL government - FYIGM ( F*** You I Got Mine). Like almost every small government bullshit booster; the second their break gets the axe they go ballistic.
I'm sorry Paulistas, you're as full of shit as your candidate is and as ignorant of history and consequences as most rocks. The second you come on this blog and swarm me with promises to vote Obama I'll take it back. Don't bother me with the protest candidate vote - it is outcome meaningless other than possibly tilting a very few places Obama. And before you get all over me about being an Obama-ite, I see him as a lesser evil and have stated that repeatedly and kicked the Democrats for their corporatist outcomes.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Are We Deaf, Blind, and Stupid
Over the past months the Romney campaign and the GOP campaign and their "allies" in big money have run out the post '64 GOPer rhetoric. You might remember '64 or you might have read about it and the little matter of the Civil Rights Movement and the Dixiecrat exodus. The GOP, the "Party of Lincoln," took the South and they took it in the ugly way you'd have to - pounding race. After awhile they realized they'd have to pull a white sheet over their racism and use dog-whistles. "Don't say nigger, put that thin cloth over it and use welfare or..." It didn't quite play to use the "N" word with people who'd watched, live, fire hoses, German Shepards, and kids dug out of dike and couldn't quite get along with it.
Some of us were young and didn't know; our hearts were broken and a fierce rage was lit. No, the "N" word wasn't going to work and a hell of a lot of us got the tune played on the whistles. In our country the issue of where to eat and sleep, of going to school, and trying to vote ended in being buried in a goddam dike. That dike was the end point of the "discussion." That is what they mean, that is the level of resentment that got the GOP the goddam South.
A couple of pundits are starting to get actually angry, Chris Matthews is having trouble being polite and some are surprised - forgetting where, when, and how he was raised. Some people seem to forget or not know that a large chunk of the Civil Rights Movement was white and that those people were deeply hurt by what our nation was doing and tolerating. One of the results was that a lot of white people who are not (words fail) race conscious are not pleased when the whistles are exposed for what they are. Their racism is primarily ignorance and avoidance - different is unsettling, but buried in fucking dike - uh... no. They'd be really pleased if, "nobody asked for my birth certificate," could be passed off as a bit of awkward moment of humor. "It's just a joke, fer pete's sake." Yeah, and a burial in a dike is pretty goddam funny, also.
Those black people are soooo sensitive... Cripes on a crutch - I sit here white and far from my dotage and I can remember how and what got us here and feel that rage at what is done in my country being fanned into white hot flames. I have not had my daily existence shaped by what these cretins espouse so I'm less sensitive, but I'm not deaf, blind, and stupid; and neither are a lot of people if someone jumps up and down and yells. Hey, you - I'm yelling. I'm so goddam mad my eyes start leaking when I reflect on what got us here.
Nineteen Sixty goddam Four was 48 years ago, almost a half century, and here we are. A candidate for the Presidency and his allies are playing at race hate. That seems like piss poor improvement over that length of time from dead in a dike. Yes, you cretins, the end point of your shit is dead in a dike. That is what you goddam mean. Yeah, I do judge you on that basis. I'd throw away a pair of shoes I got you on.
If you're white working class you might want to ask yourself why this is what Mitt has got for you... if you don't wonder - you could point it out to your friends.
Some of us were young and didn't know; our hearts were broken and a fierce rage was lit. No, the "N" word wasn't going to work and a hell of a lot of us got the tune played on the whistles. In our country the issue of where to eat and sleep, of going to school, and trying to vote ended in being buried in a goddam dike. That dike was the end point of the "discussion." That is what they mean, that is the level of resentment that got the GOP the goddam South.
A couple of pundits are starting to get actually angry, Chris Matthews is having trouble being polite and some are surprised - forgetting where, when, and how he was raised. Some people seem to forget or not know that a large chunk of the Civil Rights Movement was white and that those people were deeply hurt by what our nation was doing and tolerating. One of the results was that a lot of white people who are not (words fail) race conscious are not pleased when the whistles are exposed for what they are. Their racism is primarily ignorance and avoidance - different is unsettling, but buried in fucking dike - uh... no. They'd be really pleased if, "nobody asked for my birth certificate," could be passed off as a bit of awkward moment of humor. "It's just a joke, fer pete's sake." Yeah, and a burial in a dike is pretty goddam funny, also.
Those black people are soooo sensitive... Cripes on a crutch - I sit here white and far from my dotage and I can remember how and what got us here and feel that rage at what is done in my country being fanned into white hot flames. I have not had my daily existence shaped by what these cretins espouse so I'm less sensitive, but I'm not deaf, blind, and stupid; and neither are a lot of people if someone jumps up and down and yells. Hey, you - I'm yelling. I'm so goddam mad my eyes start leaking when I reflect on what got us here.
Nineteen Sixty goddam Four was 48 years ago, almost a half century, and here we are. A candidate for the Presidency and his allies are playing at race hate. That seems like piss poor improvement over that length of time from dead in a dike. Yes, you cretins, the end point of your shit is dead in a dike. That is what you goddam mean. Yeah, I do judge you on that basis. I'd throw away a pair of shoes I got you on.
If you're white working class you might want to ask yourself why this is what Mitt has got for you... if you don't wonder - you could point it out to your friends.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Our Hero Dies
Neil Armstrong is dead at 82. I grew up with him on the world stage doing things and succeeding in the face of long odds. The list of his accomplishments ought to remind us to not devalue the word "hero," when we have to include people like Neil Armstrong.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
It Seems White People Are Gullible
If you were to take a look at the NBC/WSJ poll released the other day one thing would stand out to you, well after you laughed at the 0 in black support for Mitt, which is that Mitt Romney leads Pres Obama 53-40 with whites. Now that is compounded by a couple things - his lead with rurals 47-38 and seniors 49-41 and Romney's deficit with women 41-51. Given some other things going on, Mitt must be a really big hit with old white hick males - I do mean a really big hit. Old white rich men seem to be in his corner but unlike their donations there doesn't seem to be a big number.
Now given the absolute tonnage of R-money lies and the actual effects of the policies he's willing to stick to for a couple days on the economic condition of almost all citizens - I'm afraid the best possible picture of these folks is... gullible. Now, if you are female in gender or one of those who gives a damn about female humans you should find yourself in firm opposition to R-money/R-Ayn 2012. I've got to tell you that the Women split 51-O/41-R at 10 seems remarkable in light of the White split of 40-O/53-R. I'm trying to figure out the truly offensive damaging to women Democratic policies versus the obvious offensive and damaging to Whites that Democrats have been up to... ummm - wait a minute, that doesn't seem to have worked. OK, you do have 27% of the voting population who still thinks GWB (name unspoken within GOP) should be sainted and around 40% of GOP who reckon Obama is Muslim or... something non-Christian and even unlawfully foreign. I suppose it is glaringly obvious that Obama is non-white and as much as it pains me that could, maybe -sorta, be a factor in the White split. You don't suppose that whites are genetically pre-disposed to some kind of genetically driven gullibility - do you? Maybe it's like that Brown Welfare gene... Nah - whites have just inbred themselves into imbecility.
OK, snark to the side... it isn't easy, here - whites are not used to having the economic system crash on them - other people, maybe; but not on them. White people are first of all entitled and secondly unused to the stacked deck not including them. Those others are losers who've been sucking the life out of the system for years and even if you're a white loser those others should be losing a lot harder than you and besides it is their fault you're losing. It just doesn't dawn on them that rich white mostly old men are sucking the guts out of the economic system, wholly own the GOPers, and hold a hell of a mortgage on the Democrats. Maybe they sense it in some dim way, but they sure the hell can't hurt that bunch and can hurt just about every minority group - punch down.
Are you white? Yeah? So what do you think about this kind of spread? Gonna vote?
Now given the absolute tonnage of R-money lies and the actual effects of the policies he's willing to stick to for a couple days on the economic condition of almost all citizens - I'm afraid the best possible picture of these folks is... gullible. Now, if you are female in gender or one of those who gives a damn about female humans you should find yourself in firm opposition to R-money/R-Ayn 2012. I've got to tell you that the Women split 51-O/41-R at 10 seems remarkable in light of the White split of 40-O/53-R. I'm trying to figure out the truly offensive damaging to women Democratic policies versus the obvious offensive and damaging to Whites that Democrats have been up to... ummm - wait a minute, that doesn't seem to have worked. OK, you do have 27% of the voting population who still thinks GWB (name unspoken within GOP) should be sainted and around 40% of GOP who reckon Obama is Muslim or... something non-Christian and even unlawfully foreign. I suppose it is glaringly obvious that Obama is non-white and as much as it pains me that could, maybe -sorta, be a factor in the White split. You don't suppose that whites are genetically pre-disposed to some kind of genetically driven gullibility - do you? Maybe it's like that Brown Welfare gene... Nah - whites have just inbred themselves into imbecility.
OK, snark to the side... it isn't easy, here - whites are not used to having the economic system crash on them - other people, maybe; but not on them. White people are first of all entitled and secondly unused to the stacked deck not including them. Those others are losers who've been sucking the life out of the system for years and even if you're a white loser those others should be losing a lot harder than you and besides it is their fault you're losing. It just doesn't dawn on them that rich white mostly old men are sucking the guts out of the economic system, wholly own the GOPers, and hold a hell of a mortgage on the Democrats. Maybe they sense it in some dim way, but they sure the hell can't hurt that bunch and can hurt just about every minority group - punch down.
Are you white? Yeah? So what do you think about this kind of spread? Gonna vote?
Rape Is Rape?
I suppose that if you're a part (VP) of the R-money campaign sudden 180 degree swerves, er - turns, um - flipperfloppers are sort of ordinary.
It would seem from Paulie's terseness when pushed on the rape is rape line that he's had a really big change of heart in the last... I don't know, couple days. I say that recently since in January of 2011 he was one of the cretins pushing for the language in HR3 that contained the phrase "forcible rape" in place of "rape." This was about the third time around he'd made that play so "forcible rape" apparently held real meaning for him in his proudly held Pro-choice career. I don't know, maybe Mitt secretes a secretion of pheronomes that drives flipperflopperism. (you know kinda like that spermicidal secretion - also known as God's Little Shield)
You don't suppose this'll put the wooden stake in the vampire heart of the "brave principled Ryan" media theme do you?
I'll admit I've heard Ryan repeat the "work requirement" Romney lie and I've heard him talk about the Prez "raiding Medicare" and even the "didn't build that" bullshit lies without any real pushback on his "honorableness." He is still the "brave thoughtfull budget hawk" despite voting for every one of BushCo's budget busting measures and proposing a budget that would explode the deficit even under favorable filling in of the details he refuses to provide - along with now being R-money's second on that guy's similar messy budget nonsense. I strongly doubt there'll be any such pushback on his mythological status since it seems the media has a macro for Ryan with those adjectives filled in.
I'll admit I've heard Ryan repeat the "work requirement" Romney lie and I've heard him talk about the Prez "raiding Medicare" and even the "didn't build that" bullshit lies without any real pushback on his "honorableness." He is still the "brave thoughtfull budget hawk" despite voting for every one of BushCo's budget busting measures and proposing a budget that would explode the deficit even under favorable filling in of the details he refuses to provide - along with now being R-money's second on that guy's similar messy budget nonsense. I strongly doubt there'll be any such pushback on his mythological status since it seems the media has a macro for Ryan with those adjectives filled in.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
GOP Rape
I'd very much appreciate it if you'd take a moment to reflect just who it is that is trying to get Todd Akin out of the MO Senate race. I'd further appreciate it if you would reflect for a moment that Akin and Ryan are joined at the hip on the very issues that has the media and GOPers head-hunting Akin. Now I know just how tedious Prince Rebus is to listen to, it is only a few minutes long and I have no ability to edit out the junk and get just the meat. Sorry, this blog does not come equipped with brain bleach.
Now that you've had a chance to listen to the RNC Chair and you've shook off the effects we can discuss what you've just endured. Oh hell, click the song and consider your brain cleansed...
OK where the hell to start? Before we go on, lets be real clear on something, Ryan and Akin both co-sponsored a bill to re-define "rape" in the Federal Exception for funding to cover "Forcible Rape" and the consequences of such a thing I can easily leave to you imagination beyond noting that unlike Mitt, a raped woman has no access to retroactively un-deliver after the rape trial. Both of those characters co-sponsored the Personhood bill that every House GOPer voted for.
Goddam, you can't even get 30 seconds in without a damn lie, Mitt Romney has stated publicly that he would gladly sign a Personhood amendment - that means NO GODDAM EXCEPTIONS! What the hell? "We're a Pro-life Party" is such a load of hooey, first they'll cut pre-natal care which is about the FETUS they're so concerned with and after that fetus delivers all bets are off. All bets. Almost a minute gone...
Holy shit by 1:42 we get informed that this is the Platform of the GOP not the Platform of Romney. Ummm huh? Depending on what campaign? Not to mention that inconvenient (R) after Romney and all those downticket cretins. Oh well...
By 2:40 we're getting an argument about gender gap and GOP Chair is asserting that most women are Pro-life and it's not a big deal and that Pro-woman isn't the same thing as not telling them they have to deliver their rapist's child. I hope the music is helping...
Uhoh, 4;11 involves "leadership" and did Mitt miss an opportunity to kick Akin really hard? Somehow what Mitt did was to lead the charge... Okeedokey. They all fell into lie...er... line. Well, I have talked a bit about why Akin is inconvenient and that would point to a reason why the national GOP is concerned about... well, how stupid and hateful they look with absolute zero regard for how stupid and hateful they actually are. For the Presidency Akin makes a convenient scapegoat, even if they totally agree with him - the media optics make this work ... unless...
Contrary to the monkey's assertion, I do think evolution is real but this kind of shit makes me feel a bit doubtful that it has been beneficial. Look, ladies (and anybody who cares about them) this is the kind of word that has to be spread to anybody who might care a bit about the kind of things Akin made the mistake of blabbing about in public. It is fine with me if the Obama Administration has left you feeling a bit disappointed - but there really is this other...
Now that you've had a chance to listen to the RNC Chair and you've shook off the effects we can discuss what you've just endured. Oh hell, click the song and consider your brain cleansed...
OK where the hell to start? Before we go on, lets be real clear on something, Ryan and Akin both co-sponsored a bill to re-define "rape" in the Federal Exception for funding to cover "Forcible Rape" and the consequences of such a thing I can easily leave to you imagination beyond noting that unlike Mitt, a raped woman has no access to retroactively un-deliver after the rape trial. Both of those characters co-sponsored the Personhood bill that every House GOPer voted for.
Goddam, you can't even get 30 seconds in without a damn lie, Mitt Romney has stated publicly that he would gladly sign a Personhood amendment - that means NO GODDAM EXCEPTIONS! What the hell? "We're a Pro-life Party" is such a load of hooey, first they'll cut pre-natal care which is about the FETUS they're so concerned with and after that fetus delivers all bets are off. All bets. Almost a minute gone...
Holy shit by 1:42 we get informed that this is the Platform of the GOP not the Platform of Romney. Ummm huh? Depending on what campaign? Not to mention that inconvenient (R) after Romney and all those downticket cretins. Oh well...
By 2:40 we're getting an argument about gender gap and GOP Chair is asserting that most women are Pro-life and it's not a big deal and that Pro-woman isn't the same thing as not telling them they have to deliver their rapist's child. I hope the music is helping...
Uhoh, 4;11 involves "leadership" and did Mitt miss an opportunity to kick Akin really hard? Somehow what Mitt did was to lead the charge... Okeedokey. They all fell into lie...er... line. Well, I have talked a bit about why Akin is inconvenient and that would point to a reason why the national GOP is concerned about... well, how stupid and hateful they look with absolute zero regard for how stupid and hateful they actually are. For the Presidency Akin makes a convenient scapegoat, even if they totally agree with him - the media optics make this work ... unless...
Contrary to the monkey's assertion, I do think evolution is real but this kind of shit makes me feel a bit doubtful that it has been beneficial. Look, ladies (and anybody who cares about them) this is the kind of word that has to be spread to anybody who might care a bit about the kind of things Akin made the mistake of blabbing about in public. It is fine with me if the Obama Administration has left you feeling a bit disappointed - but there really is this other...
Monday, August 20, 2012
Akin With A Blue Dress On
"Legitimate Rape." This little idea would take us back to Akin and Ryan's effort to restrict federal funding for rape victims. This is going back to some Neandertal idea that rape only includes a cloistered victim who winds up bleeding from... well, just saying various orifices is too damn much detail... Somehow the GOPers want to go back the idea of, "well, she had it coming."
If it feels like I'm quibbling on a piece of a woman's right to choose, I'm not. I am trying to point out a symptom of their entire point of view. Yeah, Ryan/Akin tried to get a Personhood concept passed and that is about as far in that direction as it's possible to go - well, short of outlawing condoms or male singular sex.
I'm serious about their point of view - they really do mean to go back to the "she asked for it," defense. She shouldn't have worn that short short blue dress with those stockings is where they're trying to go despite Mitt's written hissing at Akin. Mitt is hissing because Akin got himself knocked around by a lot of media and could cause problems for himself and particularly Ryan - not because he disagrees (personhood endorsement). Akin is now carrying a blah child from the media's unwanted attentions.
Well, I'd like to point out that they should celebrate that child because that Akin creature put on that Devil's blue dress and the "I put out" shoes right in front of... those kinds of people. In point of fact, I didn't notice anything close to "forcible" in that encounter - though one could debate Akin's consciousness at that time (or any time).
(female reproductive protection from rape conception ought to point up the dangers of putting science in the hands of the home schooled - hey he didn't get that from any public education)
*apologies to Shorty Long and Mitch Ryder for this theft
**the real question left is if Ryan is gonna get it for wearing that skimpy top along with Akin
***BTW h/t to Ballonjuice comments
If it feels like I'm quibbling on a piece of a woman's right to choose, I'm not. I am trying to point out a symptom of their entire point of view. Yeah, Ryan/Akin tried to get a Personhood concept passed and that is about as far in that direction as it's possible to go - well, short of outlawing condoms or male singular sex.
I'm serious about their point of view - they really do mean to go back to the "she asked for it," defense. She shouldn't have worn that short short blue dress with those stockings is where they're trying to go despite Mitt's written hissing at Akin. Mitt is hissing because Akin got himself knocked around by a lot of media and could cause problems for himself and particularly Ryan - not because he disagrees (personhood endorsement). Akin is now carrying a blah child from the media's unwanted attentions.
Well, I'd like to point out that they should celebrate that child because that Akin creature put on that Devil's blue dress and the "I put out" shoes right in front of... those kinds of people. In point of fact, I didn't notice anything close to "forcible" in that encounter - though one could debate Akin's consciousness at that time (or any time).
(female reproductive protection from rape conception ought to point up the dangers of putting science in the hands of the home schooled - hey he didn't get that from any public education)
*apologies to Shorty Long and Mitch Ryder for this theft
**the real question left is if Ryan is gonna get it for wearing that skimpy top along with Akin
***BTW h/t to Ballonjuice comments
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Bye-bye Joey B...
Jumpin' Hayzeus On A Pogo-Stick...
Do you ever wonder just how long something patently stupidly irrelevantly ridiculous can live? Oh my fucking god, Joe Biden said, "chains." Now no shit, somebody actually asked the WH Press Secretary if the ticket was still Obama/Biden - in a White House Press Conference, where presumably you have to show you have some reason to be there. I mean that you're not a paste eating crayon wielding three year old.
Today, Saturday, there was still a mention of this on CNN Newsroom. Really. Don't shake your head at me like I'm making shit up, really.
You might think it is some kind of sick joke if I tell you that the Boston Globe is demanding an apology from Biden - I've heard jokes that ought to make you want to throw up, but this ain't one... even if it should be. Chains.
Oh, it was supposed to be shackles, as in "Wall Street unshackled." Arggghhh. Ever look at shackles? They're chains. The GOPer dumbass in charge said unshackled. What was this, a reference to Wall Street as ni**er slaves to government? WTF? Lemmee see here...
Chained to a desk
Chained to a loveless marriage
Chained to foreign oil
How about -
Workers of the world unite, all you have to lose is your chains!
Maybe that last one means something in relation to this dispute. Sure, I know where it comes from - want to dispute its accuracy in light of the US economy today and the politics of today?
It is as likely that Biden would be going away as it is that a three acre asteroid will smash this laptop before I hit "Publish."
Missed me, MFer
Do you ever wonder just how long something patently stupidly irrelevantly ridiculous can live? Oh my fucking god, Joe Biden said, "chains." Now no shit, somebody actually asked the WH Press Secretary if the ticket was still Obama/Biden - in a White House Press Conference, where presumably you have to show you have some reason to be there. I mean that you're not a paste eating crayon wielding three year old.
Today, Saturday, there was still a mention of this on CNN Newsroom. Really. Don't shake your head at me like I'm making shit up, really.
You might think it is some kind of sick joke if I tell you that the Boston Globe is demanding an apology from Biden - I've heard jokes that ought to make you want to throw up, but this ain't one... even if it should be. Chains.
Oh, it was supposed to be shackles, as in "Wall Street unshackled." Arggghhh. Ever look at shackles? They're chains. The GOPer dumbass in charge said unshackled. What was this, a reference to Wall Street as ni**er slaves to government? WTF? Lemmee see here...
Chained to a desk
Chained to a loveless marriage
Chained to foreign oil
How about -
Workers of the world unite, all you have to lose is your chains!
Maybe that last one means something in relation to this dispute. Sure, I know where it comes from - want to dispute its accuracy in light of the US economy today and the politics of today?
It is as likely that Biden would be going away as it is that a three acre asteroid will smash this laptop before I hit "Publish."
Missed me, MFer
Mommy, They're Being Mean To Me...
Cripes, after a parade of other GOPers dragging their Mommies out with them to keep Medicare off their backs - the latest to whine to the old bag about their treatment and drag her out to shame the mean people is tough serious guy Paul Ryan.
Jayzus, for a bunch of tough talking kick the poor and powerless badasses they sure are babies. Suppose they've gotten past breast feeding yet?
"Mommie, Mommie, Barack's being mean to me..."
You have got to be kidding me. No?
There's a new kind of warrior for you - I'll bet that kind would be glad to send other people's kids off to war while they hid out in a French mansion... oh wait, that's the top of the ticket.
.
.
.
....he sends out his wifey...
Jayzus, for a bunch of tough talking kick the poor and powerless badasses they sure are babies. Suppose they've gotten past breast feeding yet?
"Mommie, Mommie, Barack's being mean to me..."
You have got to be kidding me. No?
There's a new kind of warrior for you - I'll bet that kind would be glad to send other people's kids off to war while they hid out in a French mansion... oh wait, that's the top of the ticket.
.
.
.
....he sends out his wifey...
Friday, August 17, 2012
The Girls Gotta Love Romney/Ryan
I've been hearing how good looking Mitt R-money and Ayn Ryan are, maybe some of the girls can help me out here because I sure don't see it, myself. To be sure I am not using myself as a measure, but - huh? Anyhow, now that I've pissed off the women by calling them girls lets move on to where I actually wanted to go.
OK, ladies - and anybody that cares about them - do you think there are negative outcomes for you if this stuff the Vulture/Voucher are proposing happens?
Obamacare goes away and along with it your wellness screenings and birth control in insurance
Planned Parenthood goes away
Personhood gets done so in vitro, IUDs, hormonal birth control, any abortion are all outlawed
Medicare turns into a vouchers
Medicaide goes away
Title IX gone
Homophobic legislation
oh hell, anything to do with health, budgets, or anything else like taxes if you ain't rich
It is pretty obvious that they'd like us to believe that they're taking you back to the mythical '50s - though you may have the century wrong. There must be something positive to say about these guys.
.
.
.
.
.
Nope
OK, ladies - and anybody that cares about them - do you think there are negative outcomes for you if this stuff the Vulture/Voucher are proposing happens?
Obamacare goes away and along with it your wellness screenings and birth control in insurance
Planned Parenthood goes away
Personhood gets done so in vitro, IUDs, hormonal birth control, any abortion are all outlawed
Medicare turns into a vouchers
Medicaide goes away
Title IX gone
Homophobic legislation
oh hell, anything to do with health, budgets, or anything else like taxes if you ain't rich
It is pretty obvious that they'd like us to believe that they're taking you back to the mythical '50s - though you may have the century wrong. There must be something positive to say about these guys.
.
.
.
.
.
Nope
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Small Minded Tax Thing
Mitt just told you today that not only is it none of you people's business what is in his tax returns but that you're small minded to be concerned with it in the face of millions unemployed, nuclear Iran, and one out of six in poverty. Now it may have escaped somebody's notice that R-money has stated unequivocally that the fix to this broken economy is the tax code.
His solution involves slashing corporate tax rates, capital gains taxes, and taxes on "the job creators." These would all be R-money. How odd that any one of you small minded little people would think that R-money's experience with the IRS has validity. This is a matter that should be sorted out in quiet rooms with serious important people. He'll do something about tax deductions, but not in front of any of you and certainly you have no real interest in knowing how People Like Him deal with a tax burden and deductions.
Now he did state that he'd never paid less than 13% in taxes because he'd gone back and looked at them. Gone back and looked at them, so you should just trust him. If that stretches your credibility a bit you could be forgiven. You could especially be forgiven in light of the blatant lies the R-money campaign has promoted like, "you didn't build that," or maybe "just collect your welfare check," or "cut $716B from Medicare," or "appologized for America," or "Churchill bust." No, you should just trust him because as Ann noted the more they give the more they're attacked. You could ask how they could be attacked if there's nothing to be attacked for... well, unless the other side is as big a liar as they are. The evidence seems to be thin on that.
Now, if you're not insulted that your SS/FICA taxes total higher than Mitt's federal income tax, maybe you'd be a bit more insulted that Ryan's plan would move R-money's effective tax rate down to ... you'll love this... 0.82%. Yes, that is Zero Point Eight Two Percent, not quite One Percent. It has been supposed that your taxes would go up with the deductions being messed about with but they say that's not the case even though they won't tell you what deductions get messed with. (I refuse to deal with the deficit explosion that would ensue)
Now all that resistance from R-money could make sense in light of one thing - awhile ago a tax amensty was instituted that let people who'd hidden money overseas amend their tax forms and pay the tax and penalty without being charged for the felony that the IRS had forced the foreign banks to reveal. The amended form shows as just that and if R-money hid money overseas and got himself an amnesty that uncharged felony would be immediately obvious. That could be a real problem, a bigger problem than not showing the tax returns.
So Mitt, what is the problem with those tax returns?
His solution involves slashing corporate tax rates, capital gains taxes, and taxes on "the job creators." These would all be R-money. How odd that any one of you small minded little people would think that R-money's experience with the IRS has validity. This is a matter that should be sorted out in quiet rooms with serious important people. He'll do something about tax deductions, but not in front of any of you and certainly you have no real interest in knowing how People Like Him deal with a tax burden and deductions.
Now he did state that he'd never paid less than 13% in taxes because he'd gone back and looked at them. Gone back and looked at them, so you should just trust him. If that stretches your credibility a bit you could be forgiven. You could especially be forgiven in light of the blatant lies the R-money campaign has promoted like, "you didn't build that," or maybe "just collect your welfare check," or "cut $716B from Medicare," or "appologized for America," or "Churchill bust." No, you should just trust him because as Ann noted the more they give the more they're attacked. You could ask how they could be attacked if there's nothing to be attacked for... well, unless the other side is as big a liar as they are. The evidence seems to be thin on that.
Now, if you're not insulted that your SS/FICA taxes total higher than Mitt's federal income tax, maybe you'd be a bit more insulted that Ryan's plan would move R-money's effective tax rate down to ... you'll love this... 0.82%. Yes, that is Zero Point Eight Two Percent, not quite One Percent. It has been supposed that your taxes would go up with the deductions being messed about with but they say that's not the case even though they won't tell you what deductions get messed with. (I refuse to deal with the deficit explosion that would ensue)
Now all that resistance from R-money could make sense in light of one thing - awhile ago a tax amensty was instituted that let people who'd hidden money overseas amend their tax forms and pay the tax and penalty without being charged for the felony that the IRS had forced the foreign banks to reveal. The amended form shows as just that and if R-money hid money overseas and got himself an amnesty that uncharged felony would be immediately obvious. That could be a real problem, a bigger problem than not showing the tax returns.
So Mitt, what is the problem with those tax returns?
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
R-money As CEO Of The USA ?
OK, lets just pretend for a few minutes that being the CEO of a company has everything to do with successfully being President of the United States of America. (damn it, I said pretend) It does take something to run a business - I've done it for a couple decades and it wasn't easy. Soooo....
Alright, now I've choked on the pretense so we'll get down to some real basic stuff about CEO Mitt. First of all, a business is not a damned democracy - if you think I asked my construction crews what they wanted to do today, how they wanted to do it, and then held a vote... well, you're crazy. It is a dictatorship, that doesn't mean you have to not care about the staff, but you're not exactly required to outside of laws and regulations. R-money owned Bain and what he said is how things went, a democracy is a bit different. He's run for two things, Senator from MA, which he lost, and Governor of MA which seems to be a job he doesn't want to talk about - despite regularly being introduced as Governor. But we're talking about business...
I've spent most of my adult life in construction, a big portion of it as a contractor. My products were important to me and to my customers - building houses and remodeling them means that if one falls apart I'm ruined in my wallet and my reputation. That was not the case at Bain, whether a company they took over survived or failed meant not spit because they made a pile of money either way. The quality of the product didn't matter in Mitt's business world but it might very damn well matter to the citizenry of the USA if he ran it like Bain.
If you were to ask yourself what consequences Mitt has ever faced you might understand why he does politics the way he does.
Alright, now I've choked on the pretense so we'll get down to some real basic stuff about CEO Mitt. First of all, a business is not a damned democracy - if you think I asked my construction crews what they wanted to do today, how they wanted to do it, and then held a vote... well, you're crazy. It is a dictatorship, that doesn't mean you have to not care about the staff, but you're not exactly required to outside of laws and regulations. R-money owned Bain and what he said is how things went, a democracy is a bit different. He's run for two things, Senator from MA, which he lost, and Governor of MA which seems to be a job he doesn't want to talk about - despite regularly being introduced as Governor. But we're talking about business...
I've spent most of my adult life in construction, a big portion of it as a contractor. My products were important to me and to my customers - building houses and remodeling them means that if one falls apart I'm ruined in my wallet and my reputation. That was not the case at Bain, whether a company they took over survived or failed meant not spit because they made a pile of money either way. The quality of the product didn't matter in Mitt's business world but it might very damn well matter to the citizenry of the USA if he ran it like Bain.
If you were to ask yourself what consequences Mitt has ever faced you might understand why he does politics the way he does.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Vulture/Voucher 2012*
*(shamelessly stolen from the intertoobz somewhere)
I've spent a couple days digesting the Ryan pick, not an appealing meal I'll tell you. This process has been complicated by a miserable summer cold (as though there's another sort - this one is particularly miserable) and my frank puzzlement at this pick.
Look, I've paid attention and I've heard every sort of thing under the sun about why Multiple Mitt chose this guy and short of some sort of (not)homosexual attraction I don't get it. I've heard the "shore up the base" argument and if that had anything to do with it that campaign is beyond incompetent. To vote against the Muslim Kenyan Socialist Fascist Blah guy those idjits would line up to vote for a Cultist Unprincipled Anti-American Rich Prick... oh - that's what's going on already... Just to make sure, they've thrown the dogwhistles in favor of fire sirens of WELFARE!!! and a couple others for good measure. (Until 1978 the Church he's a bishop in was blatantly racist) The BASE is not a problem, despite their bitching.
I've heard about what a smart guy Ryan is, in the face of making budget policy out of stuff that flies in the face of all facts and only works a little bit if you use far-fetched assumptions. Maybe there is something smart in treating women as though they are chattel with them having a vote. Maybe voting for every BuchCo deficit exploding bill and then masquerading as a fiscal hawk is smart. For pete's sake the nimrod is an Ayn Rand fanboy, and that's no mark of intellect anywhere out from under the covers with a flashlight. Maybe I set the bar for intelligence a little high, but I've seen nothing that marks this guy as more special than an ability to not eat paste.
Ryan is supposed to be an accomplished pol, somebody with enough charisma to make up for the Rombot's distressing habit of eating the hard drive when presented with live human beings. He has actually done pretty well with the FauxNews set, as though their viewers were undecided voters, as long as they stuck to script - the "I don't eat sweets" in response to their 42nd birthday cake offering probably offended some of their couch potatoes. As far as political consquence is concerned, his ability to get two bills (one naming a Post Office) passed in 13 yrs is... well, underwhelming.
There has been quite a bit of talk about how brave and bipartisan Ryan is, on the basis of they say so I'd guess. Ryan's budget isn't new or brave, it is recycled Newt played to a friendly audience - outside the rest of the nation. They've been passed by a House that knew that was all that would happen. There is no cost to Ryan.
There had to be some strategy in R-money's head that led to Ryan. You have to wonder if Mr Pierce isn't correct and that the move is do a Newt on the media. You may remember that back in the day our favorite slimey amphibian was lauded as the Brave Idea Guy Of Republicanism by a really large chunk of what passes for journalists and pundits. Talking point bullshit achieved the status of policy in the absence of any facts or logic supporting it - not very different from the crap Ryan has put forward. Since there's no point in shooting for the base the idea must be that NPR listeners and David Brooks readers will take the "Idea Guy" theme seriously - getting traction with the educated upper-middle income; which would seem to indicate they're also low information voters.
The thing is that the Undecided Voter percentages are really low this year, I do mean really low. The challenge is to get a handful of voters to look your way without losing any of the committed voters - made up of the base and those with their minds made up on some basis. Given what is going on in the nation, the question you have to ask and answer is, "why haven't these people actually made up their minds?" Ordinarily they're a pretty large cohort and they're not this time which means a lot of ordinary assumptions go out the window. Are they the normally uninformed people or are they conflicted? (not all, large enough percentages to count) Conflicted people are looking for information, the uniformed will make a primarily emotional decision at the last moment. That makes a difference. If the reason for the small percentage is that the low information voters have already made an emotional decision - probably based on the economy - Mitt already has them in his column. ("I don't know why this is broken and I don't care - time for a new guy at the top.") If that is the case, Ryan is poison - information is his enemy.
Making this election about the economy (to the extent of getting rid of the guy at the top) and race and socialism was the best bet for the R-money bunch. Now actual ideology and policy has been moved forward and I just don't see how either R-money or Ayn Ryan make that appealing. (the stereotyping nicknames are deliberate and indicative) I'm sorry, I just don't get the Vulture/Voucher 2012 idea.
I've spent a couple days digesting the Ryan pick, not an appealing meal I'll tell you. This process has been complicated by a miserable summer cold (as though there's another sort - this one is particularly miserable) and my frank puzzlement at this pick.
Look, I've paid attention and I've heard every sort of thing under the sun about why Multiple Mitt chose this guy and short of some sort of (not)homosexual attraction I don't get it. I've heard the "shore up the base" argument and if that had anything to do with it that campaign is beyond incompetent. To vote against the Muslim Kenyan Socialist Fascist Blah guy those idjits would line up to vote for a Cultist Unprincipled Anti-American Rich Prick... oh - that's what's going on already... Just to make sure, they've thrown the dogwhistles in favor of fire sirens of WELFARE!!! and a couple others for good measure. (Until 1978 the Church he's a bishop in was blatantly racist) The BASE is not a problem, despite their bitching.
I've heard about what a smart guy Ryan is, in the face of making budget policy out of stuff that flies in the face of all facts and only works a little bit if you use far-fetched assumptions. Maybe there is something smart in treating women as though they are chattel with them having a vote. Maybe voting for every BuchCo deficit exploding bill and then masquerading as a fiscal hawk is smart. For pete's sake the nimrod is an Ayn Rand fanboy, and that's no mark of intellect anywhere out from under the covers with a flashlight. Maybe I set the bar for intelligence a little high, but I've seen nothing that marks this guy as more special than an ability to not eat paste.
Ryan is supposed to be an accomplished pol, somebody with enough charisma to make up for the Rombot's distressing habit of eating the hard drive when presented with live human beings. He has actually done pretty well with the FauxNews set, as though their viewers were undecided voters, as long as they stuck to script - the "I don't eat sweets" in response to their 42nd birthday cake offering probably offended some of their couch potatoes. As far as political consquence is concerned, his ability to get two bills (one naming a Post Office) passed in 13 yrs is... well, underwhelming.
There has been quite a bit of talk about how brave and bipartisan Ryan is, on the basis of they say so I'd guess. Ryan's budget isn't new or brave, it is recycled Newt played to a friendly audience - outside the rest of the nation. They've been passed by a House that knew that was all that would happen. There is no cost to Ryan.
There had to be some strategy in R-money's head that led to Ryan. You have to wonder if Mr Pierce isn't correct and that the move is do a Newt on the media. You may remember that back in the day our favorite slimey amphibian was lauded as the Brave Idea Guy Of Republicanism by a really large chunk of what passes for journalists and pundits. Talking point bullshit achieved the status of policy in the absence of any facts or logic supporting it - not very different from the crap Ryan has put forward. Since there's no point in shooting for the base the idea must be that NPR listeners and David Brooks readers will take the "Idea Guy" theme seriously - getting traction with the educated upper-middle income; which would seem to indicate they're also low information voters.
The thing is that the Undecided Voter percentages are really low this year, I do mean really low. The challenge is to get a handful of voters to look your way without losing any of the committed voters - made up of the base and those with their minds made up on some basis. Given what is going on in the nation, the question you have to ask and answer is, "why haven't these people actually made up their minds?" Ordinarily they're a pretty large cohort and they're not this time which means a lot of ordinary assumptions go out the window. Are they the normally uninformed people or are they conflicted? (not all, large enough percentages to count) Conflicted people are looking for information, the uniformed will make a primarily emotional decision at the last moment. That makes a difference. If the reason for the small percentage is that the low information voters have already made an emotional decision - probably based on the economy - Mitt already has them in his column. ("I don't know why this is broken and I don't care - time for a new guy at the top.") If that is the case, Ryan is poison - information is his enemy.
Making this election about the economy (to the extent of getting rid of the guy at the top) and race and socialism was the best bet for the R-money bunch. Now actual ideology and policy has been moved forward and I just don't see how either R-money or Ayn Ryan make that appealing. (the stereotyping nicknames are deliberate and indicative) I'm sorry, I just don't get the Vulture/Voucher 2012 idea.
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
A Lie A Day Keeps... Away?
Good grief Mitt. Yesterday you rolled out a lie about the Obama Administration trying to remove military early voting in Ohio, today - you lie about Work to Welfare?
I'll go along with the idea that you've flipperfloppped all over the place and that you do have a remarkable string of lies... does untruths sound better? But a daily dose?
So Rince Princess (RNC) calls Harry Reid a "dirty liar" because he asserts that someone credible told him R-money hadn't paid federal income tax on the basis that... I dunno, what? That Mitt is so credible when he says he's "paid taxes," rather than that he's paid federal income taxes?
At a lie a damn day, the so-called fact checkers and fainting ladies of media call out... Harry Reid? That this election isn't 60/40 Obama/R-money should tell you something about the state of this nation. That any dumbass has the nerve to say spit about Harry Reid in this context says a lot about the state of the media.
So Rince Princess (RNC) calls Harry Reid a "dirty liar" because he asserts that someone credible told him R-money hadn't paid federal income tax on the basis that... I dunno, what? That Mitt is so credible when he says he's "paid taxes," rather than that he's paid federal income taxes?
At a lie a damn day, the so-called fact checkers and fainting ladies of media call out... Harry Reid? That this election isn't 60/40 Obama/R-money should tell you something about the state of this nation. That any dumbass has the nerve to say spit about Harry Reid in this context says a lot about the state of the media.
Thursday, August 02, 2012
We'll Just Call Them Mitts
I know what you think these are
NOPE (Mittens is already in use - usefully)
We need to go with a new name for what some find essential footwear and another finds essential politicking - Mitts.
That partisan waste of ink The NYT reports Mitt had this to say in Israel a couple days ago:
We need to go with a new name for what some find essential footwear and another finds essential politicking - Mitts.
That partisan waste of ink The NYT reports Mitt had this to say in Israel a couple days ago:
“Culture makes all the difference,” Mr. Romney said. “And as I come here and I look out over this city and consider the accomplishments of the people of this nation, I recognize the power of at least culture and a few other things.” He added, “As you come here and you see the G.D.P. per capita, for instance, in Israel, which is about $21,000, and compare that with the G.D.P. per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, which is more like $10,000 per capita (note - the figure is more like $1500), you notice such a dramatically stark difference in economic vitality. And that is also between other countries that are near or next to each other. Chile and Ecuador, Mexico and the United States.”He surely shouldn't have bothered his head with little details like an Israeli blockade and control of all access... TPM reports that Tuesday July 31 Mitt went on FauxNews and said:
FOX News’s Carl Cameron grilled Romney on his remarks, which top Palestinian officials immediately denounced as “racist,” in an interview from Poland on Tuesday. The Obama campaign also accused Romney of needlessly inflaming tensions in the region. Romney responded that he “did not speak about the Palestinian culture or the decisions made in their economy,” while adding broadly that a nation’s “choices” affect their outcomes. “That is an interesting topic that perhaps can deserve scholarly analysis but I actually didn’t address that,” Romney said. “I certainly don’t intend to address that during my campaign. Instead I will point out that the choices a society makes have a profound impact on the economy and the vitality of that society.”That would seem to count as a pretty quick, um, turn-around. Now today he had this to say to NRO:
During my recent trip to Israel, I had suggested that the choices a society makes about its culture play a role in creating prosperity, and that the significant disparity between Israeli and Palestinian living standards was powerfully influenced by it. In some quarters, that comment became the subject of controversy. But what exactly accounts for prosperity if not culture?...Holy Shitt Mitt... give you a couple days and that's how many position reverses? As I remember the GOPer Convention brought along bandaids and Flip-Flops to mock Sen John Kerry. Now I will admit that I mock Mitts as footwear, I'll just not subject my feet to such abuse and lack of protection. I'm sure some of you who wear the things will be insulted by my retroactive baptism/retirement of what you're acustomed to. Really now, which has become more common? Please don't throw footwear at me...
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