Thursday, October 23, 2008

The Ballad Of John and Joe II

What is the strange appeal of John McCain to the average Joe or Jane? McCain is a son and husband of privilege; Jane and Joe are working class folks generally making less than $50K per year. Somehow, McCain and the GOP have convinced the estimable J&J that they will be come rich like John and own many houses if only they will support John and the GOP. The fact is that since Ronald Reagan, the working class has gotten screwed and the Upper 1% have added to their winnings. McCain and Palin lie to us how things will be better if only we will trust them. Since 1980 we have trusted the GOP and its ally Bill Clinton and all we have gotten is an increase in the depth and duration of that red hot poker up our wazoos. I am not convinced that Barack Obama can make that poker instantly disappear, but at least he would appoint no Scalias, Thomases, Alitos or Robertses to the Supreme Court. McCain can only make things worse!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Ballad of John and Joe The Plumber (or was it Joe Six-Pack?)

The Obama campaign, the media and soft-in-the-head lefties such as me should lay-off John McCain on this one. (That one?) So Joe isn't really a plumber. So he isn't really buying the company he works for. So the company isn't for sale. So Joe made $40 some odd thousand last year. So the company didn't last year and won't this year make $250,000. So what?

Joe the Plumber and Joe Six-Pack have taken it on the chin and in the gut for so long that they are delusional about the reasons for their pain. They have seen hard work, blood, sweat and tears fail them as they get jerked around by credit card companies, mortgage brokers, banks, brokers, international corporations, big oil, the Supreme Court, and on and on ad nauseum. They must blame someone. For we white guys, the culprit is not the face in the mirror of self-delusion, it's not the broken promises of trickle-down economics, it's not what we refuse to acknowledge that is true (that we have been sucker-punched time and again by the GOP, their corporate allies and the sell-out by Bill Clinton). No, we blame Americans with different skin color, different names, different religions, different social experiences. We blame them for all the ills that the real culprits have brought upon us. We'd rather believe the lie that Barack Obama is an Arab terrorist who consorted with the Weather Underground than accept the fact that Todd Palin did consort with an anti-American fringe group and that Sarah Palin addressed the same group with the words "...keep up the good work and God bless you..."

Why? We love being ignorant of the facts because this excuses our belief in the phantasmagorical? We'd rather believe a talking snake or a burning bush than recorded data?

Just today I heard an interview with former MA Governor Jane Swift, a Republican, who is an education advisor to the McNasty campaign. Pell Grants will not be funded in the austerity economics program of a John McCain administration. No school for you unless you agree to borrow money from John's banker friends (Keating 5?). It costs too much. Well John, so does ignorance. Being ignorant is part and parcel of why we stupidly attacked Iraq. Not being trained to think for ourselves is part and parcel as to why we believe the lunatic ravings of Pat Robertson, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh.

No, let's shout for sanity, thoughtfulness, fair play, education, the Bill of Rights (all of them, not just #2), justice.

And by the way...what the hell is wrong with being an Arab? Or anyone named Joe?

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Wave Those Flip Flop Sandals, McNasty

John McCain, aiming to set a new record for flip-flops in a presidential campaign, will appear on Late Night with David Letterman on Thursday. Will this maverick ever get his game tactics straight? And speaking of the name Maverick, I read where the Maverick family of Texas, staunch Democrats for the most part, are rather insulted at the sullying of their name by Senator McNasty. They were just fine with Bret and Bart Maverick (of the old TV series) being fictional gamblers, but McNasty as a Maverick is a bit much for them. Turns out that this charter member of the Keating 5 is quite a gambler himself, reportedly screaming at a woman at the table when his luck turned sour. Sound familiar?

Thursday, October 9, 2008

But Wait, There's More!!!!!

Got to love George Will (sometimes): he described Sarah Palin as Sancho Panza to John McCain’s Don Quixote. That translates to an illiterate sword bearer and sidekick to an addled old man. Sounds good to me!

Flash: This is mental illness awareness week, and Cindy McCain has stated (in Marie Claire magazine) that enlisted men are more susceptible to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than “trained” officers such as John McCain. My fellow prisoners, indeed. Classism? Elitism? Or just stupidity? Oh, McCain also voted against better body armor for soldiers – twice. Indeed. Just how long will the McCain’s noses get?

In case you haven’t read the comments section of this blog, one erstwhile correspondent took me task for not stating that McCain voted against troop support in Iraq because that version of the bill contained a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. True. However, when Obama voted against another version of the troop support bill, Obama was voting against the lack of a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. So, they both voted against funding for the troops.

Got to love Sarah Silverman for commenting on NBC being trashed in tomorrow’s (10/10/08) New York Post: “Whatever happened to the liberal Jew media?”

Will the Bradley Effect raise its ugly racist head when we whites get into the voting booth?

After watching a McCain rally in WI today, I am wondering why those angry voters are blaming the media for McCain’s ineptitude? Are they blaming the media for reporting the news? If the media had accurately reported the Bush Crime Family’s actions in 2000 and 2004, the Supreme Court would not have had to appoint W president. What is very scary is that these crazies also are yelling for Obama to be killed, and that the McCain wing of the Bush Crime Family has refused to acknowledge this.

Sarah Palin has addressed the Alaska Independence Party on more than one occasion. This group is a secessionist organization whose founder (Joe Vogler) was virulently anti-American. Vogler once stated that he “…had no use for America” and he had the support of Iran in his anti-America work. Todd Palin is a former member of that group. Palin told the Party to “Keep up the good work….” She has also been supported in her campaigns by members of this Party. Why is Obama's "association" with Bill Ayers a cause celebre but this is not in the news? Why haven’t the media made an issue of this? I say that Palin has consorted with terrorist organizations and needs to be brought to task. If you doubt my reportage, please see www.palinspin.com or www.salon.com for more details.

My Fellow Prisoners...That One...Obama is a Liar...Not you, Tom

More lies, bone-headed ideas and obfuscations from the McCain campaign (in addition to the above):

  1. He sang “Bomb, Bomb Iran” at a fundraiser, not as a joke with another veteran.
  2. He had his wife Cindy attack Obama for voting against funding for troops in Iraq. What Cindy did not say was that McCain also voted against funding for the troops.
  3. McCain missed more votes on veteran affairs (6 of 9 votes) than Senators Tim Johnson (in a coma most of the year) and Ted Kennedy (brain tumor). He skipped voting on the new GI Bill for a San Diego fundraiser. His veterans voting record this session has been rated a D, while Obama and Biden each rated a B. Dennis Kucinich had a higher rating than McCain.
  4. McCain shares the connection between Obama and Weather Underground founder Bill Ayers. The Annenberg family that sponsored the forum on which both Obama and Avery served in Chicago is supporting McCain for president. How many degrees of separation are there here between Obama and McNasty?
  5. McCain surrogates in FL yesterday raised the Islamic fear factor by having a law officer refer to Obama as Barack Hussein Obama. I know that this is his name, but when a white cop in FL is talking about a black man, you just know what he is really saying. A PA McCain surrogate (head of the GOP in that state) today also used Obama’s middle name. This obviously comes from the same Swift Boat team that slurred McCain in SC in 2000, Gore in 2000 and Kerry in 2004.
  6. McCain surrogates on the Hannity-Colmes FOX News show featured a right wing McCain supporter who is a known anti-Semite. And they expect us to believe this guy?
  7. McCain wants the Fed to buy foreclosed mortgages from the failed/failing banks at the full price of the mortgages but then sell them at market prices. Not only is this incredibly stupid, but also an incredible socialist windfall for our failed capitalist system. Strange that a free-market, cut taxes, deregulation “maverick” is promoting socialism for his bank(rupt)ing cronies. The moral of this story, the hero of the Keating 5 fiasco wants to reward his banking buddies for being stupid and place the burden on the middle class. Thank you, Senator McNasty, for driving that red-hot poker into our posterior orifices.
  8. McCain is in trouble with rock bands “Heart” and “The Foo Fighters” for inappropriately using their songs in his campaign. Does his campaign know anything about respecting the rights of intellectual property?

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Red Sox Lose...

Not that I am trying to get any one's goat (sorry Cubs fans) but I needed an attention getting headline. Since my beloved Yankees have failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1995 I have been hesitant to express my opinion about the 2008 season. So, in short, I have to say that I am following the Rays (AL East loyalty) and Dodgers (Joe Torre loyalty). I will, as always, root for the AL East and AL in general as the playoffs advance. I will hold my nose if the Red Sox make the Series, not because of the team, but because of Red Sox Nation firstly and the wild card system secondly.

Only people who insist that W has done a good job are more bizarre than those folks who are flaunting their Red Sox Nation-hood but wouldn't give the team a damn prior to 2004. True Red Sox fans understand suffering and are not just front-runners. Nightmares of Don Buddin, Ike Delock, Dr. Strangelove, Bigfoot, Bucky Dent, et al are the stuff of the dreams of true Sox Fans. They truly deserve the ride that they are on the past 5 years. I despise the wild card system; I dislike the designated hitter less.

Making predictions is stupid and a waste a time. Baseball is entertainment even though we all know that life imitates the World Series (thanks Thomas Boswell). Those so-called fans that get their knickers in knots are to be shunned. Ticket prices are too high.

Atlas Shrugged; bin Laden Laughed

Back in the Reagan years, when I was corrupting young minds as an adjunct instructor of geophysical sciences, I would show a video of a PBS documentary to students of a Geography of the Soviet Union class. The video was about a trip to the USSR by a group of older USA citizens. One of the characters they met stated to the tour group that the USA was spending the USSR into bankruptcy. In truth, the USSR just could not compete financially against the capitalist forces of the western countries. Every time we spent a dollar on munitions or the like, the USSR felt compelled to do the same. The USSR blinked first. The USA claimed victory.

As one consequence of 9/11/2001, the USA has spent incredible amounts of money (can't be cash, since it doesn't seem to exist any more) on war against terrorists. Other fantasmagorical sums of money have been spent on who knows what. In the USA'a attempt to overcome terrorism, we have spent ourselves into insolvency. The Milton Friedman Chicago School of Economic Terrorism (masquerading as Libertarianism) just shrugs and bin Laden laughs. The attack on the World Trade buildings has lead to ecnomic defeat for capitalism.