What with scandal, racism, more scandal, law breaking…(did I mention scandal), and of course, Anna Nichole Smith’s autopsy and fatherless, billionaire offspring, we have been missing something in the media circus. You know what I’m talkin’ about…
Paris Hilton.
Can it be that our media outlets are so busy covering the breaking news of a vibrant democracy that they can’t spare a reporter for the hotel heiress? Can it be that the responsibilities of the Fourth Estate are so daunting that such trivial matters as the Springeresque shenanigans of a spoiled, rich, publicity-addicted amateur porn star can’t be given valuable ink when our country has so many pressing issues?
Yeah, right.
Could it be that Ms. Hilton’s fifteen minutes are up?
No fuckin’ way!
Or, could it be that our own government is so fucked up, so freakishly corrupt, so stumblingly incompetent, so wicked hell-bent on the destruction of America that the antics of pseudo celebrities can’t even make the late edition? Yeah, that must be it.
Our president, meaning Dick Cheney, is such a soul-less monster that he makes Hollywood villains look tame by comparison. He really is Oilfinger, poised to destroy the world if he doesn’t get what he wants. And maybe even if he does get what he wants. And his puppet, our “elected” president should be driven from appearance to appearance in an armored clown car. I have known this for years, as have many. But the media seems to be just now breaking this story: “The President is Stupid, Corrupt and Incompetent.”
We seem to be cracking the veneer of this White House, as far as the media goes. And once the veneer is cracked, we realize that there is no pressboard underneath. It is a hollow coffee table that can barely hold up our mixed drinks, let alone the hardcover book of landscapes and the remote. These people who have been running the government are sick, evil people, and the press is trying to sort out the story without seeming like it has been under a dark spell for the last six years. And that is going to be hard.
Even Anna Nichole Smith couldn’t bury the Alberto Gonzalez story. That is such a colossal blunder by the White House – using the Justice Department as an extension of Karl Rove’s office – that it seems to be the straw that has broken the media camel’s back. Gonzalez is revealed as such a slimy weasel, and such a tool of Rove’s agenda, that the hounds are on his scent. As if holding a fire sale on wiretaps, data mining and authorizing torture weren’t enough to pillory him in a truly American media (and, they weren’t!).
The Scooter trial, the Gonzalez hearings, these are good starts, press. But you need to revive the ghost of Peter Zenger and hammer this administration. I know you don’t want to lose “access,” but you won’t lose it, even if you abuse King George like a red-headed Iraqi stepchild. Nobody believes a thing this president says. The 30% who still support him just hate liberals more. He is a fuck-up, a liar, and he has total distain for America and Americans. He may very well be a criminal, several times over. This is obvious to anyone paying attention for at least the last calendar year. The crimes of his administration make Nixon look like a three-card Monte hustler by comparison. The press can hammer him relentlessly and not lose ratings.
Press, you won’t lose access either. The bully pulpit only works if people listen. And they listen through you. Since FOX is losing viewer-ship, the White House needs you at least as much as you need a seat in the room where press conferences are held. Besides, there are only so many ex gay escorts who will be willing to sit through that drivel.
Press, you are the watchdog. Start acting like it! Start seriously sniffing the turds around the White House. Growl at those fuckers as they try to feed you a bowl of liar kibbles, instead of humping their legs like you have been. Dig up the dirt around this administration, and then bark and point at those who prove to be a danger to our country and our democracy. Or even if they are just a scumbag! When exposed completely, you can bite the ass out of their pants. Scandal enough to sell massive advertising awaits the aggressive news hound.
Besides, Paris needs ink! And Americans seem to need Paris. We are the democracy where less than 20% of polled citizens can name the Speaker of the House of Representatives, or the Majority leader of the Senate. We can consume scandal easy enough, but we don’t get the same buzz as we do passing judgment over celebrities when we have to pay attention to politics and governance. Just dig up the nasty cheese quickly, so we can discard the neoconservatives and get back promiscuous, drunken, second-rate celebrities. We like feeling superior to them. We can’t sleep well feeling so superior to our national leaders.
Unless…yes! Fuck Hilary! Paris in 2008!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Sorry, White People, We Don’t Get to Call It
The airwaves have been abuzz with talk of the controversy created by Don Imus’ comments about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. Many have called for his firing, few have defended him.
And no doubt, he said some stupid, racist shit.
And having used the word racist, I have joined the controversy (like anyone pays any fucking attention to my rantings!).
What has my hackles up is listening to my available Air America feed that plays “liberal” talk radio. Certainly, none of the hosts are defending Imus. But some hosts, and quite a few callers, have shown discomfort at the contention that Imus’ comments show a media, and even a nation, that is inherently racist. This does not go down well at all with white listeners, even on leftist talk radio. The lament from white, liberal America – can’t we just let this race stuff go?
Sorry white America, we don’t get to make this decision. Not on our own.
Full disclosure is warranted here – I am about as white as they come. I am from English, Irish and German stock. I can trace my family in America to mid-Nineteenth Century European migration. I am pasty, hairy, I can’t jump, and I can’t dance worth a shit. I married a white Norwegian girl, live in the burbs of a city that is over 90% white in a Western state that is over 80% white. I am as white a motherfucker as you are likely to meet.
Even so, I am shocked at how few white folks get it. We don’t get to choose when to let the “race stuff” go.
All the talking heads, all their callers, all asking the question “is this really racist?” African American guests or callers interjecting “uh, yes!” And they should know. As Chris Rock said on the Bill Mahr show, “do you have to shoot Medgar Evers to be racist?”
What is said matters, and it matters especially who says it. And yet white caller after white caller, and even some hosts say “what about rap music? They say ‘ho’ don’t they?” And, of course, the classic: “but they call each other nigger all the time!”
Let me make this clear, white folks: the “N” work is a racially charged word. It matters what race you are when you say it. It does. Period. If that is not fair from a free speech standpoint, tough shit! Its use for centuries by white people as an epithet to dehumanize an entire segment of our population is not fair either. So, when African American artists, comedians, sports figures or regular folk use certain language without the backlash that white people get, it doesn’t mean that they are just as racist as whites who say it. Yet that is the argument I hear being made. Over and over again!
And this argument is bullshit!
How does a white-as-milk guy like me know it’s bullshit? Because I was told so. I can’t experience it, but I have been convinced. I was convinced by a gentleman named Glenn Singleton, who holds seminars for organizations on the institution of racism. And when considering what he shared, and reading further, and applying it to a career in public education, I am convinced that racism is a one-way street. Lemme’ explain:
Racism is a system of oppression applied by one racial group to another. This system of racial preference and denial of power is applied across all of the institutions of the society. Racism is institutional. To be racist, you have to have the power to affect the lives of those of other races.
You have to be part of the dominant culture.
In America, the dominant culture is the white culture. It has been since the Europeans first arrived. White Americans wiped hundreds of native cultures off the map, with scarcely a look askance. Genocide, really. Do we think about who was there before us on our 1/3 acre lots in the burbs? No, because we don’t have to. We helped depopulate the continent of Africa, and held its children in bondage for 250 years, then systematically segregated and abused their African descendants for another 100. Does that impact our lives in a way we have to pay attention to? No, we don’t have to think about it if we don’t want to. Not until it intrudes on our favorite media outlet, anyway.
We don’t worry about cops shoving a broomstick up our asses because we are white. Maybe because of our hairstyle, or our t-shirt slogan, or some other factor we can control, but not our race. Likewise we don’t worry if the store owner will follow us around to prevent theft, or if we will get the apartment, or the job we want, or be allowed on the golf course because of our race. We don’t have to deal with shit like that, so we generally don’t think about it. Until we are called racist. Then we complain about “reverse racism” because we don’t get to say “nigger.”
My white brethren, listen to me – there is no such thing as reverse racism. Certain individuals may be bigoted against whites, but the only racism that exists in America is institutional white racism – and if you are white, you have benefited from it. No other racial group in our history, or at this time, has had the power to impact the lives of white people for that other group’s benefit. From a material and comfort standpoint – we have done well. From a moral or ethical standpoint, well…this is probably why we don’t think about it much.
There have been white people who have worked hard throughout the centuries to end racism. In the last decades, millions have supported changes to laws that have righted some of the historic wrongs. Most Americans of all colors would agree that the last 50 years have seen large strides for the better (and a few steps backward at times) where race relations and the actions of our institutions are concerned. African Americans have professional, educational, financial and social mobility where they didn’t have it a few decades ago. For many white people, this makes them say “see, we fixed it; let’s get rid of that Affirmative Action,” which many states did. I would guess that many African Americans think, “that was a nice start, if 300 years too late, but damn, don’t take shit away when we still have so far to go.”
Imagine going to the doctor and saying, “jeez, doc, my head is killing me.” The doctor says “here, take half an aspirin, it’s a pain killer.” Then the doctor hands you the bill and says, “we fixed it!” Now, you’re thinking “my head feels a little better, but what I really need is two or three fuckin’ Tylenol.” But the doctor says, “since I’ve taken such good care of you, we’re going to take some of the benefits out of your health insurance.” I perceive this as the type of disconnect between black and white perceptions of racism today. And white people, we are wrong!
We are not the racially oppressed. We don’t know how it feels. We don’t get to decide when it’s not racist any more. And we hate that, ‘cause we have been the deciders in North America for 350 years and counting. However, we are incapable of knowing when it’s over, because we don’t experience it daily.
Don Imus lost his job. But Rush, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, and don’t forget Bill Bennet, regularly push racist agendas, or use racism as a divisive political tactic. We fall in lockstep with them when we demand racial equality with the oppressed culture, for use of language that causes them so much pain. We don’t get to decide this one, white people. Our non-white fellow citizens will let us know when America is no longer a racist country. And they’re the only ones who can.
And no doubt, he said some stupid, racist shit.
And having used the word racist, I have joined the controversy (like anyone pays any fucking attention to my rantings!).
What has my hackles up is listening to my available Air America feed that plays “liberal” talk radio. Certainly, none of the hosts are defending Imus. But some hosts, and quite a few callers, have shown discomfort at the contention that Imus’ comments show a media, and even a nation, that is inherently racist. This does not go down well at all with white listeners, even on leftist talk radio. The lament from white, liberal America – can’t we just let this race stuff go?
Sorry white America, we don’t get to make this decision. Not on our own.
Full disclosure is warranted here – I am about as white as they come. I am from English, Irish and German stock. I can trace my family in America to mid-Nineteenth Century European migration. I am pasty, hairy, I can’t jump, and I can’t dance worth a shit. I married a white Norwegian girl, live in the burbs of a city that is over 90% white in a Western state that is over 80% white. I am as white a motherfucker as you are likely to meet.
Even so, I am shocked at how few white folks get it. We don’t get to choose when to let the “race stuff” go.
All the talking heads, all their callers, all asking the question “is this really racist?” African American guests or callers interjecting “uh, yes!” And they should know. As Chris Rock said on the Bill Mahr show, “do you have to shoot Medgar Evers to be racist?”
What is said matters, and it matters especially who says it. And yet white caller after white caller, and even some hosts say “what about rap music? They say ‘ho’ don’t they?” And, of course, the classic: “but they call each other nigger all the time!”
Let me make this clear, white folks: the “N” work is a racially charged word. It matters what race you are when you say it. It does. Period. If that is not fair from a free speech standpoint, tough shit! Its use for centuries by white people as an epithet to dehumanize an entire segment of our population is not fair either. So, when African American artists, comedians, sports figures or regular folk use certain language without the backlash that white people get, it doesn’t mean that they are just as racist as whites who say it. Yet that is the argument I hear being made. Over and over again!
And this argument is bullshit!
How does a white-as-milk guy like me know it’s bullshit? Because I was told so. I can’t experience it, but I have been convinced. I was convinced by a gentleman named Glenn Singleton, who holds seminars for organizations on the institution of racism. And when considering what he shared, and reading further, and applying it to a career in public education, I am convinced that racism is a one-way street. Lemme’ explain:
Racism is a system of oppression applied by one racial group to another. This system of racial preference and denial of power is applied across all of the institutions of the society. Racism is institutional. To be racist, you have to have the power to affect the lives of those of other races.
You have to be part of the dominant culture.
In America, the dominant culture is the white culture. It has been since the Europeans first arrived. White Americans wiped hundreds of native cultures off the map, with scarcely a look askance. Genocide, really. Do we think about who was there before us on our 1/3 acre lots in the burbs? No, because we don’t have to. We helped depopulate the continent of Africa, and held its children in bondage for 250 years, then systematically segregated and abused their African descendants for another 100. Does that impact our lives in a way we have to pay attention to? No, we don’t have to think about it if we don’t want to. Not until it intrudes on our favorite media outlet, anyway.
We don’t worry about cops shoving a broomstick up our asses because we are white. Maybe because of our hairstyle, or our t-shirt slogan, or some other factor we can control, but not our race. Likewise we don’t worry if the store owner will follow us around to prevent theft, or if we will get the apartment, or the job we want, or be allowed on the golf course because of our race. We don’t have to deal with shit like that, so we generally don’t think about it. Until we are called racist. Then we complain about “reverse racism” because we don’t get to say “nigger.”
My white brethren, listen to me – there is no such thing as reverse racism. Certain individuals may be bigoted against whites, but the only racism that exists in America is institutional white racism – and if you are white, you have benefited from it. No other racial group in our history, or at this time, has had the power to impact the lives of white people for that other group’s benefit. From a material and comfort standpoint – we have done well. From a moral or ethical standpoint, well…this is probably why we don’t think about it much.
There have been white people who have worked hard throughout the centuries to end racism. In the last decades, millions have supported changes to laws that have righted some of the historic wrongs. Most Americans of all colors would agree that the last 50 years have seen large strides for the better (and a few steps backward at times) where race relations and the actions of our institutions are concerned. African Americans have professional, educational, financial and social mobility where they didn’t have it a few decades ago. For many white people, this makes them say “see, we fixed it; let’s get rid of that Affirmative Action,” which many states did. I would guess that many African Americans think, “that was a nice start, if 300 years too late, but damn, don’t take shit away when we still have so far to go.”
Imagine going to the doctor and saying, “jeez, doc, my head is killing me.” The doctor says “here, take half an aspirin, it’s a pain killer.” Then the doctor hands you the bill and says, “we fixed it!” Now, you’re thinking “my head feels a little better, but what I really need is two or three fuckin’ Tylenol.” But the doctor says, “since I’ve taken such good care of you, we’re going to take some of the benefits out of your health insurance.” I perceive this as the type of disconnect between black and white perceptions of racism today. And white people, we are wrong!
We are not the racially oppressed. We don’t know how it feels. We don’t get to decide when it’s not racist any more. And we hate that, ‘cause we have been the deciders in North America for 350 years and counting. However, we are incapable of knowing when it’s over, because we don’t experience it daily.
Don Imus lost his job. But Rush, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, and don’t forget Bill Bennet, regularly push racist agendas, or use racism as a divisive political tactic. We fall in lockstep with them when we demand racial equality with the oppressed culture, for use of language that causes them so much pain. We don’t get to decide this one, white people. Our non-white fellow citizens will let us know when America is no longer a racist country. And they’re the only ones who can.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Chocolate Jesus from behind, bitch!
The Catholic Church has once again affirmed my atheism. As only they can do.
An artist, Cosimo Cavallaro created "My Sweet Lord," a 200-pound, 6-foot-tall and anatomically correct sculpture of Jesus made of chocolate. This is a Jesus with a dick.
Shlong, prick, phallus, todger, wang, Johnson – choose your epithet – a Jesus with a penis. And it is about time.
Of course, it brings to mind the age old question: is there enough chocolate in the world to accurately depict the dick of the Almighty?
And of course, it brings out the ire of the Catholic Church.
"This would rank as one of the worst, most vile, obscene and blasphemous assaults on Christian sensibilities that I have ever seen," said Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League.
Because I am a crank, with a day job, I have not done the research to know exactly what the Catholic League is, except to know they are assholes! I mean, seriously, fuck you Bill Donahue. Fuck you right in the ass with a chocolate dick!
Why? Well for starters, the Catholic Church should not even mention dicks without flagellating itself for the dicks of children they have molested, and covered up for decades. This is the child molesting church! Shut up and atone. Pay your victims without hiding behind bankruptcy, and spend a generation earning the forgiveness of victims through good works and abandonment of material goods. Then, my grandchildren may listen, without expecting a punch line, Catholic officials having anything whatsoever to say about dicks. Until then…up your ass.
Is it not okay to be offended by naked chocolate Jesuses? Well, sure it is! Be as offended as you want. And, don’t go to the fucking show! But for the New York Gallery to pull the show shows what a bunch of pussies they are. Here is another case where pussies trump dicks – even chocolate ones. I’m married, I know all about this.
But what I don’t get is why the folks at the New York Gallery didn’t just say to the Catholic League: “you might not want to come to this show.” To cancel the exhibit because of a particular church’s sensibilities was so cowardly, so craven as to defy words. So the Chocolate Jesus is unconventional, even absurd. So what?
There are few things more absurd than the fairy tales of the Old and New Testaments. These literary homilies had traction in their day as parables for living the good life. Taken in the context of a warrior-like, nomadic people who settled among competing religions, and, over a millennia, adapted to an empire, may even make some sense - WHEN NOT TAKEN LITERALLY!
Hasn’t the Catholic League ever read a book on myth by Joseph Campbell? Have they not considered the trial of Galileo juxtaposed against modern knowledge of the Cosmos? Do they find modern astronomy equally as offensive for proving that the Earth actually does orbit the sun?
Unfortunately, the Catholic League is not alone. Muslims have become irate at cartoons of Mohammad. I’m sure Buddhists and Hindus, Krishnas and Baptists and chicken worshipers will get equally as worked up when their dogma is challenged by logic, reason, common sense, and confectionary soft-core porn.
I say, go hard core! Chocolate Jesus ramming a Holmsian boner up the ass of the Prophet Mohammad, while the Buddha laps up the chocolate fuck-sweat from below. Shiva can show up at the door with a pizza, and ask, “How do you plan to pay for this?”
That would be art. And art belongs in galleries.
New York Gallery, hang your head in shame. You are the dry, stanky pussy of the art world. You cast out an artist. You bowed down to a religion that has slaughtered Muslims, launched pogroms against Jews, tortured Europeans, eradicated culture in the Americas, and for the 20th Century, molested the children of their own parishioners. Great choice.
Fuck you, NYG, with a chocolate dick
An artist, Cosimo Cavallaro created "My Sweet Lord," a 200-pound, 6-foot-tall and anatomically correct sculpture of Jesus made of chocolate. This is a Jesus with a dick.
Shlong, prick, phallus, todger, wang, Johnson – choose your epithet – a Jesus with a penis. And it is about time.
Of course, it brings to mind the age old question: is there enough chocolate in the world to accurately depict the dick of the Almighty?
And of course, it brings out the ire of the Catholic Church.
"This would rank as one of the worst, most vile, obscene and blasphemous assaults on Christian sensibilities that I have ever seen," said Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League.
Because I am a crank, with a day job, I have not done the research to know exactly what the Catholic League is, except to know they are assholes! I mean, seriously, fuck you Bill Donahue. Fuck you right in the ass with a chocolate dick!
Why? Well for starters, the Catholic Church should not even mention dicks without flagellating itself for the dicks of children they have molested, and covered up for decades. This is the child molesting church! Shut up and atone. Pay your victims without hiding behind bankruptcy, and spend a generation earning the forgiveness of victims through good works and abandonment of material goods. Then, my grandchildren may listen, without expecting a punch line, Catholic officials having anything whatsoever to say about dicks. Until then…up your ass.
Is it not okay to be offended by naked chocolate Jesuses? Well, sure it is! Be as offended as you want. And, don’t go to the fucking show! But for the New York Gallery to pull the show shows what a bunch of pussies they are. Here is another case where pussies trump dicks – even chocolate ones. I’m married, I know all about this.
But what I don’t get is why the folks at the New York Gallery didn’t just say to the Catholic League: “you might not want to come to this show.” To cancel the exhibit because of a particular church’s sensibilities was so cowardly, so craven as to defy words. So the Chocolate Jesus is unconventional, even absurd. So what?
There are few things more absurd than the fairy tales of the Old and New Testaments. These literary homilies had traction in their day as parables for living the good life. Taken in the context of a warrior-like, nomadic people who settled among competing religions, and, over a millennia, adapted to an empire, may even make some sense - WHEN NOT TAKEN LITERALLY!
Hasn’t the Catholic League ever read a book on myth by Joseph Campbell? Have they not considered the trial of Galileo juxtaposed against modern knowledge of the Cosmos? Do they find modern astronomy equally as offensive for proving that the Earth actually does orbit the sun?
Unfortunately, the Catholic League is not alone. Muslims have become irate at cartoons of Mohammad. I’m sure Buddhists and Hindus, Krishnas and Baptists and chicken worshipers will get equally as worked up when their dogma is challenged by logic, reason, common sense, and confectionary soft-core porn.
I say, go hard core! Chocolate Jesus ramming a Holmsian boner up the ass of the Prophet Mohammad, while the Buddha laps up the chocolate fuck-sweat from below. Shiva can show up at the door with a pizza, and ask, “How do you plan to pay for this?”
That would be art. And art belongs in galleries.
New York Gallery, hang your head in shame. You are the dry, stanky pussy of the art world. You cast out an artist. You bowed down to a religion that has slaughtered Muslims, launched pogroms against Jews, tortured Europeans, eradicated culture in the Americas, and for the 20th Century, molested the children of their own parishioners. Great choice.
Fuck you, NYG, with a chocolate dick
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Balls? Do We Have Balls? (I think there was a sighting!)
How high should we jump in celebration for the military spending bills just passed by the House and the Senate? Oh, and for standing up to Bush in the subpoena showdown in US Attorney-Gate. Way up? Just a little? We probably don’t know yet. But it is just possible that the Democratic Party is finding its collective balls.
Collective balls, if they actually got ‘em, is amazing enough in itself. The common refrain about Democratic unity is that it’s like herding cats. Too big a tent, too many agendas. But maybe, just maybe, the Dems are figuring out that there are some agendas that all of their constituents can get behind:
1. Ending the war – I mean, please…70%. Across the board, in just about every poll, for months and months. Men, women, evangelicals, just about every demographic except FOX News viewers support ending the war. That there are Democrats that may still have reservations about ending the war just floors me. If you are afraid that you won’t be able to win future elections by supporting something favored by 70% of the electorate, then you are way to timid to be in politics in the first place. Get the fuck out! Why the Senate’s version is not binding boggles my mind. But hey, this is better than even a month ago.
2. Corruption – Hooray for Waxman, and keep at it. Americans bristle at the phrase “wasting tax dollars.” Every speech any Democrat gives should include the myriad of waste and corruption allowed under the last Congress and current administration. If people complain that it is slowing down government, let them know that the mess is so bad, that you have to clean it up before responsible governance can begin again.
3. Punishing criminals – At our core, we Americans want our pound of flesh when wronged. We sat by, especially Democrats, and watched the Republicans beat the shit out of President Clinton. And elected Democrats went along with it because A) they were in the minority, B) they are generally a bunch of pussies, and C) Clinton was just slippery enough that Americans wanted to know if laws had been broken, and if they had, were willing to flush an effective presidency to keep law and order. Many House Dems voted for impeachment when it looked like Bill perjured himself instead of saying “none of your fucking business.” With this in mind, to go easy on Plame-gate, or Attorney-gate will be unthinkable. Americans will not thank you for letting the White House function without interference, they will revile you for letting a bunch of bullies run roughshod over our Constitution and our National dignity. We will be disgusted by you, and then ignore you, and then, fail to show up in needed numbers and support you when you need us. Just ask Al Gore.
But is the above list even necessary? Hell no! At least it shouldn’t be. I mean, the crimes of this administration are so legion, and so obvious, and the decisions so bad! And yet Bush acts like he still has the majority. And up until the last month, the Democratic majority let him. Take the “surge.” This was and is a bad, bad, bad idea. Nobody wanted it. Nobody but the last few inmates in the neocon asylum. Why not shut down government to stop it?
Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks made a great observation on the radio a few weeks back. He argued that the reason that Americans have not gathered in mobs on the White House lawn with torches and pitchforks is because we respect strength. The message from the election: end the war. The Iraq study group: end the war. 70% of Americans: end the goddam war! What does Bush say?: escalate the war! While everyone stood staring with mouths open at the suggestion, the debate had shifted from whether we should end the war, to whether we should escalate the war. And he fucking did it! He fired generals until he found one that agreed with his insane plan, and he did it. And for months, talk of actually ending the war was muted.
The Dems should have shut government down immediately. Let the Republicans filibuster! Let them stand up and explain why it is a good idea to send more of our young people into a meat grinder. They won’t be able to do it. They can’t pull it off. They too, read the polls. (While you were at it Dems, you should have made them actually filibuster the minimum wage bill, and explain why working Americans don’t deserve more than $5.15 per hour.)
The recent actions by the House and Senate are promising. Don’t fuck it up. Don’t compromise on justice for administration lawbreakers, or what is obvious to at least 70% of Americans. Show your own strength.
Or what? Or you will squander the political capital you currently enjoy. Your power comes from the People. The average Joes and Josephinas grinding out 50 hour work weeks with limited and overpriced health care. We are disgusted with Republicans, but we don’t really trust you. You were weak when you could have filibustered Alito, you were complicant in an illegal war, domestic spying, torture and renditions. You fucked us with NAFTA (thanks Bill!).
“Yeah, yeah” you say, “who the fuck else you gonna’ vote for?” Who else are non-facist, non-religiously deluded, non-CEO voters going to choose?
For one, nobody! Democratic voters may decide that there is no choice worth leaving the house for. The country is going down the toilet anyway, so why help flush? For two, Ralph Nadar! I almost pulled the lever for Nadar myself in 2000. At the last moment I did some political calculus and voted the least of two evils, not my conscience or my “choice.” He says he is considering a run again in 2008. If Dems, especially in the Senate, don’t act with courage and conviction, he will bleed away Democratic votes like a Medieval barber. He has name recognition with the best of the contenders, and is a stark contrast to Hilary or Ried. And, he can speak to the concerns of the working stiff way better than Obama or Edwards can. He can’t win, but he can disable the campaign of a political time-server who shows more concern for power than for constituents. He can appear heroic next to senators who show cowardice when faced with the tough political challenges of the day (can we say Hilary?).
So keep showing those balls. Let the hairy sack peek out from the bottom of the boxers. Hell, flop ‘em on the counter and shout “IMPEACH!” If you don’t give them air regularly, Americans will abandon you like they did in 2000.
2008 shouldn’t even be close. A complete sweep, House, Senate and White House with large margins. With the seriously crooked shit in the news on a daily basis, we should see three or four “clean” Republicans switch sides before the next elections. And if those Democratic balls are hangin’ about the knees, it’s a lock.
Collective balls, if they actually got ‘em, is amazing enough in itself. The common refrain about Democratic unity is that it’s like herding cats. Too big a tent, too many agendas. But maybe, just maybe, the Dems are figuring out that there are some agendas that all of their constituents can get behind:
1. Ending the war – I mean, please…70%. Across the board, in just about every poll, for months and months. Men, women, evangelicals, just about every demographic except FOX News viewers support ending the war. That there are Democrats that may still have reservations about ending the war just floors me. If you are afraid that you won’t be able to win future elections by supporting something favored by 70% of the electorate, then you are way to timid to be in politics in the first place. Get the fuck out! Why the Senate’s version is not binding boggles my mind. But hey, this is better than even a month ago.
2. Corruption – Hooray for Waxman, and keep at it. Americans bristle at the phrase “wasting tax dollars.” Every speech any Democrat gives should include the myriad of waste and corruption allowed under the last Congress and current administration. If people complain that it is slowing down government, let them know that the mess is so bad, that you have to clean it up before responsible governance can begin again.
3. Punishing criminals – At our core, we Americans want our pound of flesh when wronged. We sat by, especially Democrats, and watched the Republicans beat the shit out of President Clinton. And elected Democrats went along with it because A) they were in the minority, B) they are generally a bunch of pussies, and C) Clinton was just slippery enough that Americans wanted to know if laws had been broken, and if they had, were willing to flush an effective presidency to keep law and order. Many House Dems voted for impeachment when it looked like Bill perjured himself instead of saying “none of your fucking business.” With this in mind, to go easy on Plame-gate, or Attorney-gate will be unthinkable. Americans will not thank you for letting the White House function without interference, they will revile you for letting a bunch of bullies run roughshod over our Constitution and our National dignity. We will be disgusted by you, and then ignore you, and then, fail to show up in needed numbers and support you when you need us. Just ask Al Gore.
But is the above list even necessary? Hell no! At least it shouldn’t be. I mean, the crimes of this administration are so legion, and so obvious, and the decisions so bad! And yet Bush acts like he still has the majority. And up until the last month, the Democratic majority let him. Take the “surge.” This was and is a bad, bad, bad idea. Nobody wanted it. Nobody but the last few inmates in the neocon asylum. Why not shut down government to stop it?
Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks made a great observation on the radio a few weeks back. He argued that the reason that Americans have not gathered in mobs on the White House lawn with torches and pitchforks is because we respect strength. The message from the election: end the war. The Iraq study group: end the war. 70% of Americans: end the goddam war! What does Bush say?: escalate the war! While everyone stood staring with mouths open at the suggestion, the debate had shifted from whether we should end the war, to whether we should escalate the war. And he fucking did it! He fired generals until he found one that agreed with his insane plan, and he did it. And for months, talk of actually ending the war was muted.
The Dems should have shut government down immediately. Let the Republicans filibuster! Let them stand up and explain why it is a good idea to send more of our young people into a meat grinder. They won’t be able to do it. They can’t pull it off. They too, read the polls. (While you were at it Dems, you should have made them actually filibuster the minimum wage bill, and explain why working Americans don’t deserve more than $5.15 per hour.)
The recent actions by the House and Senate are promising. Don’t fuck it up. Don’t compromise on justice for administration lawbreakers, or what is obvious to at least 70% of Americans. Show your own strength.
Or what? Or you will squander the political capital you currently enjoy. Your power comes from the People. The average Joes and Josephinas grinding out 50 hour work weeks with limited and overpriced health care. We are disgusted with Republicans, but we don’t really trust you. You were weak when you could have filibustered Alito, you were complicant in an illegal war, domestic spying, torture and renditions. You fucked us with NAFTA (thanks Bill!).
“Yeah, yeah” you say, “who the fuck else you gonna’ vote for?” Who else are non-facist, non-religiously deluded, non-CEO voters going to choose?
For one, nobody! Democratic voters may decide that there is no choice worth leaving the house for. The country is going down the toilet anyway, so why help flush? For two, Ralph Nadar! I almost pulled the lever for Nadar myself in 2000. At the last moment I did some political calculus and voted the least of two evils, not my conscience or my “choice.” He says he is considering a run again in 2008. If Dems, especially in the Senate, don’t act with courage and conviction, he will bleed away Democratic votes like a Medieval barber. He has name recognition with the best of the contenders, and is a stark contrast to Hilary or Ried. And, he can speak to the concerns of the working stiff way better than Obama or Edwards can. He can’t win, but he can disable the campaign of a political time-server who shows more concern for power than for constituents. He can appear heroic next to senators who show cowardice when faced with the tough political challenges of the day (can we say Hilary?).
So keep showing those balls. Let the hairy sack peek out from the bottom of the boxers. Hell, flop ‘em on the counter and shout “IMPEACH!” If you don’t give them air regularly, Americans will abandon you like they did in 2000.
2008 shouldn’t even be close. A complete sweep, House, Senate and White House with large margins. With the seriously crooked shit in the news on a daily basis, we should see three or four “clean” Republicans switch sides before the next elections. And if those Democratic balls are hangin’ about the knees, it’s a lock.
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