When The Tide Goes Out, I Want To Make Sure That I Drag You Down With Me

Whether he knew it or not, Stephen Colbert (in the video I posted yesterday) summed up exactly how the conservative movement of this country has as many followers as it does. I also now understand the motivations of some of my posters.

If you take a look at most conservatives these days, they are pissed off about something. Abortion, gay marriage, the debt, unions...whatever...and each of these things are demonized to such a point of irrationality that it's quite befuddling. For years, I thought they were just dicks. Recently, I have to come think that they are mostly just bullies and adolescents but I didn't take that extra step until reading this article in the Times and hearing Colbert two days ago.

I was so blind.

What do most bullies have in common? They all have a bunch of crappy things going on in their personal lives so they act out when they are at school. Or, in this case since they are "adults," the act like creeps when they are out with people and/or posting on blogs. Take the example of Rick Hahan from the Times article.

“Something needs to be done,” he said, “and quickly.”

Across Wisconsin, residents like Mr. Hahan have fumed in recent years as tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs have vanished, and as some of the state’s best-known corporations have pressured workers to accept benefit cuts.

 Fumed...there's the anger that they tap into as easy as pie which is why something needs to be done "quickly," I wonder if Mr. Hahan understands that this problem could have been easily remedied by not cutting taxes as the Governor did upon taking office. Taxes that were cut,  I might add, to favor the people that are (in reality) the reason why Mr. Hahan is out of a job.

And see how easily anger becomes resentment in the case of Mary Kay Horter.

Ms. Horter said she was forced to work more hours as an occupational therapist, but had not seen a raise or any retirement contributions from her employer for the last two years. All told, her family’s income has dropped by about a third.

“I don’t get to bargain in my job, either,” she said.

Ah, I see. Since Ms. Horter and Mr. Hahan don't have the same benefits, why should anyone else? Everyone, I guess, should be as miserable as them regardless of how hard they have worked to get to where they are today.

Misery does indeed love company. In American today there a fuck load of people, like Ms. Horter and Mr. Hahan, who are miserable and don't really like themselves very much. It's become increasingly obvious that these folks are ripe fruit for the pickins.

Guess who are the produce collectors?

So Brilliant I Can Hardly Contain Myself...

This is a nice front load to my post tomorrow which will contain an epiphany I had recently. In fact, Colbert says it in this segment.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
A Less Perfect Union - Randi Weingarten
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

So That's Where That Came From

A while back, someone linked a pajamas TV video in comments which essentially said the city was in ruins because of liberal policies. Stuff like this always makes me scratch my head...what fucking planet do they live on? At least now we have an explanation as to the origin of the story.

THIS.

Not simply a lie but a Pants on Fire lie. Wow. And a chain email source to boot. Those are always reliable.

Let's take a look at some of the facts.

Since 1950, Detroit has lost more than 80 percent of its jobs because manufacturers embraced new technologies and moved their businesses to the suburbs.That destroyed retail  businesses and led to a drastic drop in the city’s population; from the 1950 peak of 1.85 million, the population had fallen to about 900,000 by 2009.

So, no one is really to blame. This is what happened when we shifted from an agrarian culture to a manufacturing society. Further...

Detroit’s decline began shortly after World War II, he said, for the same reasons Dewar cited.
If welfare were the problem, Sugrue said, then one could expect to see hollowed out sections of Stockholm or Paris, cities in nations with generous welfare programs.

Yes, they are very generous. And we don't see the issues there that we see here. I wonder why that is?

The Corporate Takeover in Wisconsin

Tucked away on page 24 of the bill to strip some government employee unions (the ones that didn't support Walker's election) of collective bargaining rights is an interesting provision. It allows the state of Wisconsin to sell power plants without a competitive bidding process to whomever the department feels like, defining "public interest" as whatever the governor's lackey department head says it is.

Now, who would be interested in buying power plants in Wisconsin? Could it be the Koch brothers, who bought Governor Walker's election?

Why does corporate America always have its hand out, begging for government money and special deals? Why does every pro football team in the country need the government to build their stadiums for them? Why do oil companies need special tax breaks for finding new oil when the price of oil is so high and they're making money hand over fist? Why do conservatives love "privatization," where the government does all the heavy lifting (building freeways that become private tollways, privatized prisons in North Carolina, the state office buildings in Arizona, the power plants in Wisconsin), and then companies move in and take all the profit?

And then when corporations have obligations they no longer feel like living up to, they just declare bankruptcy and get out of jail free. Which several airlines did, foisting their employee pension obligations off on the federal government.

The shakedown of America by the financiers of the Tea Party has begun. The real agenda is now laid bare. They bought their elected officials; it's time to cash in.

Only Themselves to Blame

While there is no doubt in my mind that most of the people protesting in Madison right now turned out to vote last November, had the other half of eligible voters in Wisconsin actually participated in choosing a new governor, Scott Walker would not be in power.

I find it sad that the "record" was 52 percent back in 1962 and it speaks volumes about our pathetically apathetic culture. The simple fact is that lower voter turnout favors the GOP. This would be why they use the tactics they use (ACORN, Scare the Old, White Person etc.). They work. Many young people didn't turn out and vote and it's their future on the line. I'm certain as well that there were many people that were too busy with work and their lives so they just skipped the 15 minutes it would take to vote.

Now they have to live with it and they have only themselves to blame. Regardless of how this ends in Wisconsin, it's not going to go well for the individual. I use this word because I am attempting (in what I'm sure will result in failure) to get through to some of the thick skulls who read this blog (who laughingly champion individualism) that they are doing the bidding of corporate fascists. YOU (yes, you) are going to be affected adversely by this.

It's only a matter of time...

Most Excellent

I don't think I've seen a more accurate cartoon in my entire life.

Presidents Day Pageant (5)

The people can never understand why the President does not use his powers to make them behave. Well all the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.

--Harry Truman, 1947

Presidents Day Pageant (4)

Human identity is no longer defined by what one does, but by what one owns.

--Jimmy Carter, 1979

Presidents Day Pageant (3)

‎I believe we've got a great chance to establish a Palestinian state, and I intend to use the next four years to spend the capital of the United States on such a state. I believe it is in the interest of the world that a truly free state develop.

--George W. Bush, 2004

Presidents Day Pageant (2)

‎Above all, we must realize that no arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.

---Ronald Reagan, 1981

Presidents Day Pageant (1)

Dedicated to the men and women sitting in the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin.

Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.

--Dwight David Eisenhower, 1954

So Much For States Rights

Now the Tea Party has showed up down in Madison which means that their list of hypocrisies has grown by yet another item. I'm still shaking my head in bewilderment regarding their name (no one is being taxed without representation) but this latest move demonstrates how completely full of shit they are.

It was my understanding (correct me if I am wrong, please) that their rasion d'etre is less national government and more state government. Each state is left to their own devices to operate as they see fit. Someone from Minnesota, for example, has no business telling someone from Wisconsin what type of government they should have. This would be why I have largely been silent on the issue and let Mr. Waxey make his case. Of course, I'm not a conservative so, as a Democrat, I would still be operating in line with my beliefs if I did try to force my views on the Cheezers.

And I lived there from age 6 to age 18 (with my mom still living there and being directly affected by this bill as a state employee of 32 years) so even with just that I could say something if I wanted. So could Jesse Jackson and all the other folks from the left that have descended on Madison. They could be called meddlesome but not hypocritical.

That badge of honor falls squarely on the chest of the various NATIONAL Tea Party organization and their army of professional protesters. Apparently they have chucked their principles down the toilet and headed off the to the prairie to thump their chests about how evil government is and how blessed (from the Lord himself) we all are to have corporations.

Because that's what this is really all about. Scott Walker is one of many who has been funded by the Koch Brothers. Their vision for America, like Walker's, is one in which everyone works for private companies and workers have zero rights. They knew that their time is now and, with a very base of angry, hateful, and frightened older people, they are attempting to assert their will. I'm sorry...VILL!

Must be nice to have so many true believers. I'm happy, though, that my best friend (since 7th grade) John Waxey is on the case. Hopefully, we will get some more updates soon. He's been down at the capital every day!

UPDATE AND CORRECTION: I was just informed by John Waxey that the union supporters to Tea Partier ratio was 50 to 1 and not 2 to 1. Most of the major media are reporting that the crowd doubled when the Tea Party showed up. I did as well in the first sentence (which I have now corrected) but I wanted to leave a note about it down here as well to say that it was not true. 

Do you think the media enjoys divisiveness? 

Notes From The Front in Wisconsin

from John Waxey...

Markadelphia has asked me to put down some thoughts and my experiences on what is currently happening in Madison, Wisconsin because I happen to be right in the middle of it (literally). I am not watching from my porch or re-hashing what I see on the local and national news, I am on the front line amongst the crowds at the Capital. The reason I am there is that I am on the faculty of two local state institutions and have been working in the Wisconsin system for the last 12 years. Furthermore, my wife is a nurse at UW Hospital and both of us will be substantially impacted by Scott Walker's budget repair bill. Let's start with some facts about the situation with UW system workers.

1. I have been working with a 3% salary furlough for the past two years. A 4% pay increase that was approved 4 years ago was rescinded two years ago meaning that I am making the same salary that I made 4 years ago minus the 3%. It's not complicated to see that my salary is not increasing with the rising cost of living and hasn't done so for several years.

2. The budget repair bill will shave another 7% off of my salary leaving me with an overall 10% reduction in my salary. This means overall that for a composite full-time position (it's split between two institutions), I will make approximately 22,500 before taxes this year. That is with a Masters degree and being nearly finished with a doctorate.

You might ask why do I keep the job. Fair enough question and the answer is that my retirement package and health care benefits, in part, make up for the lousy pay. So, the comments I hear on Fox News and by people who are annoyed with the protests that state workers are living high off the hog and have been for years is not part of my experience. What I have experienced is constant compromise, pay reductions and class size increase since the fiscal disaster brought upon us by the Bush administration.

I get that we all have to sacrifice and I am willing to do my part, but remember that my wife will also be affected by this repair bill, so my house gets hit twice. Add to that this bill also takes away my hard-fought right to collectively bargain. Unlike the private sector, we do not get merit pay, we may not ask for raises, we do not have the opportunity for overtime (I'm not sure the last time I spent only 40 hours a week working during the school year) and the only opportunity we have to ask for even cost of living increases is in collective bargaining. What Walker wants us to do is to just shut-up and take what is given without question or complaint. There is no way to address work-place safety without the collective bargaining process. In essence, he wants to run the state like the private sector, but not allow us to be treated like workers in the private sector. That's unfair.

Walker's argument is that we are simply being asked to contribute more to our benefits, but that is without consideration to what our salaries are. By most studies, we, the workers of Wisconsin are underpaid by some 8% already by comparison to the private sector considering experience and education and that is just in general. University of Wisconsin System workers are dramatically behind on salary compared to other colleges and universities. Furthermore, he suggests this bill is to address shortfalls in the budget. What does collective bargaining have to do with budget shortfalls? What does forcing unions to vote each year on whether they should continue to exist or not have to do with budget shortfalls? What does eliminating mandatory union dues have to do with budget shortfalls? It doesn't have anything to do with it. Plain and simple, Walker wants to see unions collapse so that he (and future governors I suppose) can dictate the livelihood of the 177,000 state workers in Wisconsin. We are to just trust that he knows what's best for us and our families. That is not reasonable and is not the limited government that he and his Republican pals have promised.

One last thing for now...I find it infuriating that people who are backing Walker are referring to him as courageous. This is a man who has hidden from the people he intends to screw with this bill. He goes to Green Bay to tour a factory and meet with a dozen people while 13,000 people are protesting his power grab. He didn't come to the public workers of Wisconsin to discuss his bill, he won't face them and his excuse is he has nothing to offer. He is a coward by definition and a poor leader (even if you agree with his politics). Mr. Walker seems to think that his being elected meant that his agenda was given the A-Ok by everyone and that he would not actually have to govern, just enforce. Of course understanding the difference between those two things may have been covered in his senior year at Marquette, you know, the one that he dropped out of pulling a mighty 2.59 average. That was a cheap shot, but it also illustrates a failing I am seeing in most politicians these days. That is, the attitude that winning an election entitles them to push one agenda or another.

In Walker's first 6 weeks, he has proposed 117.2 million in tax breaks that will affect mostly wealthier people, he has attempted to cut my pay by another 7% and destroy my right to collectively bargain. He has pissed off nearly 200,000 workers and their families by not governing but trying only to enforce his un-creative and narrow-minded approach to repairing a deficit that is largely manufactured. This is why I am at the Capital today and tomorrow. God and Ed Schultz save us all.

State-Sanctioned Terrorism in South Dakota

A committee in the South Dakota legislature recently approved a bill that would have defined the killing of an abortion doctor as justifiable homicide. The bill has since been shelved, but anti-abortion activists have praised it because it would scare away abortion doctors. In essence, the bill is state-sanctioned terrorism.

And in the House of Representatives the new Republican majority started attacking abortion rights straight out of the gate by introducing a bill allowing abortions only in cases of "forcible rape." So, if you get date-raped by some loser who puts rufies in your drink or a horny step-father, tough luck.

What's behind these perennial attacks on abortion rights? It's obviously not an overweening concern for human life. A law that declares open season on doctors performing a legal medical procedure can hardly be considered pro-life.

And it's not about responsibility. If you get pregnant, and you know can't take care of the kid, or don't have the money for the proper prenatal care, or can't afford to take time off during the last part of the pregnancy, or don't have money for the actual delivery, or don't have the money to raise the kid, the responsible thing to do is to end the pregnancy immediately, before you put another burden on society.

And it's not about the sanctity of human life. Most anti-abortion activists oppose abortion in any of its forms, including the morning after pill. A fertilized ovum is still a one-celled blastocyte. It is not a living, breathing person in any sense. At all. Nor is a two-cell, four-cell, eight-cell, sixteen-cell blastocyte a human being. A five-week-old fetus is not a living, breathing, thinking human. It looks like a tadpole.

And functionally speaking, it's not a human being either. There's an old saw in biology, "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny." Basically, this says that fetuses sort of descend down the evolutionary ladder as they develop. Human and chick embryos have gill slits and tails. Though much of this theory has been discredited, you can tell just by looking that early-stage fetuses of salamanders, frogs, fish, rabbits, cows and humans bear much more similarity to each other than to their full-grown counterparts.

All animal fetuses start out with pretty much the same body plan. As the fetus develops certain changes are triggered. Males are identical to females until testosterone is released, and the ovaries transform into testes. Certain body parts come and go: for example, in manatees (legless sea mammals) the fetus has leg buds like all mammals, but they disappear at one point. And the thing that makes humans truly human -- the big cerebrum-- doesn't start forming until very late in the process.

So, prior to a particular point in development a fetus isn't really human. It's proto-human, yes, and might become human one day. The approach taken by the courts acknowledges this fact, positing a date of fetal viability. That's basically the point at which the fetus can breathe outside the womb, but that date could conceivably be moved earlier, to the point where all the major structures of a human being are present in the fetus. As technology and science improve we will undoubtedly revisit this issue, and rightly so. Whatever the number is, there's some point where a fetus is not really human, and after that point it is.

The question of what is human is at the core of this. We have decided that certain types of brain-injury patients have no potential to recover are no longer human, and can be terminated out of mercy. A fetus without the higher brain functions is in pretty much the same boat. I would rather err on the side of caution and make the standard of proof for euthanasia extremely high. But a fetus without a cerebrum has never been a living, breathing human being, so there's not much of a slippery slope here.

And hatred of abortion is not about potential. "You can't abort that baby. It might be another Einstein!" Many abortion foes are staunch supporters of the death penalty. While your average clod on death row will never become an Einstein, they certainly might be "born again" or experience some other spiritual rebirth and do something positive with their lives, helping others. This idea of forgiveness and rebirth is core to Christian theology; it's strange that so many so-called Christians are so adamant about killing people (this is one area where the Catholic Church is way ahead of and most American protestant denominations).

And many abortion foes support war, and some even support pre-emptive wars like the war in Iraq. One of our soldiers, or an Iraqi soldier, or an Iraqi civilian, or an Iraqi child could have potentially made an Einsteinian contribution to the world. So how could anyone calling themselves pro-life have condoned W's pre-emptive fling in Iraq?

And it's not about innocence. We condone the deaths of innocents all the time. We have killed thousands of innocent Afghan and Iraqi citizens. Thousands of innocent people die in this country every year because they don't have adequate health insurance. We allow guys like Jared Loughner to buy high-capacity semiautomatic weapons on demand, and then are shocked when they use them to kill innocent people. Thousands of asthma and emphysema sufferers die each year from high ozone and particulate levels in the air. We drink and then drive (everyone who drinks has a funny story about driving drunk) and then have accidents that kill innocent people on the highways by the thousands every year. But that's all collateral damage because of our "rights" and "freedoms."

And it's not even about dead fetuses. Estimates of the percentage of pregnancies that end spontaneous abortions ("miscarriages") are all over the map, from 10 to 25 to 75%. Yes, you read that right: some experts think that as many as 75% of all fertilized ova fail to implant and just slide on through. If the latter number is correct, that would make God the biggest abortionist of all.

So why do people really oppose abortion? Do they want to keep women under their thumbs? Is it about vengeance and retribution? Do they want to make women pay for having had sex? Is about saving souls?

I don't know. But does it really make sense to punish a woman by forcing them to bear a child they don't want or can't afford? Aren't the pain and shame of going through an abortion punishment enough? Does it make sense for the government to interfere with the personal decisions of a woman over her own body and inflict unwanted children on that woman and on society?

More "Failure" at GM

Hmm...

Less than two years after entering bankruptcy, General Motors will extend millions of dollars in bonuses to most of its 48,000 hourly workers as a reward for the company's rapid turnaround after it was rescued by the government.

So, perhaps those nine words aren't so terrifying after all.

The company made $4.2 billion in the first nine months of 2010 and is expected to announce a fourth-quarter profit soon.

Another quarter with a profit...hey, that's pretty great!

Anyone out there care to retract their statements on how "Government Motors" was a giant mistake?

It's About Time

I've been in Natalie Munroe's shoes more times than I can count. After putting up with endless bullshit from the youth of America, she finally cracked and let loose a spiel on her blog that has ended with her suspension. Her analysis of the youth of America is, in some ways, correct.

Yet her mistake was putting too much of the blame on the students and not enough where most of the problem truly lies...the parents. I suspect that's why she got in trouble. I'm willing to be that it wasn't a student that ratted her out but a parent who got called on their lazy bullshit and, rather than take responsibility for their child's horse shit attitude, turned to Munroe as a scapegoat. Until more parents take responsibility and actually fucking parent, this malaise is going to grow. Nikto wrote about his very problem recently and so have I.  Can we all say Michael Jordan Generation?

After all, I can only do so much if they don't want to do their work. If they decide that they know they are going to make it as an athlete or recording artist and don't think they need a back up plan, there's only so much I can do. Remember, it's what they see as success defined, within the functionality of our society, that's the real problem. I'm going up against the onslaught of the images of corporate America which their parents buy into as well. Ms. Munroe and I are only one fifth of the primary agencies of socialization. As I will continue to say (probably forever), the mass media is the 400 pound gorilla in the room. They have smothered the other four agencies just like BP oil all over the Gulf.

The other side to all of this is Munroe's lack of reflection. This was also part of her undoing. Certain people become teachers for all the wrong reasons. They think they can connect with the youth of America but they really can't. They also don't have the thick skin that one needs (as I do) to let insults bounce right off and go into oblivion. I've had students hurl insult after insult at me and I just laugh. That just pisses them off even more. Clearly, Munroe couldn't handle this and part of me thinks that she lacked that coolnees with which kids can connect. The youth of today can smell "DORK" a mile away and woe be to anyone who has this built into their personality. This would also be where the lazy teacher rag that I sing quite often chimes in. If you aren't a very creative person to begin with and lack width of vision, you will not intrinsically motivate your students.

So, it was probably a combination of all of these things that caused this mini mushroom cloud in Pennsylvania. It's my hope that this incident acts as a catalyst for change. Kevin Baker is fond of saying, "Let's take off...nuke the site from orbit...it's the only way to be sure" when it comes to our education system. What he fails to see is that our education system is one small reflection in the extrinsically motivated cesspool that is our entire culture.

The reason why we are seeing more and more stories like Ms. Munroe's has to do with the giant flaw in the entire system. We have allowed the mass media to dictate our behavior and socialize our children as well as....everyone else. There are pockets of success here and there but you'll have to pardon my cynicism when I say that as long as we continue to function like this, President Obama's call for our country to out innovate the rest of the world will be pure folly.

In the final analysis, it's going to take a mass effort on the part of all of us to change the paradigm of how our culture operates. Parents, teachers, communities, and peer groups are going to have to regain control of socialization from the mass media. They need to take responsibility for themselves and actually dedicate their time to achieve this goal. It's going to take patience coupled with the willingness to manage complexities in order to shift the way our culture works.

Anyone out there think our ADD society can do it?

Making Complete Sense

Ah, now I get it. 

A 51% majority of national GOP primary voters erroneously think President Obama was not born in the U.S. 28% know that he was. With the latter, Palin’s favorability rating is 41-52—other than Ron Paul, the only candidate these voters view negatively. But with birthers, she has a soaring 83-12, far higher than for any of the others.

I completely understand Sarah Palin now and why she is as popular as she is.

He's Correct!

There are a few things on which Mitt Romney and I agree. At the recent CPAC conference, Mr. Romney stated that Canada created more jobs than the US. This statement was verified by the folks at Politifact which is illustrative (once again) that they are not in the tank for the left. Here are they are rating a statement as "True" made by a Republican (although he probably is an impure RINO to some of you).

More importantly, however, is the fact that a country with socialized medicine can create jobs. I was under the impression that all of those countries were falling apart and looked like Detroit now. What the--??!!?? How dare Canada with its liberal ways beat us at something!

Thanks for the heads up, Mitt!

Wow, I'm Not At All Surprised.

Americans Are Horribly Misinformed About Who Has Money

Denial is not a river in Egypt.

Get Out of the Way?

For the last few months, we've been hearing a classic line from the right. It goes something like this.

If the government would only get out of the way, the economy could take off.

Like many things they say, it's a giant pile of steaming shit and, sadly, has the distinct odor of the John Birch Soceity. I smell a lot of Koch on this mound of poo...

According to the National Science Foundation, the federal government funds 57 percent of basic research, compared to less than 18 percent for business, 15 percent for colleges and universities and 11 percent for nonprofits. And business only funds about 6 percent of university-based scientific research.

And take a look at this table which shows that the Evil Government has been a major contributor to science for the last half century. They've also given tax breaks to companies that engage in research which has saved each of these businesses billions of dollars. This was begun under President Reagan. The government also sets standards which provides a framework for companies to work more efficiently.

This is all great information. And where did I find it all? Well...here.

Yeah, that's right...PolitiFact...a topic that has recently come up in comments. Politifact has become yet another (in a very long series) of sties that is "liberally biased." TRANSLATION: I am a conservative who wants to win arguments, can never be wrong, and don't like what they say. Therefore, they are liberally biased. 

As we will soon see, the next step will be to a). completely ignore Politifact's analysis of Democratic statements or b). applaud (spin) them for being factually based while the Republican statement analyses are faulty and riddled with errors. How convenient. I'm fairly certain this will occur for this post.Well, they are just going to have to get used to it because now I'm going to link a whole shit load of Politifact and Factcheck articles which have caught my fancy of late.

Anyhoo, The government has been an integral part of innovation which has lead to the United States being leaders in the world when it comes to innovation. The notion that they need to get out of the way is ludicrous when you consider the facts. They need to be very much leading the way given their successful track record.

Makes Reagan's nine terrifying words seem awfully silly.