Better Bread Than Dead

Apologies to all for a two month hiatus. No excuses, and it's good to be back.

Here we go again. In another stroke of political genius - GENIUS I tell you! - the Obama administration has made a beeline to the "center" for its initial negotiating position with the knuckle-dragging crowd, aka, the GOP, for talks on the budget.

Uhm, OK...and they hope to come away with what exactly at the end of this process? Somebody needs to send Barack Obama back up to Cambridge to bone up on negotiation tactics. By beginning with what could only be seen as a worst case end result, the actual outcome of the budget negotiations is likely to be dismal. This initial offer by the White House legitimizes the illegitimate - taking yet another pass on addressing poverty and injustice and equating the value of programs designed to reduce inequality and to promote resilience with those that stuff more resources into the maw of our overfed military-intelligence complex.

The moral bankruptcy of Barack Obama continues. Which chapter are we filing today?

Happiness is a Warm Gun (and Cold Bodies)...in Our Schools!

I'm monitoring the news on the progress of Obama's gun control legislation, and I can't say that I'm all that surprised by the weapons-manufacturer-funded Republican response. Yes, the Lords of War and the lobbyists that love them, i.e., the NRA, are rolling out the very best of their specious arguments to insist that we weaponize schools and all public spaces while we're at it.

Then there's the usual vile nonsense oozing out of whichever orifice that passes for Rush Limbaugh's piehole these days about how African Americans should embrace the weaponized society agenda. Heck, if only civil rights leaders had been packing, they would have enjoyed a quicker more broad-based triumph.

Right...so, let's bring back the Black Panthers, arm them with assault-style rifles and send them over to Rush's place for a little heart-to-heart. I'd like to be a fly on that blood-splattered wall.

But back to the gun-nuts' insistence on weaponizing schools...I'm not so peeved at them as at the Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. Congress who are cowering and already withdrawing support for anything that might put them on the wrong side of the weapons lobby. Do they care nothing for the welfare of our society's most vulnerable members, our children? Clearly not. Do they really believe that more guns are the answer to reducing violence in schools? Probably not. Do they enjoy depositing those campaign contribution checks? Cha-ching!

Kill the Message...'Cause the Messenger is Packing!

So...all of the insider wonketariat and commentators are all crowing about the new "bipartisan" immigration reform legislation being drafted, all part of the GOP's effort to rebrand and remessage itself to appeal more to the very folks they would have happily frogmarched back to their countries of origin. Likewise, the GOP spin-doctors will be instructing their charges to talk less about their wacky notions of legit rape, etc., when confronting the abortion issue. And so and so on and so on...

I, for one, ain't buyin' it. They can remessage and repackage to their little cold hearts' delight, but the message - the actual policies and the values they represent - will remain the same: cold-hearted, divisive, hate-filled, racist, anti-poor, misogynist and anti-gay. There ain't enough lipstick and perfume in the world to that will make that pig any purttier. I'll look forward to the day when the teabaggers rise up to reclaim the vile rotten soul of the GOP, and all of this staged nonsense will come crashing down, scattering the pigs and cosmetics everywhere.

Goddamn Marvel

What can I say? This, along with playing his namesake in the Shining, had to be a couple of is greatest roles. I love Jack Nicholson, back when when he was still acting and not just playing some sad caricature of himself.

Then there's the politics of this so-called Debt Ceiling Crisis. I will give Obama credit for refusing to negotiate with fiscal terrorists, er sorry, I meant House Republicans. Whatever. Meanwhile, he has been seriously considering negotiating by throwing the vulnerable under the bus (again; surprise!) by way of staking out some "centrist" position, which in this day and age is just to the left of the National Review's editorial board's position.

It's all just a bit depressing. Another failure of leadership all made up to look sensible and serious-minded. Let's just roll the tape and click the link...

Capitol Nonsense

I don't know about you, but I am getting a little weary of the so-called Fiscal Cliff "crisis," which clearly is nothing more than a media event manufactured by career politicians seeking to justify their existence. A few words of advice: shut up, suit up and show up and just sort this out between you like grown men and women.

To the Republicans, you lost. Get over it. Give Obama what he campaigned for - a restoration of Clinton era tax rates, which won't hurt anyone, never mind "kill jobs." Don't worry, your corporate underwriters will still love you.

To the Democrats, you won. Now get over yourselves. You're only marginally better than the GOP, and your political cowardice knows no bounds. Get this vote done and then go out and actually do something of substance, you spineless hacks.

A pox on both their houses.

Wayne's World

I know I'm a bit late with this post; the NRA's press conference was last week, but I couldn't resist posting this one anyway. It had already been crystal clear to me that the NRA is nothing more than a front for the arms manufacturers, dealers and retailers, but Wayne LaPierre's borderline psychotic rant certainly confirmed my suspicions.

If anyone is unconvinced how else can one explain Wayne-o's brutally callous, clueless nonsenses even as the survivors and families of the victims of the Newton, Conn. massacre had only just begun to bury their loved ones. If it were up to me, I would round'em all up, teabaggers, sister-shaggers, card-carrying cold dead handers and dead-enders, and seal them in reinforced concrete bunkers where they could wait out the rest of their days, fuming at the imminent UN invasion while rotting their puny, feeble brains on Velveeta cheese product and Ritz crackers.

John E. Boehner, Genius

Growing up I loved watching Looney Tunes cartoons, and while the Road Runner may never have been my favorite - I usually sympathized with Wiley E. Coyote - it certainly was an excellent depiction of hubris. In this situation, the so-called "Fiscal Cliff," I'm not sure if hubris is really the right word to describe the mule-headed stubbornness of the Republicans to stick to their caveman conservative fanaticism.

What I am certain about is that the Republicans have mostly themselves to blame for getting themselves into this political pickle, and it appears that Americans will hold mostly them responsible for whatever consequences might arise as a result of the budget cuts. It's frustrating, yes, the whole political gridlock, but I'd rather see the Republicans face the music...those looney tunes.