I’ll See Your Berlusconi and Raise You a Cain, or Perry, or. . . .

Tags

banking, Election 2012, GOP, Karl Rove, OWS, tea baggers

I liked Silvio Berlusconi.

I really do.

He gives me hope.

Hope that we are not (as the “new world”) the repository of all that is stupid in the world.

The glee with which the Italian people reacted to his resignation indicates that he was truly thought the buffoon among his own. And Italians put up with a lot. I mean the Pope argues for celibacy and sexual restraint in a country that’s economy is based on the buying power of mistresses.

Okay, I probably over step there.

And then there is Asia. Asian parliaments are known to erupt in actual fist-fights among the elected. I mean that suggests a certain degree of crazy doesn’t it?

So we are not alone. I take heart.

It ain’t so bad.

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I felt compelled to watch the last debate. After missing the “oops” Perry one, I just could not risk another missed opportunity. And it was a bore, mostly. Perry pulled out his “all foreign aid starts at zero” and when others on the panel of jackasses agreed with him, looked all the part of a puppy who had finally got the housebreaking thing.

Herm and Michele, those extremely religious ones, were all for waterboarding. How Christian of you both!

Some hated Pakistan, and some saw the danger in cutting them loose.

Mitt swore that Iran would have nuclear weapons if Obama continues as the commander, but they will not if he takes over.

Michele said that the CIA is run by the ACLU.

They were mostly boring.

Jon Huntsman was the only adult.

Nobody cared.

Juan Cole over at Informed Comment has a good analysis.

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We understand from sources (i.e., the Contrarian) that certain of Turd Blossoms ads put forth by his Super Slush Fund, the American Crossroads, have been turned down by a few stations in three states. Turns out they watched them, looked up the facts, and found them so hellaciously lying that they refused to air them.  I  believe that two of them, one that attacks Tim Kaine and one that attacks Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, are among those refused.

*Note: the link doesn’t speak to the refusals, just the ads themselves.

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Remember that Saturday when the OWS urged folks to withdraw their money from banks and put it in credit unions? I’d say it was a pretty big success. I saw numbers of 4 billion being transferred out of the hands of banks on just that day.

Those who think the OWS movement is fringe are making a big mistake. What part of 99% don’t they get?

According to Marcos Moulitsas, editor of Daily Kos, over 700,000 accounts have been closed in the last six weeks. Some very bizarre responses by the banks are illustrated in Moulitsas piece in AlterNet. Did you know you can’t be a protestor and withdraw your money at the same time?

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I know I probably just dreamed it, but I think I actually heard it.

Somewhere.

I pray to every God in the Roman and Greek array, every one in Hinduism, any one at all, anywhere,  for it to be true.

It would make my day.

It would may be wiggle and jiggle with more delight than I experienced with my first kiss, lay, banana split, car, pair of high heels, lipstick, degree, house, lobster tail, puppy, paycheck, or just anything I can think of.

Don’t breathe a word of it. It is so tenuous a thought that the very thinking of it, might cause it to disappear like a mist off the meadow.

Sarah, is rethinking her decision not to run.

Shhhh. Don’t say a word.

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I used to think of the GOP as having a tiger by the tail, as in TeaNutz®. Such an analogy speaks for itself.

Now, I kinda think that they have many tigers by the tail, and instead of being turned on, they are just being pulled apart.

Latest, is the attempt by some Republicans to disavow the powerful Grover Norquist and his pledge to not raise taxes.

Grover, who publicly disdains any claim that he is powerful, is quite different behind the scenes of course.

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You know, I keep hearing, as the campaign for chief farce in the GOP continues, that more and more of the candidates claim that God called them to this.

Which is fine, I suppose.

George the Doofus claimed as much.

But I don’t recall any of the others in that race making the same claim.

But now God has called Michele, and Herm, and Ricky (probably both of them). God could not make up his mind?

Just scratching my head is all.

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What part of covert don’t you understand?

Most of the Keystone Kops who masquerade as candidates in the debates, were quick to attack Obama, claiming that they would start all kinds of “covert” operations throughout Iran to encourage the dissidents as well as hurt their economy and nuclear program.

Of course the stupid answer is simple. If the Administration is engaged in such operations, (and plenty of folks believe they are), they are COVERT, thus not up for public discussion.

Read the AP fact check of the candidates here, including the above remark. It all suggests that either the candidates are fairly stupid or simply disingenuous in their remarks. Excluding Huntsman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the News that Can Be Got Between Noon and Noon-fifteen

Tags

banking, consumer protection, GOP, Health care, Humor, Medicare, Michele Bachmann, paleontology, Ryan plan, voting rights

I know that the fine business of news reporting once upon a time was an honorable craft. I know that because I have heard and read about Edward R. Murrow and I remember Walter Cronkite. You know, reporters who actually spent time tracking down a story that was important.

Today, we have almost none of those types at least in the media. It’s all a dog and pony show now. Make sure it’s got all the bells and whistles, keep it short, make the video entertaining. Fluff it up.

One of the reasons that I was for an early resignation by Anthony Weiner, was not because of the hideousness of his crime, but because he would prove to be a distraction since the media would opt for the easy story–sex sells, and we all know it.

Weiner shares the spotlight with the trial of a mother for the death of her child. For several hours a day we are informed of the last detail of mom and dad’s testimony as well as about the new forensic science of “smell”. (There is a sealed can of “death” odor in case you missed it.)

Given these propensities, it comes as no surprise that the crazy Bachmann woman is getting just loads of press since the “debate” of a couple of nights ago. Albeit, some suggest that her bar was lower than a master limbo dancer could get under in the first place, but she got high marks for “having a command” of the facts, and being aggressive. Somehow that has catapulted her into the race as a viable candidate.

I suggest that this is only in the minds of the media asswipes who muse over such things while sipping that appletini at a long lunch. She’s fun, controversial, and easy to cover. The fact that if you were to look at her numbers nationally, she ranks in the barely negligible range, is of no matter. It is important that she is looking good in Iowa.

Well, let me inform you that Iowa is, nowadays, no bellweather of Republicanism. It is a rogue state of insanity produced by the strange animal known as caucus. See, we don’t all go to the polls and vote here in our primary. No, those of us who have a few hours to waste, go and sit with a bunch of other people with time on their hands (or very very serious interests in who gets the nod), and we argue, and argue and argue until the “caucus” for that district reaches a consensus. Since many of the folks are neighbors and friends, well, you can see the possibilities. Bottom line, caucuses wildly don’t reflect the average voter in the state. They do represent very special interests.

That Bachmann will do well in Iowa’s caucuses is correct. That it means much of anything is entirely another thing.

So, in the interests of not getting all wacked out of shape over this Bachmann “surge” let us recall that the woman is an idiot, second only to that fine piece of work, the Wasilla Witch. If you need reminding, then take a look at this list of Bachmannian crazy. Surely the domkoffs of the GOPpery are not this insane? Or stop by Politicususa and read their summary of the lady’s right-wing evangelical nuttery.

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 It probably goes without saying to the crowd that comes around here to read the news that the Ryan plan is awful–simply awful. It screws the elderly and no amount of saying it doesn’t will change that fact. Republicans are simply lying when they claim otherwise. What the CBO tells us, is that worse, it will raise costs astronomically. A good report on all this at Crooks and Liars today.

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Let me see if I can remember this correctly. Once upon a time banks had no regulation to speak of. This was back in the Bushy years. And they overreached, and then the entire economy teetered on the edge of destruction. Now the GOPers are determined that the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency shall have no money and nobody to run it, because banks need to be left unfettered to do their thing. Yeah, makes sense. Once again, the Rethuglians in Congress show us just how little they are interested in people. Who would think that anyone would be against protecting consumers except the fat cats who are trying to screw them–oh yeah, that would be the Repuklicans wouldn’t it?

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Couldn’t resist this little gem fromPolitical Irony:

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We’ve been reporting here now and again about voter suppression laws being enacted in GOP controlled states throughout the US. USA Today has done an editorial on the subject, calling a spade a spade. Again, there are no real issues with voter fraud here or anywhere. This is just a GOP dirty trick to suppress largely Democratic voters who are students, poor and the elderly. Note that in no case do these new suppression laws address absentee voting which is universally considered more open to fraud, but which the GOP deems most likely to be cast by Republicans.

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And just cuz you need to know this stuff, some stuff on evolution and the failure of mankind to make much evolutionary progress in the last 40-50 thousand years, go read this great article. It’s a great new book by one of the leaders in the field of evolution and man. It’s called the Origin of Our Species.

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What’s on the stove: chicken cacciatore, salad, bread

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Socialism

Tags

banking, corporations, economics, government, socialism

A citizen at a McCain mob rally yesterday exploded in anger. “I’m really angry,” he shouted, “and it’s not about the economy. We have got to stop this before ‘they’ turn our country into a socialist state.” Well, it brought a chuckle, since this buffoon obviously doesn’t know a thing about economics or what is going on presently in this country. Worse yet, he hasn’t a clue what is going on in his own party.

Now let me preface all by saying, I know little about economics. I don’t say that with any sense of pride. To the contrary, it is a deeply shameful thing to me at this point. I am more than willing to mea culpa myself to death. I owe myself and my fellow citizens more. I, as a functional adult in the US of A have a responsibility to understand at least the basics of all this stuff.

But it seems to me, given my limitations, that the bailout and others that have preceeded it over the decades (remember Chrysler back in the 80’s or 90’s?), are governmental assumption of bad debt. It seems to me, and please tell me if I am wrong, that the government is now in the business of banking. I’m told that the Bush administration is now considering buying actual shares in these failing banking institutions as a way to control and stabilize them.

Now I may be a tad rusty here folks, but last time I recall reading a definition of socialism, it included “government ownership of the means of production.” Does that not include financial institutions? I mean they are the ones who finance the actual means of production, such as steel and oil and other such tangible touchable industry.

If that is so, then government, thanks to the Republican party is engaged in socialism all ready. And I submit, it appears that the government has been doing this for some time, across more than one administration, Republican or Democratic.

Now our mobster at the rally, seems either not to know this (shame on him) or he only means socialism as it pertains to social programs such as health care and social security (gosh was that socialism?) medicare, Veterans health and education benefits, food stamps and on and on.

In any event, it seems that with regulation or not, the “private sector” seems intent on greed as its central mantra to the exclusion of morals, common sense, or any of the regular expectations that we as humans expect of institutions run by humans. Thus, periodically, the government seems called upon to step in and take on burdens and clean up messes caused by over-reaching humans bent on acquiring until they burst at the seams from their gluttony. The bursting of course spews sewer bilge across this fair land and we have to pay a hefty price as taxpayers to clean ourselves up.

It begins to beg the question. While every politician continues to spout that “free markets are good” much as Gecko spouted that “greed was good,” maybe it ain’t so. If free markets are incapable of maintaining their addiction at a level they can control, and frequently overdose, requiring heroic medical help in the form of bailouts, then perhaps, just perhaps, the rehab approach isn’t working.

Once upon a time, most markets were pretty much confined to the USA. If we sent goods overseas, as I recall, it was pretty much a one way street. There was plenty of competition at home. No more. Today’s markets are global, competition is pretty much gone, having been supplanted by ginormous mega-corporations which sell fertilizer alongside medical supplies, along side dog food, in addition to 5,000 other goods and services.

Big business is not big, its merging into ever greater and greater conglomerates. The recent demise of so many banking institutions will only increase the size of the remaining players. These institutions are now global, having their fingers in more pies than little Jack Horner.

Worse, regulation fails I suspect, to dent their practices. After all, for the most part they are in full control of the “regulatory” agencies. That’s just for starters. They operate, and often headquarter, in places that protect them from regulation and taxation. They buy and sell congress persons at will.

In the end, they behave like the typical toddler who is obedient as long as you are there supervising their every move, but leave the room for five minutes and they are back at doing exacting the opposite of what they were instructed to do. If we are going to have to stay on top of the typical corporation so that it doesn’t start playing with matches, then perhaps it’s just better to own the things outright and protect the other residents of the house from conflagration.

What we have now witnessed, is a group of smart little asses, who figured a way to make a lot of money by playing some game with mortgages. It is all a lot of hocus pocus with risky investments that now every major CEO claims nobody really understood in the first place. And the upshot of all this teenage exuberance, is that the finances of the entire freaking world are toppling into the abyss of hell.

So, I say, maybe it’s time to re-examine this whole socialism thing. Maybe we need to own those industries that are directly tied to the very success or utter failure of a society. The nuts and bolts of what it takes to make a civilization operate. Things like energy and banking, and the raw materials of production.

Maybe the world needs to exhibit a little tough love. “Son you can’t be trusted with the keys, you keep wrecking the car.” Maybe we need to restrict “business” to making golf clubs and cheerios. I dunno, I’m just like you, looking for an explanation and a solution.