The Return To Serfdom

I've been worried for a while that we're heading back to the 18th century, when everything was owned by an aristocracy, and there was practically no such thing as a middle class.

Turns out we're probably a lot farther down that road than I thought.

Here's an excerpt from Matt Taibbi's Griftopia:

Here's yet another diabolic cycle for ordinary Americans, engineered by the grifter class. A Pennsylvanian like Robert Lukens sees his business decline thanks to soaring oil prices that have been jacked up by a handful of banks that paid off a few politicians to hand them the right to manipulate the market. Lukens has no say in this; he pays what he has to pay. Some of that money of his goes into the pockets of the banks that disenfranchise him politically, and the rest of it goes increasingly into the pockets of Middle Eastern oil companies. And since he's making less money now, Lukens is paying less in taxes to the state of Pennsylvania, leaving the state in a budget shortfall. Next thing you know, Governor Ed Rendell is traveling to the Middle East, trying to sell the Pennsylvania Turnpike to the same oil states who've been pocketing Bob Lukens's gas dollars. It's an almost frictionless machine for stripping wealth out of the heart of the country, one that perfectly encapsulates where we are as a nation.

We are so fucked.

Security Theater

Here's the solution to the security hassle at airports.

We just need a booth that you can step into that will not x-ray you, but will apply a new kind of energy emission that does two things: 1) it detects the tiniest amounts of residue from explosives, and 2) detonates any explosive material you have on your person at the time.

This is a win-win, and there'd be none of this crap about racial profiling; plus it eliminates the need for long expensive legal proceedings.  Justice would be quick and sure.

Just imagine - you're in line waiting for the scan; you hear the muffled sound of an explosion, followed by two messages on the PA system.
"Wet clean up on concourse B"
-and-
"Attention standby passengers:  We now have a seat available on flight 63 to Boston..."

(hat tip to Doug Z)

The Bug Man Finally Gets It

Tom Delay was convicted on a few counts of money laundering the other day, and faces up to 99 years in prison.  This is a good thing even if you think you have some room to argue that he's being prosecuted for political reasons.

A couple of things here:  First, we have to make a stand.  We have to figure out something we can do to lessen the corrosive effects of such a huge flow of money thru the system of electoral politics.

But the main thing is that we must constantly and repeatedly re-establish the rule of law.  Delay has asserted on more than one occasion that "I am the law / I am the government".  We hear this kind of crap from politicians with alarming regularity.  NIxon said, " when the president does it, that means it's not illegal".  And recently, Junior Bush said something very similar while talking about approving torture.  Some of these people actually believe their positions of power and privilege give them special status; that they can use the law as a weapon against their opponents and that they can bend the law to suit their needs.

And the bonus point: Delay has plenty of allies and plenty of ways to collect lots of money to continue his defense through the justice system.  He could stay out of jail for a good long time.  I wonder how many of his "conservative" buddies will criticize him for availing himself of these options while they continue to carp about death row inmates filing their "endless appeals".

The Long Hard Slog

So there's a little encouraging news out of Washington - the fact that Mike Pence (R-IN)  actually says the Bush tax cuts didn't work as advertised.  I suspect this means he's angling a little for the independent vote and to stake out a moderate position within the party as he runs for president in 2012, but because he's daring to go against the GOP's currently radical  dogma, he'll probably get scorched by Dumb Fux News and Rodeo Clown Radio.  And I will continue the search for intelligent life in politics.

Here's a long look at what Pence is trying to talk about via Crooks and Liars.

In a rare moment of candor last week, the third-ranking Republican in the House admitted the failure of the Bush tax cuts. "You know, I think it's fair to say, if the current tax rates were enough to create jobs and generate economic growth we'd have a growing economy," Mike Pence acknowledged, adding, "It's not working now." Given that the Bush years produced the worst economic growth in the past 50 years, Pence is sadly correct. But sadder still is the dismal performance of the Bush economy across almost every indicator that counts. From moribund job creation and sinking household incomes to skyrocketing deficits and record income inequality, Republican economic stewardship over the past decade has been a disaster.

Here, then, are the 10 Epic Failures of the Bush Tax Cuts:

1-Dismal Economic Growth

2-A Decade of Budget Deficits

3-Red Ink as Far as the Eye Can See

4-Disastrous Job Creation

5-Declining Incomes

6-Increasing Poverty

7-A Massive Windfall for the Wealthy

8-Record Income Inequality

9-A Sagging Stock Market

10-Jeopardizing Future Economic Growth

The Punk Patriot

The guy needs a little polish on his presentation, but I can go along with most of what he has to say - even the bit about putting some sensible limits on what companies should be paying their executive committees.

I hate the idea of capping anybody's earnings, and I'm absolutely opposed to allowing government to set hard and fast limits, but I think we all know it's totally irresponsible for a board of directors to allow a CEO to suck the lifeblood out of a company, killing tens of thousands of jobs, wrecking entire communities, and then taking obscene levels of compensation before bailing out of the company as it crashes and burns. So I think it's worth looking at the idea of indexing executive pay to the baseline earnings of the people at the bottom of the corporate ladder; you know - those slobs on the factory floor who don't do anything but make the fucking place work.

Dumb Fux News

For a long time (and for a big bunch of people) it was kinda hip and fashionable to be in line with "conservatism" and to go along with pretty much whatever they heard on Dumb Fux News and Rodeo Clown Radio.  Maybe that really is changing now.  And maybe that's what has the political establishment so freaked out.

From last night's The Simpsons episode (except for the open it's not very good, but you can watch it at Hulu.com):

Campaign Optics

This is awful and low-down and disgusting - so that's why I have to do it.  Maybe my internal governor has slipped a notch or two; maybe I'm actually as cynical as some people tell me I am.  Whatever.  I think Sarah Palin continues to drag her kids onto the stage for cold and calculated reasons.  One is that she gets the benefits (ie: points for being Mama Grizzly - showing her "Pro-Family" bona fides etc).  BTW, how come the rubes NEVER get wise to  being manipulated into thinking that somewhere there's a politician who's actually Anti-Family?  Sorry - little side trip there.

Here's the awful, low-down and disgusting thing I wanted to say:
Aside from exploiting Trigg for purposes of reminding the rubes of her status as Uber-Parent, it wouldn't surprise me to find out she thinks it makes her look smart by comparison.

So as awful and low-down and disgusting as it may be for me to say it, that's how awful and low-down and disgusting I think Palin actually is.

Voting Is Sexy

It would be exceedingly interesting to see this on American TV during the run-up to election day. Politics can certainly stir one's passion, but I think Spain's Green Coalition leader, Joan Hererra put it best, saying it would be "very difficult to reach orgasm voting for any of the candidates, myself included."

Security Theater

Previously, I posted a thought that I might do a little passive resistance to TSA bullying by insisting on having a woman do my pat-down.

Here's another suggestion.  When the agent gets to this position - fart.

Security Theater

I really hope this continues to get even more interesting. I want very much for this to be "the tipping point", but I'm afraid we'll bitch about it (while it's hip and popular to bitch about it) for the standard four or five days, and then just learn to live with it. And it'll pass into being just one more thing the historians will include in the many reasons the USA finally broke down and took its place among all the other failed empires.