I have to admit I've been a little intrigued by what Lil Donny Trump's October Surprise could possibly turn out to be. But then, along comes Gloria Allred and it's very possible that I can make a solid connection, and a prediction with a fair probability of being right.
First, the leading speculation seems to be that Trump has "uncovered" some "evidence" indicating that Barack and Michelle Obama were like all set to file divorce papers back in 2001 or whatever. So this is not a big deal in any meaningful way except as a political tool. Did the Obamas get a divorce? No. Did they move beyond some kind of preliminary filing? Apparently not cuz they're like y'know, still married. Does any of that shit matter? Yes - but only if you think I should be in jail because I've tho't about kicking Donald Trump in the nuts; or that Tagg Romney should be in a cell at Gitmo for saying he wanted to take a swing at Obama.
Enter Ms Allred, who is helping out Maureen Stemberg Sullivan in her divorce efforts against Tom Stemberg (founder of Staples). It seems ol' Willard gave sworn testimony in the divorce proceeding, and that his statements were sealed, and that The Boston Globe has petitioned the court to unseal them for all to see and enjoy.
Could there be anything in the testimony that's bad for Willard? Well, what if his statements were to the effect that Staples wasn't as profitable as WIllard was telling his investors? What if he kinda fudged it all - just a little - so his buddy Tom could kinda fuck his soon-to-be ex-wife out of a nice big chunk of settlement money? And it doesn't have to be anything all that horrible. If the story is that Romney did anything but stand up and champion Mrs Stemberg's cause, you can bet Benjamins to Baby Wipes he'll come off looking like a paternalistic wife-beater to lots of women voters.
So in rides The Donald to make a pre-emptive strike that works to show Obama in the same light. On the one side, you've got Romney + Divorce, and on the other side, you've got Obama + Divorce. Simple equation. Both sides do it. Both sides are exactly the same. Nothing to see here, nothing to think about. It's all even - go back to sleep.
Ya heard it here.
Oct 24, 2012
Today's Krugman
Via NYT:
I'm hoping they're talking more along the lines of just reducing the probability of some screwball politician changing something that unfairly upsets the applecart at inopportune times. Of course, that's what they're selling - that Obama will do something that makes it harder for a business to flourish. But what has Obama done that in any reasonable (or even discernible) way has depressed the economy, or made it more difficult for any business to operate in the black?
It's a crock. And John Fugelsang has a few words on the subject:
One of the central talking points of right-wing economists is that “uncertainty” caused by Obama is holding the economy back; they cite, again and again, a paper by Bloom et al purporting to find a relationship between uncertainty and jobs, with uncertainty measured via such things as article counts.The certainty meme has always irked me. Why is uncertainty such a big deal for these guys? Are we supposed to remove all risk from every business venture so the mighty capitalist heroes can be absolutely guarantied to turn a monster profit?
I'm hoping they're talking more along the lines of just reducing the probability of some screwball politician changing something that unfairly upsets the applecart at inopportune times. Of course, that's what they're selling - that Obama will do something that makes it harder for a business to flourish. But what has Obama done that in any reasonable (or even discernible) way has depressed the economy, or made it more difficult for any business to operate in the black?
It's a crock. And John Fugelsang has a few words on the subject:
Gettin' It Done - 13
Unfortunately, a double-digit percentage of Americans still believe the Apology Tour bullshit. Which fits perfectly with the double-digit percentage who still think Sadam had something to do with 9/11, and the double-digit percentage who think Climate Change is a hoax, and and and. Sometimes, it's really hard for me not to say, "fuck 'em". I'd like to think I could write them off and forget about them because they'll never change and so it's not worth trying. And sometimes, I do say that, but as mushy as it sounds, they're my neighbors and my friends and my in-laws. So, since I'm not planning to murder them, I guess I just need to keep hammering away, and hope I can get one or two to listen. That's what I'm thinking today anyway.
13. Improved America’s Image Abroad: With new policies, diplomacy, and rhetoric, reversed a sharp decline in world opinion toward the U.S. (and the corresponding loss of “soft power”) during the Bush years. From 2008 to 2011, favorable opinion toward the United States rose in ten of fifteen countries surveyed by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, with an average increase of 26 percent.
Oct 23, 2012
Yo, Willard
I didn't watch the "debates". I'll go along with the many people who say these things are little more than 90 minutes of dueling campaign ads. Altho', this time, we did get a new wrinkle in that Willard turned it into a more conventional sales pitch. It really does look and sound like Romney's in there pimping a deal for his group to take over USA, Inc. Which I think may be a lot closer to the truth than I'm comfortable with. My biggest problem is that whenever we elect Repubs, we get way too many freakazoids in the bargain (NeoCons, TheoCons, Cold War Retreads, et al) - we gotta remember that the prez isn't the only guy we're handing power to. So it's iffy enough when you put a guy in the Oval Office who doesn't know his way around Capitol Hill; or doesn't know much about Foreign Affairs; or isn't particularly up on International Trade. Obama was a big risk 4 years ago because his resume was pretty damned thin, but he seemed like he had his own shit together enough to be trusted to dig into the details to the point where he wouldn't just get railroaded into making supremely stoopid decisions (I'm talkin' Iraq-level stoopid, not Healthcare Reform-not-getting-everything-we-wanted stoopid).
Putting a guy like Mitt Romney in the White House means we start over again. Plus, Willard may have several more pounds of brain matter than Jr Bush, but the way he's been jerked around by the Wingnuts for the last 6 years makes me think he'll continue trying to shoehorn himself into just about any position these characters want him to take.
Experience matters. And there's nothing better to get you ready to be POTUS than actually being POTUS.
And BTW, Willard - you've been runnin' your mouth about "Obama's foreign policy unravelling" for months. What happened? Focus Group got your tongue?
One last thing - about how "the women" were turned off by the aggressiveness and the confrontational aspects of the campaigns in general. Because, of course, the ladies are just too genteel; they're bound to suffer a spell of some kind; I do declare they'll get the vapors if the menfolk continue this unpleasant belligerence.
Bullshit.
If somebody was physically assaulting you, and I walked up and planted my fist in the prick's eye socket 4 or 5 times, would you be just a tiny bit relieved, or would you insist on feeling put off by my aggressive behavior? And who says I need to do that anyway? Who says women are so frail they can't possibly fend for themselves? Sorry guys - pretending that "the women" are always hiding behind their powder puffs and are desperately in need of your protection just don't cut it anymore.
Putting a guy like Mitt Romney in the White House means we start over again. Plus, Willard may have several more pounds of brain matter than Jr Bush, but the way he's been jerked around by the Wingnuts for the last 6 years makes me think he'll continue trying to shoehorn himself into just about any position these characters want him to take.
Experience matters. And there's nothing better to get you ready to be POTUS than actually being POTUS.
And BTW, Willard - you've been runnin' your mouth about "Obama's foreign policy unravelling" for months. What happened? Focus Group got your tongue?
One last thing - about how "the women" were turned off by the aggressiveness and the confrontational aspects of the campaigns in general. Because, of course, the ladies are just too genteel; they're bound to suffer a spell of some kind; I do declare they'll get the vapors if the menfolk continue this unpleasant belligerence.
Bullshit.
If somebody was physically assaulting you, and I walked up and planted my fist in the prick's eye socket 4 or 5 times, would you be just a tiny bit relieved, or would you insist on feeling put off by my aggressive behavior? And who says I need to do that anyway? Who says women are so frail they can't possibly fend for themselves? Sorry guys - pretending that "the women" are always hiding behind their powder puffs and are desperately in need of your protection just don't cut it anymore.
Gettin' It Done - 14
One of the things that didn't work out so well when everybody was busily hacking away at "all that Washington red tape that strangles commerce" was that we ended up boondoggling the financial sector to the point that we might as well have nationalized the banks.
It's interesting to me that the "conservatives" are always accusing their opponents of hiding a socialistic agenda, when they're the ones making it impossible for banks to operate without a guaranty of government help. The banks borrow money from the government at ridiculously low rates to begin with, and then If the borrower defaults, Uncle Sugar steps in to pay off the loan. So who the fuck is the socialist in all of this?
It's interesting to me that the "conservatives" are always accusing their opponents of hiding a socialistic agenda, when they're the ones making it impossible for banks to operate without a guaranty of government help. The banks borrow money from the government at ridiculously low rates to begin with, and then If the borrower defaults, Uncle Sugar steps in to pay off the loan. So who the fuck is the socialist in all of this?
14. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Spending: As part of the 2010 health care reform bill, signed measure ending the wasteful decades-old practice of subsidizing banks to provide college loans. Starting July 2010 all students began getting their federal student loans directly from the federal government. Treasury will save $67 billion over ten years, $36 billion of which will go to expanding Pell Grants to lower-income students.If you ask me what I think of American Capitalism, I'd have to answer - I think we should try it. (the good ones know what to borrow, and the great ones know what to steal)
Oct 22, 2012
Pick 'Em
Once upon a time, there was a thing called The 4th Estate.
But now it's just a flea market where you pick and choose your own message, your own messenger, and whatever "facts" you need to build your own reality. Unless you're prepared to spend most of your day trying to figure out what's real and what ain't, you're forever relegated to the giant pile of nuthin' under the heading: Low Information Voter.
We are so fucked.
Gin Wingmore
Music is recyclable and derivative, but that's not a bad thing in a lot of cases. As long as people come up with this kinda stuff, Buddy Holly and Bo Diddley will never die.
hat tip = Crooks & Liars
hat tip = Crooks & Liars
Today's Krugman
Lifted all of it - short and sweet and oh so tasty (NYT):
David Dayen makes a very good point, which I missed: during the Hofstra debate, in which questions were posed by members of the public rather than the Beltway elite, there wasn’t a single question about the deficit. Not one.
The public really doesn’t care.
And you know what? Neither do financial markets, which continue to lend to the U.S. government at incredibly low rates.
Meanwhile, the results from austerity are in — and it’s now clear that the adverse economic impacts of austerity in a depressed economy are much worse than the elite imagined (although Keynesian economists knew better), and are in fact so severe that austerity is largely self-defeating, having little impact on the budget deficit even in the short run because reduced revenue takes away much of the initial savings. Once you take long-run effects into account, austerity is almost surely self-defeating.
Yet deficit fever, with demands for spending cuts right away, has dominated policy discussion for almost three years, with all the Very Serious People believing that by pounding on this issue they were demonstrating their Very Seriousness.
Gettin' It Done - 15
I think it's a good idea whenever you put real money into public schools. But I don't like things like privatization and high-stakes testing. I'm fairly sure the people advocating for Race To The Top mean well - people who dive in and fuck things up always mean well - I just don't think you improve the schools if you don't improve the neighborhoods.
15. Created Race to the Top: With funds from stimulus, started $4.35 billion program of competitive grants to encourage and reward states for education reform.
Oct 21, 2012
Lying For The Lord
Google that - "lying for the lord".
Read thru a few of the hits and after you make the easy connection to Willard being a lying sack of shit, tell me it has nothing to do with the basics of what we know about a "ruling elite" (ala Leo Strauss) and the sense of entitlement engendered by a system of intergenerational wealth transfer.
Then ask the questions.
Does Meghan McCain get to where she is without mommy's money and daddy's connections?
What about Luke Russert?
GW Bush can trace his lineage back to Franklin Pierce.
If this is to be the meritocracy we like to believe it should be, then we have to re-establish rules that require the Idiot Offspring of The Nobles to start at the same place as everybody else, and to meet the same criteria as everybody else, and to do the work everybody else is required to do.
If you're in favor of "Equal Opportunity and not Equal Outcomes", then stop supporting a system that practically guaranties inequality.
Read thru a few of the hits and after you make the easy connection to Willard being a lying sack of shit, tell me it has nothing to do with the basics of what we know about a "ruling elite" (ala Leo Strauss) and the sense of entitlement engendered by a system of intergenerational wealth transfer.
Then ask the questions.
Does Meghan McCain get to where she is without mommy's money and daddy's connections?
What about Luke Russert?
GW Bush can trace his lineage back to Franklin Pierce.
If this is to be the meritocracy we like to believe it should be, then we have to re-establish rules that require the Idiot Offspring of The Nobles to start at the same place as everybody else, and to meet the same criteria as everybody else, and to do the work everybody else is required to do.
If you're in favor of "Equal Opportunity and not Equal Outcomes", then stop supporting a system that practically guaranties inequality.
Gettin' It Done - 17 & 16
This one means there's a fair probability that my cost for for a fill-up won't increase by much. That is, of course, as long as Big Oil allows the Free Market to work the way it's supposed to work (always a little iffy).
16. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards: Released new fuel efficiency standards in 2011 that will nearly double the fuel economy for cars and trucks by 2025.I'd forgotten about this one. There's plenty to worry about when it comes to trying to put out a fire by pouring several hundred tons of money on it, but sometimes all you can do is take the least bad option on a menu filled with really shitty alternatives. I just wish I felt more assured that Obama's team is doing something to make the next meltdown less likely to happen, and less damaging when it does.
17. Coordinated International Response to Financial Crisis: To keep world economy out of recession in 2009 and 2010, helped secure from G-20 nations more than $500 billion for the IMF to provide lines of credit and other support to emerging market countries, which kept them liquid and avoided crises with their currencies.
Oct 19, 2012
Prayers
Remember this one?
God grant me the serenityYeah - uhm - fuck that. Try this one instead:
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
May God bless us with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that we may live from deep within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of God's creations
So that we may work for justice, freedom, and peace.
May God bless us with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
So that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless us with just enough foolishnessAmen, muthahfuckah.
To believe that we can make a difference in the world,
So that we can do what others claim cannot be done:
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and all our neighbors who are poor.
hat tip = The Professional Left podcast, episode 150
Fighting Back
Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone posted a decent little blurb about Bill O'Reilly's fact-free crap attack on Bill Moyers:
Anyway, the story's pretty good, but I was mostly encouraged by what popped up in the comments under Taibbi's blog post.
First, of course, the designated Troll weighed in:
When I went into Bill's studio yesterday, I heard about a crazy dustup he had recently with Bill O'Reilly, the details of which are extremely aggravating in a way that, as anyone who has followed this political season knows – this is a story about someone getting facts wrong – is becoming increasingly and unpleasantly familiar. What happened was that in his much-publicized debate with Jon Stewart, O'Reilly bashed PBS for funding lefty agitators like Bill Moyers. "Here's what we get – a $16 trillion debt, and we've gotta pay for Bill Moyers," O'Reilly boomed. He also at one point held up a flash card with a picture of Moyers, along with the headline, "Why is NPR getting our money?"Taibbi also links to the Rebuttal from Bill Moyers, which is fine-point accurate, but kinda points up what seems like a pettiness of the whole thing. But when you add up all of the (petty) little things that pass for debate and discourse coming from the "right", it isn't petty at all. Each little thing by itself is just a drop in the bucket, but (and I've said this before) given time, drops have filled the oceans.
Anyway, the story's pretty good, but I was mostly encouraged by what popped up in the comments under Taibbi's blog post.
First, of course, the designated Troll weighed in:
Dear "Progressive" Trash,
You are never going to turn this country into the socialist dictatorship you'd like it to be. NEVER. What exactly do you intend to do with the 80% of the country who doesn't want what you want? Yeah, you manage to fool and bribe another 30% to vote for the Democrats from time to time, but when they find out or are reminded about who you really are and you lack of respect of the RIGHTS in the CONSTITUTION, we all band together to kick you autocratic butts OUT of power once again.
If you ever manage to seize control of the government, doubtful as the military despises you as well, we have a lot of guns and believe me, we'd relish fighting you. It's all irrelevant though because come November, you are DONE. You will be relegated to your Universities of brainwash, your media whine fests and your stupid NGOs and non-profits.
Obama is toast and so is your anti-liberty, government corruption agenda for at least 30 years.
Nah, nah, nah, nah. Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah. Hey hey hey. GOODBYE!Not much new there, but then we got this in response to the Troll (bobby tomas):
Eat crow your weasels.
Dear Mr. Tomas,
I am left of center in my politics, to be sure. What I frequently notice when someone on the right writes as you have, is that there is NO information to be found in your post. Calling me a socialist doesn't mean anything. HOW am I a socialist? How do you define socialism, what don't you like about socialism, and what aspect of it are you assuming I embrace?
What does 80% of the country want that I don't??
What it is about the the progressive platform that you so strongly disagree with? If Fox News has told you what the progressive agenda is, you might want to ask a progressive if Fox got it right.
I like the constitution. There isn't any aspect of the constitution that I want scrapped.
Where's the increased autocracy?? Please give an example of our country hastening in that direction in the last four years.
We on the left are anti-liberty? Pretty please - how so?
There is a lot of talk on the right about restoring Freedom. Here's a question for you: What freedoms have you lost in the last four years. Please be specific. (President Obama hasn't done anything pro or con about guns during his presidency, so please don't say he's after your guns.)
And so on.
There is, in my opinion, no information in your post.And that's how ya do it.
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