Poverty Is Expensive

Everybody's Fave

Never Waste A Good Crisis

Raw Story

As the militia stand-off in Oregon comes up on one week, speculation turns to the financial resources that allow men to up and leave their jobs — reportedly for however long it takes — to take an uninvited stand for freedom in an empty bird sanctuary.

According to experts who study right-wing movements, militia members barely get by, with some living on government disability checks and the earnings of their neglected wives.

In an interview with The Oregonian, Mark Pitcavage, who has studied far-right movements for 22 years, said most militia members live hand to mouth.

“These guys are broke,” he said. “Right-wing extremists, generally speaking, have very little money.”

While some members have brought their wives and children with them — leading to dissension within the ranks — others may have to cut out early before leader Ammon Bundy declares victory and heads home to Nevada.

“It’s quite possible that a lot of them will get tired and feel the pressure to go back and care for their families,” Pitcavage explained.

The extended stay at the national bird refuge in the dead of winter has already cost one militia member his job.

Jason Patrick, of Georgia, claims he lost his $80,000-a-year roofing job — with benefits and a company truck — because he took off without notice and had already used up his vacation days attending other Patriot-inspired events.

So I'm wondering - if we include a Y'allQaeda Allowance Clause, would the GOP finally be willing to move forward on some decent legislation for Medical and Family Leave?

Yesterday's News

"Big" story at WaPo yesterday about Jim Webb starting to take a step or two tentatively to see if maybe he should contemplate considering a possible try to investigate whether or not he should maybe run for POTUS as an independent.

“After weeks of study, including consultations with ballot experts and independent activists across the country, we have a handle on what it takes to give voters in every state a real choice,” Webb spokesman Craig Crawford said in a statement. Jones, he said, would help with the next step: “How to pay for it.”

And the "who gives a fuck" silence was deafening.

It's good to have guys out there making some noise about how fucked up the system is right now, so I have no problem with this on its face.  But when you have people running the operation who're basically in the Business Of Politics, trying to position yourself as the guy who wants to take the business out of politics makes you look a little silly.

I dunno how else it gets done or who's supposed to do it, BTW - the only people voting in favor of Women's Suffrage were men (eg) - so maybe it's just that Jim Webb really doesn't strike me as the guy to pull it off.  Or maybe it's because I'm a little suspicious when it comes to ex-military people wanting to make changes to, and asking to be put in charge of a government that's supposed to be civilian-centered.

We have to figure out ways to get together and work the problem, but we also have to keep in mind: 

"Distrust and caution are the parents of security." --Ben Franklin

Dangerously Silly

From Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone

The Bundy militiamen are like a Black September version of an Iron John forest retreat: a bunch of weepy middle-aged guys who dressed up in crisply pressed outdoorswear and took over a bird sanctuary so they could play outlaw for a few days while they "worked on themselves."

They gathered around a bonfire (there really was a bonfire) and presumably engaged in Robert Bly-style mythopoetic healing, getting back to their manly roots by stroking their rifles, wearing camo undies, and complaining about all the wrongs done to them by women/the federal government/wild birds/whoever.
About the camo: yes, the following actually happened. One of the militiamen, Melvin Lee, posted a video on Facebook (these guys are on social media more than most teenagers) where he complained about the popular misconceptions of the movement. "There's nobody in camouflage," said Lee, who was wearing a camouflage jacket. "Well, except for my jacket."

And yes, it did happen that Ritzheimer, who did remember to bring his paperback copy of the Constitution, actually sent out a tweet asking for care packages for things his compadres forgot to pack for their armed dude-seminar. They asked for socks, snacks, energy drinks (!), equipment for cold weather, snow camo, and "gear."

This was after Bundy had told reporters that the group was prepared to stay for "years" and had enough supplies to see them through. "We have food planned and prepared," he said.

What Joe Said

Vice President Joe Biden explains how President Obama's executive actions really don't violate the Second Amendment https://t.co/zitGm9TAoN

— NowThis (@nowthisnews) January 7, 2016

Today's Tweet

Nice try. Rosa Parks didn't hijack a bus with an assault rifle because she didn't want to pay the bus fare. @Ammon_Bundy

— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) January 6, 2016

And - just throwing in this little extra bit:

The fact that Ammond Bundy wasn't immediately incinerated by several bolts of lightning as he was comparing himself with Rosa Parks proves to my satisfaction that there is no god.

Letters Home

It's pretty rough up there right now for the Y'allQaeda fellers.

hat tip = Mock Paper Scissors

Today's Tweet

BREAKING: Republicans Pass Repeal That Strips Healthcare From Millions GOP Voters https://t.co/dWfqgGzk2U #Obamacare pic.twitter.com/lFBS4zZIBO

— The Baxter Bean (@TheBaxterBean) January 6, 2016

Today's Snark

Give a Republican a fish, and he'll tell you a story about his long hard struggle to become a great fisherman.

Offer to teach a Republican to fish, and he'll denounce you as a socialist.

hat tip = The Daily Shit or maybe it was LOLGOP - I get confused sometimes.

Today's DumFux News

Trying hard not to dismiss this as just a buncha cold spirit-sucking empty-hearted teeny-bop cunts at the mean girls table.

Politics-as-usual?

Or maybe massive unresolved daddy issues?  That could easily be the case with Meghan McCain I guess.

When you slag a guy for tearing up a little while he's trying to get us to do something about too many dead kids - when you feel the need to stonewall against any effort to keep kids from being killed - you have no soul and no honor.

And it's not just because you have no soul and no honor.  As it turns out, it's also because the boss can't afford anything to be done about the problem. And that's what I think is driving such cunt-ish behavior on air.

If you wanna know what's up with any problem here in USAmerica Inc, you have to look at who's currently benefiting from the problem, and/or who stands to profit from any proposed solution for that problem.

And more importantly, since we're talkin' politics now, you have to understand that solutions for these problems are not actually allowed - REPEATING: solutions are not allowed.  There's too much money and too many careers of too many very powerful people at stake.  

It doesn't matter what we're scrappin' about - it can be Abortion or Guns or Taxes or Poverty or Schools or Prisons or any other 'problem'.  As long as we're fighting, we're fueling the revenue streams that keep the fat cats fat.

The people who're making the decisions on what we see and hear over the air or on cable;  what we read online; what emails we receive asking for another 3 bucks to help in the fight for blah blah blah - these are either currently wealthy powerful people, or they're people looking to become wealthy and powerful by monetizing the fight for whatever.

Mike's First Law of Career Self-Nurturing: Anybody with any prospect of enjoying even a relatively low degree of success will never ever EVER try to work himself out of that job.

We have a News Industry that went from Public Service to Cost Center to Profit Center to Money Mill - there is no content available on Fox or MSNBC or WashPo or your local FARMNet station that isn't programmed to push somebody's buttons and move them to  send a generous donation to their newfound favorite cause.

Seems like the only thing we manufacture in this country anymore is this bullshit high-school-fuck-around drama.  But hey - business is booming, so it's all good.

My POTUS

Because there's no contradiction in having a hard head and a soft heart.

I'm not a fan - Obama's done some things I strongly oppose, and he's left some things undone I wish he'd tried a lot harder to get done.  But that's just how this shit works.  And the guy's still pretty fuckin' amazing.

The Farce Awakens

"... we're not about fear; we're not about force; we're not about intimidation ..."  

That's why your action is considered an "armed occupation of federal property"?  And you brought all the guns because you have no intention of threatening violence or making a show of force?  

OK.

BTW - Messianic much, Mr Bundy?  

Here's the thing, schmuck - maybe you and the Goober Squad could just go the fuck home and let the good folks in Harney County decide what's best for the good folks in Harney County.  Could we try that?

An Acculturated Callousness

In WWI, civilian casualties accounted for about 10% of the total.  By the time we got around to invading Iraq almost 100 years later, that number had climbed to 90%. 

It's pretty simple really.  First, it's a transaction - there's lotsa people, so we can spend them - the cost of war.   

Second, in spite of our efforts to impose "Rules Of War", WWII made it very clear that nothing much had actually changed at all. 

Counter Force = kill their soldiers; destroy their weapons and equipment 
Counter Value = destroy roads and bridges and factories and farms
Counter Collateral = kill their people - the ones who become the soldiers, build the roads and grow the food.

Whoever loses the least gets to call themselves the winners, and put the other guys on trial for "war crimes".

All of that gets real clear about 42 minutes into this film:

Forgive The Oxymoron

EJ Dionne points out "conservative thinking":

"Forgive me for noting that conservatives seem to believe that the rich will work harder if we give them more, and the poor will work harder if we give them less."

Here's your visual on that one:

Today's Pix

And Another One

Poe's Law applies.

Give The Lady A Hand

I'm not looking forward to having to vote for Hillary.  I'm down with Bernie and I'll stay with him for as long as I can, but if / when the time comes, I'm not gonna behave like some crackpot wingnut.  We get plenty of that nonsense from the GOP.  This is not the movies; we don't always get everything we want; sometimes we have to go with the least bad option; etc etc etc

And please don't give me the crap about "having to choose between the lesser of two evils".  When faced with that choice, isn't it really kind of an imperative to make every effort to support the lesser of the two evils in an attempt to keep the greater of those two evils out of power?  

Or are you just too fucking stoopid to grasp the basic concept of Greater vs Lesser? 

I very much want Bernie to win it all.

But what I think is actually more important than that is to make sure the Repubs don't win much of anything.

So anyway, Hillary did a townhall thing - always a risk - and of course she got a troll in the audience who stood and heckled her for something, and she nailed the reply:

“You are very rude and I’m not never ever going to call on you. Thank you.”

And in response to the inevitable "what about Bill" question:

"He's not running for President, I am.  And as his wife I've moved on; shouldn't you?"

She'll hit back; she's starting to get that part of her playbook in place.  And she deserves props for that.

Today's Toon

hat tip = Democratic Underground

This Is Just Too Good

From HuffPo:

The gunmen who have seized a federal building in Oregon claim they're patriots.

But on social media, many are calling the self-styled "militia" terrorists -- and mocking the group that has taken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters with derisive nicknames.

Whomever came up with #YallQaeda to describe the Oregon militia, I take my hat off to you. And then put it back on and take it off again.

— Colin Miner (@cominer) January 3, 2016

The emergence of #VanillaISIS in Oregon sparks fears of radicalizing disaffected hipsters in Portland.

— Khaled Bey (@KhaledBeydoun) January 4, 2016

You know you're a badass Tea Party patriot when your militia takes over an unprotected bird sanctuary

— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) January 3, 2016

Still others have taken to using terms such as #YokelHaram and #al-Shabubba, and say the group is waging #YeeHawd.

Get all the latest on Y'allQaeda and Vanilla ISIS at Mock Paper Scissors