Today's Carlin

The Growing Litany Of Stoopid

(Paraphrasing a post at DU)

Hispanics are lazy AND stealing all the jobs. At the same time. Lazy, but also taking all the jobs because they work so much AND because they are lazy. Are you following me?

If we give all the money to the rich and don't tax them at all, eventually it will trickle down and the rich will give us back some of the money we gave them before. Totally.

Also, if we subsidize rich people and/or companies, they'll use the money wisely and they'll create jobs for all of us.  But if we subsidize poor people, they'll just piss it away and have a bunch of crack babies who grow up to be Democrats and vote themselves more government handouts.

Guns don't kill people, video games featuring guns kill people.

Tax-and-Spend is bad. Except taxes that we spend on defense contractors - then it's good because Jesus.  Anybody who disagrees is a lousy commie.

I Got Yer Supply Side Right Here

"Supply Side" actually means that you try to boost demand by lowering the cost of goods and services.  If the price of everything is lower, then people who aren't making much of a decent wage (Low-Enders) can buy what they need, and have a few bucks left over for Christmas and Birthdays etc.  And the people who do make a decent wage (Middlers) can spend at an even higher rate on the Discretionary side.  Pretty cool model, but eventually, you get to a point where you've milked every fractional penny of margin out of the Volume Buying Discount, and then you have to figure out how to keep making it possible for the people your Big Box store has put out of work to go on buying the shit they need.

Wal-Mart is another one of the monsters we've created by swallowing the hog-slop known as Reaganomics.  We're now trapped in almost exactly the kind of downward spiral the Progressives and The New Dealers tried to fix in the first 35 years of the 20th century by building in some safeguards and firestops - and we've been supporting all kinds of bogus ideas in the last 30 years that strip away those safety features.

I'll say it again - I'm a capitalist because God's a capitalist: I have to take in enough calories to build up a surplus so I have the energy to do the work required to get my next meal.  And I'm in favor of regulation because God's in favor of regulation: without a pancreas, I can't regulate my blood sugar, and I die.  Without a hypothalamus, I can't regulate my body temperature, and I die.  Without the lower part my brain stem, I can't regulate my heart rate, and I fucking die.

But, let's get back to Wal-Mart via Business Insider:

Wal-Mart is facing a scary reality: the ailing finances of its core customers, Brian Sozzi, chief equities analyst at NBG Productions, told us.

"Wal-Mart shoppers are the barometer of the U.S. consumer, and these emails reflect common sense about customers," Sozzi told us. "The consumer isn't mentally or physically ready to spend on discretionary inventory and there's no reason to be optimistic."

hat tip = Democratic Underground

What's Wrong With Those Guys?

A good long look at what's happening inside the GOP from NYT Magazine:

One afternoon last month, I flew with Anderson to Columbus, Ohio, to watch her conduct two focus groups. The first consisted of 10 single, middle-class women in their 20s; the second, of 10 20-something men who were either jobless or employed but seeking better work. All of them voted for Obama but did not identify themselves as committed Democrats and were sufficiently ambivalent about the president’s performance that Anderson deemed them within reach of the Republicans. Each group sat around a large conference table with the pollster, while I viewed the proceedings from behind a panel of one-way glass.

The all-female focus group began with a sobering assessment of the Obama economy. All of the women spoke gloomily about the prospect of paying off student loans, about what they believed to be Social Security’s likely insolvency and about their children’s schooling. A few of them bitterly opined that the Democrats care little about the working class but lavish the poor with federal aid. “You get more off welfare than you would at a minimum-wage job,” observed one of them. Another added, “And if you have a kid, you’re set up for life!”

About an hour into the session, Anderson walked up to a whiteboard and took out a magic marker. “I’m going to write down a word, and you guys free-associate with whatever comes to mind,” she said. The first word she wrote was “Democrat.”

“Young people,” one woman called out. “Liberal,” another said. Followed by: “Diverse.” “Bill Clinton.” “Change.” “Open-mind.” “Spending.” “Handouts.” “Green.” “More science-based.”

When Anderson then wrote “Republican,” the outburst was immediate and vehement: “Corporate greed.” “Old.” “Middle-aged white men.” “Rich.” “Religious.” “Conservative.” “Hypocritical.” “Military retirees.” “Narrow-minded.” “Rigid.” “Not progressive.” “Polarizing.” “Stuck in their ways.” “Farmers.”

Anderson concluded the group on a somewhat beseeching note. “Let’s talk about Republicans,” she said. “What if anything could they do to earn your vote?”

A self-identified anti-abortion, “very conservative” 27-year-old Obama voter named Gretchen replied: “Don’t be so right wing! You know, on abortion, they’re so out there. That all-or-nothing type of thing, that’s the way Romney came across. And you know, come up with ways to compromise.”

“What would be the sign to you that the Republican Party is moving in the right direction?” Anderson asked them.

“Maybe actually pass something?” suggested a 28-year-old schoolteacher named Courtney, who also identified herself as conservative.

The session with the young men was equally jarring. None of them expressed great enthusiasm for Obama. But their depiction of Republicans was even more lacerating than the women’s had been. “Racist,” “out of touch” and “hateful” made the list — “and put ‘1950s’ on there too!” one called out.

Showing a reverence for understatement, Anderson said: “A lot of those words you used to describe Republicans are negative. What could they say or do to make you feel more positive about the Republican Party?”

“Be more pro-science,” said a 22-year-old moderate named Jack. “Embrace technology and change.”

“Stick to your strong suit,” advised Nick, a 23-year-old African-American. “Clearly social issues aren’t your strong suit. Stop trying to fight the battle that’s already been fought and trying to bring back a movement. Get over it — you lost.”

So at least two things to think about here - for me anyway.  First is that it's clearer now that the GOP elders are more than a little frightened about the monster they've created.  Driftglass is always on about this; Repubs have been cultivating and encouraging the radical wingnuts for a long time; it was OK as long as they were good little soldiers on Election Day, but now that they're taking over the party apparatus, the bosses are pretty freaked.

But second, we're hearing more and more about just how narrow the GOP Brand-Appeal has become.  And we're hearing it in different terms - like in the vein of "there's something wrong with one of our political parties".  So even though the muzzles on the Press Poodles are loosened a bit, the story is still being buried inside very long articles that few of us will be able to spend the ergs or the time or the bother to read.

hat tip = Democratic Underground

One other thing - what really happened with Dick Armey?  He got his knickers horribly twisted in a very public cat fight during his breakup with Freedom Works (Davie and Chuckles Koch).  Guys who play at that level don't throw tantrums.  Makes me wonder.
(You can catch up with that one at MoJo)

Today's Pix

Today's Gun Nut

(with apologies to Charlie Pierce for practically stealing his whole thing)

From a story out of Utah - picked up by the local ABC affiliate in Lynchburg VA:

Layton police arrested Niederhauser Jan. 31 after he fired two rounds at a suspected burglar and getaway driver leaving his home. No one was hurt, but police said the shots were unlawful because the burglar had dropped a crowbar he was carrying and was fleeing the property. The shots could have endangered somebody's life, police said.

"You know my feelings about arming morons."


Did we get maybe a little complacent?  Maybe a little inured by the constant reports of the Daily Gun Violence?  And are we maybe starting to come out of it a little?

It'd be nice to think we've finally started to pull back from the logical extreme where anything goes as long as it doesn't inconvenience me directly.  Maybe we're starting to understand a little more about how something that happens 8 or 9 states away from me might actually make its way around to me in potentially very inconvenient ways.

The Weepies

Today's Absurdity

In some ways, it just gets better.

Just The Way You Are

And on the flip side:

Tweety Attacks

One of the things we've desperately needed the Press Poodles to do for us is to start calling the GOP on its contradictory bullshit - and pointing out that it's not always balanced; it's not always a both-sides-do-it proposition.  Chris Matthews seems to be approaching dangerously close to the limits of reasonable tolerance.

Can You Say, "Flop Sweats"?

I knew you could.  How about, "not ready for prime time"?



A bad case of Performance Jitters almost always sneaks up on you at the worst possible time, and while it can happen to anybody, there's usually some kind of underlying reason for it (duh).  The big one of course, is that you're not feeling quite as well prepared as you'd like to be.  And there's always that little guy's voice in the back of your mind telling you to shut up and get outa there 'cuz you suck at this and nobody likes you. (I hate that little guy)

So anyway, Rubio does get a coupla points for trying to "do it live" instead of putting together a bunch of pre-recorded junk and just guessing at what the Prez was gonna say.  But I think the real problem is that he's not convinced of a good bunch of what he was saying, and when you haven't fully rationalized those internal conflicts, then your body language is going to betray you almost every time.

Emmylou

Today's WTF

GOP Backs Path to Citizenship Unless Obama Supports It

A new Washington Post poll finds that 70% of Americans said they would support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, including 60% of Republicans.

But when the same question was asked of a separate sample of respondents, this time with Obama's name attached to it, support dropped to 59% overall and just 39% among Republicans.

That Guy In The Funny Hat

So there's lots of buzz about why The-Pope-Formerly-Known-As-Ratburger would just up and quit the sweetest gig in all of Christendom.

I'll give ya'll my take on it, right after you enjoy a picture of all the fucks I give about Popes and other power freaks who like to manipulate people by threatening them with the reprisals of their imaginary friends:

Before he became Pope Benedict 16, Cardinal Ratzinger was the Catholic Church's  Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (aka The Inquisition - and yes, that Inquisition).  He also took it onto himself to have all of those inconvenient reports of priestly child molesting referred to his office so they could be thoroughly investigated (ie: crushed, sprinkled in lime and then buried).  So lemme see - the guy who knows where all those bodies are buried and which closets contain which creepy skeletons; the guy who knows everything about every member of the church hierarchy; the guy who handled the scandals so well it only cost the church $2 Billion in settlement payments (so far, that we know of) - that's the guy who gets elected Pope because of his supremely holy goodness and his outstanding moral excellence.  Horse shit.

And now, he's having a tough time keeping up with the busy schedule of Church Royalty so he steps humbly aside, wanting to leave it to someone with more energy and better capability of withstanding the rigors blah blah blah.

If you buy any of that, I've got a stud mule you'll be interested in too.

Fugelsang has a more complete wrap-up:

The Krugman Speaks (really)

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

There seems to be a general mood in the US right now that guys like Krugman recognize as a special kind of taciturn, pinched-faced, gotta-make-sacrifices-and-just-buckle-down, Yankee-boot-strap, Calvinist bullshit.

And I sit here in my warm little basement in central Virginia, wondering when the semi-hopeful, grin-and-bear-it hollowness I see in so many people's eyes starts to turn them into the armies of desperation.

Today's Gun Nut

It never fails.  Some jag-off with a small penis and a big gun shoots up a school and before the bodies are even in the ground, some other jag-off with a similarly small penis - but with a great big mailing list - starts jumpin' up and down screamin' about how all this horrible shit happens because the kids aren't allowed to pray in school anymore, and... wait, what?

From The Daily Mail, 12-21-12:

Horror as gunman executes woman while she decorates church for children's party in new shooting rampage that left four dead.

 From MLive-Flint Journal, 1-15-13:

Deadly church shooting at Flint funeral is widely ignored outside of Genesee County

There have been 20 or more Church Shootings in the last dozen years in the US.

And yes, I know it's not really about praying away the bullets; it's supposed to be about teaching the right values to the kids so they don't grow up to be shooters - but that's just the same ol' Authoritarian/Theocratic shit in a different package.  If the assholes in school don't get to pray and they end up shooting people; and the good people in all these churches do pray and they still end up shooting people - then don't we need to consider the probability that prayer doesn't have one fucking thing to do with it?

So what else ya got there, Skeezix?

hat tip = Democratic Underground

Music

One more from Melody Gardot - put on your headphones.

Music

Rumer - this is the studio version.

(the cover at Live From Daryl's House is decent too)

Today's Gun Nut

So, this Dorner guy, who's had years of training in the use of firearms, goes off his trolley and guns down some of his buddies.  Buddies of those buddies hit the streets looking for the guy - apparently with a little get-back in mind.

LA Times:

An attorney representing two women who were delivering newspapers when they were shot by police during a massive manhunt for an ex-LAPD officer called the incident "unacceptable," saying his clients looked nothing like the suspect.

Emma Hernandez, 71, was delivering the Los Angeles Times with her daughter, Margie Carranza, 47, in the 19500 block of Redbeam Avenue in Torrance on Thursday morning when Los Angeles police detectives apparently mistook their pickup for that of Christopher Dorner, the 33-year-old fugitive suspected of killing three people and injuring two others.

Hernandez, who attorney Glen T. Jonas said was shot twice in the back, was in stable condition late Thursday. Carranza received stitches on her finger.

"The problem with the situation is it looked like the police had the goal of administering street justice and in so doing, didn't take the time to notice that these two older, small Latina women don't look like a large black man," Jonas said.

2 Latina women are very nearly killed.  These 2 Latina women - who were in a pickup truck that looks nothing like the one Dorner was reported to be driving - barely survive the encounter with some highly trained and experienced officers of the law.

But somehow, I'm supposed to feel comfortable with the prospect of being "protected" by hoards of random yahoos carrying semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity ammo clips.

We are so fucked.

Fugelsang