Slouching Towards Oblivion

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Down To 3

Well, at least we're back to having Drumpf right smack in the middle again.  The stage craft and show biz crap is just crazy stoopid obvious.  And there's great promise for lots more because of the drama of the GOP elders wanting so desperately to keep Trump out of their club, that the worst-kept secret in politics now is that they'll run a 3rd party candidate against him just to make sure they lose.  And won't that be fun?    And to be sure, let me say that one part again: The GOP is taking steps to make sure their presumptive candidate loses the general election in November.

They have to find somebody to run against Trump, but then run the campaign in a way that doesn't smack of panic, so it generates enough turnout that they get the down-ballot support they need to stave off some potentially humungous Dem gains in House and Senate seats, as well as all the little stuff like state houses and governorships. 

And they have to stake out their territory and try to reclaim the tiny bits of GOP that can still be pieced back together so it looks more or less like a political party again; which is a herculean task that this GOP has been trying very hard to countervail for the last 20 years. So if that Grand Unifier exists - maybe Rubio can collect a few more paychecks after all - just who the hell is he? Her?

I don't like making sweeping predictions and pimping some circumstance or another as so totally dire that there's nothing but disaster ahead, but dang - this looks pretty damned dire, dude.

So, Trump's done it (almost anyway) - he's practically pulled off a hostile takeover of the Republican Party.

And we've still got 5 months of televised circle jerk to go before Cleveland. Woohoo.




So, Dems - how's that party unity thing going for you guys?  The next 2 months or so, it's going to be kind of important to get people out of the house and into the streets to move voters out to the polls during the primaries, so you have some organization in place for the general. You know that, of course, but it seems like this is the kind of near-freebie you guys have made a habit of screwin'-the-pooch on.  So here it is.  This is your shot.  Quit fuckin' around and go do it.


Today's Tweet

Today's Day

Monday, March 14, 2016

Today's Tweet

Friday, March 11, 2016

Today's Tweet



Slag her all ya want, guys.  She's earned it.  And she knows she's earned it.  And she's proud of having earned it.

For 25 years, she's been taking the training to do exactly that, at exactly that moment. 

Limbaugh, Coulter, Boortz, Savage, Cavuto - they've been teaching her that what really matters is to make "The Libruls" mad.  That's the only test.  If "The Libruls" get pissed off, then you're on the right track.  Do anything, say anything - it doesn't even have to make sense cuz making sense is what "The Libruls" try to do. So just come out with whatever you find when you unpack all that weird shit way down deep in the lizard part of your brain (which, of course, you're absolutely sure isn't even there); now say it.  And watch "The Libruls" gag.  And you'll know you're right.

Try it.  It's easy.  

Somebody needs to start a betting pool on when the lid comes off this motherfucker, and we get our first real donnybrook / fracas / melee / gunfight whatever.

I'm taking sometime before midnight on March 31.

And with apologies to Gil Scott Heron, this little dance party is gonna be on everything that even remotely resembles a TV screen. 

Friday Groove

Let It Roll

(headphones recommended for the Zeppelin cut - #2 - cuz it's freaky, man)


Today's Quote

Nothing is so hard for those who abound in riches as to conceive how others can be in want. — Jonathan Swift
And just to move things along, we need to be able to think about these issues beyond the sentiments of the quotes and the bumper stickers and the memes.


We can fill our heads with righteous indignation when "conservatives" spout the usual blaming bullshit about the "Professionally Poor", and we should be pissed about that, but we should be pissed about that because it's a tactic of deflection - it puts us in a position that makes us look like we're defending "waste fraud and abuse", which legitimizes an almost-totally illegitimate argument.

Waste Fraud and Abuse accounts for about .001% of total expenditure (not that we know with any precision cuz - you know, people need to hide that shit).  Anyway, it goes up some - sometimes getting as high as 1 whole percent on individual programs - but it's nothing near what "conservatives" love to fantasize about.  But that still means you're defending against a phantom threat.  Stop doing that. 

And don't get bogged down when they shift to The Tyranny Of Large Numbers crap either.  Yes, 1 or 2 percent of a humungous number is still a very large number - until you divide that very large number by that other very large number - poor people who just need a little fucking help, asshole. You're gonna get all bent outa shape because some guy scraped an extra 82 bucks out of the system's gutter just so his kids had a decent breakfast once in a while? Well ain't you just chock full of the spirit of Christian love and charity.


But that's not the point either.  The point is that when we're on the defensive like that, we miss the opportunity to point out that Waste Fraud and Abuse is what the big guys have built into the system to benefit themselves; and what the small-to-medium sized guys can take advantage of as well (so they can feel smart too), while they're all soaking up the tax dollars intended to help people who actually need the help. And here's the kicker on that part: these jokers are happy to throw a few crumbs at the poor because they can use that tiny bit of tax money to fuel the judgmental hypocrisy of Wingnut Autocrats and their army of Orcs rubes. 

Waste Fraud and Abuse is what happens when Archer Daniels Midland puts half-a-billion tax dollars in its pocket, and then hides behind a human shield that Coin-Operated Congress Critters get paid handsomely to refer to as Moochers or Welfare Queens.

These people have no soul and no honor. Stop helping them.





About That Loss Thing

A little poem for my own bad self on my own special day, cuz living can seem like it's all about loss.



You're not a kid who gets to spend hours throwing dirt clods at a stick in the irrigation ditch
That's lost.

You're not a bullet-proof teenager with 4 bucks and a badly rolled blunt in his pocket, looking to score some Coors
That's lost.

You're not gonna be a football star
You're not gonna be among the legends of rock-n-roll
You're not gonna be the greatest cocksman who ever strolled thru a singles joint
That's lost.

You're not gonna be a boy-genius jillionaire
You're not in the Sweet Spot Demographic anymore
You're not your sisters' brother
You're not your mom's baby boy
You're not the loving husband
You're not the pride on your dad's face when you played well
All gone. 
Lost.

Living has a nasty tendency to pare you down
To carve away everything that's not you
Til there's nothing left but you
It isn't amazing that you managed to survive all that
It's a little amazing how stridently you've resisted becoming who you need to be


Thursday, March 10, 2016

Today's GIF

Each day it seems like we get one more taste of just how FUBAR the GOP is. And each day, we think, "Well, it can't get any worse than this shit right here". And each day, it fucking gets worse.

So screw it. Here's today's Republican Party In One Brilliant Insight (du jour)

 

Today's Pix









 




Today's Quote

Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Almost Forgot

Ben Carson dropped out of the GOP race 4 or 5 days ago and, in keeping with how most people regard his general demeanor, I didn't even notice.

So I guess we're kinda into the quarter-finals now.


Today's Poem

Medicine Woman --Cheryl Savageau

medicine woman they call me
as if I should like it
like the kids in school
who called me little white dove
from some stupid song
about one more Indian woman
jumping to her death
how come you have an animal name?
they asked me, how come?
and I went home to ask my father
how come, Dad, how come
I have an animal name?

now white women come into my shop
and ask me to bless their houses
(what's wrong with them, I want to ask)
name their grandchildren
(do I know your daughters?)
blow some smoke around
say some words, do
whatever it is you do
we want someone spiritual -
you're Indian, right?

right. my tongue is held
by their grey hair
they are grandmothers
deserving of respect
and so I speak
as gently as I can
you'd let me, a stranger
come into your home, I ask
let me touch
your new grandchild
let me name
the baby
anything
that comes into my head?
I am not believing this
but they are smiling
and tell me again
we want someone spiritual
to do it

I write to my father
how come you never
told me who we are, where
we came from?

Women keep coming into my shop
putting stones in my hands
Can you feel that? they ask
Of course I can feel it
I'm not dead, but that
is not the right answer

My father writes back
the garden is doing good
the corn is up
there's lots of butterflies
all I know is
we come from the stars

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Today's Day

International Women's Day