Slouching Towards Oblivion

Friday, April 15, 2016

Too Many Dots

Just thinking a little semi-randomly.

There's an empty seat at SCOTUS, and many empty seats thru the Federal Judiciary, and practically no discernible intent coming from Mitch McConnell to get any of that filled any time soon.

Also, after shitloads of Anti-Abortion laws coming out of the states, plus the Anti-Voting stuff, now we have this growing tide of Anti-Equal Rights legislation.

Recently, a very nice lady told me her thinking is that the GOP / "Conservatives" have been pushing all this malarkey knowing it serves a function beyond the usual thing of whipping the wingnut voters into a rich creamy lather.  She says they know most of the shit they're putting into the law is ridiculous, and it'll be struck down, but that the little extras that go along with these new statutes stand a good chance to stick. 

So first - yes it's true - one of the best things for a man is the company of a smart woman.

Second, I need to look a little closer at what else is included with the bullshit in Georgia and North Carolina and may be coming up in Michigan.  

Circling this back to SCOTUS and empty seats on Federal Benches, it's an interesting little game.  Because a whole strategy has to emerge now for moving the challenges to existing law thru the courts.  With a real probability of a prolonged 4-4 split at SCOTUS, each of the circuit appeals courts becomes a de facto mini-SCOTUS.  And won't that be fun?

And now, kinda skipping to the chase, I've recently been thinking some of these newer developments are starting to make sense if I factor them into a wider strategy that looks a whole lot like a continuing assault on the Redress Clause of the 1st Amendment.

For quite a while, Conservatives and Neo-Libs have been pushing for things like Tort Reform and Mandatory Sentencing, and Forced Arbitration (instead of law suits) on everything from Cable Subscriptions to Employment-At-Will Agreements, and a variety of other things I'm sure I'm totally unaware of.

An awful lot of power is being brought to bear to make it harder for "Regular Joes" to seek relief thru the courts because LLC's (eg) are finding it easier to off-load or duck entirely their responsibilities under the law. 

I have to consider it a pretty bad sign when so many people in positions of power and privilege seem to view our Justice System as something that's old and clunky and just too inconvenient; or they see the probability of having some judgement going against them as just another business expense.

And then add in a coupla hundred million people who can't or won't - or anyway don't - pay much attention to the whole thing because they're increasingly too busy keeping their last nostril above the water line, and holy fuck, Batman, how do I not think we're crazy stoopid close to Caesar crossing the Rubicon.

I really don't like myself when I get all alarmist like this, but honest, kids - this shit ain't good.

Somebody talk me down here.

Voter Outreach


Never give up. Never surrender. 

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Today's Tweet

Day-Before-Yesterday's Tweet actually.  But hey - my blog, my rules - fuck off.

(whoa - that sounded way more like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz than anybody should be at all comfortable with. Sorry)

Anyway:



So - again - all you clear-eyed pragmatic super-genius "conservative" bidness folk, please tell me how you wouldn't completely lose your shit like a Cocoa-Puffs-Denied 4-year-old at Kroger if a customer expected you to deliver 100% of the goods and services while intending to pay 79% of the invoice.

Today's GIF

...is possibly the best GIF ever.  I may hafta post this one every week or so, and retire the GIF posts altogether.

 

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Today's Tweet



Cuz when you're a clear-eyed pragmatic business super-genius (as are all "conservatives"), you have an innate understanding that the way you grow your enterprise into a thriving overarching success is to make sure your Prospective Customer Base is as narrow and shallow as possible - just like your dumb-as-a-fucking-stump attitudes.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Lest We Forget

Joe Biden is the first US Vice President in over 10 years not to have shot somebody in the face.

True story.

hat tip = Twitter pal Miles

Today's Pix













C'Mon You Guys


And I'll keep asking: Why does a once-a-week comedy show have better reporters and better investigators and better writers - and producers with more balls - than every fucking news organization on the air!?!

Monday, April 11, 2016

Today's Tweet

Dots

Fun fact reminder: the American economy took a 12-14 Trillion-Dollar hit starting in 2008.  

And tax-payers had to borrow that much (paying interest, of course) from our buddies around the world, and that means - lemme see - about 13 Trillion plus about 2-and-a-half percent interest - gosh, it seems we might have a number that fairly closely resembles the horribleness of the $15 - 18 Trillion added to our national debt that "Conservatives" love to bitch about.


Or maybe it's purely coincidental.  I suck at math, and I'm often real wrong about a lotta things.  But my Spidey Sense tells me the guys who make billions off of Other People's Money aren't likely to become saintly and altruistic just because their shit hits somebody else's fan.  They'll do what they know how to do - which always comes down to making sure they're not the ones left holding the bag.

And oh yeah - I want Elizabeth Warren to stay where she is, doing exactly what she's doing for a good long time.  Dang - the mad crush on that woman continues unabated.

"Breaking"


Wow. Hey look - breaking news.  Corporatized Lobbyists don't just write the legislation; and they don't just bribe our Coin-Operated Politicians to vote for or against it - they also tell us what our opinions are.

OPINION COLUMNS PUBLISHED in California newspapers over the last year in support of the Trans-Pacific Partnership use language nearly identical to drafts written and distributed by public relations professionals who were retained by the Japanese government to build U.S. support for the controversial trade agreement.
Take this column by former San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders, who now serves as the president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, in the San Diego Union-Tribune, titled: “Trans-Pacific trade pact benefits San Diego.”
Much of the language in Sanders’ op-ed also appears in a “San Diego Draft op-ed” distributed by Southwest Strategies, a consulting firm paid by the Japanese government to promote the TPP:

Jerry Sanders: “Notably, the TPP includes Japan, which is significant”

Southwest Strategies: “Notably, the TPP includes Japan, which is critical”
And somehow, this is news.  Full circle. The loop is closed.  Has been for a while, actually.  Nothing to see here.  Get back to work; or go back to sleep; or watch some more of the Daily Freak Circus on TV.

They pretend to tell us what's going on, and we pretend that none of it really matters.


Isn't it great to live in a free society like USAmerica Inc?

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Things We Dare Not Do

Public schools
End slavery
Trust-Busting
Federal income tax
Allow labor to organize
Child labor laws
Voting rights for women
Regulate banks
Federalize the currency
Minimum wage
Social Security
Desegregation
Voting rights for 'blacks'
Medicare
Head Start
Childhood nutrition
Permit interracial marriage
Pollution prevention
A woman's right to choose
AIDS research
Sex Education
Stem cell research
Marriage equality

and on and on and on.

"Conservatives" have always argued against these things, saying they'll cause the collapse of industry, or the ruination of the family, or the end of America.

"Conservatives" have railed against policies that are in keeping with a basic rock-solid American value of doing what we can in order to form a more perfect union.  They've argued against doing the right thing; against doing what's best for the most.  They argue against keeping the promises we've made to ourselves, and to each other, and to generations beyond what we can see from where are now.

Every time.  Every issue.  The argument is always overblown, and it's always wrong.

How does anybody with pubic hair stay with these clods?

Today's Pix











Saturday, April 09, 2016

Why I Love it

Well, to be a little clearer, I love parts of the silly season - I'm gettin' pretty tired of the Silly Season That Won't Fucking End, but there are certain things about it that I do still truly love.

This for instance:



Somebody always comes out with a version of this, and I love that part of the silly season a lot.

It might be a repeat - don't know and don't care.

Saturday Tunes

Feelin' The Itch