The Tattlesnake

One-Eyed, Brain-Eating Greed Will Defeat Mitt Romney in November

2012-02-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

Related: "Runaway Greed Is Destroying America: Should There Be a Lid on How Much Someone Can Make?" by Sam Pizzigati

Scenes from a Republican America: Voting, Before and After

2012-02-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

Working Poor For Romney

2012-02-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo -- going for the irony.

Scenes from a Republican America: Birth Control Pills

2012-02-08T05:21:00.000-08:00

The Republican Trilemma

2012-02-07T06:45:00.000-08:00

Anyone with a realistic eye has observed the Republican Party’s devolution over the past 40 years from a serious political organization to a risible collection of deluded theocrats and dimwitted bigots led by sharp-eyed bunco artists exploiting the first two groups to expand the power and enhance the wealth of the third. In fact, the GOP has now taken on all of the ugly tyrannical features of the USSR under Stalin, replacing iron-fisted Communism with a jumbled and jingoistic version of authoritarian Christianity. This ‘Republican Trilemma’ can best be expressed by the chart below, based on the Žižek Trilemma:

As we can see from the chart, it is impossible to combine honesty, support of the Republican Party agenda, and intelligence in one person. As the Wikipedia entry for the Žižek Trilemma notes: “Of the three features—personal honesty, sincere support of the regime and intelligence—it was possible to combine only two, never all three. If one was honest and supportive, one was not very bright; if one was bright and supportive, one was not honest; if one was honest and bright, one was not supportive.”

The Lying of the Right: Tax Inequality

2012-02-04T06:42:00.000-08:00

Trump the Endorser Waves His Magic Wand Over Romney

2012-02-03T04:40:00.000-08:00

A GOP Gaffes Triple Play!

2012-02-02T04:08:00.000-08:00

The Lying of the Right: The Bush Taboo

2012-01-31T05:02:00.000-08:00

Newt ‘n’ Mitt: Republican Populists?

2012-01-30T02:36:00.000-08:00

Young Mitt: Mormon Gambler

2012-01-29T03:57:00.000-08:00

Newt ‘n’ Mitt’s Future?

2012-01-27T03:31:00.000-08:00

Cartoon: How Mitt Romney Was Hired at Bain

2012-01-26T03:24:00.000-08:00

The GOP Master Debaters Updated

2012-01-24T15:31:00.000-08:00

Newt’s New Newtie Magazine

2012-01-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

The S.C. Campaign Trail After Dark

2012-01-22T03:27:00.000-08:00

South Carolina Republicans Go Apesh*t for Newt’s Racism

2012-01-21T04:18:00.000-08:00

Read Republican Racism is an Air Raid Siren, Not a Dog Whistle

Campaign Trail Mixology: Is This the Season of the Mitt?

2012-01-19T02:59:00.000-08:00

Tumorous rumors and loose talk from unnamed sources speaking anonymously. (If it’s good enough for the NY Times and Washington Post, it’s good enough for me.) Candidates and poll numbers listed in the order of the Jan. 17, 2012 CNN/Time/ORC South Carolina poll:

33 percent: Mitt Romney. The only clueless Mormon left in the GOP race, and the candidate our Corporately-Owned Media has determined will be most accommodating to their demands of lower taxes on the 1 Percent and multi-national corporations and less regulation on the Kleptocracy for which they stand, the Mittster is so oblivious he continues to wear expensive $3K watches and pricey hand-tailored suits on the campaign trail, unlike the more savvy wealthy Republican ‘populists’ who sport a cheap Timex and a presidential-wannabe trousseau of off-the-rack wear when in campaign mode. (Presumably, a pair of Sansabelt slacks and a JC Penney sports shirt would induce itching if in direct contact with Mitt’s pampered flesh.) Of course, Romney’s stiff Disney World animatronic awkwardness when interacting with members of the human race is the stuff of legend, but he’s also a walking compendium of Talking Points and as bad as the Bush Boy at the quick ad lib when he’s thrown off stride. As with Junior, such attempts at spontaneity inevitably end in disaster with inappropriate laughter and bizarre facial expressions. Weirder, though, is Romney’s odd notions of what constitutes an endearing anecdote, sure to elicit an indulgent chuckle and mist the eye. In this he reminds me of the rural farmer who told the sheriff that he shot one of his five sons in the ass with a .22 rifle to teach all of his kids to ‘lissen to their daddy’ when he told them daddy gets to read the morning newspaper first. Farmer Ding-Dong just couldn’t understand why the sheriff then arrested him instead of sharing a fatherly chortle over those ‘dang young ‘uns.’ He was even heard to shout in protest as he was being taken away, “Sheet, it were only a flesh wound!” This is Mitt Romney: he can’t comprehend that ‘funny’ family stories about tying his crated dog to the top of his car for a 10-hour trip that resulted in the frightened pet’s diarrhea running down the back of the station wagon aren’t warmly amusing to other people; he can’t see that his ‘adorable’ personal memories are hatched out of The Addams Family rather than the Swiss Family Robinson. While I’ll give him a thumb’s-up for being entertainingly strange, this tin-eared weirdo can’t be allowed anywhere near the Oval Office -- imagine a President Romney greeting the Afghan ambassador with a goat to ride around Washington because he knows that’s what those Afghanis like or, perhaps, tying some low-level White House staffer to the top of the presidential limo. “He loves it up there! He got up there all by himself!”

23 Percent: Newt Gingrich. A couple of tidbits: first, the MSM has generally missed reporting on the helmet-haired blonde woman with the fixed, insincere smile and intense pinball eyes that is Callista Gingrich, Newtie’s one-time mistress when he was married to No. 2 and eventual third and current wife. The former Washington lobbyist (what a match made in heaven…or wherever) is not just ‘Stepford Wives’ creepy; she’s all the way to ‘Whatever Happened to Baby Jane’ creepy with her ghostly skin, deep red lipstick and hawkish, slightly mad gaze, and ‘Mr. Speaker’ doesn’t use the toilet without her permission. Staff defections from the Gingrich campaign can be traced directly to Callista’s iron-fisted control and she’s the one addicted to Tiffany bling to the extent that’d she’d put hubby in deep, embarrassing debt to feed her 1950s ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ lust for overpriced jewelry. She’s also the source for some of Newt’s crankier and more crackpot opinions, the same ones that may ultimately sabotage any chance he has of nabbing the GOP presidential nomination. Second, word is Callista’s taking a page from Elvis’ Col. Parker by stuffing debate audiences with ‘paid groovers’ who will applaud Newt’s wacky ‘dump child labor laws’ and ‘blacks should get a job instead of food stamps’ memes. Back in the early days of Presley’s career, ‘The Colonel’ used to hire young ladies to scream and cry at Elvis performances, noticing that other young women would do likewise if prompted by the hirelings; similarly, Callista revs up debate audiences -- she knows most Republicans are born followers -- by having her pay-to-play band start the applause and shouts of approval making it seem, to the viewing audience and more gullible members of the media, as if Newt’s insane ideas have actually attracted some adherents among the GOP base. This way, Newt doesn’t have to issue any apologies or clarifications -- ‘hey, look at that applause, my ideas are popular’ -- and the catcalls and booing help intimidate into silence anyone who might dare ask a follow-up question. However, The Ging-Thing Who Would Be King has a problem that must give him night-sweats; the follow-up questions that have yet to be asked, but will be one day, if he’s the nominee: “Sure, Speaker Gingrich, but that janitor you just put out of work and replaced with a low-paid child; what about his family and where does he find work to support them?” or “You have accused President Obama of being the ‘food stamp president’ saying he would rather give poor black people food stamps than jobs, yet your party in the Senate filibusters every job-creating bill that Obama and the Democrats submit to them. Tell me, would you support Obama’s jobs bill and, if not, then where exactly are these poor black folks supposed to find work?” or “So, as president, you would cut off food stamps to the poor and middle-class and, if they couldn’t find a job in your economy, then you’d just let them starve?” Newtie’s crass ‘big ideas’ can’t stand up to a feather duster of logic and he relies on the craven MSM’s aversion to asking the hard questions to keep his leaky campaign raft afloat but, with the kooky, creepy Callista at the helm (she should have sci-fi Theremin tones accompanying her everywhere she goes), it’s only a matter of time until it crashes up against the not-from-Tiffany rocks and disappears from view.

16 Percent: Rick Santorum. Reactionary Rick’s record is one of head-twisting inconsistencies and soft-shoe corruption: as a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Santorum condemned Iran as an Islamo-fascist terrorist state while refusing to support laws that would ban corporations like Halliburton from doing business with them; he billed a cash-strapped Pennsylvania school district over $70,000 to pay for educating his children who were living in Virginia at the time; he took campaign contributions from AccuWeather, a PA-based private weather tracking company and supported legislation that would prevent the National Weather Service from issuing free weather reports if a private for-profit weather report was available; and supports Gitmo, indefinite detentions, and Cheney’s torture policies. His perverse and ugly Dark Ages Catholic religious views opposing abortion, gay marriage, birth control, feminists and the theory of evolution are well known, as is his hilariously dumb ‘man-on-dog’ sex’ speech, his belief that Americans have no right to privacy, and his absurdly blaming Boston liberals for the Catholic Church’s pedophile scandal in a 2002 article, for which he has yet to apologize. No wonder he set a record in the 2006 senatorial election for the largest losing margin by a Republican incumbent in history. There is really no reason to probe for back-alley ‘dirt’ on Santorum -- it’s all public. He’s the whole ball of crappy Christopublican conservatism that’s been pushed on the nation for the past 40 years but, this time around, the religiosity blew up in his face. Seems the fundamentalist Christians who just endorsed St. Santorum as a ‘unity’ candidate to beat Romney in South Carolina don’t have the clout they once had; hence, Gingrich is leading Rick in the polls with only days to go until the SC vote. Unless there’s a last minute transfusion from his Christopublican friends, Santorum’s out of money and will soon discover he must quit the race to spend more time at home annoying the wife and kiddies.

13 Percent: Ron Paul. The latest on Sen. Rand Paul’s 76-year-old daddy is that he’s not running for reelection to his Texas congressional seat and is going to devote himself full time to developing a ‘Paulist’ political movement to reflect his odd views of Libertarianism and even Ayn Rand’s Objectivism that is rooted in Ayn’s aggressive atheism while Paul is a Christian, a Baptist no less. While some of the more naïve on the left like his anti-war, less spending on the military, get rid of the Fed, and end the drug war policies, they have not yet discovered, or completely ignored, his less progressive stances on women’s rights, social programs and corporate regulation. Ron recently signed on to the ‘Personhood’ nonsense which would not only criminalize abortion, but stop the sale of birth control pills in this country; he also wants to kill off Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation and any programs that help the needy; and he believes corporations should not have any regulations on their activities whatsoever, and that the government should subserviently work with business which, under the Mussolini definition, is essentially fascism. There is also the racial bigotry that Paul denies, but years of newsletters in his name and appearances before racist groups expose as a genuine problem. Moreover, behind the scenes, Paul is exhausted, often caught in private slumped and staring into space exhaustedly, looking every bit of his 76 years. Campaigning for the presidency is a drain on a man 20 years younger and some in his inner circle wonder how long he can keep this up. Rumor is, Ron plans to soldier on no matter how badly he does in the primaries; he hopes to collect enough delegates to commandeer a prime-time speaking spot at the Republican National Convention, at which he’ll supposedly announce his new movement. Will the GOP accede to keep the peace and not risk offending Paul supporters? Probably not; most of them won’t be voting for a Republican this year anyway.

6 Percent: Rick Perry. Word is, Rick either stinks of peppermint or whiskey, depending on what time of day you catch him. Whether he’s a self-hating gay man or not is an open question, but the Texas Governor shore do act a little grandiose an’ giddy when he’s got hissef a snoot-full, jes’ like some male dancer gittin’ an’ award fer a Broadway musical. But Rick’s biggest problem, to use the words of fellow Texan Ron White, is “you can’t fix stupid.” If you could, Perry would need a complete overhaul. The only two questions now are how long his Texas friends will continue to throw good money after bad and, if Romney gets the nod, whether he would name him VP since bumbling oaf Perry could make anyone look good by contrast, even a dull slice of processed white bread like Mitt.

The good news: It doesn’t really matter which of them is nominated; none of these wealthy bastinadoes of the far-right is fit to be carved into presidential furniture adaptable to more moderate voters by next November; they all sport more baggage than a Gilded Age Astor on the Titanic, an aquatic analogy the eventual GOP nominee might as well get comfortable with now.

Copyright 2012 RS Janes.
www.fishink.us

Postcard from the Edge: Greetings from South Carolina!

2012-01-17T04:30:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney and the Space Aliens

2012-01-16T02:20:00.000-08:00

Christopublicans Pick a Candidate to Bring Down Romney in S.C.

2012-01-16T01:51:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney’s Crock O’ Crap Comics

2012-01-13T14:22:00.000-08:00

Something Stupid This Way Comes -- GOP Freak Show Descends on S.C.

2012-01-12T04:58:00.000-08:00

Mitt Romney: Running On Emptiness

2012-01-11T16:52:00.000-08:00

Warning: Before You Vote for a Republican for President

2012-01-10T02:05:00.000-08:00

The GOP Reprobates Debate

2012-01-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

GOP Candidates to Debate 'In the Round' Tonight at Manchester’s ‘Toidy Field’

2012-01-07T12:08:00.000-08:00

Young Mitt in 'Missionary Position'

2012-01-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

The Typical Christopublican Family, Circa 2012

2012-01-05T04:36:00.000-08:00

The Republican Frontrunners: What Are They Thinking?!

2012-01-04T15:42:00.000-08:00

Memo from The Soros Society of Socialist Islamo-Atheists

2012-01-02T04:21:00.000-08:00

Have a Happy 2012, But…

2012-01-01T17:04:00.000-08:00

The Republican Party’s Twelve Commandments for 2012

2011-12-31T04:48:00.000-08:00

Bad Memories of Christmas Past

2011-12-29T03:05:00.000-08:00

The Official RNC Mitt Romney Xmas Card

2011-12-26T16:33:00.000-08:00

Santa Screws the GOP!

2011-12-25T11:48:00.000-08:00

Wall Street Billionaire with a Heart Helps the Less Fortunate

2011-12-24T04:53:00.000-08:00

More Political Good, Bad and Ugly

2011-12-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

More Political Good, Bad and Ugly

Good: Your husband has decided to get more involved in politics.
Bad: He's running for president as a conservative Republican.
Ugly: He's Rick Santorum.

Good: Your wife is a nationally-known political figure.
Bad: She's Michele Bachmann.
Ugly: After thirty-three years of marriage, she still doesn’t know you’re gay.

Good: Your husband landed an important job in a presidential campaign.
Bad: He's an advance man in Iowa to the hard-core Christian Right.
Ugly: He's working for Newt Gingrich.

Good: Your wife has a new job that pays well.
Bad: Working for Mitt Romney.
Ugly: It has something to do with inserting a crank in his back in the mornings.

Good: Your daughter just got a new job.
Bad: She's working for Ron Paul.
Ugly: Editing his newsletter.

Good: Your son's new book is about to be published.
Bad: It's a biography of Rick Perry.
Ugly: He's started talking like him.

Good: Your wife just got a good-paying job.
Bad: With the Herman Cain campaign.
Ugly: He invited her to his hotel room for a private conference.

Good: Your son just got a new job.
Bad: He's working for FreedomWorks.
Ugly: He admits he’s doing ‘coke’ but not the drug.

Good: Your daughter just landed a job working for PolitiFact.
Bad: She’s been instructed to make sure her ‘facts’ are ‘fair and balanced’ between Republicans and Democrats, even if the facts show that the Republicans lie far more often than the Dems.
Ugly: She has to come up with misleading headlines that don’t match the facts in the story.

Good: Your son was just employed as a top staffer to an important politician.
Bad: It’s House Speaker John Boehner.
Ugly: He’s tasked with making liquor store runs and applying tanning lotion.

Good: Your daughter has decided to devote herself to working with the OWS Movement.
Bad: She’s working undercover for a right-wing website owned by James O’Keefe.
Ugly: Jimmy has invited her to his parents’ house for the weekend.

Good: Your son has just received a full four-year scholarship to attend college.
Bad: The college is Penn State.
Ugly: His tuition is being paid by the Jerry Sandusky Boys’ Foundation.

Good: Your son was just hired to work for a national celebrity.
Bad: It’s Rush Limbaugh.
Ugly: His job is to oil Rush every morning and then screw his clothes on.

Good: The ideas of Thomas Jefferson are being discussed on TV.
Bad: By Gretchen Carlson on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”
Ugly: Carlson insists the liberal Deist Jefferson would be a conservative Christian if he were alive today and join her in condemning those who say ‘Happy Holidays’ instead of ‘Merry Christmas.’

Good: You're not feeling well and your friend says he will find you a good doctor.
Bad: You're flat broke and have no job or health insurance.
Ugly: Your friend is Paul Ryan.

© 2011 RS Janes. www.fishink.us

Happy Holidays to All!!

2011-12-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

Once Again, the GOP Defends the Indefensible

2011-12-21T15:36:00.000-08:00

“I Wed 3 Wives” Starring Newt Gingrich

2011-12-19T15:18:00.000-08:00

The Death of the Newt World Order

2011-12-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

Look Who’s Endorsing Mitt!

2011-12-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

Newt’s ‘Jobs for Kids’ Plan in Action

2011-12-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

A Future Toon: How Romney Lost the GOP Nomination

2011-12-10T17:10:00.000-08:00

Uncle Newtie’s Funhouse

2011-12-09T13:38:00.000-08:00

Was Mitt Romney Arrested for Gambling on Cock Fighting in 1967?

2011-12-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

This is a satire, folks, although entirely believable.

The Curse of the Trumpster

2011-12-06T03:55:00.000-08:00

The Pepper Spraying Cop -- What a Card

2011-12-05T03:16:00.000-08:00

Sunday Sermon: Christopublican Exceptionalism, AKA ‘Hypocrisy’

2011-12-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

"So the Pharisees, Jesus said, were the rich and the powerful and righteous who ignored the most important moral values that should guide everyone: the values of justice and mercy and faith. They were fools and foolers, and those who followed them were blinded by their own piety.
"This sounds achingly familiar today. The complaints that the religious right has lost all sense of moral values -- that it has a blind and foolish piety in its endorsement of torture, killing of innocent civilians in the name of finding a new proselyte, and ravaging of the Earth even as it is the great giver of life -- are not new charges. And they are also true. Yet the real message of Christ was that hypocrisy will be condemned, and that those who practice it will face the perils of Hell."
-- Guy Reel, "Woe to the Hypocrites," Common Dreams, Sept. 22, 2005.

Herman Cain’s Turd Polish

2011-12-03T03:44:00.000-08:00

Cap’n 1 Percent in ‘Protecting the Secrets of the Elite’

2011-12-01T04:54:00.000-08:00

Cap’n 1 Percent in ‘Trickle Down Tricks’

2011-11-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

Broderick “10-4” Crawford on the OWS Movement

2011-11-28T07:46:00.000-08:00

Life Among the 1 Percent -- Thanksgiving for Some Edition

2011-11-25T04:41:00.000-08:00

Talking Turkey (Happy Thanksgiving!)

2011-11-23T11:44:00.000-08:00

Republican Family Values Magazine

2011-11-22T03:33:00.000-08:00

The GOP’s Anti-Romney Panic

2011-11-21T15:05:00.000-08:00

Dear GOP: Please Nominate Newt

2011-11-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

Koch Bros. Bet On Cain?

2011-11-19T04:00:00.000-08:00

Life Among the 1 Percent -- Global Competition Edition

2011-11-18T03:10:00.000-08:00

The GOP’s Insane Mysteries

2011-11-17T05:13:00.000-08:00

What is Twirling Around in Herman Cain’s Head?

2011-11-15T13:23:00.000-08:00

Herman Cain’s Lie Detector Test

2011-11-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

The Party of Oops!

2011-11-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

Super Cain vs. Reality

2011-11-10T02:10:00.000-08:00

‘V’ for Victory

2011-11-09T14:40:00.000-08:00

How the GOP Kool-Aid is Made!

2011-11-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

The Koch Bros. Blarney & Bailout Circus

2011-11-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

Mitt Romney -- The Early Years

2011-11-04T01:52:00.000-07:00

The Republican ‘Joan of Snark’ Betrays Her Elitist White Bigotry

2011-11-03T05:11:00.000-07:00

Watch the video below and take a shot every time Ann gets it wrong. You’ll be soused in no time.

Herman Cain’s Six Degrees of Explanation

2011-11-02T11:25:00.000-07:00

Herman Cain -- A Face in the Crowd 2011

2011-11-01T03:24:00.000-07:00

Halloween Costumes of the GOP Candidates

2011-10-31T13:44:00.000-07:00

Rick Perry Tries Praying to a New God

2011-10-30T04:09:00.000-07:00

Mitt Romney’s Lie Detector Test

2011-10-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

The Corporate Nightmare On Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-27T05:26:00.000-07:00

Fight Back with Bank Transfer Day, Nov. 5, 2011

2011-10-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

Spike Lee Admits Cain Candidacy a Hoax for New ‘Mockumentary’ Film

2011-10-21T10:35:00.000-07:00

Spike Lee Admits Cain Candidacy a Hoax for New ‘Mockumentary’ Film

Alan Smithee
Film Reviewer
Toronto Post and Mail
Oct. 21, 2011

EXCLUSIVE

“I can’t believe it,” a grinning Spike Lee told this reporter yesterday, relaxing in the lounge of the Nikko Hotel’s Star Bar in downtown Toronto. “We thought we might get some media coverage, but not that Herman would get this far!”

In a stunning revelation, the famed American writer/director of such classic hit comedies as “Do the Right Thing,” and “She’s Gotta Have It,” and more serious films such as “Malcolm X” and “Mo’ Better Blues,” explained that he had hired an actor named Grey Goodwin to ‘portray’ Herman Cain for a political mockumentary he’s making with the working title, “Citizen Cain,” about a buffoonish African-American who campaigns for the U.S. presidency as a conservative Republican.

“Man, I just thought we’d get some footage of this cat talking to Republican voters and like that,” Mr. Lee elaborated, “but I never, in my wildest dreams, thought he’d get into these debates or anything.”

According to the writer/director, there is a real Herman Cain, a pizza chain executive, but he’s on a secluded vacation with his family in Switzerland until December. Mr. Lee said that the real Herman Cain is a fan of his films and agreed to go along with the hoax when Mr. Lee presented the idea to him last year.

“See, then I went out and found me a cat who looks and talks like the real Herman Cain to play him in the film, and that wasn’t easy, but we knocked it.”

Mr. Lee went on to say that all of the ‘Goodwin/Cain’s’ policies and speeches have been written by him. “Grey, he’s just such a damn great actor, he really knocked it out of the park on this role,” adding ruefully, “Have you noticed nobody is really getting down and calling Cain out for his ridiculous positions that don’t make no sense? I could probably have him say he’s gonna make a law that we’ll have sunny skies 365 days a year and they’d buy that, too!”

But Mr. Lee was troubled with the success of his hoax, “See, we put this scam over on the Republican voters and the Republican Party, but what really worries me is that so many media people bought it. Now we got Grey’s fake Cain leading Romney in the polls. Can you dig on that s--t?”

Mr. Lee said when he returns to New York next week, he’s going to call a press conference to reveal the hoax, and expects his mockumentary to be finished and released before the American elections in November of 2012. “I may have to go into hiding after this joint,” Mr. Lee said jokingly, ending our interview.

He is expected to accept the Durward Kirby Adult Film Award tomorrow night at Macduff University’s Malcolm Hall North Annex in Southeast Westlake Park.

This is satire, BTW.
Copyright 2011 RS Janes
www.fishink.us

He’s Crazy for Fox Koo-Koo Puffs!

2011-10-19T09:51:00.000-07:00

Gandhi Won and So Will the OWS Protestors

2011-10-17T03:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-16T05:51:00.000-07:00

Yes We Cain?

2011-10-15T04:38:00.000-07:00

American Autumn, Corporate Fall

2011-10-12T03:46:00.000-07:00

Connect the Dots: Here’s How We Became the ’99 Percent’

2011-10-10T03:21:00.000-07:00

...and some things we can do to change it.

Deregulation enacted by Republicans and conservative Democrats, and an unprecedented Supreme Court decision allowing corporations the free speech the Founders intended only for flesh-and-blood human beings, led to the majority of Americans steadily sinking economically, as the nation’s wealth flowed to the top. Here are some simple demands to reverse this lethal course, along with a few suggestions of my own following the highlighted portion.

“The demands are pretty damned easy to summarize:

-- Reinstate Glass-Steagall
-- Audit the FED
-- Reverse Citizens United (via Constitutional Amendment)
-- Overhaul the tax code for the mega-rich (1%) and corporations”
-- “#OWS: Take this video VIRAL, NOW!” Daily Kos, Oct. 9, 2011.

Here are my suggestions:

-- End the corporate charter of any corporation that repeatedly or recklessly does harm to their customers or the environment.
-- Revamp the rules regarding the appointment of boards of directors to corporations, making shareholder meetings more convenient to attend, or hold them online, and streamline voting procedures so that shareholders can more easily vote on the compensation packages of top executives and who will serve on the corporate board.
-- End the practice of buying stock ‘on margin.’ (In other words, you must prove you have the money to pay for any stock you are buying.)
-- Stricter enforcement of SEC regulations.
-- Tax companies that outsource jobs or other assets overseas at a rate that will remove the profit in doing so.
-- Tax offshored assets at the same rate domestic profits are taxed.
-- Hold top executives responsible for a corporation’s criminal acts in the same way an individual American would be held responsible. (Example: If an executive approves a heart drug that his company’s internal studies say induces heart attacks, he or she would be as criminally liable as an individual who knowingly provided another person with a drug that caused a heart attack.)
-- No corporation that sells equipment or electronics to the government will retain the right to secret proprietary codes or other information on their products.
-- Finally, of course, we have to ban corporations from lobbying our government officials and limit the money spent in our elections.

But these suggestions are only a start; perhaps we should rethink the whole concept of the corporation as an entity for doing business as they have now become Too Big to Fail behemoths that threaten our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and our form of government, and many continue to exist only through taxpayer bailouts. As Ambrose Bierce put it more than a hundred years ago: “Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.” It’s time we brought back responsibility to the marketplace.

Watch the video:

Here’s a simplified version of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Second Economic Bill of Rights, proposed in 1944, which, if enacted, would solve a great many of our problems:

Too Big to Fail vs. Too Big to Ignore

2011-10-08T03:48:00.000-07:00

Wall Street Protests: The Turning of the Screwed

2011-10-06T01:55:00.000-07:00

Is This Tomorrow Under the Teabaggers?

2011-10-02T16:09:00.000-07:00

Seven Reasons Why Chris Christie Won’t Be the GOP Nominee

2011-09-29T14:36:00.000-07:00

1. He’s a Media Darling. Aside from the fact that Christie keeps saying ‘NO’ to a presidential run and the Beltway Punditocracy keeps looking at it upside-down and seeing ‘ON,’ the chattering classes apparently have missed one salient fact: they are not popular with the GOP base who regard them, at best, as the ‘liberal media’ and at worst as keepers of the black antichrist Obama’s socialist flame. Quick, think of a presidential candidate in the 2008 election who was beloved by the media. That’s right, it was former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, grandiloquently dubbed ‘America’s Mayor’ by the fawning habitués and sons of habitués that inhabit the glass-walled towers of Big Media Manhattan and the press cubicles of the crepuscular nation’s capital. The MSM loved themselves some heroic Rudy, almost as much as he loved himself, and were sure Republican primary voters could be persuaded to adore him as well. The stars in their eyes didn’t allow for Rudy reality to penetrate -- he was a lisping, sweaty, East Coast quasi-liberal (he had supported abortion rights and funding for the arts, at one time), who gave tedious speeches and wasn’t popular on his home turf when he tossed his cookies in the ring. The fabled Giuliani ended up getting a single primary vote in Florida and is best remembered for Biden’s trenchant swipe, “A noun, a verb and 9/11” to sum up Rudy’s desperate attempt to outline a reason he should be president. Perhaps Christie’s smart enough to know that the Tony Soprano tough guy image being promulgated by the media is a fabrication neither he nor his record can live down to, and, like Rudy, he’s unpopular in his own backyard. Also like Giuliani, there are bumps and potholes in his past that will be highlighted in relief by a presidential bid; Rudy had Bernie Kerik and other curious financial entanglements; Christie has his record as a US Attorney and his pattern of caving in to corporate interests.

2. The Republican Elite Love Him. The Teabaggers and Christopublicans who make up what remains of the GOP out in Fly-Over Country aren’t enamored of the candidates endorsed by the various shills, operatives and Wall Street moneybags that occupy the skyboxes of the Republican Party. These are simple clodhoppers who melt at the sight of a crucifix held aloft by a guy in cowboy boots waving a pistol, not some slickster in a designer suit and Italian loafers waving down a cab. Multi-millionaire Mitt Romney, it should be pointed out, was ‘The Man’ to the GOP Elite until recently, but now his trail of pinball-machine flip-flopping on every issue and oleaginous persona, not to mention revealing to the rubes that he thinks ‘corporations are people too’ (Mitt, you’re supposed to hide that from the Proles), have left the USS Romney taking on water in open sea, vulnerable to the waterline torpedoes of the every GOP flavor of the month and a clear sign the base distrusts the Chosen One as picked by the likes of a David Brooks or Bill Kristol. Romney may eventually stumble across the GOP primary finish line the winner, but he’ll be horribly damaged goods, ripe for the final landslide humiliation from Team Obama. Christie might also be politically savvy enough to envision this bleak future for himself, if he ran.

3. Christie Has Denounced the GOP Base: Perhaps the Pundits are too deeply entrenched in the redwoods of the inbred Washington conventional wisdom they help create to notice the forest of jabbering incoherent discontent beyond, but GOP primary voters this year are all as crazy as blind bus drivers and East Coaster Christie’s comment disparaging them will not endear him to the rural areas of the South, West and Midwest where these slack-jawed yokels and bitter bigots mostly reside. Christie said unequivocally, “I'm tired of dealing with the crazies.” So, why would Christie put himself through a process where he’ll have to deal with nothing but crazies for the next fourteen months? Moreover, once this remark makes the rounds, as his political opponents will ensure it does, the New Jersey Governor will sink to Michele Bachmann numbers in the polls.

4. ‘Liberal’ Viewpoints. . If he becomes a candidate for president, Christie may very well change his positions ala Romney but, in the past, he’s taken decidedly unRepublican stances on issues important to the GOP base such as guns, immigration and hatred of Muslims. Here’s an exchange on gun control between Christie and Sean Hannity on Fox News:

HANNITY: “Should every — should every citizen in the state be allowed to get a licensed weapon if they want one?”

CHRISTIE: “In New Jersey, that's not going to happen, Sean.”

Imagine that repartee repeatedly appearing in negative ads in GOP primary states, likely sponsored by the NRA. Christie has also shown insufficient passion in detesting illegal immigrants and catering to Islamophobia. Ideological apostasy on any one of these issues would lose the GOP base in 2012; Christie’s managed to hit a triple play.

5. He Believes in Climate Change and Agrees with Scientists That It’s Mainly Caused By Human Activity. Need I say more? To the Dark Agers who vote in GOP primaries, and the wealthy Republicans who keep them in the dark, Christie might as well be saying that if Jesus returned he’d be a Jewish liberal and denounce Israel for the way it treats Palestinians.

6. The Jersey Smart-Ass Act Only Works to a Point. Sure, the GOP base gets a giggle from tough guy Christie telling some poor voter it’s none of their business where his kids go to school, or shutting down questions by swatting some good-government type with an offhand insult, but then, these are Charles Addams caricatures who are so through-the-looking-glass mean-right that they cheer executions and young men dying from lack of medical insurance and boo Iraq War veterans. To the electorate at large, that act doesn’t have legs. Whatever Americans think of President Obama’s skill as president, most of them believe he cares about them and he tries to answer difficult questions fully; contrast that with Christie’s annoyed reactions and flippant or angry answers to any challenging query. After a while, voters in the rest of the country would join New Jersey residents in wondering why they should elect someone who obviously cares so little for most of his constituents, preferring to reward the rich and prosperous corporations at their expense.

7. His Health. I have nothing against chubby people; I myself am the caretaker of a prominent beer gut, and not enough of a hypocrite to criticize anyone else in similar shape. However, Chris Christie is bordering on the morbidly obese -- he must have, at least, a 60-inch waistline -- and he’s experiencing physical problems such as a recent asthma attack that landed him in the hospital. A presidential campaign is a grueling death march that requires the candidate be in good enough physical condition to withstand the congealed chicken dinners, cold coffee, rampant hand-pumping and lack of sleep required to hoodwink the public into voting for you. Despite his tough-talk front, I don’t think Christie has the stamina for such a run. Aside from that, we are a nation that loathes fat people, except for fictional gift-givers like Santa Claus. Not since one-term Republican William Howard Taft a century ago have we had a president who weighed in at over 250 lbs. Those who vote for a candidate based on their looks, and we have far too many of them, would not be marking the ballot for the bulbous Christie. It’s not fair, of course, but it’s our present reality.

There are those, like Jimmy Zuma at Technorati.com, who speculate Christie may be angling for a VP slot, but that doesn’t strike me as credible; I’d bet instead he’ll be defeated in his reelection bid for NJ governor and won’t mind a bit retiring to the comfortable life of a well-paid Wall Street lawyer or corporate board member or even Fox News host. Not everyone in politics actually enjoys the game once elected, and I think Christie’s one of them.

Copyright 2011 RS Janes
http://www.fishink.us/

Tea Party Christian Patriot Gazette Ads for Sept. 2011

2011-09-27T04:07:00.000-07:00

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Matching Prominent Republicans with Appropriate Film Titles

2011-09-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

The story is Dan Quayle saw the 1972 Robert Redford film ‘The Candidate’ and thought it was a primer on entering politics instead of a warning about selling out one’s principles. Ronald Reagan is said to have had a regular weekly ‘movie premiere night’ while in the White House. Then we had GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy using a clip from the 2010 Ben Affleck crime saga 'The Town’ to make a point to Teabaggers in Congress. For a party that has so much enmity towards Hollywood, seems the GOP loves itself some flicks, which got me to wondering what movie titles would accurately reflect certain prominent Republicans. For better or worse, here’s what I came up with, in no particular order:

-- Rick Perry: ‘They Live!’

-- John Boehner: ‘The Lost Weekend’

-- Mitch McConnell: ‘Hell Comes to Frogtown’ (or, ‘White Hunter, Black Heart’)

-- Mitt Romney: ‘Liar, Liar’

-- Michele Bachmann: ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’

-- Tim Pawlenty: ‘The Incredible Mr. Limpet’

-- Sarah Palin: ‘Mars Needs Women’

-- Allen West: 'Watermelon Man’

-- Paul Ryan: ‘Throw Momma from the Train’

-- Herman Cain: ‘Blackula’

-- George W. Bush: ‘Moon Over Parador’ (or, ‘Wag the Dog’)

-- Dick Cheney: ‘Above the Law’

-- Scott Walker: ‘Gone with the Wind’ (or, ‘The Great Dictator’)

-- John Kasich: ‘Joe Dirt’

-- Rick Snyder: ‘Shadow on the Land’

-- Rick Scott: ‘The Hucksters’

-- Rupert Murdoch: ‘Citizen Kane’

-- Rush Limbaugh: ‘It Came from Outer Space'

-- Glenn Beck: ‘Dumb and Dumber’

-- Bill O’Reilly: ‘The Mouse That Roared'

-- Sean Hannity: ‘Frances the Talking Mule’

-- Ann Coulter: ‘Heathers’

-- Michael Savage: ‘Home Alone’

-- Frank Luntz: ‘The Phantom of the Opera’

-- David H. Koch: ‘The Magic Christian’

-- Karl Rove: ‘Revenge of the Nerds’

-- Ron Paul: ‘Dr. Strangelove’

-- Rick Santorum: ‘Look Who’s Talking Now’

-- Newt Gingrich: ‘No Country for Old Men’ (or, 'Goldfinger')

-- Donald Trump: ‘Mr. Bug Goes to Town’ (or, ‘Hairspray')

© 2011 RS Janes. www.fishink.us

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