Here’s a fantastic article about some core problems with our current flavor of capitalism, along with a few ideas on how to fix them: The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value.
They might as well have just dressed up a fucking chimpanzee.
According to the Republicans’ Great White Hope, Corporations Are People.
“Corporations are people, my friend,” he said. “Of course they are.” After receiving jeers from the audience over the quote, he elaborated: “Everything corporations earn goes to people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? People’s pockets. Human beings, my friend.”
Fuck You, My Friend. Corporations don’t give a fuck about people; that’s why they outsource jobs, open factories in China, destroy collective bargaining agreements, defund pensions and health benefits, chase government tax breaks, and reward CEOs with record salaries.
Middle-class America pays taxes because we can’t afford to outsource living in our own country. Fuck you, Romney.
Wow. This sums up just about everything I find disappointing about the Obama presidency.
A somewhat less charitable explanation is that we are a nation that is being held hostage not just by an extremist Republican Party but also by a president who either does not know what he believes or is willing to take whatever position he thinks will lead to his re-election. Perhaps those of us who were so enthralled with the magnificent story he told in “Dreams From My Father” appended a chapter at the end that wasn’t there — the chapter in which he resolves his identity and comes to know who he is and what he believes in.
As I’ve said before, I’m tired of my candidate making nice. I want him to take off the skirt and start using some fucking knives.
The Chart That Should Accompany All Discussions of the Debt Ceiling. Perfect, timely, and to the point. Fuck the GOP.
John McCain to Bush apologists: Stop lying about Bin Laden and torture.
The Idiot to John McCain: You’re about four years too late. Nice try, though.
I don’t know much about Ayn Rand, other than the standard Cliff’s Notes summaries of her books, and her name has been coming up repeatedly in the news, tied to (mostly) Republican politicians on budget-cutting stampedes. It’s interesting, then, to learn about her views of common people, the super-wealthy, and her own dark history. Slate’s review of two recent biographies goes into a little more detail and puts the recent upswing in Rand’s popularity into context.
Just the Simple Truth: This is pure awesome. Now, what the POTUS needs to do is start beating this fucking drum OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
Everyone is afraid of the government shutdown. Or, at least, we’re being told we need to be afraid of the government shutdown. The coverage I’m hearing (and it is varies from outlet to outlet) mostly agrees that the battle is over ideological bullshit–the GOP wants to defund Planned Parenthood, the EPA, and financial regulation, and won’t budge on these points.
I have nothing but respect for you, sir, and the difficult job you have taken on. That been said, I have one word of advice:
Take the skirt off.
Your predecessor, a talentless, entitled rube, surrounded himself with a kennel of feral attack weasels and let them shank their enemies while he feigned an “aw, shucks” persona and hid out on his ranch. You’ve taken a higher road in the first half of your term, and while I appreciate the brief return to civility, I’m afraid it’s time for a change. You need to feed your staff some raw meat, issue them some bayonets, and start fighting back.
The high road is not going to work anymore. The GOP doesn’t give a shit about compromise. Neither does the Tea Party, who might as well be running the GOP; they want their agenda followed and they don’t care how they do it or who it hurts. My impression of your presidency so far is one of lofty ideals and a genuine desire to make things better through debate and compromise-a dream that recalls the middle of the last century, when politicians fought each other ideologically, but had the good sense to get together for cocktails and barbecue after work. Your opposing team doesn’t want to pour you a beer; they want to drop you down a mineshaft. They’re still playing like it’s 2004.
You’ve brought a notebook and a pen to a helicopter gunship fight. Cut the shit, put on your body armor, and start knocking some fucking heads together.
Respectfully,
The Idiot.
PS. Don’t budge on Planned Parenthood, the EPA, or especially financial regulation. You disappointed me on that last one, but anything is better than nothing.
Fuck the Republicans: The House of Representatives votes to defund NPR. The more I think about it, the more I begin to feel like a paranoid and believe there’s a plot to dismantle all non-Fox related news sources.