It is not entirely clear how we got to this state. Sometimes things just start to slip away slowly and in the blink of an eye we find ourselves knee deep in the muck of brutal nonsense.
The Friday dispatches have bordered on the Dadaesque. It has been a convoluted news cycle at best.
Over in Norway our pal Anders Breivik is still on trial. Earlier he was upset because the judges wouldn't allow him to question witnesses and victims as they described his deadly rampage. Finally the brother of one of the people he murdered snapped, screamed. "Go to hell, go to hell, you killed my brother," then chucked a shoe at Breivik. He missed but fortunately did manage to nail a co defense attorney named Vibeke Hein Baera. It is reported by MSNBC that while some of the gallery looked on shocked and uncomfortable, others applauded. There was no comment from the defendant who was hustled out of the court room. There is also no word as to whether spectators will be forced to sit barefoot during the remainder of the proceedings.
In Florida a woman named Marissa Alexander got twenty years for firing a warning shot near a man she had accused of physically abusing her. Her defense was that same stand your ground law that George Zimmerman is citing. The judge wasn't buying it. Apparently Ms. Alexander had gone into the garage to fetch the weapon, then returned to the room where the man and his two sons were. The judge decided that her act of returning to the same room proved she did not fear for her life. Ms. Alexander says the only reason she went back into the house was because the garage door was jammed shut. Sticky things these laws involving deadly force. Just ask Oklahoma City pharmacist James Ersland. He shot a would be robber, but then made the mistake of going back behind the counter, getting another gun so he could finish the unarmed kid off. He got life.
While Joe Biden was apologizing to Barak Obama for starting this whole same sex marriage mess, Bristol Palin was blogging about it. She condemned the president for his decision to support it and for consulting his children about their thoughts on gays. Palin, who proved she wasn't a homosexual by humping her boy friend while still a teenager, should be worrying about the back child support he owes her. It is reported that Levi Johnston is twenty-two months behind in payments and owes Ms. Palin $39,000.
Finally the Washington Post has run a story detailing an incident where Uncle Mitt went all Crips at the elite Cranbrook school in Bloomfield, Michigan when he was a student. Citing five different witnesses, a couple of whom participated in the affair, Mitt was the leader of a gang who held down another student and forcibly cut his hair. Apparently the Mittster was incensed by the kid's long, bleached blond hair, telling pal Matthew Friedmann, "He can't look like that. That's wrong. Just look at him." Various witnesses say the attack was "vicious" and that the student, John Lauber, was "easy pickin's." He was-- you knew it was coming-- perceived as being gay. Mitt has gone on Fox News saying he doesn't remember the incident, but did apologize for some "pranks" that "went too far." The apology is a bit late for Lauber. He died in 2004. Cranbrook, which has a tradition of strict discipline, let young Mr. Romney slide on this one. According to Friedmann, "they didn't do anything to him." At a later date, however, the school did expel John Lauber for smoking a cigarette.
There you have it. Just another day in the asylum. As Kurt Vonnegut used to say, "and so it goes."
5-11-12
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
A Troubled Start for Obama
It wasn't the campaign kick off he wanted, or envisioned. It would seem Barak Obama has stumbled badly coming out of the gate. The president probably wanted to talk about the number of jobs created during his administration, the slow, but steady recovery of the economy, and the shell game being perpetrated by Mitt Romney on the public. Instead, thanks to his own vice president, Joe Biden, he has had to address the issue of gay marriage.
It is one of those hot button topics where he can't win, no matter what he says. It is one he would have, no doubt, preferred to have avoided until his second term. You know the one where he can let loose with a barrage of initiatives that will enrage the right even more than they are now and alienate some of the more conservative leaning independents. The one where he doesn't have to worry about another election.
Obama did take the courageous road. Instead of hem hawing and dancing around the issue he came out in favor of same sex marriage. It will garner him some, but not all of the gay vote. Not all because some gays will steadfastly support the very people who loathe them to the point of wanting them chucked away in camps. I call this the martyr syndrome. There are some who prefer to feel persecuted. They are uncomfortable with the idea of not being the oppressed minority. As the man in a movie once said, they've "learned to love the rope."
Tragically now the howling minions and their boy, Mitt Romney can hammer away at homosexuals at the altar rather than talk about their own warped vision of America. They won't have to explain the details of their vague and inherently flawed economic plans. They can run all over the country waving their arms wildly over their heads as they scream, "Obama likes fags, Obama likes fags!" They will guarantee that there will be sodomy openly practiced in the streets. That children will be made to accept and perform blow jobs with people like Jerry Sandusky. Trust me, that is on the way. Subtlety has never been the strong suit of conservatives.
One can only hope someone has kicked Biden's ass for opening this can of worms. The media is equally to blame. As always the feral dogs of the press would much rather write and talk about sex than things that actually mean something. Things like the economy, or foreign policy, which Mitt looks about as at home with as Sarah Palin did. Yes, the ignore the important stuff that could seriously impact the future of the republic and go straight for that National Enquirer sound bite. Shocked gasps, outrage, and the occasional surreptitious erection is what the media has decided America wants. Screw any sort of substantive debate.
This is all eerily familiar to that swift boat thing that derailed John Kerry's campaign. Obama needs to put it behind him immediately and focus on his opponent and the tea party slugs that want to drive this nation back into the 19th century.
Ultimately sexual orientation and issues such as should Cindy be able to marry Wanda have nothing to do with the well being of the nation. Everyone one is going to keep having sex exactly the way they want to now that Santorum is out of the picture.
The race is too close to call at this point Luckily voting day is still a political life time away. Hopefully we can get past this initial sensationalism and move on to things that actually matter. If we can't, if we let something like this decide the November election, we will be the lesser for it.
5-10-12
It is one of those hot button topics where he can't win, no matter what he says. It is one he would have, no doubt, preferred to have avoided until his second term. You know the one where he can let loose with a barrage of initiatives that will enrage the right even more than they are now and alienate some of the more conservative leaning independents. The one where he doesn't have to worry about another election.
Obama did take the courageous road. Instead of hem hawing and dancing around the issue he came out in favor of same sex marriage. It will garner him some, but not all of the gay vote. Not all because some gays will steadfastly support the very people who loathe them to the point of wanting them chucked away in camps. I call this the martyr syndrome. There are some who prefer to feel persecuted. They are uncomfortable with the idea of not being the oppressed minority. As the man in a movie once said, they've "learned to love the rope."
Tragically now the howling minions and their boy, Mitt Romney can hammer away at homosexuals at the altar rather than talk about their own warped vision of America. They won't have to explain the details of their vague and inherently flawed economic plans. They can run all over the country waving their arms wildly over their heads as they scream, "Obama likes fags, Obama likes fags!" They will guarantee that there will be sodomy openly practiced in the streets. That children will be made to accept and perform blow jobs with people like Jerry Sandusky. Trust me, that is on the way. Subtlety has never been the strong suit of conservatives.
One can only hope someone has kicked Biden's ass for opening this can of worms. The media is equally to blame. As always the feral dogs of the press would much rather write and talk about sex than things that actually mean something. Things like the economy, or foreign policy, which Mitt looks about as at home with as Sarah Palin did. Yes, the ignore the important stuff that could seriously impact the future of the republic and go straight for that National Enquirer sound bite. Shocked gasps, outrage, and the occasional surreptitious erection is what the media has decided America wants. Screw any sort of substantive debate.
This is all eerily familiar to that swift boat thing that derailed John Kerry's campaign. Obama needs to put it behind him immediately and focus on his opponent and the tea party slugs that want to drive this nation back into the 19th century.
Ultimately sexual orientation and issues such as should Cindy be able to marry Wanda have nothing to do with the well being of the nation. Everyone one is going to keep having sex exactly the way they want to now that Santorum is out of the picture.
The race is too close to call at this point Luckily voting day is still a political life time away. Hopefully we can get past this initial sensationalism and move on to things that actually matter. If we can't, if we let something like this decide the November election, we will be the lesser for it.
5-10-12
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Mitt Knows Who To Tax
In 1950 the minimum wage in the United States was 75 cents per hour. The average rent was $42 per month. That meant a person being paid the minimum had to work 56 hours a month to pay his or her rent.
The good news is the wage has increased steadily over the years. The bad news, it can't keep up with what it costs to rent a home or apartment.
By 2010 the minimum wage hit $7.25 per hour. Not bad for flipping burgers, or frying fish fillets right? Well the average rent is now up to $789 per month, unless you live in the New York City and North New Jersey metro area. There it is well over $1000 per month. What it boils down to is that you now have to work 109 hours a month just to keep a roof over your head. In NYC-NJ you have to put in 155 hours a month. All this is before you buy yourself some food, or pay a utility bill, make a car payment, or kick in for the insurance on it. In short, if you are living by yourself, or rather trying to live by yourself and making $7.25 an hour you are screwed. Your diet probably consists of mac and cheese and a lot of raman noodle soup. Something akin to a night on the town is simply science fiction.
Someone is going to read this and think, hey, it isn't my problem. They should have stayed in school. Well most of them actually did and most of them graduated from high school somewhere. That is as far as any of them got, because to them college is a myth reserved for people they don't know and have never been around. They've probably been working part time during high school since it was legally permissible just to ease the financial burden on their parent, or parents. Those ripe blue collar manufacturing jobs are gone to Mexico, or Korea, or China where there is no minimum wage and profits are higher. Hope has, in fact, left the building.
Now enter presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Mr. Romney has a plan to save the economy. He is going to give a $249 a year tax cut to the middle class. He is going to lower taxes on those who make over a million a year by $146,000. To make up for the revenue short fall he is going to raise taxes on those making $7.25 per hour.
According to him this will fix everything. We'll all be happy and the grass will grow and the rivers will flow. Unless you make $7.25 per hour. But then if you do you, you are all ready fucked, so a little more buggery will probably come as no surprise.
A number of years ago that arch liberal, George Herbert Walker Bush called this trickle down nonsense "voodoo economics". That is an insult to practitioners of voodoo every where. What it really is, is a crass shakedown perpetrated by the powerful. Capone was a cheap two bit hustler compared to these brutes.
Oh Mitt will pitch this well. That all American smile and perfect hair do will make it seem so very right. He will talk about a return to greatness and the beauty of free enterprise. All the while he'll be praying that those who do make minimum wage will be too busy trying to grind out a living to spend time in line to vote. He'll have his thugs challenge the ballots of every man and woman wearing a Burger King uniform at the polls. He will speak in tongues and many will hear and follow him.
It is beautiful magic. All you need to do is believe and it will come true. Give it all to us and you shall benefit greatly.
Now I know where TV evangelists and used car salesmen get their material.
And their morals.
5-8-12
The good news is the wage has increased steadily over the years. The bad news, it can't keep up with what it costs to rent a home or apartment.
By 2010 the minimum wage hit $7.25 per hour. Not bad for flipping burgers, or frying fish fillets right? Well the average rent is now up to $789 per month, unless you live in the New York City and North New Jersey metro area. There it is well over $1000 per month. What it boils down to is that you now have to work 109 hours a month just to keep a roof over your head. In NYC-NJ you have to put in 155 hours a month. All this is before you buy yourself some food, or pay a utility bill, make a car payment, or kick in for the insurance on it. In short, if you are living by yourself, or rather trying to live by yourself and making $7.25 an hour you are screwed. Your diet probably consists of mac and cheese and a lot of raman noodle soup. Something akin to a night on the town is simply science fiction.
Someone is going to read this and think, hey, it isn't my problem. They should have stayed in school. Well most of them actually did and most of them graduated from high school somewhere. That is as far as any of them got, because to them college is a myth reserved for people they don't know and have never been around. They've probably been working part time during high school since it was legally permissible just to ease the financial burden on their parent, or parents. Those ripe blue collar manufacturing jobs are gone to Mexico, or Korea, or China where there is no minimum wage and profits are higher. Hope has, in fact, left the building.
Now enter presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Mr. Romney has a plan to save the economy. He is going to give a $249 a year tax cut to the middle class. He is going to lower taxes on those who make over a million a year by $146,000. To make up for the revenue short fall he is going to raise taxes on those making $7.25 per hour.
According to him this will fix everything. We'll all be happy and the grass will grow and the rivers will flow. Unless you make $7.25 per hour. But then if you do you, you are all ready fucked, so a little more buggery will probably come as no surprise.
A number of years ago that arch liberal, George Herbert Walker Bush called this trickle down nonsense "voodoo economics". That is an insult to practitioners of voodoo every where. What it really is, is a crass shakedown perpetrated by the powerful. Capone was a cheap two bit hustler compared to these brutes.
Oh Mitt will pitch this well. That all American smile and perfect hair do will make it seem so very right. He will talk about a return to greatness and the beauty of free enterprise. All the while he'll be praying that those who do make minimum wage will be too busy trying to grind out a living to spend time in line to vote. He'll have his thugs challenge the ballots of every man and woman wearing a Burger King uniform at the polls. He will speak in tongues and many will hear and follow him.
It is beautiful magic. All you need to do is believe and it will come true. Give it all to us and you shall benefit greatly.
Now I know where TV evangelists and used car salesmen get their material.
And their morals.
5-8-12
Monday, May 7, 2012
Economic Darwinism : The One Percent Deserve a Break
In an upcoming installment of his personal memoir, author Tom Fowler writes:
At the end of 1989 I lost my job. I was one month short of my 40th birthday and had spent 18 years in telecommunications. At the stroke of midnight on December 30th my career, at least for a time, was a thing of the past. On my last day in the office I and several others were given the morning to clean out our desks and company vehicles. As you would imagine the office that morning was a quiet, subdued, place. My supervisor, a very nice lady, spent our last hours weeping in her cubicle. We were in the strange position of comforting as we prepared for our final exit.
Very brutally I learned the hard way what modern corporations think of their employees. It is easy to desensenitive yourself to this if you are one of the fortunate ones to retain your position after a round of downsizing. The persons laid off disappear and unless you are personal friends with one or more of them they are not seen or heard from again. I have attended church and other social functions with many besides myself who have experienced employment separation and have noticed the tension in their faces as an uncertain future drags out day by day.
Brother Fowler is an eloquent and civilized man. I am not.
What he points out is that if some twit bean counter decides the corporation can make and extra buck and a half a year profit by cutting your ass adrift he won't even think twice about it. Your loyalty to your employer, while demanded, or at least expected, is not now, nor will ever be reciprocated. You aren't on a team. The board of directors and the major shareholders are the team. You are a bolt, a wrench, a pair of pliers. Once they find a cheaper tool you are done.
America becomes the most frightening place in the world if you are 40 something and suddenly out of work. There aren't any golden parachutes for the 99 percent. Everything you own and have saved for is suddenly at risk. You have no medical insurance. You are drowning and life rafts are rare.
Enter Mitt Romney and his pal Edward Conrad. Conrad was at Bain Capital. Bain of course is Mitt's old stomping ground. Conrad has written a soon to be published book saying that the United States of America needs more economic inequality rather than less. His theory is that if the super rich can be made even richer it will trickle down to we peons and everyone will be happy. He is the alpha male taking care of the pack. He deserves the biggest portion of the kill. Mitt won't admit it, but you know this is exactly what he believes. You don't run a place like Bain Capital and not think that way.
This sort of economic Darwinism drives the republican party establishment. The middle class deserves to pay more taxes than the one percent, because the one percent are the providers. Well, unless they are downsizing. Then, screw you.
There are people I know who ask me why I trust the government so. I don't know that I necessarily trust the government. However I do know, without a doubt, I don't trust the cretins who run corporations and outfits like Bain Capital. They are sociopathic and narcissistic slugs. They care for nothing but their own well being and certainly don't mind high body counts if that is what it takes to achieve their goals.
The bottom line is that a bureaucracy, no matter how unwieldy and bloated, exists to solve a problem.The corporation is there to make a profit no matter who, or how many they have to mug to do so. Given the two options I'll take the former over the latter every day of the week.
5-7-12
At the end of 1989 I lost my job. I was one month short of my 40th birthday and had spent 18 years in telecommunications. At the stroke of midnight on December 30th my career, at least for a time, was a thing of the past. On my last day in the office I and several others were given the morning to clean out our desks and company vehicles. As you would imagine the office that morning was a quiet, subdued, place. My supervisor, a very nice lady, spent our last hours weeping in her cubicle. We were in the strange position of comforting as we prepared for our final exit.
Very brutally I learned the hard way what modern corporations think of their employees. It is easy to desensenitive yourself to this if you are one of the fortunate ones to retain your position after a round of downsizing. The persons laid off disappear and unless you are personal friends with one or more of them they are not seen or heard from again. I have attended church and other social functions with many besides myself who have experienced employment separation and have noticed the tension in their faces as an uncertain future drags out day by day.
Brother Fowler is an eloquent and civilized man. I am not.
What he points out is that if some twit bean counter decides the corporation can make and extra buck and a half a year profit by cutting your ass adrift he won't even think twice about it. Your loyalty to your employer, while demanded, or at least expected, is not now, nor will ever be reciprocated. You aren't on a team. The board of directors and the major shareholders are the team. You are a bolt, a wrench, a pair of pliers. Once they find a cheaper tool you are done.
America becomes the most frightening place in the world if you are 40 something and suddenly out of work. There aren't any golden parachutes for the 99 percent. Everything you own and have saved for is suddenly at risk. You have no medical insurance. You are drowning and life rafts are rare.
Enter Mitt Romney and his pal Edward Conrad. Conrad was at Bain Capital. Bain of course is Mitt's old stomping ground. Conrad has written a soon to be published book saying that the United States of America needs more economic inequality rather than less. His theory is that if the super rich can be made even richer it will trickle down to we peons and everyone will be happy. He is the alpha male taking care of the pack. He deserves the biggest portion of the kill. Mitt won't admit it, but you know this is exactly what he believes. You don't run a place like Bain Capital and not think that way.
This sort of economic Darwinism drives the republican party establishment. The middle class deserves to pay more taxes than the one percent, because the one percent are the providers. Well, unless they are downsizing. Then, screw you.
There are people I know who ask me why I trust the government so. I don't know that I necessarily trust the government. However I do know, without a doubt, I don't trust the cretins who run corporations and outfits like Bain Capital. They are sociopathic and narcissistic slugs. They care for nothing but their own well being and certainly don't mind high body counts if that is what it takes to achieve their goals.
The bottom line is that a bureaucracy, no matter how unwieldy and bloated, exists to solve a problem.The corporation is there to make a profit no matter who, or how many they have to mug to do so. Given the two options I'll take the former over the latter every day of the week.
5-7-12
Friday, May 4, 2012
The Pro, The Secret Service, and The Failed Business Transaction
It was apparently a bender of epic proportions that sordid night in Cartagena, Colombia. The local pro at the center of the whole debacle says that while the crazed North Americans weren't using drugs, they were "buying liquor as if it were water." She maintains she wasn't aware that the man who approached her was a member of the United States Secret Service. However she says if she had known and been a terrorist it would have been easy to get him to give up the details of President Barack Obama's visit.
That window of opportunity has probably passed. The crackdown on this sort of behavior has been swift. Seven agents have "resigned", one was fired, and three more have received administrative punishment. Those still in the service can look forward to spending the rest of their careers searching for illegal whiskey stills in someplace like Point Barrow, Alaska. The bar has been closed for the foreseeable future.Two, or three generations of agents will grow old and die before another presidential security detail goes so far off its collective nut.
Questions of professionalism abound on all sides of this sweaty mess. The escort, Dania Londono Suarez, a mother of one, claims the agent in question approached her and asked, "Sex?" She says her response was, "Baby, cash money." He responded with "Ok, how much?" She told him 800. Presumably the figure was in in Colombian currency, because it has been widely reported that the whole episode spun out of control over fifty U.S. dollars. Why she didn't attempt to collect the fee up front remains a mystery. Back in the lost years, between marriages, it was my experience that all monies were paid in advance just so something as awkward as this didn't occur. Maybe it is a cultural difference. Who knows?
Despite the man's terse ineloquence, or perhaps because of it she went to his room in the Hotel Carib. When they woke up together around 6am, he kicked her out, refusing her efforts to collect the tab. During a radio interview reported by MSNBC news she said, "Only a stupid guy wouldn't understand that we had an agreement."
Obviously intelligence wasn't in overabundance during any of this squalid affair. As the agent shoved her out of the room he told her to "Let go, bitch." She began pounding on the door and then security got involved and as we know heads began to roll.
I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking this dope was deep in the throes of a blackout that night. He woke up feeling like hell and to his horror there was a strange woman in bed next to him. I mean that "Pretty Woman" scenario never happens in real life. No one in their right mind goes to sleep with a hooker in their room. The whole heart of gold thing is a myth and cash and credit cards are right there for the taking.
Anger and panic probably set in. Even if he didn't remember the financial arrangements the payoff should have been made. He knew he was screwed if anyone found out, so give her the cash and start praying to Almighty God she can keep her mouth shut. However in the heat of the moment, during what was probably an overwhelming surge of shame, painted lime green by a massive hangover, he made exactly the wrong decision.
No, not even Wild Bill Clinton would tolerate this sort of nonsense. We are, after all, talking about the security of the President of the United States America.
Finally, for those contemplating engaging the services of a working woman in the future, remember there is one cardinal rule which should never be forgotten. It is this: You aren't paying the hooker for sex. You are paying her to leave after the sex.
It is the nature of the business. Always keep it in mind.
5-4-12
That window of opportunity has probably passed. The crackdown on this sort of behavior has been swift. Seven agents have "resigned", one was fired, and three more have received administrative punishment. Those still in the service can look forward to spending the rest of their careers searching for illegal whiskey stills in someplace like Point Barrow, Alaska. The bar has been closed for the foreseeable future.Two, or three generations of agents will grow old and die before another presidential security detail goes so far off its collective nut.
Questions of professionalism abound on all sides of this sweaty mess. The escort, Dania Londono Suarez, a mother of one, claims the agent in question approached her and asked, "Sex?" She says her response was, "Baby, cash money." He responded with "Ok, how much?" She told him 800. Presumably the figure was in in Colombian currency, because it has been widely reported that the whole episode spun out of control over fifty U.S. dollars. Why she didn't attempt to collect the fee up front remains a mystery. Back in the lost years, between marriages, it was my experience that all monies were paid in advance just so something as awkward as this didn't occur. Maybe it is a cultural difference. Who knows?
Despite the man's terse ineloquence, or perhaps because of it she went to his room in the Hotel Carib. When they woke up together around 6am, he kicked her out, refusing her efforts to collect the tab. During a radio interview reported by MSNBC news she said, "Only a stupid guy wouldn't understand that we had an agreement."
Obviously intelligence wasn't in overabundance during any of this squalid affair. As the agent shoved her out of the room he told her to "Let go, bitch." She began pounding on the door and then security got involved and as we know heads began to roll.
I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking this dope was deep in the throes of a blackout that night. He woke up feeling like hell and to his horror there was a strange woman in bed next to him. I mean that "Pretty Woman" scenario never happens in real life. No one in their right mind goes to sleep with a hooker in their room. The whole heart of gold thing is a myth and cash and credit cards are right there for the taking.
Anger and panic probably set in. Even if he didn't remember the financial arrangements the payoff should have been made. He knew he was screwed if anyone found out, so give her the cash and start praying to Almighty God she can keep her mouth shut. However in the heat of the moment, during what was probably an overwhelming surge of shame, painted lime green by a massive hangover, he made exactly the wrong decision.
No, not even Wild Bill Clinton would tolerate this sort of nonsense. We are, after all, talking about the security of the President of the United States America.
Finally, for those contemplating engaging the services of a working woman in the future, remember there is one cardinal rule which should never be forgotten. It is this: You aren't paying the hooker for sex. You are paying her to leave after the sex.
It is the nature of the business. Always keep it in mind.
5-4-12
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Adolf Wasn't Such a Bad Guy, But Barak Is
I sometimes hope people say outrageous things on the Internet just because they know it will make others mad. To them being able to post the most incredibly moronic comments about news stories is their way of playing a warped practical joke on the rest of us. Act the beast and someone will notice you and take time out from their lives to respond. Besides it is all in good fun and it is anonymous. It is like spray painting graffiti on a wall while knowing you can't get caught.
At other times I fear that some of these goofs really do believe what they are saying and they actually are insanely brutal and cruel. That notion makes the bile rise up in my throat. Then paranoia sets in. I make sure the .38 is clean and loaded just in case one of the monsters shows up at my door.
Right now MSN carrying a very brief bit about a post card written by the late Herr Hitler during the first world war. They gleefully point out that he misspelled a word on it. It is the sort of fluff that shouldn't even be dwelt on.
Then came the comments. Many, if not most fall into two categories. One, Adolf was a dynamic leader who lead Germany into prosperity and got the population back to work. We here in America would be lucky to have a guy like him in charge. He was, and this part is so inevitable that it abuts the obsessive, a much more effective leader than Barak Obama. Those not admiring the charm of der fuhrer make direct connections between his regime and personality to that of the current president.
The hatefulness and total stupidity is simply mind boggling. Every time I read the crap I am stunned. I always flashback to the time I was sitting in the lounge of a cigar store enjoying a smoke with someone who I considered interesting and intelligent. I can't remember how the subject came up, but he assured me in all seriousness that the holocaust didn't actually occur in Europe. Or if it did, it was very minor and only a relative few were gassed and thrown into the ovens. He wanted to make sure I understood it was all propaganda meant to prop up support for Israel.
It was a revelation regarding the man's character that was so breathtaking I was at a complete loss for words. It was as if I had caught a glimpse of a woman being sodomized by a baboon.
I have spent sixty two years on this shimmering blue ball and I'm really tired of suffering these assholes. I have, as they say, reached the end of my rope. I not only don't want to hear it any more, I don't want to be anywhere near it. In the past I have made jokes about moving to Belize, but it may be time to seriously consider it. It only costs $450 bucks to renounce your U.S. citizenship. Record numbers of American ex-pats are paying that fee right now as I type.
Indeed, you vicious pukes can have the place. I give up. You win. Well, at least until I get a couple of gin and tonics in me.
Despair, you are too many times my companion. In the end only my anger rescues me from you. It is at best cold solace.
5-2-12
At other times I fear that some of these goofs really do believe what they are saying and they actually are insanely brutal and cruel. That notion makes the bile rise up in my throat. Then paranoia sets in. I make sure the .38 is clean and loaded just in case one of the monsters shows up at my door.
Right now MSN carrying a very brief bit about a post card written by the late Herr Hitler during the first world war. They gleefully point out that he misspelled a word on it. It is the sort of fluff that shouldn't even be dwelt on.
Then came the comments. Many, if not most fall into two categories. One, Adolf was a dynamic leader who lead Germany into prosperity and got the population back to work. We here in America would be lucky to have a guy like him in charge. He was, and this part is so inevitable that it abuts the obsessive, a much more effective leader than Barak Obama. Those not admiring the charm of der fuhrer make direct connections between his regime and personality to that of the current president.
The hatefulness and total stupidity is simply mind boggling. Every time I read the crap I am stunned. I always flashback to the time I was sitting in the lounge of a cigar store enjoying a smoke with someone who I considered interesting and intelligent. I can't remember how the subject came up, but he assured me in all seriousness that the holocaust didn't actually occur in Europe. Or if it did, it was very minor and only a relative few were gassed and thrown into the ovens. He wanted to make sure I understood it was all propaganda meant to prop up support for Israel.
It was a revelation regarding the man's character that was so breathtaking I was at a complete loss for words. It was as if I had caught a glimpse of a woman being sodomized by a baboon.
I have spent sixty two years on this shimmering blue ball and I'm really tired of suffering these assholes. I have, as they say, reached the end of my rope. I not only don't want to hear it any more, I don't want to be anywhere near it. In the past I have made jokes about moving to Belize, but it may be time to seriously consider it. It only costs $450 bucks to renounce your U.S. citizenship. Record numbers of American ex-pats are paying that fee right now as I type.
Indeed, you vicious pukes can have the place. I give up. You win. Well, at least until I get a couple of gin and tonics in me.
Despair, you are too many times my companion. In the end only my anger rescues me from you. It is at best cold solace.
5-2-12
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
OPUBCO Still In Charge
Once upon a time a man named E. K. Gaylord moved to Oklahoma City. He bought a newspaper called the Daily Oklahoman. Then he bought a lot of other stuff. Like the leading AM radio station, back before anyone even knew FM existed and later the Oklahoma City NBC television affiliate. He didn't use tobacco or drink alcohol. He got off on making money and running things.
He was an arch conservative and since he basically controlled most of the news content in the state's largest city he was able to incessantly bombard the population with his version of events. He owned politicians like other people owned toy soldiers. If you got on his hit list you never got off it.
The old fuck lived until he was 101 years old. After he died his son, Edward took over the corporation known as the Oklahoma Publishing Company, or OPUBCO for short. Ed wasn't the newspaper man his father was, in fact he seemed bored with it. He went out and bought most of Nashville and established cable TV channels dedicated to country and western music. He built huge hotels and bought others. Like his father he was a conservative whirling dervish who made no secret of his loathing for all things left of say, Barry Goldwater. He hired a bunch of right wing thugs to run the paper, which in time became basically a republican party newsletter. Other than the sports pages and obituaries most of everything you read in it was culled from AP wire reports and carefully edited to reflect a hard core conservative view of America. It was a publication so unabashedly biased that the Columbia Journalism Review called it, "The worst newspaper in America."
Ed's daughter Christy took over running the paper as he continued to spend most of his time promoting the careers of people like Reba McIntire and buying into ventures such as Bass Pro Shops. Christy is married to a guy named Jim Everest. Among other things Jim's father made millions distributing magazines in the state. Back in the late 60's and early 70's when I knew him Jim was a stark raving racist. You know, the Ku Klux Klan obsessive sort. Every conversation with him, no matter where it started out, ended up focusing on the dual threats of black people and Jews.
These were the people who manipulated and controlled what Oklahomans read, heard and saw for decades. They gave fabulous amounts of money to politicians they liked and relentlessly hounded those they felt were a threat.
Last year the family sold almost all of it to a Colorado billionaire named Philip Anschutz. In a parting message Christy assured her fellow Oklahomans that Mr. Anschutz was just as conservative as the Gaylords. She swore they would have never sold to anyone suspected of anything less.
Under the leadership of Phil Anschutz the paper has continued its conservative bent and remains the really big stick when it comes to politics. The Gaylords may be gone, but no one wants to be on the bad side of what is now known as, The Oklahoman.
Yesterday, I posted on this blog that Senator Tom Coburn was holding up the judicial nominations of Robert Bacharach and John Dowdell. Most of the information I used appeared in a front page story written by The Oklahoman Washington Bureau writer, Chris Casteel. It was not a particularly flattering piece for Coburn and seemed to tacitly question the motives for his inaction.
Less than twenty four hours later, Coburn gave his go ahead on both nominations, clearing the way for hearings to be held. That revelation was buried on page 10A. I suppose even The Oklahoman knows it is unseemly to wantonly display its power on page one. One can only imagine how red Coburn's face became when he learned about yesterday's article. People like the ones who run The Oklahoman do not send their reporters out on political stories unless they have a message to convey to someone. Obviously Coburn got it.
It is nice to know The Oklahoman still runs things around here. I hate to think there would, or could be a power void where those in elected office go off willy nilly doing whatever they actually believe. Yes, we all must be responsible to a higher power. Anarchy is, after all, an ugly and chaotic state. Order has to be preserved. Someone needs to be in charge.
And today, Tom Coburn and the rest of us know exactly who it is. The old Big Brother is gone, long live the new one.
5-1-12
He was an arch conservative and since he basically controlled most of the news content in the state's largest city he was able to incessantly bombard the population with his version of events. He owned politicians like other people owned toy soldiers. If you got on his hit list you never got off it.
The old fuck lived until he was 101 years old. After he died his son, Edward took over the corporation known as the Oklahoma Publishing Company, or OPUBCO for short. Ed wasn't the newspaper man his father was, in fact he seemed bored with it. He went out and bought most of Nashville and established cable TV channels dedicated to country and western music. He built huge hotels and bought others. Like his father he was a conservative whirling dervish who made no secret of his loathing for all things left of say, Barry Goldwater. He hired a bunch of right wing thugs to run the paper, which in time became basically a republican party newsletter. Other than the sports pages and obituaries most of everything you read in it was culled from AP wire reports and carefully edited to reflect a hard core conservative view of America. It was a publication so unabashedly biased that the Columbia Journalism Review called it, "The worst newspaper in America."
Ed's daughter Christy took over running the paper as he continued to spend most of his time promoting the careers of people like Reba McIntire and buying into ventures such as Bass Pro Shops. Christy is married to a guy named Jim Everest. Among other things Jim's father made millions distributing magazines in the state. Back in the late 60's and early 70's when I knew him Jim was a stark raving racist. You know, the Ku Klux Klan obsessive sort. Every conversation with him, no matter where it started out, ended up focusing on the dual threats of black people and Jews.
These were the people who manipulated and controlled what Oklahomans read, heard and saw for decades. They gave fabulous amounts of money to politicians they liked and relentlessly hounded those they felt were a threat.
Last year the family sold almost all of it to a Colorado billionaire named Philip Anschutz. In a parting message Christy assured her fellow Oklahomans that Mr. Anschutz was just as conservative as the Gaylords. She swore they would have never sold to anyone suspected of anything less.
Under the leadership of Phil Anschutz the paper has continued its conservative bent and remains the really big stick when it comes to politics. The Gaylords may be gone, but no one wants to be on the bad side of what is now known as, The Oklahoman.
Yesterday, I posted on this blog that Senator Tom Coburn was holding up the judicial nominations of Robert Bacharach and John Dowdell. Most of the information I used appeared in a front page story written by The Oklahoman Washington Bureau writer, Chris Casteel. It was not a particularly flattering piece for Coburn and seemed to tacitly question the motives for his inaction.
Less than twenty four hours later, Coburn gave his go ahead on both nominations, clearing the way for hearings to be held. That revelation was buried on page 10A. I suppose even The Oklahoman knows it is unseemly to wantonly display its power on page one. One can only imagine how red Coburn's face became when he learned about yesterday's article. People like the ones who run The Oklahoman do not send their reporters out on political stories unless they have a message to convey to someone. Obviously Coburn got it.
It is nice to know The Oklahoman still runs things around here. I hate to think there would, or could be a power void where those in elected office go off willy nilly doing whatever they actually believe. Yes, we all must be responsible to a higher power. Anarchy is, after all, an ugly and chaotic state. Order has to be preserved. Someone needs to be in charge.
And today, Tom Coburn and the rest of us know exactly who it is. The old Big Brother is gone, long live the new one.
5-1-12
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