Just some kid from the Chicago suburbs that moved to the southwest, went to law school, and ended up confronted with shifting ideals. My thoughts...boring and unedited.

Friday, September 24, 2010

are you under the impression this isn't your life?

another election season rolls around, bringing with it another round of hilarity and hijinks...after all, if we didn't laugh at this shit, we'd spend our lives in tearful depression. the republican "pledge" is the newest headliner in braindead lunacy and cowardly politics - retaking the mantle from a democratic party that is apparently scared to draw a line in the sand that would very obviously benefit 90% of the voting public. here in new mexico, a gubernatorial race features a pair of non-personalities...neither of which really seem to have a clue what they are doing, or even what office they are running for. so, as the time approaches for the rally to restore sanity and the march to keep fear alive...here is a brain dump from yours truly...

newt gingrich would have used the "pledge" to wipe his ass. seriously...it took you two fucking years to come up with this? perhaps all that spray tan is finally melting your brain...

"We, the modern Republican Party, which has so shamed those that came before us - well...at least some of the modern party, there's at least 12 of us signing on to this thing right? - hereby pledge (we used "pledge" because it reminds everyone of how patriotic we are) to rattle off the same nonsensical talking points we have been screaming for the last 30 years. please ignore that (1) none of this is possible; (2) none of it actually fits together; and (3) we have thrown in a few obvious pandering points to angry old white ladies."

maybe the republican party needs to watch the biggest loser...because their deficit reduction plan sounds like a back-ass-wards diet plan...

both parties are in an abusive relationship with their leaders. republican cries of "fiscal responsibility" whenever they are out of power are like Ike telling Tina he didn't know what came over him and he'll never do it again. "really baby, I just lost it last time with all that crazy spending on nothing...and the time before that...and the time before that...but this time, I mean it, no more. I'll do better. I promise." democratic leaders have a different style - "where else are you going to go? you know I'm the best you're going to get." and time and again...we all keep coming back...

perhaps it is because I'm not a professional talking head without any real background in anything of meaning...but can someone please explain to me how democratic advisers and leaders decided that not forcing an open republican blockade of extending most tax cuts was a good idea? seriously...if we are all convinced that low taxes are more american than apple pie, why are they not making the republicans block them for all but the wealthy? after all, they are so convinced they are taking back the house and the senate, just ask them why they can't extend the rest later.

don't look now. albuquerque police just shot another person.

I can't be the only one aware that the republican party is all about spending our money towards two objectives: (1) ending life; and (2) ending liberty. spend anything you can get your hands on for guns, weapons, war and prisons. not only have they replaced "pursuit of happiness" with property...but of the the three (life, liberty, property), what kind of fucked up do you have to be to put the latter so far above the former?

bill clinton is giving political advice to obama. makes me wonder if obama is listening - which would mean that headline I saw on weekly world news was right...he really is a manwhore.

but seriously...bill, I know you're smart as shit...but you're also the shitbag that gave us NAFTA when you could have given us health care. you're the piece of shit that pushed financialization of everything and danced while the dow soared, taking next to none of us with it, only to set us up for the inevitable spectacular fallout. and don't even get me started on your love of the death penalty in the federal criminal justice system.

anyone else amused by the fact that while the republicans release their "pledge" calling for even more deregulation we learn that companies hid that the patch was killing healthy girls and diabetes meds killed 50,000? you can't make this shit up...

thanks to decades of "anti-government" rhetoric from shitbags with no sense of decency, many localities are now sending bills for emergency services. someone runs you over and the fire department comes out? that'll be $500 please.

at the same time, such wonderful bastians of right-wing lunacy as colorado springs (home to focus on the family and gay-bashing-male-prostitute-fucking-meth-head preachers) are admitting that the boneheaded politics of government cuts is resulting in police that will not even bother to take reports on most crime.

its even leading to such wonderful practices as making mothers pay for their son's deaths in places like chicago heights, where an officer arrested a mother for driving on a suspended license and sent boyfriend off into the night with the son in the car. only boyfriend was hammered - slammed a tree and killed the kid. now the city wants mom to pay $500 for impounding the car. ain't the free market grand?

and the president of iran gets exactly what he wants...

recently a chicago law professor brilliantly blogged about how tough it is for a family to survive on a mere $250,000 plus in this day and age. todd henderson wanted president obama to know that a return to sane tax rates for the wealthy would crush him. but don't think its because he lives an extravagant lifestyle...as he tells you in his blog, its rough to buy a home in one of the most expensive neighborhoods of chicago, the mortgage is killer. and the $15,000 a year in property taxes on a $1,000,000 home are brutal. ok...but please don't think they aren't frugal, I mean, like most working americans they have two cars, cell phones for the kids, and cable tv - but he assures us they do not have movie channels. and when you live in a really expensive home in a great neighborhood you absolutely must have expensive day care and someone to cut the lawn and clean the house. after all of that - well mr. henderson only has a handful of thousands of dollars a year to piss away on nothing. the horror of only have a few thousand left to spend while living in a giant house, driving a fancy car, having a landscaper and a maid after sending your pre-k kid to expensive private school. and I though I had it tough. kind of puts it all in perspective.

(no, I did not make that up...although I hope to god it is satire. - see for yourself delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/09/todd-henderson-we-are-the-super-rich.html)

steven colbert was apparently classic before a house committee testifying, in character, about his experience with migrant workers. after a day out there he sure as hell doesn't want to go back out there and was shocked that there aren't more lining up for an exciting career in picking produce. as all of us, he wants americans picking his produce though...and while he's "not a fan of the government doing anything. [he's] got to ask, why isn't the government doing anything?" absolutely classic.

having lost our own mayor daley here in albuquerque recently, I can sympathize with chicago. and tell them good fucking luck. you're about to find out how bad it can get.

back to the democrats spineless weaseling of the tax vote until after the election. not that you apparently give two shits...but you lost another one. after a brief stint as a registered donkey, I'll be heading back to my more comfortable position of "fuck them both" status.

poverty rates (the bullshit lower than real ones) are disgustingly high. although orange-skinned nutjobs will never feel it...this will hurt.

note to bill richardson. while I appreciate that a wild horse sanctuary would extend your name for a bit longer...sometimes we need to prioritize a bit better. way to hand the right-wing nuts a fantastic talking point.

can palin top goldwater and garner that ever-elusive goose egg?

virginia executed its first woman in a century. good job buddy. you did it.

we are relearning a sad reality - you break it, you buy it. wondering if we'll ever get out of afghanistan.

health care reform...if its a good idea in 2014, why not now? I've never understood this about laws. in 5 to 10 years we'll do the right thing. we just can't be bothered to make it happen right away.

and by the way ms. palin - the "hopey changey thing" is going pretty damn well if you take a look at what has been accomplished. but then I'm not an angry old white person...so perhaps I'm the wrong one to ask.

although, while the political world is overrun with shouting nonsense...a few things give me hope. jon stewart and steven colbert. lincoln county residents recognizing that spending a few extra bucks a year to keep your neighbors in business helps everyone. attorney general gary king getting his ass handed to him. the second judicial district attorney's office completely falling apart.

it all serves as a reminder that the snows are coming soon...and all of our blemishes will be covered. ever notice that on the side of a mountain, everyone agrees?