All's Well That Ends Well

I've been wandering around reading stuff about the up coming elections (no really it is going to happen) and the kind of school teacher like chastising of the liberal base by the Obama people.

I've come across a couple of points from different blogs. One on Crooks and Liars points out that most if not all of the liberals are not going to be going around telling people not to vote. What is going to happen is that people are not going to work for these candidates nor give them money. And in my case probably not vote at all.

Another other point made by a commentator on another site (I wish I'd marked it and I didn't) who pointed out that the democrats could accomplish nearly nothing that they wanted with super majorities, so how will the republicans with smaller majorities, probably in only one chamber and no control of the White House accomplish anything? Or perhaps I missed the sarcasm.

I know I know. Republicans can do every thing while democrats can do nothing, unless the republicans let them. Still it is an interesting point.

But do remember: First, and most important is the naming of a scape goat who is not the president; Second, and almost as important is to make people think that Obama is not a minion of our very own plutocracy but is prevented by ...............someone or something he has no control over. (Cough bullshit cough).

True Believers

Well, maybe I can't leave it alone, I am trying to work out my thoughts on just why Obama and the democratic party are not worth my support as they are now and why so many people become so angry when one dares to seriously criticize them. I would guess that the thing that bothers me most about the "enthusiasm gap" is not so much the attitude of the politicians themselves who simply can't understand why we don't love them any more, but the attitude of so many of their supporters.

Greenwald wrote a pretty good essay (again) not succinct, but insightful dealing with the issue of political leaders actually attacking their base for not being enthusiastic enough and questioning how they think this will help with the enthusiasm gap. "Does it help to insult the people who might be your voters when you are already going out there with the message, We're not quite as bad as the other guy?"

The other thing that interests me is the need to believe by the Obama centrist voters. Perhaps I should go back and re-read Eric Hoffer.

When I go and argue on other blogs I find that the people are angry with me for criticizing the president and angry with me if I threaten to use the only weapons I have against him: my vote, my energy and my money (little as it is).

"You do not know how serious things are going to become if you do not get out and work and vote for the people who wouldn't do a whole lot for you before."

Been watching World at War videos and in one of the early ones there was an interview with a German who was not in Hitler's thrall. He talked about going into a speech to see if there was anything to hear and it was all the same nonsense he said. He said he looked about him and wished he could believed like the others there, but could not. That is kind of how I feel.

And No Obama is not Hitler, he is not even like Hitler, except they both give good speeches. I am talking about the followers being willing to excuse anything.

Perhaps I Should Give It A Rest

Mary McCarthy

I have started a new folder in my Yahoo bookmarks called Fake Progressive, Rumproast was the first placed there, there will be others.

Going to Rumproast and engaging in the comments section as I mentioned before was interesting to say the least. OK, not interesting irritating in the extreme, OK not irritating in the extreme it pissed me off and made me wonder about the ability of the commentators to grasp reality. Also, being accused of being an ivory tower purist and unrealistic "progressive" just pisses me off, given that I've voted for and worked for the (marginally) lesser of two evils in almost every election that has been held since I was 21. That would include Carter, Clinton, Gore, Kerry and people too numerous to mention or remember in various congressional and state races. Obama I actually thought was different at first (boy was I dumb), by the time it got closer to the election, I was just afraid of Sarah Palin. It looks like McCain would have survived so I might as well have voted for him.

The positions for the other side boil down to: Obama couldn't really accomplish any real progressive stuff, Obama did accomplish real progressive stuff, Obama accomplished the most progressive stuff he could given the make up of the country/congress. I am an asshole (which begs the question really), I am too purist, no one could be good enough for me. No one has explicitly told me to take the crumbs from the rich man's table and be happy, yet.

UPDATE: I went back and read the comments after my last comment and yes they did essentially tell me to take the crumbs from the rich man's table, if not in those specific words then that was the specific meaning. The brutal attacks on bloggers who strongly criticized from the left were amazing. There was an interesting and wilful ignoring of the control that oligarchs and plutocracy has over our election process.

I am reminded of an essay by Mary McCarthy (I wish I could remember which one) where she talks about leftist intellectual life in the 1930s. She talks about the arguments over Stalin's show trials. People would defend Stalin against all kinds of arguments that marshaled large amounts of evidence showing that the allegations could not be true and it would not matter. Then sometimes, some small bit of information would get through and the next week the person who had been adamantly defending Stalin, would be on the other side. She said that it was often only a small thing. I guess I can hope for the same thing for these folks because I just don't think I can grab each one by the collar and shake them until they see reality.

Hiring Half the Working Class

I drifted over to Rumproast from No More Mister Nice Blog to read the essay concerning Susie Madak and her calling out Obama mouth piece Axelrod on the way Obama and the whole democratic party treats progressives. I think she told him that the administration treated progressive bloggers like the girl they hooked up with under the bleachers and don't want to be seen with out in public with. The vapors flew fast and furious. Although to be fair the metaphor was an only slightly cruder version of "You should dance with them what brung ya."

People pointing out failures doesn’t turn off the base, it is the failures themselves who turn off the base. Well that and the clear contempt shown for those of us who are progressives and who worked for the democrats. The vast majority of commentators seem to have spent their energy attacking the messenger.

The lists of bills passed have a lot of nice names, but the bills themselves leave more than a little to be desired. Let us not forget (or have we already) that HCR started out with secret deals (that turned out not to be so secret) with Big Pharma and went down hill from there. It was the real left that pointed out that this bill was going to be a disaster in terms of electoral strategy. It isn’t progressive complaints that are destroying the party at this point.

Continuation of two wars,secret detention, arguing against repeal of DADT in court with little or no real support for repeal in congress, expanding executive privilege, refusal to deal with torture ordered and justified at the highest levels, assassination of American citizens, fighting against regulation of the FED, fighting against real credit card reform, developing a foreclosure policy that doesn’t work and appointing the three people who basically lead us into this economic mess as his main economic advisers. And of course, if you want to simply point to form over substance lets look at the Fat White Homophobe who gave the invocation at the inauguration.

Combine all this with an insane attack from the right that claims that Obama is a crazed leftist communist and Obama has managed to destroy progressive politics for a generation.

It is the left the administration spends most of their time attacking not the right, and by anyone's definition that was the people that got them their jobs.

It is one thing to see the failures of Obama and the democrats, and by failures I not only mean the bills not passed, but the attempts not made. It is another to see the people who will come out in droves to fight those of us who point out the emperor's lack of attire. Fight with vicious attacks. "In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king. In the land of the insane the sane man is hanged." These people are so invested in Obama that they cannot back off.

Just Crap

So ......... once again Obama and his tactics have proven to be brilliant now that the repeal of DADT has been stopped dead in it's tracks. Although they will bring it back in December when I am sure the senate will be more than willing to pass it after the democrats are decimated (possibly an entirely literal description of what will happen in November) in the coming election.

There seems to be an argument amongst those on the left (who count as opposed to people like me) as to who to blame for this specific fiasco as opposed to the fiascoes involving health care, the stimulus, financial reform, etc., etc., etc. I suspect that there is more than enough blame to go around myself. Also, when assigning blame one assumes that Obama wanted a different outcome than the one he got. If he got the outcome he wanted then clearly there can be no blame assigned to him. At least none concerning his abilities to get his programs through or prevent those he doesn't want to get through from getting through.

The democrat leadership in the senate has to be nailed to the wall for not aggressively attacking the rules that currently run that house. Do we blame the republicans for holding on to their power and attacking their enemies (or at least those they consider their enemies) I guess the same way one attacks any right wing reactionary, but they have accomplished just what they want to accomplish.

There really appears to be no leadership at all as far as the White House is concerned, unless as I say, Obama continues to get just the outcomes he is looking for. Although in that case I think that one could argue that he isn't doing a very good job since he is looking like an asshole and an incompetent. If his goal is to screw his base and get them to think he wasn't that doesn't appear to be working very well either.

So we are back to the age old question: Obama incompetent, corrupt, drunk, or all of the above?

UPDATE: Of course that leaves out a similar question concerning congressional democrats. Would that I could make money betting against them, but I don't think anyone would take the other side.

God I Hate This

Over the weekend I got a mailer from the SEIU telling me what a prick my congress man Zack Space for voting against HCR. Nearly contemporaneously Space sent an email telling folks that under no circumstances will he vote for lowering Social Security benefits (including raising the retirement age).

I called the SEIU this morning and got a person after several tried who said complaints was over there and sent me to a message machine. I called Space and told the person that given the SEIU mailer and his position on Social Security I would be voting for Space, although up until all this I was simply not going to vote.

I've been on a couple of blogs and made comments about the mailer, but no one has commented back on it.

My point is that it is a waste of money for the SEIU to send out something like this which will only depress the turn out of people likely to vote democratic in this house district, up and down the ticket. They could have spent this money on Mary Jo Kilroy in Columbus if they wanted to spend money in a congressional election in Ohio. I live in congressional district 18, Bob Ney's old district. The only real candidate running against Space is a conservative republican and if that candidate gets elected then he will be the representative here from now until the end of time (or until he is arrested, whichever comes first).

I didn't even go into the problems with HCR or about how it is a conduit for middle class income and taxes to be funnelled into the pharmaceutical and insurance industries in near unlimited amounts to help about half the people who are currently uninsured, fore instance.

But the over reaching point is that it seems that the union is not really thinking this thing through and has decided it must punish him for what is really a pretty poor reason, believe me there are a lot of reasons to dislike him. There are enough really serious problems with HCR, that this isn't one.

Unless of course it is a double reverse flip, and since HCR is so disliked sending out this mailer attacking Space for voting against HCR is a secret way to help him. Hmmmmmmmm?

UPDATE: Although my imput was important to them and they will get back to me as soon as they possibly can, they haven't been able to do so yet I guess they are pretty busy in the complaints and concerns section.

I Loved The 60s and 70s, But Oh You Kid

That's the main buildings at the time, I can't find photos of the dorm.

So I graduated from Wright State University in 1975 in no particular class. That is I kind of stumbled on graduation after having completed the necessary credit hours in my major: History, American. It seemed easy enough and no real competence in a foreign language was actually required.

I wasn't really in a class as I said, and didn't attend any graduation ceremony, although I guess they thought I was (PTSD: too much alcohol and too many whores in Thailand). They mailed me my diploma which is on the wall of my office where I had to go and look in order to see what year I really graduated. See I moved into the co-ed dormitory (at that time the only dormitory) after my second year at a branch campus. I was one of about 300 students who lived on campus in a college of about 4000 at the time. We were a little different. Ok, there were an incredible amount of great drugs in that dormitory and you could go from one room to another and enter different drug experiences all without leaving the building. Most people's grades dropped by about one point on a four point scale, mine went up one point.

Today, I opened Community, The Magazine of Wright State University and turned to the Almnotes and the first thing I see are notes about someone from my graduation year and then from two years latter from a couple of Jesus freaks who are clearly religious nuts attacking the Daily show and another church of god guy.

I remember being there (no I really do) the group I hung with were major drug users and dealers and we thought that we were the college representatives. I guess not. Or perhaps we were at the time, but the Christians have actually survived.

UPDATE:




OK, here is a photo of the front door and part of the outside looking in at the rooms. It is now called Hamilton Hall, when I was there it was called The Dorm. Just like the team is now called the Timberwolves and when I was there they were called the Raiders, I think.

So anyway about six hours later. If you look to your right, no your right that would be the women's wing the men's wing was at a 90 degree angle back from the door and on the third floor of the men's wing lived the WSU men's basket ball team. That was as close as I got to a game, but I was a good friend of several of the players and also an even better friend of the team dealer. Well ok, he wasn't the only team dealer, but he was the dealer for most of the team. No drug dogs, no drug tests, just drugs. They were all more or less up for all the games.

The first two quarters the dorm was open at 10:00 p.m. men had to leave the women's side and women had to leave the men's side of the dorm (interestingly enough most did). What that meant in practice was that we would meet in the lounge and continue the many private parties as a public one until 1:00 or 2:00 unless it was the weekend when we would not stop until sometime Monday. I don't remember many (ok any) of us stopping to go to church.

Fuck You Hippy

I am now officially confused. My congressman, Zack Space has sent me an email that says that he will not vote for any cuts in Social Security Benefits and as part of that pledge, he promises to vote against raising the retirement age.

Now just two days ago I loudly announced for the two or three people who read this stuff that I will not vote in the election. I am kind of re-considering that position right now, at least as far as Space is concerned. He is a blue dog, but he took the right positions on possible the two most important domestic issues: Health Care (he voted against the final bill, he now claims that was because there was no single payer or Medicare buy in) and Social Security, that have been out there since the last election. His positions on other issues suck, but then so do those of his opponent. The opponent is a main line republican who won because at least three and maybe four (I don't care enough to look it up) teabag candidates fought it out among themselves for the really obviously crazy part of the primary vote.

In other (not really) news Obama takes time out at a $30,000.00 a plate dinner to tell his base that liberals are whiners and just like to bitch when they don't get their perfect world. This coming on the heals of Biden telling us that we have got to get enthused about the mid-terms. Not because we've got anything to be enthused about, but by-god because we've got to, damn it. And Dean telling us that we shouldn't get mad until after the elections.

The press then goes all gooey and giggles like three year old girls about the administration's hippy (I know the main stream spells it with an 'ie' instead of a 'y,' but fuck 'em, I was one and I'll spell it any way I want) punching.

I guess I can understand how the democratic party leaders would simply not understand how it is that some people want their leaders to really work for the issues they ran on. They have no firm or real beliefs so that they can turn on a dime, except they are not turning in their minds, they are simply following their buds and the money, something they have done all the time. Of course, if the party leaders look around at the people they hang with they can see what is most important to their people, now can't they? The masses who came to the rallies and worked and voted, why we are merely extras in the movie of the important, with definitely no speaking parts.

Loyalty to the leader or the party is valued above all so even those who were screwed over by this president will keep their mouths shut and go quietly (Van Jones/ Dawn Johnsen). If they do that then they will still have some influence, certainly more than the little people with those non-speaking parts, although not as much as the big money people. I remember when Clinton was president only a couple of mid-level people resigned in protest over some of his policies.

Well fuck.

Step Right Up Rubes

So Elizabeth Warren has been appointed a special advisor to our glorious leader and Geither. Whoop fucking eee. I will make a prognostication. She will be gone before the 2012 election season is even remotely underway and some plutocrats' suck up will be named the head of the bureau that is to protect us consumers, but won't.

Now if I could just figure out how to make some money out of this most recent round of fuck the average American and make liberals (or progressives, if that is what you want to be called so conservatives won't make fun of you too loudly) think that they are getting something out of Obama, that would be helpful, to me at least and isn't that what this great country is all about?

How About A Fix Instead

I would welcome some serious drugs for my extended personal use at this point in the history of my country. Something I can take and just drift away into some Cloud Cuckoo Land. I'm reading at Salon and Greenwald about how the President has said that if we don't kill that dude (Anwar Al-Awlaki) who has as far as I've been able to figure out not really done anything, but encourage people to, well not to put too fine a point on it, but to kill American citizens. Then we should maybe charge him with something and arrest him.

Now apparently that is a crime (Fire Crowded Theaters, etc. , a bad decision written by Holmes and expanded by the vile little fascists currently on the court) now. It just isn't a capital offense. Not that that seems to matter to most Americans and to no people with real power in the government (not I think "our," certainly not "my" government).

Therefore, when I say that I will not vote in the next election (probably for anybody, but certainly not in the congressional race) it is not because I have any illusions about who is running against the current office holder (Congressman Space), but that I have no illusions about any of the current office holders either.

I understand who came after Wiemar. But to be honest I just do not see how the current crop of corporate shills who call themselves democrats can lead this country in any direction except down, even if the down is not as steep as the teabagger or republican down, it is just as deep. So I guess really that I should just STFU and vote democratic and hope that I die of natural causes before the entire country really goes down the shitter.

Souls For Sale

It occurs to me that after the elections this November, if the republicans sweep, the exact same thing will happen that happened after the Massachusetts' senatorial election. Those at fault will be the DFHs who refused to vote for warmed over cat piss. Or the democrats in Obama's image as I like to think of them. Those people who sold their souls to our corporate masters. I would guess that is the difference between the republicans andthe democrats: the democrats have souls to sell, the republicans never had them to begin with.

Then I read at Crooks and Liars that the republicans are outspending the democrats almost 10 to 1 and I sware that it was only a few months ago that I was reading how the democrats were awash in fat cat cash which they were getting for the afore mentioned selling of souls on various issues such as health care and others too numerous to mention. They were going to be so flush with cash that they didn't need us peaons out there working for them, they were going to get by without us. What happened anyway? Where did all that money go?

So essentially the republicans aparently have their souls (if they have any, which is a real question) on permanent lease to the big boys, where as the democrats, no matter how much they really want be owned by the plutacrats who run our country can never be trusted to stay bought I guess.

I'm Just Living In A Bad Novel

This world would simply not make it as a movie or novel .Well, it might, but it would be called unbelievable and not worth watching or reading.

We've got a president who was elected to end a couple of pointless colonial wars control the wealthiest 1% put people back to work and give the average person a safe and secure old age not endangered by overwhelming medical bills. A small d democrat who immediately turns around and doubles down on two colonial wars and decides to protect the people who started those wars and everything that went with them. Domestically he cuts deals with large corporations so that money can be funneled directly from his supporters to these corporations against all that he claimed to be in favor of and what the people who voted for him really wanted. He does all this more or less openly or ineptly (secret meetings that turn out to be so unsecret that they become known within weeks of their occurring).

He fills his administration with people who are "very important people," but people who have been wrong in everything they have attempted or proposed in their public lives.

While all this is going on and during all the debates on his programs he personally strongly discourages his supporters from demonstrating in favor of what were thought to be his positions and therefore allows the opposition to grab and control the message and to whip up anti-administration fervor.

He makes no real attempt to pass legislation that will help the majority of people who voted for him. But then all the stops are pulled out to pass legislation that in its final form is widely hated by large numbers of his supporters.

Top this off with a fan base that essentially remains loyal no matter what the leader does and we have a very bad political novel or movie I think.

If I were to read this I would simply throw it down half way through and say unbelievable.

Labor Day?

Alicublog takes us through the hate that is being spewed out by the current crop of those who can be hired in this day and age to (so far only metaphorically) kill the other half of the working class. Not to suggest that those who write that crap are working class, but they would certainly not be considered part of the ruling class, at least not by the real ruling class. Rather, they are considered by the ruling class their lackeys. At any rate these are the people Jay Gould referred to when he made his rather nasty, but I suspect accurate comment.

So we start the day, called Labor, with a little remembrance of how bad things are right now (and were except for a few decades recently passed) and how both the political parties have joined together to screw the working man and woman, but by god we will see that you all get a three day weekend to drink beer and cook out. On the other hand, it does certainly follow the original concept of labor day as conceived by Grover Cleveland, another great progressive democratic politician.

Oh yes, please forget that other labor day that is celebrated by most of the rest of the world, on May 1, as a commemoration of a little something that happened in Chicago back in 1886 right around the time of our previously mentioned heroic democratic president's term in office:

So maybe it's a good idea to remember that in almost all the rest of the world that is what labor day is all about: the killing of union demonstrators who were asking for an eight hour day, by police thugs. Now they were good old American police thugs who were killing foreigners so we should be proud I guess about how far we've come, right?

In the mean time we go from Triangle to the most recent mine disaster in a non union coal mine in West Virginia.

Have a happy holiday, and don't hold your breath for card check, the unions worked and voted for the guy, and his co-president still says; "Fuck the UAW." Welcome to post class America we only have two classes here the very wealthy and those of us who are just too lazy. And if you are reading this (unless you are a computer owned by the NSA) you are definately not one of the very wealthy.

On the other hand I guess we could celebrate the birthday of Jane Addams something good out of Chicago.

Isn't the Hole Deep Enough Yet?

Was over at Balloon-Juice earlier to read a post and some comments on the post about, well the post was "we" (we being liberals, I guess) shouldn't worry as much as we are because really the democrats are quite possibly not going to lose as badly as is now thought in the up coming elections (this linked to another post, but anyone who is interested can go over and follow it there).

My very first thought, which I kept for a nano second, was whew, thank god maybe the democrats will keep control. But that thought was followed almost immediately by "Who cares?" I am somewhat embarrassed by the first thought, no matter how short it was, but I am proud that I almost immediately rejected that and moved on to the who cares.

I have no doubt that control by republicans and tea baggers will make things worse and perhaps worse than I can imagine right now. But, I also have no doubt that the people who are in control now will make things worse and I do think worse than I can imagine, although probably not quite as quickly as the republicans, but who knows.

My position is still that things will have to get worse (I used to think just some worse, but now I think a lot worse) before they will get better. And no matter who wins the next election things are going to get worse given the candidates out there. Of course, it is not at all assured that things will get better after they get worse. But that's all we've got.

UPDATE: So after I write this I go over to Greenwald for an all in one place explanation of why it doesn't matter, at least not in the sense of choosing between living in a plutocracy or kleptocracy, which seems to be the only choice we are being given anymore.

Empathy, I'll Show You Empathy

I'm reading Digby and I see that it appears as though the younger voters, those who really came out last time for Obama and the democrats do not apparently feel that democrats care and that perhaps republicans do. My first thought was that "Gee that's too bad." Then I thought: "Why is that bad?" And you know now that I think of why that is bad.

Several unions are out after my congressman, Zack Space's blood, but apparently it is because he voted against HCR. There are a lot of other reasons for liberals to oppose Space, but that does not seem to me to be one of them. Apparently, that is for many who back Obama the make or break. Very strange. This is what Obama and his people decided to make their crown jewel and on the whole it more than sucks, and that is what these unions are using as their criteria for opposing the guy.

What we see from the White House and Obama's people from Rham's "Fuck the UAW" to Gibbs saying that liberal critics need to be drug tested is a point of view and an attitude that simply excludes those of us who were expecting some real change. Further, it clearly shows that there is simply no hope that this administration is going to change their activities or point of view. I am now completely excluded and my ideas are not just excluded, but I am mocked.

To suggest as Joan Walsh does that Obama has accomplished a great deal is mind boggling. What is the great deal he has accomplished, unless destroying the democratic party was one of his goals, I'm not sure he should get a lot of props for his accomplishments, at least not from democrats or liberals (certainly not the same group any more).

There is simply nothing that this administration has done, nothing at all that has been truly liberal or progressive if the L word scares you. Nothing. Any help they have provided to middle class or poor people has simply been a bi-product of their propping up and helping the very wealthiest. They don't care about you and they don't care about me. They cannot even bring themselves to pretend to care, which if nothing else, one would expect politicians to do.

The only good thing is that there will be a lot of Quisling democrats going down the drain the sad thing is that they will simply be given really well paying jobs by their friends and end up wealthier than they would have been if they'd stayed on as tribunes of the people.

I Am Just Thrilled

Massive amount of serious (at least to the clients) stuff going on. I just feel that I have no time to do anything else.

However, on one case, today I get a Motion from the Prosecutor that says that: Oops, did we say that we want to place these two kids: one who is a cancer survivor who will need to be tested every six months and the other who is at seven a sexual predator whom Children Services has not bothered to get any psychological help even though they've known about it for at least nine months, with the sister who has two small children. We meant we didn't.

Combine that with an entry from the court that seems to say that Children Services can give me discovery any time they want (or not at all) and information that Children Services workers are telling people I'm a using drug addict (information that is essentially correct, except the using part) which I will be more than happy to share with the judge (who already knows) at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way, when it will be most damaging to Children Services. And it has been an interesting couple of weeks at the personal level.

UPDATE: Well, well, well. On the other case from hell involving Children Services my client got put into the mental ward, which is the best that could have happened to us at this point. Strange how things work in groups.