It was the only white dress she had.
A few weeks ago, I thought I’d be able to take a break from
blogging politics, but even after the election, the Republicans are still
acting as destructively as ever. It
starts with the dreaded Fiscal Cliff.
I mentioned in comments of an earlier post that to me,
Fiscal Cliff sounds like the name of a punk band, although it would probably
have to be spelled, Physcal Clyff. (No
doubt most would mispronounce it as “Physical Cliff.”) It sounds like the combination of Rascal
Flatts and Wyld Stallyns.
Anyway, despite President Obama winning the election by a
projected 5 million votes, while campaigning on the issue of raising taxes on
the Jet Set crowd, there remains a great deal of foot-dragging on the other
side of the aisle. I’m not sure if it’s
all for show, to ensure they can’t be accused of “compromising” too easily with
a pinko Communist Muslim Kenyan, or if they really mean it.
I think they’re still reflexively opposing everything Obama
wants to do, just from force of habit.
I think there will be some kind of agreement before we hit the cliff’s
edge. The Republicans don’t want to be
blamed for sinking the entire middle class by appearing to want to protect only
their corporate benefactors. But watch
out for any new angle where they can protect the rich, tank the country and
shuffle the blame to the Democrats.
It’s never too early to stake out the campaign issues for 2016.
It’s sad that so much of this obstinacy stems from the
legendary No Tax Pledge they’ve all taken, to Grover Norquist. He’s the guy that has systematically, over a
number of years, obtained pledges from every GOP Senator and Representative,
never to raise taxes under any circumstances, for anyone, by even a single
cent. This includes eliminating current
loopholes and tax shelters, levying fees, or enabling any other revenue
generating method.
The “hammer” is that if anyone violates the No Tax Pledge,
Norquist will spend a buttload of (other people’s) money to campaign against
said violator in his next election, calling him a lying, untrustworthy,
flip-flopping, big government spend-monkey, or in other words, a Democrat.
Besides the general lack of backbone, what irks me is that
they’ve all taken this pledge to a single guy rather than pledging to do what’s
right for the good of the country. I mean,
who the hell is this guy anyway, to hold the rest of us hostage? He’s never run for anything or earned a
single vote. He’s just another
corporate stooge who’s looking out for his own interest and that of his rich
friends. Fuck. Him.
I think there’s a simple campaign to counteract this
clown. Granted, it will take money to
get it out there, and that’s probably a pretty big obstacle. But a candidate could counter that it’s
going to have to take both increasing revenue AND cutting back on some sacred
cows and take a reasonable look at spending, in order to get the deficit back
under control. There is no magic bullet
or accounting trick that will handle so big a task. This candidate should boldly state that he’s NOT going to
sacrifice the well being of every American just to protect the precious few who
have managed to enrich themselves on the backs of the middle class. He should talk numbers and hammer the income
gap between the 2% and the rest of us.
It can be done; all that’s needed is some backbone.
The other conservative prong of attack is to vilify Susan
Rice for the assault on our embassy in Libya.
As I wrote in prior posts, this is a purely political play. There were a whole fistful of American
Embassy attacks that resulted in lives lost, during the Bush years, but we
never heard a peep about them. Now the
GOP is falling all over themselves to blame this ambassador for going on the
Sunday news shows and relaying details about the situation, as provided the CIA
and White House.
The goal of all this heavy-duty smearing is to keep Ms. Rice
from becoming the next Secretary of State, when Hilary Clinton steps down. And it doesn’t really even have anything to
do with Rice! The real tipoff that it’s
all about politics is how they keep shilling for John Kerry to be appointed.
You remember John Kerry… he was the guy the Republicans
crucified during the 2004 election.
They called him an un-American, traitor, Commie, hippy coward and made
up horrible lies about his military and public service record. And now they think he’d make a good
Secretary of State? When were they full
of shit, in 2004 or now? Can’t have it
both ways.
But see, the reason they want Kerry at State is he would
have to give up his seat in the Senate, where Scott Brown could run again. This time, he wouldn’t be campaigning
against the populist juggernaut that was Elizabeth Warren, or Kerry
himself. This way the GOP can reclaim a
Senate seat and displace a powerful senator without having to actually defeat
him.
I’m not sure what good a single senator is going to do them,
but it’s a start.
Now, I don’t know who the best person would be for Secretary
of State; there’s bound to be a lot of behind-the-scenes dirt on everyone. To me, though, the Secretary of State does
the President’s bidding. The message
will be the same, regardless of who delivers it. The Senate is where laws are made and a single senator can wield
considerable power, especially an experienced one. I’d prefer to build on the progress made in the last election and
try to get something done for the good of the country.
So who to put at State?
I’d almost suggest another try with Colin Powell, but I think his
credibility is shot, after the Iraq War debacle. But I have a better idea.
We need someone that by his mere presence says that this shit has got to
stop or else things are going to get dangerous. And I have the perfect man for the job…
“When you absolutely, positively have to kill every mutha
fucka in the room.”
Director’s DVD Commentary: Yes, I know the quote is
from a different movie than the picture… so sue me.
Holiday Guide to Yinzer Lingo
I saw this on PittGirl’s
Pittsburgh Magazine article last week and it cracked me right the hell up. If you’re not from The Burgh, consider this
as kind of a visitor’s guide to our fair city, including our peculiar lingo. The accents are especially thick… that’s
probably what I like the most about it.
They probably should have subtitled it.
Because I’m not too proud to blatantly steal something I find elsewhere,
I now present to you the Twelve Days of Pittsburgh N’at.
Why do all these Pgh. wannabe's sound like they're from the Saah Side? Pittsburgh accents are specific to area and ethnic background of first generation English speakers.
ReplyDeleteYou don't saaahn like these singhers. And you never said "yinz" until you were at least 30 and heard it from somebody who pretended to know about Pgh.
They prolly are from the Sahside.
DeleteOf course I don't speak Pittsburghese... as kids we moved around the country too much to have a single accent. But the sound amuses me.
I know it's only localized arahnd tahn, much like the Baltimore accent is found mostly on the east side.
You got it. A linguistic study of Pgh would be fun and fruitful.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile those who promote and profit from stupidity anger me, a native Pgh er.
Yes, this is a job that calls for a cunning linguist!
DeleteAAAAAA-RRRGH...Lord ha mercy! No Pittsburghese speaking clown could come up with this. You make me proud.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, why are the Republicans letting grumpy old sour-grapey John McCain lead the campaign against Susan Rice? He's not exactly a good judge of qualified public servants.
Accents! Accents! When I lived in Tucson everyone always asked me where I was from. Now that I actually live where I was from, no one says a word. I love "yinz!" There is an ad on t.v. right now in which the father tells his kids at the breakfast table, "Eat y'all food." How do I know what he's saying? The ad is captioned, of course. More accents!!
ReplyDeleteI'm kinda, sorta back. The transition has been a lot tougher than I ever dreamed. Glad you missed me, Cowboy!!
The place hasn't been the same without "YEEHGA"
DeleteThanks for explaining the Kerry thing to me. I hadn't heard that and had nooooo idea what was going on. But obviously wasn't going to LOOK IT UP or anything.
ReplyDeleteJust another public service from your friendly, neighborhood bluzdude... Politics made EZ!
DeletePolitics are weird like that... Just when you think it's over, they pull you back in.
ReplyDeleteHugs!
Valerie
Yeah, politics will never be "over" any more... there are too many news stations dedicated to keeping it going, 24/7.
Delete