2012 archive
Fiscal Cliff-less 0
Let Lawrence O’Donnell and his guests explain; the relevant portion starts about six minutes in:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Via Down with Tyranny.
Despite What You Have Heard, There Is No “Fiscal Cliff” 0
It’s media shorthand which the media favors because it’s s c a r y, nothing more.
PoliticalProf explains:
A cliff is a sheer faced embankment of considerable height.
A fiscal cliff is a man made metaphor to describe the after effects of failing to meet man made deadlines to solve a man made problem.
Signal Failures 0
It’s lights out for these folks, according to the San Jose Mercury-News’s Mr. Roadshow:
Souled Out 0
Leonard Pitts, Jr., adds yet another article to the pile of paper (and electrons) on what the GOP must do to recover from the late Presidential debacle.
Frankly, I don’t think they are going to do anything other than more of the same. They have embraced a strategy of hate and fear for more than two decades: hate and fear of black and brown folks, lesbian and gay folks, non-male folks, poor folks, foreign folks, non-Fundamentalist folks.
When you embrace hate and fear for personal and political gain, hate and fear embrace you right back.
The current Republican Party has no soul left to sell. It is souled out.
I’ll cite one sentence in Pitts’s column; follow the link for the rest:
Thanks for the Memories 0
The Tampa Bay Times’s John Romano looks back on the campaign and separates the message from the medium. A snippet (emphasis in the original):
What Republican strategist Karl Rove said about the president’s victory:
“He succeeded by suppressing the vote.”
What I heard:
“Will someone please tell the Koch brothers there are no &%$#*!@ refunds?”
What Gov. Rick Scott said about six-hour lines for early voting in South Florida:
“What I’m trying to do is improve the way government works.”
What I heard:
“Let them eat cake.”
Read the rest. You need a chuckle.
Stray Thought 0
The number of messages I must delete unheard from my answering machine has decreased by 95% since Election Day.
Now it’s back to the usual “reduce! interest! rates!” stuff.
A Picture Is Worth 2
I looked around and couldn’t find a larger version with clearer type, though I’m sure it’s out there somewhere on the innerwebs. If your browser has a good zoom feature (mine does), you should be able to enlarge them enough to read the legends.
But, even without reading the legends, this picture is indeed worth.
It shows that the Civil War continues apace, Appomattox to the contrary notwithstanding.
Via Delaware Liberal, which has additional interesting maps.
Facebook Frolics 2
Turlock resident Denise Helms, 22, posted shortly after the president’s re-election Tuesday on her Facebook page, “And another 4 years of the (n—–). Maybe he will get assassinated this term..!!”
The post quickly made the rounds on social media, prompting Sacramento TV station Fox 40 to interview her about her comments Wednesday night.
Later on in the report, she’s quoted as saying she doesn’t understand the attention from the Secret Service and isn’t a racist.
Indeedy not no couldn’t be, that word just sprang to her mind out of nowhere.
Afterthought:
There’s another lesson, one I harp on.
The internet is a public place.
If you are going to say something, say it in a way that you would not fear saying it in a room full of strangers, because it’s going to be overheard.
Voting while Not White 0
Local blogger Vivian J. Paige, responding to a post by a friend of hers (post linked at her site), discusses the Republican Party’s stance on not white people.
The Republican Party doesn’t have a black problem; they have a non-white problem.
Anyone who is not white is dismissed as a potential Republican voter. Voter ID laws that have passed in a number of states weren’t targeted just at black folk, but all minorities. Harsher stances on immigration weren’t targeted at black folk at all.
She’s quite correct, you know. The odious Southern strategy, created by the Republican Party, has consumed its creators.
Read the rest. It’s worth your while.
General Consternation 7
Thomas Ricks appears on Fresh Air to discuss how being an US Army General turned into a tenured post. From the website:
He says it boils down to one word: accountability. Back in World War II, successful generals were generally promoted, while unsuccessful generals were relieved of their commands. But that began to change during the Korean War.
Follow the link to read the full story or the transcript or to listen to the show.
Twits on Twitter 0
NFL hangers-on twits–Bob Molinaro in today’s local rag:
Molinaro is one of the finest sports writers around. He’s almost the only reason I still read the sports section.
Blather Blather Blather Culture! Others! Twaddle Twaddle Twaddle 2
Under the guise of a column about electoral tactics, David Brooks blames the Republican loss on American citizens who don’t think like David Brooks.
It is a sun-glint wave with an undertow of xenophobia.
The Booman offers a more accurate analysis.
Grace in Defeat 0
Offered without comment.
Peter Morrison, who serves as treasurer of the Hardin County Republican Party, wrote in his post-election newsletter that there was a clear solution to the problem of Obama’s re-election.
“We must contest every single inch of ground and delay the baby-murdering, tax-raising socialists at every opportunity,” Morrison wrote. “But in due time, the maggots will have eaten every morsel of flesh off of the rotting corpse of the Republic, and therein lies our opportunity.”
The Galt and the Lamers 0
Murray Energy, known for forcing employees attend a Romney rally without pay, goes Galt.
If they can’t get their way by stealing the election, they try throwing a temper tantrum.
And Bill O’Reilly had the nerve to accuse poor people of wanting stuff.
Seems to me that the biggest stuff-wanters are rich folks for whom too much is never enough.