Yes I Am In A Really Bad Mood

I don't even know where to start to explain where I'm at with this mess we're in. First off there really hasn't been much to say about the latest primaries and caucuses because, doh, like it or not the outcomes have been for the most part quite well known to everyone not living in Oz beforehand.

That kind of led me to my second conclusion which was that sometimes it's better to just shut the fuck up than engage in the sort of shrieking, shrilling, and whining I've been seeing on at least half the blogs (and I'm being generous here) and most definitely in many of the comments including here on my own at times.

Oooooh the media is mean to me and hates women/black people/brown people/liberals/conservatives/really cute puppies. Yeah well, the media doesn't love or hate anyone, they love ratings and as long as there are assmonkeys willing to park in front of the tube and listen to idiotic dribble and wage wars over trivia they'll keep right on keeping on. Ok, I'll admit I do love to watch Pat Buchanan but that is only because I enjoy the way the veins pop out of the side of his head and he starts to turn purple, it relaxes me.

I've made it pretty clear that I am not voting for Clinton, no secret there. If you are or aren't and wish to make an argument for or against that's fine but make it at least semi-rational. I do not give a damn about her ankles or her pantsuit. Above all please refrain from demanding I feel oppressed because I happen to possess a vagina. I've never been oppressed in my life for longer than 5 minutes because I've never tolerated it and this is still America, so far anyway. Every other man in the country is not a foaming-at-the-mouth misogynist, quite a lot of them are clueless. Give them a clue and save the baseball bats for the truly deserving. When you do actually run across a true misogynist I'd suggest breaking his kneecaps but it would be a good idea to learn to recognize the difference.

I've also made it clear that I did and will again, vote for Obama. Again, if you wish to make a point for or against that's also fine but keep it sane. I do not care whether or not he did or did not use drugs/attend a Muslim kindergarten/is or is not "Black enough". As for the heavy doses of sarcasm I've read regarding the man's powerful oratorical skill and overwhelming charisma...bitch please....those have come in handy in winning over some of those 2,999,999 other people I have to share the country with and I'll be the first to admit that but has little to nothing to do with my reasons for supporting him. Remember you're talking to someone who favored Bill Richardson, charisma is not a deal maker or breaker for me. I tend to look at stupid ass trivia like THEIR FUCKING VOTING RECORDS.

Do not even try the "Clinton has more experience" argument with me. Sen. Clinton never held public office until the year 2000 so where this "35 years of experience" tag line is coming from is beyond me. If sleeping with or being married to someone confers some sort of educational and experiential bonus then I'm a fucking diesel engine technician and a jet pilot. If "experience" is truly your criteria then just vote for John McCain and bugger off.

Speaking of voting records, outside of Joe Lieberman I cannot think of a single dem who has voted more in lockstep with the GOP than John Edwards so why on earth half the "progressive" universe seems to believe he is their saviour is beyond me. From nuclear waste to Iraq to the current majorly fucked up bankruptcy laws Sen. Edwards has a long and established history of caving to GOP pressure. Granted, he does a fine mea culpa after the fact but how many times do you want a mea culpa after the fact??? He may have the best of intentions, not going to try and second guess the mans motives but he's pretty much proven he does not have the best judgement in the world, at least not for a self-professed "progressive". I'd not even mention him here except that many of his followers seem to remain in denial that he is out of the race.

Finally there are the ultra snarky, I'm-too-cool-and-embittered-to-get involved people. Everyone is bad, all the choices suck, nothing will change no matter what we do, yada, yada, yada. Fine, to borrow a phrase from the Galloping Beaver, sit on the fucking corner and wish for ponies. Make sure to save a seat next to you for the Perpetual Victim crowd m'kay?

Things I Know That Are Not Worth Wasting My Time Arguing About

1. This election is not "all about Obama". He's tapped into something that was already waiting to happen. Right person, right place, right time. Sometimes shit happens that way.
2. He could lose/Clinton could win, all things are still possible.
3. An Obama loss would set off an even larger tidal wave than the one currently in motion, some things I just know in my bones. My bones have never lied to me.
4. I would not want to be on the wrong end of that wave.
5. There is a certain historical inevitability to whatever course it is we are currently on, this too I know in my bones. What I do not know is how it will play out and how many heads will roll in the process but there is no realistic way to deny that there is a process in motion. Unless you are wishing for a pony.
6. It is entirely possible that Pat Buchanan's head will explode by the time this is all settled, whichever way it settles. I can only see this as a good thing.
7. Last but not least I am struggling to make sense of the fact that I belong to a party that believes I am so utterly retarded that they must appoint a 21 year old Alvin the Chipmunk look-alike to vote for me. I am too old to need a nanny and after this election I may decide I'm too old to be bothered with this party any more. Jury is still out on that one. If you are Republican don't get all excited, I still would eat nails before voting for a single one of your regressive, retarded, assmonkeys. It simply means that I may no longer register as a Democrat or give another penny to the DNC. Individual candidates may still apply.

Now that I've pissed off everyone and their mother too, have a nice day. Vote for whoever you want to vote for but at least make a choice and stand for something. Try to do it like grown ups. If we want leaders that don't behave like assclowns we need to stop behaving like assclowns.

Common Sense: Not So Common

I've had at least a gazillion things floating around in my head that I could have posted about but the thing is, they're really all about the same thing: the almost total lack of common sense in this country today. If you stop and think about it that's the key to just about every other problem facing us. What we used to call "horse sense", good, old fashioned, down-to-earth pragmatism, is nearly non-existent in the public dialogue today and frankly it was the one thing that distinguished the US from nearly every other nation on the planet. It was what made us great.

My better half has a knack for nailing an issue without ever trying and often some of his most offhand remarks will sum up an issue in a simple sentence that I, in my infinite wordiness, would have needed at least a 200 page essay to explain. Case in point: some political talking head or other posed the question, "who is your least favorite candidate" and Dear One passing through the kitchen spit out "everyone currently running".

Ding, we have a winner. That's exactly right, I couldn't even begin to improve on that answer.

I watched the pundits scrambling to weigh in on whether or not Gore would run now that he's won the Nobel prize with great amusement. When you win a Gold medal in the Olympics do you set your sights on winning the sack race at the county fair? The US presidency used to be a prized and respected office, today it's a stepping stone to a great book deal and a career as a public speaker. It's one way of obtaining "street cred" to go on and actually accomplish something for those who have any real ability. For those who don't, it's tenure and a fat pension. It is impossible to accomplish anything of real value while holding public office and everyone who is anyone knows this so for the most part, smart, capable people do not run for office.

We the People with a little help from our friends in the media made it so. For the record: while Fox news does come to mind in the forefront I include 90% of the rest of them as well. Lately I find myself filtering my news intake through Mika Brzezinski and Jon Stewart. What does it say about a nation that can only tell the truth on the Comedy channel?

How did we get so stupid? I dunno, maybe we could start by taking a look at our schools. I'm going to piss off a whole lot of teachers here but I have to say it: more than half of our teachers are as useless as tits on a bull. That's right kids, idiots are raising our young. Given the current system what makes anyone think that someone capable of having an independent thought would seek a career in education? Toss in the fact that whoever came up with the idea that tossing 500 or 1000 adolescents together and expecting them to learn anything we'd like them to learn ought to be drawn and quartered. Cost effective maybe but you get exactly what you pay for, children who've been raised by other children.

I loved the ruckus over schools banning children from playing "tag". Mr. Principal of one such elementary school went on air to explain that some children were harassing other children during the course of this game. When asked by the interviewer why the school did not simply discipline the children who misbehaved Mr. Principal explained that the school did not "have the resources to manage the problem". Parents in the district were applauding this move. M'kay, you just had the principle of your childs school go on national television and admit that he and and his cadre of teachers could not manage a group of 10 year olds. What part of "entrusting your child to such a group of idiots makes you an even bigger idiot" are people not understanding? That is what Dear One would refer to as "shit-for-brains".

With that in mind is it so surprising that all we can focus on in an election is what lapel pin or hair style a candidate is sporting? Is it any more surprising that few if any sane, capable people would even consider running for public office? Oh yes, just what I'd love to do, go on national television and debate how to meddle in the people's private affairs by legislating weight control, smoking, and sexual preferences while the dollar is doing a cliff dive and we are spending billions of dollars trying to do something or other, we aren't quite certain what, in Iraq. That's a job interview for an idiot.

Sometimes it isn't just the right wing that's insane. What the hell makes the left think that ending the "War on Drugs" but declaring war on smokers and chunky people makes any kind of sense at all? Move to the back of the class. If you don't like smokers or fat people, don't associate with them and mind your own damned business. Maybe they don't like you either and maybe, just maybe, most of us would rather not reallocate more assets to a "War on Fried Chicken".

Then there's that whole "Global Warming" thing. I did not post about it the other day when all the blogs got together on it because, because, while it is most certainly a worthy issue I think most people are once again a little slow on the uptake. It's here, it isn't going away and no one knows how much or how fast regardless of how we spin it. "Tipping point" my ass, we passed that decades back so it's moot. Stop adding fuel to the fire or don't and gamble on hotter being better, your choice. Frankly I see an upside to Florida disappearing into the ocean, it troubles me not one bit and that is the coldhearted truth.

The not-so-common, common sense thing to do would be to focus on how to adapt to the changes. Tip of the day: don't plan to retire in the Florida Keys. If you already own a home down there, well, you're fucked. Cut your losses and get out while you might still be able to get something out of your investment...there's always a bigger sucker right behind you. Or sit there and whine, it's all the same to me.

You have no idea how it warms my cold little heart to see water wars erupting between Georgia and Mississippi, North and South Carolina, etc. Having spent my entire life in the southwestern deserts I can only laugh hysterically when observing an Alabama farmer complaining on TV about the severe drought whilst in the background he is running giant overhead sprinklers over his crops at high noon. Apparently the news about evaporation has never made it to Alabama.

We're so busy with the Great Immigration Debate that we've failed to realize it's about to become a moot point. Immigrants, in particular the bulk of Mexican immigrants, come here for employment. Now that we're on a collision course with rising unemployment and economic slow down, THEY AREN'T COMING. While we weren't looking, have you taken a gander at Mexico's burgeoning economy? Care to guess how many "US companies" are now owned by Mexican companies? I don't know the exact number but it's quite a few....didja know that Rinker Materials, one of the largest US building material manufacturers is now owned by Mexico's Cemex? Hopefully they'll be smart enough to move headquarters out of West Palm Beach or I'm selling my Cemex stock. Besides all that, Canada is recruiting them, at least till their right wing nutbag "culture warriors" try to dent that action. I'm seeing Moose Tacos in the not-so-distant future. Yo quiero Toronto Bell.

We've been screaming about our idiotic congress and I have to agree, 90% of them are idiots but I don't see much point in replacing them with another group of equally idiotic political shit-for-brains people. Maybe it's time we looked in the mirror when we seek the source of senatorial stupidity. Maybe if we stopped behaving like morons we could entice someone other than morons to run for office, ya think?

Stop and think people. What are our priorities and what exactly do we want government to be responsible for: national energy policy, fiscal responsibility, national infrastructure and foreign policy or controlling our obese, chain-smoking neighbors? Are we more concerned with climate change or monitoring the height of our neighbors grass? Do we want affordable healthcare for everyone or would we rather use our healthcare system like a slot machine and sue every time an outcome doesn't please us? Keep it up people, pretty soon you'll be delivering your own babies at home because no one wants to be an OB-GYN nowadays...too many lawsuits.

It's way past time we went back to using a little common sense and got a grip on reality. Reality is you can't control everyone else and sometimes bad things happen in spite of all best efforts and no, you don't get a million dollars every time an outcome doesn't please you and expect the system to be able to function effectively and there will always be people and behaviors that don't suit you and no, you cannot behead your neighbor because he's an obnoxious drunk who doesn't mow his lawn. Quit behaving like spoiled teenagers and grow up and deal with it.

When People Think You're a Loon Do Not Prove Them Right

The only pundit on the planet who nearly always "gets" my views and uh, a whole slew of the real "average America's" (as opposed to that weird, fanatical, and not-so-bright one the MSM keeps telling us is "middle America").

At the risk of offending any readers who love to dress up in ugly clothing and engage in circus performances for the cameras, I give you.........



Look, I'm sure they mean well but folks like this and yes, the ever-iconic Sheehan too, have done more to deter "the average American" from joining the anti-Iraq-war crowd than Bush & Co. could have paid anyone to do. It just does not play well in Peoria.

Progressives Please Calm Down

Please. I mean it. We're about to cut our own throats here and that's exactly what the Cracker-Barrel party wants us to do. Stop playing right into their hands, calm down, take a deep breath and think this through logically.

The Iraq war bill as it was written was never going to pass. Not if we sent it back 50 thousand times. In the meantime funding was going to run out and whether or not it actually ended up affecting the "troops on the ground", the Republicans were going to play that to the hilt. And lo and behold, a huge percentage of America was going to buy it.

Democrats are in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" position here and it is our fault. Both the sign and don't sign camps need to get a little reality here. "WE" can't agree or even get a majority on one side or the other....how in the HELL do you expect the elected leadership to???

If Americans had been serious about getting us out of Iraq, guess what? We'd already be out of there. We'd have stood up and stood our ground and it would be a done deal. We did not do that. No, we didn't do it for a lot of reasons but one I believe is the most significant: we don't want to accept responsibility for our choices. We want someone else to make the decision so if and when there are negative outcomes we will have someone else to blame and boot out of office.

This is exactly the way we've been playing the game for, well, forever and this is exactly why we have elected leaders waffling all over the House floor. We did not stand up to Dubya when he decided to invade Iraq because we were scared. If we stood up and said no and omg, Saddam DID do something to us...it would be our fault too! Can't have that now can we? So we swallowed the bullshit and kept our mouths shut so if things went south we'd have someone to blame. That worked out really nicely too. We can all scream at der Chimper for the mess he's made but nearly everyone seems to have forgotten that OVER 70% of Americans WENT RIGHT ALONG WITH IT.

So now I hear the Democratic base threatening to bash in the brains of any Democrat who dares to sign the amended bill. Do you think they aren't calculating the odds of you turning on them the first time something goes awry? The Republicans must be jumping for joy.

The saddest part of it all is it doesn't really matter. We're leaving anyway, most likely right after the next election...assuming Bushie can find enough troops to keep the current action going until then. If we are serious about ending it now we should stop working at cross purposes by attacking each other and get serious about removing Bush from office.

Oh Darn, I'm Not the Queen of the World

A mini-dust up a few days ago here in the Silver State. Sometimes I like to digest things a little before I go off half-cocked on a rant.

Seems State Senate Transportation Chairman Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas said, "I don't think any legislator is too worried about what cyberspace bloggers are doing".

Oh my, them's fightin' words. Or are they? I couldn't locate any inner outrage over this.

First off, if it matters at all, his comment was in response to comments made by conservative commentator, blogger and activist Chuck Muth. Apparently that means NV republicans do not care what conservative bloggers are saying. I'm certain they don't care what centrist, progressive, or liberal bloggers are saying either so I guess that sort of includes all of us. Ok, good to know where you stand anyway.

To be 100% honest though, I have to be the first to admit that I would not want a legislator who ran willy-nilly every time the blogoshere spoke.

Have you really looked at the blogs? I mean a lot of them, not just the ones you agree with or like. A huge percentage of it is outright lies, half-truths and illogical fruit-loopiness on every side of the fence. And that is just the political to semi-political ones.

I went trolling for blog posts re: Richardson the other night, boy was that fun. I found everything from a post about Richardson, Governor of....Arizona (tell me we are not this retarded) to a blatantly twisted attack on him filled with outright lies and twisted half-truths posted at, believe it or not, the Daily Kos. I even found one arguing that his true goal was to stage a "Mexican takeover" of the United States and another declaring that he would "deport all immigrants". Hmmm.

Yes, I think Nolan is wrong, some attention should be paid. The blogs are great for getting an idea about where various segments of our population stands, what concerns us and why BUT we are only a small, representative sampling of the population at large. Let's be honest, most of the MAJOR big blogs are heavily skewed towards a hardcore base either liberal or conservative. They do not represent the vast majority of voters who are a far less partisan mix of views and values.

Any politician taking his/her marching orders from either DKos or LGF is out of their tree. They'd have to be completely insane to follow any of us 100%. They'd also be out of office purty darn quick.

We matter but so does everyone else, we're just one piece of the pie.

Plea for Restoration of Sanity

Mimus Pauly at Mockingbird's Medley has a 3-post series on "Liberal Outrage Fatigue" that does a fine job of expressing what I've been feeling regarding most of the numerous "outrages" that have been fodder for the MSM and blog-o-sphere recently. I seriously doubt we're the only ones suffering from this syndrome.

In any event, in the spirit of expressing my own case of LOF I thought I'd make a list of at least some of the issues I have not cared to address here.

1. Anne Coulter says faggot: is this surprising to anyone? We know who and what she is, now more people know this too. Beats masking her true identity with a smile and softer words and hey, it's costing her dearly.

2. Gen. Pace calls homosexuality "immoral": it's what he believes. Out of line for him to express this sentiment as a spokesperson for the military. His career is probably over.

3. Ailes makes tasteless Clinton and Obama jokes: again, is this surprising? I've certainly made tasteless (insert name of any Republican candidate) jokes. Granted, I'm not the spokesperson for anyone. Bad move for the head of a major network but for anyone who was in doubt...shows his true colors.

4. Congressman Obey loses his temper with liberal activists: not the best thing he could have done but if you harass a person long enough about situations over which they have little or no control (ie: making other members of congress vote the way you'd like) they are likely to snap eventually. Go harass the republicans who keep voting "no". Quit acting like assmonkeys and biting the hands that feed you.

5. O'Reilly blames toddlers dying on illegal immigration: um. Over the top even for O'Reilly. When even Geraldo thinks you are a racist, xenophobic, idiot.....you're done for. Bye, bye Billy-goat, have a nice retirement.

6. Walter Reed: not something new. We've failed miserably at caring for our military personnel for at least 50 years. Bush DID make an already bad situation (which incidentally had begun to improve during the Clinton administration) worse and deserves blame for his part in it but we all share the blame here. We ignored it.

Those are just a few that come to mind but you get the idea.

Meanwhile we do what we've learned to do while our country continues to degenerate into a mass of sectarian political fighting, our citizens continue to live in poverty and lack access to healthcare and social security and medicaid teeter on the brink of bankruptcy: run around in circles and scream and shout. Oh yeah, there's all those people dying over in that Eye-Rack place too.

I don't have a problem with people being angry with many of these things, I'm probably as angry about them as anyone but I think we need to remember the real focus which as I recall is change. If we cannot nominate a candidate who can win at the national election it's all for naught and the song remains the same.

Just something to think about.

Let's Commit Suicide So the Rightwing Can't Kill Us

I'd been thinking about writing something about the difference between being a Democrat or a Republican so I'm going to give it a shot.

It's the difference between being for things or against things.

Democrats are for things. We're for equal rights and equal opportunity. We're for everyone having at least their basic human needs met. We're for trying to talk things out instead of using force as our first option and most of all we are for people. All people, even the ones we don't like much.

Being a Republican is about being against things. Against having to pay your share, against providing for the less fortunate, against equal treatment for all people and certainly against allowing people to make their own choices and decide what is best for themselves.

At least that was how it stood.

I'm beginning to wonder. I've been a Democrat all of my life and for sure I'm not about to turn into a Republican but at the rate things are going I may be left with no party at all.

Lately it seems like both parties aren't about anything but being against things. It's looking like we're going to tear each other to shreds while our opponents march right over us one more time. You'd think we'd have learned by now.

Blue Lyon just said adios to MoveOn.org now that they've declared war on the Nevada Democratic party. I've already said my two cents worth about the whole Fox news debate, I'm pretty much done with it and don't care much one way or the other who winds up airing the debate or even if it gets aired at all. I do have a few words for MoveOn.org though: exactly who in the hell do you suppose is going to be your voter base in Nevada if you continue waging your little war on the state party? Wild burros or jackrabbits?

Whatever, wage your little war and maybe win a battle just don't act surprised if you lose the war.

It's All About Me

It never ceases to amaze me that as a group we seem to require "studies" to figure out what I would imagine any person possessing a reasonable amount of common sense and normal intelligence probably knows already. I'm not complaining that these studies are done, I don't care all that much one way or the other but are we really this blind? More to the point, do we do anything with the information once we have it?

This recently released study examining narcissism in "generation Y" strikes me, gah, as so many things. Obvious, funny, sad, disturbing, would be a few of the descriptives that come to mind.

I'm going to try not to write a book here but no promises, if this bores you...move on now.

This news was not news to me, I raised three of these "Y" kids. Mea culpa. Being from a massively dysfunctional and verifiably insane family myself and starting out on my own from ground zero both economically and socially I did what most damaged, socially retarded young women with no family support do.....made a horrifically bad choice to marry the wrong person at far too young an age and promptly commenced to making more humans so I could engage in my ultimate driving fantasy of having MY children have an oh-so-much-better life.

So we've now established that despite all test scores to the contrary, I am fully capable of being a retarded dimwit able to make poor choices based on fuzzy, illogical thinking and emotion. Kind of shot my own narcissistic tendencies right in the foot.

I'd be more interested in a follow up study in 20 or 30 years to see how many of them got a clue after life has had a chance to bitch-slap them around a little bit. My guess is it would be quite a few.

Marc Flacks, an assistant professor of sociology, said that he believed that narcissism was too harsh a description for current students and that it was more important to discuss why "we have a society in which narcissistic behavior is a good quality to have."

"This is a bottom-line society, so students are smart to seek the most direct route to the bottom line," he added. "If you don't have a me-first attitude, you won't succeed.

There it is, we created them. We've been out of control egomaniacs for generations and it's only getting worse, where it will stop nobody knows.

Since I blog, therefore I might be narcissistic, I decided to answer the few test questions that were presented in the article.

1. "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place."

Definitely not. I'd get bored and frustrated and tell everyone to piss off. Whole thing would blow up in a great big, fiery ball in space.

2. "I think I am a special person."

A little odd maybe. How "special" could I be with a few billion others of my kind to compete with? Not very.

3. "I can live my life any way I want to."

More or less if I can afford to but I also will reap consequences from whatever ways I choose. I could afford to become a heroin addict but prison would cramp my style.

4. "I like to be the center of attention."

Sometimes, doesn't everyone? Mostly I value privacy over attention though since while I might have rare, occasional moments of bright and shiny coolness the other 99% of the time I probably look anywhere from too mundane for words to outright assmonkey-ish so I'd just as soon not have all eyes on me. I'm too lazy to keep up a "public persona".

Not too high up on the narcissist scale. I don't think I'm "more special" but I don't think I'm any "less special" either. I blog because I've been pissed off since I learned to talk and blogging is much more socially acceptable than kicking random strangers in the shins. I'd love to see other people's answers to these questions if you are inclined to answer them.

Our young people? Wouldn't worry too much, they'll most likely figure things out after they fall on their rumps a few times. Worst case scenario, they won't figure it out and we'll extinct ourselves which does not upset me nearly as much as it used to.

Leaving Las Vegas

Per the Las Vegas Gleaner:

One other thought: The local political industrial complex is always running off at the mouth about how Nevada's Democrats are "different" than Democrats in the rest of the country, more conservative, hence the importance of bringing the Wonderful West into play, blahblahblah. As the prez wannabes parade through the state and campaign not on the issues that the West As Savior Movement says they should be talking about, but actual issues that people ask them about, that long-held conventional wisdom might get more than a few holes poked in it, and might even be exposed as flat-out bullshit.

There is some truth there although perhaps not in the way the Gleaner might have intended to highlight.

I don't think there is much of a case to be made for Nevadans being "more conservative". I mean after all, we're the home of legal gambling, legal brothels and the 5 minute divorce. Las Vegas is among the nation's leaders for child prostitution, substance abuse and where else could one expect to find bodies stuffed in suitcases on a regular weekly basis and former mob lawyers can grow up to be mayor? If Nevada is conservative then all it is conserving is it's right to be an assmonkey.

Now certain Las Vegans can rant on about those stupid, pesky, backwards rurals but the truth is that one of the greatest obstacles to democrats being able to gain any ground in Nevada has been Las Vegas. Yeah you. Republicans in Democratic clothing.

Gleaner is right about one thing, the same issues that concern the rest of America concern the average Nevadan.

We are concerned about what is happening to our environment, we aren't real keen on the BLM rapidly divesting itself of our lands by auctioning it off to Las Vegas developers either. Tip of the day: Taylor and friends, get rid of the big, gas-guzzling pick-em-up trucks and SUV's sporting "NV Democrat" vanity plates. While you're on it, update your MySpace page, if you're 19 years old then I'm Beyonce Knowles and you can kiss my black ass.

We're also concerned about the economy, especially as it relates to the middle class and "working poor" (such lovely terms we come up with for such ugly realities). Those things concern us a lot because they affect the overwhelming MAJORITY of small town and rural Nevadans. Unlike some of you city folk who would prefer to debate ideological points at the club while sipping cocktails.

Foreign policy is a big deal to us too because surprise, surprise, those are OUR children over in Iraqmire getting blown to pieces. Ours, not yours.

A whole lot of us don't begrudge anyone equal rights, gay or straight, religious or not, black, white or brown. As a group we haven't often been very vocal on these issues because see, you guys forgot about ours and we're fighting for our lives here.

You want to take our water so you can build more condos and put in more golf courses then you want to tell us how to vote.

You want people to come work in your casinos and industry, clean your houses, staff your hospitals and teach in your schools but you don't want to pay enough for them to be able to afford a home of their own. Everyone knows the real story of Las Vegas – enormous power concentrated in the hands of casinos, unchecked by government and oblivious to community responsibility.

You have a mayor who calls himself a Democrat but I didn't hear your outrage when he decided to make it illegal to feed the homeless.

You claim to root for the party that stands for fairness and equality but you're ok with rating women for their "bimbo appeal" and treating the less financially privileged like house pets.

All of that then you want to call us dimwits, nuts and idiots. Who really is the jackass here?

Do I think think all Las Vegans are like this? Nope. Just a large percentage of the ones who've been "speaking for the party". My party. What you are is a black eye in the face of real democrats everywhere and the best people to guarantee continued republican control of the state for years to come.

Enough Already

I give up, the leftosphere can take the entire August debate and air it on MTV or the Cooking Channel or just cancel it altogether. Hell, do it American Idol style and hire Simon Cowell to run it, "Mr. Kucinich, you are not a ballerina".

More from Taylor Marsh:

But if we're being honest about the Nevada Democrats choosing Fox, you have to come to grips with the fact that our candidates are likely for it. Harry Reid and the Nevada Democrats have been seduced. The Democratic '08ers want as many different eyes on them as they can get. It's also a foreign policy crowd and a "strong on terror" audience, whatever that means, so it will benefit Biden and Richardson, though that's not to say the other candidates aren't good on foreign policy.

See your point on Biden who has been pretty supportive of keeping our troops in Iraq but um, your very obvious anti-Richardson bias aside...how does that benefit him? He's consistently called for withdrawal of troops and repeatedly urged congress to force the issue. I can live with you not liking Richardson for whatever reason but I have issues with flawed reasoning. Also with outright lying.

The west may be going Democratic, but if it is it won't be through any help from Fox.

It won't be through any help from you either. Now that you and your kindred have called everyone who doesn't fall right in with your party line every demeaning name you could think of....we love you almost as much as we love the rightosphere. Ever wonder why you keep losing the middle? This is from the bottom of my heart: fuck you, you narcissistic, leftwing version of Michelle Malkin.

I hate Fox. They don't run a single show or have a single commentator I have one ounce of respect for. That isn't relevant, millions of voters do. Short of deporting all of them to East Timor they are a fact of life you have to deal with. What's next, the Republicans boycott coverage of their debates on CNN?

Do I love this choice? Yes and no. I do see a golden opportunity here and the simple fact is that every other network declined to air this. Am I worried about the spin? Yes. There have to be some ground rules. Something you might could push for if you weren't so busy alienating everyone who isn't lockstep with you. You might be special, you aren't a big enough majority to win an election with your attitude.

I've been a democrat all of my life. Along the way I've even managed to convince a few people to go dem too. If I keep reading this kind of garbage for much longer I'll be contemplating getting a "Mc/Cain in '08" tattoo on my backside. Thanks so much for campaigning for the republican party. Sorry we'uns weren't good enuff fer you'uns.

One Nevada Dimwit's Point of View

If Nevada politics bores you, you might want to skip this because I'm on one this morning. Big time. Trying to take deep breaths and not just start flinging turds.

My frustration grows and grows. After reading some of the early blog commentary regarding yesterday's speechifying in Carson City I have reached an even deeper understanding of why we have never become the majority party in most of the country.

We (as in the democratic party) just don't get it. We're so wrapped up in party politics and being on the "right side" of every itty-bitty issue that comes up so as to remain in good standing with the cool kids that we completely forget who it was we were supposed to want to represent. Let me remind you. It was regular people. Not party hacks, not wanna-be blogging mega-stars, not just the all-important and ever snarky Las Vegas pundits and definitely not the ultra-rich and uber-cool folks in Pacific Palisades who do not give a rats ass about Nevadans even on a good day.

Quit thinking about all those people for a minute, dig your cranium out of your rear and take a long, hard look at reality. Those people may give you a lot of cash and that's always helpful. They won't get anyone elected. They get one vote, same as me, same as all the old folks living in the trailer park. There are more of us.

Let's begin with Taylor Marsh, "the antidote to rightwing talk".

The reason I missed Richardson was because Edwards took the time to go into the media room and answer a lot of questions, starting off with Iraq.

What about poverty and gambling, was another question. Edwards was flat out honest, saying he hadn't thought about it, but he would after the question and thanked the reporter for asking it.

The last question came at the same time someone came to tell him time was up. What do you think about legalized prostitution in Nevada? Edwards laughed and said, "That's a good question to leave on." Then laughing and leaving the room Edwards added with a laugh, "I can't believe you asked that question." Chuckling as he walked out the door.

Great reporting there Ms. Marsh. You missed a candidates speech so you could ask John Edwards how he felt about gambling and prostitution. I'm so sure those are matters of great national concern. In my perfect world Edwards would have responded, "gee, I never gave it much thought Taylor but how do you feel about having fried okra shoved up your ass by a guy whistling Dixie?". Now THAT would have gotten him some western votes. Luckily for all of us he simply laughed in your foolish face and made a graceful exit.

Here was what you did manage to cover of Gov. Richardson's appearance:

Richardson was next and I missed quite a bit of it.

"We should not be known for Abu Ghraid." - Bill Richardson

Richardson arrived about 1:00 p.m., according to a reporter in the media room. He talked about "worker protections" and "environmental protections" in our trade agreements, which he believes should be fair trade, not just free trade, which includes dealing with "wage disparity."

Richardson closed by talking about the world and Darfur, but made a point of saying we need to talk to our enemies, too.

I can see why this would not have interested you much. Nothing scurrilous or scandalous enough to insure more hits to your blog. After all, it's all about you isn't it? Oh, by the way, "Senator Reid greeted us at about 11am, Governor Richardson arrived just about then, spoke to the group and did a LOT of schmoozing before heading over to the Community Center." That's 11am dear, not 1pm. You might try poking your head out to see what's going on now and then.

Then there is this in the Las Vegas Gleaner re: Fox news coverage of the August debate.

Reid is not interested in assuring Democratic majorities (or Democratic policies) by changing the public's mind as much as he is in convincing a majority of the public that Democrats like guns too, have values too, hate taxes too and are, if not right on the issues, then at least, oh, acceptable.

So what are you saying here, Reid is interested in assuring a Republican majority? Don't think so, next. By the way Gleaner people, a lot of Democrats do have guns, we do have values which may or may not be the same as the average Republican's but we have them, and we do hate taxes, we're usually just a little more reasonable about seeing the need for some.

I do get so tired of having to explain things to folks but dammit-all, someone who isn't one of the special folks has got to do it.

I'm hardly Harry Reid's biggest cheerleader as some of my previous posts can attest to but there is a reason Reid has been in the senate since 1986 in a RED state. He isn't stupid. He's smart enough to choose his battles and realize that bending on some issues can mean the difference between life and death on bigger issues. Do you want to nitpick about reaching out to try and snag a few votes from across the aisle or would you rather not have a fully operational Yucca Mountain Project and keep feeding troops to Iraq? In case you've forgotten, 1% can be the difference between being Mr./Madam President or "who was that guy who ran in.....?"

Grow up.

JWH comments on Hillary's lack of appropriate butt-kissing to the press:

Don't pass out from shock when I tell you this, but Hillary Clinton flat out avoided the press. No one seen her arrive or leave. It was like magic. I guess we'll find out within the next couple of years if a candidate can win an election on money alone without actually answering the hard questions from the media.

JWH, don't pass out from shock but the press ain't impressing us much. I'm sorry if she didn't take time to pontificate upon her stance towards gambling and prostitution but something had to get cut y'know. Hillary isn't my numero uno either but props to her for not being retarded.

CLS from Blue Lyon was there, "I've read elsewhere that the local press and some bloggers felt that she avoided them. That might have been because she was actually spending time with Democrats - visiting over at the legislature, taking a trip through Comma Coffee (one of our attendees told us she had been over there meeting people and shaking hands), meeting with Democratic women, speaking at the forum. And then she came over to visit with us before heading off to Las Vegas for a 5pm speaking engagement."

In addition to all of this local fun I'd put money on most people being tired of listening to the pundits debate whether or not Obama is "Black enough" or Richardson is "Mexican enough".

While we've pretty much established that Biden might be clean but not so articulate I have to ask the burning question: is Edwards Cracker enough to win the Cracker vote? Enquiring minds want to know.

Stupid People Tricks: the Dee-Dee-Dee-ization of America

I'm quite happy the hikers on Mount Hood have been rescued, not much the worse for wear. I'm especially happy that this particular group had enough sense to take with them cell phones, Global Positioning System gear and beacons. Kudos to them for not being entirely retarded.

This isn't really about them specifically but the whole mountain climber-adventurer thing in general. What the hell is it about us that makes us want to climb mountains in the dead of winter anyway?

I'm listening to the news this morning and a commentator is discussing the fact that some legislators are considering making Global Positioning System gear mandatory for hikers and the inevitable protest from some hikers.

Quoth the commentator, "you have to understand the type of personality who does this. They like taking risks, risking their lives, they don't like being told what to do".

Really? Go live in a low-rent district for a while and work a minimum wage job while trying to raise a few children and keep them out of trouble if you're up for a REAL challenge.

I don't like being told what to do either, I also don't run around doing stupid, senseless shit to prove how tough I am and then expect half the world to come bail my dumb ass out when I get in trouble. The least you can do is make it easier for the poor sots who have to put their own lives on the line to come save you.

Then we get the Kings & Queens of dumb-assdom. The ones who aren't content to be a pain in our backsides but must export their bravado and daring overseas. Get lost in the mountains in freaking Tibet and create international incidents requiring people of many nations to expend time, energy and a great deal of money trying to find you.

All of this while the native population is living in huts and carrying water in buckets and then we wonder why a lot of people in the world just don't like us. Let me 'splain this one: it's because we are stupid, insensitive, asshats. Sure, they can use our tourist dollars but they aren't going to love us, not when we consistently act a fool and expect them to drop everything to see to our needs. Get a clue.

As if that weren't enough stupid-people-trick news for me I was treated to the yuppie whining of passengers from Jet Blue. Trapped on a plane for up to 11 hours and couldn't get to your honeymoon in Aruba. That's just heartbreaking. WHAT THE FUCK, were all the emergency doors broken?

You could probably keep me in wait mode for a couple of hours, not 11 freaking hours. Open the damned door and slide your fat ass out on the wing and start entertaining the locals. They'd have sent someone to get y'all out of there in a New York minute, trust me on this.

The airline personnel on the plane were as clueless as you were thanks to US business practices that leave employees with no room for thinking on their feet. Can't have that, gotta micro-manage the peons or we might get people who could actually THINK. Would set a dangerous precedent.

All of this and more is why Mexico is eventually going to kick our ass. I have to admire someone who is living in conditions that would make most of mainstream America's hair stand on end who says "screw this". He or she may walk 20, 50, or 100 miles or more to the border, scout for a chance to cross while knowing they might well be caught, shot, robbed, raped, or simply die of thirst or exposure then walk another who-knows-how-many miles across the desert so they can maybe get a job cleaning someones toilet or butchering chickens or shoveling cow shit. All so his or her children might have a shot at a better life.

An American faced with such a dilemma will usually just whine that a Mexican took his job. Then he or she will join the Minutemen and stand around on a street corner waving an American flag while collecting unemployment, SSI, and Food Stamps.

Now if you were an employer who would you choose? I'd hire the Mexican.

Love those big brass balls and most of us gringos have lost ours. That's the only reason I can come up with for why we feel the need to show our nuts by climbing up mountains for no good reason, Pedro doesn't need to because he never lost his in the first place.

Assmonkey Language Control Part II

As several commentators stated, yes, language does matter. It's a tool for communication and one I frequently use as a deliberate verbal stick in the groin. It's my weapon of choice.

Wizard commented:
If we defend the right to free speech of Marcotte & McEwan, we must also defend the rights of Coulter & Limbaugh.

I do. They have an absolute right to spout any views they want to. Just as I have the same right to make fun of those views and play verbal kickball with them. I've never advocated for forcibly silencing them.

I did read the post in question. I'd also have to call the Christian conservative movement "Christofascist" because plain and simple, it is. Check the definition of facism.

A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.

A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.

Oppressive, dictatorial control.

Calling the movement "fascist" isn't "hate speech". It's the truth. No one, Marcotte included, ever advocated to encourage violence against them or any loss of civil rights, including the right to believe what they believe as objectionable as it may be to some of us.

Some of us do strenuously object to their attempt to enact their particular beliefs into laws. It's incredibly simple: if you believe birth control is a sin, DON'T USE IT. If you believe same-sex marriage is a sin: don't marry a person of the same gender as yourself. Trying to control everyone else's choices and beliefs in these and other matters IS fascism.

Wizard also brought up the Mel Gibson and Michael Richards incidents.

There are some very clear differences that ought to be apparent to most sane people. Much as I detest Fundies I do NOT have any right to verbally or in any other way, harass them in their homes, their workplaces, or anywhere in the public domain. I cannot imagine approaching a group of door-to-door evangelists and screaming obscenities and insults at them. I do have every right to attack their views here, my blog, my rules.

If the argument was, and I sense it really was, a rant at Edwards for hiring them in the first place, there is merit to that argument. Certainly if he is attempting to appeal to the center they are a poor choice.

I don't have a problem with people changing their minds, I do it fairly often as more information becomes available but this was a case of the information was already there, flip-flopping all over the board at the first jab was over the top.

Did you know that Marcotte has consistently referred to Jesus as "Jeebus" in all her writings (one blogger counted 114 such references). Can you imagine Edwards rage if she have used a similar derogatory reference for Mohammad? Can you image the Muslim rage?

I sometimes refer to him as Jay-sus, more a play on Southern pronunciation than an attempt on my part to insult a being I do not believe in as a "divine saviour". I cannot insult that which I do not believe exists. I'm sure Muslims would be outraged if I did the same to their deity, we've all seen the violence that has ensued after some well-publicized incidents. Are you trying to say the Christian right might behave in the same fashion? If they do then I'd advocate for having them jailed, the same as I would for Muslims who behave in this manner.

Yes, jailed. People who cannot keep their hands and feet to themselves forfeit the right to live with the rest of us.

The current president of this country publicly declared he did not view me, an Atheist, as a citizen. Imagine my outrage. I did not even contemplate assaulting him. So does that make Atheists more civilized than religious people?

Donohue was never going to vote for Edwards, neither were his followers so exactly why is his opinion of any importance? It isn't. For that matter neither is mine or yours either as we were never going to vote for him either.

In short, it pisses us off that someone like Edwards represents our party. Fine. Attacking the bloggers is your right, you are free to do that all day long but you have to expect your logic and rationales are going to come under scrutiny when you do.

Assmonkey's Guide to Controlling Language

I'm sure by now everyone has already at least heard about the John Edwards flap over his hiring, then reported firing, then backtracking yet again and not firing two liberal bloggers he had hired for his campaign, Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan.

I'm not really going to talk about that much. I've always considered Edwards a weaselly-weasel and I am an old woman with weasel radar.

Suffice to say, the writings and opinions of Marcotte and McEwan were not a state secret, he was or ought to have been fully aware of their positions and choice of language before he hired them. Hiring them then bending over for the Catholic League's Bill Donohue, then rolling over one more time when at least some segments of his base protested should never have happened at all. If you don't like the delivery don't hire that messenger. Good grief, and they called Kerry wishy-washy.

So the affair doesn't please me, it also does not surprise me, it's about what I expect from Edwards.

What truly yanks my too easily yanked chain is nonsense like this.

But she certainly was colorful in her in her rant! Yet it is that very color that marginalizes her position. Substituting the "F" word for logic, clear thought, facts or reason diminishes her into total obscurity.

Only mindless extremists could possibly like or respect her.Clearly one or more of those mindless extremists are part of John Edward's campaign. And those folks convinced someone in Edward's campaign to hire this idiot without properly researching her previous writings or work.

Beg to differ. The writer of this claims to be a "classic liberal". Classic classist-elitist liberal maybe. Only a mindless buffoon would decide a persons choice of adjectives made them more or less credible. You sir are an idiot. A snobbish, vanilla-puddin' eatin' idiot.

I love this response to people like him from Pandagon:

If one more social-conservative-in-centrist’s-clothing tries to put this “No, really, this decision is going to hurt Edwards, for whom I had every intention of voting, I swear,” nonsense over on me, I’m going to start the cocktail hour early tonight.

I never had any intention of voting for Edwards. I also have not really followed these bloggers or their blogs, mostly because I prefer to look for smaller, more individual blogs than follow the "biggies". Many of the major blogs are quite good but one of the things I have always most loved about the "internets" is its ability to give anyone and everyone a voice. Joe Schmoe in Podunkville would likely never be asked to contribute to any major blog but he might have something to say and I might just want to know what that is. I like to keep my ear to the ground, good to know when a buffalo stampede is heading ones way.

I might agree or disagree with these two bloggers, certainly I disagree with their choice of candidate but in any case it wouldn't be based on their choice of language. If Edwards was uncomfortable with it he should not have hired them in the first place. If as a nation we are so stupid and shallow all we can focus on is a persons use of the word "fuck", then we probably deserve to keep electing the sort of assclowns we've been electing.

If the writer of the language critique post is truly representative of the majority of democratic liberals then we truly are fucked.

Money Matters

Nevada Up North had some things to say regarding a subject that has been very much on my mind. The entire post is worth a look and pretty much sums up my own views on NAFTA, the WTO and free trade in general.

Dennis Kucinich has a problem with his plan for peace. At the winter meeting of the DNC he said he wanted to create a Department of Peace. That's fine, I agree with putting as much effort to peace as we do to defense. The problem with Kucinich's big happy world is that his economic policies completely contradict he goal. In fact, his economic policies even contradict his economic policies.

He discussed the issue in the context of Kucinich which is fine, I agree, Kucinich seems to be a genuinely kind, sincere person. So is my husband but he wouldn't make a good president either. It should apply to all of the candidates as well.

The issues, ie: Iraq, Iran, Darfur, North Korea, foreign policy in general, gay rights, health care, etc. are all important to me as I'm sure they are to all Democrats. Where NV Up North and I differ from many in our pack is that we also place great emphasis on our economy.

Yes, I know, many dems do not want to vote based on economic issues, it's all about emotional appeal and stance on human rights and welfare issues. Get over it. Economy is a human rights and welfare issue and business is part of it.

This has been the hole in our bucket. Corporations are all Evil and Wal-Mart Must Die attitudes will not serve us well. They will also ensure we do not maintain any position of power we have managed to obtain.

Yes, conservative, religious fundamentalists have been a problem for us. Guess what has helped them grow their movement? It's the economy stupid. Unfortunately AlterNet while making some good points does what we-of-the-left often do, gets more than a little muddled in understanding the roots of the problem.

Dr. James Luther Adams, my ethics professor at Harvard Divinity School, told his students that when we were his age -- he was then close to 80 -- we would all be fighting the "Christian fascists."

Adams understood that totalitarian movements are built out of deep personal and economic despair. He warned that the flight of manufacturing jobs, the impoverishment of the American working class, the physical obliteration of communities in the vast, soulless exurbs and decaying Rust Belt, were swiftly deforming our society. The current assault on the middle class, which now lives in a world in which anything that can be put on software can be outsourced, would have terrified him. The stories that many in this movement told me over the past two years as I worked on "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America" were stories of this failure -- personal, communal and often economic. This despair, Adams said, would empower dangerous dreamers -- those who today bombard the airwaves with an idealistic and religious utopianism that promises, through violent apocalyptic purification, to eradicate the old, sinful world that has failed many Americans.

So, the argument is we return to a more insular economy and massive protectionism? How long do you suppose this would work before the entire system came tumbling down around our ears? Think it through, how well did it work out for Japan or the former Soviet Union?

Ok, so millions of jobs have been exported to China, India and other havens of "cheap labor". That's painful, it's also created a middle class, read consumer class in those countries. It's also pushing up the wage scales in those countries....how long do you suppose before it is no longer such a bargain to outsource to Singapore? It's inevitable.

Does this mean we have to leave half our population jobless in the meantime? NO. Absolutely not. Where we've failed miserably is in educating our people for the new realities and in not setting good policies for working with business to provide better terms for workers.

This is where the Republicans fall flat on their faces. We are not and will likely never be a "socialist" nation much as the right likes to claim all democrats are raving Marxists, that's a total myth. We do however recognise something the righties do not: government DOES have to take some responsibility for the welfare of its citizens. Leaving it all in the hands of for-profit corporations with no checks and balances was never going to work any more than leaving it 100% in the hands of government would. There has to be a partnership, no matter how unwilling and we have to be the ones to demand it.

Taking a hard line all-or-nothing stance either for or against business or free trade is not going to accomplish anything except more misery for all the people slugging along in the middle or on the bottom of the pile. I like results more than I like ideology.

That does not mean I would vote for a flaming social conservative to protect the economy, I wouldn't. Not in this lifetime. It does mean that when scrutinizing potential candidates whose social and foreign policy views I like I also have to scrutinize their economic views. Cutting off my nose to spite my face and make a point is not my forte.

We have only two candidates at this time that I see who have any grasp of the economic issues: Clinton and Richardson. Obama, I loves you but you lost me when you went stumping on the "Wal-Mart Must Die" trail with Edwards. It might have played well with the far left, for those of us living in bumfacked, podunk, Realityville it didn't wash. Try working with Wal-Mart to improve working benefits for their employees instead of demonizing them and come back in 4 years. I know, I know, I don't love them either but they are part of the American landscape and you just can't shoot them.

Instead of making fun of discount store shoppers (and yes, mea culpa, I've done it occasionally too) how about we work on ways to improve their lot in life? Killing the corporations who employ many of them will not help them. Finding ways to make health insurance more affordable, providing carrots that reward businesses for paying living wages, and simply raising the bar for what is expected in the way of working conditions, pay and benefits would help them.

Rant over. Please, please, please think long and hard about economic issues along with all the other issues before you vote. I want equal rights and access to services for all. I also want everyone to eat regularly and be able to live in decent homes. Someone has to pay for all these things so crushing Wall Street, while it might be fun in a mean, take that you weenies sort of way, would be like shooting ourselves in the foot to prove guns are dangerous.

I don't know where the saying originated but mothers all over have a saying for their children when the little dears insist on doing something mom has told them will cause them harm and they fall down and hurt themselves anyway. I'm not religious but the saying is still good.

God don't like ugly.

Hat tip to And, yes, I DO take it personally.

Getting What You Pay For

While I am on the topic of American conservatives cutting off their noses to spite their faces I thought I'd tackle the behemoth of US retail, the mighty Wal-Mart.

Unlike most of my brethren on the left side of life I'm not staunchly "anti-Wal-Mart". I have more of a love-hate relationship with it.

I believe in facing facts and the fact is I live in a podunk little town and at last check neither Nordstrom's or even J. C. Penney's were shit hot to come here. No Home Depot either, not even a Target. We have a couple of little individually owned clothing retailers if you enjoy wearing Hawaiian-flower print caftans or nothing but T-shirts emblazoned with skater or thrasher images.

This of course leaves the internet, my favorite shopping mecca. Much as I love internet shopping though I have to admit that sometimes one just needs a pair of socks. Then there are those little emergencies like when my coffeemaker gave up the ghost with no advance warning. Sorry, I'm not waiting till next week for a cup of coffee to make a $49.99 political statement, that ain't happening. If waiting till next week would save Darfur I'd do it, I'd most likely even give up coffee but I'm not doing it just to stay on the politically correct "good list".

I'm far from wealthy, trust me on that one, but I count myself fortunate that I'm in that group of people that can make choices as to where I shop, it's nice to have options. What about the roughly 40% of my community that do not have credit cards? No internet shopping for them, assuming they even own a computer and have an internet connection. They could drive the 60+ miles to Las Vegas I suppose. If they own a car capable of making the trips reliably and can afford the gas. Then again that's bound to piss off the environmental lobby.

That leaves the evil-employer-from-hell issue. I wouldn't want to work at Wal-Mart. Somehow I don't feature myself loving the hell out of being on my feet all day smiling at frazzled moms toting screaming toddlers. Thing is, I wouldn't want to work at a bank either for much the same reasons and they pay nearly as badly as Wal-Mart. They also utilise the trick of not covering any benefits for part-time employees and then hiring mostly part-time employees. No one is talking about Bank of America though, why is that?

The people who work at Wal-Mart are going to work somewhere and odds are good it will not be in a nice office job with full benefits at $12 an hour. No, because if they didn't work at Wal-Mart for $8 or $9 an hour they'd be relegated to working for one of those little mom-and-pop shops selling Hawaiian-flower print caftans for $6.15 and hour, full-time with no chance of benefits, ever. Or maybe the graveyard shift at the local convenience store selling 2-for-a-dollar hotdogs to drunks at 3 am. I'm voting for them to get hired at Wal-Mart. Even given our Nevadan penchant for firearms a body is still less likely to be shot in the head in Housewares barring runs on limited-availability clearance sale items.

What really kills me though (and here I am going to absolutely piss off most of my political allies) is that the very same folks who advocate so fiercely against globalization which contrary to popular mythology is not simply a bunch of "elitist leftists" but an overwhelming percentage of the "working class" are the very same folks who shop and work at Wal-Mart.

Per the Chicago Tribune
The U.S. trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed for the third straight month in November, to the lowest level in 16 months.

The gap between imports and exports fell 1 percent, to $58.2 billion, the smallest shortfall since July 2005, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, as exports hit a record level and the deficit with China declined from an all-time high.

The fact that this occurred at the exact same time Wal-Mart faced it's first sales decline in 10 years is not coincidental.

Wal-Mart is the single largest importer of foreign-produced goods in the United States, their biggest trading partner is China, and their trade with China alone constitutes approximately 10 percent of the total US trade deficit with China as of 2004. As of 2004, 60% of products sold at Wal-Mart were imported into the United States from other countries. Wikipedia

Numbers don't lie. We can choose globalization and free or at least freer trade or we can give up inexpensive consumer goods. We can't have both.

I've listened to endless ranting and raving here in Podunkville and from that self-appointed "Champion of the Middle Class", Lou "Let's-Eat-the-Mexicans" Dobbs about the selling out of America and how we need to keep our manufacturing jobs here and for Americans. They huff and they puff and pontificate until they give literal meaning to the term "redneck". Then they jump into their affordable vehicle full of foreign-manufactured pieces and parts and go shopping. At Wal-Mart.

Excuse me for rolling my eyes.

My Massively Mediocre Moment

Buckdog posted a link to this WSJ Opinion piece and, being massively mediocre and all, I couldn't resist running with it.

The blogs are not as significant as their self-endeared curators would like to think. Journalism requires journalists, who are at least fitfully confronting the digital age. The bloggers, for their part, produce minimal reportage. Instead, they ride along with the MSM like remora fish on the bellies of sharks, picking at the scraps.

I don't recall when I, or any other blogger for that matter, declared ourselves "journalists". We aren't reporters, we are commentators, you know, individuals with opinions about the scraps the reporters toss us. Rather than remora fish try thinking of us as coyotes, here to pick the meat from your dead, white bones.

I don't personally harbor many delusions about my own mythical significance, more to the point would be yours.

A tone of careless informality prevails; posts oscillate between the uselessly brief and the uselessly logorrheic; complexity and complication are eschewed; the humor is cringe-making, with irony present only in its conspicuous absence; arguments are solipsistic; writers traffic more in pronouncement than persuasion . . .

Most of us are carelessly informal as you say, we are bloggers, not journalists...see above for explanation. The remainder of your complaints can only make me laugh, same could be said of much of the "legitimate" media.

The petty interpolitical feuding mainly points out that someone is a liar or an idiot or both.

Some people are, so exactly what is your point? Despite your loquacious, logorrheic, and more than a little solipsistic opinion, I have to wonder what percentage of your brain is firing on all cylinders. Nice form, big holes in your substance.

Nobody wants to be an imbecile. Part of it, I think, is that everyone likes shows and entertainments. Mobs are exciting. People also like validation of what they already believe; the Internet, like all free markets, has a way of gratifying the mediocrity of the masses.

I doubt most of the bloggers would even aspire to being imbeciles of greater renown than the ones we've managed to elect or enshrine as celebrities. That would entail entirely too much effort dear.

I would also have serious doubts about even the most well known blogs being as widely followed as nearly any news cast on any news network so that would beg the question: exactly who is gratifying the mediocrity of the masses?

This is of course simply my own massively mediocre opinion due to the fact that I am in no way nearly as important and enlightened as yourself or your brethren and self-appointed guardians of the truth as you see it.

You have a nice day Mr. Rago and feel free to kiss my ass

Get Out of My Coffee

I'm all for freedom, even for incredibly stupid people but please, don't even try to put me or people like me in with these nutbars and their Orgasm for Peace.

I'm seeing this posted all over the web and of course the wingnuts are trying to use it as proof-positive that all democrats are crazed hippies living in treehouses. Kindly fuck off. These folks are clearly a few bricks shy of a full load....just like a whole helluva lot of your constituents are.

Do you suppose part of the reason we keep ending up with nuttybars of both flavours holding public office might have something to do with our primary voting system? What would happen if, hypothetically, we had open primaries in every state and every voter could vote for one candidate from each party?

I'll tell you what would happen, the freaks and wingnuts would get kicked to the curb. Hard. The majority of voters would vote towards the center eliminating the farbies before they ever made it to the starting gate.

This is of course contrary to the interests of the fanatical fringe on both sides so I'm sure they'd fight such a proposal with their last dying breath but I'm okay with that...some things need to die.

Let's Cut the Crap and Slit Our Own Throats Now

Okay so I already ranted about getting over ourselves. Tough, I'm going to do it again.

I'm trolling along trying to take my mind off my old stomping grounds currently burning to the ground in CA and I run across this bit at Wonkette.

Don't get me wrong, I love Wonkette, it's funny, entertaining, and (insert your own complementary comment) but ya know I just can't beat up on Right-Wingnuts ALL the time. Truthfully, aside from the "rural =hillbilly" tone the piece isn't so bad. I think it was the comments that got me.

Obviously from the tone of most of them I can conclude that people who would:
a) own a satellite dish
b) live in a small house (or OMG I HAVE to say it, a TRAILER)
c) possibly even own a gun
d) commit the ultimate sin of being less-than-wealthy

MUST:
a) be running a meth lab
b) care more about NASCAR than the budget deficit
c) be okay with a l'il pedophilia and/or incest
d) have bad teeth and spit on public sidewalks

Thanks to all my fellow democrats who feel this way and just dissed a few million voters. Thank you very fucking much. Why don't we just get a new campaign slogan, something along the lines of "Vote Blue, Red is So Last Year" or maybe "We're More Awesome Than You, Ask Us Why".

I'm not blind, yes, there are some people just like all of the above but guess what...THEY are not the rural voters who are EVER going to vote democrat. I lived in cities enough years to know they are there too, just more outnumbered.

In the meantime it would be really helpful if those of you who feel this way about the rest of us dumbass, tobacky-chawin', cheap-shoe wearin' hillbillies out here in the sticks would stuff a baguette in your lovely Botox-lipped yaps. It would be be really nice for all of us to actually win a few elections.

Altruism, Elitism and the Left or A Few Simple Steps for Turning People Into Pets

I don't believe in "altruism", doing something for some perceived good with no thought of personal gain. I don't believe for one minute that Mother Theresa "sacrificed" anything to live her life as she did, she was doing exactly what she wanted to be doing. I'd bet real dinero she had more than one hearty, inner belly laugh at this kind of talk too.

We humanoid types do "good" things for a reason, those reasons vary according to our own worldview but it's never in a void. All of us get the fringe benefit of feeling good about ourselves, religious folks believe they earn spiritual brownie points, some see themselves as part of one system and believe improving that system benefits them both directly and indirectly, then there are those who embrace causes and gain status within their own social/political circle. Most of us operate from some mix of all of the above, I'm sure there are more but for the purpose of simplicity I'll leave it there. I mainly want to talk about number three right now.

The social/political peer group thing, where we see ourselves in the food chain. Here's a newsflash: the foodchain determines our real-world power, it has nothing whatsoever to do with our inherent value or lack of same. If you are operating under some assumption that it does that would make you: an assmonkey.

I hear the protests from the Left, no, not us, we believe in everyones equal worth. I'm your ideological sibling for the most part so I have a pretty good idea about this and I'm going to stick a pin in your bubble, no you don't. You don't believe it any more than you believe your Golden Retriever's life has as much or possibly more value than your own. A few of "us" might get this, most of "us" don't.

If you're still reading I'm going to assume you either get it or are in the group that might be able to.

There is a lot of hate directed at Lefties. Some of it really is from "powerbrokers" seeing a threat to their stranglehold on the food chain. Some of it is from people who you would think stood to gain much more from joining our party. Did you ever stop to think that it might be a simple case of not wanting to exchange kowtowing to one set of elitists only to become the pets or science projects of another? Clinton understood that, Obama gets that, Gore may or may not get it but sure as hell did not convey it, Kerry fer sure did not get it.

Hyphenated-American people are not inherently different from any other human, they sure as hell are not stupid and are better at spotting people who don't get it, they've had more practice. People who work in factories, car washes, and your local fucking Wal-Mart are not inherently different from you and they fer sure get it when you try to use their "plight" for your own freaking ends. 'Po folk are not your pets.

This is for all the skinny, white, college-educated, non-smoking, salad-eating, dolphin-saving cultural elitists: shut the fuck up. You aren't superior and you aren't special. Not any more special than the fat lady shopping at Wal-Mart or the sweaty, dirty guy chain-smoking on the park bench. Get over yourselves.

Quit trying to save everyone from themselves and when you help some group of people in whatever cause, try seeing them as your peer group instead of as socially
deprived lab rats. The results might surprise you.

Oh yeah, the next time you are hangin' with your homies and someone starts capping on smokers, Wal-Mart shoppers, 'ho's with too many kids, people with bad teeth, fat chicks, or whatever the hell your crew thinks is funny, please bitch-slap them and tell them that was from me. Later haters.