Chip Dornell's Ahead On The Left

What's Going On with Newt?

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:13:00 +0000

If You Don't Like It You Should Put a Gag In It

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:58:00 +0000

Hopefully it will be the biggest shame of Black History Month 2012 how a bunch of race harpies jumped on Beyonce's claim of ethnic variety in her heritage. As reported in the Grio this week, Beyonce appears in a commercial for L'Oreal attributing her skin tone to a mixed racial background. According to the Grio article, "critics" charge that Beyonce is attempting to distance herself from African-Americans.

Beyonce's critics have a right to their opinion, but they open themselves up to accusations of old-fashioned pettiness that began as the ugly step-child of the Black Pride movement of the sixties. The message of esteem for people who felt frustrated and disenfranchised was valuable for that generation coming of age. But what detracted from what should have been a positive movement was the sect of Black Police that anointed themselves the judge, jury, and executioner of modern black orthodoxy. Who were these people specifically? I have no idea just as I have no idea who the people are who are criticizing Beyonce for the way she identifies herself in a stupid makeup commercial. Obviously though, they exist.

My impression of those people is that there is a current of low self-worth that belies their so-called pride. I don't think this is just true with the Black Pride police, but with anyone who insists on any kind of purity for membership to whatever club of which they act as guardians. That sort of rigidity suggests a discomfort and a fear of isolation. Instead of learning to be happy with the person they are they surround themselves with those who are equally rigid, miserable, and judgmental. Misery loves company.

There was a time when Blacks who could do so passed for white. It often required them to perform tragic compromises including disowning their loved ones. It was this kind of stuff that the Black Pride movement was supposed to be good for. The point was not to force people to militantly deny, disavow, and ignore whatever other ethnicities they had in their background. It is going from one form of unhealthiness to another when people are forced to "love" themselves by hating other parts of who they are.

Accusing Beyonce of distancing herself from African-Americans is pure stupidity and her critics know it. One does not distance themselves from African-Americans by marrying Jay-Z and having his baby. For those critics, it is more of statement on their own self-loathing that they make Beyonce's claims of Native American and French ancestry about themselves. In their complaints one can actually hear their fear of being abandoned by someone they have adored.

Instead of this being a moment of shame, there is the potential for it to be lesson time. Beyonce strikes me as a savvy woman. An ideal response from her would be to demonstrate that divulging our multi-ethnic backgrounds today does not make us any less black than we were yesterday. And most of us do have multi-ethnic backgrounds. To deny that is just as crazy as trying to pass as white in this day and age. Maybe more so. At least people who tried to pass were engaged mostly in self-destruction. Those people dumping on Beyonce are contributing to the destruction of otherwise upstanding role models.

More Fun with a Free Photoshop Knockoff

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:13:00 +0000

More Republican-Speak That Should Make You Say "WTF"

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:52:00 +0000

Upon (not) conceding the Florida Republican primary to Mitt Romney on Tuesday, Newt Gingrich let loose with the type of language that someone trying to distinguish themselves as more conservative would use.

"It is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader, Newt Gingrich, and the Massachusetts moderate" said Gingrich after loosing decisively to Romney. Those words went in and out of most ears without any alarms for offensive language going off because we have been so used to this type of talk from Gingrich and other conservatives for a long time. What most of us have become so inured to is regions or states being used as pejorative modifiers

The putting down of U.S. states goes on in general discourse as a matter of ribbing, be it light-hearted or mean-spirited. Liberals, for example, love rolling their eyes at the South, Texas, and now Alaska. Everyone has taken shots at New Jersey which has found it hard to live down its reputation as the kind of place that rhymes with chithole. The difference is that not everyone engages in this sort of regionalism when running for president. It is certainly not a habit of liberal-leaning presidential candidates who are more likely to embrace inclusion and acceptance.

Gingrich, on the other hand, may give lip service to the notions of inclusion and acceptance, but then will turn around and hold up the entire state of Massachusetts as a symbol of derision. Like all name calling, the root of Newt's denigration lies somewhere amid the "disvirtues" of anger, insecurity, and fear be it his or that of the few people who egg on his antisocial behavior. What is most absurd about this is that Gingrich is running for president of the entire country which includes Massachusetts. Are we to assume that Newt Gingrich loves his country with some exceptions?

The use of Massachusetts as an adjective has been around at least since the 1988 presidential election when Vice President George Bush ran against Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis. Bush dispatched Dukakis in part by referring to him as a Massachusetts liberal. It sounded mean, but it was acceptable coming from Bush. He was, after all, born in Massachusetts. It would almost be akin to a black person calling another... never mind.

Got Gasland?

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:38:00 +0000

As you may have heard, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Josh Fox was recently arrested while attempting to film a congressional energy and environment subcommittee hearing. I'm no lawyer and Fox may very well have been in violation of the law. I will not take sides there, but I will take this opportunity to recommend putting "Gasland" in your Netflix queue. "Gasland" brought attention to the process of fracking which uses multiple poisons for the purpose of drilling wells to extract natural gas. Those poisons then simply seep into our groundwater. In 2005 energy policy was rewritten to exempt gas drilling from the Safe Drinking Water Act. In other words, companies that drill for natural gas are excused from any responsibility of knowingly poisoning people.

Fox is on a mission to inform Americans on the damage being done to a principle national resource. Hopefully his arrest will bring more attention to his film.
http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

Florida Republican Primary Requires Creative Voter Harassment

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:53:00 +0000

With very few black voters participating in Tuesday’s Republican primary in Florida, state officials turned to people of Cuban descent and tanned Whites to apply illegal scrutiny. Those who fit the profile were put through a gauntlet of tests and questions before being turned away from the polls.

“I show up to vote and they ask me for my castration papers” explains Chester Klimt, a 68 year old retiree with the complexion of George Clooney. “I asked them ‘what the hell are you talking about? I’m a Republican. I voted for Goldwater in ’64! You can’t treat me like this.’ That’s when they tasered me.”

Klimt may be one of the lucky ones. According to witnesses, Doris Moreno, a third-generation Cuban-American was given a literacy test. Though none of the witnesses saw the test themselves, several quoted Moreno as complaining “but this is Chinese.” Moreno was then removed from the line. When asked where she was being taken, she was told “back to Cuba” according to reports.

Florida officials led by Governor Rick Scott stand firmly by their practices. “Floridians deserve honest elections” said Scott. “We may not be perfect, but at least we do something.”

As for the Republican voters physically capable of seeking justice, their complaints are all filed against the Obama Administration.

AOTL Interpretations - January 25, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:06:00 +0000

State of the Union Address Facts

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:03:00 +0000

When the Vice President and Speaker of the House are from different parties, it is customary for the Speaker to cut one each time the opposing party stands up to applaud.

George Washington had slaves specifically for “punching up” his addresses to Congress.

FDR curiously repeated the phrase “it’s like croquet” 21 times in a poorly written 1937 address.

James Madison argued for a constitutional requirement that the annual address be sung by the president in rhyming Quatrains, but he was opposed. Newt Gingrich has promised to follow Madison’s wishes if he is elected president.

Teddy Roosevelt departed from prepared remarks to bare-naked wrestle Democrats who were stymieing his agenda in 1904.

Ronald Reagan gave the same State of the Union address three times and no one noticed!

In 1860, James Buchanan’s address was simply a 15 minute list of redecoration suggestions for the chamber.

In 1879, the sobriety of Rutherford B. Hayes was questioned when he delivered different parts of his address in patterns mocking the speech of various minorities including Jews, Chinese, Blacks, Mexicans, and Irish.

Benjamin Harrison once delivered the address with his dog Dash beside him. After every sentence, Harrison would say to his dog “Isn’t that right, boy? Isn’t that right? Yes it is. Yes it is. He’s a good boy.” The address took seven hours.

FOOD STAMPS FOR WHITES ONLY CANDIDATE WINS SC PRIMARY

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:57:00 +0000

COMING SOON TO HBO

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:27:00 +0000

"They just let him do whatever he wants"

Bored Birthers Demand to See George Romney's Birth Certificate

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:20:00 +0000

Mostly deflated from seeing proof that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii and not Kenya, birthers reluctant to call it a day have moved on to a new target - George Romney. The former Michigan governor and Republican presidential candidate was born in Mexico, a fact that no one disputes. While the older Romney's citizenship was not an issue in the presidential campaign of 1968, birthers have questions concerning the right of the candidate who has been dead for nearly seventeen years to ascend to the presidency.

"We are very excited about this" said Oily Taint, seen by many as the chief birther. "We still have over 100,000 t-shirts and condoms saying 'show us the birth certificate' so this movement has a lot of life left to it."

Headlines for January 16, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 04:31:00 +0000

Evangelicals ironically back candidate with something up his butt

"Helping people spend more time with their families"

Bain Capital changing "family" slogan after Romney controversy

Asian tourists enjoy King statue free of crowds during holiday weekend

Greece turned down for car loan

Brit actor to play Steve Jobs

Manboobs, ladyshlong top "most embarrassing condition" poll

Two years after earthquake, "Real Housewives of Port Au Prince" cancelled

Bain's Romneytron 3000

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:37:00 +0000

Each time he runs for president Mitt Romney probably expects it to be easier to expand his fan base beyond those allowed to ride inside the family truckster. But even when he runs against inexperienced philanderers, experienced philanderers, ignorami, Texans, crotchety theoreticians, and anti-non-straight non-white non-Christian no ones, Romney is only the default frontrunner. He is the apple with the fewest bruises which is only palatable when compared to the rest of the bunch.

People don’t care for Mitt Romney because something about him suggests that he thinks he has a sense of entitlement. There doesn’t seem to be a humble bone in his body and when he tries to act humble, it comes off as ultra-superior like the time the quarter-of-a-billionaire claimed (for a laugh) that he was also unemployed to a group of unemployed Floridians. The only pain Romney is feeling is the pain of having to shake hands with so many of THOSE people whose bathtub doubles as a shower stall.

Romney has the opposite of Teflon coattails. Unflattering perceptions stick well to him because he hasn’t given anyone cause to really like him. This is a large part of what is going to make Obama’s job easier when the general election comes. As a matter of fact, Team Obama couldn’t wait for the nomination process to finish before caricaturing their inevitable opponent. The Obama campaign has been working on one of those hypnotic catchword drives that we usually associate with those well-oiled Republicans. Democrats are handing out free samples of the phrase “Mitt Romney’s core” to anyone who is willing to repeat it and the product is starting to take. Voters being interviewed about Romney are beginning to talk about how they “aren’t sure” about Romney’s core as if they thought those words up themselves.

To add to his core problem, a vengeful Newt Gingrich has turned Romney’s career as a conscienceless capitalist into an election issue. After portraying himself as the benevolent provider of jobs who spread employment throughout the kingdom, it seems that Romney and Bain also hath taken jobs away in the name of making a gazillion bucks. The Republican establishment line of defense is that losing jobs is a healthy part of the capitalist cycle. That may be true, but that wafer thin mint doesn’t take the Romney taste out of anyone’s mouth in the midst of high unemployment.

Nixon had Checkers (“We’re keeping him”) and Obama had Jeremiah Wright (“We’re cutting him loose”). Bain Capital is just the next in that Checkers-Wright tradition. What is to be seen is how Romney deals with Bain. If he finds a way to dispatch of it masterfully, it cuts into the Obama reelection odds. Looking at Romney’s history of personal appeals, it looks like Obama’s odds remain unscathed.

The reason for political mainstays like the Checkers Speech is to put issues to rest and to prevent the candidate from being put on the defensive for the remainder of the election. Thus far, Romney has been on the defensive in a spectacle of sound bites that are softball pitches to late night monolog writers. The writing is on the wall for me; Romney is going to have to make his Bain Speech. Good luck to him. The challenge is finding a way to talk about the goings-on at a financial services firm in a way that make people give a shit. My bet is that he won’t. It’s just not who he is. Romney has yet to try to seem human without it ending with an awkward thud.

This was supposed to be the election where Romney could win if he just talked about jobs and the economy. Along the way Occupy Wall Street popped up, bringing to light the disapproval many Americans have with the Wall Street ethos. Just weeks ago, Gingrich mocked Wall Street occupiers by telling them to take a bath and get a job. Now he has seized their message in order to help tear down Romney. Just because the Republican Establishment has lined up to defend Romney does not mean he is out of the woods. Until he finds a way to deal with it effectively, Bain will be the big diamond crusted bling hanging around his neck from a gold chain. The press won’t be able to stop talking about it in the absence of any bigger gaffe. Romney was already damaged goods without the unveiling of the Bain offensive given the burden of his robotic disposition. Now his GPS is set for the trash heap. But what do I know? I predicted Romney would choose Haley Barbour as his running mate. That definitely ain’t happenin’.

The Rick Santorum Wing of the GOP

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:51:00 +0000

"Been here, stepped in that."
That must have been what Rick Santorum was thinking after recently getting unwanted attention for his remarks on how HE "doesn't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money." Santorum later tried to wipe the mess off his shoe by insisting that he was quite sure he didn't say "black people." Maybe he recalled saying "coloreds" or "porch monkeys."

If it all seemed too familiar to Punxsutawney Rick, it might have been because of some ado he caused in 2004 as a graduation speaker at Cheyney University in Pennsylvania. Santorum, then a U.S. senator was not the choice of the students at the historically black institution. As a matter of fact a number of students stood and turned their backs to Santorum as he spoke. Others applauded in support of the hundreds that turned away and some simply got up and left. It may be construed as impolite that they did not give him a chance to speak before registering their protest, but they must have had an idea of what was to come.

Santorum then went on to lecture the college graduates on the fragility of the black family in America and the problem of absent black fathers. Not that any of Santorum's figures were wrong, but the prevailing feeling was that a white Republican had a lot of nerve itemizing the plagues of society and laying them at the feet of black graduates on a day that should have otherwise been celebratory. What the audience heard was "this is what's wrong with your people..."

The speech unmistakeably cemented Santorum's reputation as having delusions of grandeur. Rick Santorum thinks he's better than all kinds of other people who aren't like him including black people and when he has a chance to talk to black people about anything, he chooses to talk about issues of black immorality and social inferiority. Santorum is not known for addressing the problem of absent white fathers when talking to white audiences. He thinks that when it happens to white people it is not a problem. This is what makes Rick Santorum and people like him hypocrites.

Black people know this type of hypocrisy carries over into other areas as well. When a Santorum sees a black person with a job, they see someone who was given preferential treatment. When they see a white person with a job, they see someone who probably got that job fair and square based on their abilities. When they see a black defendant in court they see someone who should have known better. When they see a white defendant they see someone who deserves a fair trial under the law. And so on.

The inanity of a father of seven lecturing college graduates on family planning was not lost the crowd at Cheyney's graduation ceremonies in 2004. By the time he reached the end of his speech he could hardly be heard for the side conversations in the crowd. One person screamed "get off the stage."

What would people think of me if I chastised the audience at the Republican National Convention (historically white) on the number of white unwed mothers and then presented proof that unwed white mothers outnumber those of any other race? What if I complained that there were more white welfare recipients living off other people's money than any other race? I don't think it would go down too well. And while that would be funny to see, I would have more class than to do that. Rick Santorum does not.

Kangaroo Rat with Cowboy Hat to Make Important Announcement in a Week

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:53:00 +0000

The Kangaroo Rat with Cowboy Hat, the former Republican presidential candidate who left the race in the spring of 2011 reports he will have an announcement in a week. While giving no other specifics, there is speculation Rat will make public a decision as to whether or not to re-enter the Republican race. Rat has floated the possibility of rescinding his dropout if no candidate wins more than 25% of the vote in the Iowa caucus. With Iowa victor Mitt Romney winning 25% exactly, it leaves the door open for another run by the desert rodent.

Republican Kangaroo Rat seen without his cowboy hat. Photo credit John Roser

The Undistinguished Rise of Rick Santorum

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:51:00 +0000

That Rick Santorum - he's as sly as a sloth. His strategy has paid off as the least likable candidate in the Republican field surges (according to all press accounts) out of single digits. All he had to do was wait until Iowans realized how chronically flawed Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich were and until Tim Pawlenty and Herman Cain dropped out of the race. And just like that Santorum is in... third place behind the frontrunner no one likes and the sourpuss crackpot. Good job Rick! They hate you. They really really hate you.

Republicans Hammer Away at Kangaroo Rat

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 09:57:00 +0000

As Republican presidential candidate Kangaroo Rat with Cowboy Hat broadens his appeal in the party, competing Republicans have answered with attack ads such as the one below in hopes of reversing his rise.

Kangaroo Rat with Cowboy Hat Leading in Republican Polls

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 00:14:00 +0000

While not officially in the running, the Kangaroo Rat with Cowboy Hat has taken the lead in polls among Republican voters. An AOTL poll puts Rat at 32% beating his nearest competitor Mitt Romney by seven points. Earlier this week the Kangaroo Rat who officially exited the race last spring announced the possibility of re-entering if no candidate came out of the January 3 Iowa caucus with no more than 25%.

Kangaroo Rat with Cowboy Hat Does Not Rule Out Re-Entering Republican Race

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:40:00 +0000

After dropping out of the race for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in May of 2011, the Kangaroo Rat with Cowboy Hat has indicated a chance he may re-enter the race if no clear frontrunner emerges from the Iowa caucus on January 3, 2012. KRCH cited wanting to spend more time with family when he exited the political fray early. At the time his wife was expecting a litter of seven babies. The three that survived are all full grown.

KRCH inspired churning in the rumor mill when he was spotted in Iowa in Mid-December. At the time he claimed he was only there to eat some corn and pee in the hands of the Iowans who had remained loyal to him, but his staff of pollsters told another story. Then on Wednesday a source close to KRCH told AOTL that there may still be room in the race if no candidate gets over 25%. When questioned directly, KRCH won't deny the possibility of running again.

Of course, the same questions and controversies that plagued KRCH in May will resurface including his life expectancy, his remarks about Sarah Palin (seen by most as over the line), and his grasp of the issues.

"That's not what's important" said the source close to KRCH. "Kangaroo Rat knows what the American people know which is that we need to defeat Barack Obama in 2012."

AOTL Political Ad #34c2

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:58:00 +0000

Gritt Mingnewt

Who is this Republican candidate for president and what does he stand for? Watch the ad below.

A Cut Above the 38th Parallel

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:22:00 +0000

Barbers and hair stylists of the world - Be ready for the unabating and ceaseless honor of the many requests you will receive for the "Kim Jong Un" in your hair parlors!

Random Stats on Active Duty Personnel

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:10:00 +0000

TOTAL ACTIVE DUTY TROOPS WORLDWIDE - 1,434,312

AFGHANISTAN - 111,700

IRAQ- 91,700

AFLOAT WORLDWIDE - 101,656

ASHORE - 1,332,656

TOTAL ARMY - 571,108
TOTAL AIR FORCE - 333,729
TOTAL NAVY - 328,648
TOTAL MARINES - 200,827

EUROPE
Germany - 54,198
Italy - 10,771
United Kingdom - 9,346

EAST ASIA/PACIFIC
Japan - 40,178
Philippines - 182
Korea (no statistics)
Afloat - 12,858

NORTH AFRICA/NEAR EAST
Bahrain - 1,894
Afloat - 5,065

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Djibouti - 334

WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Cuba (Guantanamo) - 881
Honduras - 358

UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES - 1,226,638 (incl. 83,316 afloat)

WOMEN SERVING - 207,308
Generals - 1
Lt. Generals - 5
Vice Admiral - 1
Major Generals - 19
Rear Admirals - 9

http://siadapp.dmdc.osd.mil/personnel/MILITARY/rg1109f.pdf

If It Falls Like a Patty and Smells Like a Patty...

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 09:35:00 +0000

"I believe the government is to blame for the recession
and I'd like your vote"

Propaganda is bullshit someone wants you to believe in order to advance their agenda. The point of propaganda is to obfuscate the truth. If people believe the truth, then the snakes hawking the propaganda don’t stand a chance so propaganda is always hopefully something that people prefer to believe over the truth.

When it comes to propaganda about the Great Recession of ’08 no one does it better than the good old Grand Old Party. The “Party of the Establishment” would not be doing its job if they let greedy tycoons take the blame for turning our economy into a cesspool so they have been doing what comes natural to them; they blame the people with less money.

It is not even worth the effort of embedding this video so I will just place the link here of deadbeat dad/Tea Party conservative Joe Walsh (R) Illinois meeting with constituents and tirading over the fact (propaganda) that the recession was caused by the government which FORCED banks to make loans to people who could not afford them.

I term Walsh’s bullshit as propaganda because it is just cover for the well-heeled people that were actually responsible for the subprime mess that was the root of the economic collapse. Walsh himself may not even be able to lay out the complete Republican line if asked, but I can and here it is. The Republican strategy is to scapegoat the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) for causing the recession. The point of the CRA which was passed in 1977 was to encourage inner city banks to make loans in inner city areas where they take deposits. Foreclosures, on the other hand are a crisis of the suburbs and not the inner city. Furthermore, the CRA had no authority to FORCE banks to do anything.

Much of this information can be retrieved here by the CRA. It may be biased, but it is the most concise layout of information on the topic I have seen. I have yet to hear of a single banker claiming on the record to have been FORCED into making bad loans. The House of Representatives with its Republican majority has not held a single hearing on how banks were FORCED to make shitty loans to people who were not worthy. I am inviting them to do so right now, but it’s not going to happen. Whatever crappy loans that were made were not at the will of the CRA, or the government, but at the will of the banks themselves. If I am wrong, please correct me with actual facts. Anyone.

Not Takin' Debate

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:32:00 +0000

"Bullshit! Get your bullshit! Hot steamy smelly bullshit!"

Less than 24 hours after an Election Day whose results hinted at an out of touch Republican party, the 2012 GOP hopefuls took the stage in Michigan to stay a course that continues to alienate them from the rest of America. Ten minutes of the debate was all I needed to see before I rubbed my hands together with glee and turned it off. Those ten minutes were filled with the types of misconception and attempts at mischaracterization that will help Republicans lose in a year from now.

Focusing on economic issues, the troupe maligned the Occupy Wall Street action as “anti-capitalist.” They tried, within the time allotted to praise the market against all the anti-market forces out there as many times as they could. The Gingrinch went so far as to say Occupy should be grateful because if it wasn’t for corporations, they wouldn’t have a park to protest in. Profound.

Where Gingy, and the rest miss the point is that the Occupy movement is not an attempt to bring down the free exchange of goods and services for money. It is a protest against the fraud and abuse committed by financial companies that crippled the economy. They did it with impunity and with bonuses while average people lost their retirements. The crash happened because of a standard that allows the most powerful to get away with far more than what the average American can. That dynamic is partly responsible for an ever-increasing disparity in income that is retarding the expansion and financial power of the middle class. That is what is happening and that is what most Americans are mad about.

Instead of acknowledging the occurrence of fraud and abuse, Team Dubya trumpeted the need to let business do what business wants. According to them, that’s what makes us all successful. As far as the recession, well that was caused when the government forced banks to make loans to irresponsible borrowers as they tell it. The recession was the government’s fault. End of story. The reason why our growth is sluggish is because Obama invented uncertainty. Before Obama, there was no such thing as uncertainty and all businesses did was plan on making money. Now, because of this new thing we call uncertainty that has never been a part of every business cycle, businesses are paralyzed, powerless, and afraid to do anything.

By hauling the water they have on their backs, these Republicans are essentially cheering the actual fraud and abuse that tanked the economy. They also took as many shots as they could at the idea of regulation. So when a firm wants to reduce any uncertainty on their part in their transactions by selling crap to their clients and then betting against that crap, that should be okay according to our GOP hopefuls.

There was a period where the American public was far more accepting of Republican distortion and general BS. They ate up the idea that Republicans were stronger on national security. They ate up the idea that the deficit was not important when Republicans ran it up. They ate up the idea that the deficit was the most important thing ever when Democrats ran it up. They ate up the idea that what was good for big business was good for everyone else. It got to the point where Republicans began thinking they could get away with whatever political arguments they wanted, no matter how ridiculous (abortions are 90% of what Planned Parenthood does, death panels, voter fraud committed by voters is rampant). Perhaps their arguments had to evolve into such inanity before people began to wake up.

Here’s a question they should have asked in the debate tonight: “What happens to a bunch of peddlers in a marketplace when everyone stops buying their shit?”

The Daley News

noreply@blogger.com (Chip Dornell) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:06:00 +0000

This post is about White House personnel, but I will try to make it as funny as possible.

In October 2010, White House Chief of Staff/Junkyard Dog Rahm Emanuel split to run for mayor of Chicago. Emanuel probably made more enemies on the left for calling liberal activists fucking retarded to their faces in a White House meeting. Emanuel's departure was concurrent with the 2010 election season when Republicans were expected to and did make gains in Congress. Obama's choice to replace Emanuel was staffer Pete Rouse who was quite capable and well-known in Congress, but Rouse reportedly turned the job down after agreeing to serve as interim Chief of Staff while a replacement could be found. Then Obama did something weird. He hired this guy.

William Daley was the brother of the man Rahm Emanuel left to replace. Sounds like backwoods sex, though Daley was not a previous Obamanista in spite of his Chicago pedigree. One reason cited for choosing Daley was that Obama wanted to patch things up with the business community. Never mind the fact that his economic team was made up of a good number of pro-bidnis people. Let's not forget Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner who was practically CitiBank's man in Washington. When Obama told Geithner to restructure CitiBank, the discussion might have gone something like this:
"Restructure CitiBank."
"We puncture sins of plank?"
"Restructure CitiBank!"
"Green luster is a crank?"
"Restructure CitiBank!"
"Read Oscar's Swiss franc?"
"Forget it."
"Whatever you say boss."

Point being, Obama didn't need any more business insiders. What he needed was someone who fitted the job description who could be a competent congressional liaison. That is not to say that Daley could not grow into the job, but it was not his specialty and going into a "shellacking" at the polls was not the time to shift course to an unknown quantity. Presidents in jeopardy are often told that new blood is good to shake things up. Could be, but maybe not ANY old new blood.

Daley can't be blamed for everything bad that has happened, but his legions of nonfans go as high as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who has described Daley as ham-fisted. It took a year after the 2010 elections for the White House to talk about jobs. And Obama is still on the outs with the business community (though he has raised more Wall Street money in this election cycle than all the Republican presidential candidates combined, shhhhhhh). This could all be related to why it was just announced that "some" of Daley's duties would be relinquished back to Pete Rouse. Hallelujah. The White House is spinning it as an efficiency move on the part of Daley. Yeah right. In other words, Daley agreed that things would work more efficiently if he was no longer doing them.

Daley had originally planned to stay through the rest of this term and he probably will do so. Only now he'll be spending more time on Facebook, or LinkedIn, or some secret social network for the ultra-exclusive like OnePercentertainment. Exactly what Pete Rouse can do at this point is probably limited with a Tea Bag beholden House and stalemated Senate. Bringing back a little team spirit and coordination to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue would be a welcome change.