In my early morning daze, the push notification on my phone read Paul and I damn near fell out of bed. "Holy shit! Romney picked Ron Paul to be his VP!"
Oh wait, no. Paul RYAN...the name wound its way through my groggy brain, pushing through cobwebs and tannins til it landed in its familiar file of "Economic disaster."
The sun light filtered through the shades - outside, grapes ripened on vines cascading over rolling hills. Paul Ryan trickled out of my mind.
His nomination just wasn't that interesting to be honest.
He's just right - not too hot, not too cold - for the Republicans and their corporate keepers.
He's not an extreme choice like Sarah Palin was. He's what I like to call an "econ-con," a double entendre I chuckled over in my simultaneous dismay.
He's a business-friendly, economically motivated Republican, as opposed to Tea Party evangelical loony tunes like Bachmann.
He fills in a lot of holes in Romney's personality and campaign.
He doesn't have a history of see-sawing, he has no experience in the financial sector which will take some heat off of Romney for being viewed as a heartless millionaire.
Of course, let's just disregard the fact that just a few months ago, Romney said that anyone without business experience shouldn't be allowed inside the White House...ahem, ahem, cough, cough.
Well, if you've been following Romney, you'll know that flip-flopping is not something he's afraid to do - the man practically has springs on his feet, and now he'll have to jump again.
Remember Romney-care? Yeah, tricky one. Particularly when your new VP sliced and diced any semblance of socialized health care like a horror movie surgeon (which by the way, you'll have to pay top dollar for). Not to mention Romney's relaxed view on abortion - Ryan? Well he wants to ban many forms of birth control - I hear the problem with abstinence is people just aren't giving it a fair shot.
Ryan's economic plan takes the rug out from middle and lower class Americans (not that there is much of a middle anymore) and then proceeds to beat them with it.
While some have claimed that he's the compromising kind, that's about as true as Obama being a beacon for hope and change.
What he is, is again, just right (pun absolutely intended).
During the debt ceiling debates, Ryan made it a point to personally visit Cantor and Boehner, dissuading them from signing any agreement that would raise taxes and not make sufficient cuts to entitlement and other federally funded programs, such as Social Security. Basically, don't compromise with Republican ideologies.
Well golly gee, doesn't that just sound all bi-partisan and cozy?
No. Of course it doesn't.
Romney is gelatinous enough on his own. Granted, he doesn't gel over to the center but he's not the straight up and down conservative that the GOP wants to neatly niche out their party.
Ryan is.
And that's how this works. The right needs to stay right. The fact that much of Romney's history shows him flirting with centrist notions makes no difference now. He can't say that he's in favor of gun control at this point - he's got the NRA up his ass with a .45.
He can't say he's OK with birth control - he's got a religious right wing flapping at him.
The fact of the matter is, is that so long as elections run this course: right vs. left, no one on either side will be allowed to tickle the line between their side and center side. It has to be us vs. them, we're righteous, they're evil. Because after all, it's really about conservative and liberal, not about one nation - for the people, by the people and of the people. Ha - pipe dreams!
So, I'm not super bummed or super excited about this choice. Romney will win some and lose some based on his running mate. Florida will probably move a few points further away, while conservative swing states that don't favor Romney's swing, will pendulum over to the right.
Corporate funds will bolster as per usual, happy with Ryan's favoring of lax regulations and taxes.
So, in reality, it's business as usual. The right stays right, the left stays left and in between, the no man's land of a quiet center simmers in the final months before election.
And the pipeline of the majority of Americans between left and right will continue to shoot out pipe dreams of progress until simmer turns to boil.
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GOP. Show all posts
Monday, August 13, 2012
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Fast Blast: News 3.1.11
Having perused today's biggest stories, I feel confident in admitting that I have absolutely no idea which one to focus on - ergo, I give you many.
But first, I wanted to share a strange experience from last night. I went to a hockey game, which could seem odd for the simple fact that I live in LA, but something else happened, just before the game that sent chills.
As with any professional sporting event, there is the time before the first pitch, puck, punt or plunge where some adorable or fittingly famous person steps up to sing the National Anthem.
It was quiet, eerily so. I could barely even hear a chair squeak in the cavernous echo chamber that is Staples Center. Everyone stood, having sprung up at the mention of the Anthem, as if it were a knee jerk reaction, almost involuntary. I stood, slowly, surveying the crowd.
The little girl vibratoed her way through the Anthem at a snails pace, giving me more gloriously grotesque time to clench my fists and shudder.
Why are we standing? For what are we showing respect? What does the flag mean - to you, to me, to anyone in that crowd? It doesn't really have to mean anything. It's a program, a system. We stand and stare blankly upwards, at a strategically placed flag, mumbling the words to ourselves, eying the nachos on the floor, fidgeting with our keys. We become empty. And to ponder the inverse of this phenomenon, what are we full of? I'm not trying to be cheeky, I'd really like to know - what goes on in the hearts and minds whenever something nationalistic or patriotic is mentioned or performed? As a lyricist, I have an almost incessant need to dissect and analyze the lyrics to any song. If one were to listen to the lyrics of our National Anthem, really listen to them, not just through our ears but into our minds...would we still stare blankly - would it make us feel uncomfortable at the mention of a Utopian land of the free? A hearkening back to the days when our forefathers fought for the ideals we either don't have any more or are too far removed to protect and enjoy.
It made me wildly uncomfortable. If we, the people, if only for a moment, pondered the stark contrast between the lives we lead today, and the foundations of this country, we could start that revolution so desperately needed to effect change. Break the corporate chains, and do something.
Now for the news outside my head:
Two week notice: Just in the nick of time, the House has approved a measure to fund our gross spending another two weeks so they can talk and order more takeout, keeping Smokey the Bear in uniform and avoiding a shutdown...for now. In those two weeks, the bill will trim spending by $4 billion. It passed the House with a 335-91 vote. Republicans had originally hoped to pass the bill with $61 billion on the chop block but Obama vowed to veto that bill saying it would only escalate the economic problems by cutting back on necessary funding and programs. Ummm, I have a question? Is history still taught in schools? Or did the Texas board of education throw that out along with the mention of "separation of church and state," fossils and Europe? I seem to remember something called the New Deal, a series of public works projects aimed at bolstering the economy while putting the country to work...seemed to work pretty well. But hey, cutting education, health care, police, fire fighters and funding for MORE JOBS seems like a totally awesome idea too - keep up the good work!
The blame game: Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh blames the US and Israel for the growing unrest in the his country. Apparently, the spread of uprisings are " managed by Tel Aviv and under the supervision of Washington," Saleh said. "What do you have to do with Egypt or Oman? Are you president of the United States, or are you president of the world?" Well, to be honest, I don't even think he's doing a cracker jack job at the former. It must come as a shock to us, these fighting words, considering that last year alone, Yemen received $150 billion in military aid to fight Al Qaeda's insurgency, and just last week Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledged another $75 million aimed at doubling the U.S.-trained Yemeni counter-terrorism unit. So, that's where that money goes - wonder if that was on the chop block...hmmm, probably not. Teachers are easier to cut off than military - they only have brains, not guns. Meanwhile, back in Yemen, there seems to be mixed feelings for the future. Sheik Abdul Majid al-Zindani, a "global terrorist," according to Washington, gave a speech promising that "an Islamic state is coming." However, more secular demonstrations have sprung from many of the Universities seeking the seemingly simplistic ideals of freedom. "We need freedom. Freedom from Saleh." Good luck my friend - I'm sure we'll be there when he eventually does fall to spend more money we don't have and piss more people off in the process. Until then, keep fighting the good fight.
Underground Dungeons: Further evidence of Gaddafi's cruelty was unearthed as revolutionaries in Benghazi wandered into the previously blockaded government and military areas of the city. Along with tales of torture, police brutality, and unexplained disappearances, the revolutionaries found underground dungeons - really just holes in the ground - held up by wood beams, with single pipes from the outside world providing air, keeping prisoners alive long enough to suffer the maximum. The revolutionaries had found bones and skeletons along with 7 men, still alive, who were taken immediately to the hospital. A 26 year veteran of Gaddafi's armed forces happened to be there as an ABC news reporter surveyed the scene. He had his four children with him, showing them the ruins of Gaddafi's home and compound. He told the reporter that they used to just throw people into the holes, forget about them - no one would ever come out alive. I wonder what dark secrets are lurking in the compounds of our red, white and blue...
Republicans hate nature: House Republicans want to sever ties with the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), pulling all their funding from the project. "It (IPCC) is an entity that is fraught with waste and fraud, and engaged in dubious science, which is the last thing hard-working American taxpayers should be paying for," Missouri Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer said. He also said, that "More than 700 acclaimed international scientists have challenged the claims made by the IPCC. These 700-plus dissenting scientists are affiliated with institutions like the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense, the U.S. Air Force and Navy, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency." Ummm...since when were the armed forces the go-to-guys on climate change? Especially when their salaries lie in your grubby hands? Fuck, they'll tell you that goblins are falling from the sky if it gives 'em an extra bonus at Christmas time! The EPA? Really? They've been castrated and useless for years. The only difference between any of these agencies is who the corporate dick stick behind them is. As another thinly veiled fuck you to mother nature, tucked in the pages of the budget cuts, Rep. Ralph M. Hall, R-Texas, authored the prohibition of any funds to implement the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Service, on the 2012 requested budget from Obama....I was gonna write more but I think I'm gonna go outside while I can still suck in some clean oxygen without a tank on my back.
But first, I wanted to share a strange experience from last night. I went to a hockey game, which could seem odd for the simple fact that I live in LA, but something else happened, just before the game that sent chills.
As with any professional sporting event, there is the time before the first pitch, puck, punt or plunge where some adorable or fittingly famous person steps up to sing the National Anthem.
It was quiet, eerily so. I could barely even hear a chair squeak in the cavernous echo chamber that is Staples Center. Everyone stood, having sprung up at the mention of the Anthem, as if it were a knee jerk reaction, almost involuntary. I stood, slowly, surveying the crowd.
The little girl vibratoed her way through the Anthem at a snails pace, giving me more gloriously grotesque time to clench my fists and shudder.
Why are we standing? For what are we showing respect? What does the flag mean - to you, to me, to anyone in that crowd? It doesn't really have to mean anything. It's a program, a system. We stand and stare blankly upwards, at a strategically placed flag, mumbling the words to ourselves, eying the nachos on the floor, fidgeting with our keys. We become empty. And to ponder the inverse of this phenomenon, what are we full of? I'm not trying to be cheeky, I'd really like to know - what goes on in the hearts and minds whenever something nationalistic or patriotic is mentioned or performed? As a lyricist, I have an almost incessant need to dissect and analyze the lyrics to any song. If one were to listen to the lyrics of our National Anthem, really listen to them, not just through our ears but into our minds...would we still stare blankly - would it make us feel uncomfortable at the mention of a Utopian land of the free? A hearkening back to the days when our forefathers fought for the ideals we either don't have any more or are too far removed to protect and enjoy.
It made me wildly uncomfortable. If we, the people, if only for a moment, pondered the stark contrast between the lives we lead today, and the foundations of this country, we could start that revolution so desperately needed to effect change. Break the corporate chains, and do something.
Now for the news outside my head:
Two week notice: Just in the nick of time, the House has approved a measure to fund our gross spending another two weeks so they can talk and order more takeout, keeping Smokey the Bear in uniform and avoiding a shutdown...for now. In those two weeks, the bill will trim spending by $4 billion. It passed the House with a 335-91 vote. Republicans had originally hoped to pass the bill with $61 billion on the chop block but Obama vowed to veto that bill saying it would only escalate the economic problems by cutting back on necessary funding and programs. Ummm, I have a question? Is history still taught in schools? Or did the Texas board of education throw that out along with the mention of "separation of church and state," fossils and Europe? I seem to remember something called the New Deal, a series of public works projects aimed at bolstering the economy while putting the country to work...seemed to work pretty well. But hey, cutting education, health care, police, fire fighters and funding for MORE JOBS seems like a totally awesome idea too - keep up the good work!
The blame game: Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh blames the US and Israel for the growing unrest in the his country. Apparently, the spread of uprisings are " managed by Tel Aviv and under the supervision of Washington," Saleh said. "What do you have to do with Egypt or Oman? Are you president of the United States, or are you president of the world?" Well, to be honest, I don't even think he's doing a cracker jack job at the former. It must come as a shock to us, these fighting words, considering that last year alone, Yemen received $150 billion in military aid to fight Al Qaeda's insurgency, and just last week Defense Secretary Robert Gates pledged another $75 million aimed at doubling the U.S.-trained Yemeni counter-terrorism unit. So, that's where that money goes - wonder if that was on the chop block...hmmm, probably not. Teachers are easier to cut off than military - they only have brains, not guns. Meanwhile, back in Yemen, there seems to be mixed feelings for the future. Sheik Abdul Majid al-Zindani, a "global terrorist," according to Washington, gave a speech promising that "an Islamic state is coming." However, more secular demonstrations have sprung from many of the Universities seeking the seemingly simplistic ideals of freedom. "We need freedom. Freedom from Saleh." Good luck my friend - I'm sure we'll be there when he eventually does fall to spend more money we don't have and piss more people off in the process. Until then, keep fighting the good fight.
Underground Dungeons: Further evidence of Gaddafi's cruelty was unearthed as revolutionaries in Benghazi wandered into the previously blockaded government and military areas of the city. Along with tales of torture, police brutality, and unexplained disappearances, the revolutionaries found underground dungeons - really just holes in the ground - held up by wood beams, with single pipes from the outside world providing air, keeping prisoners alive long enough to suffer the maximum. The revolutionaries had found bones and skeletons along with 7 men, still alive, who were taken immediately to the hospital. A 26 year veteran of Gaddafi's armed forces happened to be there as an ABC news reporter surveyed the scene. He had his four children with him, showing them the ruins of Gaddafi's home and compound. He told the reporter that they used to just throw people into the holes, forget about them - no one would ever come out alive. I wonder what dark secrets are lurking in the compounds of our red, white and blue...
Republicans hate nature: House Republicans want to sever ties with the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), pulling all their funding from the project. "It (IPCC) is an entity that is fraught with waste and fraud, and engaged in dubious science, which is the last thing hard-working American taxpayers should be paying for," Missouri Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer said. He also said, that "More than 700 acclaimed international scientists have challenged the claims made by the IPCC. These 700-plus dissenting scientists are affiliated with institutions like the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense, the U.S. Air Force and Navy, NASA, and the Environmental Protection Agency." Ummm...since when were the armed forces the go-to-guys on climate change? Especially when their salaries lie in your grubby hands? Fuck, they'll tell you that goblins are falling from the sky if it gives 'em an extra bonus at Christmas time! The EPA? Really? They've been castrated and useless for years. The only difference between any of these agencies is who the corporate dick stick behind them is. As another thinly veiled fuck you to mother nature, tucked in the pages of the budget cuts, Rep. Ralph M. Hall, R-Texas, authored the prohibition of any funds to implement the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Service, on the 2012 requested budget from Obama....I was gonna write more but I think I'm gonna go outside while I can still suck in some clean oxygen without a tank on my back.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Greatest country in the world?
I usually peruse a few sites and headlines before deciding on one story to cover. Today I couldn't choose just one...
-US to send 1,400 more Marines to Afghanistan
-Hedge Funds spend $10 Million to help GOP win election
-Census: 48 million Americans living in poverty.
As I read through these three, I had a brain aneurysm. I was somewhere in the hellish purgatory between the emotional states of anger, disbelief and sadness. How? Why? What the fuck is going on? Who the fuck is letting all this shit happen? Who authorized - how could they - 48 million? 1,400 more - after the bloodiest year on record? $10 million? Who's responsible for all this?
That's when I got that sick feeling in my stomach - like I'd scraped the cheese off a large pizza and slid it down my throat all at once. Yep, it's our fault.
Not to get too Catholic, and self deprecating, but let's be honest. We have disintegrated fast. No one forced us to stand and watch as our country spiraled into a shit hole, clawing at our rights and freedoms as it got sucked into the vortex of liberty's lamentation.
1 in 6 Americans now lives in poverty. Ummm...what? A significant number over the age of 65 due to the rise in medical costs. Simultaneously, if you head on over to costofwar.com, you can see that our Middle East check is above $1,134,426,550,000 and climbing rapidly. Is that trillion? Fuck, I don't think they even taught us how to abstractly count that high in calculus. Then again, I was privileged enough to get a good education - the poor kids coming up these days probably will never know what calculus even means. It will be just as abstract and distant as the thought of socialized medicine and getting to see their grandpa's 80th birthday, because we will have become too poor, fat, diseased and apathetic to make it much further.
They'll get a half rate education and then be sent away to offer their lives at the altar of corporate gains, hoping at least to get a few semesters of free education out of it. And if they do make it to the other side, they'll come home to flag waving dick sticks who pocket $10 million so that they can reciprocally keep the cycle of top 1% wealth, arrogance, and back stabbing thievery going.
God bless the USA!
Fuck!
Really?! How the hell did this happen? When did we get to the point, as a people, that we allow our own government, to kill our children, financially torture almost 50 million people and use our hard earned money to finance a corporate playground of deceit and destruction? Are we really OK with this?
Can we glance over these headlines without stopping to think...to question...
Is this right?
Is this normal now?!
Is the extent of corporate influence only matched by the extent of our apathy?
How many more headlines do we have to read before our brains disallow this behaviour?
Alone, it doesn't seem like we can do a damn thing. But, after all, it's WE the people, isn't it? You don't have to have a precise, day by day plan as to how to overthrow the evils of the world, but for fucks sake, something...Do something.
-US to send 1,400 more Marines to Afghanistan
-Hedge Funds spend $10 Million to help GOP win election
-Census: 48 million Americans living in poverty.
As I read through these three, I had a brain aneurysm. I was somewhere in the hellish purgatory between the emotional states of anger, disbelief and sadness. How? Why? What the fuck is going on? Who the fuck is letting all this shit happen? Who authorized - how could they - 48 million? 1,400 more - after the bloodiest year on record? $10 million? Who's responsible for all this?
That's when I got that sick feeling in my stomach - like I'd scraped the cheese off a large pizza and slid it down my throat all at once. Yep, it's our fault.
Not to get too Catholic, and self deprecating, but let's be honest. We have disintegrated fast. No one forced us to stand and watch as our country spiraled into a shit hole, clawing at our rights and freedoms as it got sucked into the vortex of liberty's lamentation.
1 in 6 Americans now lives in poverty. Ummm...what? A significant number over the age of 65 due to the rise in medical costs. Simultaneously, if you head on over to costofwar.com, you can see that our Middle East check is above $1,134,426,550,000 and climbing rapidly. Is that trillion? Fuck, I don't think they even taught us how to abstractly count that high in calculus. Then again, I was privileged enough to get a good education - the poor kids coming up these days probably will never know what calculus even means. It will be just as abstract and distant as the thought of socialized medicine and getting to see their grandpa's 80th birthday, because we will have become too poor, fat, diseased and apathetic to make it much further.
They'll get a half rate education and then be sent away to offer their lives at the altar of corporate gains, hoping at least to get a few semesters of free education out of it. And if they do make it to the other side, they'll come home to flag waving dick sticks who pocket $10 million so that they can reciprocally keep the cycle of top 1% wealth, arrogance, and back stabbing thievery going.
God bless the USA!
Fuck!
Really?! How the hell did this happen? When did we get to the point, as a people, that we allow our own government, to kill our children, financially torture almost 50 million people and use our hard earned money to finance a corporate playground of deceit and destruction? Are we really OK with this?
Can we glance over these headlines without stopping to think...to question...
Is this right?
Is this normal now?!
Is the extent of corporate influence only matched by the extent of our apathy?
How many more headlines do we have to read before our brains disallow this behaviour?
Alone, it doesn't seem like we can do a damn thing. But, after all, it's WE the people, isn't it? You don't have to have a precise, day by day plan as to how to overthrow the evils of the world, but for fucks sake, something...Do something.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Obama talks the talk...
...but can he follow it up with powerful legislation aimed at fixing the issues at hand? That's how that saying goes, right?
The CNN headline from yesterday said "Obama rips Republican obstruction." Now before you get images of the full-of-fight Sumner and Brooks in the halls of Congress, Obama's "rip" was far less injuring or physical.
Obama did, however, lash out at GOP tactics of filibustering and throwing insults rather than pushing for change and reform.
And like his State of the Union, Obama didn't shield Democrats from criticism. He said that the Democrats' strategy to "do nothing" about the Massachusets Massacre is a terrible idea. "We should do more and we should do so without delay," Obama scolded.
He complained that Democrats have been very compromising while Republicans continue to do the old, fingers-in-ears-not-listening routine.
He mentioned, with applause from me, that most people don't give a flying fuck (not his choice of words) who has a majority, what processes are necessary for bills to be passed, they just want them passed, according to what they voted for! They want to know what the elected officials are doing FOR them.
Having read this article on CNN, I momentarily let out a cheer in my head, but the skeptical twin meandered into my brain and reminded me that there is a big difference between scolding people, talking on a podium and getting down and dirty and pushing for change. I myself, have to admit that writing this blog is a lot easier than actually going out there and doing the work.
So, Obama, let's do this. The people want it, you say you do, so what the hell are we waiting for?
The CNN headline from yesterday said "Obama rips Republican obstruction." Now before you get images of the full-of-fight Sumner and Brooks in the halls of Congress, Obama's "rip" was far less injuring or physical.
Obama did, however, lash out at GOP tactics of filibustering and throwing insults rather than pushing for change and reform.
And like his State of the Union, Obama didn't shield Democrats from criticism. He said that the Democrats' strategy to "do nothing" about the Massachusets Massacre is a terrible idea. "We should do more and we should do so without delay," Obama scolded.
He complained that Democrats have been very compromising while Republicans continue to do the old, fingers-in-ears-not-listening routine.
He mentioned, with applause from me, that most people don't give a flying fuck (not his choice of words) who has a majority, what processes are necessary for bills to be passed, they just want them passed, according to what they voted for! They want to know what the elected officials are doing FOR them.
Having read this article on CNN, I momentarily let out a cheer in my head, but the skeptical twin meandered into my brain and reminded me that there is a big difference between scolding people, talking on a podium and getting down and dirty and pushing for change. I myself, have to admit that writing this blog is a lot easier than actually going out there and doing the work.
So, Obama, let's do this. The people want it, you say you do, so what the hell are we waiting for?
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