Saturday, December 20, 2008
Why Limbaugh (HEARTS) Palin
Maybe Rush Limbaugh was hoping to be Sarah Palin's Drug Czar after she poisoned John McCain's food, and grabbed the Big Chair.0 comments
Palin's future in-law's arrest was oxycontin-related
Oxycontin? Yippee! Now, THIS is something Rush can REALLY get behind!
It's always handy to have a connection in the President's family.
posted by Gotham 2:28 PM
Friday, December 19, 2008
Dem Watch
If you thought left blogosphere oversight would end with the Republican ass-kicking of 2008, think again.0 comments
Queens Councilman Is Charged With Assault
The major difference between rank and file Democrats and the merely rank bloggers of the right is that the wingnuts will always defend Republican officeholders as keepers of some glorified flame, regardless of what heinous crime a pol has committed. In their canon, the Right, and the GOP are ALWAYS right and OK, and Dems and anything that sniffs of being towards the Left is ALWAYS wrong and bad.
GOPer Uber Alles.
Hundreds upon hundreds of GOP functionaries have been disclosed as crooks, pedophiles, corrupted vermin, or reprobates of various nefarious stripes. Invariably, wingnuts took to their keyboards to defend the pol and attack those who dug into the ooze and brought the facts to light. They'd then attack the left blogosphere for writing about any widening investigation.
Democrats, on the other hand, don't like corruption one whit. Rep. Jefferson (D-LA) found that out when his overwhelmingly Democratic district threw him out on his ass.
Now that we are the party at the wheel, we need to watch our members for any taint of GOP-esque behavior.
Case in point: new NYC arresttee Hiram Monserrate of Jackson Heights, Queens, NY. Soon to be formerly of the NYC City Council and maybe (if he doesn't run into further trouble) soon to be the NYS Senator from Jackson Heights, Queens, NY.
This lad has gone quickly from Dem turncoat, before he even walks into the Senate chamber, to going Mike Tyson on his girlfriend.
At this point, he looks like scum. But, currently he's OUR scum, and as opposed to the rubberstamp Red Neckties of the GOP, we intend to keep an extremely sharp eye on our members. It's bad enough that you cannot find a vertebrae anywhere in most Democratic caucuses. We, collectively, will not stand for active, overt assholedness.
posted by Gotham 10:03 PM
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Bush Shares Bittersweet Memories
Ahhhhh, such memories...0 comments
"My..., just like it was yesterday...
The Supreme Court made me president.
I killed a whole lotta people.
Made my friends a whole lotta money.
Got rid of a lot of that dopey Constitution.
Then, poof, you look around, and it's all over. Finished.
Man, that was fast.
I wanna do over."
posted by Gotham 7:50 PM
Rudy's Baaaaaack!
Some demons you just can't kill. Rudy on the radio?1 comments
This will give me an opportunity to drag out and dust off my Rudy Giuliani Voodoo Doll.
Catch the video at the bottom at the story. Rudy hasn't changed a bit from this, other than the facelift. Pencil in any other topic you'd like, and this is exactly how Rudy will deal with the State or the country if we ever let this madman near the reins of power again on any level.
Honest dissent? "Oh, you're simply unstable, and you should see a psychiatrist, because I can't help you."
Don't like my tax plan? "I don't know what to tell you, you're deranged, and you should see a psychiatrist, because I can't help you."
It's always amazing how Rudy truly embraces those big concepts—like the fact that there's a world that exists just on the other side of his skin.
But look at the upside to Rudy being on the radio—lots and lots of eternal clips like this one, to use against him in any election he's foolish enough to enter.
As soon as he puts that exploratory committee together, yum, all Rudy clips, all the time...
posted by Gotham 1:23 PM
Thursday, December 11, 2008
The Kill-The-Competition Scorecard
Just so you can keep track.0 comments
CNBC recently created a list of states, Senators and car plants. Now, you can tell who's looking out for America—and who's speaking up for foreign interests, at great cost to the interests of the U.S.
Gotham Notes posts them here (Right-To-Work states in bold). (While, yes, some U.S. plants sit in R-T-W states and a handful of alien plants sit in Unionized states, the majority of each still rest with their respective groupings):CNBC | 20 Nov 2008 | 02:23 PM ET
As Capitol Hill wrestles with a bailout of the Big Three Detroit automakers, CNBC decided to look into the Senate representation of the U.S. automotive manufacturing base. What follows is a state-by-state compilation of auto plants:
Alabama - Jeff Sessions (R), Richard C. Shelby (R)
- Montgomery – Hyundai
- Tuscaloosa – Mercedes Benz
- Lincoln – Honda
- Huntsville - Toyota
Delaware – Joe Biden (D) Thomas Carper (D)
- Wilmington - GM
Georgia - Saxby Chambliss (R), Johnny Isakson (R)
- Doraville - GM
Illinois – Richard Durbin (D); Barack Obama's former seat.
- Chicago – Ford, Lincoln, Mercury
- Belvedere – Chrysler
Indiana - Evan Bayh (D), Richard Lugar (R)
- Roanoke – Chevy/GMC
- Indianapolis – GM, powertrain, metal
- Bedford – GM, powertrain
- Marion – GM, metal
- Princeton - Toyota
Kansas – Sam Brownback (R), Pat Roberts (R)
- Fairfax – GM
Kentucky - Jim Bunning (R), Mitch McConnell (R)
- Louisville – Ford Mercury
- Bowling Green – Chevy/Cadillac
- Georgetown – Toyota
Louisiana – Mary Landrieu (D), David Vitter (R)
- Shreveport - GM
Maryland - Benjamin Cardin (D), Barbara Mikulski (D)
- White Marsh – GM, powertrain
Michigan – Carl Levin (D), Debbie Stabenow (D)
- Sterling Heights – Ford, axels
- Woodhaven – Ford
- Dearborn - Ford
- Wayne – Ford
- Romeo – Ford, engine
- Detroit – Buick/Cadillac
- Flint – GM
- Bay City – GM, engine parts
- Livonia – GM, powertrain
- Pontiac- Chevy/GMC
- Orion – Pontiac
- Lansing – Cadillac, GMC/Saturn
- Warren - Chrysler
Minnesota – Norm Coleman (R), Amy Klobuchar (D)
- St. Paul - Ford, Mazda
Mississippi - Thad Cochran (R), Roger Wicker (R)
- Blue Spring - Toyota (opens 2010)
- Canton - Nissan
Missouri - Christopher Bond (R), Claire McCaskill (D)
- Kansas City, - Ford, Mazda, Mercury
- Wentzville – GM
- Fenton - Chrysler
Nevada – John Ensign (R), Harry Reid (D)
- Las Vegas - Shelby
New York – Hillary Clinton (D), Charles Schumer (D)
- Massena – GM, powertrain
- Tonawanda – GM, powertrain
Ohio – Sherrod Brown (D), George Voinovich (R)
- Brook Park – Ford, engines
- Avon Lake – Ford
- Marysville – Honda
- Toledo – GM Powertrain
- Lordstown – Chevy/Pontiac
- Mansfield – GM metal
- Moraine – GM
- Parma – GM metal
- Anna – Honda, engines
- East Liberty – Honda
- Russells Point – Honda, transmissions
- Twinsburg - Chrylser
Pennsylvania - Robert Casey (D), Arlen Specter (R)
- Pittsburgh – GM metal
South Carolina – Jim DeMint (R), Graham Lindsey (R)
- Spartanburg – BMW
Tennessee – Lamar Alexander (R), Bob Corker (R)
- Smyrna - Nissan
- Spring Hill – Saturn
- Decherd – Nissan
Texas – John Cornyn (R), Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R)
- Arlington – GM
- San Antonio - Toyota
Virginia - John Warner (R), Jim Webb (D)
- Fredericksburg – GM, powertrain
Wisconsin – Russell Feingold (D), Herb Kohl (D)
- Janesville – GM
- Kenosha – Chrysler
Now, when you see Sen. XXX bloviating on FOX or CNBC about sending the Big 3 down the tubes, just to kill the United Auto Workers, check here to see whose axe they're grinding.
Update 1/16/09:
The actual need, now that George W. Bush stuck the poison pill of a No Strike provision for the UAW in the automakers bailout, is to turn right around and throw every effort into unionizing those wretched souls stuck working for sub-standard wages and little to no benefits in the foreign car plants hiding throughout the South. They've turned the American South into a Third-world country with cheap labor, so it's time to support the Southern worker, and allow him and her to step into a decent life in the 21st Century.
Until then, boycott all non-union foreign cars.
Buy American!
posted by Gotham 4:08 PM
The GOP Will Happily Destroy America, Just To Get Their Way
This is about union-busting.0 comments
It is about nothing other THAN union-busting.
In this video, Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), does the bidding of the alien car makers, even if it spells the destruction of what's left of the U.S. economy. (Could only find a link. If I can add the video directly later, I will.—GN)
Simply put, the GOP just does not care about causing damage, AS LONG AS THEY GET THEIRS. In this case, theirs is defined as the two-headed dog of wiping out labor unions and helping out the non-union manufacturers who've nestled into their anti-worker states.
Yes, Americans nationwide have bail-out fatigue.
Yes, the Bush White House and this current, heavily GOP-influenced Congress have screwed up the necessary moves that have needed to be made.
Granted.
But, the destruction of the U.S. auto makers will serve no useful purpose other than to assist the financial and competitive position of the alien car makers from Japan, Germany, the UK and Korea that have been sliding auto plants into the U.S.
On their way out the door after getting their asses soundly kicked and their tenets roundly repudiated in November, the Me-First Party is making a concerted last effort to destroy every vestige of American labor unions they can get away with—EVEN IF DOING SO DESTROYS THE VERY COUNTRY THEY SWORE AN OATH TO DEFEND. Even if it throws millions of Americans onto the street with no prospects.
Let's be very clear, here. The GOP talking points on the Big 3 loan package have—from the very beginning—been aimed at destroying The United Auto Workers union, and forcing the U.S. auto makers to shred and renounce all of their contracts with the UAW.
This has been a well orchestrated campaign, right from Mitt Romney's first whining about the UAW at the outset of the auto makers' woes this go-'round.
Later, they gave us the bogus "$70/hr." slime, which still shows up in papers around the country and on cable, even though it's been debunked as self-serving crap, time and again.
Once again, just so we are all clear:The average UAW worker makes $29/hr.; the alien car makers in right-to-work states pay $26/hr., on average. Too close; no slime possible there.
Even the benefits are almost comparable. Hmmm, still not slime-worthy.
No, it's in the legacy charges of pensions and health care for retirees that the slime-meisters come up with the payments that allow them to distort their arguments, and sell them as gospel. The alien car makers in the South simply are too new to have any appreciable number of retirees—plus, they weren't around in the era of pensions, so they don't carry much in the way of retirement costs. If you'll recall, that was the main idea behind the creation of the 401k and IRAs—to be able to shift the cost of retirement away from corporations (to reward lifelong loyalty) and onto the workers themselves (every man, woman and child for their own damned self, bub). Sweet.
The new plants in the South have little-to-no retiree/pension costs. Detroit has massive retiree costs, since they were the engine that created Middle Class America after WWII, with all those pensions and health costs of "the Greatest Generation" and their children, the pre- and early Boomers, still on the books.
As they have tried consistently since Republicans under Newt Gingrich and later George W. Bush came to power, the GOP would happily throw your parents and grandparents out into the streets to starve and to die. It's in their DNA.
Additionally, press accounts consistently neglect to insert the fact that every GOP Senator you see grabbing air time on this issue is from A RIGHT-TO-WORK STATE, where they've effectively killed union participation, and have heavy support from alien car makers in direct competition with Detroit. Right-to-work companies are free to abuse and underpay their workers with impunity.
Take a look at this, from something called the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation (which we assume is only too happy to help you protect your right to be abused in the workplace):
I love the Forced-Unionism State line. They forgot to include "Evil." These folks are a hoot.
Does anything about the pattern of the color of the states jump out at you?
How about...
Pretty striking, no? Same pattern. Swap a few states in either direction, and they're the same.
Republican-held states have destroyed collective bargaining in their territories, allowing businesses to act in any anti-worker ways they so choose. If a worker objects, he or she stands alone. Just the way the company wants it. It's called "business-friendly."
States behind the Red Curtain also tend to reside at the lower reaches of education rankings, so the GOP happily keeps its constituents ignorant and pliable. Since they have no great supply of natural resources to interest corporations, these state leaders must offer a third-world-level workforce, who have been indoctrinated in the idea that unions are bad and evil and will abuse your right to be a rugged individual. Who cares if you're only making 60 cents on the dollar, if you can "be your own man, dammit"?
So, now that the GOP is being booted out the door nationally and has had to claw desperately to hold onto seats even in their own territories, this is their last opportunity to do favors for the alien car makers who have become such major players in these right-to-work states.
Kill General Motors; make Toyota and Mazda happy. Kill Ford; make Volkswagon or BMW happy.
Sens. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), John Ensign, Mitch McConnell (R-KY, which isn't r-t-w, but that's not stopping HIM!), David (Hooker-boy) Vitter (R-LA) and Larry (Widestance) Craig (R-ID) and others, are all only too happy to keep their bona fides intact with these European and Asian corporations in order to keep the campaign donation largess flowing. Each of these men have tackled any reporter and cameraman within 20 yards of them, to ensure their camera time as they seek to send the U.S. over an economic cliff, simply to aid a contributor.
There is a term used to describe supporting and doing the bidding of foreign interests over the economic and security interests of the United States of America—especially, when it's done for money.
That word?
Treason.
posted by Gotham 2:04 PM
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Shaping Up Sub-Prime
2 comments
No, not that sub-prime, the Mets' sub-prime.
Sub-Prime Field.
What the Mets laughingly refer to as Citi Field.
Citi Field Starting to Look Like a Real BallparkIt is still called Citi Field, by the way. Even though Citigroup, which in 2006 agreed to pay the Mets $400 million over 20 years for naming rights and signage, needed a government bailout worth billions, its senior VP of global community relations, Eric Eve, and the Mets’ chief operating officer, Jeff Wilpon [the owner's son], said Tuesday there are no plans to change the name of the new stadium.
Here's my favorite part:Wilpon added that he wasn’t concerned about any public backlash regarding the organization’s relationship with Citigroup.
Fat chance, Jeffie boy!
Not when you need to be Mayor Wallet (above), or to mortgage your house to buy tickets for a family of four. Unfortunately, Citibank isn't alone in not giving out mortgages or loans to anybody these days. "Four tickets down the first base line, please," just isn't going to unthaw that ol' credit freeze. Tough luck all around, bub.
So, let's see, you can't afford the seats and spiffy whizzbangs in the Wilpon family's new Sub-Prime Field tribute to Daddy Wilpon's beloved, departed Brooklyn Dodgers. And you also can't get a loan to afford those high prices in Sub-Prime.
Hmmm. Here's an upbeat vision, looking down the road of a long season: Once the citizens of Gotham turn on New York City's red-tie Corporati (who've both messed up the finances of this country AND grabbed all the decent seats at Shea and now at Sub-Prime), drag them into the streets, and then beat them soundly with clubs, a growing number of seats should go begging at Sub-Prime Field. Then, the wise Wilpons will drop their prices to merely exorbitant levels to lure folks back into their park. Perhaps entree would then be possible, even without a loan perhaps.
Then, all New Yorkers might actually see what the new park looks like.
Until then, that's why God created television.
And why Wilpon, no fool he, started his own channel.
posted by Gotham 11:51 AM
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Well, THAT Explains It, Then...
I know...0 comments
You, just like I have, have always wondered:
Just WHO WERE those folks who made up that 20% in George W. Bush's 20% approval rating?
This may help explain:
1 in 5 young Americans has personality disorder
It certainly explains that years' long oddity of there being a "young republicans club." Who knew?
Ahhh, the wonders of science.
posted by Gotham 1:04 PM
Thursday, November 20, 2008
The Bush Legacy II
George W. Bush:0 comments
Nothing. Is. Ever. Our. Fault. Or. Responsibility.
Ever.
This sad tale is a Two-for-One Shot of Bush-led ugly. And of what America has been reduced to in GeorgeBushWorld.
If their Commander-In-Chief can tell lies, and happily tell jokes and dance around and cover his ass, and make everything everybody else's fault, why shouldn't the entire Officer and Noncom Corps of the U.S. Military do the same? You follow your leader, period. Right?
This seems to cover friendly fire situations, as well.
With possible negligent homicide, dereliction of duty or assault charges hanging in the air, and facing possible jail time, certain demotion or separation from service penalties—depending on the outcome of any judicial review that might have taken place if things were reported correctly at the time—the command structure overseeing the friendly fire attack that befell 2nd Platoon in Ramadi, Anbar Provence, Iraq, in Dec. 2006, had every motive in the world to lie out their asses and simply say, too bad, kids, you're already dead, my getting screwed won't bring you back now.
This horrific saga appears before us now in Two Acts:
First, here is last month's original report, released on October 14, 2008 by Salon's Mark Benjamin (who should easily walk away with a Pulitzer for his effort to get this story out):
Salon: Friendly fire in Iraq—and a cover up
WARNING: Whether reading the story above, or watching Benjamin's video evidence of the events below, be prepared to have your heart broken. And your fury unleashed. [This video is an edited 12 minutes; Benjamin offers this, plus a full, unedited 52-minute version on the Salon site.]
It is important to note that these events may well have been fully and totally accidental—stemming from mis-identification of the men in "building #2" in the heat of a confusing and terrifying full fire fight. If these events had been allowed a full judicial hearing, it's possible we may have been left with two dead soldiers, and a tank crew and any number of possible commanders who would be haunted by this for the rest of their lives, but who may not actually have been criminally negligent. If so, it might well have been chalked up to: That's warfare. That is the risk you take when you enlist. Shit happens, and so on.
But, no. Even in the chaos, while trying to get the info of his wounded and dead to HQ over his radio, the Sergeant was being told the Official Story of what had just happened. Even if no one there saw that at all, THAT is what happened. Got it? There was NO tank shell, OK? Two insurgent rockets came from two entirely different directions and, as Tinkerbelle guided them, just happened to land together at the EXACT SAME SPOT at the EXACT SAME SECOND on the roof of "building #2" and blew up a number of GIs, killing two. OK? Got it? THIS IS THE STORY. And we're sticking to it.
All official records following the incident follow the Tinkerbelle theory.
Now, here's where Act I turns truly ugly. In expert Bush/Cheney fashion, the lies told to the mother of Pfc. Mark Nelson of Philadelphia about her son's death explain why Americans no longer believe a frickin' thing anyone in Bush's government tells us, about anything, at any time.
But, of course, you knew it wouldn't end there.
As Richard Nixon found out, it's never the crime, it's the cover-up that really fucks people up. And, like any poison, it spreads.
Now, in today's Salon, we have this:
Salon: New friendly fire cover up: Army shreds files on dead soldiers
So disgusting.
On the day the Benjamin piece appeared in Salon last month, 2nd Platoon's battalion commanders met at Fort Carson, Colorado, to discuss Benjamin's exposé. They basically agreed to panic. Their first reaction, as with any criminal conspiracy, is to go through the ranks, fruitlessly attempting to ferret out the rat who talked to the press.
Gosh! And no one copped to it. I'm amazed!
Later that day, coincidentally mind you, all the files containing any and all info on the two soldiers killed by U.S. tank fire in Ramadi on Dec. 6, 2006 (along with those of anyone with similar names, just to be sure) were pulled from the base's files, boxed up and slated for destruction.
They're now covering up the cover up. The scenario which proves the Nixon point.
Now, there is a clear number of noncoms and officers who can be targeted in the original cover-up. But, now two years later, back on the platoon's base in Colorado, any number of additional officers and noncoms who were not privy to the initial cover up, some of whom may have had no idea the original events ever occurred, are trying to step in and help out their comrades who were involved on the battlefield but who are now long removed from that unit. So now they, themselves, are implicated in malfeasance. And at risk of prosecution.
As we said above, "like any poison, it spreads."
As one of the soldiers who were ordered to shred the evidence realized that night:"People go to jail for this kind of shit."
Also, as with most people who go to jail on merit, it's usually one thoughtless moment or gesture that trips them up, and exposes them to prosecution.
With this second cover up, Gotham wonders who had the bright idea to assign three soldiers to perform the actual shredding that night—two of whom were on-site during the original friendly fire incident, were friends of the two killed Americans and were eyewitnesses to events there. Or, even worse in terms of exposing the ineptitude of command forces in George Bush's Army today, why did no one who wanted these explosive, incriminating files to disappear think of the simple step of assuring that no witness connected with the original crime was assigned to the file shredding.
It's mind-boggling that no one had this simple thought:Assigning two soldiers who were eyewitnesses to the original events—and who, along with the rest of the platoon, had been bullied and ordered into accepting an official cover up that ran counter to the facts of their friends' deaths as they knew them—to destroy the evidence that would confirm for the world the horror that these men had lived with for two years, might conceivably pose a problem.
And yes, the "people go to jail" quote came from one of the eyewitnesses as he realized what they'd bee instructed to do.
I'm not certain these commanders are the people I'd want ordering around men with large guns. Or tanks.
Aside from the fools at the very top who should stand to account before a World Court for all of this mess, this entire affair is heart wrenching in the extreme. A Greek Tragedy for our time.
But everyone here is simply following Bush's lead.
Nothing. Is. Ever. Our. Fault. Or. Responsibility.
Ever.
Pass it on.
posted by Gotham 3:21 PM
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Oh My...
The World Reacts0 comments
posted by Gotham 2:02 AM
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Here We Go...
Well, this is it, boys and girls. The Votes are beginning to be tallied.0 comments
How furiously do you think the GOP minions are getting these votes flipped and/or rerouted through their favorite GOP vote-cleaning shop in Tennessee?
So, do we go for the champagne or the torches?
You knew some kind of fix was in when you saw the stories about the Ohio police forces gearing up for riots.
That can only mean one thing...
posted by Gotham 7:13 PM
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Web Censorship Spreading Like A Virus
ALERT!0 comments
Now, the Brits are the latest to want a little censorship on the Web.
posted by Gotham 9:10 PM
Your Bush Administration At Work
This is what they do in the George W. Bush administration.0 comments
They corrupt every principle of governance, and stand it on its head, in order to wrest and control power for its own sake. For as tight a closed circle of privileged people as it possibly can.
Homeland Security may have outed Obama's aunt
Can ANYONE please school me on ANYTHING the minions of Dick Cheney and Bush have done in eight years that was actually aimed at improving the lot of the average American? Anything?
Plus, is Bush actually trying to reach a 15% Approval Rating before Tuesday's election?
posted by Gotham 9:03 PM
The Credit Card Party
From Stephi at ABC:0 comments
GOP goes further into hock to avoid clean sweep
Going into debt is all anyone in the modern Republican Party knows how to do. They did it to the country; they're doing it to the Party; has anyone checked any balance sheets of people hanging out at the Country Club lately? The Country Club may want to start charging its fees and dues in cash. It's not too clear just how solvent its members might be.
posted by Gotham 8:47 PM
What If?
Since 2000, people have been tracking the Republican misuse and abuse of the voting system (i.e., actual "Voting Fraud"), both with paper and electronic ballots, and through the actions of state political operatives who have climbed into positions of power over the running of the elections in various states.0 comments
With a story like this one:
Documents reveal how Republican Ohio SoS Blackwell routed 2004 voting data through servers that hosted illegal external Bush Administration email accounts—it brings to mind the ever-nagging question that confronts us today.
"If Barack Obama's apparent lead across the country disappeared on election day, and scores of counties that were solidly Democratic 'flipped' and showed up as Republican by late Tuesday, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?"
Would you question it, oppose it, sue everyone in sight? Would you heat up the tar and gather the feathers? Would you heap vengeance on anyone wearing a red tie? Would you take to the street with torches and pitchforks?
Or would you just hang your head and say, "Gee, willikers, those darn bastards stole another one from us."
At what point do you rise in righteous anger and take back your country?
Hmmmmmm?
posted by Gotham 8:28 PM
Embarrassing
Frankly, Sen. John McCain, we found your appearance on Saturday Night Live last night, very painful to watch.0 comments
Poking fun at oneself is a topnotch political quality, but would have been set up better earlier in the campaign when the campaign had vitality, when it was still defining its story, and could control its image. Then, the skits would assist your campaign in defining its message.
To have it come on the last desperate weekend of the campaign, when you're struggling to push the boulder up the mountainside, leaves you with only the conventional unflattering picture of the moment. This, of course, does nothing but reinforce the negative image at a time when you dearly need every moment of the day to shine a positive light on your quickly sinking ship.
The idea of joking about the Titanic while water is lapping at the ship's conning tower only reinforces the idea that you're bereft of ideas on how to fix your immediate crisis. And proves that you're not very fast on your feet, Mr. McCain. It's rather akin to if Michael Dukakis had started laughing about those "wacky" tanks on the last weekend in 1988.
It's not clear how the message that you're broke enough to only afford air time on the QVC channel hurts Barack Obama. It says nothing about him; it says you're underfunded and cannot compete, whether you are or not. You end up looking like one of those whiners that your financial guru Phil Gramm complained about. Gramm may be your long-time friend, Senator, but he's made it clear, he's got no room for whiners.
Then, allowing Tina Fey to insert an aside to the camera about how your running mate has already written this election off and is already pushing PALIN 2012 tee shirts, is something that your staff should have put the kibbosh on by midweek at the latest. You're already having enough trouble with the revolt by Palin forces trampling on your message in the mainstream press, without having comedy shows place that idea in concrete in the public's mind.
I'm afraid, Senator, last night's stint on SNL only proved that, while you may be adept at comedy, your campaign may border on being a joke.
posted by Gotham 6:56 PM
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Geesh! Clinton Only Pardoned A
Couple Of Creeps On The Way Out...
George W. Bush, on the other hand, has the capability of disembowling the entire country as he leaves—if he, in fact, does leave. Which, of course, is in doubt.0 comments
In Final Days, Bush Bypasses Laws on Privacy and Hiring Discrimination
posted by Gotham 12:05 AM
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Alert! Australia To Censor Internet Use
IMPORTANT READ!0 comments
Now, THIS is scary.
Herald Sun: Australia to implement mandatory Internet censorshipAUSTRALIA will join China in implementing mandatory censoring of the Internet under plans put forward by the [Australian] Federal Government. The government has declared it will not let Internet users opt out of the proposed national internet filter.
This, even after Bush's pal Howard was defeated as Aussie PM recently.
Keep an eye on this being pushed here in the States, as well.
You have religious right whack jobs joining with political power brokers and corrupt politicians using Mom and Apple Pie to slide us all down their disgusting slippery slope. In Australia, these bastards used child porn as their straw man. Who the hell wouldn't be for stopping kiddie porn? So, you get instant non-challenging support. Plus, if you complain and challenge them, they attack you for being FOR kiddie porn. They're slick. And sick. They should each and all rot in hell.The Australian Christian Lobby, however, has welcomed the proposals.
Managing director Jim Wallace said the measures were needed.
"The need to prevent access to illegal hard-core material and child pornography must be placed above the industry's desire for unfettered access," Mr Wallace said.
No it doesn't. That's pure bullshit.
Enforce laws against child porn. The rest you leave alone.
As with everything else with these people, it's about power. Power's really the only thing they know how to truly monetize.
posted by Gotham 11:42 PM
A Stretch, Perhaps...
...But you get the point.0 comments
From Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys:
A hat tip to Jody S.
posted by Gotham 11:07 PM
Lieberman: Can I Come Home, Now?
Now, THIS is the Joe Lieberman we know so well!0 comments
posted by Gotham 9:10 AM
Rock Swing The Vote
Classic.0 comments
Gotham says: Amy London explains it all for you.
posted by Gotham 1:50 AM
Dems Fighting Back Against GOP's
Voter Disenfranchisement Efforts
The Dems seem prepared this time around.0 comments
A combination of sanity and maturity in Florida and a good ol' fashioned, sue-their-asses-off mentality everywhere else, have the Dems poised to drag every Republican who seeks to deny an American the right to vote through every court in the land. Not to mention all the publicity shone on the fool fronting the GOP's effort in any given state.
More reports here.
And here.
And here as well.
Not to mention more of them here.
But you've got to keep your eyes open at all times. Because every year, Republicans come up with crap like this—and we've simply got to be willing to drag them into court in every state and federal district in the Union.
Remember, the Bushies HATE being in court. It's where they have to 'fess up.
posted by Gotham 1:42 AM
Uncle Ted Goes Down...
Expect more of this.0 comments
From state courts to the World Court.
Chapter XVI, it seems, in The Great GOP Caper Story. Such a long list of crooks, perverts and all-around reprobates populating the Republican Party.
Who've been partying like it's 1939.
Shouldn't there be some sort of Watch List, like a Meghan's Law list, in every state that has Republican pols in it, just so we can keep an eye on them?
You just never know when they're going to steal something or grope someone or start a war. It's what they do; it's in the DNA.
I do believe that this is what that Pelosi/Reid "Culture of Corruption" thing was all about.
posted by Gotham 1:14 AM
Just An Excessively Sad Story
Singer's 7-year-old nephew found dead in SUV0 comments
Our prayers go out to the family.
posted by Gotham 12:57 AM
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Yes, Virginia, It Always Starts At The Top
These guys never stop. Ever.0 comments
TPMMuckraker: White House Wants DOJ Action On Ohio Voting Case to dump 200,000 registered voters.
There are just too damned many Democrats!
posted by Gotham 4:03 AM
Palin, The Shrewd Negotiator?
Maybe..., Not Too Much.
AP INVESTIGATION: Palin pipeline terms curbed bids0 comments
Oh my... That was supposed to be the one thing she was actually good at.
posted by Gotham 3:32 AM
Is Palin Writing Her Own Material?
Sure sounds like it.0 comments
Via the Huff Post.
posted by Gotham 3:09 AM
NYS GOP RIP
Hey, Staten Island is now a national story!0 comments
WaPo: GOP All but Ready to Mourn Loss of Vito Fassella's Staten Island Seat
Vito, we hardly knew ye...
No. Republican. Left. Standing.
posted by Gotham 3:04 AM
Multitasking In The Modern GOP
0 commentsGOP hotshot Jeff Larson is padding his resumé:
Sarah Palin’s Personal Shopper.
John McCain's Personal Dialer.
Norm Coleman's Personal Landlord (oh, and Norm's Personal Dialer, too!)
Karl Rove's longtime B.F.F."... For a time, there was a blurb on the FLS [Larson's robo-dialing firm] website from none other than über-strategist Karl Rove, a friend and colleague of Larson's. 'I know these guys well. They become partners with the campaigns they work with. From designing the program to drafting scripts; from selecting targets to making the calls in a professional, successful way, they work as hard to win your races as you do.'
Larson has worked himself into the highest echelons of Republican politics from the dregs of the political hierarchy. His first job in politics was as a driver for Bud Westman, a man vying for a North Dakota Senate seat. Within weeks Larson was Westman's deputy campaign manager. Westman lost and Larson moved on. In 1984 he was working the re-election campaign for the state's governor. After another loss, he made an incongruous leap to executive director of the Delaware Republican Party. Incongruous leaps became Larson's thing. Next he was a Republican National Committee field agent under Lee Atwater."
A resumé any mother's son would be proud to post on Monster!
posted by Gotham 1:55 AM
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Look Out Below!
0 commentsJohn McCain's numbers are in a death race with George W. Bush's falling numbers. Can John get down as far as George before Nov. 4?
If not, it's not for lack of trying.
McCain's campaign is sinking as fast as his old ship did (below).
Here are the campaign's latest numbers. From the latest study of "registered" voters done by Princeton Survey Research Associates for Newsweek magazine:
In just the last two weeks, Barack Obama's percentage lead over John McCain on "who'd do a better job" has increased in every category, except "Energy policy and gas prices," where Obama's still double-digit lead fell by two points, and "Terrorism" which stayed the same.
Here are Obama's current leads over McCain for various factors:The economy and jobs (+23%)
The Iraq war (+2%)
Energy policy and gas prices (+15%)
Terrorism and national security (-10%)
Health care (+28%)
Taxes and government spending (+15%)
Issues like abortion, guns, and same-sex marriage (+10%)
The financial problems on Wall Street and in the housing and mortgage crises (+20%)
This does not bode well for the McCain campaign. Less than two weeks short of the election, and his numbers are sinking further faster. Not good.
Speaking of sinking...
Here is the story of the U.S.S. Oriskany, which is the carrier that McCain flew his Vietnam bombing missions from (until he got himself shot down, of course).
It's now on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, off of Pensacola, FL.
posted by Gotham 11:11 PM
Friday, October 24, 2008
Pluto/Mike's Roll Call Cronies
4 comments
Plutocrat Mike Bloomberg just bought you; the City Council just sold you to him. You belong to him, now.
If the original price for Manhattan island was $24, whatever could our favorite plutocrat have paid for the entire city?
Roll call breakdown: How the City Council voted on extending term limits
Here are the Dirty 29. These 29 people are to be shunned and opposed at every turn at every step for the rest of their careers for selling you to Mike Bloomberg. In fact, this vote today should effectively END their careers.
How the City Council voted on extending term limits:
YES VOTE
(*= cowards whose term-limited seat is set to expire in 2009 and voted to kill term limits today. Yes, what a shock, I know. Others' terms would continue on, past 2009.)Maria del Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx)
*Maria Baez (D-Bronx)
*Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. (D-Queens)
Inez E. Dickens (D-Manhattan) [Gotham's own!]
*Erik Martin Dilan (D-Brooklyn)
*Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn)
*Lewis A. Fidler (D-Brooklyn)
*Helen D. Foster (D-Bronx)
*Alan J. Gerson (D-Manhattan)
Sara M. Gonzalez (D-Brooklyn)
*Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan)
*Melinda R. Katz (D-Queens)
*G. Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx)
**Miguel Martinez (D-Manhattan)
Darlene Mealy (D-Brooklyn)
*Michael C. Nelson (D-Brooklyn)
*Christine C. Quinn (D-Manhattan)
*Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. (D-Brooklyn)
*Diana Reyna (D-Brooklyn)
*Joel Rivera (D-Bronx)
*James Sanders, Jr. (D-Queens)
*Larry B. Seabrook (D-Bronx)
*Helen Sears (D-Queens)
*Kendall Stewart (D-Brooklyn)
James Vacca (D-Bronx)
*Peter F. Vallone, Jr. (D-Queens)
*Albert Vann (D-Brooklyn)
Thomas White, Jr. (D-Queens)
*David Yassky (D-Brooklyn)
Question:
Just what did Pluto give to these people (other than crass self-interest) to get them to vote for this insane measure to overturn the will of the New York voter? Or does Bloomberg have something serious on these people? NYers voted TWICE for term limits, and also turned down Runnin' Rudy when he wanted to stay on after the WTC attacks.
NYers are very happy with term limits. They're not very happy with their Mayor or City Council right now.
NO VOTE
Here are NY's Most Courageous:
(those whose term-limited jobs are up in 2009, but voted NO! to keep term limits anyway.)*James S. Oddo (R-S.I.)
*Michael E. McMahon (D-S.I.)
[OK; McMahon was gonna bail, anyway, since he's taking Vito Fossella's Staten Island seat in Congress. But it's still a gutsy vote.]
*Bill de Blasio (D-Brooklyn)
*Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn)
*Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. (D-Queens)
*Eric N. Gioia (D-Queens)
*Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens)
*James F. Gennaro (D-Queens)
*David I. Weprin (D-Queens)
*Tony Avella (D-Queens)
*Gale A. Brewer (D-Manhattan)
Others who opposed Bloomberg and voted NO on this, but held safe seats past 2009.Anthony Como (R-Queens)
Mathieu Eugene (D-Brooklyn)
Daniel R. Garodnick (D-Manhattan)
Vincent J. Gentile (D-Brooklyn)
Vincent Ignizio (R-S.I.)
Letitia James (D-Brooklyn)
Jessica S. Lappin (D-Manhattan)
John C. Liu (D-Queens)
Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan)
Rosie Mendez (D-Manhattan)
Annabel Palma (D-Bronx)
To you all on this NO list, we offer our thanks and immediately support your run for other office. YOU are a NYer.
We just noticed, as well, that no member of Pluto's Republican Party voted with him. They all opposed him on this (OK, there are only 3, but still...), even Mr. Oddo of Staten Island, who should, by rights, be out of a job in 2009.
NYers truly would have liked to have made this decision again on the ballot. If term limits lost, so be it: that'd be the will of the people. But, Pluto knew he'd lose, so in perfect Karl Rove/John McCain/George W. Bush/Dick Cheney-esque fashion, he decided to short-circuit the process by killing it. That's pure GOP. It's cheaper to buy a Council that's scared of unemployment than to spend heavily on a referendum measure in a special City Charter Revision election. Only to lose.
And every member of this City Council must know what national climate we live in, and how this vote would be construed by the people of New York.
Lemmings going over a cliff.
Money and cowardice both ran rampant in City Hall Thursday.
Hey! If ya got it, flaunt it.
posted by Gotham 2:41 AM
Gracie Mansion: 'Most expensive apartment ever' in NYC goes on sale
0 commentsGracie Mansion:
Bloomberg's down payment!
Not their dopey over-heated Ross shack on Park Avenue... but the priceless mayor's mansion on the East Side is now up for sale.
Gracie Mansion is worth a lot more than $60 million to the people of New York. But Plutocrat Mike Bloomberg is willing to pay any price to hang onto it, even (especially!) when he's no longer wanted! And he now has a small politiboro to hand him anything he wants, since they now owe every remaining day they spend in politics and government to Michael Bloomberg.
City Council is now a patronage job.
Just what must those Council members have received from Bloomberg to sell out the city they love. This isn't a vote that gets made on the basis of "merits." Because it has none.
Just naked greed and fear.
The Daily News also ran a snap poll that answers the question, "Do you believe the City Council had the right to extend term limits?" with a resounding 14% YES to 86% NO vote.
We can only hope and work our asses off to see that Pluto gets that same tally in the 2009 mayoralty electioins he so wanted to be a part of, despite the billions he'll throw at this city to stage his own bail out.
posted by Gotham 12:56 AM
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
World Series Thoughts...
Since Gotham's beloved Metropolitans ran afoul of the baseball gods yet again, one can only think of evil befalling the hated Phillies of Philadelphia.1 comments
So, Gotham will be jumping on the bandwagon and pulling for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (Gotham doesn't do marketing name-change ploys) in this Series, starting tonight.
Actually, another connection that may have been made, but we haven't seen so far (since we haven't actually paid a lick of attention since Shea stadium's passing day), is that this Tampa team actually reminds us more of the 1969 Mets than anything else or any other team. There are many similarities, including Scott Kazmir as their Tom Seaver: a young group playing at a high level, insane pitching, power, speed, grit and an unconquerable confidence that they can!
When a team is as bad for as long as the original Mets were and these Tampas have been, you end up stockpiling an amazing array of young, studly talent throughout your farm system. Eventually, with expectations so low, the top of that crop matures together and all at once, seemingly catching everyone else unaware.
The Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves also experienced that worst-to-first experience in the early '90s after their teams were so bad for so long. The Twins have been competitive ever since, and those young Braves went on to have one of the longest runs of domination in baseball history, before their generation of great young talent grew up and, now years later, have grown old and passed the torch.
These Rays (OK, I said it) will be tough for years now, while this crop of players grow, mature, then age, unless they get silly and start trading them all away.
Let's Go, Mets! er, Rays!
posted by Gotham 8:21 AM
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Looking At The Smaller Numbers
As of today, October 21, 2008, Polling Report.com is showing intriguing numbers for the 2008 Congressional races.0 comments
Bear with me—disclosure: we spent many years here working closely with top pollster Louis Harris on The Harris Poll—as we look at some of these numbers.For those unfamiliar with polls, the term "registered voters" is more vague than "likely voters," since a tighter screen is normally used in order to get respondents to declare themselves. Registered can mean simply having performed a clerical task sometime back. Likely is either a view of a person's history of voting in past elections or of their declaration of intent to vote in the upcoming election. So, likely voter (LV) screens receive closer scrutiny.
Recent tracking polls for the generic race for Congress have some interesting quandries.
In the 3-day rolling average polls released by Research 2000 for Daily Kos, what immediately jumps out is the Unsure/Not Sure (NS) number. You see the immediate impact of the fiscal debacle. And just whom America blames.
While we're using the Research 2000 numbers for this, know that they're pretty much in line with everyone else's results.
For the early part of September, the Dems's numbers were roughly 45% to 50% and the GOPers were floating in the 39 to 41 range, with a sizable low-teens NS number. Things were static. It was decidedly a Democratic year, but no one was pulling away, and many folks were agonizing over their choice. It could tighten up, or the Dem lead could hold or grow.
Likely Voters:
DATE / Democrat/Republican/Not Sure
9/13/08 47 41 12
9/12/08 46 40 14
9/11/08 47 41 12
9/10/08 47 40 13
Then, Wall St. tanked. For a couple of days, the Dems gained as they took the media forefront and most people attribute financial types with Republicans. The Dems rose a couple of points to 49% to 50% of the total, while GOPers stayed in the low 40s. The NS numbers dropped to 8 or 9, with folks moving to the Dems.
But an interesting shift has occurred. Folks have moved again. But away from the GOP. The odd thing in this crisis has been the absence of a "Pox on all your houses" response on the part of voters. Dem numbers have not moved at all, really, they are still sitting in the 48 to 50 range. They're not being affected by this shift; it's the GOP that's bearing the brunt. All the action has come in the NS numbers. Over these two months, we've seen NS numbers swing from the low teens, down to single digits, up to between 16 and 20, and settling now into the mid-teen range, leaving the GOP wallowing in the mid-30s. You can almost see Americans weighing everything carefully; these events have certainly gotten their attention.
DATE / Democrat/Republican/Not Sure
10/19/08 48 35 17
10/18/08 50 35 15
10/17/08 50 36 14
This shift has all come out of the GOP numbers. The GOP has spent every day since Sept. 26 below 40%. During this crisis, it's GOP support that has wavered, while Dem support has held steady. It can be assumed that most Republican voters are weighing exactly the role their favorite has played in this national mess. Should they hold their Republican Representative accountable and let the Dems clean up the mess, or give the Republican a ride this time?
Going forward, the interesting thing becomes, "Just what will that upwards to 20% of the electorate do in their districts on Nov. 4?"
They could go in any of three directions. They could "come home" to the GOP, hold their noses and vote. In that case, the GOP would seize or retain many House seats, cutting deeply into Dem projected gains.
Or, so fed up they could spit, many may hold their noses more tightly and vote for the Dem this time.
Or, they could simply choose not to vote for Congress this time, denying breath to the GOP campaign there.
Either of the bottom two leads to major Dem pickup numbers. The first scenario makes it a battle.
Much of this, of course, rests with how angry voters still are on the 4th, how much John McCain is tied to the pain caused by George W. Bush, and how dismal a campaign McCain and Sarah Palin continue to run, and how clear a case Barack Obama can make for his plan and his fitness to handle a crisis. This is an election where the top of the ticket will bear enormous pressure and influence on the lower parts of the ballot. There seems no great passion for splitting tickets this year.
Which brings us to the other thing that's interesting today.
Most polls show that the Dems have held a 5 to 10 point lead in generic Dem/GOP races for months. They have also shown consistently that folks would like to see Congress in the hands of the Dems, again generically.
Then we get to the fun part.
It's good to see that after all this time has passed, that something we tracked closely in the '70s-'90s at Harris still holds sway.
People like their Congressman; it's everyone else's that has to go!
Gallup looked at it in July:
Does this respondent's Congressperson deserve re-election? Then, how about the rest of Congress?
This historically has produced a giant Yes for theirs, and a resounding NO for everyone else's.
Let's see what it shows this year:
In Feb.: Theirs: Yes, 62-27; Others: 38-52.
In July: Theirs: Yes, 58-30; Others: 34-54.
Like clockwork.
However, you can see an anger beginning to build against Congress, as their guy dropped seven points in five months, while "those other" House members dropped six. They still are solidly behind their Representative, but they're having doubts. That's what makes the daily numbers above so fascinating for political wonks.
So, keep an eye on Wall St. and the economy, and fasten your seat belts, 'cause we're in for a bumpy ride.
posted by Gotham 2:00 PM
Monday, October 20, 2008
South Dakota Update
Here's an update to the South Dakota post we ran Saturday.0 comments
h/t to Paula for this video. We then found a couple of others.
Here, Madame Unruh and her wackos in VoteYes4Life make it all clear for you...
posted by Gotham 6:55 PM
Only In New York...
From The New York Times:0 comments
Jim Cramer Retreats Along With the Dow
Years ago, when Gotham was fairly new to investing—and experiencing its nasty downside during George W. Bush's 1st recession—we saw Jim Cramer one afternoon, standing with us on the platform at 14th Street on the 7th Avenue subway (the 1, 2 or 3 lines for those of you new to Gotham)—bored, absent-mindedly kicking the pillars, killing time, waiting for the next train, lost in his own thoughts, just like everyone else.
At first, we thought casually, "Why is he taking the subway, instead of a car service or limo?"
We watched this nondescript subway figure for a while longer, then realized, "We're taking financial advice from him?"
posted by Gotham 3:54 PM
President Palin?
From The New York Times:0 comments
Many Holes in Disclosure of Nominees’ Health
Not good.
posted by Gotham 3:18 PM
Sarah Yells "Fin-sies! Just Foolin'!"
0 comments
Sarah Palin fends off the lightning bolts.
In The New York Times:
Palin Calls Reported Attacks ‘Atrocious and Unacceptable’“We have heard through some mainstream media is that folks have hollered out some pretty atrocious and unacceptable things,” including threats of harm, she said, adding “we have not heard that.” Ms. Palin added: “If I ever were to hear that standing up there at the podium with the mic, I would call them out on that, and I would tell these people, no, that’s unacceptable, let’s rise above that please.”
Duck, Sarah!
posted by Gotham 3:04 PM
Hunting The Mild Bore
Yes, still the "Top of the Charts" for the ????th Week for all things fiscal/political, Paul Krugman nails it yet again.0 comments
Thankfully, Krugman brings back an important word for our times: plutocrat.
If you are reading this, you can safely assume that you are not a plutocrat.
I'll save you the time, here are a few dictionary definitions of "plutocrat."
[Greek ploutokratiā : ploutos, wealth + -kratiā, -cracy.]American Heritage Dictionary:
1. Government by the wealthy.
2. A wealthy class that controls a government.
3. A government or state in which the wealthy rule.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition:
Government by the rich. The term is usually one of reproach.
The Republican National Committee:
"I see rich people."
The GOP has one constituency and one constituency only—the Big-Money White Guy—a plutocrat. That Guy, the plutocrat, "Mr. Moneybags" from the 1930s, is and has always been the Republican Party.
***So, Black Guys, Brown Guys, Foreign Guys and all Women (excepting a very few women born to, married to or sleeping with, the Big-Money White Guy)—regardless of status, income, wealth, education or achievement—have wisely come to grasp and fully understand that they really have no seat at the table under the GOP Big Tent. That their best hope under GOP rule is for whatever may slide off the plates of the assembled Big-Money White Guys—which can be sizable and impressive, indeed (just ask the Beltway/mainstream media types).
These various groups have realized that their fortunes are tied ultimately to the success of the Democratic Party, as they'll never actually be accepted by the plutocrats—but merely used.
The only one missing from that line-up, you've noticed, is the No-Money White Guy.
And, alas, many No-Money White Guys still don't get it, poor dears.
This is where things get awfully confusing for everyone. So, we need a definition here:
No-Money White Guy (if not a group mentioned in paragraph [***] above): You. And me. The rest of us.
See? Easy. Clear.Is anyone shouting more loudly, and throwing more vile epithets at the Democrats at Sarah Palin's rallies this year than the white guy in the crowd without a pot to piss in, who has been screwed over by every GOP move since Richard Nixon (or perhaps, U.S. Grant)? The GOP keeps selling the No-Money White Guy on champagne and women, but he keeps finding that he's still drinking his beer all alone. It can't be HIS fault, he thinks, so it's gotta be someone else's. Someone has to pay for all this! But before he can point his ire upwards, the plutocrat (or, better, his operative, like Palin) smilingly taps him on the shoulder and coo's in his ear, "Look at all 'those' people. Looks like 'they' took your share, doesn't it? You were lucky just to get out of high school, sure, but 'he' took your spot in college because of Affirmative Action, didn't 'he'?" Hmmmm, yeah... hey, wait a minute...! (Cue the KKK Express.)
Krugman courageously attempts to take the blinders from the eyes of the No-Money White Guy using only plain numbers and Barack Obama's tax plan:Mr. Obama proposes raising rates on only the top two income tax brackets — and the second-highest bracket for a head of household starts at an income, after deductions, of $182,400 a year.
Ummm, hey, that's not what our Pro-America Hero John McCain and the Republicans are saying! McCain tells us it's "$42,000"! Yeah, that $42,000, a whole lot of us can see ourselves in that, right? Sure. But that's the wrong number. McCain had to twist some actual Senate votes into a pretzel to pull that one out of his own plumber butt.
Oh. Ummm..., can we look at what Krugman said again?... starts at an income, after deductions, of $182,400 a year.
That's not $42,000. Could Hero John McCain be lying? Yes. "Could" and "Is." Remember, McCain's working for the plutocrats, not for you.
After deductions? Yes.
Hmmm, that would mean: AGI. Adjusted Gross Income. Yes, it does. AGI (a/k/a, taxable income). OK, go grab your tax return copy for this year. We'll wait. (...)
OK, good. Look at the line where all your income sources are totaled. Now, look at all of your deductions. Every single penny you squeezed hard to reduce your taxable income and lower the amount of taxes you owed. Much lower, right? Kinda lower? You got it pushed down there pretty well, didn't you?
THAT IS THE NUMBER that has to be over $182,400 before you pay any more in taxes under Obama's plan. If that number is below $182,400, your taxes will go down. What was your number? $30,000, $60,000, $90,000...$100,000? AFTER DEDUCTIONS? Hey, you're doing pretty well, hunh? But your taxes are going down!
Yeah, but aren't you "rich" at $100,000 AGI? At that point, aren't you a plutocrat, too?
Nope.
If you think that small, you'll never get to be a plutocrat.
This is a plutocrat.
You and I don't even come close to being "rich," not in GOP terms. And, in the modern GOP, plutocrats only need apply. Plutocrat is also a mindset, a state of being, for them. Sorry. Ever notice professional athletes who are in, or talk about going into politics? From Jim Bunning (Phillies, Tigers, Senate, R-KY) to Al Lighter (Mets, Yankees, Bloomberg political acolyte) they all sail far over $182,400 AGI. Other than Bill Bradley (Princeton Tigers, Knicks), they're mostly Republicans, looking to hang onto every dime.
"Rich" merely begins if your number sits comfortably over $182,400. Even then, you'll have to work your way up the Rich Ladder through "well off," "comfortable," "a little" rich, "kinda" rich or "sorta, but not really" rich, just to reach the point where you can catch your breath at "rich." Even at that point, you're still only skimming off the margins of the Big-Money White Guys.Now, the only deluded soul who doesn't seem to get all this is, yes, the No-Money White Guy. He thinks somehow, that HE is going to find someway, somehow to climb over that $182, 400-after-deductions plateau and fly up that ladder. So, he doesn't want anyone raising taxes on that level, so he won't have to pay them when the day comes that he's on that level.
In your dreams, bub, if you're McCain's mythical Joe the Plumber. Or in any other profession for that matter. No viable shot unless you're Krugman's Richie the Hedge-Fund Manager. Now, Richie may well take a bit of a tax hit, yes. But do you really care? Richie's doing really well, even on the bottom rungs of that Rich Ladder with an AGI of over $182,400, and he can afford to pay some back.
Are you really willing to pick up Richie's tax tab today and let him skate on his fair share of taxes, just so that you can dream of maybe, somehow, someway, someday being on Richie's level, too?
Or should Richie pay his fair share today (and you paying yours, if that somehow/someway/someday thing ever works out)? That way, your kids can have a school today that's not crumbling around their ears, the roads you drive on today won't tear your overpriced car to pieces, your local police force today can attract better candidates who aren't just thugs and bullies and you can have a host of other things you need today to simply get your family through next Tuesday.
Remember, whether you're Joe or Richie or anyone else, the plutocrat will still run things, and will always be laughing at you, the No-Money White Guy. Because you still keep working hard and keep struggling, yet still keep voting Republican. You're THAT easy to dupe. And, they're betting, you always will be.
Also, keep an ear out for the phrase, "Class Warfare," and keep in mind that the only ones who use that phrase are the ones who have the most to fear from it: the ones who have something to lose. You don't have anything to lose, nor do I, so we're OK. But, the Big-Money White Guys have plenty to lose. There are 300 million of us and only 3 million of them, which they're well aware of. So, they'll pay top dollar to keep you and me and the rest of those 300 million Americans pointed in the wrong direction.
Unless you wise up, of course. And me. And the rest of us, who aren't in one of the groups mentioned above [***], who already get it. Our enemy is the plutocrat, not the poor schlubs who are struggling as hard as we are to feed their families. At this point, the No-Money White Guy is the only one who doesn't see that.
As always, George Carlin, as he always should, got the last word.
George Carlin - Who Really Controls America
posted by Gotham 11:49 AM
Sunday, October 19, 2008
DOJ Still A GOP Wasteland
0 commentsFrom TPM:
Ex-DOJ Voting Rights Chief: "It's Going to Take a Long Time to Cleanse" Justice Department
The U.S. Justice Department as led by Attorney Michael Mukasey is broken.
Utterly and totally broken. No part of it can be trusted any longer.
And if we cannot trust our law enforcement agencies to remain lawful, just whom can we trust?
Every agency and office within it is broken, and fully supports Injustice. The GOP has turned it from being the populace's legal representative and protector of last hope to being the GOP's official legal counsel. We citizens cannot look to our own protectors of the law for help. In fact, our safeguard has become our sworn enemy, looking out only for the interests of the party in power and for no one else. This is "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers," come terrifyingly to life.
Remember, this is all of a piece with the U.S. Attorneys firings in 2006. Keep in mind that these brave Americans, good Republicans all, were fired for either not pressing pro-GOP bogus "vote fraud" cases, not pressing phony "corruption" charges against Democrats locked in close election battles or for pressing actual live corruption investigations against Republican officials or candidates. Each of these actions piqued White House ire. So these people were simply fired for doing their jobs.
Since 2006, the DOJ has continued its bitter transformation.
The DOJ is still pushing the Karl Rove-led frivolous "investigations" of "voter fraud" (see: the politically corrupted use of the FBI in the trumped-up investigation of ACORN). That means the GOP is continuing to use a corrupted justice system as their only means of winning next month's election and holding onto power, which is the only thing Republicans aspire to.
The entire governmental apparatus has now been brought into play into salvaging the GOP position.
With "Because we can," being the official motto of the administration of George W. Bush.
Believe nothing that emerges from this federal apparatus. Our government has been turned on us.
How sad.
How chilling.
posted by Gotham 8:12 PM
Sarah's Limp Appearance
0 commentsSarah Palin is no Tina Fey.
Is it just me, or was Palin's cameo on SNL last night, incredibly lame?
What an egregious waste of space and promo. It's hard to tell who pushed this thing harder—SNL or McCain/Palin.
As part of their recent, desperate above-the-water charm offensive as they foul all the waters below them, Palin failed miserably. She left the charm back in the hotel. She was wooden, churlish, nasty and not at all the "good sport" they sought to portray her as.
America may well feel comfortable with Fey/Palin, and has actually developed something of a crush on her; but real/Palin is turning people off, as long as they're not fans of the KKK, in droves.
Palin didn't help herself a whole lot here.
The way in which she said she wasn't going to take any questions in the opening press conference skit, after taking the podium from Fey, was way too close to how people imagine that she would handle the actual press corps were she to finally give a real press conference. Then, in the bit they'd set up for her in the "News Update" segment—the grumpy way she asserted she wasn't going to co-operate and "do what they'd planned," so that Amy Poehler could carry the heavy lifting in the skit—did nothing but cast her in exactly the evil, bitter, wingnut loser role the campaign put her on the show to try to pull her out of in the first place.
She handled two things well—thanks to the Alaska TV-News Sports Anchor jobs on her resume. She got through the obligatory, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" unscathed. Plus, at the end of News Update, she reverted to her Eyewitness News training and handled the closing tag with Seth Meyers with big-teeth aplomb—arguably her best moment.
Whatever the campaign was hoping to achieve by shoving her onto SNL, she neither helped nor harmed herself in any appreciable way.
So—in light of their desperate need for major wins—this comes off as another lame net loss for McCain/Palin.
posted by Gotham 12:28 PM
