Politics of the 2013 U.S. Shutdown

I still follow national politics very closely, but nowadays I don't write about it as much as I did during the Bush Dark Ages.

However, the ridiculous clown show surrounding the government shutdown, led by the Tea Party mutiny within the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, has literally forced my hand into typing a reaction.

NYT:

 Government Shuts Down in Budget Impasse

My news & perspective comes from a wide variety of sources: the Google News & Pulse News aggregators, TPM, Democracy Now!, CNN, Bartcop, Politico, BBC, Fox News, MSNBC, PBS, etc.
One of the problems with today's political climate is that many people only get their news & opinion from limited sources, usually just those that affirm their existing worldview.

As brain-dead as their commentary often is, I often visit FoxNation or other ultra-conservative media outlets, to get a handle on how people (whom I usually don't agree with) see things. Conversely, it's also easy to tell when someone starts sputtering talking points & bizarro facts straight from Fox News, when it's clear they don't understand the reality of the situation.

I've always been an Independent voter, but generally I think the Republican party is wrong on most policy positions. They're ideas are often short-sighted, usually benefiting a narrow set of interest groups. Through endless obstruction & political stunts like this shutdown, they've also shown they simply can't run the federal government effectively. Despite the myth of their superiority on fiscal matters, the modern GOP have a pretty poor record of racking up public debt & governing in a way that does not advance positive solutions for the country.

The staggering incompetence of the Bush administration screwed the country and the global economy over 8 years. Their "Shoot first, ask questions later" cowboy approach to foreign policy left our country mired in *un-funded* trillion-dollar military occupations, which we are still trying to fully extract ourselves from. On the domestic front, they tried their best to give away everything in the public domain to Wall Street - by further deregulating the markets, so people lost their savings to the Great Casino, & by attempting to privatize Social Security.

Since Barack Obama was elected, the stated goal of the political opposition has been to make this President fail, at any cost. (I'm old enough to remember when criticizing President Bush was akin to anti-Americanism & treason, in the eyes of his supporters.) The Republican leaders have been quite open about the fact that their main objective is to oppose ANY progress the President, Democrats, & the reasonable Republicans seek to make.

Anti-Government politicians are the ultimate hypocrites, & they're also the masters of self-fulfilling prophecy... Their constituents are convinced that government does more harm than good, so they vote in these buffoons to prove them right, by causing chaos once in office - eliminating public programs & making the political process dysfunctional.

In fact, many Republicans actually ran on the promise of shutting down the government, as if this was a badge of honor!

Because I'm interested in this political theater for some reason, I was flipping through the cable news channels late last night as the shutdown loomed. Rachel Maddow had a good piece on the overt nature of this destructive political goal, leading to it's culmination last night:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

For the 2 years when the Dems had control of Congress, after Obama was elected in '08, there was actually a fair amount of meaningful legislation passed.

Since John Boehner & the GOP have been running the House of Representatives, though, little of note has been advanced by them- except for 40+ failed attempts at repealing the Affordable Care Act, ACA, or "Obamacare".

Affordable Care Act:

About the Law

Thanks to the partisan gerrymandering of Congressional districts, Republican candidates in deep red areas have been forced to lurch farther & farther to the right... and, in many cases, lower & lower on the IQ scale. This has given rise to the completely anti-government "Tea Party" faction of Congress, which is responsible for the current state of affairs.

I have no love, or even trust, for the government by any means. However, I do understand that there are hundreds of thousands of public workers providing vital services every day. One of the benefits of being part of an organized society is a working government to keep things running smoothly.

The fringe element of the GOP has wildly miscalculated their strategy by willfully neglecting their basic duty to keep the government running, so the country can function. These ideological Reps. have no sense of responsibility or history, and they have completely ignored what happened last time their party, led by Newt Gingrich, tried to fold their arms & stomp their feet, at the expense of the nation:

Attempts to blame Obama or the Democrats for refusing to go to conference, or negotiate on terms, for a continuing resolution is bullshit. The Republicans in the House could agree to fund the government right now, by advancing the clean CR bill waiting for them. The merits & flaws of the Obamacare law can then be debated through normal procedure. It is a separate issue- one that should have no bearing, whatsoever, on whether government continues to function in a regular manner.

Despite claims by both sides, that it's their opponents who will not come to the negotiating table, it's now pretty obvious that the GOP have wanted to use this lack of a settled budget as leverage to hold the country hostage- in exchange for their demands for blocking the ACA from being implemented. The GOP is trying to twist the normal order of business, so they can hijack the legislative process.

The crazy thing is that the shut down doesn't even affect Obamacare, which is still funded! Also, the fact that millions of people are visiting the Healthcare.gov website, even causing system crashes, shows just how much people need health insurance.

The shut down is frankly a stupid strategy, & it's going to have serious consequences for the Republican party. Conservatives stuck in the Fox News/Right-Wing Radio alternate reality bubble seem to think they're doing the will of the people by shutting down the government. They are going to find out that not everyone is living in their distorted fantasy world, & the scrutiny of the real world is going to judge them harshly.

The often-used description of these conservative hard-liners as "tea-hadists" is completely justified. The Republican Tea party caucus is a small group of fanatics inflicting widespread, real damage on the general population, to force their ideological agenda.

To be clear, I don't think Obamacare, nor the President himself, are without their flaws. He has said himself that there's always room for improvement in the laws.

However, Pres. Obama consistently been the adult in the room, pushing to get important things done, in spite of an obstinate minority party. The petulant right-wingers would rather let the country fail, than allow Obama any perceived victories. He has still been able to advance certain policy goals- by outmaneuvering the Congressional Republicans, who cannot let their base see them doing anything but obstruct the evil Kenyan Socialist.

John Boehner has been pathetically ineffective as a House Speaker. Now he has been totally undermined by the self-serving weasels in his caucus, like Ted Cruz & Eric Cantor. You may not like Nancy Pelosi, but she would not have allowed this kind of subversion when she was Speaker.

Despite the right-wing rebellion in the House, thankfully there are still Republicans who haven't gone way off the deep end.

I don't often agree with the governor from my state, but Chris Christie (R-NJ) correctly calls the GOP shutdown strategy simply "irresponsible":

It's even more rare for me to agree with Rep. Pete King (R-NY), but even his crazy-ass recognized this is going to have a negative effect on his party & the country:

So, it's been almost 24hrs & the standoff is still going on. At some point, the House Republicans are going to have to realize this is a suicide mission & agree to stop this madness.

The irony of the whole situation is that the ACA is actually a relatively conservative health insurance system! It's a product of the Heritage Foundation & "Romneycare" the system implemented by the cyborg former gov. of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney. The insurance is still provided from private companies, & now there will be competitive markets for businesses to compete. These are originally conservative ideas.

The people who don't see the necessity of individual mandates, apparently don't understand the concept of "insurance". The purpose is to get the maximum number of people enrolled to create as large a funding pool as possible. It's not that hard to figure out. The idea that people should be left to fully pay their own health care costs is idiotic & selfish.

If dirty, hippy, socialist liberals (like me!) had our way, there would be a single-payer, or Medicare-for-all, system of nationalized health care. The private insurers would be outlawed entirely. Conservatives may gasp or grimace at that idea, but people's health care should not be administered by for-profit private corporations. Those profits are unnecessarily adding to the already exorbitant  health care costs in this country.

I'm always baffled by the argument that the government has no business being involved in health care. 

It's not specifically used as a basis for legal interpretations, but I'd say look no further than the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution. It clearly states the people's government is meant to "...promote the general Welfare". What could be more crucial to the general welfare of the citizens of a country than their health?!?!

One could also look to Article I, Section 8, Clause 1,  the Tax & Spending Clause:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

If people could look past their ingrained aversion to all things government, they'd see that having & funding essential public services, including health care, are essential to improving the standards of living for everyone in society.

Sure there's always potential for abuse & corruption in the various gov't agencies & services, but that doesn't mean we should abandon the idea of a representative government that can work for its citizens. We need people in office who believe that the power of government can be effective, not people who think that government needs to be "drown in a bathtub".

We cannot even have these debates about social policy, until the Congress gets its act together & starts to operate in a normal way. This means the Congresspeople have to stop drinking whatever's making them lose their minds & move forward with the business of the nation.

The onus is on the House Republicans to simply agree to keeping the government running & it's employees working, with no legislative strings attached.

The "Democratic Threat"

I saw some guy on CNN claiming to represent religious conservatives or the Republican party or something, trying to warn about the danger of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's "socialist" agenda if the Democrats win majorities in Congress. I'm an Independent voter since I claim allegiance to nothing but myself and the human race, but I think supporting the Republican Party today makes no sense unless you're wealthy, a lobbyist, or Satan. Even the supposed "Republican base," Evangelical Christians, have no business supporting these goons because they're just getting lip service from power-hungry politicians who think they are "nuts."

I don't know how even so-called conservative people could find these Democratic goals to be a threatening agenda. Compared to the discord, corruption, and obscene budget & military mis-management that have been the result of Republican rule, these ideas should sound like the qualities of an American utopia.

Pelosi Says She Would Drain GOP 'Swamp'

• Put new rules in place to "break the link between lobbyists and legislation." (I'm sold already!)

• Raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour

• Cut the interest rate on student loans in half.

• Allow the government to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices for Medicare patients.

Wow, what a horrible, horrible set of left-wing socialist priorities!!! They actually help people, instead of destroying the country for the benefit of corporate and special interests! Imagine that!

If these four points ever had the possibility of being carried out, it would be with a Democratic Congress. Hopefully overwhelming public opinion makes another rigged election too obvious to carry out in November. I'm not holding my breath, though.

The Resurrection of Barackhenaten

Four years ago, Barack Obama defied conventional wisdom by being elected President of the United States. Millions of people realized that, unlike the 2 buffoons on the "McPain" Republican ticket, this guy had some intelligence to fuel his lofty rhetoric.


Before he was elected in 2008, I half-jokingly compared him to the rogue Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten- who eliminated the various cults of the time & instituted a religion only worshiping the Sun deity, Aten.
Though he's not as radical as the ancient sun-worshiping king, Barack Obama has earned a similarly lasting place in human history.

Barackhenaten

Although I've been quick to point out the President's flaws over the past few years, I also realized that America's interests are much better served by keeping Obama in office instead of Mitt Romney. I don't think Romney is a fundamentally bad guy... but he's a capitalist ideologue, a religious zealot, and a smug billionaire who would have governed with big business in mind, & not the business of the people.

As I watched the election returns last night, I was tuned in to CNN most of the time. John King did an excellent job analyzing the numbers and reporting on the dynamics of the election. Some of the talking heads on the CNN panel are horrible, but thankfully, there was more reporting than punditry. (Why are Alex Castellanos & Ari Fleisher on TV, but I'm not?!?!)
I was also using the CNN interactive electoral map to follow along throughout the night. Having tools like that makes the process much more accessible & easy to understand.

As I mentioned in my post from Election Eve, I had been following Nate Silver's 538 Forecast (which turned out to be 100% accurate!) & also the Intrade prediction markets. The polling & statistical analysis pointed toward a strong likelihood of Obama winning the Electoral College. It's even being reported now that the Obama campaign was using sophisticated statistical computer models to figure out where their resources would be best allocated.

Inside the Secret World 

of the Data Crunchers Who Helped Obama Win

The right-wing pundits, on the other hand, proudly exhibited their foolishness for the world to see before the election. These knuckleheads not only denounced Nate Silver's scientific computer models, but many also made ridiculous predictions for a BIG Romney win, which had no basis in reality. Fox News and talk radio have created an ignorance bubble in people's minds that's hard to penetrate.

The fact that Romney himself bought into the hype & didn't even write a concession speech shows the arrogance & cluelessness that the country would have been subject to if he had won.

One of the great media moments of the night was the on-air hackery of the right-wing's political guru from the Bush years- Karl Rove, aka 'Turd Blossom'. Rove raised millions for Romney SuperPACs & actually tried to influence their live reporting, in order to benefit his millionaire donors with a Romney election. The rest of the country & facts be damned. The fact that Fox News lets a scumbag like Rove have any kind of presence shows how little credibility they have.

Last night President Obama was re-elected, despite the personal animosity so many people feel toward him. Enough reasonable people were able to see through the right-wing media's distortion of his record to know that his term has been generally positive for the country. If it weren't for the relentless obstructionism of the opposition party, the country would be progressing at a much better rate. People who don't actually understand the workings of government find it easier to blame problems on The President, even if they aren't of his doing.

Unfortunately, the federal government is likely going to be facing more gridlock, thanks to continued Republican control of the House of Representatives. Despite having already wasted precious time & legislative initiative in their failed, petty attempt "to deny President Obama a second term"- the childish, obstructionist mentality of the GOP in Congress is unlikely to change.

I'm an Independent voter, but it's clear the Republican Party has further proven itself to be a political dinosaur, an anachronistic relic featuring the country's most ignorant & regressive ideas. The national party is unable to shake its most foolish members or its ideological chains, stubbornly refusing to recognize the rapidly changing pace of the country & the entire world. You know a political party has problems when you can say that their "Rape Guy" didn't win... & it can refer to more than one person!

*Why wasn't Pres. George W. Bush out campaigning for Romney?.... because the petulant man-child & his Republican administration almost destroyed the economy during his 8 long years. Trotting out Dubya the Smirking Chimp would quickly remind voters just how little of the country's dire straits were actually created by Obama.

The major problem exposed in this election for the GOP & the right-wing is their collective refusal to deal with reality. They cling to antiquated, unworkable ideals and warped perceptions that make them look completely unreasonable to the rest of society. They are a factory of absurd ideas • you can balance the budget simply by cutting government programs • banks and multinational corporations should be free of government regulation • union members are paid too much, but CEOs deserve their obscene compensation; etc. On social issues, the conservatives have completely alienated independent voters, who see nothing but bigotry & irrational fear coming from the Right.

There were alot of important races last night. It was nice to see jackasses such as Allen West & Joe Walsh get kicked out of office. Unfortunately, thanks to the brain-dead voters in her district, it looks like Congress has not yet gotten rid of "The Queen of the Loons", Michele Bachmann.

On the bright side, alot of good people got elected to Congress, like consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren. There were a bunch of progressive women senators elected, which is a good thing for the Senate.

Though anyone in that position is assimilated into the machinations of "The System", Obama is as good a person as anybody to be in the executive office. Until we evolve as a society to the point where we don't need a singular personality to equate with leadership, all we can do is elect someone who is smart & insightful, yet strong enough, to deal with the unimaginable problems facing any President. Despite the many obstacles to his agenda for the last term, Barack Obama has proven over & over again that he is up to the task.

He is handling a job (that would overwhelm most people) with extraordinary tenacity & the will to do what's right for all the citizens of the country. He has been an inclusive President who has repeatedly reached out to his political opposition to create meaningful policy, only to be rebuffed and opposed by the myopic Republicans every step of the way.

The Republican party suffered major defeats as a result of their intransigence last night, but it's doubtful Boehner & McConnell will now magically decide to act in good faith with The President.

Of course, we can always Hope...

2016 Democratic Presidential Debate #1

Last night, I was able to watch the entire debate between the Democratic candidates for President. I wanted to post a few quick thoughts about it.

First of all, it was much more of an adult conversation than the perverse spectacle put on by the dozen Republican candidates in their debates. I would rather have any of the Democrats on the stage in the Oval Office before any single one of the Republicans. The GOP have knack for putting forth horrible candidates, and they are mostly only pandering to the lunatic right-wing fringe & big money donors that have come to dominate the party.

As far as the Democrats, I am sticking with my man- the Independent Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders. Bernie came out swinging in his opening remarks, blasting his top issue- economic inequality in this country.

Overall, I think Bernie was pretty strong. Someone who I was watching the debate with (who is fairly conservative) commented that he was the most forceful out of the group. He spoke clearly about the serious issues facing this country, and he explained where the U.S. is behind compared to other industrialized countries- wealth disparity, lack of universal health care for all citizens, absence of paid family leave, no tuition-free public education, etc.

He was also the only one with a realistic view of gun control in this country. He emphasized the importance of mental health in preventing gun violence. He was also correct to believe that we shouldn't be going after gun manufacturers with lawsuits if their products are used for evil purposes. It would be the same as suing a car manufacturer if someone uses a car to run people over. I'm not a big gun advocate, but the reality is that there are millions of people with guns in this country & that's not going to change. What we need to do is to make it more difficult for psychologically disturbed people to aquire guns & get these people the mental health care they need.

Hillary Clinton did very well in the debate. I'm not a big fan of her & definitely think we need someone other than a Clinton or a Bush in office. However, she came off as empathetic to the needs of the people in this country. She is undoubtedly a war hawk, but that's perhaps compensation to look like she'll be tough enough to handle a foreign policy crisis. She clearly has no love for the Republican party, who have demonized her relentlessly over the decades.

Martin O'Malley is someone who I was unfamiliar with, but he impressed me during the debate with insightful answers and a vision for how to lead the country, including the goal of clean energy independence.

Lincoln Chafee seems like a nice guy who made clear he is "scandal-free". I think he is well-intentioned but I'm not sure he has the mass appeal of the other candidates.

Jim Webb is a typical military guy who has serious experience & credentials, but he kept complaining about how he wasn't getting enough time to talk... which wasted a lot of time. It also made him look like he was whining.

Like I said, any one of the Dem candidates would be a better choice than a Republican. However, I'm sticking to my choice of Sen. Sanders while looking forward to more debates in the coming months.

Health Care Summit

While editing photos at work, I had the live CNN video feed in the background. I was listening to the political event of the week, the White House's televised Health Care Summit w/ Congress.

C-SPAN
WH Health Care Summit

I'm a political geek so I listened the entire 6 hours while I was working in Photoshop today. Tonight, I've also been listening to the cable news analysis by CNN pundits & Chris Matthews. I even flipped through Fox News to hear opinions biased toward the Republican side. Of course, Fox was concerned with the views of such intellectual luminaries as human weasel Eric Cantor & The Snow Queen, Sarah Palin, complete with her Arctic backdrop visual.

Speaking of politics, I just switched on The Sarah Silverman Program, & she supporting a mayor named 'May Kadoody'. (Get it?)

"May Kadoody, for the children!"

Anyway...

I was interested in the whole thing, even if it was mostly hot air. At least it's hot air being blown on camera, where everyone is on the record. Nobody's mind was going to be drastically changed by this event, but it did do several important things.

First of all, it highlighted the basic difference in health care philosophy between Democrats, who believe medical treatment is more of a human right, vs. Republicans, who believe it is a corporate privilege.

The meeting also showed President Obama is a super-confident policy wonk whose grasp on the legislative details is outshined only by his clear command of his position. I am no Obama worshipper, but I still think he's The Man, especially compared to the relentless disaster that preceded him. Watching him skillfully, intelligently debate the facts & philosophy of very difficult issues, it's hard for me to get into the heads of people who think he's some kind of negative force. There is no really rational basis for anyone to think that a McCain/Palin presidency wouldn't be anything but a total apocalyptic disaster. John McCain's embarassing off-topic ramblings today & his scolding from a rightfully impatient Obama are painful indications how horribly mismanaged McCain's Republican presidency would be in a dreadful alternate reality.

I am under no delusions that a health care reform bill will definitely be passed or that it would be guaranteed to make a visible positive difference. From what I understand about the legislation, though, it seems to address many serious issues on some level. Unfortunately, the GOP are lockstep in being completely opposed to any meaningful progess because otherwise they would be admitting that 'Comrade' Obama and the nefarious 'Demon-crats' are not a tyrannical evil destroying America. Their politically-calculated hostililty toward The Left makes any substantial cooperation difficult, as President Obama has pointed out to them.

All in all, the Republicans are simply in their usual place - on the wrong side of history - and their complaints about cost & deficits are transparently hypocritical. The conservatives would have a point... if they didn't totally tank the economy w/ completely unfunded wars, prescription drug benefit, & tax cuts for the rich. The Dark One, the undying Dick Cheney, even said "Deficits don't matter," Right? The GOP's facetious concern for fiscal responsibility is ridiculous to anyone with their short-term memory intact.

This summit was a good move by Obama to flex his institutional muscle & put the differences between the political philosophies under the spotlight. Any time you put any number of Republican officials into a room with The Mack Daddy, Obama is going to stomp on them like cockroaches trying to scuttle from the sunlight. I think it's great, because the right wing has had the entire previous decade to terrorize America, so now it's the progressives' turn to forcefully pursue their ideological agenda. Obama needs to continually be the fearless leader of that effort.

The Daily Show of course had a look at the Health Care Summit that was very good:

The Election Multiverse

The idea of a multiverse - multiple, or even infinite, parallel universes existing simultaneously - has been pondered & discussed alot in physics, philosophy, and science-fiction.

Just the problem of free-will vs. destiny could fill volumes by itself. However, for all practical purposes, we can say almost anything the mind can imagine is possible. I started thinking about all the possibilities that could exist for even a single situation, like the outcome of the US Presidential election. Most people think "Oh, well it's easy, you fool, either a Democrat or a Republican will win!"

I'd say there are way crazier things that could happen that are neither choice A nor B. Sure, they might not seem possible, but alot of things don't seem possible... until they happen.

I'm channeling the multiverse and listing some of the myriad possibilities that currently exist for January 20th 2009. It has the potential to be one of the most significant days in history, regardless of the situation.

In order of the situation that I'd personally most like to see first:

1. The true progressive, Dennis Kucinich unbelievably wins through write-in votes, shocking the nation and the entire human race. However, he leads America into a Golden Age of reason, compassion, innovation, and prosperity. His smart & lovely wife, Elizabeth, is his Vice-President.
2. Barack Obama wins the election, & turns the established bureaucracy upside down like a modern-day Akhenaten. His VP is Dennis Kucinich. America is saved from oblivion.
   
3. Obama wins with John Edwards as his running mate & they lead the way in cleaning up The War Monkey's enormous mess.
4. Obama wins, with any other Democrat as his VP- including Hillary. America is returned to a course of sanity & fiscal responsibility.
5. Hillary is nominated and wins the election. She chooses any of the qualified Dems for VP & takes the country in a positive direction.
6. By the end of the summer, the technology exists to jack everyone into a virtual hive mind. As a result, there is no need for a governing body of any sort - all decisions are made through the Borg-like collective consciousness.
   
7. Either Obama or Hillary wins & chooses a Republican running mate. It might be strategically smart to pick someone competent from the other side of the aisle, like Chuck Hagel or another conservative who isn't a ideologue or a pandering hypocrite. I would personally not be thrilled about this possibility, though.
8. Ron Paul leads his 'Ron Paul Revolution' into the GOP convention & takes it over! He wins the election, and his first act in office is to immediately abolish the Federal Reserve.
9. Ralph Wiggum wins as a write-in candidate after a media campaign by Fox.
10. Kids who are too young to remember the 2000 election see the "new guy" Ralph Nader enter the race & forget all about Obama. John McCain wins, thanks to another Nader run. America continues it's descent into oblivion.
11. Obama is the nominee, but large numbers of white Americans would rather see their way of life crumble under a regressive Republican plutocracy than vote for an intelligent Harvard Law graduate with a multicultural background. John McCain wins. America continues it's descent into oblivion.
12. A dimensional portal opens and predatory alien entities flood our world, rendering governments useless. The election never takes place & mankind is scattered about the globe like cockroaches.
13. There is a violent shift of Earth's magnetic poles due to uncontrollable cosmic forces. Civilization is wiped out from the catastrophic effects & only a small number of people survive. Al Gore is one of them, and finally becomes President of New Earth.
14. "Skynet" comes online & the nations and military forces of humans are subjugated by autonomous Robot Armies. "Asimo" is declared the first robot President.
15. Bush & Cheney simply can't leave office without risking exposure to massive war crimes & fraud on the American people. So, they refuse to leave office, citing "Executive Privilege". The Democrats complain a little bit, while the citizens grumble & shake their fists before going back to their deteriorating lives. The United States is changed into The United Empire of America.
16. The Bush Inc. War Profiteering industry finds any loss of business unacceptable. A "terrorist attack" by "Iranian agents" causes George W. Bush to immediately declare nuclear war on Iran, wiping out bases and innocent civilians in cities. Before the election, a state of martial law is put in effect & Bush declares himself President-for-Life. Democrats, anti-war, and other liberal vermin are labeled "terrorist sympathizers" and placed into contracted Halliburton work camps. Dick Cheney's sick fantasy has come true & the rest of the world's nightmare begins.
17. I wake up to (what I think is) Inauguration Day. I'm filthy, tired, & feel absolutely miserable... To my horror, it was all a dream. The year is really 1840 & I realize I'm actually a child who works in coal mines. I don't know or care whose President at the time because my life sucks so bad.
18. Because of the massive amount of debt we can't pay, China announces that the US is now part of the People's Republic. World War III commences & our elections are suspended due to the crisis.
    
19. Anne Coulter becomes the first "female" President by some strange electoral anomaly that turns out to be the direct influence of Satan. He appears, in a horrifying physical form, to act as her Vice-President.
20. Bill Gates completely buys out the Electoral College, Congress, & Supreme Court with a billion dollars. He crowns himself "Supreme Technocrat" and mandates Windows Vista operating system on every single computer in the nation. Apple Computers are outlawed & I kill myself out of sheer desperation.

Wow, that was oddly cathartic.

Of course, I've only listed 20 of the infinite possibilites for this particular situation. I'm sure the universe will serve up a scenario that is probably different than all of these somehow. Since I am not really in the mood to challenge the entire universe right now, I'll stick with this list for now & see what "Reality" has to offer.

Hopefully, it's something that resembles one of my top choices,

...but I'm not holding my breath.

click to enlarge

(If you look close,
I'm in the green universe.)

aka "The Monkeybuddhasphere™"

Palin Power!!!

So... I forced myself to sit through the speeches by everyone's favorite drag queen Rudy Guiliani & America's newest & feistiest VP sweetheart, Sarah Palin. (Applause)

Despite being an out-of-left-field pick, Gov.Palin doesn't seem horrible & she definitely doesn't exude soul-sucking evil & despair like our current vice-president. However, America cannot afford the destructive economic & military policies of a continued extremist Republican agenda.

It's a shame that John McCain himself ruined her special moment- by coming out and looking like he had absolutely no idea where the hell he was or how to get out.

Sitting through the entire Republican convention would be like a nightmare for me. On most issues I consider myself moderate, but the idea that people still can get excited by the Republican Party scares the living crap out of me. How can anyone think that the Neocon approach of the past 8 years has improved our economy, our military, or our overall state of affairs? By all measures & observations, it simply hasn't.

Whatever... The debates are the next spectacle to behold. Here are my predictions:

• In the heat of argument, Joe Biden pimp-slaps Sarah Palin, and then she shoots him with an assult rifle. His impenetrable teeth block the bullets & he escapes.

• John McCain's latent Manchurian mind-programming kicks in & he tries to eliminate Obama.
Barack Hussein Obama dons his 'Traditional Muslim Garb' and calls out to the jihadists who drop from the ceiling.

I can't wait!!!!!!

Republican Debate..yawn

What a Crowd

Since I like to get all perspectives on the issues of the day, I'll probably force myself to watch some of the debate tonight between the GOP Presidential candidates.


It's difficult to watch the tired old arguments of these candidates, especially after I just watched other more insightful politicians offering real solutions to the country's problems. I was watching an interview w/ Sherrod Brown from Ohio regarding job creation, who I think is right about most issues I hear him talk about. Then, on C-Span, I saw the last part of a speech on the House floor by Dennis Kucinich regarding the NEED Act that he is sponsoring.

Then I watch the Republican debate, hearing people like Michele Bachmann recite her usual falsehoods.

I'm really interested to see who ends up the GOP nominee. If they don't pick Mitt Romney they're crazy. He's the only one who most independent voters would even think about voting for. Rick Perry is just Dubya Part II & he's the only other one with any chance. 

One thing I'm sure will not change from watching the debate is that I wouldn't vote for any of them. I think Obama's a far better choice, despite his faults. My biggest problem with President Long-Legged Mack Daddy is that he has not governed like the socialist far-left progressive that his opponents make him out to be. He's been more of a Wall Street-sponsored corporate Democrat, who just panders to the base on some issues. If anything, his presidency has definitely demonstrated how difficult it is to realize fundamental institutional change. However, even if he did aggressively push to enact progressive programs, he would continue to be challenged by the defiant & unified opposition.

As an Independent voter, I don't have any party interest in having Obama stay another term. I'm more concerned with the fact that each one of his Republican challengers would probably be a disaster if they were in charge.

This article by a former GOP staffer on the state of the party-at-large seemed to be pretty accurate to me:

"Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult"

GOP March Madness

Despite following political news closely, I haven't felt the need to comment alot on the presidential race lately. The GOP primaries have basically been a ridiculous mess.

I've been saying all along that Mitt Romney's going to be the nominee after the clown show is over. Having become the exclusive party of plutocrats, obviously the Republican with the most money will be the nominee... & Mitt's got plenty of $$$. However, I can't believe that he would ultimately pose a serious challenge to Obama unless something crazy happens before the election. For reasons that almost everyone on the Left AND the Right have already been pointing out, Romney is a horrible candidate. The average non-millionaire American would have to be a complete fool to want that robotic vulture capitalist running the country.

There's obviously plenty of things to criticize, but I think Obama's presidency has been generally good. He's an intelligent guy, & consistently shows clear understanding of the complexity of the many heady issues facing our country. After watching years of Dubya bullshit his way through his 8 disastrous years, it's a relief to think someone is dealing with things who isn't a total jackass.

Though I don't think the Republican party is going away anytime soon, it's leaders & spokespeople seem to be doing their very best to alienate as many voters as possible this election season.

On top of all the other nuttiness coming from that side of the aisle on both the state & national level, the House GOP just released their latest re-hash of their warped financial vision for America.

2013 House GOP Budget

As usual, they are fully prepared to slash the social safety net & let the corporate sharks in to prey on the population. Suprise!... they want to screw the disadvantaged- while awarding tax breaks for millionaires & multinational corporations. Who would've guessed?!?

Being "fiscally conservative" to these people means you want to save money for rich people & defense contractors by cutting services for the poor & sick. I fully agree many health & social programs need to be seriously reformed, but the right wingers are ready to just slash & burn.

I went back to an old post & found this pic from the last time Rep. Paul Ryan proposed his party's crappy ideas:

Always make sure to read the fine print...

Washington Post:

Wonkbook: Why the Republican budgets make the poor pay

HuffPo:

House GOP Budget: 

Paul Ryan Plan Adds Food Stamps, 

Welfare Cuts To Medicare-Slashing Plan  

Thinkprogress:

The 5 Worst Things About The House GOP’s Budget

Trump’s Republican Congress, in Awe of Their Golden God-King

Trump’s Republican Congress,
in Awe of Their Golden God-King 
by The Monkey Buddha

However, a closer look reveals the disturbing reality…

Seeing the Republican cower before a buffoon like Trump has been an eye-opening lesson in craven fealty & shameless cowardice. Republicans at his joint session to Congress, clapping for ideas like annexing Greenland and cutting social services, are absolutely insane.

I generated the base image with Stable Diffusion, & stayed up late one night photoshopping all these creepy Trump-loving Congressmen's faces in, beholding Donald Trump's gold-plated, shit-stained glory.

 

Fighting for Workers

People fighting back the madness in Wisconsin

I'm fortunate enough to have a decent career and life so far, but the nonviolent protests emerging & continuing all over the world show the high level of discontent many people are feeling in their lives.

Despite the many improvements to the human condition, the modern world is still one that's geared to pushing the poorest people farther into the gutter, while the unimaginably rich freely profit from the exploitation of the majority through shady financing & political influence.

Although Republicans & the conservative right have great theoretical talking points that Americans can identify with (smaller & more efficient government, strong defense, less spending, LOL!), their actual policy proposals are usually a predictable disaster.

With all these far-right Republican governors & Congresspeople being recently elected, anyone who follows national politics and isn't a Fox News drone knew what was coming...

HuffingtonPost:
Republican Governors A Major Thorn In Obama's Side

...Tax cuts for the millionaires, defunding of mass transit & public infrastructure projects, corporate welfare & deregulation, gutting government jobs, and attack on progressive institutions. They all claim to be 'dealing with' their state budgets, but they choose to do it by hurting the least fortunate- while rewarding rich corporate interests & providing even lower taxes to those who are already extremely wealthy.

ThinkProgress:

Priorities?
GOP Governors Shift Burden To Poor, Middle Class
To Pay For Tax Breaks For Rich, Corporations

I'm an Independent, not part of a union, & a believer that the 2-party system sucks, but it seems many Americans haven't figured out that while the Democrats have their numerous problems, the Republicans are a truly horrible advocate for the average working person.

The clear indication of public displeasure is the number of protests going on right here in the USA, where people are taking to the streets to push back against the regressive right-wing assault on the America worker.

Union Rallies Nationwide

Pro-Union Rallies Held Across the Country

Wisconsin has been the current focus of the backlash against Republican leaders' attempts to destroy the power of unions and other progressive achievements that benefit working citizens vs. corporate money.

Mother Jones:
It's the Inequality, Stupid

The brazen attitude of Koch Industries beneficiary Governor Walker in the face of such massive opposition is similar to the arrogant wrongheadedness of Gov. Scott in Florida, former Bill O'Reilly fill-in Gov. Kasich in Ohio, & Gov. Christie in my home state of NJ - who have all declared war against unions, teachers, and advocates of public services & transit.

People love to complain about "overcompensated" teachers, union workers, & public employees. By discrediting public services & busting labor unions, they're ultimately going to drive everyone's wages down when there's no advocate against abusive business practices. Meanwhile, perpetual war & occupation, corporate welfare, the corrupt schemes of Wall Street banks, & unnecessary tax breaks for the obscenely rich are what's actually draining public wealth.

It's a common stereotype that Americans are too lazy, unorganized, & uninformed to do something about the injustices that still exist in society. These nonviolent protests prove that America is no exception to the actionable motivations of social and economic justice.

If there was any doubt as to which side is righteous in this debate, this sealed the deal for me:

Palin:
Wisconsin Unions Must be
'Willing to Sacrifice'

Of course... by "sacrifice", the Alaskan Banshee probably means something like this turkey slaughter:

I think the dying turkey's gibberish was making more sense than her.

Why I'm Voting Republican

Yes, this is shocking news to anyone who knows me or has read this blog.

Although I'm registered as an Independent, my entire adult life has been spent feeling nothing but contempt for George W. Bush, his Republican Party, and the ideological neo-con version of conservative politics.

This one thought-provoking video has really opened my eyes, though.

Here's "Why I'm Voting Republican":

Real Candidates: Dennis Kucinich & Ron Paul

As an Independent voter, I make no judgments about a candidate based on party affiliation. The only thing that matters to me is what they are saying, how qualified I think they are, & the greatest of all analytical tools - my own intuition.

I think the Democrats have intelligent, competent people in their lineup. Unfortunately, much of the rhetoric I hear from the 'front runners' about war & solutions to serious problems is just that, rhetoric that doesn't address the root causes. On the Republican side, I couldn't tell you too much about their rhetoric (besides "9/11" & "more torturing brown people")... it is so overwhelmingly insane and idiotic it makes my ears bleed if I listen for too long. Personally, I hope the Republican party gets their asses handed to them in the next elections, because they have become a frighteningly corrupt & inept group whose purpose has apparently been twisted into creating a fascist theocracy.

There is one person in each party that I consider mostly clear-sighted and correct in their positions. Although they are underdogs in this game of millionaires and media creations, the fact that their message is being heard and supported is a great thing.

Democrat - Dennis Kucinich

Republican - Ron PaulI'll give just one example each that shows the level of candor & insight these candidates have compared to the rest of the pack:

Dennis Kucinich:
"Impeaching Cheney First Step to Restoring the Rule of Law"

Ron Paul:
"U.S. In 'Great Danger' Of Staged Gulf Of Tonkin Style Provocation"

Of course, the corporate media and the influence peddlers will continue to vigorously resist promoting these 'far-shots'. I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live on a sane planet...

Luckily there is the wonderful world of Youtube, where you can hear their positions for yourself.

Dennis Kucinich on Youtube

Ron Paul on Youtube

Rand Paul & the Myth of Freedom

Rand Paul's
Ideal Business Model

There has been a major focus of attention toward Rand Paul, the winner of Kentucky's Republican Senate primary.

I've felt that Rand's father, Congressman Ron Paul, has made some valid criticisms of the government & financial institutions like The Fed. Especially in the years of Bush/Cheney regressive Republican rule, Ron Paul seemed like a semi-sane voice from The Right. However, I've also seen him make arguments for his "Libertarian" ideals that just aren't practical or reasonable at all.

The big ideological problem (that his son Rand Paul has seemed to adopt) is the belief that government intervention in almost any matter is negative & should be minimized to practically nothing.

This is the crux of the sudden spotlight following Rand's primary win under the 'Tea Party' banner. He has been on the record repeatedly saying the the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is flawed because it intrudes on personal ownership. His argument is that the Civil Rights Act was good for removing institutionalized discrimination, but business owners should not be told what to do by the government. He contends that the conservative Golden Calf, aka 'The Free Market', will sufficiently affect businesses to prevent social discrimination. This is, of, course, f*cking stupid.

US News & World Report:

"Rand Paul Embodies
the Republican Tea Party Problem"

Rand is already complaining he's "insulted" that people are insinuating he's a racist. Whether or not he's a racist isn't the issue, however. The real issue is his naïve & dangerous political ideology that sees the federal government as only a problem to be eradicated- instead of a possible source of social solutions. Unlike alot of media nitpicking over the controversial statements of public figures, this actually deserves scrutiny because it is representative of the broader political philosophy of Rand Paul & his fellow Teabaggers.

The very sharp Rachel Maddow devoted ten minutes of her show to the visual spectacle of Rand Paul dancing around the direct question, "should the Woolworth's counter have been allowed to remain segregated in 1964?" He could not say "Yes!" because that would have been a historic political suicide. However, his delusional fantasy of personal freedom & property rights prevent him from saying "No" because he seems to feel a business owner should be able to do whatever the hell he/she wants without government intervention. Therefore, he floundered around the TV screen like a fool without the courage to say what he obviously believes- that a business should be able to refuse service to a person for any reason, such as being black, foreign, gay, or Ginger.

Rand Paul on The Rachel Maddow Show

The only problem with Rachel's interview was that she didn't push him enough in defending parallel scenarios. If the government has no place regulating business, than why have health inspectors, building codes, or liquor licenses in restaurants? I guess any place, even Chuck E. Cheese should be allowed to sell booze, build with hazardous materials, & let roaches all over the food. Sure, people may stop patronizing businesses that suck, but the whole system will have devolved into chaos in the meantime with countless people being negatively affected.

Government is not perfect- no human institution can claim to be. However, there are alot of things that the federal government is best suited to deal with. Whose going to maintain public land, invest in infrastructure, & prevent Wall St. mega-banks from preying on consumers?... a bunch of Teabaggers w/ "Obama=Stalin" signs???

This notion of "Personal Freedom" that is so dear to the Libertarian perspective is a silly myth that clouds their worldview. The idea that government doing less will always makes us more "free" is idiotic & counter-productive. No matter what, we humans are always slaves in some way - from birth to death. Freedom is an imaginary concept that has no functional meaning in the real world. If government isn't making us do things against our will, then corporate interests will find ways to enslave us. If we can somehow shake off the shackles of the business & financial world, we will still be inhibited by our environment, other people, or even our own body & mind.

These short-sighted Teabaggers with no sense of social responsibility or ability to reason outside their own narrow & selfish self-interests are hopefully playing their only practical role... winning GOP Primaries. This way, these extreme right-wing dopes can be more easily defeated by more moderate or even progressive Democratic candidates in the general election.

Election Day 2016

Well, today is the day where The United States of America chooses its representatives in local & federal elections.

The citizens have a choice for President between two flawed, but distinct candidates. On the one hand, there's a career politician- the former First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State, and possibly the first female in the Oval Office if she's elected. On the other hand, there's an obnoxious, narcissistic man child- a shitty con artist of a businessman and reality TV star, who wasn't even allowed to stay in control of his own Twitter account because he was so goddamn stupid & reckless.

I started out rooting for Bernie Sanders, one of the few politicians who identifies as an Independent and has real integrity. I have never been a fan of Hillary Clinton, but for me and many others, this is a matter of keeping an unbelievably ignorant & downright dangerous Donald Trump from leading us back down into the ditch that modern Republican presidents inevitably drive us into.

I wish we had better choices on both sides. Unfortunately, with our winner-takes-all system, a vote for a third party is a complete waste. It really has been a complete shitshow of an election, especially with The Donald's antics throughout the process. As I've said before, I wanted him to win the Republican primary just so he could keep wreaking havoc on the political establishment & tear apart the decaying Republican party. Now, I just want him to go the hell away.

Statistically, it looks like Clinton is likely to win, but it ain't over till it's over. I'd like to see her crush Trump, just so he has less ground to stand on when he inevitably refuses to concede and claims everything is rigged. The guy is utterly delusional & I don't expect him to start accepting reality now.

So, today we'll see what we're stuck with for the next four years. I think Hillary Clinton, despite all her problems, is at least smart, competent, and knows how government works. The same cannot be said for Trump, who seems to lack even a basic understanding of our most fundamental governmental & social institutions. It's been a truly crazy ride- an election season that is unlike anything most people have seen in their lifetimes. Hopefully, it turns out to be an anomaly and doesn't prove to be the new norm.

Tea Party Madness

The big primary night news this week was college-hussy-turned-Puritan Christine O'Donnell beating long-time incumbent Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican primary. The Republican Party seems it's being split by the Tea Party ideologues which may or may not cost them in the general elections.

It's pretty bad when George W.'s boys like Karl Rove & former speechwriter David Frum are talking smack on these know-nothing, reactionary Teabagger candidates. The far-right wingers have no truly practical policy positions, only that the government is bad & they have to "take our country back!".... back to the Dark Ages I presume (or at least the 18th century).

Mr. Frum, a Bush Republican, laments:

"Republicans have done insufficient serious policy work over the past half dozen years. The legacy of this inactivity is a party on the brink of power, lacking an intellectual framework for the use of that power."

Why would he say that- about his own party? Because a few of these Teabagger candidates say & believe pure craziness bordering on complete ignorance.

For instance:

CHRISTINE O'DONNELL: "Well, creationism, in essence, is believing that the world began as the Bible in Genesis says, that God created the Earth in six days, six 24-hour periods. And there is just as much, if not more, evidence supporting that."

I try to respect people's heartfelt religious beliefs, & find alot of wisdom in the Bible. However, this kind of thinking about the Universe is Sarah Palin-level retarded.

How can you say 24 hour periods exist- before the Sun & Earth were formed!?!?!

The arbitrary measurement of the 'hour' was created by man based on the periodic solar orbit of the Earth. The idea that God delineated Creation into "24-hour days" is so damn stupid it's scary. Yet, Delaware Republicans voted for her over an experienced, moderate 9-term Congressmen....

2010 Health Care Bills- H.R.3590 & H.R. 4872

After a year of dramatic struggle and far too little factual information, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: H.R. 3590 has been signed by President Obama. The final reconciled amendment bill H.R. 4872, has been passed by The Senate & The House again, and will be signed by The Long-Legged Mack Daddy tomorrow.

Now that the bill is becoming law & the sideshows of the process are over, actual details regarding the legislation are becoming better known:

CBS News
Health Care Reform Bill Summary:
A Look At What's in the Bill

CNN
Timeline: When health care reform will affect you

Crooks & Liars
Health care reform rollout timetable

As someone who follows current events & national politics constantly, my views on the whole Health Care Reform situation are as complicated as the process itself. I'll start by saying I'm a political Independent. While I try to transcend labels & polarized thinking, like "conservative" vs. "liberal", it is an unavoidable aspect of human society to rally around political ideologies that reflect one's own Reality Tunnel.

Having said that...
Now it's time for polarizing labeling & name calling!!! Wooo-hoo!!!

When it comes to the circus surrounding Health Care, I think the obvious carnival barkers stirring up the crowd who are vehemently against it are the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and the other "conservative" personalities. Most neutral observers would agree that their deliberately incendiary misinformation is mistaken for truthful patriotic passion by their listeners, whose collective mental functioning is centered in their amygdalas.

Just one year into his Presidency, anytime someone begins ranting about Obama's Tyranny of Socialism! or his love of Karl Marx or Saul Alinsky (whoever the hell that is) you can be sure the are being fed their B.S. from the Master himself, Glenn Beck. Personally, I can't watch his show for a whole segment. He is just a total turd. There are some things he touches on that deserve scrutiny, like The Fed. Top film director James Cameron was correct, though... like many extremist right-wingers he's basically an asshole, or a pompous jerk, if 'asshole' offends you. I can't understand how any self-aware person can take a man seriously who said that a multicultural, mixed-race Obama is "a racist" with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." That is somehow more astoundingly retarded than anything even Sarah Palin has ever said!!! Listening to that self-righteous doofus long enough could probably warp anyone's mind.

Speaking of the Alaskan dingbat herself, Caribou Barbie (aka Sarah Palin) has proven herself firmly in the violent right-wing reactionary camp during this 'debate'. Forgetting her ridiculous lies about "Death Panels"... recently her blatantly threatening euphemisms to 'reload' and 'target' Democrats seems to be the dividing line that separates the extreme right from the extreme left in politics.

So-called Liberals and The Left couldn't stand the walking disaster George W. Bush and understood what a horribly destructive administration he ran. The difference is the majority of negative reaction wasn't about killing him, hanging him, & acting out physically against him. Yes, people compared him to Hitler etc., but mostly there was a desire to see him and Cheney held legally or at least politically responsible for their obviously destructive agenda. Activists like MoveOn.org, Code Pink & Cindy Sheehan weren't threatening bodily harm or death toward members of the Bush Administration.

Now, alot of Republicans are stamping their feet saying this Health Care bill is treason! & criminal! & blah blah blah! There's a bit of a difference between trying to reform the Health Care system & waging unnecessary war, killing millions of innocent Afghani & Iraqi people while sacrificing our soldiers under false pretenses.

So, because regressive Republicans ran the country into the ground for 8 years & were voted out, it is now the Democrat's turn to pursue a progressive agenda for the country. Although I don't consider myself a Democrat, I personally agree with many of the Democratic initiatives- as opposed to the Republican agenda which has been tax cuts for rich people & unfunded war spending.

Of course, conservatives and the Republican party in particular will cry & scream over the coming years as Obama and the Dems try to clean up their decade-long mess. Unfortunately, this health care battle is just one of many to which Republicans seem ready to cross their arms and say "HELL NO!" like a bunch of impotent babies. The current crop of dreadfully uninspiring dolts in the GOP leadership should be enough to turn any reasonable person away.

It's okay though, because through the whole process, backing the Republican Party line, cheerleading the Tea Party, demonizing the legislation, and enabling the woefully uninformed masses has been the Fair and Balanced Most Trusted Name in News™, Fox News. However, to be 'fair & balanced' on my part, there has been a general incompetence of ALL the news media in informing the public about important issues like the health care debate. Fox News pundits just routinely cross the line into outright distortion.

Things seemed to have turned the corner for Obama because of this historic victory & now he has the wind in his sails as the Republicans scramble to be relevant in any meaningful way:

Plan A was "Kill the Bill!" which failed.
Plan B is "Sue the Federal Government!" which will also fail.
Plan C is "Win back Congress & REPEAL!" which will (of course) fail... due to a little thing called 'Presidential veto'.

The GOP must think failure on all fronts will somehow get them elected come November.

Not for the sake of the Democrats, but for the sake of the people who need it & are getting reamed by the insurance companies, I hope some of these measures start having noticeable effect on the system soon.

The funniest thing about all the buffoons screaming about 'Socialism!' & 'Communism!' is that Obama is way more conservative than his base would like him to be! Many of his supporters would have preferred to see Obama push for a truly socialist Single-Payer System. While he's at it, he should have also signed an executive order banning health insurance companies completely! This is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. As Congressman Anthony Weiner argued below, why do they even exist?



Americans are so used to their shitty way of doing things that they can't imagine a better way. I think Obama is an intelligent, competent leader who can help our country to a better way of doing things. That's why I voted for him over Grandpa McGrumpy & The Snow Queen. I don't regret my decision one bit.