Girl you thought he was a man but he was a muffin: He hung around till you found that he didn't know nuthin -

I had decided that I wasn’t going to pile on John Boner for a while; it’s too easy and I don’t want to be tiresome.  But then I heard him get up after Obama’s press conference this morning, with his pink tie and weird sun tan and say that the American people “won’t stand for raising taxes on job creators” and he and his posse weren’t going to stand for it either.  When I regained control of the car and managed to stifle the retching I decided that I need to step on his neck and make sure he stops twitching before I ease up on him and his boy wonder, Eric Cantor. 

I suppose it gets to be repetitive but just to provide some context to this completely ridiculous statement it bears repeating, just once more.  The “tax increase” on these powerful engines of employment amounts to the rescinding of tax subsidies to oil and gas companies intended to give them an incentive to continuing the development of technology and exploration and research into new oil and gas fields.  But since they are swimming in cash, Obama figures they probably will manage to continue to operate without those tax breaks and, oh by the way, where are all the damn jobs they have been busy creating over the last ten years? 

It’s been reported that corporations are sitting on 2 trillion dollars in cash, waiting to figure out someplace to spend it.  Are they creating jobs? Obviously not. The economy isn’t sputtering along because corporations are hurting for money – the stock market has been slamming for well over a year.  It isn’t that the government is too big, or that taxes are too high; it’s because the vast majority of the country doesn’t have the money to buy anything.  The money has all been sucked to the top.  CEO’s got a 23% raise last year and middle class wages were flat.  The average CEO makes close to 300 times what they pay their workers.  Their entire argument is bullshit, pure and simple. 

Listening to Obama this morning it was easy to figure out what his problem is in trying to deal with Boner and his country club stiffs – he makes too much sense; he is too much of an adult.  He sounds like a tired and slightly pissed off baby sitter telling the kids that they have to get their little asses in bed.  He makes Boner and Cantor and trout-faced Mitch McConnell seem like empty suits.  Or sound like those smirking kids who used to repeat everything you said until you finally back-hand them. 

Ever since I can remember politicians in general, but republicans particularly, have used the same strategy when trying to convince the country to do something or adopt a certain position and that it to repeat the same lie over and over and over again.  The lie gets reported and people not paying attention hear it being reported and figure it must be true.  There is also what I call the Ed Meese corollary, which is, if you can’t prove it, I didn’t do it but that’s a conversation for another day.  The current lie is that changing tax policy to increase revenue as a part of a package deal to reduce the deficit is a crippling tax increase and that if we just leave the rich people alone they’ll get busy starting new companies and creating new jobs right and left.  It’s no wonder these guys sit across the table from each other for hours on end playing finger football and getting nowhere. 

The big lie, though, is that this pissing match is so very important to our country and our economy.  It is a convenient distraction and keeps voters from doing the basic arithmetic and figuring out that the 500 billion dollars that Afghanistan is going to cost in the next 10 years and the 500 billion it’s cost already and the 800 billion that Iraq has cost is pretty close to the 2 trillion they’re now talking about cutting to reduce the big, bad deficit.  How sad is that?  How discouraging to see that the Iraqis are still fighting the same fight as they have for a couple of hundred years and still blowing each other up after all that? 

Via con dios, my darlin'...

Antonin “We don’t need no stinkeen badges” Scalia and his half-wit side kick, Clarence “Mumbles “ Thomas were once again instrumental in deciding a repulsive and poorly reasoned Supreme Court case yesterday, one that, aside from its effect on the individual involved, undermines US foreign policy and endangers Americans traveling abroad.  Erstwhile presidential candidate-in-waiting, Texas governor Rick Perry – well know hard ass and committed christian – in a bald-faced effort to win conservative, Tea-party, racist, anti-immigrant votes and also show the country how big his dick is, refused to consider the consequences of the execution of Mexican national, Humberto Leal, despite requests by President Obama – yeah Rick; he really IS your president too – and the Mexican government.  He felt he simply had to inject this pathetic bastard right now, to get justice for the killing of a 16 year old girl 17 years ago. 

Leal’s attorney – not an entirely unbiased observer – noted the overarching nature of the decision to go ahead with the killing, saying, “The execution of Mr. Leal violates the United States' treaty commitments, threatens the nation's foreign policy interests, and undermines the safety of all Americans abroad."  However in its 5/4 decision the conservative wing of the court blithely said that it “doubted that the execution would cause grave international consequences”.  Well, fellas, you better damn sure hope so. 

Scalia is known to be contemptuous of idea that the US is bound by international law or courts so his position was no great surprise.  And Thomas mostly just wants to sit in his lap, so that was no surprise either.  But these other guys should have some understanding of  and sensitivity to this basic fact; if we continue to give the finger to any international body with which we disagree, particularly as it pertains to a judgment against us or our interests, how can we expect there to be any rational, cohesive protocols about anything?  Isn’t it obvious that works against our long term interests and the goals of our foreign policy? 

Tough guy Rick Perry wouldn’t even take a phone call from the Mexican ambassador, with his office saying, in effect, “Mess with the bull, you get the horns”.   The thing is, it wasn’t even necessarily about this one forlorn guy.  There was evidence in dispute and supporters say that he was wrongly convicted on circumstantial evidence because she was white and he was Mexican.  Given the number of death row inmates that have been exonerated in the last few years it doesn’t seem to me too much to ask under the circumstances – and given that the case had repercussions far afield from Texas – to delay the execution 6 months, if for no other reason than to show the Mexican government good faith and due diligence.  But no – Perry, who recently scheduled an all day pray-in, “for the good of this great nation”, instead betrays the very nation he clearly has designs on leading by his obstinate hewing to the law of the west mentality and his apparent ignorance of international law and what it means to sign a treaty.

A statement from a group of 5 former diplomats, including Thomas Pickering, former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs under George Bush, nicely summed up the jeopardy to US citizens and interests as a result of this decision: ““The ability of the United States to secure future international agreements vital to the protection of our citizens, our national security, and our commercial interests depends largely on whether this nation is perceived as honoring its international commitments.”  But Sheriff Perry trumped all that to satiate the blood lust of the people of Texas and to further his political ambitions and that begs the question; what was really more important to US interests – more of value to this “great nation”?   The immediate execution of one sad-sack, uneducated Mexican national or wide ranging treaty commitments meant to protect Americans traveling abroad and demonstrate our willingness to live up to our obligations?  Seems pretty obvious to me…

Finally it must be noted that there is a whiff of arrogance in Scalia’s brief regarding the decision.  He summarily dismisses any possibility that a legislative outcome would prevail in favor of simply granting a hearing in these cases to make sure defendants were given adequate counsel as to be able to defend themselves.   In other words, Scalia’s assessment as to whether or not a law is likely to be passed at some point was a key component of the decision not to issue a brief stay of execution.  So not only is Antonin just a crabby-ass activist conservative justice who apparently wasn’t breast fed, he also is something of an oracle in his ability to foresee the intent and activities of a congress for which he has demonstrated little regard.   It will be a good day when his scowling countenance no longer appears on the federal bench…

"The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason." Hunter S. Thompson

This just in: O.J.’s guilty.  No, no, not of going nuts and killing his wife and her side squeeze, Ron Goldman.  Anyone with half a brain knows that to be true.  No, I’m talking about the over-the-top, breathless, moment by moment coverage of the Casey Anthony trial, an tawdry and sad affair remarkable only because…well, I am not sure that it was remarkable – that’s the thing.  It's OJ's fault.

As distasteful as it was, in the end it was about a mother being accused of killing her young child, something that is all too ordinary in today’s world.  It seems like every time you turn around there is a story of a mother freaking out and throwing her kids off a bridge or driving off a pier or, in the most recent and nightmarish case, putting one in a microwave oven and hitting the defrost button.  (This last incident is one of those things that, try as I might, I cannot get my head around.  In my darkest moments I can understand how someone can feel overwhelmed by life’s cruel circumstances and hit the gas pedal, like Thelma & Louise.  That’s the kind of spur of the moment decision that – disturbing as it is – one can at least comprehend.  But shoving a baby in a microwave oven requires a level of craziness that is beyond anything I can imagine.)

But Anthony’s case involved a young, relatively attractive white woman who seemed normal, aside from the actual accusation.  So why did this case grab the admittedly short attention span of the public and create such a stir?  I have to admit, I didn’t watch 30 seconds of it – was barely even aware of it.  But judging by the reaction I was in the minority on that one.   Somehow the media can smell a story that will get readers and ratings and when they do they go into a frenzy.  The proof is right there; HLN, the network that was the primary outlet for coverage proudly announced that the verdict drew the highest ratings ever in their 29 year history.  There you have it, succinctly and neatly wrapped up in one sentence.  If one dysfunctional, lewd, tragic story can get those ratings you can bet your ass that there will soon be another tragic story airing in its place – after all, what else could the network do?  They have to find another one and start their obscene overheated coverage all over again.  I can only hope that Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos go home at night, pour themselves a stiff cocktail and ask, “What the hell am I doing?”

Maybe it is the rise of reality shows on TV that explain it – utterly insipid and idiotic television shows have proliferated beyond all reason and perhaps the line gets a little blurry for some viewers.  Maybe they think it’s another iteration of the Law & Order franchise.   You know, sometimes on that show the guilty guy gets off – adds to the dramatic impact.   Maybe they’re waiting for Snooky to stand up looking like an overstuffed pork sausage and babble some incoherent gibberish at the judge and get herself summarily escorted out of the court room to appreciative murmurs all around. 

After OJ – the first real full-on televised celebrity lawyer / celebrity defendant / despicable crime / blonde girl victim / all media all the time drama-rama – we had another freakishly grotesque train wreck of a media mash-up  in the Terry Schiavo case, a preposterous but compelling convergence of 20^th century religiousity meeting political expediency in the steaming brothel of a 24 hour news cycle just finding its legs.  This tragic-comedy continued for years, but was covered intensely mostly at the end as her grief-stricken but sensible husband tried to take her off life support, only to have the curtain yanked back and find the whole fucking country arguing over his right to do so.   Dim-witted George Bush even made an emergency trip back to Washington, DC, to sign a bill attempting to stop him from exercising what he clearly thought would be her dying wish just to please the right-to-life wing of the republican party.

And of course we can’t forget the ultimate in over-the-top, paparazzi fueled indulgence and wallowing in grief and grim death, Princess Diana.  Although even harden celebrity addicts were sickened by the excessive and repulsive coverage of this bizarre and horrible accident, fascinated viewers created a ratings bonanza that only served to fuel the insatiable media apparatus and take it yet another level of perfidy and treachery and sliminess.

Now today, mere hours after this dirty little spectacle of a trial came to an end amidst gasps of outrage and sputtering pretension, there is talk of Casey getting her own reality show – no shit.  And there are undoubtedly multiple literary agents and publishing company reps surreptitiously slipping her and Baez their cards and offering an advance for books telling “their story”, as venal and vile and depressing as it may be.   And the TV networks are feasting on a goulash of viewer outrage, analysis by whoever they can get in front of a microphone and “opinions” by self important armchair psychologists.

The real question for me is, “Why do we care about this?”  A cute little girl who is a complete stranger dies a horrible death – OK, got it.  But cute little girls die horribly every day.  Why are there entire chat rooms devoted to people talking about the minutia of this case?  That’s an existential question, by the way – I don’t really expect anyone to have an answer.  I just hope it goes away soon.

“The ability to perceive reality is a prerequisite for self governance.” Al Gore

Last week an FDA advisory panel announced a 6-0 decision to stop recommending the drug Avastin for breast cancer, saying exhaustive clinical trials have not shown it to be effective and that relatively common side effects – like blood clots and high blood pressure – are not worth its continued use.   The reaction to the decision has been mixed, with many breast cancer advocacy groups supportive, saying – in effect – let’s use something that works instead.  However, Faux News immediately seized upon this decision as evidence of health care rationing under Obama’s health care program, as it did when the preliminary decision was announced last year, once again highlighting its role as the lead media outlet for the anti-Obama forces in the country and republican party bomb-throwers.   What continues to be hard to get my head around is why on earth anyone would believe them about anything.   Do they really want desperate women using a drug which is dangerous and doesn’t work? 

The automatic opposition to any policy having to do with global warming issues, regulation of the financial markets, regulation of industry or taxation is so utterly predictable that it has long since ceased to surprise.   It’s the continual, insipid arguments used to justify the opposition though, that do have the capacity to make you shake your head in a mixture of admiration for their brazenness and sad resignation that these essentially untenable, un-defendable positions are accepted for a large part of the voting population. 

Thousands of scientists – men and women who have devoted their lives to their work, who have Ph.d’s and vast experience and reams of information derived from experiments and carefully recorded observations – world wide – agree that global warming is real and caused by humans.  It is well over 90% of scientists that agree on this fundamental notion.  They may disagree on some specifics but the causal relationship between human, carbon using activity and what can only be described as catastrophic climate change is really no longer in serious doubt.  Yet much of the mainstream media and the chuckleheads at Faux News in particular continue to serve the interests of the polluters, treating trumped up deniers as if they are a valid, opposing point of view – like creationists – instead of the self-serving apologists and anti-science knuckle-draggers that they are.   Look around, people; the evidence is everywhere.  10 of the hottest 14 years in history have been in the last decade.  Take it to the bank and get some waders…

Within a few days of the unthinkably disastrous explosion in the Gulf last year, Obama called for a moratorium on new permits and leases for deep water drilling until there was time to figure out what the hell happened to kill a dozen men and profoundly pollute the Gulf of Mexico.  Immediately the republicans were bitching about him costing the Gulf Coast jobs by doing so and warning ominously that additional regulation would end up making all the rigs move to Nigeria or Trinidad or the Sea of Tranquility.   Gee fellas, did you seriously think we shouldn’t take a month or so and go over the data and try to make sure it didn’t happen again.   How would a second spill have impacted jobs, ya think? 

Now, as the president impatiently taps his toe waiting for 535 people to do their jobs and make sure the government can keep running after August 1, the Tea-party intoxicated elephants are fighting to get themselves to the front of the mosh pit to scream, “No taxes! No taxes! No taxes!”  Never mind that this supposedly populist groundswell protesting taking away tax breaks for corporate jets and oil companies and hedge fund managers swimming in profits doesn’t affect the average person in a negative way at all.  Does the average voter care more about some obscene, bloated oil company profits than how many teachers are at their kids’ school?   Do they really buy the Faux News fairy tale that doing so will cost the country jobs – that these corporations are job creating engines that need to be completely unburdened by taxes or they will take their jobs elsewhere?  Don’t they realize that that’s what the big corporations are doing anyway?  The republican calculus is really simple if you think about it; everyone hates taxes and those people who are bleeding the most from a thousand cuts hate them more than most.  So “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” prevails, making heroes of blowhard shills like Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan, who have to stand up and, with a straight face, defend the surreal position that the same corporations that have been shipping jobs overseas for the past 10 year with impunity need the help of Joe and Marge Suburb or they’ll perish.   What utter nonsense…

Finally, to the financial markets; it’s clear to see that the crisis was the result of a combination of lax regulation and adrenaline fueled Wall Street speculation.  But somehow we have forgotten.   As Paul Krugman recently wrote, “Month by month, the discourse has gotten more primitive; with stunning speed, the lessons of the 2008 financial crisis have been forgotten, and the very ideas that got us into the crisis — regulation is always bad, what’s good for the bankers is good for America, tax cuts are the universal elixir — have regained their hold.”  How can the average person believe this?  Are we a country of dullards and simpletons with memories incapable of remembering what happened only 3 short years ago?  How can that be…?

And Ju$tice for all...

There was disheartening news yesterday on a couple of fronts, both of which involve the Obama administration justice department and its schizophrenic behavior in deciding what position it wants to espouse and how much of what Obama promised during the campaign they want to try to defend. 

In 2010 the federal government decided that the Western Sage Grouse deserved protection across its range of 11 western states, a decision that is yet to be implemented because the Interior Department has sought to delay an actual designation of “endangered” until 2015, saying other species have priority.  A cynic might say that the Interior Department is stalling around because this simple decision “endangers” another group of animals – western ranchers, oil and gas exploration companies and home builders across the west.  By putting off the decision on whether to give more protections, administration officials are buying time to avoid prohibitions on grazing, limits to future drilling and possibly curbs on residential and commercial construction. It almost seems like the administration is comfortable arguing high minded ideas like global warming but when the rubber meets the road in a real time practical situation they fall back on time honored practice of siding with the money and against the lonely bird with the flamboyant feathers. 

In another case where the justice department seems to be on the wrong side of popular sentiment, they have suddenly announced that they are going to aggressively prosecute marijuana growers supplying medical marijuana dispensaries even in states where they are legal per state law because growing marijuana is against federal law.  Now as a candidate, Obama said he was going to take a laissez faire attitude towards marijuana, marijuana growers, marijuana consumers and Phish concerts.   In what again appears to be a transparently cynical effort to sway independent voters, they are suddenly concerned about the devil drug and its pernicious effects on troubled youth or some such bullshit, and buckling under to the religious right, who seem to think – at least in public – that anything that feels good or makes you happy is suspect and against god’s will.  Never mind that they would sooner vote for Satan than Obama – I guess his genius advisors think this move will poll well in the bible belt.  But seriously; you’re reduced to chasing pot heads willy-nilly like some hyperactive Elliot Ness when the fucking criminals that brought the country to the brink of financial ruin sit in the Hamptons this weekend grilling burgers and sipping sauvignon blanc? On our dime?  Seriously???

The Obama justice department has been one of the key disappointments of his administration; they chose not to pursue any indictments against blow-hard republican criminal, Tom Delay, who was subsequently convicted by a Texas court – a TEXAS COURT - and sent to the pokey for three years for a number of brazen crimes, including money laundering and conspiracy. Nor did they chose to pursue criminal indictments against any other Bush administration figures, including those involved in the clearly political mass firings of various US Attorneys, declaring blithely that they wanted to move forward into the light and not dwell on the past.  This is, of course, bullshit, and a calculated political move to minimize the scorched earth after his election and a policy he can only hope the republicans will emulate should they win in 2012.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they chose to go after him then for having a shitty jump shot or being left handed.  The nuns always did have a deep down secret superstition that left handed people were the work of the devil and that would fit nicely into a President Bachman’s to do list.

There has also been bleatings from the elephant side of the aisle over Justice’s belated attempts to hold anyone connected with the CIA accountable for the enhanced interrogations of the Bush inquisition in spite of what many legal scholars point to as a horrific and ultimately damaging practice during which a couple of hapless chumps died in captivity under barbaric conditions.  Various republican Bush / Cheney apologists have come out – Faux News, the propaganda arm of the republican party prominently among them – sputtering about how prosecuting CIA operatives who were ”only following orders” would devastate  moral, never mind the legal niceties and technicalities.  Mike Hucksterbee, a dismal failure as a republican candidate for president himself – has worked himself up into a froth about this when the reality is they took 3 years to decide to go after two guys who might as well have been wearing black hoods on the guillotine platform.  While they may have only been following orders, let’s not forget so was Herman Hess. 

The republicans also are guilty – as they were during Clinton’s presidency – of obstructing the nominees to the very department that they hold accountable for a poor performance.  In the most recent show of political grandstanding, they are blocking the vote of making permanent the appointment of James Cole, a deputy director who got his job via recess appointment and who by all accounts has been doing fairly well.  According to the opponents of his appointment, however, he is guilty of seeing the various sad-sack captives in Guantanamo and those who were subject to special rendition and who are probably rotting in Egyptian jails alongside Mubarak thugs wondering what year it is, as human beings worthy of a trial.  Coddler of terrorists!  Senator Grassley of Iowa has suddenly found his guidebook on proper institutional etiquette and decided that he is against recess appointments and that, had he been thinking clearly he would have opposed the 171 that Dubbya made and find fault with King Ronald Reagan, who made well over 200. 

No, I’m afraid that in spite of the partisan criticism Obama’s justice department has been very much status quo and right in the political mainstream, to the disappointment of his supporters who had high hopes that justice would indeed be forthcoming on a number of fronts only to watch them chase wikileaks whistle blowers and pot heads and continue to kneel before the moneyed interests of this country.  Sadly, that never seems to change no matter who is elected…

I'm a Yankee Doodle Doofus, born on the 4th of July...

It came as no huge surprise when Dominic Strauss-Kahn was released from house arrest today without bail and with the prosecutors basically saying, “Uh…sorry…our bad…” but it is tragic, nonetheless.  His accuser – upon further review – turns out to be, at best, of somewhat questionable reliability and, at worst, a tawdry opportunist who tried to take the Monica Lewinski-blow job route to 15 minutes of fame and was quickly exposed by virtue of a number of other questionable dealings intended to turn a quick buck.  If she thinks this particular method is her best option for making a living maybe she should give up the housekeeper job and just go full on Belle de Jour and be done with all the distractions. 

I suppose from a woman's perspective this is an example of a dirty old man in a position of power getting over on a woman of color who is from an African country and doesn't communicate well, etc.  That may turn out to be true.  But the guys emailing from Nigeria with desperate pleas to help them get their money transfered into US banks are from African countries and don't necessarily communicate well either.  Being an African in New York is not, in itself, an validation of your status as a babe in the wilderness. 

The real shame is that the media went into an unquestioning frothing-at-the-mouth frenzy and was ready to believe that this man, who has been a respected member of the political class and ultra-successful business man, suddenly hit the mini-bar and, not only got horny, but turned into a drunken frat boy and forced our heroine to give him a hummer.  Now he is French and, other than surrendering and good cheese, being horny is what the French are known for.  He has a reputation for randiness and anything is possible.  But it still strained belief that he would stoop to this kind of behaviour under these circumstances.

It is a measure of the shamelessness that prevails among “journalists” that the breathless reporting of this story, complete with sordid details about torn panty hose and do-it-yourself, boy-scout knot bondage, jumped to page 1 so easily.  Is it a coincidence that it was quickly followed by Weiner’s naughty tweets?  Maybe.  But I can’t help thinking about the things that pass for news and headlines and those things that don’t. 

These are the top ten search items on Yahoo today – an unscientific but revealing sample of what internet users are interested in:

1.      Charlene Wittstock, new bride of Prince Albert of Monoco

2.      Former heroin-waif model, Kate Moss

3.      Salma Hayek – very sexy in the Terrantino bad dream, From Dusk Until Dawn

4.      Retirement savings – and who isn’t interested in / worried about this?

5.      Jamie Hince – new husband of former heroine waif model Kate Moss

6.      Julia Roberts – big smile, new movie, whatever

7.      Longest Bridge – finally something that is interesting and not a celebrity.  You may have noticed that the Chinese are developing at warp speed and this 26 mile long marvel is clear evidence.

8.      Charliez Theron – Yawnnnnn…

9.      Beyonce – Uh…hehe…uh…

10.  Milla Jovovich – see Julia Roberts…

So there is the list as of 12:53 PM, Friday July 1.  Again, this is not to say that this is representative of anything other than what Yahoo users are searching for but I don’t see “World Peace” on here.   And I sure as hell don’t see “raising the debt ceiling”.   I can pretty much guarantee that Dominic Strause-Kahn, the IMF, economic foreign policy, or anything remotely related would not be on this list if it wasn't for a cockamamie sex scandal involving a French politician allegedly assaulting a chambermaid in a luxury hotel suite in New York. 

You can’t blame the media – their job is to sell whatever their product is – the New York Post, internet, TV news, or the Enquirer – so they do what they have to do.  But it does go a long way towards explaining the sophistication of the political discourse in this country and how we have come to have the quality of candidates for high office that we do, where none of the 10 current or presumed candidates are favored by more than 20% of the poll respondents and many of them are better known for being "personalities" than for thoughtful public policy - for shallow intellect and a lack of curiosity. 

So I say let’s all grab a baguette and some stinky cheese and say together, Vive les Idiots et bon chance!  Lafayette we are here!  Happy 4th of July!

Meg Whitman has emerged from her Atherton bunker with a series of appearances around the state designed to begin making her politically relevant again after her madcap spending spree during last year’s California governor’s race was trumped by her thick-headed and ill-advised firing of a long-time but illegal housekeeper mid-stream.  Whitman’s campaign spending topped 162 million dollars, the bulk of which came from her personal fortune, while Jerry Brown, the eventual runaway winner, spent 26 million and didn’t fire a Mexican nanny or drop his pants in any other embarrassing gaffe and thereby won the race by 15 points. 

In an unsurprising move, political novice Whitman has chosen to lend her support to putative republican front runner and fellow milquetoast conservative, Mitt Romney, more evidence of her questionable but orthodox political judgment.   Doing so in a democratic stronghold like California is a little like backing Finland against the Nazis in World War II – admirable on principle but futile as a practical matter.

Naturally she came out with gun blazing, criticizing Obama in the same vaguely disingenuous but familiar way as most republicans, saying, “"This president ran on the platform of bringing people together, meeting in the middle ... and it has not worked out that way at all," she said. "There's a big hunger for new leadership; he has not been a good leader on the economy." 

Of course when the republican leader in the senate has a stated goal in the first days of the new administration of seeing that it fails, it doesn’t bode well for the spirit of cooperation and collaboration needed to actually accomplish anything bi-partisan and “bring people together” and “meet in the middle”.    Inconsistencies like this have never been a hindrance to political speech in the past, of course, and one expects this kind of rhetoric these days when getting something accomplished takes a back seat to winning for its own sake.   And except in rare cases – like Bill Gates and some notable others – billionaire business people seem naturally inclined to ignore the larger social issues of providing a minimum level of existence to everyone in favor of a modified Ayn Rand meets Marie Antoinette political philosophy of pushing those unfortunate enough to be weaker to one side so they can get the good seats in the life boats.   

Which leads to a clearly frustrated Obama – attempting to “meet in the middle” - in front of the microphones yesterday trying to make the case for compromise in raising the debt ceiling – the esoteric emergency that has sadly dominated both parties’ limited attention span lately.  The democrats have suggested that perhaps continued tax breaks for oil companies – the executives for which, in their private moments, do the Scrooge McDuck backstroke through their basement rooms bulging with cash – might be a place where some revenue reform could happen, only to immediately be shouted down by republican mobs screaming, “tax increase, tax increase, tax increase…”.  

Only in the land of the politically ignorant can such posturing pass for intelligent representation.  I saw republican Senator Grassely from Iowa yesterday warning ominously that any attempt to make oil companies share the obscene profits into which they have fallen ass-backwards as a result of the threat that a disruption in oil supplies will cause gas prices to go up at the pump, harming average Americans.  This is, or course, unmitigated bullshit but consumers already wondering where their money has gone are susceptible to this kind of scary fairy tale and so republican corporate apologists persist in telling it, like a campfire story intended to make sure the kids don’t get out of the tent during the night.

Blaming someone in the other party for anything that goes wrong is normal operating procedure so Obama gets blamed for our misery, much like – dare I speak his name – Jimmy Carter was blamed for the economy in 1977. The person who happens to be present when something occurs isn’t necessarily to blame.  Obama is no more to blame for the great recession / economic crisis / financial house of cards than Bush was.  Blaming Bush for 9/11 was also simplistic political horse shit - Bush was a hapless dupe who happened to be the guy reading “My Pet Goat” in the wrong place at the wrong time and, if not for those two monumental events, would have gone down in history like Rutherford B Hayes – on the list but a complete cypher.    

What neither party seems willing to talk about is a very simple calculus; the government IS too big, there IS waste, inefficiency, fraud, graft, corruption, duplication and incompetence – the democrats need to start the conversation with those basic cards on the table.   And the republicans, instead of slashing and burning like Sherman marching to the sea, need to recognize and admit that taxes are necessary, some are better than others, but you can’t start to cut government spending by pillaging the poorest and least able to defend themselves while acting as ersatz lobbyists for the defense department and every single corporate interest willing to send a check.   The middle ground is actually in the middle, and the sooner these knuckleheads figure that out the sooner we can cut out this woebegone pissing match and get something accomplished.