Cliff or Curb

Taxes are set to rise today. Then what?

99 Problems

The Republican Party has muchas problemas. As they often do, they will reject any notion which suggests they are somehow out of step. There is much they must change, but don't expect any change. They will not admit they have a problem.

It's hard to pretend that you care about people even though we do this all the time. The upper class teaches insincerity in its private schools through community service programs. Universities prostitute themselves by recognizing the validity of the service, accepting students with money and promoting their service. Children of Republicans (and Democrats alike) start programs to collect shoes for Peru, to build shelters in Nicaragua, to send mosquito nets to Africa, to collect cell phones for Cuba, and with these generosities, assuage any guilt they may have about their actual disdain for the poor who they routinely lambast for not working hard and their incessant laziness. These blessed students bask in the glory of their noble behavior, but balk at any suggestion that taxes should be raised; this kind of help for the poor offends Republicans. It is as if help for the poor is designed to help the rich feel good. Why money doesn't make the rich feel good I cannot understand.

It has been said that the election was about two different philosophies, then it is safe to say that the philosophy which won was the won which said forward. The GOP was unable to take the country back, figuratively or literally. Demographically, they will never be able to take it back. They will have to reach out, and they will. Whether it will be genuine or not, with the millions they have available to distort messages, they will move some. It is safe to say the GOP hopes it can move Latinos. 

In the meantime, the Democrats best friends are the hardliners. 

60 Shades of Gray: Why Obama Won and Romney Lost

It's all over for a moment. The 24 hour news cycle can take a breath for one second before continuing its relentless, hypnotic spiral. Like many news babies, I wish I could get weaned. We'll see. But for now, what happened and why? It's not black and white.

The people have spoken, but only after waiting in long lines. Question number one is this: Why were so many willing to stand in long lines?

        

The Republican Party misread this badly. In fact, they constantly added fuel to the fire. The most obvious misstep was Governor Romney's 47% comment, followed by his defense of it, then the obligatory walk back. However, that’s only one of a series of indignities the poorer Democratic constituency revolted against. As Bill Clinton and Nate Silver kept reminding us, math matters. You can’t just make things up. Offended, we were willing to bite our tongues and stand in line.

Extremism about women reached the tipping point. Discussions about rape are, to put it mildly, distasteful. Forcible rape, legitimate rape, redefining rape – these topics do not play well, excuse me, with reasonable, 21^st century people.  If someone rapes my sister, she should be free to decide what to do – not some older man who thinks he knows what God has in mind for my victimized sister.

Then there are the comments. The GOP claims to have common sense on their side, yet they rarely respond to the last half dozen years during which they heard these statements broadcast daily: He is a Muslim, a terrorist, a Socialist, a Communist. He was palling around with terrorists and gave a terrorist fist bump. How’s that hopey-changey stuff working out for you? Where is his birth certificate? Where are his college transcripts? He used Affirmative Action to get in school. He is the Food Stamp President. He wants to give people on welfare a check. ACORN, Benghazi, Solyndra. Each time we heard these, up jumped the dander. We Obama voters want to give a big shout out to all of those who said these things. Thanks for the impetus. The yard signs also inspired us, especially the Fire Obama signs from FreedomWorks.

Last on the list of voting motivators were the pundits. FOX News pundits – not the competent news division, of course, greatly inspired the Democrat masses. Its ever-present fabrications did not go unnoticed or unrewarded.  Karl Rove – embarrassing laughingstock. Donald Trump – washed-up buffoon. Dick Morris – silly joker. Ann Coulter – gruesome witch. Michelle Malkin -- reliably bitter.  Sean Hannity – snake oil salesman. All of them, liars to their core.

Our campaign, the Romney folks told us, will not be dictated by fact checkers. This was one of the only truths they told. 

Sybil in the White House

Mitt Romney is like Sybil, the character with multiple personality disorder. To borrow from the deeply Christian Rick Santorum wing, either he is Sybil or he is a liar.

Conservative Evangelicals have been fond of joking, "It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve," and their champion, the next Imposter in Chief, could be the embodiment of the Capital Hill version of The 3 Faces of Steve. On the other hand, perhaps this is insufficient critique of Mitt Romney's latest makeover.

During the third debate, he was the man with the foolish grin, a grin so artificial he looked like he was constipated and overdosed on Visine. With this in mind, electing Governor Romney will be a tribute to the old Beatle's tune The Fool on the Hill, the eyes in his head see the world spinning round while I presume he is eating fresh grapefruit with a bib on, servants trimming his hair, Ann all in awe, 5 sons, in letter sweaters ready to toss the ol' football around.

In another moment, the Governor is the coonskin cap wearing King of the Wild Frontier, but closer to Davy Bullsh*t than Davy Crockett (and less noble than Sonny Crockett.)

Insome exchanges, he appeared as a sweaty form of Richie Rich, say Richie Shvitz, or a skinny version of Newt GingRICH.

Another incarnation is the Three Headed Hydra -- one part Richard Nixon, one part Spiro Agnew, one part Lance Armstrong.

Parents out there could imagine Mr. Romney as an even cheesier Henry the Octopus from the Wiggles.

Herbie Hancock could have played Chameleon in the background.

It seems like one should never underestimate how easily hoodwinked the American people are. Money may not be able to buy you love (sorry Kardashian generation), but it will buy one an election. If you value honesty and sincerity, you are just out of luck.

Your next President may be the greatest shapeshifter of all time.

Debate Round Two: Obama TKO

When the bell rang last night, I quickly got sick in my stomach as I thought Mitt Romney came out swinging while Barack Obama was back-peddling. I had to go get a drink of water to settle down. Perhaps this was all the President had to do as well, because soon he was jabbing away at Governor Romney, who was trying to bob and weave but had no legs to stand on. Governor Romney doesn’t have a five-point plan; he has a one-point plan. It is a sketchy deal. Big Bird doesn't like it. The 47% have worked all their lives. Libya was an act of terror.While the challenger got a couple of good shots in, the memorable punches were all thrown by Obama. Want proof? His handlers were all defensive after the fight.

This is always how they do it and the biggest difference in the landscape. When Governor Romney to it to President Obama, we called it like it was. President Obama took a terrible beating. The blood was all over the internet. Everyone owned it. No such reaction on the right.

The right wing never owns up any more. They call it like they want it, which is how they imagine it, and perhaps honestly how they see it. This is the problem exactly: they do not see straight.

This blurry vision is irritating. You cannot pound sense into them. The denial is just like the bloody boxer at the end of the fight oblivious to the beating -- more pride than sense. Look at the litany of issues they have rallied around.

It started with Bill Clinton's misadventures. While we supporters were less than thrilled with Brother Clinton's  escapades, they were both hyper-moral and bloodthirsty. But soon, as always, they had their thrice divorced, prostitute visiting, Jack Abramoff hustling, wide stance, gay Evangelical preacher thing going on, scolding Democrats on social issues.

The Republicans always somehow slide to the right by the Westboro Baptist Church these days. If President Obama went hanging on a tree, they would deny any suggestion that racism exists. Their lunacy knows few restraints. Actually, given Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Hugh Hewitt, Dick Morris, Mark Steyn, and Rush Limbaugh, maybe restraints are the answer. These folks need strait jackets. Is it really madness, or is it simply greed? I can never be sure. But with these folks, it's old-fashioned lock 'em in the back of Joe Biden's pickup crazy.

Obama won the second debate. They can never admit this -- never. All the good Republican folks just interested in fiscal sanity are the real victims. Why they don't abandon them, I'll never know.

Suddenly Republicans are Well-Mannered

Last night, Vice President Joe Biden schooled Paul Ryan, or should I say he took him behind the woodshed for a good old-fashioned beating.

My "dignified" Republican friends, channeling their best, newfound Charlotte Bronte/Jane Austen/Downton Abbey manners, raved about Paul Ryan's presidential behavior. This is what they do.

Biden took the wet behind the ears Ryan and scolded him. Ryan, doing his best, smarmy Potsie Weber turn, pretended to display the small town charm that made us all love Pleasantville and The Help. Can somebody say, "Yes Mr. Cleaver."

In reality, Mr. Ryan is most like the faux-fawning Biff in Back to the Future, insincere and out for the kill.

To think that the party that put crude Sarah Palin and lost stage-trekker John McCain on the ticket to defeat the Democratic Party with the daily insult -- Communist, Socialist, Kenyan -- is now suddenly the dignified example of propriety in the USA requires a short memory.

GOP Think Poor Americans Not Entitled to Food

From the Huffington Post:

It's also a rather extreme stand, and one contravened by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to assert that people are not entitled to, say, "food." According to the United Nations treaty, to which the United States is a signatory, "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."

According to the Tax Policy Center, in 2011, 46 percent of households paid no federal income taxes. (According to Harry Reid, Mitt Romney has been among them in the past.) About half simply didn't make enough money to pay income tax. The other 38 million households are exempted from paying by a variety of specific tax deductions. Nearly half of that latter group, 44 percent, were the elderly eligible for tax breaks. Another 30.4 percent were exempted by credits for children and the working poor -- breaks long championed by conservatives, most recently President George W. Bush.

Aside from the income tax issue, there are millions of Americans who use federal aid but don't see themselves as "dependent" on government. The active-duty soldiers and veterans who spent $100 million on military bases over the last year are just one example.

The perception that Romney's remarks showed a man out of touch with reality was worsened by the location of the closed-door fundraiser shown in the video: the private home of private equity manager Marc Leder. According to the New York Post, Leder once hosted a party at the Hamptons where "guests cavorted nude in the pool and performed sex acts, scantily dressed Russians danced on platforms and men twirled lit torches to a booming techno beat." A person with knowledge of Leder's parties confirmed the gist of them to The Huffington Post.

"Romney’s comment is a country-club fantasy," opined conservative columnist David Brooks of The New York Times. "It’s what self-satisfied millionaires say to each other. It reinforces every negative view people have about Romney."

New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait dubbed Romney a "sneering plutocrat" whose comments "disqualify his claim to the presidency." For TPM's Josh Marshall, it was a "fine distillation of the most rancid version of the libertarian conservative worldview." It was "absolutely devastating," Politico's Ben White concluded.

The mainstream media's most respected arbiters piled on. It was his "darkest hour as a candidate," said the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza.

Class Warfare and I'm Offended

Mostly, I've worked all my life. At 14, I worked in the summer, and I haven't stopped since. I'm not killing myself, but I am a typical American. I work at least 40 hours a week. When it comes to work, I have done the right thing my entire life.

I vote Democratic. I pay taxes. I pay income taxes. I am not jealous of those who pay no income taxes and live a modest life, but I am terribly offended by the comments made by Mitt Romney suggesting that I am a freeloader. Any look into the numbers shows that the elderly are least likely to pay any income taxes. Overwhelmingly, they vote Republican.

Mr. Romney would make far more than me if he sat in his pajamas for the next 5 years and smoked a pipe on his balcony. In this case, he would pay no payroll taxes. I would not think of him as a freeloader. I would also not think of him as a "maker."

If Mitt Romney had ever been a regular guy, he would understand this. Though he thinks I am lazy, I am not angry at him. Though he suggests I am a moocher, I am not upset. Though he says I feel entitled, I know he does not know any better. He is truly out of touch.

No one knows what goes on beneath the surface of our thinking. Today's GOP seems to agree with Mr. Romney's point of view. Whether this view is malicious or not, I cannot say. Clearly, however, they do not know what they are talking about. Considering the fact that 9 of the 10 states with the fewest income tax payers are Red States proves that this view does not hurt them.

On the other hand, the press that the GOP calls biased -- the liberal press -- they get it. They are educated. FOX does not count of course; their real journalists are embedded among the Republican proxies who double dip for network and campaign. FOX doesn't count.

Mr. Romney has made another error. He should give thanks that his opponent is so blindly despised by so many. It's Mitt's only chance. In a world with so little actual justice, Mr. Romney may even come back and win.

I can't say I know what's inside the hearts of the GOP, but I now know clearly what they mean when they talk about class warfare.

The Innocence of Muslims

I made a big mistake and re-posted this after reading it on Andrew Sullivan's Daily Beast:

John Lundin@johnlundin

A Jewish idiot makes a film, a Christian idiot promotes it, Muslim idiots kill over it, and Republican idiots condemn Obama.

Turns out, the first part is untrue, and I should have smelled it, but I didn't so I am guilty and ashamed. I wish I hadn't done it and I shouldn't have. 

There are indeed a lot of idiots on the planet beside me, and the issue about who should do what, when, and to whom is a political classic. To most, opinions are like ears; everybody has one, even Van Gogh.

Following the attack and the riots, everyone checked in. Initially, I thought this was the problem with social media. The need to respond quickly leads to carelessness. On the other hand, lots of folks can quickly ascertain who is ready for prime time and who isn't. I am obviously not ready to be the President of the United States of America, but it seems I'm not alone.

On Freedom of Speech, I fall on the side of those who consider it over-rated judging from this case. since free speech already has limits.

Where's Rodney King when we need him?

Lyin' Ryan

Paul Ryan gave me the serious willies last night. Doing his best, young, sweaty Richard Nixon imitation, Mr. Ryan whipped the rabid Republican masses into a frenzy with his passionate, fiery rhetoric. I couldn't sleep all night.

I noticed this morning that the actor Steve Franken died. He played Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. the insufferably, arrogant nemesis to protagonist Dobie Gillis. It isn't just his brown-nosing that made Chatsworth so reprehensible, it was a sort of gift for being creepily odious. Paul Ryan has this gift. While Ann Romney may have come off as a likable sort of FOX anchor, Nurse Ratched type the previous evening, Ryan, was simply the liar of hyper-inflated self worth nauseating the truth itself with his transparent lies.

His whoppers prove that presidenting while being black is a bigger crime than inverting the truth so obscenely that it makes the guy who gives the homeless man under the bridge a quarter seem somehow like the victim of a Ponzi scheme. Like the Olympic Gold Medal winner in some important sport -- say verbal gymnastics, Paul Ryan's masterful garbage attempts to portray the Decathlon winner as a spear chucker.

Paul Ryan doesn't need a fact checker, he needs an exterminator. He's leading the rats into the center of the community.Republicans are thinking Ryan is promising the path to prosperity, but it's really the path to Pinocchio.

I Look Trustworthy So Trust Me

Ann Romney's speech was nice and friendly, but the core message was the same as always. It's good she loves her husband. Respect. He too seems like a loving husband. Respect again. She has been through a lot. Respect.

On the other hand, Mrs. Romney did not mention any policy. Basically, she says that Mitt is a good husband; therefore, he will be a good husband. She should support policies which help woman and the poor. This would be respectful too.

She says that we should trust her. But Mitt says trust him on his taxes because he is hiding something. If he weren't hiding something, he would release his taxes like his dad did. Perhaps Ann Romney is hiding something too -- like a GOP platform which is anti-woman? She never mentioned any policies.

Sorry. I do not trust you. I prefer to check the fine print.

Release Your Taxes Mitt

I know for a fact that some say that Mitt Romney has not paid any taxes for the past 10 years. He can prove me wrong if he will just release his tax returns like his father did years ago. What is he hiding?

Frustrated

You don't care if my family has to work on Sunday, work the night shift, toil 60 hours per week, or perform two jobs without any health care. You call it Obamacare and leave it at that.

You tell me that the United States is the greatest country in the history of the world and that I should be grateful.

You don'tcare whether I take walks through the park with my children, if there is a playground where they can explore, if there is a clean, rapid bus coming near my house so my kids can get on it an and visit another area where they can see beautiful shop windows, sit in cafes, and meet friends.

Instead, you tell me that the United States is the greatest country in the history of the world, because I have cable TV 24 hours a day, because there is an Applebee's on an industrial highway, and because there is a mall movieplex showing 16 films at the exit of the interstate.

You don't worry if my family drinks 64oz.cokes, eats KFC a few times a week, watches reality TV every night, surfs the internet simultaneously, and goes into massive debt to pay for the clothes, cars, insurance, and two year contracts in order to be connected to friends at all times.

You tell me that the United States is the greatest country in the history of the world, that you are working to protect my freedom to gut the school system, to hate Muslims, to check to see if the birth certificate is a forgery, to drill baby drill, and so my son can legally buy the assault weapons that George Washington wanted me to have in order to serve in the militia protected by the Constitution.

You just don't care about the quality of life in the United States, as long as you get your sick way.

Dazed and Confused

It's not whether you win or lose, but whether you won. I believe the term used a while ago was "silly season," but it's always silly season in the USA circa 2012. Soon we will hear the chants, "USA. USA. USA. USA," as our networks try to perfect their journalistic jingoism. I do not expect you to understand this expression -- journalistic jingoism-- but it's not that I am somehow thinking that I am in anyway superior. You might then accuse me of elitism. While we want our Olympians to be elite, our companies to be elite, our actors to be elite, and Lebron James to be elite, we do not want our President to be elite. He would then be a liberal elitist. We want him to be extemely average like President Bush was, a nice guy, a .200 hitter.

We are dazed and confused about so much. We HATE Obamacare so much that 30% of the American population were unaware that the Supreme Court ruled it constitutional. Who cares, right? Had they ruled it unconstitutional, they would have been wonderful. It's only whether you win or lose. Never mind that many of our fellow citizens cannot find the Iraq they supported so deeply during the war, or should I say the surge, on a map. They would recognize Joe the Plumber, however, do think of teenage mother Bristol Palin as a beacon of morality, and would certainly regard my point of view as -- what's the word they use -- vitriol.

Dazed and Confused, Fair and Balanced -- call it what you want. Tell the government to keep it's hands off your Medicare. Believe that the government wants to take your guns away. Be certain that Barack HUSSEIN Obama is a Muslim until Reverend Wright is brought up. Even then, his birth certificate is surely a forgery. Stop illegal immigration and blame President Obama for the recent rise in gas prices, but drop it when the prices fall.

It's not whether you win or lose -- it's only about derangement and winning.

Wholesale Theft

At best, it is willful ignorance with a dash of old school, inculcated racism. We cannot tolerate Obama is never justification number one, but it is always motivation number one. The rationalization ironically floats like a butterfly and stings like an AK47. On Mondays, it is Obamacare. Tuesday it is the debt ceiling. On Wednesday, the weakening of the military is the issue -- we cannot stand by and watch Iran, Russia, and Syria take over. North Korea is a threat. Yemen harbors terrorists. And so on. Come Thursday, we are talking about deficits and entitlements spiraling out of control. Every Friday, we talk about the war on marriage, or Christmas, or tradition -- THEY are ruining OUR country and WE must take it back (to the days of slavery?). Saturday is a slow day, so maybe Black Liberation theology or the birther issue takes center stage because these days are not newsworthy and the bottom dwellers (like Donald Trump (job creator for celebrities), Orly Taitz (queen of the birth certificate), Joe Arpaio (Mexican loving sheriff, Michelle Malkin, Christine (I am not a witch) O'Donnell and Sarah Palin (How's that hopey changey thing workin' out for ya?) take the bait. On Sunday mornings, all those who hate Obama are center stage on TV explaining and denying all the torrid criticism they cast a few weeks ago in Mitt Romney's direction, hoping and knowing that most voters cannot locate themselves in a mirror.

At worst, it is a simple assault on the middle class and poor -- common theft.

Citizens United

Rich people have too much time on their hands. They defend themselves, like Ann Romney whose job is raising children, though everyone suspects she has had a bit of help. Still, given the earth-shaking election about to shape the country, rich people are busy throwing hundreds of millions of dollars into the fray, hoping to influence the outcome, hoping to become richer, hoping to become stronger, hoping to become more powerful, hoping that all this is seductive and that people will flock toward such rich people and worship them. How selfish! How pathetic. How sad it is to fail to consider the good that one could do with just a smidgen of compassion.

Mitt the Player

The way Mitt Romney talks to the American people reminds me of the same way young fellows talk to their girlfriends when they are 17 and trying to cheat on them. They will say anything, make up anything, and hope that the girl likes them enough not to check. There is a stunning disconnection between what comes from his mouth and what is true.

The truth is that much of what Mitt says is a lie, but what the hell, right? Perhaps Mitt Romney doesn’t understand, having married so early; he has never courted anyone since he was a teenager. He still finds himself at some awkward, desperate stage, imagining he can just wink at them and play loose with facts.

If the American voters are as naïve and gullible as teenaged girls, Mitt might win. Then what?

The Face of a Patriot

I learned a long time ago that I should not judge a book by its cover, but this is just too obvious to pass over.

Ted Nugent wants me to believe that he knows what is good for our country, and that Barack Obama is somehow trying to destroy it. My common sense reaction: how reliable is Ted Nugent's opinion? My street reaction: WTF?

Simply, I was taught to respect my elders, to get an education, and to work. What is Ted Nugent's point? What is his objective?  “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November again, I will be either be dead or in jail by this time next year,” he said. Why will he be dead? Why will he be in jail? What is he trying to accomplish by saying this?

I learned a long time ago that I should not judge a book by its cover. What is Ted Nugent talking about?

What has he done that inspires others to believe that he deserves more respect than the President?



Ann Romney: The New Marie Antoinette

Hilary Rosen said that Ann Romney never worked a day in her life. Ann Romney has never worked a day in her life outside of her home, and this makes her quite privileged. I assume she has been a fine mother, but when it comes to understanding what working mothers with children must endure, Mrs. Romney has no clue.

Since Mrs. Romney cares so much about motherhood, maybe she can find it in her to discuss some sort of policy with her husband which might help working mothers, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Insensitivity works that way. Let them eat cake.