For OWS, kicked out of the camps, keep kicking down the streets. You have kicked the doors of political discourse wide. Even the slow, the halt, and the snarky lame soon will be running to catch-up as their crutches and toys are taken away.
New Orleans Labor Voice
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Best Insurance
Suppose you had worked with a very good young apprentice for the better part of a year. Imagine you had thought him talented, hard working, and at the beginning of a bright future as a solid and productive craftsman in the electrical industry. Then one day, you heard that he had been suddenly separated from employment after a random drug test. What would you think? Bet most of you would probably say, "Tough luck, kid, that's what you get for doing illegal stuff."
But what if you also knew that he had just returned from a short vacation in another country where his lady friend is working, and where marijuana is legal? Assume you had never observed any actions by him outside of serious and sober exemplary behavior, as well as a respectful and easy going personality on and off the job. What's more, his attendance and timeliness record overall matches your own, which is pretty damn good, being old school as you lamentably are. Throw in the fact, that as a veteran of the sixties, you also know that weed is far less debilitating of motor skills, and nowhere near as harmful, on the whole, as booze. Additionally, you are aware that the body can require up to 30 days to purge the residue of cannabis sufficiently to avoid detection by a drug test, whereas even a somewhat intoxicating amount of alcohol can be oxidized and not found by testing in as little as two hours.
Would you then perhaps be tempted to conclude that employers are foolishly allowing their insurance carriers to push them into decisions which often only insure that they not retain the best employees, and that your union should be ashamed of itself for cooperating in this invasive stethoscope -up-our-rear-end warrant less search activity, rather than opposing it? I would.
But what if you also knew that he had just returned from a short vacation in another country where his lady friend is working, and where marijuana is legal? Assume you had never observed any actions by him outside of serious and sober exemplary behavior, as well as a respectful and easy going personality on and off the job. What's more, his attendance and timeliness record overall matches your own, which is pretty damn good, being old school as you lamentably are. Throw in the fact, that as a veteran of the sixties, you also know that weed is far less debilitating of motor skills, and nowhere near as harmful, on the whole, as booze. Additionally, you are aware that the body can require up to 30 days to purge the residue of cannabis sufficiently to avoid detection by a drug test, whereas even a somewhat intoxicating amount of alcohol can be oxidized and not found by testing in as little as two hours.
Would you then perhaps be tempted to conclude that employers are foolishly allowing their insurance carriers to push them into decisions which often only insure that they not retain the best employees, and that your union should be ashamed of itself for cooperating in this invasive stethoscope -up-our-rear-end warrant less search activity, rather than opposing it? I would.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
What's In A Name?
Back to the Great "D" word question, but briefly, I promise. Even though, really, you should get used to it, you are going to soon be hearing it a lot, not from me but from those blow-dried, air-head corporate flacks on television; the ones you continue to trust and rely on for most of your information, whether you admit it or not.
Many analysts today say that the key economic numbers do not indicate a full-fledged depression is underway. They make a point, but it should be qualified. Here are the stats, and the qualification.
Within one year after the 1929 crash, economic output shrank by 25%. In a little more than a year, unemployment climbed to slightly more than 20%, and stayed there until the New Deal kicked in. In the current collapse, output only shrank by some 4.9%, while unemployment (if the discouraged and no longer seeking work are counted, as they were in the depression) has topped-off at 16-17%.
What should leap off the page at us here is how much greater the unemployment factor is as a function of overall production shrinkage than it was in the past. The obvious implications are that with advances in technology and production techniques, overall economic output requires fewer workers than ever before. And, should we get to the point where we see anything like a 25% productive downturn again, as a result of ever sagging demand, unemployment could go to 60-70%. That is simple math.
We need a shorter work week, more people employed, and much higher wages. And we need to demand and start building those things in right now, or we are liable to see suffering like never before. Besides, why shouldn't working people share in the benefits of greater production with less labor demand, instead of having all the abundance creamed off by the greedy in the top 1%?
Many analysts today say that the key economic numbers do not indicate a full-fledged depression is underway. They make a point, but it should be qualified. Here are the stats, and the qualification.
Within one year after the 1929 crash, economic output shrank by 25%. In a little more than a year, unemployment climbed to slightly more than 20%, and stayed there until the New Deal kicked in. In the current collapse, output only shrank by some 4.9%, while unemployment (if the discouraged and no longer seeking work are counted, as they were in the depression) has topped-off at 16-17%.
What should leap off the page at us here is how much greater the unemployment factor is as a function of overall production shrinkage than it was in the past. The obvious implications are that with advances in technology and production techniques, overall economic output requires fewer workers than ever before. And, should we get to the point where we see anything like a 25% productive downturn again, as a result of ever sagging demand, unemployment could go to 60-70%. That is simple math.
We need a shorter work week, more people employed, and much higher wages. And we need to demand and start building those things in right now, or we are liable to see suffering like never before. Besides, why shouldn't working people share in the benefits of greater production with less labor demand, instead of having all the abundance creamed off by the greedy in the top 1%?
Monday, November 28, 2011
All's Well That Ends Well
Mr. Shakespeare used the proverb which heads this post as the title for one of his plays. Sounds comforting, but be careful. While that conviction, much like any proverb, is almost axiomatically true, some things may not be what they seem.
Think of it this way, the four day Thanksgiving weekend is over. No problems to report. Time to start another common work week, oh boy! Well, there you go.
Mr. Shakespeare's play happens to be one of several of his known as "problem plays." When all is said and done, it is impossible to classify it as a tragedy or a comedy. Turns out, he seems to have been using the proverb ironically. And so am I, in order to make another point about the smug stupidity of conservative economics.
The clamor on the right today is basically what it always has been: just let the economy fix itself. Get away from it (as far as public intervention is concerned, at least) and let it purge itself back to good health. Um, among the purged, of course, will be an awful human toll of innocents, especially among the children. Oh well, some sacrifices have to be offered on the altar of free market fanaticism if our belief system is to have any meaning; it's all so biblical, don't you know.
Meanwhile, when the burnout has ended, we may likely only be left knee deep in a pile of ashes. Now that we're back to work (at least those of us lucky enough to still have a job) and can get serious once again, pay attention because this week may see the final act of an indisputable financial tragedy in Europe. If the euro is allowed to collapse (I would even argue it has been pushed into collapsing), things will not end well. Can you say the Great "D" word, dammit?
Think of it this way, the four day Thanksgiving weekend is over. No problems to report. Time to start another common work week, oh boy! Well, there you go.
Mr. Shakespeare's play happens to be one of several of his known as "problem plays." When all is said and done, it is impossible to classify it as a tragedy or a comedy. Turns out, he seems to have been using the proverb ironically. And so am I, in order to make another point about the smug stupidity of conservative economics.
The clamor on the right today is basically what it always has been: just let the economy fix itself. Get away from it (as far as public intervention is concerned, at least) and let it purge itself back to good health. Um, among the purged, of course, will be an awful human toll of innocents, especially among the children. Oh well, some sacrifices have to be offered on the altar of free market fanaticism if our belief system is to have any meaning; it's all so biblical, don't you know.
Meanwhile, when the burnout has ended, we may likely only be left knee deep in a pile of ashes. Now that we're back to work (at least those of us lucky enough to still have a job) and can get serious once again, pay attention because this week may see the final act of an indisputable financial tragedy in Europe. If the euro is allowed to collapse (I would even argue it has been pushed into collapsing), things will not end well. Can you say the Great "D" word, dammit?
Friday, November 25, 2011
The Real Problem With Even "Honest" Conservatives
Let's face it, almost all Conservatives in the public discussion today are a bunch of phony and radical hooligans, as the following piece from Paul Krugman's blog indicates. But anyone with good common sense already kind of knows that.
So, I would also advance the observation that the real problem with even "honest' conservatives like David Frum is that their core philosophy is selfish, wrong-headed, and punishing. We live in a time of towering accomplishments in the economic capacity to produce abundant material wealth as well as in the scientific and medical developments for safeguarding human health and prolonging independent, vital and enjoyable life-spans. The criminal fact is that the Conservative philosophy is permanently wedded to an outmoded and repeatedly proven misguided set of social norms and relations.
This general construct, if you will, insists on the inevitable concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a very few at the expense of the disadvantage, deprivation, and denial of democratic rights for the vast majority. Such inevitably results from the operation of crass capitalism when unbridled, unregulated, and utterly untempered by humane rules of the road. But Frum and others like him remain married to it regardless the needless massive pain and social pathology it causes. Frum acknowledged as much himself in an NPR interview the other day concerning the piece Krugman cites. Frum said the problem which is causing all the extremism on the Conservative side is that "we are entering a period of economic austerity" and no one wants to responsibly address that exigency.
And that my friends is as precise a statement of the baseless conclusions a pinched and puritanical moral overlay to economic analysis produces. We as a society and a species have worked hard and successfully to be able to progress beyond being repeatedly cast down as victims to an eternal roll of the Wheel of Fortune which alternately turns up the good and the bad. All we need is a sufficiently humane moral outlook to allow our productive skills and scientific prowess to provide a more abundant and secure life for all.
From Krugman:
November 25, 2011, 8:26 am
So, I would also advance the observation that the real problem with even "honest' conservatives like David Frum is that their core philosophy is selfish, wrong-headed, and punishing. We live in a time of towering accomplishments in the economic capacity to produce abundant material wealth as well as in the scientific and medical developments for safeguarding human health and prolonging independent, vital and enjoyable life-spans. The criminal fact is that the Conservative philosophy is permanently wedded to an outmoded and repeatedly proven misguided set of social norms and relations.
This general construct, if you will, insists on the inevitable concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a very few at the expense of the disadvantage, deprivation, and denial of democratic rights for the vast majority. Such inevitably results from the operation of crass capitalism when unbridled, unregulated, and utterly untempered by humane rules of the road. But Frum and others like him remain married to it regardless the needless massive pain and social pathology it causes. Frum acknowledged as much himself in an NPR interview the other day concerning the piece Krugman cites. Frum said the problem which is causing all the extremism on the Conservative side is that "we are entering a period of economic austerity" and no one wants to responsibly address that exigency.
And that my friends is as precise a statement of the baseless conclusions a pinched and puritanical moral overlay to economic analysis produces. We as a society and a species have worked hard and successfully to be able to progress beyond being repeatedly cast down as victims to an eternal roll of the Wheel of Fortune which alternately turns up the good and the bad. All we need is a sufficiently humane moral outlook to allow our productive skills and scientific prowess to provide a more abundant and secure life for all.
From Krugman:
November 25, 2011, 8:26 am
Their Own Facts
David Frum of “Axis of Evil” fame — who is some kind of distant cousin of mine — has an excellent piece in New York explaining his apostasy from the modern GOP. Best line:
Still, it’s a good piece; would that more old-style Republicans were willing to open their eyes and see that the party they once supported has been transformed into a madhouse.
Backed by their own wing of the book-publishing industry and supported by think tanks that increasingly function as public-relations agencies, conservatives have built a whole alternative knowledge system, with its own facts, its own history, its own laws of economics. Outside this alternative reality, the United States is a country dominated by a strong Christian religiosity. Within it, Christians are a persecuted minority. Outside the system, President Obama—whatever his policy errors—is a figure of imposing intellect and dignity. Within the system, he’s a pitiful nothing, unable to speak without a teleprompter, an affirmative-action phony doomed to inevitable defeat. Outside the system, social scientists worry that the U.S. is hardening into one of the most rigid class societies in the Western world, in which the children of the poor have less chance of escape than in France, Germany, or even England. Inside the system, the U.S. remains (to borrow the words of Senator Marco Rubio) “the only place in the world where it doesn’t matter who your parents were or where you came from.”Frum himself isn’t completely free of this alternative reality. He still insists that Obama is building a much bigger government, which just isn’t true; there’s health reform, which will require subsidies in the vicinity of 1 percent of GDP to operate, but there are no other major expansions of government on the table.
Still, it’s a good piece; would that more old-style Republicans were willing to open their eyes and see that the party they once supported has been transformed into a madhouse.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
The Lucky Ones
Some people go to fancy restaurants on days like these, and others have hired help to prepare their daily meals, as well as splendid holiday feasts. At the end of such a day, those folks are not as spent and tired as I and my family and friends.
For us, this has been a good day's work. It has been a good day and good work. Our family and close friends have always been of modest means and rich traditions. On Thanksgiving and Christmas we come together and spend long hours cooking for and serving and eating with and laughing with one another. We even manage to keep laughing and celebrating our own company as we work through the clean up chores at the end of it all. Given the food and celebratory culture of New Orleans, you can just imagine the storm my family stirs up in a kitchen when we all put our best effort into it. Awesome.
When the day is gone and the evening grows late, as now, I often find myself remembering this part of a line from an Emily Dickinson poem, "The plenty hurt me ..." Yes, it really does hurt, but even though tired and spent from the work, and painfully overfed, as well as worn from being all talked and laughed out, the "hurt" is really plenty good. You see, we are the lucky ones. The plenty enjoyed by those accustomed to buying all the good work of days like these hurts them differently.
We have much to be thankful for. I hope you do as well, and have had a happy Thanksgiving.
For us, this has been a good day's work. It has been a good day and good work. Our family and close friends have always been of modest means and rich traditions. On Thanksgiving and Christmas we come together and spend long hours cooking for and serving and eating with and laughing with one another. We even manage to keep laughing and celebrating our own company as we work through the clean up chores at the end of it all. Given the food and celebratory culture of New Orleans, you can just imagine the storm my family stirs up in a kitchen when we all put our best effort into it. Awesome.
When the day is gone and the evening grows late, as now, I often find myself remembering this part of a line from an Emily Dickinson poem, "The plenty hurt me ..." Yes, it really does hurt, but even though tired and spent from the work, and painfully overfed, as well as worn from being all talked and laughed out, the "hurt" is really plenty good. You see, we are the lucky ones. The plenty enjoyed by those accustomed to buying all the good work of days like these hurts them differently.
We have much to be thankful for. I hope you do as well, and have had a happy Thanksgiving.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Victims Victimizing Victims
Just a side thought which will not sit well with many. Good. I say good because I have knocked around this gritty old world long enough to have acquired some rough edged opinions, sufficiently abrasive to scrape down to the bullshit buried truth, and candid enough to piss off the weak willed and willfully blind among us. And that's not a bad thing. So, here goes.
The now universally viewed "pepper spray" video shows nothing but victims. Clearly the innocent and peaceful student protesters are being victimized by heinously abusive tactics most of us are shocked to see employed in a supposedly free society. But there also is suffering by others in events like these, not usually registered or commented upon.
The sprayers themselves are victims.
They are a comic book version of gestapo thugs, outfitted in ridiculously highly stylized Star Warish uniforms and equipment. Awesomely and evilly ugly scary looking, they are got up so as to blot out all human identity. And it almost works. Then, the ponderous waddle in the walk which has worn the shoe leather down unevenly on the sides comes into notice, the bulging middle against the obligatory fat belt can be seen to test even its limits, and the simple effort required for crouching down to better aim the sinister canister at the face of a target is palpably difficult for the unfit hireling and tool of social oppression. As hard as it is to imagine that anyone would do it, you know why they do it. And you know they are not the ones who cause it all to come into being. They are themselves trying to survive it by joining it. Victims, too. No doubt.
The now universally viewed "pepper spray" video shows nothing but victims. Clearly the innocent and peaceful student protesters are being victimized by heinously abusive tactics most of us are shocked to see employed in a supposedly free society. But there also is suffering by others in events like these, not usually registered or commented upon.
The sprayers themselves are victims.
They are a comic book version of gestapo thugs, outfitted in ridiculously highly stylized Star Warish uniforms and equipment. Awesomely and evilly ugly scary looking, they are got up so as to blot out all human identity. And it almost works. Then, the ponderous waddle in the walk which has worn the shoe leather down unevenly on the sides comes into notice, the bulging middle against the obligatory fat belt can be seen to test even its limits, and the simple effort required for crouching down to better aim the sinister canister at the face of a target is palpably difficult for the unfit hireling and tool of social oppression. As hard as it is to imagine that anyone would do it, you know why they do it. And you know they are not the ones who cause it all to come into being. They are themselves trying to survive it by joining it. Victims, too. No doubt.
When No Is Yes
Okay, stop the hand wringing over the Stupid Committee and the clapping for Obama ... uh, excuse me, that is zerObama - he's back.
In reality, the Democrats were mildly surprising and pleasing in that they managed not to allow the Republicans to make the Stupid Committee into something even stupider than its very existence already ordained. As we have said many times, now is precisely the wrong time to cut almost anything in federal government outlays, let alone the desperately needed social safety net programs. And none of this revisiting of Herbert Hoover era mistakes could have happened in the first place without zerO caving in to extortion over the debt ceiling hike earlier in the year.
So, when the Prez comes out and acts tough by insisting on continuing in the wrong policy direction, his "no" is really a great big "YES" to reclaiming his former zerObama name.
In reality, the Democrats were mildly surprising and pleasing in that they managed not to allow the Republicans to make the Stupid Committee into something even stupider than its very existence already ordained. As we have said many times, now is precisely the wrong time to cut almost anything in federal government outlays, let alone the desperately needed social safety net programs. And none of this revisiting of Herbert Hoover era mistakes could have happened in the first place without zerO caving in to extortion over the debt ceiling hike earlier in the year.
So, when the Prez comes out and acts tough by insisting on continuing in the wrong policy direction, his "no" is really a great big "YES" to reclaiming his former zerObama name.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
The Auguries
A portentous weekend calls for a Sunday night dispatch. The news is very bad, and the signs for the coming week even worse. Beware.
The Louisiana election cycle, which was completed on Saturday with the disposition of various runoff contests, spoke convincingly of the power of money. It starkly displayed the determination of the rich corporatist right to use the naked power of their wealth to destroy the democratic process itself, and with it a fundamentally critical element of a free and open society, public education. Yet, around the country and the world, the picture is even uglier.
A form of police state force was turned on innocent, legal, and peaceful protests. There were graphic videos of the gratuitous abuse of helpless citizens by police laying on needless suffering, even to the point of pepper spraying and endangering the life of an 84 year old woman.
And speaking of protests, the petition drive to recall the rabidly anti-union Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker, kicked off. This may seem to be a welcome sign, but it is more telling to remember that this comes in reaction to a uniquely vile and unprecedented assault on the democratic rights of public employees in that state. The fact that Walker and the Republican controlled legislature attacked these rights so viciously in the first place underscores the dangers of the times occasioned by the rise of the extreme political right.
Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich, the new front runner contender to Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination, came out today against laws which prohibit child labor. He labeled such prohibitions on child labor "stupid." He then went on to call for the firing of school janitors so that poor children could be paid some pittance to perform that work. This, Newt said, would encourage them to take pride in their schools, give them some cash, and allow them to "start to rise." This is the kind of villain currently rising to the top of one of the major political parties in this country.
But the Democrats, mind you, are all together not much better. That party's members on the so-called Super Committee, which has been empaneled to essentially give political cover to the Congress as a whole when it cuts Social Security and cripples Medicare, were all over the talking head shows today proclaiming their willingness to inflict such needless and inexcusable pain on the elderly, if only the Republicans would give them the pretense of a fair deal by agreeing to at least slightly raise taxes on the very wealthy. At some point, we the people are going to have to resolve to fight off the attacks levied against us by both the Republicans and the Democrats.
Finally, the impending Eurozone financial catastrophe is showing signs only of worsening. The European Central Bank and Germany are pushing all the wrong policies as hard as they can. And that is very hard, indeed. Unfortunately, it appears that the leader's heads are as hard as the stupid policies. It looks very bad from here.
Make no mistake, the Eurozone crisis is not a problem for Europe alone. We do not live (at least financially and economically) "over the edge of the world and far beyond the perilous seas," to borrow a phrase from an ancient king of the Britons. It is foolish to think this disaster is not as much ours as theirs.
I know that this is a hell of a way to start the roll out of a new week, but the real hell is yet to come. Be forewarned.
The Louisiana election cycle, which was completed on Saturday with the disposition of various runoff contests, spoke convincingly of the power of money. It starkly displayed the determination of the rich corporatist right to use the naked power of their wealth to destroy the democratic process itself, and with it a fundamentally critical element of a free and open society, public education. Yet, around the country and the world, the picture is even uglier.
A form of police state force was turned on innocent, legal, and peaceful protests. There were graphic videos of the gratuitous abuse of helpless citizens by police laying on needless suffering, even to the point of pepper spraying and endangering the life of an 84 year old woman.
And speaking of protests, the petition drive to recall the rabidly anti-union Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker, kicked off. This may seem to be a welcome sign, but it is more telling to remember that this comes in reaction to a uniquely vile and unprecedented assault on the democratic rights of public employees in that state. The fact that Walker and the Republican controlled legislature attacked these rights so viciously in the first place underscores the dangers of the times occasioned by the rise of the extreme political right.
Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich, the new front runner contender to Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination, came out today against laws which prohibit child labor. He labeled such prohibitions on child labor "stupid." He then went on to call for the firing of school janitors so that poor children could be paid some pittance to perform that work. This, Newt said, would encourage them to take pride in their schools, give them some cash, and allow them to "start to rise." This is the kind of villain currently rising to the top of one of the major political parties in this country.
But the Democrats, mind you, are all together not much better. That party's members on the so-called Super Committee, which has been empaneled to essentially give political cover to the Congress as a whole when it cuts Social Security and cripples Medicare, were all over the talking head shows today proclaiming their willingness to inflict such needless and inexcusable pain on the elderly, if only the Republicans would give them the pretense of a fair deal by agreeing to at least slightly raise taxes on the very wealthy. At some point, we the people are going to have to resolve to fight off the attacks levied against us by both the Republicans and the Democrats.
Finally, the impending Eurozone financial catastrophe is showing signs only of worsening. The European Central Bank and Germany are pushing all the wrong policies as hard as they can. And that is very hard, indeed. Unfortunately, it appears that the leader's heads are as hard as the stupid policies. It looks very bad from here.
Make no mistake, the Eurozone crisis is not a problem for Europe alone. We do not live (at least financially and economically) "over the edge of the world and far beyond the perilous seas," to borrow a phrase from an ancient king of the Britons. It is foolish to think this disaster is not as much ours as theirs.
I know that this is a hell of a way to start the roll out of a new week, but the real hell is yet to come. Be forewarned.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Arrivederci Euro
Germany, which tried to run the whole continent of Europe during most of the twentieth century, has finally taken control. This time with paper rather than hot lead. But they are still Germans.
Today, we find out if Mario Monti can screw the people of Italy hard enough to appease Germany's Angela Merkel, or whether Germany takes a walk and watches (happily?) its fellow Europeans collapse.
Why do we care? Because it matters to us, it always has.
Today, we find out if Mario Monti can screw the people of Italy hard enough to appease Germany's Angela Merkel, or whether Germany takes a walk and watches (happily?) its fellow Europeans collapse.
Why do we care? Because it matters to us, it always has.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Louella Givens, Ax Murderer
Louella Givens is an ax murderer. Not really, but I thought I would say so to save the Political Action Committee (PAC) known as the Alliance For Better Classrooms from having to send me yet one more hate filled flyer this election cycle regarding her personal failings. I do not know Ms Givens, but if only 1% of the terrible things these flyers say about her were true, she long ago would have been bumped off or put away.
Ms Givens is a candidate for a seat on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. She is a genuine supporter of public education. Her opponent, Kira Orange Jones, is a fresh-faced kid from somewhere far from Louisiana, come here to tell us how to do things. She is all eaten-up with the young hipster ideas for reforming public schools by making little businesses out of each one of them. She had a fellowship in education entrepreneurship at the Aspen Institute. Among other plutocratic cretins, David Koch is on the Board of Directors of that outfit. 'Nough said.
Kira also voted for Obama, she claims. But this apparently happened before she was even registered to vote. Well, maybe she'll fit in down here after all. Those lurid flyers attacking Kira's opponent are being produced by a PAC which boasts of having Buddy Roemer on its Steering Committee. This is our clownish former Governor who is now tramping round the country in pursuit of the Republcian nomination. His entire campaign is based on his steadfast opposition to PACs.
Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe I'm just not young enough to be this hip and stupid anymore.
Ms Givens is a candidate for a seat on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. She is a genuine supporter of public education. Her opponent, Kira Orange Jones, is a fresh-faced kid from somewhere far from Louisiana, come here to tell us how to do things. She is all eaten-up with the young hipster ideas for reforming public schools by making little businesses out of each one of them. She had a fellowship in education entrepreneurship at the Aspen Institute. Among other plutocratic cretins, David Koch is on the Board of Directors of that outfit. 'Nough said.
Kira also voted for Obama, she claims. But this apparently happened before she was even registered to vote. Well, maybe she'll fit in down here after all. Those lurid flyers attacking Kira's opponent are being produced by a PAC which boasts of having Buddy Roemer on its Steering Committee. This is our clownish former Governor who is now tramping round the country in pursuit of the Republcian nomination. His entire campaign is based on his steadfast opposition to PACs.
Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe I'm just not young enough to be this hip and stupid anymore.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Historical Rewind
In the trenches lately, but still paying attention. In the last post here we welcomed Mario Monti's appointment as "senator-for-life" and then as Italian Prime Minister with a hearty "Hail Caesar!" That, largely, was just for fun. Something we all could sort of relate to courtesy of the Bard, Mr. Shakespeare.
A more serious look at the history of ancient Rome actually reveals Julius Caesar to have been quite the radical reformer on behalf of the dispossessed and landless citizens. He was also, by any measurement, a remarkable military leader (in all of time, Alexander ... and, perhaps, U.S. Grant ... could compare, but few - if any - others) and writer. His bloody demise was a murderous assertion of the return to full power and authority by the decidedly dictatorial Senate, which itself had long since put an end to any semblance of a genuine Roman Republic.
What we see in Italy today has a far nearer historical antecedent. Il Duce (the leader) of Italian Fascism was able to take iron-fisted control of the Italian government with the mandate to "make the trains run on time." In other words, bring discipline, calm, routine, and normalcy to day-to-day life, by any means necessary. And he did, for a while anyway. But the price was greater than that of any train ride in recent times.
Now, roiling markets, financial collapse, and the nascent rise of social unrest has the plutocratic corporatists on the march against democratic rights again. The technocrat/economist known as Super Mario is Italy's new "Il Duce." So far, his prescriptions have registered little resistance for being only a mild sedative on the social standing of the average citizen, but the real deal is yet to come. Meanwhile, it is easy to make it appear the trains run on time when you're going in reverse. The euro is kaput - or should be, given the lack of sufficient political structure in the overall Eurozone. The pain is going to be very severe; it is now only a question of who will be the prime recipient.
Why do we care, you ask? Well, without a healthy Europe our economic malaise will not lift. And, besides, we have seen this movie before. Ultimately, that Duce wound up being drug through the streets by his heels, and hung upside down.
A more serious look at the history of ancient Rome actually reveals Julius Caesar to have been quite the radical reformer on behalf of the dispossessed and landless citizens. He was also, by any measurement, a remarkable military leader (in all of time, Alexander ... and, perhaps, U.S. Grant ... could compare, but few - if any - others) and writer. His bloody demise was a murderous assertion of the return to full power and authority by the decidedly dictatorial Senate, which itself had long since put an end to any semblance of a genuine Roman Republic.
What we see in Italy today has a far nearer historical antecedent. Il Duce (the leader) of Italian Fascism was able to take iron-fisted control of the Italian government with the mandate to "make the trains run on time." In other words, bring discipline, calm, routine, and normalcy to day-to-day life, by any means necessary. And he did, for a while anyway. But the price was greater than that of any train ride in recent times.
Now, roiling markets, financial collapse, and the nascent rise of social unrest has the plutocratic corporatists on the march against democratic rights again. The technocrat/economist known as Super Mario is Italy's new "Il Duce." So far, his prescriptions have registered little resistance for being only a mild sedative on the social standing of the average citizen, but the real deal is yet to come. Meanwhile, it is easy to make it appear the trains run on time when you're going in reverse. The euro is kaput - or should be, given the lack of sufficient political structure in the overall Eurozone. The pain is going to be very severe; it is now only a question of who will be the prime recipient.
Why do we care, you ask? Well, without a healthy Europe our economic malaise will not lift. And, besides, we have seen this movie before. Ultimately, that Duce wound up being drug through the streets by his heels, and hung upside down.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Hail Caesar!
The government of Italy has been handed over to a "technocrat" professional economist who was not elected to anything by the people. Mario Monti (you must admit, it has an emperial ring - in an Italian sort of way) was named "senator-for-life" in order to put him "in line" to lead. He will replace the formerly elected leader, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian Senate fell all over itself handing him the power to start screwing the Italian people with the austerity measures demanded by the Eurozone bankers.
Let the "nut-cutting" begin. Yes, I know it is a rather vulgar expression, but there really is none better to describe the pluotcratic emasculation of democracy underway across Europe. The long knives are out, and the people will bleed.
And they're not even trying to disguise the coup. As Herman Von Rompuy, President of the Eruopean Council, said, "The country needs reform, not elections."
I will spare you the form any comment of mine would take, and instead offer the milder and more eloquent thoughts of Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman:
"It’s a dubious idea to supplant democratic governance with allegedly non-political management even in the best of times. But to assign authority to unelected men whose actual record suggests that they govern based on prejudices rather than analysis is even worse."
Let the "nut-cutting" begin. Yes, I know it is a rather vulgar expression, but there really is none better to describe the pluotcratic emasculation of democracy underway across Europe. The long knives are out, and the people will bleed.
And they're not even trying to disguise the coup. As Herman Von Rompuy, President of the Eruopean Council, said, "The country needs reform, not elections."
I will spare you the form any comment of mine would take, and instead offer the milder and more eloquent thoughts of Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman:
"It’s a dubious idea to supplant democratic governance with allegedly non-political management even in the best of times. But to assign authority to unelected men whose actual record suggests that they govern based on prejudices rather than analysis is even worse."
Friday, November 11, 2011
A Royal Mess
So, we have here made the point more than once that the Eurozone disaster follows as a consequence of being united by the euro but divided in every other way. Maybe it is somewhat a hangover from the European monarchical legacy, but the sovereign nations of Europe remain as jealous of one another today as Madonna is of Lady Gaga.
Hence, the way it looks from here is that they should all either go it alone completely, or learn to sing in greater harmony. Seems the better path would be, in the words of a famous son of Europe, to "come together, right now ..." But that clearly is not going to happen unless Christmas is celebrated in Hell this year.
Keep this in mind, though, the worst and most likely course will be to patch together a European rescue plan for the criminal banks, and tell the commoners to limp along until the pain wears off. Here's hoping they somehow find the courage to stand up for the people and screw the banks.
Hence, the way it looks from here is that they should all either go it alone completely, or learn to sing in greater harmony. Seems the better path would be, in the words of a famous son of Europe, to "come together, right now ..." But that clearly is not going to happen unless Christmas is celebrated in Hell this year.
Keep this in mind, though, the worst and most likely course will be to patch together a European rescue plan for the criminal banks, and tell the commoners to limp along until the pain wears off. Here's hoping they somehow find the courage to stand up for the people and screw the banks.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
The Straw Man Of Europe
Last night, the Republican candidates' debate proved to be more a contest of ignorance between the questioners and the candidates than it was any sensible policy arguments by anyone. It was sad to watch a panel of clueless "financial" reporters lead the contingent of equally lost presidential wannabes into a scrum over who could promise most forcefully to - never, ever, ever, ever, never - bailout Europe from its current currency crisis. It was a tie between the idiocy both of the question and the unanimous response. Neither should elicit anything from us but guffaws all around, and perhaps some concern that one of these dolts might actually get elected to the highest office in the land. Think we're in trouble now?
As we have said here in an earlier post, the Euro experiment carried a fatal flaw from its very beginning. There can be no prospect for long term success with any system that seeks economic unity in the form of a common currency, absent political unity. We have made our own version of this sort of sovereignty surrender mistake through trade and labor standards dissolution, by way of NAFTA and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. They are different iterations of the same false step aimed at enlarging and facilitating market growth.
More on all of this later, when time permits. For now, though, please put me on record as noting that the only way in which it is even conceivable that we could offer anything like a "bail-out" to Europe in this particular situation would be to lend that continent our Constitution.
Here is that earlier post on the subject of the Euro, if you care to read it again:
As we have said here in an earlier post, the Euro experiment carried a fatal flaw from its very beginning. There can be no prospect for long term success with any system that seeks economic unity in the form of a common currency, absent political unity. We have made our own version of this sort of sovereignty surrender mistake through trade and labor standards dissolution, by way of NAFTA and Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. They are different iterations of the same false step aimed at enlarging and facilitating market growth.
More on all of this later, when time permits. For now, though, please put me on record as noting that the only way in which it is even conceivable that we could offer anything like a "bail-out" to Europe in this particular situation would be to lend that continent our Constitution.
Here is that earlier post on the subject of the Euro, if you care to read it again:
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Debunking Exercise
So, by now everyone has heard - endlessly - from the scaremonger, panic stampeding Republicans and Teacans that unless we adopt stringently austere contractionary policies now, America will turn into umm .... Greece or maybe Spain or maybe even Italy. The ensuing horrors would be endless and awful, they say.
And, of course, we would deserve these punishments for our persistent crazed attempts to do what we can to maintain a middle class in this country. That is, for continuing to press for creation of well paying jobs - and lots of them, insuring good schools, nutrition and health for all children, as well as insisting on maintaining a secure and stable income stream and health care system for the elderly.
I have two questions.
Why do these people hate children, workers and elderly Americans so much? I dunno.
But I sometimes think they should be made to answer after at least five minutes of personal face time in front of a mirror.
How is America like Greece or any other Eurozone country? Not at all.
Only the economically illiterate imagine the slightest comparison is valid. The literate who say so, by contrast, are consciously spreading unfounded fears to force acquiescence to their own self-interested, greedy policies. I hardly know a better definition of evil. It makes you want to ask a strongly implied third question.
Why do these people hate America so much that they would make us out to be economically on a par in any way with the likes of Greece or Spain or even Italy?
The Eurozone countries are basket cases for having surrendered autonomous monetary power to the euro system, without simultaneously forging political unity and responsibility for overarching social needs. The dracma, the pesepa, the lira, the franc, etc. have all gone away. The euro is now the common currency of the sundry European countries. And its supply is controlled through the operation of a euro central banking mechanism, outside and beyond the control of individual members of the zone. That means there is no longer any independent state capacity for financing governmental activities.
However, all social needs such as transportation (railroads, roads and bridges, air travel infrastructure, etc.), schools, health care, old age income maintenance, armies and navies, and many, many more remain the function and duty of individual nation states.
We are like this in no way whatsoever. It would be as if overnight the federal government informed, let's say, um .... Alabama, that from now on you will be responsible for all social security, medicare, medicaid, transportation, education, flood control, defense, and on and on, expenses. But we will control and limit the overall amount of dollars you will have to do all these things.
Who in their right mind could wish such a stupid state of affairs be visited upon us and our people? Yet, that is precisely the kind of policy course Republicans and Teacans, especially, advocate. A thoroughgoing decentralization of governmental functions. They call it federalism, they don't call it catastrophe or disaster, but that is precisely what it would be.
So, it is, at the end of the day, incumbent upon the rest of us to ask the strongly implied question.
Why do these people hate America so much?
And, of course, we would deserve these punishments for our persistent crazed attempts to do what we can to maintain a middle class in this country. That is, for continuing to press for creation of well paying jobs - and lots of them, insuring good schools, nutrition and health for all children, as well as insisting on maintaining a secure and stable income stream and health care system for the elderly.
I have two questions.
Why do these people hate children, workers and elderly Americans so much? I dunno.
But I sometimes think they should be made to answer after at least five minutes of personal face time in front of a mirror.
How is America like Greece or any other Eurozone country? Not at all.
Only the economically illiterate imagine the slightest comparison is valid. The literate who say so, by contrast, are consciously spreading unfounded fears to force acquiescence to their own self-interested, greedy policies. I hardly know a better definition of evil. It makes you want to ask a strongly implied third question.
Why do these people hate America so much that they would make us out to be economically on a par in any way with the likes of Greece or Spain or even Italy?
The Eurozone countries are basket cases for having surrendered autonomous monetary power to the euro system, without simultaneously forging political unity and responsibility for overarching social needs. The dracma, the pesepa, the lira, the franc, etc. have all gone away. The euro is now the common currency of the sundry European countries. And its supply is controlled through the operation of a euro central banking mechanism, outside and beyond the control of individual members of the zone. That means there is no longer any independent state capacity for financing governmental activities.
However, all social needs such as transportation (railroads, roads and bridges, air travel infrastructure, etc.), schools, health care, old age income maintenance, armies and navies, and many, many more remain the function and duty of individual nation states.
We are like this in no way whatsoever. It would be as if overnight the federal government informed, let's say, um .... Alabama, that from now on you will be responsible for all social security, medicare, medicaid, transportation, education, flood control, defense, and on and on, expenses. But we will control and limit the overall amount of dollars you will have to do all these things.
Who in their right mind could wish such a stupid state of affairs be visited upon us and our people? Yet, that is precisely the kind of policy course Republicans and Teacans, especially, advocate. A thoroughgoing decentralization of governmental functions. They call it federalism, they don't call it catastrophe or disaster, but that is precisely what it would be.
So, it is, at the end of the day, incumbent upon the rest of us to ask the strongly implied question.
Why do these people hate America so much?
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
It Takes Two
The recent LSU vs. Alabama football game was an intense engagement between the two contestants. No matter how you feel about the outcome (Go Tigers !!!!), it clearly was a classic example of a hard-fought competition.
My question is: How come conservatives, who are always beating us over the head with their phony demands for competition in the market place, don't even understand the meaning of the word competition?
The Picayune today reports that the Jindal administration was opposed to the $80 million grant (read, gift) from the Feds to provide broadband service to rural schools, libraries, health care facilities, and homes, because they couldn't figure out a way to cut their cronies in on the deal fast enough. Seems the Feds pulled the moola before the Jindal crime syndicate could paste and glue together enough private/public partnerships to make off with the dough. Commissioner of administration Paul Rainwater said allowing the state to go forward with using the grant to provide the service on its own, would unfairly "compete with private business." Of course, the obvious point here is that there is no competition from the private sector for this rural service because they do not deem it sufficiently profitable.
This is the same brain dead and, I thought, long buried idea that conservatives advanced to trash the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) and REA (Rural Electrification Authority) during the New Deal. The utility companies were happy to leave 90% of all rural households in the dark at that time because it was not profitable enough, they said, to provide the service. They added that the government's involvement would unfairly compete with private business.
They were wrong. They still are. Competition requires at least two. But when it comes to the provision of essential services neglected by the private sector, one will do.
My question is: How come conservatives, who are always beating us over the head with their phony demands for competition in the market place, don't even understand the meaning of the word competition?
The Picayune today reports that the Jindal administration was opposed to the $80 million grant (read, gift) from the Feds to provide broadband service to rural schools, libraries, health care facilities, and homes, because they couldn't figure out a way to cut their cronies in on the deal fast enough. Seems the Feds pulled the moola before the Jindal crime syndicate could paste and glue together enough private/public partnerships to make off with the dough. Commissioner of administration Paul Rainwater said allowing the state to go forward with using the grant to provide the service on its own, would unfairly "compete with private business." Of course, the obvious point here is that there is no competition from the private sector for this rural service because they do not deem it sufficiently profitable.
This is the same brain dead and, I thought, long buried idea that conservatives advanced to trash the TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) and REA (Rural Electrification Authority) during the New Deal. The utility companies were happy to leave 90% of all rural households in the dark at that time because it was not profitable enough, they said, to provide the service. They added that the government's involvement would unfairly compete with private business.
They were wrong. They still are. Competition requires at least two. But when it comes to the provision of essential services neglected by the private sector, one will do.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
The Ghost Of A Chance
There is a ghost haunting the worldwide collapse of capitalism. It is the opposite of the evil, empty spirit of unbridled greed, gluttony and abuse.
It is the enemy of today's worst international criminal enterprises - zombie banks, rigged financial systems, and multi-nationalslavers corporations which operate in the Asian concentration camps and other third world labor mills.
It is the bright light of historical truth which sears the scales of phony propaganda from the eyes and exposes the vile, hollow, intellectually vapid claims and economically parasitical practices of the advocates for rapacious unregulated markets, the bullies of disenfranchised workers, and the political puppets of emasculated democratic governments.
It is Liberalism.
It is the weapon Franklin Roosevelt wielded against those he rightly called "economic royalists" in the 1930s. It is the political and economic framework for a just and prosperous society.
It always serves in the cause of freedom for the oppressed; democratic rights and opportunities for the citizen.
It has the muscle, power and will to rise up and stand down the worst abuse of any era. It whipped the Nazis and Soviets, it can handle the punks and plutocrats of Wall Street and the ECB, as well as the IMF/World Bank.
It is in the streets and on the move again. And it scares the hell out of those punkster patricians, without even having to say, Boo!
It is the enemy of today's worst international criminal enterprises - zombie banks, rigged financial systems, and multi-national
It is the bright light of historical truth which sears the scales of phony propaganda from the eyes and exposes the vile, hollow, intellectually vapid claims and economically parasitical practices of the advocates for rapacious unregulated markets, the bullies of disenfranchised workers, and the political puppets of emasculated democratic governments.
It is Liberalism.
It is the weapon Franklin Roosevelt wielded against those he rightly called "economic royalists" in the 1930s. It is the political and economic framework for a just and prosperous society.
It always serves in the cause of freedom for the oppressed; democratic rights and opportunities for the citizen.
It has the muscle, power and will to rise up and stand down the worst abuse of any era. It whipped the Nazis and Soviets, it can handle the punks and plutocrats of Wall Street and the ECB, as well as the IMF/World Bank.
It is in the streets and on the move again. And it scares the hell out of those punkster patricians, without even having to say, Boo!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Crazy Numbers
Steve Jobs, whiz-kid folk hero-cum-legend, was, in the end, just a bad apple. He was a huckster of the first order, who developed a deep and dedicated cult following. Millions of Americans, especially young ones, became persuaded that his line of ever slicker and smarter products had forever freed them from the demands of intellectual rigor and productive effort, traditionally associated with wealth creation. They became convinced that they could escape the burdens of real work by somehow keystroking their way to economic nirvana in the new high tech era.
The globalization mantra of equally slick politicians like Bill Clinton promoted this fallacy ferociously, and even facilitated the production of these myriad miracle devices themselves in old style sweat shops, housed on foreign soil. Such factories are typically operated according to the strictures of exceedingly oppressive societies characterized by tiny omnipotent elites and masses of powerless and impoverished workers ( much as we are fast becoming for believing this crap). The Apple Computer Company produces its products in such circumstances. click here and read the sad story of iPads made in China by Apple
Apple sells an iPad for $499.00 in this market, and pays only $9.00 for the labor to make it in China. How's that spread for a potential profit margin? It's certainly easy to see how they've managed to stack-up almost $60 billion in Swiss bank accounts, but not so why we should allow it to be moved here tax free. After all, just think how many hundreds of thousands of desperately needed jobs Mr. Jobs easily could have created here at those product prices, if only he had given just 2 cents about this country.
The globalization mantra of equally slick politicians like Bill Clinton promoted this fallacy ferociously, and even facilitated the production of these myriad miracle devices themselves in old style sweat shops, housed on foreign soil. Such factories are typically operated according to the strictures of exceedingly oppressive societies characterized by tiny omnipotent elites and masses of powerless and impoverished workers ( much as we are fast becoming for believing this crap). The Apple Computer Company produces its products in such circumstances. click here and read the sad story of iPads made in China by Apple
Apple sells an iPad for $499.00 in this market, and pays only $9.00 for the labor to make it in China. How's that spread for a potential profit margin? It's certainly easy to see how they've managed to stack-up almost $60 billion in Swiss bank accounts, but not so why we should allow it to be moved here tax free. After all, just think how many hundreds of thousands of desperately needed jobs Mr. Jobs easily could have created here at those product prices, if only he had given just 2 cents about this country.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Crazy Poor
These people are crazy. The poor? No, the dolts who define and write about the poor. The morning newspaper carries an Associated Press piece reporting: "Poorest of the poor in U.S. hits new high." That classification is pegged at income below 1/2 of the official poverty level. Some 6.7% of the population is now subsisting on that little, according to the Census Bureau. That is the highest percentage found in the 35 years the Bureau has compiled such data.
Such news is enough to drive anyone crazy. But wait, it's even worse. The report says that 1/2 the poverty level comes to $5,500 a year for an individual and $11,157 for a family of four. It follows then that $22,314 is the official poverty level for a family of four. Listen, I really don't mean to offend anyone, but if you, or even the "official" number crunchers, believe that a family of four trying to make it on even, um ... let's say $35,000 a year, isn't poor in this country, then you and they are all crazy.
Such news is enough to drive anyone crazy. But wait, it's even worse. The report says that 1/2 the poverty level comes to $5,500 a year for an individual and $11,157 for a family of four. It follows then that $22,314 is the official poverty level for a family of four. Listen, I really don't mean to offend anyone, but if you, or even the "official" number crunchers, believe that a family of four trying to make it on even, um ... let's say $35,000 a year, isn't poor in this country, then you and they are all crazy.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
It Ain't The Players, It's The Uniform
I am not a scientist. I don't even play one on TV. And I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night, or any night for that matter. But I do have a theory, and I challenge you to disprove it.
The current crop of potential Republican presidential nominees is being collectively laughed off the stage by the public at large, and it is happening not because each one of them is exceptionally clownish (of course, they are) in his or her own way, but because they are all true Republicans. There it is.
They are all on the same ideological team, running the same plays, following the same game plan, trying to score points the same way. Yes, some are hot dogs (think Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich), some are stodgy linemen (think Mitt Romney and Rick Perry), some are free agents (think Herman Cain and John Huntsman), there is a reserve utility player (think Rick Santorum), and at least one is on the practice squad (think Michele Bachmann). But they are all suited up for team Plutocracy.
The common playbook reads as follows: Codify rule by the rich, legislate free ride tax breaks for billionaires, shred the social safety net, screw public education, destroy unions, starve the workforce into servitude and penury, and grind the rest into permanent submission to a life of destitution and poverty.
But it is so tired and predictable that even the most formerly committed or even clueless fans have figured it out. And they know it only gets us all thrown for big losses, every play. Many have even started to leave the stadium at half-time (think the Occupy movement) and most others stopped buying tickets last season.
All we need is for our signal caller to get on the same page with the rest of us, and stay out of their huddle (think Obama).
The current crop of potential Republican presidential nominees is being collectively laughed off the stage by the public at large, and it is happening not because each one of them is exceptionally clownish (of course, they are) in his or her own way, but because they are all true Republicans. There it is.
They are all on the same ideological team, running the same plays, following the same game plan, trying to score points the same way. Yes, some are hot dogs (think Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich), some are stodgy linemen (think Mitt Romney and Rick Perry), some are free agents (think Herman Cain and John Huntsman), there is a reserve utility player (think Rick Santorum), and at least one is on the practice squad (think Michele Bachmann). But they are all suited up for team Plutocracy.
The common playbook reads as follows: Codify rule by the rich, legislate free ride tax breaks for billionaires, shred the social safety net, screw public education, destroy unions, starve the workforce into servitude and penury, and grind the rest into permanent submission to a life of destitution and poverty.
But it is so tired and predictable that even the most formerly committed or even clueless fans have figured it out. And they know it only gets us all thrown for big losses, every play. Many have even started to leave the stadium at half-time (think the Occupy movement) and most others stopped buying tickets last season.
All we need is for our signal caller to get on the same page with the rest of us, and stay out of their huddle (think Obama).
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Bull's ... Eye?
Now, this is rich. Perhaps not as rich as Herman Cain himself, or as you could be, according to Herman anyway, if you just weren't so damn lazy and committed to remaining poor or simply average.
Pizza star/would-be gospel singer turned political newcomer presidential candidate, Herman Cain, is upset and feeling abused. He finds there suddenly is a very large bull's eye on his back. And he took his complaint to the National Press Club yesterday. Not surprisingly, there was no settlement.
You see, in politics, having a bull's eye on one's back is part of the gig. There is no place for the aggrieved party to file a complaint. And, we would hope, most especially not with the National Press Club. So, all and all, however large the bull's eye Herman is wearing may be, it surely can't compare with the bull s... that comes out of his mouth.
Poor Herman. He just can't get any justice, unlike the two women who filed charges against him for sexual abuse. Undisputed reports say they both were awarded five figure sums as compensation for Herman's bad behavior.
Say what you want about men in general, but there is something about these self-proclaimed Christian conservative guys that stands out. Like U.S. Senator David Vitter and world famous TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggert with their prostitutes, as well as Clarence Thomas and Herman Cain with their subordinates, there is an undeniable pattern of abuse which depends on buying or bullying women into sexual submission. So, one can be forgiven for concluding that those who most loudly profess their own moral rectitude, probably need most closely to be watched.
Pizza star/would-be gospel singer turned political newcomer presidential candidate, Herman Cain, is upset and feeling abused. He finds there suddenly is a very large bull's eye on his back. And he took his complaint to the National Press Club yesterday. Not surprisingly, there was no settlement.
You see, in politics, having a bull's eye on one's back is part of the gig. There is no place for the aggrieved party to file a complaint. And, we would hope, most especially not with the National Press Club. So, all and all, however large the bull's eye Herman is wearing may be, it surely can't compare with the bull s... that comes out of his mouth.
Poor Herman. He just can't get any justice, unlike the two women who filed charges against him for sexual abuse. Undisputed reports say they both were awarded five figure sums as compensation for Herman's bad behavior.
Say what you want about men in general, but there is something about these self-proclaimed Christian conservative guys that stands out. Like U.S. Senator David Vitter and world famous TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggert with their prostitutes, as well as Clarence Thomas and Herman Cain with their subordinates, there is an undeniable pattern of abuse which depends on buying or bullying women into sexual submission. So, one can be forgiven for concluding that those who most loudly profess their own moral rectitude, probably need most closely to be watched.
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