Charles Krauthammer has favored us with his miraculous two step Republican rehab program. It is of a piece with the same old prescriptive cynicism we're accustomed to hearing from him and his ilk. Krauthammer offers up a wondrously instantaneous and pain free way to remove what he apparently sees as the only obstacle to resurgent Republican electoral dominance, i.e., the pissed off Latino vote.
Are you ready? Grant amnesty to those already here illegally, thereby allowing them to remain as guest workers, and ending the ominous threat of economic desperation leading to self-deportation. Combine that with a rock solid seal of the border, slowing any future illegal crossing to a trickle or drying it up altogether. This is the cynical equivalent of saying, "Welcome aboard, enjoy the rest of your cruise through life, but pay no attention to those left drowning in the deep and putrid economic and civil swamps of your homelands."
Notice there is no commitment to any sure and relatively short path to full citizenship, which would make them less susceptible to abuse by their employers and situate them to maturely and confidently choose the option to join or form unions. Absent that guarantee, even those selfish enough to turn their backs on their brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, or generally desperate and suffering brethren, would themselves actually be punching their own ticket to continue on cruising for an ultimate bruising.
This prescription is nothing short of a crass and unprincipled copy of the equally ugly and bogus bribe offered to seniors regarding Social Security and Medicare. The Republican pitch to them is, "If you're already old, you can keep Medicare and Social Security, but only if you let us cut your kids out. Don't worry, they're young and can make other plans, meanwhile you'll be protected."
If seniors in general are either scared or selfish enough to make such a deal with the devil, they too will utltimately wind up with a pitchfork run right through the heart and meat of the benefits they so desperately want to preserve. And they forever will be remembered for having made a bad deal for themselves and a hell of a future for their kids.
I think American seniors and illegal immigrant workers alike are better than the cynical Republican strategists think. But I worry about zerObama.
New Orleans Labor Voice
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
A Smooth Ride and A Safe Landing?
Well, at least we didn't crash and burn, as I feared we might. I really expected and was prepared for a long election night, followed by a drawn out legal donnybrook of court filings in several critical, closely contested states. I said as much in the last two posts. But it didn't happen, so I was happily wrong.
I also explicitly indicated that this opinion was not reflective of any disagreement with statistician par excellance, Nate Silver, who called the outcome more or less on the nose. Quite the contrary, I have no quarrel whatsoever with empirical evidence, or the proven methods of uncovering it. Rather, my expressed concern was that experience had shown there is decidedly more to determining election results in our system than a straight counting of the votes cast and/or the votes which were meant to be cast. In other words, there is a whole hell of a lot of cheating and illusion that goes on in this, the beacon of liberty and freedom, and gold standard of democracy. A whole hell of a lot.
I won't tediously rehearse, but will at least briefly refresh memories of relevant instances, to wit: the blatantly stolen, Supreme Court determined 2000 presidential election, along with the still mysteriously "wrong" exit polls in the 2004 presidential contest, which had Kerry besting Bush all day long. So, go figure.
And that is indeed the point. Elections here are not a numbers game alone; they are a numbers, people, and power contrivance. This is the ground upon which I stand, and have not one inch been pushed from. In fact, the outcome of this race ironically solidifies the foundation of that view.
The internal plutocrat machine apparently suffered from a raft of Karl Rove/Ralph Reed OZ-like conclusions, manufactured exclusively in the interest of the producers at the expense of the consumers of the information. In the end, Romney was more the victim of his own PR than the Obama campaign.
Certainly this was reflected in the last Romney/Obama debate, wherein Romney behaved as though he had the lead and didn't want to blow it, as opposed to the aggressive, lying, brute he had demonstrated a talent for being in previous meetings. He really thought it would be an outright decision in his favor, or at least close enough to steal. The Romney campaign was all lawyered-up and ready to go into at least four of the most important battle-ground states to take a close race. In the end, it was caught off guard and mistakenly at ease.
If you depart from this outlook, fair enough. But just consider that the treasure trove of electoral votes, known as Florida, has not been officially awarded as this is written, on the Saturday following the Tuesday election. If the margins had been almost infinitesimally closer in at least two of the other seven or so battle-ground states, this contest would be undecided today.
Speaking of today, it is the first day of another too brief, chore filled weekend during which I am tasked by sundry calls other than blog posting. So, enough for now. But there are several subjects waiting and needing address. They include the signals of continuing Republican reactionary policy essayed by customary suspects such as Charles Krauthammer, and signs of more limp-wristed, hand-wringing capitulation from zerObama. Hope to get to it this evening.
Stay tuned.
I also explicitly indicated that this opinion was not reflective of any disagreement with statistician par excellance, Nate Silver, who called the outcome more or less on the nose. Quite the contrary, I have no quarrel whatsoever with empirical evidence, or the proven methods of uncovering it. Rather, my expressed concern was that experience had shown there is decidedly more to determining election results in our system than a straight counting of the votes cast and/or the votes which were meant to be cast. In other words, there is a whole hell of a lot of cheating and illusion that goes on in this, the beacon of liberty and freedom, and gold standard of democracy. A whole hell of a lot.
I won't tediously rehearse, but will at least briefly refresh memories of relevant instances, to wit: the blatantly stolen, Supreme Court determined 2000 presidential election, along with the still mysteriously "wrong" exit polls in the 2004 presidential contest, which had Kerry besting Bush all day long. So, go figure.
And that is indeed the point. Elections here are not a numbers game alone; they are a numbers, people, and power contrivance. This is the ground upon which I stand, and have not one inch been pushed from. In fact, the outcome of this race ironically solidifies the foundation of that view.
The internal plutocrat machine apparently suffered from a raft of Karl Rove/Ralph Reed OZ-like conclusions, manufactured exclusively in the interest of the producers at the expense of the consumers of the information. In the end, Romney was more the victim of his own PR than the Obama campaign.
Certainly this was reflected in the last Romney/Obama debate, wherein Romney behaved as though he had the lead and didn't want to blow it, as opposed to the aggressive, lying, brute he had demonstrated a talent for being in previous meetings. He really thought it would be an outright decision in his favor, or at least close enough to steal. The Romney campaign was all lawyered-up and ready to go into at least four of the most important battle-ground states to take a close race. In the end, it was caught off guard and mistakenly at ease.
If you depart from this outlook, fair enough. But just consider that the treasure trove of electoral votes, known as Florida, has not been officially awarded as this is written, on the Saturday following the Tuesday election. If the margins had been almost infinitesimally closer in at least two of the other seven or so battle-ground states, this contest would be undecided today.
Speaking of today, it is the first day of another too brief, chore filled weekend during which I am tasked by sundry calls other than blog posting. So, enough for now. But there are several subjects waiting and needing address. They include the signals of continuing Republican reactionary policy essayed by customary suspects such as Charles Krauthammer, and signs of more limp-wristed, hand-wringing capitulation from zerObama. Hope to get to it this evening.
Stay tuned.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Hanging Fire
Really hope I'm wrong, but I think you can forget Tuesday. It won't be over. Not for a long time.
A big part of me wants to say it could have been decided then, had ZerO at least shown up for the first debate; but probably not. The fascist machine was going to have to pull out all the stops to try to steal this election, no matter what. How come?
It's their last chance under even the slimmest imitation of a democratic process, that's how come. Their racist reactionary base, both in absolute and proportional terms, is shrinking, thank God. This is, in raw demographic terms, their last stand. It literally is now or never. Lose now, and next time it's brass knuckles.
But the brain dead 2000 Bush versus Gore experience alone demonstrated this electoral system is sufficiently screwy that even a home grown, three county, country bumpkin itinerant legal mouthpiece could tangle it up indefinitely, if asked.
So, you can laugh, go ahead. I hope this call is wildly wide of the mark, but be forewarned that you should keep the seat belt fastened, and hunker down for a rough ride.
.
A big part of me wants to say it could have been decided then, had ZerO at least shown up for the first debate; but probably not. The fascist machine was going to have to pull out all the stops to try to steal this election, no matter what. How come?
It's their last chance under even the slimmest imitation of a democratic process, that's how come. Their racist reactionary base, both in absolute and proportional terms, is shrinking, thank God. This is, in raw demographic terms, their last stand. It literally is now or never. Lose now, and next time it's brass knuckles.
But the brain dead 2000 Bush versus Gore experience alone demonstrated this electoral system is sufficiently screwy that even a home grown, three county, country bumpkin itinerant legal mouthpiece could tangle it up indefinitely, if asked.
So, you can laugh, go ahead. I hope this call is wildly wide of the mark, but be forewarned that you should keep the seat belt fastened, and hunker down for a rough ride.
.
Out On A Pretty Fat Limb
Nate Silver is not wrong, he is insufficient. So are his smug, genotronic acolytes.
Data don't vote. Data are not grains of sand on the beach, nor levees - the water's edge. Data don't steal elections.
And in recent times, the last 50 or 60 years anyway, it has been the plutocratic/crypto-fascist interests which have stolen both national and local elections. As a convenient, down-and-dirty shorthand explanation and support for this claim, I'd simply reference the relative decline and disappearance of urban, populist accented political machines, and their replacement by the wall-to-wall, blinding white noise dominance of money. I won't bore you with a recitation of specifics. Readers of this blog know what I'm talking about.
This is not to say that I think ZerObama will lose. God forbid he does. But he well may. By now, those of us paying attention should all understand that God gets the hell out of the way, and demurs acting to forbid things we should. He is painfully patient.
In 2000, the Supreme Court blatantly stole the presidential election for Bush, and there was no price. No price other than human loss and suffering. No price for the plutocrats. No loud declamations. No demonstrations. No civil unrest. Nothing but slavish acquiescence. No opposition to the slaughter of countless innocents, civilian men, women and children, victims of warrant less war in far off lands. God did not intervene.
The plutocrats got what they wanted. The thinnest margin of privileged Americans have been made extravagantly wealthier. 99.9% of Americans have been punished with cheaper and cheapening employment, and the threat of hopeless demotion to membership among the ranks of the utterly discarded.
Of course, you can also absolutely forget the survival of public education - even on the grade school level- and the overarching reach of a meaningful social safety net. This is a rich irony given the line of rhetoric that many working class - white, black and brown - people have swallowed regarding even the price of being a union member.
The dollar cost of union dues is tiny, especially compared to almost any regular voluntary expense that can be brought to mind. I mean, com'on, let's get real. Think cell phone, cable, or almost any other superfluous splurge spending by knuckle headed, genotronic age, pseudo-gastronome, with-it twitter-ite smart asses. Utterly clueless.
More to the point, union dues today are social. Completely. In the past few decades, when a relatively ascendant liberal outlook reigned as a result of hard won, street fought battles, the burden of being a union member was regarded as more or less a gratuity-styled financial chipping-in.
But not now. The flame throwing, lying right wing would have us believe that union membership is economically onerous. However, every serious study continues to report that union workers are far better compensated than their unorganized counterparts. Moreover, unionized workers enjoy a rights protected working relationship with their employer completely absent in the naked "at will" employment regime inscribed in state law. Into the bargain, being fired from a job for union organizing activity today is, financially, as likely a blessing as a hardship.
But the genotronics are better than us. They think. They are tragically wrong. I would spare them unintentional ignorance, but theirs is disreputably willful.
So, we come to the only question that matters: Is this thing close enough to steal? Yes.
Why? Well, 3 or 4 things: Money and power - those can be counted 1 & 2 or just the same thing, next comes bigotry, and then simple vanilla ignorance and genotronic smugness.
So, if it happens, don't tell me, "we was robbed." You done throwed it all away, smart guys.
Data don't vote. Data are not grains of sand on the beach, nor levees - the water's edge. Data don't steal elections.
And in recent times, the last 50 or 60 years anyway, it has been the plutocratic/crypto-fascist interests which have stolen both national and local elections. As a convenient, down-and-dirty shorthand explanation and support for this claim, I'd simply reference the relative decline and disappearance of urban, populist accented political machines, and their replacement by the wall-to-wall, blinding white noise dominance of money. I won't bore you with a recitation of specifics. Readers of this blog know what I'm talking about.
This is not to say that I think ZerObama will lose. God forbid he does. But he well may. By now, those of us paying attention should all understand that God gets the hell out of the way, and demurs acting to forbid things we should. He is painfully patient.
In 2000, the Supreme Court blatantly stole the presidential election for Bush, and there was no price. No price other than human loss and suffering. No price for the plutocrats. No loud declamations. No demonstrations. No civil unrest. Nothing but slavish acquiescence. No opposition to the slaughter of countless innocents, civilian men, women and children, victims of warrant less war in far off lands. God did not intervene.
The plutocrats got what they wanted. The thinnest margin of privileged Americans have been made extravagantly wealthier. 99.9% of Americans have been punished with cheaper and cheapening employment, and the threat of hopeless demotion to membership among the ranks of the utterly discarded.
Of course, you can also absolutely forget the survival of public education - even on the grade school level- and the overarching reach of a meaningful social safety net. This is a rich irony given the line of rhetoric that many working class - white, black and brown - people have swallowed regarding even the price of being a union member.
The dollar cost of union dues is tiny, especially compared to almost any regular voluntary expense that can be brought to mind. I mean, com'on, let's get real. Think cell phone, cable, or almost any other superfluous splurge spending by knuckle headed, genotronic age, pseudo-gastronome, with-it twitter-ite smart asses. Utterly clueless.
More to the point, union dues today are social. Completely. In the past few decades, when a relatively ascendant liberal outlook reigned as a result of hard won, street fought battles, the burden of being a union member was regarded as more or less a gratuity-styled financial chipping-in.
But not now. The flame throwing, lying right wing would have us believe that union membership is economically onerous. However, every serious study continues to report that union workers are far better compensated than their unorganized counterparts. Moreover, unionized workers enjoy a rights protected working relationship with their employer completely absent in the naked "at will" employment regime inscribed in state law. Into the bargain, being fired from a job for union organizing activity today is, financially, as likely a blessing as a hardship.
But the genotronics are better than us. They think. They are tragically wrong. I would spare them unintentional ignorance, but theirs is disreputably willful.
So, we come to the only question that matters: Is this thing close enough to steal? Yes.
Why? Well, 3 or 4 things: Money and power - those can be counted 1 & 2 or just the same thing, next comes bigotry, and then simple vanilla ignorance and genotronic smugness.
So, if it happens, don't tell me, "we was robbed." You done throwed it all away, smart guys.
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