A few stories of note from the world around us.
1. From Milwaukee's own Shepherd Express, a cover feature on the government's quixotic, doomed war against pot. $42 billion a year, pissed down the toilet like the day after New Year's.
42 billion. that would bail out the mortgage buyers (NOT the banks. Those bottom feeding hyenas deserve to go down in flames for their idiotically predatory practices. But the home buyers who were preyed upon) AND repair our creaking bridges AND fund an expanded SCHIP. With maybe enough left over to equip Bush and Cheney and Rove and Lieberman and send them over to SERVE in their Happy Lil War.
Just to protect us from pot smokers? What, we're afraid there'll be a run on Twinkies?
2. Kudos to Chris Dodd for forcing a halt to the rush in providing blanket amnesty for telecom giants who knowingly broke the laws while bending over backwards to comply with Cheney's mad desire to listen to American coversations. Time was, Congress would call out these corporate suckwad legislators for the whores they are, and slap them down. Until further notice, Dodd's my man.
2A. A Republican I can respect. Thought they were extinct; better start cloning him ,Republicans! Ron Paul introduced a bill to codify and protect the Constitution from the insane interpretations being wrung from it the past seven years: the American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007. Nothing hiding behind a cutesy acronym, it just lays out the problems and in a straightforward way delineates them as against the Constitution. Hell, it's only three pages.
3. Also from the local paper, the Urinal-Sentinal, an above the fold headline: Execs Tout Universal Coverage. About wisconsin big-business executives paneling a discussion about universal health care, and saying that there needs to be a 'fundamentally different solution" to the mess we've got now.
Geez, guys, ya think?
First, I can't WAIT for Sykes et al. to decry the management heads from NML and Manpower as 'socialists'. But since it is Halloween: "Oooooh!! Socialised medicine!!! Boogah Boogha!!!!!"
Second, crews across Wisconsin's white-icing suburbs are on standby overtime to clean up the mess from all the heads exploding upon reading that headline. That is, of course, if the JS had the guts to post it in the burbs; chances are good it was replaced with something like "Milwaukee: It's as bad as you think" or "Brown People: Be Scared!"
Even with Big Biz backing it, universal health care faces an uphill road. Too many culture warriors still fighting the last war (back two).
Matt Gaetz, Deadhead
5 hours ago
Ron Paul is the man. Seriously-- he isn't really even a Republican. He is just smart enough to know that Libertarians can't win running as libertarians.
ReplyDeleteThe guy is honest, forthright, funny, committed to the Constitution, wants the Government out of people's business and thinks it might actually be a good idea to balance the budget. His ideas have clarity and actual truth to them (not truthiness).
In short, he would actually be a good president. So he has no chance. But he is easily the best candidate running for president.
And I won't take offense over the "Republican I can respect" line since I don't consider myself a Republican. Especially not the Karl Rove brand of Republican.
Nick, you're not a Republican until you want to start getting active in removing the Rovian wing of the party from public politics. The Karl Rove brand is THE brand right now, because that's all that's being allowed. The eventual Republican candidate certainly will be of the Rovian school. That's a shame; but we have a way to go in reforming the electoral system.
ReplyDeleteRP wouldn't be as bad as Bush. Not that that is saying much, right? But I have LOADS of reservations about Libertarians, too; and Paul in particular.
His economic ideas, outside of a basic PAYGO approach, are more than a bit loopy. Gold Standard? Really? Will we also go back to the telegraph for communication?
He's also a particular favorite of David Duke and the Birchers, probably for his States Rights leanings. If you don't think this is just a cover for regressive policies , particularly racism and bigotry, think again.
I'll reserve my opinion on 'best candidate running for President'. As is usual, we will all be left with selecting a candidate that we believe will not finish the job of destroying the America we grew up in.
As Henry Rollins says, he gleefully votes AGAINST one of the motherfuckers, and I see no reason to think that I won't be happily and aggressively pulling the lever OPPOSITE some Republican waste; but this year, it will be a pleasure.