Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
Whacking Through The Wackos With My Machete Of Truth
How was your weekend?
Mine seemed pretty hopeless as nothing went right, but not worse than those who lost a loved one or found themselves victims of terrible crimes. No, my problems were minuscule in comparison.
There's always an upside if you and yours are still living and breathing after a weekend (thank you liberal Jesus).
Just when I thought my weekend couldn't get any worse I was accosted by a husband and wife comedy team on my facebook page for posting a link to this story:
Mine seemed pretty hopeless as nothing went right, but not worse than those who lost a loved one or found themselves victims of terrible crimes. No, my problems were minuscule in comparison.
There's always an upside if you and yours are still living and breathing after a weekend (thank you liberal Jesus).
Just when I thought my weekend couldn't get any worse I was accosted by a husband and wife comedy team on my facebook page for posting a link to this story:
Woman Upset With Obama Apologizes After Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Today in a L.A. Times op-ed, a woman who was so upset with President Obama for having "let down the struggling middle class" that she switched her registration from Democrat to Independent and altered her Obama bumpers sticker to read "Got Nope" is apologizing to the President. She says that while she was angered by Obama's plan, she's suddenly come to appreciate it, now that she's benefitting from it.
Two years ago, Spike Dolomite Ward and her husband had to choose between paying their mortgage or keeping their health insurance. They kept the house, and now at 49 Ward has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She didn't know how she'd afford months of expensive treatment, until he discovered the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan, which is part of Obama's healthcare plan. Now she's publicly "outed" herself in the hopes that she can teach Obamacare opponents that the uninsured aren't just lazy freeloaders. She writes:
For some reason these so-called friends of mine decided to call Obama a liar and a fraud -a big "no no" on my fb wall to be sure- without much evidence to support their claims. Oh, there is some politifact.com website where you're supposed to get info about what's actually true and false in politics these days. After examining it I did find most of the GOP candidates were in a tight heat for "liar, liar, pants on fire" of the year honors which was neat.
Anyway, 6 hours later, after talking in circles with these delusional folks, they deleted all they'd said about our president and their personal attacks of me as well. Like Enron executives shredding documents, these people create the reality that best suits them. (Turn the other cheek?)
We all agreed we probably shouldn't be friends when I exposed them for not having voted in an election since 1994. By then they most certainly had enough of the truth. Ever notice how conservatives spend a lot of time and energy bashing our President all the while not participating in the political process or really looking at the history.
FOR SHAME!
Liberal Jesus and I will pray for their lost souls...
The day wasn't a total loss as I had this to fall back on:
WASHINGTON -- In making the case for his re-election, President Barack Obama is arguing that it doesn't matter who the Republicans nominate to run against him because the core philosophy of the GOP candidates is the same and will stand in sharp relief with his own.
The president laid out an argument for a second term in a wide ranging interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday, bluntly saying that if voters believe in the Republican agenda of lower taxes, including for the wealthy, and weaker regulations then he will lose.
"I don't think that's where the American people are going to go," he added, "because I don't think the American people believe that based on what they've seen before, that's going to work."
For some time, Democrats and Obama allies have been anticipating that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will ultimately win the Republican nomination. But with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich atop many polls now, Democrats have begun to train their fire on him.
Obama argued that the two Republicans represent the same fundamental set of beliefs.
"The contrast in visions between where I want to take the country and what ... where they say they want to take the country is going to be stark," he said. "And the American people are going to have a good choice and it's going to be a good debate."
He rejected questioner Steve Kroft's suggestion that the public was judging him on his performance as president. "I'm being judged against the ideal," he said. "Joe Biden has a good expression. He says, `Don't judge me against the Almighty, judge me against the alternative.'"
Obama predicted the fight to the Republican nomination won't be resolved quickly. "I think that they will be going at it for a while," he said.
He described both of the top GOP candidates, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, as political fixtures.
Of Gingrich he said: "He's somebody who's been around a long time, and is good on TV, is good in debates."
"But Mitt Romney has shown himself to be somebody who's ... who's good at politics, as well," he said. "He's had a lot of practice at it."
Obama is counting on voters giving him credit for avoiding a second Great Depression, bailing out the auto industry and passing a signature health care law even while acknowledging that the public is hardly satisfied with the direction of the country.
He also listed such achievements as ending the Pentagon's policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for gay service members and the elimination of Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaida leaders.
"But when it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do," he conceded.
He rejected Republican criticism that his economic policies amount to class warfare, saying he is simply trying to restore an "American deal" that focuses on building a strong middle class.
In a major speech in Osawatomie, Kan., this week, Obama argued that even before the recent recession hit, Americans at the top of the income scale grew wealthier while others struggled and racked up debt. He also has called for spending on jobs initiatives and for an extension of a payroll tax cut that would be paid for by increasing taxes on taxpayers who make $1 million or more.
"There are going to be people who say, `This is the socialist Obama and he's come out of the closet,'" Obama said.
But he added: "The problem is that our politics has gotten to the point, where we can't have an honest conversation about the greatest income inequality since the 1920s. And we can't have an honest conversation about the irresponsibility that resulted in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, without somebody saying that somehow we're being divisive."
There are some excellent talking points in this article to lay out to your so-called conservative friends. I urge you to "dig in" as this year's going to be a nasty one with the hate, venom, and vitriol from the right. This is going to be an election year like nothing you've ever seen before. Sharpen your machetes.
Two years ago, Spike Dolomite Ward and her husband had to choose between paying their mortgage or keeping their health insurance. They kept the house, and now at 49 Ward has been diagnosed with breast cancer. She didn't know how she'd afford months of expensive treatment, until he discovered the Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan, which is part of Obama's healthcare plan. Now she's publicly "outed" herself in the hopes that she can teach Obamacare opponents that the uninsured aren't just lazy freeloaders. She writes:
What I want people to understand is that, if this could happen to us, it could happen to anybody. If you are fortunate enough to still be employed and have insurance through your employers, you may feel insulated from the sufferings of people like me right now. But things can change abruptly. If you still have a good job with insurance, that doesn't mean that you're better than me, more deserving than me or smarter than me. It just means that you are luckier. And access to healthcare shouldn't depend on luck.Ward's right, and she deserves credit for admitting she was wrong. (Edit: To clarify, Ward felt Obamacare didn't do enough, but she's speaking to people who "are still lucky enough to have health insurance and view people like my family as irresponsible.") It's just a shame that most people who are rabidly against enabling all Americans to have healthcare coverage won't have a change of heart unless they're put in a similarly horrible situation.
For some reason these so-called friends of mine decided to call Obama a liar and a fraud -a big "no no" on my fb wall to be sure- without much evidence to support their claims. Oh, there is some politifact.com website where you're supposed to get info about what's actually true and false in politics these days. After examining it I did find most of the GOP candidates were in a tight heat for "liar, liar, pants on fire" of the year honors which was neat.
Anyway, 6 hours later, after talking in circles with these delusional folks, they deleted all they'd said about our president and their personal attacks of me as well. Like Enron executives shredding documents, these people create the reality that best suits them. (Turn the other cheek?)
We all agreed we probably shouldn't be friends when I exposed them for not having voted in an election since 1994. By then they most certainly had enough of the truth. Ever notice how conservatives spend a lot of time and energy bashing our President all the while not participating in the political process or really looking at the history.
FOR SHAME!
Liberal Jesus and I will pray for their lost souls...
The day wasn't a total loss as I had this to fall back on:
WASHINGTON -- In making the case for his re-election, President Barack Obama is arguing that it doesn't matter who the Republicans nominate to run against him because the core philosophy of the GOP candidates is the same and will stand in sharp relief with his own.
The president laid out an argument for a second term in a wide ranging interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" that aired Sunday, bluntly saying that if voters believe in the Republican agenda of lower taxes, including for the wealthy, and weaker regulations then he will lose.
"I don't think that's where the American people are going to go," he added, "because I don't think the American people believe that based on what they've seen before, that's going to work."
For some time, Democrats and Obama allies have been anticipating that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will ultimately win the Republican nomination. But with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich atop many polls now, Democrats have begun to train their fire on him.
Obama argued that the two Republicans represent the same fundamental set of beliefs.
"The contrast in visions between where I want to take the country and what ... where they say they want to take the country is going to be stark," he said. "And the American people are going to have a good choice and it's going to be a good debate."
He rejected questioner Steve Kroft's suggestion that the public was judging him on his performance as president. "I'm being judged against the ideal," he said. "Joe Biden has a good expression. He says, `Don't judge me against the Almighty, judge me against the alternative.'"
Obama predicted the fight to the Republican nomination won't be resolved quickly. "I think that they will be going at it for a while," he said.
He described both of the top GOP candidates, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, as political fixtures.
Of Gingrich he said: "He's somebody who's been around a long time, and is good on TV, is good in debates."
"But Mitt Romney has shown himself to be somebody who's ... who's good at politics, as well," he said. "He's had a lot of practice at it."
Obama is counting on voters giving him credit for avoiding a second Great Depression, bailing out the auto industry and passing a signature health care law even while acknowledging that the public is hardly satisfied with the direction of the country.
He also listed such achievements as ending the Pentagon's policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" for gay service members and the elimination of Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaida leaders.
"But when it comes to the economy, we've got a lot more work to do," he conceded.
He rejected Republican criticism that his economic policies amount to class warfare, saying he is simply trying to restore an "American deal" that focuses on building a strong middle class.
In a major speech in Osawatomie, Kan., this week, Obama argued that even before the recent recession hit, Americans at the top of the income scale grew wealthier while others struggled and racked up debt. He also has called for spending on jobs initiatives and for an extension of a payroll tax cut that would be paid for by increasing taxes on taxpayers who make $1 million or more.
"There are going to be people who say, `This is the socialist Obama and he's come out of the closet,'" Obama said.
But he added: "The problem is that our politics has gotten to the point, where we can't have an honest conversation about the greatest income inequality since the 1920s. And we can't have an honest conversation about the irresponsibility that resulted in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, without somebody saying that somehow we're being divisive."
Weekly Wrangle
The Texas Progressive Alliance hasn't really started its Xmas shopping yet as it brings you this week's roundup.
SCOTUS has issued a stay and scrambled the 2012 elections again. Off the Kuff tries to make sense of it.
BossKitty at TruthHugger notes that it's business as usual for Texas politicians to tilt the voter tables in their favor by gerrymandering: US Supreme Court May Like New Texas Gerrymandering.
Occupy went to Washington and comes to Houston on Monday, December 12. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs follows along.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson points out that there's a corporate hand up the back of many GOP legislators in Texas: Texas GOP legislators are corporate puppets.
At TexasKaos Libby Shaw explans how the GOP is killing the U.S. economy and the American dream.
Neil at Texas Liberal made one post and then another detailing the recent trip of Green Houston City Council candidate Amy Price to Washington with Occupy Houston.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme calls out the US Supreme Court for the corrupt hijacking of the Texas elections.
SCOTUS has issued a stay and scrambled the 2012 elections again. Off the Kuff tries to make sense of it.
BossKitty at TruthHugger notes that it's business as usual for Texas politicians to tilt the voter tables in their favor by gerrymandering: US Supreme Court May Like New Texas Gerrymandering.
Occupy went to Washington and comes to Houston on Monday, December 12. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs follows along.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson points out that there's a corporate hand up the back of many GOP legislators in Texas: Texas GOP legislators are corporate puppets.
At TexasKaos Libby Shaw explans how the GOP is killing the U.S. economy and the American dream.
Neil at Texas Liberal made one post and then another detailing the recent trip of Green Houston City Council candidate Amy Price to Washington with Occupy Houston.
CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme calls out the US Supreme Court for the corrupt hijacking of the Texas elections.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Downtown Dallas Is Lovely This Time Of Year
Especially if you manage to escape without your car being jacked, towed, ticketed, or damaged to the tune of thousands of dollars at the hands of a careless valet. (OR WORSE!)
I remember a better time in the Deep Ellum part of Dallas(1986-1999). --The downtown has never been nice.-- A time when society, art and culture collided with good people who were welcomed by the city. The city wanted us to be there. Some of these elements remain today with exception of the latter. Today you are welcome. You are welcome to find a $40 ticket on your vehicle when you come out of the club. You are welcome to legal counsel. You are welcome to false imprisonment. You're welcome to pay out the ass for shitty service and food. You're welcome to be pepper-sprayed in the face with bear mace.
As a good ole boy from Ft. Worth it's a downright struggle for me to make the adjustment to life in Dallas. (I never dreamed it would be this hard). There are certain things one must learn. Very different things from the clean, safe confines of downtown Ft. Worth and Tarrant County as a whole. In Downtown Ft. Worth, you never have a traffic jam, you never have trouble parking, you don't have to pay to park or valet if you don't want to. Entertainment is affordable. There are people in downtown Ft.Worth, friendly people.
Downtown Dallas is like one long, dark, lonely alley full of trench-coated strangers... The kind in your nightmares. The kind of scary that makes one lock his car doors and hurry along his way with no thought of stopping. Like being chased and having the dogs set upon you on a black rainy night.
I find Dallas forbidding. I always have. There's something about the tunnels under the city that reminds me of the North Vietnamese.(VC) You can't see who you're really dealing with in Dallas. You can't get a clear picture of who and what is there. It's like a ghost town.
So what's missing?
Where are the sidewalk cafes and bars. Where's the live music scene? Where are the coffee houses? Where are the food trucks? Fuck, where are the fucking people? Besides valets, meter maids and cops in riot gear..WHERE ARE THE FUCKING PEOPLE?!
The money elite have given generously to make it their playground, but it's not so inviting for the common man.
Texas has plenty of land. Why don't the wealthy build some free parking lots in downtown Dallas? Not so inviting for me when I literally have to work to park my car somewhere . Not at all.
Oh you'll find Art, Music, some Theatre, Deck Parks(wtf?), and Fake Suspension Bridges to Nowhere. You'll find all that and more. Check out the 6th Floor museum if you really want to get creepy.
But you won't find any free, safe, well lit parking.
If you're able to overcome those demons and actually get into a party downtown, you'll find the local music is bad. No, really bad. (NOTE: DISCO DIED FOR ME IN 8th GRADE), everything's too expensive and the people are "snooty." (My moms way of saying 'shitty'). So basically you pay extra to be treated like shit in Dallas. Yep, that's pretty much it.
That's why I have some rules to living in BIG D. I plan to share them with you here as often as I can.
I welcome any of your rules to living in our poorly planned, pretentious, poltergeist of a puny city.
RULE 1 : DON'T GO DOWNTOWN. (No Exceptions)
I remember a better time in the Deep Ellum part of Dallas(1986-1999). --The downtown has never been nice.-- A time when society, art and culture collided with good people who were welcomed by the city. The city wanted us to be there. Some of these elements remain today with exception of the latter. Today you are welcome. You are welcome to find a $40 ticket on your vehicle when you come out of the club. You are welcome to legal counsel. You are welcome to false imprisonment. You're welcome to pay out the ass for shitty service and food. You're welcome to be pepper-sprayed in the face with bear mace.
As a good ole boy from Ft. Worth it's a downright struggle for me to make the adjustment to life in Dallas. (I never dreamed it would be this hard). There are certain things one must learn. Very different things from the clean, safe confines of downtown Ft. Worth and Tarrant County as a whole. In Downtown Ft. Worth, you never have a traffic jam, you never have trouble parking, you don't have to pay to park or valet if you don't want to. Entertainment is affordable. There are people in downtown Ft.Worth, friendly people.
Downtown Dallas is like one long, dark, lonely alley full of trench-coated strangers... The kind in your nightmares. The kind of scary that makes one lock his car doors and hurry along his way with no thought of stopping. Like being chased and having the dogs set upon you on a black rainy night.
I find Dallas forbidding. I always have. There's something about the tunnels under the city that reminds me of the North Vietnamese.(VC) You can't see who you're really dealing with in Dallas. You can't get a clear picture of who and what is there. It's like a ghost town.
So what's missing?
Where are the sidewalk cafes and bars. Where's the live music scene? Where are the coffee houses? Where are the food trucks? Fuck, where are the fucking people? Besides valets, meter maids and cops in riot gear..WHERE ARE THE FUCKING PEOPLE?!
The money elite have given generously to make it their playground, but it's not so inviting for the common man.
Texas has plenty of land. Why don't the wealthy build some free parking lots in downtown Dallas? Not so inviting for me when I literally have to work to park my car somewhere . Not at all.
Oh you'll find Art, Music, some Theatre, Deck Parks(wtf?), and Fake Suspension Bridges to Nowhere. You'll find all that and more. Check out the 6th Floor museum if you really want to get creepy.
But you won't find any free, safe, well lit parking.
If you're able to overcome those demons and actually get into a party downtown, you'll find the local music is bad. No, really bad. (NOTE: DISCO DIED FOR ME IN 8th GRADE), everything's too expensive and the people are "snooty." (My moms way of saying 'shitty'). So basically you pay extra to be treated like shit in Dallas. Yep, that's pretty much it.
That's why I have some rules to living in BIG D. I plan to share them with you here as often as I can.
I welcome any of your rules to living in our poorly planned, pretentious, poltergeist of a puny city.
RULE 1 : DON'T GO DOWNTOWN. (No Exceptions)
Monday, December 5, 2011
The Weekly Wrangle
As it brings you this week's blog round-up, the Texas Progressive Alliance thinks that if Herman Cain had just married all those women, he could be where Newt Gingrich is today.
Off the Kuff provides a little perspective about redistricting and the political outcome of the ongoing litigation over it.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson says it's time for a new direction for the Texas Democratic Party: A tremendous opportunity to create a new Democratic Party in Texas.
McBlogger says that Judge Jed Rakoff threw a big wrench into the sweetheart deals some of the banks have been getting from the SEC.
Bay Area Houston has the information if you want to contact the judge about state representative Joe Driver's sentencing.
Refinish69 at Doing My Part for the Left has a few suggestions since The Holiday Season is Here!
BossKitty at TruthHugger is more comfortable with crop circles than the Frankenstein-like Tea Party the Koch Brothers created: Why the Tea Party is like a Crop Circle.
At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw summaries the choices presented by the Republican presidental hopefuls in An OOPS, a Serial Flipper Flopper, Adulterers, a Sourpuss and a Scared Spin Doctor. It would be funnier if it weren't all true.
Mitt Romney's path to the GOP nomination got considerably rockier in the past week, and that was before Herman Cain failed to deliver in 30 minutes or less. The rise of Newt Gingrich is however a dilemma for conservative fundamentalist Christians, as PDiddie at Brains and Eggs observes. Can they get behind a nominee who believes that marriage should only be between a man and a woman who does not have cancer?
Neil at Texas Liberal took a walk along some railroad tracks in Houston. On his walk, Neil encountered both solid and metaphorical aspects of life.
Off the Kuff provides a little perspective about redistricting and the political outcome of the ongoing litigation over it.
WCNews at Eye On Williamson says it's time for a new direction for the Texas Democratic Party: A tremendous opportunity to create a new Democratic Party in Texas.
McBlogger says that Judge Jed Rakoff threw a big wrench into the sweetheart deals some of the banks have been getting from the SEC.
Bay Area Houston has the information if you want to contact the judge about state representative Joe Driver's sentencing.
Refinish69 at Doing My Part for the Left has a few suggestions since The Holiday Season is Here!
BossKitty at TruthHugger is more comfortable with crop circles than the Frankenstein-like Tea Party the Koch Brothers created: Why the Tea Party is like a Crop Circle.
At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw summaries the choices presented by the Republican presidental hopefuls in An OOPS, a Serial Flipper Flopper, Adulterers, a Sourpuss and a Scared Spin Doctor. It would be funnier if it weren't all true.
Mitt Romney's path to the GOP nomination got considerably rockier in the past week, and that was before Herman Cain failed to deliver in 30 minutes or less. The rise of Newt Gingrich is however a dilemma for conservative fundamentalist Christians, as PDiddie at Brains and Eggs observes. Can they get behind a nominee who believes that marriage should only be between a man and a woman who does not have cancer?
Neil at Texas Liberal took a walk along some railroad tracks in Houston. On his walk, Neil encountered both solid and metaphorical aspects of life.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)