Tag Archives: GOP

Political Rants

Rick’s sugar daddy.

Santorum surges to the front. For many, I’m sure, that is proof positive of the existence of God. For others, it is worrying evidence of the other dude. Astounding, though, how culture war issues have come to the fore so abruptly. Elections are never about what you think they’re going to be about, are they? 2008 was supposed to be about Iraq, but it ended up being the financial crisis and the economic meltdown. This one is supposed to be about the economy, but for chrissake… the GOP guy who’s been talking incessantly about the economy for the past four years just can’t get past first base. Now it’s looking more and more like the election will be fought over, well… birth control.

Then there’s the billionaire problem. It seems that every major candidate has his sugar daddy. For Gingrich it was Adelson, the reactionary casino magnate. For Romney, it’s himself (of course). And for Santorum, it’s Foster Friess, last name pronounced “freeze”. That’s right: the person behind Rick Santorum, presidential candidate, is Mr. “Freeze”. Time to pick up the bat phone, commissioner. This time, Mr. “Freeze” has a plan that just might work. After all, Santorum was nobody, absolutely nobody before the right-wing, hyper Christian billionaire started sluicing money in Super-PAC support of his flagging campaign. Then, hey-presto! Front runner status, with no campaign headquarters, bare-bones staff, and little organization. Just like many of the previous front-runners. Sense a pattern?

Funny thing about Mr. Friess. He appears to share his candidate’s aversion to birth control. He quipped this past week that back in the day, birth control for women amounted to an aspirin – holding the aspirin between their knees. What day was that? The fifteenth century? (No, wait… they didn’t have aspirin then. Perhaps it was a sheep’s bladder.) I’ve heard of reactionary, but this is ridiculous. The fact that the guy would consider this “joke” amusing in the context of what has been an open assault by conservatives on the very notion of contraception speaks to the level of retrograde fanaticism we are witnessing. Who better to carry the standard for this than Rick Santorum, Mr. Man-On-Dog himself … the guy who equates gay marriage with polygamy, bestiality, etc. Contraception is “not okay” in his book, so it shouldn’t be in ours, right? Ask Mr. Freeze.

What’s sadder: That the GOP pack is being led, perhaps temporarily, by a bigot funded by a cartoon villain/billionaire? Or that there are still those who see Mitt Romney as the Bruce Wayne/Batman who will save us?

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Getting warmer.

I’m hip-deep in audio editing right now, so again… forgive me for shooting from the hip.

I didn’t want to let too many weeks go by without commenting on the Durban Conference on climate change. I have to say, the Obama administration has gotten really good at acting as though they’re doing something progressive when, in fact, they are doing next to nothing at all. What Durban demonstrated was that, more than any other nation, the United States is an obstruction to any action to alleviate the effects of climate change. Others are following our example, emboldened by our refusal to take this crisis seriously. Canada – currently headed by George W. Bush/David Cameron hybrid Stephen Harper – is pulling out of Kyoto while pulling strings to avoid (unsuccessfully, it appears) having its tar-sands oil appropriately labeled as dirty by the EU. Russia is balking at emissions reductions as well. The fact that we lead the denialist camp gives them lots of cover.

There was a time, about four years ago, when it seemed possible that we might address this problem in a semi-serious fashion. That time is long past, its sentiments plowed under by the financial crisis and the “drill, baby, drill” mentality of mainstream and tea party Republicans. Because of the Democratic party’s failure to find its spine on this issue, the Republicans have managed to position it in a similar way as they have with the gun control issue. It seems like the very mention of global warming or climate change brings a chill to Democrats on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Only Republicans ever seem to use the terms, and only then as a means of attacking their cowardly opponents. They have been given the upper hand, once again, by default, just as Democrats have deserted the barricades on the gun issue, on the death penalty, on “missile defense”, etc.

I’m afraid, with respect to global warming, this is more about us as a people than our politicians. The fact that we cannot avoid some of the impacts of this crisis has somehow led people to believe that it’s just as well to do nothing. (I am referring here to people who actually believe global warming is real, not those who buy the crackpot hoax argument that fossil fuel shills like Sen. James Inhofe peddles.) We have this unfortunate tendency focus on the present to the exclusion of the future. It just cuts against the grain to act as though we should treat the world as something that should last beyond our own lifetimes – something that can support life for countless generations to come. This will have to change and change quickly. We had a start back in 2007. We need to get back to that moment again.

Last chance, humanity. Get smart. Merry Christmas.

luv u,

jp

Political Rants

Roger, out.

Again, just some thoughts. I’m overloaded, as usual. Details at eleven.

Cain’s out. No more Herman Cain. That’s disappointing in a way, though I can’t say as I’m all that disappointed whenever a manifestly incompetent right-wing shill is deemed unfit for service as president. He would have been the conduit through which Randy Scheunemann, Phil Graham, and other luminaries would have run the country into yet another deep ditch. Of course, that would be true of practically anyone on the Republican deck right now, save Gingrich, who would likely insist on doing everything (badly) himself. I will, however, miss the Pokeman quotes, the seeming lack of conviction that a president actually needs to show any interest in politics or administrative policy, foreign or domestic. He’s like the cut-out who can’t hide the fact that he’s a cut-out: there’s obviously no other reason for him to even want to be president than to carry out the wishes of corporate America more consistently than even their bought and paid-for politicians of both parties.

Ging-riches. Speaking of corporate shills, our former speaker seems to keep rocketing higher in the polls. Unstoppable. They’ve even started phoning my brother in New York, never a Republican he, asking him to volunteer. (A hilarious recording of this conversation will be included in Big Green’s Christmas podcast, coming up soon.) Obviously they’ve got some cash on hand. Perhaps old Newt is pumping some of his ample riches into the effort, earned cashing in on his government connections and experience. All those riches haven’t softened the old bugger one iota. That thing about nine-year-olds becoming school janitors, cleaning out the can – that is vintage Gingrich. I have to appreciate the way, even in describing such a Swiftian enterprise, he manages to get a dig in about “unionized Janitors.” It reminded me of the classy way his former lieutenant, Tom Delay, described his failure to serve in the military during Vietnam (a war I’m certain he supported) as a case of having been kept out of the army because an illegal immigrant took his place. In any case, I’m expecting unbounded riches from Newt over the coming months.

Drone nation. The Iranians have captured one of our drones, evidently involved in yet another undeclared war by remote control. Aside from morals and ethics and basic human decency, this is the policy downside of all this drone use: it’s just too damn easy. Obama is using them more and more, in more countries – it’s the ultimate mission creep, and it’s going to blow up in our faces, frankly.

Yeah, I know – the G.O.P. will do it too if they take control. That shouldn’t stop us from calling Obama and telling him to knock it off.

luv u,

jp