Michael Steele, the perfect Repugnican

[Image from Getty Images]

The chairman of the Republican National Committee laughs off talk of a depression.

Michael Steele is the perfect Repugnican. Perfect Repugnicans create a godawful mess, in this case, an economic depression; then refuse to take responsibility for doing so; indeed have the gall to claim this is not a depression, merely a bump in the road. And then because it's so funny, they laugh. Ha, ha, ha.

Tana Ganeva, at AlterNet, references remarks by Steele in response to a comment that people were not spending less money than usual:

"I've heard a number of people say that across the country. [LAUGHTER] The malls are just as packed on Saturday. [LAUGHTER]


Well, maybe not. The number of companies declaring bankruptcy or closing stores and laying off people is large and growing. Does Steele not read the papers?

So far as the malls being packed on Saturday or any other day: again, not true. Maybe Steele has not been in a mall of late. I have. It reminded me of a tomb. During the week before Easter one would expect that any mall would be packed. Not so. The majority of stores had more employees than customers. In the smaller stores, the clerks sat morosely with their heads in the hands, or yawned while staring out the door - their shops were empty!


Michael Steele, the reigning representative of the Repugnican Party, thus personifies a party that has no grip on reality, and a tendency to laugh at the poor, the needy, the laid-off, the homeless and the fear-filled who constitute a rising segment of our population.

And that's why "Repugnican" is their perfect name.


Ganeva's article is here.

Goodbye Gregg, and good riddance!

What was Obama thinking?

Well, we know he's been thinking about how nice it would be to work hand in hand with Republicans in Congress and elsewhere in order to proceed quickly with his agenda of putting the nation back together again.

I guess we all like to dream on occasion.

By now, however, our worst fears are confirmed and we know it ain't gonna happen. The Repugnican nogoodniks decided from day one that Obama and the Dems are the "enemy," and they are the "insurgents," and they're gonna fight tooth and nail to continue to disrupt any semblance of cooperation and continue their demented and destructive policies.

They learned well from Newt Gingrich and the likes of the crook, Tom DeLay!


So, when Judd Gregg withdrew his name for Commerce, all I felt was a sense of relief. We don't need him or anyone like him anywhere near the Obama Cabinet.

According to P. M. Carpenter writing for BuzzFlash, it was Gregg who approached the Obama people, it was Gregg who reached out and offered his name to Obama for a cabinet position. Then, all of sudden, he said he realized he didn't agree with Obama on too many things. "I couldn't be Judd Gregg and serve in the Cabinet."

Did he just figure that out? How stupid is he?

Obama was taken aback: "It comes as something of a surprise," he said, because the truth, you know, Mr. Gregg approached us with interest and seemed enthusiastic."

Hah!


Carpenter wants to give Gregg the benefit of the doubt. "He did seem conflicted," writes Carpenter, "and somewhat tormented at his embarrassed debutantish, not-coming-out-after-all press conference -- he seemed sincere in wishing Obama the best, as well as the president's receding dreams of bipartisanship -- but why it took so bloody long for the New England senator to comprehend that 'this is simply a bridge too far' is, for now, a mystery perhaps too deep."

I don't think it's all that big a mystery. If this whole crummy scenario was not dreamed up by the Repugs in the first place to embarrass Obama, then it is likely the Repugnican rotters in Congress got to Gregg; the purpose, no doubt, to imply Obama didn't properly vet Gregg, and thus is incompetent or naive, and that Obama's policies are just too radical for a decent, god-fearing, family values Republican.


Bipartisanship? The dream is broken! It's over! Forget the Repugs. All they do is drag down the country anyway. You can't dance with the devil and expect to come away without reeking of the scent of evil!

Goodbye Gregg, and good riddance!


Read Carpenter's entire article here.

And here's a video of Obama's speech at the Lincoln bash where he takes a shot at Judd. Video courtesy of Video Cafe.

A Typical Republican Budget (in Minnesota)

As the stimulus bill is being fought over in the Congress of the United States, and as the Repugnicans fight to get provisions which would truly help people removed, and as the Repugnicans continue to insist that stimulus means reducing taxes on the rich, similar budgetary chicanery is going on elsewhere, especially in states unfortunate enough to be stuck with a Repugnican governor.

Consider Minnesota. Down through the years, Minnesota has been deemed one of the more enlightened, progressive states. I mean what other state has produced a Garrison Keilor or an Al Franken? Well, Missouri produced Mark Twain and Illinois produced Carl Sandburg...but, you know what I mean!

The governor of Minnesota is a christianist wingnut by name of Tim Pawlenty who lives the typical Repugnican ideology which holds as a matter of principle that it's better to have principles than people with jobs.

So, a couple of weeks ago, the Minnesota gov unwrapped his 2010-11 budget proposal. You know already what's coming:

Yup.

Tax cuts for the rich (corporations).

Oh, this sounds good: Increased funding for K-12 education.

Uh, oh. Steep reductions in money for higher education, local government aid and health and human services.

More bad news: "adults without children would no longer be eligible for state health insurance programs, while coverage for adults with kids would be limited to those earning less than 100 percent of the federal poverty level ($21,200 for a family of four). It's estimated that 84,000 Minnesotans would lose their health insurance under the proposal."

And more bad news. The increase in K-12 spending comes with a mandate that all school districts have to implement a "compensation system that bases teacher salaries on student performance." [That doesn't work, by the way; and is grossly unfair in every respect; and no teacher worth his/her salt would consider such a stupid proposal!]

It also seems to me that no politician should be able to vote to reduce someone's health insurance without taking a comparable cut himself or herself. And if a politician voted to cut off completely someone's health insurance, then he/she should lose their health insurance also. Seems only fair.


More at The Minnesota Independent, here.

Vito Fossella going to jail - maybe

Vito Fossella, Republican representative from New York, was convicted of drunken driving and has been sentenced to five days in jail. He is to begin serving his sentence on December 19. His lawyer promised an immediate appeal the purpose of which is to postpone indefinitely his reporting to the clink.

Fossella, an ultra-right homophobic conservative, has other problems, too. When he was arrested for DUI back in May, it was revealed that he had been involved in an affair with an Air Force officer with whom he'd fathered a child. His wife and three children were not thrilled with the news.

This led to Fossella's decision not to seek re-election.

The best part is that a Democrat won his seat in the November election.


One less Repugnican hypocrite in Congress is always a cause for rejoicing!

Happy holidays!