Hey You, Out There On Your Own…

Hello.

If you go to a town hall meeting to shout and scream, listen up.

Your rights are not being violated when you are called out on your behaviour. In point of fact, when your unruly actions shut down an otherwise calm discussion, you are violating the rights of those around you. You, Mr. Town Hall Screaming and Spitting Guy, are essentially in the wrong.

The Town Hall meetings are supposed to be informational. And Senators are not required to have them. They are a courtesy to constituents. Something we saw none of during King Bush’s Reign of Ignorance. That we are, as taxpayers, being offered the chance to hear facts about the proposed bill and decide for ourselves how we feel about it is actually kind of nice.

Not being able to engage in a discussion because some random is pushing an agenda, not so nice.

Are the disruptions being organized and funded by third parties? It wouldn’t surprise me one bit. It’s the oldest tactic in the book(cough TammanyHallcough). Disinformation through disruption is a very old and effective political trick. But that’s all it is , a trick.

The use of these disruptive practices; false information, misleading statements of fact, is killing the necessary overhaul of the American health care system. Palin’s ridiculous and damning assertion that the proposed bill would put her Downs baby to death is nearing the criminal. Particularly since she probably has the means to afford proper life long care for her child. What if she didn’t ? What if she was working a minimum wage job and trying to pay for medical care out of pocket because her employer was getting around the health care benefit requirement by only giving her 38 hours a week instead of forty? Or she was denied access to necessary care because the child was born with a pre-existing condition? I’ll bet she would be singing a whole other tune.

These are the people who are being hurt by the current system. The ones who need the reform.

Not Palin. Not Republican middle class screamers. Not insurance companies.

Let’s face it, the health care industry makes an assload of  profit. It’s only right that they would throw a temper tantrum when someone tries to rein them in a little. That doesn’t mean they are in the right. It doesn’t mean they are free to disrupt and derail the democratic process.

Whether or not we agree with the proposed bill, people at least have the right to hear about it.

No one has the right to shout insults or scream until they silence the understandable curiosity of another person.

No one has the right to bring guns to what should be a rational disscussion, regardless of their right to carry concealed. This is an implied threat.

And  why aren’t those who are using Twitter  to issue these threats of retaliation and violence at Town Hall meetings (and they are legion) being arrested?

Dogwoman

Education First

Hello.

Why is it when right-wing conservative types post virulent comments they spell everything wrong?

I’m not pointing fingers. God knows, I have made my share of spelling gaffes. However, there are two types of spelling errors.

1) The kind of spelling error that results from a faulty phonics logic. This usually will bring one within a short distance of the correct spelling. These are the kind I generally make.

2) The kind of spelling error that screams “Fonics really Phukked me up!” Generally made by ignoring all of the phonics rules within the English language. These are the ones I refer to in the opening sentence of this post.

If you are going to insult, demean and degrade strangers, do it with panache. Do it with style.

Do it with spell check.

An unfounded accusation really loses something when the person that is being insulted has to guess at what you are talking about by deciphering your tedious spelling.

Right is not spelled r-i-t-e.

Traitor is not spelled t-r-a-i-t-e-r.

Shite is not spelled s-h-i-i-t-e. That is some thing else entirely: pronounced Shee-ite. A form of Islam. Which might change the content of your ballsy message just a little bit.

If right wingers in small Southern states want to be taken seriously, they should really make an effort to upgrade their spelling. Use that dictionary for more than something to keep your trailer level. It seems like a nit picky thing but, an incorrectly spelled insult can really set the opposition to laughing.

So as you, a self righteous indignant right winger go out into the cruel Obama world, try to spell your Nazi protest signs, scathing blog posts,  troll comments and general words of  anger at losing the Presidential election to an articulate and charming black guy, correctly. Not Kerectly.

Dogwoman

Palin’s Power Of Protest Pales

Hello.

So many things changed in the five months I was gone. Neil Gaiman got himself a girlfriend, Dick Cheney finally decided to open his mouth, and has there been even more celebrity up-skirting or am I just seeing things?

Oh and why is Sarah Palin still talking? I thought the Republican Party made themselves clear at the end of the election. She’s become a sort of diva politician. Irritating. Even her exceptions to Dave Letterman’s remarks are uncouth and confusing. She cannot make her self understood. Palin should take a  road trip with Tom Petty and Bob Dylan, she’s so succinct. I read her comments and I can’t decide if she’s upset about the cheap shot taken at her daughter or just milking the whole thing for more media time.  If it were anyone with an ounce of grace ,they would protest clearly and concisely and then drop it in order to keep their child’s name from circulating through the press. But Palin actually seems to enjoy parading her daughter through the media as some sort of Saint of the Unwed Teenage Mothers.  Looking at the skyrocketing statistics from the past ten years, this is  not something that should be encouraged. Most teen mothers are poor and lose choices for a better life. They are not the spoiled self -involved child of a politician who talks like a Dr. Suess character.

Maybe it’s just that Palin can’t  keep a clear thought in her head. Maybe her  Hubble telescope glasses are interfering with her neruons. Perhaps if she opted for a smaller style when she spoke the rest of us Earthlings could understand her tirades . Until that happens, maybe she should just shhh.

 

Dogwoman

The New Van Diemens Land

Hello.

So your 17 year old son or daughter had decided they don’t want to join the military to get experience and see the world (i.e. eat sand in Iraq). That’s ok. The Government is not worried because they have a whole new resource they can tap into for bodies recruits.

Sex offenders, murders, burglars and others of the conduct disordered variety are now getting their chance to give back to society. They’re getting a one way ticket to Iraq.

That’s right, the American government is taking the advice of comedian Bobcat Golthwait and sending criminals to do our fighting for us. As Bobcat pointed out “These are the men with experience”.

If this little plan to avoid a draft works out our prisons should be empty by 2019. Excellent.

Of course, there might be a few discipline problems. They are using men who couldn’t abide the rules of an open society and thrusting them into a system that has rules for everything, including when and how to eat.

Oh well.

That’s the price you pay for governing with your head firmly entrenched up your ascot.

Dogwoman

I Know A Place You Can Stick Your Brand

Hello.

If you turned your lights out for an hour on Saturday, I weep for you.

Earth Hour was a sneaky little trick pulled by business entrepreneurs to Brand a political movement.

So was the collection of world wide rock concerts sponsored by the Man in Green, Al Gore.

So is the Red Program

So is any charitable or humanitarian movement in which anyone in a suit whose lips move faster than the rest of them is involved.

Branding is a pandemic.

There is a rush to slap a label on everything in an attempt to market to the overcrowded market. However, if what is being branded is a movement or a humanitarian group or goal, then it’s taking the whole point of that movement or goal and flushing straight down the potty. People are fickle and don’t really like to be told how to feel about issues. Many of the ‘new’ movements are emotionally driven. The pros and cons of each should be left up to the individual, not the corporation. It is lazy to allow a politician or rock star or dot com executive to tell you what to think. People should think for themselves. And many do.

Contrary to popular thought, branding things like Global Warming is actually counterproductive. Yes, it gets more attention but it’s usually negative attention. Rational people are less likely, despite what slick charts tell you, to engage in an activity that has a corporate brand on it. Those who jump through these politically driven hoops tend to be younger and less focused or older and concerned what others think of them.

Politicians love brands because it tells them exactly what to do. Corporations love brands because they can direct their marketing at target audiences, like children. Everything from music groups to art galleries have hired marketing strategists to create a brand that will get noticed. That’s why Amy Winehouse and Lindsy Lohan have recording contracts. They’re not good, they’re just easy.

I think of it this way. The only thing that should be branded is cattle. And only so ranchers can tell one cow from another.

If the powers that wanna be begin branding things like Global Warming or international charities people will be less likely to take them seriously. It is seen as a way to get the attention of children or the hopelessly insecure.

As for Earth Hour, well uh, my house is always lit up as though the Mother Ship has just landed. I like to think of it as a beacon in the darkness of mooing ignorance that surrounds us all. My husbands thinks of it as a condition called ‘Childitis’ i.e.: that act of having children who won’t turn off the light when they leave a room. Sigh.

Dogwoman

To Paraphrase: It’s Your Own Fault

Hello.

I’ve just read the speeches of the Presidential candidates on the Credit Crisis. I thought to help out those who don’t want to slog through the Orwellian tactics of our potential candidates, I would rephrase them here.

Keep in mind I am doing so with a mind altering temperature of 103. If I get it wrong I was, in fact, out of my mind at the time, senator.

McCain: Fuck ’em, Fuck ’em all. They should have figured it out before they took on the mortgages. Idiots. Those lenders were at fault and so were the homeowners and it’s not the Governments job to bail out either. Though, in a pinch we should help business over people because that’s what this country is made of, business not people.

Obama: Historically (and this man knows his American history ) we’ve already done this. See, we just need new plans for dealing with 21st century business, more regulation, more oversight. However, we don’t need to cap campaign contributions from these businesses. No, the government needs to work with business to ensure that business prospers in a kinder and gentler way. And people need to suck it up and deal with all the painful changes because America is a business, not a collection of people. Oh, and maybe we could propose some sort of legislation that teaches morons how to manage their mortgages properly. Maybe. I’m just sayin’.

Clinton: I told them years ago this would happen but did anyone listen to me? NO. Now look what’s happened. Well, I guess we can start cleaning up the mess and getting some sort of legislation into the works that makes sure this doesn’t happen again. Do I have to do everything around here?

See, each of the candidates has a grand vision pertaining to fixing the mess and who should be blamed. I noticed however, that they weren’t all that interested in mentioning the lobbyists who helped with the deregulation process. Ok, Obama mentioned it, but he sort of glossed it over. Each candidate doesn’t want to fix anything, they want to blame someone and then ride them around the town square before sentencing them to the stocks. We know this because while they mention the fact that low income homeowners were taken advantage of they lay a good portion of blame at the feet of the homeowners. Even though many of the mortgages were altered by the lenders to make the homeowners look better on paper than they really were. And then those falsified mortgages were sold in mass bundles to other lending companies.This practice created a waterfall of shitty paper that was actually worth nothing. Voila, Credit Crisis.

The lending institutions are the bad guys in this scenario. The hiding of large debt, the use of derivatives, the explosion of private equity that has almost no government oversight and continuing deregulation of vital industries has all contributed to this current mess that taxpayers have to pay for. At no point have I heard the regular Joe Shmo saying ‘Hey lets screw about with everything cause it looks good on paper” No, they just wanted what we’re constantly told everyone is entitled to here in America, a home of their own. Now, entire states have Homeless of their own.

Great job you greedy hope sucking bastards.

Oh and under no circumstances are you yabbos allowed to blame China. You did to yourselves, now fix it. The right way.

Dogwoman

Nothing To Lose

Hello.

Credit crisis. Rising Gas prices. Rising food prices. Inert and unwilling lawmakers.

These are some of the problems facing America today. While it may seem that these are loosely connected in some vague way they are in fact directly related.

Banks made loans to low income people at what are termed ‘predatory rates’. This means that the bank knew the homeowner couldn’t pony up the dough and was just waiting for the time they must foreclose. Then they could sell the house to another ‘low income homeowner’ and start the cycle all over again. Using this method they could make thousands of dollars off one house and the average yutz. Pretty slick. Too bad so many banks started getting in on the action. By using the idea of the American Dream against regular Joes, like you and I, the banking industry has crashed our economy.

It’s not just the lending strategy, it’s the hiding of assets and debit that has been going on since 2000. The banks have been playing fast and loose with numbers off the books. Things that we never hear about like derivatives and the resurgence of hedge funds and private equity funds.

What puzzles me and makes me wonder is why the Government is bailing out the banks.

The Government should be bailing out the homeowner. I thought is was the general duty of the Government to help those who have been harmed by the amoral practices of businesses which it is supposed to regulate. Like Banks. I had no idea the Government was in place to bail out the banks who instituted these policies after Slick Willy signed Bank deregulation into law in 2000, just before he skated out the White House door. Guess he was hoping we wouldn’t notice.

With the credit industry crashing on a global scale NOW bank officers are crying foul. “Oh we should have seen that” Oh fuck off, you did see it, but your profits were more important than those who might be harmed. Like everyone not on the Board.

The bankers who brought you the Savings and Loan disaster of the eighties have now brought you the World Wide Credit Crunch. And they have no plans to change any of their policies once our Fed bails them out.

Thanks to them gas and food and housing prices are soaring because the billions in tax payer dollars that should be going to restructuring programs are going into the coffers of banks. The Government is using our money to bail out the banks who raped our communities. And the lawmakers sit back and yawn and rake in the campaign contributions from these bastards while rubber stamping their poor policies.

Why not? They’ve got nothing to lose.

I really hate that.

Dogwoman

Thought For The Days To Come

Hello.

Is it just me or do the Democratic candidates spend more time talking about themselves than the issues?

I still don’t care if Obama is black or Hilary is a woman. No amount of media hype is going to make me care.

I care that these ‘agents of change’ don’t talk about the recession, Iraq, the credit crunch and subsequent devaluation of the dollar, continuing rising insurance and health care rates and educational issues.

I care that the only thing they care about is the other candidate. It’s very sweet, but maybe they could knock that shit off and get back to what is important.

Dogwoman

Book ‘Em Danno

Hello.

There’s a boycott going on, didn’t you know?

Muslim States are boycotting the Paris Book Fair because the guest of honor is Israel.

It’s a book fair. A collection or gathering of writers and publishers. Not a G8 convention. It’s asinine to boycott books because the GOH is a hotbed of political controversy. I’m thinking that if the flyleaf were on the other cover this wouldn’t be an issue. It’s another attempt to politicize an event to make a point. Okay, point made. Move on.

What a terrible thing to happen to writers from countries like Morocco, Iran, Lebanon. Here in America, we don’t get a lot of exposure to World Lit, even if we take the class in college. World Lit class gives us books like Things Fall Apart and Night. Both very good books but, surely we could use some of the North African writers or Norwegian writers or Arab writers. But no. If I want a book by a non American writer I have to sign into Amazon with a fake accent. Most current American ‘Literature’ is crap. To my way of thinking James Patterson is not a writer, he’s a man with a formula and a business plan. I went walking through a bookstore recently and found that seventeen books in the A-L section had the word Daughter in the title. American writers have become so crap they can’t even think of their own titles anymore. We need World Lit writers. Desperately. Please.

My point is, Book Fairs, be they in Paris, London, Turin or elsewhere are there to bring new writers and old writers into a place where literature can be examined openly and not sotto voce in a tiny tea room or remote artists’ loft. Boycotting only hurts the writers. And if a country wants to gain a political foothold, they should stop gagging the very people who can make that happen for them. To issue a boycott for political reasons in a realm where exceptional lying is a way of life just seems a bit oxymoronish. While writers can write about political issues, politics, historically, has never been allowed to decide the moment for writers. Well, except the Salman Rushdie thing, but that’s over so, why dwell?

I’m thinking that the political movers and shakers in this day of bland unexciting news reporting have forgotten a very important point. Writing is an art form. It’s art.

And it takes a small mind to tell an artist that they can’t show their work because they don’t like what the artists from another country have to say.

Dogwoman

Carl Levin Is A Turncoat

Hello.

I am ashamed of the Michigan Senator and would like to issue a blanket apology to all Americans for him. Carl Levin broke ranks and voted with Republicans to fund the war in Iraq without a timetable for withdrawal.

Aside from the horror of watching my state fall further and further behind in just about every category, now I have to apologize to everyone for living in one of the states that just handed King Bush another blank check to do as he pleases.

These constant freebies that the Senate hands out to a man who has no concept of what being the Head of State really means is not only hard to watch, but excruciating when we are forced to participate by the traitorous actions of our elected Senators.There is no explanation available that could possibly excuse Levin’s defection. First chance given I will vote to oust him as he has clearly lost the vision and hardheaded determination he has shown in the past.

Levin should be deeply ashamed of himself.

Nevermind, we’ll be ashamed for him. That’s how it works. Senators can do as they please but it’s the people who bear the burden of responsibility. We’re the ones who pay for their actions.

And right now it’s the soldiers who are going to pay for it by continuation of the War in Iraq.

I cannot fully express in words how much sorrow and embarrassment Senator Carl Levin has caused with his recent vote. Let’s just imagine a rude hand gesture and leave it at that.

Dogwoman