Rent Boys -- and ordinary Americans

 

Stop me before I vote again has several good posts… and from one came this report of Russell Baker’s:

 In today’s cash-fueled political world, both parties claim they have no option but to function as indentured servants of corporate America. This, not surprisingly, creates a dynamic of dependency and obligation. The Republicans have excelled at this game, especially under the tutelage of Karl Rove and Tom DeLay.  But the Democrats have, increasingly, belied their long-assumed commitment to the little guy and the average American by cozying up to the money trough as well.

This pattern accelerated markedly under the Clinton Administration, which, despite some reformist tendencies, often aided the big-business agenda, easing domestic regulations and passing international trade agreements that tended to unshackle the large corporation. Some of these changes were clearly in the public interest, such as streamlining cumbersome and often-antiquated bureaucratic processes. But many others were not: lowering environmental thresholds and diminishing governmental oversight.

Once the Democrats turned into the opposition, key Clinton figures found a home in offering their advertising, public relations and arm-twisting skills to industry trade associations and corporations. They retained their links to the party, and have lived a kind of dual life ever since, moving effortlessly from corporate work to campaign work and back. The friendliness with big business has escalated under the reign of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who has assembled his own so-called “K Street Cabinet” – named after the street where the lobbying hordes are headquartered.

it is loaded with information on corporate betrothed DC pols… as it dates from mid June 2006 it is a little behind in the report on Andy Young.

Madman sent a link to a good post by Scott Lemieux over at Lawyers Guns and Money… but i want to snip out a quote from the comment thread… it made me laugh last night…

It’s one thing for the Dems to stand up and very loudly proclaim that Rumsfeld is an incompetent buffoon. It’s another thing entirely for them to stand up and say what the hell they’re going to do differently if they win.

So far we’ve gotten a bunch of mushmouthed crud about beginning a process whereby we commence consideration of our long-term strategic objectives in Iraq with an eye to initiating discussions on the feasability of significant troop reductions in the short to medium term.

Yay. That’ll show ‘em.

Uncle Kvetch | 08.30.06 – 4:13 pm | #

hmm mmm.  I think he’s got it…  and the following comment closed with this  (oh to think this is the remains of a once powerful party <sob>):

[I] think about the only advantage the Democrats can hope to get on this issue is from saying,

“Look, we may not be much, but no way we’re as stupid as these guys have been.”

Sanpete | Homepage | 08.30.06 – 7:47 pm | #

And of course that is what the Dems say, or imply – or don’t correct us as we infer.  Yes… I know how tedious.  Pointing out that the Dems stay seated as the national fire alarms go off. 

I know it is not news.

But it can be amusing… and we are going to have to stiffen up! and find ways to survive the wretched horror. 

Stop me before I vote again has a nice post that slams Kos, Lieberman, and Rahm:  Twinkletoes Emanuel. 

He does have a rather unique history that encompasses both ballet (not just watching) and the IDF (apparently not just watching that either, tho stories vary). And every one of the comments is good.

[G]otta love that Rahm. Guy makes Dr Pangloss look like H.L. Mencken. “Love-child” Lieberman is now a Democrat again, and it’s all just great, really.

And from the comments:

The muddled cluckers — the “we broke it, we bought it” Democrats — are nearly as bad and more likely to get the enduring blame, post bug out, when the wingnuts indulge their Dolchstoss frenzy.

Posted by J. Alva Scruggs | August 31, 2006 5:01 AM

Survival.  Not especially pretty in the morass we swim in…

Rummaging around in what used to be Knight-Ridder and now is McClatchy… I saw this report from Joe Galloway dated January 1 2006 with Abizaid’s projections…

Knight Ridder has reported in recent days that ethnic-based militias, like those in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, dominate many Iraqi Army units, and that their soldiers express greater loyalty to their militia leaders than to the nascent Iraqi government being formed in Baghdad. The Iraqi Defense Ministry denied those reports.

Abizaid said he thinks the risk of outright civil war in Iraq is low – “I think it’s possible, but not probable. I don’t see it now. … I think we would see it coming and I don’t see it coming. … I think we can work our way through 2006 in a way that has a good outcome for Iraq.”

Abizaid also said that Iraq has gone through enough politics that “now we are finally at the point where we are going to have a four-year government and that, in and of itself, gives a lot of strength… “

Do we mean anything at all that we say?  And I sure hope he did not think there was a rare 5th star in this bloodletting and war profiteering.

I do understand:  what can he say?… but it is part of the problem.  It is NOT just ”crafting a narrative that is positive”. 

Considering the criminality of it all.

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And, because it hits right thru to the bone, this from Rude Pundit, who has been in and out of New Orleans all thru this year:

Sheriff Jack Stephens of St. Bernard Parish probably spoke for most of America when he said this morning on CNN, “We feel like we’ve been let down again. That we think that Mobile, Alabama, Gulfport, Mississippi, Biloxi, Long Beach, Waveland, Ocean Spring, Slidell, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, New Orleans, Calcasieu, Cameron are all worth more than Baghdad.”

I happened to hear that on CNN – in the kitchen peeling an orange.  And it made me think immediately of the Troubles in Ireland – the Naming of the Names.

A Holy Litany of the wronged.

No, today’s episode of bloggery is not a funny little monkey post. It’s not even particularly insightful or rude. It’s just sad. Because New Orleans is gone, man, gone, as are so many little towns around it. It’s gone because of the bureaucratic nightmare and rank incompetence on every level of government, because of the war-tightened/tax-slashed purse strings of the federal government, because of groups of people in New Orleans who are clinging to a hope of renewal that won’t come and are preventing progress even at the edge of a bulldozer, because no one wants to build on what’s still there, because there is no genuine will in a government that sees private enterprise and charity as the leaders in rebuilding, entities that are, for the most part, unaccountable to anyone.

The anniversary is done. In the coming year, for New Orleans, more people will move away; opportunists, good and bad, will move in; those who can afford the contractors whose prices have skyrocketed past what meager insurance and federal assistance has offered will rebuild homes so that the best blocks will be checkerboard neighborhoods; crime will rise; the poor will be told to be happy in their trailers; water and electricity will still be unavailable to many places. At some point, someone in the EPA will admit that, yes, the ground, the water are contaminated.

But of course there is always hope… just never quite enough…

If you’ve ever experienced the steady glare of the Louisiana sun, you know that despair is just a sweat drop’s distance from hopelessness.

This reinforces the commentary of Rude Pundit:

In the weeks after the storm, even before the power was back, Mr. Anderson opened his club for what he called French Quarter Town Hall meetings. The weekly gatherings, which at first offered little more than camaraderie by candlelight and warm beer, evolved into a de facto government for a part of New Orleans that had experienced little flooding but could not begin cleanup and rebuilding because of the city’s overall paralysis.

The meetings drew officials from the city, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers — all of whom were given an earful — and bit by bit, things improved. Many locals, in fact, gave Mr. Anderson a lot of credit for kick-starting the Quarter’s recovery.

So it is especially poignant that the Andersons have now decided to leave. But their story is not unique: many in this city are suffering the same continuing loss and strain that led these two to their decision. So their departure raises the question of whether others who can afford to leave, those who have not sunk every penny into a now-moldy house or a devastated store, will also move on.

But from a wonderful blog  about post Katrina Pearlington MS [thanks Madman] is this:

Today is silence for me. Breathe in, breathe out. Respect for all that we’ve endured, thankfulness for all the help we received. Jaw set tight. It’s still too enormous for me to get my head around, so I won’t try. Words are often useless for me, and today, more so.

So instead, a simple photograph of my mom’s Eden, one year on. She’s sitting on the front porch of what will be her new home soon. It’s risen on the foundation of the home Katrina destroyed, only steps away from her FEMA trailer, and every day she looks out the trailer window a thousand times at it, and her gold smile lights up, and she whispers “Thank you, Jesus.”

It’s been built by the sweat and love of volunteers from all over the country. From all walks of life they’ve come into the Gulf to help their brothers and sisters. Normal, average Americans, disgusted by their government’s inaction, they’ve picked up hammers and done it themselves. [snip]

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UPDATE, 11:50 am

- Star – Moonbeams – Jar -

In case you thought I had forgotten Mark Warner, Jerome Armstrong (and thus Kos) and the Star Business – I had not.

According to a legitimate release from his PAC, Ex-Gov. Mark Warner (D-VA) “will enter into his Second Life” today at 3:30 pm ET. He will become ‘the first American political leader to engage in the online virtual world, Second Life.”

hmm … maybe Mark Warner departed the rooted reality of car phones (whatever!) and the governorship of VA for … being a tad too virtual?

Warner “Internet Team Leader” Jerome Armstrong: “This is in many ways an experiment. We want to see what people make of this. How will they organize? How will they interact with each other and with Governor Warner? We’re all figuring out new ways to do things online — in how we work, play and share ideas. We don’t know yet how people will use Second Life to engage in politics. But we want to find out” (release, 8/31)

And, once again a zinger of a comment:

“In Second Life, distances and time differences vanish…”

Almost as quickly as a candidates’ grasp of reality.

I’ll be the second orc on the left … the one with the sword or power. Go get ‘em

BTW, because its probably relevant…

Scorpio October 23 – November 21

For Thursday, August 31 -You are the recipient of many truths today. People are in the mood to tell you how they feel, and while not all of the reviews will be glowing, you will end your day with closer, more meaningful relationships. Someone who you desperately want to impress is already raving about your ways, so relax and realize that the two of you are equals after all. Your reputation is on a big upswing, and you have broken some beastly bad habits. Congratulations!

Red Arrow the Orc of Manchester | 08.31.06 11:13 AM

… not too much I can add to that. 

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UPDATE, 2:45 pm

Well!! Hotline was not done.  In classic fashion ( you know they are Republicans, they play at being squishily welcoming to all, but let’s get real) they instruct us to stop sniggering.

I see no reason to stop:   snig … snig, snig.  snig snig.  There, I snuck some in. 

Here is but a snip (or a snig) but let me say, if you need a laugh… click thru and read. 

If Warner has half a brain, he’ll pension Jerome off.  Wanna bet that is what Jerome wants?

SECOND LIFE — Let’s dispense with the hee-haws: yes, it’s easy to make fun of Ex-VA Gov. Mark Warner’s history-making foray into the world of avatars and Second Life(s)s. But think about it: there are 48 million Americans who use the blogosphere, a fraction of which — perhaps 4 million — are regular consumers of the political blogs. This new venture might be mockable, but it’s path-breakingly mockable.

The Hotline signed on as “Hotline Burbclave.” Our first attempt to navigate the new world was stifled when we bumped into a post. Then, as we attempting to adjust our appearance, we accidentally began to take our clothes off — the buttons are too close together! [...]

Apparently, CNN’s Internet team was preparing a segment and a producer needed some footage. Then, suddenly, Warner turned gray, and then transformed on stage into a nude, buxom woman and flew off.

Hamlet Au, the event’s host explained that Warner was “respawning.”

At about 3:40, the real Warner flew in from above the stage. The audience, about 20 odd characters, many of them Second Life regulars, virtually clapped. One reporter shouted out “Will Jim Webb win Virginia?”

That violated the rules. Warner would only answer questions from Au this day, although he plans a virtual town hall meeting in September. [snip]

Now remember I said they are (essentially) Republican (Doug Bailey from Ford admin… and hanging with Ham Jordan and Gerry Rafshoon as they play at Unity ’08 — which may spring a mixed use ticket at us… or some such boomarang) at The Hotline… bear that tidbit in mind.  And who knows what the hell Jerome et alia are.

Poor Mark.  But he is well named.

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