Surviving the Current Economic Unpleasantness

The best advice on what to do with the economy collapsing around us comes to Everybody courtesy of Wonkette commentator Serolf Divad: 

"If I lived in Australia I’d be welding massive gas tanks onto the back of my black 1973 XB GT Ford Falcon Coupe right now. I’d get a dog and learn to enjoy eating dog food out of the can. I’d dress in black leather and carry a sawed off shotgun and lots of shells."

So, there you have it.

In a totally unrelated note, the best line Everybody heard following the recent Electoral Good News comes to us from the hallways of one of the local high schools where one of the youngsters was overheard wailing on the morning after the vote, "I don't even want to live in a country where Barack Obama is president!  Do you know what his middle name is?  It's Al Queda!"

So, there you have it again. 

My teenage daughter is a Democrat, big time.  Just like her parents.  Her classmate, the girl who apparently thinks Hopey is a terrorist, is a Republican, big time.  Just like her parents.  The affirmative case for the efficacy of political indoctrination is therefore made, no? 

How then to explain that I was raised by a Republican?  In fact, during a recent visit I teased my mom about how she had voted for Nixon.  Twice.  (Upon further reflection I realized that I had misstated the case.  She probably voted for Tricky Dick 5 times: in 1952,'56,'60,'68 and '72!)

But having spent her 14 years as an inmate, I mean student in my political re-education camp, our daughter was really quite concerned, worried sick is more like it, about the impact a win by the other side would have on the future of our nation and on the future of our household.  Having previously mentioned indoctrination as I did, you can see why I would blame myself for her feeling the way she felt, but what could I do?  With the exception of the lies all fathers tell their children, (i.e., "There is too a Santa Claus"; "There is too an Easter Bunny"; and, of course, "You do too have a really, really great dad!") I am unerringly truthful with my child.  My defense for scaring my kid is therefore the virtual impossibility of overstating to her or anyone else the dire consequences of a victory by a ticket which presents on it the name "Sarah Palin".

Laura, like the rest of us, feels much better now.

Meanwhile, I see the middle-aged men gather after church or before choir practice and I overhear snippets of their conversations.  They are auto guys, middle management, mostly.  They work for Ford or GM or a company whose business and existence depend on Ford or GM.  "What have you heard?"  "Are you taking the buyout?", etc.  They are worried.  They are scared for their economic lives.  I wonder how the Republicans among them, a majority I am sure, have taken the news that Senate Republicans are poised to filibuster the $25 billion in loan guarantees for the Big Three.

Finally, an excellent thesis on how the mind of Sarah Palin works in the wake of her presser this week at the Republican Governors Association meeting from the superb Matt Taibbi of the Rolling Stone magazine.  Enjoy! 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes We Did.

It's Election Night:

A few minutes after Barack Obama became the president-elect, I called my black friend and said, "A Brother in the White House.  What's that all about?"  We had a great laugh but I think maybe he'd been crying a little bit.  What's that all about?  I haven't been able to wipe this smile off my face since California went to Obama and put him over the top at a second after eleven and that was about an hour-and-a-half ago. 

It was the cracking-voiced reaction of the blacks I saw on TV tonight, Eugene Robinson on MSNBC and Juan Williams on FOX that affected me most.  (And wasn't best part of the night watching those Fox News Channel creeps with the looks on their faces that said, "We are SO screwed"?) 

I'd never realized how much the election of Obama would mean to black people.  How could I?  I'm a white dude.  I just wanted to get a good man in there.  Which we did.  But, to be honest, I hadn't really thought about how blacks would take it before tonight.  it touched me to see how much it meant to them.   

I looked at that crowd of several hundred thousand gathered in Grant Park and I told my wife Jeannie, "I just hope this means we can all get along better now, you know?"  It's what I want more than anything from this new day.

The thing I will remember most about the presidential campaign of 2008 was the Labor Day trip my family made to downtown Detroit for an Obama rally.  I was born in Detroit and I've lived here pretty much my whole life and I've never seen the place so happy.  I've seen it on fire, literally, but I've never seen it happy.  We were walking back to the car and passed a parked school bus filled with kids from Southfield Lathrup High School.  Black kids.  A whole bus full of them.  One of the kids stuck his head out the window and asked, "You for McCain?"  "Oh, hell no," I said.  "Obama!  Obama! Obama!"

The bus went completely nuts.  It was rocking as the kids cheered along with me.  What a great time we were having together.  I'll never forget it.  I'll never forget this night.

I watched McCain giving his little concession speech in front of his little crowd of rich people with their cocktails glasses clinking at a resort for rich people in Scottsdale and then I saw We the People gathered in a city park in Chicago waiting to hear the winner speak.  It was the perfect metaphor for what this whole campaign was about.  Not to mention the perfect ending to it.

Yes we can?  Yes, we did!

Only 13

I was listening to Harry Beadle deliver the 1pm (Eastern) edition of "CNN Radio News" today (Friday, October 31) and old Harry sounded like he was pretty geeked up about what he called, and I quote, "Good news out of Iraq today."

According to Harry, it seems not a single US soldier died in Baghdad this month!  Huzzah!

Then Harry had to go and spoil the whole thing and stress my mellow.  In following up he noted that "only 13 American soldiers died elsewhere in Iraq in October."

Really?  Only 13?  Only?

I will say this.  It's the first time this month I've heard any word whatsoever in the broadcast media anywhere about US war deaths in Iraq.  Maybe the first time in weeks.  In fact, there are entire months that go by without any mention of the on-going deaths in the War Bush Lied America Into unless I happen to be listening to This Is America with Jon Elliot (11pm Eastern on Air America Radio, 1310 WDTW-AM here in Detroit) on the first of the month.  During his first show every month, Elliot ends his broadcast by reading a list (name, age and hometown) of every US soldier killed in Iraq during the month just ended.

There have been months when it would take over an hour to complete the list.  May, 2007, for example. That one included 127 names and ages and hometowns. It took Jon almost two hours of airtime to read it.  This is America is billed by its host as "the fastest two hours on radio".  Not that night it wasn't.

Now, I get it that 13 is far fewer than 127.  But 13 of our brothers and sisters who were alive when this month began are now dead.  13 more have died for Bush's lies in the past month.

I fail to see the good news to which Mr. Beadle made reference.

By the way, the most recent Iraq War death, the 13th in the month of October, occurred Thursday.  The name of the decedent has not yet been released.  He or she is the 4,189th American to die in Iraq.  So far.

Four days until we change America.

"And He's A N-----!"

Just to make sure there was no sound dubbing involved, I checked this video against a different feed provided by The Des Moines Register and it is authentic.  This is from a Klan, sorry, a Palin rally Saturday.  The clip is less than a minute.  At about the :14 mark, you will hear a slur that should make your heart sink.

From her reaction (not to mention the slur was shouted loud enough that it actually created an echo in the Hy-Vee Arena) it is obvious that Palin heard it.  Other than stumbling over her words, she did nothing.  Nothing at all.  It was perfectly okay with her. 

It's like I said to someone I know to be a Republican over the weekend: "So, you're voting for Palin, eh?  Tell me what that's like."

Seven days until we change America. 

Spread the Wealth

I hear Insane John McSame scream at his rallies that "Barack Obama wants to spread the wealth!"  while his apparently vapid worth-a-hundred-million-dollar trophy wife stands there with that smug, crap-eating grin on her face and while I think about what a good idea Barack has there, I hear McSame's audience react to the to the suggestion that wealth in the country should be spread around not by cheering wildly, but rather by booing loudly.  As louldy as they can, in fact.  I am left slack-jawed in disbelief.

What could they possibly be thinking? 

Does everybody at a McSame rally make over $250,000 or are they just stupid? 

I usually depend on Wonkette for a laugh or two, but there was nothing in this post to giggle about.  It reports on a 30-country economic study which took two years to complete and which concludes that only two nations (Turkey and Mexico) have greater income disparity between the rich and poor than we have right here in the Good Ole USA.  And it notes that the gap is growing, that it has shot up in the last 8 years after the trend had been reversed  (albeit slightly) the previous 8 years.

The report says that the top 10% of US wage earners control 71% of all the wealth in the United States.  The top 1% owns fully 33% of the nations wealth.  That doesn't leave much for the rest of us, now does it?

So why are these idiots booing the idea of "spreading the wealth around"?  Spreading it around a bit sounds pretty common sense to me.

My wife says it's because all those people aspire to make it to the top 10% and don't want to get taxed once they get there.  I say that I'm all for them reaching that goal and as soon as they do (which, of course, the vast majority never will) they should right away turn around and become big-time Repubs.  But until that day, they are simply cutting their own throats by supporting Republican policies which hurt them; which have never done a single thing for them. 

I think Barack said it best yesterday: "Senator McCain isn't looking out for Joe the Plumber.  He's looking out for Joe the Hedge Fund Manager!"

Right on, my brother.  Right on!

13 Days

Boy, you skip a day or two because you're pissed off about Ohio State beating your team 45 to whatever or you're a little tired after broadcasting a high school game cause a running back ran for 5 touchdowns and the other teams quarterback threw for 5 and it all came down to a two-point conversion that failed but which could have been called either way and the game winds up 35-34 and you're so jacked you don't fall asleep until a quarter to dawn and before you know it, it's been almost a week since you checked in. 

So, sorry about that. 

Here's a musical interlude for those who like to listen to tunes while they read.  Long story short: my broadcast career began at a country music station back in the late 70's and while I hated most of the music so very, very much, there were a couple of tunes I liked.  Going with those few, here's a little Charley Rich Rolling With the Flow for you.  (Skip it if you want.  Richie?  He don't give a damn).

 

Ah, wasn't that nice?

A final word on the ALCS.  After they won Game 5 after being down 7-0 like that, I thought Boston was going to win, of course.  That's the only way it becomes a legendary story, winning the whole freaking thing.  But, they didn't so now it's just a pretty good story.  I did read in Boston's Game Notes that, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the game marked only the 4th time in Red Sox history -- and the first time since 1961 -- that Boston had come from as many as 7 runs behind in the 7th inning or later to win a game.  Since, as you well know, the Bostons have played 16,728 games since joining the American League in 1901, what we saw in Game 5 was a once in a quarter-of-a-century event.  When Boston got that first-inning homer in Game 7, I figured it was all over, but I was wrong because that's all they got.  And that's because Tampa traded a pretty good ballplayer, Delmon Young, to get pitcher Matt Garza last November.  Garza, Tampa's Game 7 starter, gave the Red Sox that homer and that was all he gave them.  It's hard not to like Tampa as a team.  I like them to win the Series.  But I hate their ballpark.

Now to politics.  Here's the link to the Rolling Stone article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast about how the GOP plans to steal the vote in 13 days.  It fall under the "must-read" category:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23638322/block_the_vote

One last thing.  The game I'm broadcasting Friday night, our "Game of the Week" this week is a bitter rivalry game:  North Farmington at Farmington.  It's a terrific story.  In week 3, Farmington got beat 63-0 by Adams (the worst loss in school history) to fall to 0-3 for the season and to extend their losing streak to 15 in a row.  They hadn't won a game since 2006.  Since that loss, the Falcons have won 5 in a row (2 by shutout) including their first win over Harrison since 1977.  Now, that was a game.  Six lead changes and Farmington won it 20-19 on a touchdown with :53 left on the clock.  I was so jacked I didn't fall asleep until a quarter-to-dawn.  Now, if they can beat North Farmington, they will be in the state playoffs.  That's a hell of a story.  But only if they win Friday night.

13 days until we change America.  We'll talk again soon.

The Damndest Thing Everybody Has Ever Seen

And you thought Haloscan sucked.  I just finished off a long post on the Red Sox miracle win in Game 5 of the ALCS and lost it all when I kicked out the power cord.  Thanks, Windows Live Writer.  Nice auto-archive feature.

I just wanted to point out that what happened at Fenway tonight was the damndest thing I've ever seen.  In baseball, anyway.

I saw a graphic on the TV that said Boston's 8-7 comeback win -- they were down 7-0 in the bottom of the 7th inning and were only 7 outs away from having their season ended (and I'll tell you what, when the number of runs you trail by in a game equals or exceeds the number of outs you have left in that game you are in some kind of trouble) -- was the second-largest comeback in baseball's post-season history.

Right away I thought I knew what the biggest such comeback was.  From memory.  I thought it was Philadelphia (the American League A's) against Chicago around in a World Series around 1930. 

It turns out there is a pretty good memory on that baseball historian.

A check of the record book (it was in the retrieving of it from a nearby bookshelf that I kicked out that power cord and ruined my post) confirms that it was the A's and it was the Cubs, but it was 1929, not '30.  The Cubs, down two games to one, led Game Four 8-0 when Philly came to bat in the bottom of the 7 at Shibe Park and put a ten-spot on 'em to win 10-8 and go up 3-1 in a Series which Philadelphia took in 5 by winning the next game.  The stat that jumps out at you from the '29 World Series is that Philadelphia (aided, of course by that big rally in Game 4) outscored Chicago 19-2 from the 7th inning on in the five games.

I watched most of the fun from Fenway tonight on a computer feed which provided only ambient stadium sound and four fixed camera locations since I wanted to watch the episode of Countdown I'd recorded on the TV and, what the hell, it was, after all, 7-0 Rays by the time I got home from where ever it was that I had been this evening.

Whenever the ball was put in play, you couldn't follow it.  The cameras didn't move.  So, for example, I had to count how many men crossed the plate after Ortiz hit it out to know it was a 3-run homer.  And I only knew it was a homer from the roar of the crowd and the sight of said crowd going nuts.  And when Casey scored to tie the game, I saw him slide across home plate and saw the Rays start jogging off the field.  Since the crowd was going nuts again, I could only surmise that the run had counted and that the batter-runner had been subsequently retired on the base paths.  Which is exactly what happened, of course.

After that, I watched on TV like a normal person.  Quite a night.  The fans who were there will be talking about that game until the day they die.  Especially if Boston comes all the way back to defeat Tampa. 

They were dead, Boston.  Not merely moribund.  They were dead.  Like I said, I've never seen anything like it.  Only somebody who was old enough to be a fan in 1929 and who is still alive today has.