July 4, 2013

He'll still walk.

This is going to be an instructive event for you whippersnappers out there. The law represents only money and power, and while Zimmerman doesn't seem to have a lot of money, his father the judge--the judge nobody seems to know, which might suggest he's a FISA judge--has plenty of power.

Zimmerman will stay free for the trial, and stay free on appeal even if the prosecution or the cops don't flop for him. If he is convicted, the appeal will be dragged out for years, and then when things are more quiet, the case will be steered to one of Daddy's pals, the charges will be reversed and the case dismissed.

Mark my words.

June 7, 2013

Romney, Taxes, the IRS, and Slithering

http://wonkette.com/518861/after-lengthy-downtime-mitt-romney-powers-up-to-explains-that-hurricane-sandy-wrecked-his-robot-dreams

Wonkette is all over it. But I would like to note a couple of things:

* The television media and right-wing radio dial have been relentless in their attempts to savage the IRS; one of the major attempts at public perception shaping is the attempt to delude Americans into believing that Republicans were disproportionately singled out;

* Romney has contrived to place himself back in front of the cameras, forgetting that God sends hurricanes to punish the evil, apologizing for himself and trying to look human;

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/06/mitt-romney-cnn-interview-hurricane-sandy/65986/

* The IRS has a roughly 36-month investigative time-limit on audits from the date of filing; Romney had a habit of filing amended returns later in the year so that he could appear to pay more taxes during the political seasons;

* The Romney's 2010 taxes indicated that the Romneys were using a Swiss bank account in 2010;

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577179740171772850.html

* Virtually nothing is known for sure of the Romney's taxes in 2009, but the filings would likely have filtered in to the IRS over the summer of 2010...

http://blogs.wsj.com/totalreturn/2012/02/01/what-was-mitt%E2%80%99s-2009-income/

Approximately thirty-some months ago.

So... there's that. I'm just putting it up there for your consideration. I must note that I have a bet with myself riding on it. Last September I suggested that Mitt Romney could prove to be one of the worst candidates in U.S. history, if his subsequent prosecution for tax fraud bled into the results of the 2014 mid-terms. So I am neither impartial nor reliable.

June 6, 2013

He's a sly one, that Christie.

The Godfather just got his Tom Hagen lifetime floor access to the Senate.

Before he was New Jersey's AG, Jeff Chiesa was Chief Counsel to the Governor. From now on, the Governor has direct floor access to the Senate. So long as Chiesa does not become a registered lobbyist, he has floor access for life, and he is forever in debt to the Governor for that... because of the implication.

That's going to instantly make Governor Christie one of the most important Governors in the nation, in no small part because he will be privy to privately-generated information unique to himself and the presumed Senator. It will put him in the front-running for the Chair of the National Governor's Association next year, which in turn will put him on any list of top Republican contenders for the nomination in 2016.

June 4, 2013

Come step under my tinfoil umbrella....

I cannot help noticing that all of these IRS "scandals" appear to be a concerted offensive on the part of Republicans against the IRS.

It's almost as if it's a preemptive strike against the IRS, an attempt to delay or derail some sort of pending investigation or disclosure, and to toss some water on it by first sullying the reputation of the Service.

Who might be inclined to do such a thing? My guess back in September was that Mitt Romney might turn out to be one of the worst Presidential candidates in history, if his subsequent prosecution for tax fraud burned into the results of the 2014 elections as well.

All of this may be the defiant squawk of the chicken(hawk) just before the hatchet falls.

May 28, 2013

Ah yes, the rose-tinted good old days.

I've been paying fairly close attention to what Congress has been doing for nearly 20 years now. Never, in that entire time, did I see the Republicans in the Senate meet even the minimum standards of conduct that the Senate's playbook demands.

They have operated disgracefully and dishonorably that entire time.

They were always dishonest negotiators, always obstructionists, always the instigators of false crises like shutdowns and debt ceilings, always the first to violate the rules of comity and, on the occasions when they were in control, always first to refuse to hear out minority dissent.

Snowe has consistently tried to give herself a pass by tacking moderate in election seasons, but her voting record clearly shows that she facilitated all of the dirty pool the Republican Party played, year after year, for the entirety of the time I have watched.

What we are seeing here is the Dr. Frankenstein moment of clarity, the moment when the old guard of dishonorable Republican Senators realize that their own machinations have created this monster, and now they are seeking to shackle it down. But it is their own behavior that brought them to this moment and it is far, far too late to contain the monster. All they can do is distance themselves in a desperate attempt to protect their own tarnished legacies.

April 28, 2013

Worst. President. Ever.

Let me run down my own list of worst Presidents, and I think you'll see where I'm going:

Ulysses S. Grant. Sold out to corrupt corporate interests; widespread corruption across his administration; his Vice President was guilty of awarding his own corporate interests with lucrative government contracts...

Just like George W. Bush.

Warren G. Harding. Scandalously leased government-owned lands, particularly oil-rich lands, to his corporate cronies. Held secret policy-formulation meetings with corporate interests, then fought disclosure...

...Just like George W. Bush.

James K. Polk. Lied to the public in order to spark a war under false pretenses, for reasons far more greedy than publicly stated...

...Just like George W. Bush.

Franklin Pierce. Disinterested, alcoholic, accused drunk driver...

...Just like his many-great grand-nephew, George W. Bush

Ronald Reagan. Not intellectually capable of doing the job, nor of policing his subordinates. Presided over the systematic violations of Congressional direction and the Constitution...

...Just like George W. Bush.

Richard Nixon. Attempted (and successful) election theft. Manipulated an intelligence agency as part of a larger series of cover-ups. Fought undeclared wars in secret. Underlings included Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld...

...Just like George W. Bush.

George W. Bush is the worst President ever, without question, and it should be without debate. Why? Because George W. Bush did all of the worst things that all of the worst Presidents have done, and screwed it up bigger, killed more people, ruined more lives, and stole more land and homes than any of them--and probably more than the rest of those chumps put together. You bring me any other "worst ever" candidate, name his five worst sins, and I can show you W. committing and getting away with the same sins, only worse. He was that bad.

George W. Bush was a shambling composite of every prior evil that ever shat upon the Presidency. Worst. President. Ever.

Hey, does DU still sell those T-shirts? Mine's worn out.

March 1, 2013

Yeah, that's the story, but it sure ain't the truth.

If this peg seems a little too square to fit in the hole Republicans drilled out for themselves, that is because the President deliberately designed the automatic cuts to be so damaging to the Republican donor base that Congressional Republicans would have to respond or suffer dire consequences. As we all know, they're not real good at the "doing their jobs" part of their jobs, so a response turned out to be impossible.

It doesn't really matter what they're saying or what we think. What really matters is what the defense industry thinks. They pay legislative analysts far too well to miss the fact that this is a Republican problem generated by a Republican crisis designed to make Americans worse off so that Republican interests could profit, and it failed so spectacularly that it completely reversed the election results their despicable behavior was designed to generate.

They failed entirely, and the President made sure to frame the problem so that the consequences fall thickly and disproportionately upon the wealthiest and most powerful Republican interests: tax hikes on the rich are passed and irrevocable; reduced payouts to fossil fuel industries are passed and irrevocable; a trillion dollars in Defense cuts, without the help a single Democratic vote in the House are passed and probably irrevocable.

Now all the people with the money are in a very uncomfortable position, because they have already betrayed, vilified, and damaged the one political block that is still competent enough to save them. They still have all the money, but their hired help sucks and the union won't work for them.

Right now they're contemplating which corner of the shit sandwich to bite first. Do they run off the incompetent boobs they installed in Congress by putting up new primary candidates against their own candidates and drooling Tea Party trogs, ensuring absurdly expensive three-candidate primaries sure to default to the stupidest and most hateful candidate? Do they open up some races by releasing the dirt-files on those Republican Members who failed them? Do they jump tracks and start trying to find Democratic Members dumb or corruptible enough enough to forget what they've done (Democrats have done an awfully good job of policing themselves these past ten years....)? Do they hedge and fund both parties evenly, ensuring that most of the money they spend will simply cancel itself out?

It's like King Minos bricked himself into the Labyrinth he built, and now the Minotaur is pissed off and coming to hunt him down.

January 22, 2013

I cannot believe nobody else sees...

... a certain other implication which will naturally evolve from this.

Imagine, if you will, our solar system as a cliff face, with the sun as the valley floor and the planets and smaller bodies as edifices at various heights up the cliff according to their distance from the sun.

What can the person farthest up the cliff do to everyone else the easiest, at any distance below him?

Piss on 'em, that's what.

January 11, 2013

I'm not worried about it.

This past election was weighted even more heavily in the GOP's favor, 23 to 10. The Democratic Party picked up two seats anyway, if one includes the two independents who now caucus with us.

We currently enjoy a ten-seat advantage in the Senate, 55-45, and we have the best chance in decades to capture a supermajority in 2014. If we hold or pick up all Senate elections outside of the old Confederacy, we get it.

What has already happened is this: two of the three Senate Classes are now controlled nearly 2 to 1 by Democrats. Since 2006, Republicans simply have been unable to carry statewide elections in the way they once did, as the GOP devolves ever further into sectionalism and extremism, exactly as their spiritual forebears did (as Democrats) prior to the Civil War.

By 2016, even the Republican gerrymandering in the House will begin sagging, as their own policies kill their constituents, push them into poverty, and cancel their votes by forcing them into urban areas where they have a chance of survival.

In that year, I suspect, Republicans will find themselves defending half of the Senate seats they have left in Congress, including virtually all of the Ohio River states that broke for President Obama this past election, and they are going to lose many of them.

The particular question of West Virginia is certainly a touchy one and until WV's crushing poverty, infrastructural collapse, and environmental destruction is addressed, ignorance--and the GOP--will hold sway. But the replacement of Jay with a Republican will have little functional influence on the Senate as a whole--and that's probably as much as I should say about that.

January 2, 2013

Josh Marshall's spider-sense is tingling....

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/01/buying_on_installment.php?ref=fpblg

It is almost as though Cantor is plotting or hatching or just purchasing his coup on layaway.

Cantor is beginning to remind me a lot of Dan Sickles, also a ruthless, plotting, remorseless, boundlessly ambitious and thoroughly corrupted person.

That suggests to me that Cantor will only be permitted to rise as high as his past indiscretions permit. Whatever they are. We have yet to learn the best of them, publicly.