Congratulations, Republicans. You Nominated White Supremacist Derek Vinyard.

SERIOUSLY. WHAT'S DIFFERENT?

Those who needed to learn something from this movie didn't. Instead, they watched the "border jumper" speech, went "GODDAMNED RIGHT", grew up and became Trump's voting base.

Seriously. This speech, which was supposed to be an insight into how a jaundiced mind believes, got mainstreamed and cleaned up . . . and now it's part of a political platform. In 2016.

Don't believe me? Take a look at the comments.

Things I Learned on FB Yesterday:

Police are infallible. NO NO NO. DON'T argue!

There is no such thing as a bad cop, only bad people that make them do bad things. By "bad people", that usually means "black people".

"YOU'RE the ones making it about race."

"There are 3 sides to every story."

"Snopes is not a credible source."

There's apparently no such thing as racial profiling due to the fact that if a "white guy fits a description of a criminal suspect, how is that any different?"

When the (insert marginalized/oppressed community) says "please stop killing us", it's amazing how many people start off by saying "BUT . . . "

"First of all, I'm in no way justifying (insert victim's name here)'s death . . . " is the new "I'm not a racist, but . . . "

How low should the Average American Income be?

With this board's apparent and sudden accepting of fiscal conservativism and Classical Liberalism, the meme of the month is that we're not really the progressives we say we are unless we embrace job offshoring; unless we accept that automation is going to gobble up jobs and leave millions with no means of earning money. We should accept the coming worthlessness of our degrees; we're nothing but a dime-a-dozen in the world's eyes. We're "not needed" to be part of a consumer economy (search me how one makes THAT leap, but . . . OK . . . ). We'll, plain and simple, no matter what degree of education we have and no matter how much money it takes to go to college, have to "work even HARDER" and for less money if you want to be a true team player.

Face Facts, Kids. Average is Over.

And in getting on board with bringing our standards DOWN (rather than, perish the thought, bring THEIR standards to ours . . . but then our wealthy couldn't buy that 13th home and why do you hate Uncle Sam), American workers should embrace pay cuts, because if there's ONE thing that's going to help Capitalism achieve the purity we're shooting for, it's to take money AWAY from folks who have to spend every last dime of it!

If we're going to have a worldwide Capitalist orgy, Americans are going to have to bite some bitter pills and have to accept being POORER . . . having our wages and salaries CUT. Because you all can afford to have salary cuts, right? COME on, you so-called progressives!! SACRIFICE your salaries for the greater good, or you're just like Donald Trump!!

(Never mind that's a bunch of neolib horseshit, as this country's wages haven't experienced a significant overall inflation-adjusted rise since 1979 and there's not much evidence that offshoring jobs to Asia has indeed led to higher paying positions in America, a canard that the Greg Mankiws, Marc Andreessens and Steve Forbes of the world like to toss around.)

Sooooooooooooo, how low should the Average American Income go? I know I asked this before and got an answer in the form of a question.

Name that bottom right now.

$18,000/year? ASTOUNDING.

Where would you live? How would you educate yourself? How would you drive yourself around? How would you pay bills? What if you had kids? How would they eat? Would they dumpster dive or steal from orchards?

Hey, let's go even lower, since apparently, America's homeless are the world's Larry Ellisons . . .

How about $5000 a year per family?

What bridge would they be living under? That sure wouldn't afford them anything but a used van to camp in. Would their breakfasts be insects or varieties of mosses or dandelions?

How low should we go? What would satisfy the board's pure Capitalism cheerleaders?

YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!

I still can't process it. The parade's going to be biblical!!!

George Voinovich, former Cleveland mayor, Ohio governor and U.S. senator, dies

Source: Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio - George Voinovich, an earnest-looking Collinwood boy who grew up to be an Ohio legislator, Cleveland mayor, Ohio governor, U.S. senator and one of the most popular Buckeye State politicians of his generation, died early Sunday.

He was 79.

His son, George, said his father died peacefully in his sleep.

snip

"I think he'll always be remembered for his compassionate leadership, his bipartisan approach and his ongoing stubborn commitment to fiscal responsibility," Curt Steiner, who was among Voinovich's top political advisers, said Sunday. "He lived in a fiscally responsible manner and he led in a fiscally responsible manner. I can't think of anybody who can match the record."

Voinovich, a lawyer and one-time assistant state attorney general who spent more than four decades in politics, was credited with restoring financial health to Cleveland after the city went into default under his mayoral predecessor. A plainspoken man with a disarming grin and support from the city's business establishment, he helped ignite the downtown building boom of the 1980s that would give Cleveland the moniker "Comeback City."



Read more: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/06/george_voinovich.html#incart_2box

Venture Capitalist Thomas Perkins dies at 84.

I watched "Where to Invade Next" last night.

Much of it was viewed in utter disgust, particularly during the Italy and Germany segments on how they work to live (2 hour lunches, off at 2:00 PM, 5-7 weeks mandatory vacation, "13th month salary", 5 months maternity leave, workers and unions have a say in a Democratic workplace, etc, etc) while America is drowning in overwork, under-wage and little & less to show for their efforts.

Don't even get me started on the segments revolved around children and teens.

Anyway, I read something MM said in an interview for the film that got me thinking:

Judging by news articles, the Republican Party is apparently "being destroyed".

Although I'm kind of confused.

Last I checked, they run the House (and barring a massive deprogramming of rural and suburban voters, I don't see that changing any year soon), the Senate, the media, The Supreme Court (well, at least they DID until Scalia inconveniently died), corporations, religion, economics, state governorships, state legislatures, congressional districts, etc. etc. etc.

Oh, and their reality-TV, CEO carnival barker, openly racist, sexist and birther candidate is a serious contender for President.

So, is this an "any day now" glacial long-term destruction we're talking about or is it a right-away destruction . . . ?

I'm just not sure. Facts kind of contradict the narrative. I don't think Americans are as sick of Republicans as pundits SAY they are.

We hate them . . . . buuuuuuuuuuuuut we can't QUIT them. Is that right?

Either way, America is NOT going to survive "Republican control of All Three Branches", so it better wise up sooner rather than later.

Is anyone else sick to death of the "Liberal Smugness" snarl that's going around lately?

Let me get this straight:

Democrats thought that a turn to the left was bad news in 2000, so Al Gore moved away from the positives of the Clinton Administration and brought on as his VP the Worst Democrat Next To Zell Miller, Big Insurance-backed Holy Joe Lieberturd. It's a given that, between Republican Lite and Republican, the latter wins that battle every time.

And, of absolute course, when The Failure Fuhrer became president, a handful of progressives were blamed for voting Nader (never mind the roles Jeb Bush, Kathy Harris, Karl Rove, Sandra Day O'Connor, Fox News, Jack Welch and Joe Lieberman himself played in that defeat).

"Grow a spine", they said. "Stop kowtowing to centrists", they said. "Stop bringing knives to gunfights when taking on the right", they said.

Oh, but now it's "don't be TOO mean . . . because nobody likes "SMUG".

So what's the message here, "be dishonest"? "Be nice to grown adults who refute science to believe stories and narratives from Reaganite Australians and purchased pundits?" "Stop being mean to people who make the demonization of nations, races and genders a way of life?"

Here's the thing: I will let up on the gas sometime when the Earth crashes into the Sun. In case you need that translated, I'm NEVER going to stop calling out Conservatives on their sexism, racism, anti-science, proven disaster economics, red-baiting, logical fallacies or their wholesale need to never compromise.

These people are grown adults. I don't have time to recalibrate the fuckered parts of their head, I have my own problems to deal with.

If they want to believe bullshit fairy tales like trickle-up socialism will lead to the benefactors and handlers being more benevolent or an invisible sky daddy will make their lives better while blowin' up the Mooslims and Commies, that's on them, not me.

If they want to believe they're better than someone because they're white, fuck them.

They need to wake up, grow up and OWN up. Don't sit there and call me "SMUG" to compensate for the fact that you think President Donald Trump is an awesome idea. Don't tell me how to conduct myself in political debate while engaging with people who think the loudest shouter wins. These people believe "the Reagan Legend" will solve everything and a 7-2 Roman Catholic Supreme Court will put them "wimmins libbers in thur place", but I'M the "bad guy" here?

My kid's generation doesn't really have a shred of hope, does it?

Between all of these articles on how Automation is going to destroy at least 40% of blue collar, retail, industrial and manufacturing jobs in the coming decades and how AI poses a serious threat to take over a decent percentage of white collar work within the next two decades, I'm just not getting why anyone should even bother trying if there's no hope to be had.

So much doomsday . . . and let's use that word, DOOMSDAY . . . talk. It's simply depressing.

It's depressing because while some of you think this is going to lead to some grand progressive Elysium where we'll finally move beyond the idea of a person's success being tethered to how gainfully they're employed, I see it quite differently.

I see an America that's NOT moving past "Protestant Work Ethic". I still see an America that's NOT moving beyond "Plantation Mentality". I still see an America that still believes the "Horatio Alger" nonsense. I see an America that still buys into Republican economic and social positions (even people who say they're "Democratic&quot . I see America that wants to patrol bathrooms but not boardrooms. I see an America that thinks paying workers 8 dollars an hour is unaffordable, but paying a privileged scion eight thousand dollars a minute is perfectly OK. We're expected to just "rugged individualize" our own way in life, and that's simply THAT.

In this robot-run future, I'm seeing "Dystopia". I'm seeing a wealth-demanded and enforced CULL. I'm seeing biblical catastrophe and disaster. I'm seeing wealthy and upper middle class people that will never stand for "PAYin FER LAZY BUMS THAT SHUD BE WERKIN!!". I'm seeing a corporate controlled nation that's going to leave millions to fend for themselves, and those millions won't even know what they should be fending for since most every tangible subject they'll be studying will offer them either no employment or having thousands of people apply for each low-paying job.

Love will not win out in the end. America has never been about love. Americans think life is one big competition, and if you're not actively kicking someone's ass and taking what they have, it's YOUR fault. If one looks around, there's obviously plenty that NEEDS done, but without public or private dollars backing it, it's not going to be accomplished.

So in this inevitability, what should I tell my kid? Give up?

Nobody's giving me a reason to tell him otherwise.