Bipartisan Fun

My Governor and My President got together during Hurricane Sandy to be leaders, not politicians.

Governor Christie took a lot of heat for that from his Republican "friends", but that's for a more political post.

 I came upon these two stories in my wanderings through the internet tubes. The lighter side of politicians ...

Governor Christie is a favorite for late night comedy. Saturday Night Live loves him.

The Governor showed up in person recently.

You can see the clip HERE

Mckayla Maroney, Olympic gymnast known for her "I'm not impressed" expression, visited the White House.

A smile goes a long way.

Low and High

Yes, we're getting ready for more weather. I'm starting to really dislike weather.
Believe it or not the wind is already a bit too much round here.
People are being evacuated from places that were just deemed safe enough to go back to.
Shore is vulnerable.
Flying debris.

Who the hell thought they'd ever need to beware of flying debris in a small town in NJ.

We remain safe enough and I am grateful.

And ...

Thank goodness for common sense and decency.

A lot of the pundits said the President's response to Sandy had a lot to do with his win. Many of them are bashing my governor Chris Christie for being favorable toward the President during the storm.

Really?

So their idea of good government is for a President and a Governor to put politics before the welfare of millions of people?

No wonder they lost.

My Election Season Savior

I hadn't realized how much better David Letterman makes me feel until last night's show. He always makes me laugh and smile and I think he's incredibly smart and sexy but last night he reminded me how much we think alike.

He's sick of the campaign. He comes up with all the ways that a billion dollars could be better spent.

I want to do what many other countries do. 6 week campaign. No ads. Set amount of money for each candidate.

Anyhoo

Last night he made me feel so much more comfortable with how negative I'm feeling toward our entire process of electing someone. Don't misunderstand me. I hate how this election highlights how divided we are and I detest how the media exploits that.

But I gotta be me.

And snark can be funny. Especially when it's so close to the truth.

I give you the man who wants to be the next Vice President. One heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

Not in a boy band

Not a black rapper

Not a ball player

Not a film director on set

Just a big ole Douche

Take it away Dave

Top Ten Thoughts Going Through Paul Ryan's Mind At This Moment

10. "These weights are 100 pounds each"
9.   "My biceps are cut like taxes for the wealthiest one percent"
8.   "Of course they won't publish this on the most important day of my political career"
7.   "My flaccid smirk will motivate Americans to get in shape"
6.   "What's the worst people will say about me and a photo of a dumbbell?"
5.   "There's no three-day waiting period at this gun show"
4.   "Please, please ask me to take my shirt off..."
3.   "Why are the people giggling?"
2.   "Please, please, ask me to take off my shorts..."
1.   "Maybe now people will take me seriously"

#6 is my favorite 

Thank You Dave



Dear Candidate Romney

I read what you are quoted as telling a group of $50,000 a plate donors about people like me. (see bottom of post) I read it several times. I scoured the internet looking for places where someone at the closed door gathering might be offering a different recollection.


Then I came to the conclusion that you said what you said and meant what you said.

You claim you were quoted out of context – uh, there’s a video – and that your comments were not “elegantly stated”.

Not elegantly stated? Were you wearing the wrong tuxedo when you said them?

As a member of your 47% I’d like to share some thoughts and facts (those are things that are true) with you.

Go fuck yourself and the rich Daddy you rode in on.

I have worked since I was 13 years old.
I was raised by an alcoholic Father and a clinically depressed Mother.
My siblings and I were neglected and abused all of our childhood.
We went to school. We studied. We worked hard to get out.
We got out.

I have paid taxes since my very first “real” job.

When I was promoted to EVP and board member of a large international firm I paid more in taxes than many people earn in a year. I never once cheated. I never once loopholed. I had enough money to live comfortably; why shouldn’t I pay taxes.

When the once private firm where I had worked diligently for years was sold and then sold again and then cut up into pieces and decimated by a firm similar to your Bain Capital I lost my job. Hundreds of people lost their jobs.
The people who bought and sold us got very rich.
I sat in on board meetings where laws were laughed at and where intricate plans were made to get around regulations.
I regret not trying to be a whistle blower but I had a child to care for.
And the people who were taking the company apart scared me.

I was much younger then; they wouldn’t scare me today.
Today I’m scared of dying from lack of proper healthcare.
Today I'm scared of losing my home.

After losing my job I started my own business.

Yes, I started it on my own but it was on a street that was built and maintained by city road crews.
When I worked late I felt safe because there were police officers paid by the government.
That’s what President Obama meant when he said no one does it alone.

Not the bullshit you tried to spin his comments into.

As a small business owner I paid my taxes.
I insured myself and my workers.
I treated them fairly and respected their talents and their humanity.

I had healthcare insurance at $1500 a month and Disability insurance at $200 a month.
From the same insurance carrier who loved me and cared about me for the 20 years that I was a paying customer.

Then I got hurt.
Then a chronic health issue that I had managed all my life took a nasty turn.
It was hard to work and I decided to apply for some of the benefits I had been sold.

Guess what? Insurance companies don’t like keeping promises.
Four years later I am still fighting for full coverage.

I’m also still paying my bills and paying taxes.

I am not fodder for you and your richie rich pals to laugh at.

I am not a sound byte for your pathetic campaign.

Next we'll talk about how you really feel about the Palestinians and Isreal.I'll be writing again soon Mitt. Have a nice day.

From the Mother Jones website - and everywhere else in the universe.
Mitt said ...

There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax.

My job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

Can You Read Me Now?

My long connectivity nightmare is over.

After days of turn on/turn off, check connection, check plug, my back is on fire.
Why are plugs and outlets and connections always behind heavy furniture that only dust bunnies can reach?

After days of “for quality purposes your call may be recorded” and “the estimated wait time for speaking with a technician is 20 minutes to never”, I figured out the problem on my own.

Not before I spoke to Peter and Gary and Roger and Sean. Together we pinged and dinged and donged their schlongs. They were impatient and humorless. Peter was especially abrupt and I asked if I could please speak to Sanjay back in India; he was smart and funny and polite. Peter was not amused.

I assume he has a degree from MIT and this is all he can find in this economy. Tough shit Peter; learn to be grateful

At some point last weekend my McAfee anti-virus software sent out an automatic update that merged and mushed and mingled with signals from Curiosity on Mars to create a perfect storm of un-connectedness.
I discovered this by having this odd feeling that my firewall might be an issue; it has been in the past. So I started hunting around the internet tubes to look for firewall flaming facts. Using the Atari style desktop made the journey so convenient.

Eventually I put together a scenario that could explain my problems. I found a virtual technician (better than a blow-up sex doll) and together VT and I solved my problems.

And it only took a week!

Now of course the phone pole outside is still leaning and my land line still has unbearable static but that could be because Homeland Security broke the pole when they were installing the wiretaps. So each time I hear the static as I try to find a dial tone I say hi to Chris Christie (my big fat douchebag of a governor) or to the horror of a human who runs around my town putting up Obama as Hitler posters.

Bless their hearts.

I am so glad (and grateful Peter!) to be back. I’ll catch up.

I leave you with this …

Jon Stewart says this photo finally explains to him the Obama that the Republicans see.

Thanks Clint, You Made My Day

A Matter of National Importance

The absurd - ridiculous - dysfunctional (not in a fun way) - mass of pathetic humanity that is our Congress has decided to rally together on an issue of monumental importance

No, they're not saving us from Nautical Nazis.

They are outraged, outraged I tell you!!, by the fact that these Olympic uniforms for our fine young corporate sponsored professional NBA player type athletes are Made in China.

Iconic American products are being made in China? Whoa Nellie. Stop the presses. The shock, the horror, the tragedy.

Leaders from both sides of the aisle are speaking out together

The Democrats are even using their outside voices on this one. I guess they figure they can speak out since the big, fat, rich bullies on the Republican side will agree with them on this one and not question their patriotism or sexuality.

It's amazing that any of them have any strength left after trying to knock down the Affordable Care Act for the 33rd time. Then again they only have 42 work days scheduled between today and the end of the year.

Might as well spend it on something important.

Let's Get Historical

Charlie Rose recently asked a guest on CBS This Morning which long gone writers he thought would embrace blogging and social networking. The guest said ...

Dickens would

and

Shakespeare would not

The writer that came to mind was Hemingway

I could absolutely imagine drunken tweets from war zones.
#who'sYourPapa  f**k you Franco, your wife salutes me now

Speaking of drunken tweets - Dean Martin

#RatPack - in Palm Beach with Golddiggers - dancers not wives

On the flip side

No way would Sinatra have anything to do with the internet

Way too private
I could see him texting his mistresses

In the political arena I think Abe Lincoln would be a fine blogger. Thoughtful posts about everything from equality to gardening.

What voice from the past can you hear echoing through these magical internet tubes?

A New Nation Shall Come Forth

If you’re squeamish about ‘lady parts’ or ‘gentlemen’s equipment’ you may not want to read this
According to Mitt Romney, and further confirmed by the ass backwards Supreme Court, corporations are people.

Charlton Heston, bless his gun toting dead heart, told us that Soylent Green was people.

Today we are being asked to recognize that sperm are people. Is sperm singular or plural?  Since they travel in packs I assume plural although it only takes one … It’s all so confusing but we really should NEVER bog ourselves down in thought. This is America, reasoning has no place here.

I am the caretaker of a vagina that does, from time to time, meet up with sperm. In my younger days it was a virtual dance club for fun seeking sperm people. I do not have a uterus any longer – ya know that special womby place where sperm goes to get plastic surgery – and I’m really worried. Does this mean that I am the flesh and blood facsimile of a sperm people killing machine? When they hit the cervix do they look into the abyss and scream?

Am I a Nazi to sperm, a one woman wave of genocide?

Before the sperm take over, shall I try to atone by lurking in drug stores dismantling spermicidal packages?

Sing their national anthem?

Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate.

Let the heathens spill theirs
On the dusty ground.
God shall make them pay for
Each sperm that can't be found.

Every sperm is wanted.
Every sperm is good.
Every sperm is needed
In your neighbourhood.

Every sperm is sacred.
Every sperm is great.
If a sperm is wasted,
God gets quite irate.
thank you Monty Python

Fly their flag?

Become enraged at their disasters?

 
What would the right wing say is the right thing?

'You've Been Trumped'

thanks for all the get better wishes - whatever I've got is slowly retreating
I caught an interview with Anthony Baxter  the creator of a documentary film called  You’ve Been Trumped

The story of unbelievable might against people and the planet.

Donald Trump, with the help of local officials and the Scottish Government, has terrorized the residents of a small town in Scotland and permanently destroyed acres of precious dunes.

After all, he needs another building to put his name on.

I saw several scenes from the film and hope to see all of it as soon as Baxter can raise the funds needed to get it widely distributed. I contributed the cost of 2 tickets to a crappy Hollywood blockbuster to his cause, the irony amused me.

I enjoy an opportunity to point out the ever increasing blind powerful destruction caused by huge unregulated corporations. It's more delicious when a vile douche asshat scum spewer like Trump is at the top. It's more necessary when this same spewer continues to insinuate himself into the 2012 Presidential election.

silly sidebar
isn't it astounding how many of these spewers need to speak with their fingers?

"Democracy Isn't Always Convenient"

... the protester tells the man in the expensive overcoat as he whines about needing to show ID to get onto Wall Street.

"Be grateful that you have jobs and can send your kids to a private school" another protester tells a parent who accuses him of being "a terrorist against children".

A small group of children needed to walk along a narrow barricade path early yesterday morning as Occupy Wall Street's Day of Action began. I'm sorry if any one of those children was frightened. One child was interviewed by CBS News and said "it was like a parade and it was very crowded, it was like a scary parade".  Then he laughed and showed off his painting. I don't think the scars will last a lifetime.

Perhaps the parents of children who go to Prep School at 4 need to explain things clearly and calmly so that their children don't always expect the world to go the way they plan.

I'm not at all surprised by the reactions of Wall Street suits. To get anywhere in that world you need to let your soul dry up. I am disappointed by young Moms who bitch about needing to walk an extra block around barricades or whine about drum music. I think there's a group in between the 1% and the 99% (sounds like Yogi Berra logic) who is so afraid of looking at the world around them. They're closer to the top than most and can almost see the golden glow. They don't want anyone to breathe too hard and topple the tower.

I worry for and about those people. I feel a time will come to take sides. I don't think they're prepared.

Some scenes from the Day of Action.

 this 87 year old woman needed to ask police to stop pushing her

 labor unions joined the afternoon protest

 witnesses say this young man was standing near someone who threw a bottle and several cops threw him to the ground and beat him and kicked him in the head

 cops in street clothes infiltrated the crowds to start scuffles and then arrest people
I remember this tactic from my VietNam war protest days

 how many cops does it take to arrest a man in a funny hat?

a member of the press was taking photos of the group when he was thrown to the ground by several cops

Mayor Bloomberg better start concerning himself with the people of NYC instead of the tourists. Maybe he could open a clinic for poor children with the money he wants to spend redecorating Times Square once again.

Every single member of the NYPD needs to do a check of his/her own pulse. As a group they operate as a secret society yet as individuals many of them struggle just as the protesters do.

Speaking of abuse of power - Joe Paterno sold his home to his wife for $1. Expecting law suits Joe Pa? Sandusky is out on what is called a Personal Recognisance bond, which means he didn't put up a penny to secure his freedom. The judge who arranged this, without the DA present, is on the board of Sandusky's so called children's charity.

Wake Up America and Stay Awake.

This Too Shall Pass?

I was staring at this cloud formation and marveled at how it looked like the USA to me. Florida had shrunk a bit and the East Coast was fatter and it seemed Texas might be taking over California but close enough. Plus all those flaws made me laugh. I found the dark and light contrast prophetic and the rays at top hopeful.

I couldn't help but feel that the cloud said so much about the state of our country. Dark appears to be gaining over light and the landscape is shifting.

Soldiers are booed because they're gay.

Crowds cheer when an execution is mentioned.

Presidential candidates rip into one another over the few things that actually make them human. Perry gets crucified for thinking immigrant children should be educated and Romney is punished for creating a healthcare system in his state that the entire country should be following. Sad.

We can blame politics and economics but in the end WE are all responsible for the country we live in. I remember a quote that basically said the true test of a person is how they behave when things aren't going well.

We're failing that test.

If You Can't Say Something Nice Then Just Tell The Truth

I haven't posted all week because I have been just plain foul. In a mood that could kill puppies and wither gardens with a slight glance.

And you know me - if I can't be the spiritual equivalent of Mother Teresa and Jesus then I'm just not me.

hehehehehehehehehe - I crack myself up.

It hurts my heart to see how tired and tense my son is. He has been at the picket lines 12 to 16 hours a day, everyday, since the CWA strike against Verizon began. He shuttles workers from one picketing location to another, he picks up workers at rail connections to bring them into lower Manhattan, he collects signs and leaflets at CWA offices and distributes them to sites and then he joins his crew on Canal Street.

This is one of CWA's latest ads ...

Click HERE to sign the solidarity petition


I asked Hope what a grumpy mood looked like ...

Then I asked her what a Nana mood looked like ...

Thank goodness and light and the universe for hope and Hope.

And on we go.

Oh Where To Begin ...

So Michele Obachmann (as Letterman refers to her) won the Iowa straw poll
OK

She reminded me of Georgie Bushie declaring a mandate
Stupid

She said Iowa is a state of social conservatives and as such Iowa had spoken
This liberal believes it’s possible to be a social conservative and still not be bat shit crazy
I think all her win means is that the others have not yet spent enough millions to rally more asshats

How about a language lesson?
Submissive means - unresistingly or humbly obedient
Respect means - esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person
Michele was asked what she meant when she said she always submits to her pray away the gay husband and she said it meant they respected each other
Clearly she has read even less than Palin
Kudos to the reporter who asked the question as the knowledge seekers around him booed and hissed.

Note: If you Google submissive to check my definition be careful where you click, especially if you’re socially conservative

No not that, but maybe Michele's husband can pray away wrestling


Dear Network News …
The CWA and IBEW strike against Verizon enters its second week today
Could you try covering it!
I know the fascination with missing blond women is more than you can resist but please – just pass that on to Nancy Grace and cover a story that directly affects thousands of workers and their families

If you go to YouTube you can search ‘verizon strike news’ and find some decent coverage

And if you search ‘verizon scabs’ you’ll be entertained by videos of management trying to do a job they’re not trained to do and finally realizing how difficult the job is

Cherry pickers and overhead lines and explosive manholes – OH MY!
Among my favorites …
A CWA member singing “oh where oh where can the dial tone be” as two scabs try to restore service
A crowd of picketers hooting and hollering while a scab tries to drop an overhead line while looking like he’s lassoing a bull

I’m relieved that the encounters have been non-violent and hope it stays that way
The tension and anger is palpable

I have never seen my son so disappointed and angry and disillusioned with a system and a country he has always been so patriotic about

As Jon Stewart would say ...
"Here's Your Moment of Zen"
a quote from Michele Bachman - "We're running out of rich people in this country."
Hey Voters!
Can you hear her now?