A message to the undecided voter, the Level 68 State Senate Candidate, Fightin’ Barack Rides Again, Wall Street pay: still nuts, Racists: also bad spellers, the case against the Baby Boomers, Paul Ryan’s debt to Barry Goldwater, Birders fight back, Coal workers: company coerced them into donating to GOP, the Abortion paradox, a tip of the hat to Scott Tipton, and a wag of the finger at Phil Gingrey.
Welcome to the Daily Sausage.
First up, a message to the undecided voter.
You’re an undecided voter. Your time is up. The rest of us are sick of pretending to care about you, saying nice things to you, doing your damn laundry.
And may I add a hearty “Go fuck yourself.” as well. If you haven’t been bothered to learn anything about either candidate before now, you are a terrible citizen and you make Thomas Jefferson cry.
Next up, the Maine GOP is going after State Senate candidate Colleen Lachowicz because she plays World of Warcraft. The best question here is, “What Maine voter is going to be swayed by a candidate who plays a video game?” and then answer is “A very, very stupid one.”
President Obama hit back at Mitt Romney, unintentionally (maybe) intimating that the Mitt that took the stage in Denver was not the real Mitt Romney. Perhaps a flash clone, an android, or some other time of simulacra. Or just rhetorical. I like the idea of Mitt Romney having an army of Clone Romneys better.
James Gorman, former chief executive of Morgan Stanley, says that the compensation at Wall Street banks is too (damn) high. Someone call Jimmy McMillan.
And now, it’s time for another edition of “The Baby Boomers: Worst Generation Ever?”.
This week’s article: “Who Destroyed The Economy? The Case Against the Baby Boomers”.
Baby boomers chose the leaders currently paralyzing Washington, and those leaders are, by and large, boomers. My father’s cohort has formed a generational majority in every Congress since the dawn of the George W. Bush administration. Electorally, boomers vote in dramatically larger numbers than anyone else. The Census Bureau reports there were 81 million Americans ages 45 to 64 in 2010, of whom slightly more than half voted. They made up about 43 percent of the electorate–almost as much as those 25 to 44 and those 65 and older combined.
As afternoon descends over the fir trees, I call my father over and show him this statistic. Look, I say. That government you say is crippling America? You and your friends own it.
“Shit,” he says.
At some point, we as a country need to reconcile both the so-called “Greatest Generation” and the Baby Boomers in regards to both their achievements and utter dereliction of duty in regards to passing along a better America to their children and grandchildren than they had. That they both deserve credit for their respective major achievements; winning World War II and the Civil Rights movement are certainly both noteworthy events worthy of historical praise. However, tanking the global economy and unquestionably weakening America for their own selfish benefit, on the other hand, diminish their collective greatness in the eyes of history.
Speaking of which, let’s talk about Paul Ryan’s debt to Barry Goldwater.
This is one of the great ironies of the modern Republican Party: Without the Religious Right that Goldwater so despised, there would be no Reagan Revolution, no Contract with America, and no George W. Bush presidency. No defense buildup in the early 1980s; no tax cuts in 1981, 2002, and 2003. Throughout the past 30-plus years, it’s been the Moral Majority and its fellow travelers knocking on doors, pounding pavement, and writing checks to keep Republicans ascendant in Washington. As the party’s stance on taxes, foreign policy, and domestic spending drifted closer to Goldwater and further from the political center, it was Tony Perkins — not Milton Friedman — making sure the GOP held onto its 51 percent.
The unholy pairing of corporate money men and Evangelical preachers enabled the worst extremes of both sides of the Republican party. What a different world this might be if Rockefeller had won instead of Goldwater.
For those of you that haven’t heard, there’s a new movement afoot: Birders.
Finally, a crackpot movement I can get behind.
So, when Mitt Romney said in the last debate “I like coal”, well… Now we know why.
There is a great paradox when it comes to abortion.
You see, teaching comprehensive sex education in schools leads young people to make better decisions about their sexual health, significantly reducing the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions. However, doing so requires teaching children about sex in a way that’s more nuanced than “JESUS SAID NO”. Thus, a paradox: to reduce the number of abortions we must teach our children about sex.
The paradox is furthered when you consider birth control, which pretty conclusively reduces unintended pregnancies and abortions. In fact, a new study indicates that expanding access to free contraception leads to significantly reduced rates of teen pregnancy and abortion.
I’d chalk this up under the “No shit, Sherlock” category, but then again I chalk the entire Abortion debate under that category as well.
Continuing our tradition of recognizing Republicans who bravely buck their party and do something that makes them look not entirely insane, Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO) has broken with his party and endorsed th Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a piece of legislation that would make it illegal to discrimination against LGBT individuals in the workplace.
Good job, Scott!
However, because no good deed goes unpunished, Romney campaign surrogate Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) admitted that Romney was changing his positions to shill for votes.
For shame.
