Astra's Batshit Roundup

General Batshit; Our Favorite Fundies; ‘WTF’ Moments; Batshit of the Week Award; More….

“The world is so full of a number of things; I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.”

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

“Don’t worry about him.  He’s just as happy as if he were in his right mind.”

-- My Grandfather; Ruminating on Yours Truly as a Small Boy

I’m given to think that Stevenson was really saying, ‘simple minds love simple things’.  I know for damn sure that was the intent of my grandfather.

Perhaps it’s the fact that I’ve always been easily amused.  I can stare for hours at the structure of a leaf in the garden if I’m so-inclined; it’s why bonsai is a hobby of mine (among many).  There are endless things with which to occupy one’s mind.  Like eating glue, or misreading instructions on the back of paint-cans (this actually happened with a fellow I knew in college. Burned his apartment out when he was refinishing a piece of furniture – the instructions called for ‘boiled linseed oil’; the fire started when he poured a half-gallon of the stuff in a pot and proceeded to boil it himself, not knowing that it comes ‘pre-boiled’ to remove the impurities.)

These are the same people who put sharp things in their ears and lemon-scented dishwasher-soap in their iced-tea.   They’re the people who ‘win’ the Darwin Awards.   The difference between Some of Us and Most of Them is that We Read The Instructions.

So, by way of acknowledging two of my favorite philosopher/writers (R.L. Stevenson and my grandfather) – this week’s Batshit Roundup is dedicated to the Usual Gang of Idiots (as the writers of Mad Magazine called them, so many years ago) - the faceless masses who provide The Rest Of Us so much entertainment.

Be careful out there….

General Batshit….

Most of the time, the batshit-things people do are funny.  This one’s not-so, but if you look past that for a moment, you might find a bit of levity in a couple of half-wits who pass up helping their own Mom off the kitchen floor so they can go back to watching the tube. (I know - words fail.)  Turns out two guys (48 year old twin brothers, no less), were watching a ball-game on TV when their mother fell down in the kitchen.  They ignored the whole situation, even talking to her for a while - preferring to go back to the game.   (Note: While most of the people I write about are mentally-ill, disturbed, or Living While Fundie, this one goes to a whole new level)….

Neither Rain, Nor Snow, Nor Lack of Charmin…. – It’s a misdemeanor in the city of Portland, Oregon to take a dump in public.  This didn’t deter a local mailman (excuse me; ‘Letter Carrier’) from the swift completion of his appointed rounds – not even the lack of a bathroom.   (Yes; there are photos)….

Some Reporters Wait Their Whole Lives To Write A Headline Like This – Those of you under 40 or living outside the U.S. are going to have to have someone explain the irony of this one to you – and why it really is true that the reporter will never have another chance to write a headline this cool, ever again….

‘WTF’ Moments….

Remember The Gal At Duke U., Who Accused The Lacrosse Players? – She’s in the news again….

But Can She Chew Gum and Walk At The Same Time? – A gal in Cincinnati was busted for ‘encumbered driving’ – turns out she’s just a very talented multitasker….

They Should Be Glad There’s No Longer a Gulag – A Russian art-collective had some fun with a drawbridge, right across from the State Security building….

You’re Allowed to Like Boobies Again in Pennsylvania – Just sayin’….

Political Batshit….

The Donald Does It – Again:   I’m still trying to figure out if this guy is serious, much less sane….

That’s It!  Get the Unemployed to Leap Tall Buildings! - $16,500 on capes and foam cutouts to turn the unemployed into superheroes in Florida (no, I didn’t make this up.  I couldn’t….)

Someone Finally Reviews The Biggest Political Batshit Site on the Net – Yeah; It’s World NutNet Daily (but that should be no surprise).  But hey.  If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have a quarter of my material….

Finally – The Most Fucked-Up Thing Rush Limbaugh Ever Said:

Our Favorite Fundies….

(Note:  You’ll notice this department’s name has changed.  I’m finally owning-up to the fact that the most forehead-slapping, groaning, eyeball-rolling batshit comes from American Fundies.  So there.)

But Will They Outlaw Barbecued Pork Ribs? – Matt Barber, one of Fundiedom’s biggest batshit-artists, is now saying there’s a Vast Conspiracy among radical Islamists to unite and destroy Christianity.  Yeah.  Right….

I’ll take ‘Obvious Conclusions’ for $1,000; Alex – (Al Mohler, if you’re not familiar with him, is the result when someone’s Momma sends their little boy to a ‘college’ which only teaches from a book written by a group of Bronze-Age goat-herders about three thousand years ago.  It’s also the result of a system which actually grants accreditation to such places, and allows their graduates to put ‘Dr.’ in front of their name....)  In this case, Al Mohler asks “Why is the Muslim World So Resistant To The Gospel?” (this qualified for Dumbass Question of the Day at ‘Dispatches From The Culture Wars’)….

Speaking of Deranged – I loves Me Some Pat Robertson -  He’s about three thousand years old, himself.  To listen to him, he’s got a direct-line to the Big Guy – and he doesn’t mind making predictions.  Like this one:

This Is a Cool Website – If you click here, you can then go pick any year, and read the crazy shit people thought was going to end the world in that year (Note:  Batshit goes back centuries)….

Let’s Ask Joan of Arc How Well That Worked Out – This has got to be the most fucked-up article I’ve seen in a bit - while it originated at the Monitor, it was also picked up on CNN’s website – the author’s logic goes like this:  Since Fundies in America are ‘virtuous’, it follows that all Fundies are ‘virtuous’ – so the countries currently in rebellion in the Middle East should all incorporate Islamic Fundies into their government.  Batshit 'logic' abounds; folks….

Can You Work On My Light-Bill, While You’re At It? – There’s a preacher in Georgia who wants to pray down gas-prices.  Seriously….

California Fundies Want Constitutional Protection – Because they’re so persecuted, and can’t attend their megachurches on Sunday.  Or something….

Who’d’ve Thought?  John Lennon’s Writing Songs in the Afterlife – Maine is usually one of those states I consider ‘sane’.  Strange people occupy every corner of the planet, though, and Maine is no exception.  Turns out there’s this guy (he calls himself a ‘minister’, among other things, which is why I put this entry here) who says he can ‘channel’ dead celebrities, artists, and the like, and bring their ‘music from the other side’ to life on This End of Things.  'God' also told him to run for president (Warning:  Both of these sites are among the most bugfuck-nuts things I’ve read in a while.  Enter at your own risk).

Batshit of the Week Award….

This week, it goes to Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin – who wrote the ‘Path to Prosperity’ budget for the GOP, which goes like this:  (1)Throw 30,000,000 people in the street; (2) take away what medical care they have now; (3) Ensure that the 15,000,000 now unemployed never have a chance to work again – cut nearly everything else (except the military – that’s sacred) – and in two years you’ll have 3% unemployment.

(Of course, this would work.  What surprises me is that he didn’t have to balls to come out and say that we could reach 0% unemployment by simply shooting everyone – because that’s the kind of math which works in the mind of a guy who’s as deranged as Ryan obviously is.)

Enjoy your fifteen minutes of fame, Paul.  I’ve a feeling you’ll need a fond memory or two come the Revolution….

Until next time…. 

Class War for Dummies - Part One

It’s Tax Day – Do You Know Where Your Leaders Are?

Today is Tax Day.

Tax-compliance in the U.S. is high – inordinately high, given what most of us have been dealt over the past three decades.  To put things in perspective, however, let’s look at some stats:

1.   1% of the American population controls 85% of the nation’s wealth, and 90% of its income.

2.   Increase that number to 5%, and you have between 95-98% of the nation’s wealth, and over 95% of its income.   

3.   The rest of us fight over what’s left.   

4.   45% of the nation’s households pay no tax.  Several of the nation’s largest manufacturers (who exported more jobs in the past  thirty years than they’ve created domestically) have been rewarded by a system which does not require them to pay any taxes at all on their earnings.

5.   Most of the nation’s banks fall into this category.

6.   So do most of the one-percenters and a high number of the five-percenters (their marginal tax-rate is 17% - before deductions).

I’ll posit that tax-compliance in the U.S. is high for the same reason that the majority of Americans still support tax breaks for the super-rich  and large corporations in America – because the system is run like a lottery, and they believe that someday, they, too, can through pluck and application wind up in the top-rung of American society, where they can take their turn thumbing their noses at the Rest Of Us.

Incredibly, Cletus and DaisyMae believe that the rich and famous will let them into the ‘clubhouse’.  

On balance, we shouldn’t be surprised.  Cletus and DaisyMae believe that the entire universe was created 6,000 years ago; that dinosaurs cohabited the place with humans, that climate change isn’t happening, and that America will become great again if only we’ll ‘turn to God’.

They believe that a book written by a bunch of Bronze-Age goat-herders holds the truths about life.  They know this is true, along with the other stuff above, because a guy who puts “Dr.” in front of his name (never mind that he got that ‘doctorate’ from an outfit which only teaches from that book by the Bronze-Age goat-herders) told them so in a little cinder-block church-house yesterday morning, about an hour before they got in the pickup and went home to their Hoverounds and NASCAR-on-television.

America, in case you haven’t heard me state this before, is a nation of morons.  Morons who failed eighth-grade math.   Morons who never studied biology.  Morons who will cheerfully feed us all to the machinery of chickens-for-health-care and Glenn Becks’ chalkboard.

We’ve got to face some unpleasant facts, those of us who Stayed Awake in Class:  This demographic comprises a majority of Americans, and hence a majority of its voters.  This is not a demographic which has the skill-sets to solve two-part math problems, let alone advanced economic issues.  These are people who are accustomed to doing what they’re told, and relying on Jesus for the rest.  

Those of us who tell them that this sort of ‘hope’ isn’t a strategy are roundly shouted-down – because there’s no arguing reason and logic in the face of mythology.

The other day, I read an article by George Lakeoff, a Berkeley professor who stated that “Obama had returned to his moral vision” by way of making a speech.  “It was a landmark speech,” Lakeoff said, without bothering to acknowledge that Obama has made plenty of speeches, beginning with one which got him recognized on the national political stage during the 2004 Democratic convention. 

Speeches are easy to make.

I still marvel at Obama’s election – I think in retrospect more people feared a Palin-presidency-via-McCain-heart-attack than they feared anything Obama might do.  Regardless, he made a lot of speeches; a lot of promises, the important ones of which have gone unfulfilled, and will likely continue to languish because he’s now pushing for the one thing which eventually seduces every first term President – the desire for a second term.

With American infrastructure crumbling and somewhere around 20% of the workforce unemployed, there is only one choice left for any American president to make – increasing taxes on those most able to pay them (this is the demographic I discussed earlier – the large corporations and banking houses, plus the five-percent of the population making all the money.)

The Republicans are dead-set against this, preferring to double-down on the Neocon economic policies which got us here in the first place – the notion that, if you keep taxes low on those with money,  they’ll magically ignore millions of years of hunter-gatherer hard-wiring and old-fashioned greed, and start opening their purse-strings voluntarily, creating jobs and building roads and bridges out of their own pocketbooks.

Because, of course, they’re nice guys – just like the guy in the picture, above.

I’m asked, “What do we do?” by a lot of people who read this site.   I’ll start out by saying I don’t have any answers; frankly, I don't believe we can avoid complete breakdown at this point.  I’ve got some suggestions, though.

First, we need to understand that there are five engines of political change in any society – its government, its business and financial institutions, its religious and philosophical community,  its military, and lastly, its general population – that last of which is the source and origin of governmental consent.

Second, we need to start by admitting that the most-obvious and legally-sanctioned form of change – our current political system -  is unworkable.  Congress is bought-and-paid-for; instead of national service with the idea of a start-and-end-date, people who run for Congress are looking for a career.  

They have world-class health care, good salaries, perks aplenty, and if they want to get re-elected, they know that taking hundreds of thousands of dollars at a crack from a corporation, bank, or wealthy individual (they’re all the same now, thanks to the Citizens United ruling) is a hell of a lot more efficient than asking the general-populace for $10 at a time - because we no longer expect to see our representatives speaking to us in person – unless we’re the fortunate few who can afford $150-and-up for a fundraising ‘dinner’.

Asking these people to give all of that up by way of legislating a workable system is insane.  It won’t happen.  You don’t ask the fox to legislate his way out of the henhouse.  Nope; Congress isn't part of the solution, either - it's either busy pandering to Cletus, DaisyMae and the Teabaggers - or its incapable of doing anything past caving-in to the wolverines on the far Right.

Third, we need to realize that the business and financial system is not a force for positive change – in fact, as I outlined above, it’s actually working against us.  We’ve let the Djinni out of the lamp by way of deregulating much of the economic system – if you stayed awake in class long enough, you learned that unregulated capitalism is at fundamental odds with any form of representative democracy.  Unregulated capitalism and fascist ideology go together like ham and eggs.  The business and financial-people caused most of this to begin with; that we shouldn't look to them for a solution is beyond-obvious. 

Fourth, we need to realize that there’s a reason, dating back to the Roman republic, why any representative democracy didn’t allow a nation’s military to operate within its borders for any reason save to repel an invasion – the chance of a military leader saying ‘might makes right’ and taking over the whole affair is just too great a temptation.  Today, thanks to the implementation of an all-volunteer force and the gradual skewing of its members toward ultra Right ideologies (including extreme fundamentalist Christianity), the most we can expect from our military is to support the current system – if not to implement something even more extreme if given the opportunity.  Don't expect the military to be any sort of solution - if we have to rely on them to set things right, we have to accept all that follows - look to places like Liberia for your archetypical end-game if you want the military to solve the problem. 

Fifth, we need to realize that if genuine change is going to happen anytime soon, it’s going to be up to us – those of us who Stayed Awake in Class.  Cletus and DaisyMae drank the Kool-Aid a long time ago. 

Here’s the problem:  We’re a serious minority.

People as diverse as Margaret Mead and Vladimir Lenin have said that a small group of people, sufficiently motivated, can effect change (Mead went on to say that this is the only thing that ever has).  Let's hope they're right - even so, there's a fundamental problem, at least here in America with that - the minority which really grasp the problem is doing fuck-all about it.

I’m continually amazed at the fact that even though we're a minority, those of us who’ve connected the dots are still silent.  There are no protests.  Frankly, I’m equally-amazed that someone hasn’t driven a moving van full of Semex into the New York Stock Exchange; that someone hasn't parked a Suburban full of nitrate-fertilizer and diesel in the underground parking garage of the Bank of America building, and that the Hamptons and other enclaves of the Rich and Corrupt haven’t been torched to the ground by a mob of angry 99ers and homeless people.

Sooner or later, we’re going to have to realize that pitchforks and rope are likely our only remedy. 

More on that later.

I've Been Nominated For The Blogger's Choice Awards - In Four Categories, No Less!

Well, after a couple of false-starts due to heavy use of the site, the Blogger's Choice Awards are underway. 

I've been nominated for four categories - the links are below.

Now, if you want to make a guy smile - go to one or all of 'em and do a little voting/commenting by clicking on the blue-grey links below.  I'd appreciate it!

Categories:

Best Blog - Religion

Best Blog - General

Best Blog - Political

Best Blog - All Time

Astra's Batshit Roundup

General Batshit; ‘WTF’ Moments; Religious and Political Batshit, and More….

Today’s Thought….

It’s often said that if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.  It’s the same with this column.  Every time I write it, I hear from a Fundie or a member of the nascent National Socialist Movement Teabagger/Far Right side of things that what I’m really doing is making fun of the only sane people left in America.

This is where a little reality-check comes in.

Most of these emails are from people who can’t spell.  This is a big clue – at least, to me – that they not only didn’t Stay Awake in Class; they likely mistrust anyone with higher than a tenth-grade education. 

As I tend to trust educated people who know that the earth isn’t flat more than I trust someone who thinks it is, that’s a pretty big litmus-test, at least for me.

That there is so much of this batshit-crazy and bugfuck-nuts material out there is testimony to the fact that a good chunk of the country is, as my grandfather used to say, a little more than 'half a bubble off plumb.'  (How else do you explain the proliferation of creation museums and the defunding of the Real Thing by Congress?)

Regardless, I try to keep this piece funny, at least to most of us, because there’s a lot of un-funny stuff going on in the world – and one of the best ways to deal with it mentally while we’re trying to sweep back the tide of ignorance is to laugh a bit while we’re wielding the broom. 

On to the batshit….

General Batshit….

But Is There a File in That Cake?  - Turns out that if one of your town’s biggest industries is a prison, you put it to good use – in this case, by having the cons cook dinner for the high-school prom….

Table; Turtle, or Steak? – This has got to be the most fucked-up rant I’ve read in a while….

Is “Supreme Commander” Really a Rank? – A Chinese fellow came up with a novel way to scam his fellow immigrants….

Divine Spaceships? – Yeah; I know; right?  They’re coming – because Obama hates Khaddafi….

Uh – Did This Guy Study Biology?  Naw; Probably Not – Turns out an Indian minister thinks we’re all gonna turn gay, because the female birthrate is declining.  I swear.  Go read the article….

‘WTF’ Moments….

I’ve Played ‘Marco Polo’ Before – But I Never Used a Pistol – A guy is recovering from being shot by his girlfriend; they were, in essence, playing ‘Marco Polo’ with firearms….

The Latest Plastic-Surgery Craze – Spock ears….

The Latest Thing Among The Obscenely Rich – Pet fashion designers….

But What Does She Get For Being a Bad Dancer?? – Yep.  Bristol Palin made $250K – for getting knocked up (I guess this makes her a poster-child for what-not-to-do)….

Oh, Shit – Finally; what not to carjack….

Political Batshit….

“We Run Some Misinformation” – File this one under ‘No shit; Sherlock’….

Who Said This?? - Folks, when Ann Coulter appears sane, it's a cinch the rest of the Right has gone off the rails....

Glenn Beck Is Gone, But Not Forgotten – He’s off to play with his chalkboard….

Is There a ‘Supreme Commander’ In This Army, and is he Chinese? – Rep. Gohmert thinks Obama has a private army, funded by the health care bill (I know; you just can’t make this stuff up….)

“Little Bastards”, Is My First Thought, Offhand – A man in a Maryland Wal-Mart is the victim of a prank.  No.  The perpetrator likely didn’t stay awake in class.  He was, however, inventive….

Religious Batshit….

(Warning:  A bumper-crop this week….)

The Death-Penalty For Wayward Whales – ‘God’ Expects It – Turns out that Bryan Fischer, Nutbag Preacher, thinks Tilikum, the whale which killed its trainer, should get the gas….

Hey.  Huckabee.  Just Don’t Make Me Play ‘Marco Polo’ – Mike Huckabee, everyone’s favorite ex-governor and presidential-hopeful, thinks everyone in America should be forced to listen to discredited ‘historian’ David Barton….

But Do They Get  A Tax-Deduction? – The Creation Museum won’t stop at a full-sized Ark; they want to rebuild Solomon’s Temple (with taxpayer money)….

Who’d’ve Thunk It – Bath-Fitter is a Cult – The popular bathroom remodeling company forced an employee to spend $90,000 of her own money – and you’ll never guess for what….

“Glory Bombs” and the Demons of Poverty – I love batshit preachers.  Sad thing is that people believe them:

Don’t Get Pregnant In Idaho If You Get Raped – The Legislature decided that ‘the Almighty’s hand was at work’ – so you can’t get an abortion….

Baldwin vs. Dawkins – The Cage Match: - This is what I call a Battle of Wits With An Unarmed Opponent (Stephen Baldwin tries to take on Richard Dawkins.  Yes; it’s embarrassing….)

Oh, Come On – First, It Was Obama; Now It’s Beck?  - Make up your minds, folks – both Obama AND Beck can’t both be the Antichrist….

Wait; Didn’t They Do This to Scopes? – In Tennessee, you can’t teach evolution.  Again….

Breaking:  The Virgin Mary Was in Wisconsin – Go here for the real dope on this one.  Nope; no film at eleven.  Sorry.  But the Catholics have a new approval process for Mary Sightings, and this one passed muster.  For real….

Interview with God – Vice Magazine publishes the first-ever interview with God.   He talks about Westboro Baptist (Yes.  This is satire)….

But Wait?  I’m ‘Biblically Illiterate?’ – Cynthia Dunbar has some interesting things to say about the reasons for the new Texas school book standards….

Didn't They Already Do This in the Middle Ages?? – One of my favorite nonhistorians (a shuck-and-jive artist who has a show on the History Channel) claims to have the nails that tacked Jesus to the cross.  Really….

Batshit of the Week Award….

As I said, I love batshit-crazy preachers.  I do.  They’re entertaining, in a Hannibal Lechter way.  However, when you're Terry Jones, you can get enough media-coverage for a church with less than a hundred members for burning a book in your parking lot - and for that, I have to give props.

(The sobering part is this – what this asshole did led to the deaths of several U.N. workers in Afghanistan.  That’s not cool, funny, or anything of the sort.  In fact, this guy ought to be tried for murder and put away to break rocks for the rest of his natural life, starting with the rocks in his fucking head.)

So, because some people are crazy enough to get international attention for their misdeeds, this week’s Batshit of the Week Award goes to Terry Jones, Fundie preacher extraordinaire and Asshole Supreme.

Enjoy your fifteen minutes, Terry.  Other, better people paid for it….

Until next time….

Negotiating With Snakes - Obama and the Great Budget 'Compromise'

I’m goddamned mad this morning. A friend of mine here locally had her car repossessed for no reason. More on that later.

First, I want to put something to bed.

Obama is not a Liberal. He’s not a Progressive. He’s not bringing us ‘hope’ – and the ‘change’ he’s brought us is nothing like what we envisioned; it’s nothing like he promised.

Obama is a fucking Republican.

I reach that conclusion by way of three sayings my grandfather used to use – “If it quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck, it’s a duck”; “you don’t negotiate with a snake. You cut its head off”; and “if you see a turtle sitting on a fencepost, it’s a lead-pipe-cinch it didn’t get there by itself.”

Along with a lot of other folks, I suspended my usual reality and voted for Obama in 2008. I voted for him because he promised to close Gitmo; roll back the Bush-era attacks on civil liberties and the Constitution, end two wars which were bleeding the country white of both blood and treasure, tell the cocksuckers on Wall Street and in the mahogany-paneled offices of large corporations that the free ride was over, and to begin, once again, running this country by and for the people.

Instead, the only thing the man did of any substance in his first 90 days in office was to host a Super Bowl party.

His first day in office, he could have addressed the first two on that list, plus thrown in DADT for good measure. He had the unbelievable luxury of a cooperative Congress; anything he wanted could have been there for the taking.

What none of us understood who voted both for Obama’s vision of ‘change’ and against the horrific likelihood of a Palin-Presidency-via-McCain-heart-attack was this: Obama was already bought-and-paid-for by the very people he’d have to oppose to get these things done. He was beholden to the money-interests via campaign contributions. The fix was in before he took the Oath.

Now, he’s ‘in’ for 2012, after pandering to the far right by way of a budget 'compromise' which was more of a complete surrender to the far Right and the money-interests which really run this country.   He’s asking the rest of us to jump in with him - and from my own vantage point, it looks more like he's asking us all to stand on the edge of a cliff, sing 'KumBaYa' and jump.   He was standing there with a shiteating grin on his face, telling everyone that his goal was to raise one billion dollars (let that soak in for a moment) for his campaign (just where in the hell is he going to get all that money?  No; I don't have to think for even one moment to connect the dots on that one.)

Meantime, he told us that 'everybody won' in the Great Budget Compromise.  I've got news for him:  (1)  He's about to learn the painful lesson that there's a huge difference between surrender and compromise; (2) All of that bullshit about 'everyone wins' plays well on the grade-school soccer-field - but when you're up against the schoolyard-bully, there are other lessons in play; lessons like when the bully says "Gimme yer candy bar!", the next day it's "Gimme yer lunch!"

___________________________________________

Back to my friend.

She hit the wall a couple of years ago, like so many other people. Forced to file for bankruptcy when her job evaporated along with so many others. Her bankruptcy attorney screwed up her filing and didn’t renew the loan for her car – but the bank (Wells Fargo, if you care to know) told her, “It’s all right – just keep making the payments.”

She did just that. Right up until a couple of weeks ago, when she walked out of her apartment (having lost her house), to find that her car was gone.

Not even a note on the door.

She called the police in a panic. Turns out that a repossession has to be filed with the police – but neither the repo-company nor the bank is required to serve any notice at all; they can come in the dead of night, take the car, and leave you wondering if it was stolen.

“Yeah. We took it. What about it?”, said the repo-people when she called, in tears. “Talk to your bank, deadbeat.” Then a dial-tone.

She called the bank. That was two weeks ago. She’s trying to get help from either the pro-bono section of the local Bar Association or the consumer-protection people – but as consumer-protection doesn’t deal with repossessions, she’s hoping she can get some form of representation.

But, you ask, “She made the payments. How can they take her car?” Good question. My own modest understanding of the law is that by accepting payments for another two years, that constitutes a de-facto contract - but the reality of the situation is that with three payments to go, the bank reneged on its deal, and took her car. Likely, they’ll sell it, keep the proceeds, and she’ll be without transportation; permanently.

Not quite.

I talked with her the other day. She has a job not far from where she lives now. The weather is getting better by degrees here in Oregon, so she bought a bicycle from Target. She now rides that to work.  She's trying to be cheerful about it, but 'positive thinking' can only take you so far.

______________________________________

Meantime, back in Washington, Obama sold out the whole country by way of caving in on nearly every budget-point to avert a governmental shutdown. One of China’s political apparatchiks mentioned the other day, “Maybe democracy doesn’t work. Look at the U.S. How can a system of government wind up incapable of funding itself?”

Damn good question, if you ask me.

Paul Ryan, the Republican congressional representative from Wisconsin who said at the end of 2008 “I fear for the worst if we don’t pass this bailout” has created a ‘Path to Prosperity’ budget bill based on insane mathematics and general idiocy from the Heritage Group (a right-wing think-tank which says that if we throw anyone over 65 into the street and condemn them to die from the first illness they contract by way of eliminating Social Security and Medicare, then unemployment will by magic drop to less than 3% in a couple of years.)

Ryan’s notions of ‘prosperity’ have, on balance, less than no chance of passage – at least for now. Obama could use this program (which would gut the social safety-net, privatize a good part of America’s educational system and finish redistributing the rest of the nation’s wealth into the hands of the one-percenters) as a chance to present the case for a genuine social-democracy which worked – but we can count on him continuing to talk about ‘middle ground’.

I’ve news for him. The ‘middle’ is now the Right. We’ve got the Right, and the ultraRight. There are no more Kennedys; no more FDRs. The very oxygen has been sucked from the political discourse by a gang of fascist wolverines on the far Right, to the extent that the whole conversation has been pulled to the right-hand side of your radio-dial, where people like Rush Limbaugh, Lars Larson, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly have comfortable home-court advantages working for corporate-owned media.

As to our democracy and our economy, we need to look at some things with a broader lens:

First, we need to quit looking at the Tea Party, the religious Right, and the other, smaller-yet-similar groups as separate from the Republican Party – in point of fact, these groups are the Republican Party now, and there’s nothing the party elite can, or will, do to change that.

Second, we need to understand Obama’s real motivation here: He’s fallen prey to the siren-song which affects all first-termers – the desire for a second term. That’s his motivation, pure and simple, and he’s going to cave and pander to the ultraRight until (he hopes)they confuse him with one of their own.

Problem is, he IS one of their own, by default if not by declaration. He’s effectively run up the white flag in the war of ideologies, and surrendered to the ultraRight (“…if it quacks like a duck….”).

Third, the American economy is probably finished. The Fed gave us Quantitative Easing at the end of last year – a fancy word for ‘let’s print more money’; we’re now being treated to a budget which is virtually guaranteed to cost us another 400,000-600,000 jobs in the coming year, and a new policy which has allowed the dollar to free-fall against the world’s currencies.

This process will make American goods cheaper overseas – something which Wall Street and the one-percenters will appreciate, no doubt, as they sip champagne in their homes in the Hamptons – but that same policy has already shoved oil prices to all time highs, and is all but guaranteed to throttle any modest ‘recovery’ which may be underway.

America is now the Turtle on the Fencepost – a surreal creature; impaled on a spike and writhing its last; put there by the schoolyard-bullies of the far Right, who have no intention of engaging in ‘dialogue’, ‘negotiation’, or ‘reason’. They’re going to continue to demand more and more, because they know they can get it from a president who has balls the size of BB’s. Do you think they won’t try to use the upcoming debt-ceiling vote as leverage for more concessions? If so, you haven’t been paying attention.

Obama is out of luck, friends, and runway. He’s alienated the people who elected him – and the people who didn’t (the snakes of the ultraRight) don’t care.

You don’t negotiate with a snake. You cut its fucking head off with a shovel.

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Right now, from where I sit, I don’t see how we can avoid complete breakdown. Wells Fargo, the bank which just repossessed my friend’s car, paid no taxes last year. Perhaps I’m unnerved by having it brought-home to me by the experience of a friend, but it’s clear to me now in a way that wasn’t before: These people are thieves. Not just Wells Fargo – but Citicorp; Bank of America; Goldman-Sachs, and all the rest. They deserve to answer - indeed, need to answer - for what they’ve done, not just to her, but to everyone, everywhere. That’s a lot of answering, folks.

The only real question in my mind is how long we’ll put up with it. That’s a wild-card, and one that’s hard to judge, because there’s more than enough idiocy in America to fill three or four continents – you can’t explain the Tea Party, the religious Right, the continued support of the one-percenters by the poorest Americans and the docile acceptance by America’s middle class of its own evisceration, otherwise.

I do know this, however.

Somewhere, there’s a person with some form of midlevel authority – an Army Colonel, a midlevel government employee or an academician with some cojones – who is watching the collapse of America unfold and is asking, “How did this all happen, and what can I do?”

I know this is true, because I’m asking myself the same damn question.

That person is saying, “This cannot end well. It simply can’t.”

Whoever this person is, he or she is looking at serious options which don’t involve the electoral process. There’s a word for what that person is contemplating.

Revolution.