Un-FAZ-ed

I am listening to Defazio on the floor of the house explaining his No vote on the Stimulus....

All the money for schools out, bridges out...tax cuts in...

I wondered when the "left" was going to be heard on this issue....

As glenn points out:

The major problem now is that these entities -- the ones that ought to be applying pressure on Obama from the Left and opposing him when he moves too far Right -- are now completely boxed in. They've lost -- or, more accurately, voluntarily relinquished -- their independence. They know that criticizing -- let alone opposing -- Obama will mean that all those new readers they won last year will leave; that all those new dues-paying members will go join some other, more Obama-supportive organization; that they will prompt intense backlash and anger among the very people -- their members, supporters and readers -- on whom they have come to rely as the source of their support, strength, and numbers.

As a result, there is very little political or media structure to Obama's Left that can or will criticize him, even when he moves far to what the Beltway calls the "center" or even the Right (i.e., when he adopts large chunks of the GOP position). That situation is extremely bad -- both for the Left and for Obama. It makes impossible what very well might be the apocryphal though still illuminating FDR anecdote:

FDR was, of course, a consummate political leader. In one situation, a group came to him urging specific actions in support of a cause in which they deeply believed. He replied: "I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it."

IMO, labor, and other progressives should begin to make demands of the new admin, not expecting to get everything, but to help "move the goalposts", and "work the refs"

TGIF

My cats and I are back in the pad after our West Coast swing. As much as I enjoy seeing the fellas, nothing beats sleeping in your own sheets, making your own waffles, and using your own toothbrush again.

If we met last week, the pleasure was all mine. If we didn't, we should. Maybe we can play some Fight Night on the PS2. This is the song my guy Solid "the Fatman" Citizen walks into the ring to. It always gets me pumped for a night on the town, which is where I am headed in a matter of moments.

Short-Form Art Horn

Nat Hentoff
Meet Nat Hentoff, guy who wrote liners for Miles and so many others, and...... member of the Cato Institute? I hope he writes shit like this in all the big libertarian magazines: "The fearsome blues advance of Cecil Mcbee has captivated European audiences and the hippest bop bandleaders for more than a decade now."

Hardcore for Nerds: Reasons to be Emo #200 / Hoover - The Lurid Traversal of Route 7
(This should probably go without saying.)

AN OPEN LETTER TO: Ryan Adams on Blurt Online
Congratulations on being engaged to the Actress/Chanteuse Mandy Moore, Ryan. Now go retire.

CD Review: "Willie and the Wheel" - washingtonpost.com
That's right, Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel've made an alb ensemble. This collaboration makes a lot more sense than the Wynton collaboration, for sure...but that's all I am prepared to say. (Inspired by SolidCitizen's big splash entry, apparently I cannot help but wanna make a name for our blog by giving Willie Nelson a sustained hard time? How long can this go on? Not long.)

Labor roots roaring

Apparently, the Solis' nomination is on the move...to the floor of the Senate...

Just read this over at the nation

A determined campaign by labor unions, women's rights groups, Latinos and progressives -- and a timely intervention by Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy -- has renewed the confirmation prospects of President Obama's choice to serve as Secretary of Labor, California Congresswoman Hilda Solis...
An objection to the involvement of the pro-labor congresswoman with pro-labor groups was acknowledged even by some Republicans as laughable.

And progressive activists -- angered not just with reactionary Republicans but with cautious Democrats in the White House and on Capitol Hill -- began to put serious pressure on Congress to get this nomination going. Even the Associated Press noted that Republican delaying tactics had "prompted unions, women's and Hispanic groups to flood lawmakers' offices with calls and letters urging them to confirm her."

Holy shit is PETA stupid

Seriously. They're really fucking stupid.

When you turn thirty

Lex, me, and, if you're lucky, my two cats.

Let's do it.

All in, we're gonna win.




...the next day, I have to admit that I was drunk enough on said liquor to very much not remember posting this.

For Gabba, because we really love him

xoxoxoxo,

solid lex

She was there, too

When Solid and Lex made sweet love.

Memo to an Asshole

Do you want to know why I got served my coffee before you, even though you ordered before me? Of course you want to know, you threw a grown-up man fit there in the coffee shop, so you definitely want to know. Either that or you just enjoy berating minimum-wage workers at seven in the morning. I got my coffee before you did because you ordered a jag-off triple mocha skinny latte foamy with a shot of vanilla, while I ordered a cup of coffee. So the dude took your order, took my order, got me my coffee and then went about debasing himself by making your piece of shit. That you yelled at him while he did it means that you, my friend, are an asshole.

Bob Schieffer is crap

I was reminded why I don't watch the Sunday shows when I caught the lest few minutes of Face the Nation wherein Bob Schieffer called for both Democrats and Republicans to put aside partisan political games. I am tempted to imply that Schieffer is suffering from some age-related mental deficiency, but that would be wrong. His mental deficiencies probably have nothing to do with his age. He suffers from the affliction so many of our mediacrats suffer from, the stupid, stupid, stupid belief that being "neutral" equals being "fair" and this means that we call on both parties to put aside the petty games, even is only one party is currently participating in petty childishness.

In the entire stimulus debate, has any Republican said anything that even remotely sounds like they have the slightest interest in what might be good for the economy or the country? I mean if any of these fuckers actually believes that the solution to this crisis is reduced spending and more tax cuts, then Bob Schieffer et al in our so-called free press need to have the cajones to call these people out on it. They've had their time, it proved an abject failure.

The original stimulus bill was probably too small to do what is necessary. It was larded up with a bunch of tax breaks for the Chamber. For fuck sake, in a time when the vast majority of economists and financial people are saying that we need massive government spending in order to avoid another great depression, we are going to make sure that the government does not collect $350 billion dollars that it would collect after eight years of a tax-cutting orgy. We are cutting motherfucking taxes. I struggle to comprehend it.

Then we get the Republicans demanding more tax cuts or they won't vote for the bill. They get their motherfucking tax cuts. They refuse to vote for the bill. They lie about programs. They exaggerate. They make breath-taking leaps of logic (like ACORN is getting $10 billion in aid because there is $10 billion for community programs and ACORN is a community program) that should get them banned from ever being quoted again in anything other than a monologue. They get Dems to slash very necessary spending and dd more very harmful tax cuts and then still don't vote for the bill. These people are playing political games and do not care about the county. This is apparent to anyone paying the least bit of attention.

Unfortunately, those we pay to pay attention for us are more concerned about being "neutral" than they are about telling the nation what is happening. This is why I don't watch this shit.