Fact-Free Politics and the plight of the "Job Creators"…

If I hear one more word about the plight of the  "job creators" - I think I'm going to explode.   Please let's get real on this issue.  It has degenerated to the point where all you hear is incomprehensible slogans and veiled threats of pulling the plug on yet more jobs if taxes on the rich are allowed to rise by so much as a dime.    Since they weren't creating jobs in the first place - stating that this will prevent them from creating jobs seems a moot point.  This is another example of fact-free political pandering.  The facts be damned when you are trying to convince the masses that what is bad for them is actually good.

The New York State Millionaires Tax - an onerous burden?  Not so much...

Fact-Free Ideology and the Black Hole of tea party politics...

Never mind that the Tea Party has no idea about what the real Boston Tea Party was about.  Forget about the fact that almost all members of the Tea Party have benefited from a portion of our social contract that they call "socialism".   If they enjoyed paved roads and indoor plumbing through a public provider - they are sucking on the government teat - even if they don't understand that they are.   The Tea Party and the radical right share an ideology that is almost completely fact-free.

You are not entitled to your own facts....

Trying to get any kind of common sense through that wall is impossible.  Its as if people living in the Fox News Bubble have all bought a top-of-the-line "white noise" machine that selectively blocks out any and all facts.   Daniel Patrick Moynihan  was fond of pointing out "You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts."   These days the latter does not appear to be true.  We are inundated political pablum on the right that appears to be 100% fact-free. Junk science abounds - with political operatives filled to the brim with all the pseudo-science the oil and gas companies could possibly provide...

The 10th Anniversary of 9/11 - Don't look too closely...

This year I just wanted to get through the 10th anniversary of 9/11... There was a fatigue in me that I think the entire country is sharing that made me want to turn away and move on. Days like this are days of reflection.  And given the state of the world and our country, the environment and the economy perhaps I thought it was best not to reflect too carefully.  After all, we know what we are going to see and it isn't pretty.  It is perhaps best that we pass this one by quickly and not stare at the reflection too carefully.

But I was up late last night and happened by a special on CNN with Sanjay Gupta regarding the "dust" of 9/11 and it brought home to roost many things that I find very disturbing about America.

But can he SELL it?

Obama has to close the deal...

As of this writing, Obama has presented his plan before the American people and a joint session of Congress - A Congress that graciously begrudgingly gave him a time slot at their convenience.

The Republicans are probably somewhat chastened by a brutal August among their constituents.  I know for our part -  New Yorkers gave Nan Hayworth little peace.  The heckling started the minute she returned home and she was shadowed by angry constituents every day of her recess.  One even stripped off her shirt (she was wearing a bathing suit) saying that she was losing her shirt to tea party policies. Ironic, since she was a "job creator"  with her own (now outsourced) business. It appears to have been a similar period of purgatory in other districts throughout the county. Sooooooo - doing nothing is probably not an option.  But giving Obama a victory is also NOT an option.

How Low Can You Go? The Demonization of the Working Poor...

The Republicans have FINALLY found a tax hike they can get behind.  Why?  It increases taxes on the poor while sparing the super-rich - who carry so much water for the rest of us - from more undo responsibility.

But in order to justify the tax hikes - there must be a villain -  a  group of people who can be demonized for not properly pulling their weight.  What better target than Main Street America - particularly the working poor?