Seen on a sign in a New Hampshire cafe's window: "NO POLITICIANS; NO EXCEPTIONS". When asked for comment, a lady said: "We're not Iowa. We don't need them in our face; we can make up our own mind." OUCH
And coming from a Newt-friendly SuperPAC's commercial: Mitt Romney is a "predatory capitalist". REALLY
Let's stay on that second quote for a bit. Why are Newt and the Republicans trying to be, well, chameleons? Some in the GOP field have tried to seem anti-war while others struggled to be compassionate on immigration. Now they are against capitalism? As the prophet John Cleese said: "You're not fooling anyone, you know."
Mike Murphy had the correct take on this tactic, now airing in S.C., when he said that "predatory capitalist" line wouldn't work there. He's right; it won't. I haven't lived in Iowa nor New Hampshire so I have to take the lady's word about them both. But I was born and raised in the Palmetto State and believe me, it is not a place for "populist ravings". Most folks there prefer "the establishment candidate" as Joe Scarborough put it. That's why they're so good at picking winners. And while it is true that there is certainly one of everything everywhere, as a group, you won't find "populists" congregating anywhere from the Upstate to the Low Country. Again we consult the prophet Cleese: "The Judean People's Front? That's him, over there."
I wish our Republican friends would answer one question: What exactly is conservative about wanting to get rid of something, be it a government agency, a Constitutional right, or an industry? When this whole movement began in earnest, "conservative" meant not blowing all the dough. Now they want it to mean killing that with which we do not agree, and there's no "conserving" in that.
Maybe we should start a new movement: The Pres, or neo-Pres if that has a better ring to it. We would be the "preservationists" attempting to intelligently pare down excess while also asking some to contribute more. We would "preserve" what matters to the most of us albeit in, perhaps, a new form. But then again, we'd be called the "preservatives" and everyone knows that preservatives are bad for you.
Speaking of food, I wonder what they serve in that New Hampshire cafe? You think they have "Womensa" rooms and "Mensa" rooms in the back? No doubt their bar, if they have one, is very high. I am sure of one thing though, they serve no humble pie!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Phineas and Ferb go GOP
You know how I love to cast these characters in the GOP field, so here's another take, this time from cartoon-land!
PHINEAS: Romney--He's the guy with the massive plan, the lead character. Never mind the pointed head.
FERB: Huntsman--He has an accent and quietly does a lot of work.
DR. DOOFENSMIRCH: Paul--He's got them crazy notions about taking over--I mean giving over--the whole world!
PERRY THE PLATYPUS: Perry--Come on, it's his name. Plus he isn't very tall and may be a secret spy...for something, maybe?!
BUFORD (THE BULLY): Gingrich--He's mean, nasty, and the biggest bully in the running.
CANDACE: Santorum--He's always telling on everyone and thinking he knows what's right. (But I'll bet he doesn't want to date Jeremy!) "Mom, Romney and Huntsman are making a title sequence..."
PHINEAS: Romney--He's the guy with the massive plan, the lead character. Never mind the pointed head.
FERB: Huntsman--He has an accent and quietly does a lot of work.
DR. DOOFENSMIRCH: Paul--He's got them crazy notions about taking over--I mean giving over--the whole world!
PERRY THE PLATYPUS: Perry--Come on, it's his name. Plus he isn't very tall and may be a secret spy...for something, maybe?!
BUFORD (THE BULLY): Gingrich--He's mean, nasty, and the biggest bully in the running.
CANDACE: Santorum--He's always telling on everyone and thinking he knows what's right. (But I'll bet he doesn't want to date Jeremy!) "Mom, Romney and Huntsman are making a title sequence..."
Santorum and the Slim Slice
I went to a "natural dentist" once who told me that for $100,000 he could make my mouth perfect. I left with it agape, of course.
I once went to a chiropractor who felt that four visits a week should properly sort out my low back. At a $30 per pop co-pay, that's $480 a month, just for chiropractic.
These are but two examples of how we all see just what's in front of us. We write/say/feel what we know. We think everyone should appreciate our little slice of the world or at least understand our love of it. I engage in this activity whenever I talk to you about Air Traffic Controllers and the role of public unions.
And Rick Santorum did it in this morning's debate with David Gregory on NBC/MSNBC. Santorum sees god in everything, is bound by his religion. His views and vision are expressed through the lens of his supposed morality. Yet when he is asked by Mr. Gregory why we cannot, as a nation, put up with a nuclear Iran as we have a nuclear Soviet Union and now a nuclear North Korea, Santorum answered, "Because they are a theocracy." His concern is that "radical Islamists" find the promise of the afterlife to be better than earth-bound life so they cannot be trusted not to wish to unload their nuclear payload on the rest of us. No deterrent. He said we should be trying to move more governments toward a secular society.
Just not ours. We have the bomb and god knows the majority of our religious folks don't think their promised afterlife will be any better than a good day in Scranton. And that whole capital punishment thing sure did make our crime and incarceration rates plummet.
But that's okay. You cannot blame Mr. Santorum for not understanding the things that lie outside his slim slice of the world--only for choosing not to entertain the ideas in the slices of the rest of us.
I once went to a chiropractor who felt that four visits a week should properly sort out my low back. At a $30 per pop co-pay, that's $480 a month, just for chiropractic.
These are but two examples of how we all see just what's in front of us. We write/say/feel what we know. We think everyone should appreciate our little slice of the world or at least understand our love of it. I engage in this activity whenever I talk to you about Air Traffic Controllers and the role of public unions.
And Rick Santorum did it in this morning's debate with David Gregory on NBC/MSNBC. Santorum sees god in everything, is bound by his religion. His views and vision are expressed through the lens of his supposed morality. Yet when he is asked by Mr. Gregory why we cannot, as a nation, put up with a nuclear Iran as we have a nuclear Soviet Union and now a nuclear North Korea, Santorum answered, "Because they are a theocracy." His concern is that "radical Islamists" find the promise of the afterlife to be better than earth-bound life so they cannot be trusted not to wish to unload their nuclear payload on the rest of us. No deterrent. He said we should be trying to move more governments toward a secular society.
Just not ours. We have the bomb and god knows the majority of our religious folks don't think their promised afterlife will be any better than a good day in Scranton. And that whole capital punishment thing sure did make our crime and incarceration rates plummet.
But that's okay. You cannot blame Mr. Santorum for not understanding the things that lie outside his slim slice of the world--only for choosing not to entertain the ideas in the slices of the rest of us.
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