Oh, The South.
South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn is super pissed that Southern GOP governors are threatening to refuse federal stimulus money. He's backtracked from his original assertion that the move is "a slap in the face of African-Americans," but only by about a fourth of an inch.
Sassy academic Joseph A. Palermo incisively compares the prattle of certain Southern GOP governors to a neo-Confederate uprising. The would-be secessionists:
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal - Indian-American GOP superstar with ambition overload
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour - fattest governor in the nation, by far
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford - a literal lover of the original Confederacy
Texas Gov. Rick Perry - gets a stiffy every time a mentally retarded minority death row inmate is executed
But to be fair to the above state executives, I don't think they're consciously trying to make life more difficult for minorities in their home states, just the one who recently became President. And who's helping them along with that? Oh, it's Jim Clyburn.
Remember that one time he successfully inserted language in the stimulus bill that endowed state legislatures with the power to override their governors' refusal of federal stimulus funds? No state lawmaker would turn down even a single road project for his or her district. Sounds to me like Jindal & Co. can posture all they want, knowing in the end, they can cry separation of powers and the voters will get the funds.
Poor Rep. Clyburn. He should have spent less time simmering with hatred and paranoia and more time pondering the obvious fact that the would-be secessionists - an ambitious and practical lot - could have never raised this stink without his help.
~Slim
Monday, February 23
Deficit Doublespeak (Not Having Any of It Edition)
As someone who is very uncomfortable with change, it comforts me greatly to know that our new administration is doing its best to calm my nerves. After the election, I was kept up at night at the thought that lobbyists would be driven from government positions and that the decision making over the war would be well thought out and the consequences fully considered. Thankfully, none of that has happened yet. And now to quell my fears even more, the new administration is continuing the fun and games of rhetorical truthspeak and the silliness of word games.
Today, the President announced his bold and brave plan to cut the deficit in half. To try to satisfy lowly Republicans and shed what he perceives as the slime of a liberal lavel, he is screaming from the highest rooftop of a corporation headquarters, non-unionized factory, or Cayman Island bank, “See I can be like you, too! Just accept me.” Of course, his plan is a weak attempt to gain political points with word games.
Really Obama? You’re going to cut the deficit in the coming years from where it is now? How talented our President is to assure us that in future years we will not face the passage of hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus packages and bailout bills.
Our deficit is higher than normal this year because of these emergency expenses. To embrace the President’s bold deficit-cutting agenda is a farce. He won’t be cutting it to pre-Bush levels. He’ll be returning it to pre-recession levels. This is bold policy--returning our deficit levels to pre-recession levels once the recession is over? Maybe when he does it, he can give a speech on the steps of the Treasury Department in front of a big “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” banner.
I applaud this President’s rhetorical balls. Sure, it has won over media stains like Norah O’Donnell whose idea of an effective stimulus is the battery operated device she keeps under the news desk for stories about this administration. I, on the other hand, see right through this nonsense, and I AM NOT HAVING ANY OF IT.
-Ginger
Today, the President announced his bold and brave plan to cut the deficit in half. To try to satisfy lowly Republicans and shed what he perceives as the slime of a liberal lavel, he is screaming from the highest rooftop of a corporation headquarters, non-unionized factory, or Cayman Island bank, “See I can be like you, too! Just accept me.” Of course, his plan is a weak attempt to gain political points with word games.
Really Obama? You’re going to cut the deficit in the coming years from where it is now? How talented our President is to assure us that in future years we will not face the passage of hundreds of billions of dollars in stimulus packages and bailout bills.
Our deficit is higher than normal this year because of these emergency expenses. To embrace the President’s bold deficit-cutting agenda is a farce. He won’t be cutting it to pre-Bush levels. He’ll be returning it to pre-recession levels. This is bold policy--returning our deficit levels to pre-recession levels once the recession is over? Maybe when he does it, he can give a speech on the steps of the Treasury Department in front of a big “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” banner.
I applaud this President’s rhetorical balls. Sure, it has won over media stains like Norah O’Donnell whose idea of an effective stimulus is the battery operated device she keeps under the news desk for stories about this administration. I, on the other hand, see right through this nonsense, and I AM NOT HAVING ANY OF IT.
-Ginger
Whoopsie of the Week
Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky. Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher. Two-term senator. Serious dipshit and asshole.
Bunning told some local Republicans over the weekend that he suports conservative judges "and that's going to be in place very shortly because Ruth Bader Ginsburg...has cancer." Um, sir, did you just tell a room full of people that you were eagerly anticipating the death of a Supreme Court Justice for your own ideological gain? "Bad cancer," he continued, apparently an unsung medical expert, well-versed in Ginsburg's files. "The kind that you don't get better from."
WHOA. I guess Bunning failed to read that little news story about how Ginsburg's prognosis is excellent. Here is an AP refresher.
Normally, a Republican in Kentucky could say things like that and get away with it, but Bunning has already been singled out by his OWN PARTY as a pariah that needs to go away, with good reason.
You see, Bunning is the type of loser that narrowly wins his 2004 reelection (51-49%, or 23,000 votes) over a little-known Democrat challenger in an overwhelmingly conservative state. He followed up that stellar performance with an obvious aparthy toward his duties that resulted in his being named the "Most Clueless Senator" by Hill aides. He has the same lazy attitude towards campaign fundraising; though he claims he needs $10 million for the 2010 race, he only has a few hundred thousand on hand and lacks the capacity (or zeal) to catch up. Oh, and that little-known Dem challenger has moved up in the world. Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo has already announced his intention to run.
Party compatriots have privately been pushing him to retire, but Bunning has the kind of five-year-old mentality that gives him license to become more stubbornly foolish with increased appeals to reason. So, we have a situation where his own Kentucky GOP twin Mitch McConnell and NRSC Chair Cornyn are hilariously and publicly dismissing his declaration of candidacy, instead professing "ignorance" over his intentions.
Wake up, dick. Retire and save your party the embarrassment of losing a Republican seat in Kentucky, of all godforsaken places.
- Slim
Bunning told some local Republicans over the weekend that he suports conservative judges "and that's going to be in place very shortly because Ruth Bader Ginsburg...has cancer." Um, sir, did you just tell a room full of people that you were eagerly anticipating the death of a Supreme Court Justice for your own ideological gain? "Bad cancer," he continued, apparently an unsung medical expert, well-versed in Ginsburg's files. "The kind that you don't get better from."
WHOA. I guess Bunning failed to read that little news story about how Ginsburg's prognosis is excellent. Here is an AP refresher.
Normally, a Republican in Kentucky could say things like that and get away with it, but Bunning has already been singled out by his OWN PARTY as a pariah that needs to go away, with good reason.
You see, Bunning is the type of loser that narrowly wins his 2004 reelection (51-49%, or 23,000 votes) over a little-known Democrat challenger in an overwhelmingly conservative state. He followed up that stellar performance with an obvious aparthy toward his duties that resulted in his being named the "Most Clueless Senator" by Hill aides. He has the same lazy attitude towards campaign fundraising; though he claims he needs $10 million for the 2010 race, he only has a few hundred thousand on hand and lacks the capacity (or zeal) to catch up. Oh, and that little-known Dem challenger has moved up in the world. Lieutenant Governor Daniel Mongiardo has already announced his intention to run.
Party compatriots have privately been pushing him to retire, but Bunning has the kind of five-year-old mentality that gives him license to become more stubbornly foolish with increased appeals to reason. So, we have a situation where his own Kentucky GOP twin Mitch McConnell and NRSC Chair Cornyn are hilariously and publicly dismissing his declaration of candidacy, instead professing "ignorance" over his intentions.
Wake up, dick. Retire and save your party the embarrassment of losing a Republican seat in Kentucky, of all godforsaken places.
- Slim
Sunday, February 22
Rhodes to Perdition
The stimulus bill offers us a wonderful look at how ridiculous is the state of Louisiana. Current governor and Republican Presidential hopeful, Bobby Jindal, is claiming he won't take federal stimulus money to help stabilize the economy of his state. Despite the fact that the bill has been passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President, and that federal tax revenue flowing out of his state will help pay for this package, he wants to refuse it.
So, here are two important questions that come out of this fool-fest in the bayou.
First, will the Republican party's favorite poster child for equality and tolerance turn down a package that help his constituents? Will his misguided principles trump the needs and well-being of some of the poorest, hardest-hit Americans? Of course his alternative is to take the money silently while railing against it (a la Reagan-era tax hikes). So, if he picks the former he's a scumbag, if he takes the latter he is two-faced (and still kind of a scumbag).
Second, if he does bend his constituents over a levee and fill them with the swampy magic of continued economic hardship what is their response? Do they boot his ass out of office after one term Kathleen Blanco-style. Or like all upstanding, poor, conservative Republicans do they put their kids to bed hungry, genuflect before a portrait of Ronald Reagan, and blame Democrats, lesbians, and terrorists for all the tragedy in the world?
-Ginger
So, here are two important questions that come out of this fool-fest in the bayou.
First, will the Republican party's favorite poster child for equality and tolerance turn down a package that help his constituents? Will his misguided principles trump the needs and well-being of some of the poorest, hardest-hit Americans? Of course his alternative is to take the money silently while railing against it (a la Reagan-era tax hikes). So, if he picks the former he's a scumbag, if he takes the latter he is two-faced (and still kind of a scumbag).
Second, if he does bend his constituents over a levee and fill them with the swampy magic of continued economic hardship what is their response? Do they boot his ass out of office after one term Kathleen Blanco-style. Or like all upstanding, poor, conservative Republicans do they put their kids to bed hungry, genuflect before a portrait of Ronald Reagan, and blame Democrats, lesbians, and terrorists for all the tragedy in the world?
-Ginger
Saturday, February 21
The Sassing Begins...
Hey junkies, welcome to Sassmouth Politics!
Have you noticed recently 95% of the population of avid politicos have completely lost sense of reality? We have, and we're NOT HAVING ANY OF IT. For over a year, we've been emailing and texting political freakouts and irreverent commentary back and forth to one another. One day, we crossed a certain ego boundary that made it seem right to publish our sass on the web.
Ginger and Slim are simultaneously the most fervent of progressives and the dullest of moderates. Our policy views, politics, and values are far left of center. Yet we're not impressed with the empty threats, instant historical revisionism and double think, or idol worship of the usual lefty blogs. If we wanted clouded judgment, we'd clearly journey to the right.
We're not just going to pretend to hold politicians accountable, then rebound with a convenient excuse when we're let down. This blog will spread the sass around, unapologetically. We will also (hopefully) offer humorous discourse regarding all things asinine in the political world. When we're wrong, we'll admit it, even though we'll really hate it. When you disagree, we'll listen.
The obsession with and idolization of political leaders that often spews from the mouths of the politically (un)informed will be scarce here, as you probably already gathered. That nonsense in ready supply elsewhere.
It's fun being a sassmouth, as long as your grandmother isn't around to crack you for it. Enjoy it with us.
-Ginger and Slim
Have you noticed recently 95% of the population of avid politicos have completely lost sense of reality? We have, and we're NOT HAVING ANY OF IT. For over a year, we've been emailing and texting political freakouts and irreverent commentary back and forth to one another. One day, we crossed a certain ego boundary that made it seem right to publish our sass on the web.
Ginger and Slim are simultaneously the most fervent of progressives and the dullest of moderates. Our policy views, politics, and values are far left of center. Yet we're not impressed with the empty threats, instant historical revisionism and double think, or idol worship of the usual lefty blogs. If we wanted clouded judgment, we'd clearly journey to the right.
We're not just going to pretend to hold politicians accountable, then rebound with a convenient excuse when we're let down. This blog will spread the sass around, unapologetically. We will also (hopefully) offer humorous discourse regarding all things asinine in the political world. When we're wrong, we'll admit it, even though we'll really hate it. When you disagree, we'll listen.
The obsession with and idolization of political leaders that often spews from the mouths of the politically (un)informed will be scarce here, as you probably already gathered. That nonsense in ready supply elsewhere.
It's fun being a sassmouth, as long as your grandmother isn't around to crack you for it. Enjoy it with us.
-Ginger and Slim
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