Tom Corbett - horse's ass?

I was reading in the Lancaster newspaper this AM that Franklin & Marshall, a fairly prestigious college in Central Pennsylvania, polled a number of Pennsylvanian voters, Democrat, Independent and Republican, and discovered most of the citizens of the state don't like the current governor, Tom Corbett.  This was true even among Republican voters, Mr. Corbett's own party.  In fact, more then half feel he is unelectable to a second term.  I've known for a long time that a number of the people in this state really don't like the man.  Personally I think he looks like a huckster.  Maybe it's the white hair which looks as though it's been coiffed a bit too tight.  For a number of people, I suspect it's because he was the State Attorney General who chose not to investigate Jerry Sandusky, the sexual predator coach at Penn State, even thought complaints were being filed way back then.  But then Corbett already had his eyes on Harrisburg and the governorship, and Penn State is in the heart of Republican country, and he really wouldn't want to alienate any of those voters now, would he?

My problem with the guy is his inability to focus on governing the state.  Instead, he and his Republican Congress seem to have made getting Republicans elected their main priority.  I don't believe he understand he was put in office to work for the citizens of the state, not put more Republicans in office.  That's not his job.  He is getting paid to work of the people of Pennsylvania, not surround himself with cronies who are going to "have his back."  It is funny if you really think about it.  Since he was elected, Mr. Corbett and his party appear to have spent more time tailoring the voting laws of the state in order to insure the next President of the United States is Republican then on anything else.  Now this isn't really completely true, he has had several other things on his agenda but very little has come to pass.  Being in control is not enough, you have to do something, other wise you're nothing more then a horse's ass.

Elliott Echols - buttonholed?

I saw the other day that the RNC has a hired a young man to help them connect with younger voters, one of many groups they seem to have turned off over the past years.  His name is Elliott Echols and from what I've seen of him he seems to be a fine young chap.  I'm sure he can spit out GOP talking points as fast as the NRA can pump out bullets, otherwise he wouldn't have gotten the job.  Of course, that doesn't guarantee success.  Young people do not seem to have as much of an interest in politics as their elders, different generations, you know.  Young people today see the recent Republican debacle in the House of Representatives as a turn-off, not a fiercely fought battle.  This does not mean there aren't any enthusiastic youngsters in the party, Mr. Echols is evidence of that, his challenge, however, will be to become a sponge and suck in more young voters.  Just by looking at him you can see just who is target audience will be:

Ain't he cute as a button?

white, affluent young men and women.  He is as wholesome looking as white bread, and the epitome of what the Republican Party stands for: white America.  This is not his fault.  I suspect he knew well in advance of taking the position the RNC was not expecting him to be a big hit with young Latinos or young African Americans.  No, I'm fairly certain they want him to focus on the college educated white crowd, the group which gave us Mitt Romney, since that's where the big money waits.  I also have a hunch that he'd look just as out of uniform wearing jeans as did the aaforementioned Mitt.  At least it seems as though the GOP is going to give it the good ol' college try, however they still don't seem to understand it's not the messenger which turns people off, it's the message.

Mavericks - smoke and mirrors and little substance

As the owner of an IMac, I couldn't wait to download the new OS Mavericks since there are certain thinks I like about Apple's IOs and certain things I don't.  Take stacks for instance, to me they are nothing more then a gimmick, yet I've talked to people who think they're the best thing out there.  This is my biggest gripe with Apple, they put gimmickry above substance.  The new IPhone has the new colors and the fingerprint ID which seems is easily hacked, both are gimmicks to drive Appleheads into ecstasy.  This is why my phone is a Galaxy S4, a little more complicated to use then an IPhone but I least I bought it for what it could do, not for some cutesy little trick.

Anyway, it took a long time to download and a long time to install.  The first thing I learned was that my IPhoto was not only outdated, but the version I had installed was incompatible with the OS.  Mavericks didn't tell me this, I had to discover it on my own.  This meant a trip to the App Store, not such a bad thing, though it did cost time.  Then I received notification that other Apps needed to be updated, including IMovie, which I never use, and it take an additional 15 minutes.  Ho Hum, ho hum, there goes the time.  Finally, around 10:30 this AM all updates and installs were complete and I began my journey through the new Mavericks. 

 

I was not swept away on a wave, especially not a killer one.

 

Email has changed a bit, now it looks very similar to the email I have on my Samsung Galaxy Tab except now I can flag my emails with different colors.  Wow, I thought, nice little gimmick.  Now you can use the ICloud to access all of your information with your other Apple products.  Wait a minute, can't you already do this with Google?  I guess the truly big reveal was that now you can access your information through the ICloud on your ITv.  Appleheads unite!  You can get ITv.  Which is, I suppose, the reason for the free download of Mavericks, Apple's smoke and mirrors ploy to get everybody on the same page.  They must hate people like me who don't see them as gods.

 

 

 

 



Chris Christie - flowers to his enemies

I've been reading a lot of stuff today about the GOP's failed shutdown and a lot of what's being said is interesting and then there's the funny stuff, like the ultra-conservative pundits.  They don't seem to mind if someone takes it on the chin as long as it's not their chin.  A lot of those mongering their utter contempt for the Republicans in the House are financially well enough off the shut down didn't hurt them.  Of course I never have been overly impressed by super critical pundits, whether they be on the far right or the far left.  I've always been of the opinion that if there were any real value behind what they were saying they'd be running for office, not sitting behind a microphone or in front of a keyboard.  You know?  Put your money where your mouth is, try and be something more then a bloated, armchair dictator.  Of course that will never happen, they might lose and one can't even begin to imagine how devastating such a thing would be to their egos.

Another point I find interesting is that three of those representatives who voted against the measure have let it be known, through various sources, they would like to run for a higher office, mainly the one which is oval.  Didn't anyone tell them their actions will haunt them in negative campaign ads?  Why would you mollify your base at the expense of the rest of the voting public? The numbers of the Tea Party are anything but vast.  Sarah Palin can talk about her 'rack' as often as she likes, maybe even flash it one or two times, she's still not going to turn enough moderates or independents up at the polls to elect a Republican president.  Cruz may have actually given himself the 'black spot' with his marathon talkathon.  Who did their little shindig help?  Chris Christie.  I hope he sent all of them flowers. 

US Chamber of Commerce - breeding stupidity

A number of news organizations are reporting a number of business organizations are now feeling very unhappy about the House of Representatives, especially those Tea Party members who staunchly refuse to budge.  This is funny, I mean really hilarious.  One article was on how the Koch brothers are truly displeased the way things are going.  I suppose that's because if the country does default they may end up losing a lot of money, much more then the 230 million plus which they invested in various ultra-conservative groups to get this very House of Representatives elected.  Ha ha.  From what I've been able to glean, the US Chamber of Commerce is truly pissed, to put it bluntly.  I am curious.  What did they believe was going to happen when they courted hard-line conservatives, when they gave money to groups fostering these extreme beliefs?  Didn't they understand what they were doing?  Of course not.  All they were interested in doing was putting individuals into public office who would pass legislation reducing business taxes.  They wanted to give business as close to a free ticket as possible, so the damned The Affordable Health Care Act to hell.  It's an expense, you see, and business should have as little expense as possible - they cut into profit.

Now you hear reports how both parties are trying to move to a common area where both sides can save face.  I don't think that's true.  No matter what decision is reached, it's going to look bad for Republicans.  It's going to look bad for the US Chamber of Commerce because they meddled in politics out of self-interest.  Something like 71% of voting Americans are already blaming the GOP.  and the GOP?  They can thank the Koch brothers and other like minded individuals for putting them in this position.  Of course you have to remember, the GOP did run to these individuals and these organizations for help.  They said "give us money and get us elected and we'll give you what you want."  Now they're trying to deliver and no one wants to be home to receive the package.  No one ever told them greed always breeds stupidity.

Tea Party - Still lying through their teeth

So, I know there are a lot of people out there who believe the Tea Party is the best thing for this country since sliced bread.  They see it's leaders as honest, true patriotic Americans who are working only for the betterment of the country.  If you listen to them the Affordable Healthcare Act is worse then the bubonic plague; insurance rates will rise and jobs will be lost.  Personally, I think they are full of shit.  Yesterday I received my Benefits Annual Enrollment Guide.  Anxiously I ripped open the plastic sealers.  I needed to see how much my payroll deductions were going to be.  Would it be too much for my paycheck to bear?  Would I have to buy bargain basement dog food?  I prayed that they stay somewhere in the range of what I was already paying, just shy of $180 dollars a month.  But, of course, that was not to be.  To my gleeful surprise my monthly deductions was... falling... not like a rock, mind you, but enough to make a significant difference in my paycheck.  How much less will I be paying per month?  $39.00  As I did the calculations over and over again I could almost hear the rising tide of Tea Party voices wailing "This Can Not BE!"

Now I will be the first to admit that everybody else in the country is going to mirror me.  There are unscrupulous companies out there who don't give a damn about their associates.  I would not be surprised if there were several companies owned by Conservative Republicans which actually raise their employee rates.  You see, they don't care if they hurt their associates just as long as they get their point across.  They are going to make their political point no matter how much they have to gouge their employees.  Nothing is going to change them.

Boil in water for two minutes, then add milk and sugar to make palatable

So why all the clamor from the Tea Party about the Affordable Healthcare Act?  Well, for one thing, I've always suspected they really are nothing moer then bags with loud voices.  Secondly, this is legislation which was passed under President Obama and they hate him.  Thirdly, they are terrified that when all of the working class 'joes' who make up their core start seeing the benefits they might start saying "hey, this ain't too bad."  That would be terrible news for the Tea Party.  They might start losing elections.  I mean why would any sane person want to vote for a lying sack of shit.

Ted Cruz - maybe not the anti-Christ but pretty close

Everybody is talking about the government shut-down.  Wow.  Like the last time this happened was when the Republicans hated Bill Clinton seventeen years ago; now they hate Obama.  If I remember correctly they paid the piper a wee bit the last time they pulled this shenanigan, and, I suspect the same thing will happen again.  Like spoiled children they don't really learn lessons, they just stamp their foot harder and do what they want.  One can only wonder if they thought the American voting public would rush to their side, that those voters would suddenly have an epiphany: the Tea Party is heaven sent.  What a joke.  While the majority of the Tea Party members are having hands-free orgasms, the majority of everybody else is taking a step back and saying "woah, you people are just too extreme."  And, who is championing this ultra conservative fight?  Ted Cruz.

Let me calculate your idiocy

From what I've heard and read about pudding head Ted is that he has evocative dreams about someday becoming president of the United States.  If this is the case, then I suspect no one has ever told him that all presidents, be they Democrat or Republican, stay pretty close to the center.  This is the only way to get enough votes to be elected.  You don't become president by jumping into a hot tub party sponsored by the far right.  People don't like extremes in politics.  Pudding head Ted doesn't seem to understand this.  Maybe he thinks he's appealing to the Common Man, unfortunately he doesn't understand the Common Man.  I suspect this is because he feels he is so superior he can gauge everybody he meets on their level of stupidity.  That's what I sense when ever I see him or hear him or read what he's said.  It's like he has this dumb scale he uses to grade everybody:  the higher the percentage the greater the idiot.  I know the Tea Party pretty much thinks of him as a god, personally, I think he's verging on being the anti-Christ.  Depending on your beliefs he could be either or.