Tag: Election 2012

So, which one is it?

Was Mitt Romney lying to the SEC about leaving Bain Capital in 1999? Because that would be a felony.

Or was he lying under oath in 2002 about being there? Because that’s perjury.

Sorry, this is kind of important. But hey, I guess Wall Street types think you have to break a few laws.

In closing: Let the banks fail; made in America; concrete; borrowed words; and no such thing as too old.

Hope?

It’s June, and I’m already really tired of the 2012 election season: delegate shenanigans; voter suppression (oh the irony of toting out the GOP’s token black man for this!); shoddy fact-checking; shoddy spell checking; fear mongering; birtherism; austerity. Blah! Some people are asking — and reasonably so — whether it’s even possible to have a constructive campaign this year.

But two things have me thinking that there may be a ray of hope. Maybe 2012 is doomed, but there’s signs that we may at some point in the future be able to talk reasonably about political issues, and maybe even find middle ground in the obvious places.

First, it looks like the IRS will actually be enforcing long-ignored rules about churches getting involved in politics. Nobody says your preacher can’t have an opinion and can’t have a political bumper sticker, but he’d better not preach that if you vote a certain way you risk eternal damnation. Damnation!!

Now it looks like the GOP is actually trying to get back to basics with people who  “stressed the need to work with Democrats to get things done in Washington.” Younger politicians who say stuff like “I think the government, again, should get off your back, out of your wallet and away from the bedroom.”

I sure hope that works out.

In closing: salt; stranger danger has gone too damn far; it turns out that unlawful intrusions are unlawful; is anybody surprised to learn that Facebook ads don’t work? Anybody? Bueller?; Fail; childhood poverty; don’t fight the ocean, it will win in the long run; too much of a good thing is bad; and anger management.

Mama Economy

Remember Tay Zonday? He’s back, and he understands economics.

In Closing: Autopsy; Castro; Google thinks I’m a dude too (clearly I need to search more for shoes and makeup); Just for fun, read the first paragraph to somebody before telling them it’s Bob Dole; Because surely her hair is more important than anything else; Okay, maybe that’s a problem; and have a great weekend.

Enough Iowa Already

I’ve ranted about the primaries before, and the only improvement this time around is that the Democrats already have a candidate.

So today, as CNN points out, the Iowa Caucus kicks off the official election season despite the fact that the candidates have been campaigning for 6 months, spending millions of dollars and having 13 debates. Just think how much more money will be spent and how much more of your time wasted before November! One is forced to wonder if that money couldn’t have been better spent by cash-strapped local governments, and all those debates cancelled in favor of letting news crews talk about issues that matter to you and I — say, housing unemployment, the anemic economy, banking reform, schools, the War On Terror, the War On Drugs, the War On Nouns, the aqueducts —  but I digress.

Most “experts” treat Iowa as something important: a barometer of American political thought. It is, in fact, meaningless. A limited number of [almost exclusively white and Protestant] voters who have the luxury of wasting most of their evening picking delegates does not represent national consensus in any meaningful way whatsoever.

The nicest thing I can say about it is that it will be over in the morning. Some pundits will still blather on about it meaning something. Hopefully one or more candidates will pack up his (or her, oh please her) toys and go home.

In closing: this civil forfeiture thing is out of control; the Alabama Gap; and Whiskey Fungus.