Party Politics

Tired of Dems and Repubs battling it out over who can screw you better? I sure am. That's why America needs an individual taxpayer-centered third party to keep us on top. And since we all know how weak the libertarian, green, and socialist parties are, it's time for a completely new option.

Vote for the Lemon Party with me in the next election! Only they are capable of throwing the Lemons out of the Federal Government.

For A Bitter Tomorrow!

PS: Party politics matter to keep any democratic (or republican) society healthy and strong. No matter how much it seems like one side or both sides are hurting the little guy, the solution is never to say "F@#k it, I'm not voting." Protesting by NOT getting your opinion out? Idiotic. You have the power to vote out the bums and the corrupt, so USE that power!

The Demise of the Glenn Beck Program

Well good news for anyone who (like me) was just waiting for the day when the insane and politically-illiterate Glenn Beck got his just desserts.

In just under one month EIGHT advertisers have dropped Beck as a sponsor. In the UK, the program has been running without commercials for 5 days now. Two of these aforementioned sponsors have dropped the Fox News network entirely, meaning that Beck is now actually a drain on their funding.

Even the StopBeck twitter feed had been in a good mood.

Recently, Beck want on yet another wild and unsupported rant, though this time the subject was Egypt. Beck managed to tie in Egypt with George Soros, the Green movement, Van Jones, President Obama, and an imaginary "Communist insurrection' which...doesn't...exist...

The problem is that Beck sounded even crazier than usual. (video)

Here's another Faux Noise pundit telling Beck that maybe he should tone it down:

You know it's gotten bad when "you-can't-explain-that" O'Reilly tells you you've extrapolated too far.

Remember, this is the same Beck who has:

-Called the first black president a racist

-Called Senator Marie Landrieu a "high class prostitute"

-Called the first Muslim congressman a Terrorist

-Called holocaust survivor George Soros a Nazi sympathizer

-Launched an unsubstantiated campaign of hatred against anyone he perceived to be his enemy, setting off a new "red scare"

So I call upon my followers, before the next time you insult George Soros, Van Jones, or the President, think for a second and make sure you're not just playing directly into the hands of the wingnuts of Fixed Noise?

Dueling Budgets

Earlier this Week, US Republicans unveiled their budget plan which is projected to cut $61 billion off this year's budget. Their proposed cuts include limiting or ending funding to the Department of Education and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Obama this morning has unveiled his own budget which would cut $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years, or ~$110 billion per year. Cuts in this plan come from placing a spending freeze on domestic projects. Unfortunately, even this plan falls short of the $4 trillion in domestic cuts that would be needed to rectify the deficit.

Neither plan addresses the three biggest contributors to the US budget: Medicare and Medicaid, Social Security, and Defense spending. However the lesser of the two evils would have to be Obama's plan. The republicans' is filled with impulsive reactions to programs that would actually save money if they were left alone.

Other Updates:

-Iran protests began earlier today as young university students met riot police in the streets. Continuity is not assured but hopeful. The US State Dept has launched a twitter account in Farsi in order to show support for the protesters.

-Protests in Yemen and Algeria are still going on but only Algeria seems to be picking up steam. Al Jazeera is now giving them equal time as Egypt's aftermath.

-The Grammys are going on. Maybe. I'm actively trying not to pay attention.

-Vlad Putin is still a badass.

Politician Hate

Hey everybody. Just got back from Mexico. sorry about not posting anything but wi-fi is ridiculously expensive in those resorts. Anyway, I'm back and I'll be churning out some great new blogs for you this week. For instance, I recently finished Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" so I shall be writing a blog or two on it and its comparisons to other Orwellian dystopia futures. I will include "1984", "V for Vendetta" (movie only), "Equilibrium" (underrated movie starring Christian Bale), and perhaps a few others. If you'd suggest a few to me I'd greatly appreciate it.

In the meantime, have some politician hate pictures.

Yes, they're all copied straight from pundit kitchen. But they seem like the sort of thing you guys would appreciate. Cheers!

Political Wallpapers

Some of these aren't strictly political, but I'm sure you see the relevance regardless.

I'll be on vacation for the next week, so I won't be posting as much. But don't forget to check back for updates!

Left and Right

Left:

• Urban
• Peaceful
• Equality for everybody > individual freedoms
• Focus on laborers rather than employers
• Less emphasis on organized religion, more on Scientific progress
• Homeless and Criminals are downtrodden victims of society
• Multicultural

Right:

• Theistic, Organized Religion important for everyday life
• Homeless and Criminals have no work ethic, chose their path
• Equality
• Generally more popular in Rural areas
• An Employer is more important ultimately than an Employee
• Multiculturalism is betrayal of the homeland
• Emphasis on the Necessity of war

Note that these may focus on American Left/Right wing politics, but they also apply worldwide.

I'm personally mostly on the left side of the spectrum, but almost nobody fully agrees with everything their side stands for. I certainly don't.

On Politics Today

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

-Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower,

in a letter to his brother Edgar on November 8, 1954

Short of changing human nature, therefore, the only way to achieve a practical, livable peace in a world of competing nations is to take the profit out of war ?

-President Richard Nixon,

Real Peace 1983

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed; those who are cold and are not clothed ?

-President Eisenhower,

The Chance For Peace, April 1963

Japan was already defeated ... dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary.

-General and Future President Eisenhower

To occupy Iraq would instantly shatter our coalition, turning the whole Arab world against us and make a broken tyrant into a latter-day hero ... assigning young soldiers to a fruitless hunt for a securely entrenched dictator and condemning them to fight in what would be an un-winnable urban guerilla war. It could only plunge that part of the world into even greater instability.

-George Bush Sr,

A World Transformed, 1998

This, I believe, serves to demonstrate how politically far right the United States has been getting pulled over the last couple of years.

FINANCIAL REFORM

I don't know if you could tell by the title, but I am mad. I enjoy being exposed to opposing viewpoints and thereby opening debate, but recently I have seen opposition that is over the top.

Our Federal Government is no attempting to pass a financial reform bill that would make it impossible to bailout a company by decreeing it too large to fail, while simultaneously tightening regulation over derivatives, which had a huge part in causing the financial recession that occurred in our recent past.

And guess what? ALL 41 Republican senators are opposed to the bill!!!! What the hell is their excuse for siding with Wall Street banks rather than the American people?! I've heard the following milk toast responses:

-it is socialist
-government intervention caused the financial crisis in the first place (untrue as hell)
-the bill is partisan

While the last point is true, it is not enough of a reason for our legislators to sell out their constituents to the Wall street bankers. Whether you love or hate the current administration, you should agree that this particular legislation is essential to prevent another financial meltdown. It is simple fact. No amount of Faux News or MSDNC bias can change that.

The exact action which caused the financial crisis was revealed recently: Goldman Sachs took out large insurance policies from AIG on toxic assets-ones that were doomed to fail. Once those assets failed, Goldman Sachs made big bucks off of their insurance policies and AIG went near bankrupt, which necessitated their bailout. So at the core of the financial crisis, Goldman Sachs made millions while the rest of the economy was tanking. The federal Securities and Exchange Commission recently discovered this and is pursuing legal ramifications.

I believe everyone can agree that the government that governs best governs least. Some may tote the slogan and repeat it enough times for it to be legally called propaganda, and more often than not those people are the ones who legislate exactly opposite to that slogan, but in the end we should all also agree that sometimes adding laws is necessary to stabilize our country. Some may argue that once our government begins to legislate that there is a slippery slope that leads us straight to communist Russia, but that is simply idiotic. This bill, if passed, would improve quality of life for everybody and would prevent Wall Street bankers from making off with America's taxpayer money with no ramifications.