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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / These Are The People In Your Neighborhood

These Are The People In Your Neighborhood

by Kay|  March 16, 20111:33 pm| 127 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Education, Election 2012, Energy Policy, Enhanced Protest Techniques, Free Markets Solve Everything, Fuck The Middle-Class, Fuck The Poor, Glibertarianism, Blatant Liars and the Lies They Tell, Daydream Believers, Decline and Fall

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Went to an after-work rally in Toledo last night to oppose the anti-union bill that is moving through the Ohio legislature. There was a steady cold rain and the turnout was still quite good. The gathering was near the intersection of two busy roads, and we got lots and lots of support from rush hour drivers, blowing their horns and waving.

Having attended many lefty-liberal-political rallies over the years, I have to say the composition of this crowd was really interesting. I cannot recall standing next to a group of off-duty policeman holding signs while the hippie at the podium plays the harmonica before. Former Fox News personality turned very unpopular governor John Kasich has certainly brought people together.

The other thing that occurred to me, standing there listening to the fireman with the bullhorn, was that a lot of the workers attending the rally appeared in the coloring book I got in kindergarten. “Your Community”, I think it was called. I don’t know if you got one of those at public school, but I think you know what I mean. There’s the brick schoolhouse, the teacher, the school bus driver and the crossing guard in the foreground, with the police officer waving the fireman in the fire truck through the 4-way stop in the background. That’s what came to my mind.

This is what comes to radical Republican and morality expert Rick Santorum’s mind when he views the same crowd, apparently:

“Just call them what they are. Public schools? That’s a nice way of putting it. These are government-run schools”.

Just insane, that these people and places are now portrayed as sinister and scary. I don’t care how many times paid conservative mouthpieces repeat this utter nonsense, when you’re standing next to these completely ordinary but all-of-a-sudden reviled public workers, the carefully orchestrated national campaign against public workers seems bizarre.

Anyway, here’s a coupla links if you’re in Ohio and want to see for yourself. I’ll be at one of the Saturday morning rallies.

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Reader Interactions

127Comments

  1. 1.

    wengler

    March 16, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    We also call them something else. First responders. Nearly 400 of which weren’t at the World Trade Center when they got hit, but were there when they fell.

    It takes a special combination of stupidity and evil to start trashing these people.

  2. 2.

    jibeaux

    March 16, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    Public servant? That’s a nice way of putting it. These guys are douchebags. And believe you me, that’s a vast improvement over calling them “santorums”. *

    * Dan Savage for the everloving and long-lasting win.

  3. 3.

    kdaug

    March 16, 2011 at 1:38 pm

    Shifting the framing.

    Who’s next?

  4. 4.

    jibeaux

    March 16, 2011 at 1:40 pm

    Just to clarify, I am referring to our esteemed elected representatives who are prone to calling themselves “public servants”. I’m not talking about people who, you know, pick up trash or teach kids or in some tangible way actually do serve the public.

  5. 5.

    kay

    March 16, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    @jibeaux:

    That’s the other thing. A lot of these people are food service workers and such. Am I to believe they’re all driving luxury cars?

  6. 6.

    Bulworth

    March 16, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    And since Santorum wants a merger of church and state, then he really wants “government-run schools”, too.

  7. 7.

    New Yorker

    March 16, 2011 at 1:49 pm

    @Bulworth:

    Exactly. Santorum doesn’t dislike government-run schools, he just wants government run schools to teach us that Americans are God’s chosen people destined to rule the world and that Thomas Jefferson was a pious evangelical rugged individualist who wanted tax cuts for Exxon-Mobil.

  8. 8.

    jnfr

    March 16, 2011 at 1:49 pm

    I was just reading over on TPM that Sherrod Brown is in much better shape for his re-election run, and they attribute it to the change in attitudes in Ohio brought on by Kasich’s over-reach. That’s so good to hear.

    I was born in Toledo and lived there for years. Still have a lot of family out in the sticks around Lake Erie. Thanks so much for the rally report, Kay. It lifts my spirits.

    Another thing that might lift your spirits: this incredible montage of 3000 photos of the Madison rallies that turn into a long, lovely animation. Tax the Rich, oh yeah!

  9. 9.

    Foxhunter

    March 16, 2011 at 1:52 pm

    Local douchebag Neal Boortz has been using the ‘government schools’ label for years. And his ‘callers’ love it.

    Of course, I would guess that 99% of them either a) went to said government schools or b) did not go to school at all.

    Yeah, cheap shot, I know. But this shit is personal.

  10. 10.

    garage mahal

    March 16, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    Solidarity from Wisconsin! I was struck as well seeing so many hippies and burly steelworkers types coming together in one place. Then the dropping feeling after the rallies that this amazing coalition will all be for naught if we don’t harness it for something purposeful. It seems to me the only antidote to the Rove/Koch billions. Thee only. Rove and the Koch Bros have been carpetbombing this state with ads to the point it makes you ill.

  11. 11.

    Chyron HR

    March 16, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    Teachers? More like members of the GOVERNMENT!

    P.S. Rick Santorum for President 2004 2008 2012.

  12. 12.

    Gus

    March 16, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    when you’re standing next to these completely ordinary but all-of-a-sudden reviled public workers, the carefully orchestrated national campaign against public workers seems bizarre.

    The joke about the CEO, the tea partier and the public employee that has been making the rounds really explains it all.

  13. 13.

    Brian S (formerly Incertus)

    March 16, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    @Foxhunter: What they’d probably say is that they were naturally smart enough to overcome the propaganda put forward in those government schools, but that not everyone can be an unrecognized super-genius just like them. I believe the term that describes them is anosognosia–too stupid to understand that they’re stupid.

  14. 14.

    wengler

    March 16, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    ‘Government-run schools’ is out of the mid-90s Libertarian Party handbook. It’s amazing to see how far into the Libertarian/Bircher world the GOP has gone in the last 10 years.

    Remember, this is where they go to get popular support. Corporate oligarchy is wildly cheered on by only single digits. Every fake issue in the book needs to be dispatched in order to pump up those numbers to around the 30 percent mark, and then voter suppression can do the rest.

  15. 15.

    gnomedad

    March 16, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    I have Mr. Rogers music going through my head now.

  16. 16.

    Southern Beale

    March 16, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    “Just call them what they are. Public schools? That’s a nice way of putting it. These are government-run schools”.

    What, so now “government” is a dirty word? Really? I remember “government OF the people, BY the people, FOR the people.”

    Government is not a fucking building somewhere. GOVERNMENT IS PEOPLE. Get a clue, “morans.”

  17. 17.

    jrg

    March 16, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    @Bulworth: No kidding. They don’t worry about using “government-run” science classes to teach religion. They don’t worry about “government-run” black sites. They don’t worry about “government-run” agencies holding American citizens without trial.

    …but “government-run” primary education? “government-run” trash collection? Oh, lord, fuck no, we can’t have that.

    What a bunch of morons.

  18. 18.

    stuckinred

    March 16, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    @Foxhunter: he’s such a fucking asshole. I love to listen to him right after noon with Jamie DuPree because DuPree doesn’t put up with any of his shit.

  19. 19.

    garage mahal

    March 16, 2011 at 1:59 pm

    @jnfr:

    here is an incredible 3d panoramic series as well. they added 3 slides from last Saturdays rally. make sure to click HD and full screen.

  20. 20.

    Vibrant Pantload, fka Studly Pantload

    March 16, 2011 at 2:00 pm

    @jnfr:

    Yep. Basically, his stock is going through the roof, as his lead amonst hypothetical Repub candidates has shot from razor thing to double digits.

    Cuz naked power grabs and roughshod disenfranchisement of the middle class have, like, consequences. An’ stuff. Too.

  21. 21.

    Shadow's Mom

    March 16, 2011 at 2:00 pm

    Let’s not forget that the new GOP majorities in many states are pushing through legislation that negatively affect voter access for those constituencies most likely to vote Democratic. Via Twitter, several of us have been discussing actions that could be taken to help those who may see their right to vote affected by these moves retain their civil rights. This could mean helping people to get their birth certificates in order to obtain the picture ID that may become necessary in order to vote in some districts. Helping the low income voter access and understand their voting rights was the mission of ACORN. Now that ACORN has had its federal funding stripped, the number of offices have been reduced.

    Does anyone know whether the Voter Rights Project of ACLU does anything to tangibly help the newly disenfranchised? I realize that this comment is not directly about the Ohio demonstrations, but actions that restrict the ability to exercise voting rights can have a substantial impact on electoral outcomes. I know of actions in Texas, New Hampshire (I think that one died), Wisconsin, and other states that deliberately target younger, poorer, and other voters who may vote against Republicans.

  22. 22.

    Southern Beale

    March 16, 2011 at 2:01 pm

    This hilarious video from last fall seems appropriate …. Low-information nation: schooled by Jack Black and America Ferrera

  23. 23.

    Bulworth

    March 16, 2011 at 2:01 pm

    @Southern Beale: Well, “government” started being a dirty word in 2009. Should the GOP retake the WH in 2012 then “government” would again be virtuous and any criticism of the “government” treasonous.

  24. 24.

    New Yorker

    March 16, 2011 at 2:02 pm

    when you’re standing next to these completely ordinary but all-of-a-sudden reviled Latino immigrants/gays/African-Americans/atheists/Muslims, the carefully orchestrated national campaign against all of them seems bizarre.

    Fix’d. This has always been the GOP modus operandi, but this time they finally took on the wrong “minority” group. One can only hope it finally turns working class whites against them.

  25. 25.

    freelancer

    March 16, 2011 at 2:05 pm

    They hate government so much, they just need to be in charge of it. “Conservative” is now a word that is self-selected for adult toddlers.

  26. 26.

    Mark S.

    March 16, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    Teachers? Let’s just call them what they really are. Government-paid indoctrinators.

  27. 27.

    mikefromArlington

    March 16, 2011 at 2:07 pm

    The teabilly’s are being trained by the conservative elites to hate the public sector to make it easier for them to steal more of the pie to enrich themselves even more.

  28. 28.

    The Political Nihilist Formerly Known As Kryptik

    March 16, 2011 at 2:07 pm

    @freelancer:

    Government is awful, inefficient, and controlling! Elect me, and I’ll PROVE IT!

  29. 29.

    Foxhunter

    March 16, 2011 at 2:08 pm

    @stuckinred:

    he’s such a fucking asshole

    I agree. Absolute lunatic. He’s about as libertarian as McMegan wiht the same grasp of facts and figures. At least he doesn’t take to gay bashing.

    Dupree seems to be nice guy. Looks like he has picked up a spot on WSB teevee’s noon telecast from his phonebooth in DC.

  30. 30.

    Jamey: Bike Commuter of the Gods

    March 16, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    “These are government-run schools”

    And they’re NOT government-run, they’re operated by people who work for the government–mostly under the control of school boards and other local authorities.

    Santorum once drew handsome paychecks from the gubbmint, as did Alan Greenspan BOTH George Bushs, and Ronaldus Maximus.

  31. 31.

    jnfr

    March 16, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    @garage mahal:

    Thanks for that. So good to see.

  32. 32.

    Southern Beale

    March 16, 2011 at 2:11 pm

    @Jamey: Bike Commuter of the Gods:

    And they’re NOT government-run, they’re operated by people who work for the government—mostly under the control of school boards and other local authorities.

    Same thing! Technicalities! Garbbledy blargh! Social1sm! Naz1! Barggle burp!

  33. 33.

    Southern Beale

    March 16, 2011 at 2:12 pm

    @Mark S.: You MUST watch the video I posted at 2:01 …

  34. 34.

    Bulworth

    March 16, 2011 at 2:14 pm

    Teachers? Let’s just call them what they really are. Government-paid indoctrinators.

    By the time the teatards get done with us, there will be preciously few Real Muricans left.

  35. 35.

    garage mahal

    March 16, 2011 at 2:14 pm

    @jnfr:

    An occupied State Capitol is a beautiful sight. Sounds like Michigan is getting into the act today. Fuck these assholes.

  36. 36.

    cleek

    March 16, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    @Bulworth:

    Well, “government” started being a dirty word in 2009.

    it was a dirty word much earlier than that, among certain demographics. Reagan famously said:

    The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’

    and everybody understood him.

  37. 37.

    Foxhunter

    March 16, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    @Brian S (formerly Incertus): Agreed. When I do listen, which is rare, I always think of that fellow holding the sign that said ‘Get a Brain Morans’.

    And thanks for adding a new word to my limited vocabulary. Tho it may take me a few weeks to get the pronunciation down pat.

  38. 38.

    Jamey: Bike Commuter of the Gods

    March 16, 2011 at 2:20 pm

    @Southern Beale: Had to adjust the size of my browser’s snark filter to read your response.

    Someone else here made the point more succinctly than I could, that government is people, and not just some building somewhere. If Teahadists and their kindred spirits would act civilly and participate in good faith, rather than whinge, grievance-monger, and hector, they’d get a government more like what they claim to want. Or not, since they constitute a very small minority, albeit one with an outlandishly sized megaphone. Which explains how we got to this point…

  39. 39.

    Bulworth

    March 16, 2011 at 2:21 pm

    Since I lived politically in the ’90’s I can’t help but compare the two periods of evil democrat party presidencies.

    One thing that strikes me as different is the opposition is much less Tim-Mcveigh-militantish. There are some exceptions: there was Beck ranting about the FEMA concentration camps. But overall that type of stuff hasn’t caught on as much. Some of the reason is likely that, unlike 1993, there was no Waco (or Ruby Ridge). Instead the opposition has galvanized more around “socialism”.

    At the same time, this period is witnessing the mainstreaming of Bircherism in a way the last period did not.

  40. 40.

    Adam C

    March 16, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    Private schools? That’s a nice way of putting it. These are corporate-run schools.

  41. 41.

    Bulworth

    March 16, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    I have a comment awaiting moderation. What are the keywords that prompt this?

  42. 42.

    Chris

    March 16, 2011 at 2:22 pm

    @Brian S (formerly Incertus):

    What they’d probably say is that they were naturally smart enough to overcome the propaganda put forward in those government schools, but that not everyone can be an unrecognized super-genius just like them. I believe the term that describes them is anosognosia—too stupid to understand that they’re stupid.

    As Bill Watterson’s Calvin once said of (while comparing girls to bugs, but that’s neither here nor there), “they have a dim perception that nature played a cruel trick on them, but they lack the intelligence to really comprehend the magnitude of it.”

  43. 43.

    DWG

    March 16, 2011 at 2:24 pm

    “Just call them what they are. Public schools? Local police? That’s a nice way of putting it. These are government-run schools personal rights infringement forces.”

    Perhaps at last the divide-and-conquer mentality of the GOP will be exposed for what it is, and so-called low-information voters will come to see that their interests are definitely not being served.

    Most conservatives heart the cops … and schoolteachers are despised only in the abstract. Try shutting down one of those local government-indoctrination camps for budget reasons and listen to the howls of outrage.

  44. 44.

    Mark S.

    March 16, 2011 at 2:25 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    I’m surprised there isn’t a Fox Kids News yet. It couldn’t be any dumber than Fox Grownup News is now.

  45. 45.

    MikeJ

    March 16, 2011 at 2:26 pm

    @Bulworth:

    http://codex.wordpress.org/Spam_Words

    Note that “soçialism” contains the substring “çialis”.Other common words contain spammy substrings too.

  46. 46.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 16, 2011 at 2:28 pm

     

    a lot of the workers attending the rally appeared in the coloring book I got in kindergarten. “Your Community”, I think it was called. I don’t know if you got one of those at public school, but I think you know what I mean. There’s the brick schoolhouse, the teacher, the school bus driver and the crossing guard in the foreground, with the police officer waving the fireman in the fire truck through the 4-way stop in the background.

    If you remember that book (or something like it) you might enjoy browsing the series of blog posts over at Sweet Juniper under the topic Terrifying Nixon Era Children’s Books.

  47. 47.

    iLarynx

    March 16, 2011 at 2:29 pm

    As Southern Beale pointed out, it’s the AMERICAN GOVERNMENT that Republicans hate so much. They’re simply letting their facade of faux patriotism drop so we can see what ANTI-AMERICANS Republicans really are.

    And as Foxhunter pointed out, perpetual prevaricator Neal Boortz has been spewing his anti-American “government schools” BS for years now.

    HOWEVER, the description of Boortz himself is a bit off. In actuality, Neal Boortz is an ass-wipe. Proof is here: http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/34765.html

  48. 48.

    Culture of Truth

    March 16, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    “These are government-run schools”.

    Oh, that’s a nice way of putting it. Why doesn’t he call them what they really are? “Mandatory Stalinist Education Camps”

  49. 49.

    Kay

    March 16, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    @Adam C:

    I actually don’t have any problem with private schools. I think they should be non-profit, but that’s me. In Ohio, I’m actually paying (some) towards private schools. Ohio went right to the constitutional wall on public support support of private schools.

    So why can’t conservatives leave my public schools alone?

    I’m not screwing around with their schools.

  50. 50.

    Southern Beale

    March 16, 2011 at 2:37 pm

    @Bulworth:

    Social1sm, V1agra … Naz1….

  51. 51.

    kay

    March 16, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ:

    I took those books seriously. It’s the only part of school I felt was worthwhile. Ask me anything on fire safety.
    I was looking for practical knowledge :)

  52. 52.

    geg6

    March 16, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    Please remember that Rick Santorum was sued by his local school district. He has a bit of sore spot when it comes to public schools. But he sure is happy to take tax payers’ money to school his kids.

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06245/718462-85.stm

  53. 53.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 16, 2011 at 2:43 pm

    @kay:

    Ahhh, so you are the one who knows just what to do when somebody yells “movie” in a crowded fire-house.

  54. 54.

    Culture of Truth

    March 16, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    He has a bit of sore spot

    He has a bit of screw loose

  55. 55.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    March 16, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    The other thing that occurred to me, standing there listening to the fireman with the bullhorn, was that a lot of the workers attending the rally appeared in the coloring book I got in kindergarten. “Your Community”, I think it was called.

    This is awesome, and true, and the reason that I think that — finally, finally — the GOP has over-reached.

    You can’t really tell people that their teachers, police officers and fire fighters (not to speak of those professionals themselves) are the enemy.

    I understand that the GOP wants this country to be peopled by the rich and folks who have gone to live on a compound and will thus leave the rich alone (which raises the question of who will clean the rich’s homes and teach their children, but I suspect they haven’t thought that far) — but I don’t think the rest of the country really wants that.

  56. 56.

    geg6

    March 16, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    @Bulworth:

    Anything that contains the letters that also are the brand name for a boner pill (which is why we spell sockalism the way we do) and, for some reason, those things we wear on our feet (not the socks). Also many words for games of chance or female genitals.

  57. 57.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    March 16, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    @Culture of Truth: Quiet, dude! You’re getting ahead of the messaging!

  58. 58.

    Mike in NC

    March 16, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    @Mark S.:

    I’m surprised there isn’t a Fox Kids News yet. It couldn’t be any dumber than Fox Grownup News is now.

    Great idea. They could run pieces on why Mister Rogers was a pedophile, Sesame Street caters to unionized thugs, and the Smurfs are a bunch of collectivized Commies.

    Sponsored, of course, by breakfast cereal, candy, and toy manufacturers.

  59. 59.

    Culture of Truth

    March 16, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    I would also observe that in all the coloring books avaible in the Beltway talk show green rooms, Toledo is in the middle of America’s “heartland.”

  60. 60.

    mk3872

    March 16, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    Nice see progressives getting back to action and fighting again.

    2.5 years of in-fighting, bickering and whining about only getting 1/2 a pie instead a whole pie (“change I can’t believe in!”) was nausiating.

  61. 61.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    March 16, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    @Mike in NC: Well, in fairness, the Smurfs are not so much Commies as they are Democrats (hence the blue).

    Ah! But perhaps I repeat myself.

  62. 62.

    Bulworth

    March 16, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    I’m surprised there isn’t a Fox Kids News yet. It couldn’t be any dumber than Fox Grownup News is now.

    Well, there is Faux and Friends. That’s for kids, isn’t it?

  63. 63.

    debbie

    March 16, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    @kay:

    I’m not screwing around with their schools.

    Maybe you ought to. If Michelle Bachmann’s recall of history is any indicator, we really need to annihilate home schooling. For our children!

  64. 64.

    bkny

    March 16, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    “Just call them what they are. Public schools? That’s a nice way of putting it. These are government-run schools”.

    wow. it truly is a mission to destroy public education.

  65. 65.

    RalfW

    March 16, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    @New Yorker:

    Americans are God’s chosen people destined to rule the world

    And just like the Pilgrims who froze and starved to death in the early years of colonizing here, Santorum or his heirs will realize when China and India kick our asses to the curb that the phrase “g*d forsaken” can apply to the US as easily as to anyone else.

    I hope to be retired and living in my cousin’s basement in Sweden at that point.

  66. 66.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 16, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    @Bulworth:

    Just make sure that Bill O’Reilly isn’t invited; he might frighten the kids with that creepy old uncle who offers to give you a Werther’s Original candy if you come over here and sit on his lap vibe of his.

  67. 67.

    gnomedad

    March 16, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    There’s the brick schoolhouse, the teacher, the school bus driver and the crossing guard in the foreground, with the police officer waving the fireman in the fire truck through the 4-way stop in the background.

    Straight out of Orwell!

  68. 68.

    Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)

    March 16, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    @jnfr:

    I wouldn’t have said this even a year ago, but after all this Kochwhoring in Wisconsin that the governor and his flunkies in the legislature have been doing, I’m ready for it: we should bring back the Eisenhower-years top rate on income tax. I think it was 88% or 91%. I’ve seen both numbers, and I don’t know which is right; I’d be happy with either.

    It’s time to face the truth that the richest people in this country, the top 1%-ers, don’t do anything for this country, or for the economy. They only take, take, take. They take more than four fifths of everything earned in this country, and they still feel like they’re getting a raw deal. I saw last night that that 1% made something like 85% of all income in the U.S. over the last 25 years or so. What have they given back? These people are useless, greedy assholes. So fuck them. If somebody wants to earn 500,000,000 a year, then great, let them. But we should tax everything after the first $10,000,000 at 91%. And the after-tax income on the top $490,000,000 that’s left over after the 91% bite? The 9% left in their own bank accounts? $44,100,000. That’s a pretty nice chunk of change there, it seems to me. If you earn $45-50,000,000 a year, and you still feel like you’re getting a bad deal and having trouble scraping by, then you’re doing something wrong.

  69. 69.

    bkny

    March 16, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    4 nyt reporters — including anthony shadid — missing in libya..

  70. 70.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 16, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    @bkny:

    wow. it truly is a mission to destroy public education.

    Yep.

    They won’t be satisfied until the last schoolteacher has been strangled with the entrails of the last crossing-guard.

  71. 71.

    Chris

    March 16, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    [note: some items changed to fit most people’s realities]

    This morning, I got up, had breakfast and brushed my teeth and showered with government-run water, and drove my government-run (GM) car on government-run roads. I saw a government-run policeman at an accident, where two people who apparently had government-mandated insurance were exchanging information. Now I’m on my government-mandated lunch break using this government-invented network to post this note…

    Isn’t government just awful?

  72. 72.

    Gus

    March 16, 2011 at 3:10 pm

    @Mike in NC: Meh, PBS and NPR take their share of money from ADM. Hard to find a more evil corporation than that.

  73. 73.

    Chet

    March 16, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    @Bulworth: This.

    The “anti-government” stance of the wingnut base really don’t represent libertarianism so much as frustrated authoritarianism. It’s not the existence, or size, of government that they have a problem with; it’s the fact that said government is not in “legitimate” (white Christian dominionist) hands.

  74. 74.

    Mark S.

    March 16, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    @Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther:

    On the other hand, there’s one female Smurf and like 500 male ones, so it’s kind of like a libertarian convention.

  75. 75.

    Culture of Truth

    March 16, 2011 at 3:22 pm

    brushed my teeth and showered with government-run water

    With government-imposed flouride, which will kill you?

  76. 76.

    Alex S.

    March 16, 2011 at 3:23 pm

    I wonder how long the unity is going to last this time. Hopefully some time beyond the next issue that can be framed in a “unions steal from white people and give it to minorities”-way.

    Off-Topic: The current paper of record has an article on Bradley Manning and his detainment conditions:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/16/hear-bradley-manning-because-chains

  77. 77.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 16, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    @Chris:

    Isn’t government just awful?

    You left out the worst part: you are forced, whether you like it or not, to breathe government mandated clean air.

  78. 78.

    Davis X. Machina

    March 16, 2011 at 3:28 pm

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ: A real glibitarian/conservative burns down the EPA headquarters and then complains that the combination of all the particulates in the air, and the now-vacant lot, have negatively affected the value of his property.

  79. 79.

    jl

    March 16, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    Informative report on trends in productivity, wages and benefits for workers in the US.

    http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/the_sad_but_true_story_of_wages_in_america

    the pdf report with time series of productivity growth, and growth in wages and compensation for private and public workers is

    http://epi.3cdn.net/3b7a1c34747d141327_4dm6bx8ni.pdf

    Might be handy to take to rallies, or show clueless teabaggers and right thinking independents.

    Found via Mark Thoma’s Economist’s View:

    http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2011/03/the-sad-but-true-story-of-wages-in-america.html

  80. 80.

    GregB

    March 16, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    GOP media hack-n-flack Terry Jeffrey was crowing a few days ago that now is the time to put and end to public schools.

    Religious absolutists and libertarian anarchists are making a case for destroying everything that has been built up in the US in the last 250 years.

  81. 81.

    geg6

    March 16, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    @Mark S.:

    And where, sir, may I deliver your Internets?

  82. 82.

    geg6

    March 16, 2011 at 3:38 pm

    OT, but…

    Calling DougJ! DougJ to the white courtesy phone!

    http://www.rollcall.com/news/Walker-Crank-Caller-Ian-Murphy-Runs-in-NY26-204156-1.html

  83. 83.

    jnfr

    March 16, 2011 at 3:38 pm

    @Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    I have moments when I am definitely ready to go there. It’s certainly worthwhile to put forward as an agenda, if only to scare them enough that they settle for something in the middle. I’ll show you the Overton Window, assholes.

  84. 84.

    Southern Beale

    March 16, 2011 at 3:39 pm

    @Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    we should bring back the Eisenhower-years top rate on income tax.

    Remember when Robin Hood was a folk hero? Yeah, that was so quaint. Nowadays he’s joined Soc1al1st Jesus in the dust bin of Capitalism.

  85. 85.

    Stefan

    March 16, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    “Just call them what they are. Public schools? That’s a nice way of putting it. These are government-run schools”.

    The US Army? Just call it what it is. This is a government-run army.

  86. 86.

    Judas Escargot (aka ninja fetus with a taste for bruschetta)

    March 16, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    @Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    It’s time to face the truth that the richest people in this country, the top 1%-ers, don’t do anything for this country, or for the economy. They only take, take, take.

    Yeah, this.

    I do seem to have found out one way to make an old white Republican blink when arguing with them in meatspace: Ask him why he loves his wallet more than his country. Then, whatever the (inevitably weak) retort, ask him why he’s so proud of that fact.

    Kind of a stupid slogan, but it does seem to throw them for a loop: Their Fox-programmed minds don’t seem to have an if/else clause for that one. It honestly reminds me of the old Star Trek ep. where the androids, when confused, would stare off into space as their pendants blinked.

    On the other hand, I did manage to get one oldster to admit out loud that he’d always side with Wall St. over the rest of the people, because of his 401K, and that the rise of the Chinese was a good thing because it would teach people like me “some respect.”

    Seriously. And this guy was a veteran, BTW.

  87. 87.

    James E Powell

    March 16, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    The only way these scattered protests will produce long term changes is if the message “the Republicans are not your friends” is pounded into the heads of these good and decent hard-working Americans. They have been voting for Republicans for reasons ranging from Jesus to bigotry for over thirty years. What have they gained from it?

  88. 88.

    Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther

    March 16, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    @Mark S.: Ha! Oh, the point you make, it is an excellent one!

  89. 89.

    demz taters

    March 16, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    @Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther:

    I understand that the GOP wants this country to be peopled by the rich and folks who have gone to live on a compound and will thus leave the rich alone (which raises the question of who will clean the rich’s homes and teach their children, but I suspect they haven’t thought that far)—but I don’t think the rest of the country really wants that.

    This is where 9 percent unemployment comes in – it reminds people that they can’t afford not to be appropriately grateful and deferential to their benevolent employers.

  90. 90.

    FormerSwingVoter

    March 16, 2011 at 3:58 pm

    Who, exactly, are Republicans not explicitly at war with at this point? Cops, firefighters, teachers, first responders, anyone in any union of any kind, minorities, women, immigrants… I mean, how can they still get anywhere near half the vote when they’ve openly declared war on everyone everywhere? Don’t the people voting Republican realize that they’re the ones Republicans hate?

  91. 91.

    Brachiator

    March 16, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    @kay: There is a great article in the current NY Times on the importance of the public sector as the last, slim means by which many people in Ohio escape poverty (Ohio Town Sees Public Job as Only Route to Middle Class):

    While that might not seem like much, jobs like theirs, with benefits and higher-than-minimum wages, are considered plum in this depressed corner of southern Ohio. Decades of industrial decline have eroded private-sector jobs here, leaving a thin crust of low-paying service work that makes public-sector jobs look great in comparison.
    __
    Now, as Ohio’s legislature moves toward final approval of a bill that would chip away at public-sector unions, those workers say they see it as the opening bell in a race to the bottom. At stake, they say, is what little they have that makes them middle class….
    __
    Gallipolis is a faded town on the Ohio River, one whose fortunes fell with the decline in industries like steel in bigger cities along the river. That erased a swath of middle-income jobs in the area, said Bob Walton, who, as a commissioner for the Southern Ohio Port Authority, an economic development agency, has tracked the economic history of the area for decades….
    __
    Today, storefronts are mostly dark. About one in three people live in poverty. Billboards advertise oxygen tanks and motorized wheelchairs. Old photographs in a local diner look like an exhibit from a town obituary. The region has some of the highest rates of prescription drug abuse in the state, with more people dying from overdoses than car crashes

  92. 92.

    stuckinred

    March 16, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    @FormerSwingVoter: Honkies.

  93. 93.

    Chris

    March 16, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    @Otto Graf von Pfmidtnöchtler-Pízsmőgy (formerly Mumphrey, et al.):

    This.

    I agree, and I’m also reminded of Wilson’s (formerly) infamous quote: “If there are people in this country with enough money to own the government, they are going to own it.”

    Frankly, I’d be on board with that kinds of sky-high taxes just to deny the rich the kind of wealth that enables them to do that.

  94. 94.

    jl

    March 16, 2011 at 4:07 pm

    Cool chart with detailed info on relative federal income tax (?) burdens by income, from 1920 to 2010.

    I don’t have time now to follow all the links to see how it was put together, but very detailed info.

    The person who made the chart is too vague for my tastes, but it looks like it is for federal income tax burden.

    The chart excludes regressive changes in Social Security taxes. I don’t think Social Security should be thrown in with all other taxes (that is accepting GOP and glibertarian framing) but the additional regressivity of changes in social security taxes would make changes in disposable income between income groups worse than this chart suggests.

    http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110316/ts_yblog_thelookout/chart-shows-low-tax-burden-for-rich

    Original source for chart:
    http://www.datapointed.net/2011/03/relative-us-income-taxes-1913-2011/

  95. 95.

    Chris

    March 16, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    @Judas Escargot (aka ninja fetus with a taste for bruschetta):

    On the other hand, I did manage to get one oldster to admit out loud that he’d always side with Wall St. over the rest of the people, because of his 401K, and that the rise of the Chinese was a good thing because it would teach people like me “some respect.”

    Well that’s what people do when they love America, doncha know? You just don’t understand it because you’re a liberal elitist who has no real understanding of what it means to love your – yeah, I can’t do it. Even as parody. Sorry.

    It’s a hell of a patriot who cheers for a foreign dictatorship (the most powerful one in the world) just so he can have the emotional satisfaction of putting those of his countrymen that he hates “back in their place.”

  96. 96.

    jl

    March 16, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    @FormerSwingVoter:

    The GOP is not explicitly or implicitly at war with the rich.

    The GOP is not explicitly at war with the bigoted and simple minded self righteous and bitter non rich white rubes who are still voting for them, and who are their both pathetic and dangerous dupes. But implicitly it is at war with them too.

    It might finally becoming clear to the average voter that the GOP and their corporate and super rich funders are eventually coming for everyone who has a spare dime that can be filched.

  97. 97.

    Bulworth

    March 16, 2011 at 4:13 pm

    Frankly, I’d be on board with that kinds of sky-high taxes just to deny the rich the kind of wealth that enables them to do that.

    Oh no, don’t do that. They’d go galt, and then where would we be? We’d have 10% unemployment.

  98. 98.

    nancydarling

    March 16, 2011 at 4:17 pm

    @Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther: If labor is in short supply, the help will become surly.

  99. 99.

    Paul W.

    March 16, 2011 at 4:18 pm

    Hilariously, or really just completely nuts in my opinion, when I linked BJ earlier today on Facebook one of my “libertarian” friends (and really, he’s as glib as they come about invoking destruction on the world around him just to see folks believe his ideology is the true one) gave me the quote “The government is coercive and therefore evil”, right after informing me that there can never ever in a million years be a “good” form of government.

    Yet human beings have been trying for throughout recorded history, and before, to do just that. There is no logic to the way these idiots think. He spends most of his time playing computer games in NYC, home of regulation and employed by a drug company that would be worth not one dollar without government enforcement of patents. Idiot.

  100. 100.

    Chris

    March 16, 2011 at 4:27 pm

    Oh no, don’t do that. They’d go galt, and then where would we be?

    You know, I read a PJM piece right after the 2008 election that was begging the rich to do exactly that, and take their wealth elsewhere, “somewhere people are still grateful just to have a job.”

    Didn’t happen. Besides the obvious reasons (they never had much to fear from Obama), there’s also the fact that going Galt, um, requires actually withdrawing from society, y’know? And if you think the giants of Wall Street have what it takes to retire in a gulch out west with none of the creature comforts they enjoy in modern civilization, you’re on drugs.

  101. 101.

    R-Jud

    March 16, 2011 at 4:29 pm

    @Paul W.:

    “The government is coercive and therefore evil”, right after informing me that there can never ever in a million years be a “good” form of government.

    So the Founding Fathers were a bunch of deluded fuckwits then for trying? Interesting.

  102. 102.

    jl

    March 16, 2011 at 4:30 pm

    @Paul W.:

    Poor thing sounds like he is oppressed, probably much more so than he realizes. He needs to go Galt. Enveigle him into a car, speed off, and set him free in the Maine woods with a survival kit and some hand tools.

    He will survive and flourish better in total FREEDOM, and thank you some day.

  103. 103.

    scav

    March 16, 2011 at 4:31 pm

    @Paul W.: Please, get him to sign a solemn notarized pledge not to call the ebil ebil police when he gets mugged or burgled.

  104. 104.

    Suffern ACE

    March 16, 2011 at 4:34 pm

    @FormerSwingVoter:

    I mean, how can they still get anywhere near half the vote when they’ve openly declared war on everyone everywhere? Don’t the people voting Republican realize that they’re the ones Republicans hate?

    LOL. You got one of them there sit down jobs at one of them there corporate offices and you don’t wanna hear about some flack hick without a degree and her petty problems. You got your own problems, but you work for a corporation. Besides you are closer to the galts than you ever would be with that loser whose probably doing meth anyway. You’ve read “The Art of War” and imagine that you are a strategic genius of your department; a general of huge armies, when you really are just an Associate Assistant VP of operations.

    Those guys will always vote republican.

  105. 105.

    RSR

    March 16, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    “Your Community?” pretty well summed up in this satire voice-over pro-AFSCME (“the fuckin’ union that works for you”, NSFW) video.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3mw49mk_x0

  106. 106.

    slag

    March 16, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    I’m curious as to when the American people will stop voting anti-government people into government jobs. It really is a bizarre situation.

    I mean, would you ever go to a job interview at…say…Apple Computers and go on and on about how much you hate Apple Computers? And if you did, would you ever expect to get hired after that interview?

    Cognitive dissonance rules our world. Along with the sociopathic cult.

  107. 107.

    Svensker

    March 16, 2011 at 4:36 pm

    Any chance of an Open Thread?

    Anyone have any idea of what’s going on with Japanese nukes? Aljazeera and Beeb are talking about #4 having the possibility of going critical, but info is hard to get and I hate to spread scare stuff without having a clue what is true or not.

  108. 108.

    shortstop

    March 16, 2011 at 4:38 pm

    I don’t think the revilers have any internal disconnect at all. Teachers and agency workers are lazy and inept and bring down America. Cops and firefighters are courageous heroes who deserve our gratitude. Everyone knows that.

    And when the police and firefighters stand on the side of every other public employee, the revilers ignore it. For now. Soon, cops and firefighters will be called RINOs or communists and be subject to an iron GOP hand. (But have the revilers really thought this through?)

  109. 109.

    piratedan

    March 16, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    word just in from Rick Santorum, he wants you to get off his lawn and stop protesting, after all he IS paying you 6.50 an hour to watch his kids, mow his lawn, wash his clothes and man the security desk at the front gate. You should be thankful for his largesse that he’s watching out for you and hasn’t turned you all in to INS yet.

  110. 110.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 16, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    @slag:
    The way I like to put it is, electing Republicans to run the government is like hiring militant Vegans to run a steakhouse-the inevitable result is burnt meat, unhappy customers and money missing from the cash register.

  111. 111.

    srv

    March 16, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    Hillary says she will not be part of a cabinet after 2012.

  112. 112.

    Chris

    March 16, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    @Chris:

    if you think the giants of Wall Street have what it takes to retire in a gulch out west with none of the creature comforts they enjoy in modern civilization, you’re on drugs.

    Clarification: I don’t mean to say that like it’s a bad thing. I myself sure as hell don’t have what it takes to retire in a gulch with none of the creature comforts. But that’s the thing: I actually like this quaint little invention called “human society.” I like living in it. I appreciate what it gives me and don’t consider it beneath me to give back. Nor do I pretend that I’m a self-made man who owes nothing to anyone and needs only himself to survive.

    Which brings me to this question: since wealthy conservatives have been bitching ever since Atlas Shrugged came out that if we weren’t good they’d bail out on us, um, why don’t they already? As they keep telling liberals and activists and anyone else who criticizes the system, if you think things are so bad here, why don’t you leave? Come on, do it! Put your money where your mouth is and let’s see how long you fuckers actually last in that “me me me” utopia of yours.

  113. 113.

    slag

    March 16, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ: Ha! I like it. Although I suspect the real result would be something in the “Soylent Green is People” family. Which, now that I think about it, sounds a lot like where we’re headed in many of these Republican-run states as well.

  114. 114.

    Calouste

    March 16, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    OT, but TPM has a headline saying “Francomania Breaks Out in GOP”. I think they have been suffering from that for a long time. He’s still dead though.

  115. 115.

    Amir_Khalid

    March 16, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    @Svensker: Oh, it gets better. The first para of this New York Times story is positively frightening.

  116. 116.

    Chris

    March 16, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ:

    The way I like to put it is, electing Republicans to run the government is like hiring militant Vegans to run a steakhouse-the inevitable result is burnt meat, unhappy customers and money missing from the cash register.

    I like that one.

    The analogies I’ve used in the past are “hiring a communist to run a business,” “hiring a pacifist to run an army,” and “hiring Red Sox fans to play for the Yankees.” And thanks to Slag for mentioning the bizarre discrepancy.

  117. 117.

    Violet

    March 16, 2011 at 4:46 pm

    @Svensker:
    It sounds like a lot of people don’t know what’s going on with the nukes. Saw something, maybe on the BBC, that Japan may have been downplaying the disaster. The British government evacuating its citizens is really ominous.

    The workers who are staying in the plant are really amazing. They pretty much are writing their own death sentences.

  118. 118.

    Mnemosyne

    March 16, 2011 at 4:52 pm

    @FormerSwingVoter:

    Don’t the people voting Republican realize that they’re the ones Republicans hate?

    Nope. SASQ.

  119. 119.

    Calouste

    March 16, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    @Svensker:

    The (water cooled AFAIU) spent fuel storage in #4 was at 89 degrees C yesterday, so it wouldn’t be surprising if it had cooked dry by now. Don’t know what is going to happen at that point, but it can’t be good.

  120. 120.

    Paul W.

    March 16, 2011 at 5:37 pm

    @jl: Well, if he did that he might have to give back all the money while he was on unemployment in Chicago… or go crawling back to his dad for a second job.

  121. 121.

    Luthe

    March 16, 2011 at 5:43 pm

    If the Republicans are so set on cutting benefits and pensions for public sector workers, then why don’t they cut the huge pensions and cushy health benefits that former legislators get for life?

    Oh wait, you mean they only want to cut benefits for the workers, not management? Quelle surprise.

  122. 122.

    urbanmeemaw

    March 16, 2011 at 7:13 pm

    @Violet: And the talking bobblehead bimbo on the Today show this morning commented (about the 50 technicians), “Some say they’re in a risky situation” (I’m paraphrasing, but she actually did use words “Some say”). I hate that show. Except for Ann Curry.

  123. 123.

    urbanmeemaw

    March 16, 2011 at 7:21 pm

    I attended the rally on Fountain Square in Cincinnati yesterday. Crowd estimate was 3,500, which wasn’t bad at all considering it rained off and on all day. Featured speakers included union reps (who were also veterans), a suburban mother from Boehner-land (Butler County) speaking against the cuts to education, a nun, a Hispanic priest, Baptist ministers leading prayer, and, I’m very happy and proud to say, 3 Cincinnati City Council members, the mayor (Undercover Boss Mark Mallory), a County Commissioner and former County Commissioner were present to voice their support. For Cincinnati, it was definitely the most diverse crowd I’ve seen. Anywhere. And everyone on that square got it. Class war was the theme of the day. Supposedly our local GOP Talking Point rag didn’t cover it (but they did cover a couple of dozen tea partiers rallying in Mason)but I can’t confirm it. All in all, a great afternoon/early evening. Now I keep wondering how the local Fourth Tier Wingnut Welfare recipients would insult a nun, a priest, a Baptist minister, along with the fire fighters, teachers, etc.

  124. 124.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    March 16, 2011 at 11:14 pm

    well since santorum “educated” his own children via web based distance learning, and the internet was also created and built by government run institutions…

    hasn’t santorum doubled down on government run education?

  125. 125.

    DPirate

    March 17, 2011 at 9:50 am

    Santorum is a whacko, but they are government-run schools.

    I would add that high school is very sinister and scary, and if anyone tried to force me to attend now I would run to Canada and ask for asylum, but let’s set aside talk about the students, lol.

  126. 126.

    kay

    March 17, 2011 at 9:58 am

    @DPirate:

    but they are government-run schools.

    They’re public schools. Like public parks and public libraries.
    I hate how what conservatives do to language.
    They’re also just wrong on public schools, and the history there. The original Ohio constitution mandates public education. It’s a blatantly liberal document. Despite this concerted effort by conservatives to pretend public schools were invented in 1972 by teacher’s unions, they’re an old idea.
    Liberals are the “conservatives” on public education, if you look at state history. They’ve (once again) rewritten history to conform with Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater.

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