Can you imagine– can you imagine— if a leading Democrat deliberately dissed the intended honorees of, say, Memorial Day? Can you imagine how the mainstream media would report on it?
Eric Cantor, it almost goes without saying, has never worked a day in his life. A career politician, as so many haters of government are, his only work in the private sector was spent in the family business that he was lucky enough to be born into. It takes a special kind of shamelessness to mock workers with talk of “earning your own success” when working for your Daddy’s business is the closest you’ve ever come to honest labor. What a childish, classless display.
Tonight I drink for everyone who ever worked and suffered for it, the people who built the country that Cantor and his party exploit. The dignity of our working people is beyond the cheap insults of the Eric Cantors of the world.
presquevu
They think Labor Day celebrates those who carried their pregnancies to term.
Anya
What a smarmy douchebag.
Jay B.
They really are the worst fucking people in the world. All of the charm of the Taliban mixed with the dash of clerks.
geg6
I saw that tweet earlier today. Just fucking infuriating. People fucking died, some right here in Pittsburgh, to get enough respect for working people that we could eventually have a holiday dedicated to them. And this mother fucker puts shit like this out. I think some of the iron workers I know should go make that fucker eat those words. With extreme prejudice. Self-styled MOU Eric Cantor would be shitting his pants and crying for his mommy if he had to do what those guys do every day. They are badasses. Cantor is just an ass.
TenguPhule
In a just world, Eric Cantor would be strangled in the entrails of the last priest and there would be a new beginning of human civilization.
? Martin
Happy Bourgeoisie Day, motherfuckers! Get the fuck back to work, I wanna new yacht.
smintheus
Just as on Veterans Day we celebrate only those who started wars.
Brian R.
What a fucking asshole.
But let’s remember, as demonstrated this Hardball clip — in which the House Majority Leader proves he’s unaware of Congress’s constitutionally-stated role as the only branch that can declare a war — Eric Cantor is dumber than his hair spray.
Honestly, he’s such a fucking moron that it’s entirely possible that he has no idea that Labor Day is meant to honor, you know, laborers.
I’m surprised that dumb son of a bitch hasn’t swallowed his own tongue by now, or died trying to lick a light socket.
The Republicans might as well have slapped glasses and a shit-eating grin on a cocker spaniel and let him serve in the role.
thruppence
Laura Fix tweeted: (sorry, can’t make the link work)
karen marie
I challenge Eric Cantor to work for half a day as a mover in Arizona between June 1st and September 1st, and then he can talk to me about who works hard and who takes risks.
My brother does that kind of work, part time. He and my nephew moved me yesterday. I tried to help. Even though it was “only” 105 I was close to throwing up from heat stress so I wasn’t much help. I felt sick watching my brother and nephew make that sacrifice for me and get it done.
Half a day, Eric Cantor, then let’s talk.
P.S. Hey, Brian R., don’t go dragging innocent Cocker Spaniels into this!
P.P.S. And you, Jay B.: clerks do an honest day'[s work, don’t go painting them with the brush that painted Eric Cantor.
TenguPhule
That’s not a hard hurdle to clear.
Now, Dumber then Sarah Palin’s nail polish, that’s a burn!
jl
Their plan seems to be working out well.
I see Fivethirtyeight blog has Obama expected electoral college count up to 307.8, and chances of winning up to 74.5 percent, and wonder of wonders, share of popular vote slightly up to 51 percent.
Where is Unlimited Corporate Cash? I want to give congratulations on the GOP convention bounce. Just went to the other party is only wrong thing I can see about UCC’s prediction.
quannlace
Eric Cantor=Sociopath
That is all.
Surreal American
– Abraham Lincoln, First State of the Union address (1861)
Brian R.
When was this tweet?
Because it’s not on his feed anymore. There’s a tweet from someone else today, and then nothing from Cantor since the 31st.
Maybe someone in his office has a fucking clue.
Scratch that, if you’re working for that oily toad, you’re surely a shitstain yourself.
Kobie
And just think, about half the voting populace actually pulls the lever for these fuckers every couple of years. I have lost much faith in western civilization.
DonBoy
Speaking as one of Cantor’s fellow Jews: he’s probably got a version of the Haggadah explaining how Pharaoh created all those jobs. “No poor man ever had me build a pyramid!”
Patricia Kayden
Yet, Cantor’s party will get the majority of working people’s votes.
Suffern ACE
I have a joke but I have snark overload and have been forced to sit down until it passes. I’ll just echo the what a douche sentiment.
@Anya: This.
scav
We could manage a whole calendar. On Easter, Eric Cantor celebrates Nail Makers and their driving ambition.
Chris
@Surreal American:
Posted that on a liberal friend’s facebook profile, along with snark about the “Party Of Lincoln” and a happy Labor Day wish.
mamayaga
@TenguPhule:
Speaking of Caribou Barbie, did you see that she’s run a faster marathon than Lyin’ Ryan?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I didn’t know Cantor was a trust fund baby. I’m hardly surprised. Rob Zerban is calling Paul Ryand out on his self-mythologizing as the plucky orphan who worked to support his widowed Maw:
and waddayano, Zerban is what Ryand pretends to be, not that I think for a moment that the facts will distract David Gregory and Candy Crowley from Ryand’s blue eyes and 8% body fat
SiubhanDuinne
@jl:
OWN GOAL!! VICTORY!!
RSA
I think this is matched by the Wall Street Journal op-ed calling for a Corporation Day. (Sorry if this has been brought up before; I just came across it from Ed Kilgore’s blog.)
LanceThruster
After such an extended period of seeing Mitt the Shit’s mug everywhere, I must say it has been quite reassuring to see the president’s face on TV putting R-money in his place.
Mnemosyne
@Brian R.:
It probably wasn’t someone from Cantor’s office, it was probably someone from Karl Rove’s office, right after they were able to stop screaming obscenities at the top of their lungs and get someone on the phone to take that down before anyone saw it.
But, as poor Anthony Weiner and his weiner know, people can screen-cap Twitter posts long before someone having second thoughts can pull them down.
Robin G.
While I agree that Eric Cantor is a boil on the butt of society, being an elected representative IS a job. Members of local, state, and federal government work difficult jobs with long hours, little pay, and for 95% of them, no reward beyond passive neglect by the people who voted for them, virulent hatred from the people who didn’t, and a vague hope that somewhere amongst the bullshit they’ve actually accomplished something that did a teeny bit of good. So… yeah, let’s not do the “never worked a day in his life” thing. “Never received a check that wasn’t paid for with taxes” is better.
karen marie
@Brian R.: Yes, but a shitstain with a sense of self-preservation who would like to keep his/her job, thank you very much.
Brian R.
@karen marie:
My apologies. That really was an insult to the spaniels.
This was a nice reply on Twitter:
Mnemosyne
@Robin G.:
I will cut the Republicans that break as soon as they admit that working as a college professor and as a state senator is actual work and stop claiming that the president has never worked a day in his life because, like Eric Cantor, he mostly worked in the public sector.
Until that happens, no deal.
Alison
My mother and I have said many times that Eric Cantor makes us wish we Jews had excommunication. Because fuck having that asshole in my tribe.
Suffern ACE
@RSA: Bah. This Congress is more likely to sell the naming rights to existing holidays before it would give our lazy asses another day off. Look for “Flag Day by Pepsi” and “DuPont Thanksgiving” in the near future.
jl
Obama: Romney Would Bring a ‘Losing Season’
http://youtu.be/dZ7yvwBZIPQ
Both Obama and Biden have been really on message reminding what GOP will actually do, as opposed to the rhetoric.
Looking forward to debates.
jharp
Born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.
What an asshole.
quannlace
Ain’t gonna happen, cause EVERY day is Corporation Day!
Robin G.
@Mnemosyne: I don’t disagree. I just object to the content of the post, which says being a career politician means you’ve never worked a day in your life. That’s a pretty broad brush. It’s also a GOP talking point (IOKIYAR), and those aren’t good to subscribe to.
canadian dman
@RSA:
That has to be satire. I read it and laughed out loud at the authors take.
Violet
@Brian R.: Oh, that is awesome. I hope it’s getting sent around the Twitters.
geg6
@Robin G.:
Fuck that shit. You think Eric Cantor gives one tiny shit about whether he’s done any good for anyone other than himself and his trust fund buddies like him? And you’re crazy if you can look at the GOP House calendar and think this guy works hard.
Davis X. Machina
@Surreal American: “It is right to struggle against an unjust economic system that does not uphold the priority of the human being over capital and land.”— Centesimus Annus (“The Hundredth Year”) #35, John Paul II, 1991
Happy Labor Day. Deus lo vult.
Sly
I’ll be sure to remind all Christians that I know to offer a prayer of gratitude to Pontius Pilate come late December.
? Martin
My son is cracking up over the irony that AMC is running a Crazy about Clint marathon today. It was planned for a while, so it’s just a coincidence, yet also prophetic.
I do love me some spaghetti westerns…
SatanicPanic
Fucking asshole. Not gonna let this spoil OUR (us workers!) day though.
billgerat
No, Eric. Today, we celebrate those that worked hard to make those business owners a success.
You didn’t build that, Eric, you worthless fuck.
Robin G.
@geg6: It’s not a defense of Eric Cantor. The implication of the original post is that career politicians (career elected representative) by definition have never worked in their lives. Being an elected representative is work. There’s much more specific attacks to be had on Cantor than to take the GOP talking points that people in government don’t have jobs.
Linda Featheringill
To Jews who are ashamed of Cantor:
Peace.
A man should be judged by the content of his character and not by the religion of his mother.
Jennifer
No, actually, today is the day we celebrate the “wealth creators” in this country – the working people from whom the profits of labor are skimmed to make the MOTU rich. As I noted in my Labor Day piece, jokingly, but Eric-My-IQ-Is-The-Same-As-A-Cantaloupe is stating here seriously, we don’t have a MOTU Day, because EVERY day is MOTU Day. We recognize the people who create wealth one day of the year; on all the others, we laud the parasites who profit from it and seek to help make it even easier for them to make more.
Cervantes
Cantor is an idiot and a jerk. But we knew that. Don’t get mad, get even.
Taught the grand-daughter about Labor Day this morning. Haymarket. Homestead, Pennsylvania. Lilly Ledbetter. The whole bit. At the end, as I was singing “Bread and Roses” for her, she dragged out her drum and lustily kept time. She turns six next week.
Eat your heart out, Eric Cantor.
Kobie
@Sly: Nah, Pilate gets his props on Easter. On Christmas, we thank Joseph for not caring that God knocked up his wife.
Cassidy
@scav: Stealing
Cassidy
@scav: Stealing
Heliopause
Yeah, not exactly Mr. Sensitivity, is he. Maybe we can look forward to his Christmas tweet, “Today, we celebrate the life of Herod the Great, King of Judea,” and his Easter tweet, “Today, we celebrate the life of Herod Antipas, King of Galilee and Perea.”
scav
@Kobie: Valentine’s Day must be devoted to the Oldest Profession in their world — a money-spinner that, no?
Evolving Deep Southerner
I think commenter tanman nailed it on a previous thread:
Sly
@Linda Featheringill:
I beg to differ. Jews should follow Cantor’s lead and offer praise to the Pharaohs of Egypt on Passover.
Ron McCune
There is no doubt about it in any way that America is better off today then it was four years ago. The banking industry is better off. The housing industry is better off. Wall Street is better off. The economic foundation of America is now much more solid than it was for years ago. There is not a lost of 600,000 to 700,000 jobs a month as there was four years ago. We are now adding jobs every month instead of losing jobs every month as we were for years ago. America is no longer on the brink of a Depression as it was four years ago. We are now on the path to financial recovery unlike where we were for years ago. I know it is a recovery that is taking time but when an economy loses 9 million jobs as it did 4 to 6 years ago it will take time to fully recover because it’s consumers that create jobs by buying things and someone with a job is a consumer. It’s easier to get a job today than it was four years ago. The job market would be even better if it wasn’t for the Republicans in Congress who are not funding any kind of hiring of new government employees or government projects since two years ago when they took control of the House of Representatives. Also the Republicans in the private sector are also doing their best to increase the unemployment figures. You see, most of the big companies in America are owned or operated by the rich. Most of the rich are Republicans. Most of the large companies are making record profits yet most of the companies are cutting their work force to the bone and cutting salaries, benefits and investments in the company. Then many companies say they won’t hire because of Obamacare. That is a lie! Most companies already have enough money in the bank to cover Obamacare and most large companies already have health insurance so Obamacare wouldn’t affect them much. Also Obamacare doesn’t fully go into effect until 2014 and if they don’t have the money in the bank to cover it then they can always borrow the money. So you see since President Obama became president the Republican politicians and the Republicans in the private sector are purposely messing up the economy so to increase the unemployment rate because they know that a high unemployment rate is the only way to win the election. Are you going to reward the Republicans for messing up America’s economy by voting for them?!!! Besides the ONLY economic plan Romney and the Republicans have is to permanently extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich as well as cut other taxes for the rich. Romney and the republicans lie as they say that the rich need money to create jobs when the rich already have enough money to buy or already own most of the things that create jobs like cars, houses, clothes, furniture, household goods or services. The economy is like a piece of pie, the more people who can buy a piece of the pie the bigger the pie you will need. The rich get richer by selling more pieces of the pie, not by trying to get as much as the pie for themselves. The rich get richer by people buying the things that they sell. Then Romney and the Republicans want to unnecessarily increase the military budget, cut or gut as many regulations and environmental laws as possible and make abortions illegal. Doing all of this will increase the deficit which will make Romney and the Republicans cut the budget more than they intend on doing with the Ryan budget plan. This means that ALL the programs and benefits affecting the middle class and the poor as well as ALL the CURRENT RETIRES will be on the Republican chopping block. You see folks, the Republicans are sick and tired of paying taxes and they are sick and tired helping the poor and needy so the Republicans are going to give themselves a bunch of tax breaks and the rest of us are on our own! Don’t listen to the Republicans lies and the lies of the Republican media outlets like FOX News and MSNBC Mourning Joe whose biased one sided narrow minded untrue analyze are wrong.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Dayum, Ed Schultz is playing clips of Gee Dumbya Shrub that would make another fantastic ad and/or video web meme for Dems. This “four years ago” question just might turn into a bonanza for Democrats, reminding people of the last time they gave Repubilcans the keys. But who the fuck knows how our whackadoo electorate will respond.
ETA: Also, too, this is a good time to start talking about Willard tax returns again: “Why doesn’t he show us just how he’s suffered under Obama’s policies?”
Spaghetti Lee
@RSA:
Man, everything they do is so bitter. “Where’s White History Month, huh?!” “Where’s Masculist Rights Groups, huh?! “Where’s Corporate Appreciation Day, huh?!” I didn’t know it was possible to survive on a diet of sour grapes.
Kobie
@Ron McCune: WALL O’TEXT
danimal
Am I too pollyanna to think that the Dems are going to come out of the convention with enthusiasm, a small but steady lead and momentum that continues through election day.
Money and bull$hit can only take the GOP so far.
Mnemosyne
@Robin G.:
You do at least recognize the irony of GOP government employees insisting that people who work for the government don’t have jobs, right?
Again, I will stop attacking Cantor for being a government employee who’s never worked a day in his life as soon as he explains why it’s okay for him to do that but not okay for the president. You don’t fight hypocrisy by pretending it doesn’t exist.
Tonal Crow
Today, we celebrate the pending political annihilation of those who steal from the workers to give to the Big Bosses, then tell the workers that the Big Bosses are their best friends and their fellow workers are their worst enemies.
—
Romney’s like Sarah Palin, only more dishonest.
Huggy Bear
Hey, it was Pontius Pilate that took the RISK. Jesus just feckin’ GAVE UP.
Pontius Pilate was the job creator who hired the guys that nailed him to the cross. Where’s HIS day?
Evolving Deep Southerner
@Kobie: Gotta second that, Ron. You’ve got some real good stuff in there, but without any paragraph breaks, it looks like a map of New Mexico with no highways or cities marked.
Baud
Fixed for greater accuracy.
JoyfulA
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: And Zerban stands a decent change of beating Ryan for the House seat. I sent him a few bucks and wish I could afford more.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I saw Zerban on Chris Hayes. I was very impressed. Hope he pulls it off.
The Populist
Cantor is going down. He can pander and make stuff up but I have a good feeling Powell is taking him out on election day. I’ve built many businesses as both an executive and a business owner. I understand what the President meant and appreciate it.
Let’s be honest here, GOP…nobody is building plants, distribution centers and big box retail in small towns with limited infrastructure. When it happens it meant the county and state (and city) built the pieces that sealed the deal. God I hate idiocy.
PurpleGirl
@Robin G.: The man makes in the area of $174,000 a year with benefits and other perks; he spends only three days a week in the DC office/Capitol. If you want to comment that his staff may be overworked and underappreciated, okay. But him? Not on your life. When he leaves office finally he’ll become a lobbyist and live off wing-nut welfare. It ain’t exactly the same as the dirty work my father once did installing electrical cable, okay.
MikeJ
@RSA:
Every day is corporation day. A legal fiction that exist solely for allowing people to escape responsibility for their actions. They get every day.
Jennifer
@RSA: Thank you for the link – I had to update my post to include it (with credit, natch) – but I gotta say…I have a sneaking suspicion that the WSJ just got trolled, and the editors are too dumb to figure it out. I suspect this not only because of the tone of the piece, but even moreso because of the brief biographical info given on the author – he’s a retired labor and employment attorney. I’ve worked for one of those types back in the day, and trust me, there’s not a one of them who has warm-n-fuzzies for the corporations.
Which just makes the whole thing that much better, IMO. The WSJ getting trolled by a retired liberal attorney on Labor Day? That’s sweet.
Canned Platypus
I loathe Cantor as much as anybody. I know exactly what the subtext here is. Nonetheless, the text of his tweet is not wrong. Does Labor Day celebrate those who took a risk? Yes. Does it celebrate those who work hard and build a business? You bet. Does it even celebrate those who earned their own success? I won’t say no. I realize that Cantor has no clue *what* risks Labor Day is about (life and limb, not just some savings), who really builds businesses, or any other nuances of what Labor Day means, but I agree that there are stronger attacks against him than this tweet. He *deserves* stronger attacks than this. Attacking him for his insensitivity just isn’t as effective as attacking him for his much deeper flaws.
JoyceH
On Secretary’s Day, Eric Cantor takes himself out to lunch and toasts himself for creating work for his secretary.
TenguPhule
The dignity of our working people is beyond the cheap insults of the Eric Cantors of the world.
But we’d still accept their heads on spikes anyway.
aimai
@Jay B.:
Or in the immortal words of some book describing a chinese city “By Stalin out of Shopgirl.”
aimai
Anna in PDX
Re Cantor: God that tweet so lacks class. In the non-warfare sense, that is. What a complete jerk. Are those of us who make a wage and don’t own a company, just beneath contempt, then? Fuck him.
Yes, let’s all try to support Zerban, that would be great if we could send Ryan packing in all senses of the word.
Brachiator
@Anya:
Yeah. I was going to write something, but you nailed it.
And yet it just floors me that a lot of hard working people, a lot of people dealing with lost jobs or low paying jobs, are STILL going to vote for these hateful little shits.
Lost in America
Piece of shit Cantor is a piece of shit.
Shocker.
stormhit
Check family businesses down as another thing that are not sufficiently pure for Freddie deBoer.
catclub
@Kobie: “I have lost much faith in western civilization.”
reminds me of Gandhi’s opinion of it.
“I think it would be a good idea.”
Not Sure
I don’t even know how to pull a Cantor on Memorial Day. How about, “sure is too bad all those guys had to die on Okinawa so I could turn around and buy a Toyota.” Nope. Lots of guys at the Legion have Toyotas. Not quite there. “Let’s hear it for those pioneering engineers at Messerschmidt AG for inventing the jet airplane.” Uh, close. Might turn a few heads at the VFW, but they’d think I was nuts. Oh yeah, got it! “Let’s hear it for those great Third Reich engineers who made modern life possible!” That’s it. That ought to get my ass thoroughly kicked, although it’ll take awhile, since most of these VFW people are really old.
Wow, took three tries, and I worked hard on that. Cantor said what he said as if he were merely breathing. Naturally, I wouldn’t dream of saying anything like that. I’m with Larry The Cable Guy when I say I love EVERYTHING about America.
SFAW
@stormhit:
Clueless is as clueless does.
And, no, I’m not referring to Freddie.
jake the snake
Normally, I don’t say this, but Eric Cantor can DIAF, preferably the Triangle Shirtwaist fire.
Gretchen
@Jennifer: I think you’re right. WSJ got trolled.
RSA
@Jennifer:
I wondered about that! That is, I thought, “So corporate mouthpieces can also call themselves labor attorneys?” But your explanation is much more appealing.
Gus
If I ever see Eric Cantor in person, I’m going to kick him in the junk as hard as I can. Whattadouche.
Dug
He’s an adult version of Eddie Haskell.
Publius39
His face looks so punchable…
Publius39
Also, too, if this asshat knew anything about economics, he would realize that those “job creators” would be broke as fuck if there were no demand for their goods. All those jack-booted union thugs actually create the demand, and consume the products that the “job creators” supply. If it wasn’t for us, those fuckers would be filing for Chap. 7 or 11. Fuck Can’tor.
Yutsano
@JoyfulA: Sounds like we need to release the BJ ActBlue hounds here soon.
Anna in PDX
@Spaghetti Lee: I know right?
GxB
@SFAW: We’re working on a Troll Quality Improvement plan (6 sigma, natch) but it has a lot of kinks and we’re still letting the lower ranks through – it’s a work in progress.
@Dug: Beg to differ a bit – he’s no where near adult in human development terms, and at least Eddie sucked up to people before he cut them down behind their back.
@Publius39:
The other day, someone asked what the German word was for “a face that needs to be punched repeatedly” – I could only offer the Irish one (“O’Keefe”) but now I got the Yiddish one too – “Cantor.” The search continues.
SW
Yes and on MLK day let’s not forget the noble Slave holders who ultimately were the ones who made that Civil Rights movement possible.
patroclus
How come we don’t celebrate John Wilkes Booth on Lincoln’s B-Day? On D-Day, shouldn’t we honor Hitler? Marie Antoinette on Bastille Day? Benedict Arnold on Washington’s B-Day? OBL on 9/11?
Mnemosyne
@Canned Platypus:
It’s rarely the big stuff that brings people down. Nixon was brought down by a third-rate burglary. Al Capone evaded his income taxes. Etc.
The petty stuff like this is easier for people to understand and get angry about than the more complicated machinations are.
Mike D.
‘Dissed’ is a pretty imprecise term, but, yeah, basically I think Chris Hayes went there. (And good for him.) So let’s drop the “can you IMAGINE” bullcrap. He went there, and, yeah, there was a shitstorm. We found out what it would look like. It looked like a shitstorm. Not saying the point doesn’t stand, but can we at least pretend to have memories?
Ruckus
I have worked with my hands, my back and a little bit with my brain as a machinist/mold maker(and a few other things) for 51 yrs. I’ve remodeled large sections of my house down to the studs along with moving entire walls, broken concrete to install drain pipes and none of this was as hard as earlier this year I when I got to learn what it is like to basically be a 62 yr old day laborer. And I know people who work like this their entire lives.
Talk about being pissed off hearing how hard some fucker in a suit who got a Harvard education which he didn’t even pay for, who works in an air conditioned office having other people push paper for him works. I’d like to see that fucker come out and dig a ditch with a pick and shovel, mix and pour concrete in a wheelbarrow. That’s all the fucker has to do, one summer day when the temp is 100, humidity is 90 and there is no shade. One fucking day. Then maybe I’d listen to him tell me how much I have to suffer. Maybe I’ll listen. Mind you, only a courtesy listen. But otherwise conservatives can all DIAF. A big roaring fire in the pit of whatever hell they can imagine.
dubyabee
I started my first job 40 years ago at the age of 16. These aching knees and this screaming back all say “I hope you DIAF” to the honorable Mr. Cantor. Stop by any Time. I’ll give you the personal touch.
Suffern Ace
@SW: You’ve been reading dinesh D’sousa, haven’t you?
bob h
And just how many voting manager/owners are there compared to the number of voting employees/workers?
KCinDC
What’s all this about the tweet disappearing? There’s a link to it right in the post (from the words “Eric Cantor”), and it still works. I think Brian R. was looking for it among the @EricCantor tweets, but it was on the @GOPLeader account.