Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Requesting a Mulligan

So, the recall efforts that are sweeping Wisconsin are now being proposed in Ohio and Michigan. Even if these efforts are successful, there have been months of lost opportunity- jobs that could have been created, infrastructure improvements that could have been made, thousands of hours of human effort and hundreds of thousands of dollars directed toward rectifying the mistakes made in November. A "do-over" doesn't set back the clock, doesn't make up for the fact that the second decade of the 21st Century is shaping up to be just like the "Noughts"- more lost opportunities at a time when the human species really needs to get its act together to prevent a mitigate the coming multi-generational shitstorm.

I laud the recall efforts, but where the hell was everybody back in November? I don't want to beat up on Midwesterners (hell, John Hall was defeated by a GOPer a couple of districts north of mine), but it's long past due that the decent white working folks of the Heartland realize that blacks and Hispanics are the canaries in the societal coal mine- when they are being systematically beaten down, the average working stiff will soon be receiving the same treatment. Please, Heartlanders, don't get fooled again.

UPDATE: Substituted one infinitive to reflect a more pessimistic realistic view of the situation.

SECOND UPDATE: This post may make me come across as dickish, and a holier-than-thou East Coast Elitist, but I'll own the dickishness, and chalk it up to a real sense of frustration. I genuinely hope that the recall efforts succeed, and I sincerely hope that this is a wake-up call for everybody who's not a millionaire or a religious fundamentalist, everywhere in the country.

THIRD UPDATE: Speaking of mulligans, I wish I had written "peevish and peen-ish" instead of "dickish" in my second update.
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10 comments:

  1. ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©March 23, 2011 at 4:06 PM

    I laud the recall efforts, but where the hell was everybody back in November?

    Many of them were out of work. Some had family in Afghanistan and Iraq. Others were being hung out to dry by Obama's HAMP program.

    I do not accept that it's the fault of the voters for failing to vote for the lesser evil in November, it is Obama's fault for being a worthless, lying, corporate tool.

    P.S. Incompetent, too. He got his ass kicked by Turtleman McConnell and Oompa Loompa Boehner? The G.O.P. was discredited, stinky old meat in January of 2009. It was Obama who put them back in the drivers seat, with his insistence on 'bipartisanship', and by letting them skate from all their crimes during the previous 8 years. "We're looking forward, not back."
    ~

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  2. Big Bad Bald BastardMarch 23, 2011 at 4:15 PM

    I do not accept that it's the fault of the voters for failing to vote for the lesser evil in November, it is Obama's fault for being a worthless, lying, corporate tool.

    Yeah, Obama really didn't help, but some of those people actively voted for the greater evil for some reason and are now feeling the buyers' remorse. Aren't the unions still relatively strong in the Midwest?

    Like I said, I really shouldn't beat up on the Midwest per se, because John Hall's constituents booted him, and he was a pretty good rep.

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  3. ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©March 23, 2011 at 4:36 PM

    Unions aren't strong anywhere, BBBB.

    These are purple states, with a substantial amount of god-squadders. (I'm voting for Republicans, because Jesus wants me to save the little fetuses!)

    Add in that the economy wasn't better (because Obama let the Republicans and the banks do what they wanted), and it was a massacre.
    ~

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  4. Big Bad Bald BastardMarch 23, 2011 at 4:45 PM

    (I'm voting for Republicans, because Jesus wants me to save the little fetuses!)

    One would think that, because abortion was made illegal in the early Oughts when the GOP had congress, and the presidency, that these people would have realized that they've been played all along- the GOP has no desire to relinquish the use of abortion as a base-rallying ploy by making it illegal.

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  5. Dr.KennethNoisewaterMarch 23, 2011 at 6:43 PM

    Hey, if you find Midwesterners frustrating, try being from the South. And I mean SOUTH, baby. Daaaaaamn. There's so much the South has going for it. But it insists on being Dumfuckistan.

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  6. Big Bad Bald BastardMarch 23, 2011 at 6:52 PM

    I had no hope in the South (mom told me tales of the charming people throwing fish heads on cars parked out of the Catholic church near Ft. Gordon), therefore they couldn't have let me down.

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  7. Substance McGravitasMarch 23, 2011 at 7:18 PM

    Others were being hung out to dry by Obama's HAMP program.

    Do you vote for the person who won't save you from drowning or the person who'll actively hold your head under?

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  8. ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©March 23, 2011 at 11:18 PM

    Mostly, S McG, the people who were drowning or otherwise floundering in the water concentrated on their immediate problems and didn't come out to vote.

    Some others noticed that times weren't better, and the Democrats had been in charge of everything for two years. Now we here all know why that didn't work out, but it isn't an easy sell to the voters.

    "You see, the Republicans fucked everything up, and then became a tiny minority in Congress. But the Democrats couldn't do anything to help you, because the Republicans teamed up with the corporate whore Democrats to make sure that didn't happen. And oh by the way, the reason your President never went after those whore Democrats is because he is one of them. Still you should come out and vote for the Democrats, because they will sell all your interests out to the corporations with slightly less enthusiasm!"

    How did that sound?
    ~

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  9. TruculentandUnreliableMarch 24, 2011 at 11:56 AM

    Aren't the unions still relatively strong in the Midwest?

    Not so much. Unless you're talking about the Rust Belt?

    North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas are all "right to work" states.

    MO isn't, but there's "right to work" legislation on the floor on the legislature right now. MN, IL, and WI aren't right to work.

    From my (admittedly limited) experience, most of the unions here are for public employees. I know one grocery store in town is union, and I'd imagine some of the manufacturing companies are union, but a lot of them aren't.

    I have a feeling unions are going to be pretty much defunct in this state in the next ten years, if not very soon. It's depressing.

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  10. TruculentandUnreliableMarch 24, 2011 at 11:59 AM

    PS: I'm not union and the administration here actively discourages it as well as they can. I actually don't think it's necessary in my institution *currently*, but it could be in the future.

    Do you vote for the person who won't save you from drowning or the person who'll actively hold your head under?

    Oof. Hard road. Imma gank this phrase for future use.

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