President Obama sent me another very gracious email today, effusively thanking me for being his wingman in the “lengthy struggle to build a new foundation for this country…”. I normally get 1 per month but the pace has picked up in the last month. Barry, as he likes me to refer to him, must be lonely and have a little time on his hands. I know he would want me to share the text of his missive with as many people as possible:
Clarence —
When you and I set out on this journey three years ago, we knew that ours would be a lengthy struggle to build a new foundation for this country — one that would require squaring off against the special interests who had spent decades stacking the deck in their favor.
Today, it is clear that you have shifted the odds.
This morning, I signed into law a bill that represents the most sweeping reforms of Wall Street since the Great Depression, and the toughest consumer financial protections this nation has ever seen. I know that I am able to do so only because the tens of thousands of volunteers who make up the backbone of this movement overcame the most potent attack ads and the most powerful lobbying the special interests could put forward.
Our special-interest opponents and their Republican allies have now set their sights on the elections in November as their best chance to overturn the historic progress we’ve made together.
Organizing for America counts entirely on supporters like you to fight back — no special interests, no corporate PACs. To keep making change and to defend the change we have already won, we need you — and at least 14 other people in your area — to contribute so we have the resources necessary going into the election.
Please donate $5 today and help Organizing for America lay the groundwork for the fights ahead.
Because of Wall Street reform, we will ensure that Americans applying for a credit card, a mortgage, or a student loan will never again be asked to sign their name under pages of confusing fine print. We will crack down on abusive lending practices and make sure that lenders don’t cheat the system — and create a new watchdog to enforce these consumer protections.
And we will put an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts, giving us the ability to wind down any large financial institution if it should ever fail.
The passage of Wall Street reform is at the forefront of the change we seek, and it will provide a foundation for a stronger and safer economy.
It is a foundation built upon the progress of the Recovery Act, which has turned 22 months of job losses into six consecutive months of private-sector job growth. And it is a foundation reinforced by the historic health reform we passed this spring, which is already giving new benefits to more than 100 million Americans, ushering another 1 million Americans into coverage by next year.
But today’s victory is not where our fight ends.
Organizing for America and I will move forward in the months ahead on the tough fights we have yet to finish — even if cynics say we should wait until after the fall elections. This movement has never catered to the conventional wisdom of Washington. And we have fought to ensure that our progress is never held hostage by our politics.
You and I did not build this movement to win one election. We did not come together to pass one single piece of legislation. We are fighting for nothing less than a new foundation for our country — and that work is not complete. As we face the challenges ahead, I am relying on you to stand with me.
Please donate $5 or more today:
Sounds like Barry is having money trouble. I’m going to stand with him, he can join me on the unemployment line. I’m saving him and Ben, Tim and Larry spots.
There is no longer anything to be gained by pursuing this conflict, if there ever was any gain to be had. Killing people prematurely might give us a little psycho-boost, but why bother? They will die anyway.
The economics of modern warfare favor some sector specific companies, but no longer provide the bread and bullet boost of the 20th century conflicts. The US economy is obviously worse off due to the inefficiencies of modern warfare.
The humanist argument really sucks. Why we persist in believing we can beat humanity democracy capitalism subservience into people is mystifying.
Phantom Headlines
Just some random possibilities:
Jan Brewer Appointed Ambassador To Mexico
Lebron James Comes Out…Of The Closet
Tony Hayward Knighted…Sword Slips
Former Pres. George Bush To Complete Studies at U of Phoenix Online
Osama Surrenders to Rolling Stone Scribe, Matt Taibbi
Church Endorses Gay Marriage, Priests To Remain Celebrate Celibate
Busted!! World Cup Huge Dope Conspiracy
Beck-Pelosi Sex Scandal Probed By PETA
Stimulus Dollars Printed In Watercolor
Boehner-Jacko 2nd Cousins
Oprah-Leno To Wed In Native Alaskan Ceremony
Palin To Cater Winfrey-Leno Nuptials
Rhambo To Become Putin’s Chief of Staff
Michael Steele To Become White Woman
FDA OK’s Increased Dietary Hydrocarbon Content
BP Opens Seafood Chain - Cites Increased Supply Efficiencies
BP and the U.S. agreed to inform the groups whether a biologist is present at controlled burns…
This appears to be a fine, durable agreement, for BP and the federal government. If no biologist is present, is the protocol to light it up anyway? Translucency is not transparency. BP and the feds have practiced a synchronized translucency, intended to obfuscate the truth, since the spill began. These are the two entities that caused this catastrophe and their criminal behavior is not changing.
Catherine Craig has posted this video on YouTube for our edification. Thanks.
Just Jan…Insight or Drugs?
How White Can One Woman Get?
Jan Brewer has her white rage on, again. She has unleashed a dope in diapers diatribe upon the folks who “trespass” on our borders. Most of the people she refers to are, of course, a slightly darker shade of brown than the feeble fine minded, accidental governor. Brewer alleges that the “majority” of people who enter the US illegally are “drug mules”. We are still waiting for this certified Radiological technologist to cite her sources. Sean Alfano, NY Daily News staff writer, reports on Brewers vacuous comments. Citing the ubiquitous nature of her knowledge, she offers US this: (emphasis mine)
“We all know that the majority of the people that are coming to Arizona and trespassing are now become drug mules,” Gov. Jan Brewer told the Arizona Republic Friday.
“They’re coming across our borders in huge numbers. The drug cartels have taken control of the immigration.”
Brewer evidently has sources and insights unavailable to US Border Patrol officials:
No data? That only leaves divine insight and associated empirical data:
…the president of the Border Patrol union said that since drug charges carry stiffer penalties, few illegal immigrants trying to find work were willing to take the risk of prison time.
“The majority of people continue to come across in search of work, not to smuggle drugs,” T.J. Bonner said.
Brewer might have The Sight, or maybe she is under the influence of drugs. Dumb, white doper gets my vote.
The Definition of Contempt
BP, after destroying a significant portion of the earths ecology, has now refused to allow its employees to testify voluntarily in front of the US Congress. An AP article by Henry R. Weber reports:
The chairman of a House panel investigating the Gulf oil spill said Friday that BP won’t let members talk to several employees who may have critical information about what led to the catastrophe.
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., told The Associated Press that BP PLC has cited its own investigation as its reason for denying access to the employees.
Rep. Stupak says:
…he isn’t ready to issue subpoenas yet.
Why should he have to if BP hasn’t committed some heinous act? BP has been duplicitous and evasive from the beginning. now they have become contemptuous of all of US.
On Smallness
Paul Krugman reminds us of a John Maynard Keynes quote that is as applicable to politics, parenting and most of our daily pursuits as is it to economics:
But this long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a task if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm is long past the ocean is flat again.
-Keynes
On Fathers Day - An Apology to My Children
Later today, I will do what most fathers do today : enjoy the company of my children and grandchildren. It will be a happy time , unencumbered by worry, fear, malaise or financial hardship. I don’t deserve it. This is not about self-flagellation or psychotic guilt. It is about failure on the most basic level, individual failure. A fathers responsibility goes far beyond food, clothing, shelter, education and nurturing. Those duties I performed respectably, I think. Perhaps this was the tunnel that blinded, and wedded, me to my ongoing failure, and perhaps ultimately set all of you up for failure. My stewardship of the planet has been an extractive, destructive and debilitating display of usury. Your legacy is a toxic, smoldering world of violent recrimination. This was my watch, my One Chance Fancy. I let you down, and I am sorry. I can spend the rest of my life with my head held down in shame, but that’s not me. I am an American. We can still change the world, for the better. I will clean up some of this mess before my time is done. That’s the promise of my apology.
