Now compare that to this:




Real wages have stagnated for everyone, but the 1% don't feel any of it because our economy has transformed from a wage driven model to an asset accumulation model. Wealth is made the quickest and easiest by manipulating money markets and investment strategies, not by putting in a 40-hour week. Of course, only the 1% have the access and means to enter the financial markets, so they take all the spoils.

Hobodeluxe: I think it's fitting that the GOP are choosing a corporate raider to be their candidate.

The GOP has already started the narrative that these aren't corporate raiders, they are just wise business men that sometimes have to make tough decisions about closing plants. You know, after they refused to make even the slightest attempt at making the company better, have pillaged every bit of value from them, and have instituted provisions to guarantee that they will reap a healthy profit when the company collapses.

DarnoKonrad: Dinki: Hobodeluxe: I think it's fitting that the GOP are choosing a corporate raider to be their candidate.

The GOP has already started the narrative that these aren't corporate raiders, they are just wise business men that sometimes have to make tough decisions about closing plants. You know, after they refused to make even the slightest attempt at making the company better, have pillaged every bit of value from them, and have instituted provisions to guarantee that they will reap a healthy profit when the company collapses.


Yes, but Mitt is right, that's the Free Market.

Sure, but when did we decide that vulture capitalism should be a core piece of the market AND be considered an ethically ok thing to engage in?

With the anti-corporatist attacks coming from his own farking side (right or wrong), playing up the "envy" angle is incredibly stupid.

I mean, it's stupid in any circumstance. "You're just jealous" is not a winning campaign theme. It's right up there with Cain's "Blame Yourself" strategy.

He is not going to win with this line of rhetoric. He already looks and sounds like the guy who fired your dad, this type of sh*t will not play well, even with blue collar conservatives.

DarnoKonrad: Dinki: Hobodeluxe: I think it's fitting that the GOP are choosing a corporate raider to be their candidate.

The GOP has already started the narrative that these aren't corporate raiders, they are just wise business men that sometimes have to make tough decisions about closing plants. You know, after they refused to make even the slightest attempt at making the company better, have pillaged every bit of value from them, and have instituted provisions to guarantee that they will reap a healthy profit when the company collapses.


Yes, but Mitt is right, that's the Free Market.

He may have a point, but he's not making it well. At all.

Diogenes: With the anti-corporatist attacks coming from his own farking side (right or wrong), playing up the "envy" angle is incredibly stupid.

I mean, it's stupid in any circumstance. "You're just jealous" is not a winning campaign theme. It's right up there with Cain's "Blame Yourself" strategy.

I think it's a mindset that's along the same lines as blaming a woman wearing a short skirt for being raped

/which also wouldn't surprise me coming from Magic Shorts Mitt

Mitt is perhaps the least attractive candidate for anything looking like fiscal responsibility or economic recovery. I would rather see Ron Paul in office, before Mittens. He is a dire threat to the long term health of the nation.

It's not about envy. At this point, it's about triage.

Right. So, who wants to learn how to knit? I've got "Mitt Romney" in the scarf already.

I have to say, I like the renaming of "trickle-down" into "shut-your-trap" economics.

Because Unions get benefits, better pay, and better working conditions and you don't, they must be legislated against and the NLRB must be abolished.

FARK YOU!

hubiestubert: Mitt is perhaps the least attractive candidate for anything looking like fiscal responsibility or economic recovery. I would rather see Ron Paul in office, before Mittens. He is a dire threat to the long term health of the nation.

It's not about envy. At this point, it's about triage.

I'm not sure that eliminating half a dozen federal departments and the Fed at the same time qualifies as "triage". "Sheer madness" is more like it.

Paul's foreign policy ideas are spot on, but factor in his economic ideas, mix in deregulation masked as states' rights, and top it off with tin-foil conspiracies, and he makes a great case as the most dangerous candidate. The only person who can top him is Santorum.

PreMortem: Because Unions get benefits, better pay, and better working conditions and you don't, they must be legislated against and the NLRB must be abolished.

FARK YOU!

Unions only interfere with the benevolence from shining down on us from our rich, blessed overlords.

Grand_Moff_Joseph: hubiestubert: Mitt is perhaps the least attractive candidate for anything looking like fiscal responsibility or economic recovery. I would rather see Ron Paul in office, before Mittens. He is a dire threat to the long term health of the nation.

It's not about envy. At this point, it's about triage.

I'm not sure that eliminating half a dozen federal departments and the Fed at the same time qualifies as "triage". "Sheer madness" is more like it.

Paul's foreign policy ideas are spot on, but factor in his economic ideas, mix in deregulation masked as states' rights, and top it off with tin-foil conspiracies, and he makes a great case as the most dangerous candidate. The only person who can top him is Santorum.

I am FAR from a Paulite. His economic policies are tatamount to economic implosion, but it is still better than the outright robbery and lashing the Fed to contracts that will take years to sort out that Mittens will gift us with. I cannot stress enough how much I loathe this man, and the sheer harm that putting him in office does. His corporate raider past is not an anomoly. It is who he is. He will suck the marrow out of the American government, and then leave it for someone else to clean up, and it will take a generation to repair. I am not kidding that I fear that our grandchildren will be paying for a Mittens Presidency.

Romney is a far worse threat to our economic stability than Bush ever was.

Hobodeluxe: I think it's fitting that the GOP are choosing a corporate raider to be their candidate. Especially at this point in our history. If he wins I expect Mitt will sell what little bit of meat there is left on the carcass to his friends while gutting the federal govt and handing over all the contracts with no bids. So if you work for the govt look out. but if you're rich like him it should be a good few years.

It's also interesting the effect this is having. Perry is going around calling Romney a 'vulture capitalist' apparently. Arguably an effect of OWS and the modern climate.

PreMortem: Because Unions get benefits, better pay, and better working conditions and you don't, they must be legislated against and the NLRB must be abolished.

FARK YOU!

It's because unions stand up to corporations the way you can't on your own. Want better working conditions? Join a union or start one, before the Republicans actually outlaw them for their corporate masters.

Dinki: The GOP has already started the narrative that these aren't corporate raiders, they are just wise business men that sometimes have to make tough decisions about closing plants. You know, after they refused to make even the slightest attempt at making the company better, have pillaged every bit of value from them, and have instituted provisions to guarantee that they will reap a healthy profit when the company collapses.

People will never grasp this as long as they see the OWS movement as just jobless hippies looking for a handout. It's just so much easier to think that way than to try to understand how it all works.

Mugato: Dinki: The GOP has already started the narrative that these aren't corporate raiders, they are just wise business men that sometimes have to make tough decisions about closing plants. You know, after they refused to make even the slightest attempt at making the company better, have pillaged every bit of value from them, and have instituted provisions to guarantee that they will reap a healthy profit when the company collapses.

People will never grasp this as long as they see the OWS movement as just jobless hippies looking for a handout. It's just so much easier to think that way than to try to understand how it all works.

The best is how Gingrich called them dirty hippies who should take a bath and get a job, yet he is leading the anti-corporatist attack against Romney. And he's getting away with it.

Diogenes: Mugato: Dinki: The GOP has already started the narrative that these aren't corporate raiders, they are just wise business men that sometimes have to make tough decisions about closing plants. You know, after they refused to make even the slightest attempt at making the company better, have pillaged every bit of value from them, and have instituted provisions to guarantee that they will reap a healthy profit when the company collapses.

People will never grasp this as long as they see the OWS movement as just jobless hippies looking for a handout. It's just so much easier to think that way than to try to understand how it all works.

The best is how Gingrich called them dirty hippies who should take a bath and get a job, yet he is leading the anti-corporatist attack against Romney. And he's getting away with it.

If by "getting away with it" you mean "trailing behind badly" yeah, he's totally getting away with it.

Let's be fair, Newt has always been in the race to sort of dick it up a bit. Not Ross Perot dick it up, but just bring a certain dickish air to the whole thing, and keep things from being too civil or without a whiff of asshattery.

Diogenes: The best is how Gingrich called them dirty hippies who should take a bath and get a job, yet he is leading the anti-corporatist attack against Romney. And he's getting away with it.

I doesn't help that this is the vibe a lot of them put out or at least the ones the media decide to show put out. What they need is some kind of leadership that can be articulate about what they're trying to say.

hubiestubert: Diogenes: Mugato: Dinki: The GOP has already started the narrative that these aren't corporate raiders, they are just wise business men that sometimes have to make tough decisions about closing plants. You know, after they refused to make even the slightest attempt at making the company better, have pillaged every bit of value from them, and have instituted provisions to guarantee that they will reap a healthy profit when the company collapses.

People will never grasp this as long as they see the OWS movement as just jobless hippies looking for a handout. It's just so much easier to think that way than to try to understand how it all works.

The best is how Gingrich called them dirty hippies who should take a bath and get a job, yet he is leading the anti-corporatist attack against Romney. And he's getting away with it.

If by "getting away with it" you mean "trailing behind badly" yeah, he's totally getting away with it.

Let's be fair, Newt has always been in the race to sort of dick it up a bit. Not Ross Perot dick it up, but just bring a certain dickish air to the whole thing, and keep things from being too civil or without a whiff of asshattery.

I mean he's not being called out much for it. Although Guiliani chimed in today. And it has influenced the narrative.

In the end it may actually help Romney. He's being forced to formulate responses and it will prepare him for the race against Obama. But I wouldn't go so far as to say Gingrich is clever enough to plan it that way. He's still the boisterous, cantankerous, self-important egomaniacal dick he's always been.

hubiestubert: If by "getting away with it" you mean "trailing behind badly" yeah, he's totally getting away with it.

Yeah he's behind but not necessarily for that. He won't be called on that unless he wins the nomination.

BTW, does this whole thing seem extra long to anyone else compared to other election years? It seems like this republican catfighting has been going on for months and months and were still over 6 months left before even the caucus.

Diogenes: I mean he's not being called out much for it. Although Guiliani chimed in today. And it has influenced the narrative.

In the end it may actually help Romney. He's being forced to formulate responses and it will prepare him for the race against Obama. But I wouldn't go so far as to say Gingrich is clever enough to plan it that way. He's still the boisterous, cantankerous, self-important egomaniacal dick he's always been.

The Obama campaign won't stoop to Gingrich style attacks. The Democratic machine won't either. Newt is just about putting a whiff of dickery on anything that he touches, so that when he gets hired as a consultant he can keep his reputation as a "straight shooter" which apparently is Fox News code for "asshattery."

Mugato: hubiestubert: If by "getting away with it" you mean "trailing behind badly" yeah, he's totally getting away with it.

Yeah he's behind but not necessarily for that. He won't be called on that unless he wins the nomination.

BTW, does this whole thing seem extra long to anyone else compared to other election years? It seems like this republican catfighting has been going on for months and months and were still over 6 months left before even the caucus.

The problem is that it hasn't been a cat fight. It's been fairly low key. It's been basically a very low tension sort of reality show, without the swearing and sessytime and blurred out nipples and crotch shots. Which is exactly what it's supposed to be. This is a fairly well managed affair. Nothing too damaging has been slung about, the Crazy Train has been appeased by someone saying the things that they'll support, and the media hasn't addressed exactly how much outright lying has been done. If it were a real cat fight, Gingrich would be reeling in the dirt from the fact that a "family values" candidate has adultery, divorce, and ethics violations galore, and no one has addressed these issues. Bachmann's husband would have been outed a while back if this were a serious fight. Folks would be addressing Romney's health care plan much more pointedly.

This has been about managed faux drama. This isn't close to the 2000 fight for the nomination. It is more like a higher rated rush to put Dole in the seat. It is about massaging dollars from an "outraged" base that has to be reminded who to be outraged by, because if they think about it too much, they might realize that the folks that they should be angry at are currently running for the Presidential ticket.

hubiestubert: The problem is that it hasn't been a cat fight. It's been fairly low key. It's been basically a very low tension sort of reality show, without the swearing and sessytime and blurred out nipples and crotch shots. Which is exactly what it's supposed to be

Though, isn't that because it is sort of close and everyone knows that whoever is nominated will have to chose a running mate, probably from the same pool and they will instantly have to become asshole buddies? Or is it because every one of them is a hypocrite in some way and they're trying to not upset the balance or something.

The one debate I did watch seemed pretty catty to me though. I think it was the first one.

Mugato: hubiestubert: If by "getting away with it" you mean "trailing behind badly" yeah, he's totally getting away with it.

Yeah he's behind but not necessarily for that. He won't be called on that unless he wins the nomination.

BTW, does this whole thing seem extra long to anyone else compared to other election years? It seems like this republican catfighting has been going on for months and months and were still over 6 months left before even the caucus.

You mean the convention and no, its not long comparatively. President Obama declared he was running in February of 07.

Mugato: hubiestubert: The problem is that it hasn't been a cat fight. It's been fairly low key. It's been basically a very low tension sort of reality show, without the swearing and sessytime and blurred out nipples and crotch shots. Which is exactly what it's supposed to be

Though, isn't that because it is sort of close and everyone knows that whoever is nominated will have to chose a running mate, probably from the same pool and they will instantly have to become asshole buddies? Or is it because every one of them is a hypocrite in some way and they're trying to not upset the balance or something.

The one debate I did watch seemed pretty catty to me though. I think it was the first one.

I am perhaps more cynical. This has been about massaging dollars from an election cycle. Extending it and making it dramatic for the rubes. Rather than choose someone to fall on his sword like Dole did, the leadership is about making it look like they're going for the Hail Mary when all this is going to be is a fairly low punt. But they want cheering and shouting, and a lot of dollars to go into PACs and coffers so that it can be siphoned off.

The one thing that this cycle has done is pretty much sealed my disgust for the leadership. I wish that the Modern Whigs had gotten off the ground, because it had a platform that I could support, but too much time and far too much wind got taken out of their sails when they were starting to gain momentum by the TEA Party, and more's the damn pity.

I'll throw my vote for Roemer, and then I suspect that I'll let my registration lapse. The party doesn't want to get better. They are going to put Romney into contention for the Big Chair, despite the fact that he stands for everything that has gone wrong with the party and the system in the last 15 years.

I want a damn actually Conservative party. Not a radical one that disguises itself under the rhetoric, but supports policies that contravene the very foundations of the Republic. This cycle just makes me sad.

cameroncrazy1984: You mean the convention and no, its not long comparatively. President Obama declared he was running in February of 07.

Convention, yes. But there's a difference between when a candidate announced his running and the perception of how long this has been drawn out based on the non-stop daily coverage of every piece of minutia of the process.

Grand_Moff_Joseph: I'm not sure that eliminating half a dozen federal departments and the Fed at the same time qualifies as "triage". "Sheer madness" is more like it.

Paul's foreign policy ideas are spot on, but factor in his economic ideas, mix in deregulation masked as states' rights, and top it off with tin-foil conspiracies, and he makes a great case as the most dangerous candidate. The only person who can top him is Santorum.

I see what you ...

rwhamann: Grand_Moff_Joseph: I'm not sure that eliminating half a dozen federal departments and the Fed at the same time qualifies as "triage". "Sheer madness" is more like it.

Paul's foreign policy ideas are spot on, but factor in his economic ideas, mix in deregulation masked as states' rights, and top it off with tin-foil conspiracies, and he makes a great case as the most dangerous candidate. The only person who can top him is Santorum.

I see what you ...

Actually I think Santorum would bottom out if Paul rose to the challenge.

eddyatwork: It's not the wealth that they have that pisses me off, it's the arrogant sense of entitlement that they deserve even more that is so maddening. It's like the banking executives who farked up so badly that the federal government had to intervene to save the economy from imploding giving themselves bonuses because they got the bailouts instead of getting fired for causing the problem to begin with.

I don't think anyone believes that the issue is that some people are rich and some aren't. Other than the ones who want to paint it that way. I don't care that there are super rich people. I care about how they got that way and more importantly, what they're doing to everyone else with impunity to get even richer, including accepting welfare, yes welfare from our own government and have no clue that they're doing anything wrong. That's the issue, not that there are rich people.

Mugato: cameroncrazy1984: You mean the convention and no, its not long comparatively. President Obama declared he was running in February of 07.

Convention, yes. But there's a difference between when a candidate announced his running and the perception of how long this has been drawn out based on the non-stop daily coverage of every piece of minutia of the process.

There have been a ridiculous number of debates, haven't there.

hubiestubert: Grand_Moff_Joseph: hubiestubert: Mitt is perhaps the least attractive candidate for anything looking like fiscal responsibility or economic recovery. I would rather see Ron Paul in office, before Mittens. He is a dire threat to the long term health of the nation.

It's not about envy. At this point, it's about triage.

I'm not sure that eliminating half a dozen federal departments and the Fed at the same time qualifies as "triage". "Sheer madness" is more like it.

Paul's foreign policy ideas are spot on, but factor in his economic ideas, mix in deregulation masked as states' rights, and top it off with tin-foil conspiracies, and he makes a great case as the most dangerous candidate. The only person who can top him is Santorum.

I am FAR from a Paulite. His economic policies are tatamount to economic implosion, but it is still better than the outright robbery and lashing the Fed to contracts that will take years to sort out that Mittens will gift us with. I cannot stress enough how much I loathe this man, and the sheer harm that putting him in office does. His corporate raider past is not an anomoly. It is who he is. He will suck the marrow out of the American government, and then leave it for someone else to clean up, and it will take a generation to repair. I am not kidding that I fear that our grandchildren will be paying for a Mittens Presidency.

Romney is a far worse threat to our economic stability than Bush ever was.

I was not implying that you were. Just using your comment as a basis for my own. :)

hubiestubert: Diogenes: Mugato: Dinki: The GOP has already started the narrative that these aren't corporate raiders, they are just wise business men that sometimes have to make tough decisions about closing plants. You know, after they refused to make even the slightest attempt at making the company better, have pillaged every bit of value from them, and have instituted provisions to guarantee that they will reap a healthy profit when the company collapses.

People will never grasp this as long as they see the OWS movement as just jobless hippies looking for a handout. It's just so much easier to think that way than to try to understand how it all works.

The best is how Gingrich called them dirty hippies who should take a bath and get a job, yet he is leading the anti-corporatist attack against Romney. And he's getting away with it.

If by "getting away with it" you mean "trailing behind badly" yeah, he's totally getting away with it.

Let's be fair, Newt has always been in the race to sort of dick it up a bit. Not Ross Perot dick it up, but just bring a certain dickish air to the whole thing, and keep things from being too civil or without a whiff of asshattery.

So, he's the real life equivalent of a MMO 'griefer'? :D

Mugato: Actually I think Santorum would bottom out if Paul rose to the challenge.

So Paul is the deepest a**hole in the race?

In what universe is calling people without obscene wealth "envious" not considered class warfare?

Diogenes: In what universe is calling people without obscene wealth "envious" not considered class warfare?

silly prole. it's only class warfare when the poor biatch about the rich. it's never class warfare when the rich shiat, piss and spit all over the poor.

Kazan: Diogenes: In what universe is calling people without obscene wealth "envious" not considered class warfare?

silly prole. it's only class warfare when the poor biatch about the rich. it's never class warfare when the rich shiat, piss and spit all over the poor.

Edmund Burke would like a word with you ;-)

It's only a free market if you have the coupon.