Two-Faced Fast Food

Back in 2012, I wrote a post about various reactions to President Obama's reelection: Distasteful Citizenry (11/09/12).

Included in the post was mention of certain fast food chains that became involved in the negative mix. In particular, the super-rich Papa John's founder who tried to blame the onset of Obamacare as the reason he could only insure one in three workers.

However, pizza man is now selling one of his Utah condos for $17.9 million.

• Papa John's founder lists ski home for $17.99 million making it the most expensive condo ever listed in Utah

Am I the only one to see the hypocrisy? I don't think so. Some of the comments following the Daily Mail article read as follows:

• His pizza is a degradation to pizza. This is the guy who cut employees hours so he wouldn't have to provide healthcare. Typical right winger. A GREEDY JOKE! (Orlando, Florida).
• I hear he has to sell so he can afford the ACA mandate for his subordinates. People, don't buy pizza from the chains. Support your mom and pops or make it yourself. Pizza doesn't cost $20!!!! (Albuquerque, NM).
• My guess is he doesn't eat his own pizza if his properties look like that... (California).
• Bottom line is this: he doesn't make a single dollar without all the workers slaving away for min wage and tips in his Pizzerias and driving to make deliveries 24/7. I am all for making good money, but this is just gross American mega consumption at its worst. They should all go on strike. (Boston).
• You know what's funny - their pizza SUCKS! Who buys that garbage? (Boston).

I quite agree…

Differing Definitions

It's all how you look at it…

Most people on food stamps would rather not be doing so. Does the right-wing honestly think people enjoy the loss of dignity and self-respect?

I've been in both places, so I already know the answer. However, it's the complete lack of humanity from the so-called Christian right-wing that churns my disgust the most.

House of Dipsticks

I hope voters remember the behavior of their representatives when the next election rolls around.

• How Looming Budget Cuts Will Hurt GOP Leadership's Home States

However, in the case of certain states (you know who you are), hatred of President Obama exceeds all common decency, concern for fellow human beings and is devoid of any recognizable form of patriotism. Our governing bodies, specifically the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, are a major global embarrassment. They make the USA look like a nation of dipsticks.

I sincerely hope Boehner and McConnell are the first two kicked to the curb.

Fixing the Vote

They can't win major elections on the basis of their candidates or political messages – take a look at gerrymandering and their attempts to block the vote – so now the GOP wants to tinker with the Electoral College:

Changing the rules, not the party

From First Read: Republicans are looking to improve their standing in time for the next presidential election. They want to do a better job reaching out to Latinos, they want to soften their tone when it comes to social issues, and they want to narrow their techno operation gap with Democrats. But here's another way you might not have heard: Some Republicans are looking to change the Electoral College system in battleground states that Democrats have won in the last two cycles. As the Washington Post reports, Republicans in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia - all controlled at the state level (in some form or fashion) by the GOP - have proposed awarding their Electoral College votes by congressional district instead of the winner-take-all approach used by every state except for two (Maine and Nebraska).

Grand Theft Election: How Republicans Plan to Rig Electoral College & Steal White House

From the Center for American Progress: The Republican Plan would reallocate electoral votes so that a maximum of two electoral votes would go to the overall winner of several key blue states. The lion's share of the state's electors would then be allocated one by one to the presidential candidate who won each individual congressional district.

There were a few lone voices of reason amongst the right-wing, however:

GOP Florida House Speaker Blasts Plan To Rig Electoral College

According to Think Progress: Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford (R) poured cold water on a Republican plan to rig the Electoral College that is being considered in a number of states to all but ensure that the next president will be a Republican. "To me, that's like saying in a football game, 'We should have only three quarters, because we were winning after three quarters and the beat us in the fourth," Weatherford, a Republican, told the Herald/Times. "I don't think we need to change the rules of the game, I think we need to get better."

Fellow Republican leader, Senate President Don Gaetz, wasn't favorable to the plan either. He said he would prefer a more progressive proposal: abolishing the Electoral College and replacing it with a national popular vote. Said Gaetz: "The farmer standing in his field in North Dakota should be just as important as the factory worker in Ohio."

Whatever happened to the party of Lincoln? Instead of entering into politics for the best of possible reasons – representing their constituents comes to mind as a priority – they lie, cheat and steal their way into office. Is it any wonder many of us look upon the right-wing as a collective group of unhinged fanatics? They are hell-bent on imposing their antiquated social edicts on everyone, taking away freedom of choice in most instances and then dismissing the relevance of the growing population and ever-changing demographics of America.

And why don't reasonable big-name Republicans point out the dishonesty? NJ Governor Chris Christie comes to mind, as does John McCain to a lesser extent (although he has lost much of his credibility in recent years).

Or have they all gone over to the dark side?

Sacrifice in Reverse

Chris Christie on Meet the Press this morning:

He (Romney) believes everyone should have skin in the game; he stands for shared sacrifice to make this nation great again.

Shared sacrifice? Those living on the financial edge already have more than their share of "skin" in the game. The term "shared sacrifice" needs to be pointed directly at those who knowingly avoid paying their share of taxes instead of expecting America's working class and poor to shoulder the burden - again.

Losing homes, jobs and health benefits isn't enough for Romney? He wants these same people to sacrifice even more while he and others like him sit in their flush financial lofts?

Scary Citizens

More about the 47 Percent:

Mitt Romney tells donors his job is not to worry about Obama-voting freeloaders who depend on the state

Big surprise that most of the nasty comments about President Obama come from people living in the South, which follow the Daily Mail article linked above. Some things never change in America, I agree – such as hateful racism dressed as political outrage. Southerners are the first to complain they are labeled "racist" when they disagree with the President's policies, but the intense hatred emanating from the right-wing since President Obama took office lends little credibility to the faux protests. The misnomer of pious southern "Christians" is the biggest outrage of all and is nothing more than hypocrisy at its best (second only to Mormon mantra).

There were literally hundreds of comments following the Daily Mail article. Here's a snippet, both good and bad (my side-remarks are bolded in red):

• Alex from Louisville, Kentucky: I love all the Liberals ranting over this as if it will drive off Conservatives. 68% of America is conservative leaning (according to whom?) and most are not happy with paying to keep able bodied people at home, watching TV and playing video games while the rest of us work 40+ hours a week. It's the staple of the Tea Party Movement and the reason the Liberals LOST most of the elections in 2010 and we gained the HoR back. Please Mitt, more, more, let Paul Ryan go to be your attack dog to chew up the biased news media and spit them out.
• Sakara from Kentucky: THE TRUTH HURTS----Obama's biggest fans are the unemployed, and the people who work for the government.
• Cowboy Mouth from Ft. Worth, Texas: The tattoo-getting, nose-piercing nimrods wonder why they can't get jobs? They are physically able to work but don't want to do a Mexicans job because it is beneath them. Idiots. If you add them all up 50 % seems a little low.
• Taylor from Atlanta, Georgia: So many people think that they are owed everything instead of going out and working for what they get.
• Tiffany from Alabama: I'd like to know how what Romney said about the "poor" is any different from how Obama demonizes the "rich"?
• Plumpy from Lafayette, Louisiana: Romney speaks the truth. All of Obama's supporters are depended on government. They are the leeches sucking the economic blood out of the producers.
• K.M. from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (skinhead country!): He is 100% correct and decent, hardworking Americans are getting more and more angry about being forced to subsidize lazy freeloaders.
• Zhang from Lumberton, North Carolina: Fact check - many of Romney's Mormon voters are dependent on government entitlements to support their unusually large families. Very true!
• T.J. from Atlanta, Georgia: What a bastard. I'm voting for Obama and I paid over $30,000 in Federal Income Tax last year so he can shove it up his golden-spooned ass. My favorite comment to date.
• Ian from London: When he talks about the 47% of Americans who don't pay tax is he including himself? From what I can see he has done everything possible to avoid tax through offshore bank accounts and offshore companies. Does America really want this guy to be President?
• Betty Blue Eyes from San Jose, CA: What about multi-millionaires who pay only 14% tax rates because their loopholes are "legal?" Do they think it's unfair that people making much less are in higher tax brackets? How do they feel about people who pay no federal tax legally? These include people on Social Security, people who are disabled, people who are in the lower ranks of the US military, who have low-wage jobs, etc. Why do these unfortunate people have to be kicked for taking advantage of their own legal rights?
• Penelope from Australia: America- your entire political, social, education and LACK of a health system are a joke most of the rest of the Western world. It's a shame it's not all that funny in that you erroneously pride yourselves on being the greatest democracy the world has ever known when you despise almost half of your own citizens and blame them for being poor, unemployed, sick and poorly educated. Ever thought of trying to solve these shortfalls in infrastructure instead of just blaming so many individuals? Perhaps the most rational comment so far.

Instead of attacking fellow citizens less fortunate than themselves, why don't various right-wingers stop whining and simply pay their fair share of taxes? Or voluntarily relinquish their Medicare and social security benefits if they feel so strongly about the matter? Their savage lack of compassion and burning hatred of anyone slightly different than themselves divides the country, along with their seemingly inherent selfishness and greed.

Truth Emerges

Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich appeared on the Ed Schultz Show yesterday, where he hit the nail on the head regarding our current state of immovable affairs:

What the Republicans want to do is keep the unemployment rate as high as possible because history has shown it's the best way to make sure a president is a one-term president.

Reich, who is also a UC Berkeley Professor, went on to say: "President Obama needs to make sure the public understands what republicans are doing, what they've been doing for more than two years with their just say no attitude, which is to sabotage the presidency and to undermine the economy."

Related commentary from Reich's web site: "The disconnect between Washington and the rest of the nation hasn't been this wide since the late 1960s. The two worlds are on a collision course: Americans who are losing their jobs or their pay and can't pay their bills are growing increasingly desperate. Washington insiders, deficit hawks, regressive Republicans, diffident Democrats, well-coiffed lobbyists, and the lobbyists' wealthy patrons on Wall Street and in corporate suites haven't a clue or couldn't care less."

In essence, GOP hatred of President Obama far outweighs their concern – or lack thereof – for the American people. Their number one goal is not jobs or fixing the economy, but getting rid of President Obama come 2012.

Click here to see Friday's video with Reich from the Ed Show (MSNBC).

Onwards & Outwards

As mentioned in my blog post Media Skim, I was rather puzzled by the lack of coverage on the Occupy Wall Street movement. However, it's hard to ignore when people are assembling in every major city to make their displeasure known, including the bloody place where I live at the moment.

Local news channels in my current place of residence are not known for their impartiality. In other words, it's fairly obvious to which political side they lean on any given day. It's one of the reasons I tend to look to the web or cable news, in particular MSNBC, to get a reality check and to shed the feeling that I live in a veritable Twilight Zone.

I was surprised when people gathered at the capitol nearby to carry on their own Occupy Wall Street demonstration, and even more stunned when local news channels reported the event. It was peacefully organized and well-attended, but resident senator Orrin Hatch naturally cast his own brand of alarmism into the mix:

"We are going to have riots in this country because of what these people are doing."

"These people" are tired of carrying the burden for everyone in America, which is something right-wing extremists like Hatch will never understand. I'm sure he would be perfectly happy if we all just sat back and swallowed the financial inequities that have nearly crippled our country.

On an unrelated note, I'm doing my damndest to get out of the place where I currently reside. I realize the political and economic climates are the same everywhere in the United States at the moment, but to get away from a community that tries to control what we view on television or attempts to foist their religious views non-conformists is a good start.

Healthcare Parity

I've always been an advocate of Congress relinquishing their benefits as Americans struggle to survive in the current economy. As lawmakers make or block decisions that affect millions, why should they reap the benefits of healthcare, hefty salaries and pensions as their constituents flounder? See Collective Ineptitude, Power to the People, Malice McCain and Healthcare Foes.

I'm glad to see someone has taken it a step further by creating a petition:

• Repeal THEIR healthcare: GOP leaders want to repeal health reform? Let the hypocrites start by giving up their OWN government sponsored care.

Credo Action's petition reads:

Senator McConnell and Congressman Boehner, I am calling on you and your fellow Republicans in Congress to practice what you preach, and to give up your government-sponsored health care.

For two years, you opposed any effort at reasonable reform and derided attempts to help tens of millions of uninsured Americans as "socialist." And yet, you seem to have no problem at all accepting government-sponsored health care for yourselves.

Practice what you preach, and stop being hypocrites. You want to repeal health care reform? Fine, start by repealing your own.

Signing the petition certainly can't hurt. Nothing else seems able to spurn the right-wing into action.

Uphill Spread

How sick is the current atmosphere of "compromise" being conducted in Washington DC? Right-wing legislators will now cave on extending unemployment benefits only after President Obama agrees to extend Bush tax cuts for the rich.

What the hell? Why not take the money saved from denying tax cuts to the rich and giving it over to the common folk who can't find jobs?

When I saw the sour-faced Mitch McConnell on Meet the Press on Sunday, I had the strong urge to vomit. This sorry excuse for a man went on about the voters "having spoken" during the elections last month. Where were the Republicans when the voters spoke during the 2008 election? Did they listen to the voters then? No, they did everything in their power to block everything President Obama tried to do to help the American people.

I detest prejudice in every form, but I can say without equivocation that I hate the Republicans and all they stand for. Their party needs to be abolished, or better yet, taken down by angry public mobs. The GOP doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. Their self-serving agenda is enough to turn normally rational and decent people into snarling, livid beasts.

Mirrored Inhumanity

From the London Times:

• Brown plans to take cash from the poorest families

Gordon Brown is facing a Labour revolt over plans to cut the benefits of the poorest families by up to £15 a week, The Times can reveal.

What is it about the self-described upper echelons in America and across the pond that drives them to further humiliate the disadvantaged or the less financially endowed? Why not take away entitlements from the snoot-nosed politicians and grumblers nestled in the armpit of the far right?

For lack of a better idiom, the scum of the earth hath no conscience.