Senator Rand Paul and the Governor of Texas...

are both worried that some military exercises undertaken by the US Army presage a armed takeover of the Southwestern USA. I can save both these men some time and taxpayers money, someone ring em' both up and tell them that last night, President Obama appointed Me, Elias Nugator "Top Swank of West Megurb One" a entirely Constitutional New Deal Entity for the American Southwest. I promise a sane just and realistic administration of these long exploited lands, a theory of justice that focuses on the malign intersection of poverty and youth, a program of education that educates without recourse to standardized testing, an end to Oklahoma's exportation of frack-generated earthquakes & one person one vote easy registration thereof. I cannot promise any of you a Utopia not now at least and certainly not without a great deal of hard work and sacrifice. But what have you got to lose? At this point you are chained down with poverty, brutality, pollution and a squalid& corrupt political milieu. If The Southwest was a Private Company it'd be in court order receivership by now. "God Willing, We Will Prevail, In Peace and Freedom from Fear....And In True Health, Thru the Purity and Essence of Our Natural...Bodily...Fluids. God Bless You All!"

Baltimore...

I know it's a cataract of liberal cliches, but a lot of times cliches got that way because they are true. So let me first assert, rioting solves nothing, it puts persons on the economic margins out of work, it auto destructs neighborhoods and virtually invites gentrification sans discussion & it transforms a debate on poverty and police tactics into screechfest centered on law & order and or "black urban pathologies". IT ALSO affords wingnuttery an opportunity to opt out of the debate on police tactics and simply screech the praises of law enforcement which thanks to that, is already an institute unable to process the mildest criticism without recourse to paranoia. Is there a reason for protest? Yes. Does it require a new lexicon and even newer tactics? Yes. Is any grievance grounds for looting? No. Is any of this gonna get addressed calmly and fairly? Hell No.

The Globe has a poll out today

indicating a majority of respondents favor life in prison over the death penalty for Dzhokar Tsarnaev. Some of this comes off the stony soil for capital punishment that is Massachusetts, the broadmindedness of some of the victims may be of influence as well and on review that Supermax in Colorado is no Spring Break in Ft Lauderdale by any means. As we move thru the penalty phase I keep telling myself that I'll accept whatever the outcome is, my heart tells me how difficult it can be for someone to invoke the death penalty (even a longtime advocate) in the cold clinical spaces of the jury room. As I've said elsewhere we are a feeling people and sentencing someone to death even someone who richly deserves it like Tsarnaev is an impossible emotional burden. But still...the little bastard smirked as he set down that bomb at the Finish Line...there is something purely evil about that.

Counter Intuitive Thought re. Hillary Clinton

The conventional wisdom out there is that once again Hillary Clinton is in scandal plagued country re. overseas contributions to the Family's Charitable Trust. My thinking is, nobody really gives a damn, its another fatally complicated financial issue of core interest to sweaty nerdy wingnut bloggers and AM Ranters....and to my money Hillary is just lucky that way. I'll be blunt, I give a rat's ass about that incredulous ominous tone the columnistas and NBC News affect when talking about "Clinton's Latest Scandal", if there was a controversy out there that could end her campaign out there, it'd a hit by now...the woman is a magnet for investigation after all, none of which seems to stick. I also think it was shrewd to fly off to NH and start moving left in general on financial issues, there are votes to be had by "staying populist" on the banks etc. Her GOP rivals on the other hand are welcome to continue raving about women's hemlines, voter fraud and Benghazi, all that shit does nothing but drive voters to Hillary (or any other sensible democrat)as the only sane sounding person sticking up for the little guy in the race. Morever, she is a divider in a useful sense of the term, husbands rave against her, wives say nothing and vote for her, in droves. It is a weee bit Nixonian...but lets face it, Nixonian tactics work.

What is worse?

A Tax Increase or a Fare Increase? In my case, as a daily MBTA rider the answer is simple, its the fare increase that is worse IF it is married to a degradation in service levels or the revenues are used to pay off debts that don't relate to MBTA operations. Because even as I write this, Governor Baker has filed legislation that takes the cap off MBTA fares and with a transportation board entirely appointed by himself that means if the law passes Baker can jack up fares sans recourse...Baad Karma mah frenz. But of course the measure has to pass, and that will hopefully occasion some debate on Beacon Hill. Lets keep a few things in mind as the process unfolds, we are hamstrung in this matter by two complimentary factors, governmental indifference and tacit hostility is pretty much what put the MBTA in this fix and those two items are also the very things with all the momentum as the debate goes on. We have to change that or else we'll be paying five bucks each way every day for the privilege of sitting stalled in a tunnel between Davis Square and Hell.

Well predictably...

Governor Baker has purged the MASSDOT Board and pocketed full complete and final control over the MBTA...all the while eructating comforting bromides about managerial improvements, cost savings....etc etc. In short he means to stick it to the ridership bigtime, higher fares, degraded service, more non union temps....and most importantly no additional appropriations. Keep in mind, to fix the MBTA Charlie Baker WILL increase fees and fares to a fare thee well, this is straight out of the Mitt Romney playbook as long as no TAXES are invoked verbally then NO TAX INCREASE was every used to pay off the MBTA's debts or purchase all the rolling stock and equipment needed then all is well in the Governor's books. No someone will pay but it will be the ridership and there is even a proposal in the 2015 commission report to raise property taxes in the heavy ridership communities to cover the MBTA's imbedded needs. Translation Grandma is to be taxed to cover off the neglect of the legislature and the Commonwealth. So in effect "targeted" tax increases will be used as a revenue solution, one that likely won't fix things but it will allow Charlie to run for reelection on a "I dint raise no taxes" pledge. Sad but at this point it's inevitable unless the ridership gets active....and that pretty much is our last forlorn hope at this point.

So Jeb Bush is gonna give a speech

at Jerry Falwell's "Liberty University". I wonder if the students will be compelled to attend under threat of a fine as was the case when Ted Cruz came to speak? Hell why stop there? Mandate compulsory standing ovations, hissing and cheering on demand a'la The Supreme Soviet of the USSR in Stalin's Day. Well whatever the conditions I think we can safely discount any "Sista Soljah Moment" from Jeb, the Bush Family Go To with the religious right is to grovel (however reluctantly) first last and always.