Mitt Romney makes a "triumphant" tour of the UK, Israel and Poland, something that only a serious xenophobe could love.
He called the Brits ineptoids, the Palestinians a bunch of lazy moochers and his press secretary dropped an f-bomb on the attending journalistas in Poland, live on camera.
And the best his spin doctors can do is insist that no-one is paying attention to Mitt's foreign tour (the very thing he was desperately hoping to garner attention) instead it's the economy that is suddenly everyone's concern.
Anyway soon enough the argument will be made that Mitt's many gaffe's were really a deliberate bid to shore up the famously xenophobic GOP base.
But if Romney needs to gin up the base in August of an election year then he has problems wedon't even know about....
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Other than a socially destructive source of public revenue
one thing that casino gambling will provide to The Commonwealth is a bottomless supply of high profile scandal of a type that could well keep the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald in the black for decades to come, internet or no internet.
Hell, we can't even run certain lottery games on the up and up without penetration by corrupt elements.
The above link is a last warning to us in respect of the pitfalls of casino gambling and it's destructive effects on the Commonwealth's political culture (a culture quite frankly all too vulnerable to temptation), alas though, no one is listening.
Oh well, All Humble Elias can hope for at this point, is that he is wrong....
Hell, we can't even run certain lottery games on the up and up without penetration by corrupt elements.
The above link is a last warning to us in respect of the pitfalls of casino gambling and it's destructive effects on the Commonwealth's political culture (a culture quite frankly all too vulnerable to temptation), alas though, no one is listening.
Oh well, All Humble Elias can hope for at this point, is that he is wrong....
Monday, July 30, 2012
Last Tuesday
I facetiously suggested that given the laxity of gun laws in abutting states, Massachusetts might be well served to set up inspection points along the border to forestall the movement of out of state assault weapons into the Commonwealth.
And now a scant six days later the Boston Globe runs the numbers and comes up with a lot of out of state firearms being used in Bay State Crimes.
So that proves, it, the Boston Globe is exactly six days behind this, The Little Blog That Cried.
I have a few disparate points to share, if the majority of guns commissioned for use in crimes enacted inside the Commonwealth were registered out of state...then what is cheaper?
1) Border control posts and roadblocks?
or
2) Metal detectors and armed security in our malls and movie theaters?
In six days maybe the Globe can run those numbers.
My only other thought is that Scott Brown's stance on assault weapons (a ban thereof is up to the fifty individual states) is the sort of subtle nuanced and otherwise useless policy prescription that characterizes someone who wants to run for President someday.
I say go for it Scott....
And now a scant six days later the Boston Globe runs the numbers and comes up with a lot of out of state firearms being used in Bay State Crimes.
So that proves, it, the Boston Globe is exactly six days behind this, The Little Blog That Cried.
I have a few disparate points to share, if the majority of guns commissioned for use in crimes enacted inside the Commonwealth were registered out of state...then what is cheaper?
1) Border control posts and roadblocks?
or
2) Metal detectors and armed security in our malls and movie theaters?
In six days maybe the Globe can run those numbers.
My only other thought is that Scott Brown's stance on assault weapons (a ban thereof is up to the fifty individual states) is the sort of subtle nuanced and otherwise useless policy prescription that characterizes someone who wants to run for President someday.
I say go for it Scott....
Someone needs to tell
Citizen Warren not to squint so much during her television commercials, it is a little off putting. Larger type on the old teleprompter will likely turn the trick.
And while we are at it, clearly no one dares tell turncoat democrat Ray Flynn that he is no longer Mayor of Boston, from the tenor of his endorsement for Scott Brown you'd think he was still a factor in state politics.
Ah but it is sad, Ray looks bloated and confused in that commercial, he has always nursed an unfathomable grudge against the democratic party that made him a statesman.
Moreover I can't imagine Flynn's endorsement carries much weight with suburban independents...just sayin'.
And while we are at it, clearly no one dares tell turncoat democrat Ray Flynn that he is no longer Mayor of Boston, from the tenor of his endorsement for Scott Brown you'd think he was still a factor in state politics.
Ah but it is sad, Ray looks bloated and confused in that commercial, he has always nursed an unfathomable grudge against the democratic party that made him a statesman.
Moreover I can't imagine Flynn's endorsement carries much weight with suburban independents...just sayin'.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Ah, the Summer Olympics
sponsored by Arby's, McDonald's and "Fruit of the Loom".
Put it another way, a celebration of the Greek Cult of the Athlete is being supported by two junk food mongers and a distributor of charmless underwear made by virtual slave labor in the Peoples Republic of China.
Good thing the USA isn't a self conscious type of a nation or some of this irony might truly rankle...
Put it another way, a celebration of the Greek Cult of the Athlete is being supported by two junk food mongers and a distributor of charmless underwear made by virtual slave labor in the Peoples Republic of China.
Good thing the USA isn't a self conscious type of a nation or some of this irony might truly rankle...
Friday, July 27, 2012
The 24th Middlesex House Seat....
Is up for grabs this fall what with Will Brownsberger moving up to the State Senate. Thanks to redistricting about six precincts in Arlington and two in North Cambridge are now a part of what is, a Belmont centered house district.
Accordingly, the Arlington Town Democratic Committee (AKA "Spartan Central") organized a very well attended candidate's forum wherein Ms. Margaret Hegarty, Bob Reardon and Dave Rogers all answered questions from the aud.
A good democratic primary has it's problematic features, notably a general tendency towards agreement among the captioned candidates.
None of them want the Belmont Uplands or the infamous "Mugar Property" developed in any manner shape or form although all three seem resigned to a limited set of options in this case.
All of them pussyfoot around the subject of taxes, they dislike casinos (but seemed resigned to that revenue stream) and will somehow shake down the State Government for more local aid especially for education. In fact in ninety minutes of palaver, the only real policy difference was over the pending "Three Strikes Law", Ms. Hegarty ( a former prosecutor) seemed to like it, Rogers and Reardon had their doubts.
So trust me, it was hardly "Lincoln versus Douglas" out there....none of these candidates seems overgifted with the power of persuasive oratory.
Stylistically if I had to score it, props to Margaret Hegarty who is relentlessly well informed with a strong resume as well (helps that she is reasonably presentable too), Dave Rogers seems like he has a prickly sense of humor waiting to bust out and Reardon well he is young and good looking if nothing else.
On the other hand, if young Mister Reardon wants to win this race he should not be asking for what amounts to a "life line" from Senator Ken Donnelly when a question comes up regarding the Supreme Court's "Citizen's United" decision...just sayin' thass all.
Otherwise, ideologically this might turn into a very interesting contest between North Cambridge's own Dave Rogers and Margaret Hegarty, they seem to have intriguing assymetrical strengths.
Electorally, the fight is one between Belmont Natives Hegarty and Reardon who both have competitive bases in the core of the district. A lot depends on their ability to project strength into those Belmont precincts...a process that at best Humble Elias watches from a distant remove.
Right now my gut is, it is Hegarty's to lose based on her presumed strength with the Hilaryistas within and without Belmont's democrats with Reardon and Rogers trying hard to get into competitive challenger position.
For the rest of it, will advise....
Accordingly, the Arlington Town Democratic Committee (AKA "Spartan Central") organized a very well attended candidate's forum wherein Ms. Margaret Hegarty, Bob Reardon and Dave Rogers all answered questions from the aud.
A good democratic primary has it's problematic features, notably a general tendency towards agreement among the captioned candidates.
None of them want the Belmont Uplands or the infamous "Mugar Property" developed in any manner shape or form although all three seem resigned to a limited set of options in this case.
All of them pussyfoot around the subject of taxes, they dislike casinos (but seemed resigned to that revenue stream) and will somehow shake down the State Government for more local aid especially for education. In fact in ninety minutes of palaver, the only real policy difference was over the pending "Three Strikes Law", Ms. Hegarty ( a former prosecutor) seemed to like it, Rogers and Reardon had their doubts.
So trust me, it was hardly "Lincoln versus Douglas" out there....none of these candidates seems overgifted with the power of persuasive oratory.
Stylistically if I had to score it, props to Margaret Hegarty who is relentlessly well informed with a strong resume as well (helps that she is reasonably presentable too), Dave Rogers seems like he has a prickly sense of humor waiting to bust out and Reardon well he is young and good looking if nothing else.
On the other hand, if young Mister Reardon wants to win this race he should not be asking for what amounts to a "life line" from Senator Ken Donnelly when a question comes up regarding the Supreme Court's "Citizen's United" decision...just sayin' thass all.
Otherwise, ideologically this might turn into a very interesting contest between North Cambridge's own Dave Rogers and Margaret Hegarty, they seem to have intriguing assymetrical strengths.
Electorally, the fight is one between Belmont Natives Hegarty and Reardon who both have competitive bases in the core of the district. A lot depends on their ability to project strength into those Belmont precincts...a process that at best Humble Elias watches from a distant remove.
Right now my gut is, it is Hegarty's to lose based on her presumed strength with the Hilaryistas within and without Belmont's democrats with Reardon and Rogers trying hard to get into competitive challenger position.
For the rest of it, will advise....
Good Lord I think
Mitt Romney is one good overseas gaffe away from wrecking the whole NATO Alliance.
So much for a week of soft news from Romney in London eh? Thats one way to stop all that rampant speculation about your mysterious Swiss Bank Accounts, go to the UK and start saying the stupidest things imaginable.
So much for a week of soft news from Romney in London eh? Thats one way to stop all that rampant speculation about your mysterious Swiss Bank Accounts, go to the UK and start saying the stupidest things imaginable.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
James Carnell
embattled editor of "Pax Centurion" the wingnutty internal newsletter of the BPD, answers his critics at the Boston Phoenix with what has to be one of the finest rants to see public print in the past ten years.
Mitt Romney tells NBC News
that the USA doesn't need stricter gun laws, the ones we have are adequate unto the purpose (so to speak).
Indeed those laws are entirely adequate, if their express purpose is to ensure lunatics constitutionally guaranteed access to firearms right up to the moment they pump a steel jacketed round thru the brainpan of a toddler.
Okay that was a little over the top...What can I say Humble Elias is just full of "sarcastic rant driven chatter".
But in a larger sense I don't think the founding fathers ever considered the possibility that the NRA would one day via votes, money and intimidation hold such power over the US Congress.
Meanwhile the President is trying to talk reasonably about the whole matter, but he faces tough sledding a divided legislature that is prone to abject surrender before gun lobbyists...In the current atmosphere of capitulation little progress can be made in Washington.
Moreover he is trying to stress "common sense" to his opponents when they themselves have skidded off into screeching delusion decades ago.
Indeed those laws are entirely adequate, if their express purpose is to ensure lunatics constitutionally guaranteed access to firearms right up to the moment they pump a steel jacketed round thru the brainpan of a toddler.
Okay that was a little over the top...What can I say Humble Elias is just full of "sarcastic rant driven chatter".
But in a larger sense I don't think the founding fathers ever considered the possibility that the NRA would one day via votes, money and intimidation hold such power over the US Congress.
Meanwhile the President is trying to talk reasonably about the whole matter, but he faces tough sledding a divided legislature that is prone to abject surrender before gun lobbyists...In the current atmosphere of capitulation little progress can be made in Washington.
Moreover he is trying to stress "common sense" to his opponents when they themselves have skidded off into screeching delusion decades ago.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Aerospace Note
Sally Ride, America's First Female Astronaut, choose the occasion of her obituary, to decloset herself.
GIven today's intrusive tabloid culture, this is a tribute either to the still potent respective given to our Astronauts or a lasting example of NASA's ability to keep the lid on.
Or perhaps Garbo-like, Ms. Ride couldn't be bothered to tell us.
Anyhow, it is a small irony that Sally Ride's two Russian predecessors into space, Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya are both alive and kicking, it might be a nice gesture if one of them showed up at the wake.
GIven today's intrusive tabloid culture, this is a tribute either to the still potent respective given to our Astronauts or a lasting example of NASA's ability to keep the lid on.
Or perhaps Garbo-like, Ms. Ride couldn't be bothered to tell us.
Anyhow, it is a small irony that Sally Ride's two Russian predecessors into space, Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya are both alive and kicking, it might be a nice gesture if one of them showed up at the wake.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Meanwhile back in Massachusetts...
Former State Senator Scott Brown's big idea to prevent future gun violence is to leave the notion of an assault weapon's ban up to the individual states.
So....lets try a little thought experiment, suppose New Hampshire decided that public safety was best served by allowing assault weapons to be sold thru vending machines in their public high schools....
What good would be a ban on assault weapons in Massachusetts...Save only as a specific potential punishment handed down by a judge?
Such a ban would be useless...unless of course we set up border checkpoints or something.
But then sheer uselessness constitutes almost all of Scott Brown's thinking as a general rule.
Scott wants to leave the assault weapons ban up to the already battered and cash strapped states, woe betide the man who wants to hand his National Guard pension over to the Commonwealth's treasury, that would ellicit a blast they could hear in Colorado no doubt.
So....lets try a little thought experiment, suppose New Hampshire decided that public safety was best served by allowing assault weapons to be sold thru vending machines in their public high schools....
What good would be a ban on assault weapons in Massachusetts...Save only as a specific potential punishment handed down by a judge?
Such a ban would be useless...unless of course we set up border checkpoints or something.
But then sheer uselessness constitutes almost all of Scott Brown's thinking as a general rule.
Scott wants to leave the assault weapons ban up to the already battered and cash strapped states, woe betide the man who wants to hand his National Guard pension over to the Commonwealth's treasury, that would ellicit a blast they could hear in Colorado no doubt.
Monday, July 23, 2012
President Assad AKA
"The Supreme Opthalmolocrat of Syria" has publicly copped to possession, of chemical weapons of mass destruction that is.....
He claims with a disengenuousness that ought to keep everyone awake at night, that they will only be used in case of foreign invasion.
But since his regime classifies the rebels as the terrorist hirelings of foreign interests (Iran, the Mossad, The Brotherly & Protective Order of the Elks...), the possibility remains strong that poison gas will be deployed to prevent the Assad Regime from going the way of the Dodo Bird.
Y'know, the Syrians acquired chemical weapons (along with a bunch of other like minded regional actos) having begged the USSR for nukes and or nuclear guarantees against Israel.
So it is a grim irony that said Regimes tend to use this horrific weapon against their Fellow Arabs.
Good Ghod deterrence is a crazy crazy thing...
He claims with a disengenuousness that ought to keep everyone awake at night, that they will only be used in case of foreign invasion.
But since his regime classifies the rebels as the terrorist hirelings of foreign interests (Iran, the Mossad, The Brotherly & Protective Order of the Elks...), the possibility remains strong that poison gas will be deployed to prevent the Assad Regime from going the way of the Dodo Bird.
Y'know, the Syrians acquired chemical weapons (along with a bunch of other like minded regional actos) having begged the USSR for nukes and or nuclear guarantees against Israel.
So it is a grim irony that said Regimes tend to use this horrific weapon against their Fellow Arabs.
Good Ghod deterrence is a crazy crazy thing...
Saturday, July 21, 2012
I suppose the
"Bat Massacre" in Aurora Colorado keel-hauls any hope Romney had of usurping the news cycle with a surprise Vice Presidential pick.
The Globe was half hearted pushing NH Senator Kelly Ayotte as a potential nominee this morning, the whole thing read like filler though.
Yeah this shooting prevents Mitt from nominating a Veep early, which is bad for him, but it also pushes all those vexing and possibly litigious questions about his tenure at Bain Capital off the front page as well, so it is a wash.
I guess it gives him more time to come up with more convoluted nuances to explain his mysterious Bermuda bank accounts, his missing tax returns and whether or not he paid any income tax at all while running the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake?
The Globe was half hearted pushing NH Senator Kelly Ayotte as a potential nominee this morning, the whole thing read like filler though.
Yeah this shooting prevents Mitt from nominating a Veep early, which is bad for him, but it also pushes all those vexing and possibly litigious questions about his tenure at Bain Capital off the front page as well, so it is a wash.
I guess it gives him more time to come up with more convoluted nuances to explain his mysterious Bermuda bank accounts, his missing tax returns and whether or not he paid any income tax at all while running the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake?
Friday, July 20, 2012
So what will they call it...
"The Bat-Massacre"?
As I've said time and time again, if you are crazy and violent in this country you will find firearms and ammo a lot quicker than you will ever run across qualified psychiatric intervention.
You can jibber jabber on about Heath Care Reform, Gay Marriage or whatever but the single greatest act of social engineering that has gone down in my lifetime is the relentless mass distribution of firearms to all cohorts and classes in America. All of it executed on the entirely unproven utopian notion that an armed society is a crime free society.
So it follows by the standards of the NRA and GOAL, the USA should have the lowest crime rate among the industrialized nations....and we should all therefore feel...safe.
Anyone out there feel safe today?
And if you are wondering why we are such a surveilled society with video feeds obtrusively and unobtrusively planted all around, then look no further to the continual possibility of sudden deadly gun violence.
Trust me, Ron Paul has never made that argument on the floor of the US House, but it's completely true as far as Humble Elias is concerned.
The practical outcome of this tragic situation?
A vast microburst of hot air from the usual suspects and then get ready for metal detectors in the multi-plexes.
That'll be our answer count on it.
As I've said time and time again, if you are crazy and violent in this country you will find firearms and ammo a lot quicker than you will ever run across qualified psychiatric intervention.
You can jibber jabber on about Heath Care Reform, Gay Marriage or whatever but the single greatest act of social engineering that has gone down in my lifetime is the relentless mass distribution of firearms to all cohorts and classes in America. All of it executed on the entirely unproven utopian notion that an armed society is a crime free society.
So it follows by the standards of the NRA and GOAL, the USA should have the lowest crime rate among the industrialized nations....and we should all therefore feel...safe.
Anyone out there feel safe today?
And if you are wondering why we are such a surveilled society with video feeds obtrusively and unobtrusively planted all around, then look no further to the continual possibility of sudden deadly gun violence.
Trust me, Ron Paul has never made that argument on the floor of the US House, but it's completely true as far as Humble Elias is concerned.
The practical outcome of this tragic situation?
A vast microburst of hot air from the usual suspects and then get ready for metal detectors in the multi-plexes.
That'll be our answer count on it.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
A "microburst" passed thru
(Romantic) Arlington Mass yesterday during rush hour downing trees, wrecking a few cars, causing floods, scattered power outages and sundry mayhem.
But thank the good lord, no loss of life.
Which apparently enraged Fox News 25 so much that they did that infantile thing they do, get some hated locale or politician's name wrong, in this case they kept referring to East Arlington (the accepted local nomenclature since the salad days of William B. McKinley) as "Arlington's Eastside" like we wuz Manhattan or something.
There was a helicopter hovering over East Arlington this morning, anyone wanna bet someone was hoping against hope for a body to turn up?
But thank the good lord, no loss of life.
Which apparently enraged Fox News 25 so much that they did that infantile thing they do, get some hated locale or politician's name wrong, in this case they kept referring to East Arlington (the accepted local nomenclature since the salad days of William B. McKinley) as "Arlington's Eastside" like we wuz Manhattan or something.
There was a helicopter hovering over East Arlington this morning, anyone wanna bet someone was hoping against hope for a body to turn up?
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
This Boston Globe story
is a good example of Abraham Lincoln's old dictum "Those Not Skinning May Hold a Leg" in action.
Now before Jeff Jacoby
starting "tsk tsking" and "tut tutting" about that awful Hollywood Liberal Mark Hamill and his low opinion of Romney let us try to remember that Mitt's rocker pal Ted Nugent can't seem to express his own opinion of President Obama without ending up "interviewed by the Secret Service".
And if Mark Hamill wants to call Mitt Romney an android, well he was Luke Skywalker once he should know....
And if Mark Hamill wants to call Mitt Romney an android, well he was Luke Skywalker once he should know....
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
The Closers
Per Reuters, Mitt Romney has narrowed his vice presidential prospects to three candidates, and they are:
Ohio Senator Rob Portman: He is a freshman senator, but if he can put Ohio into play, then he is a powerhouse. Given his short resume, DC Patina (remember Romney is a Governor with no beltway profile or foreign policy cred) and a vital home state I'm calling this nonentity the most likely pick.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty: I'm not sure why Romney is so high on this guy, other than the possibility that the famously dull Governor makes Mitt look like Mick Jagger by comparison. Humble Elias strongly doubts Pawlenty can put his state in contention, he is likely on the list simply to hedge bets on Portman in case photos surface or something.
Louisiana Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal: Lets face facts, this mook isn't goin' nowheres. He took his nickname from Bobby Brady offa da "Brady Bunch", but the truth is he has a luckless streak & hangdodg expression that much resembles Gilligan from "Gilligan's Island". Moreover he hales from Louisiana a state whose genial culture of corruption makes the Massachusetts Probation Department look like a bunch of sleepy Quakers. For that reason alone the country has yet to permit a Louisiana pol to "go national"...that and the fact that Romney already has that state in his back pocket mitigates strongly against Jindal. On the other hand maybe he polls well in Florida or there is some ethnic-electoral angle at work here.
Anyway my guess is, Portman....for now.
Ohio Senator Rob Portman: He is a freshman senator, but if he can put Ohio into play, then he is a powerhouse. Given his short resume, DC Patina (remember Romney is a Governor with no beltway profile or foreign policy cred) and a vital home state I'm calling this nonentity the most likely pick.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty: I'm not sure why Romney is so high on this guy, other than the possibility that the famously dull Governor makes Mitt look like Mick Jagger by comparison. Humble Elias strongly doubts Pawlenty can put his state in contention, he is likely on the list simply to hedge bets on Portman in case photos surface or something.
Louisiana Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal: Lets face facts, this mook isn't goin' nowheres. He took his nickname from Bobby Brady offa da "Brady Bunch", but the truth is he has a luckless streak & hangdodg expression that much resembles Gilligan from "Gilligan's Island". Moreover he hales from Louisiana a state whose genial culture of corruption makes the Massachusetts Probation Department look like a bunch of sleepy Quakers. For that reason alone the country has yet to permit a Louisiana pol to "go national"...that and the fact that Romney already has that state in his back pocket mitigates strongly against Jindal. On the other hand maybe he polls well in Florida or there is some ethnic-electoral angle at work here.
Anyway my guess is, Portman....for now.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Please Ghod,
encourage Mitt Romney to keep talking about all his offshore bank accounts and still hidden tax returns, because he makes less and less sense about it all on an hourly basis.
At this rate by 5pm EST, 7-16-2012 he will be reduced to absolute babbling idiocy...and its all about money, his "hard earned money" you'd think he'd make more sense about a topic near and dear to his cold flinty dessicated heart.
Ah but that is Mitt's "magic secret" he can't play defense worth a damn, he is all right when he has a breeze at his back...but let the trades turn against him and he lands on a reef every time.
You know this whole controversy must be having an effect because all weekend long team Romney's spin meisters have been talking up the Vice Presidency, Condi Rice on Friday now Piyush "Bobby" Jindal that odorless, colorless, charmless, luckless Governor of Louisiana gets his turn.
And now we are told Romney may make his choice, this week, they whole tax return and offshore accounts thing must be polling very badly for Brand Romney if they are willing to blow their load this early in the Summer.
At this rate by 5pm EST, 7-16-2012 he will be reduced to absolute babbling idiocy...and its all about money, his "hard earned money" you'd think he'd make more sense about a topic near and dear to his cold flinty dessicated heart.
Ah but that is Mitt's "magic secret" he can't play defense worth a damn, he is all right when he has a breeze at his back...but let the trades turn against him and he lands on a reef every time.
You know this whole controversy must be having an effect because all weekend long team Romney's spin meisters have been talking up the Vice Presidency, Condi Rice on Friday now Piyush "Bobby" Jindal that odorless, colorless, charmless, luckless Governor of Louisiana gets his turn.
And now we are told Romney may make his choice, this week, they whole tax return and offshore accounts thing must be polling very badly for Brand Romney if they are willing to blow their load this early in the Summer.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Program note to the Romney campaign
Do Not send Mitt out to do an 11th hour Friday Afternoon media blitz answering charges that he is a heartless plutocrat sans necktie.
Romney looks more uncomfortable, mendacious and stiff than when he goes all open collar & casual.
You just know that breakfast waits in the Romney Household until Mitt gets his windsor knot just right....
Oh and his defiant promise not to release any more of his tax returns (for fear of fueling additional "opposition research")....Is a virtual confession that indeed somewhere in his Bain Capital Record and all those offshore bank accounts Mitt Romney does indeed have something to hide.
Romney looks more uncomfortable, mendacious and stiff than when he goes all open collar & casual.
You just know that breakfast waits in the Romney Household until Mitt gets his windsor knot just right....
Oh and his defiant promise not to release any more of his tax returns (for fear of fueling additional "opposition research")....Is a virtual confession that indeed somewhere in his Bain Capital Record and all those offshore bank accounts Mitt Romney does indeed have something to hide.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Hmmm maybe Romney's appearance at the NAACP
didn't go well, from his campaign's perspective?
Why else would Matt Drudge (AKA "Romney's Bitch"), be shilling for Condi Rice to run as Mitt's VP?
If this is true, then it's a robust dial-back to "Classic Mitt", i.e. superceding a bunch of better known candidates in favor of a female running mate with an established record of reliability and or docility.
And it is that time of the election year for the annual week long vice presidential flirtation with the GOP's showcase Woman of Color.
"After all" thinks the Former Viceroy "She toadied for Bush, why shouldn't she Toady for Me?"
I suspect though, this is campaign stuntwork and palaver designed to take the hoodoo off a bad week for Romney, questions about when he left Bain Capital, questions about his many many overseas accounts and he got boo'd (for better or worse) by the NAACP.
And besides, there have been these persistent rumors that Rice's lifestyle might be anathema to the GOP Base.
But I hasten to add, these are rumors.
Maybe this is Willard's idea of a news-cycle disruptor...if so it's pretty lame.
Why else would Matt Drudge (AKA "Romney's Bitch"), be shilling for Condi Rice to run as Mitt's VP?
If this is true, then it's a robust dial-back to "Classic Mitt", i.e. superceding a bunch of better known candidates in favor of a female running mate with an established record of reliability and or docility.
And it is that time of the election year for the annual week long vice presidential flirtation with the GOP's showcase Woman of Color.
"After all" thinks the Former Viceroy "She toadied for Bush, why shouldn't she Toady for Me?"
I suspect though, this is campaign stuntwork and palaver designed to take the hoodoo off a bad week for Romney, questions about when he left Bain Capital, questions about his many many overseas accounts and he got boo'd (for better or worse) by the NAACP.
And besides, there have been these persistent rumors that Rice's lifestyle might be anathema to the GOP Base.
But I hasten to add, these are rumors.
Maybe this is Willard's idea of a news-cycle disruptor...if so it's pretty lame.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Just because...Mitt Romney
deserves to be boo'd, doesn't mean he should be boo'd.
One suspects he took his message of praetorianism, authoritarianism and sectarianism to the NAACP yesterday specifically to collect the vocal disapproval of his audience.
One of the few things Romney does well is make smarm and a sort of passive aggressive paternalism work for him.
So what he is doing here is trying to look like he "stood up to the NAACP" thus to make himself a martyr and a hero to the GOP base.
Its pretty low politics and a good example of what we can expect from The Romney-Fehrnstrom combination this fall.
Otherwise, this is Romney's idea of a "Sistah Soljah" moment....think about that for a moment.
One suspects he took his message of praetorianism, authoritarianism and sectarianism to the NAACP yesterday specifically to collect the vocal disapproval of his audience.
One of the few things Romney does well is make smarm and a sort of passive aggressive paternalism work for him.
So what he is doing here is trying to look like he "stood up to the NAACP" thus to make himself a martyr and a hero to the GOP base.
Its pretty low politics and a good example of what we can expect from The Romney-Fehrnstrom combination this fall.
Otherwise, this is Romney's idea of a "Sistah Soljah" moment....think about that for a moment.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Bobby Reardon for State Rep
(first of an occasional series on the race for the 24th Middlesex State Representative's seat).
Citizen Bobby Reardon, Belmont democrat, candidate for the State Rep's nomination, tall blonde and handsome (like a Superhero in his secret identity) came round' to the Arlington Town Democratic Committee meeting last night to introduce himself and field a few questions.
Predictably, he promised more money for education via "full reimbursement for Chapter Seventy" whatever the hell that means.
He also wants to do something about public transportation, keep the Belmont Uplands pristine and keep the Massachusetts Health Connector viable sans recourse to higher taxes.
Specifics he had but few, and a prolonged attempt by an Arlington School Committee member to pin Reardon down on funding for the Health Connector yielded but little tangible results.
The man is well informed, good looking, earnest but something of an uncompelling bore...Maybe it was the venue, who knows?
Other than that Reardon is a former aide to Will Brownsburger, a graduate of Bentley and enthusiastic swim coach and apparently unmarried.
I don't know if he is Senator Brownsburger's candidate for State Rep, but Reardon nonetheless made much of his experience on Beacon Hill and as a swim coarch as well.
Seems like a short resume... but I could be wrong.
Right now with Sheffler on the sidelines the primary seems to be evolving into a "Battle for the Soul of Belmont Mass" with Margaret Hegarty going mano a mano with Bobby Reardon with North Cambridge's own Dave Rogers trying to strike some sparks along the periphery.
Meanwhile Precincts, 2, 4, 8, 10 & 12 In Arlington are cordially invited to line up on the southern side of Route Two and see who carries the day in Belmont.
Now on Thursday July 26th from 7 thru 9 pm at the Arlington Senior Center (27 Maple Street) there is to a democratic candidate's forum, hopefully I'll get a better view of the emerging race therein, right now it is Belmont's seat to keep unless something really weird happens.
Citizen Bobby Reardon, Belmont democrat, candidate for the State Rep's nomination, tall blonde and handsome (like a Superhero in his secret identity) came round' to the Arlington Town Democratic Committee meeting last night to introduce himself and field a few questions.
Predictably, he promised more money for education via "full reimbursement for Chapter Seventy" whatever the hell that means.
He also wants to do something about public transportation, keep the Belmont Uplands pristine and keep the Massachusetts Health Connector viable sans recourse to higher taxes.
Specifics he had but few, and a prolonged attempt by an Arlington School Committee member to pin Reardon down on funding for the Health Connector yielded but little tangible results.
The man is well informed, good looking, earnest but something of an uncompelling bore...Maybe it was the venue, who knows?
Other than that Reardon is a former aide to Will Brownsburger, a graduate of Bentley and enthusiastic swim coach and apparently unmarried.
I don't know if he is Senator Brownsburger's candidate for State Rep, but Reardon nonetheless made much of his experience on Beacon Hill and as a swim coarch as well.
Seems like a short resume... but I could be wrong.
Right now with Sheffler on the sidelines the primary seems to be evolving into a "Battle for the Soul of Belmont Mass" with Margaret Hegarty going mano a mano with Bobby Reardon with North Cambridge's own Dave Rogers trying to strike some sparks along the periphery.
Meanwhile Precincts, 2, 4, 8, 10 & 12 In Arlington are cordially invited to line up on the southern side of Route Two and see who carries the day in Belmont.
Now on Thursday July 26th from 7 thru 9 pm at the Arlington Senior Center (27 Maple Street) there is to a democratic candidate's forum, hopefully I'll get a better view of the emerging race therein, right now it is Belmont's seat to keep unless something really weird happens.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Being Massachusetts longest serving
solo political blogger, ten years next January, nevertheless gives me no special access to the inside scoop or even the blindingly obvious.
Case in point, Citizen Sue Sheffler, Member of the Arlington School Committee and onetime democratic candidate for the 24th Middlesex State Representative's seat before signature issues forced her out of that race.
And indeed, Humble Elias is the last one to know despite living in the newly redrawn district and in one of the precincts with the highest democratic turnout in the universe.
Well so much for "the first draft of history" and all like dat.
Otherwise this leaves Arlington without a candidate in that race and puts the captioned precincts therein out of contention. No wonder I haven't seen any of the other candidates stumping in Arlington, they've got no install base on this side of Route Two and have no impetus to run up turn out. Thus all and sundry are taking us for granted already....baaa-ad karma mah frenz.
Monday, July 09, 2012
Louisiana State Rep Valarie Hodges
(a GOP stalwart to be sure) is shocked to discover that the voucher bill she just voted for means that state funds will now go to religious schools including Muslim Schools.
"She doan lahk dat" and makes it clear Muslim Madrassas should not get the State Funding that Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal wants to funnel to parochial schools and every two bit Book Worshipping Kindergarten up and down the Delta.
Most peeps would look at the above link and call Ms. Hodges an idiot.
Humble Elias however sees this as an example of the "praetorian mindset" trickling down to the State Representative's level.
Clearly Rep. Hodges worships power and thinks said power should support and prosecute on behalf of her own personal prejudices. She is so corrupted by power worship that she feels no embarrassment at making this crude notions part of the public record.
Frankly Dick Cheney could not have said it better or more concisely..."Power must reward what I love and punish what I hate and god damn what the law says!"
Good Lord but they are a long ways from Earl K. Long down there....A Long Ways.
"She doan lahk dat" and makes it clear Muslim Madrassas should not get the State Funding that Governor Piyush "Bobby" Jindal wants to funnel to parochial schools and every two bit Book Worshipping Kindergarten up and down the Delta.
Most peeps would look at the above link and call Ms. Hodges an idiot.
Humble Elias however sees this as an example of the "praetorian mindset" trickling down to the State Representative's level.
Clearly Rep. Hodges worships power and thinks said power should support and prosecute on behalf of her own personal prejudices. She is so corrupted by power worship that she feels no embarrassment at making this crude notions part of the public record.
Frankly Dick Cheney could not have said it better or more concisely..."Power must reward what I love and punish what I hate and god damn what the law says!"
Good Lord but they are a long ways from Earl K. Long down there....A Long Ways.
Sunday, July 08, 2012
Comrade Kim Jon Un
has apparently legalized Mickey Mouse and the Disney version of Winnie the Pooh.
This is what passes for "Reform" in the Famineocracy that is North Korea.
We will know something is up when Bugs Bunny gets recalled from cultural purgatory, but that seems like a long shot, Bugs was and is, a terrific anti-establishment character.
Look up what he did to Herman Goering on Youtube if you don't believe me.
Meanwhile I wonder if Komrade Kim 3.0 paid Disney for the rights to use their characters?
If I was them, I'd pay up, hurling defiance at Washington DC their "puppet fascist clique in Seoul" is one thing, but no one trifles with the copyrights and trademarks of Walt Disney Inc.
Not if they wanna survive and prosper, shit those mooks supposedly "cease and desist" Day Care Centers!
This is what passes for "Reform" in the Famineocracy that is North Korea.
We will know something is up when Bugs Bunny gets recalled from cultural purgatory, but that seems like a long shot, Bugs was and is, a terrific anti-establishment character.
Look up what he did to Herman Goering on Youtube if you don't believe me.
Meanwhile I wonder if Komrade Kim 3.0 paid Disney for the rights to use their characters?
If I was them, I'd pay up, hurling defiance at Washington DC their "puppet fascist clique in Seoul" is one thing, but no one trifles with the copyrights and trademarks of Walt Disney Inc.
Not if they wanna survive and prosper, shit those mooks supposedly "cease and desist" Day Care Centers!
Friday, July 06, 2012
It is an idle article of faith for
Humble Elias, that Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman would love to run for President on a Kamikaze 3rd Partei ticket this year. Really the only thing that restrains him is the sure knowledge that he'd suffer abject humiliation at the polls and likely be consigned to whatever chilly Nifleheim the GOP keeps for rebellious bolters.
So instead, Huntman goes the surly passive aggressive route and loudly proclaims his intention to stay home during the RNC. Other big names that are skipping Romneyfest 2012 include Wrestling Executive & Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon and the Former Senator from Virginia George Allen.
Either of whom would make a dandy vice presidential running mate for a notional Huntsman partei...
Meanwhile, our own Scott Brown is attending the RNC, so I guess he is off Huntsman's list.
I'd love to see what sort of an itinerary Brown will be keeping at the convention, given the closeness of his current polling you just know he doesn't wanna be photographed with Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum or John Boehner etc etc. Other than casting his ballot for Mitt what is Scott gonna do hang around his hotel room and watch TV?
So instead, Huntman goes the surly passive aggressive route and loudly proclaims his intention to stay home during the RNC. Other big names that are skipping Romneyfest 2012 include Wrestling Executive & Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon and the Former Senator from Virginia George Allen.
Either of whom would make a dandy vice presidential running mate for a notional Huntsman partei...
Meanwhile, our own Scott Brown is attending the RNC, so I guess he is off Huntsman's list.
I'd love to see what sort of an itinerary Brown will be keeping at the convention, given the closeness of his current polling you just know he doesn't wanna be photographed with Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum or John Boehner etc etc. Other than casting his ballot for Mitt what is Scott gonna do hang around his hotel room and watch TV?
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Tim Pawlenty and Piyush "Bobby" Jindal have been
tasked by the Romney Campaign to dog the President's bus tour of Ohio & Pennsylvania as a sort of two-act truth squad.
This is akin to sending up two stool pigeons against a very hungry Pteradactyl...A Pteradactyl in it's prime, I might add.
Jindal is the luckless and charmless Governor of Louisiana whose every screed against "Big Government" usually ends up with him begging the Feds to bail his state out of some monumental disaster.
Pawlenty is a complete nullity, no one within or without Minnesota can recall a single thing he has done as Governor moreover most voters therein are hard pressed even to recall that he ran for President very briefly this year.
Both men are auditioning for the Vice Presidency to put it simply, their chief qualification seems to be either of them makes Mitt Romney look like Mick Jagger in the charisma department.
This is akin to sending up two stool pigeons against a very hungry Pteradactyl...A Pteradactyl in it's prime, I might add.
Jindal is the luckless and charmless Governor of Louisiana whose every screed against "Big Government" usually ends up with him begging the Feds to bail his state out of some monumental disaster.
Pawlenty is a complete nullity, no one within or without Minnesota can recall a single thing he has done as Governor moreover most voters therein are hard pressed even to recall that he ran for President very briefly this year.
Both men are auditioning for the Vice Presidency to put it simply, their chief qualification seems to be either of them makes Mitt Romney look like Mick Jagger in the charisma department.
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
Prof. Cunningham has a interesting
piece about Grover Norquist's ironclad "no taxes" pledge the one that gets foisted on almost every GOP candidate for Dog Catcher and above, all the way up to Scott Brown and Mitt Romney.
Well, of course, Romney would pledge his soul to Lucifer to win this fall, and Scott Brown likely reads very little of what is put before him for signature what with all his family commitments.
My own view is that Norquist's pledge originates in passive aggression, in that compelling the congressional wing of the GOP to eschew all tax increases is supposed to somehow shame congress into making radical budget cuts along the lines of the myth of small gummint when the deficits explode.
The problem with this scenario is, congress is a pretty shameless institution from the git-go they will tax and spend and or tax-cut and spend or do whatever the hell they want sans demure.
Far from being a means to cut spending and shrink government down, the Norquist pledge has really been a license for the GOP to "go mental".
Thus we get governance that is neither sparse nor budgets that are balanced but we do end up with a political milieu that is largely the externalization of Grover Norquist's disordered and neurotic psyche.
Well, of course, Romney would pledge his soul to Lucifer to win this fall, and Scott Brown likely reads very little of what is put before him for signature what with all his family commitments.
My own view is that Norquist's pledge originates in passive aggression, in that compelling the congressional wing of the GOP to eschew all tax increases is supposed to somehow shame congress into making radical budget cuts along the lines of the myth of small gummint when the deficits explode.
The problem with this scenario is, congress is a pretty shameless institution from the git-go they will tax and spend and or tax-cut and spend or do whatever the hell they want sans demure.
Far from being a means to cut spending and shrink government down, the Norquist pledge has really been a license for the GOP to "go mental".
Thus we get governance that is neither sparse nor budgets that are balanced but we do end up with a political milieu that is largely the externalization of Grover Norquist's disordered and neurotic psyche.
Monday, July 02, 2012
Rush Limbaugh proclaimed in 2010 that
he'd leave the country if HCR was ever enacted and upheld.
I think some of us bloggers up here in Boston ought to organize a fundraiser to buy him a plane ticket. Perhaps a $50 a head screening of "The Sweet Smell of Success" or "The Man with the Golden Arm"....
Limbaugh could broadcast from the back of one of those no-questions-asked pharmacies he loves so much in Haiti....
Sunday, July 01, 2012
There is a biiiig front page article in
Today's Globe detailing Former State Senator Scott Brown's bonhomie with his fabled "House Full of Women" (Wife, two daughters or is it three...can't keep track, daughters seem to be preferred issue of US politicians for some reason)...The man fairly lactates freely in this piece.
Well building up some appeal for female voters by depicting oneself as a humble co-equal partner in a marriage, is an old GOP political ploy.
While said politician is hugging his wife and driving his kids to field hockey practice he is usually simultaneously throwing all other women under the policy bus.
The nadir of this ploy is self evident, as Brown famously voted against HCR in the US Senate thus potentially denying care to millions of faceless female citizens but then turns around and blatantly uses HCR's own generous tenets to keep daughter Ayla covered under his own plan.
As Humble Elias has said before, hypocrisy works, especially for Scott Brown. However at the very least, let us try to distinguish between the man's devotion to his own family and his blatant disregard for the woes and needs everyone else's family.
Well building up some appeal for female voters by depicting oneself as a humble co-equal partner in a marriage, is an old GOP political ploy.
While said politician is hugging his wife and driving his kids to field hockey practice he is usually simultaneously throwing all other women under the policy bus.
The nadir of this ploy is self evident, as Brown famously voted against HCR in the US Senate thus potentially denying care to millions of faceless female citizens but then turns around and blatantly uses HCR's own generous tenets to keep daughter Ayla covered under his own plan.
As Humble Elias has said before, hypocrisy works, especially for Scott Brown. However at the very least, let us try to distinguish between the man's devotion to his own family and his blatant disregard for the woes and needs everyone else's family.
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