David Guilbault

SIMPLE FOLKS

Here's the truth:  Members of the Tea Party elected to Congress last fall are not very bright.  That's what happens when voters elect representatives who are, in their words, "just like me." 

Most Americans do not have the intellectual abilities to be members of Congress.  The problems of our country and the world are complex and complicated.  They can best be solved by deep thinkers.  Voters should elect the smartest people they know, not "simple folks."

Our elected officials need to identify problems, understand underlying causes and investigate workable solutions.  They need the skills to listen to the concerns of their constituents while recognizing the vested interests of power brokers.  They need to be able to avoid the riptides of partisan politics while charting reasoned and reasonable legislation.  They need to be able to analyze and distill differing points of view and come up with principled compromises.

None of these skills are evident in the current freshmen crop of congressional Republicans.  They are unyielding in their ideology and intransigent in their politics.  In their eyes, our economic woes are simple to solve - just stop spending money.  That is painfully simplistic and just plain wrong.  Their stubborn and mis-guided efforts to legislate away our social safety net is troubling.  To achieve their ill-conceived goal of decimating the federal government, they have taken our economy hostage by creating disastrous congressional crises and stalemates.

And Republican House Speaker John Beohner should be ashamed for kowtowing to the Tea Party caucus and abandoning the "grand bargain" he was negotiating with President Obama and Senate Democrats to address our debt, deficit, budget and taxes, all in a responsible and historic plan.

Government is not the enemy.  Yes, of course, we must be vigilant against government bloat, waste and intrusion.  No one disputes that.  But, running a nation, especially the most economically powerful one in the world, is extremely complex.  It requires managing a mix of collecting revenue, controlling spending, inducing investment and protecting the safety and well-being of the citizenry, intelligently.

The current Republican members of the House of Representatives are not up to the task.  They are simply not smart enough.

WEE, THE PEOPLE

The Republicans in Congress stood against every single initiative of the Democratic House, Senate and White House.  Their goal was to prevent the Obama administration from passing into law any solution to our nation's problems.  They wanted to ensure this administration would end in failure.

Because the Democrats, who were voted in to change the destructive and greedy policies of the Bush years, couldn't, or wouldn't, go it alone, we wound up with watered-down reforms.  We got no public option for health care, weakened financial regulations and not enough government juice to really get the economy going strong.  And we're still mired in two wars.

The Republicans think they were victorious.  But, truly, they have shot themselves in their sad marching-in-lock-step feet.

They painted the federal government as intrusive, socialistic, Islamic-loving, Constitution-hating, terrorist-coddling, big-spending, out-of-control elites.  The Republicans, their corporate sponsors and their media propagandists hoped to use these willful distortions to scare the citizenry into voting Republican in the next couple of elections.

But, they underestimated the stupidity of the voters they were wooing (and scaring).  Those voters aren't voting Republican in the primaries.  They are voting Tea Party.  They are standing behind regular folks, folks "just like them."

So, the Republicans have probably succeeded in getting lots of Democrats voted out of office.  But, they are also getting themselves voted out, as well.

What we may wind up with is a Congress populated by too many "representatives of the people" who don't have the experience to govern, or the intellects to understand and solve the great problems of our day.

That's what happens when you paint the government as an enemy of the people.  The people overthrow the government.  And you get Wee, the People.

A BABBLING BOOB

Once again, Sarah Palin delivers a rambling, babbling, insulting speech about patriotism, militarism and freedom of speech.  The woman can't put a coherent sentence or thought together.

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BUSKING IN SEATTLE

I have to believe from my experience that Seattle's announced commitment to support music is a bit disingenuous.

I notified the Parks & Recreation Department a few months ago to get a permit to perform in the city parks.  They informed me that there were no more available this year.  My understanding was that "sanctioned buskers" could perform in the parks from noon until 2p, and that anyone could perform other times.

So, I have performed twice by the pergola in Pioneer Square near where I live.  One of the security guards for a tourist tour that starts there told me I was the best performer they've had there.  The audience has been supportive and mildly generous.

But, today the Park Rangers told me I couldn't play without a permit, couldn't sell my CD's and couldn't use amplification.  Yet, the so-called "official buskers" can plug in their instruments and plug their recordings. You'd think I'd be able to scratch out a few dollars singing for my supper.  But not in this "arts" town.

Firstly, I don't understand why a busking permit is needed in any event.  And I certainly don't understand why the number issued is limited.  In this town, you have to know who to know and when to know them in order to be "official."

I'm just trying to live and eat and spread my original music.

I also tried playing a few blocks away in Occidental Square.  But one of the managers from the art galleries that line that pedestrian park asked me not to set up and play.  Another so-called art patron preventing an artist from performing.

It's all very frustrating.  I live in Pioneer Square and you'd think I could share my music with my neighbors and accept their gratuities.  For all its progressive posturing, this is a town of draconian restrictions.  Next the panhandlers in this town will have to be licensed.

Oh, well, such is life in Seattle.
Cheers for now.  David.

WADING IN ON SARAH

In her column, "A Farewell to Harms", Peggy Noonan writes why Sarah Palin was (and is) bad for the Republicans, and the republic.

"In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn't say what she read because she didn't read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn't thoughtful enough to know she wasn't thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. "I'm not wired that way," "I'm not a quitter," "I'm standing up for our values." I'm, I'm, I'm.

In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying....

Here's why all this matters. The world is a dangerous place. It has never been more so, or more complicated, more straining of the reasoning powers of those with actual genius and true judgment. This is a time for conservative leaders who know how to think.

Here are a few examples of what we may face in the next 10 years: a profound and prolonged American crash, with the admission of bankruptcy and the spread of deep social unrest; one or more American cities getting hit with weapons of mass destruction from an unknown source; faint glimmers of actual secessionist movements as Americans for various reasons and in various areas decide the burdens and assumptions of the federal government are no longer attractive or legitimate.

The era we face, that is soon upon us, will require a great deal from our leaders. They had better be sturdy. They will have to be gifted. There will be many who cannot, and should not, make the cut. Now is the time to look for those who can. And so the Republican party should get serious, as serious as the age, because that is what a grown-up, responsible party—a party that deserves to lead—would do.

It's not a time to be frivolous, or to feel the temptation of resentment, or the temptation of thinking next year will be more or less like last year, and the assumptions of our childhoods will more or less reign in our future. It won't be that way.

We are going to need the best.

- Peggy Noonan, The Wall Street Journal

A RAMBLING FOOL

Sarah Palin steps down.  Here's her speech - Huh?   It's a rambling, incoherent, clearly insincere performance.  And, she's clearly lying through her gleaming white teeth.  Something's up. Every time I hear this buffoon speak, I think the same thing, "Oh ... my ... God."

"We're fishermen. We know only dead fish go with the flow."
- Gov. Sarah Palin

SARAH'S STRAIGHT TALK

"Truly, Sarah Palin has come a long way. When she ran for vice president, she frequently became disjointed and garbled when she departed from her prepared remarks. Now the prepared remarks are incoherent, too.

“And a problem in our country today is apathy,” she said on Friday as she announced that she would resign as governor of Alaska at the end of the month. “It would be apathetic to just hunker down and ‘go with the flow.’ Nah, only dead fish ‘go with the flow.’ No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time ... to BUILD UP.”

Basically, the point was that Palin is quitting as governor because she’s not a quitter. Or a deceased salmon.

Sarah Barracuda made her big announcement Friday afternoon on the lawn of her home to an audience that appeared to include only Todd, the kids and the next-door neighbors. Smiling manically, she looked like a parody of the woman who knocked the Republicans dead at their convention. She babbled about her parents’ refrigerator magnet, which apparently had a lot of wise advice. And she recalled her visit with the troops in Kosovo, whose dedication and determination inspired her to ... resign."

- Gail Collins, The New York Times

PALIN AND HER ENEMIES

"If Palin were exactly what her critics believe she is — the distillation of every right-wing pathology, from anti-intellectualism to apocalyptic Christianity — then she wouldn’t be a terribly interesting figure. But this caricature has always missed the point of the Alaska governor’s appeal — one that extends well outside the Republican Party’s shrinking base.

In a recent Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans regarded Palin unfavorably. But slightly more had a favorable impression of her. That number included 46 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Americans without a college education.

That last statistic is a crucial one. Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard"

- Ross Douthat, The New York Times

OH ... MY ... GOD

The return of the Palin Mob:

PLUMBING THE DUMB

For years, I have lamented the desecration of my revered profession, journalism.  But, I never thought I would ever see it sink (pardon the pun) this low.  Joe Wurzelbacher, 'Joe the Plumber' of McCain campaign fame, is 'reporting' from Israel about the conflict going on in Gaza for Pajamas TV.  Has there ever been a more persistently vocal and annoying stumble-bum to bask in the spotlight of idiocy?

TURKEY TALKS, TURKEYS DIE

OH MY GOD! You can't make this stuff up.

McCAIN-PALIN MOB

Blogger Tim Russo of blogger interrupted has two sad and revealing videos about the McCain-Palin mob from the appropriately named town, Strongsville, Ohio:

I direct my readers once again to my blog entry, just plain stupid.

And here's John McCain, with sidekick Palin parroting in from her notes, getting their crowd to boo Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd, whom McCain called 'co-conspirators'. He went on to call Barack Obama's pro-choice stance as 'radical, far left, pro-abortion'.

You can read more about McCain's angry supporters in a Washington Post story by Michael D. Shear and Perry Bacon Jr, 'Anger Is Crowd's Overarching Emotion at McCain Rally'.  Also, John Dickerson's post on Slate, 'A Republican Mob Scene'.

 

This desperate and dishonorable Punch and Judy show being staged by the McCain/Palin campaign has become despicable.

Photo Credit: Stephan Savola/Associated Press

DIMMER SWITCH

Last month I wrote about people in this country who are 'just plain stupid'.

I wrote:

'Let's live in the truth.  The truth is that too many people in this country are just plain stupid.  They are ill-informed and easily misled.  They buy into simplistic perversions of the facts.  They know too little, think too little and they listen to those that know how to influence their little minds.  They can be made to be fearful and hateful and, thus, politically useful.  They are dangerously ignorant - and they vote.' - David Guilbault

I felt bad making and sharing that observation.  But, columnists are now also starting to come clean about the dumbing-down of the American electorate.

Case in point, Bob Herbert's Op-Ed piece in The New York Times, 'She's Not Ready'.

He wrote:

'While watching the Sarah Palin interview with Charlie Gibson Thursday night, and the coverage of the Palin phenomenon in general, I’ve gotten the scary feeling, for the first time in my life, that dimwittedness is not just on the march in the U.S., but that it might actually prevail.

Ms. Palin may be a perfectly competent and reasonably intelligent woman (however troubling her views on evolution and global warming may be), but she is not ready to be vice president.

With most candidates for high public office, the question is whether one agrees with them on the major issues of the day. With Ms. Palin, it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing. She doesn’t appear to understand some of the most important issues. ...

Ms. Palin’s problem is not that she was mayor of a small town or has only been in the Alaska governor’s office a short while. Her problem (and now ours) is that she is not well versed on the critical matters confronting the country at one of the most crucial turning points in its history.' - Bob Herbert

After watching Sarah Palin's interview on ABC News, The New York Times, in its editorial 'Gov. Palin's Worldview',  took the position that Sen. McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as a potential Vice President, and even President, was 'shockingly irresponsible'.

'It was bad enough that Ms. Palin’s performance in the first televised interviews she has done since she joined the Republican ticket was so visibly scripted and lacking in awareness.

What made it so much worse is the strategy for which the Republicans have made Ms. Palin the frontwoman: win the White House not on ideas, but by denigrating experience, judgment and qualifications.

The idea that Americans want leaders who have none of those things — who are so blindly certain of what Ms. Palin calls “the mission” that they won’t even pause for reflection — shows a contempt for voters and raises frightening questions about how Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin plan to run this country.' - The New York Times Editorial

When are the voters going to stop electing plain folks just like them and start electing the best and the brightest again to lead our nation in troubled times?

UMBRELLA IRONY

As anyone in Seattle can tell you, a bumbershoot is an umbrella.  And every year, the Seattle Center hosts the Seattle Music & Arts Festival, called 'Bumbershoot'.  There are several stages set up around the grounds presenting different genres of music.  And, there is a stadium with a big stage where the headliners perform. 

This year, security was tight for the concert-goers.  All bags were inspected for dangerous items. But security guards allowed patrons to check any items that weren't allowed into the venue at the gate, to be reclaimed after the show.  This year, overwhelmingly, the most checked items not alowed into the stadium because they posed security risks -  bumbershoots.

JUST PLAIN STUPID

Let's live in the truth.  The truth is that too many people in this country are just plain stupid.  They are ill-informed and easily misled.  They buy into simplistic perversions of the facts.  They know too little, think too little and they listen to those that know how to influence their little minds.  They can be made to be fearful and hateful and, thus, politically useful.  They are dangerously ignorant - and they vote.

These are the people that Karl Rove and his ilk target to mobilize against progressive candidates.

This week, John McCain has played to these voters with two outrageously disgusting campaign ads against Obama.  One compares his celebrity to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and mocks his overseas trip, where he was greeted by throngs of enthusiastic foreign admirers.  A second uses Obama soundbites, distorted and taken out of context, to paint the man as messianic.

The McCain camp undoubtedly knows that these ads are puerile and unconscionable.  But, they also know that 'just plain stupid' people will eat them up.  Both obnoxious ads - Celeb' 'and 'The One' - are proudly displayed on the McCain website. 

The ads have been roundly criticized from most quarters for the mud that they are.  Yet, McCain and his handlers, knowing they can't possibly win the election on the strength of their candidate or the failed policies he represents, continue to try and paint their charismatic and visionary opponent as a demon, in hopes of getting those easily persuaded 'just plain stupid' people mobilized against him.

It's sad to watch this repulsive display of dirty politics and even more frightening to consider that it might likely work.

 

 

'CELEB' - McCain Campaign Ad

 

 

'THE ONE' - McCain Campaign Ad

 

 

'LOW ROAD' - Obama Campaign Ad