Staten Island is the New New Orleans...

I will be updating this post periodically today. 

The picture at left is an oil lighter that was lifted by a storm surge right out of New York Harbor during Hurricane Sandy, and dropped on the shoreline near the town of Stapleton (which in case you didn't know, was once home to the Staten Island Stapletons of the National Football League).This ship is now apparently leaking residual oil left in it's tanks, leaving the neighborhood awash in fuel oil, with a potential time bomb ticking near populated areas.

In addition, there is now a report of more leaking tankers and a potential oil spill in the Arthur Kill, along Staten Island's shared shoreline with New Jersey.

NBC News with video and report of the damage on Staten Island. This will break your heart.

Here's a mini slide show of the damage done to Staten Island by Sandy.

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Seen on the streets of my old neighborhood of New Dorp, yesterday:

A van bearing Massachusetts license plates pulls up to storm-ravaged Cedar Grove. Six people get out, and start videotaping and taking still photos of the storm damage. They are not wearing Press badges, and are apparently tourists who either deliberately made the trip down to New York City to see the damage, or tourists who were caught in New York during the storm.

They are asked by someone actively helping a neighbor in distress (that would be my sister, who has been in Cedar Grove every goddamned day since the storm ended helping her girlfriend who has lost her house clean up and salvage anything possible) if they are there to help or "just take fucking pictures...". The photographers respond that they are there to help. At which point, my sister asks them, "well, what do you have in that van?".

The photographers tell her that they have just been shopping, and they have bought brand new blankets and bedding, at which point my sister demands that they turn it over to her, seeing as how there's people in this neighborhood without so much as a blanket, and because my sister can be one tough, scary bitch when she's pissed off, they comply. Whereupon, they got back in their van and fled. My sister then distributed the blankets to some people in the neighborhood.

One question: There is no gasoline in these parts, and the only two stations that I know of capable of pumping gas at this time have long lines of cars waiting for fuel, and are limiting customers to $40 of gas, total. Where did these people get gasoline to come sightsee in other people's misery, one wonders?

Also seen on Staten Island: roving scrap metal salvage trucks pulling right up to storm-devastated homes, and asking the owners if they can haul off this or that bit of twisted metal, often as these people are trying to save whatever they can from the flooded pile of kindling they used to call "home". Many are just taking whatever they think they can get away with, and I'm told that some are offering to take the scrap away "for free" -- like it's some kind of public service? -- without compensating anyone. Average price of scrap aluminum this morning? $2.10/pound. Weight of aluminum siding on the average home? About 1/3 of a pound, per square foot. These guys are becoming a nuisance, and are interfering in recovery efforts. In some instances, they are making conditions more dangerous, as pulling scrap metal out of a pile of debris can often cause further collapses.

In other post-Hurricane Staten Island News:

Mayor Bloomdouche, the absolutely worst Mayor ever, has decided that it is more important to reposition police, fire and other emergency services to support this Sunday's NYC Marathon (which begins on Staten Island at the Verrazano Narrows Bridge) than it is to keep them on duty helping people recover from a natural disaster.

Update: The Marathon has been cancelled! Finally, someone grew a fucking brain in Gracie Mansion, or maybe it was the tremendous public outcry? Who cares: the last thing we needed was 50,000 skinny, mostly-white, yuppies running around, passing out ion the streets, and shitting their pants.

Staten Island may Become Obama's Katrina: This sort of crass stupidity is par for the course for our Mayor, who up until now has busied himself with keeping the Outer Borough Proles out of Manhattan, making sure we don't have too much salt in our street meat, and eradicating the deadly threat of 32-oz. sodas. Bloomdouche may have once called himself a Republican, but he has always been a Nanny-state-loving, died-in-the-wool, tell-you-all-how-to-live Libtard of epic proportions. This proves it. Nero fiddled wile Rome burned, Bloomberg diddles while New York Drowns and Starves. if you ever needed more proof as to why Liberals need to be checked, you have now had three glaring examples in the last 17 years: Nagin spent the early portion of Katrina in a fetal-position panic attack, Bloomberg worries about the Marathon and fat welfare recipients while his city is hammered by a hurricane, and Obama toured the ravaged Jersey Shore for a photo op and then headed to Las Vegas for another fundraiser.

By the way, there are more people on Staten Island -- a single borough of New York City -- than there ever were in New Orleans. That's almost 500,000 people crammed onto a 12-by-7 mile-long island, but we're mostly white, and there's a democrat in the White House, so no one gives a shit.

Update: Bloomberg is about to get his Marie Antoinette treatment, as people in Brooklyn and Staten Island are approaching full boil because of the Mayor's decision to go ahead with Sunday's marathon.

And here, Bloomberg is being compared to New Orleans helpless and hapless Mayor, Ray Nagin. And not in a flattering way, either. Hey, at least Nagin eventually left his fancy hotel room to walk through the muck.

In the meantime, pleas for help, for food, water and clothing go unheeded, and there are threats of riot in the air here in Staten Island, especially after the bodies of two young boys (ages 4 and 2), swept out of their mother's arms by a surging tide, were finally found. 

Another article on Bloomberg's fucked up priorities: desperately-needed generators being diverted to Marathon pre-race set up. This is occurring while Bellvue Hospital is evacuating patients due to lack of power.

Update: here's a link to the story on the two Lost Boys. Rumor has it that a relative denied their mother shelter as she tried to avoid the storm, and some reports say it was local residents --not relatives -- but no one is quite certain. Stay tuned, because this story is one to turn your stomachs.

The Red Cross hasn't even been here yet.

More tragic news: Hero cops saves family, then drowns in his own basement.

Just as soon as I get the information, I'll be posting some links where you can donate to help relief efforts in the Forgotten Borough of New York City, In the meantime, you can donate cash, food, clothing and anything you think people might need to the Salvation Army , The American Red Cross, and Catholic Charities, which all have good track records with providing aid just as quickly as they can.

Some Good News: Local Hotellier will not displace those left homeless by Sandy. When this is all over, someone had better nominate Richard Nicotra for sainthood. He is a shining example of how private citizens utilizing their own resources are better at helping their neighbors in need than any government.

Update: You'll be happy to know that Katie Holmes and her daughter, Suri, managed to escape their multi-million dollar Chelsea apartment last night, for better digs with electricity, running water, and no floating bodies of dead animals, a condition only the peasants of Staten Island should have to suffer. It's a fucking waste of newsprint to follow the lives of the super-famous and super-wealthy, while others are suffering.You people who worship celebrutards should be taken out and shot, as you are poison to the gene pool.

Update from New Jersey: Unionized utility workers have raised holy hell that non-union workers from out -of-state have been asked to come and restore power to some 4 million New Jerseians (like my aunt in Netcong) currently without power and water services, because Heaven Forbid overpaid union dumbasses don't have an opportunity to milk the double-and-triple overtime cash cow during a natural disaster.

Because it's not truly a disaster until Chuck Schumer shows up: Senator Dingleberry arrives and immediately patronizes a Staten Island woman in front of her storm-damaged home. They say the most dangerous place on Earth is between Chuck Schumer and a television camera. Perhaps this dash to the kleig lights will finally spell the end of this national embarrassment. New York has the absolute WORST Congressional delegation in America. If they aren't merely corrupt, then they're clueless and condescending. Not to be left out, Senator Placeholder, Kirsten Gillbrand, also made an appearance, if only to get her face on television, too, because she's otherwise about as useful as tits on a bull.

One wonders how many cops were needed to escort Senator Asshole around so he could get his picture taken?

Fighting For The Female Vote...

...and why it's probably a waste of effort.

This Lunatic has been busy this week, which is why I haven’t been posting. My apologies to all my loyal readers who come here first for diseased commentary, but I reckon that once you know exactly what I  have been doing, you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me.

For I have been doing important political research.

You see, it all began when I started really paying attention to all these news reports about poll numbers in the upcoming Presidential election. Normally, I could care less about polls because they are typically useless for just about anything except which brand of dishwashing liquid is more popular than another, Typically, when a newscast or somesuch starts talking about polling data, my eyes glaze over, and I retreat into a sort of semi-conscious reverie in which I become Wolverine, and I’m fantasizing about using my incredible mutant powers – and those way-too-fuckin'-cool claws – to rob banks, and my incredible animal magnetism (complete with mutant pheromones!) to get Salma Hayek out of her clothing and into the sack.

What I See at the DNC...

Lots of whining, and continuous talk of vaginas, basically.

Just a few quick points before I go into (sordid) detail:

1. You have to wonder at the true motivations and intentions of a party that can't even answer a straight question about it's platform. Apparently, the DNC has erased all references to God in it's platform, and all references of Jerusalem as the capital of a Jewish State. Fair enough: on the one hand, I don't mind removing the word 'God' since God does not exist, and because it is a true reflection of the beliefs of a majority of democrats: even the so-called "reverends" who lead the rear-guard of the Civil Rights era apparently don't take the Bible literally, or at best, use it to justify things and ideas that it most certainly doesn't justify.

This Is Why Congresscritters Should be Tarred and Feathered...

RE: a story in my local puppy-training aid, the Staten Island Advance, hails Rep. Michael Grimm (R) for his first gosh-honest bill, an amendment to a veteran’s health bill that would provide returning servicemen suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder with companion dogs as a therapeutic aid.

I'm A State Assemblyman...and An Idiot, Part II...

New York State Assembly announces legislation to formally name a State Vegetable.

Personally, I'd cast my vote for "Charles Schumer".

You'd think these people would have had better things to do with our time and money (like figuring out how to save both?) ,and apparently, you'd be dead wrong. I guess there's no pressing needs up in Albany that might require the attention of our part-time-but-paid-full-time Assembly. Not like there's a $9 billion budget deficit to deal with. Not like our Schools aren't filled with mouth-breathing dunces, both students (inmates) and teachers. Not like business is fleeing the State. Not like we spend more on Welfare programs than we do roads, bridges, and infrastructure projects that might cause one to wonder whether government's priorities are in accord with reality.

Nope. None of that is actually happening, you see. That's all just an invention of FoxNews and Rush Limbaugh. Our state government has more important issues to tackle, like whether we like onions or corn better (and the answer to that question probably depends on which lobby paid more for this dubious distinction).

Last week, it was an Official Scent, this week, an Official Vegetable.

I wonder sometimes whether this planet isn't simply the loony bin for some extraterrestrial race, and this State the Rubber Room.

Iowahawk: Better Than Sex, Ice Cream, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs...

...all rolled into one, and He can only be surpassed by those rare circumstances wherein one has contrived to have all three at once.

Lindsay Graham (Douche-SC) is an asshat.

This has been true and obvious to anyone with the same sense possessed by a crack-addled Rhesus Monkey for many years now. Much like his counterpart, the Insufferable Charles Schumer (Sphincter - NY), it is a complete mystery as to how such men manage to continually garner electoral laurels despite any display of rudimentary thinking skills...until you stop to consider just what actually LIVES in South Carolina (hint: Darwin may have been wrong. I've seen it close-up and personal-like).

One must come to the inevitable conclusion that South Carolina, much like New York, is simply infested with nosepicking retards who have somehow managed to retain the right to vote. Time to re-institute the old Poll Tax, and add some Basic Literacy testing and a photo-id requirement as a requisite to exercising the franchise, if you ask me. It's the only way to ensure that parasites possessed of the same sort of bulletproof and paralyzing stupidity, of the kind displayed by Graham and Schumer, are reduced to earning a living in ways which befit  both their limited acumen and dubious skill sets: selling boiled goobers by the side of the Interstate, or maybe, as the Albino Banjo Player in the national dinner-theatre touring troupe of The Deliverance.

I have less use for Lindasay Graham than a dog has for his fleas.

Only On Staten Island...

...can you leave your children at a Police Station, and then be arrested for Endangering the Welfare of a child.

Then again, with this sort of cop protecting our fair city, that might not be too far from the truth.

However, if charming little anecdotes about scaring your over-indulged, you-made-'em-uncontrollable children into quivering submission, or killer drunk-driver cops aren't your cup of tea, there's more to our fair isle. Why, if you look closely enough, you'll see a classic example of what happens to you if you make extremely poor decisions AND depend upon the government for your catastrophic healthcare. Your ObamaCare future, coming to a town near you!

The category of people once defined as"The Rich" has seemingly gone from $250k+ a year to those who earn $700 bucks a month, in just under 2 years? That's Change You Can Believe In, Son! Yesssirrreeee!

By the way, was I the only one who noticed that this young man is, somehow, both an Honors Student AND collecting government-funded disability payments for a learning disorder? And that John Jay offered him a free education, but that he didn't take it? Does any of this sound right to you? Not to belittle the kid's plight, but really, at what point do you stop playing victim, and expecting the taxpayer to pick up your bills, and start taking advantage of the opportunities you've been handed on a silver-fucking-platter?

Do you know how many people there are who would...ahem...give an eye...for a free education, Dispshit?

But it was so good to see that his union coughed up a whole $250.00 for his healthcare. Way to look out for the Workin' Stiff, Fellas! Warmed the cockles of my black, little heart, it did. I wonder how much the union gave to Chuck "I Wet My Pants Daily" Schumer's re-election committee? Did it get one of those 900+ waivers from the Obama Administration that let it wriggle out of ObamaCare, too?

Of course, it's not all doom-and-gloom in these parts. No, no, no. Sometimes, we can even entertain ourselves with the outrageous antics of our fellow citizens. Especially the ones who walk into a Home Depot, and probably stage an incident so as to provoke some response and therefore have grounds for a potentially-remunerative lawsuit. The gratuitous racism and de rigeur ambulance-chaser-approved neckbrace are just an added bonus.

The gene pool needs some chlorine, methinks.

Some Predictions for 2011...

I normally don't do this, but someone asked for it. His name and address will be withheld for his own personal safety. I'm not Nostradamus, and come to think of it, he was an Asshole: if his "predictions" are so damned good, how come they only make sense AFTER something happens? What kind of useless power is that?

Anyways, here's some things that I can see happening in America in the year 2011;

1. Hillary Clinton quits as Secretary of State, and announces her candidacy for President in 2012. She will talk up a heady Far-Left agenda in an attempt to outflank Obama with the disaffected pseudo-revolutionaries, aging hippies, and welfare queens of the New Left. This new-and-more-Lefty Hillary will be in marked contrast to the woman who spent the four years prior to 2008 positioning herself as a moderate, and has changed positions more often than Bill and Monica did. This transparently dishonest charade will go completely unremarked upon by anyone at (P)MSNBC. No one will call her a "quitter" for leaving the Senate, or abandoning her post as Secretary of State, because only Republican Woman ever quit to take better jobs and more money. When a Libtard does it, it's all in the name of Public Service, which somehow always means you leave Public Service with a really big bank account. The only thing worse than a Hilliary Clinton victory in 2012 will be the sight of Bill doing the pimp-walk back into the White House.

2. Mitt Romney will become the GOP front-runner for President in 2012 in the early polling, but will eventually be defeated in his quest to become Leader of the Free World because no one will vote for him in the Bible belt, where being a Mormon is synonymous with "Devil Worshiper" and "Baby Rapist", and only slightly better than "Catholic". This will leave the GOP hard-pressed to find a decent candidate that doesn't creep people out, have a secret pedophile past, bore them to death with invocations of the deity, or talk like a Tea-partier-but-possess-a-democrats-record. Which means that Mike Huckabee somehow sticks around far longer than he has any right to expect to bore the bejesus out of us with all his Jesus talk, and somehow manages to wrangle a VP slot from whatever hybrid Country Club-Inbred Redneck republican candidate the Tea Party happens to choose for them.

3. Michelle Obama finally fesses up, and reveals a secret so shocking that you will be amazed that it was successfully kept for all these years; she is actually a post-op transsexual, and used to play power forward at an NCAA Division I school that actually made it to the Sweet Sixteen, but was ultimately defeated by (who else?) Duke; a game in which she scored 12 points, and had 4 rebounds, coming in off the bench, but ultimately, fouled out, her sharp elbows more curse than aid that day. President Obama, stunned by the news, deals with this mighty personal blow by taking yet another vacation, this time to do some soul-searching and to re-evaluate his life, in Jamaica, Amsterdam, Las Vegas and Tierra Del Fuego. Upon his return, he and Michelle reconcile their differences over a game of HORSE in the Rose Garden.

4. Sarah Palin does what every woman does at least once in her life, given the opportunity. She entices the "return to the 1950's" wing of the Republican party right down to the very last second in 2011, showing a flash of political leg here, heaving a breathless, bosomy rhetorical sigh there, winking at the True Believers, batting her Conservative eyelashes at the Falling-All-Over-Themselves-Just-to-Be-Close-To-Her. She'll take their money. She'll drink in their adoration. She'll laugh at their stupid jokes, and playfully giggle at their innuendo, or perhaps, give a speech that gently caresses the back of their hands, before quickly withdrawing her lightest, gossamer touch. When the date is over, as they're standing on the front porch in that moonlit-awkward moment, she'll give them a handshake goodnight, trot out the old I-had-a-great-time-don't-call-me-I'll-call-you-quickly-duck-inside-slam-the-door-routine, and avoid those disappointed Conservatives at the Malt Shop for the rest of the school year. That's right, Sarah Palin eventually turns out to be a political cocktease, because she can't win, and hell, there's more money to be made soaking the rubes and getting free publicity out of your fertility.

5. Senator John McCain suffers a debilitating stroke or heart attack, and must step down from his by-now-largely-ceremonial post as Senator from Arizona. In the ensuing special election, McCain is ultimately succeeded by the GEICO Gecko, who has now also become the Official State Bird of Arizona (conservative commentators will remark that such things must be expected in a state populated by a growing number of Alzheimer's cases and illegal aliens who can't read the English ballots, and consequently, have no fucking clue just what they're voting for in the first place). The U.S. Senate will honor McCain with a Minute of Anti-Aircraft-Fire-and-Loud-Voices-Screaming-In-Vietnamese on the Senate Floor. In addition, Congress will authorize the John McCain Memorial Border Gate, a cardboard door mounted upon a single, rusty hinge, placed at a strategic gap in the Border Fence that will be opened or closed on alternate days in recognition of the Senator's principled stand on the issue of illegal immigration, and of his Herculean efforts to secure America's borders. *

6. Osama Bin Laden will make an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. having been granted the necessary travel and work visas by the Obama Administration. After yukking it up with Jay for an evening, bin Laden will be invited to the White House where President Obama will apologize profusely about all those close-call Predator strikes, and promises that it won't happen again if only Al'Qaeda pinkie-swears not to be mean to us anymore. Bin Laden agrees, but the deal is suddenly called off when Joe Biden spills his soup in Bin Laden's lap, and steals the cherry off his Parfait Desert, when no one is looking. The next day, there is a mushroom cloud billowing over Los Angeles, and President Obama will take great decisive action by going on vacation after this exhausting round of successful negotiations, which Chris Matthews will call "the greatest feat of American diplomacy, evah!" just as the fallout begins to descend on the east side of the Rockies.

7. Someone will, finally, shoot Rep. Anthony Weiner (Douche - NY) and Senator Charles Schumer (Dingbat - NY), two of the most annoying people to ever walk the face of the Earth. Schumer will survive the assassination attempt, if only because the .38 caliber bullet fired from a range of seven feet did not possess the power to actually penetrate his thick skull, and bulletproof inanity. Weiner, however, will not fare so well; his killer knew enough to shoot Weiner in the ass -- which was closer to his brain -- and after 72 hours of being kept alive by various machines, a little-known provision of ObamaCare kicks in, in which Weiner's plug must be pulled, his friends and family mercilessly teased by hospital staff, his organs harvested and auctioned to the highest (foreign) bidder, and his remains cremated and sold to be used as an additive to kitty litter. By such methods, American health care is kept as affordable and efficient as ever, and the populace is reassured that there is, indeed, Cosmic Justice.**

8. President Obama will return from a minimum of five vacations this year. It will be remarked that Air Force One works harder than he does, and the person who makes that remark will be shouted down by the media for being the absolute worst of racists. Two days later, Al Sharpton will remark that White People want to burn Black Babies in the Womb, and Infect the Black Elderly with Ebola , and he'll be applauded by the same media for his superior"Social Conscience", and actually taken seriously.

9. Nancy Pelosi will finally have that exorcism that she's been putting off for the last three decades. In the process, we will find out that the woman who became Speaker of the House and ran roughshod over the Constitutional Process, was actually a demon named Larry from the 345th layer of the Abyss, who has no idea how it was that he came to be entwined with the soul of Pelosi, as he thought he was catching a train to Scarsdale. In an exclusive interview with People magazine, Larry will tell the harrowing tale of being trapped inside such an unattractive body, but lift your spirits with his "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade..." philosophy, which he discovered when he came to painful terms with his imprisonment; If you're going to be stuck inside a cast-iron bitch with a black soul that frightens even the demonspawn, you might as well make the best of it. He takes credit for the devious manner in ObamaCare was passed, and the $14 trillion National Debt. Larry will later be the hands-down winner of the Hellspawn Award, given in recognition of great contributions to Earthly Chaos and Black-hearted Evil, and personally decorated for his actions by Satan himself. Of course, Larry will be wearing Chanel on the Big Evening, and simply can't wait for the Joan Rivers Red Carpet interview.

10. Vice President Joe Biden will have emergency surgery to remove a small fragment of brain lodged in his skull. In a daring, never-before-tried medical procedure (paid for by the Gold-plated private medical insurance that all members of the Executive Branch were given for free under Obamacare), doctors will try to perform the first Anoencephaloplasty, in which they will try to save the brain fragment by implanting it in Biden's rectum. They decide this risky maneuver is the safest and most logical thing to do, seeing as how Biden's head is already firmly ensconced within his asshole. The operation will be a success, and Biden will have finally learned his alphabets, and to tie his shoes. These accomplishments make him the hands-on favorite to win the democratic nomination for 2012. As the Vice President convalesces, President Obama takes a quick trip to Rio De Janiero for Mardi Gras, and then plays a month of golf in Scotland.

* = we here at the Asylum certainly do not wish any misfortune upon Senator McCain.

** = we here at the Asylum certainly do wish the worst-possible misfortunes upon Rep. Weiner and Sen. Schumer, we're just not advocating that someone actually take any action in that regard, nor that anyone should take it upon themselves to go hunting for these men.

Charles Schumer: Delusional Peckerhead...

Via HotAir, Senator Chuck (Schmuck) Schumer says he interpreted the Tea Party victory this past fall as the triumph of average Americans who didn't want tax cuts for the rich.

Personally, I don't think Chuckie has ever told the truth a day in his life. In fact, I'm pretty sure Schumer did what the rest of the democratic party did this past summer and totally ignored the Tea Party, thinking they were either just some lunatic fringe, or even better, a force that was going to tear the republican party apart, leaving democrats holding far more levers of power than they ever had before.

Chuck Schumer wouldn't know a Tea Party from a hole in the wall. Primarily because he's an elitist snob who doesn't mix with the hoi polloi, but mostly because Chuck Schumer couldn't find his own ass with both hands and a compass, on a good day. Clueless Chuck probably lives in a Washington fog so thick you couldn't cut it with a chainsaw.

Schumer is a machine. The purpose of this machine is to spew libtard boilerplate 24-7-365, and to occasionally advance stupid ideas past the point of prudence, or even of good taste, and still call it "governance". The machine exists to get Schmuck on the front pages and before the television cameras as much as possible, your presumed effectiveness and professionalism as a legislator somehow corresponding to the number of times you're seen by, or mentioned in the media. Therefore, it has been programmed to advance stupid causes that no human being could adequately explain or advocate for with a straight face.

There is absolutely no "issue" that Chuck Schumer won't "fight" for.

I'm positive that if someone contacted the Senator's office today, and complained that the practice of putting a cotton ball at the top of the aspirin bottle was offensive to African-Americans (who would have to pick the cotton in order to get at the aspirin), Schumer would rush to be on (P)MSNBC this afternoon to announce he's introducing the Cotton-Free Aspirin For African-Americans Act, and that it was necessary to bring forth legislation to deal with this serious problem which has now reached crisis proportions. Millions of African-Americans suffer from needless headaches, he'll say, because the simple act of getting an analgesic reminds them of the legacy of slavery.

And of course,we'll need higher taxes to finance it, Big Pharma will have to be sued, and the nasty Republicans will try to block this vitally-important legislation because they're gangsters, thugs, and former slave-owners, all, who are angry that a (half-) black man is in the White House.

Schumer stopped being a figure that one might take seriously a very long time ago. He is a caricature of the old-time 70's-style liberal who never met a bad-idea-poorly-executed-by-government that couldn't be lavishly funded beyond belief by someone else's money.The great mystery to me is how it is that such a lying, self-important, self-promoting dickhead manages to get himself re-elected.

New York State has, perhaps, the worst and most-embarassing Congressional delegation in all of America.

I Don't Care if She's a Democrat...

...I'd vote for her just because the rest of the NY Congressional delegation is so damned unattractive! We have the ugliest Congressional delegation in the country here in the New York, and it's a national disgrace!

This stunning lady is Reshma Saujani, and she's about to square off with Carolyn Maloney (Useless Mouth-New York) who turned her husband's murder on the Long Island Railroad into a congressional seat many years ago, and has done nothing else since...except help promote the disintegration of America by voting liberal-line on everything possible.

She's apparently caused a bit of a kerfuffle in democratic political circles by suggesting that she's not exactly an orthodox democratic footsoldier.

Now, if the fact that there's a smart AND attractive democrat female running for Congress in a state that's dominated by the likes of Louise Slaughter, Charlie Rangel, Anthony Weiner and Chuckie Schumer, wasn't enough to make you think about crossing party lines, she's should get the nod just for this:

But if she loses her Sept. 14 primary with incumbent Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan-Queens), Saujani said she might just stay home and not vote at all.

"I'm a Democrat, I'm a passionate Democrat, [but] I don't know. I'm going to be honest with you ... I might not vote."

Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing to say, if only because the democratic machine in New York quickly attacked her for having the temerity to suggest that she might break ranks and not support her opponent, if Maloney wins. Quoth some democratic party apparatchik pretending to be a college professor:

"If she plans as running as a Democrat again, it would behoove her to think about expressing support for Democrats," said David Birdsell, a Baruch College political scientist.

And of course, the retraction came right away:

A damage-controlling Saujani spokesman backpedaled via an emailed statement that said simply, "Reshma will vote a straight Democratic ticket on November 2nd no matter the outcome of the primary.

Still, if Miss Saujani wants to come over to "The Dark Side", we republicans would never treat her in such shoddy fashion. Democrats are such bullies. The fact that the democratic party so quickly jumped on someone they usually claim is one of their own (woman, person of color) in order to enforce ideological orthodoxy, though, is extremely telling and let's you know just what their priorities truly are. They aren't interested in finding the best-qualified individuals for those congressional seats, just the most politically-reliable.

Then again, perhaps the fact that they came out so strongly and attacked Miss Saujani over her initial stance is a harbinger of things to come: New York democrats are terrified of losing so many races that they can't afford to lose a solitary vote, not just to gain victory, but in the vain hope that they can perhaps make some of these races look closer than they might otherwise be.
I expect to see at least one repeat of Florida 2000 in New York this November.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I might take the rest of the week off to drool...

UPDATE: I have made an error in identifying Ms. Saujani's opponent. I have mixed up Carloyn McCarthy and Carolyn Maloney. A correction can be found here.

Dear New York State Pols...

The Voters Speak, and they say "YOU SUCK!"

Three comments on this poll:

a) It's sad that only 47% found it necessary to hand out an 'F'. That means the other 53% is probably feeding on the public tit one way or another, or is perhaps too stupid to avoid sticking their private parts in a wall outlet without a great big expensive government program to prevent it.

b) People are not so much mad at a 3-months-late state budget (late budgets are like piles of dogshit around here -- it's everywhere, and sometimes despite your best efforts, you can't avoid them). What they ARE mad at is that the assholes in Albany don't even seem to notice, or care, that the state is broke, and don't seem very interested in addressing or properly reacting to that sad fact of life. They seem determined to maintain the current level of unsustainable spending and increasing taxes to cover the costs. In some less-civilized places, this sort of thinking might get you shot. In New York State, and on Wall Street, it rates you a chauffeur-driven limo.

c) I'm absolutely shocked that Gov. Paterson only got an 'F' from 25% of those polled. That's a stunning number, and if I were Paterson, I could almost spin this into something bordering on a major accomplishment. This just goes to prove that in New York State, the blind (literally) do lead the blind. Of course, Paterson will never be re-elected and the Republican party can only manage Designated Loser Rick Lazio to put up against Andrew Cuomo, so we're about to get the Venal and Stupid to lead the blind, which in our sorry state, is almost a 1,000% improvement.

In other New York State Political News, we read of the achievement of Kirsten Gillibrand, who somehow managed to raise $2 million for her campaign for the Senate. The same article goes on to explain that Gillibrand has $7.2 million on hand to run for the Senate Seat she currently holds, and never once does this article attempt to explain to it's good readers just how it is that such a total dumbass, political hack, who's job description reads "Chuck Schumer's Yes Girl", has managed to raise that sort of money without once mentioning "kneepads" and "KY Jelly".

This is approximately three times what the richest of her potential Republican opponents has on hand, and that guy is facing a three-way primary fight for the GOP nod.

If you ever needed any more proof that the politics of this state, no the politics of the Entire Nation, are a cesspool of corruption, then this is it. Non-entity Kirsten Gillbrand has $7 million dollars to buy votes with, but not a single Senatorial accomplishment to her name. She was selected to be a place-holder for Hillary Clinton when the Crusty Ol' Black Pantsuit became Secretary of State, and in that short period of time Gillibrand has apparently learned the art of separating democratic-party advocacy groups from their cash, and accomplished very little else.

The only hope is that the decent people of New York come out in droves and throw the douchebags in the Legislature out of Office, and put up enough votes to override the Permanent Underclass' tally and so protect us from the Cuomos and Gillibrands of this world. I don't hold out much hope.

State of Confusion...

Charlie Rangel. David Paterson. And now, you can add Eric Massa to that short and disgusting list.

A tax-cheating Tax Writer, a corrupt governor who followed another corrupt governor, and an alleged homosexual harasser. This is the cream of the New York Democratic Party.

When it was republicans, and it was Duke Cunningham (bribe taker) , Tom DeLay (perennial line-walker), Mark Foley (alleged pedophile) and Larry Craig (Airport Men's Room Lothario), there was no talk of "leave of absences", no stepping aside so as not to "become a distraction to my party" or feeble defenses like "I just used salty language"; the talk was all about resignations. Those men, when caught with their hands in the cookie jar, or in lesser and various states of inflagrante delicto, were hounded out of office. Mostly by their fellow republicans amidst the high-pitched keening of their democratic counterparts who were outraged, outraged I tell you!, at their stunning lack of propriety and inexcusable corruption.

So much so that they became poster children for the 2008 anti-republican Congressional races that created Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who vowed to "drain the swamp" and run the Most Ethical Congress in the History of the Universe.

Unless, of course, that meant she had to prosecute democrats for ethical and legal lapses. Republicans at first covered for Craig and Foley in order to keep their votes in the last days of the Profligate Republican Congress, but eventually the more reasonable and responsible voices within the party talked them out of that shameful convention. With ObamaCare on the block, and Nancy needing every last vote, and every last avenue for back-room deal-making, Charlie Rangel doesn't have to resign; he's granted a "leave of absence".

Robert Packwood was hounded from office over his sexual improprieties, and serial sexual harassment of female staffers. A "victory" that democrats still revel in to this day. They took great delight in exposing Craig's and Foley's alleged homosexual peccadilloes and alleged pedophilia, but they'll eventually circle the wagons for Massa -- there's gay sexual predators and then there's Our Gay Sexual Predators, apparently. The jury is still out on this one, but don't discount Nancy's ability to delay investigation of Massa long enough to get his vote on ObamaCare. Massa will stay for as long as she can possibly manage.

As for David Paterson, well, the mind is just baffled. Siccing the State Police on the ex-girlfriend of your homeboy to keep her from getting restraining order against him is pretty low. Now Paterson is accused of accepting "illict gifts" (i.e. bribes), and there have also been rumors of sexual misconduct on his part. Rod Blagoevich is facing federal prosecutors for simply talking about potential corruption, it seems, and David Paterson isn't for his actual corruption.

These three men are simply the boils. The pustules that arise when the disease begins to manifest itself. They are the indication that something is wrong with the Body Politic in New York State. When you add the most visible signs of these three to the other symptoms, the raging itch (Chuck Schumer), the Dizziness (Kirsten Gillibrand), the nausea (Louise Slaughter), the bad smell (Adolphus Towns), the constipation (Sheldon Silver), the loss of bladder control (Anthony Weiner), and you don't need to be a physician to diagnose the problem; They're all democrats, and democrats infest this state from top to bottom.

Tammany Hall didn't disappear: it simply took a long vacation. The Party that once boasted Daniel Patrick Moynahan, now boasts Spitzer, Rangel, Massa and Paterson.

The usual remedy, a good shot of GOP anti-biotic, could have been the best and least painful treatment, but the New York GOP is in disarray. It's i the position of being unable to choose between execution by firing squad, hanging or being crushed under heavy stones. There is, for all intents and purposes, NO GOP AT ALL in New York State. It's been destroyed from within in pointless battles between fiscal and social conservatives, and the regional cronyism that sees candidates elevated for election based solely on "who they know". It's a party that nominates a Rick Lazio or a Dede Scozzafazza over coffee in which less than a dozen GOP bigwigs were ever assembled.

The last batch of republicans of note in this state included Guiliani, D'Amato, Molinari, and Pataki. Can you begin to realize how long ago it was that those were household names? The current version of a successful republican is Micheal Bloomberg, and I wouldn't follow him into my own house; for him, "republican" was simply the easiest label to buy.

The New York GOP is spent. The new generation of democratic party politicians is like a strain of penicillin-resistant syphilis. The GOP can't mount any sort of a comeback when it's ranks are depleted and what remains behind is a mix of hapless dolts, electoral punching bags, and stock jokes. New York State may be lost, except for one joker in the deck; the Tea Party.

Right now, it looks as if the combination of public outrage (not in New York City, of course. Here, the recipient class will fight for Rangel and Paterson to the last because of the color of their skin), exposure and the need to clean out what is so obviously a filthy pigsty in Albany and Washington, might do half the job of cleaning up New York. The other half will have to be done by responsible citizens who are motivated to kick these assholes to the curb. The GOP can't do it; but the Tea Party might.

I'm almost embarrassed to say "I'm from New York", but I'm holding a slight glimmer of hope that there is a critical mass of corruption and stupidity that has been reached that be transformed into a movement of holding our politicians responsible, and firing the worst of the lot.

The Healthcare Summit...

I watched for about two hours this afternoon. I should have found something else to do.

It went like this:

Random Republican: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...Listen to us! Let us have a hand in crafting this monstrosity, under the guise of fighting for the American people, that we've all but accepted as a foregone conclusion, blah, blabbity,blah.

Barack Obama: Blah,blah, blah, blah, blah, but that's a good idea but it'll be another 1,000 pages after Nancy And Harry get through with it, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Random Republican: Blah, blah, blah, blabbity-blah-blah, can we just start over?

Barack Obama: Blah, blah, blah, we've come too far for that, and I can't hold any more dem votes on what we have already, blah, blah. And besides, it's not a good bill for me unless i can create another 100 federal bureaucracies stuffed with union labor to skim money off the top, blah, blabbit, blabbity, blab, blah.

Random Republican: This bill is bad: how about we do this, blah, blah, blah?

Barack Obama: Blah, blah, blah, screw you, we're doing what we want, blah, blah, blah, but that was a good idea that we won't consider, though, blah, blah. We'll now have five minutes of Chuck Schumer to put everyone to sleep.

Senator Schumer: Whine, cry, whinge, where's my closeup?

Random Republican: I should have won, dammit!

Barack Obama: Blah, blah, please sit down and shut up, Senator McCain, I won...oh,and blah,blah, blah to you, too! Do you have anything to add, Senator Reid?

Senator Reid: Blah, blah, blah, waaaaaaaaaah, blah, blabbity, blobbity, blah,blah blah. Oh, and blah, blah, blah.

It was a tour-de-force, so far as dog-and-pony shows go, and I should know: I've seen absolutely masterful dog-and-pony shows given by expert bullshit artists in even more expensive suits, with even bigger salaries.

The only thing that could have made even more ridiculous would have been the use of props...Oh, wait! There were props! Some repub tried to evoke the Spirit of Reagan, and brought the entire 2,500 page Senate bill to the meeting to make the argument that no one could make sense of a pile of paper that thick and full of Senatorese.

And of course, there was John Boehner, who's function I could not, for the life of me, discern.

But then again, what did I expect? The event was staged to make Barry I look all Presidential and to lob the same, tired attacks at the other side; Stop obstructing! Stop politicizing! Stop criticizing! Arguments against Obamacare were heard; hell, Barry's Boys and Girl's Club knew what the points against it were before the thing ever started. This "meeting" wasn't called to really hash anything out, nor was it intended to exchange ideas; it's supposed to blunt the predictable mid-term election battlecry: There was no bi-partisanship, and it wasn't on C-Span!

So, we got three-plus hours of absolute drivel that will, ultimately, change nothing. The democrats (small 'd' intentional) will do what they've wanted to do all along, and implement this sucker piece-by-piece, buried in countless appropriations bills where no one will see it, and which if Republicans try to filibuster will result in the threat of (if not the actual) shutdown of the Fed'ral Gubmint. Just like what happened when Newt Gingrich got all uppity about balanced budgets.

Democrats think Newt lost that fight because some Social Security checks got held up, but history tells a different tale: Newt did get his balanced budget, and Billy Jeff Clinton had to "reform" welfare. His republican inheritors fucked that all up in the years that followed, and so they are now in the position they find themselves in today; crying about bi-partisanship, and then eagerly rushing to the Potemkin display of bi-partisanship they got today so that they can still appear relevant, but still unable to stop the worst idea to come down the pike since the Battery Acid Enema Diet.

We will get Obamacare. It's almost a forgone conclusion. The question now becomes whether the genie can be put back in this particular bottle if, and I do mean if, republicans win the mid-terms and are in a better position to first limit the damage done, and then, eventually roll it back. I say if because if McConnel and Boehner and the assholes who were on display yesterday in the Toyota Hearings are what the republican party calls"leadership", then nothing short of Barack Obama being seen lustily filleting a panda on You-Tube will guarantee victory in November.

And quite frankly, why this need and clamor for bi-partisanship, anyway? Why is it that the repubicans believe that a bad bill made worse by bi-partisanship is somehow more palatable, especially if Libtards get the bulk, or even the beginnings, of what they've wanted in the first place? Quite frankly, you were elected to be republicans -- not accessories-after-the-fact.

This piece of shit needs to be defeated in toto; not steered into a presumably less-worse direction. Barack Obama is dead-set on raping the United States Healthcare System -- republicans, with their insistence on having their ideas included instead of insisting their ideas replace what Harry and Nancy hath wrought -- are pretty much looking as if they're begging Barry to wear a condom while he does it.

Three hours of absolutely sleep-and-vomit-inducing television didn't bring anyone one step closer to that.

Update: Something that I was thinking about that didn't make it's way into The Screed; I made it sound as though republicans "lost" this battle (in effect, they have: the dems will try to sneak this thing into appropriations bills as poison pills), but there was another aspect to this thing: Barack Obama, while trying to appear all Statesmanlike, is basically in the position of having to beg republicans to lower their tone (to get the heat off of him) and maybe, move a bit to his way of seeing things. He was basically saying: listen, I'm throwing you a bone here, so do a brother a solid and make it look like we're negotiating and co-operating, okay?

A pox on both their houses.

Another One Bites the Dust...

And this Kennedy didn't even need to get shot first, although rumor has it that his brand of "shooting" has little to do with guns, if you get my drift...

By my count, that's about 10 major democrats (from both houses) who have decided to either resign, retire, or who have basically decided to not run for re-election in the last few months, not including two who simply dropped dead. Those were Edward Kennedy (who defied medical impossibility like the Lyin' of the Senate that he was, and grew a brain tumor in what appeared to be an empty skull) and John Murtha, who died from complications during a routine gallbladder operation that was (allegedly) botched so badly that you'd almost think it was paid for by the government...Oh, wait, Congresscritters have a great healthcare plan paid for by the taxpayer, don't they?

Good thing there's no tort reform in all that Health Care talk, and Abscam Johnny's family will be able to sue like a motherfucker. Boy, talk about a cheap way to avoid an ethics probe!

Still, there's a few more I'd like to show the door. I don't see why Harry, Nancy, Blanche Lincoln, Charlie Rangel, Barney Fwank, Mary Landrieu, Ben Nelson, Barbara Boxer, Diane Feinstein, Anthony Weiner, Patrick Leahy, Bernie Sanders, John Kerry, Kirsten Gillibrand, Chucky Schumer, Maurice Hinchey should be so shy about beating a hasty retreat before they're embarassed anymore in public ....They should all get out now and beat the traffic in November.

Last week, The President vowed that he would "fight" and reassured his disciples that "I don't quit", but it appears as if his fellow travelers can't wait to throw in the towel themselves. In numbers that begin to stagger the mind. Why, even Arlen Specter, the newly-minted democrat was thinking of changing parties again, I hear -- but the American Asshole Sniffer Party told him to pike off --- they would rather have Khalid Sheik Mohammed on thier ticket.

At this rate, it's not difficult to begin to imagine somewhere near half of the democratic Congressional incumbancy could possibly take a powder before the mid-terms, if things continue this way. Frankly, I wouldn't mind if a near-equal number of republican incumbents followed them. At least then the Hallowed Halls of Congress might begin to smell somewhat cleaner just before that crisp, autumnal breeze blows through them and banishes the awful odor of Imperious Doofus right out of the drapery with a new generation of (we can hope!) principled politicians.

Senator Schmuck...

As if we didn't already know that one Charles Schumer, Senator from New York was an obnoxious human being, The Politico reports this.

I'm certain that if the flight attendant in question had a television camera, Senator Shit-for-brains would have acted very differently. He likes T.V. cameras, our Senator. He spends more time looking for cameras than he does working, and it's one of the reasons why he'll take on every asinine 'issue' you drop in his lap; so long as there's a chance that Charles Schumer can get his name in the paper, or his mug on your T.V. set, he's on it like white on rice.

Off camera, he's an asshole. I'm certain 90% of Congress is that way, it's only that Chuckie's public mask is easier to see through. Even when he's on his best behavior, you can see the streak of dickhead in him.

I love UrbanDictionary.com for just this particular reason. I refer to the good Senator as "Schmuck Schumer", which confuses some people who are not familiar with Yiddish. Here in New York, "schmuck" is part of the everyday vocabulary of most of us. It refers to an extremely stupid person, but UrbanDictionary added this entirely-appropriate definition:

"That portion of one's penis which is cut off during circumcision."

Mike Bloomberg: Poster Child for Birth Control...

Who knew New York City had an official condom?

As a native and life-long resident of this city, I heartily agree that New York City should have an official condom. And it should be permanently grafted to every elected official in this state, so that none of them may ever reproduce again.

This state is in dire financial straits, so bad that even a blind democratic governor was able to see it, and to even suggest budget and spending cuts (if Patterson wasn't a political dead duck come next Election Day before this pronouncement...), so how did this ridiculous contest get spared? If I had to guess, the gay members of the City Council probably saved it. AIDS, rumor has it, is making a comeback in the Village. I guess the thought is that if you hang a designer label on it, gays will use it. I rather doubt it.

Anyways, I have a few suggestions about how the condom and it's packaging should look, just to get into the spirit of things. It should have full-color pictures of both Mayor Bloomberg and former-governor Spitzer on one side, and the reverse side should have pictures of Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton on them, all against a black background. In golden lettering around the borders, should be emblazoned "Don't let this happen to you...please use birth control..."

What's Wrong With This Picture...?

* In the midst of an economic catastrophe, the news people report the dress that the First Lady wore to last night's state dinner, for the Indian Prime Minister, required the labor of 40 people to produce. Talk about poor taste? See the next item. These people are the rich that should be taxed within an inch of their lives, not us.

* Last month, 550,000 Americans applied for unemployment benefits, and this month, another 466,000. According to our so-called leaders, this is 'good news', as the 'numbers show a slowing down of job loss', with the implication that eventually this train will come to a stop and throw itself into reverse of it's own accord (Would that be Joe Biden's beloved Amtrak train?). Three million jobs have been lost since the Porkulus Bill was rammed through Congress.

* All those 'Shovel-ready' projects in that Porkulus Bill apparently paid for non-existent Shovel-Ready projects in non-existent Congressional Districts, only proving that your government is Shovel-Ready, as if you required more proof. This government couldn't organize a gang-bang in a whorehouse, and it would waste a third of it's budget there, too.

* The Secretary of State attends the Inauguration of a Head of State (Hamid Karzai) that the State Department has all but accused of rigging an election. The diplomatic gaffes in recent months (joke 'reset' buttons, bowing before foreign monarchs, sending mixed signals to foes and allies alike) show a policy that is unsettled, unguided, and unsupported by underlying logic. We are trying to fight a war without antagonizing our enemies...somehow. We don't call Terrorism what it is (because apparently, that's mean to terrorists), instead calling it 'man-made-disaster'; which pretty much sums up this Administration. The President has dithered over a request from more troops for Ashcanistan for the last three months, after his own hand-picked general has said getting those troops within the next year is critical to the success of his mission. The President delays the decision for political reasons, and then denies the reason is political, then makes a great show of deciding to decide a date specific by which to decide.

* The dollar is tanking on fears that the U.S. Government will spend money that doesn't exist in this galaxy, the American President is lectured (repeatedly) on free-market economics by the Communist Chinese, Congress is routinely tossing the word 'trillion' about as if it were no big thing, the price of gold has shot through the roof on fears of hyper-inflation, and the President of the United States and his Party are trying to decide the best way to socialize the American health care system, and who gets band-aids and eyedrops and who doesn't when 85% of the population a) has insurance and b) is happy with it.

* The Attorney General and President of the United States declare that terrorists captured on foreign battlegrounds are entitled to a jury trial, where they may examine the evidence gathered against them, expose the methods used to gain it, the names of the people who were involved, and use the platform provided to rail against the United States and spew Al'Qeada propaganda. The Attorney General goes before Congress and cannot cite legal precedent for this, but assures everyone that a conviction is a foregone conclusion, thus handing any defense attorney worth his salt the basis for an appeal. The following day, the President, former Constitutional Lawyer and Editor of the Harvard Law Review tells the press in a television interview that the terrorists will be convicted and get the death penalty, for sure, further poisoning the potential jury pool and giving them grounds for appeal before the trial even begins. One begins to get the idea that perhaps this has been the plan all along, to create a technicality that allows these guys to skate on 3,000 counts of murder -- while the intelligence gathered and the means used to gather it, are exposed to the world. To say this smacks of the political is to understate the tragedy by an exponential factor.

* Senator Charles "Schmuck" Schumer has to go before Congress to beg for $75 million more dollars of borrowed-or-extorted-from-the-taxpayer money for the City of New York to provide security during a trial that a) should not be taking place, b) we don't want, and c) don't need -- except for the President's stupidity and ideological blindness. This is not about trying terrorists and showing the world the amazing American criminal justice system; it's about putting GWB and Dick Cheney on trial in absentia.

* The President of the United States has given Air Force One a world-class workout for no apparent reason or gain, while Congress passes Cap-and-Trade bills that if enacted, would destroy the world economy. The President has almost spent as much time out of Washington as he has within it, the worst instance being a trip to Asia to avoid having to answer questions about putting terrorists on trial and getting his picture taken before the Great Wall.

* The President of the United States uses the words "I", "Me", "Mine", "I'm" and all other variations of the personal pronoun so often that you'd think he was the only person on earth, and performs Herculean tasks while everyone else sits on their asses and watches. The narcissism on display, the preening, the peacockery, the inability to admit mistakes, the inability to give forthright answers to simple questions, the cluelessness, the aura of infallibility that surrounds the Anointed One (a facade maintained almost entirely by the Press and the White House Bubble team) are exactly some of the same sorts of behaviors George W. Bush was criticized for over an 8 year term. The difference is that Obama will never be called on it because he's a) black and b) a liberal, and the Press is still in orgasmic bliss over his 'historic' election. That they are also witnessing his historic downfall in full-view and slow-motion eludes them because anyone who bought the Obama Aura in the first place obviously had no brain. The Free Press is finally dead, a necessary pillar of a free society, and it doesn't seem to care.

* The Idea that Obama actually works on anything is belied by the amount of travel he does for no apparent reason or gain, and the fact that all the major pieces of legislation and policy initiatives of his short reign have come from the fertile imaginations of the House and Senate. So fertile are their ideas that they have bankrupted the country, and will do so for generations to come. Obama comes out of his cave to hold yet another press conference in which a lot of words are spoke, but nothing of substance is conveyed, and finishes with a de rigeur 'we have to get the deficit under control' -- and then goes back to hide in the White House, leaving Harry and Nancy to spend money like drunken sailors. If Barack Obama wants to be seen as Presidential, then Barack Obama had better wield his veto pen. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid run this government -- Not Barack Obama. They are setting policy, while Barack Obama takes trips to nowhere, and holds endless meetings in which no decision on any subject is ever made, but a lot of really cool pictures get taken.

There's a lot to be Thankful for this week, as Americans, born in the greatest country in the solar system. There's an awful lot more to be worried about; we've elected a ruling class that is completely detached from the experiences of everyday people, and has no sense of propriety, proportion or personal responsibility. They show it more and more every day. When you sit down to give thanks for your turkey (perhaps your last one for a while given the state of the economy?), ask the Almighty to inflict a couple of strategically-placed strokes, perhaps a brain hemorrhage or two this holiday weekend, as the nation may not be able to wait until 2010 to start voting these assholes out of office.

The State of Affairs in the State of Who Cares?

Today is Election Day in New York City. If you couldn't tell before, just look to your right and see the two days of Google Ad space that our Billionaire Burghermeister obnoxiously bought, and which I was unable to turn off.

I wish I could tell you all NOT to vote for Mike Bloomberg, I know I won't. In fact, since neither major candidate in this Mayoral Election is compelling, I rather doubt I'll vote at all today. Yeah, yeah, I know; I'm shirking my civic responsibility, and all that, but in this race between Der Fuhrer and The-Other-Guy-Whatsisname-Again? doesn't exactly make you excited at the prospect of pulling the lever for anyone.

There's Bloomberg, the man who decided he could change the law to become Dictator for Life, and whose major preoccupation while in office has been my personal behavior; what I eat, what I smoke, what I throw out, where I walk, and how I do it all, has been the purview of this self-appointed nanny in a three-piece-suit. If Micheal Bloomberg had spent half as much time doing something useful, like helping to get the World Trade Center site rebuilt quickly, or perhaps lowered some taxes, that would be a reason enough to say "hmm, perhaps I'll vote for this turd."

Instead, Bloomberg has spent eight years imposing his own narrow-minded standards of personal behavior upon other people, especially smokers and the overweight. Smokers and fat folks are an endangered species in New York City, and not because their habits might eventually kill them, but because Mike Bloomberg sees them as cash cows to be milked to finance his Upper East Side vision of Manhattan as a Yuppie Paradise. A pack of cigarettes in New York City now will run $9.60 in the Outer Boroughs (you can find the $10 price tag in Manhattan). By comparison, you could buy crack for about the same price, but fewer people would tsk-tsk with disapproval if you lit that up in public. No, in that case, the City will be ready to 'help' you with a range of over-priced and ineffective social services, which might even include plane fare and moving expenses to Paris or Tokyo, just so long as your filthy crack habit is not visible to the tourists and Mike's pantywaist, yuppie friends.

Unless you're a white, English-speaking male. Then there's no city services for you, should you need them...Unless you have AIDS.

Of course, there's that other little stunt he's pulled. Remember,when Rudy Giuliani suggested that in the aftermath of 9/11 that he be allowed to temporarily remain in office after his reign as Mayor ended to better deal with the post-9/11 recovery and clean up, and Bloomberg went ballistic, even going as far as to sue Giuliani for his insolence? Well, who do you think finagled his way into running for a third term, overturning the Term Limits laws the very voters he asking for support from implemented to protect ourselves from the likes of Bloomberg. The City Council, comprised mostly of democrats who serve no purpose at all, except to hold a Council Seat as a prelude to running for Mayor, were more than happy to oblige him. After all, who wants to be Mayor of New York City in a financial crisis, potentially ruining your career as a politician? Better to let the guy who actually wants that job keep it.

The Other Guy, Bill Thompson is even worse. This is the guy who ran the old Board of Education in to a mire of tax-dollar-sucking corruption. He absolutely exudes incompetence and stupidity from every pore, and you wonder just who that guy had to blow in order to become Comptroller in the first place. HIs only message has been "I'm not Mike Bloomberg", and he's done nothing but spout typical leftist boilerplate, albeit only slightly-lesb obviously than Bloomberg does. Bloomberg talks fiscal conservatism, behavorial Calvinism, and then governs like a typical New York City liberal who's on an allowance. It's like losing your freedoms...only on a budget.

That's your choice; bad and worse. It's symptomatic of the state of play in New York City and State. We're saddled with perhaps the worst leadership class in the history of mankind. Worse than Caligula. Worse than Nero. Francisco Franco would be a breath of fresh air. Look at every major office in New York State, and you can only come to the following conclusions;

a) we're a state full of retards who vote for even bigger retards.
b) We don't give a shit.

*My apologies to retards; It was unfair to compare you to Governor Patterson or Senator Schumer.

And considering the apathy I feel about our Mayoral election today, it's probably a mixture of both. Unfortunately, in the race between bad and worse, apathy is pretty much a vote for the status quo-ante. And that makes me very angry.

Investigate THIS (With accompanying rude gesture to my Nether-regions to illustrate the point)...
There's going to be a "Task Force" to investigate the financial crisis, it's causes, it's mechanisms and the people who made it happen? You don't say! Well, might I make a suggestion?

I'll bet you the answers you get to any investigation will involve all of the following:

1. Greed
2. Stupidity
3. Ethical lapses
4. At least one Act of Congress

Because you see, all four elements are usually at the bottom of every catastrophe in American life. The unfortunate part is that you can't do anything about 1 through 3 because human nature being what it is, those issues don't lend themselves to easy solutions. However, the biggest, the real problem, is 4 and it already has a built-in solution -- it's called an election. We have one coming up (not soon enough), so let's make certain it does what it's intended to do and brings a (major) part of the solution to our current problems with it-- by getting rid of the politicians who set this in motion with their Greed, Stupidity, Ethical lapses, and the laws they've passed!

So, let's save a bundle of taxpayer money and focus the investigation on the mechanisms of the financial problems, and not look for scapegoats to absolve Congress of it's complicity in this disaster (that's why Congresscritters hold investigations, btw). We already know what is wrong, the only thing we need to know now is the how. If in the course of finding a how, we get to a who, then by all means, stand the (most-likely a Congresscritter) bastard before a firing squad.

Start the disinfecting process in the 2010 mid-term elections with Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Chuckie Schumer, Nancy Pelosi and Charles Rangel, and then let's work our way up the food chain from there. Their absence from government would simply be addition by subtraction. I'm certain that with the removal of these weak links, we can forge a stronger chain.

Are We 'Depressed' or 'Depressed'?
Professor Hanson weighs in here, noting that just about everyone these days seems extremely depressed. As well we should be; our government, at all levels, is being run by chimpanzees (go ahead and sue me or accuse me of racism. Screw political correctness -- I'm one of the depressed-and-extremely-pissed-off folks the Prof. is talking about!). Wait, that's too generous. Chimpanzees are smarter than Obama, Pelosi, Reid, Rangel, Dodd, Frank, Kerry, Schumer, Clinton, Waters, Waxman, et. al., and by comparison, paragons of civilized and virtuous behavior. Even if chimps do throw feces at one another.

At least when a chimp throws a turd at another chimp, it's genuine crap. Not the manufactured kind like Congress turns out over bonuses to bailed out company execs that they knew about for several months and engineered legislation in order to protect, but which can no longer be defended since it's a political liability.

Anyways, while the Prof is right, I also like this take on things from Powerline.