I can't believe it's not a democracy!

You can't even parody this crap:

Steele's New GOP Message: "My Bad"; Bachmann To Steele: "You Be Da Man!" Yes, he said that. Yes, she said that.

I assume that there have been people in every generation who looked around at the rich and powerful and thought "christ, we are being controlled by some of the most mediocre people who ever existed." Oh well, at least I am not alone.

Obviously, this is Obama's fault:

Economy shrinks at fastest pace in 26 years. Even though the economy shrunk at a "faster-than-expected 6.2 percent pace" in the fourth quarter of 2008, you know the pundit whores and republican spin machine will blame it on Obama. Because that is all they know how to do. And, sadly, they are good at it.

Obama gets another point:

Pentagon allows coverage of war coffins. CNN reports that the Pentagon will lift its ban on media coverage of the flag-draped coffins of war dead, but families of the dead soldiers will have the final say on whether to allow the coverage. That seems like a sensible plan. I am not happy with Obama's economic team, and I am worried about the planned bank bailout, but he seems to have made so very good decisions (so far) about some other important issues, like lifting this ban so that Americans can't pretend that men and women aren't dying in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Thanks to Mr. Slice for the link.

Another day, another couple of greedy motherfucking bastards indicted for stealing money:

Money managers accused of $550 million fraud. Reuters reports: Two money managers who oversaw investments for Carnegie Mellon University and other institutions were arrested on Wednesday on charges of running an estimated $550 million, decade-long swindle, the latest in a wave of big financial fraud cases.

Paul Greenwood, 61, and Stephen Walsh, 64, managing general partners of broker-dealer WG Trading Co with main offices in Greenwich, Connecticut, were charged by U.S. prosecutors with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud.

The pair, both former part-owners of the New York Islanders National Hockey League team, are accused of using client money as "their personal piggy-bank" to fund lavish lifestyles, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

I repeat: take away every fucking dime they own, but don't jail them. Instead, make them work at Wal*Mart and garnish part of their wages to pay back whatever hasn't been satisfied from their former assets. In short, let those motherfuckers live like some of America's hardest working, underpaid and desperate for the rest of their fucking lives.

This is refreshing:

Obama to say US will rebuild and emerge stronger. Remember how W talked down the economy before and after he stole the election in 2000? Well, the bubble was bursting, but taking a dump on the economy didn't help. While happy talk won't make our problems go away, talking about everyone working together to address the problem and move forward is the better tact to take. Certainly better than W's "be afraid" mantra. Eight years was more than enough of that bullshit.

So, um, it is Sunday evening at 7:18 p.m., yes?

So why do I hear a fucking jack hammer outside my bedroom window?  I suspect it is going to be a long night.  Sigh.  

My friend John believes that conservatism (or what passes for it now) has crested and has nowhere to go but down.

I want to believe him, but when I hear about people like that asshole Santelli screaming about the "losers" who are losing their homes and how he is heralded as the voice of America by that douchebag Brian Williams, or when I am reminded that Limbaugh is heard in every part of the country but liberal talk radio hosts can't be heard in Washington DC, for fuck's sake, I wonder. Then I read this blog post by Krugman: Ending welfare as we know it.

Long and short, Krugman links to a Wall Street Journal article about how hard it is for the roughly 3,000 political appointees who served W to find work now that they are out of the White House. Krugman notes that the usual route for these micreants is that loyalty is rewarded. Namely, "[b]e a loyal soldier, and you will be taken care of — through what’s commonly referred to as 'wingnut welfare.'" Hence Scooter Libby's Hudson Institute job after he was indicted for his role in the treasonous act of outing CIA covert agent Valerie Plame. Sadly, things aren't working as they have in the past. Says Krugman: But it appears that wingnut welfare is breaking down when it comes to former Bush officials. Is this the beginning of the end for movement conservatism?

You know that these young republican assholes thought they had the world by the balls. God knows they probably lorded over everyone and anyone. But unless they are really well-placed--i.e., they have the right surname or they know where a really dangerous body is buried--well, they're fucked. Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch. I wonder how they will feel about their party after the rejection letters pile up.

Maher has a point:

Right at the end of his tongue. And it is sharp.

Thanks to Mr. Slice for the link.

Well, here's one very good thing about having Obama in the White House:

A portrait of President Obama is held by a member of a crowd on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, February 19, 2009.

 (Christinne Muschi/Reuters)

Maybe it's me, but I don't recall crowds outside of the U.S. sporting an American flag that wasn't on fire when W was pretending to be president.    

String them up:

US steps up pressure on UBS in bank secrets case. It's not enough that the filthy rich got even richer over the last 8 years as the rest of us suffered with stagnant wages or job layoffs. No, they had to hide money in a Swiss bank (and others) to avoid paying tax on income to the tune of billions in tax (see below). And it wasn't one or two filthy rich bastards--the government wants information on at least 52,000 Americans. Said John DiCicco, the acting assistant attorney general,"[a]t a time when millions of Americans are losing their jobs, their homes, and their health care, it is appalling that more than 50,000 of the wealthiest among us have actively sought to evade their civil and legal duty to pay taxes."

Those names had better be released for the public to see. When the scandal involving at least 1,000 Americans hiding money through Liechtenstein banks broke, the Italian newspapers published the names of Italians who tried to evade tax, but here? Nothing. We need to know who these people are so that we can stay on top of this story. More importantly, we need to get assurance that the filthy greedy assholes who did this pay their back tax, interest and punishing penalties, because if the Senate subcommittee on investigations is right, the tab is about $100 billion in lost tax revenue per year.

The hammer has to fall swiftly on these bastards so that it will scare future generations of parasites to toe the line. Or they can try to weasel their way out of this and then be surprised when the guillotines are rolled into their town squares.