Are you there, America? It’s me, the $60 billion in U.S. tax dollars lost to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan…

Happy Wednesday, y’all!

Let’s jump right on in, damnit.

I fell asleep with the telly on…and I woke up this morning to hear a news bit announcing a commission has found the United States has lost as much as $60 billion in U.S. tax dollars to waste and fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade.

After my first cup of coffee, I gathered up Ms. Sistah Girl MacBook Pro and searched for news of this outrageous waste. Suffice it to say a bitch is more than a little annoyed that news of actual waste and fraud struggles to get attention after a year spent listening to assholes go on and on about alleged fraud and waste.

Shit.

The cause du jour is spending cuts. I’ve heard political hopefuls and pundits argue over spending cuts and tax breaks and cutting the national debt. I’ve watched segments on major news outlets cover our debt and basically accept the argument that the United States can’t afford to go on running things the way we are.

Now you know and I know that you know that I know that "spending cuts" and “reform of entitlement programs" are code for telling workers, seniors, the poor, and the disabled that they are going to have to sacrifice more to cut spending because the rich will leave the country if we ask them to pay their fair share in taxes.

For the most part the debate has stalled there…

…but news that the United States spent the past decade burning through billions in Iraq and Afghanistan should reset that shit.

It should…but if the lack of coverage or news-based urgency is any indication, this public display of an area where the nation can save billions of dollars without asking those who have sacrificed to sacrifice more isn’t likely to get a date to prom.

A commission has asked for what many of us on the left have been asking for since the war in Iraq began…a complete overhaul of war spending practices and some motherfucking accountability.

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

So, when’s the rally to protest this outrageous waste and misuse of taxpayer’s money?

Fuck a duck, this shit makes my Afro hurt...

Pondering the latest Wrath of God prophecy…

Shall we?

I believe in a higher power and I respect those who do or don’t. As a founding member of The United Church of Bitchitude and Latter Day Drunks (wink), I often ponder the state of the world and why people seem so hell bent on seeing other people suffer. Longtime readers know that I take issue with legislating faith and mixing organized religion with government…but I also find fault in mocking the beliefs of others while demanding respect for one’s own.  Tis intellectually lazy and juvenile too...and a key commandment of The United Church of Bitchitude and Latter Day Drunks is “Thou shalt not practice intellectual lazitude.”

In that spirit, I’m about to take issue with Michele Bachmann for her announcement during a campaign stop in Florida.

“Washington, D.C., you’d think by now they’d get the message. An earthquake, a hurricane, are you listening? The American people have done everything they possibly can. Now it’s time for an act of God and we’re getting it.”

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

That shit fails to pass the Spock Test of Logical Logic, damn it!

Bachmann isn’t the only public figure who likes to interpret natural disasters as messages from God...and, like the others, she’s thinking in the now and ignoring the multitude of nature-based drama and trauma that happens during conservative administrations or in conservative states or to conservative man-on-woman sanctified with oily ointment families and so forth and so on.

Beyond that, the Earthquakes Mean God is Pissed faithful are missing the message that rancidity sends to those who have lost everything – God was pissed and you are collateral damage so suck it up or take a long look at your life ‘cause you may have lost your house/wife/dog/son/daughter/business/mementos as punishment for your adoration of porn/feasting on food/using naughty language/getting frustrated with your kids/talking back to your parents/[insert other thing that some have determined is evil while others interpret it as not so bad but disaster prophesies are more that willing to interpret as the reason why the earth shook last week and then Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast hard as a motherfucker].

Oh, who am I kidding…the Bachmanns of the world don’t give a shit about logic.

The Bachmanns of the world hear of a natural disaster and immediately start thinking through the potential political points they can score with their base who get off on that shit and honestly believe that bad things are punishment and good things are a reward and thus…wait for it, ‘cause this is the thought process they apply to everyone struggling with poverty, want, and need…

Cough.

…thus, those who struggle do so because they aren’t godly enough and those who prosper do so because it is the will of God.

Dust off those hands and cease all that volunteer work, donating, and/or activism, folks!

‘Cause the Bachmanns of the world have come up with a guaranteed hustle to absolve themselves of ever having to give a shit or give back or care or mourn or do as humans do when natural disasters hit.

Shit, Michele probably watched the hurricane news with smug ass confidence, tisking and tasking those heathens on the East Coast for whatever they did to earn the wrath of God.

Blink.

The power of one…

Happy Monday, y’all!

I’m still recovering from the New Organizing Institute’s Advanced Data Training in DC.

My brain is packed full of some serious data knowledge…and my body is exhausted…but I have to say that NOI’s data training was one of the best training sessions I have had the privilege of participating in!

Yawn…sip coffee…continue.

Anyhoo…

Last night I watched 60 Minutes. Specifically, I watched the segment on the Gospel for Teens program created and run by a certain Vy Higginsen. Ms. Higginsen is a New York radio personality and theater producer and she created Gospel for Teens five years ago.

The 60 Minutes segment was fantabulous, emotional, and inspiring. I watched as teens from New York City auditioned for a program created to preserve and pass on the unique art of gospel music to our youth. The segment introduced us to several young people who face real world challenges…and it also gave us an update of sorts on what’s what in the life of Vy Higginsen.

Oh yes…I thought you knew… we’ve heard from Ms. Higginsen before!

Back in 2007 I watched a feature on people researching their family tree that featured Higginsen. I watched as she explained her motivation, anxiety, and hopes for discovering more about her past. The story was beyond engaging as New Yorker Higginsen discovered that she has a living relative in my home state of Missouri…Poplar Bluff to be specific…oh, and her new cousin is white.

Yep, Ms. Higginsen got one hell of a phone call.

“Hello. My name is Marion West. And I'm a cattle rancher from Poplar Bluff, Missouri. And I understand we're cousins."

You’ve gotta love it!

Back then I was struck by Vy Higginsen’s joyful smile…her humor…and her honest emotions. 

When I saw Higginsen’s beautiful face again last night, I instantly recognized her…she made that much of an impression.

I wasn’t surprised to learn that she is doing amazing things.

I have personal experience in the power of programs like Gospel for Teens. When I was a wee bitch growing up in a troubled home (translation – fucked up from the floor up for multiple reasons), I found solace and empowerment in my advanced writing classes, tennis team, and choir. For a few hours a week I was able to prove to myself that I wasn’t worthless or stupid or doomed to a life of nothingness. I like to think of those moments as regular vaccinations against oppression and verbal abuse.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that those few hours each week got me through one of the most challenging times of my life.

So, yes…I cried as I watched young people step outside their protective shell and start expressing their inner self through music.

I couldn’t help smiling as Higginsen looked on with that beautiful smile on her face, enjoying the young people as much as the music they made.

I know the power of one.

I’ve been the recipient of someone’s simple act of giving a shit and I have been a mentor.

So, here’s a fluff of the Afro to Vy Higginsen and the youth of Gospel for Teens - go on with your bad selves!

I don't know about y'all, but I needed a reminder that empowering others is empowering too…

On Women’s Equality Day…

In 1971 Congress designated August 26th “Women’s Equality Day” at the behest of the late Rep. Bella Abzug (D-NY). Women’s Equality Day commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920 that granted women the right to vote.

I’m pondering how much has changed and how much has remains the same.

Winning the vote was a victory for women…but the victory celebration was delayed for many women of color who lived in states where voter suppression was in full effect. My Grandmother, who was born in Mississippi a few years before 1920, didn’t have the protected vote...and a right in name only is not a right.

Today, many women face a world where access is barred to all manner of things…fair housing, decent education, safe and healthy living conditions, safe and affordable healthcare, healthcare providers, and so on and so forth.

The movement for equality and justice is my inheritance…earned through the blood, sweat, and tears of millions who risked it all and suffered mightily.

This Women’s Equality Day I’m thinking of how I honor that sacrifice.

It really is like tending to an inheritance.

Through activism and outreach…so that women know what threats those opposed to justice have cooked up and how to combat them.

Through education and mentoring…so that lessons learned do not have to be re-learned, younger generations are empowered, and to gain inspiration through the amazing work of others.

And through the vote…oh, yes – the power of the vote, which women fought for and earned in 1920 and the women in my family were able to take advantage of in 1965.

Happy Women’s Equality Day…

…celebrate it but don’t forget to honor it.

Past the halfway point of a 7 day training…

I’m on Day 5 of the New Organizing Institute’s Advanced Data Training in DC…

…and my brain is fixing to explode with newly learned shit!

Lawd.

We’ve had back-to-back 13 (or maybe they’ve been 14) hour days spent going over all kinds of data-based programs, techniques, strategies, and tricks.

I’m in data geek heaven…but I’m also tired as hell.

Exhaustion + lots of social contact + the pressure of learning new things usually = this bitch going off on someone for something I’d usually ignore and chock up to the lack of home training in America.

‘Tis a testament to my fellow data trainees, and the coaches and staff of NOI, that no such situation has come about…big props.

Anyhoo, three more days to go and I’m rather proud of myself for managing this much constant socialization without snapping at anyone!

Seriously, I deserve a cookie.

Pause…consider…continue.

Shit, if I make it to Saturday I’ll deserve an entire pie…

Data training, an earthquake, and a potential hurricane…

Lawd.

I’ve been in Washington, DC for the New Organizing Institute’s Advanced Data Training…you know, so I can get my hard-core social change on…and it’s been a challenging and enriching experience.

I’ve been to DC several times and I know that it can be muggy this time of year, but the most excitement I was expecting out of DC during a Congressional recess and with President Obama on vacation was a random political scandal or race-baiting statement by [insert politician, staffer, or news outlet here].

So imagine my surprise when the earth freaking shook yesterday in the middle of a session about matching lists through Access!

Like a true Missourian, I did everything wrong and headed outside...swiftly.

Well, shit…I’m your go-to person during a tornado, but a sistah doesn’t experience earthquakes often!

Eventually the earth stopped shaking and everyone settled down to returned to training…but daaaamn, that was some freaky shit because I don’t expect earthquakes on the East Coast.

Pause…look around anxiously…continue.

And I’m beginning to think I may have pissed off the Goddess…

…because it looks like a hurricane is heading our way later this week.

Blink.

Science!

Hi y’all!

I’m on Day 3 of a 7-day data training…we’ve been going from 9am until 9:30pm each day…so trust that a bitch is tired as hell and cranky with it.

Anyhoo…shall we?

I’m catching up on the news and noticed this bit about a certain John Huntsman of the I’m Running for the GOP nomination and one day people may realize that shit Huntsmans and…well, wow.

I can only conclude that a man declaring that he believes in evolution and trusts scientists in 2011 making news is the very definition of a motherfucking shame.

Huntsman’s tweet has been quite the newsmaker.

He sent out the following…

“To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”

And you would have thought it was 1633 and this was the trial of Galileo Galilei.

The press erupted.

Huntsman’s GOP competitors seemed bewitched, bothered, and bewildered.

And this bitch can’t help but wonder what the fuck the rest of the world thinks of a nation that has a major political party struggling to wrap their anti-knowledge minds around the fact that someone can identify as a Republican and believe in evolution and be religious and trust science.

Really.

I’m mean…really.

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

At this rate, someone running for President of the United States will acknowledge Newton's theory of gravitation…

…by 2016.

The tax increase we all need to be talking about…

Shall we?

The GOP went to war…trenched in…got all wild eyed and shit over the thought of ending Bush era tax breaks for the wealthy.

They went on and on about how making the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes would ruin the world and trigger a huge calamity the likes of which we’ve never seen before.

We watched as they demonstrated just how serious they were about NOT ending tax breaks for the wealthy…over and over again.

Now, as the dust continues to settle from their over-the-top debt ceiling fubarity, that same GOP is preparing to increase our taxes.

Mmmhmm...the GOP wants to block an extension of a tax break of payroll taxes.

Pause…sip water ‘cause I need to hydrate…continue.

Yes.

For real.

Way!

The same GOP that showed their natural ass over ending tax breaks for the rich by making a not so convincing case that ending those breaks would stall job creation…cough…is now prepared to end a tax break that is sure to hit workers where it hurts.

This isn’t complex.

The tax break in question impacts workers.

The GOP says that all tax relief isn’t created equal (clever...not).

Millions of Americans pay more in payroll taxes than federal income taxes.

And the GOP ain’t even trying to be subtle about this shit.

Behold Congress as it prepares to tread all over our asses…

…and there ain’t a tea adoring protest rally in sight.

My people call this bullshit.

Blink.

Data training August 21 through August 27…

Hi y’all!

I’ll be knee deep in advanced data training this week, so posting will be sporadic…unless all this brain usage inspires me and then posting will be frequent as hell.

Bring forth the spreadsheets...

...I ain’t scared!

Update from a Person Centered Plan meeting…

Hi y’all!

Longtime readers know that my sister and I are co-guardians of our older brother. Bill is enrolled in a residential program for adults with autism. Each year representatives from the various agencies involved in my brother’s life meet with us to review and revise Bill’s Person Centered Plan (PCP). 

Over the years there have been some good meetings and several PCP meetings that should be in the Meetings From Hell Hall of Shame.

I’ve learned to prepare myself for drama…budget cuts bleed and they always seem to impact people like my older brother first.

And I’ve learned to celebrate the victories…last year we were finally able to move Bill to a house closer to where we live and it has been a fantabulous change.

Anyhoo, yesterday’s meeting was a mix of the good and the bad.

Bill is in an amazing day program through the agency that runs his residential program. He participates in morning classes that focus on expanding his ASL vocabulary and strengthening social skills in the community. In the afternoon he gets to go out into the community…something he loves to do…and volunteer at a local shelter or non-profit.

I was thrilled to hear that he is doing well in the program. Staff is getting to know him and he’s benefiting from new techniques to deal with over-excitement (reports are that he’s fired up and ready to go every day!) and that renewed focus on his ASL vocabulary (you’re never too old to learn new stuff).

The bad news is that a key staff member is leaving Bill’s residential team.

Staff turnover is a constant challenge. Low pay, long hours, and the stress of taking care of people take a toll on staff. And programs face pressure when staff leave. It takes time to train people, build relationships with guardians and residents, and get a communication plan in place. 

Now, unless something changes, we’re starting over again.

Ugh.

Such is the way of PCP meetings…there is the good, the bad, and if we’re lucky we walk away without having to deal with anything ugly.

Blink.

Bits of note from an interview with Donald Trump...

I woke up this morning and caught the beginning of Good Morning America.

I know, GMA is the sorta-news and watching them almost report on shit is probably bad for my blood pressure. But it isn’t enough to know what kind of junk food the masses consume…gotta take a taste every now and then to understand the appeal.

Anyhoo, George Stephanopoulos interviewed Donald Trump.

It was, according to George, an exclusive interview…and I doubt him not because I’m still trying to figure out why the hell George bothered to sit down with Trump’s has-been ass his damned self.

Trump was in Trumpish form – lots of declarative sentences, bravado, and that undercurrent of desperate machismo he uses to cover up all manner of insecurities.

George let Trump go on and on about blah, blah and blah regarding his take on the current field of GOP candidates and electability of a 3^rd party candidate.

At the end of the interview George asked Trump about his obsession over President Obama’s birth certificate. Trump, being insecure as hell and thus incapable of admitting even inarguable fuck ups and thus the last motherfucker you want to elect to any office much less President of the United States, doubled down on his inarguable fuck up by saying that he’s still not sure what the President produced when the President produced his long form birth certificate.

That shit is likely to be the headline of this bizarre interview…that Trump still doubts whether the President was born in the United States.

I, however, focused on two other bits of note.

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

Bit of note #1…

Trump was going on about how “impressive” Gov. Perry of Texas is and how he’s got a great head of hair. 

Okay, he didn’t comment on Perry’s hair…but he wanted to.

George asked him about Perry’s job creation and questioned whether that’s something to boast about when the bulk of those jobs are low-paying as hell and thus not able to support the one man + one woman + two kids + chocolate lab fantasy of a traditional American family conservatives keep serving up as their base.

Trump, without pause, said…

“I think at this point America would accept anything.”

Pause…allow to marinate…continue.

Mmmhmm, now that shit needs to be a headline…put it on Perry’s bus…make it a billboard campaign, y’all!

Because you know and I know that you know and I know that Trump is spot on with that statement and “this point” is the precise point where many fools want us to remain.

Willing to accept anything.

Desperate for whatever crumbs they’ll leave on the table.

So far away from a living wage that we don’t even know what the hell that is anymore.

Cough.

Bit of note #2…

When George pushed Trump about whether the rich should pay their fair share in taxes instead of the teeny tiny percent they currently pay, Trump said he’s willing but most rich as hell people are not.

They then engaged in a “well, that’s not very patriotic” off…during which Trump admitted that not paying your fair share in taxes isn’t patriotic and followed with a declaration that most rich as hell people aren’t patriotic and would high tail it to Switzerland if they were required to pay their fair share in taxes.

That brings me back to what will likely be the headline from this interview…Trumps obsession with Obama’s birth certificate.

Tis fascinating that those who adore tea obsess over whether Obama is a natural born American citizen even though he’s proven more than I’ve ever had to prove that he is indeed a natural born American citizen.

Not fascinating because they continue to chew at a bone that they’ve chewed to death…

…but certainly fascinating cause tea adorers attack one man about his birth certificate while they protect and defend thousands of Americans who are so unpatriotic they gleefully screw we the people out of billions in tax revenue and would be on the first boat outta here if we dared to call them on that shit.

It’s one thing to be hoodwinked and bamboozled…

…but damn it to hell if these fools aren’t hoodwinking and bamboozling their own damned selves.

Blink.

Thoughts after attending my family reunion...

C-Money and I just returned from our family reunion in Allentown, PA. My mother’s family, sans my mother, gathered at the home of one of my Aunts for barbeque, games, and some serious catching up.

Longtime readers know that I am estranged from my mother. We haven’t spoken for years. My mother is also estranged from her family and as I traveled to Pennsylvania I worried that her absence would loom over the reunion. My worries turned out to be all for naught. A couple of family members inquired about my mother. I explained that we have not been in contact and why. They understood, having encountered her rage when they tried to contact her themselves. For the most part everyone took the opportunity to be together rather than fret over those who weren’t in attendance.

But it’s impossible to be around my aunts without thinking of my mother. They all look alike…have the same mannerisms and expressions…and I see a lot of her reflected in them.

So, this reunion was somewhat bittersweet.

I saw what might have been…how my mother could be, but for her anger and verbal abuse of others.

And I was reminded that I can’t live her life…I can’t fix what’s wrong…I can only be me.

Sigh.

I listened to a thousand stories this weekend…had fantabulous chats and debates with my cousins, who are truly amazing people doing amazing things. I got up to speed on my aunts’ lives and quickly realized that they are living happy and challenging lives. I met my cousins’ children…again…they are growing up so fast! 

On the flight back home I found myself reflecting on our family. My maternal Grandmother was our matriarch and a force of nature…glamorous, feisty, quirky, difficult, loving, and ambitious. Her life spanned a history of radical change in America…from the Great Depression to WWII to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond.

My Grandmother valued education, hard work, and family.

She passed away years ago but her legacy lives on.

Many thanks to everyone who worked so hard to pull this amazing reunion together!

A hustle is a hustle...

Happy Friday, y’all!

I’m currently pondering a news report about a judge who has been sentenced to 28 years in jail for his role in a scheme to sentence youth to for-profit detention centers in exchange for kickbacks.

Mark Ciavarella, a former Pennsylvania juvenile court judge, shipped thousands of kids to juvenile detention centers…at least one of the victims committed suicide.

The seriousness of this case warrants investigations into all for-profit detention centers…because there are way too many flies for just one pile of shit.

As I pondered this case and the harm inflicted upon thousands of youth by a corrupt criminal justice system, I had a nagging feeling that this hustle sounds a lot like another hustle I recently read about.

South Dakota passed a law that, among other heinous things, mandates that women seeking abortions receive counseling from crisis pregnancy centers.  Lots of folks have written about the deceptive practices and overt religious nature of crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs).

CPCs receive millions of taxpayer funding.

CPCs are largely unregulated…

…and they are one of the most brilliant hustles I’ve ever seen.

Tis a hustle sure to make the former juvenile court judge drool - little to no oversight…millions in taxpayer funding with no discussion of measurable outcomes…and now a legislative test that, should it survive court challenges, will likely spread the legislative hustle of  mandatory counseling through CPC to other states.

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

The former juvenile court judge who served up kids to for-profit detention centers had to work his vile hustle in the shadows.

CPCs get legislators to do the hard work in the light of day.

But a hustle is a hustle is a hustle, my friends.

Oh and just look at all those flies!

Blink.

As elusive as a jackalope…

The high temp in St. Louis is going to be 84 degrees today…

…and I’m so happy I would cry if I were the crying type (wink).

Anyhoo…

I’ve been reading a lot about the GOP’s fetish dujour – cutting entitlement programs. By entitlement programs they mean Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.

My experience with Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security is through deductions from my paychecks and being a co-guardian for my older autistic brother.

Contrary to conservative belief, people aren’t getting over through entitlement programs.

Older people, poor people, and the disabled (or any combination of those) having access to health care, housing, and food is the very definition of good policy…

…but these programs do not result in recipients living the high life.

In my family we pick up the slack of what isn’t covered as best we can, but it is a struggle.

That’s right…everything isn’t covered!

Gasp.

As a matter of fact, Missouri suffers from a balanced budget problem that typically impacts the Department of Mental Health and social programs first (surprise, surprise).

For every cut there is a scramble to stop the bleeding.

Missouri Medicaid recipients no long have dental coverage?

We have to find a way to pay for dental cleanings including behavioral modification.

Food assistance hasn’t seen an increase in over a decade…and, to keep it real, that assistance comes to a total of $160 per month for an adult man (steak & lobster…not on the menu).

And so on and so forth.

As things currently stand, we get by.

Millions of families are in the same boat.

Cut anything…and the delicate balance that is life will go to shit and I mean fast.

That’s the truth.

The lie about entitlement programs is that they aren’t necessary…that the people who receive benefits are lazy freeloaders getting over on the government…and that those people are single individuals who aren’t part of family units who will also be impacted by a decrease in or the elimination of benefits.

The truth is that my 41 year old autistic brother is a Medicaid recipient…a Medicare recipient…he gets food assistance…and he gets Social Security.

Our father served this nation in the Air Force and worked until the day he died – you bet your ass his son is entitled to receive the benefits our father never had the opportunity to apply for.

The truth is cuts bleed…multiple cuts bleed heavy as hell…and cuts will not get us out of the current financial debacle.

They will weaken us.

Cuts will make our family tighten up…spend less…take even fewer risks, lest our bother be forced to suffer or go hungry.

Cuts stimulate fear and panic, not the economy.

Trust me…I’ve been through more than one round of them already.

Pause…consider…continue.

That reminds me that I’ve also heard a lot about shared sacrifice...

…but proof of “shared sacrifice” is as elusive as a fucking jackalope.

Blink.

So, the S&P told America that our baby is ugly…

Sorry for the sporadic posting, y’all!

I blame the heat.

Anyhoo…let’s jump in!

The S&P has downgraded the United States from an AAA rating to an AA+ rating. The S&P cited our fucked up from the floor up political budgeting process…the fact that we have to go to the brink of economic disaster to patch together a lame ass non-solution solution…and the clusterfuck issue of deep spending cuts without revenue increases.

In short, the S&P has informed the United States that we have an ugly baby.

No one wants to hear that they have an ugly baby. The United States is no exception. The Obama administration has responded by challenging the S&P’s math…pointing out that the other three whatevertheycallthemselves credit groups have not downgraded the nation…and added a dash of spicy political spin by calling this the Tea Party Downgrade.

Tea Party politicians took to the Sunday political chat shows to blast the Obama administration for being the Obama administration…deny that the same process of tying debt ceiling increases to spending cuts that they created, the S&P cited as a key unattractive feature, and those who adore tea bragged about creating was in any way responsible…and generally ignore the revenue concerns while doubling down on spending cuts as the only solution for anything and everything.

Everyone is going off on everyone…the baby is crying…markets are convulsing…tea is boiling…and the whole world is watching.

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

The thing is, spending cuts are not the cure to what ails us anymore than removing a tumor cures cancer.

The argument over whether the S&P is using faulty math is valid…hell, I wish economists questioned credit rating systems for the rest of us too.

The debate over the political process of tying debt ceiling increasing to spending cuts ain’t going away…that horse is out of the barn, for better or for worse.

But at some point soon someone needs to move to a very well lit room, polish their eyeglasses, lean down and take a good long look at the baby.

When that brave soul does look at the baby I’m betting they’ll find that the wee one isn’t actually ugly...poor little thing is just covered in gobs of political bullshit and in need a good bath.

Pause…consider…continue.

But you know and I know that you know that I know that, even if these fools could agree that the baby is covered in political bullshit and in need of a bath, they’d just launch into a debate over how the bullshit got on the infant and what brand of soap to use and who should wash the hair and whether the water is hot enough or too hot and…

Blink.

Fuck it – Happy Friday!

This has been a hell of a week…

…but it is finally at an end.

Time to take some happy pills and enjoy the weekend, y’all!

Daaaaaaaaamn…

Sorry I’ve been absent, y’all.

I’ve been running around like a crazy person getting ready for my sister’s 40^th birthday weekend.

Whew.

Anyhoo…shall we?

The markets just tanked.

And by tank, I mean – TANKED.

Now all eves have turned to the…wait for it…jobs report due out today.

Jobs…employment.

You know, the shit that wasn’t addressed during the fucked up from the floor up debt drama we just went through.

Wait…that’s not entirely accurate.  The GOP manufactured FUBAR did address employment during the debt drama by instigating a partial shut down of the FAA that resulted in thousands of people being unemployed.

News came yesterday that Congress managed to strike a bipartisan deal to end the partial shut down of the FAA…

…but methinks that the world was unimpressed with the back-slapping celebration from some over linking the debt ceiling to spending cuts without any substantive policy to create jobs.

Lawd.

Part of me wants to shrug. Fuck the markets – when they soar no one wants to hire and when they tank everyone says that’s why they aren’t gonna hire.

The other part of me can’t get past the fact that Congress just shat the bed in losses to the tune of over $400 million through the FAA shut down alone. They’ll burn the house down to win an argument over the best way to put out a fire.

Pause…sip coffee…continue.

This shit is enough to make a bitch quizzical – if job creation is enough to curb market woes and calm investors down, why the fuck isn’t anyone doing a damn thing to encourage the creation of jobs?

***cue the sound of silence***

Wince.

The cost of one Satan Meal Deal...

It’s the day after the deal made it through the House.

The deal is now expected to easily clear the Senate and go to the President.

With much of the agreed upon rancidity falling in 2013, I’m not as freaked out as I would have been.

My older brother is autistic and he depends on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security…so you can bet your ass I’m going to be on the Super Committee like white on rice.

I’m trying not to think about the fact that these wretched knaves are now fixing to hold entitlement programs hostage. My father served this nation in the Air Force and worked up until the day he died at 58 years old – his son, my brother, now receives the Social Security benefit his father didn’t live to collect.

He’s entitled as hell to every dime of it.

Breath…hold…exhale.

Yeah.

Um.

So.

Here’s what is making my Afro hurt at 6:30am Tuesday August 2, 2011.

They’re going on vacation…after pitching the most immature, unprofessional, ig’nant fit I’ve seen in decades up in the people’s House…after pontificating for weeks over government malfunction and how much it costs…

…the same motherfuckers who brought us to the brink of financial ruin are now heading home to “rest” without fixing the FAA SNAFU that they created.

A SNAFU that will end up costing we the people over $1 billion dollars and has now resulted in the loss of 4,000 jobs.

Pause…allow to marinate…continue.

$1 billion dollars.

Hard working Americans furloughed…in limbo while Satan’s minions rest up…cause tantrums are exhausting, yo.

$1 billion dollars in revenue lost…to the airlines that jumped on that shit like a beagle on scraps.

4,000 jobs lost to furlough at the FAA.

The economy now destined to tighten which will stifle job creation.

A gaggle of fools elected by a gaggle of fools sitting on beaches sipping Long Island Iced Tea, gloating.

And a downgrade of our nation's credit rating still on the table.

Behold, the price of one Satan sandwich, a side of Satan fries, and a large iced Kool-Aid!

This ain’t austerity.

My people call this sabotage.

One giant step for women's health care…

Happy August, damn it!

Let’s do this.

I just heard that the Obama administration is fixing to announce that birth control will now be covered without a co-payment…

…and, like flies flocking to fresh shit, those opposed to reproductive justice are already gearing up to voice their opposition.

Unplanned pregnancies cost taxpayers $11 billion dollars a year.

Prevention saves money and would dramatically lower the rate of abortion.

One key hurdle between women and prevention is access and cost.

Birth control helps prevent unplanned pregnancies.

If we expand access to prevention by making birth control available without a co-pay…taxpayers save money the rate of abortion will be reduced.

Win!

But wait…those opposed to reproductive justice aren’t trying to hear that.

The opposition points to emergency contraception (EC)…and their never-ending intellectually lazy and totally inaccurate quest to brand it as an abortion pill. 

I know and you know that I know that you know that emergency contraception does not cause abortion…but those are facts and the anti-choice movement is nothing if not fact resistant.

I think the time has come to call the opposition out on what they are really saying – that birth control is abortion…all birth control, sans abstinence.

So it should come as no surprise that the opposition can’t speak of no co-pay birth control without bringing up the prohibition against taxpayer funds going toward abortion.

Yep…flies flocking to fresh shit.

The Obama administration is poised to answer the $11 billion dollar question pointed out in a recent St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial…

…and the accuracy of that answer is a tremendous opportunity for us all.