Profits can kill. Profits can destroy. Profits can corrupt.

Regular readers know that Mr. Blunt and Cranky has had long careers in business and the arts, and is therefore not at all opposed to making money. Indeed, Adam Smith is frequently cited here: the man was a firm believer in a WELL-REGULATED free market. Because he was smart enough to see the harm that unchecked profits can cause.

Profits are not inherently bad: in the right measure, they can do a lot of good. But anything can be overdone: and the Teapublican “greed is good” mantra is an object lesson. Here, then, are three examples of the horrors that can be wrought by profits:

Number A: America’s profit-centered “health care” system kills lots of people. Including this writer’s only son. Yes, Aetna has death panels: people are denied care based on profit margins. That is why my son was kicked out of the hospital just a few hours after awakening from a coma. PROFITS CAN AND DO KILL. PROFITS KILLED MY KID.

Letter 2: American industry is constantly pushing for less (or no) regulation, in order to increase profit. Thence came disasters such as massive oil spills, poisoned rivers and aquifers, and destructive, deadly industrial accidents. Profits can and do destroy.

Thirdly: American politicos are taking bribes in record quantities to enhance the profitability of private businesses with taxpayer dollars. Yes, they call them “contributions”, but c’mon: these are bribes. Bribes that result in the theft of our hard-earned. Profits can and do corrupt.

Once again, Gentle Reader: your humble correspondent is not, repeat NOT opposed to profits. But not everything has a free-market solution. Some things are better divorced from a financial profit motive. Some things must be non-profit in order to succeed: things like health, education, public safety, and so on.

It’s long past time we put the final nail in the coffin of Reagan/Bush voodoo economics and its resulting death, destruction and corruption.

Reality is calling, America: better pick up the phone while we still can.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Teapublicans, Communists, and Terrorists have a LOT in common:

Number A: They don’t care who they kill, so long as they get what they want. Teapublicans are responsible for deaths of women and children due to starvation, lack of medical care, or indistrial poisoning; Communists kill dissidents by the trainload; and Terrorists kill innocent people aplenty via cowardly acts of violence. So for all three of these groups, murder is one of their tools of choice.

Letter 2: They are blinded by their senseless “faith” and cannot see the real world and the facts on which it is built. Teapublicans cling to the fiction of Supply-Side economics even as it destroys the nation; Communists insist that Marxism-Leninism is the inevitable destiny of the world, even after almost every Marxist government has long-since collapsed; and Terrorists insist that their God/Sacred Cause wants them to kill us all and let Him/It sort us all out, when there is not a shred of evidence that their Deity (or Cause) does, in fact, exist. So for all three groups, living in a dream world is a defining characteristic, as is rejection of reality.

Thirdly: They keep on doing the same dumbass things over and over again, even though said dumbassery never, EVER works. Teapubbies keep on stealing our tax money and giving it to the 1%, even though the benefits never trickle down. Communists keep on oppressing their people, even though it never results in an egalitarian society. And Terrorists keep on murdering innocent people, even though all it does is unite the rest of the world against the terrorists. So for all three groups, they fit the old definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for a different result.

So what ARE the differences between “Republicans”, Communists and Terrorists? Not much, really, unless you count wardrobe choices:



(Admit it: you thought the last one would be somebody in desert robes, didn’t you? Nope, it’s Timothy McVeigh, a home-grown terrorist.)

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

A thief and agent for a foreign power might run for President. Dafuq?

Jeb Bush is his name. Turns out he is a tax cheat, investment scammer, and conduit for shady Chinese cash coming into the U. S:

Documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 27 list Bush as chairman and manager of a new offshore private equity fund, BH Global Aviation, which raised $61 million in September, largely from foreign ­investors. In November the fund ­incorporated in the United Kingdom and Wales­—a ­structure, several independent finance lawyers say, that operates like a tax haven by allowing overseas investors to avoid U.S. taxes and regulations.

BH Global Aviation is one of at least three such funds Bush has launched in less than two years through his Coral Gables, Fla., company, Britton Hill Holdings. He’s also chairman of a $26 million fund, BH Logistics, established in April with backing from a Chinese conglomerate, and a $40 million fund involved in shale oil exploration, according to documents filed in June and first ­reported on by Bloomberg News. 

For Jeb Bush, the family name has been a more propitious credential in China. In 2011 he visited the tropical island of Hainan, off China’s southern coast, and received a dignitary’s welcome from the governor of Hainan province, Luo Baoming. According to Chinese media reports, Bush, bedecked in a necklace of flowers, praised Hainan’s environmental and economic development and spoke ­hopefully of establishing stronger ties between Hainan and Florida. If Hainan rings a bell, it was the site in 2001 of President George W. Bush’s first foreign policy crisis, after a U.S. Navy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet and made an emergency landing there. (Its captain and crew were held captive for 12 days). 

Got that? Jebbie is in bed with people whose governments help him steal from the United States Treasury, and who attack our military aircraft. All to make money. Plus, it turns out he steals from his investors:

Thief. Agent for an unfriendly foreign government. Possible “Republican” presidential candidate in 2016. John Ellis “Jeb” Bush.

Dafuq? No, seriously, dafuq?

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Even Big Business’s Mouthpiece Admits It: “Republican” Policies Suck.

When Forbes, of all magazines, says “Obama kicks Reagan’s ass”, or words to that effect, you know that the Supply-Siders are totally f***ed. And that they suck dead elephant d***s. And are too f***ing stupid to realize how stupid they are.

But Big Business follows data, and data proves that Voodoo Economics is a giant, stinking heap of dinosaur bollocks:

Bob Deitrick: ”President Reagan has long been considered the best modern economic President. So we compared his performance dealing with the oil-induced recession of the 1980s with that of President Obama and his performance during this ‘Great Recession.’

“As this unemployment chart shows, President Obama’s job creation kept unemployment from peaking at as high a level as President Reagan, and promoted people into the workforce faster than President Reagan.

“President Obama has achieved a 6.1% unemployment rate in his sixth year, fully one year faster than President Reagan did. At this point in his presidency, President Reagan was still struggling with 7.1% unemployment, and he did not reach into the mid-low 6% range for another full year. So, despite today’s number, the Obama administration has still done considerably better at job creating and reducing unemployment than did the Reagan administration.

Big businesses may not like Obama, but they (unlike brain-dead ideologues like Ted Cruz) can read a balance sheet. They know that good old-fashioned math-based accounting proves that supply-side economics is deader than a doorknob. So too do most normal Americans.

Why, then, does our nation persist in its apparent infatuation with such a bankrupt ideology? Simple: the Teabaggers who are dumb enough to buy the voodoo potion turn out and vote; and the precious few in the business world who are profiting by the Reagan-era policies spend lots of money buying elections for ideologues like Ted F***ing Cruz.

Sad to say, mere facts and common sense matter litlle when politics rears its ugly head. This writer hopes that you, Gentle Reader, will at least consider facts when you express opinions and cast ballots. The same facts that even the Repubs at Forbes are acknowledging.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

The Ferguson protesters are a lot like our Founding Fathers:

They are upset about oppression, a non-responsive and discriminatory government, and taxation without representation. Yes, that is correct. The good people of Ferguson we see out there picketing and marching may not be dressed like, say, George Washington, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson; but their complaints are eerily like the ones identified in the Declaration of Independence.

Here is a good article on the matter. Ferguson is making up for revenue shortfalls by levying burdensome taxes and fees upon the populace; said charges not having the consent of the governed:

Traffic fines are the St. Louis suburb’s second-largest source of revenue and just about the only one that is growing appreciably. Municipal court fines, most of which arise from motor vehicle violations, accounted for 21 percent of general fund revenue and at $2.63 million last year, were the equivalent of more than 81 percent of police salaries before overtime.

And the fees are applied in a discriminatory manner, much like what King George did back in the 1770’s:

“If you’re black, they’re going to stop you,” the study quoted one traffic defendant as saying.

In 2013, 86 percent of all Ferguson police traffic stops involved black drivers, the largest share since the Missouri Attorney General’s Office began tracking the data in 2000. According to 2010 U.S. Census data, the city is 63 percent black and 34 percent white.

Got it? The local government is a minority oppressing the majority, and doing so via corrupt, discriminatory and violent means. Just like what sparked the American Revolution. The differences are minor when compared with the similarities.

And just like the American colonists, the people of Ferguson aren’t asking for anything unreasonable: to be treated fairly, have their rights respected, and to have a voice in how they are taxed by the government. Unfortunately, the local administration is likewise resembling its historical counterpart and therefore refusing to change its corrupt and mendacious ways. No way this is gonna end well.

If you repeat the mistakes of the past, you’ll repeat the consequences of those past mistakes. There may not be many powdered wigs to be seen on the streets of Ferguson: but then, when s*** was getting real back in 1776, not many of the American Revolutionaries were wearing them out in the streets, either.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky (whose ancestors were here before the revolution in 1776)

Hundreds of Floridians obviously love the killing of unarmed children.

At least, that is the only conclusion to be drawn from George Zimmerman’s recent autograph session at an Orlando gun show, and photo op at a gun shop. Hundreds of people from the “get away with murder state” lined up to kiss George’s pimply backside, thus showing their support for his actions.

And his actions were as follows: stalking, assaulting, and murdering an unarmed minor in cold blood. So if you support Zimmerman, you support kiddie-killing.

Don’t like that characterization, oh Gun-Nutter Floridians? Are you offended by being called out for the racist, child-killer wannabees that you most obviously are? Then show us differently. For now, the shoe, having fit you so well, remains on your foot.

“Florida: Paradise for Child Murderers”. It has a certain ring to it, and is 100% accurate, too.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Let’s Hope Zimmerman Really is That Stupid

Mr. Blunt and Cranky hopes that George Zimmerman really is so stupid as to not understand that “God’s plan” most likely did not include him gunning down a innocent teenager (hint: God could have struck the kid dead Himself if He had wanted to).

He further hopes that the man really is so stupid as to not have realized that having many thousands of dollars in a bank account was something to have told the judge about while filing court papers.

He also hopes that the man really is so stupid as to not know the meanings of “murder”, “abuse”, and other relevant terms.

Not to wish even more stupidity upon a world that already seems to have more than its share; but the prospect of Zimmerman’s being nearly brain dead is far less scary than his truly believing that God wants him to kill people, commit abusive acts towards his partners and others, lie to courts, and commit various and sundry criminal acts as part of His Divine Plan.

Mr. B & C

A New Word for Doing Stupid Things: “Zimmermaning”

Lost in the debate over the shooting of a young man in Florida by a self-appointed guardian of public order is the amazing stupidity of said self-appointed Judge Dredd-Lite, one George Zimmerman. A judgmental, puffed-up fool with a handgun, running around, looking for trouble should have expected to find trouble, or at least, that’s what one would think.  But when he found it, he was clearly unprepared. Such a moron deserves to have a variety of stupidity named after him. 

So, in honor of His Zimmermanness, some classic examples of Zimmermaning:

Sticking one’s hand in a fire, and then being shocked when the flesh on said hand is burnt.

Drinking two fifths of Jack, driving immediately afterwards, and then being shocked when the cops pull one over.

Ignoring the “Do Not Feed the Bears” Sign and then being shocked when one gets mauled.

Ignoring police advice to leave an apparently law-abiding citizen alone, and then being shocked when he reacts negatively to being stalked and harassed.

Regardless of how the trial turns out, George Zimmerman is a walking reminder to us all of the consequences of crossing boundaries, not listening to advice, and failure to respect the right of others by minding our own business.  And of being just plain stupid.

Have you Zimmermaned today? If so, stop. If not, good for you.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky