Want to change things? Ferguson shows us the way: VOTE, God-F***ing-Dammit.

We won’t get change by rioting. Nor by shooting unarmed citizens. Those are both s***ty ideas. Instead let’s look at one of the first actions taken after the deplorable murder of Mr. Michael Brown: a voter-registration tent.

Yes, that is correct. The majority of Ferguson is black, but due to various disenfranchisement measures, only 12% of that community votes. On the other hand, lots and lots of white people vote, so guess who gets represented in city government? Yep, the people who vote.

That being the case, people are registering black voters (and anyone else too, of course) in order to use the ballot box to change how things are done in that town. If enough of the majority residents of Ferguson turn out and vote, they can get a government that actually represents, you know, the majority of the people. The way democracy is SUPPOSED to work.

The response to these voter registration efforts has been sadly predictable: racist Repubs hate it, and everybody else supports it. Repubs as a rule oppose increasing the voter pool, because they know it doesn’t work for them: higher turnout favors Dems.

We all need to do what people in Ferguson are doing: register to vote, and then vote. Use our power to get the government we want and deserve.

Register. Vote. Every election, every year.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Loony Lefties Need to Recognize Reality and Remember Historical Facts

Those denizens of the extreme Left in America love them some Obama-bashing. Hell, sometimes they bash the Prexy more than do the Raging Righties In Their Tightie Whities.

One comparison that the Loony Lefties like to use is, of course, FDR. The wroth is waxed and the spittle flies from their screeching gobs as they point out how inferior Obama is to Roosevelt. But there is one small problem with these rants, denunciations and polemics: they are just so much bulls***. Here’s why:

As pointed out here in the Chronicle of Higher Education, FDR had him some filibuster-proof majorities. In fact, he had them for 3/4 of his first two terms. Obama, by contrast, had a teensy-weensy majority in Congress for a matter of months, and doesn’t look like having one again anytime soon.

But do the Extreme Left take these facts (and indeed, basic mathematics) into account? No, they do not. Living in their fantasyland of rainbow ponies that poop sparkly butterflies, they must think Obama is possessed of a magic wand that he could use (but for unstated nefarious reasons refuses to use) to turn Wingnut “Republicans” into liberal Democrats. Because that’s what it would take for Obama to move a Progressive agenda through Congress in these times.

Obama may or may not be all that Liberal, but regardless of his position on the ideological left/right line, the Congress is effectively controlled by the Extreme Right. And he cannot move anything even remotely Leftish through Congress (be they judicial nominees, gun control, social welfare programs, or anything else) given the monolithic opposition and numerical advantage of the “Republican” parties.

Until the Left turns out enough voters to elect a huge majority of liberal members to Congress, they will have to understand that Obama can only do what Congress lets him do. That, if you like, is the true comparison to FDR: the voters not only elected him, they also elected huge majorities of liberal Democrats to both houses of Congress. That “little detail” needs to be front-and-center in the mind of every Progressive voter. They can’t just elect one man to office and then sit back in their beanbag chairs demonizing him for four years: they have to elect legislators as well; legislators that represent their interests.

Until that is understood, the Left will be bitter, frustrated and p***ed off. They need to pay attention to the details and take action based on them: not on how they think things “should be”. Remember: “should” sounds a lot like “s***”, and that for a good reason.

If Progressives want FDR-grade results, they need to give Obama FDR-grade majorities in Congress.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

The Majority is Supposed to Run America

Ancient Rome occupied quite a bit of real estate at one time, and though they were a minority in most of their Empire, they were able to rule over the majority through various means. Eventually, though, the majorities in each occupied nation got tired of being screwed over, and revolted. Buh-Bye, Roman Empire.

England once occupied even more of the globe than Rome, and though the English were a minority in most of their empire, they were able to rule over the majority through various means.  Eventually, though, the majorities in each occupied nation (like America, India, Scotland, and so on) got tired of being screwed over, and revolted. Buh-Bye, British Empire

We are seeing this happen elsewhere on a smaller scale in Syria today – minority is ruling a majority and screwing them over. The majority has gotten sick of it and is revolting. Pretty soon, it’ll be Buh-Bye, Assad. We saw it in South Africa, too. Majorities eventually get tired of being boinked and rise up, usually causing a lot of death and destruction in the process.

Today, America is increasingly heading towards minority rule – a small group of wealthy individuals are using the tax code to their benefit, buying our “representatives”, using their ownership of the media to give us the mushroom treatment, rigging elections, and so on. Pretty much the same thing as Caesar and Quadaffi did in their times; and Americans are slowly waking up to this reality. When enough of them get ticked off enough, it will not be pretty.

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are both members of this minority. They could be poster children for this group, in fact. They do not understand the lives of ordinary Americans, but they wish to rule a nation full of them.  Say what you will about Obama and Biden (and this writer has said plenty), neither of them was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Hell, half the time they didn’t have silver of any sort, but they each worked their own way up and made themselves successes.

Not Romney. He started rich and got richer. Ditto Ryan. They and their little clique will screw us all over to such an extent that people will start getting really pissed off.  And when that happens, it’ll be Buh-Bye to America as we have known it.  And that would really suck.

Mr. B & C