Black Friday, Black Heart

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Friday November 23, 2012 · 9:23 PM PST

2012/11/23 · 21:23

These are human beings goddamnit, their lives have value!

I’m most likely preaching to the choir and hope the my voice can add to the thousands literally starving for change here in the first world of the United States, and push the issue of labor rights just a bit further. Lets take a look at today’s Huffington Post Black Friday reports. Seriously go take a look. I’ll wait

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

So are you mad or disgusted yet? I hope so. There is a time for anger, righteous anger. That time is now.

Personally I have seen both sides. I worked those way before pre-dawn hours at a big box store for many years. And been a witness to appalling customer behavior, intentional stock shortages and staff pushed beyond levels of decency by management. It would easy to point the blame at retailers like Wal-Mart and say. “You’re an evil corporation that is ruining people’s lives and depriving your employees of a decent standard of living.” And why this is generally true. It’s much harder to stand in front of that dressing room mirror and say “My unconscious consumption is ruining people’s lives and depriving people around the world including Americans a decent standard of living.”

If Americans were more conscious about where and how their money was spent the tide of violence and aggression that has become the day after Thanksgiving could then and only then be stemmed. Private corporations are more democratic than we give them credit for. Your wallet casts a vote every time you exchange currency for goods and the cash register is the ballot box. Every time you purchase a product from a retailer or manufacturer that mistreats its employees you are showing your explicit approval of that companies practices and give them the incentive and capital to not only continue but to expand their immoral practices.

I know its hard not to do this. Most of us work shit jobs that pay shit wages so in return the only places we can shop are places that treat people like shit. It’s a circle that is quickly destroying our nations middle class. I don’t have all the answers on how to break this cycle but I know where we can start. Buy less things for a start. By doing this you can save money. So when it is time to make that purchase of something you need you can spend the extra money to buy something of quality and if possible buy something made in America. We didnt get to this sorry state overnight so it’s going to take time to get us out of it. The only ones with the power to fix this is us, the consumer. The American worker and our very way of life is depending on us.

Look, I’m no hermit. To quote the Dennis Leary song Asshole “I like football and porno and books about war” I like fatty foods and I don’t drive a hybrid and I don’t buy organic. Everyone has their cross to bear. Mine is video games. It’s hard for me to not pull the trigger on the newest murder simulator released every other week. But I have gotten to the point that before I buy that new game I’ll take a look at my shelf and on my computer hard drive and see all the games that have that have gone unfinished and come to the realization that whatever new virtual world that a company is pushing on me at the time is not going to enhance my experience in my actual physical reality. I imagine it’s like kicking an addiction. I still have the trigger to buy new games but I don’t follow through. Your burden might be shoes, clothes or electronics. But make no mistake by consuming these cheap poorly made goods you are consuming the very heart and soul of America.

Before you buy slow down. Think, “Do I need this?” and “what is the real cost of this item in human capital. Am I contributing to suffering or contributing to a living for another human being or a fellow American?”If you do what you know is right with your hard-earned dollars then you will change your life and others for the better.

More? http://lunchpailleft.com/

Thank you straight people

djrobertjohnson

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Thursday November 22, 2012 · 10:27 AM PST

2012/11/22 · 10:27

Dan Savage plugged a tumbler page where gays could thank straight people they know for supporting gay rights. Check it out. After reading about two dudes getting married and his uncle and grandma, my computer room got all dusty and I had to wipe my eyes a lot. We’re here. We’re straight. We have empathy for other people. We vote. Get used to it.

http://lunchpailleft.com/

An Obama impeachment would be a disaster for the GOP ( So stop trying.)

djrobertjohnson

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Monday November 19, 2012 · 8:58 PM PST

2012/11/19 · 20:58

GOP: Gone Fishing

The speed at which the Republican party has pivoted off an embarrassing thrashing and on to not one but two non-scandals is astounding. And shows that the GOP spin doctors are still operating at an incredibly high level of efficiency.

This grasping of straws is a sorry and thinly veiled attempt to tie the President to a wrong doing. With the end goal of impeachment, A result that would be devastating to the conservative cause in Washington and throughout the country, but more on that later.

Let's take a look at these wannabe scandals and why they have no legs. First up the Benghazi embassy attack. The claim is that the White House denied help to the embassy when it was under attack. Well besides just being a a flat out lie

"Neither the president nor anyone in the White House denied any requests for assistance in Benghazi," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told Yahoo News by email.

http://news.yahoo.com/...

is also illogical. According to the White House the only thing in the area was an unarmed drone. Fighters and AC130 gunships were purposed but seen as impractical.

The "basic principle is that you don't deploy forces into harm's way without knowing what's going on; without having some real-time information about what's taking place," he said during a joint question-and-answer session with Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey.

To quote the movie The Siege. "The Army is a broad sword, not a scalpel." You can see videos of the kinds of damage either fighter jets or AC130 Gunships can do all over youtube. It's not exact and it's not pretty. The collateral damage would have been tremendous. That's what being the President is about. Making hard calls when both choices are absolutely fucking terrible.

The second would be the resignation of General Petraeus. The reason he had to go as head of the CIA is because you can't be in a position to become a victim of blackmail. So because of our social norms in the United States adultery is frowned on and could be used against you. Anyone that has done any security work for the government can tell you that they want to know everything about you. Up to and including you credit score. So when you work for the CIA and you get caught cheating on your wife you've gotta go plain and simple.

So with these two non-issues the Right is looking to discredit and ultimately impeach the president for some yet to be discovered wrong doing. But the question you have to ask is. Is that what you really want? Do you want a disgraced Obama that hands the keys over to a President Biden with nothing to lose? If you don't like the President then you are gonna hate Biden. Say goodbye to the "grand bargain", and bullying of the President that Obama allows (Which I can't stand by the way) to keep the peace. And say hello to an unleashed pit bull that finally gets the keys to the car. Let it go neocon's, let it go.

Want More? http://lunchpailleft.com/

Go (Away) West, Dumb Man!

djrobertjohnson

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Wednesday November 14, 2012 · 8:18 PM PST

2012/11/14 · 20:18

Alan West, the king of useful idiots in the newly hobbled and crippled Republican party was offered support and safe haven by Sue Everhart, chairwoman of the Georgia GOP, (Huffington Post 11/14/12) “I would be glad to have him come back to Georgia and at some point run here,” Everhart told the Journal-Constitution. “I would certainly try to help him because he has done his job. The way he ran his race didn’t in any way interfere with the job he did. He ran as a Republican, a conservative Republican.”
Well If she really wants to help Mr.West (no longer Representative West) she could convince him to concede his campaign for Congress and join the rest us that live on this planet, in this America and not a conservative fantasy world.

But when I really start to think of it. Who better to carry the standard of the GOP then a man who not only creates but lives in his own reality. Like a punch drunk fighter that has hung on too long. Mr West refuses not only to accept a re-count of votes but also the will of the people of Florida. This is not only comical and outrageous but completely Un-American and a violation of his Congressional oath.

I do understand the Right’s love affair with West. An African American, Tea Party loving, race baiting Republican is hard to come by. It’s hard to find someone that will sell out their own citizens and do it with a stylish stupidity that would make Sarah Palin blush. Every racist needs a Black friend. Without someone like West racist GOP members couldn’t utter the age old gem of “I’m not racist but…” In the unblinking, unapologetic manner that you can find any hour of the day on Fox News.

(Allan West's greatest hits. Enjoy :P )

So Allan West serves a really useful purpose. I hope he doesn’t win any more elections anywhere in America but I really wish him well. And I'm hopeful he will take up Sue Everhart’s offer and take his show to Georgia to provide me with more comedy. But this time he will be the butt of the joke and not our democracy. Any port in a storm I guess.

Want more? http://lunchpailleft.com/

Why the GOP should die and be reborn. ( And why it’s not going to happen.)

djrobertjohnson

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Thursday November 08, 2012 · 9:25 PM PST

2012/11/08 · 21:25

So if you are reading this after the November 6, 2012 election the you probably are like me and have a warm feeling in the cockles of your heart or even in the sub-cockle area. Or maybe you're a conservative masochist and if so. Welcome! But it might come as a surprise but I'm really not here to flay you. (Well maybe a tiny bit, but if you're here then you are obviously into to that kind of kink.)

After Tuesday's election results the Republican bubble was penetrated by a truth that us liberals have known for quite sometime now. The Republican party has lost touch with, African-Americans, Latinos, women, young Americans, and a good contingent of blue-collar White workers in the Midwest. Pretty much everyone that is not old, White, male and super-rich. The myth of trickle down economics have been put down by a majority of Americans and the GOP doesn't really have a back up plan beyond the tired carrot and stick of "vote against your own interests and you too can one day be rich like me."

In my fantasy America this would mean that Democrats would now have the freedom to press their advantage and become more progressive and the Republican party now shell-shocked by election math would now have to appeal to the demographics of the current and future United States. Because I don't want the GOP do die. I want it to meet Americans needs in exchange for votes. In a perfect union that's how it would work. But alas, as I listen to and watch the Republican party tear it self apart, I don't hear anyone calling for a fundamental change in policy or ideas in line with how the majority of Americans think or more importantly vote. I hear things like. "We need to find away to convey our message better to minorities" In English that means. "We need to find a more effective way to lie to people" Have they learned nothing? And this really saddens me. I believe in an America where the more voices in the conversation the better for the American people. The two major political parties should be falling over themselves to better serve the American people in exchange for votes. But as of this post that does not look like the direction of political discourse in the United States.

You know your party is in trouble when Rush Limbaugh is making the most sense of all your spin doctors.

But like clockwork he is back to his old self.

Because Rush, Black and Brown people are not stupid. They can smell a useful idiot a mile away and they stink to high heaven.

So either move to the center or step aside and never win another major election again. I'm pulling for you GOP but I'm sure you'll disappoint. You have never failed in failing America.

http://lunchpailleft.com/

Media-opoly

djrobertjohnson

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Thursday November 08, 2012 · 7:36 PM PST

2012/11/08 · 19:36

I remember seeing this as a kid on Saturday Night Live. It never aired again on NBC. But I knew somehow it was something I really wasn’t supposed to see. Looking up all the sources up that were footnoted in the cartoon on this kinda new thing of broadband internet. I can say without a doubt this was the beginning of my paradigm shift. Thanks Robert Smigel

http://lunchpailleft.com/

Why I’m a Liberal

djrobertjohnson

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Wednesday November 07, 2012 · 11:07 AM PST

2012/11/07 · 11:07

This is from a facebook fight I had and I thought my response to being called a "fucking liberal" was good enough to share.

I'm a liberal. No a proud liberal and here is why. If you don't like the president for policy reasons then fine. But if you call yourself a Republican or Right leaning then look at the state of the party. Its been overrun by racists, misogynists, and gay hating clowns. If these are the flag bearers of conservatism and you think that they were going to convince more than half of the US to vote for them then you're living in a dream world. Run those people out and then get back to me if you ever want my vote. Whatever sane message the Right has is drowned out by this noise. but its not the noise i'm worried about its the policies that effect everyone's life negatively. That's what the "U" in United States stands for everyone. To have empathy for people and push for policies that are the right thing to do even when it doesn't effect me directly. That's what being a Liberal is all about. No matter what you might hear Rush say or Fox say Liberal is not a dirty word.

http://lunchpailleft.com/

djrobertjohnson

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Tuesday November 06, 2012 · 9:21 PM PST

2012/11/06 · 21:21

Thank you Mitt for showing us one last time how much of a prick you are by not conceding Ohio. You're a jerk and also bad at math. at this point the President does not need Ohio or Florida to get to 270. If Romney could pick up Ohio, Florida, Virginia and Alaska that only puts him at 266. What an idiot.

http://lunchpailleft.com/

Ohio Voting Gone Wild Part 3

djrobertjohnson

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Tuesday November 06, 2012 · 2:29 PM PST

2012/11/06 · 14:29

http://lunchpailleft.com/

So I got a little more clarification on what is going on today. Some Ohio voters were sent absentee ballots by the state without ever requesting them. The program director for AM 1230 Jeri Tolliver has said over the last couple of months that she was one of the recipients of an unsolicited absentee ballot. When you receive an absentee ballot your name goes on the roll as you already voted so your only recourse is to cast a provisional. This is why early voting was so important. At this point with a little over two hours left until to polls close can someone tell me why I shouldn't feel depressed and dejected? Seriously I need it.

http://lunchpailleft.com/

YouTube Video Shows PA Voting Machine Switching Obama Vote to Romney

djrobertjohnson

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Tuesday November 06, 2012 · 11:58 AM PST

2012/11/06 · 11:58

http://mystateline.com/...
I don't have time to comment. I'm on the road taking pictures and video of poling places.
http://lunchpailleft.com/

Ohio Voting Gone Wild Part 2

djrobertjohnson

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Tuesday November 06, 2012 · 11:46 AM PST

2012/11/06 · 11:46

http://lunchpailleft.com/

So I’m back home charging my phone and got information on three polling places in the Cincinnati area that there have been reports that’s Romney lawyers have been running over and intimidating poll workers and voters into casting a provisional ballot. 4761 Madison Road at the Madisonville Rec center, The Winton Terrace community Hall at 4848 Winneste Ave and The Bond hill Rec center on 1501 Elizabeth place. If you are anyone else have had trouble voting there are anywhere else in America please call 1-855-VOTE-199. If I get anything solid or comments from people on the ground you will be sure to hear about it. GET IN LINE BEFORE 7:30 IN OHIO. DON’T LEAVE. IF YOU ARE ON THE ROLL DON’T ACCEPT A PROVISIONAL BALLOT