Cromwell

Green Mountain Socialist

Bernie’s from the city

But his fame came from Vermont.

Land of farms and verdant hills

All the ice cream you could want.

 

The people of that pristine state

Like to keep things small.

Chain stores are disfavored;

No billboards at all.

 

In light of this, it really shouldn’t

Come as a surprise

That Bernie’d break up the big banks.

They’re evil in his eyes.

 

He’s called upon the populace

To rise up and assist him.

The financiers are ready, too.

They’ll certainly resist him.

 

Can he prevail?  I doubt it, too.

Beware the Golden Rule.

The odds are stacked against him

But Bernie’s not a fool.

 

Two additional observations:

1.  Sanders isn’t really a socialist.  A socialist would want to nationalize the banks, not break them up.
2.  You can think of Vermont as the anti-Texas (both of them were independent republics at one time, but Texas is about change and being big, and Vermont is about preserving an idealized polity of small farms) or the American Switzerland.

The policy undoubtedly made some sense when China was a Malthusian wasteland, but those days are long gone.  Now the country is facing a demographic time bomb that, among other things, has even caused some economists to muse about men “sharing” wives.  Will the change help?  Yes, but only in the long run, and only if it is combined with other reforms that make having children in urban areas more financially feasible.

The Communist Party doesn’t exactly like to admit its fallibility, but it has effectively done so here.  How will the people react?  We’ll see.

You can supply the music.

                            Hey Carly!

Your dad was still at Duke

When you and I were friends.

You claim you came from nothing.

The lies just never end.

 

You took a job at Lucent

You sold yourself so well.

Some deals turned out badly, but

Your bosses couldn’t tell.

 

Hey Carly!

Why did you leave?

What do you want?

What do you believe?

 

You went to manage HP

Where you were the boss.

You chose to purchase Compaq

Shareholder value lost.

 

The Board told you to move on

You were amply paid

You then ran for the Senate

Were crushed, or so they said.

 

Hey Carly!

Why did you go?

Something out there

Must be better, you know.

 

Now you have decided

That wouldn’t be enough.

You chose to run for President

To stop all the free stuff.

 

Taking on the Donald.

He acts just like a pig.

Maybe this could be the start

Of something really big.

 

Hey Carly!

Why did you run?

Who knew that all this

Could be so much fun?

 

But now it’s all over

The damage has been done.

Your race has finally ended.

You’ve nowhere else to run.

 

Hey Carly!

Why did you lose?

Where will you go next?

What else can you choose?

Up here on the Hill

We impose our will

We make it hard to keep the lights on.

 

We constantly fight

To prove we’re right

We won’t quit until Boehner’s gone.

 

GOP wasteland

It’s only GOP wasteland.

We’re all wasted!

 

Parody of “Baba O’Riley” by The Who

Overall reaction:  The candidates lined up to tell us that huge tax cuts for the wealthy and massive reductions in the size of the federal government were all intended to eliminate inequality and help the average American.  Hey, it worked in the first Gilded Age, didn’t it?

I thought I could hear Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Morgan laughing somewhere in the distance.  The cynicism of it just takes your breath away.

Winners:

Marco Rubio:  Easily fended off inept challenges from the panel and Bush.  Managed to get away with a completely misleading response to a question about his tax plan.

Chris Christie:  Less attention to Trump resulted in more swagger.  Predictably got a positive response with his attacks on the panel.

Ted Cruz:  In this crowd, he doesn’t sound like the extremist that he is.

Losers:

Jeb Bush:  Foolishly telegraphed his punches at Rubio, with the preordained result.  If he didn’t have so much money in the bank, he would be going home already.  At least he’s a winner at fantasy football.

Ben Carson:  Lacked energy as usual, but made plenty of outrageous (albeit low- key) statements about regulations, taxes, and Medicare that will provide ammunition to his opponents in the future.  His tax plan appears to have been drafted on the back of an envelope.

The CNBC panel:  Largely used the same aggressive tactics as the Fox News panel without understanding that the candidates would not show them the same degree of deference.  Failed to follow up appropriately where opportunities presented themselves.

Also-ran

John Kasich:  Started strongly as the voice of sanity in the group, but lost momentum by blathering on about the Ohio miracle.

Donald Trump:  Was the light beer version of himself–the same stuff, but less of it.

Carly Fiorina and Rand Paul:  No memorable moments.

Mike Huckabee:  Polished, but not much air time.

 

There once was a Speaker named Paul.

To the head of the House he was called.

It looked like he’d get

Stuck with raising the debt,

But Boehner took care of it all.

Plenty of ink has been spilled recently over the commanding lead the GOP outsider non-politicians have over the establishment candidates in the polls.  And with good reason–it defies history, if not logic, and it is the single most significant development that has occurred since the race began.  Why has this happened?

In my opinion, there are three reasons for it:

1.  The George W. Bush Administration discredited the GOP establishment.  Bush himself retained a degree of popularity with Reactionaries because he was an evangelical and knew how to speak their language, but his presidency was viewed as a disaster by the right, as well as the left.

2.  The right-wing media have told the public for the last eight years that the apocalypse is here.  This includes media that everyone would agree are part of the establishment–not just a few nut job talk show hosts.  If you continue to tell people that socialism is here and the end is nigh, why should the voters back moderates who did little or nothing to stop it from happening?

3. The politician candidates have done little or nothing to make the case for someone who understands the system.  We live in a system with checks and balances.  If the next GOP president wants to get anything done, he will have to do at least some reaching across the aisle.  Apparently no one wants to admit that, but past success is the best argument in favor of an establishment candidate.  Do you remember Jeb Bush or Chris Christie making that argument forcefully at either of the debates?  Me, neither.

Jeb’s manhood

Carly’s smile

Walker’s Harley

Gone awhile.

 

Trump’s temper

Carson’s spine

Christie’s swagger

Marco’s mind.

He hates immigrants.

He hates free trade deals.

He says he can save

The jobs they steal.

Global commerce out of favor.

Walls and tariffs are our saviors.

Donald Trump just wants to rule the world.

 

Government is dumb.

Obama is dim.

We can fix it all

By electing him.

He tells us that only he

Can deal with Putin and with Xi.

Donald Trump just wants to rule the world.

 

Parody of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears.

Imagine how many of our current problems would be solved if the burning of fossil fuels causes climate change and makes the Middle East uninhabitable.  The irony of it is too compelling for words.

Of course, they would probably find a way to build an air-conditioned dome over Jerusalem, and then they could fight over that.

They don’t in his state, I guess.

The objective of Black Lives Matter is to address institutional racism in the criminal justice system, starting with the police.  Every analysis I have seen indicates that the group’s concern is perfectly legitimate.  It is outrageous to suggest that the group is responsible for the inflammatory comments and actions of a handful of people at demonstrations.

I understand that Christie’s campaign is floundering, and that he is desperately searching for an issue that he can use to bring his swagger back, but the cynicism of this gambit is positively Nixonian, and my guess is that it is going to have negative repercussions in New Jersey.

It should be interesting, because the subject matter brings several of the GOP factional fault lines into play.  One would hope that the moderators will use that to their advantage without turning the event into a cockfight.

Some of the subplots will be:

1.  The field v. Carson on economic literacy:  Now that Carson is leading in Iowa, he can expect more scrutiny.  The other candidates will use this opportunity to try to prove that he is clueless on economic issues.  Based on what I’ve seen so far, that shouldn’t be too difficult.
2. Free traders (especially Bush) v. Trump on protectionism:  This may be Jeb’s best chance to make the case for free trade.  Unfortunately for him, it is easier to encapsulate the argument for protection than for free trade in a sound bite.  Look for Trump to win this battle.
3. Trump v. Fiorina on CEO competence:  Expect a second round of comment on Fiorina’s tenure at HP.
4. PBPs v. Reactionaries on a host of issues:  The pending debt ceiling agreement, immigration, the 2008 bailouts, the role of the Fed, and various forms of alleged “crony capitalism” should be in play.  The two factions have fundamental disagreements on all of these items.
5. The panel v. the candidates:  The panel members need to explore the tax cut plans of the various candidates and their impact on the deficit.

Real men love fossil fuels.  Clean energy is for wimps.

              Old Wine in New Bottles

I’m the one who’s sparkling new.

Even liberals say it’s true.

Everything that’s old is through.

But take a good look at my views.

 

Lots of tax cuts for the rich.

You’ll get some, too, so don’t bitch.

We’ll eliminate Dodd-Frank.

Life is better for the banks.

 

Global warming?  What a crock!

We’ll be turning back the clock.

Starting wars in the Middle East

Won’t disturb me in the least.

 

When I’m in charge, women lose

Their immoral right to choose.

For the poor, life will be tough.

It’s your fault; get off your duff.

 

Obamacare is in the past.

Marcocare is built to last.

Don’t be filled with gloom and doom.

You still have the emergency room.

 

Having said this, you’ll agree

Things are different under me.

It’s the same old tired refrain.

What was old is new again.

There are certain world leaders (it should be obvious who they are from previous posts, but I won’t name them) who irritate me to the point that I shout at the TV whenever they appear.  I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way.

I’m taking a poll here:  who are the most annoying leaders in the world today?  Please feel free to send in your comments.  I will announce the results next Saturday.