Betsy Devine: Funny ha-ha and/or funny peculiar

Frank says there are two kinds of politics–real politics and pop politics–he says it’s like the difference between “real” music and pop music. Pop politics is aimed at some part of us all that lies well south of our brains. It’s pop politics to try to make Bush off limits to criticism because he is “O*U*R President”–while forgetting the venom Republicans spewed at Clinton.

But I digress—

Threre’s a hot political battle now in Sweden. Because I don’t read Swedish, all I can pick up on is the “pop politics”–the images and slogans from both sides. Also the money–it’s very clear that one side of this battle has spent about ten times more money than the other. I see this as a foretaste of the next presidential elections, where Bush will have almost unlimited funds from his supporters.

The Swedish battle is all about the Euro–should Sweden give up its old currency (Swedish kronors) and use the new European money now shared by most of the EEC, though not by England. The “Vote yes” group has so much more money than their opponents (mainly organized labor) that I can’t help wondering how they expect to get back all the money they’re spending.  

This computer just ate a couple of paragraphs about the ding-dong battle of Yes versus No, with the Yes team’s loud professionally-orchestrated “D*I*N*G” omnipresent in billboards, busstops, and subways. The No team response is a pitiful “dong”–(insert “maximize-your-mini-package” joke here)–three poster designs and a few orange t-shirts.

Slogans on both sides are pure “pop” politics. Yes! Euro is the future–without Euros, Sweden will be a pitiful lonely outcast. No! Accepting the Euro means losing control over our economy to foreign bureaucrats who don’t care about Swedish workers, children, old people–you get the idea.

The “No” team mounted a final “surprise” effect on Thursday, putting up a bunch of their posters so that for the first time they had, maybe, as many as one-tenth as many as those urging “Yes”.  The “Yes” team’s final push is a lot more impressive–about ten well-scrubbed good-looking young people the Uppsala City Square, handing out leaflets and wearing buttons that say “Ask me about the Euro”. I imagine a similar effort is going on all over Swedish this week–the vote is ongoing, but ends Sept. 14.

With no grasp of the principles involved, I await with enormous interest the final result. It’s amazing how loudly money talks in elections–and when you don’t speak the local language.

“In celebration of the working person’s holiday, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao has announced the Bush Administration’s plan to end the 60-year-old law which requires employers to pay time-and-a-half for overtime.

I’m sure you already knew that — if you happened to have run across page 15,576 of the Federal Register.”

For the rest of  this story, check out Greg Palast’s story for August 29th….

Some American “patriot”  insulted everyone’s favorite Netherlander by calling him a “German pig,” and Niek understandably feels–well–insulted.

One problem is, we don’t have any rude epithets for the Dutch.  I’ve heard people abuse the English as snobby, the Irish as drinkers, the Polish as stupid.

My mother was French-Canadian, and we lived close enough to Canada so that lots of our townspeople were too. When somebody drove in a way she didn’t like, she’d yell, “Look at that frog-eating Frenchman!”

But the Dutch?

Okay, guys, I lived near Amsterdam for three months once, so here are some stereotyped remarks about the Dutch. They are funny, healthy, and tall compared to me. They ride huge battered bikes at scary speeds. They shake hands a lot. They kiss three times instead of two. They are kind but not tactful, or perhaps it would be better to say they are very direct and clear about what they want and what they think. On patriotic and soccer-related occasions, you can see kids wearing orange in some very remarkable ways.

I must say these stereotypes of “the Dutch” don’t seem to suggest any useful ethnic insults…

Anyway, people who insult other people’s origins are jerks. Of course, I don’t include my mom in that category, because everyone knows moms get to make their own rules. Hey, that includes me!

Good. I hereby rule that nobody on earth gets to do any more patriotic insulting of anybody else. And if they do… “I’m made of rubber, you’re made of glue–What you say bounces off me and sticks to you.”

You know how when people talk about Fox News, the first words that come to their minds are “fair and balanced“? I mean,we bloggers try to be fair and balanced, but, dang it, Fox News really just pushes that fair and balanced envelope so far out to the edge is isn’t really fair (let alone fair and balanced) to have to compete in the same ballpark with them.

That’s why Fox’s fair and balanced lawyers are
so upset with Al Franken for daring to use the words “fair and balanced” in the subtitle of his latest book,
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.

It turns out Fox News has trademarked the words “fair and balanced”! Who knew?

Meanwhile, of course, sales of Franken’s book are soaring thanks to this unforeseen publicity. Rumor has it that Al Franken plans to show his gratitude for these windfall profits by buying a better trademark for Fox News: the phrase, “unfair, unbalanced, and really, really stupid.”

You gotta admit, the California recall campaign is opening up the political scene. Above, two of  the 6 or so million recall candidates attracted to the bright lights of this media circus.  

My brother-in-law Bill Fleece, a former Florida State Senator, just sent the following email to Congressman Darrell Issa of California.

“Your state is millions of dollars in the red. You have spearheaded a recall election slated to cost your state and counties over 66 Million Dollars!

You truly qualify for the slogan “Leave No Millionaire Behind—Vote Republican”.

At best you are a fiscal conservative. At worst you are a blooming idiot. History is replete with examples of narrow-minded, self-centered egotists e.g. Claude Kirk, Napoleon, etc. Welcome to history!

I got a copy with Bill’s comment, “Maybe you will find it amusing.” and I pass it on out to blogworld because I did–thanks, Bill!

Scott Johnson of Feedster aaa

From the Official Dean weblog, Howard Dean’s closing remarks at Saturday’s debate:

We can’t win this election if we worry so much about electability that the American people can’t tell the difference between us and the Republicans.

The great unspoken political lie, which comes from stages like this, is elect me and I’ll solve all of your problems.

The great unspoken truth is that the future of this country rests in your hands, not mine.

You have the power to rise up and take this country back. You have the power to give this party the backbone to challenge this President, and all of the harm he has done to our country. You have the power to create jobs, balance the budget, and bring us our dream, which Harry Truman put in our platform in 1948 – health care for every American.

The reason people don’t vote in this country is that we don’t give them a reason to vote. This campaign is about giving all of you a reason to vote.

Abraham Lincoln said, “A government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” President Bush has forgotten the ordinary people of this country.

It’s time to take our party back and it’s time to take our country back.

Supporters of former Vermont governor Howard Dean are organizing four house parties to be held this Saturday, April 26 in the Boston area.

You’re Invited…

• To help get our country back on track
• To have your voice be heard
• To “Stand Up” for Howard Dean on April 26

Andover 11 am – 1 pm, 12 noon conference call with Governor Dean RSVP to: Donald Miller, (donaldmiller@massfordean.org)

Barnstable 11 am – 1 pm, 12 noon conference call with Governor Dean RSVP to: Jackie Mitchell, (jackiemitchell@massfordean.org)

Boston 4-6 pm, 5 pm conference call with Governor Dean RSVP to: Michael Cohen, (michaelcohen@massfordean.org)

Cambridge 3-5 pm, 4 pm conference call with Governor Dean RSVP to: Christopher Field, (christopherfield@massfordean.org)

$35 Student $50 Suggested Donation $100 Sponsor

Don’t miss your chance to question the former Vermont governor about how to save the Democrats, the country and the world.

Because of FEC matching, the first $250 given by every donor is effectively doubled, so a $100 contribution is actually worth $200 to the campaign. This aspect of campaign finance is especially helpful for a campaign like Dean’s which is likely to have a large number of relatively small donations, in contrast to some of the other campaigns which will likely have larger, but fewer donations. Ten $100 contributions to the Dean campaign from grassroots supporters are worth $2000 to Dean’s election effort, while one $1500 donation to, say, Kerry or Edwards is worth only $1750.

I (Betsy) am bringing salty/crunchy things to the Cambridge party, but all parties will be great. Please do come if you can! And let me know if you want to come: betsy_devine (at) yahoo (dot) com (Thanks to Mike Weissman for the email I borrowed from to create this blog entry!)

I was so filled with hope after reading this op-ed today. If you long to find a Presidential candidate worth supporting, I urge you to check this out. Just a few excerpts:

Dean on Bush’s foreign policy: “The President who campaigned on a platform of a humble foreign policy has instead begun implementing a foreign policy characterized by dominance, arrogance and intimidation. The tidal wave of support and goodwill that engulfed us after the tragedy of 9/11 has dried up and been replaced by undercurrents of distrust, skepticism and hostility by many who had been among our closest allies. This unilateral approach to foreign policy is a disaster….”

Dean on his own domestic agenda:”I want to restore a sense of community in this country – where it’s not enough to worry whether your own kids have health care, but whether your neighbors’ kids have health care. I want to go to the South and talk about race. White southerners have been flocking to the Republican Party in recent years, but I want to offer them hope that their children will benefit from better schools and affordable health care, too. The Republican Party has done nothing for working people, black or white, and we need to remind Southern white folks that the only hope for better schools, and better job opportunities, and health care that is affordable is a Democratic President.”

Dean on fiscal responsibility: “I am what is commonly referred to as a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. I am proud of the fact that as Governor I routinely balanced the budget – which I was not required to do by Vermont’s constitution – and paid down our state debt by nearly a quarter. I had to make tough decisions, and I will admit that some of them did not make the progressive community happy. But I made those decisions because I have a guiding principle that social justice must rest upon a foundation of fiscal discipline. Because of that approach to governance, Vermont today is not cutting education and is not cutting Medicaid despite the perilous economic times brought on by the Bush fiscal policies.”

You can learn more at Dean’s website www.DeanForAmerica.com.