Kevin goes to the bottom of his class
Sep 08, 2011 05:14 PM Filed in: Death of the middle class | The United States is a nation of classes | SB 5 won't destroy the middle class | The United States is a nation without classes | The founders set up a classless society
For political purposes, the "death of the middle class" is greatly exaggerated.
Tell that to the millions of Americans who’ve been unemployed for the last few years and still can’t find work.
Clearly, it's a line that played well in some focus group, and Democrats and unionists have been shrieking it ever since…
So, you’re saying that the unemployed whose homes are in foreclosure is just something that came from a focus group? Those people will sure be glad to hear that!
…But it's a lie, and whatever traction it enjoys is the result of the undeserved traction gained by another lie -- the notion that the United States is a nation of classes.
Oh, this should be good. I’m going to have to reprint less of Kevin just to have room to correct all the bullshit that’s coming.
The short answer is, we don't do things that way here. Never have. A class system is one of the things this nation's founders consciously set out to avoid a couple of centuries ago when the Declaration of Independence formally broke us away from the Old World. It's one of the best decisions American leaders ever made...
And I thought Michele Bachmann was a moron with her “Founders worked tirelessly to end slavery” nonsense! The founders were more class-conscious than we are today. That’s why they had a “slave class” that had no rights and a “female class” that had only a few more rights than the slaves. There were also indentured servants in post-Declaration America, and…I think I’ll just send Kevin a third-grade history book with lots of small words and pretty pictures.
…In the Old World, classes meant something. A person was born into his class, and social and economic constraints made it terribly difficult for him to move from one to another.
Cracking the upper reaches of the system as an outsider was just about impossible, short of a successful revolution that replaced one ruling class with another. The older the money was, the more respectable. Upstarts were viewed with suspicion and derision because they had quite literally forgotten their place.
Yes, many African-Americans worked their way up from poor young slave to poor old slave. Oh, and Kev – up until recently, old money wouldn’t let Tiger Woods into their country clubs.
Americans tossed the whole hidebound structure aside when they prosecuted a successful revolution that was not only political, but also economic and philosophical in nature.
We chose freely -- and wisely -- to "classify" people according to their ability, not their ancestry…
“Okay, Mr. Smythe, as a white man, your ability to work iron in the fiery forge allows you to attain status and wealth. And you, Kunta Kinta, because it’s common and scientific knowledge that your only ability is to do nothing but pick cotton, can get yo’ ass back to the fields before I take a whip to yo’ backside!”
…So when people refer to the "middle class" -- or any other "class" -- in America, the understanding should be that they're talking about something fluid and flexible.
Using the American connotation, the term "middle class" truthfully can apply only as a snapshot, and even then the picture is fuzzy, because the people in it are in constant motion.
Yes, but lately that constant motion is downward. Kevin is pulling an old trick on his gullible readers. He’s redefining the argument because he has no facts to back up his proposition. The Middle Class is being destroyed by policies he supports, so he’s decided that there’s no such thing as “class” in America, so nothing’s being destroyed. Get that? He’d be considered clever on the short school bus.
For every Bill Gates climbing toward the top of the economic heap, there's some Carnegie or Vanderbilt headed back the other way. Our system rewards industriousness, intelligence and good ideas. It doesn't give a fig for surnames.
Well, I think Jack Hitler would probably have a hard time making good, but other than that…remember when a Jewish-sounding name wasn’t allowed on the register of the classier hotels? Better yet, today because of the Patriot Act and Islamophobes like Kevin, a born-in-the-USA Jimmy Hussein could get himself thrown into Guantanamo. Oh, and remember all the hatred (Kevin among them) directed at a president named Barack Obama? Hmm?
Obviously, there's a downside to competition and churn. In competitions, not everyone comes in first.
That’s why Kevin works at the PD and isn’t syndicated.
With churn, the possibility of falling exists alongside the possibility of rising…
True up until the Bush Administration put policies into effect that mirror Tea Bagger philosophy. And Kevin’s, too. The hard-working guy or gal who saved diligently and invested wisely was wiped out because the “moneyed class” was thought to not need regulations.
…If Ohioans are wise enough to vote "yes" on Issue 2, thereby upholding the law known as Senate Bill 5, state and local governments will be free to do some things in different ways that suit today's economic realities.
Been there, refuted that.
Some people now on the public payroll will have to find other uses for their talents. But none of them will be asked to do so the morning after the election…
No. Kasich and crew usually like to buy the poor breakfast after fucking them. Then they’re gone.
…But to even suggest that a "yes" vote on Issue 2 could, by itself, produce some material change in the composition of the "middle class" is to insult today's public employees by casting unfounded doubt on their ability, their industriousness and their willingness to support themselves.
The case against Issue 2 is emotional, and it cannot bear logical scrutiny.
It’s Kevin who can’t bear to logically scrutinize anything. Okay, Kev, let’s do it for you. If public employees are forbidden to bargain collectively about things like pay and benefits, Kasich, meaning the state (which Kevin is always afraid will become tyrannical – irony alert!), can just say, “I want to award a big contract to my friends that will make them millions when they pad the books, but I need a lot more money to do it. I know! All public employees will now work for minimum wage and no benefits! What? Not fair? Hey, my friends don’t have a union or collective bargaining rights, and they’re doing really well!”
When Ohioans vote in favor of Issue 2, they won't be voting to end fire or police protection, because they themselves will decide how best to allocate public resources. Nor will they be voting to abolish public education. And they certainly won't be voting to kill the "middle class," whatever it may be at this moment.
I don’t recall Kasich asking the public how they want to allocate public resources. I don’t know how they can decide themselves. Maybe Kevin will explain it, but I doubt it. That’s just another angry gerbil he’s pulled out of his ass. Yes, Ohioans won’t vote to end fire or police protection or to abolish public education. (All those Issue 2 signatures should give you a clue, Kev.) But a yes vote will be the first step to killing the middle class, although it’s already pretty sick. But let’s think like Kevin. (I’m reminded of that scene in “Hannibal”, where Dr. Lecter removes half of Ray Liotta’s brain.) We won’t eliminate all those things because those public employees will be turned into those slaves from 150 years ago. But after all – that’s what the rich – the ruling class – really wants.
Tell that to the millions of Americans who’ve been unemployed for the last few years and still can’t find work.
Clearly, it's a line that played well in some focus group, and Democrats and unionists have been shrieking it ever since…
So, you’re saying that the unemployed whose homes are in foreclosure is just something that came from a focus group? Those people will sure be glad to hear that!
…But it's a lie, and whatever traction it enjoys is the result of the undeserved traction gained by another lie -- the notion that the United States is a nation of classes.
Oh, this should be good. I’m going to have to reprint less of Kevin just to have room to correct all the bullshit that’s coming.
The short answer is, we don't do things that way here. Never have. A class system is one of the things this nation's founders consciously set out to avoid a couple of centuries ago when the Declaration of Independence formally broke us away from the Old World. It's one of the best decisions American leaders ever made...
And I thought Michele Bachmann was a moron with her “Founders worked tirelessly to end slavery” nonsense! The founders were more class-conscious than we are today. That’s why they had a “slave class” that had no rights and a “female class” that had only a few more rights than the slaves. There were also indentured servants in post-Declaration America, and…I think I’ll just send Kevin a third-grade history book with lots of small words and pretty pictures.
…In the Old World, classes meant something. A person was born into his class, and social and economic constraints made it terribly difficult for him to move from one to another.
Cracking the upper reaches of the system as an outsider was just about impossible, short of a successful revolution that replaced one ruling class with another. The older the money was, the more respectable. Upstarts were viewed with suspicion and derision because they had quite literally forgotten their place.
Yes, many African-Americans worked their way up from poor young slave to poor old slave. Oh, and Kev – up until recently, old money wouldn’t let Tiger Woods into their country clubs.
Americans tossed the whole hidebound structure aside when they prosecuted a successful revolution that was not only political, but also economic and philosophical in nature.
We chose freely -- and wisely -- to "classify" people according to their ability, not their ancestry…
“Okay, Mr. Smythe, as a white man, your ability to work iron in the fiery forge allows you to attain status and wealth. And you, Kunta Kinta, because it’s common and scientific knowledge that your only ability is to do nothing but pick cotton, can get yo’ ass back to the fields before I take a whip to yo’ backside!”
…So when people refer to the "middle class" -- or any other "class" -- in America, the understanding should be that they're talking about something fluid and flexible.
Using the American connotation, the term "middle class" truthfully can apply only as a snapshot, and even then the picture is fuzzy, because the people in it are in constant motion.
Yes, but lately that constant motion is downward. Kevin is pulling an old trick on his gullible readers. He’s redefining the argument because he has no facts to back up his proposition. The Middle Class is being destroyed by policies he supports, so he’s decided that there’s no such thing as “class” in America, so nothing’s being destroyed. Get that? He’d be considered clever on the short school bus.
For every Bill Gates climbing toward the top of the economic heap, there's some Carnegie or Vanderbilt headed back the other way. Our system rewards industriousness, intelligence and good ideas. It doesn't give a fig for surnames.
Well, I think Jack Hitler would probably have a hard time making good, but other than that…remember when a Jewish-sounding name wasn’t allowed on the register of the classier hotels? Better yet, today because of the Patriot Act and Islamophobes like Kevin, a born-in-the-USA Jimmy Hussein could get himself thrown into Guantanamo. Oh, and remember all the hatred (Kevin among them) directed at a president named Barack Obama? Hmm?
Obviously, there's a downside to competition and churn. In competitions, not everyone comes in first.
That’s why Kevin works at the PD and isn’t syndicated.
With churn, the possibility of falling exists alongside the possibility of rising…
True up until the Bush Administration put policies into effect that mirror Tea Bagger philosophy. And Kevin’s, too. The hard-working guy or gal who saved diligently and invested wisely was wiped out because the “moneyed class” was thought to not need regulations.
…If Ohioans are wise enough to vote "yes" on Issue 2, thereby upholding the law known as Senate Bill 5, state and local governments will be free to do some things in different ways that suit today's economic realities.
Been there, refuted that.
Some people now on the public payroll will have to find other uses for their talents. But none of them will be asked to do so the morning after the election…
No. Kasich and crew usually like to buy the poor breakfast after fucking them. Then they’re gone.
…But to even suggest that a "yes" vote on Issue 2 could, by itself, produce some material change in the composition of the "middle class" is to insult today's public employees by casting unfounded doubt on their ability, their industriousness and their willingness to support themselves.
The case against Issue 2 is emotional, and it cannot bear logical scrutiny.
It’s Kevin who can’t bear to logically scrutinize anything. Okay, Kev, let’s do it for you. If public employees are forbidden to bargain collectively about things like pay and benefits, Kasich, meaning the state (which Kevin is always afraid will become tyrannical – irony alert!), can just say, “I want to award a big contract to my friends that will make them millions when they pad the books, but I need a lot more money to do it. I know! All public employees will now work for minimum wage and no benefits! What? Not fair? Hey, my friends don’t have a union or collective bargaining rights, and they’re doing really well!”
When Ohioans vote in favor of Issue 2, they won't be voting to end fire or police protection, because they themselves will decide how best to allocate public resources. Nor will they be voting to abolish public education. And they certainly won't be voting to kill the "middle class," whatever it may be at this moment.
I don’t recall Kasich asking the public how they want to allocate public resources. I don’t know how they can decide themselves. Maybe Kevin will explain it, but I doubt it. That’s just another angry gerbil he’s pulled out of his ass. Yes, Ohioans won’t vote to end fire or police protection or to abolish public education. (All those Issue 2 signatures should give you a clue, Kev.) But a yes vote will be the first step to killing the middle class, although it’s already pretty sick. But let’s think like Kevin. (I’m reminded of that scene in “Hannibal”, where Dr. Lecter removes half of Ray Liotta’s brain.) We won’t eliminate all those things because those public employees will be turned into those slaves from 150 years ago. But after all – that’s what the rich – the ruling class – really wants.
