What’s Good for GM is Good for Nothing

HUZZAH! I am making the boy turn off the Wii.

On CNBC this morning, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said that Congress shouldn’t bail out companies that are poorly run, and said he would prefer that they go into bankruptcy and using the “bailout” money to retrain the workers.

Yes, but can Hank Greenberg be retrained?

I have received congratulations from friends in the UK on finally having a “sentient being” as prezdent. Finally, a press conference you can listen to without cringing.

Eight flags, sixteen Suits. Looks like we’re about to get started…

Dow up 225 — there’s yer baseline…

Who are all these grown-ups? What happened to Clown College?

“I have spoken to all the former presidents who are living… I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about seances.”

There’s yer headline…

“Shelter dogs are mutts like me.”

Key consideration: Malia’s allergic, so they have to be careful about the puppy.

And we’re done. That was fast. Dow 135, down 90 from the start.

@nojo: Oh my. And she’s sick. I hear the wingnuts wingnutting.

@nojo:
One of the Jez ladies posted several options from NYC animal shelters.

Can you guys evict Bush out of the WH right now?

@JNOV: Nothing at NRO yet. I thought they’d be jumping all over that within seconds…

@nojo: They will. Sheesh.

Is there some obvious reason I’m missing that “economic stimulus” shouldn’t be “neo-WPA?” (I didn’t see the press conference, this is just something that occurred to me this morning.)

@JNOV: Nothing at RedState, and I don’t even know how anyone gets around Free Republic.

That was a Biden-quality flub. I can’t believe it’s going to pass unnoticed.

OMG you guys, did you see that? Did you the lack of I’M MURRCAN red tie, the lack of stuttering, the lack of smirking, the lack of down-home fucktard colloquialisms?

DID YOU SEE THAT???????

PREZNIT OBAMZ: UR DOIN IT RIGHT.

@IanJ:
He mentioned that there can be only one, um, preznit.

Besides, Unicorn/Black Eagle has got to pace the number of heart attacks he gives Freepers and the Eelights.

@nojo: Wait, he actually said that?

@IanJ: Barry’s being careful right now — repeating campaign economic points, stressing at least twice that Shrub’s still president. So we’re hearing standard stuff like extend unemployment benefits and middle-class tax relief.

He didn’t say anything that would preclude a WPA, but a smart politician would let somebody else bring it up first.

@mellbell: Yes he did. You could feel Billo and Rush getting simultaneous boners.

Passing note: MSNBC is cutting to White House correspondent John Yang. The media is much more diverse than when I was in J-school, and now that they’re reporting on a “mutt” president-elect, 21st Century America suddenly comes into focus. I look forward to the day when white dudes are tokens.

@RomeGirl: That was weird. I’m starting to have Seventies flashbacks, it was so… so normal.

One reporter tried to bait him about “confronting” Shrub when they meet next week. Barry didn’t take it.

If not for the Nancy remark, it would have been perfect.

Token assholes our specialty.

Has the Republican Party now shrunk enough that it could be drowned in Grover Norquist’s bathtub?

@lynnlightfoot: RML beat you to it.

@nojo: When I get angry at other drivers in traffic, since Tuesday, I have taken to screaming “fucking whitey” and “goddam cracker motherfucker.” I am so fucking sick of white people. We are all half-black now!

@lynnlightfoot: Please don’t underestimate these people. It wasn’t that long ago that it was the Democratic party that was on the verge of irrelevance after the Gingrich Revolution and the Clinton impeachment and the Bush electoral victory in the Supreme Court and the Bush popularity post 9/11. The Republicans eventually did themselves in by ruling like royalty instead of governing. It will be a terrible mistake if the Democrats attempt the same strategy.

Fortunately President Obama seems to be aiming for a much higher goal than President Bush ever did. He wants to fundamentally improve this country and by extension improve the world. As change begins to roll he’s left the doorway of participation wide open for the tens of millions of Americans who voted against him. If the McCain supporters eventually allow themselves to become believers in positive change then the radical Palin wing of the GOP will find itself in need of life preservers around bathtubs. It’s not like the white uneducated low-income male voters are becoming a larger percentage of the electorate.

Joementum is losing his Homeland Security chairmanship! Huzzah!

@Dave H: Yeah, but you’ve seen how those fundies breed, haven’t you? They all have old Dodge minivans with 13 kiddie seats in them and a fucking fish sticker on the back.

Oh my: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/11/mark_foleys_recoming_out.php

This is going to be good.

@Prommie: Wait until those kids actually receive a decent education. Think many of them will choose religious fundamentalism once they’ve been exposed to the world outside of their little corner of the US? After they Skype with some kids in France or China or Brazil or Kenya it’s going to be really tough to make them afraid of the “other”, which is the basis of fundamentalism.

@RomeGirl: Another fun subtlety: Everyone was calling him “Mr. President-Elect.” I always loved those West Wing moments when Bartlet insisted on formality.

@Prommie: Right, like it’s a vagina, lady, not a clown car. Speaking of vaginas…

@blogenfreude: Oh, please let him announce he’s running away to Massachusetts to elope with Charlie Crist.

That would make this the merriest Christmas evah!!!!

@drinkyclown: Oh no you di’int! Heh.

The Maverick and the Mistake may be coming to Georgia, thanks to our Saxby Shameless (R-Revanchist) v. Jim Martin (D-Reasonableness) Dec. 2 runoff. This should be fun.

I do not think it will go well for Jim, even though I still has Hope. There are too many angry white male Republicans here incensed that Obama won, and that Georgia and the rest of Redland are about to become politically insignificant. The Geez may not have much pull, but Gidget will probably cause them all to masturbate themselves until they have strokes from the strokes.

In any case, Max Cleland should totes be Obama’s secretary of the VA as a big ol fuck you to Saxby who fucked Max over in 2002.

Ah, there they are:

David Freddoso: “Obama just insulted Nancy Reagan, by the way — very classy.”

K-Lo: “I’m sure it wasn’t mean spirited, But I’d leave Nancy Reagan and astrology alone, thank you.”

But they seem more preoccupied with cabinet appointments and shit. Zzzzz.

@nojo: Oh snap. Apologies, no matter how craven, will never heal the hurt done to the greatest woman of the 20th cent and her late sainted husband.

On the other hand, our preznint haz a sense of humor. And he can talk in sentences. And his knuckles don’t drag on the ground. But I miss Monica Goodling. Is that wrong?

@nojo: Not with a bang but a whimper.

Sorry, I didn’t suggest my context well enough. I’m asking, is there any reason, generally speaking, probably after the inauguration, that a new WPA-style program would be a bad idea? I’m thinking you could knock down infrastructure, jobs, economy and social unrest all in one fell swoop. Hire unemployed folks to rebuild roads and bridges and string fiber optic everywhere, maybe bring the whitecollars in to audit the gov’t books. Everyone wins, we were going to spend the cash on taxpayer bribes anyway, why not get some roads and accountability and shit out of it?

@IanJ: Oh please, oh please. The northeast is full of beautiful hiking trails made by the WPA. And we could have folk singers. And Clifford Odets can come back from the dead. Ad we’ll have unions. And there will be happiness!!! (sobbing uncontrollably)

@Benedick: I was grouse and squirrel hunting one beautiful fall day on a little used trail below the Santa Fe Ski Area when I came across a wooden WPA trail marker dated 1941. Way cool. The squirrels were tasty, btw.

@Benedick: The only infrastructure in PA in decent shape was built in the 30s. We’ve got hiways that are permanently under the knife, don’t even ask about bridges!

@nabisco: I can has awesome murals???

@IanJ: They’re already complaining over at NRO that civil programs will deter young men from essential warmongering:

if President Obama pushes the forced volunteerism angle too hard, guess what’s likely to happen? College-age kids enticed to join AmeriCorps, or ObamaCorps, or WhateverCorps will be kids not joining the U.S. Armed Forces….

Many, if not most, Americans join the military for reasons beyond economic incentives. That said, for an 18-year-old kid debating what road to travel in life, offering an “equally patriotic” alternative to military service (during wartime!) is going to be awfully tempting for many. Bad road to go down.

Ok, so generally positive on WPA 2.0. Surely I’m not the only person thinking this, right?

@nojo: Yes, certainly, tempting the world away from war is a bad thing. Bad president Unicorn, no virgin!

@IanJ: Wait for the unemployment rate to get a bit higher — then people will be on board with it. Back in the Great Depression, Oklahoma was a stronghold of progressives and (gasp!) Socialists.

@nojo: Yeah, like that disastrous Peace Corps.

@redmanlaw: The sidewalk in front of my house is WPA 1941.

Wonder if the press is just so happy to have someone who can finish a sentence without getting pissed they don’t want to wait until January.

GM has worried about auto sales for around 20 years. They always made more money off of the loans. And Commercial loans, they financed most of Kansas City’s large developments.

@IanJ: No, not at all. Yesterday I talked down my fundie Republican mom by telling her we need to focus on our infrastructure; it’s been neglected for too long. And we will create jobs through these projects, and that will stimulate the economy, and all will be right with the world again. I think she’s coming around. Recently she even suggested that her religious nuttery might be wrong, but her religion gives her life meaning and purpose. We spoke briefly about how you can find meaing and purpose outside of divisive (I almost said hateful) beliefs. She might be coming around. Surely she can’t be dumb/blind enough to think that simply because someone shares her religious beliefs that that makes them qualified to lead. And Mom is smart. I think there’s a little something nagging at her that tells her it’s best to hire the smartest person for the job even if they’re not on all fours with her religious beliefs.

@nojo: Barry called Nancy and apologized for the seance remark. Classaaay!

(Pardon my newbieness, tag helper made fun of me the other day.)
@rptrcub: Perhaps Maverick LLC thinks they are going to Georgia the country?

@IanJ: Infrastructure? When has this country been interested in infrastructure.

@ManchuCandidate: Did Jezzies mention rescue groups? I missed the press conference but heard a few bits this evening. It may take me a while to learn I won’t have to mute as soon as the President comes on. Most breed groups have members who “rescue”, either taking back dogs/cats who end up with owners who can’t handle them properly. Many shelters will contact breed rescue groups to take pedigreed animals, foster them and find “forever” homes for them.

@Mistress Cynica: I like the sound of “ObamaCorps”, don’t you?

@IanJ: I just read a great book about the WPA back during the primaries, and am convinced it is what we need. For all the reasons stated: economic, social, moral.

I’m just not sure how they’d put bloggers to work….

@nabisco: I’d love to give up my job reviewing billions and billions of documents and pick up a rivet gun. I’d love to work outside in the fresh air and the sun and come home bone weary and happy. Maybe I can plant wildflowers on the interstates. Plant tress to help cure soil erosion. I could put my back into my work and wool gather. I’m ready for a career change.

@JNOV: And once Nancy apologizes to America, we’ll be set.

@nojo: Heheh. Like the old battle ax/hatchet face would ever do that.

@nabisco: Veteran of two summers in the Youth Conservation Corps attached to the US Forest Service, where I painted outbuildings, built trails, fixed fences, learned to read maps, write reports and led a crew in my second year. I worked for the Bureau of Land Management in college and my tribe when I was a dropout doing a lot of the same kind of thing.

@JNOV: Fuck Nancy Reagan.

@nabisco: Remember the WPA Writers’ Project? We’ll have the ObamaCorps Bloggers’ Project.

@redmanlaw: Not with someone else’s dick.

@JNOV: @nojo: Ah yes, the TRUE difference between Democrats and Republicans. Obama said a pretty tasteless thing and apologized right away. Bush has never apologized for anything, ever, in the past 8 years. Or even implied that he did something wrong.

I wish we could breathe life into Diego Rivera and commission some awesome murals. My only brush with the truly eeelite was when I went to one of those old school eating clubs in SF, and there was an amazing Rivera mural on the staircase landing. I was transfixed, and I felt to lucky to be there. I’ve had a lot of experiences like that. A poor kid, the fourth in her extended family of 200 to go to college and the first to go to law school, and a single mother to boot doesn’t get to do and see the cool things I’ve done and seen. So many people helped me out and steered me in the right direction. So many saw something in me I never saw in myself. I am so grateful.

@homofascist: Yup yup.

@JNOV: Don’t ever go to work for a law firm with expensive art. I learned the hard way that they paid for that Hockney in the lobby by stiffing the associates and staff on bonuses.

@redmanlaw: Them squirrels. Did you be deep frying them little critters?

I seem to recall a meme about deep fried squirrel…

@nojo: I know dude, we sat tonight and watched the first ep and recast everyone with REAL LIFE PEOPLE.

Oh man. Just saw an ad for the President Barack Obama commemorative inaugural gold coin.

@Mistress Cynica: Or perhaps something like the CCC — and we’ll all have barracks …..

@JNOV: Better that than the 9/11 $20 (Liberian $).

@becominginvisible: That would be an interesting plane ride, considering all the crap the Geez’ people let loose on CB. Someone wanna help write the dialogue for Maverick: How to Lose Voters and Alienate People?

Has everyone sent their questions into our Anon Porn King? (What’s his email addy?)

@rptrcub: So true.

@CheapBoy: Bacon wrapped and grilled. Looking forward to rabbit stew with the onset of cold weather.

@becominginvisible:
Yes they did. I think it was on Wed or Thursday.