Lazy Rich Folk

I love me a smart asshole. Especially the ones on my team. Paul Begala and James Carville can do no wrong in my book, even when they do wrong. Their voices reek of anger frustration and condescension, a mood rendered positive by their anthropologist-like fascination with the world they inhabit and the joy it breeds. So they've written this great piece on the Huffington Post about the blame game Republicans will have to play in order to sort out the identity of their party in the years to come. Now the Dems have their own split personality to sort out but I will leave that for another day. Certainly the Dems will leave it for another day as victory often destroys the motivation to self-examine and evolve. Anyone remember when we took back congress? Me neither.

Back to the Pubes (the Dems shouldn't be the only party with a cool nickname).... here's what makes complicated the redefining of the Republican party. By its very nature, it is not a party with a clear identity. As Nobel prize winner Paulie The Jew reminds us, the courting of Joe the Plumber (the real plumber, not the racist tax-evader) was a stragedy designed to bamboozle stupid fucks into voting against their interests. Am I stating the obvious? Yes I am. We all know this. But no one seems to say it. Certainly Obama didn't in the Joe the Plumber debate. Maybe he shouldn't have. And I guess I should learn to accept politrickin and the common denominator in winning campaigns however moral they bully you into believing they are -- avoiding the truth (or a third party candidate). So the Pubes have gotten away with this for some time but just as a country moves from Crystal Pepsi to wide-mouth cans, each election has brought its own set of courtable values that necessarily further fracture the image of the party.

Ultimately though, this is what it comes down to. Rich folk who aren't actually good at making money. Those who achieved wealth purely by pursuing it by any means necessary -- as opposed to achieving it by pursuing a passion that happened to make you money (and by the way The Arts aren't the only arts. I think talented business people, craftsmen, educators and others are artists whose creativity is at the very least on par with those of us whose passions fit more easily into that bullshit heading "ART"). But if you've just gotten to that 250k+ tax bracket by swindling motherfuckers, you're gonna travel the path of least resistance to stay there, whether it means feigning passion as a pro-lifer or anti-islamofascist.

On the other hand, if you got to that tax bracket simply by doing what interests you, what excites you, what moves you, you don't have to shift gears to stay there. There will be years good and bad and you will certainly have to align your passions to the market to the degree necessary to placate people that believe in test screenings and market forecasts. But ultimately, if you keep doing what you're doing you'll be fine. But if all you're doing is trying to make money, well it doesn't matter what you do. This week you're a small government libertarian. Next week you believe in socialized banking. And let's be clear about something. You're not confused. You don't actually believe that the effects corporate tax breaks will trickle down into the hungry mouths of 98% of Americans. You're a fucking liar who isn't smart enough or talented enough or bold enough to make money the way the people who founded this country did. By working hard. You're an asshole with a sense of entitlement born of god-knows-what. And I don't think you're going anywhere or that I might change your perspective. But I will be there at every turn to point out what a worthless piece of humanity you are. Fortunately, hardworking americans are on to your lazy ass. If this racist ass country elects a black man with a big swinging dick he thinks is aimed right at his wife, well, prioritizing is afoot, and you're fucked. But don't worry. If Obama makes it to a second term and is given a chance to right our economy, Joe Six Pack will refigure his priorities and you will have a chance to make more money the easy way while not being taxed on it.

BTW, I love the idea that the guy to whom the last part of this post is addressed would ever be reading my blog. Then again, some asshole Obamabot appeared out of the woodwork to comment on my boy's piece. So you never know........