Duping Us Out of Prosperity

The day is young and suffused with possibility. As am I! What luck indeed!

It rained briefly about 10 minutes ago and summer officially ended. After 10 years of living in CA I am still not used to the fact that it very rarely rains in summer.

Back in CO, where I grew up, August is marked by spectacular thunderstorms that sweep through at approximately 3:00 each afternoon, with anvil-shaped clouds that tower over the prairie.

Here, the weather is far more subtle and creeps up from over the ocean. There are moments of quick change, as in those days when it goes from a sweltering 100 degrees F to the sudden introduction of a sea breeze, bringing the temperature down 20 degrees in an instant, and lifting everyone's hair, making them long for a bowl of fruit.

This morning we're off to a Jim Nastics party with Sophie, and Squid will drive, hooray. We're going to offer to take both her kids this afternoon. I hope she sleeps. Pregnancy is some serious shit. So tiring.

An article in the paper this morning about some people in Ohio who have been unemployed since Bush and Co. encouraged jobs to go overseas, but since no one has apparently MADE this connection, they are going to vote for Bush, since he "Accepts Jeesus Xst as his personal savior." Never mind that Kerry is also a religious man, and shares the Ohio people's professed desire for separation of church and state.

I read this part out loud to Manny, who said, "That's why we can't move out of this country. We'd leave the biggest nuclear arsenal in the world to a bunch of f***ing IDIOTS."

As the minister said last week in our UU church, it is sometimes nearly impossible to make people work in their own best interest.

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Note to self: John must be lost, rather than simply living somewhere else. Find out about radio technology. Urgency of Ada's mission. Also instances of community, last suppers.

Comments

[mr mcmuffin]

I've seen The Passion of Christ, boy did that man suffer. I now feel able to accept JC as my personal saviour. Can I be president? I'm sure I could just gloss over the fact that I'm not American, after all I would have become an American citizen if anyone had asked me. The truth is I fancy getting my hands of some of them nukes. They must be worth a fortune. I could have a garage sale. The despots of the world would be lining up around the block.

[*Name Hidden*]

Just FYI, it would seem that Kerry is just as much for offshoring as Bush, in spite of what he says in public.

http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/shared/news/stories/0805_kerryandreesen.html;COXnetJSessionID=BP1ImHmCZZuvhA1juCw8FL97wjnrn5yPqUjr9YnXpG4lH1yTFK8C!42168632?urac=n&urvf=10957100881700.7714185413173993

[Jo]

Hey, *Name Hidden*! Welcome! Did you come over from Pam's site?

Are you referring to this section?

"Since then, Kerry has dropped that harsh rhetoric, but has continued to express doubts about sending jobs overseas. In his nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic national convention, Kerry listed what he suggested were Republican economic mistakes. "We're told that outsourcing jobs is good for America," he said. "We can do better, and we will."

But Andreessen said he now believes Kerry's approach to economic globalization issues, such as trade and offshoring, will end up resembling that of former President Clinton, who pushed Congress to support the North American Free Trade Agreement.

"I spent quite a bit of time on this with Kerry's economic people since we talked, and they assure me up, down, and sideways that Kerry's economic and trade policies will be virtually identical to Clinton's," he said.

He said he is willing to overlook Kerry's earlier suggestions that executives who offshore jobs are disloyal to their country. "I'm fine with them saying whatever they need to say on the campaign trail," he said."

Because I'm rather dubious about someone like Andreessen's take on Kerry's campaign promises. And certainly NAFTA was a different can o'worms than the offshoring question? Anyone else know anything? I don't.

[Prentiss Riddle]

Know anything? Not me!

But I don't understand what you mean when you suggest that NAFTA and offshoring are different. Seems to me that offshoring is what NAFTA was all about.

Increasingly I'm coming to the conclusion that the difference between Kerry and Bush is that between a kick in the shins and a kick in the stomach. I thoroughly understand why Nader's "pox on both their houses" argument is out of favor these days, but dammit, in so many ways the Democrats and Republicans are just Tweedledum and Tweedledummer.

[Jo]

Sort of, I mean, I am with you in that I don't think the Demos are liberal enough, but on the spectrum of things they are by far the better and more ethical choice.

[*Name Hidden*]

Yes, I came from Pam's site.

The reason I put credence in Andreesen's comments is because he is one who directly benefits from offshoring. Basically, the old "Follow the money". People aren't wealthy because they are stupid, they are usually wealthy because they can read the writing on the wall and plan & react accordingly... except of course for those who either inherit it or marry it.

The offshoring issue was the only thing that made me hesitant in voting for Bush, given that rhetoric from people close to him was reflecting an attitude of "This is GREAT for America"... which it isn't, and I have a laundry list of reasons why it isn't. If you want it, e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll send it to you (you plural). But now that quite a few people who make a living by offshoring jobs are enthusiastically supporting Kerry, it has given me reason to doubt his stance on the issue. That and the fact that I don't think he understands economic cause and effect. You can't just say "no more offshoring" without there being a host of other problems, like companies leaving America all together, some going out of business, and businesses using it as an excuse to raise prices.

As a result, I now have absolutely no reason to not vote for Bush.

[*Name Hidden*]

Oh, and NAFTA was all about offshoring, although it has meant mostly manufacturing jobs up to this point because of the poor level of higher education in Mexico.

[Jo]

Continue conversation on entry entitled "You Wanted to Talk, *Name Hidden*, above