CEO's evasion is mere peanuts

What fun!

Stewart Parnell, owner of Peanut Corp. of America, repeatedly invoked his right not to incriminate himself before the House subcommittee holding a hearing on a national salmonella outbreak blamed on his company.

Good to see that the Constitution still holds up for our beleaguered CEOs.

I'll lay odds that there will be fines, bad PR and suspended sentences for the douchebags who decided profits from peanuts outweighed the lives of possibly 9 citizens.

Shortly afterward, a lab tester testified that the company discovered salmonella at its Georgia plant as far back as 2006.

The House panel released e-mails obtained by its investigators showing Parnell ordered products identified with salmonella shipped and quoting his complaints that tests discovering the contaminated food were "costing us huge $$$$$$."

I seriously doubt that anything will come of this other than the usual lawsuits, slaps on the wrists and such.

I mean, coming off the heels of an administration with "Heckuva job, Brownie" and ass covering, can we really expect justice for any of the unclean, unwashed masses of commoners?

I'd never seriously advocate street justice, but I'd be lying if I didn't think that it'd be hilarious to string up these CEOs and asshole fuck-ups by THEIR peanuts.

Stimulus bill: a monument to the power of the minority.

We got stimulus, in a way.

A gutted, weaker version of stimulus loaded with tax cuts and sorely lacking in educational needs and relief for lower income families.

I'd like to draw your attention you this passage from the above link, in particular the bolded part:

But even as Congressional leaders and top White House officials went through the package with a carving knife, it was clear that the three Republicans who agreed to support the bill in the Senate wielded extraordinary power, and along with conservative Democrats in their coalition, had put a firm stamp on the stimulus package.

Some of that can be good, I suppose (Specter's insistence of more funding for medical research, for example), but the mere chance (looks more like fact to me, unfortunately) that three Republicans can force drastic changes upon a bill like this is downright scary.

That's not "bipartisanship," that's "blackmail."

I'm all for Obama trying to include the Republicans in negotiations and discussions about bills. It makes it much easier for everyone to see what obstructionist shitbags they are. But when such inclusion results in a handful of vaguely moderate Republicans holding the bill hostage, then we have problems.

Especially with conservative Democrats so pants-happy about bipartisanship.

Let's be clear here: Republicans lost, Democrats won.

The American people made CLEAR choices, both in 2006 and even more so in 2008.

I am willing to give the benefit of the doubt and the benefit of time to both Obama and the Democrats in Congress, but they need to remember.

They won. Now they should start acting like it.

Time to start fresh.

I deleted my old posts, as I'm sure no one will know since no one really comes to this blog. But just in case someone happens to stumble here by mistake, might as well explain.

I wrote for DailyKos for a few years. I enjoyed most of the times there, but lately it's become infuriating. Too many voices, not enough reality. Such is the way massive community-based blogs like that go, which is fine for some, a nuisance and a distraction for others. I thought it was fine for me, but that's clearly no longer the case.

The general malaise I had been feeling for some time was tough to pin down, but happily I figured it out.

I was changing who I was while on that site.

I wasn't changing my opinions to conform with the masses, that's not what I mean. I found myself not commenting in certain posts or on certain topics simply because I knew people would start yelling and shouting, because there was such a group-mentality that reasonable debate was not just merely unlikely, but rather unthinkable.

Of course, I've never been known for my tact or politeness, so this isn't something that I'm trying to blame on anyone. I was simply no longer comfortable with choosing the easy way and thusly not being true to my opinions or thoughts.

And the recent influx of shitbags flocking to that site didn't help matters, either.

And the "Obama's breaking his word he's the worst" crowd was funny in a sad, pathetic way (especially when they couched their whining and hand-wringing with "We should be able to criticize" rhetoric).

The last straw was yet another diary shitting upon police officers, however. Look for it if you like, I won't be linking to that site anytime soon, if ever. I made the tactical error (a big one) of deciding to take my umbrage with ignorant anti-cop mentality into the wrong diary for it. That was stupid of me, but no matter. The fact is that site is rampant with anti-police mentality, some of which is so forehead-slappingly idiotic I wonder how the authors managed to turn on their computers in the first place.

Faced with yet more ignorance and stupid comments, I realized that DK was no longer a fun place to be, and was rather a dirty basement swimming with stunted thinking with fewer and fewer gems floating in the swamp as time goes by. It's too bad, because there are many intelligent people there with amazing ability to write and articulate and deconstruct, but I no longer care to spend the time sifting through the crap to find the good.

This is sounding way more bitter than I'd like, and I'm not trying to "take on" DailyKos like so many other blogs of former users. I hope DailyKos flourishes and I urge everyone to give it a shot, but I personally am finished. I'll miss a few of the people I liked and respected, but that's not enough to be a part of it. Not anymore, at least.

So, I'll be posting here mostly and sometimes on Docudharma, and on My Left Wing.

Thus, a fresh start for TheBlaz. My own blog, my own words, no community distracting me or making me feel that I shouldn't say certain things because they're not "polite."

In summation, adios to my friends on DailyKos. I enjoyed our time together, but I am no longer comfortable on that site.

And welcome to whoever reads this.

It's a brave new world, fuckers.