Kara & Michael’s Blog

Maybe this is mean to say, but I am actually laughing, just a bit. Because I’m 23 years old, I live within my means, I don’t have shit invested and no offense, but you got yourselves into this mess, America. Expecting a quick fix to a problem inherent in the capitalist system upon which all [...]

There is no candidate who can rightly be called middle-class. Don’t let them sway you with life stories and down-home country charm. They are rich, rich, rich. They have the best health insurance this country can afford.
Don’t you ever let any politician convince you that they know where you’re coming from. They don’t.
We should be [...]

…and not just because I’m a young person with no assets.
The US is in what currently passes for dire economic straits, and our government is stepping in to preserve the current order and enable all of us to go about our happy consumer lives. That’s fine if you’re a cornucopian; I’m not. Some resources are [...]

It’s not often that I’m seething before I finish my morning slim-fast, but what do you know? This morning is shaping up to be one of those days. Because of this article: Religious Freedom Vs. Patient’s Rights.
Give me a fucking break, already.
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US CHOOSES OUR JOB. WE CAN QUIT AND GET A [...]

Dear Senator Obama,
The cover of the July 21 issue of The New Yorker is funny. It is not offensive or incendiary or a provocative attempt to obtain media coverage. It is satire.
By condemning it publicly, you have not only caused the media to once again use the word “slam” in a context I detest; you [...]

(I did not create this image.)
I give up on politics in America. There are obviously some very stupid people out there whom I have not met.

Hillary Clinton is easily the sleaziest politician in the race, but is supported by very nearly 50% of Democrats. Her lies and assorted misstatements seem to have reflected more negatively [...]

Part 1 of a series of great presidential speeches, with untrue or deceptive statements in italics. Justifications in footnotes.
Today’s speech: Address to the Nation, Cross Hall, March 17, 2003.
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My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision1. For more than a decade, the United States and other nations have pursued [...]

There’s a superb article in BusinessWeek that anyone even superficially interested in the current economic situation in the United States ought to read. The author discusses the disparity between the likely cause of current high oil prices (speculation) and what the government’s economists like to claim is the cause (supply shortages). The author’s point is [...]

Percentage of Americans who are intelligent enough to remember to breathe: 100% (assumption)
Percentage of Americans who believe that “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track” in this country: 81% (CBS News-NY Times poll)
Percentage of Americans who disapprove of the job done by George W. Bush as President: 72% (ibid., 100% - 28%)

Percentage [...]

BIG FAT EDIT: After writing this post, I’ve found out that the same Laurence Britt who wrote the essay on fascism which I excerpted also wrote a dystopian political novel entitled “June 2004″, about a future America dominated by right-wing extremists.
In my mind this makes him much less trustworthy as a scholarly critic of systems [...]