Jeb's Excellent Dogwhistle
So, Jeb! opened his big fat mouth and made what people all over are calling a gigantic, Romneyesque gaffe:
Forget the fact that, like every dickish rich Republican asshole, Bush want's to blame all of the nation's problems on the moral failings of people who do not happen to be rich, or the fact that the United State already forces its workers to work far more hours than all of the successful industrialized countries.
Because when did facts ever matter to Republicans. No, what actually interests me here is the universal assumption that Jeb's remark was a mistake. I do not believe this to be true.
Jeb's only real competition for the Republican nomination, which is always decided by the rich guys, is Scott Walker, the Butcher of Wisconsin. No one that knows the Republican party can possibly believe that anyone else in their vast array of lunatics can gain the trust of the Koch Brothers, the Waltons, Sheldon Adelson, etc, and so none of them will ever have the money to mount a real challenge. And Bush's remark is all about sending a clear message to those rich psychopaths: Scott Walker may be a lying, heartless savage who will steal anything on behalf of the Koch Brothers, but Jeb wants to establish in public that he is just as prepared to sacrifice the American people on behalf of the rich. He is saying, "you don't have to turn to him- I will be just as heartless and morally bankrupt as he could ever be." And that is why the attempts to walk Jeb's remarks back have been so lame- he doesn't really care what anyone thinks about him except the guys who can write the billion dollar checks. He's running his campaign for them and them alone, and he doesn't really give a damn about the rest of us.
"The 2016 candidate said that to grow the economy, workers must do more. Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on Wednesday made a proposal that may fail to gain widespread popularity. In an interview with New Hampshire’s The Union Leader, Bush said that to grow the economy by 4%, “people need to work longer hours.
The Democratic National Committee released a statement calling Bush’s statement “easily one of the most out-of-touch comments we’ve heard so far this cycle,” and citing them as proof that Bush would not fight for the middle class."
Forget the fact that, like every dickish rich Republican asshole, Bush want's to blame all of the nation's problems on the moral failings of people who do not happen to be rich, or the fact that the United State already forces its workers to work far more hours than all of the successful industrialized countries.
Because when did facts ever matter to Republicans. No, what actually interests me here is the universal assumption that Jeb's remark was a mistake. I do not believe this to be true.
Jeb's only real competition for the Republican nomination, which is always decided by the rich guys, is Scott Walker, the Butcher of Wisconsin. No one that knows the Republican party can possibly believe that anyone else in their vast array of lunatics can gain the trust of the Koch Brothers, the Waltons, Sheldon Adelson, etc, and so none of them will ever have the money to mount a real challenge. And Bush's remark is all about sending a clear message to those rich psychopaths: Scott Walker may be a lying, heartless savage who will steal anything on behalf of the Koch Brothers, but Jeb wants to establish in public that he is just as prepared to sacrifice the American people on behalf of the rich. He is saying, "you don't have to turn to him- I will be just as heartless and morally bankrupt as he could ever be." And that is why the attempts to walk Jeb's remarks back have been so lame- he doesn't really care what anyone thinks about him except the guys who can write the billion dollar checks. He's running his campaign for them and them alone, and he doesn't really give a damn about the rest of us.
Comments
Also, that Cratchett keeps asking for more coal!
Think of the return on investment.
"Your Excellency, the workers of Freedonia are demanding shorter hours."
"Well, we'll give them shorter hours. We'll start by cutting their lunch hour to twenty minutes."