Speeding up the race to the bottom

So I see Mitt is masking the aroma of his namby-pamby tenure as governor of Mass with his choice of a serious slash-and-burn right-winger as running mate. Since a good deal of his track record in Massachusetts lies to the left of what Obama has accomplished these past few years, Mitt certainly needed somebody to give him credibility with the hard right.

What is the “hard right” anyway? One can appreciate the fact that a lot of your one percenters would like less taxation and less spending etc. That’s simple self interest. What never fails to amaze me is how that small wealthy elite manages to bamboozle the majority of the populace into seeing it their way.

In November the American voter will be able to choose between a right-wing Obama and a farther right Romney. For the most part the 99% won’t even question why neither camp has an agenda that addresses their basic needs; health care, education, food security, housing security, job security. Instead it’s all about who will be more willing to cut taxes, cut spending, and bomb Iran.

To paraphrase David Swanton in an essay at Counterpunch, it’s a debate about what brand of catfood your grandmother is going to eat, premium or no-name.

Speaking of right-wing twats, none other than Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird got practically an entire section of the Globe and Mail to himself today in a fawning in-depth profile out of all proportion to such a shallow talent. This is the imbecile who unintentially left them snickering the length and breadth of Israel with his tour of the Holy Land not too long ago. “I’ve brought my own Rabbi…”

Indeed.

The occassion seems to be his current tour of Lebanon and Jordan, where, so we are told, he is reassuring his hosts of our support with the refugee crisis. Not so much as a courtesy call to Israel this time around, and no mention of his personal Rabbi.

He is lauded by the Globe for bringing a no-nonsense sensibility to Canada’s image;

He’s not only willing to trumpet unabashedly-Tory rhetoric on the world stage, to play up the fighter-bombers of the Royal Canadian Air Force, back Israel to the hilt and blast Iran. He’s also prepared to look uncouth to prod Canadian business deals abroad, because hard-boiled economic interests are job one.

Somehow this merits a four page spread in the Globe. We are told his political idol is Margaret Thatcher. That would make sense. The Iron Lady did kick the shit out of unions and teach those Argies a lesson.