Government that at least tries

"The last time any president did this much in office, booze was illegal. If you believe in policy, if you believe in government that addresses problems, cheers to that."--Rachel Maddow

George Steinbrenner Was a Republican Crook

Wait. That's redundant.

From Time Magazine's list of The 10 Most Notorious Presidential Pardons, coming in at number 7:

Indicted on 14 criminal counts on April 5, 1974, the owner of the New York Yankees plead guilty to obstruction of justice and conspiring to make illegal contributions to President Richard Nixon's re-election campaign. Steinbrenner, a major Republican donor, allegedly knew the money he was donating was not going through regular election procedures. Not wanting to appear soft on crime, President Ronald Reagan would only pardon Steinbrenner if the Yankees' owner admitted to the crime.

 He spent the rest of his life giving money to Republicans, supposedly legally. He was an ass, and he won't be missed here. In fact, he's one less rich Republican to donate mostly to Republican causes (a quick search at Open Secrets reveals that he did give money to Democrats).  All the contributions for President went to all the recent Republican candidates. So fuck him.

One odd note, his Yankees only won the World Series under Democratic Presidents.

Head for the Hills

A good friend and client who is a Los Angeles caterer tells me the majority of calls and emails she gets these days are from people looking for work. Of the calls and letters from people who want to hire her, almost all are looking for discount catering: party platters, box lunches, and cupcakes. In a recent exchange of work mail, she sent a letter from a kid who sounded pretty desperate looking for work, and she sent along this little gem:

When the unemployment runs out, head for the hills, because the streets won't be safe.

It's what I used to tell my Republican Dad: the more you suck from the bottom to the top, the more pissed the bottom will get. But maybe I was wrong about what those pissed off people will do. Because the vast majority of them are gun-toting troglodytes who believe the lies from the likes of Limbaugh and Beck, instead of getting mad and voting for liberals who will tax the rich and extend unemployment, they're actually toying with the idea of voting for the very same people who got us in this mess.

I should never underestimate the ignorance that permeates among Republicans, or even potential Republican voters. Because if you're considering voting for the same people who brought you the Trillion Dollar Adventure in Mesopotamia, the Great Recession, the BP Oil Spill, and all kinds of other problems, then you certainly deserve what you get. The rest of us will just have to suffer along with you because you can't pull your head out of your ass.

Something about that year 2007

Hmmm... This article could mention the fact that it was Bush appointees running MMS and Wildlife, that they'd been guarding the hen house since 2001, they had gutted the regulatory power of the agencies and, in the case of MMS, staffers were literally snorting coke of oil industry asses.

This is what Dick Cheney wanted.

in reference to:

"But in a letter dated Sept. 14, 2007, and obtained by The New York Times, the wildlife agency agreed with the minerals service’s characterization that the chances that deepwater drilling would result in a spill that would pollute critical habitat was “low.”"
- Agency Agreed That Spill Risk to Wildlife Was Low - NYTimes.com (view on Google Sidewiki)

A Little Organic Search Work

As you may know, I do SEO for a few clients' web sites, like these Los Angeles caterers. In my new post at my Internet Marketing Blog, I mention that we're in the middle of a link buidling campaign for them. So, any of you Los Angelinos with an LA web site might want to get in touch with me to swap links with them.

Culinary Delight Catering has been around for a while now, and has quite a following! I'm always amazed at the number and quality of the good catering reviews they get. Emma Tate, who runs the company, is the best client I could ever hope for--actively involved in creating content, getting links, prompting clients to send in letters of recommendation, and coming up with new promotions and sales that keep interest up. She's constantly providing things to put on her Los Angeles Catering blog. And she always pays her bill on time.

So if your LA or food-based web site needs a little Google Boost, let me know. We'll do some link swaps and everyone will be happier with their ranking. For more information on how to get higher search engine ranks, be sure to check out my SEO business site at that last link.