I have some middle class friends who are really struggling.  These are people who have worked hard and paid their dues.  They have good educations, they had good jobs (they're mostly retired now, both voluntarily and involuntarily due to the recession), and they managed to raise some kids a… Read full post »

Hey, how ya doin'?  My name is Jamie Dimon, and I think you should fuckin' worship me.

Oops.  I mean, I think that we should have a mutually beneficial relationship.  OK, this is how it works...

A. You give me an assload of free money, say, at 0%.  For an indefi… Read full post »

(the mystery of this man's unusually large head may be solved) 

The Big Science Think Tank in San Diego today announced what has become increasingly obvious over the last three years...

Capitalism, the dominant economic and political system in the world today, gives you brain… Read full post »

In a stunning announcement this morning, researchers at the Big Science University Project presented the findings of a long-term, multi-participant, double-blind cluster study showing an absolute causal link between taking out a reverse mortgage and the spontaneous development… Read full post »

Alright, she didn't.

But it caught your attention, right?  That's what headlines are all about--catching your eye, and hooking it, and maybe making it bleed just a little so you say, "Ouch! Goddamnit, I have to see this again!  Yes, yes, give me more, more, more..."

Wel… Read full post »

It's hard to imagine a more loathsome situation than this particular doldrum the GOP finds itself in right now with Newt Gingrich, the perennial grand olde candidate out front in the polls.  How did this guy's career get resurrected all these years after he was run out of Washington D.C. on… Read full post »

With all the tongue wagging about the debt going on, on cable news, on the net, on the street...on my frigging Twitter!...it's good to keep in mind that the paltry 10 or 20 trillion figure being thrown around is just the icing on the crap cake.

With all the unpaid… Read full post »

Just thinking, lately...

...America has become a lot like this song...

This week, with the earthquake, tsunami, and threat of a nuclear meltdown imminent in Japan, it just doesn't seem right to waste a lot of breath on partisan wrangling.  Sometimes an awful event can put things in perspective...

And despite the fact that there are those on the Right this week… Read full post »

Johnny's on vacation this week.  As a matter of fact, Johnny's been on vacation for some time now.  He's letting the Republican governors, like Scott Walker of Wisconsin, do all the dirty work. 

Since Johnny got into the speaker's chair at the beginning of th… Read full post »

Johnny wants you to feel his pain...

Speaker of the House John Boehner, and weird dog-boy companion Eric Cantor, want you to know that while they're busy making deep cuts to medical aid to seniors, education for the young, and generally anything that can't be dropped on peasants in the… Read full post »

Johnny wants to know what YOU think about the budget.

Well, not you really.  Since you're reading (gasp) Open Salon, you're probably far too liberal for Johnny.  But he'll be taking questions and suggestions on the budget on Youtube this coming Sunday anyway, so we all might as we… Read full post »

Johnny doesn't want to talk about the budget.  Johnny wants to talk about the budget.  Johnny doesn't want to talk about the budget.  Boy, does Johnny ever want to talk about the budget.

That's right, it's time once again for the annual round of budgetary ping-pong, or football, or soc… Read full post »

First of all let my apologize for missing last week's installment in this already storied series of posts on our brand new Speaker of the House, Mr. John Boehner.  A snow-fuck-acopalypse of immese proportions kept me busy as I was trying to find my car under yards of freshly fallen New… Read full post »

Why does Johnny cry?

When the president mentioned last night in the State of the Union how great it was to live in a country where someone can work their way up from starting out in the family bar to Speaker of the House, you knew what was going to happen.… Read full post »

Johnny's Got a Problem

John Boehner, our new Speaker of the House, has a little problem.  Maybe.  We're not sure.  Here are the facts...

In September 2010, Boehner was accused by blogger Mike Stark of having a sexual affair with Lisbeth Lyons, a lobbyist for… Read full post »

With everything that's gone on the past week, it's easy to forget that there's still a new Congress, with a new Republican majority in the House, and a new Speaker, all ready to demolish and obstruct the Democrats at every turn.  No matter how many nice things are said this week by… Read full post »

Since my TV was filled with images of John Boehner being sworn in as the 61st speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives today, I thought it only fitting that we honor the man who will be presiding over the "people's chamber" for a while...

So, without further ado...

Meet… Read full post »

Well, Merry Christmas all!

And a Happy You's Know! 

It's been a long strange holiday.  But the elves have finally left the building, and the drunks are singing merrily arm & arm  weaving their way down the street.  Either that or they're wrestling for the last of the hooch.&nb… Read full post »

Back in March of 2009, Republican House Minority Whip Eric Cantor appeared on "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos.  George asked him about, amongst other things, gay rights and the GOP.  Cantor had this to say:

"There is no question the Republican Party has to return to being one of incl… Read full post »

With the economy still in the crapper, it may be the last thing many of us want to think about, but it's that time again, time to buy, buy, buy....  For the Good of America.  For our Pride.  For our Loved Ones.  For God.  Oh, hell, for ourselves because we deserve… Read full post »

All the lawyers are finally satisfied, his corporate imposed hiatus is over, and the evil Republican overlords at NBC have finally freed him: Conan is back.  And while I haven't seen tonight's show on TBS yet (it's Tivo'd, so please don't spoil it), I'm sure it's fab.

Since we can't show "C… Read full post »

Like a lot of people, lately I've become an impartial observer of the circus known as American politics.  All the wrangling and ridiculous hijinks of the election has turned me off, and the recession just adds to the feeling that it's all so useless.  There are bigger things at wo… Read full post »

When Fox News Channel bigmouth Bill O'Reilly showed up on ABC's The View recently, he was spoiling for a fight.  Then again, Bill-The-Mouth-That-Roars is always spoiling for a fight.  That's his thing.  His show on FNC, The O'Reilly Factor, is designed to showcase his brand of vitupera… Read full post »

Well, it was bound to happen.  It's the same old story: Kid hangs out with a tough crowd.  Kid hits it big, sells lots of albums, and wins all kinds of music awards.  Kid gets his own dance named after him.  Kid slaps a younger kid while playing laser tag.

Wait… Read full post »