Tonight on TDS, Dennis Miller, FOX News Contributor.
And on TCR, Andy Stern, author, "A Country That Works: Getting America Back on Track."
| Tonight's sausage-grinder of snark setting: default irreverence and cynicism, extra-strong compensatory wariness, a certain amount of jaw-aching tooth grittiness, with the distinct possibility of a yummy cherry on top. Do cherries come in purple? |
Dennis Miller. I've always disliked him. 9/11 didn't change anything there. It seems he's now working for Fox, at Hannity & Colmes, being as unpleasant and unfunny as ever. Unfortunately, it seems he and Jon have some history, so I bet Jon's going to be all nice & shit. It's possible we'll get some thoughts on the flow of comedians into journalism/media/politics... if I tell myself that, I might be able to watch.
And that picture above? Click through. It's a talking Dennis Miller action figure. Related items: talking Ann Coulter and Donald Rumsfeld action figures. Don't forget extra batteries! |
Now, Andy Stern is more interesting. He's the president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the fastest growing union in North America. You may remember that it disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO last year. CBS calls him "a new breed of Union Boss." Unfortunately, I don't know nearly as much about the nuts-and-bolts of labor as I should, so weeding through what Google's serving up is a bit confusing. It seems that the labor-haters hate him, the traditionalists dislike him, and his supporters love him. How remarkable. I don't even know which sources offer reliable analysis. <shame> In general, though, he seems to be one of the good guys (it's tactics I'm not sure about...). He's heavily involved with (started?) Wal-mart Watch, has reached out to progressive left blogistan --maybe could be considered part of it, since he blogs at HuffPo, although I didn't see an awful lot of actual content there. He's doing Eating/Drinking Liberally book appearances, will post on FireDogLake's book salon next week, was interviewed by DHinMI here more than a year ago... and then he's on TCR, which I sort of consider dKos-TV. ONE OF US. ONE OF US. ONE OF US. *ahem. * Sorry.
The book is "A Country That Works: Getting America Back on Track". The online excerpt didn't tell me anything new, but it's well-written and describes the world I'm aware of, which is always a novelty. And, well, it's the first chapter. Good factoid, though: If the minimum wage had increased at the same rate as CEOs' salaries since 1990, it would be $23.03 an hour, and the average production worker would be earning an annual salary of $110,000. The review snippets at Amazon are (mostly) from people I think favorably of, so that's a plus. At some point when my brain is working, I may head over to the bookstore & see what he says beyond the initial setup. From the book description:In his eye-opening diagnosis that makes the urgency of the threats vividly clear, Stern shows that Americans are contending with the most disruptive economic upheaval in the world economy since the Industrial Revolution. Yet, in the face of this daunting challenge, the American system simply isn't working well enough for most of us. ... The plain fact is that our system is out of whack, serving the interests of the top sliver of the most wealthy while putting the squeeze on the rest of us.
Meanwhile, our politicians irresponsibly sidestep the crucial solutions that we so desperately need ... As Stern so persuasively shows, it is time for bold thinking and creative solutions to overhaul a health care system in crisis; correct a tax system rigged in favor of business and the wealthy; revamp our inadequate retirement system; and make truly innovative improvements in education. He presents a set of course-correction reforms so compelling, simple, and achievable that readers will find themselves enraged that they haven't yet been enacted. Americans have a right to expect our government to work for us. Andy Stern shows how we can get things back on track to make sure it does. |
Today's been a bad fatigue & brain-fog day, so the sausage-grinder of snark is an olde-worlde hand cranked model. And somewhere in there is a connection to labor/unions etc., but that's a 3 am kind of insight (so if I'm still up then, I'll post!). The Dennis Miller entry wasn't going to be much longer in any case. Today's good news is that the cat is feeling better (and litterboxing appropriately!) and it was a gorgeous day here outside NYC -- the perfect weather to sit (nap) outside and pretend that my attention/awareness abilities are meditation techniques. My own personal moment of zen.