America’s politicians must think that this is their audience…

I’ve been listening to Donald Trump’s faint background noise grow into something more akin to a slight din the past couple of days, and it’s starting to annoy me.

I’m one of those people that actually likes Donald Trump. He is one of those rare people who is so unapologetically narcissistic and insecure that it is actually charming in a sick sort of way.

This being said, if what Trump is doing now is anything more than a publicity stunt, and he actually intends to run, then I’d be pretty horrified. With a landscape littered with people like Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney, the guy actually has more than a chance of winning the nomination.

Meanwhile, this is the same guy, who 10 years ago proposed a one-time tax on “rich people” (there are those rich people again) that would solve all of our debt problems. Trump said that this included people like him, and that he would have to pay something like $600 million. That’s absurd. Donald Trump’s life is all about money. His business model is based on leverage. If he gave away 15% of his net worth (and he is always pumping that number up) he would probably go bankrupt. He is so full of crap.

What’s more important here is that there are no serious candidates who the mainstream media are currently endorsing. The only option is Ron Paul. I would go bonkers for a Ron Paul/Jesse Ventura Ticket for 2012. Platform:

1. END THE FED
2. ABOLISH THE INCOME TAX
3. TAKE A MACHETTE TO THE PENTAGON
4. REPEAL THE HEALTHCARE LAW
5. BALANCE THE BUDGET
6. REPEAL THE PATRIOT ACT
7. END THE WARS

I know this is unrealistic for one administration, and some people may look at this and say “you are crazy, and you are not sensitive to the needs of people who depend on these programs.” Actually, I am sensitive to their needs, but if we don’t make these type of serious threats then we are not going to get the kind of cuts we need in order to put our discombobulated economy back to a place where it can generate profits by actually creating products that people want. Instead, what we have now is casino capitalism, full of fake paper profits supported by central bank command and control economics where the subrifuge that is supposed to be redestributing capital to the periphery has become nothing short of a black hole where opportunity goes to die.

Changes like this will take decades to implement, but you need to start somewhere. Paul Ventura 2012!!

I attempted to write a short blurb about Jesse Jackson Jr.’s latest House floor rant, but nothing I can write could possibly come close to expressing the absurdity of his speech. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making a value judgement on the guy. He seems pretty nice, and I know next to nothing about what he stands for. All I know is that this is the second speech (to view his “mandate an iPod” speech, click here) where I have seen Jesse Jr. make ridiculous claims and nonsensical judgments about things that seem, well, completely irrelevant to what is going on in the world. See for yourselves:

Shut down averted! What a shock. Let me quote House Majority leader John Boehner:

“We’re not going to roll over and sell out the American people like has been done time and time again in Washington.”

No, you are just going to roll over and sell out the American people like has been done time and time again. Wait, what?

For all those concerned with the future of democracy fear not, for you can be sure that stupid people – who make up 99.99% of the population – do not qualify for membership. The good news for stupid people is that they do not need democracy anyway. Democracy is cumbersome and imposes upon the citizen an unfairly high demand for self-procurement. This means that one would have to spend additional time out of his or her day actually trying to understand the world, what problems exist and how best to solve them. This is an exhausting exercise and very unfulfilling. To top it off, all this additional reading means that one cannot catch his or her favorite new reality TV show of a devolving human species slobbering all over itself and anything that it finds remotely attractive. This, of course, would be devastating to human socialization, which depends so heavily on knowing these sort of trivialities in order to strike up your usual bullshit conversation, which obviously is crucial in all contemporary mating rituals.

Of course, despite the recent revelation that democracy is not for everyone, it is essential that people maintain, within their daily lives, the illusion that they actually know what is going on around them and can influence major events by casting a ballot every four years. Although physically voting is encouraged, rest assured that the vote itself is not particularly important; it’s the thought that counts. What is most important is that you catch the major headlines by either occasionally refreshing your web browser (whose homepage, of course, should be one the trusted news networks like CNN, NBC or Fox) or by watching as much Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer as possible. You should then follow up on this activity with occasional “around the water cooler” talk about Hillary’s fictitious trip to Bosnia, your assessment of the state of the sub-prime market or what you think America is doing wrong in Iraq (and throw in an observation about Shiites and Sunnis as well). Given the general gloom that pervades this particular period in America, you should approach these issues with a sense of disappointment, shaking your head as you speak about these subjects or as you listen to others do the same. Whatever you do, do not try and complicate the issues by straying beyond the very rigid talking point frame crafted by our diligent media and information industry. You will only risk damaging the fine texture of the conversation. Awkward moments can create a sense of anxiety that should be avoided at all costs lest one stray “off the reservation.” Remember, no one likes a smartass.