Bullshit-palooza

The campaign begins anew.

"In my mind, you have a group age 18 to 35 -- the only group that voted for (Democratic presidential candidate) John Kerry in droves and the one group Democrats are alienating by saying there's no problem, which that section of the population says, 'Yes, there is,' " said the aide, who asked to remain unidentified. "This is the future of the Democratic Party. I think they have real serious political problems of their own."

The Republican National Committee broadcast a statement from Democrat Rep. Harold Ford, a Tennessee moderate, who said after Bush's speech that Democrats "are going to have to get a better message on Social Security. ... Our only response cannot be to say, 'no.' "

The unidentified aide is right on his ultimate point -- the Democrats had better get going, and they better stop fucking around on this. Despite the public reluctance of most Republicans on this, there's always enough troops in the Kool-Aid Brigade to flood the zone on the Sunday gab-fests. They'll spend the upcoming week keeping the powder dry and letting Himself finish his lying (I mean speaking) tour, and come the 13th, L'il Russ and Bob Schieffer will take their rightful places in the pocket of whatever corrupt asshole shows up to defend this scam.

No, not defend. Promote. That's the key. These guys are always on offense. If the Democrats continue to just play defense they'll get picked off over time; treacherous douchebags like Lieberman are always looking for ways to play nice, even the other side sports brass knuckles. No, the party needs to hit fast, and hard, and start aggressively targeting every GOP Senate seat up for re-election next year. As the Good Book says, "Do unto them what they did unto Daschle." The plan is apparently at least as byzantine as the infamous "Hillarycare". This seems like a good place to start. Bring back the "Harry and Louise" marketing scheme.

The alternative, quite literally, is the propagation of the one-party state for at least the next generation, and untold damage to the social safety net, paid out of the pockets of the halfwitted twenty-somethings who support this stupid shit. Quit drinking the bongwater, kiddies, and sit down and crunch the fucking numbers for yourselves. You will own nothing. You will get nothing. It is a stick-up. The only things missing are guns and masks.

But in a sign that Republicans are reluctant to push Bush's plan as it stands, several began suggesting areas of potential compromise, including an idea first proposed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton -- private accounts added on to Social Security, rather than financed by diverting payroll taxes that pay for the nation's retirement system.

Hey, great idea! We could call them "Individual Retirement Accounts", and give them a catchy, easy-to-remember tax code number for reference. How about "401(k)"?

For Pete's sake, why are we spending all this time and energy worrying about something that is nowhere near crisis mode, and proposing fix-its that either won't fix it, or already exist?