I like corporations.

I like corporations. I like children and dogs, too, but you have to tell them all "no" once in a while.
Just because I didn't feed my dog the fifteen meals a day that he wanted, that doesn't mean that I'm anti-dog. And I'm not anti-capitalist for wanting to reduce the influence corporations have on our politics.

Black Friday has become a national embarrassment

Customers hit by pepper spray at Wal-Mart describe scene of chaos - latimes.com

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/11/at-wal-mart-pepper-spray-attack-triggered-chaos-screaming.html

Occupy Climate Talks

Congratulations to #OWS and the occupiers everywhere. Here is a great example of how the #occupy movement is fostering worldwide change: Some diplomats from developing nations may occupy the upcoming climate change talks until some real progress gets made.
I wasn't a great believer in the efficacy of the overnight/tents/confrontation aspect of the movement, but results like this are quickly changing my mind.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/24/climate-change-occupy-durban-talks?cat=environment&type=article

What Kelly Mann & I should agree on

http://twitter.com/KellyMann6/status/139108407499177984

@KellyMann6 @OccupyChicago
Quit making excuses and blaming other pep if u can't get ahead.If I could do it w/o any handouts so can anyone

http://twitter.com/KellyMann6/status/139114354481172480fffdb

@OccupyChicago
Maybe not u personally but a large part of occupy movement believe in sharing the wealth.Wealth they didn't earn.

Hi Kelly!
Congratulations on the hard work you've done and the success you've achieved. Most people agree that good, productive work should be rewarded. And to me, that implies that the rewards shouldn't be going to the trust-fund children, the financial masters of the universe that caused the Great Recession, the crony capitalists who use their money to influence Congress to pass laws that enable them to make more money by polluting our country (and stick the taxpayer with the bill for cleaning up their mess), the media giants who make their money by cynically misleading hard-working people like you...
If we can both agree that these people haven't really earned their money, then I think you can begin to understand that we're not radicals. We want fairness for hard-working people like you, and right now we think the top economic 1% has more political power than they deserve. We think that's bad for the entire country, and rebalancing that power will make all of us more able to do the hard work we want to do and be fairly rewarded for that work.

The Unasked Question

Seriously, here's the question that should have been asked by now at a Republican debate: Our previous President seemed to be an orthodox free-market and freedom loving conservative, and when he left office we were bogged down in two costly wars, in the middle of a severe recession and his approval numbers were extremely low. Why would your Republican presidency be any different?

Character

Would you want your daughter to date a person who can never stick to one story and has to blatantly lie to get people to like him? I wouldn't want that kind of scumbag coming around my house.

BREAKING: First Romney TV Ad Falsely Presents McCain Campaign Quote As Obama's | ThinkProgress

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/11/21/374147/breaking-first-romney-tv-ad-falsely-presents-mccain-campaign-quote-as-obamas/

The Zen Master argues against the #Occupy Movement

This is a prime example of the childish anger and the intellectual laziness that is sinking this country. He was bothered that #occupychicago was blocking traffic. There are lots of times I don't get to go where I want because of other people...like, say, when tens of thousands of people want to go to some stupid Bears game when I want to travel on Lake Shore Drive, but I'm able to manage my feelings without pulling out the old angry-white-male-meets-petulant-child crap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxrbYVMzRsg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Failure

I support the #occupy movement. I've spent many happy hours @ #occupychicago (not days, sorry, but I'm doing more than most people). But here's a cruel fact: if your #occupy movement is fighting cops, that means you've failed. You've failed to rally enough people - if you want to do something the cops don't want you to do, the only way to succeed is with overwhelming numbers. Otherwise, be prepared to take your lumps and go to court for what you believe in and acknowledge that you've succeeded more as a fringe group rather than as an entity that represents the 99%.
We're fortunate in Chicago that the occupiers mostly recognize that fact and that the cops learned a lot from the mistakes of 1968. So we're able to get the message out, have some arrests that lately seem on both sides to be just street theater, nobody gets hurt and the reputations of Chicago and #occupychicago aren't tarnished.

Lazy

Did Obama say Americans are lazy? No. But 60% of the eligible voters didn't participate in the 2010 election, so I guess I need some help finding a better word to describe us.

The Gloves Are Off

When did it become acceptable for adults in this country to act so childishly, selfishly angry? Was it during the 80s, when the pendulum swung back from rationalism and we elected a movie star president, not because what he said made sense, but because his nonsense gave us an excuse to be irresponsible, and the childish anger of the "oppressed" white male was a natural outcome? I vote yes.
So when I see cops dousing pepper spray on a group of sitting kids, despite the constitution's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, and the cops are cheered by self-styled "patriotic" Americans, then I have to say that this country has hit a new low in immaturity and it's time to call out these fake patriots for being the children they really are.