I'm Not Here

I thought I'd just pop in to remind us all that Megan McArdle is married to a tea-bagger, which no doubt has nothing to do with her decision to ignore the Republican tea-baggers' attempts to knee-cap the economy so the government will collapse into little fiefdoms that must beg for funds from billionaires. Since personal connections to tea-baggers and the various and assorted Koch-created or supported venues that funneled money to our little blogger princess are not the reason, I suppose the biggest economic and political story of the moment simply does not interest her.

However you might say that McArdle is desperate to avoid the subject, going by the feebleness of her recent posts. She still has a grudge against Argentina, which defaulted instead of lining the pockets of the business elite, the way God and nature intended. She warned us that "infrastructure" might not mean what everyone thinks it means and business people are too greedy to trust, at least when they are being paid by the government. She opined thinkishly but vaguely about Asia's economic problems without discussing any actual problems excepting China's no doubt tragic dalliance with reform. And McArdle discussed credit and young adults without addressing the credit cards' bombardment of young people; they are "getting themselves credit cards and then getting themselves into big trouble."

Her only nod to the shutdown is a few posts of the awfulness of "Obamacare." But the old Megan magic does pop up its little head when her personal interests are involved. The free market is not doing its job properly, you see, and Miss Megan might be inconvenienced. The company that makes her bike-share bikes might be going under and a bailout attention must be paid!

Sure, I’d rather it wasn’t subsidized by the government, but this wouldn’t even make it onto my list of Top 100 Inappropriate Subsidies From the Government of the District of Columbia. So my conscience does not pang me too much as I glide through the bike lanes of our nation’s capital.

That's our special little princess.

People are spending a lot of time trying to figure out what the tea-baggers want.  It's not that difficult.


I want a feast.
I want a bean feast!

Cream buns and doughnuts and fruitcake with no nuts
So good you could go nuts
 I want a ball
I want a party
Pink macaroons and a million balloons
And performing baboons and ...
Give it to me
Now!

I want the world
I want the whole world
I want to lock it all up in my pocket
It's my bar of chocolate
Give it to me
Now!

I want today
I want tomorrow
I want to wear 'em like braids in my hair
And I don't want to share 'em

I want a party with room fulls of laughter
Ten thousand tons of ice cream
And if I don't get the things I am after
I'm going to scream!

I want the works
I want the whole works
Presents and prizes and sweets and surprises
Of all shapes and sizes
And now
Don't care how
I want it now
Don't care how
I want it now



Why do they want all these things? Because they want to make you give it to them. They want to see you submit to them. That's all. Just total submission. They want Black people to be afraid to look them in the eyes. They want women to stay in their place. They want to know the police will keep the scary people away, and they want lots of guns because everyone know the police are not respectful of their status as the pinnacle of civilization. They want everyone to bow before their god and his image on Earth.

But that's all deep in the background, the kind of thoughts that only surface at night before they fall asleep. We must live in this world whether we want to or not, so in the mean time they will be satisfied with any little old display of power. Complete control over their children is a very satisfying substitution. Forcing women to obey their latest whim if they want reproductive services. Undermining schools that mostly benefit the poor and lower middle class, complaining about the poor and their servants, stiffing the waiter--oh, there are a million ways to flex one's power muscles.

Don't care how
I want it now
Don't care how
I want it now