A Christmas Carol

franklin delano roosevelt was paralyzed from polio; it was a rare photograph that would show Roosevelt trying to walk—an image that the press, for reasons of tact, and the president, for reasons of strategy and pride, never drew attention to ..... the same does not hold true for today's press or bush, who is often shown trying to talk, and yet he has never spoken a truthful word or made any sense to any creature slightly smarter than a planarium .....

this christmas season bush might well mumble out "emission accomplished;" jerkoff that he is, he's whacked off all over america: the tiny spurt of his demon seed on everyone's pantleg is the true republican "trickle down" effect: forty million homeowners have lost their homes, and that doesn't even count the ones that hurricane katrina evicted way back when and i don't even think about them any more because who gives a thought to new orleans or the myriad displaced; i'm surprised that the republicans didn't blame the very existence of katrina on the poor people it devasted; they're certainly blaming the economic meltdown in the subprime pot on all those dirty vicious predatory homeowners who took out those low interest mortgages .... as if it's not bad enough that people aspiring to the american dream of owning a home crashed the economy and are now out on the street: "they're whiners," according to phil gramm, professional republican corpse fucker whose deregulation of the financial industry paved the way to the legitimization of greed and plunder until .... until ..... bernard madoff made off with the money of rich people, of famous people, and isn't that outrageous? no, it wasn't the greed of the entitled that led to a 50 billion dollar ponzi scheme: it was the doing of one bad apple .....

i haven't read any "news" stories that might implicate people who had plenty of everything but who, needing more, still wanted something for nothing; part of madoff's attraction to the ultra-wealthy was that they would suddenly join a select circle of fortunate investors, that--not only would they become wealthier than ever before--they would become more elite than they ever thought possible ..... i'm sorry, if there's one christmas gift i'll enjoy it's billionaires complaining about losing a million or two along the way .....

the germans—who have a word for about anything and everything—have one that i think relevant here: "schadenfreude ...." we've talked about this, haven't we? 'schadenfreude: the [almost] guilty pleasure one takes in another's misfortunes ......

in the spirit of schadenfreude, and the christmas season, i'd like you to sing this christmas carol along with me .... come on, now; join in ..... you know it; it's to the tune of "oh tannenbaum" or, if you prefer, "oh christmas tree ....."

oh schadenfreude oh schadenfreude how lovely is the feeling
oh schadenfreude oh schadenfreude how lovely is the feeling
i love it when the rich get fleeced
when they take it up their butts ungreased
oh schadenfreude oh schadenfreude how lovely is the feeling

oh schadenfreude oh schadenfreude i dearly love the feeling
oh schadenfreude oh schadenfreude i dearly love the feeling
so many wealthy folks got plucked
it's such a joy when they get fucked
oh schadenfreude oh schadenfreude i dearly love the feeling

oh schadenfreude oh schadenfreude how lovely is the feeling
oh schadenfreude oh schadenfreude how lovely is the feeling
i love it when the upper class
takes it in their greedy ass
oh schadenfreude oh schadenfreude how lovely is the feeling

the collapse of lehman brothers; of bear sterns; the imminent collapse of aig; none of this made anybody wonder about regulations or the regulatory mechanisms that had been assiduously dismantled; suddenly there's a concerted intake of breath: ooooooo ..... where was the sec? what were they doing all along? why didn't they catch this years ago?

i could go on, and so could you, but i'm going to go wrap presents for the boys; it's their birthday tomorrow .....

next: dr. pete catches the spirit