Life's Little Injustices (Take XXV): Hey, If "Nobody Wants To Work," Why Are The Lines So Long?

 

<"My name is Grace Slick, and I'm a tad dissatisfied
with the state of America today...":

Welcome To The Wrecking Ball!, inner gatefold sleeve>

Lines -- long, long, long lines...

Lines -- long, long, long lines...

Pushing in, shoving in, butting in -- cutting up some lines...

Lines for the rat race, you get wasted

All these traces, lines on your faces...

Breadlines, bloodlines,
Standing in the back of unemployment lines...


<Grace Slick, "Lines"
Welcome To The Wrecking Ball! (1981)>

Old records pop into your head at the funniest moments. The above citations came to mind while the Squawker and I endured one of modern life's grisliest rituals, namely, the weekly grocery store outing that you know exists to Hoover as much money as possible out of your pockets. It's basically like visiting that ninth circle of Hell, only without the medieval woodcuts to dazzle your eyes.

For those who don't know, Welcome To The Wrecking Ball! (1981) marked Grace Slick's third solo outing, before she returned to her Jefferson Starship day job, so to speak. It came as a surprise to people, amounting to an about face from Dreams (1980), its moodier, orchestral-driven, ballad-oriented predecessor/

I'm suspecting that the contrast was intentional, with crunchy power chording carrying the day on Wrecking Ball!, whose key players (producer Ron Frangipane, engineer Ed Sprigg, and guitarist Scott Zito). Although it's somewhat favorable, I take issue with Allmusic Guide's characterization of Wrecking Ball! as Slick sounding like "she's fronting Genesis vocally while the band dwells on hard rock."

Actually, the results sounded closer to much of the AOR hard rock of the era, down to the token moody ballad ("Shooting Star"). The results peaked at #48 in Billboard, so somebody liked it, right? Still, with Grace Slick working the mic, the results will sound a notch or two above what the Foreigners and Journeys were doing back then. "Lines," though, is the real gem here -- essentially, Grace free associating whatever connotations of the word pop into her head, most of them negative (surprise, surprise, right?).

All I know is, the song made my best friend in high school and I laugh our asses off at the audacity of the whole thing. For two teenage boys, Welcome To The Wrecking Ball! served its purpose - provide an enjoyable way of passing a Thursday afternoon, waiting to see what the weekend would bring. What I wouldn't give back to go there, considering how fucked up so much of our world seems today, eh?

And, while it probably won't win any positions on those All-Time Greatest Album lists, it does what it says on the tin, as they say in the UK. Sometimes, that's enough. At any rate...

...something else stuck with me on this particular shopping trip, which came right at the end. As the Squawker and I pulled our carts into the checkout lanes -- of which there were just three, with cashier and one bagger apiece to work them. The self-service machines were humming, jammed with the legions of people using them, which is why we glided past them, though that wasn't the only reason, as I'll explain shortly.

What struck me were these long and winding lines, created by the simple act of sticking as few people behind the counter and the cash register to work. At least Squawker and I could sit down, but I saw a lot of visibly irritated people shifting from foot to foot, as they rolled their eyes, and looked straight ahead, waiting for that ninth circle to end.

Grocery stores, in particular, seem to really enjoy pulling this scam. Big box or small one, it doesn't seem to matter, because I see this phenomenon everywhere I go, with the inevitable long faces and weary sighs of resignation providing the perfect counterpoint. What else is new, right? So many businesses, I swear, have adopted "Customers are cattle" as their new working motto.

And yet -- and yet -- over and over again, the captains of industry continue their lament: "Nobody wants to work." It's repeated like some perverse variation on the Rosary, as if one more mumble of the relevant Scripture might finally change the game.

So, I'll serve up a few questions, for the sake of public service, which go something like this:

If nobody wants to work, why are the lines always so perennially long, and why are we still stuck with so many of them? And why are we being herded into them, even now?

And for those do end up working -- or "wanting to" schlep the cash register for that minimum wage, in RichPeopleSpeak -- why do I see so many of them walking to work? I bring this up, because Matthew's, our local grocery store, is only two miles down the road from our complex. Driving past there, on any given day, I see many of those who man the registers heading there, on foot, dressed for work. 

So, let me repeat the question, for the overdogs who somehow missed it -- can we finally, simply, and realistically admit, that one job is nowhere near enough to pay the bills anymore? Because however many hours they're getting, it's clearly not enough to afford a car, right?

And, last but not least: who decided this was AOK, and why do we continue putting up with it? As the saying goes: answers on a postcard, please. The sooner, the better, because the picture's not getting any prettier. --The Reckoner

One Picture, 1,000 Words (Take III): Harris And Trump Trade Punches, Counterpunches

<Example of Harris-Walz campaign's Spanish language outreach, though this flyer is actually the title one of this four-page effort, as you'll see below...>

<Pages two and three spell out the nitty-gritty of this mailer, which is probably among the more elaborately-crafted ones that we've seen crossing our mailbox...>

<...And, last but not least, a Spanish language 

dunking on Project 2025, and Trump's links to it -- 

just in case anyone's missed the message>

<Apologies in advance for the quality, but the main point of interest here lies in the headline -- as in, the same veterans he called "losers" and "suckers," presumably (per his former Chief of Staff, John Kelly)?>

<Rear page of above Trump campaign mailer, targeting what his campaign perceives as a weak spot on veterans' issues...>

<Two different Trump mailers targeting Harris's ties to the Biden administration, attempting to cement her association with the cost of living issues that have soured perceptions toward the White House -- and, indeed, most likely played a role in hounding the President out of the 2024 race...>

<Another example of a Trump mailer, this one taking a more positive tack in emphasizing his belief that, whatever else people say about him, he had a hand in the positive aspects they remember. Cynics say that he's trying to take credit for the groundwork laid by his predecessor, Barack Obama. We'll know soon whose view will carry the day. --The Reckoner>

One Picture, 1,000 Words (Take II): The Slotkin-Rogers Senate Slugfest

 

Continuing with our current theme, here are some flyers and mailers from the U.S. Senate slugfest between Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, and her Republican counterpart, Mike Rogers. In many ways, this race typifies what we're seeing nationally. Both are among the more notable faces of Michigan's Congressional delegation, looking to move up into the bigger job that opened, when veteran Debbie Stabenow ruled out running for a fourth term.

Since 2019, Slotkin has represented a district, variously numbered as the Seventh and Eighth, that stretches from Lansing, to Detroit's outer north suburbs. In contrast, Rogers served the Eighth Congressional District from 2001 to 2015, notably as chairman of the U.S. Permanent Committee on Intelligence (2011-15). Since then, he's put his credentials as a former law enforcement officer to good use, as a national security commentator on CNN, and executive producer of the network's program, "Declassified: Untold Stories Of America's Spies."

Unlike his more flamboyant former colleagues, Rogers isn't a screaming bomb thrower, nor a partisan performance artist. His lower-key style simply doesn't inspire the same animosity or pure gut level disgust as Scott Perry's election denying antics do. Yet Rogers's attack approach seems wearily familiar -- blame Democrats, in general, and their nominee Kamala Harris, in particular, for everything major and minor.

Cost of living going up? All roads lead back to Wilmington. Is the road closure that bottlenecks your complex taking weeks longer to unravel? Team Harris is leaning on those orange barrel guys. Got dinged by 50 cents, for an overdue library book? One call to the front desk sealed your fate. You get the idea.

The only problem, of course, with all this finger-pointing is that it doesn't offer any new insight, unless it's to suggest that Trump didn't get enough to work the magic tricks that eluded the adults in the room. And that's the basic problem with people like Rogers, who seems reasonably intelligent, but nevertheless, voted with Trump 95 to 100% on the time (FiveThirtyEight). 

It's a factoid that raises a reasonable concern, should we end up stuck with a Trump restoration. Slotkin has taken her share of knocks from progressives, which hasn't hurt her at the electoral box office. So far, polls show her clinging to a narrow lead (3-3.5%), a marked contrast from the picture painted in this recent Politi.com story:
https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/32405/politico_internal_republican_poll_shows_slotkin_with_sizable_lead_over_rogers_in_michigan_senate_race

If the story is accurate, and Slotkin really has opened up a wider lead against Rogers, it might explain the flood of literature we're seeing from him lately. Carpetbombing your mailbox doesn't seem like the sign of a candidate who's on a winning track, but maybe Rogers is trying to make up for lost ground and time, having lagged consistently in fundraising throughout the race. (Current figures show war chests of $80 and $62 million for Slotkin and Rogers, respectively.)

At any rate, here are some relevant images from the flyers and mailers we have seen, with relevant comments, as needed. With just over a couple weeks left till Election Day, the frenzied carpetbombing of all those mass mailings is likely to only heat up -- as ever, we'll present the most notable ones that catch our eye. And yours, too, perhaps. --The Reckoner

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<An atypically sunny, positive ad from the Rogers camp, serving as a reminder of what candidates --- particularly incumbents -- used to do, before the "ready, aim, splat!" approach took hold as the go-to campaigning mode nationwide...>

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<I don't see my overdue library book nor clogged local road among the list of failings enumerated here, but give Mr. Rogers time -- I'm sure that he'll lob one, soon enough, to a mailbox near you...>

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<Back to Mike Rogers Playbook 101: Vote for those, like him, who marched in lockstep with the "Swamp Drainer." That should fix everything that ails us, right? 

The verbiage here ('big spending Democrats...like Slotkin") makes us wonder if there's some fill-in-the-blank computer program, deep in the dark heart of the Republican National Committee, that helps candidates whip out these sorts of mailers -- like some twisted political game of Mad Libs, isn't it?>

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So far, the only Slotkin mailer that's crossed our threshold (maybe our fellow tenants have pitched theirs), aimed from the other side of the equation, with a knock against Republican hegemony firmly in the crosshairs ("We deserve to buy a home, build wealth, and start a family, just like every generation has been able to do before now").

One Picture, 1,000 Words (Take I): The Latest Campaign Mailers

 

It's no surprise that lately, I've been hearing people saying, "I'm so f#cking sick and tired of living through historic events." No surprises there, as we either sleepwalk towards disaster, or prepare to snatch America back from the kudzu weed grip of MAGA Inc., depending on which forecast you're reading at the moment.

Which is why, in that same spirit, we're posting whatever distinctive campaign mailers land on our doormat -- precisely because of their soon-to-be historical nature. I mean, let's face it -- campaign literature is some of the planet's most disposable reading material, something meant to be skimmed quickly on the bus ride home, or the toilet, then forgotten. 

But that doesn't mean it lacks interest, especially when you consider what the particular piece of literature is trying to accomplish, which is why we led with the above image. The artist obviously went to great lengths to make Trump look as cartoonish, yet menacingly over the top, as he does here. 

It's the same tactic as you'll see on Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" segment -- pick the most unflattering photo you can find of the subject whose piss you're taking, and run with it. What follows below is a fair sampling of the snapshots that darken our doorstep, as it were, with relevant commentary, wherever it applies. Let the games begin, as they say. --The Reckoner

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Flyer for the Michigan Supreme Court race, pitting the Democratic Party's nominees (above) against Republicans Andrew Fink -- who joined a local "Stop The Steal" protest on that infamous day, January 6th (2021), among other career lowlights -- and Branch County Circuit Judge Patrick O'Grady, who vows to follow a hardline textualist, originalist slant toward the law, in keeping with someone who views Clarence Thomas as an "incredible man."

For a quick rundown of his lowlights, click here, since we won't have a link section this time around:
https://gandernewsroom.com/2024/10/02/5-things-to-know-about-conservative-michigan-supreme-court-candidate-patrick-ogrady/

We've all seen this movie before, though, right? As John Roberts studiously reminded his Senate questioners, on getting his promotion to the US Supreme Court -- just the facts, ma'am. Just an umpire who calls balls and strikes, if I recall his wording correctly.

We know what that means in practice: the umpire who only calls balls and strikes for what the Republican Party's wingnut faction wants crammed down our throats. And we all know how that movie ends, as well.

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<State Rep. Joey Andrews (D-St. Joseph),
taking his Republican opponent to task...>

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<Democratic Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris
takes aim at Trump's links to one of the far right's most notorious passion projects...>

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<More greatest hits from Project 2025, which may well become the gift that just keeps on giving -- and giving -- and giving...>

<Yes, a gift that keeps on giving...and giving...>

<...And giving! Peace out:
We'll see what else the mailman drops.>

By Popular Demand: Vice Presidential Debate Bingo!

 

Well, now, doesn't look like a barrel of fun? With less than three hours to go before the sole vice presidential debate of this campaign, your friends at the AFL-CIO have released a "bingo card" -- the better, presumably, to keep track of the latest verbal outrages that Trump's poodle of a running mate, J.D. Vance, will unleash on the nation.

Childless cat ladies, beware! Men in skirts, take cover, and put your hands over your ears! Stockholm-destined sex changers, screen all your calls! Fellow atheists, Druids, Wiccans, and alternative believers of all stripes, run for cover, before J.D., the man's man, smashes a styrofoam display of the Ten Commandments over your ungodly heathen head! 

Watch out, godless commie lovers! He's taking names, but he's not taking any prisoners...so let's hear it, for the man who wears poverty, like others put on makeup! Put your hands together...for -- Mr. -- J --  D -- Vance!

Oh, yeah, right. We're talking about the same J.D. Vance who posed, not so long ago, with an AR-15 rifle -- in front of a stack of firewood that obviously looks like it's been planed and machined by non-human hands. It's as genuine as those so-called Amish craftsmen ads I'd see late at night, with actors whose fake bears seem...well, glued on.

And yet, he wants you to believe that he's not weird. Yeah, right. Anyway, you can read the basic PR rationale from the union below, and while you're at it, don't forget to download your own card here -- who knows, it looks like a readily convertible piece of art, for other occasions, and it might make a great conversation topic opener some day:

https://betterinaunion.org/system/files/2024-09/VP-BINGO.pdf?link_id=2&can_id=4e6c8046819e1ba183f676fa03eddc7a&source=email-vice-presidential-debate-bingo&email_referrer=email_2473835&email_subject=by-popular-demand-vp-debate-bingo

"We’re looking forward to the country getting to know our union brother, Gov. Tim Walz. Walz is the governor of Minnesota, as well as a former public school teacher, football coach and union member.

"Walz has a track record of standing up for working people, our families and our unions, and he’s helped working families in Minnesota and all over this country. He knows the power of a union and the strength of working people standing together to fight for what’s right.

"We also hope you’ll learn more about Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, a corporate lawyer turned Silicon Valley venture capitalist who has spent his two years in public service catering to corporate interests.

"While he pretends to respect workers and our unions, Sen. Vance is the lead co-sponsor of the Teamwork for Employees and Managers (TEAM) Act, Sen. Marco Rubio’s anti-worker bill that would allow employers to create sham unions that would undermine worker power. And Vance opposed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, the labor movement’s landmark bill to protect workers’ right to join a union."

As far as the PRO Act goes, I have some doubts about it, from the self-employed/IC (independent contractor) standpoint, but I'm on board with the rest of this statement. It would certainly feel odd --given Trump's refusal to entertain a second debate with Harris, an understandable reflex, given the verbal drubbing that she gave him -- ends up being the last word in that arena.

But then, as we all know, nothing about this campaign season has looked, nor felt, remotely normal. In any event, don't forget to tune in at 9 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time), and bring the popcorn. Oh, and a cat, if you happen to have a feline keeping you company. --The Reckoner