Blaming The Unemployed, cont...

Sept 19th, 2011

This time, from Maine's "colorful" governor, Paul LePage. David Farmer writes for the Bangor Daily News:

"The world is truly topsy-turvy when the governor of the state starts blaming people who don’t have a job for unemployment.

But that’s exactly what happened last week. 

Gov. Paul LePage, after a photo-op meeting with business owners in the state, took aim at workers. He said that Maine has 21,000 job openings and 24,000 people who are unemployed.

The problem, LePage said, is that our workers don’t have the skills necessary to take any of those jobs.

Never mind the recession, the housing collapse, offshoring and the fact that many of the folks who are unemployed live hours from where the jobs Gov. LePage touts are.

Unemployment is the fault of workers, who don’t have the right skills.

But don’t worry. Gov. LePage didn’t place all the blame on workers. He also included parents and guidance counselors.

Gov. LePage would like those folks to help lower their children’s expectations, because, you know, not everyone needs a four-year college degree.

"Quite frankly, one of the most disturbing things I heard today is our educational system is geared to send all students to a four-year college," Gov. LePage said." EMPHASIS OURS

Ben Stein Jumps The Shark

May 17th, 2011

Ben Stein's arguments that the long term unemployed smell (literally) or that Arabs don't deserve democracy were one thing. But this? This is unforgivable. Today, Stein addressed the shocking tale of IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn as rape and assault allegations unfold against him. While Stein purports to be defending the principle of the presumption of innocence, what he reveals is anger that New York's judicial system is treating someone so very wealthy with the same standards that it would, as he calls them, the "have-nots."

He writes in The American Spectator:
"1.) If he is such a womanizer and violent guy with women, why didn't he ever get charged until now? If he has a long history of sexual abuse, how can it have remained no more than gossip this long? France is a nation of vicious political rivalries. Why didn't his opponents get him years ago?"

Amazing. A vast majority of sexual assault is unreported. Most countries do not treat victims of rape as well as we do in the U.S and that's not saying much. It is generally understood in law enforcement that for every successful rape prosecution there are far more victims of the convicted who simply aren't known to the authorities. One doesn't suddenly just start raping women. Does Stein honestly believe that a man who is arguably the most powerful banker in the world could not get away with intimidating witnesses? This is, incidentally, exactly what allegedly happened a decade ago to French journalist Tristane Banon.