Screw Iraq I need a Job!
anyone saw that sign during the discussions post debate? thought it was bloody funny!
Do you need a Philips or a straighthead?
It’s funny but ironic. That is the pre 9/11 mindset. It is so short sighted.
It’s the “me, me me-ism” that’s becoming more and more prevalent in the U.S. Ironic isn’t the word, especially when the unemployment rate’s at 5.4% (lower than when Clinton ran for reelection) and anybody that wants a job can find one, but Bush also shares some of the blame. When asked the day after 9/11 what the country could do to help in the fight, he replied with something like “go shopping, spend money carry on as you always do”.
Like Kerry with his “nuanced approach”, I can also understand the underlying reasoning behind what he was saying, since he was already dealing with a growing recession that had begun in the last months of the Clinton administration, and he wanted to ensure that he didn’t have to fight the coming war while also coming up with FDR-like NRA, WPA etc. government jobs programs, but he could’ve seized the moment with a little demagoguery and patriotic fervor and we’d all have been saving our cooking oil and rationing nylons and recycling our bike tires and whatnot 
It’s not short-sighted to the guy who lost his job.
With the unemployment rate at 5.4%, anybody that wants a job can get one. Unfortunately, the new paradigm is frequent career change, yo-yoing income levels, and regular job retraining. No President can dictate the quality or type of jobs that employers offer, he can only smooth the way, through responsible government oversight, for people to get a “hand up” (and not a “handout”) towards getting that new job.
Trust me, I see it every day. I’m a manager for a major airline in the U.S. My employees are primarily unskilled baggage handlers and aircraft cleaners. They take a helluva lot of pride in their jobs, but they make, on average, 21 dollars an hour, with a defined-benefits pension program, up to 7 weeks of paid vacation, free space-available travel anywhere in the world, 10 holidays and 10 sickdays, an average of 3.5 hours of idle time per shift (planes come in and go out on varying schedules) and iron-clad job work rules. Hell… in a good year, taking proferred overtime, some of them make 100,000 dollars. Yet, they know the industry can’t sustain that kind of package anymore, so we know ALL about the coming paradigm shift
Some people have no sense of humor, or need to make more of something than face value.
I think it was funny. The debates were all BS and theater, and that guy was probably paid. I don’t care, it’s still funny.
Too bad there weren’t more people playing that show for laughs, because the two main comedians didn’t have the delivery to make a three-year-old chuckle…
They have jobs open in Iraq.
“They have jobs open in Iraq.”
Word…
Good benefits, including all funeral expenses.
but Bush also shares some of the blame
Yes, he certainly does that.
In fact, the sharing of the blame is something this administration does with great zeal and relish…our Preznit is quite generous with his blame-sharing; sometimes he shares so much there appears to be none left on his plate:
“Ma’am, the Secretary of the Army regrets to inform you that someone named ‘Curveball’ has played a very elaborate pratical joke on your family.”
Oh, but you meant he ‘shares the blame’ like he’s responsible for stuff.
Neat idea, but keep it down…Preznit’s been out on the trail a long time and gets pretty crabby with anyone who isn’t clapping.
but he could’ve seized the moment with a little demagoguery and patriotic fervor
Yes, imagine that.
Imagine if Our Preznit carpe’d that diem with some 8th grade bravado and harnessed the National Will to launch a hilariously inept jobs creation program in Iraq, we could call it “W’s Iraq JobCorps(e).”
Obviously, this huge jobs program wouldn’t be pretty to look at up close. Obscenely expensive, a tad messy (yes, Shinseki, NOW we know 10 minus 12 equals negative 1092 but why didn’t you warn anyone about that?) and fantastically disorganized, it would be the type of audaciously stupid gamble that would leave me shocked, then awed and then, a little later, in the mood for tacos and a nap.
But make no mistake, W’s IraqJob Corps(e) is a vertically integrated Employment System, despite the media’s effort to make it look like a low-slung split-level quagmire. Entry-level KinkPatrol in the dungeon by Wal Mart Alums like Lynndie prop up driving gigs with KBR which, in turn, supports cushy white collar stuff in the Green Zone…though after today’s little cafe tantrum, Management is asking everyone to eat quietly at their desks until further notice.
Even better, these jobs we’re creating (about 2.2/day, check local listings) are uniquely American, and always will be.
They will never be outsourced to India, nor will they be stolen by diffident Frenchmen and their 35-hour weeks…and W’s Iraq JobCorps(e) will chug along throughout the next administration, no matter who is at its helm.
Freedom, like the man said, is untidy.
not for professors 
but interestingly, there is a position as an associate prof. in computer science, at the american university in Saudi Arabia…
somehow my wife didn’t see overly enthusiastic about it
I take off my insanity hat and hand it to you. Wow man you just put my months of unredable bullshit to shame. I bow to you.
With the unemployment rate at 5.4%, anybody that wants a job can get one. Unfortunately, the new paradigm is frequent career change, yo-yoing income levels, and regular job retraining. No President can dictate the quality or type of jobs that employers offer, he can only smooth the way, through responsible government oversight, for people to get a “hand up” (and not a “handout”) towards getting that new job.
Trust me, I see it every day. I’m a manager for a major airline in the U.S. My employees are primarily unskilled baggage handlers and aircraft cleaners. They take a helluva lot of pride in their jobs, but they make, on average, 21 dollars an hour, with a defined-benefits pension program, up to 7 weeks of paid vacation, free space-available travel anywhere in the world, 10 holidays and 10 sickdays, an average of 3.5 hours of idle time per shift (planes come in and go out on varying schedules) and iron-clad job work rules. Hell… in a good year, taking proferred overtime, some of them make 100,000 dollars. Yet, they know the industry can’t sustain that kind of package anymore, so we know ALL about the coming paradigm shift
“Trust me, I see it every day”
I understand some of your sentiments. My dad was an airline mechanic for 30+ years. Major airlines. He deserved the $20+ hour wage that he earned. He was blue collar, but highly skilled, and still a helluva lot smarter than his advanced degree educated son. I do, however, agree that the unions have taken the extreme in compensation packages. I.e. if the mechs get it, so do the bag smashers, etc. Should there be a wage diff? Hell yea. Is there? Nope.
The airlines, understandably, cannot support their current labor costs. I will state though that managament plays dirty in the airline industry. Not always, not everywhere. But, as you know, the industry is diseased with the us v. them mentality. The problem is, Certain airlines have asked for labor to make concessions in the past. Wage cuts, no raises for 5+ years, including no cost of living allowances, with the PROMISE, to reimburse. Yet they don’t, instead when times are good, they forget those promises. then when tough times hit again, they ask for more. Part of the problem may stem from cleaners getting overpaid, but part of the problem also falls on mngt.
This rant was not anti-management. Nor was it pro-union. It was hopefully just an opinion from someone who has one, and try's to appreciate both sides.
As far as the guy with the sign. I think that if, say, he had 15 years in a manufacturing job, and lost it, it's not so easy to say "anybody that wants a job can get one." I do think there is a change in employment style, job-hopping, etc. But he may feel that Bush entering Iraq has hurt our economy, and his job. He may be right, he may be wrong. I don't know enough about global economics to comment. He may not be blaming anyone, he may not be expecting a handout. He maybe just thinks that the economy/his job was hurt by the war in Iraq, and any costs associated with that.
Then again, he could be a pawn for that dude running on the Dem ticket.