Posted on by A View From The Middle (Class)

A few quick takes on Papa John’s, Kochs & “komedy” …

I was going to write something funny about the name of the Mars rover, but when I googled “mars rover curiosity killed the cat” and saw that it wasn’t exactly an original idea, I found a few other odd things to write about that caught my eye in the news today …

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Papa John's Pizza
Papa John’s Pizza (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Wow!  It appears that more and more businesses are feeling more powerful when it comes to speaking out on political issues now that Citizen’s United is there to protect entities’ rights to freedom of speech.  First we had the Chick-fil-A “issue,” and now we have Papa John’s Pizza CEO John Schnatter announcing that his company will have to raise prices (11-14 cents per pizza!!! ) so it can offer health care to more of its 16,500 total employees.  Oooooohhhhh!!!

“We’re not supportive of Obamacare, like most businesses in our industry,” Schnatter was quoted as saying in Politico.  “But our business model and unit economics are about as ideal as you can get for a food company to absorb Obamacare.”

It may not have been intended for humor, but Schnatter’s announcement brought about some funny responses in comments from potential customers leaning more toward comments like “11-14 cents per pizza, no big deal, so what’s up with the whining?”

As for me, chalk this up to yet another fast food place where I’m not that big on the product in the first place so no big deal if I continue to choose to get my pizzas from other more local restaurants anyway.  I am wondering what new political “drama” will come from these national fast food chains.

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What does it take to get a serious rise out of the Koch brothers?  I wrote what I thought was a decent bit of satire involving them and their “willingness” to take on the nation’s health care coverage situation months ago, even sent a link to my article directly in an email to Koch Industries … nothing.  I guess I’m not even a blip on the Kochs’ radar screen.  Too bad, so sad.

English: Zach Galifianakis as Alan from "...
English: Zach Galifianakis as Alan from “The Hangover” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What does it take to get on the Kochs’ radar screen?  Have the name Zach Galifianakis, apparently.

The new comedy “The Campaign” features Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow portraying a pair of wealthy political donors named “The Motch Brothers.”  Galifianakis — one of the stars of the raunchy “The Hangover” comedies who co-stars along with Will Ferrell in “The Campaign” — explained in an interview with the New York Daily News while promoting the new movie, “Whether you are on the right or the left, everyone can agree that there are a lot of outside influences in American politics that are not good for the system. There’s just too much money.” He went on to describe the Koch brothers as “creepy” and confessed, “I disagree with everything they do.”

That got the “Koch Kamp” koncerned.  They issued a statement through their spokesman Phillip Ellender.

“Last we checked, the movie is a comedy.  Maybe more to the point is that it’s laughable to take political guidance or moral instruction from a guy who makes obscene gestures with a monkey on a bus in Bangkok,” Ellender said, talking about a scene from the movie “The Hangover Part II.”

“We disagree with his uninformed characterization of Koch and our beliefs.  His comments, which appear to be based on false attacks made by our political opponents, demonstrate a lack of understanding of our longstanding support of individual freedom, freedom of expression, and constitutional rights.”

So the Kochs get upset about comments made by a popular comedic actor, and that’s what it takes to get an official statement from them.  I’ll remember that next time I want to try and get a rise out of them.

I’ll post it under the name Louis C.K. next time.

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Posted on by A View From The Middle (Class) · 5 Comments

What? Billionaires destroying democracy?

I ran across an article on Salon.com yesterday — excerpted from the book “Billionaires’ Ball: Gluttony and Hubris in an Age of Epic Inequality” by Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks — that was quite a shocker.

Charles and David Koch

It’s something that all members of the middle class and below should read … you know, the huge majority of the people in this country, the ones who actually make up such a vastly large percentage of the voting public, the 99%.  People like the Koch brothers need not read it, because they’re part of the cause — they’re not part of the solution.

John McCain said it himself just recently, in one of his moments where he’s not finding himself running for President and saying what he’s told to say by his handlers … something along the lines of money mixing in with politics, and how it’s not a good mix and it’s a scandal that needs to be exposed (see related article below).

You keep fighting that fight, Mr. McCain.  Too bad most of your cohorts on the Right just don’t seem to get it.

Here’s a link to the Salon.com article below.  You can either read it and weep, or read it and start to ask yourself if it might be time to think about where this nation is headed, and how to truly start to restore it to its full glory.

Salon.com — How billionaires destroy democracy

Who’s up to a little peaceful, democracy-style “rising” against this garbage?

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