the art of the possible

Criminal Restauranteurs of San Francisco

2009-03-09T23:12:00.000-04:00

The Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA) is a anti-employee lobby group in the Bay Area. They're suing the City of San Francisco, attempting to overturn a rule which would allow workers to have a minuscule slice of health care coverage. So, fuck the GGRA. And fuck every restaurant who supports them.

From the GGRA website, I grabbed a list of all the restaurants in San Francisco whose names begin with the letter 'A'. There are about 800 member restaurants, total, and about 500 in San Francisco proper - the rest are in Marin, Oakland, etc. In theory, we should be able to lean on these restaurants and tell them to fuck off or else we'll fuck off from their shitty restaurants. There might be a lobby group working on this in SF already - a universal/single-payer group or similar, but it's an idea.

Ideally we could get a list of restaurants and then call them all, send an email to them all, write a letter to them all, then drop by all the restaurants in our neighborhoods (we'd just divide up the list by neighborhood), and then make sure they knew what the community wanted them to do. If they were compelled to go out of business, there's nothing we could do to stop them - but we should let our demands be known, at the very minimum. We could go as far as picketing, etc. Nice. :)

21st Amendment
563 Second Street
San Francisco
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415-369-0900
Cuisine: American

A16 A16
2355 Chestnut Street
San Francisco
Marina
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(415) 771-2216
Cuisine: Italian

Absinthe Brasserie & Bar Absinthe Brasserie & Bar
398 Hayes Street
San Francisco
Hayes Valley
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(415) 551-1590
Cuisine: French

Academy Grill (California Culinary Academy) Academy Grill (California Culinary Academy)
625 Polk Street
San Francisco
Civic Center
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(415) 354-9180
Cuisine: American

Acme Chophouse Acme Chophouse
24 Willie Mays Plaza
San Francisco
Mission Bay /SOMA
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(415) 644-0240
Cuisine: California Fresh
Testing

Alfred's Steakhouse
659 Merchant Street
San Francisco
Financial District
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(415) 781-7058
Cuisine: Steakhouse

Alioto's Outdoor Crab Market Alioto's Outdoor Crab Market
#7 Fisherman's Wharf
San Francisco
Fisherman's Wharf
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(415) 673-0183
Cuisine: Seafood

Alioto's Restaurant Alioto's Restaurant
8 Fisherman's Wharf
San Francisco
Fisherman's Wharf
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(415) 673-0183
Cuisine: Italian, Seafood

Alive Alive
1972 Lombard Street
San Francisco
Marina/Cow Hollow
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(415) 923-1052
Cuisine: Vegetarian

Americano Americano
8 Mission Street
San Francisco
SOMA
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(415) 278-3777
Cuisine: Californian, Italian

Amici's East Coast Pizzeria
2033 Union Street
San Francisco
Marina/Cow Hollow
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(415) 885-4500
Cuisine: Pizzeria

Amici's East Coast Pizzeria Amici's East Coast Pizzeria
216 King Street (at 3rd Street)
San Francisco
SBC Park
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(415) 546-6666
Cuisine: Pizzeria

Amici's East Coast Pizzeria Amici's East Coast Pizzeria
2200 Lombard Street
San Francisco
Marina
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(415) 885-4500
Cuisine: Pizzeria

Amphora Wine Merchant Amphora Wine Merchant
384A Hayes Street
San Francisco
Hayes Valley
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(415) 863-1104
Cuisine:

Ana Mandara Ana Mandara
891 Beach Street
San Francisco
Ghirardelli Square
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(415) 771-6800
Cuisine: Asian, Vietnamese

Ana Mandara
900 North Point
San Francisco
Ghiradelli Square
(415) 771-6800
Cuisine: Vietnamese

Andale Mexican Restaurant Andale Mexican Restaurant
2150 Chestnut Street
San Francisco
Marina
(415) 749-0506
Cuisine: Mexican

Andalu Andalu
3198 16th Street
San Francisco
Mission
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(415) 621-2211
Cuisine: International

Angelina's Deli-Café & Catering Angelina's Deli-Café & Catering
6000 California Street
San Francisco
Richmond
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(415) 221-7801
Cuisine: CafT, American, Delicatessen, Italian,

Annabelle's Bar & Bistro
68 Fourth Street
San Francisco
Union Square/Downtown
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(415) 284-9000
Cuisine: American

Ansonia Hotel
711 Post Street
San Francisco
Union Square
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(415) 673-2670
Cuisine: American
Renowned American Cuisine and an International Atmosphere inside the historic Ansonia Hotel.

Aperto Restaurant Aperto Restaurant
1434 18th Street
San Francisco
Potrero Hill
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(415) 252-1625
Cuisine: Italian, Mediterranean

Aqua Development Corporation
244 California Street
San Francisco
415-781-2001
Cuisine:

Aramark dba The Carnelian Room
555 Calfornia Street, 52nd Floor
San Francisco
415-433-7500
Cuisine:

Ararat Mediterranean Tapas Ararat Mediterranean Tapas
4072 18th Street
San Francisco
Castro
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(415) 252-9325
Cuisine: Mediterranean

Arlequin Food To Go
384B Hayes Street
San Francisco
Hayes Valley
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(415) 626-1211
Cuisine: American, Bakery, CafT, French, Mediterranean

AsiaSF AsiaSF
201 Ninth Street
San Francisco
SOMA
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(415) 255-2742
Cuisine: Cal-Asian

Asqew Grill Asqew Grill
1607 Haight Street
San Francisco
Haight/Ashbury
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(415) 701-9301
Cuisine: Eclectic & International

Asqew Grill Asqew Grill
3348 Steiner Street
San Francisco
Marina/Cow Hollow
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(415) 931-9200
Cuisine: Eclectic & International

Asqew Grill Asqew Grill
3415 California Street
San Francisco
Laurel Village
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(415) 386-5606
Cuisine: Eclectic & International

Asqew Grill
3583 16th Street
San Francisco
Castro
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(415) 626-3040
Cuisine: Eclectic & International

Atrium (San Francisco Marriott) Atrium (San Francisco Marriott)
55 Fourth Street
San Francisco
SOMA
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(415) 896-1600
Cuisine: Continental

Aziza Aziza
5800 Geary Boulevard
San Francisco
Richmond
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(415) 752-2222
Cuisine: Moroccan, Californian

Azul Bar and Lounge Azul Bar and Lounge
1 Tillman Place
San Francisco
Financial District
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(415) 362-9750
Cuisine:

Democracy Now Video Embed

2009-02-14T02:10:00.007-05:00

Been wanting this functionality forever. You have to click around for it, but eventually you end up at archive.org and an HTML snippet which can supposedly be embedded. We'll find out right now.

Uh, well it works! Needs a bit (a lot) of work, but it essentially works. That's a good start.

...there are two sets of height/width parameters that you can change. and you have to change the 'autoplay' setting from 'true' to 'false' in 4 locations. Hey, Democracy Now! - community-supported radio, that's how we do. :)

Israel: Weapon Tester For U.S. Military

2009-01-14T14:43:00.000-05:00

DIME weapons. Nice.

Israeli functions as a military outpost for the U.S. One of their jobs is to test new weapons on Palestinians and Gazans.

Israel Nearing 1,000 Murder Mark

2009-01-11T22:49:00.000-05:00

I guess that's what they mean when they talk about being 'near their goal' or whatever. 1,000 is a pretty solid number to bring into the upcoming Israeli elections.

I think the racism must be so strong in Israel - like here in the U.S. - that killing Gazan civilians and resistance fighters is one and the same -- there's just not distinction at all for Israel.

This guy Olmert better not try to show up in my town. I'll arrest his ass.

Least Modern Bookstore In The Country

2009-01-11T05:46:00.000-05:00

That would be Stacey's on Market. In all the time I've spent in San Francisco, not once did I go in there -- except, that is, until the other day, when I went it to see why it was failing.

Five things jumped out at me:

Underutilized space - too much of the floor space was underutilized - being either sparse or just not being maximized to see stuff and things
No cafe
An incredible view of Market from the 2nd floor, where a cafe should be - ideally, with a very long bar running across the length of the Market St window.
The 'STACEYS books' sign outside on Market is basically invisible. If you are a brand name, you can get away with using your name -- otherwise, just put a big 'BOOKS' sign up there. The 'books' on the sign is tiny and can barely be seen. No tourists would be interested to stop in, that's for sure.
The technical books they had seemed like a relic. I understand that old traditions die hard, but if it's killing your business, maybe you should think about ditching them? I noticed a few tech books in the back that absolutely nobody would be interested in.

In short, if I wanted a bookstore to fail, I would do exactly what Stacey's has done -- nothing.

Frugal Foodies Dinner

2009-01-11T05:02:00.000-05:00

Sounds cool.

U.S. Terror In Nicaragua

2009-01-11T03:26:00.001-05:00

Very typical article - bashing the leader of a non-compliant country as 'totalitarian' for the entire first half, and then allowing us the know why it's all made up:

Leftwingers flocked from all over the world to help harvest coffee, build schools and be inspired by a government that promoted women's rights, literacy and social justice. Events turned when the Reagan administration, alarmed by Managua's tilt to Moscow, sponsored a bloody and ruinous insurrection by Contra rebels which ended in stalemate. For many it was an immoral and illegal intervention by an overweening superpower, a harbinger of today's Iraq. The Sandinistas' credibility was damaged by presiding over hyperinflation and a draft. Exhausted voters, fearing fresh US-backed mayhem, ousted them in a 1990 election, a shocking, unexpected result which reduced many to tears. The revolution was over.

So, the electorate was terrorized by U.S. sponsored Contras so much that they finally relented and voted for the U.S. candidate. They knew that if they voted for their own guy again - Ortega - they'd suffer years more of murder and terror on a massive scale. Reagan was a good guy.

Still, the article is completely absurd -- it talks in once sentence as if the U.S. backed nationwide terror, and in the next sentence as if there was no such thing. Bizarre, but that's the standard:

Three centre-right governments ruled from 1990 to 2006. The economy stabilised, combatants were demobilised and democracy took root. But corruption blossomed and the poor were forgotten. Jobs were scarce and most people scrabbled on less than $2 a day. Ortega lost consecutive presidential elections and was accused of raping his stepdaughter, Zoilamérica Narváez, since she was 11. He denied it and no trial took place because a court decided the statute of limitations applied. But his reputation was shredded, although Murillo stood by her husband.

Um, isn't that the whole point -- to appoint right-wing governments? The combatants - the terrorist Contras - we demobilised because the U.S. didn't need them to terrorize the population anymore. That the poor were forgotten was the predictable and necessary outcome of the election of a U.S. candidate - what would be the point of the invasion-by-terror otherwise?

The 'article,' of course, is unsigned, and it uses unnamed 'western officials' to bash the new lefty govenrment. We're allowed another sliver of truth in the parting sentence:

Kaufman will not turn his back on the flawed Second Coming of the Sandinistas. "Do we think [it] is better than another rightwing, neoliberal government beholden to US masters? Absolutely."

It's totally crazy. We need a people-fueled international newspaper with real resources. Indymedia is great, but it'd be better to have people getting paid so they can eat and take the time necessary to do the best work.

Mayoral, Governor Crimes An Institutional Problem

2009-01-09T21:03:00.001-05:00

So the latest case of a corrupt mayor. What to do?

Doesn't it seem a bit weird that one person can steer a contract to a particular contractor based on nothing more than who they like? Isn't that just a disaster waiting to happen?

Of course it is. So why do mayors and governors have any say in the process at all? Really, there should be a board - say, a city council, that appoints an independent 'contracts board' that awards contracts based on various preset specifications.

Shit - I don't know the specifics, but it seems all too easy for governors and mayors to run roughshod over the system. What's the point of government if it doesn't have built-in checks and balances?

What End Of Times Means

2009-01-06T20:00:00.000-05:00

If the Times goes away, we will no longer have a national newspaper that cheerleads us into war. After that, we might be able to start rightsizing some of the military-industrial complex.

Nice.

Time For 32-Hour Work Weeks, Or 6-Hour Days

2009-01-06T17:10:00.000-05:00

Why not? The economy is shrinking anyways. At least this way, people can be employed. Or we could mandate a six-hour day.

'Respectable' Liberals Hate Bill Ayers

2008-12-07T16:00:00.001-05:00

I'd be very afraid if I agreed with these people. They'll do absolutely anything to avoid confrontation - even be apologists for the mass murder that was Vietnam.

I guess it's tough work, sitting at the computer all day, typing words on a page.

...more of those crazy terrorists doing their terroring thing. Watch out - liberal bloggers will be very very upset that property is being destroyed. The police killing of the boy should not be mentioned - it would not be proper. And the Vietnam War would have ended earlier if it weren't for those pesky kids.

Indian Raid Brings Death To Hostages

2008-11-29T15:33:00.000-05:00

If the Indian commandos and their superiors had a reasonable expectation that the hostages would be murdered when they raided - that raises the question - should the commandos and their superiors be charged with murder? Perhaps a lesser crime?

Obama fucking everything up already

2008-11-15T04:00:00.000-05:00

He's about to put this warmongering bitch, Hillary, in SecState position. I'm tired of the "I'm a woman, watch me kill some Iraqis" game. Can't we have someone normal?

I guess all the men are cowards, too. Oh, well.

When Will Mainstream Democrats Take Voter Roll Scrubbing Seriously?

2008-10-24T19:57:00.000-04:00

Maybe after Obama loses in a couple of weeks, despite national and state polls showing him up several percentage points:

During elections in New Mexico earlier this year, one in nine voters found that their names had disappeared from the electoral rolls. Whole streets of voters in poor neighbourhoods vanished. In Colorado, the disenfranchisement is even greater, with 20 per cent of voters excluded from the rolls.

I promise to say, "I told you so," right after I get back from my first round of direct action.

Riot!

2008-10-22T14:37:00.000-04:00

That's what needs to happen after Obama loses the election, but Bush is prepared. He didn't bring those troops home for nothing.

Polls Don't Take Into Account Voter Roll Cleansing

2008-10-20T20:04:00.000-04:00

The people who have had their voting registration record wiped from the system won't know until they show up at the polls that they're unable to vote. Then, if they're extremely persistent, they'll only be able to cast a provisional ballot - which will probably be thrown away.

So, in the case of Michigan Republicans admitting to engaging in vast voter crimes, liberal bloggers don't seem to care that the polls don't accurately reflect who will actually be able to vote on November 4 - the polls will inaccurately put Obama ahead comfortably.

MBAR Sounds Like Prince, Too

2008-10-16T14:40:00.000-04:00

The kid's got chops. Bob Dylan. Prince. Call it what you want. I call it awesome.

Acorn Registers Mickey Mouse?

2008-10-14T12:18:00.000-04:00

No. Drudge lied again - the state rejected the registration attempt. It's just another way for Drudge, the Republican political operative, to try to deceive voters. So what's new?

Headlines you won't find on Drudge? Republicans in Michigan illegally de-registered 1,438 voters.

The blacks will take over

2008-10-13T10:24:00.002-04:00

These folks are crazy.

How to be an asshole during a downturn

2008-10-06T04:02:00.000-04:00

Just write a bunch of self-important shit about why everyone should listen to you because you kept your shitty wage slavery job.

Message to all superior-sounding jobbed folks as they feel the need to dole out advice to the unjobbed over the next couple of years: FUCK. YOU.

p.s. I happen to be jobbed at the moment, so no worries, here, but self-important assholes will come along with this same shit every downtown. It's like clockwork - downtown upon us, look out for the poop stew.

What's wrong with Linda Lingle?

2008-10-02T06:20:00.000-04:00

The name sounds a bit funny because....well, I've just never heard it before. But here's the weird part - you've seen her on TV before.

Linda Lingle is the current governnor of Hawaii. She's the most prominent female Republican - or was, until Palin took over.

And you know what? Like Palin, Lingle had, at least in one point in time, astoundingly high approval ratings. I'd guess she probably still did until she started using child protective services as a political weapon to crush dissent. Can you imagine anything more disgusting? I mean, there might be outright rape and murder, but this is the next best thing. If you kill the credibility of child protective services, you kill, rape, torture, and make suffer thousands of children in your state - it's that simple. And Linda Lingle pushed for that to happen. Beautiful person.

But Republicans, while still human, can act very anti-human - so this should not have been any sort of dealbreaker for them. Most abused children are poor, right - so what's the big deal with discrediting the agency that protects them, really? Children can't vote, and they sure as heck can't pay bribes to politicians, so what good are they?

But why didn't McCain choose Lingle for VP? She was married and divorced twice, and has no children. Is all of that enough reason not to pick someone for VP? She was chairperson of the 2004 RNC in New York City, where she helped the NYPD go around and arrest thousands of civilians - no small effort. She's been on TV. She's articulate. She trumpets the party line. She's the perfect fit, right?

Well, there's this one other thing. Linda Lingle looks.....gay. Was that enough to crush her chances of running for VP for the Republican party?

I hope it wasn't Triumph that ruined everything for her and Hawaii. Poor poor Hawaii.

Jets Try to Murder Anquan Boldin...Literally.

2008-09-29T10:47:00.000-04:00

If this hit by Eric Smith and the other Jet is not attempted murder, then I don't know what is.

And it's not a done deal yet, because Anquan is still in the hospital. We don't even know if he'll ever walk again, though thankfully, things are looking promising.

I'm not sure how the NFL could let Eric Smith ever play again. I'm not sure how the State of New Jersey cannot levy attempted murder charges against Eric Smith and the other Jet. At a minimum, it would have to be some sort of felony assault charge. I won't say it, but if things were bad, you could bet that charges would be filed. And they should be.

Things took a turn for the worse when the League did not do anything in response to the dirty play that put Tom Brady out for the year. The guy tried to end Brady's career. We'll see if he was successful or not.

This crime was just the logical next step.

Both Eric Smith and the other Jet that hit Boldin helmet-to-helmet deserve to go to jail for the rest of their lives.

Can Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson escape the curse of TVOTR and Grizzly Bear endorsements?

2008-09-27T23:08:00.005-04:00

I really don't fuckin know. It seems every blogger, and newsperson, who writes about Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (MBAR) feels the need to attribute any appearance of MBAR's talent to the alleged talents of TV on the Radio and Grizzly Bear - his producers, co-workers, friends, etc. Of course, that might be the case, but I don't buy it. You can produce the fuck out of something, but it's usually pretty easy to hear. And now that I've heard MBAR live, it's obvious - I was right - the dude is at least as good, at least as talented, as we suspected. And it has nothing at all to do with his producers or endorsements.

Even a recent Boston Globe article can't help but mention that it's OK to write about MBAR because, he's been endorsed, dontchaknow?

He's the 25-year-old kid endorsed by TV on the Radio and Grizzly Bear - two of the biggest bands in the overheated indie troposphere.

Maybe I'm not awestruck by these endorsements because, until MBAR came along, I had never heard of TVOTR nor Grizzly Bear.

At least the Globe tries to recover a bit, and allows one of his endorsers to suggest that maybe, just maybe, this kid from Portland might actually not be a brain-dead hack -- that he might, in fact, have some talent of his very own:

"People like to feel that suffering is the only truth, and that's the only place where real beauty can come from," says Kyp Malone, the frontman of TV on the Radio. "That comes from rock 'n' roll and all the archetypes - the geniuses dead at 27, all strung out. Miles has a lot of that in him. He's also really, really smart. I feel like whatever he wants, he can have it. Or he can blow it. Either way, he's added something to my life already. My life has been enriched."

It's kind of odd to say it - I think it's probably just the nature of hack bloggers who can't think for themselves - but I wonder if racism has anything to do with this. I mean, is it possible that a black (mixed race?) kid could have talent? And could, like, write stuff down on paper that was, like, smart? I know white people tend to scoff at the idea that racism is deeply rooted in the American psyche - it's not something that is pleasant to talk about - but when someone with such magnificent talent rolls around, and every blogger everywhere is falling all over themselves to explain how something like this could possibly happen - and they all come to the same conclusion - it's not the black kid, it's someone else - how could it be anything but plain old racism? It's his producers. It's the weather. Who knows what the fuck. It's anything but the obvious. Why is this so difficult to come to terms with?

Note to all syncophantic MBAR bloggers everywhere -- stop being such whiny little incontinent spewers of your own subservience - it's boring. Grow some, and write something with confidence. If you love the dude, say it. If you hate the dude, say it. Go on the record. Don't hide behind this "well, so and so produced him" bullshit.

[Update:] Found some text that almost qualifies as genuine praise. It's still got the obligatory refs to producers, but we're getting closer:

9:10, Roseland
Portlanders, you need to know Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson. The Portland native defected to New York after high school (he’s a Wilson HS grad) and became chummy with the bands Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio—who have since helped him scale the ranks of New York’s music scene. He broke a guitar string on the first song, and his voice was shot, but Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson was fuckin’ incredible. (WH)

Developing...

...still got the obligatory TVOTR ref, but some refs have dropped out. This is promising.

It's starting to look possible....Obama in the White House

2008-09-27T21:13:00.000-04:00

Not that I expect anything of signficance to actually change, but even if this article on how McCain damned to die those POWs left behind doesn't gain much traction, it's looking like Obama could win this thing.

But, as we all know, it's not who casts the votes, it's who counts the votes. Ohio. Florida. I'm looking at you guys.

I wouldn't be surprised if people get a rude awakening at about 7am on Wednesday morning, November 5th, when the news stations start congratulating our new president and vice-president, John 'I-fucked-the-POWs' McCain and Sarah 'Even-my-own-party-hated-me' Palin.

It was Clinton's fault, too

2008-09-24T02:31:00.001-04:00

The same as Clinton shares a great amount of blame for the Iraq Invasion, he shares blame for the current economic meltdown, too.

If you have my worldview, facts like this are not that surprising at all -- in fact, they're the only things that can make the world make any sense at all. The facts may not be morally right, but they're not confusing to me.

I don't run around saying things like, "Why don't the Democrats ever do anything??!!," like so many of my breathless brothers and sisters -- on both sides of the aisle. The answer is simple - they don't care, and even if a few actually did care, they're not in a position to do anything about it - they're just doing what they're told. Sure, they could throw themselves out of office if they wanted to, but expecting egomaniacs to stop being egomaniacs is not what I would consider a sane strategy.

Clinton's economic legacy goes far beyond the economic disasters that are NAFTA and Iraq:

The meltdown is a bipartisan affair. Presidential contenders John McCain and Barack Obama each have received millions of dollars from these very companies that are collapsing and are receiving the corporate welfare. President Clinton and his treasury secretary, Robert Rubin (now an Obama economic adviser), presided over the repeal in 1999 of the Glass-Steagall Act, passed after the 1929 start of the Great Depression to curb speculation that caused that calamity. The repeal was pushed through by former Republican Sen. Phil Gramm, one of McCain’s former top advisers. Politicians are too dependent on Wall Street to do anything. The people who vote for them, and whose taxes are being handed over to these failed financiers, need to show their outrage and demand that their leaders truly put “country first” and bring about “change.”

Glass-Steagall Act.

Man, the dude is still wrecking shit 8 years after he's been out of office! Damn.