Speaking of the brain-dead, the Senate Repuglicants — aided and abetted by Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson — have once again resorted to the filibuster to croak a package of jobless benefits and state aid, ostensibly because its costs are not offset by cuts in other programs. Yeah, right.

Notes Steve Benen at Political Animal: “Because the Senate is ridiculous, 40 votes trumps 56. In real-world terms, this means more than a million unemployed Americans will stop receiving assistance next week, and aid states are counting to prevent massive layoffs won’t arrive.”

Lovely. Where were these self-styled fiscal conservatives when the Daffy-Fudd administration was running two wars off the budget and flushing the Clinton surplus down the gold-plated, diamond-studded loo of tax cuts for the rich? The shameless dingbat Orrin Hatch has stated for the public record that during the previous administration “it was standard practice not to pay for things.”

He added: “We were concerned about it, because it certainly added to the deficit, no question.” Just not concerned enough to actually, y’know, like, do anything about it — like put the brakes on your own “conservative” cabal’s reckless spending and givebacks to the wealthy.

Jim Hightower made an excellent point recently. American politics is not about left vs. right, conservative vs. liberal, red vs. blue — it’s about top vs. bottom. Now cover the kiddies’ ears, ’cause we’re gonna talk a little class warfare here. Notes Hightower:

“As I’ve rambled through life, I’ve observed that the true political spectrum in our society does not range from right to left, but from top to bottom. This is how America’s economic and political systems really shake out, with each of us located somewhere up or down that spectrum, mostly down. Right to left is political theory; top to bottom is the reality we actually experience in our lives every day — and the vast majority of Americans know that they’re not even within shouting distance of the moneyed powers that rule from the top of both systems, whether those elites call themselves conservatives or liberals.

Hardly an earth-shattering revelation, but true nonetheless. Those durned federales in DeeCee will start giving a shit about the po’ folk when they are po’ themselves, and not before. The question is: How do we junk-shot their money pipeline? The two parties have effectively rigged the game so it’s impossible for an honest player to even get a seat at the table.

Hightower preaches populism, which he describes as “the continuation of America’s democratic revolution.”

“It encompasses and extends the creation of a government that is us,” he continues. “Instead of a ‘trickle down’ approach to public policy, populism is solidly grounded in a ‘percolate up’ philosophy that springs directly from America’s founding principle of the Common Good.”

“The Common Good.” E pluribus unum. Do these concepts find a home in Americans’ hearts and minds anymore? Or should we change the national motto to, “I’ve Got Mine, Get Yours!”?