Eric, My Dude, Wha’ Happened to Ya?

Tags

Eric Cantor, GOP, John McCain, men with no brains, stupid party, teabaggers, when old men need to lie down

Frank Luntz really got one thing right. “The GOP is lousy when it comes to doing polling.”

By all accounts, Eric was blindsided by his rather convincing loss to a third-rate “economist” called Brat. He dinna see it cummin’ as they say.

As all politicians do, they manage to put on a thin smile as they stumble to the podium to admit their loss and congratulate the nobody who was somehow good enough.

The punditry is all awash in ‘splainin’ how this happened.

Some say it was his flirt with immigration reform. Other’s his watering down of a bill that would have but a stop to insider trading by congress people, who are as you know, so danged overworked and unpaid that it’s only fair that they should be able to do what nobody else can do without going to jail.

Some say Eric was just a total shit, arrogant and dismissive, failing to act, ya know, like one of his constituents, on those “hanging out  in the district” times. He was in a word, (words actually) full to the brim with the sweet smell of his own poo.

He will likely be replaced by an even more odious (ideologically speaking) commodity, the Brat guy. Who is some sort of economist, but apparently not much of one, who when asked what his position was on minimum wage increases, said he hadn’t had time to work out a “fully crafted statement” on that yet, or some such bullshit. What freakin’ economist doesn’t have a thought on a subject that, ya know, DEALS WITH ECONOMICS?

But I guess one shouldn’t wonder since his economic philosophy seems to be “Brat believes in free-markets as run by some curious amalgam of Presbyterian theology and Ayn Rand’s economic sociopathy.” If that don’t make your head spin I don’t know what will. The atheist Rand married to a dude who claims that his win was a “miracle from God”. I can’t wait to see how it pulls that off.

It is however, most comforting to know that there are plenty of GOP tenderfeet waiting in the wings for their chance on the national stage.

As well as some old has beens who are still trying to be relevant to something that passes for significance in this political world.

Enter one John S. McCain. A meme last week on Facebook asked commentors to sum up Johnny in three words. My favorites were “still not relevant”, “still not President”, and “Sarah Palin, seriously?”. Fresh off his flopping like a dead flounder all over the Bergdahl mess, he ‘s moved on to utter more stale bullshit to an increasingly deaf audience.

You may not have heard, but Iraq is being overrun at the moment with Al Qaida–you know–the crazies who came into Iraq when George W, following orders from Cheney and Rummy, decided to invade it, because they wanted to? That war. The war that we sorta fought to a tie, which gave us our escape window? And we escaped. And like everyone on the planet knew that chaos (or more chaos I should say) would ensue until the damn country became a bloodbath? And a few hundred people have died in that country every month, but Syria was worse, so we didn’t notice? Until the deaths started being several hundred a week? Now ya remember?

Yeah, well, now Johnny, setting aside his blatant memory loss, has declared that we won that war, (more specifically George did after following John’s instructions), and now Obama has gone and lost it, and his entire group of foreign security advisors should be fired, and replaced by the old crew from George’s tenure, and hell, while you’re at it, let George take over, cuz God we all felt so much better and more secure when he was at the button. Such is the way John sees things, or forgets things.

Meet Jeff Miller, (R-FL).

Look carefully since Jeff, is a zombie. Not walking dead, but walking brain-dead. He is shown holding on to his head, for it would float off to the ceiling if he didn’t. It’s full of nothing but helium.

Florida, as you may know, if one of those areas of the country that will soon lose half its sovereign soil when the oceans rise due to climate change. It is of some minor concern to its residents not all of whom are ready to trade their land based homes for boats.

So in their brilliance, they, in part at least, elect this fool.

Jeff, make no bones about it, is a fool, in CAPITAL LETTERS.

Frank has that wonderful ability to hold lots of facts in his empty brain that are in utter conflict.

First, Frank says that scientists are not agreed about who is causing this particular climate change. That’s not true, of course, for they are, to a degree of more than 97%; the rest being dismissed as owned and paid for by Koch brother enterprises and others in the fossil fuel industry.

Frank chooses to side with the paid-for deniers, and of course reminds us that “the climate is always changing”, as indeed it is. The planet we call home has, over billions of years, undergone plenty of change, most of it taking millions of years to build up. No doubt Frank doesn’t believe this because he must stay on the good side of the funny-gelicals who don’t believe the earth is more than 6,000 +/= a few hundred years old. But, for purposes of this argument I guess he believes that climates change over time.

His proof? Oh the dinosaurs. How in the heck could the dinosaurs have been axed if climate change wasn’t a “natural thing”. After all, he says, man wasn’t there (oh no screams Ken Ham–he’s an atheist!), and they weren’t driving around cars and such.

So the fact that the dinosaurs disappeared means that climate change isn’t man made. (Get the ropes and pinions, that jump across that chasm of logic is mighty wide!)

What Jeff doesn’t have a clue about is that the climate was rolling merrily along in old dinosaur land, when a comet or asteroid hit the planet and threw up so much dust and dirt, that the climate changed massively in a very short time (hint, hint like today’s human activities), and produced an unlivable situation for the dinos quickly. (purists note that this is the Alvarez theory to which I generally adhere or the catastrophic extraterrestrial theory. There are other serious theories which we aren’t going to get into here, suffice it that it has no effect on the argument.)

In other words, there is climate change which is normal and then there is that which is abnormal. What is happening to the earth today is abnormal, proceeding much too rapidly, and is demonstrably man-made.

The point is, there is no connection between the dinosaurs and the reality of man-made climate change. Never was, never will be.

And so we end, “Your week in GOP shenanigans and really stupid stuff.”

 

It’s Not Time to Cry Wolf

Tags

environment, global warming, tornadoes

It’s so very tempting to cry out in anger and frustration. If you are one of those self-serving climate change deniers, best cast a wide berth around me today. That is what I am tempted to say.

My heart aches for the people in Oklahoma who have suffered the loss of all their material lives but in addition, many have lost loved ones, many of those children, huddled in an elementary school for safety. Unfortunately, the twister cut a death road right through it.

After all the natural disasters we have suffered in the past fifteen years, it is tempting to believe that we are reaping the consequences of our refusal to seriously address the damage we are doing to our planet. It is so very tempting. And a lot of people are saying just that.

I was tempted. My first reactions were probably much like yours. “Now tell me again that there is no such thing as man-made climate change.” Of course there is, and we know it to be a fact. We know it because of studies done again and again. The science is clear, and the scientific community is also clear, remaining at the level of 97%. When independent studies are conducted, looking at nearly 14,000 peer-reviewed articles on climate change, only 24 were skeptical. That’s a powerful number.

Yet a fair look at the data regarding tornadoes does not suggest that we should make the assumption that climate change is the culprit in what seemingly are more severe and fatal tornadoes. You can look at the actual listing of tornadoes in America since the earliest recorded one in 1671 to the present. A number of things should be remembered:

1. Reporting in terms of damage and severity of twisters changes over time. We use a new system for instance starting in 2007, the Enhanced Fujita Scale. We have better equipment for measuring intensity and damage.
2. We are much more populated. Areas that were virtually uninhabited are no longer so, and fatalities may reflect that to some degree.
3. We have better warning systems that no doubt save lives.

The facts are that scientists generally do agree that climate change is driving a lot of weather phenomenon such as heat waves, drought, flooding, hurricanes and snowstorms. But tornadoes are something else again. The science is not there. There is still much that remains unknown about tornadoes and the main causes–energy in the form of warm, wet air meeting colder air, and wind shear, cut in opposite directions as far as climate change is concerned. This doesn’t mean that climate change is not driving tornadic activity today, but no one can say that with certainty at this point. 

Numbers suggest that 2011 was one of the worst years for tornadoes, but so far 2013 seems relatively sedate. However it is also noted as of the last few years, there seem to be tornadoes of higher intensity and with greater loss of life than we have seen in most of our lifetimes. That is merely anecdotal evidence at this point, and points to no clear trend as far as the science is concerned.

While we generally approve of Democratic Senator, Sheldon Whitehouse and his positions on any number of issues before the American public, he spoke to quickly in my humble opinion in assigning a causative claim to the Oklahoma twister in Moore to “climate change”. Since the science simply doesn’t support the allegation, Senator Whitehouse only serves the reactionary right when he offers up an opinion that can be so easily taken apart.

This is distressing for the reason that as we all know (all of those who are rational, read the actual scientific papers and listen to their testimony) that man-made climate change is real and it is taking and will continue to take a serious toll on this planet, making life uncomfortable for many, and perhaps unlivable for many others. I read just yesterday of,  if memory serves me, a small island in Fiji where the inhabitants recently moved a seaside settlement inland by a mile to get away from rising ocean levels that were washing into their crop lands and destroying them with salt water. That is reality.

It simply doesn’t help to cry wolf at indefensible tragedies no matter how tempting. There is more than enough reality to use as examples.

Related articles

• Can we blame the Oklahoma tornado on climate change? (rawstory.com)
• Is tornado intensity increasing? (livescience.com)
• Can we blame climate change for the tornado that took out Moore, Oklahoma? (grist.org)
• The Oklahoma Mega-Twister Is More Weather Than Climate Change (science.time.com)

How Do You Decide?

Tags

mind, opinions, psychology, thinking

I’ve mentioned more than once that I’ve been engaged in debate on Facebook with people who went to my high school, on a variety of topics.

As you might expect there are two camps, the liberals versus the conservatives. As you might assume, there are any number of shades of grey.

It got me to thinking. Yes, we are THERE again.

The Contrarian asks me occasionally why I bother. “You will convince no one, you know that don’t you?” he muses.

Yes I know that. Here is my list:

1. There are lots of people who read but don’t comment because they are interested but not passionate. My comments may provide the last piece of the puzzle that enables them to form an opinion. They more people who are involved in the process the better.
2. I learn a great deal myself. Arguments lead me not to empty talking points but to actual research, and so I learn refinement of my opinion as well as to create a more cogent argument for what I believe.
3. In attempting to figure out why those who disagree with me believe what they believe, I’m forced to confront my own reasons for believing what I believe. Sometimes I find that my reasons aren’t worthy of supporting that opinion–in a word, they are self-serving. I can adjust  my opinion accordingly.

It’s this latter point that I wish to address.

I’m inclined to think of myself as something of a Renaissance woman. Now before you commence to laughing out loud, let me proceed. I am such only in the sense that my interests are very far-ranging and always have been. Along the way, I’ve managed to learn more than the average person about a whole lot of things from cosmology to paleontology, to biblical studies and theology, and so forth. I am not a Renaissance woman in the sense of having expertise in any of these, just an intense interest and the willingness to learn.

That said, this is how I approach forming an opinion. I will use the example of an area of biblical study called Markan priority. Markan priority simple states that the Gospel of Mark was probably the first gospel written that has come down to us. It posits that both Matthew and Luke used Mark, their own independent information, and a source called “Q” to form their own gospels which were written 10-15 years after Mark’s.

I’ve read numerous books on various aspects of biblical studies, some couple of hundred at least, and I have studied under three professors with PH.D’s in the field. I’ve attended dozens of workshops and adult education classes on various biblical issues as well. So I consider myself above average in knowledge.

Yet, I am no expert. Far from it. I cannot read Koine Greek which is essential to actually study of the bible on a professional level. So how do I arrive at an opinion?

You may first wonder why anybody cares. I can tell you that they do; there is a hotly contested debate over this issue. Why?  Because to a fundamentalist, not only the words in the bible, but their very organization within the bible is something God ordered. Open any bible and you will find that Matthew is the first gospel you come to. To disturb that by suggesting that Mark was written first is tantamount to calling God a liar.

So I have read all the arguments pro and con on Markan priority. I understand them well enough. I am aware that at this time, there is a clear and fairly overwhelming majority who believe that for all kinds of reasons, Mark was probably written first. All kinds of other things make sense when this is assumed. They make no sense by and large when you don’t.

So my opinion, given that I am no expert myself, is that the better opinion is that Mark was written first.

This is how I arrive at opinions on any field of study that I am not an expert in.

Sometimes, I might even wish that the things were otherwise. When it comes to theories about the future of the universe, I’m compelled to accept that the majority opinion is that the universe is continuing its expansion from the “big bang” and that that expansion is accelerating. I’d rather believe that the universe is in a “steady state” meaning it’s stable. For some reason, that’s comforting to me. But I feel that I have no basis to buck the experts who spend their lives studying this stuff, and like any real scientist, aren’t going to pursue dead ends intentionally. There is not glory in pursuing obvious falsehoods.

So while an opinion might make me feel better, I cannot maintain it for that reason alone.

Similarly, I’d love to believe that global warming isn’t true. It would make me feel a lot better about the future certainly. But I’m constrained to believe what 97% of all climate scientists tell me–that humans are indeed part of the equation of global warming and that we need to do what we can to turn it around before it is too late–if that is at all possible.

What troubles me deeply is the degree to which average people, who have no expertise in the area of climate (just like me) are passionately in the camp of the 3% claiming that global warming is a hoax. Since they cannot possibly be following the same process of opinion forming as myself, what system are they using?

I’m afraid that they are buying into the hoax theory simply because they wish that to be the answer. Either because they feel guilty that they have been a part of the problem, or because they don’t want to pay (taxes) to attempt to solve the problem. If you admittedly aren’t an expert, how do you “choose” one set of arguments provided to you by  those who have a very high stake in their position, i.e., gas and oil interests and those they pay to “study” the issue?

Is my model of opinion formation wrong? Am I missing something here? I’m puzzled, and when I am, I figure you guys can bail me out. So straighten out my aching head, for I’m confused.

Where’s My Fire Extinguisher?

Tags

2nd Amendment, Books, climate change, evolution, GOP, intellectualism, lifestyle, PPH, teabaggers, Wisconsin, Women's issues

It really strikes one as insane, except to the insane I guess. And the GOP is home to a whole lota insane. After taking a drubbing in 2012, you’d think they would be about figuring out how to appeal to the groups they lost badly to, LIKE WOMEN!

No, instead, they are still doing the big daddy shuffle–no no missy, you just don’t trouble you pretty little head darlin’, I’ll do what’s best for you.

And they are, to the tune of moving all in in their war against Planned Parenthood. In good old Wisconsin, home of the Koch-addicted Governor Walker, has just managed to cut funding for PPH by a whopping one million, forcing them to close four clinics in rural areas.

Upwards of 2,000 women will lose the only health care they have.

All in the name of preventing PPH from its abortion agenda–which accounts for a mere 3% of its business.

But big daddy knows best.

I would like to kick big daddy in the balls. Actually, that’s a great idea, and a great contraceptive method. More women need to do it to Republican legislators around the country who think they know best when it comes to women’s health. . .or lack of it.

§

I spent considerable time and precious time (for my time is quite valuable) yesterday trying to rid Firefox of its pop-up problem. And it is their problem, most of the windows are Mozilla creations. They can’t fix their own stuff, so I downloaded some malware fixes and that didn’t work either. So I have transferred most operations to Explorer (finding Chrome very ugly to work with) and figure to dump Firefox. I assume the dang program is corrupted. If anybody knows an easy way to transfer “favorites” I’d be appreciative. I have so far not figured that baby out.

§

I was mildly intrigued some time ago when I heard of the paleo diet. The Contrarian often regales me the fact that he “drinks” anthropologically–with great draughts of liquid much as our ancestors did at the old drinkin’ hole. One needed to get in and out quick before some saber tooth came along and made you his midnight snack. But I’ve never had a satisfactory explanation of why grains were not allowed since grains were certainly available to paleolithic people in the form of wild rice and wheat.

There is a movement about that suggests that we are evolutionarily speaking still more cave-lady than 5th Avenue in terms of our genetics, and this mismatch of cave and five-inch heels is the source of much of our unhealth today. It sounds right, but is it? Some call it the paleofantasy. If you’re intrigued too, then read more about it here. Common sense conclusions are very often wrong. Were we every “perfectly” adapted to our environment?

If you don’t believe in evolution, then ignore the above, and just ask “what would Noah do?” AND BITE ME!

§

Do you have a list of books you are “going to read?”  I don’t mean the stack next to your chair which you can’t wait to get to. I’m talking about the books that make you feel guilty because you know you should have read them, yet you just can’t get past the first ten pages without wanting to tear out your hair. Do you keep saying one day you WILL read James Joyce? How about Proust?

Anyway, I was just wondering if there are others out there like me. Do you die in guilt? Or are you doing anything about it?

I’m nosy like that. Probing through the folds of other people’s grey matter.

§

Speaking of probing brain matter. Let me ask you this? No not, you dear reader, you are sane. I’m talking to stupid in the back. Come on UP stupid.

I have a question for you. Do stupid people actively sit around thinking up stupid things, or do stupid thoughts just fall into your head and stick there until you are forced to expel them verbally?

Missouri seems to have a virus floating around of stupid.

A GOP’er (aren’t they always) has introduced a bill in the state legislature (perhaps it’s really the state day-care center for the mentally infirm), that would make it a FELONY to propose any law that would in any way restrict the rights of gun owners under the 2nd Amendment.

Yes, it’s now illegal to make constitutional laws.

Or it would be.

If there are enough stupid to match the gargantuan stupid of Mikey Leara.

Can anybody top that?

§

Not to be outdone, just out stupided, is Kansas, dear old Kansas or KANS ASS as you might wish to think of it.

It seems there, that the GOPer’s are busy introducing bills that would require that teachers teach falsehood–namely that there is some scientific controversy about the existence of man-made climate change.

Yessiree Bob, we got us some climate deniers here, and they have adopted the ALEC-supplied legislation and introduced it.

So, who will win? Missouri or Kansas?

Don’t you Texans feel just a might better now?

§

Saw the last show of the season for Downton Abbey last night. All I can say is bummer, dude. And I’m pretty darn good at spotting things ahead of time. That carefree driving down a country road happy as a lark? It’s the harbinger of death. Always is. Now the long wait until the next season.

Oh I forgot. Liberals are supposed to hate Downton. For it’s classism no doubt. What a crock of poo.

Related articles

• Wisconsin GOP forces 2,000 low-income women to travel miles for reproductive health care (tv.msnbc.com)
• State Closes Four Planned Parenthood Clinics Due To Budget Cuts (huffingtonpost.com)

And You Thought Things Would Be Different?

Tags

Barack Obama, editorial, extreme rightwing, government, liberalism, Mitch McConnell

One of the best things of a second term, is that the President is no longer looking over his shoulder to a second term, and tempering his remarks accordingly. That this is so, is perhaps a fact of life that is regrettable, but it would be a lie to suggest that first-term presidents don’t.

That said, there is much disagreement depending on whose ox is being gored. From the left, and I think fairly from the middle one hears that the Inaugural speech was masterful, and depending on his success, it may go down as one of the best given. Mr. Obama painted a picture that surely speaks to the heart of most of us. We have problems, indeed we do, but the solutions should never be placed upon the backs of any one segment of the population. The poor, the old, and the suffering should not bear the burden of our answers to grave problems, at least no more so than those who shoulders are sturdier, broader, and relatively unburdened.

For many of us, the President’s call for real efforts to help cure our environmental ills comes woefully late, but still is welcomed. The naysayers, propped up by the coal and oil industry “think tanks”, will squawk that this is all a hoax, and the Christianists will point to self-servingly-interpreted vague pieces of scripture and suggest that it would be an affront to God to presume to be causally involved in the destruction of our planet, but the evidence is strong and uniformly speaks with one voice–humans have seriously compromised the health of this planet.

On the Right, of course one hears the laments of the loser–“I heard no statement of wanting to reach across the aisle,” whines Senator John McCain. One might respond, “well Senator, tell us once in the last four years when you have done one thing other than complain that WHATEVER was contemplated by the Administration was wrong.” Yes do tell us Senator.

The Right found themselves shut out and they are pouting. Well, they have shut themselves out and it is clear that whatever is done at this point will be done by revising the filibuster rules so that a majority can once again actually pass legislation in the Senate. It will be done if at all, by the House, if Representative Boehner has the moral fortitude to begin bringing legislation to the floor absent the Hastert Rule, an arbitrary rule which says, “thou shalt not bring before the chamber a bill for which you don’t have a majority approval of your own caucus.” In other words, we will pass no legislation with bipartisan support, but only if we, the majority agree as a majority.

Beyond this, the President will have to come to us, the public and impress upon us the need to push our own representatives in government, to get off pot and actually govern as we elected them to. That is what the Address suggested to me at least.

No minds were changed I would hazard a guess.

Mitch McConnell, cries tears, lamenting, “the age of liberalism” has returned.

Well, yes, damn it it has. We, the left are unabashed in our efforts to bring liberalism back. We glory in the liberalism of Abraham Lincoln who had that liberal idea way back when that no country could continue to exist while enslaving a portion of its people. We glory in the liberalism of Theodore Roosevelt who curbed the power of big corporations by breaking them up. We glory in the liberalism of Franklin Roosevelt who ended a depression by putting people back to work improving our infrastructure and instituting social security so that people had the piece of mind of knowing their last years were not going to be spent in grinding poverty.

We glory in the liberalism of Lyndon Johnson who finished the work started by Abraham Lincoln, giving all citizens the same ACTUAL rights previously entombed only on paper in some states.

We glory in the liberalism of Barack Obama who began what for many of us was a long quest to secure access to medical care as a basic HUMAN right, not a privilege for only those who could pay the price of ever greedy medical conglomerates and doctors.

We await the big issue of immigration where we seek to invite our Latino brothers and sisters to join us in citizenship. We await the full rights of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters coming to be across the land. We await fair wages for all. We await fair wages for women doing the same work as their male counterparts.

Yes, we are unabashed in our liberalism.

But has anything changed for the extremists and those who kneel before them? No I suspect nothing at all. If the following is any example, the Right will continue to fawn and bow before the tiny but vocal hysteria that is the howling extremism of nuttery:

Mitch McConnell sent out this frightening e-mail to his supporters near or on Inauguration day:

My friend, our freedom is under direct assault.

From those who want take your guns. From those who want to shred our Constitution, and as our good in friend Rand Paul from Kentucky says, from those who want to be King.

Let me tell you, Mitch McConnell is ready to lead the fight to protect your rights.

Nobody’s freedom is under assault Mr. McConnell, and to continue this sort of sordid partisanship is beneath the office you hold. Nobody is shredding the Constitution, and given your utter disdain for the President, if there was one single piece of information that he was, you would be moving heaven and earth to encourage a House vote of impeachment. No one is trying to take anyone’s guns Mr. McConnell, only perhaps trying to remove from the public domain weapons that have no legitimate purpose other than to kill as many PEOPLE as possible, as quickly as possible. Nobody is trying to be a King, and I would suggest that you might read up on your British history since you and Mr. Paul might be a bit limited in your understanding of  what a monarchy is. Perhaps you might read Plato and get a firmer grasp of the various sorts of governments. Just a thought.

So, no nothing is changing. Because stupid men continue to act stupidly and in their own singular interests rather than for the common good.

Related articles

• Senator McConnell Angry Over “Liberal” Obama Inaugural Address (lezgetreal.com)
• “Investigate Senator Mitch McConnell making $24 million in 6 years on a $193,400 a year government salary.” (goodolewoody.wordpress.com)
• Mitch McConnell Makes Congressional History: He Filibusters Himself (No Joke) (themoderatevoice.com)
• The Reviews Are In: Obama’s Inaugural Speech (billmoyers.com)
• The president liberals were waiting for is (finally) here (bangordailynews.com)
• Dennis Hastert Blasts Boehner for Violating ‘Hastert Rule’ (crooksandliars.com)

I Hate to Forget a Title for a Post

Tags

cabinet, cartoons, climate change, Congress, environment, gun control, Humor, NRA, Politics, teabaggers, Women's issues

You’re the apple of my eye. Both of them. Truly. I really mean it. Honestly. No foolin’.

Okay, so  I made an apple pie today. A nice fat ol’ big one. Deeeeeep dish.

And we are having a good old-fashioned pot roast. With gravy, and mashed taters and nicely caramelized onions and carrots. And some copycat Red Lobster cheddar biscuits.

Why am I such a good wife?

I ask myself the same question.

I guess I was just born that way.

I’m getting a cramp in my shoulder. Trying to pat yourself on the back has its draw-backs.

Hey, I’m just happy today. I’m happy most days.

I got a good man, a good dog, and I love my house, my city, and my state. I love my brain and I love you guys, and I love God. And that was in no particular order–you know that Lord!

But I am still a snarky woman who is old enough to not give a good poo what you think about anything I say or think, so let’s see what we can find in the wacky world of cartoon politics.

Plenty of folks in the know, or in the think at least, figure that things aren’t going to improve much this year over the last four.

As to the Congress that is. It’s still (thanks to gerrymandering) entirely too full of yesterday’s child, the ubiquitous Tea People who are like wack-a-moles, popping up again and again.

We’ve said so much about their lack of knowledge about anything beyond which is the finest beer–Bud or Coors (yes even Sam Adams is way beyond these folks) or what is the best NASCAR track Daytona or Talladega, that little more can be said.

Boehner will continue to look mildly embarrassed as they continue to search uteruses, strut their 2nd Amendment bona fides, and vote for the umpteenth time to outlaw Obamacare. And Harry Reid will continue to sigh as McConnell filibusters each and every bill, because Reid can’t make himself alter the damn rules to return the Senate once again to a majority vote forum.

Business as usual–meaning no business at all.

Meanwhile, we all saw the reports that this past year was the warmest EVER.

That means EVER.

While the Right continues to worry us about the legacy of debt we are leaving to our next generation (a legacy not nearly as dire according to REAL economists), they of course deny that climate change is real, that we have anything to do with it, and that we should STOP F**king around and get busy.

The Left, full of bombast, tells us  that of course it’s real and of course the evidence of the VAST majority of scientists suggests we have a lot to do with it, which is GOOD news, since that means we might be able to undo the damage.

But where is the legislation? Where is the serious discussion where were are confronted with the alternatives and what we need to do NOW?

Oh, yeah, we are expecting answers from the 113th.

I wonder if hibernating might be a good idea. Course, if I was a polar bear in my snow cave, I might just find the thing melt out from over me.

Ya see, Hagel is like mainstream. He’s supported by all kinds of retired generals, and previous Secretaries of Defense. And he is NOT the policy maker in the first, second or third place.

And the neo-cons hate him because he turned on their pet rock the Iraq war really quickly. And so they hate him, because he exposed how wrong they were with their all “they will greet us as liberators” and crap.

And the usual cast of tantrum havers will have at it–tantrums that is. They will threaten and whine, and in the end Hagel will be confirmed. And then they will do the exact same thing to Brennan and Lew.

And that is how you pretend to do something, when in fact you are doing nothing at all, because you can’t get past the Tea People, who have almost no support nationwide, but locally they still  can win an election, because guess what, just like rich people tend to live with rich people? Well Tea People tend to find trailer parks the garden of Eden. Go figure.

The GOP doesn’t hate women.

It just doesn’t see them as a significant reason to do something to protect them against men who get out of hand with their hands.

You know how America just can’t bring itself to agree that if service men and women are in another country and commit a crime, they should be tried by the jurisdiction they are in?

Well, Republicans don’t think that Native tribal authorities should be able to arrest NON-NATIVE perpetrators who have assaulted Native Women. Kind like the same thing.

And don’t get me started on how they don’t want to even touch assaults in same-sex cases.

But the GOP is not anti-women or anything. Frankly they don’t think about women much at all. Except when they want to have sex, or dinner, or need a clean shirt, or need another beer from the fridge which is way the hell on the other side of the house and all. Then they think of women.

Have you noticed?

Ummm, yeah, they are all white men.

Now I’m not totally against white men. I am married to one. He’s a good one.

But doncha think that appearances matter there Mr. President?

I mean step out on a limb and get yourself a woman or two, a Hispanic? A BLACK? Whoa, are we getting out there or something?

I know you will say you looked for the MOST qualified. Well, what does THAT say?

I mean I am with ya on most things, but Sir, please. We can handle the big jobs. I know you know that. So. . . .?

The NRA went to the White House.

They sat down with the Vice President.

Mr. Wayne PEE PEE LaPierre didn’t attend.

He’s still recovering from the increased dosage of his anti-schizo meds.

He and Alex Jones are in the same ward.

Hey Mr. Pee Pee, if you say that we need to get guns out the hands of criminals, how exactly are we to do that when you don’t want background checks or registration or limiting the sale of certain weapons? I mean how is the gun seller supposed to know? Maybe we should brand all convicts on their forehead? You know, a criminal ain’t a criminal until they have been convicted. The horse has kinda left the barn Mr. Pee Pee.

Oh, he’s not able to receive visitors yet?

The strain of reality takes a long time to recover from.

I see.

The Good News Is. . . .

Tags

AIG, banks, climate change, Entertainment, environment, gay rights, GOP, gun control, Lindsey Graham, NRA, right wing nuts, teabaggers

After the bad. I believe in delayed gratification. I told you that a thousand times. Take your medicine and then you can have dessert. So this is your medicine:

This is how we are going to win the war against assault weapons. Bring on this fool along with Mr. La Pee Pee Lapierre and this goose is cooked. I mean, as Commonweal suggested, THIS is all you need to argue in favor of gun control. This fool should never be allowed near a safety-pin let alone a gun.

So you have had your medicine and now you get the dessert:

1. I’m told that according to Rasmussen polling, only about 8% of people now identify with the agenda of the Tea People. That’s great news. The GOP appears screwed however since they have gerrymandered the map so badly that at least on the congressional level they will still be finding these bedbugs crawling out from under the mattress for some time to come. Which means the GOP will continue to act and sound like petulant and really stupid children who need a good paddling, if I were of the persuasion that children should be assaulted physically, which I am not. But it’s worth considering an exception here. No, just kidding. Just pat them on the head and send them to bed without supper.
2. The Washington National Cathedral, home to the diocese of the Washington Episcopal church announced it will be performing same-sex marriage. This is in keeping with the national church’s decisions as I understand it. The national church was on the verge of this I believe when I was still involved with it, a couple of years ago. This is wonderful news to all of us who believe in equality.
3. Lindsey Graham continues to dig out from under John McCain’s shadow and establish that he can be an even bigger douche on his own. Lindsey, terrified of being primaried for 2014, is just throwing tantrums left and right. His latest? He may place a hold on Brennan’s confirmation as the next director the CIA unless he gets answers on Benghazi. Do you hear? Lindsey wants answers. He’s determined to try to prove that the Obama administration changed the facts to help the election campaign, although it is still unclear how that was supposed to work. Lindsey sounds like Julia Child on drugs. And he is still determined to “shut ‘er down” if he doesn’t get some spending cuts and pronto too. This is all Lindsey is saying now, until he gets new directives from the Tea People who depend on 6th graders to transcribe their irrational thoughts onto paper.
4. Nicki Minaj has just signed with KMart to do a line of clothes. I know, I can’t wait either.
5. The military is thinking of offering yoga and meditation classes. This has Tony Perkins of Family Research Council all in a tizzy. It seems to this nut looking for shell, such things are “wacky substitutes” for that good time religion of the fundamentalist flavor.
6. You have heard of the Breitbots haven’t you? Breitbart is deceased. But his followers go on in his name. One of them has written a book. It suggests that after all this time of being so nice to liberals, they just can’t do it any more. It’s time to be uncivil they proclaim. I don’t think if we hadn’t been told we would ever have known the difference. No more compromise with those bullies they shout!
7. Winner of the “YOU DAMN FOOL” award this week goes to Congressman Steve Palazzo, who years after Katrina is still asking Congress for money for his state of Mississippi, didn’t vote for disaster relief for the victims of super storm Sandy. We understand the Congressman has suddenly realized that stupidity has consequences. He now pledges his support. Tea People–stupid is as stupid does.
8. AIG, who in concert with a few others, nearly ruined this country. They were bailed out. They were SAVED from their own stupidity. They have paid the money back. Now they are thinking of suing the US government, kinda of like saying, thanks for saving my life, but dang you tore my expensive jacket in the process–please pay for it. What a bunch of douches. (I need new words to describe these dopes) Just go to jail, and do not pass GO.
9. Move along, no gawking. Nothing going on here. Oh, yes, the US recorded the highest average temperature EVER in the history of counting. EVER. But that is got nothing to do with climate change. There is snow on the ground in the usual places. ‘Nuf said.

I know, you are plum tuckered out from all that dessert. So take a break and move into a mood swing or two.

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