I’m Arabically Dsylexic He Cried

Tags

GOP, Jim DeMint, Mitch McConnell, science, stupid people, unions, What's up? time

We start with the faux reality that time is and ever was and not a function of space. After all, it is called the SPACE-TIME continuum is it not? This is the reality that the Contrarian lives within, where time has always existed. This somehow makes him comfortable rather than the TRUTH which is that time has no meaning unless it has something to relate to like MATTER and SPACE!

Okay, calm yourself. That is hardly the story here.

You see, it is the Contrarian’s JOB to get up in the morning, turn on my coffee and wake me gently at 5:45 a.m. so that I can have a few sips of coffee with Morning Joe before I am hauled into the desert for romping with Diego. Simple enough, right?

So, this morning, I turn over in my usual, half-dream state and just start to settle into my favorite left-leg over right leg and head snuggled into the pillow supported by my right arm which is at a 85° angle to my shoulder. Too much information? Oh, well okay.

So, just as I am settling, as I said, I hear, “babe, it’s 5:45!”

After cursing my birth, the universe, and time itself I start to roll to a sitting position, whereupon I am assaulted with the slobbery kisses of aforementioned dog, who whines quite clearly, “let’s not be late, I have bushes to pee on!”

I thereafter engage in all the processes of which you are no doubt not interested, until I have reached the point of making the bed, whereupon said Contrarian shuffles into the bedroom and whispers, “I was a little off,  about an hour,” and scurries away ducking and dodging to avoid being hit in the head with whatever might be at hand.

I curse. I fume. I cry.

I look at the clock for the first time, having until now been confident that a 62-year-old-man can be entrusted to so simple a task. Yes, it is now, 4:50 a.m.

So I endured an hour of the dog, “is it time yet?”

I got more than a few sips of coffee.

I got to see more of Morning Joe than I’ve seen in months.

As I prepared to take the walk, I wandered into his office.

“You owe me big time you know,” I assured him.

“But it’s not my fault. I’m Arabically dyslexic! I had all the numbers right, just in the wrong order.”

“The numbers are 5:45, and you woke me at 4:40 to be exact, how is that the same numbers?” I queried.

“Well, dyslexia is like that you know, it’s a most mysterious syndrome. I can’t be held responsible for such a troublesome malady.” He actually smiled at this, figuring that once again, he’d managed to come up with an air-tight excuse for his mistake.

“Find me flash cards online! I’m starting Diego’s number recognition training as soon as possible,” I sighed.

The halo GOD, if you please!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.

Or, at least meanwhile.

Las Cruces, while incredibly sane and rational as cities go, has its supply of idiots, managing to exist within its environs. Take this little ditty from the local Sun-News. A man called police to report a crime. The crime? The prostitute he had hired stiffed (oh please) him out of ten minutes. Police calmly sympathized and got his location. They sent a car. Imagine his surprise when the cuffs went on him.

Meanwhile, government forces sprayed the crowd that had accumulated at the capital. Cairo? Damascus? Um, no. Try Lansing, Michigan.

It seems the GOP, unable as usual to read the tea leaves, handwriting on the wall, or any other metaphor for JUST PLAIN FRACKING STUPID, are trying to pass right to work legislation in a state that is pretty much noted for its unions. So when people came out to protest this action, the Governor ordered, first the capital closed, and then when that didn’t disperse the crowds of protestors, he had them sprayed. Yeah, the GOP has nothing left in the tank but stupid.

Meanwhile, somebody did a study and decided where the best place to be born is. Hint: it ain’t the US of A. In fact, the US is not even in the top 10. It used to be. But no more. I’m sure the far-right will blame that on the black guy in the White House. But of course we know better.

By the by, if you think all search engines are the same? No they are not. I did a search on the above story because I heard it on the news. Ask.com provided me with NO good links. Google gave me three immediately. I have no clue about Bing? Do you have a favorite search engine? Why? Grades will be given so show your work.

If you ask me, the best place to be born right this minute is Washington state. The legalization of pot went into effect at midnight or something, and well, the whole state looked pretty darn happy to me. Just sayin’.

See, I’m a big mouth. I gotta waste your time with my chatter. I think you NEED my opinion. Squatlo Rant just gives you the cartoons and lets your think for yourself. Go and enjoy yourself. I’ll stay here and keep talking.

Jim DeMint is leaving the Senate. Hurrah, Goodbye, Don’t let the door hit you in the rear. Another Tea NUT gone. Slight uptick in the IQ of the Senate. I didn’t know it was possible for the Heritage Foundation to sink to a lower low, but it has.

Speaking of people who can’t count–Mitch “The Turtle” McConnell pops to the fore. Seems the dope called for an up or down vote on the president having the authority to raise the debt ceiling on his own. Except that when he finished counting, he didn’t have the votes to win. So when Harry Reid called for the vote, Mitchy Mucho Muttonhead filibustered his own motion. And they say animals are stupid. I bet a few species could give old Mitch a run for his money.

Okay, I’ll shut up.

Until tomorrow.

When my mouth runneth over once more.

Related articles

• DeMint tells Rush how to fix GOP (politico.com)
• DeMint to Leave U.S. Senate to Head Heritage Foundation (bloomberg.com)
• The Paradox of Infinite Time (blogtruth.wordpress.com)

Nobody Knows Just How Crazy Some Folks Are

Tags

abortion, Adam West, Africa, contraception, GOP, Jim DeMint, media wackos, MLK, Qaddafi, Rick Santorum, teabaggers, Women's issues

We woke up today to the news that Moammar Qaddafi is reportedly dead, killed most likely by rebel forces. There are reports that he was found in a drainage pipe, and shouted, “don’t shoot” when discovered.

Of course, that was ignored, and it is widely believed that he was executed on the spot.

That seems the way of dealing with unsavory dictators. We have always done so historically, although I guess at times we have resorted to mock trials before the rope or firing squad was used.

It seems we make no progress. That Qaddafi was the author of much horror in the world is undoubtedly true. One would think however that taking satisfaction that he resided in a small cell for whatever time he has left would have been preferable. No more hair dye, no more fine wines or big screen television. The pound of flesh could have been savored one would think much more enjoyably rather than this quick dispatch.

But that is now how we function as humans. . .yet.

♦

Yes, I know, I changed the blog again. And before you ask, I don’t redecorate my house. I am not addicted to every passing fashion in shoes or clothes.  WordPress has this pesky problem of introducing new themes every time one turns around (literally every week), and well I was never that happy with the last one. I thought the sidebar was unattractive. I rather liked the header, but I have to tell you a secret. If you noticed the date (September 9, 2009) you would realize that the picture was of a teabagger rally in Washington. I never realized it until later, and I just didn’t have the time to find another.

The header up now is of the Return to Sanity rally run by Jon Stewart, et al.

♦

You might well have missed this important notice. It seems that Marines in Afghanistan were formally advised that they should cease and desist farting in the country. It seems it is considered a serious rudeness among Afghans.

I must tell you that the Contrarian is making it very sure that he is not drafted by the Marines. Just in case any are lurking outside our house waiting to scurry him off to a recruiting center. No sir, he is unfit. He farts as often as possible throughout the day and night, just to be sure they are aware.

And you still doubt my application for sainthood?

♦

Did you hear that Pat Buchanan has a new book out? You should no doubt skip it. As one person said yesterday, Pat gets away with some pretty obvious racism in the name of “analysis.”

The idiot claims that somehow we were all much happier in the 50’s when we were united as “one people” with similar goals. Now we have that pesky “African-American” thing and well, all those people from the South (America that is) with their “otherness”.

Buchanan basically bemoans the demise of whiteness in America. Read about it at Angry Black Lady Chronicles.

♦

I watched a bit of the festivities at the King Memorial this past weekend. I distinctly recall his children speaking. They rightly pointed out that their father would have supported the OWS movement. After all, he was assassinated while supporting union sanitation workers. Dr. King certainly understood the build in inequality of wealth distribution in this country. It is wildly worse now than it was in his day.

Yet, Adam West, (R-FL) all-around idiot, says nay. He claims that King would never have supported such detris as the OWS crowd. No, King was “divinely inspired” and wouldn’t be a part of such things.

Professor Chauncey de Vega weighs in on the continuing attempts by the crazy right to turn Dr. King into their pet hero.

♦

I like to report on Ricky (Don’t Google me!) Santorum. He’s amusing as a little circus monkey. He has not a chance of securing the nomination, and no doubt he knows that, but he is bored, and he likes the free food offered along the campaign trail.

So Ricky, ever in the hopes of finding somebody to listen, decided to appeal to the tiniest tiniest segment of the Catholic church. Contraception! Ricky will have none of THAT in his administration (the one in his head, where he is grand pupah president). Because THAT leads to, you know, THAT, and we can’t have any of THAT now can we?

And unicorns will graze in meadows, and butterflies will bring you faery dust at bed time.

♦

Some folks need a time out, a brain roto-rootering, and a sedative. One of them is Jim DeMint. He’s an idiot.  I think there is a certified letter to that effect.

He takes the collective IQ of South Carolina down a whole 17 points all by himself.

This super TeaNutz® has introduced an amendment to an utterly unrelated bill, that would make it illegal for a woman to have a video conference with her doctor if the subject was abortion.

I swear he did that.

I swear he needs to be committed for his own sake.

I swear a lot when Jim DeMint’s name comes up.

♦

What’s on the stove? Ribs, mac and cheese (a new recipe I’m trying out, so stay tuned), and broccoli slaw.

Related articles

• Qaddafi Dead as Troops Seize Stronghold, Officials Say – New York Times (news.google.com)
• Pat Buchanan Isn’t Racist, but… (slog.thestranger.com)
• Pat Buchanan: America is Disintegrating Because White America is an Endangered Species (crooksandliars.com)
• Pat Buchanan’s Latest Screed Full Of Racism, Not Worth Even $1.99 (dekerivers.wordpress.com)
• Marines Not Allowed To Fart In Afghanistan! (perezhilton.com)
• Marines Not Allowed To Fart In Afghanistan! (lukewilliamss.wordpress.com)

There: Now You Went and Did It

Tags

DADT, Facebook, foreign policy, Fox News, global warming, Individual Rights, Julian Assange, Kyl, Mark Zuckerberg, Media, START treaty, tax bill, Time's person of the year, wackos, wikileaks

I know. I said yesterday that I had no opinion on Wikileaks. I still don’t. But I’m starting to lean. Like the Tower of Pisa, if I tip too far, it is inevitable that I will topple over.

Why am I leaning?

Because more and more this is starting to resemble the aftermath of 9/11. Remember when Congress was declaring  for “Freedom Fries” and everybody was stumbling over each other to be more patriotic than the next gal?

Remember the upshot of that: the Patriot Act?  Where we pretty much handed over our rights to the government to ignore them any time it chose in the name of “national security” and protecting the “homeland.” The name alone was reason enough to vote against it. But I think one person did. Everybody was afraid to be on the “wrong” side and not be a patriot.

Today, people are starting to fall all over each other to be on the right side of the Wikileaks affair. We are hearing calls for assassination of Julian Assange, new laws to make him a terrorist, and of course the usual chorus from the right–censor the news and if necessary prosecute! Meanwhile corporate entities who provide financial mechanisms to support Wikileaks are closing their doors. No doubt corporate America may have concerns itself over what may come out about them and government shenanigans.

” . . . I think that we also should be censoring the American news agencies which enabled him to do this and also supported him and applauding him [Julian Assenge] for the efforts. So that’s kind of aiding and abetting of a serious crime.” (quoted from Allen West, newly elected Rep. from Fl.)

Once one of these snowballs starts, they usually end up in a bad result. And then we all feel “safe” and everyone moves on to the next “crisis”. Except the laws remain and are ready to be used by exactly the sort of people we don’t want messing with our rights–the extreme right. With one foot now in the door, and salivating at the prospects of 2012, this is no meaningless concern.

Imagine (if you can stomach it) the power to censor the press in the hands of one Sarah, who is already on record as declaring that all media are lame, except for her Foxy supporters. Imagine. That’s an Imagine not the likes that John Lennon had in mind.

So, as I said, I’m leaning.

***

I’m thinking that Time, in making its decisions about who they will name “person of the year” is now rending it a contest sent out to high schools across America. Recall the “mirror” one? Well, in their INFINITE wisdom, infinitely small that is, they have chosen Mark Zuckerberg, the kid who started Facebook.

While no biggie, it seems that this is the best they could come up with? It just seems a lazy choice. Zuckerberg and his creation are of no serious import in the world it seems to me. While I laud his offering of much of his wealth to cure societal ills, well, what is new about that?

Who would you have liked to see get the nod?

***

Here are some things I read late yesterday without linkage:

• Rush Limpaugh has taken to calling the First Lady, Michelle the Butt. Each time, he corrects himself to Michelle La Belle, but he’s don’t it in excess of six times and it’s clear it is deliberate. Rush has a thing for demeaning women, once claiming that Hillary Clinton couldn’t join the armed services because they didn’t have combat boots large enough to get over her thick ankles.  Rush is a piece of crap.
• Somebody somewhere found a new planet and it’s very carbon rich, raising the possibility that it is full of diamonds. That should make Kays and Zales and all the rest giddy with anticipation!
• Romney is against the parts of the tax bill that give aid to the unemployed and so forth because their raise the deficit by a few billion. But he is inexplicably for the parts that give tax cuts to the rich, when that deficit, over 10 years, figures to be in the trillions. Another case of assuming your base is too stupid to understand.
• The House is re-introducing  a new DADT bill, alone. That allows the Senate to try again. We may just make it! That is, if we can explain to Sen. Manchin that his concerns were addressed by the Joint Chiefs and the report that emanated from the Pentagon. He’s new, he didn’t know any better.

***

You know when the GOP claimed it wouldn’t do a thing unless they got their precious rich people their tax break? Well, on the verge of getting it, they are (didn’t we know they would) still balking at doing a thing. And some of so darn angry at giving the Dems even a tiny benefit, they are willing to screw everyone.

Kyl, the other dingbat from Arizona, is claiming that Reid is “disrespecting” the Holiest of celebrations for Christians by threatening to keep the Senate in session over the holidays. DeMint is threatening to have the entire START Treaty read aloud, wasting a good day, in order to screw that up. And Colburn is threatening to do the same with appropriations bill.

What part of compromise don’t these people get? They will destroy America before they will stop this petulant game of politics first. Never in my life have I seem a group who has less concern with the public good than this bunch of asshats.

***

Foxy lies continue to be unearthed. Just last week or so, memos came to light that Fox had directed it’s reporters and commentators to use the term “government option” rather than public option in regards the health care bill because the former didn’t poll well. Now we see that Fox employees were ordered to not report anything about this being the “warmest decade” on record without “immediately” citing that there is data claiming this is untrue.

…we should refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question. It is not our place as journalists to assert such notions as facts, especially as this debate intensifies.

The directive, sent by Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon, was issued less than 15 minutes after Fox correspondent Wendell Goler accurately reported on-air that the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization announced that 2000-2009 was “on track to be the warmest [decade] on record.”

What’s on the stove: homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. Stay Warm!

Related Articles

• Michael Moore On Countdown: “We Owe A Debt” To Julian Assange (mediaite.com)
• Time Chooses Mark Zuckerberg Over Julian Assange For Person Of The Year (observer.com)
• WikiLeaks and the Power of Patriotism (pbs.org)

Lies, Lies, Damnable Lies

Tags

Bruce Braley, Carl Paladino, Catholic Church, Democrats, food stamps, fundamentalism, gay rights, GOP, immigration, Iowa, Latinos, Nazis, Newt Gingrich, Ohio, patriarchy, Politics, right-wing crazies, social issues, violence, women

Private monies funding attack ads are favoring GOPers about seven to one. And there are no reins on them either. Truth, Smuth. Who cares. It’s winning that counts.

Here in Iowa, they are out in force against Bruce Braley (D-IA), from the 1st district. The little dweeb running against him, just bought his first suit, or so it looked at their debate. Yet something like $800,000 is being spent by outside sources to defame Braley, telling Iowa voters that he is responsible for their individual taxes going up a cool $1600 per person next year. A bold-faced lie, but of course his opponent need only shrug and disclaim any responsibility.

This is taking place all over America. The GOP is not funding these “loser” races, because it cannot, but big business can. And they are. Further, as was noted on PBS News Hour, candidates in the future know what they will face.

Of course ads besmirching the character and actual policies and actions of  Democratic incumbents and candidates is only a part of the problem.

The other is the character and policies of the GOP-Teabagger candidates themselves. Paladino, in New York continues to try to walk back his ugly comments about gays.

”I just think your children and my children would be better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option–it isn’t.”

What he included in his written speech but didn’t actually say, and later denounced was this:

“There is nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual. . .[which] is not how God created us.”

Paladino has since tried to walk back his comments claiming a great love for all things gay, except marriage,  but his campaign manager continues to defend his statements as “exactly equivalent to the Catholic church.”  As David Wilson points out in the Commonweal piece, whether Paladino is in line with Catholic teaching or not, is this the way it should be expressed? He asks whether the hierarchy owes some statement about the tone being set by Mr. Paladino.

It is no secret that the Catholic church does not support active homosexuality. In this I would argue that it is categorically wrong and probably on some level realizes it among its scholars at least. However, having painted itself it a corner on many of these issues (the Church being protected by the Holy Spirit and being incapable of error on matters of doctrine and morality), She is having a mighty hard time figuring out how to get in step with modern exegesis and ethics.

To hide behind the Church’s skirts, if you will, is no defense at all to Mr. Paladino. Two wrongs don’t make a right as they say.

***

I had to laugh yesterday when I was perusing the political blogs and came upon a reference to Cantor and his claim that the Ohio wannabe congressman who participates as a Nazi in WWII re-enactments had gone a bit too far. The writer, and I have no clue who it was now, suggested that FINALLY we have found something so outrageous that even Republicans are offended! Not the desire of such folks as Angle and Miller to disband and social security, medicare and Medicaid, and unemployment benefits. Nay, that is just forcing folks to look out for themselves. Not gay bashing, and treating undocumented workers as criminals who deserve hanging. Nay, that is just upholding morality and homeland security. But Nazi sympathizers? That just might be too much.

Cantor probably should speak to DeMint and the cuckoo clock in Delaware, I’m not so sure they would agree with him.

***

Oh Newt the Snoot is at it again. Newt is another of those GOPers who still doesn’t GET that what he said before is actually written down and SAVED. Newty is urging his fellow slugs to start calling the Dems the “party of food stamps.” Except there Newty, you forget! Perhaps there is a limited brain capacity of the average sluggo, and that explains Newty’s failure to recall how he supported  Bush’s rather blatant attempt to increase food stamps for immigrants in the hopes of enlarging the Hispanic vote for the GOPers. Oh Think Progress, don’t miss a thing!

***

It seems to awful to be true, but it is true. And Ahab at Republic of Gilead has done a great job in investigating and reporting on the strong ties between violence against women and children to the religious right. Indeed, it is their screwy interpretation of scripture that endangers women and children every day in this country. Read this and know thy enemy.

***

Hope the day is finding you well and happy.

Related Articles

• Paladino offended gay pride parades’ bumping and grinding (nydailynews.com)

It’s So Hard to Believe

Tags

Benjamin Franklin, Christine O'Donnell, de Tocqueville, election 2010, happiness, Jim DeMint, Joe Miller, Michael Steele, psychology, Todd Palin

I’m a really humble person. Except when I’m not. I’m not more than I am. It’s the truth. I won’t deny it.

I have a healthy ego. I’m not insufferably stupid by a long shot, so intuitively, intellectually, and soulfully, I know that you don’t hang on every pearl of wisdom dripping from my typing fingers. I know you don’t expect to be enlightened ala the Buddha and damned if I can find a Bodhi trees around here anyway! I know you don’t expect the latest news and perfect analysis.

But I do believe all that in the secret place within my heart. Which means that I’m shocked, nay, bowled over, nay, near stricken with palsy, that some people (don’t worry, I won’t out you!) have become just the slightest bit borrrrrrdddd with my incessant lamentations on Facebook about my “ad troubles.”

In case you have missed it, I’m being bombarded by ads on Facebook which has slowed my already snail-paced leviathan of a computer to an inch an hour speed. And of course, nobody on FB seems to share my dilemma or my anger.

First I went to Firefox which solved the problem for two days, and then the ads returned. Then I googled around and found an adware block designed for Firefox, and I installed it. It worked perfectly but pretty much ground everything else to a halt.

So, I disabled it for most everything, and figured, okay, I’ll just use it for FB. Well, apparently it doesn’t play nice with other code, so “the troubles”  continued. So, I uninstalled the entire crappy thing.

Then I discovered that goggle was now offering a toolbar access to a limited FB on a little drop down. That wouldn’t load on Foxfire, but did on Explorer. Go figure. So far it seems to fit the bill in terms of letting me see my “news” and “wall” and “notifications” and “messages.” I can “comment” and “share.” I feel all warm and fuzzy again.

But I’ll be sure to keep you up to date. I  know you wanna share it with your family and friends over dinner no doubt. And if you have advice? Go ahead and share. Just remember I have D I A L – U P,  so treat me as a nearly extinct Tyrannosaurus.

***

Besides feeling all cuddly and wiggly, I’m cozying up to some goodly written stuff today. So do drop over to the quarterly, City Journal and read a great piece on happiness and the American manner of mucking it all up and making it a trial. Indeed from de Tocqueville on, we have been rightly perceived as a not so happy bunch here in Merika the great. Lots of interesting stuff on Benji  Franklin as well, another favorite of mine. Best lines:

If men are so bad with religion, just imagine what they would be like without it.

“Let us rejoice and bless God that we are neither Oysters, Hogs, or Dray-Horses; and not stand repining that He has not made us Angels; lest we be found unworthy of that share of Happiness He has thought fit to allow us.”

And that about says it all doesn’t it? (Note that the author of the piece has a book out called: Benjamin Franklin Unmasked. Might be worth a check out.

***

A book review you might enjoy is What Ever Happened to Modernity? by Gabriel Josipovici. He traces the movement from the 16th century forward through a line of philosophers. If ever you have difficulty with philosophy, then books such as this, I think serve to help us navigate. Ormsby writes in the WSJ, so you know it’s highbrow.

***

Tidbits from the insane:

• Todd Palin, hubby of the Palinator is mighty pissed that Joe Miller, who owes his political life to said Mooselini, refused to endorse her.   One can commiserate, Todd.  After all, she is your meal ticket ya know.
• Meanwhile, Christine (no sex for you)O’Donnell struts her international cahones by claiming that China was plotting the overthrow of the US.
• Jim (I’m riding this gravy train!) DeMint says that sexually active single women and gays need not apply to teach school. Guess sexually active men are okay though. Whew, glad somebody is left!
• Michael (my mojo still works for me!) Steele, has no clue what the minimum wage is. Fine as long as you are purporting to speak for your party and their concerns about the little folk.

***

Everywhere you go we keep hearing that the Dems are polling better and the Rethugs worse as election day approaches. The Daily Kos has some interesting speculations as to why this is.

Related Articles

• What Ever Happened to Modernism? by Gabriel Josipovici | Book review (guardian.co.uk)
• Are These Emails Proof Sarah Palin Is Running For President? (mediaite.com)
• Leaked Emails: Sarah Palin Doesn’t Give Out Endorsements for Nothing [Emails] (gawker.com)

Feeling SOOOOO Self-Satisfied

Tags

Catholics, Christianity, DeMitt, Fox Noise, fundamentalism, Glenn Beck, GOP, Iowa, Islam, Media, Obama, teabaggers, tenets of faith, wacko right

It’s 10:00 am and all is wellllllll!

Oh, I’m just sitting here feeling quite self-satisfied. I’ve accomplished a journey-woman’s amount of work today. I’ve made the bed, dressed, coffeed, done morning prayer, prayed a rosary, meditated, swept and vacuumed all the floors, flurried around with the swiffer duster, collected 25 return bottles for the grocery store, filled the pasta kettle with water for dinner, poured new popcorn into its jar, and ate breakfast.

Nothing makes me happier than to sit down before the Window to the World, aka computer, having fought my way through a hearty list of “shoulds.” It’s the way I roll.

I figure there are probably better ways, but it’s the one that works for me. I literally cannot really enjoy anything until I’ve got a provable enumeration of completed tasks.  So sue me. I’ve got my housework for the day done. Do you? *smirk*

***

By now you all know the appalling truth that Christians score badly when it comes to knowing even the basics of their faith. Atheists and agnostics score better. Jews and Evangelicals do decently and Mormons next, with Catholics falling badly along with mainstream Protestants. The test, ( I took the 15 question version, scoring 100%) is quite simple really and it’s shocking that average Christians know so little. Ahab at Republic of Gilead has a fine review and a few important things to say about fundamentalists.

***

Shocking at it is getting to be, at least some GOPers are not happy with the twit-who-would-be king. Jimmy DeMint. Seems his incestuous relationship with Teabaggers is getting a bit much. DeMint, like his swooning-for idol, Sarah (that woman is an idiot) Palin, is prone to threatening other GOPers who don’t seem quite as crazy as they. Either be with us, or we will bury you! they say, in the best 1st Amendment interpretation they are capable of. Several old line Rethugs have been grousing that DeMint is not being particularly helpful to the GOP cause. It remains to be seen, who will still be standing after the November elections.

***

Rolling Stone continues to get the best interviews around. (recall McChrystal’s tell-all that doomed his career).  Obama was recently interviewed. Everyone is all agaga about the threat to the electorate to “wake up” but there was lots of other juicy tidbits collected. Obama noted that the “golden” age of journalism was brief, and most of our history demonstrates a very opinionated press. Fox he says is “wildly” successful in that vein. As to the teabaggers:

There’s no doubt that the infrastructure and the financing of the Tea Party come from some very traditional, very powerful, special-interest lobbies. I don’t think this is a secret. Dick Armey and FreedomWorks, which was one of the first organizational mechanisms to bring Tea Party folks together, are financed by very conservative industries and forces that are opposed to enforcement of environmental laws, that are opposed to an energy policy that would be different than the fossil-fuel-based approach we’ve been taking, that don’t believe in regulations that protect workers from safety violations in the workplace, that want to make sure that we are not regulating the financial industries in ways that we have.

 

***

If you like your political commentary a little more gritty and shall we say, colorful? then do stop over and read thump and whip, who profiles a number of teabagger candidates and rulers. A bit salty perhaps, but right on in analysis I’d say. Thanks to tengrain and Crooks and Liars for the H/T.

***

Oh boy, it has been days since we had a thing to say about our favorite INSANE Human-pretender, Glenny Beck. I figured you needed a fix. NYTimes Magazine has an interview, and you are going to enjoy it, *bounce* *bounce*. It’s a looooongggg piece so be prepared–get a snack!

***

For those of you in the Iowa area, please note that there will be an all-Muslim panel to discuss “What it means to be an American Muslim” sponsored by Stanley Richards Revocable Trust, at Drake Sheslow Auditorium, October 7, at 7pm. Admission is free. (moderator Dr. Mahmoud Hamad of Drake University)

***

What’s on the stove? leftovers–or as the Contrarian maintains “your leftovers are better than most people’s firstovers!” today we choose from venison stroganoff and chicken cacciatore, with salad and rolls.

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Looking Under a Rock and Finding DeMint

Tags

Darwinism, Fox News, GOP, Jim DeMint, Media, rightwing nuts, Sarah Palin, social Darwinism, Stephen Hawking

I mean, it’s not like I’m telling you something you don’t already know. Jim DeMint, (R-SC) is nothing more than your average jackass of a GOPer.

You remember him from early on in the Obama administration when he announced that health care reform would be “Obama’s Waterloo”, signaling that Republicans were only about destroying a president and not doing their constitutional duty to govern the nation.

He has of course stayed true to form. Worse, he has traveled far to the dark side, way past Darth Vader. He’s cozied up with the teabagger movement, making it most clear that he is willing to throw even other Republicans under the bus in pursuit of wacko teabagger ideals. That they have no actual policies outlined, is of course, besides the point.

It all goes to show that DeMint is a true lover of power, with no principles. It’s not like he has any issue with re-election. His opponent is laughable–Alvin Greene–someone so idiotic that it’s hard to believe he’s not a teabagger himself, except that he’s not. And being in South Carolina pretty much ensures his re-election anyway.

So, DeMint signals that his only true desire is to be a leader of the group he is banking will be a mover and shaker in the up-coming Congress. He made all this quite clear in the Value Voters Summit where he blatantly threatened, ala the Palinator, that you better either get with the “program” (which is really just a long list of dislikes), or you too will find yourself looking for work.

To show how awfully nasty he really is, and of course, his truest colors, when Democrats asked for unanimous consent to give the Oil Spill Commission subpoena powers, he alone stood up and objected. It is hard to know whether it’s just because he opposes anything proposed by a Democrat no matter how benign or universally agreed to, or whether he is protecting the oil interests of BP. In either case, it’s another case of refusal to consider the public interest in favor of personal political interests.

It points up of course the radical schizophrenia that inhabits the Teabagger movement. Surely these hard-working middle class folks can’t be in favor of the destructive activities of BP in the Gulf. Surely they would want them held accountable. Yet they will ignore DeMint’s betrayal of the public trust, because he is “for them,” and their political acumen is just that thin that that is held to be enough.

@@This just in: DeMint and Colburn vote against a bill that would allow the sale of a piece of federal land to a private interest for purposes of building a Women’s Museum. No taxpayer money was involved. The bill had popular support, across the aisle. Why you ask? Women already have a “Quilter’s Hall of Fame” and “Cowgirl’s Museum.” Yeah, right.

@@@This just in later even: It now seems that Master of the Universe, Jim DeMitt has sent a letter to all senators indicating that he will oppose any and all legislation not cleared through his office by end of the day today unless it has been hot-lined, meaning it has cleared each caucus with no objections. It seems the demagogue-in-his-own-mind desires to shut down government completely and then of course blame the Dems for not passing anything. The man is simply nuts.

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Meanwhile, the Chronicle, gives a really captivating and thoughtful review of Stephen Hawking’s new book. Drawing strongly on the philosophy of Wittgenstein and Toulmin, Carlin Romano, makes a good argument that Hawking went a bit too far in his claims that God is unnecessary to the universe. Apparently, and I should have guessed, Hawking also argued that philosophy itself has had it’s day and should close up shop. Stimulating reading.

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An intriguing poll sponsored by Politico and reported in the Washington Post, suggests that Sarah (that women is an idiot) Palin may  or may not be accomplishing what she wants to. If her goal is to be a force to be reckoned with within the GOP, then she appears to be doing that. If on the other hand, she is hopin’ to be the next POTUS, not so good. Her quitting of the governorship of Alaska, and her position as Fox Noise pundit, have served to increase and harden those who strongly disagree with any efforts of hers to seek the presidency. A strong 58% find her unacceptable.

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Oh Snap! The wacko right loves to call liberals elitists. Yes they do. Forgetting of course that their darlings, such as Billy (the nerd) Kristol were graduates of Harvard both undergrad and post grad. While a goodly clump of GOPers disfavor real Darwinism in favor creationism, when it comes to social Darwinism, we may have a different story. Social Darwinism, in case you are a bit rusty, is the Darwinian misuse of the idea of “survival of the fittest” promoted in the 19th century. Started by LIBERAL ELITISTS, it was co-opted by wealthy industrialists, to justify ruthless practices that left most of America in poverty. Ironic no? Read Robert Reich’s analysis.

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Kevin Drum has an excellent explanation of why the right-wing crap flies. It has to do with Fox and how it operates. Basically, they hammer a story round the clock, using all their pundits, and so-called journalists to bang the same drum. More often than not, the mainstream media feels forced to pick up the story and say something: and thus we get more and more of our time taken up by non-stories such as the New Black Panther party. MSNBC keeps their punditry and their actual news quite separate, so the exposés don’t get the mainstream media play.

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What’s on the stove? Chicken Cacciatore and Soft Polenta with butter and Parmesan, with rolls and homegrown corn.

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