Well, It’s Not as if They Want Those Votes!

Tags

Election 2012, Gingrich, Jr., Martin L. King, Obama, racism, right-wing insane, Romney, Santorum, Sports

They have lots of time on their hands in Myrtle Beach I guess. Just so you know, from L-R, it’s Romney, Newt, Huntsman, Perry, Santorum and Paul.

While we were busy doing other things (getting totally immersed in the new show Alcatraz), the clown show was doing its level best to wow ’em in South Carolina. True to form, when we miss a rare debate, we miss the best of them.

Juan Williams had the unmitigated (it’s always unmitigated by the by) gall to question Newtster as to whether his “little black boys becoming janitors” might be a bit, ya know, talking down to darker folks. For this he was roundly booed by the good citizens of drawl.

Similarly, we understand that Mr. Mittens made some remark about his Mexican heritage  and for that he was also booed. That story is another of those, “you cannot make this stuff up” moments. When Mormons were being persecuted in the US, Mittens grandpa took the family down to Mexico, and they stayed there for some time, and Mittens papa was born down there. When the Mexican revolution broke out he moved the family back to the US–get this–as illegal aliens. Sooo, I’m thinkin, Mittens needs to go back to Mexico and get at the back of the line. Fair is fair after all.

While Mittens may be inevitable at this point, the right-wingers are intent on making it clearly known that they don’t want no Black and Hispanics muddying up their white GOP waters. I rather think their desire will be accommodated come next November. But, as the Rightie-Tightie’s are quick to point out, there ain’t no bleepin’ racism in Merika no more!

It used to be that the GOP could always make an issue out of crime. Crime being down everywhere, they have pretty much lost that issue, but both Frothy Mix and Mittens assured everyone that no dirty ex-felon would ever pull a lever in a voting booth if they had their druthers. So there.

¶

Andrew Sullivan, who writes for the Daily Beast, has by all accounts a great article on the Obama Administration accomplishments to date in Newsweek. Given what he has had to work with, it’s actually pretty amazing. And remember that it was Obama that pushed the stimulus, which contrary to all GOP rhetoric has been successful. It has been Europe who refused his suggestions and opted for austerity, that finds itself in deeper and deeper trouble. While our economy is certainly not robust, it has been making a steady climb upward for more than ten straight months.

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Now this is no gossip column, I want that to be perfectly clear. But good grief, how can one pass up juicy stuff like this:

It seems that Santorum’s wife, Karen, who is now a rabid anti-abortion crusader, used not to be well, so inclined.

It seems Karen, before she met the Rickster, was the “live-in” love for many years of one Tom Allen, a Pittsburg obstetrician, abortionist, and t0-this-day outspoken advocate of a woman’s reproductive freedom. He knows Karen quite well, having delivered her himself. Karen was into older men at the time. Karen was 22 when she remet Allen, then 63. Their affair lasted six years.

You cannot make this stuff up.

So, if you wonder how Frothy Mix gets all those perverted notions in his little noggin, well, . . .just sayin’.

This ranks high on the scale of Newtzpah!

¶

 I re-heard part of Martin Luther King, Jr’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail last night. I have to go read the entire thing. It is powerful stuff. MLK was an extraordinary and eloquent writer. You can go read it here.

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Call me crazy, but I find articles like this intriguing. Do Sports Build Character or Damage It? The Chronicle of Higher Education weighs in, and makes for an entertaining and thoughtful piece. The comments are good too.  This all from a professorial perspective. How else would Plato, Hector and Lawrence Taylor end up in the same place?

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Betty White turns 90 today, and is busy, healthy, and funnier than hell. She gives me hope.

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You guys probably don’t read the Blaze much. I don’t “read” it either, but I do check out the headlines and read the comments of one’s that I am sure will be “hot”. One of the most dangerous and compelling tools in the Blaze readership arsenal, is their willingness to “boycott” all those bad folks they find. Mostly they are Hollywood types and of course whole broadcasting networks, most of them in fact. They have boycotted so many people I can’t keep track. People like Morgan Freeman, and Spielberg, and Ron Howard, and George Clooney, and so forth.

The boycotts are because they are black and are “playing the racist” cards (code for reminding us of our damn bigotry), or they are supporting that racist/socialist/communist/fascist/Muslim jihadist/half-black/Merika-hatin’ Obummer dude.

I always feel sorta bad for ’em. They got nothing to watch, nothin’ to read, nothin’ to do except fume. They are down to Rush and Glenn and WorldNewsDaily. Gotta be rough.

And I can tell that all those Hollywood types are sweating out these boycotts. I mean the must be losing pennies a month. Rough.

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What’s on the Stove? Something called Smashed Tacos. And today’s posting will be an awesome Autumn Squash soup.

Extraordinary Words: Musings on the state and ethical behavior (suitably vague huh?)

Related articles

• Before Karen Met Rick (politicalwire.com)
• Political Predictions (hidinginurcloset.wordpress.com)
• Romney Shrugs Off Attacks (thedailybeast.com)
• Video: Gingrich vs. Juan Williams on the “food-stamp president” (hotair.com)

I’m So Snarky in My Longjohns

Tags

American History, founding fathers, Health care, Jesse Jackson, Joe Lieberman, Jr., Martin L. King, Michele Bachmann, NAACP, Right-wing wonkettes, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, teabaggers

She’s Baaaaaaccckkkk! Indeed, caught in a time warp, the Goodie two-shoes Sherry has been stifled, and Evil Snark, arguably the “real” thing is back!

Know ya been missin’ all the satirical madness that we so like to shovel to ya!

Okay, it was MINUS eighteen freakin’ degrees this morning and I’m grouchy.

I been a preparing for this event for a week, and though we survived it with no frosted fingers or nose, and the water still running, I’m tired of carrying a week’s worth of clothes on my back all day. It’s leftovers today, and I’m not lifting much more than a finger ’bout anything else.

I’ve spent some free time on The Blaze. It is a right-wing rag, supposedly tied to Beck, but I’ve not seen a word uttered by him there. The articles, if you can call them that, are trite, uninformative, selective in their reporting, and otherwise dull. But the comments, oh the comments are just precious. That is, if you are looking to see what the lowest 1% of the IQ in America is thinking. Again if you can call it thinking.

I learned something about the black experience. After Jesse Jackson spoke about the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was still in part unfulfilled, I learned that I had it all wrong about MLK. It turns out he was not against the Vietnam war, not in favor of a redistribution of wealth in America, and a whole lot of other progressive things. No. I learned the extreme RIGHT wonkettes “revere” the man because:

MLK was for EQUAL justice – not social justice!

and this:

Jessie Jackson hijacked the dream, kidnapped the dream, raped and murdered and buried the Dream in an unmarked grave decades ago. It’s people like Glenn Beck and the Tea Party that are resurrecting the dream. Jesse,  pucker up and kiss ass you race baiting freedom hater.

and this:

The National African-American Communist Party (NAACP) – is more of the problem than solution for the 13% black community. They just perpetuate the woo is me mentality and tell the blacks that in fact they ares second class citizens and deserve the white handouts! – They should be thankful there was slavery and their ancestors were brought to America. Anytime they want to go back to their heritage country we will donate the travel expense.

And let’s not leave out the history lesson:

If it was not for the Founding of the United States of the Americas slavery would still be the labor of choice in whatever Empire would have come to power in today’s world.

What I have concluded, is that MLK was a wonderful person, but Jesse Jackson, the NAACP, and all African-Americans who don’t “know their place” are vile awful creatures. That doesn’t make these Right-wingers racists. Naw, they just are tellin’ it like it is.

My favorite comment so far is this one, from the never-ending defense of sista Sarah:

Palin is like the statue of liberty with a torch that will absorb all the evils of the progressive left – and stands taller for it.

Ah, yes, I can see it in my mind. Can’t you? The little granny glasses perched upon the statutes nose? A rifle slung across her back? The book binding with the words: Dominationist Christianity: NOW.  Who wouldn’t love that!

***

And then there is Michele Bachmann, claiming that, not to worry. Repeal of the Health Care Act won’t mean anything bad for those with pre-existing conditions. Why no, the “free market place” has handled it in the past, and will in the future, just fine. Yes, we know how they did it in the past. We can imagine how they will in the future, crazy woman. (Crazy eyes trails Obama in Iowa in straw polling by 18 big ones, in case you were concerned.)

***

Don’t forget that Michelle Obama is in the news again. The Crazies are pointing out that she is responsible for the slight uptick in pedestrians getting hit by cars. All that crap about eating better and getting more exercise has got people walking, and thus wandering into cars all over America. Lord, can’t that woman concentrate on flower arrangements or something?

***

Don’t know if ya heard. But Joey (I’m pissed) Lieberman had a debate with Arianna Huffington on Morning Joe the other day. Topic: WMD’s in Iraq. Lieberman continued to suggest that there was “good reason” to believe they were there. He cited the Duelfer report as support. When Huffington called him out on it and said that it did not support his contention, Lieberman shot back: “I don’t think you’ve read it, sweetheart.”  Okay Joe, another good reason why saying goodbye is such a good feeling for us all.

***

Political Irony has a nice list of  political jokes. They are worth linking up, but this one was reported everywhere, and is classic:

“I want you teabaggers out there to understand one thing: while you idolize the Founding Fathers and dress up like them, and smell like them, I think it’s pretty clear that the Founding Fathers would have hated your guts. And what’s more, you would’ve hated them. They were everything you despise. They studied science, read Plato, hung out in Paris, and thought the Bible was mostly bullsh*t.” – Bill Maher

***

Rush Limbaugh appears to be winning the race between Beck, Palin and himself, to of utter insignificance in the world. Even the right (you are sitting down I hope?) is critical of the tubbo’s recent mockery of the Chinese President, Hu. Mo has the story and links.

***

Okay, enough for today. I feel much better. See ya tomorrow if we don’t get frozen into icicles or ‘sumpin’.

The Winter of Our Discontent

Tags

civil discourse, Jr., Martin L. King, Obama, Right-wing estremism, sociology, Tucson memorial

This photograph, enlarged and framed hung in the courtroom of George W. Crockett II, in Recorder’s Court, Detroit, Michigan. Later, after the Judge had retired and become a US Congressman, it hung in the courtroom of his son, George W. Crockett III, whom I was privileged to work with and call friend.

I never failed to notice and sometimes contemplate  it as I sat awaiting a case being called, or perhaps during some portion of a trial. It always impressed me, this thoughtful, deep thinking man, carrying so much weight upon his shoulders.

King, I am told, ultimately moved to a “redistribution of wealth” point of view. He opposed the Vietnam war. He of course promoted and insisted upon a passive resistance approach in the Civil Rights movement. He learned his non-violence from Gandhi, at least in part. No doubt, he learned a great deal of it from Jesus of Nazareth.

How odd, how very ironic that we are fresh from violence a mere week ago. On this day we contemplate peace, and unity, civil discourse. How ironic that we are so strident in our speaking, so hateful in our speech.

I wonder. Are we a people, Americans that is, who are suspicious by nature? Do we distrust as part of our North American DNA? Sometimes I think so. But I am stymied as to why it seems so much worse now. Or maybe I am not. Maybe I’m just not sure.

I have read a good deal over the past few days, some small amount on virulently right-wing blogs and sites. I concentrate on the comments. And vicious is about the kindest words I can find.

All the glowing tributes to the fine speech by our President are gone. But to most of these commenters, they never had anything glowing to say, they merely waited until it was okay to spew. And spew they do.

The Right and Fox now accuse the Obama administration of distributing t-shirts at the memorial with the words “Together We Thrive.” Commentors screamed that there was “rock the vote” below the words, proof of course. None of this was documented of course, and of course it was exactly wrong.

The University of Arizona said the t-shirt and saying originated with them and that the sub-logo said “Tucson & American”. This is ignored, not fitting the agenda.

Worse, a photo has been moving around that shows Obama on the jumbotron at the auditorium. At the bottom are the words “applause.” Self-righteous horror at the ugly use of propaganda, used to make people applaud for the president, using the memorial in such a political way. “That ‘s the way of libtards,” one screeched. (Wouldn’t the use of libtard be an inappropriate bastardization of retard?)

The truth? This was close captioned for the hearing impaired, and when there was a pause for applause that erupted, the word applause served to notify the deaf why the president had stopped speaking.

The University has since explained that all the plans for the service were made by them, with the sole exception of security where the administration had input. None of this of course is mentioned by the Right Wing Media wonkettes.

There is no desire to know truth, since desire informs truth.

Similarly, but for different reasons, the British and American medical community have made it most clear that the British doctor who claimed that autism was in at least part caused by juvenile inoculations is a fraud. His study has been determined to be utterly fraudulent, his medical license stripped. No study (at least 5) have replicated his findings.

Still, lay people, surely wanting only the best for their children, continue to support the doctor and argue that there is some “massive conspiracy” to hide the truth. Why always comes down now, to “the only way to get research dollars is to go along with the prevailing ‘truth’.”

I find this hard to believe. As hard as I find it to believe when evolution is the topic, and the same argument is made. People simply don’t waste their entire professional lives on research they know to be bogus. People want to be noted for accomplishments, not being cogs in some massive grant scheme to benefit? who exactly?

Yet, people are not trusting. More and more doctors report that their patient’s parents don’t trust their advice. Having no expertise, they scurry to the Internet and discover “truth” for themselves. Yet, the Internet is chock full of charlatans, those who are making a living or better playing to fear and anger of this type.

I don’t think we are more suspicious than we have ever been. But I do think we have access to more information of fraud, and that causes us to think we should investigate better ourselves, and that leads us to sources we have no clue about. We are not equipped to determine which are legit and which are not.

I’m not sure how we work our way out of this dilemma, but surely we must. We are fast becoming in this age of information, horribly uninformed. And worse, we think we are MORE informed than others. How to negotiate this miasma of crazy to brilliant “information” is the problem we face.

If we cannot agree on what are legitimate sources, then civil discourse of the type envisioned by King and so many others will forever elude us.

Any ideas?