Crystal Ball Gazing

Tags

Al-Jazeera, Books, Dalai Lama, Entertainment, freedom of press, Individual Rights, Libya, memory, news media, no-fly zone, pensions, religion, spirituality, Steven King, Tibet, unions, Wisconsin

Well, a no-fly zone has been instituted over Libya. It may be too little, too late. I guess there is no way to know at this point.

I don’t know if it was the right thing to do or not, but I do know that doing nothing was unacceptable. Somehow we have to make it clear to petty dictators that murdering your massive opposition is not acceptable, no matter how many paid henchmen you can pay.

There is nothing clear about whether it will succeed or not–the no-fly zone I mean. Andrew Sullivan directs us to Marc Lynch and his views which I think are well worth reading. All depends, in his view, as to whether or not we can succeed and do so quickly. The stakes are high. Bahrain and Yemen are both now engaged in severe crackdowns against rebels in their nations. A quick success in Libya could give them pause. Otherwise, the cries for freedom may be muffled once again.

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Some good news in Wisconsin. A judge there has placed a temporary restraining order against the Govenator’s new union busting bill. A full hearing will be held, to determine the legality of the sleazy trick the GOP attempted by violating the “open records” law. There is some reason apparently to think that the judge might be inclined to the union side of the equation.

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Lest we forget, the GOP of course is claiming that union benefit packages, including pensions are grossly unfair and bloated. All the while they claim this, not a one of them refuses their own pension plans gifted to them by taxpayers. Steven King (R-IA), oinker from Iowa, claims his is “slim pickins”, while the FACTS seem to suggest just the opposite. Like health care, which they are also again, and which they also receive from the taxpayers. Me thinks King, et.al. speak with forked tongues.

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Did you know that in the three areas of the US that carry the english version of Al-Jazeera, it gets quite high ratings? Did you know that every time cable networks start to talk about putting them on the regular cable news lineup, the conservatives go bat shit crazy? Political Irony suggests, I guess we don’t have freedom of speech here unless it agrees with what corporate-owned media likes.

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As many of you know, the Dalai Lama has been the political and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people for many years. He has been in exile since 1959. Recently he signaled his intent to step down as political leader, feeling that the Tibetan people should be able to rule themselves. They don’t like the idea, and apparently do not intend to amend their constitution to make that possible. I guess it means that the Dalai Lama is doing something right. It’s hard to think of any leader that the people wish to remain in office in this world today. Maybe we should take a look.

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A book you might want to take a look at, called the Sufi’s Garden.

The Sufi’s Garland
by Manav Sachdeva Maasoom
Published by: ROMAN Books
Publication date: 25th March 2011
Price: $24.95 (Hardcover)
104 pp, 6-1/8 x 9-1/4″
ISBN: 978-93-80040-02-8

A small excerpt:

I went outside to see
if God’s voice
was disturbing anybody

I think I’m going to inquire about getting it for review. It looks simply divine. [h/t 3quarksdaily]

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I bet you forgot, that you used to memorize things. If you are old as me anyway, which is older than most trees, but not quite as old as the Jurassic. See, we used to memorize things like phone numbers and addresses. And we don’t have to do that any more, so we are beginning to lose our abilities to remember stuff. I can tell you that is true because I dare not send the Contrarian to the store to pick up five things without writing them down. Actually, make that three things.

Anyway, there is a new book out that helps you remember what you never knew, or something like that. How to remember stuff. Moonwalking with Einstein: the Art and Science of Remembering Everything. Read a review of it here.

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Okay, you got enough information to make you  the hit of the party tonight. Have at it.

Related Articles

• The Dalai Lama pushes reform (search.japantimes.co.jp)

We Have Seen Strange Things Today

Tags

beer pubs, civil disobedience, GOP, rebellion, revolution, Steven King, tax cuts, UnAmerican Activities Committee, Wisconsin

Hello? Are you there? It’s white outside, and hard to tell. I knew it would come. I just wanted it to wait, until 2012. Of course, it did not. Keep up your chin. This too shall pass, and as Dorothy says, some fresh hell will assault us.

It is frigid, and it’s not even zero. That means I am going to be a pool of frozen snot when it gets really cold. I’m a baby, a whimpering limp poop. I admit it.

On the home front: There are new posts at Walking in the Shadows and 1000 Shitty Things. Do visit and prop up my failing ego. (TEASER: Johnny DEPP!)

We have been having girlie dog problems that have got us nearly coocoo. Brandy has been unwilling to come up the steps. We thought it was arthritis, but eventually concluded that she must have slipped on the steps and now is afraid to come up. She weighs nearly a 100 pounds so it’s not like you can pick her up.

No amount of food enticement, cajoling, or yelling helps. But we got an idea. The Contrarian found a piece of carpet, cut it up into pieces, and nailed them to the steps. Zoom! up she came! Problem solved. She is most glad that we humans finally figured out what she has been trying to tell us with eyes and wagging tail.

Cold? Yes, and so on the stove there is a new pot of chili simmering away, thickening and melding it’s rich blend of spices and peppers. Oh my. And jalapeno-cheddar cornbread. With sides of raw onions, more cheddar and crackers, oh my soul rejoices. I’ll check and see if I’ve posted my chili recipe online as of yet, and if not, I’ll post it this week. It’s world-class, and has received a number of awards. I can show ’em to you, otherwise trust me. ;D

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The new GOP talking point on the tax cuts, is that the reason that business is glutted with cash, but still ain’t hiring anyone, is that they are “worried about their taxes going up.” The continuing yak is that we gotta continue the tax cuts for the rich so they will feel safe to increase their labor forces. Crooks and Liars, has the actual numbers (imagine! real evidence?) which belies all that crap.  While I submit that business has deliberately stopped hiring it’s because they are trying to coerce Obama to do just that–extend the Bush tax cuts to them. Why do I suspect that the rich and the GOP (oh they are the same!) figured that out together and are playing the same tune deliberately?

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Mad Priest has a cartoon that speaks so well to our times. Go see.

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Holy  baby Jesus, now we understand why OKJimm lives in Wisconsin. And if he moves, it will surely be to either Illinois or North Dakota. Why? Well take a gander at this map and you will surely have your answer. It’s dumbfoundingly unreal.

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Do take a look at PeNolan’s, post, Sex as Civil Disobedience over at BlackMagpieTheory. And when finished, do follow the link to Power and Tiny Acts of Rebellion by Chris Hedges. The gist of it, is that we are never going to dismantle the corporate behemoth that runs this country by the electoral process, where nearly all who are elected are part of the problem.

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Our resident nut-job Steven King (R-IA) is opening his BIG DISGUSTING MOUTH again, and proving just how racist, homophobic and otherwise intolerant one human being can be. Seems that King is of the opinion that a McCarthy-style resurrection of the House “un-American Activities” Committee is in order, because, as we all know, once you get your “cultural house in order, the economic will follow.” (that straight out of Econ 101 no doubt).

I recall a scene from Full Metal Jacket, in which the drill Sgt. , eyes a prospective recruit and asks him his height. “Five foot ten, sir,” the youngster manages to spit out. “Amazing,” the Sgt. replies, “I didn’t know that could stack shit that high.” King you are a douche.

***

Well, live is impinging on my blogging. Answer me this: why cannot any UPS or FED-EX or freakin’ post office understand that a blue-box attached to my 911 address at the edge of our lane, directly across from the mail box is meant to LEAVE SHIT TOO LARGE FOR THE MAILBOX? I get, instead, “we tried to deliver, but were too freakin’ stupid to understand the box, so we took it back with us and you can contact us and ‘splain to us what you want us to do with your freakin’ package!”

Instead of pulling out my hair, which is rather too glorious, I’ll go pull a few of the Contrarian’s which are becoming as sparse as an oasis in the Mohave desert.

Have a day, of some kind, and tell me if you see any strange things.

Parade of Idiots

Tags

Election 2012, GOP, Sarah Palin, Steven King, Tom Tancredo

“House Republican hopefuls gather for one last group pic before election day!”

Well, it looks that way to me. What can I say? I  am so tired of lies and more lies and more lies that I can hardly bear it. As I said, we are opting out of watching the returns. Take it like a woman, on Wednesday morning, full-face assault on my sanity.

Oh, and I just had recouped it Saturday. It didn’t last long. Jon and Stephen were fun, crowd estimates were pegged at 216,000, but the right-wing, sure that their idiot boy Beck garnered between 3-600,000, cry foul. They of course claim that CBS’s estimate of 87,000 was a liberal media lie, so you know they won’t buy 216 from the same source.

Sarah, idiot savant, Palin is at it again. Using  the phrase “corrupt bastards” as regards CBS. There is a voicemail not disconnected, and some journalists laughing at how to ingest some interest in the rally. Some garbled suggestion, of going to find a  child molester in the crowd, or something like that. This is all amid laughter as it appears all were offering humorous suggestions.

Palin has turned this into some attempt by what she claims is the CBS affiliate (which it is not), to fraudulently make some bogus charge to further derail her boy’s campaign. It’s all so much silliness of course. But Sarah claims it is going to blow up all over Merika any day now. We await, Sarah, we await.

She’s burning up the tweet world with her slashing allegations. Just as she did a few days ago when she utterly misunderstood the tongue in cheek jibe at Ahmadinejad’s birthday greeting from the State Department. Sarah, you see, barely able to read coherently, and unable to talk coherently thought it was a serious well-meant greeting. She took offense–more pallin’ around with terrorists in her vacuous mind.

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Tom Tancredo and Steve King vie for the title of the craziest MF to be born in America in the 20th century. Steve King, who claimed that a vote for Obama in ’08 was a vote to make Bin Ladin and Al Qaeda dance with happiness. He also voted against Katrina relief. He also voted against a Congressional resolution honoring slaves who built the building. He refuses to debate his opponent claiming he will when he finally gets one “worthy” of his time. He voted against his entire Iowan congressional caucus who voted to increase Native Peoples ability to fight rape among Native women on native lands, and called those who protested, “unaware of what bill they are even talking about.” He is speaking to crowds of less than 30 about how all three Iowa Supreme Court Justices up for re-election, should be booted because they found the marriage act unconstitutional in denying same-sex couples. He is apparently too stupid to realize that two of the three were appointed by gubernatorial candidate and past Governor Terry Brandstad, and that 60% of all judges in Iowa were appointed by Restuplicans. Oh and best of all? Chet Culver, Democratic Governor, could appoint new justices before he leaves office! Too funny Stupido King.

On his side, Tom Tancredo, who recently claims that all non-Christian immigrants should be sent packing. Now he claims that he thinks that the appropriate response to any terror attack on the US would be a bombing of Mecca and Medina. This has been repudiated, (that would be refutiated Sarah if someone is reading this to you) by nearly everyone. He also favors impeachment of Obama.

You vote.

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Sure the GOPers are gonna win big. Most of the newly elected are fairly simple-minded and have taken advantage of a trend of anger. Once they arrive in their new offices, they will be TOLD the realities and nothing much will change. So note November 3, as the beginning of the teabugger disillusionment. The real GOP is already gearing up to stop Palin. If she screams loud enough, they will lose her hangers-on followers. I mean, doncha just love this?

There is one thing and one alone that I admire about Ms. Moosey. It’s here ability to remain supremely self-confident in herself. I mean if I knew that several millions of my fellow Americans thought me unfit for the job I aspired to, and moreover, superbly uninterested in learning the subject matter, well, I’d be devastated to put it mildly. How many does it take, until one might ask, perhaps I’m the one who is wrong? So far, that magic number has not arrived for our Sarah.

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Leastly and lastly, but not leastly at all, but mostly, go over to Mock Paper Scissors, for an election! Ballot! Ballot! Vote Vote Vote. The 1st Macaca Awards! The nominees are all these and more!

Related Articles

• Palin cries conspiracy, has proof, doesn’t release it (shortformblog.com)
• Tea Party Express Doesn’t Help Image With Tancredo Endorsement (alan.com)
• GOP Leaders: Sarah Palin Must be Stopped (cbsnews.com)
• Sarah Palin Responds To Politico’s Hit Piece: ‘I Think It’s Very Unprofessional’ (mediaite.com)

Weird, But no I before E Except After C

Tags

American Family Association, Election 2012, GOP, homophobes, Michael Bloomberg, Michelle Obama, Mike Huckabee, Politics, Sarah Palin, Steven King, teabaggers, wingnuts

Ya know, Ole Mikey (the pudge) Huckabee has always struck me as a kinda nice guy. Not the bright light mind you, but a guy whose misguided heart is at least in the right place.

I guess I’m not thinkin’ that so much any more.

Mikey, it seems feels that he was badly treated by GOP “elites.” I’m not sure exactly who he would stick in that category, but I imagine some of the old guard–the McConnells, the Boehners and the McCains. Sad little men who try valiantly to jump on the Tea Party bandwagon, but for all the world can’t keep the smirking “don’t touch me you goats!” kinda look off their faces as they glad hand the “folks.”

I shouldn’t wonder that Mikey was sort of looked upon as a country parson come a courtin’ the town beauty. After all, the man does refudiate 🙂 evolution and all. That does tend to tell the intellectual elite of any party or group that they are dealing with a personage of the tenth level of IDIOCY.

That may be why Mikey decided to be critical of those GOPer elites who have been snickering about Christine O’Donnell and her creationist/no masturbatory policy/where is that separation of church and state in the Constitution, candidacy in Delaware. And while snickering, being fairly pissed since it probably cost them any real chance at taking the Senate.

Mikey identifies with Christine I guess. Though truth is he has probably got about 40 IQ points on her.

Then Mikey went and jumped on the old white men’s bandwagon of support for the new “liberal” Juan Williams, so rudely treated by NPR. I mean, it took them no time to get out the talking points did it? All in lockstep. How dare you raise a leg on our resident “boy?”

Apparently Mikey is still of the opinion that his chances in 2012 exist. And thus we have all this tighty-whitey “I’m one of y’all,” simpatico crap with teabuggery.

Sarah Posner has a nice piece on The Pudge, and it turns out he’s not your usual “I’ll be anything you need me to be” kinda candidate. He may actually believe the bilge he utters.  He’s  in bed and has been with American Family Association, one of the most rabid anti-gay hate groups around. Read it! (This organization is behind robo calls in Michigan against gay candidates, and also the recall of judges movement in Iowa) Don’t look now Mikey, but your homophobia is showing!

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AlterNet has a really comprehensive article (reprint) on the entire Tea Party phenomenon. Tracking the money and the players and how they co-opt the real anger of the average joe and turn it not only to their own advantage, but to the disadvantage ultimately of that same unsuspecting average joe.

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There is an interesting article at the NY Magazine that you should probably take a look at. It’s written by John Heilemann and he was talking about it last night I believe on Chris Matthew’s Hardball. I don’t buy his premise mind you–it involves how not only could Sarah run, but how she might win. It involves an unlikely scenario involving Bloomberg. While Bloomberg is an interesting thought, I think he is wildly too smart to get caught up in this can of worms. But read it and make your own assessment. Sarah it seems is destined to be with us in 2012 in some form or another. It’s best we think through all the possibilities. A breathtakingly unqualified person such as this is dangerous and we best remember that.

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Resident wacko-nut Steven King (R-IA) is on the hate tour bus run by NOM, touring Iowa to stir up the voters to vote out our three justices up for re-election. They mustered  the humongous number of 42 who came to hear King vomit his homophobic sludge. So reports Joe.My.God.

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Sven and Olga lived in Mina-SOOO-TA. It was winter and exceedingly cold, the wood stove burned low in the long night, and the two cuddled in the bed. The phone rang. Sven got up and answered. Olga heard presently a shouted remark by Sven: HOO THE HELL WOULD I KNOW?

Sven returned to bed and Olga asked him who it was. Sven mumbled something incoherent and snuggled back in. A few moments later, the phone rang again. Dutifully Sven got up and answered. Olga heard this even louder refrain: HOO THE HELL WOULD I KNOW? IT’S TWO THOUSAND MILES AWAY!

Sven again returned to bed. Olga again prodded him. “Who was that?” she asked. “Some damn fool  that wanted to know if the coast was clear,” Sven grouched.

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Julie Gunlock (I swear it’s her name) writing for NRO, moans about how the media attacks Michelle Obama’s cheeseburger lunch, and then goes about the business of attacking Michelle Obama for her choice of a cheeseburger lunch. The wiggy right-wing is like that–illogical and inconsistent. She finds it just wrong and well wrong for big mama Obama to be telling the Merkican public how to eat. They are adults and can decide for themselves.  Guess she forgot about the Nancy Reagan “Just say no” campaign. I’m sure Julie would find some point of difference. Oh yeah, one is a Democrat and the other a GOPer. Yeah that’s it. Um….do you think there MIGHT be an important issue to waste your ink on there lady?

What’s Up? 06/16/10

Tags

Campaign financing, chicken, Glenn Beck, Iran, lifestyle, racism, Recipes, religious right, Sarah Palin, soccer, Steven King

Ahh, I feel fairly refreshed from getting that rant out of me. All back to my sweet self.

The garden is getting water logged and this is not a good thing. When the plants get too stressed from too much water, they survive, but end up producing a half dozen seeds. They are too pooped to participate in the ritual of procreation. Sad, but true. Climate change. Sad but true. No matter what the wingnuttery right tells ya.

Oh don’t forget that Chris Matthews has a special on tonight 7 ET on the rise of the Tea Party movement. He says it’s done with little commentary, mostly out of their own mouths. This hopefully will motivate everyone to vote, because some of these folks are dangerous, the rest mostly deluded.

One of Lewis Black’s best lines:

I never understand people who come up to me and tell me that George Bush was a great leader. I wonder, what drug do I need to take to get that deluded?”

Deluded will be the word of the day, and I’ll use it regularly. I read yesterday that the dictionary people who worry about these things, say that some words are falling into disuse and will become extinct. So, I’m going to make sure deluded is not one of them. Choose your words wisely, tomorrow they may be as rare as flat earthers at a Star Trek convention.

One of the things that bugs me is that important stuff falls off the radar too quickly because news comes so fast. New crisis, new tragedy. You know the drill. Toyota? Who worries about their Toyota any more? Same thing with the “revolution in Iran.” Who remembers when we saw the glimmer of freedom shine forth? If you are interested in what life is like these days in Tehran, then visit here, thanks to Arts & Letters.

I know we all get Sarah (that woman is an idiot) weary, but Susan Posner is an excellent writer and journalist and she asks the question: Is Sarah Palin the New Leader of the Christian Right? Worth your while. So you won’t get deluded ya know.

Most of us are addicted to reforming some aspect of our lives several times a year, most notably known as New Year’s resolutions. But in any case, we recommit ourselves regularly to fixing us. Atticus has some ideas about taking that leap into the unknown. Take a moment and look.

Have to take a break and do some cooking. I’m making chicken with olives. Oddly, Pioneer Woman had a recipe which I didn’t select, and Rachel Ray had one that I didn’t write down. But I kinda liked the idea and blended some of theirs with my own, and got this:

chicken pieces (as many as ya want) salt, pepper and brown em.

Remove chicken and add onions, green or yellow pepper and chopped tomatoes.

Saute until mostly tender. Add the chicken back and cover tightly and simmer.

45 min. or so.

remove chicken, add fresh herbs (oregano, rosemary and chopped good olives)

simmer hard with lid off until reduced. (add tomato sauce if ya wanna to thicken more) oh idea! When I check mine, it was already pretty thick, so I think I’ll not reduce much but add a touch of cream at the end.

Return chicken, and add fresh chopped parsley.

Ladle over noodles or rice.

Serve with nice rolls and a salad.

Since Beck and company say its positively un American to like soccer, I’ve decided to love the hell out of it. I’ve informed the Contrarian to start looking for the games so I can stand for Socialism. What can I say, I’m deluded.

If ya wanna know why we are where we are, then Propagandee at Urantia Sojourn has the answer, replete with the wisdom of George Castanza, the neuro-cognitive kind I mean. The more I think, the more this makes perfect sense.

 I had a good rant, but Dave Hackel at Huff Po, really does it well with a long laundry list. All the usual suspects are put in their place. Enjoy.

Walid Zafar does a scathing expose` of Steven King (R-IA). His blatant racist rhetoric is shown for what it is, the rantings of a fairly stupid and utterly bigoted piece of flotsam. It is a sad burden that Iowans bear having this man living in our state. His latest is to charge Obama with “naturally” favoring blacks. It’s an old stereotypical statement and a old racist response. No doubt King would have been right at home in the  antebellum South.

There are more things wrong with politics these days than right. One that is so wrong is that someone can invest 91 MILLION dollars of their own to win an election. This is and has been a rich game, and it’s one of the reasons that we have the mess we have. This is simply immoral. And it ain’t democracy.

And that’s a wrap. Don’t be deluded, come back tomorrow for more of something or other. It’s a mystery even to me.

What’s Up? 06/15/10

Tags

Anglican, Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury, Bill Kristol, BP, immigration, Neo-cons, oil industry, racial profiling, Recipes, salad, Sarah Palin, seafood, soccer, Steven King, teabaggers, wingnuttery, world peace day

Ummm, it comes as no surprise certainly that God likes water. Planet earth is more water than solid terra firma. Hello? Well, could I inquire SIR? Can you spread it a bit more equitably?

I mean we aren’t so horrid as Oklahoma and Arkansas yet, but good grief.

The weather (I hesitate to call them people) humans are reduced to throwing darts at a board or reading tea leaves.

Which all means that we snuck down to Cedar Rapids with the intent to get groceries, advised that a shower or two might occur here and there. Uhuh, yeah, right. Can you spell GULLY WASHER that went on forever and is still going on? The Contrarian was decidedly piqued as he carted in load after load of soggy fare into the kitchen. And I was none too joyful myself.

I feel a rant coming on, and so be prepared with seat belts and smelling salts tomorrow. I can so far control it, but by tomorrow, well, read fireworks.

Simply Recipes has a lovely summer salad of white beans and Tuna. This is, as she points out, extremely versatile, allowing myriad substitutes. Add some crusty bread, and ya got a really nice hot day meal. (Should we ever see the end of this freakin’ RAIN that is.) Oops, rant suppression!

Case you are unaware, when I’m ranty these days, I tend to channel Lewis Black. I used to channel Roseanne, so I think it’s a bit of an improvement. Try to think Black when you read. I promise it’s usually funnier that way.

As you know, we have our own resident wingnut in IOWA, name of Steven King (no not  the writer). This one managed to find 12 people who agreed with him and apparently are the only voters in his district. Anyway, said asshat suggested that racial profiling was part of the good arsenal of law enforcement which also includes the use of one’s sixth sense, and good foot apparel knowledge. None of this should be done for purposes of discriminating of course. Ahhh, yeah.  You should read to the end, and see what he said about Obama. Seriously, this man is an idiot. And he’s all ours. Go find your own. Reported also in the Iowa Independent here.

World Peace Day is next Monday. The world is ranked by dangerousness and you can see the sorry state of affairs. Iraq tops the most dangerous. It’s not a pretty sight, sadly. Much thanks to Joe.My.God. for the h/t.

Mauigirl has become a good blogging friend of many of us. Her mother, who has been having difficulty for some time, has passed. She writes a moving tribute here. Mimi, thanks for telling us all about your mother.

Probably only of interest to Episcopalians, but it seems the Archbishop of Canterbury, wishing to stir the pot further, denied our Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, the right to wear her mitre or carry her bishop’s crosier when she preached at Southwark Cathedral last week. Petty to say the least. How long can we stay in the Anglican Communion?

We all know that most mine owners flagrantly ignore safety regulations. What we learned is that most oil companies don’t except one: BP. Is there any sane reason why ANY country should allow them to drill offshore? This is a company that deserves bankruptcy and a slow slithering away into oblivion. They are beyond disgust.

TomCat didn’t pick up the Steven King wingnuttery but he got a few from the usual players, and some new ones. Like the loaves and fishes, there is no bottom to the barrel of idiots that rise to the surface of GOP political circles. Teabuggery on Parade is the article you’ll want to seek.

Andrew Sullivan has a pretty interesting take on Bill Kristol and the neo-cons. I like his conclusion–a Palin presidential run–which I can only conclude means we win!

Tengrain reports that Sarah (that woman is an idiot) Palinator is on her way to Britain to meet with the Thatcher woman. (Doesn’t England have a quarantine requirement for Mooselinis?) The Brits have this to say. Or perhaps she might tour that volcano in Iceland and slip? Getting her out of the country is step one. I figure we should come up with something to keep her from getting back in.

Okay…take a deep breath. Didyaknowthatworldcupsoccerisaleftwingconspiracy? Well, Rush and Glenn and all the usual batchitcrazy media nuts are sure to tell ya all about it. I’ve said it a gazillion times: YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP! Tomorrow, how Obama plans a world take over with ice cream (but only Chocolate of course!)

Enough for today kids. Be safe, be sane, and well, be on guard against the aliens among us.

I May Be Needing a New Planet

Tags

Democrates, health care reform, Iowa, Massachusetts, right wing wingnuts, Scott Brown, Sen. Edward Kennedy, Steven King, tea baggers

Just a very few weeks ago, we all considered this eminently doable. The Senate passed its version of health care reform, and we were pretty much assured that the powers that be in both Houses would hammer out something.

We were all unhappy as to what would be extruded from this painful process, but at least we knew it was a beginning, much as other landmark legislation was–something to be added to over the ensuing years.

Out of the blue, a crisis has arisen, and from the most unlikely of places. In a fit of extraordinary and gut-wrenching irony, the seat held by the longest proponent of health care reform, that of Edward M. Kennedy, is in jeopardy. Yes, you heard that right.

Martha Coakley, winner of the primary, is seriously in trouble in her bid to finish the term of the late Senator Kennedy. Her opponent, Scott Brown, has garnered the support of every right wing group that can manage to crawl from the woodwork. He is posing a serious challenge as the tea baggers spew their hatred of everything Obama and Democratic. Some have suggested that  the tea bagger movement is one of the poorly educated against the educated, and perhaps that is not too far wrong.

It has not helped that pundits declare she has run a poor campaign overall. Democratic bigwigs are now scrambling to shore up the team, sending Bill Clinton, and probably the President himself in to charge up the troops. The election is next Tuesday, and I frankly don’t know how bad this is at this point.

Everybody has an opinion on that, and of course, much of it depends on which side you are on. The usual amount of outright lying is being offered by the extreme right.

This all might not mean so much if it almost certainly didn’t mean that the loss would sink the health care bill completely. It would quite possibly mean that Senator DeMint was correct in claiming that if Rethugs killed health care, they would destroy Obama’s administration. 

I cannot even begin to imagine the glee and high fiving that would go on at Fox and among the crazed Rethuglian community. I cannot imagine being able to stand it. I may give up politics entirely, figuring my country is simply crazy beyond redemption in my lifetime. I can better put my time to other uses.

I don’t know who to blame. Some suggest that Coakley is just a good solid party hack, having no luster, and is a lousy campaigner. This, in somebodies estimation, was not thought to be an impediment to what was thought to be a safe seat.

I wonder how Kennedy family types are taking this. They all turned down the opportunity to accept this seat as their own. Are they having second thoughts? I cannot think how they must feel. Teddy’s passion for health care reform being derailed by his seat being lost to the a Republican of all things.

It would be a stunning loss, one almost unimaginable. Brown has promised that he will vote against health care reform of course. He has also shown his colors as a state representative in Massachusetts where he is one of only three to vote against giving financial assistance to Red Cross workers  who volunteered to work in recovery efforts following 911. Nice compassionate guy huh?

The pattern exhibited by Repungnants is one of sober coldness in the face of tragedy. This from Iowa’s own nightmare, Representative Steven King (R-IA). The Government is naturally relaxing immigration rules as it relates to Haitians during this period of extreme crisis. You cannot get anything past the foxy Steven however. As Bleeding Heart reports, “to a hammer everything looks like a nail.”

So creepy King had this to say:

“This sounds to me like open borders advocates exercising the Rahm Emanuel axiom: ‘Never let a crisis go to waste,'” Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said in an e-mail message to ABCNews. “Illegal immigrants from Haiti have no reason to fear deportation, but if they are deported, Haiti is in great need of relief workers, and many of them could be a big help to their fellow Haitians.”

This my friends is the caliber of Republican theology going on round about the country. This is their view of how we treat and take care of each other. “Sad, sad, the state of affairs in Haiti,” whispered Master King, as he munched his watercress sandwich thoughtfully. “I shall have to contact my stock advisor and see if there is anything here I can take advantage of. But such a pity, those poor natives. . . .”

Yeah, King, you freakin’ joke. Looks like Brown would fit right in. And if so. . . . well I’m catching the first transport off world. I have no destination in mind, just any place but here.