Heh ...

Pic stolen from Teabonics.

Goin' Ridin'

Off to ride the SactoPITS Kraut Cup Trial today. See yas.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Every musician on the stage is a heavyweight in Americana music. Terrific.

Emmylou Harris - Vocals / Guitar
Kierran Kane - Vocals / Mandolin
Barry Tashian - Vocals / Guitar / Accordion
Holly Tashian - Guitar / Vocals
Mark O'Connor - Fiddle
Glen Worf - Bass
Jerry Douglas - Dobro
Harry Stinson - Drums

Emmylou Harris ~ Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone (Live on American Music Shop 1991)

Thanks to Leo Grass.

Time for a little fun

The hills are alive with the sound of ... Repugs' heads exploding. Let's enjoy it while it lasts!

I just discovered this duo and they're funnier'n shit!

Doyle & Debbie on the Delbert McClinton Cruise XVII on Jan 8, 2011 on the Holland America Westerdam.

I'm beginning to see why the Fixers like cruising...

Thanks to nashvillehigh.

Also see:

When You're Screwin' Other Women (Think of Me)

I Ain't No Homo (But Man You Sure Look Good to Me)

Many more. You will find them.

Update:

I found this description of what these folks do at ABC's Of Love.

The Doyle and Debbie Show is sublime parody, simultaneously lampooning and idolizing country music's tradition of iconic duos and their subsequent battle of the sexes. Bruce Arntson and Jenny Littleton wield the vocals of vintage country stars and the acting chops of Broadway veterans, taking audiences on a freewheeling joyride through a wickedly funny script and slew of equally hilarious original songs.

Word.

The 10 Most Hilariously Unhinged Right-Wing Reactions to the Obamacare Ruling

SO FAR! Heh. Don't miss this!

Alternet, links to strange places at site.

“There are times government has to do things to get what it wants and holds a gun to your head,” Davis said. “I’m saying at some point, we have to ask the question when do we turn that gun around and say no and resist.

When you grow the balls, Sparky.

10. Or Is He?

Unlike most constitutional experts, some conservative bloggers thought that the law was so obviously unconstitutional that something fishy must be going on...

Someone got to Roberts. I bet they got to him and told him he has to vote this way or members of his family – kids, wife, parents, whoever – were going to be killed.

Later this afternoon, it’s going to come out that Roberts was coerced. ... the whole story will come out, Roberts will issue his REAL opinion, and Obama and Axelrod will be taken away in handcuffs.

Hey, one can always hope!

When the Repugs' heads explode, the same stuff comes out like when ya pop a pimple.

And excuuuuuse me for enjoying the shit outta all this. We've had it coming!

This is what really matters ...

From MoveOn.Org.

In a just world ...

pic thanks to the Remove and Replace Every Teapublican in 2012 FB page.

Heh ...

Pic stolen from the Bipartisan Report FB page.

Quote of the Day

A visual one from Neil DeGrasse Tyson:

Maths ...

Jesus does them:

Pic stolen from Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's Best Christian's FB page.

SCOTUS Upholds Lying

The Supremes mighta done OK on Obamacare but they bungled this one:

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Thursday striking down the Stolen Valor Act says the 1st Amendment "protects the speech we detest as well as the speech we embrace," according to Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.

By a 6-3 decision, the high court said the right to lie about medals and military service, while "contemptible" and worthy of outrage and ridicule, is protected by the 1st Amendment.

It is now OK to lie about your service and wear medals you weren't awarded. Then again, if Repugs couldn't lie, they'd have nothing to say.

My personal opinion is that lying should not be "protected speech". Remember that it is against the law for us to lie to government but the government can lie to us all they want.

Then again, look who voted how:

Voting in favor of striking down the law were the Chief Justice John Roberts and associate justices Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Dissenting were Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito.

I hate to say the wingnuts voted my way on this one. Even though my heart tells me the Court was wrong to overturn this act, my head tells me they did the right thing. I'm totally conflicted on this one. Dammit.

It's a good day

Any day that right-wingers' heads explode is a good day, and we've had two this week!

Icing on the cake:

In A Rush To Be First, CNN, FOX, Huffington Post and TIME Get Supreme Court Story Exactly Wrong

Yes, I'm giggling my ass off.

And then there's Gomer (Moron - TX):

Republican Congressman Suggests ‘Impeachment’ For Justice Kagan Over Obamacare Ruling

The Repug reactions are gonna be fun to watch. They're sore and whiny losers.

Oh, how it burns!

The stupid, that is:

People Who Say They're Moving To Canada Because Of ObamaCare

Bye, Rush ...

You promised, bitch.

I don't know. I'll just tell you this, if this passes and it's five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented -- I am leaving the country. I'll go to Costa Rica.

Like they say in the old country, "Get out!"

Word ...

Pic stolen from Upworthy.

Stolen from Mad as HELL Liberals FB page.

Question of the Day

The Rude One off his FB page:

Who will be the first right-winger to call for Justice Roberts to be impeached?

Oh, and by the way ... YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Update:

TPM:

...

The ruling ends a Quixotic conservative quest to vanquish Obama’s signature achievement by fiat. It also devastates the GOP’s long-standing appeal to voters that the law exists as a monument to liberal overreach in defiance of accepted limits on federal power. That Roberts, a conservative emissary to the Court, voted to uphold is particularly devastating.

...

Update Zwei:

Little Ezra on his FB page:

...

But that’s not, in reality, what this decision means. Rather, the individual mandate, by bringing healthy people into the insurance market and lowering premiums, means health insurance for between 12.5 million and 24 million more Americans than if the mandate was struck down. And as Kennedy said in his dissent that the conservatives on the Court believed the entire law should have been invalidated, it means health insurance for 33 million more Americans than if Kennedy and the conservatives had their way.

...

Update Trois:

Pic stolen from Teabonics.

Heh ...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!1!!!!!eleventy!

Too good:

Field trip! At least three to five NOM/Minnesota 4 Marriage supporters gathered in front of the General Mills headquarters to complain about how their cereal has become too gay. They also brought their General Mills food with them, loaded it into a truck and donated it to a local food bank, so at least some good came out of the situation. At one point, Tom Forsythe of General Mills offered coffee and water to the protesters, but they would not take it because it was gay, threatening to also give that to the poor. That’ll show ‘em. [my bold]

Thanks to Tengrain for the link.

Ze exzecutions vill begin at dawn ...

Pic stolen from the Meme GOP FB page.

Let's hope not, but I don't have that much hope with this court.

Heh ...

Thanks to the 1,000,000 Strong to Help Improve Tea Party Patriots' Spelling and Grammar FB page.

Fat-Chance-In-A-Republican-Congress Headline of the Day

Bill would make it a crime to knowingly mislead voters about elections

If the Repugs don't cheat, they can't win. I just put this in because it's a nice idea but we'll never hear about it ever again.

Dickish Statements You Might Not Have Heard from Justice Scalia's Dissent on the Arizona Immigration Law Decision

A 'must read' from El Rude-o:

In Arizona v. United States, Scalia's dissent from the majority on the three sections of the immigration law it overturned is a masterpiece of vituperation, a Picasso of aggression, a Beethoven of bitterness, and a Goya of grotesquely contorted logic. You might have heard about charming sections like his use of pro-slavery laws as a way of justifying a state's control of its own borders, but there's so much in his dissent that is dickish in that ripe Scalia way that, really, you should read the whole thing in order to get the full thrust of it down your throat. Barring that, here's a few more examples:

Go.

Update:

Gleefully gleeped from The Christian Left.

The MotherKluxxer Road

Raw Story

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has confirmed that they are representing a Georgia Ku Klux Klan (KKK) group who was not allowed to join the state’s Adopt-A-Highway program.

The International Keystone Knights of the KKK in Union County recently applied to “adopt” one mile of Route 515, located in the Appalachian Mountains near North Carolina. The state would have been forced to give the group official recognition in the form of road signs bearing their name and other benefits in return for cleaning up litter on the stretch of highway.

Within 48 hours, the Georgia Department of Transportation rejected the request, claiming the group had a “long rooted history of civil disturbance would cause a significant public concern.”

The "public concern" is that this terrorist organization is allowed to exist at all. I guess it's OK because they're white and claim to be Christians. It's a lie but they get away with it.

Don't worry, ACLU - they wingnuts won't like you any better for sticking up for these bastards.

Yo, muthakluxxas, have I got the road for you! Make it litter-free right to the end. There will be an incinerator available. I could not have thought up the name of this band but it's a perfect play on "AC/DC":

Thanks to EgoDeusEst, Copenhagen.

101 easy steps to having it all

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford on having it all.

I am delighted to report, you can have it all.

But ... where will I put it?

Are you a good American? Educated and grass-fed and reasonably free? Then you’ve been hard-wired to believe that “all” denotes some idealized configuration of babies, career, income, marriage, acclaim, health and love and a second house by the beach, all in relatively non-stressful “work/life balance” and with only two full-time nannies, three personal trainers and maybe a mistress on the side — just to, you know, round things out.

Trust me on this one, young Mark - there's a whole lotta that shit you can skip and still be happy as a clam!

Here is what the wise ones, the wisdom masters throughout the ages tell us, over and over, with a wink and a gleam. You want to have it all? Stop looking for it. Stop thinking it can be figured out, achieved, claimed as your own. This is the great myth wrapped in a lie dipped in the molten goo of your happy, runaway ego. This way madness lies.

OK, you get it.

It means being in true alignment. It means being so deeply present, so connected, so alive, so pulsing and breathing and awake in the moment you are in that no matter what your job status, kid status, celebrity status, no matter where you live or to whom you are married, life is already full to bursting. You have it all in this very breath, right here.

At my age, it's the next breath that matters. Heh.

Word ...

Pic stolen from the Meme GOP FB page.

Hey, hey ...

We're the Monks:

Monks are known for living peaceful lives with plenty of time dedicated to study and prayer.

But the Benedictine monks at Ampleforth Abbey in North Yorkshire have also found another way to fill their days - brewing beer.

...

Being the beer snob that I am, I've found that some of the best beer in the world is made in monasteries. The next time I'm in England, I'm gonna have to take a trip to Yorkshire. "Excuse me, Brother, do you ship?" Heh ...

If this can happen ...

There can be peace in the Holy Land.

The Queen and former IRA commander Martin McGuinness have shaken hands for the first time.

The meeting between the monarch and Northern Ireland's deputy first minister took place at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast on Wednesday.

...

The Troubles were almost as big a news item as the Vietnam War was when I was growing up. If the Queen can meet and shake hands with McGuinness, someone with the will can surely broker a peace in Palestine.

Gah ...

I saw it on FB but Montag grabbed it too so I'll just send you over there:

In support of Gay Pride, the makers of Oreo cookies put a picture of an Oreo with rainbow layers of filling. Like setting a match to a long string of firecrackers, the hate mongers came out to express their outrage that their favorite cookie had gone gay ...

Gruber can run but he can't hide

Raw Story

During a recent interview, anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist struggled to explain his ties to a pharmaceutical trade group and then “took off” when he was asked about his history lobbying for home loan-backer Fannie Mae, an organization that he now criticizes.
...

The reporters pressed Norquist on whether there was an “extorting effect” on his organization, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), after they took $140,000 from industry trade group PhRMA and then opposed drug reimportation.

"Extortion", shit. He's just another Repug whore.

“I mean, he was a lobbyist for Fannie Mae, he was a lobbyist for Internet gambling … he was connected to Jack Abramoff,” Wolf told MSNBC. “When people sign the pledge, they didn’t really know that it goes to that point.”

The way all this shit is coming out about the unsavory and hopefully illegal maneuvers the top Repugs are doing/have done, I gotta call my broker and diversify my portfolio into Tar & Feathers and Pitchforks & Scythes.

Yo, Fat Tony - Time To Go

Think Progress

Justice Scalia Cites Pro-Slavery Laws Excluding ‘Freed Blacks’ To Justify His Anti-Immigrant Opinion

This kind of thing is, sadly, common in Scalia’s opinions. He’s defended torture and finds little wrong with executing the innocent. When a majority of his colleagues reached the radical conclusion that people have a right to choose their own sex partners, Scalia railed against them for embracing the “homosexual agenda.” During oral arguments over the Affordable Care Act, Scalia seemed unable to distinguish legal arguments from partisan talking points.

Nevertheless, looking to slaveholding states for guidance is beyond the pale, even for Scalia.

We need this clown on the highest court in the land like we need another itchy asshole.

Update:

SB 1070 and the Scalia Clown Show

[...] I had no idea that states could preempt federal law as long as the federal government is exercising its powers in ways that Antonin Scalia doesn’t like.

In conclusion, Antonin Scalia believes in the rule of law and you don’t. Shame on you!

I don't believe in the same kind of law that he does, that's for damn sure.

Also:

Interesting take on Fat Tony's whiny-ass rant yesterday. Probably not much to it but ¿quien sabe?

Headline of the Day

David Brooks Should Not Be Allowed to Listen to Bruce Springsteen

Heh...

Start 'em young ...

And keep 'em dumb. Really?

It sounds like a hoax, but it’s apparently true: The Loch Ness Monster is on the science class syllabus for kids at Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake, Louisiana.

As reported by the Herald Scotland (which must track all Loch Ness-related news), a school that will receive tax-payer dollars, will teach kids that the mythological sea creature is real in order to debunk the theory of evolution. So pay attention: That will be on the test.

...

Even Jesus weeps ...

Quote of the Day

Mr. Philadelphia:

...

Ah how we laughed and laughed at Japan, confident we'd "learned the lessons of Japan."

Heh ...

Pic stolen from the Teabonics FB page.

About time ...

Somebody in that part of the world decided to clean up their own messes:

Turkey branded its former ally Syria "a clear and imminent threat," on Tuesday as its Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan vented his fury over the downing of a Turkish fighter jet.

In his most outspoken criticism of the Damascus regime, Erdogan vowed to retaliate against the "heinous act" and promised a change of military attitude to any Syrian officer approaching the common border.

...

Sorry, but I'm sick and tired of dumping our money into shithole after shithole over there. It's always "death to America" until they have a problem, and then they look to us (Kuwait, Libya). How about hitting up the Saudis too, and the Bahrainis, and all the others with money and Western-style militaries? Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with helping people who need it, but I'm tired of this country being thought of as the oil sheikhs' mercenaries or Israel's babysitter. Fuck them all.

This is why I'm so supportive of efforts to discover alternative energy sources. The day we do, we'll be able to tell all these desert rats to leave off. This way, they can all kill each other and no one will give a shit. Until then, we will continue to get drawn into that soap opera ad infinitum.

Addendum for all the people who say we should protect Israel (as if they can't protect themselves, they have nukes, for crying out loud): You're that worried about the Israelis? Pack 'em all up and relocate 'em to Florida. They exert enough influence on our foreign policy, they might as well pay taxes too.

20 years too late ...

How long have I been saying (when I bore you with European economics) that in order for the Euro concept to work, there has to be a unified monetary policy across all of the member states? Seems that's sunk in, finally.

European leaders have drafted a radical plan to turn the 17 countries of the eurozone into a full-fledged political federation within a decade in an attempt to placate the financial markets by demonstrating a political will to save the single currency in the medium-term.

The incendiary proposals for a banking, fiscal, and economic unions resulting in a “political union” are to be debated at an EU summit on Thursday and Friday. Following two bad-tempered meetings of European leaders in Mexico and Rome over the past week, the Brussels summit looks likely to see major clashes over the future of Europe as well as the immediate crisis surrounding sovereign debt, bad banks, and the euro’s survival.

...

The Germans will never go for it, but at least some of them realize they made a gigantic mistake by not insisting on it when the Eurozone was formed.

Birds of a feather ...

If you're a religious leader trying to bring your flock's "values" back to the Dark Ages, who else are you gonna hire to run your PR effort?

The Vatican will be getting some (much needed) PR help after hiring a Fox News correspondent as a senior communications adviser for the Church's top administrative office, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.

The Fox News staffer, Greg Burke, is also a member of the conservative Catholic Opus Dei group. He will leave his job at Fox, where he is a Rome-based reporter. Before working for Fox, Burke was a Rome-based journalist for Time.

...

But of course.

Good luck with that ...

Like I've mentioned many times, I have more nuns in my family than Carter has pills. They do Jesus' work, all of them missionaries or teachers, helping the poor in impoverished places. So, naturally, I got a problem with this asshole:

A conservative radio host says that the Catholic nuns who have embarked on a nine-state bus tour to protest the injustice of Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) proposed budget deserve to be beaten with a handgun because they "threw the first punch."

"There’s a bus full of nuns headed towards Washington to lobby against the Ryan plan," radio host Jan Mickelson told Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) last week. "Do you guys, do you have any power to pull the nuns on the bus over and pistol whip them?"

...

And, I'm willing to bet any of those sisters would take his pistol away from him and shove it up his ass.

Hey ...

It works for NASCAR and European Football, right?

With the Republicans still successfully choking the economy, many towns are looking to naming rights and ad placement on municipal property to pay the bills.

...

I can see it now; "The Ringling Bros. Clown Town Hall". Heh ...

If you're doing something underhanded ...

It might be best not to tell a moron what you're up to:

Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R) said that the voter ID law passed by the legislature would help deliver the state for Mitt Romney in November.

“Pro-Second Amendment? The Castle Doctrine, it’s done. First pro-life legislation - abortion facility regulations - in 22 years, done. Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done,” Turzai said at this weekend’s Republican State Committee meeting, according to PoliticsPA.com. [my em]

...

Of course they rigged the game. They can't win if they don't cheat.

States Rights: Win One, Lose One

Win:

Think Progress, links at site.

Today, the Supreme Court issued a decision invalidating most of Arizona’s controversial immigration law. Georgetown Law professor David Cole, a vocal civil liberties advocate, called the decision “almost a total victory for the Obama administration,” which challenged the constitutionality of the law.

But the decision signaled that the court also views Obama’s recent immigration directive, halting deportations for many young undocumented immigrants, as legal. Essentially, the court underscored that the federal government has broad discretion under the law to decide who to deport.
...

Kris Kobach, an immigration advisor for Mitt Romney, said that Obama’s order was illegal. It does not appear likely that the Supreme Court agrees.

This explains why Justice Scalia’s dissenting opinion, upholding the entire law, included a lengthy section blasting Obama’s immigration order. He also read from that section at length from the bench.

Yo, Fat Tony: howl at the moon all you want, asshole.

Lose:

Think Progress, links at site.

The Supreme Court just announced a 5-4 decision striking down Montana’s ban on corporate money in elections. The decision was handed down without hearing oral argument on the case, meaning that the five conservative justices were not even open to hearing arguments that their election-buying decision in Citizens United might have been wrongly decided.

Once the right-wing Moseses bring the tablets down from the mountaintop, that's it and fuck you.

In dissent:

But in a dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer argued that Montana’s history of corruption is a sign of what’s to come thanks to the Supreme Court’s determination that bans on corporate election spending violate free speech.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. A lot worse.

It's time for all 50 states to tell SCOTUS to shove it.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Asian Immigrants to U.S. Surpass Hispanics for First Time
Well-educated Asians willing to do jobs Americans can't comprehend.

John Kerry Will Stand in for Romney in Obama's Prep Debate
Romney will rehearse by debating Cedric the Entertainer.

Willard will lose that one too.

Interview-Shy Romney Appeared on “Fox & Friends” 21 TimesThis Year
He finds their journalism tough, but fair.

"Out of touch" doesn't begin to cover it...

No shit ...

Just one:

I really wish that just one Republican who parrots the "job creators" meme would explain just what it's going to take for these "job creators" to actually "create jobs" ...

Personally, if someone threw billions of dollars at me, I'd be hiring like a fool. I guess it's just not enough for them. I'd suggest that if you gave every American making less than $250K a $20K "bailout", it would do more for the economy than giving the "job creators" anything.

Quote of the Day

Thers:

...

HOLY SHIT STARVING FAMILIES GET $130 A MONTH.

For fifty bucks you could mulch 'em.

...

Definitions ...

Teabonics /tē-bon-iks/
(noun)

The creative spelling or grammar featured on the various signs used by protesters in the Tea Party movement. [a blend of the words "ebonics" and "Tea Party"]

Photographic examples here. The stupid; it burns.

Outrageous!

Stolen from the Being Liberal FB page.

An apt description ...

Of the conservative base:

...

Romney is smart enough to know that the typical GOP base voter from swamps of darkest Jebusland is no longer functionally human in some very important ways: they have been trained not to notice or care if their leaders cripple the economy, trash the planet or shit directly in their faces every single day as long as they promise to make uppity, smart-ass Libruls suffer and to dispatch the Scary Black Man back to the depths of their most terrifying racial-inferiority nightmares.

...

We have a name for them here in NY. We call them "suckers".

Quote of the Day

A commenter on Maddow Blog:

I suspect that Beck's "finger of God" was attached to his proctologist.

I'd suggest Beck's proctologist and neurosurgeon are one and the same.