Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Thanks to ElskeW1.

Note to Conservatives and the Media:

Most of Us Still Don't Give a Shit About Benghazi:

El Rude-o, links at site.

Dear, sweet Republicans and Fox "news," truly, really, speaking for the vast majority of the nation that doesn't watch Bill O'Reilly after dinner or listen to Rush Limbaugh while driving or have Glenn Beck on in the background while boning a blow-up doll, we don't give a happy monkey fuck about Benghazi. Beyond "Man, that was a bad thing that happened. Let's try to stop it from happening again," there is nothing there. No cover-up. No one had any heads up. There were a few tragic errors in judgment on security that, had they not been made, might have prevented shit from going south. That's it. If you read the actual Senate intelligence Committee report, what comes through is the dude who fucked up a great deal on boosting security was Ambassador Chris Stevens, who died in the attack on the consulate. He was asked repeatedly if he needed more military in Benghazi, and he declined. Sorry if that fucks up the fun narrative, but truth will do that every time.

Desperately trying to damage Hillary Clinton pre-2016, especially now that Macy's balloon Chris Christie has been punctured, conservatives are out in force, trying to pin the blame for the attack on Clinton, even though the report does nothing of the sort. Besides the completely nonsensical comparison between Christie's bridge problem and Benghazi, we have every other Republican with presidential ambitions jumping in to try to show their conspiracy-theory cred to the nutzoids in the base. Rubio promised more hearings. The always-high Rand Paul slurred something incomprehensible. Ted Cruz said obvious Ted Cruz-like shit.

Look, unless you've got evidence of a deliberate cover-up, unless you've got video of Hillary Clinton personally slitting Stevens' throat while Barack Obama fucks his ass as al-Qaeda militants ululate and fire their rifles into the air in praise, the vast majority of us in the United States, the ones who aren't the delusional GOP primary voters, simply don't care.

But, hell, that never stopped the GOP before.

Normally I'd try and think up some clever comment but I think Rude just about covered it.

The Republicans' Obamacare Hypocrisy: A Mystery Solved

Paul Krugman

And here's the thing: Republicans don't want to help the unfortunate. They'll propound health-care ideas that will, they claim, help those with pre-existing conditions and so on - but those aren't really proposals. They're diversionary tactics designed to stall real health reform. Hence the rage of the right.

Here they were, with a whole raft of ideas they could throw out like chaff to confuse enemy radar, to divert and confuse any attempt to actually provide insurance to the uninsured. And those dastardly Democrats have gone ahead and actually incorporated those ideas into real reform.

Shorter: If you think government can't do anything substantial, then you'd better make damn sure it can't, for when it does it makes you look like an idiot or a liar. Both of which the Repugs are.

Ouote of the Day

I'm not too interested in "Bridgegazi" as other than a "popcorn - extra butter!" moment. Anything that keeps the ostensibly "sane" Repug out of the '16 Presidential race is a GOOD thing. If the crazies are the only ones they can field, we're safe.

That said, the Repugs are putting a double-reverse spin on the whole deal that I find hilarious. From a pretty good piece called "Christie apologists hit rock bottom: Why the right’s lame, new defense is doomed to fail":

Conservatives can (and do) whine that the problem here is media bias — that the media largely ignored IRS and Benghazi then swarmed over the Christie story because he’s a Republican. The scientific term for this argument is “bullshit.”

"Bullshit" is the all-encompassing scientific term for everything else the Repugs do as well.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Britain to Introduce Plastic Money in 2016
In 2017: brightly colored beads.

List Whittled Down to 1000 Eligible Applicants for One-Way Trip to Mars
Eliminated: old, infirm, anyone who plays the banjo, harmonica or accordion.

??? ~ News Quiz ~ ???

The Texas commission in charge of reining in predatory lenders is headed by a top executive of:

A ) an oil company
B ) a textile company
C ) a predatory lender

Hint: remember, this is Texas.

Target Now Says 110 Million Accounts Hacked
As a result, it could take weeks before hackers start stealing from you.