The Russian ...

Wile E. Coyote:

Welcome to ObamaCare! Please, no stabbing

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford going on about SCOTUS' healthcare decision in his best column in weeks.

This is the essential question: 2,000 years after Jesus supposedly set the tone and 200 years into the fragmented, half-empty/half-full American experiment and only now we’re pretending to give a damn for the basic well being of our fellow citizens? Only now our better natures are barely, just barely, edging out our resentment, suspicion and fear? But only sometimes? What is wrong with us?

What's wrong with us, young Mark, is that there's an ingrained primitive selfish fearful dark side in our natures that only the better amongst us have learned to suppress in the name of progress and compassion for our species. This has been a constant battle since first we stood erect and will be so until the second to the last of us dies. The last man standing can do what he wants.

Do not misunderstand. I was hugely relieved to hear health care reform, as fraught as it is, actually made it through a brutally divided SCOTUS on the meagerest of razor-thin technicalities, despite a firestorm of ignorance and anti-Obama hate from the right. I am thrilled to know that bloated, bloviated old Antonin Scalia, who despises pretty much everything you and I stand for, is sneering himself to sleep right now. I truly believe an awkward lurch of progress has been made.
...

It remains astonishing. When we cheer in a streets over such basic advances, we are, in essence, celebrating the amazing fact that a good intention can still defeat a hateful regression, despite how the battle seems eternal and, at least lately, the forces of ignorance seem to have gained far too much ground.
...

As for the rest, well, it seems we’re still running wild in the schoolyard, barely suppressing the urge to smash each other over the head with a bat. Hell, we just reached the point where we can finally hand each other a Band-Aid without asking for a life savings, blaming a Mexican immigrant, or longing to punch a Supreme Court justice in the face. Progress, ho.

Left out a coupla words, I think - progress despite the ho's.

Waiting for Star Trek ...

If this turns out to be the Higgs, we are at the beginning of a glorious age:

...

The Higgs particle, although crucial for understanding how the universe was formed, remains theoretical. It explains how particles clumped together to form stars, planets and even life.

Without the Higgs particle, the particles that make up the universe would have remained like a soup, the theory goes.

...

8 Fucking Years!

4 July, once again, brings about the Brain's birthday. I still can't believe we've been doing this so damn long; "lookin' for a chance to lob a few at the enemy and praying for a secondary explosion". I seems like yesterday, the Great Wave of Progressive Blogging that began just before the 2004 elections because so many were fed up with the war criminals in the White House. It was an amazing time, several new blogs popping up every day, everybody had something to say, everybody so happy to find like-minded people out there among the tsunami of righty propaganda. Many, I would say most, have gone by the wayside 8 years on, but most of the good ones have pressed on and kept up the fight, from the disappointment of John Kerry's loss to the euphoria of watching the first black man become President of the United States. I was proud to be part of all of it.

If this sounds like the beginning of a farewell letter, it is, sort of. I have nothing firm in mind but I can tell you, I won't be here for the 9th anniversary. I just can't deal with it anymore, to be so involved and having my sensibilities assaulted every day by the latest GOP faux outrage du jour. After 8 years of it, I feel like it's sucked most of my soul away. I thought I was a cynic before we started but now, 8 years later, cynicism has burned itself into my DNA. It's burnt me out.

I have no regrets, don't get me wrong, I would never trade the experience here at the Brain for anything. I have met wonderful people, some who I've become close personal friends with. I've learned never to believe and always question what is presented to me as 'news'. I've learned more about how our system of government works than I ever did in school and I've learned how cynically a great portion of our elected officials take their duty as representatives of the people. I've learned, from our commenters and fellow bloggers, about compassion, dedication, and how to look at myself in the mirror, to question long-held beliefs of mine and change my point of view. It has made me a far better man and I thank you all for your help in that regard.

And, lastly, I'd like to thank Gordon, without whom I never would have gone this long. Gordon has inspired me, made me laugh my ass off, and made me think about things I never had experience with before I met him. Gordon's perspective on events, on people, and on life in general has educated me and expanded my worldview. Brother, you have given me a wonderful gift and I am eternally grateful. Thank you.

So, I'm not up and leaving right now, I guarantee I'll be here for the election, but this will be the last of these anniversary posts for me. I'm shooting for sometime around Christmas and definitely before the new year. The blog will still be here and Gordon will be able to do as he pleases with it, and I don't rule out a rant on here once in a while in the future, but I'm done, stick a fork in me.

Thanks again to all, have a safe and happy 4th, and remember, especially today, that when someone says "watch this", run like hell.

Rep. Joe Walsh Is Total Cockhead - Part Zwei

From one of the liberal trolls I follow on FB.

Rep. Joe Walsh Is Total Cockhead

Like DUH and agreed. El Rude-o on what that piece o' shit Walsh said about Tammy Duckworth:

[...] Good job, there, Illinois 8th. Walsh is one of the most worthless pieces of GOP shit in a turd pile that goes up to the sky.

That's hard to do. Takes natural born talent to out-worthless those bastards.

You know what a real hero doesn't do? Attack the honorable service of a veteran. But, then again, that's just the kind of skeevy shit you expect when a Republican goes up against a man or woman who can kick their asses, with or without legs.

Repugs have no honor and think Rush Limpbaugh and other draft dodgers are heroes and great patriots. I think Ms. Duckworth is going to do the whole country a favor and whip this punk on election day and get his ass out of public view forever.

Update:

Rachel weighs in:

First, I would hope that sane politicians would know better than to argue, during a time of war, about a double-amputee, that veterans should just shut up about their decorated service to their country. If Republicans were held to sensible rhetorical standards, this little incident would go in the "career ender" category.

If Repugs were held to sensible rhetorical standards there wouldn't be a Repuglican't party, and "career ender" is the result we're hoping for.

Second, it's not up to Joe Walsh, who's never worn a military uniform, to decide who qualifies or doesn't qualify as a "true hero." [...]

Walsh wouldn't know a "true hero" if she bit him on the ass. It ain't like in the movies, Joey boy, which is the nearest you're ever going to get to "honor".

Operation Tacolift

LATimes, links and video.

As far as customer service stunts go, this one was pretty epic: A helicopter sent to a remote Alaska town bearing a Taco Bell truck, itself bearing ingredients for 10,000 Doritos Locos tacos.
...

Last month, fliers trumpeting the chain’s debut in Bethel got residents salivating. After all, cheap Mexican food in the land of sled dogs and sub-zero temperatures isn’t exactly easy to come by. The nearest Taco Bell is some 400 miles away in Anchorage.

Count your blessings, Bethel. 400 miles is a safe distance. I guess the food-like Taco Bell offerings are "cheap" all right, but whether they're "Mexican food" or not probably depends on your distance from actual Mexican food.

It remains to be seen if the airlift violates either the 8th Amendment or the Geneva Conventions.

Taco Bell is to Mexican food as Repugs are to sanity. Not even close.

This is reminiscent of "Operation Haylift" in 1949. They made a movie out of that one. We'll probably get a commercial out of this one.

Headline of the Day

Government-sponsored study destroys DEA’s classification of marijuana

Read the article quick before the study gets suppressed.

Related:

Moms and Dads for Marijuana Regulation unveil new Colorado billboard

Wah-wah-wah ...

Good god, the crybabies are cranking it up to 11:

...

Already feeling betrayed by Roberts’ joining with the liberal bloc on the court to uphold Obamacare — and suspicious of Roberts’ motives — some conservatives seized on the Crawford report as evidence that they didn’t lose the case on the legal merits but because of external considerations that swayed Roberts away from their side.

Here are the top five theories emerging from conservative circles for why John Roberts stabbed their movement in the back:

...

They're getting worse than the Birthers.

Willard's New Logo

Kos

It turns out that the implications of David Corn's explosive scoop about how Mitt Romney misrepresented his role in Bain's investment in a medical-waste firm that disposed of aborted fetuses goes far beyond that specific investment. [...]

Disposed of aborted fetuses. Make up your own inappropriate (it could be nothing else) discarded aborted fetuses joke.

He's going to lose even more of the tiny-brained over this. Except for those who see through this made-up liberal smear, of course.

Spot on ...

Pic stolen from Americans Against the Tea Party.

Kraut Cup Update

At Fixer & Gordon. Photo, video, little write-up. Enjoy.

Obama Is Winning

Good. Time Swampland

Conservative horcrux Karl Rove is out with his first official electoral college projection of 2012 and… it’s really bullish on Obama. Rove has South Carolina, which McCain won by 9 points in 2008, rated as a toss-up, and Texas – Texas – merely leaning Republican. The result, in Rove’s model, is 284 electoral votes within Obama’s grasp, 172 for Romney and 82 toss-ups.

I'm a little disturbed that Turdblossom sees things that clearly, unlike all the wingnut gasbags and Willard surrogates, but I guess they're paid to do that. Rove gets richer no matter who wins.

The only way Willard will win is if the lies and fearmongering cause a smokin' Repug turnout and nobody comes out for the O-Man, but I think we learned our lesson about that in 2010 please God. And maybe a lot of tampering with the results. I put nothing, but nothing, past the Repugs.

All Bark, No Bite: On False Bravado Becoming the Right Wing's Signature Characteristic

No shit.

This post at Kos offers three prime examples. Some of the usual suspects.

For years, we've heard a lot of tough talk from conservatives -- threats and promises and chest-beatings -- intended to be argumentation. Intended to convince the masses of the rightness of their position.

But these moments are really one thing: defense mechanisms used by cowards who, when backed into a corner, resort to loud barking and the baring of teeth.

But they rarely bite. Because there's nothing there. Nothing.

They're all like, "I'm gonna kick yer ass, ya godless commie fuck" and then run like little girls when you take one step toward them to offer them the chance to make good on it. Heh.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Roberts Joins With Four Liberal Justices in Upholding Obamacare
After dropping acid with Breyer.

Heh. More Repugs need to do that.

CNN, Fox, Other Outlets Initially Report Health Law Overturned
Only Fox still stands by it.

That would be the brown acid Wavy Gravy* warned us about.

*OMG! Go look at his given name. The horror...

Critics Slam Kraft for Rainbow Oreo Honoring LGBT Community
Say it's contributing to obesity among gays.

Romney Donor Buys Ad Space on Soccer Club's Shirts
Hopes to reach Latinos other than Romney's gardeners.

Fixer will no doubt add one of these to his collection. To wipe off his lawnmower blade like Willard's gardeners do.

The crux of the biscuit ...

From Perfesser Krugman via Karoli:

...

What was and is really striking about the anti-reformers is their cruelty. It would be one thing if, at any point, they had offered any hint of an alternative proposal to help Americans with pre-existing conditions, Americans who simply can't afford expensive individual insurance, Americans who lose coverage along with their jobs. But it has long been obvious that the opposition's goal is simply to kill reform, never mind the human consequences.

...

Yeah. It's one thing to have competing plans but when you want to repeal something that protects Americans and replace it with nothing, it shows how much Republicans give a shit about actual people. They don't.

The best news ...

From the SCOTUS decision last week (aside from the fact that millions of Americans can afford healthcare):

The US health care industry breathed a cautious sigh of relief Friday after the Supreme Court's surprise decision to uphold President Barack Obama's sweeping reforms, even as politicians kept their swords drawn over the law.

After three years preparing billions of dollars of investment to implement Obama's Affordable Care Act (ACA), hospitals, doctors, insurers and drug companies were mostly relieved about not facing yet another U-turn in policy.

...

They're not all doing the Dance of Joy, naked, in the moonlight but they all know they stand to make big money from it. If Big Healthcare is going along with it, and it would cost them big money if the ACA is repealed, they'll put pressure on the GOP to back off. These corporations are too far down the road to implementation, 3 years in, to turn back now.

Shrimp on the barbie ...

An Australian unpacks a "Christian".

Thanks to the Being Liberal FB page for the pic.

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.

The Jukebox in my mind ...

Since we're on a summer theme:

The Cars - Magic

It's criminal ...

Taibbi via Montag:

Someday, it will go down in history as the first trial of the modern American mafia. Of course, you won't hear the recent financial corruption case, United States of America v. Carollo, Goldberg and Grimm, called anything like that. If you heard about it at all, you're probably either in the municipal bond business or married to an antitrust lawyer. Even then, all you probably heard was that a threesome of bit players on Wall Street got convicted of obscure antitrust violations in one of the most inscrutable, jargon-packed legal snoozefests since the government's massive case against Microsoft in the Nineties – not exactly the thrilling courtroom drama offered by the famed trials of old-school mobsters like Al Capone or Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo.

...

Hopefully, this is the beginning of a trend.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

I like Canadian country music. I think it's still called "Country & Western" up there. This is a Western. A little commentary from Emmylou as well.

Folks have been posting 'summer' songs. This is mine.

Ian & Sylvia Tyson with Emmylou Harris ~ Summer Wages

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

Issa Staffer Offered To Stop Holder Contempt Vote

TPM

Rep. Darrell Issa’s chief investigative counsel offered to stop the contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder in exchange for the resignation of Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Newsweek’s Dan Klaidman is reporting.
...

Breuer, who heads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, apologized in October for not telling other Justice Department officials that guns were allowed to “walk” during the Bush administration when Congress first raised questions about Operation Fast And Furious in early 2011.
...

DOJ officials think the offer to drop the contempt vote in exchange for Breuer’s scalp was further evidence that Issa’s investigation was more about making headlines than determining facts.

“The reason that this contempt motion happened is that Issa didn’t come up with any evidence and didn’t get a scalp,” Matthew Miller, DOJ’s former communications director, told Klaidman. “When you set expectations that high and you don’t deliver, you have to explain why.”

Sounds like Issa's way of saying, "I fucked up. Throw us a bone and we'll forget all about it".

I'll throw ya a bone, Darrell. Drop 'em and bend over.

Return to Sender

CAIRO (The Borowitz Report) June 21, 2012 – Just days after they savored their chance to vote in their first-ever democratic election, Egyptians awoke today to the brutal realization that their long-awaited democracy had been imported from Florida.

"When the United States started exporting democracy to the Middle East, we were naturally very excited," said University of Cairo political science professor Amgad Nasrallah. "I guess we should have checked to see exactly which part of the United States our democracy was exported from."

Dr. Nasrallah said that when the voting in Egypt was over and no clear winner was declared, "I began to fear the worst: that our democracy had come from Florida."

"Both sides started claiming victory, and then the government said it wasn't ready to announce a final result," he said. "If we find out that this thing is going to the Supreme Court, to borrow an American phrase, we're fucked."

In Cairo today, protesters filled Tahrir Square, demanding that Egypt's new democracy be returned to sender.

But in Florida, Governor Rick Scott requested that the Coast Guard create a naval blockade around the state to prevent the Egyptians from returning its democracy to its place of origin.

"We exported democracy to Egypt because we wanted less of it in Florida, not more," Gov. Scott. "I'll be damned if we're going to take democracy back. Not on my watch. Not on my watch."

CLEARLY LABELLED SATIRE.

Headline of the Day

Politico suspends black reporter for saying Romney more comfortable around white people

Of course Willard's more comfortable around white people. Anybody else is either the help or a thug to him because he knows them only in that context, not ever spending time with The Other like if he'd been in (gasp!) the military or lived in any kind of "mixed" neighborhood. The point is that Politico, which I don't much care for, fired a black man for simply stating the obvious. I wonder if they'da done that if he'd been white. Assholes.

Quote of the Day

From "BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN WON’T EVEN GIVE SUPERFAN CHRIS CHRISTIE A HANDSIE":

C’mon Springsteen, just pinch one of his tits and get it over with.

Oh, the visual! Heh.

"You Want To Talk About Contempt?"

Same comment I left at YouTube and my Facebook page: FUCKIN' A, Old Fart! Get some!

Thanks to oldfartrants.

Same shit, different hats ...

Doesn't matter which god they worship or which book they read. Jon Turley via Pam Spaulding:

We previously discussed the decision of prosecutors to grant ultra-Orthodox Jewish defendants anonymity — denied to other defendants — in facing sex-crime charges. It is, in my view, a highly problematic form of favoritism shown to a powerful community in Brooklyn. Moreover, as discussed earlier, it is highly unlikely in this tight-knit community that the identification of both the accused and victims would not be known. Now, four Hasidic men have been arrested for alleged harassment and obstruction of witnesses, including the offer of a $500,000 bribe to refuse to testify against a Hasidic leader. The prominent accused man in the Satmar Hasidic community, Nechemya Weberman, has been accused of 88 counts of sexual misconduct, including oral sex with a child younger than 13 years old. In addition to the money, the men are accused of threatening to withdraw the kosher certification from the restaurant of the boyfriend, Hershy Deutsch, unless the woman dropped her claims.

...

They all protect each other, whether they are Catholic priests, Jewish rabbis, or any other crowd of god's mouthpieces who believe they are more moral than the rest of us. I've said it a million times before; it's time for all these 'institutions' to pay taxes. At least they'll be doing something useful for society while they molest our kids instead of only grubbing for money and stealing our children's souls.

I can't believe, in the 21st Century, we are still dumb enough to give any of these fuckers the benefit of the doubt on anything.

The Jukebox in my mind ...

I have no idea why this is in my head, but some good pics of every flavor of Chevelle in this vid.

Blackfoot - Highway Song

May your wishes come true ...

Via our dear friend opti, from the Organization for Educating Misinformed Tea Party Patriots, something to give every Jesus freak a stroke:

Another ...

"Charlie-Lima"

Stolen from the Being Liberal FB page.

Too Fast, Too Furious

Darrell Issa’s Lawless Marauding

That fucker's an embarrassment to my state.

Stirring extreme partisanship together with rightist paranoia, Rep. Darrell Issa and his Republican colleagues on the House Government Operations Committee have transformed a legitimate investigation into a breach of Constitutional authority and a danger to law enforcement. With Wednesday’s vote to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt – for refusing to turn over every document demanded in the committee’s probe of the Justice Department’s “Operation Fast and Furious” gunrunning sting – the reckless Issa invited attention to his own aims and tactics, which cannot withstand much scrutiny.

There was little expectation of scrupulous conduct from Issa, who upon assuming the committee chair announced plans to hold “seven hearings a week, times 40 weeks” to “measure [the] failure” of the Obama administration. While he hasn’t achieved that supersized goal, his blustering tone was telling. He has turned a sober and important committee into a parody of Fox Nation. And now with his most ambitious probe unable to find any evidence of wrongdoing by Holder, he is abusing Congressional power to distract from his own failure.

Please read the rest.

Issa, a criminal himself, worse now than then, made his money in car alarms. Take off your muffler and set off every last one you can.

This whole deal is hilarious in an unfunny way really. Guess who makes the decision to prosecute AG Holder if Congress finds him in contempt. Heh.

Note to AG Holder: If Issa's political game plays out and you are
made out to be in contempt of Congress, here's your line for them:

"Who gives a flyin' fuck what you clowns say? Everyone else in the country is in contempt of you teabagger fucktards too."

Update:

TPM

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that an effort by House Republicans to pass a resolution finding Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress is really about his efforts in opposition to GOP-backed voting laws that Democrats consider forms of voter suppression.
...

“These very same people holding in contempt are part of a nationwide scheme to suppress a vote. They are closely aligned with those who are suffocating the system, special interests, secret money, and they are poisoning the debate. They are poisoning the debate with that money. And so what does the average citizen say? They throw up their hands and they say, a pox on both your houses, and that is a victory for the special interest,” Pelosi continued.

If they can make people look the other way and quit giving a shit, they win. That's much easier and more in line with their agenda than democracy.

To quote my late dad-in-law ...

"That's a big Charlie-Lima*, son."

...

“Obama looked nervous and Vladimir drank only water,” Stewart simpered, “Is this couple on the outs or are they expecting a baby?”

Stewart conceded that this “a fun game,” reading big meanings into small things, but, as he pointed out, have you ever seen Vladimir Putin not look icy?

“That’s your lamestream, liberal media for you, though” said the host, “Wall-to-wall coverage of something, but they’re not sure what it is, or if it really matters.”

...

*C-L = Care Less

Seriously ...

If you were a space alien with the intelligence and wherewithal to make it to Earth, why would you even bother making contact? I mean, with all the crap floating around this planet, you'd think we were nothing but a buncha slobs.

Houston is all too aware of this problem: The area of space just outside of Earth is growing dangerously crowded with space junk, debris leftover from 50 years-worth of humanity’s spacefaring activities and from tiny meteorites.

...

Alien travel brochures probably call the Solar System the "Ghetto of the Milky Way".

Quote of the Day

Our pal Montag:

...

Remember kids, if your name is not Ron Paul you don't deserve any government services.

That'll happen ...

Being I'm married to the biggest feminist since Gloria Steinem, I know all this is true.

Thanks to Americans Against The Tea Party for the pic.

Yes, after 22 years of marriage, she's moving out.

The dogs are on their last leg.

There's a pig scrotum filled with foul-smelling herbs hanging outside our front door to ward off the eeeevil.

We have big posters of Marx, Lenin, and Che on the front of the house.

And she won't let me watch (Heh ...).

Not.

***

Dear Pat,

Die already.

Regards,

F

Scott Brown Is Kind of a Pussy

The Rude One. links at site.

So noted naked man and recent moderate Massachusetts Republican Senator Scott Brown had agreed to debate professional ass-kicker and totally not-much Cherokee Democrat Elizabeth Warren at the Edward Kennedy Institute of the United States Senate. The candidates had been invited by Vicki Kennedy, widow of the man himself.

Except he had a couple of conditions because Scott Brown is a pussy with a pick-up. First, Ms. Kennedy could not endorse any candidate in the race because the institute is supposed to be nonpartisan and if a Kennedy does the unexpected and endorses a Democrat, it's totally not fair.
...

Kennedy responded with a well-mannered version of "Suck on my freedom of speech, asshole," saying that she wouldn't remain neutral, and Brown told the institute that he's out. In bitch speak, his campaign said, "[W]e regret that we cannot accept a debate invitation from someone who plans to endorse Scott Brown’s opponent."

Or, truly, Scott Brown is just a pussy who was looking for an excuse to not have his face used as a mop by Elizabeth Warren.

I'm down wid da latter!

Dark Ages Redux: American Politics and the End of the Enlightenment

Common Dreams, links at site.

We are witnessing an epochal shift in our socio-political world. We are de-evolving, hurtling headlong into a past that was defined by serfs and lords; by necromancy and superstition; by policies based on fiat, not facts.

Much of what has made the modern world in general, and the United States in particular, a free and prosperous society comes directly from insights that arose during the Enlightenment.

Too bad we’re chucking it all out and returning to the Dark Ages.

Literally.
...

Now, we seek to operate by revealed truths, not reality. Decrees from on high – often issued by an unholy alliance of religious fundamentalists, self-interested corporations, and greedy fat cats – are offered up as reality by rightwing politicians.

For example, North Carolina law-makers recently passed legislation against sea level rise. [...]
...

As Stephen Colbert so aptly put it: if your science gives you results you don't like, pass a law saying that the result is illegal. Problem solved.
...

We are, indeed, at an epochal threshold. We can continue to discard the Enlightenment values which enabled both an untold increase in material wealth and a system of government which turned serfs into citizens. A system which – for all its flaws – often managed to protect the rights of the many, against the predatory power of the few.

Or we can continue our abject surrender to myths, magical thinking, and self-delusion and the Medieval nation-state those forces are resurrecting.

Much more.

Backward, ever backward, heads stuck firmly in the sand, great white ass pointed at the world! Reality is creepin' up on us with a hard-on. Imagine the look of surprise when...

Jesus weeps. The rest of the world laughs.

Summer Reading

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford's summer reading list.

Do you have a summer reading list? I have a summer reading list. Mine is, I admit, sort of wayward and delicious and not a little bit weird.

My list is also, strangely, almost identical to the reading list I had last summer. Which is similar to the one from the year before, and the year before, and so on, all the way back to something like, oh, 2002.

The only difference? Every year my must-read pile gets higher and the sense of shame over its neglect grows more pronounced, all stemming from the knowledge that, if I'm honest, the pile will remain largely unread this summer, too. I know! Pathetic, is what it is.

Shall I blame the Internet? I shall blame the Internet.

Blame the 24-hour news cycle and the Kardashians. Heh.

Go see his reading list and you'll see why it isn't getting read. Looks like the list a college freshman is issued which also never gets read.

Heh ...

From the World's Finest News Source:

NEW YORK—Real estate mogul and television personality Donald Trump reportedly stood before his bedroom's full-length mirror Wednesday morning and stared forlornly at his aged, shriveled penis before getting dressed and leaving his residence in Manhattan's Trump Tower to start the day.

According to reports, the 66-year-old had laid his suit out on his bed and was preparing to step into a pair of silk boxer shorts when he glimpsed his deteriorating body in the mirror. Trump then spent approximately 15 to 20 minutes morosely reflecting on his appearance, dedicating most of that time to gazing at his desiccated sexual anatomy and contemplating its all-but-total lack of function.

...

Even if ...

You're really shallow, you should still vote for Barry, if for this reason alone:

Pic stolen from the Americans Against The Tea Party FB page.

Or, as my lovely Mrs. says, "no matter what Romney does or wears, he always looks like he has a pole stuck up his ass". Amen, sister.

Just STFU ...

With the sob stories:

...

Yeah, what a bunch of whiners worrying about food when they should be worried about bondholders and their potential profits. It's Un-American, I tells you. Why it's downright class war!

...

Bootstraps and all that ...

Vision of a Rmoney Economy

Bakersfield Bound by Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen - from their 1996 album by the same name

One of my all-time favorite albums.

Thanks to 46807nipster.

"Right Wing Speak"

The Old Fart sums up precisely why I haven't been too prolific lately. I'm just dead from it.

Thanks to oldfartrants.

No wonder ...

I don't have to turn on the bathroom light when I go to pee in the middle of the night.

...

But Wednesday’s flare, an M1, produced a coronal mass ejection traveling at 372 miles per second (1.34 million miles per hour). While that seems incomprehensibly fast to us Earthbound travelers, the particle blast is actually “not extremely high,” according to Evans, “and so its effect is expected to be small.”

Another M-class flare erupted on Thursday along with another coronal mass ejection, and “this one appears to be stronger,” Evans told TPM, which could “result in a moderate geomagnetic storm.”

...

Yes, it glows in the dark now. Heh ...

Really?

I guess, if you're white, you're not really one of those foreigners, even though you're here on a green card:

The latest wingnut crazy to heckle Obama must think that he's a special kind of immigrant (read: he's really, really white) since he's from Europe. You can't even make these stories up.

...

Do you think the cops in Arizona would ask for this guy's papers if he was walking down the street in Tucson? Me neither.

Quote of the Day

I'm down wid it:

...

Crazy has become the new sanity and what was once a world of marvelous technology and admirable repository of the humanities has become a writhing nest of hatred, ignorance, prejudice and seemingly insoluble division that an intelligent person has to conclude we've have reached peak evolution and have begun an irreversible slide back into the primordial ooze.

...

I blame 24 hour cable news and the Kardashians. Heh ...

Not Legal Not Leaving

A few excerpts from Time magazine's cover story this week on the plight of undocumented immigrants who came here as children and aren't leaving and for all practical purposes are Americans.

'Why haven't you gotten deported?'

That's usually the first thing people ask me when they learn I'm an undocumented immigrant or, put more rudely, an "illegal." Some ask it with anger or frustration, others with genuine bafflement. At a restaurant in Birmingham, not far from the University of Alabama, an inebriated young white man challenged me: "You got your papers?" I told him I didn't. "Well, you should get your ass home, then." In California, a middle-aged white woman threw up her arms and wanted to know: "Why hasn't Obama dealt with you?" At least once a day, I get that question, or a variation of it, via e-mail, tweet or Facebook message. Why, indeed, am I still here?

The contradictions of our immigration debate are inescapable.
...

The probusiness GOP waves a KEEP OUT flag at the Mexican border and a HELP WANTED sign 100 yards in, since so many industries depend on cheap labor.

'Why don't you become legal?'
...

"I haven't become legal," I told William, "because there's no way for me to become legal, sir."

Sharon jumped in. "You can't get a green card?"

"No, ma'am," I said. "There's no process for me." Of all the questions I've been asked in the past year, "Why don't you become legal?" is probably the most exasperating. But it speaks to how unfamiliar most Americans are with how the immigration process works.

Obtaining a green card means navigating one of the two principal ways of getting permanent legal status in the U.S.: family or specialized work. To apply for a green card on the basis of family, you need to be a spouse, parent, child or sibling of a citizen. (Green-card holders can petition only for their spouses or unmarried children.) Then it's time to get in line. For green-card seekers, the U.S. has a quota of about 25,000 green cards per country each year. That means Moldova (population: 3.5 million) gets the same number of green cards as Mexico (population: 112 million). The wait time depends on demand. If you're in Mexico, India, the Philippines or another nation with many applicants, expect a wait of years or even decades. (Right now, for example, the U.S. is considering Filipino siblings who applied in January 1989.)

Much, much more. An interesting and frustrating dilemma that is only now coming to be addressed.

Related:

Mitt Romney Still Has No Position On Obama’s Immigration Bombshell

That's understandable - it takes time to come up with a lie that balances the need for cheap labor by his big donors and the scaredy-cat xenophobia of the mouth-breathers whom he is trying to convince to vote for him. It would be so much simpler if the Fat Cats could just BUY the Presidency for him outright. He'll fix that on Day One.

From a rich guy ...

I've seen Hanauer on Ed recently and he's absolutely correct.

...

But sometimes the ideas that we know to be true are dead wrong. For thousands of years people were sure that earth was at the center of the universe. It’s not, and an astronomer who still believed that it was, would do some lousy astronomy.

In the same way, a policy maker who believed that the rich and businesses are “job creators” and therefore should not be taxed, would make equally bad policy.

I have started or helped start, dozens of businesses and initially hired lots of people. But if no one could have afforded to buy what we had to sell, my businesses would all have failed and all those jobs would have evaporated.

...

Transcript from his entire speech is at the link along with a video.

Personally ...

I hate it when people use sports as metaphors for some kind of way of living (except for football [soccer] which, when played well [not MLS], is like lovemaking).

...

It's rarely pretty when our young conservatives try to "hip" themselves to popular culture in general, but their attempts at wedging sports into the ongoing shouting match between the voices in their heads are usually the most hilarious. (A while back, The Weekly Standard essayed an all-sports issue that actual sportswriters laugh at to this day. I mean, honestly, Fred Barnes on the NBA? That would have been like sending young Bill Kristol to CBGB back in the day.) This is an attempt to enlist Bryce Harper, the authentic phenom of the Washington Nationals — and I'm not kidding, he came into Fenway and lit the joint on fire a week or so ago, and you you should see him if you have the chance — into the author's personal quest for a guest slot on Hannity.

...

It always amazes me the way the conservatives are constantly looking for a "hero", a Great White Hope that will inspire and lead all of us to that great right-wing nirvana. They're as bad as young Japanese boys and their worship of AV Idols.

A handy guide ...

To surviving* the Right's austerity policies:



They didn't add "bend over and kiss your ass goodbye" but that's what it all boils down to.

*Good luck with that.

Great thanks to our pal Montag for the pic.