Hard Travelin' With Henry Rollins

A quite extensive interview with Henry Rollins on his new book and Afghanistan, Iran, Grampa Walnuts, Occupy, and our lame-ass media and lazy culture. A 'recommended read'.

The merest taste:

JL: So you believe oil is at the heart of all of the rhetoric regarding threats of war?

HR: I don't think that I know more then a guy like John McCain who gets classified reports but there is a real push on the right, I mean you see how lonely they are without a war. And to hear, like, John McCain, who I have such a dislike for ... I used to not dislike him and then I read a really good book on him. He's just a flip flopping windsack. He's just ... he'll say anything to stay in office. He's just one of those guys, a company man. He's getting weird in his old age. Can you imagine McCain as president!! It would have been maybe the biggest disaster, worse than Bush because at least Bush wasn't senile. McCain was ripping Obama for bringing the troops home from Iraq like, "it'll be seen as a disaster in American history and I hope he [Obama] gets scolded appropriately" and I'm like "shut ...!!" I wrote a thing about it on my website and I said, "man it's time for you to shuffle off, cause now you're just, you're talking crazy." And those guys without a war ... They are flipping! They don't know what to do with themselves. And guys like McCain, he's all cattywampus now. And it just shows you how much they need that because it will be harder and harder for them to justify that ridiculous cold war era budget. And if you make your economy a war economy, you know, I'm no expert, but it seems to me you're going to fail. 'Cause you're not part of the future, you're part of this thing that just destroys and after a while you run out of shit to destroy and then ultimately, hundreds of years from now, you really have to invade Canada to give them democracy! Next we'll invade Belgium. Because you run out of enemies and so you just make up fake enemies. Like Iran is not our enemy, we're making them that way, we're poking them and they'll poke back. Then we'll have to go in there and take care of their democracy for them. The next Republican president, and it might be 2016 ,and it might be a good long run after Obama. I hope I'm wrong but I could be right about that. But you never know, I'm all, you know, I'm signing off on a lot of my ... I get a lot of hate mail so I always sign off "Elizabeth Warren 2016." It makes them froth at the mouth! For the next Republican president, Iran is going to be the first thing out of that guy's mouth. They want it.

I have nothing much to add to this other than we need tens of thousands more like Henry Rollins.

10 Things the GOP’s New Platform Hates About You

Jezebel

Coupla excerpts:

Translation: This country has devolved into a nation of fat drug addicts who smoke like chimneys. If you worked on the wait staff of a bar or restaurant that allowed smoking, it's your fault when you get lung cancer. And if you develop Type II diabetes as an adult, it's because you're weak. You shouldn't have grown up in that town next to a coal mine and gotten cancer when you were 7, you bad lifestyle choice maker.

Kiss our puckered white asses, young people who weren't going to vote for us anyway.

Part of the GOP plan is to replace Medicare with that coupon voucher program all the Elderlies will hate. But if you were worrying that the GOP was going to alienate an important part of its voting base, relax — cuts won't apply to current senior citizens; just future senior citizens. People who weren't going to vote Republican anyway.

Go to hell, immigrants (and "immigrants" means "Mexicans").

The new GOP platform loves states' except when it suspects that if left to their druthers, states would choose to do things that the GOP would not like.

"Religious freedom" is always code for "enforced Christian dominance," which doesn't sound as good in sound bytes.

The GOP of 2012 is a big tent. Especially if you're a white, wealthy, currently elderly, heterosexual, Christian, non-DC resident who plans on living forever. Otherwise, fuck you.

There ya go!

Read the 'comments' too. Heh.

It's Raining Romneys

Raw Story, with video.

Fox News introduces Romney sons with gay anthem ‘It’s Raining Men’
...

Fox News co-host Brian Kilmeade teased an upcoming segment with the Republican presidential candidate’s offspring as the music began to play and the camera panned over to the guests: “For the first time in history / It’s gonna start raining men!”

“It’s Raining Men! Hallelujah! – It’s Raining Men! Amen! / I’m gonna go out to run and let myself get / Absolutely soaking wet!”

Remember when the Teabaggers named themselves and got all huffy when they found out what teabagging is? When it comes to 'culture' I got a bag o' hammers that's more with it than F**Noise. Those fuckers are dumber'n dirt. It's funny, though.

Unless the Rmoney boys are a little light in the loafers. That would be even funnier. Heh.

Election Special

From Ry Cooder's CD Election Special.

Some images of OWS on music Ry Cooder. Dedicated to protesters worldwide, soon more on www.tvekkergem.be. In spring also live coverage of the big revolutions in 2012, from New York to Ekkergem (on the new channel TV Ekkergem revolution)

Wall Street Part of Town - Ry Cooder. (images by TV Ekkergem)

Thanks to TVekkergem, Belgium.

A Video Tribute

I don't think we even had YouTube or could put up videos in '04. Thank you, technology. Better late than never.

By the HappyTones (?!!!! - G). It was good in 2004, it's even better now

Thanks to DrBones666, includes recipes for hash oil. Heh.

A tip o' the Brain to deuddersun.

New Rule for Todd Akin and the Republican Party

From a 'must read' by Bill Maher on the "magical thinking" of the religious whackjobs who want to impose American Sharia on us:

Evangelicals might like to pretend that the magical thinking that they indulge in at home doesn't affect what they do at the office, but it absolutely does. The brain that believes in angels and miracles and Jesus riding a dinosaur is trained to see the world not as it is, but as you want it to be.

Republicans would like to pretend like Congressman Akin's substitution of superstition for science is a lone problem but it's not: they're all magical thinkers, on nearly every issue. They don't get their answers on climate change from climatologists, they get them from the Book of Genesis. Hence Sharia Law in America is a dire threat, and global warming a hoax.
...

How do they get away with it? They know that, because we're already such a religious country, our minds are primed for magical, fantasy thinking. The gullibility comes factory-installed. They've learned that you appeal not to an American's head, but to his gut -- it's a much bigger target. But here's the problem: life is complicated. I mean, I know we know some things for sure, like why Jesus put us here on Earth: to watch Here Comes Honey Boo Boo on a 50-inch TV screen. But what about the Chinese slaves who made the TV? What about carbon from the coal that generated the electricity? What about the Walmart where we bought it, where the workers don't have health insurance? What about racism, or the oceans turning into nail polish remover? The grown-up answer is: identify problems scientifically, prioritize and solve. The Republican answer is: there isn't a problem. And anyone who tells you different is a liar who hates America. We don't have to make hard choices. We just have to ignore the science and the math -- that's why God gave us values.

The last ¶ sums the Repugs up nicely:

Next week in Tampa the Republicans must admit that the difference between a GOP convention and Comic-Con is that the people at Comic-Con have a much firmer grasp of reality.

The difference being that comic books, pardon me, "graphic novels", heh, do us no harm.

I think the majority of "magical thinking" aka "fantasy" amongst Repugs and christowhackos actually occurs while they're watching porn, but that's just me.

Springfield Mountain Coal Miner

I dedicate this to all the miners who have unselfishly laid down their lives in the service of Big Coal and its never ending fight for less government regulation and cheap labor. By the late and much missed Kate Wolf (Wiki).

Thanks to migroskartyok.

Saturday Fais-do-do

Fais do-do is a name for a Cajun dance party, originating before World War II. According to Mark Humphrey the parties were named for "the gentle command ('go to sleep') young mothers offered bawling infants."[1] He quotes early Cajun musician Edwin Duhon of the Hackberry Ramblers, "She'd go to the cry room, give the baby a nipple and say, 'Fais do-do.' She'd want the baby to go to sleep fast, 'cause she's worried about her husband dancing with somebody else out there."

'Do-do' itself is a shortening of the French verb dormir (to sleep), used primarily in speaking to small children. Comparable to the American English "beddy-bye", it is still commonly used by French-speaking people.
...

Fais do-do can also refer to a cajun reach around.

Heh. You decide...

Nice bit of laid back cajun

Michael Doucet & Beausoleil ~ Marie

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

Headline of the Day

Limbaugh: Obama Is "Hopeful" Hurricane Will Hit Tampa During GOP Convention

So am I. They're ignoring The Old Gunny's advice: "Don't bunch up. One round will get you all." Isaac could revamp politics and clean up the gene pool with one round. :-)

Hey, a fellow can dream, can't he?

Video of that fat doper gasbag asshole if you can stand it.

The Crackpot Caucus

NYTimes Opinionator Blog

On matters of basic science and peer-reviewed knowledge, from evolution to climate change to elementary fiscal math, many Republicans in power cling to a level of ignorance that would get their ears boxed even in a medieval classroom. Congress incubates and insulates these knuckle-draggers.

Let’s take a quick tour of the crazies in the House. Their war on critical thinking explains a lot about why the United States is laughed at on the global stage, and why no real solutions to our problems emerge from that broken legislative body.

Go read this. The one thing the Repug house has done well is the invention of the invisible tinfoil hat.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

emmylou harris at woofstock/fontanel 8-18-12

Thanks to MrJimirick.

Ex-GIs Battle for the Ballot

That might be the headline in several places on November 7. It's not. Yet.

I can't c&p this so go read. Click on the upper right hand of the image that appears or "yes" if you get that. There'll be a scroller to make it so you can read it.

Just for fun, go forward a few pages to see if you are eligible to join the VFW. Of interest primarily to us older Vets. Heh. Lotsa other good articles if you look.

"Hey Government Guys!"

I'm lazy today. I'm resting up for the Repug convention and I advise the Tampa strippers and sidewalk hostesses to do the same. I'm really looking forward to it! I think there'll be a lot more action out in town than in the Hall and I hope the cable news people have put on extra crews to cover the strip clubs. I think the best "platform" in town will have a stripper pole on it!

Old Fart says he's been alive under 12 Presidents. I've got him beat: under "personhood", i.e. "a zygote has full human rights ... until it's born, then fuck it", I claim 13 Presidents because I was in the womb under FDR. He ain't the only Old Fart around here!

Our ol' buddy goes on about the craziest Repugs and has a few words about the batcrap judge in Texas who thinks he and Barney Fife the Lubbock County cops are going to save the nation from alien probes Obama's UN troops. Heh.

Notable quote:

You do know that Red Dawn wasn't a documentary, don't you?

Thanks to oldfartrants.

Illegally held Marine released

Following up on yesterday's post:

Business Insider, links at site.

Judge Orders Release Of Detained Marine From Psychiatric Hospital

A circuit court judge has dismissed the government’s case against Brandon Raub and ordered that the Marine veteran, detained over anti-government Facebook posts, be released from a state psychiatric hospital because authorities had no grounds to detain him, Catie Beck of CBS 6 News reports.

Go read the rest of this:

Whitehead said that every year in Virginia more than 20,000 people are committed under similar circumstances and "that means a lot of people are disappearing" under the pretext of mental illness.

"I'm friends with the local police; I could call them right now and probably get you committed if you were in Virginia," Whitehead said. "They can arrive at your door based on somebody's testimony or your Facebook page and take you away to a mental hospital… There's a system here that is corrupt. And this guy is caught in it."

Oh, there's more...

Update:

I think this cockamamie Virginia law is the reason the Repugs aren't having their convention in Richmond. One phone call could upset the whole shebang. Heh.

A special prayer

Via email from my friend Beverly:

Dear Lord,

I know that I don't talk to you that much, but this year you have taken away:

my favorite screenwriter Nora Ephron
my favorite visionary Steve Jobs,
my favorite author Ray Bradbury
my favorite childrens' author Maurice Sendak,
my favorite American Bandstand guy Dick Clark
my favorite hairdresser Vidal Sassoon,
my favorite musician Earl Scruggs,
my favorite Monkee Davy Jones,
my favorite 60 Minutes guy Mike Wallace,
and my favorite singer Whitney Houston.

I just wanted to let you know that my favorite radio announcer is Rush Limbaugh

The Room Temperature I.Q. Party

I am starting to think that anyone with an IQ lower that 65 automatically becomes a member of the Republican Party.

Gee, ya think?

Thanks to oldfartrants.

It's about time

Drug war’s racial disparity moves NAACP to embrace marijuana legalization

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), one of the nation’s oldest civil rights groups, said at its Colorado-Montana-Wyoming state conference on Thursday that its members support Colorado’s marijuana legalization ballot initiative.

I am sure that will be good for the dozen or so Afro-Americans in Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, but this needs to go on the road, like, say, to the South Bronx, Detroit, South Central L.A., etc.

But seriously folks, good on ya NAACP. Best o' luck with this.

What would Jesus have tweeted?

Raw Story, with video.

The world may never know because there was no Wi-Fi on the donkeys he rode 2,000 years ago. But a biblical tourist park in Israel is now changing all that.

Visitors to Northern Israel’s Kfar Kedem can now post Instagram photos of themselves in biblical robes and headdresses because the donkeys there have Wi-Fi routers fastened around their necks, according to The Associated Press.
...

“I don’t miss any news,” Scherr added. “I send pictures back to my family while I’m having fun on the donkeys.”

Can the Grand Canyon mule rides be far behind? Now I've seen everything and you may shoot me. Please.

Update:

From their 'comments':

And just look at that picture, folks! Doesn't that look like an amazing vacation? Who needs Disneyland when you can stumble around a miserable, wretched desert, exploring sites where "magical" things of dubious plausability are claimed to of happened, all while pulling around a donkey with what appears to be a circa 1987 Apple IIe strapped to it's back. I'm sure that after 10 minutes of that, I would certainly scream out, "Jesus Fuckin' Christ!" Where do I sign up?!?!

Heh. Many times 'heh'.

American Taliban Resurgent

MoDo via Kos.

“I talk about one word, one sentence, one day out of place, and, all of a sudden, the entire establishment turns on you,” Representative Akin complained to the conservative radio talk-show host Dana Loesch on Tuesday as he spurned pleas from Mitt Romney and other G.O.P. big shots to abort his bid. He continued: “They just ran for cover at the first sign of any gunfire, and I think we need to rush to the gunfire.”

Yoo-hoo, over here! Pick me! Pick me! Rush this way!

Breathe...Relax...Aim...Slack...Squeeze...

He’s right again. Other Republicans are trying to cover up their true identity to get elected. Even as party leaders attempted to lock the crazy uncle in the attic in Missouri, they were doing their own crazy thing down in Tampa, Fla., by reiterating language in their platform calling for a no-exceptions Constitutional amendment outlawing abortion, even in cases of rape, incest and threat to the life of the mother.

Speaking as Mrs. G's family's crazy uncle, try luring him into the attic with his favorite thing. Mine is Mexican food, but rape porn might work on him.

“Next we’ll be trying to take away the vote from women,” lamented Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist who advised Romney in the 2008 race. “How can we be the party of cool and make the generational leap forward when we have these recidivist ideas at the very core of our base?”

PARTY OF COOL?!!!! Bwahahahaha! In a party that worships imbecility, Castellanos, who pronounces the l's instead of the y-sounding of Español thus denying his heritage, is fucking royalty! I've seen him go up against Rachel Maddow on Press The Meat and all he has to counter her smarts and facts are talking points and attempted put-downs. A true dildo.

From Kos:

The harshest truth-telling is saved for Palin 2.0.

Paul Ryan, who teamed up with Akin in the House to sponsor harsh anti-abortion bills, may look young and hip and new generation, with his iPod full of heavy metal jams and his cute kids. But he’s just a fresh face on a Taliban creed (my ems) — the evermore antediluvian, anti-women, anti-immigrant, anti-gay conservative core. Amiable in khakis and polo shirts, Ryan is the perfect modern leader to rally medieval Republicans who believe that Adam and Eve cavorted with dinosaurs.

Dowd smartly references Mitt Romney’s embrace of anti-choice godfather ‘Dr.’ John Willke. I guess Alex Castellanos (“How can we be the party of cool and make the generational leap forward when we have these recidivist ideas at the very core of our base?”) took a sick day when the Romney campaign touted Dr. Strangelove as a supporter and surrogate in 2007.

Dowd ends by accurately calling Republicans dangerous liars.

You may or may not like MFBTIR but she's spot on this time.

Flammable tap water for everybody! Whee!

Mitt Romney To Donors: I Would Explain My Energy Plan, But Reporters Are Here

He's come out and said if he revealed his plans, nobody would vote for him. So he just lies about them.

Update:

In Brief: No, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan Won't Tell You a Goddamn Thing

Except:

..."Drill, frack, Keystone, clean coal, nuclear, and go fuck yourself with a windmill on top of a solar panel."

Just like Cheney except they'll do it here instead of in Iraq which didn't work either.

Headline of the Day

Texas Judge Warns Of ‘Civil War, Maybe’ If Obama Wins

This guy's drinkin' Glenn Beck's bathwater.

Word ...

My friend the Duchess:

I’m asked fairly often about my approach to all of this political stuff. People say, “wouldn’t it be better to try and get them to listen to us instead of just slinging insults at them?” Fuck no, and here’s why; the Tea Party “Patriots” are out of their goddamn, Jesus-loving minds.

...

Quote of the Day

Tengrain:

A salute to Mandatory Ultrasounds - oh, I hope that's a musical number with lots of dancing dildos. I envision something like Springtime for Hitler.

For those who don't know the number:

Oops, I done picked the wrong house...

This is just great! Heh. TMZ.

LL Cool J came face-to-face with a burglary suspect in his home, and took the guy down with his own hands early this morning ... TMZ has learned.
...

Sources say the intruder had tripped LL's alarm system, but the "NCIS Los Angeles" star -- who is a physical beast -- decided to go hand-to-hand combat on the dude ... and managed to detain him until LAPD arrived a few minutes later to make the arrest.
...

LL beat the living CRAP out of the intruder ... who's being described as a transient ... reportedly breaking the man's nose and jaw.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... the suspect is currently hospitalized and being treated for his injuries. Officials believe the man may suffer from mental issues.

There was some point in time during this episode where the burglar just HAD to realize he done fucked up BAD! Heh.

I'm a big fan of LL's for his character on NCIS: LA. He plays the baddest dude you ever saw. Looks like it's typecasting. :-)

Has One CNN Commentator Lost His Fucking Mind Over Akin?

Shorter: Yep. The Rude Pundit on Akin apologist and He Who Should Not Have A Job Where People Can Hear Him, Erick Erickson.

While other Republicans were throwing Senate candidate Todd Akin under the bus for revealing a bit too clearly what the GOP actually believes about abortion rights for rape victims, some on the right were there to offer a comforting nipple for Akin to suckle at. CNN contributor and Redstate blogger Erick "Erick" Erickson practically ripped off his shirt and yelled to Akin, "Nurse at these man-boobs, misunderstood sir."

"Revealing a bit too clearly" = "Said it out loud on camera".

There's a couple of camps of Akin apologists: the "let's move on, nothing to see here" camp and the moral equivalency camp. Erickson is firmly in the latter, and his blog post yesterday was the kind of straw-grasping you see an especially desperate defense attorney take in the trial of his serial disemboweler client. "Well, he may have ripped out his victims' intestines and swung them around like lassos, but, really, is that so bad compared to the Holocaust?" he might say. Or perhaps "Yes, but the prosecutor once jaywalked."

"Moral equivalency" is the so-called liberal media's greatest sin. They do it so they won't catch shit from the wingnuts when catching shit from the wingnuts should be a badge of honor like a Purple Heart. Cowards.

See, Erickson and others on the right are shit-scared right now, which is pretty much what he said today in asking Akin to heroically put his country ahead of himself and step down. (Dude, he's a Republican. Did you really think he'd act honorably?)

They're scared because Akin opened the door for a discussion of abortion rights and the GOP's attitude towards women, especially as it affects a certain running mate. Oh, how they wanted to concentrate on the economy and ignore shit like the Republican campaign platform that takes Akin and Paul Ryan's pre-VP selection stance, calling for a ban on all abortions with no rape exception.
...

So, yes, God bless Todd Akin. He did speak the truth. Now let's see where that argument gets the GOP.

Out of office would be good for starters. A parade down Pennsylvania Avenue featuring rails and tar and feathers would be a classy way of celebrating their blessed departure.

So much for "free speech"

Free speech, as guaranteed by the 1st Amendment, is apparently OK until you criticize or scare someone with power they probably shouldn't have.

Marine Veteran Brandon Raub Sentenced To Up To 30 Days In Psych Ward Over Facebook Posts

The former Marine who was detained in connection with Facebook posts critical of the government is being held in a psychiatric ward, Peter Bacqué of the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
...

Both the FBI and Secret Service said Raub was not arrested or charged, but the Rutherford Institute statement points out that "if the police have put handcuffs on you and you’re being held against your will, that qualifies as an arrest."

Word. Been there, done that. They sent this kid to the "flight deck" because they had no excuse to put him in jail.

John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, said the following: “For government officials to not only arrest Brandon Raub for doing nothing more than exercising his First Amendment rights but to actually force him to undergo psychological evaluations and detain him against his will goes against every constitutional principle this country was founded upon. This should be a wake-up call to Americans that the police state is here.”

We've seen more and more "police state" actions trending through two administrations now thanks to the blatantly unconstitutional Patriot Act and overzealous petty officialdom and/or the Ruling Elite abusing its perceived power when it pisses its pants over...almost anything it doesn't like. That's fucked up and needs to be stopped. Period.

Also see:

Marine Veteran Admitted To Psych Ward Over Facebook Posts Doesn't Know Why He Was Singled Out

Bad luck and the Patriot Act. The local sheriffs interviewed this guy and then left him alone. Then the feds stepped in and stepped right on his free speech rights because he was...scary to someone.

How about the FBI and Secret Service go arrest Ted Nugent or Rush Limbaugh or Pat Robertson or any number of wingnut rabble rousers, politicians, wannabe militias, neo-Nazis, etc., etc.? They say shit all the time that oughta scare 'em worse than whatever this Jarhead said. Oh, I remember now, any semblance of influence they may have, whatever it may be, excuses them. Much easier to walk all over the little guy who has none.

I may not like whatever Mr. Raub said but our system is supposed to let you say any damfool thing you want, no matter how false or crazy or obnoxious, short of actually threatening harm to someone. There are lots of deranged people saying all sorts of deranged things and they don't get arrested for it. I'd much rather someone just slap the shit out of 'em, and that only because it's impossible to slap any sense into 'em.

In Russia, you can get two years in prison for criticizing Putin. That's not supposed to happen here.

We will hear more about this, I am sure.

Rape Fatigue and You: When There’s Just No Anger Left

Great rant at Jezebel!

Since around 2pm on Monday, I've felt like a contestant on a sadistic Japanese game show, donning an American flag bikini and a blindfold, covered in glue and standing in a phone booth, trying to catch dollar bills with my flailing arms as an industrial strength blower propels cash around me at high speeds. But instead of cash, I'm trying to process and react to a veritable blizzard of ignorant, rape-related bullshit flowing unabated from the mouths of conservative lawmakers in America. Reading story after story of how, say, a cranky old coot of a doctor peddling medically dangerous misinformation has somehow informed half of the American public's views on women's health care, or how, say, another dude — always a fucking dude — is saying that he doesn't think that pregnancy from statutory rape or incest is really A Thing since he personally doesn't know any pregnant kids or how, say, the GOP is condemning this sort of Wingnut Real Talk while quietly inserting a mandatory ultrasound hat tip/constitutional amendment that would force all rape victims to carry their assailant's child to term into their official party platform has worn me down.

I am at full rape capacity. I am officially in the throes of rape fatigue.
...

Akin, King, and the rest of the GOP that supported a WIRE HANGERS ALWAYS! constitutional amendment aren't simply destructive assholes — they're actively harmful, ill-intentioned. Evil. And before you condemn me for being overdramatic and premenstrual for choosing the word "evil" to describe guys who wear suits and America flag pins, consider what that word means — profoundly immoral and malevolent. People who truly believe that rape cannot lead to pregnancy because of *~uTeRuS mAgIc~* or that women who become pregnant under any circumstances must stay pregnant are using information that they know to be wrong in order to promote laws that cause bodily harm, physical punishment, and distress to women. Doesn't get much eviler than that without getting weapons and uniforms involved.
...

Eventually a person gets to the point where they can longer withstand the constant blitzkrieg of bullshit. So, Steve King, Todd Akin, and shouty Twitter conservatives: you win. Rape outrage limit reached. I have given this all of my fucks, and the fucks I have given are still not enough fucks. So many more fucks need to be given, and I have exhausted my fuck supply. The fucks are on backorder. Employees are working overtime to restock my fucks, but in the meantime, please accept this 10% off coupon while we wait for the fucks to arrive via FedEx. I'll be over here, drinking wine from a Pac Man mug and watching cartoons.

Don't worry, lady, take a break. I've got enough fucks for all of us. I've got refill fucks in pint, quart, gallon, 5 gallon, and 55 gallon cans, and spray cans and travel sizes. And a rifle and bayonet. They WILL NOT win.

What the G.O.P. Platform Represents

NYT op-ed

Over the years, the major parties’ election-year platforms have been regarded as Kabuki theater scripts for convention week. The presidential candidates blithely ignored them or openly dismissed the most extreme planks with a knowing wink as merely a gesture to pacify the noisiest activists in the party.

That cannot be said of the draft of the Republican platform circulating ahead of the convention in Tampa, Fla. The Republican Party has moved so far to the right that the extreme is now the mainstream. The mean-spirited and intolerant platform represents the face of Republican politics in 2012. And unless he makes changes, it is the current face of the shape-shifting Mitt Romney.
...

Over all, it is farther out on the party’s fringe than Mr. Romney ventured in the primaries, when he repudiated a career’s worth of centrist views on issues like abortion and gay marriage. But the planks hew closely to the views of his running mate, Paul Ryan, and the powerful right-wing. Mr. Romney has a chance to move back in the direction of the center by amending this extremist platform. It will be interesting to see if he seizes it.

Willard ain't got the balls.

Hey, Repugs - whatcha gonna do when God comes for you?

Dana Milbank on God's retribution for their sins by Hurricane Isaac (hopefully) blasting the Repug convention to smithereens next week.

Has God forsaken the Republican Party?

Well, sit in judgment of what’s happened in the past few days:

Heh...more popcorn!

Coincidence? Or part of some Intelligent Design?

By their own logic, Republicans and their conservative allies should be concerned that Isaac is a form of divine retribution. Last year, Rep. Michele Bachmann, then a Republican presidential candidate, said that the East Coast earthquake and Hurricane Irene — another “I” storm, but not an Old Testament one — were attempts by God “to get the attention of the politicians.” In remarks later termed a “joke,” she said: “It’s time for an act of God and we’re getting it.”

About fuckin' time! Let's see 'em spin this one and blame it on Libruls. I know they'll twist up some "logic" to that end like they do. When it comes to making up bullshit and sticking to their story no matter the facts, they have no equal.

Naturally we hope no one gets hurt and I for one will pray for the safety of the strippers, each and every one of whom does more for mankind than all the convention goers put together.

Packing list for dirty pagan nirvana

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford with a helpful guide to the upcoming Burning Man (Wiki). We know about this around here. The survivors straggle back home right through my town and a happy, dishevelled, burnt-out lot they are too, with faraway looks in their eyes like they've seen something nobody else has seen! That's because it was only in their heads but maybe not.

Water? Do not even talk to me about water. You will need so much water out there that your bladder will be having a non-stop make-out session with your kidneys. You want to consume so much water you rinse all toxins away and “piss clear.” This is the mantra of Burning Man. This is the requirement. (It was also the name of a scrappy, playa-only newspaper back in the day, printed every morning right there in camp and delivered around the entire site by beglittered women in leather and tasseled nipples. But never mind that now).

Out on the playa, you will need to hydrate more than you ever have in your life, because your body is working overtime to keep you alive as the leering sun whisks away moisture like the GOP whisks away hope. Also, all those hallucinogens and MDMA can make you a little thirsty. Goodness, did I say that out loud? Go ahead, pretend to be all shocked.

Speaking of hallucinating, no one will believe what you’ve seen out there. No one back home – particularly your nervous relatives, particularly those friends who won’t even see R-rated movies much less venture anywhere near nipple-pierced, flame-throwing festivals, particularly those Americans who sleep with Bibles or guns (or both) under their pillow for fear of attack by zombie Mexican drug rapist liberal dubstep DJs – no one will understand what the hell you mean when you say you’ve seen a 10-ton neon cruise ship carrying 200 revelers float across the desert floor at 3:00AM, lit up by 4,000 LEDs and shooting fire twenty stories high and bouncing lasers off the moon.
...

Here’s a tip: Plan your Burning Man vices like you would a very classy, very debauched wedding. At Charlie Sheen’s house. On Mars.

And you thought "Green Goddess" was just a salad dressing, eh?

Go read. Enjoy. Scroll down for the "comments" too.

How it'll work ...

If you listen to Todd Akins' "science".

Thanks to our pal Montag for the toon.

Romney-Ryan Republicans pray to Jesus but bow to Ayn Rand

Repug hypocrisy at its most visible. I hope there's a good signal at the strip clubs...

Thanks to the LATimes.

Man U follows Facebook...

...down the shitter after Soros buys in.

After an underwhelming initial public offering on August 10, shares in the club finished Monday at $13.06, down 6.7 percent from the IPO price of $14.

Heh.

Romney, Ryan and Rape: A Todd Akin Special Delivery

William Rivers Pitt

Ah, yes, a Tea Party mask, in the person of one Paul Ryan from Wisconsin. An amiable sociopath if ever there was one, Mr. Ryan brings to the campaign fourteen years of far-right baggage, which is just what a Republican candidate desperate to secure his leery base needs right now. "Nail down the 'Baggers and figure out the rest later" appears to be the newest GOP campaign battle plan...
...
Who the what the where the when the why the how the what the hell?

Yeah, that happened. In the odd, demented, windy spaces that pass for the mind of Mr. Akin, if you are raped and become pregnant, you weren't really raped, because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." That sound you hear is the heads of a million OBGYN's exploding simultaneously. Before the sun came up on Monday, Akin's campaign had rushed out a he-misspoke-we-hate-rape retraction, but the horse was already out of the barn. Akin's words were not a mistake, but a closely-held belief within the Anti-Choice-at-all-costs crowd, and now the Romney/Ryan campaign has a whole new problem to contend with.

The crux of the biscuit: it's not what Akin said, it's what him and Ryan and the 'bagger base believe. Akin committed a gaffe by letting the cat out of the bag. The Repugs are doing this little bit by little bit on all sorts of issues, most notably voter suppression.

Mitt Romney chose Paul Ryan as his running mate to shore up his standing with the GOP base. Fine and good, but now that he has donned the Tea Party mask, he owns everything Ryan brings with him, including Ryan's appalling partnership with Todd Akin, and their despicable attempt to legislate a new definition of rape as something other than rape.

Keep talking, Repugs, and stay in the race, Akin. Please. As far as I'm concerned it's the gift that keeps on giving to the nation's future well-being. Unless there are more of them and less of us who vote. If the reverse is true, or even if it's not but the Repugs have re-honed their vote suppression/stealing tactics, we're screwed and let the chips fall where they will. This ain't yer grandfather's America which never was anyway but which they want a return to.

Oh, and rape is rape. It's a sexual and/or power trip over women against their will through violence or other means by sexually repressed criminals. Repug "men" are the only ones who don't believe or refuse to accept that. Rapists and their Repug enablers should be nutted so they won't do that again. Period.

A (Not So) Serious, (Not So) Honest Running Mate

Paul Krugman on Ryan:

What I do know is that anyone who believes in Mr. Ryan's carefully cultivated image as a brave, honest policy wonk has been snookered. Mr. Ryan is, in fact, a big fraud who doesn't care at all about fiscal responsibility, and whose policy proposals are sloppy as well as dishonest. Of course, this means that he'll fit into the Romney campaign just fine.

As I said, I have no idea how this will play politically. But it does look like a move from weakness, rather than from strength; Romney obviously felt he needed a V.P. who will get people to stop talking about him.

The Real Target

Let me clarify what I believe is really going on in the choice of Paul Ryan as a vice presidential nominee. It is not about satisfying the conservative base, which was motivated anyway by Obama-hatred; it is not about refocusing on the issues, because Mr. Ryan and Mr. Romney are both determined to avoid providing any of the crucial specifics about their plans. It is about exploiting the gullibility and vanity of the news media, in much the same way that President George W. Bush did in 2000.
...

So that's the constituency Mr. Romney is targeting: not a large segment of the electorate, but a few hundred at most — editors, reporters, programmers and pundits. His hope is that Mr. Ryan's unjustified reputation for honest wonkery will transfer to the ticket as a whole.

So, a memo to the news media: you have now become players in this campaign, not just reporters. Mitt Romney isn't seeking a debate on the issues; on the contrary, he's betting that your gullibility and vanity will let him avoid a debate on the issues, including the issue of his own fitness for the presidency.

I guess we'll see if it works.

I guess we're going to see once and for all if stupidity reigns in this country or not. A chilling prospect if "the media" doesn't wise up toot de sweet.

Piss me off ...

I'm really sick of everybody being offended by everything.

A high school principal in Oklahoma refused this week to turn over a straight-A student’s diploma because she used the word “hell” in her graduation speech.

...

Fuck him with the school's mascot, whatever that may be.

Seems legit ...

I know I was Carson Kressley in a previous life. Packing for Amsterdam:

And yes, those are silk camo skivvies ...

FWFS ...

I've been remiss in this and it kills me but better late than never. About a week ago, I learned from our good friend CAFKIA that a good friend of this blog, author, blogger (Pen and Sword), officer and gentleman, Commander Jeff Huber (USN), passed away several months back. Our deepest condolences to his close friends, family, and 'brothers on the bridge'. Fair winds and following seas, sir. We salute you.

Quote of the Day

Blanche Beecham @ The Daily Bleach:

The uterus is a magical female organ. Unlike the penis, you can’t step on it during an interview talking about legitimate rape.

On Akin's Bugfuck Crazy "Legitimate Rape" Comment

The Rude Pundit, links at site.

So completely bugnuts cocktard Todd Akin, who really has been elected repeatedly to the House of Representatives by idiots in Missouri and really is the Republican candidate for Senate against incumbent Claire McCaskill, really winning a primary in Missouri, the "Show-You-How-Fucking-Dumb-We-Are" state, really said in an interview yesterday regarding pregnancy from rape, "First of all, from what I understand from doctors it is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." He also said that, even if the pussy's laser beam of justice misses and the woman gets pregnant, she should not be allowed to get an abortion.

When everyone picked their jaws off the floor, Akin's profoundly, demonstrably, scientifically wrong statement was met with a DefCon Katrina level of outrage. At what point is low too low? At a time that demanded true leadership, Mitt Romney's campaign's response was so milquetoast that Fire Island twinks would tell him to butch up. And, like a good little conservative spoogebucket, Akin didn't apologize for his beliefs. He merely said he "misspoke."

So it seems to leave us with a question: What the fuck did Akin mean to say?

1. "I meant to say that rape sperm is too angry to inseminate an egg."

2. "I meant to say that vaginas are like snapping turtles that will bite off a rapist's penis."
...

5. "By 'legitimate rape," I meant a rape that happens because of Obamacare, which is raping the future for our children...That probably didn't help, did it?"
...

Update: Apparently, Mitt Romney discovered that the wind was blowing in a safe enough direction, and his condemnation of Akin has become stronger.

Akin is probably one of those ignorant male dominionists who believe women "invite" rape by their dress, or maybe a smile, so that makes it OK.

Note to Missourians: Vote for this asshole and you deserve whatever you get. On the plus side, you'll be able to light the whole state from Harry Truman spinning in his grave.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

FACEBOOK SHARES TUMBLE
Mark Zuckerberg moves back in with parents.

Heh.

Obama to Romney: Release Just Five Years of Tax Returns
Or at least show us your sacred underpants.

Holy shit stains and all...

Porn Star Jenna Jameson Pleads Guilty to DUI
Apparently endorsed Romney while intoxicated.

The same condition in which she became a star, no doubt.

REMINDER
Ask your grandkids how their private social security accounts are doing.

We need to build more bridges so they'll have a place to live.

City Sunday ...

We took a walk down the High Line on NYC's West Side.

Me'n Fixer's next excellent adventure!

On our way to Charlotte to deliver an important guest to the Democratic convention. Fixer always gets to hold the donkey, drat the luck. Pic stolen from somewhere on Facebook.

Gotta Give Me Some...Ragtime!

Tuba Skinny (Facebook) Performing Gotta Give Me Some @ French Quarter Fest 2012 :)

The washboard player's off the hook! He's the only one I've ever seen who can honk to pass!

Thanks to EagleNationRules.

Rising Star

The Tuttles (Facebook) are a family band out of the Bay Area. I'm kinda taken with AJ Lee (no, not the wrestler!). For a young girl she's got a set o' pipes! How young? Listen to the intro. Heh. I think if she keeps at it she'll be a star. She's well on her way.

The bass player is the most important member of this group. He's the one with the driver's license...:-)

The Tuttles with AJ Lee* at the Gettysburg Bluegrass Festival on Saturday, May 19, 2012 held in Granite Hill Camping Resort near Gettysburg, PA.

Molly Tuttle - Vocal, Banjo, Guitar
AJ Lee - Lead Vocal, Mandolin
Michael Tuttle - Mandolin
Sullivan Tuttle - Guitar
Jack Tuttle - Vocal, Upright Bass, Fiddle

*Be sure to click on the "The Tuttles with AJ Lee -- Rising Stars" link.

Thanks to randomfarm (AJ Lee's channel, more good stuff).

Goin' ridin'

Off today to ride the Youth Team Vintage-Beginner portion of the Geritol Trial. Right up my alley - if there was ever a "vintage beginner" powered by Geritol, I'm it! See yas.

Update: 1st (and only) in class. I dare not move up in class. There's already a guy in the Twin Shock Intermediate class. I'da won it anyway. He didn't show up. Heh.



More later.

Sweet Dreams, F-Man

Here's one that's closer to what I actually do on motorcycles. A bad dream
is when I can't find the coin slot to make it go.

Heh ...

Another of my Gordon Trail Riding Nightmares.

Thanks to LMAO for the pic.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

A recent live performance of one of her old favorites.

Emmylou Harris with band performing Luxury Liner at Stockholm Music & Arts Festival on 4th of August 2012.

Thanks to Sektinfo, Sweden.

Heh ...

Pic thanks to Chest Strongwell.

Shopping Day

Off to Carson City, bonus hot weather spa day for the pups, breakfast at our favorite joint, Costco, W**Mart. See yas.

Confess sinner!!!

At least, that's what the Frothy Mixture says if you're a Catholic and participate in Obamacare:

While stumping for Mitt Romney in Ohio Wednesday, former presidential hopeful Rick Santorum repeated allegations of President Obama’s so-called “War on Religion,” claiming that Catholics’ freedom of religion is being compromised by the implementation of Obamacare. According to Santorum, whose campaign emphasized his far-right social values, Catholics are being forced to sin by complying with an Obamacare provision that requires employers to provide contraceptive services free of charge:

...

And I thought we heard the last of him when he lost his primary run. Another boil on the ass of America.

Cockblock the Vote!

On his show Thursday night, The Daily Show host Jon Stewart blasted Republicans in Pennsylvania and Ohio for attempting to suppress votes in the upcoming November elections. Noting that there have been only 10 cases of in-person voter fraud since 2000, Stewart slammed Pennsylvania for enacting a tough new voter ID law. He also blasted overt discrimination in Ohio, where the state secretary eliminated the extended hours for early voting in Democratic districts.

Jon at his best.

Republican Senator Calls Romney a "Stupid Back Stabber"

Kos

Responding to Romney's plan to kill energy production and thousands of jobs in Iowa, long time conservative Senator Chuck Grassley called Romney "stupid" and a "back stabber" at two town hall meetings.
...

In his unabated campaign to piss off every possible voter, Mitt Romney called for the cancellation of tax credits for wind energy, a move that would kill 37,000 good paying jobs nationwide.

In Iowa alone, 7,000 people are employed in the wind energy sector, producing a quarter of the state's electric power.

Kind of amazing to think that, mass-quantity-hot-air blowhard that he is, Willard is against wind power. You'd think he'd be trying for yet another federal subsidy.

Grassley's pretty much your standard Repug asshole, but he got it right this time.

Adelson again?

An odd day for news, to be sure.

Israel sperm banks find quality is plummeting

Ruth Har-Nir, head of Hadassah Sperm Bank in Jerusalem shows off equipment used to find major donor Adelson's shrivelled nutsack.

I mighta made part of that caption up, but the look on her face...

I will never think of the Hadassah ladies the same way ever again...

Excuse me, but I must go. The tank truck of bleach has mercifully just pulled up out in front.

Fire in your pants!*

LATimes

L.A. city leaders weigh strategies for inspecting porn shoots

Depending on the number of film shoots and the frequency of the spot checks, the task could require more than 100 full-time Fire Department employees and cost more than $1.7 million, officials said.

The FIRE DEPARTMENT?!! I know some porn is pretty hot, but...

I will never think of the "jaws of life" or "hook and ladder" the same way ever again, and I shudder at the thought of "fire hose" or, God forbid, "turnout"...

*Title reference is to an old joke - cop stops a gal for speeding, asks her "where's the fire?", answer is "in my pants, officer, and your hose isn't big enough to put it out".

(rimshot)

Heh...

And just so ya know, in the Corps, baloney and other cold cuts are called "horsecock", which along with "horse's ass" and "horseshit" fits neatly into the Vulture/Voucher campaign. The other equine reference and hope I have for them involves a glue factory.

Thanks to Slate.

Daddy Frank On Lyin' Ryan’s Bungled Rollout

Frank Rich. A quick 'recommended read'.

So, Mitt Romney selected Paul Ryan as his VP. The consensus seems to be that this was close to a Hail Mary play, if not quite a Sarah Palin Hail Mary. Do you see it that way?

No. For all clichéd gab about this being a “game-changer,” we already know that it’s not. The polls show at most a mild bounce so far. Many Americans have not a clue as to who Ryan is except as a card-carrying representative of the second most despised brand in America after the local cable company: Congress. His anointment is a dramatic move only in the sense that compared to choosing Tim Pawlenty or Rob Portman, anything is a dramatic move. Only in the GOP does the pairing of two wealthy conservative white guys constitute a diversity ticket, presumably because only one of them has openly embraced Ayn Rand. It’s a far cry from choosing an inexperienced woman governor from Alaska as a running mate, and I doubt the Ryan choice was even intended as a game-changer. The real intention was for Romney to nail down the GOP base. It says a lot about the state of his campaign that as late as mid-August it still had not won over large swaths of that 75 percent of the GOP that wanted Anyone but Romney for much of the primary process.

The Times ran a lengthy expose this week about the possibly criminal dealings of Sheldon Adelson's former fixer in China. This isn't the first noise we've heard about bribery allegations involving Adelson's company. Can the Obama campaign hang this on Romney in any way?

Yes. It shows how much power Adelson has over the GOP that Ryan would place near the top of his first week to-do list a dash out to Vegas to kiss Adelson’s ring (presumably a pinky ring)*. Adelson’s gambling empire, Las Vegas Sands, is the subject of two different major federal investigations, one by the Justice Department and another by the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is kosher to ask whether Adelson is lavishing as much as (or maybe more than) $100 million on the GOP not just to promote his hawkish views about Israel but also to try to shut down those investigations in a Romney administration. Meanwhile, journalists, and not just at the Times but at ProPublica, Frontline, the Journal, and NBC News, among no doubt others, are continuing to dig into Adelson’s empire. What happens in Vegas — and in the Sands’s Macau outpost as well — will not stay in Vegas between now and Election Day. This could be the sleeper “October Surprise” of the 2012 campaign.

*The ring is probably in a piercing on Adelson's great white ass. It'd be in his foreskin if he had one.

Go read. Comments too.

Add-on:

Thanks to Slate

Headline of the Day

Judge: Former ACORN worker can sue James O’Keefe

Good. I hope that between his legal bills and a judgment this breaks that little punk.

POTUS Brew

The Oval

The Obama administration confirmed today it has added a new facility to the White House: A small beer brewery.

Officials discussed the brewery after President Obama told some Iowa residents that he had some of its product stocked aboard the bus he's using for a three-day tour of the Hawkeye State.

"There is a home brew, if you will, at the White House," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

It's called White House Honey Ale, with both light and dark varieties.

Totally cool!

Yeah ...

Far be it for a conservative to pay royalties:

The Silversun Pickups have asked Mitt Romney's campaign to stop using their song "Panic Switch" at events. The band has issued a cease-and-desist order and released a statement Wednesday, roundly denouncing Romney and his campaign.

"We don't like people going behind our backs, using our music without asking, and we don't like the Romney campaign," frontman Brian Aubert wrote. "We're nice, approachable people. We won't bite. Unless you're Mitt Romney!"

...

They think they have a right to everything for free. Bastids.

GOP lawmaker steps down from leadership following tax vote

EssEffChron

It appears that California Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert (Riverside County), is the latest victim of the state GOP’s intransigent position on taxes.

Nestande surprised his colleagues Monday when he voted with Democrats to close a corporate tax loophole in order fund scholarships for middle income college students. On Tuesday, he announced that he was stepping down as Republican caucus chairman, saying he “decided to take the side of my constituents and California businesses” with his vote Monday.
...

There was no immediate reaction from his GOP colleagues, though Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles — who authored and championed AB1500 — praised Nestande.

“Assemblymember Nestande has been a thoughtful and dedicated public servant throughout his tenure in the Assembly, and I deeply respect the fact that his votes reflect his principles. He took a stand on behalf of tax fairness for California’s businesses and for providing critical relief to California’s middle class families, and I believe this kind of leadership should be practiced by every member of every party,” Perez said in a written statement.

Good on Assemblyman Nestande, but he's doing the next right thing after that right thing - when a Repug pol develops a conscience and does something for someone besides his corporate masters, it's time to go. No worries though, I doubt this will be a trend.

Mitt Romney vs. dead potted plant

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford on Mitt Revulsion Syndrome (MRS).

It is not very easy to care about Mitt Romney.

It’s a bit of a phenomenon, actually. It has proven almost impossible for most Americans to muster interest in this numbly rich, exceedingly bland caricature of a candidate, a man who is almost completely devoid of deep ideas or astute observation, who stands for nothing and says nothing you can ever remember, whose last ten speeches can be rolled into a fist-sized ball of palliative mush, hurled against a wall and then observed to ooze slowly to the floor, ending in a moist, displeasing plop. Fun!

Hell, it’s easier to care about an oil stain or a rash on your toe than Mitt Romney. Even with the addition of Ayn Rand-loving, anti-choice, fiscal extremist Paul Ryan to the ticket, Romney only looks that much more the unlikable sugar daddy. Ryan does add a disquieting jolt of nasty fanaticism, though. Is it enough?

Here’s the fantastic thing: no one on the Right cares much for Mitt, either. There is no passion to be found anywhere (save for the extremists and Tea Party simpletons who adore Ryan). Even House Republicans are bored to death by him. Heartland Christians really want to care, but Mitt’s creepy Mormonism means they don’t know which way is heaven anymore. Only rich Wall Street barons are happy with Mitt. This is because they built him.

It all bodes very well indeed. When a nation is this apathetic and numb to a particular candidate, when they can’t get away from him fast enough, good things happen for the other side. Even Bush was able to galvanize the uneducated, fundamentalist right. Even McCain could leverage his bogus patriotism and Sarah Palin’s ditzy winking. Romney can’t even galvanize your grandmother in Florida. If anything, she’s furious that Paul Ryan wants to kill Medicare. Or rather, she soon will be, once Obama reminds her, fifty times a day, for the next three months.

So be heartened, liberal America. Milquetoast mannequins who inspire no one – not even their own supporters, not even the Christian right, not even House Republicans – never win major elections. They do make comforting footnotes, though. Do you think I should try some basil plants?

Try a pot plant, Mark. They'll grow anywhere.

So will his 'comments' by morning. There are some doozies already. Heh.

Spice Eyes Ryan

I've been ponderin' if Paul Ryan has "Stepford Eyes" and that's pretty close, but it just dawned on me that I've seen Paul Ryan's eyes before. In Herbert's Dune the Guild Navigators consumed vast quantities of worm shit so they could see into the future. That was fiction and it worked for them. In real life, of course, all the worm shit he could ever possibly hope to consume will not do a damn thing for Ryan but I hope he keeps trying.

Note: I think it's the Koch worms' shit he's using. Accounts for the different eye color from the video. Ryan's are kind of a "See-Into-The-Past-Through-Nothingness Blue".

Thanks to leemailme, Canada.

The Pathetic Glory Of Phony War

Think Progress

NBC’s Stars Earn Stripes, a reality competition show in which “stars” ranging from Todd Palin to Nick Lachey complete challenges theoretically drawn from military missions and raise money for military charities when they win, was always going to attract some raised eyebrows. Whether it was the show’s contribution to the growing Palin family reality empire, the involvement of an apparently severely underly-employed Gen. Wesley Clark, or the late-summer cheesiness of the concept, Stars Earn Stripes is perfectly engineered to win news cycles if not fans. But I don’t think NBC anticipated this latest twist: Archbishop Desmond Tutu and a number of other Nobel Laureates have published an open letter to NBC president Bob Greenblatt (who in between this and Sharon Osbourn’s accusations of discrimination is not having a great start to this season) and other executives involved with the show, calling Stars Earn Stripes an ugly glorification of war.

I don’t entirely agree with Tutu and his esteemed company: Stars Earn Stripes doesn’t make it look exciting or fun to fire on live targets, or to expose yourself to real risk. The show is marked by a patent phoniness, whether it’s the cheerful blue and red plastic targets and paint used to mark competitors’ courses, the hay bales that simulate houses, the command center General Clark hosts from that looks like it was sold off the lot of a canceled science fiction show, and the corny, B-movie explosions. This is a rich man’s paintball course, not an effective tool for convincing people to kill in their country’s service. The signatories are right when they say that “Real war is down in the dirt deadly. People - military and civilians - die in ways that are anything but entertaining.” And the show doesn’t actually make entertainment out of those deaths.

I'm not going to watch this show because I think the concept is utterly disgusting. They can hide behind "support the troops" all they want, it's just another phony "reality" show that's relatively cheap to make that glorifies war. Wanta make it more real? Live return fire and real AP explosions. Let's see what a hero Todd Palin is with his arms and legs and face blown off and his guts hanging out and screaming for his mother like a real wounded soldier. Yeah, right. Can't do that because folks would see what war is really like and they might not support endless needless war any more.

Actually, I think me'n Fixer could make this show a lot more interesting. Fixer could channel these clowns in creative ways with carefully placed explosions from IEDs to Claymores to Bouncing Bettys to Schu mines and funnel 'em into a ditch lined with det cord. Nothing new, I saw it in a movie. Then when they're blown into the air we'll see how long I can keep 'em spinning with rifle fire.

To make it even better, scrap the washed-up showbiz and wannabe-hero types and replace them with Repug "heroes" who support war and who never served. That is must-see TV!

Vulture/Voucher vision harks back to the days of Taft

LATimes

The America Ryan longs for seems more like 1912 than 2012. Certainly, it was a simpler time a century ago. The majority of Americans were white, God-fearing Protestants who lived on farms or in small towns. Only a tiny elite went to college. The rich were very rich while the broad working class earned modest incomes through long days of labor in mines, in factories and in the fields. Women stayed at home. Black Americans were kept in their place. Politicians were in the pockets of the wealthy. Only wild-eyed socialists dreamed of helping the elderly with government-provided pensions and medical care.

Over the last 100 years, the planks of the Socialist Party platform of 1912 -- items like a 40-hour work week, a minimum wage, and precursors to Social Security and Medicare -- became mainstream ideas and pillars of American life. During the liberal era, a huge middle class was created as the American economy became the most vibrant and innovative in the world. The income gap between the rich and everyone else narrowed. A college education became the norm. Most people moved to the cities or suburbs. Women left home and went to work. The U.S. became a more equal, multi-racial society.

The core question before voters in this campaign season is which ethic -- conservative or liberal -- will guide our society in this new century. A lot of the folks supporting the Romney-Ryan ticket are shouting that they want to take their country back, but back to what?

Can a 21stcentury nation thrive with a return to the policies of William Howard Taft?

No, and after we repeat the mistakes and corrections of the last century all over again we can do this all over again a hundred years from now.

One difference: English became the common language of the world due to the failed British Empire and then the failed American Empire. In a hundred years, the discussion will likely be in Chinese.

Headline of the Day

Study casts doubt on human-Neanderthal interbreeding theory

They must not have studied the Tea Party and the rest of the Repug "base".

Oh, the irony...

I usually do this on Monday but Ironic Times was late again.

Farmers Report Worst Corn Crop in 17 Years
Many say they'll switch to poppies.

"High Fructose Opiate Syrup" in food and soda will go over like gangbusters! Also, I get a kick outta the idea of the DEA busting Monsanto. Heh.

Oops: Fox Sports Places Baghdad in Iran
Corrects mistake, but continues to place Honolulu in Kenya.

We could be in big trouble after this year's Repug campaigns:

Buttered Popcorn Linked To Alzheimer’s
Based on interviews with people exiting last three Adam Sandler movies.

Or we will blessedly not remember it...

Olympics End
Americans happily return to inches, feet, yards, miles.

The only thing different from yards to meters is you need to change your rear sight adjustment a click or two.

Off his meds ...

Gotta be. Remember, during the primaries, when Rick Perry got all loopy at a campaign stop? That's what I think the reason for this is. Either that or they're gonna take away his GOP membership card in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

This is very significant. In fact, it's downright historic: The politician sticking his neck out to buck the NRA about states having the right to ban guns is... Rick Perry. This is a real "Nixon goes to China" moment, because a conservative Republican (from rootin', tootin' Texas, no less) carries a lot more weight with NRA supporters. It's a damned shame that neither presidential candidate has, to date, had that kind of political courage, but maybe Perry's statement will open the door to an adult discussion:

...

Either that or the NRA will have him killed.

Dear Haters ...

An excellent open letter at Kos:

...

Now, I know you profess to love our country and the founding fathers (unless you are reminded that they believed in the separation of church and state), but I need to remind you that America is NOT what Fox News says it is. America is a melting pot, it always has been. We are a multi-cultural amalgamation of all kinds of people, and yet you still demonize everyone who is not a rich, white, heterosexual christian male or his submissive and obedient wife.

...

It's un-American to hate as much as the American Right does. It'd be nice if they realized it.

Nyah, nyah, we're better than you are ...

The Mittster acts like a child instead of a statesman:

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney continued his tough talk on China Monday, mocking Beijing's plans to send an unmanned rocket to the moon.

At a campaign speech in the southeastern state of Florida, Romney also boasted about the success of the U.S. Olympic team, which finished with 16 more medals than second-place China.

...

I'm pretty sure that after a Romney presidency, we would be as big an international pariah as North Korea or Iran.

Boehner chews through restraints, jumps shark

Kos

Get this. Boehner responded to Obama's criticism by saying the drought is all Obama's fault. Really.
...

Actually, it ended up sounding so crazy that the statement has been edited to exclude all mention of Obama's amazing powers over the weather. Instead, it blames him for "failing to respond to the drought but himself." And now some poor schlub staffer is now taking Boehner's scotch and soda away from him.

This is why we need grown ups in charge.

Sober ones. Or at least ones who don't say totally off-the-wall lame shit for partisan purposes. Hey, it could happen...

When pigs fly.

The Social Terrorist Vision of Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand: Politics of the Anti-Christ

Jeff Fulmer

Last ¶:

Ayn Rand was much more open and honest about her belief system; publically condemning the notion of ethical altruism, preferring her own “virtue of selfishness.” A self-described atheist, she accepted this was contrary to Christ’s teachings to ‘take care of the least of these.” Her religion was capitalism, and she unabashedly wrote that the individual “should exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others, nor sacrificing others to himself.” Of course, Jesus did not “shrug” off the world like the heroes of Atlas Shrugged. Instead, he became the ultimate sacrifice by giving his life for everyone. That’s a very different message than the one you will find in Ayn Rand’s books or Paul Ryan’s budget.

Most people read Rand when they're about college age. A lot of guys read it when I was in the service. It's an attractive notion before your brain is fully formed. Most people grow out of it.

Ryan has said he's denounced Rand. Probably just the atheist part.

Oh, Rand was a Russian immigrant. Like Orly Taitz and Russian mobsters. I think Russia releases people to us they don't want. Heh.

Florida newspapers: Romney is in big, big trouble

Kos

The Florida papers are destroying Paul Ryan. So much so that a distraught and panicked Village believes "Mitt Romney is in big, big trouble" for selecting the man who wants to pull the plug on Grandma.
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Rolling out your vice presidential nominee is one of the most crucial aspects of every campaign, and judging from the headlines, Romney has completely blown it.

On the evening news, a visibly shaken Chuck Todd reported the 2012 campaign has not touched on Medicare, but now, all of the sudden, it is front and center, and it will be a big part of voters' decisions in November.

Todd is the quintessential political reporter. He phones around Washington and interviews the establishment players, who are largely Republican and then synthesizes their inside views and reports it as conventional wisdom.

The professionals and insiders view Ryan as box office poison.

Sarah Palin without the wit and charm. Or her one saving grace, a nice rack.

Better yet:

This is the perfect wedge issue. This desperate, panicked move by Romney to quell the teabag base has now placed John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and the House in jeopardy.

It unites our side and divides their candidates. Are they going to stand with Ryan and Rush Limbaugh or will they stand with seniors? Are they with them or are they against them? If you pick seniors, the base stays home. If you pick the base, then seniors poke them with a pitchfork.

The entire Republican party faces, yet again, another Bataan Death March. For the next 90 days they're going to be pummeled by either the base or by seniors. It's a lose-lose situation with Team Obama applying relentless pressure, as they did again today, pushing how Ryan plans to kill Medicare, along with Bubbie and Zayde, on all the Sunday shows.

I like the idea of a Repug "Bataan Death March". We could bayonet one of 'em about every ten feet to keep 'em moving. Moving away from us. Maybe down south and then put up a fence.

Paul Ryan's Family Is Rich Because of the Federal Government

The Rude Pundit

In other words, you know how Barack Obama talked about how your business didn't build the roads that allow you to do business? Well, if you are in the Midwest, chances are that Paul Ryan's family did build some of the roads. And they got to be amazingly successful because the federal government gave them six decades of contracts and millions upon millions of dollars to build them.

Are we clear here? We're talking about Paul Ryan, who, with his wife, is worth as much as $7.7 million and "much of the Ryans’ wealth is in the form of trusts and inheritances." For Rep. Ryan, those trusts and inheritances are a result of money that the federal government spent on infrastructure.
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So, just to get this right, Paul Ryan and his family are beneficiaries of expanded government spending to improve infrastructure. They continue to benefit from government contracts, including state and local ones. That's Paul Ryan, whose budget would inevitably gut most infrastructure spending and who, with Mitt Romney, wants to shrink federal spending to the point where, if the federal government had felt that way throughout a good chunk of the 20th century, his family would not have made a dime and, well, then we would have never heard about Paul Ryan.

That's the depth of hypocrisy in play here.

Government doesn't create jobs. Yeah, right. If there was only some way to get rich on taxpayer money without hiring anyone, that'd be so. Oh, wait, Wall St.'s got that M.O. locked up.

The whole point of "privatization" is to get the tax money direct from us without having to filter it through that pesky federal government with all those laws and regulations that try to protect us.

"...like a condom or a wad of toilet paper"

William Rivers Pitt

The decision to add Paul Ryan to the Republican presidential campaign has, once and for all time, exposed the limp, rudderless vacancy that is the core essence of Willard Mitt Romney. [...]
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What Romney has now in his running mate is not just a Times Square-sized billboard advertising his fealty to the wildly unpopular social and economic policies of the Tea Party right. Paul Ryan is also a watchdog serving that far-right, a guy in the co-pilot's seat who isn't going to let Pudd'nhead Mitt soil Ryan's conservative credentials with any of the undignified waffling we've seen on a regular basis from the presumed GOP nominee since he first stuck his tepid toe in the political waters back when everyone thought Clinton would be a one-termer, too. These people do not like Romney at all; he is a means to an end for them, like a condom or a wad of toilet paper. They own him now, period, end of file.

Much more.

No surprise ...

At least, I'm not surprised. Five maps showing a pattern of intolerance for just about everything.

I'd say he's eminently qualified ...

Uh huh. So even though Paul Ryan was against a casino project, a large contribution made him amenable enough to the deal that he called the Department of Indian Affairs and told them his constituents were in favor. And when the man who made the contribution was indicted, Ryan quickly announced he would donate the money to the local boys and girls club.

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As the Mittster's VP pick, Ol' Dead Eyes is perfect. There's nothing he won't do if the price is right.

Bill Maher Thanks Teabaggers and Sarah Palin

This clip is from March 2010, so it's before the "hillbilly half" of the nation took over Congress and several states. Funnier'n shit anyway and I agree with his thoughts on Democrats should grow a pair. Posted today at Liberal Info with Samuel. Thanks, Sam.

Maher noted that Democrats should adopt a tougher attitude in their dealing with Republicans:

“Shut the fuck up while I slap your face for making noise — now pass a cap-and-trade law, you stupid bitch, and repeat after me: ‘global warming is real!’”

You can watch the clip below, followed by the transcript.

Quote of the Day

From an article you should read by Paul Begala:

And so Romney Hood has his Friar Tuck. And somewhere in hell, Ayn Rand is cackling with glee.

Indeed! "Selfishness as virtue" and "I've got mine and fuck you" are now running for president.