A Song For John McCain

Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks ~ How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away

Thanks to fjgold.

Sunday Crazy Redneck Music Blogging

From a 2010 TV Show. John and Marty on the song John wrote with Steve Goodman

From RURAL TV.

John Prine & Marty Stuart ~ Souvenirs

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

Teabaggers are stupid whiny bitchez

P.M. Carpenter

From yesterday's NY Times/CBS News poll on the Tea Party movement and its 18 percent of supportive Americans, the bad news -- in fact, I'd say worst news -- was that they reject the idea of a conservative base-dividing third party. Drats. They're smarter than we thought.

The good news was that ... actually, there was no good news (except perhaps a dollop, noted at this column's end), but the old news was that the movement's supporters on average are "white, male, married and older than 45" -- you know, the sole surviving face of modern Republicanism, or, as political historian Rick Perlstein put it yesterday, in the Times' "Room for Debate," "they are the same angry, ill-informed, overwhelmingly white, crypto-corporate paranoiacs that accompany every ascendancy of liberalism within U.S. government."

They are trapped in nostalgic whimsy; they long for the era of 19th-century American smallness -- yeoman farmers and apprentice artisans, that sort of thing, real rugged (and mostly white) individualist stuff -- which of course will never return. And in that sense their movement parallels that of 1930s' populist demagoguery, as Perlstein's fellow political historian Alan Brinkley so marvelously traced in his 1983 work, Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression.

"The real issue," continued Brinkley, and rather indisputably, I think, "is a sense among white males that they are somehow being displaced, that the country is no longer 'theirs,' that minorities and immigrants are becoming more and more powerful within society. And, of course, they are right about that. They just fear it more than many other Americans."

That's your party, you Tea Party guys -- the corporate-backed, corporate-catering, corporate-financing-and-financed Republican Party. It loves the idea of J.P. Morgan buying the next election on behalf of bigger and bigger corporate bigness in the service of middle-class displacement. Do you?

And then there's that little matter of your GOP fighting financial reform, what with its argument amusingly housed in the Luntz-tested, crypto-corporate Big Lie of "permanent bailouts."

You see, folks, you're not so much stupid as you are just plain duped.

Sorry, P.M., they're plenty stupid to be conned/taken in like that. Worse, they wanted to be duped. They got their wish.

Pot enthusiasts gather at California cannabis expo

Following up on yesterday's post:

AP via Yahoo!News

DALY CITY, Calif. – Medical marijuana users near San Francisco lit up Saturday at the opening of the two-day International Cannabis and Hemp Expo, where vendors displayed bongs, vaporizers, hash brownies and other marijuana-related products.

Organizers of the event at the Cow Palace said they insisted on having an onsite medicating area before holding the expo. Under a white-canopied courtyard, young adults in baggy jeans and baseball caps smoked alongside aging hippies.

I'll be glad when mota is legal and we can dispense with those stereotypes, but I'm glad to see the Expo was well attended.

The expo, and others like it, will help develop the multibillion dollar pot industry, said Bucky Fisher, national sales manager for Medical Marijuana Inc., which sells hemp-related products and provides services to ensure marijuana dispensaries follow the law.

"It makes the industry more of a community, more visible, more powerful," he said. "This country is definitely in need of a homegrown industry, and this could be it."

Nice play on 'homegrown', dude! Heh.

Rumor has it that all Oreos, Twinkies, and other Zuzus and Whamwhams on the West Coast have been diverted to Daly City to cover shortages for the balance of the weekend until the Expo is over.

Saturday Crazy Redneck Music Blogging

God's Plan By Chris Hillman and The Desert Rose Band - Chris Hillman was one of the original Byrds - He has an amazing musical history as the pictures show - every band he was in was great-at least in my opinion - This is a Great song with wonderful lyrics - I hope you enjoy it

Thanks to nipsterstang, Michigan.

International Cannabis and Hemp Expo

EssEffChron

The International Cannabis and Hemp Expo at the Cow Palace in Daly City has opened its doors.

Organizers say the two-day event, which began Saturday at 10 a.m., is intended to showcase the state's multibillion dollar pot industry and educate people about the drug's uses.

It is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Organizers say vendors connected to the industry will be on hand. There will also be an area where medical marijuana patients can smoke.

Bob Katzman, chief operations officer for the event, said organizers insisted on having an onsite medicating area before holding the expo.

The event comes as California voters head to the polls in November to decide whether to legalize marijuana.

Rumor has it, and I know this because I started the rumor, is that the "onsite medicating area" is fixed up to resemble Fixer's living room, a model of onsite medicating for the world.

Headline of the Day

Ex-Blackwater president indicted on firearms charges

The wheels of justice grind slowly but exceedingly sweet.

The Fire Next Time

Paul Krugman with a 'recommended read' on the Repug reaction to the proposed financial reform that will rein in their biggest customers:

On Tuesday, Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, called for the abolition of municipal fire departments.

Firefighters, he declared, “won’t solve the problems that led to recent fires. They will make them worse.” The existence of fire departments, he went on, “not only allows for taxpayer-funded bailouts of burning buildings; it institutionalizes them.” He concluded, “The way to solve this problem is to let the people who make the mistakes that lead to fires pay for them. We won’t solve this problem until the biggest buildings are allowed to burn.”

To understand what’s really at stake right now, watch the looming fight over derivatives, the complex financial instruments Warren Buffett famously described as “financial weapons of mass destruction.” The Obama administration wants tighter regulation of derivatives, while Republicans are opposed. And that tells you everything you need to know.

So don’t be fooled. When Mitch McConnell denounces big bank bailouts, what he’s really trying to do is give the bankers everything they want.

Which is every dollar, pound, franc, mark, kroner, rial, yen, rupee, yuan, ruble, wampum and copper penny left in the world.

Quote of the Day

From Molly Ivins' biography, p.190:

[...] {Molly} took (Abe Rosenthal, editor of the NYTimes) to a party at Dave and Ann Richards' house and the future governor of Texas answered the door dressed as a Tampax. [...]

You can't make this shit up...

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

From French TV

Emmylou Harris ~ Jambalaya

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

I have no fucking idea ...

What the show Glee is all about, nor do I care, but I think it should get an Emmy, or Grammy, or Oscar, or whatever they give TV shows, just because they made wingnut heads explode this week.

Missed it by this much ...

You'd think, if you were selling your 'military expertise' on the open market (read: you're a soulless fucking mercenary), you'd at least take pride in doing the best job possible. Well, not if you've sold your soul in service of the U.S. in Afghanistan:

WASHINGTON — For several years, Afghan police recruits under the tutelage of private U.S. government contractors couldn't understand why their marksmanship never improved.

The answer became clear earlier this year. Italian contractors also helping to train Afghan volunteers showed them that the sights on their AK-47s and M-16s had never been adjusted.

...

Whadda da fucka? How canna you shoota wit dis a fuckinga shit?

...

But the training contracts have been plagued by mismanagement. Investigations by the Government Accounting Office and the inspector generals from the Departments of State and Defense have sharply criticized both the contractors and the government oversight. They detailed a lack of supervision and controls over spending, among other failures.

"Just about everything that could go wrong here has gone wrong," Defense Department Inspector General Gordon Heddell told the subcommittee.

...

The Chimp might be gone but his legacy remains.

Great thanks to Mr. Amato for the link.

Let the Democrats Win

Chris Buckley (yeah, yeah, button it, he's fun to read) on financial reform:

As for Republicans, now howling out the windows of their Lexuses that the bill will merely perpetuate bailouts and drive foreign investment away from Wall Street—are they being upfront and honest about all this? Of course not. They’re taking in campaign contributions hand over fist. But Republicans can at least be unapologetic about stuffing their pockets with Wall Street baksheesh. It’s what they do. People expect them to be on the take! (I say this as a lifelong Republican. To us, corruption is just another way of saying, “We are open for business!”) Where Democrats disappoint is when they pretend to be above bribe-taking.

With certain exceptions, such as Senator Olympia Snowe, one is left with the impression that the Republicans would rather kill the bill than suffer the ignominy of another hideous Obama legislative success between now and the November elections.

But if the Republicans succeed in blocking the bill, they may end up electing a supermajority of Democrats in November. For if the Republican message in effect amounts to “No, we must not, we cannot, we dare not regulate the thieving, manipulating swine who caused $9 trillion of your money to vanish! They’re too important to American competitiveness!”—well, whatever the nuances in the bill, it’s hard to imagine that voters won’t punish obstinacy of that order.

Meanwhile, if it the bill passes, then Democrats will own the victory — and the consequences that flow from it, just as they will soon own the consequences of health-care “reform.”

I'm down wit 'owning the consequences'. The Repugs worst fear, of course and rightly so, is that the Dems' bills will not only pass, but succeed.

It's a start II...

US charges Goldman Sachs with fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged investment banking titan Goldman Sachs with civil fraud over a pre-packaged mortgage instrument they say was designed to fail.

This is a civil suit as opposed to a criminal prosecution. Granted, the civil standard for proving a case is lower than a criminal proceeding, "preponderance of fact" v "beyond a reasonable doubt", but it remains to be seen whether the SEC, which was almost a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall St. for years, has the horsepower (or the money) to beat the richest Wall St. player. I'm not holding my breath, but it's a start.

DoJ needs to get into the act. Many, many of the Wall. St. thieves need to go to prison.

Headline of the Day

Obama mocks Tea Partiers: I cut your taxes, so thank me

Fat chance. He's still a black commie nazi fascist socialist foreigner who's going to take their guns away and kill their grandmas. Miss Becky and Moosebreath said so, and you can't put it on TV and the interwebs if it isn't so!

37 things worse than a KFC meatwich

Friday Morford. But first...

Opinions You Should Have

The "Double Down" -- named, appropriately, for a gambling procedure in which one dramatically takes on twice as much risk -- is a "sandwich" where the slices of bread have been replaced by two chicken cutlets, between which are pillowed slices of tasty American cheese, crispy bacon, and zesty but strangely yellow mayonnaise.

"It is to die for," said one food critic. "I'm not kidding." He immediately collapsed and was carried away.

And now to the, er, meat of this post:

But it got me thinking, aside from the food porn on thisiswhyyourefat.com, well, just what are those things that are worse for you than KFC's fistful of karmic hate? What else can you shove into your body, your brain, your very anima itself, if you really despise yourself, stopped caring long ago and just want to curl up and die in a corner somewhere? Shall we list a few? Let's.

1) Tea Party Rally. Recently did I stumble, like stepping on a rusty nail, across a surreal clip of Sarah "Queen of Duh" (Don't miss! - G) Palin rallying the "troops" at a Tea Party Express stop somewhere in Gunlick, Kentuckansasiana, and I found my mind suddenly blasted clean by the giant pile of dumb I was witnessing, unable to pinpoint exactly what it was that this circus sideshow reminded me of.

Then I had it. Remember that bizarre, 30-second acid trip of a scene in "The Wizard of Oz," the moment just before a very stoned Dorothy skips away to hook up with her crazy gay pals and traipse through a giant Pink Floyd album, the moment when those three adult dwarves stumble out of the Munchkinland horde wearing little kid outfits, and sing their little surly song, replete with surly, out-of-sync-leg spasms? Yes, the Palin-led Tea Party rally reminded me of the Lollipop Guild, serenading Dorothy. Perfect.

5) The Catholic Church. Sure sure, the Double Down will enrage your colon, toxify your blood, disfigure your heart, greasify your skin, shrivel your genitalia, and dumb you down to the level of slug shoelace. But that's nothing compared to 2,000 years of abuse, lies, oppression, lack of sunshine and dead, leathery skin that accompanies handing over your soul to the sinister clan of old men who run the Vatican. As for the pope, well, it would appear the "holiest" man in the Christian empire cares more about PR than child rape. You know, just like Jesus wanted.

Jesus apparently wanted you to hate your fellow man if he disagrees with you and to carry firearms as compensation for what His Dad didn't give you.

6) "Jersey Shore," cast of. Word has it there's a new spinoff show in the works to augment this oily smear of cultural insect repellent, called "Wicked Summer" (or "Wikkid Summah" for those in the dialect) documenting -- can you guess? -- the awful hair, insane sports obsessions and big dumb babes of blue collar lugnuts from Boston.

The show's tagline, "Five minutes with these walking billboards for 'No Child Left Behind' makes you feel like a genius for being able to work a goddamn can opener" is still, apparently, being honed. Can't wait.

Nice picture of Snooki And The Guidettes at the link. As long as they don't talk...

7) Republicanism. [...]
...

Of course, the party of Lincoln has devolved into a shrill, shrieking puddle of Glenn Beck's crocodile tears, Rush Limbaugh racists and surly white men who hate the fact that you might have decent access to health care, can marry someone you love, and don't hate everything and everyone not inbred near a Texas football stadium. Want to ensure your kids grow up scared, angry, well armed, heavily medicated and confused about everything? Raise them Republican. Oh, and spank the hell out of them.

8-37) And finally,...

Go.

It's a start ...

WaPo via Oliver Willis:

President Obama mandated Thursday that nearly all hospitals extend visitation rights to the partners of gay men and lesbians and respect patients' choices about who may make critical health-care decisions for them, perhaps the most significant step so far in his efforts to expand the rights of gay Americans.

The president directed the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit discrimination in hospital visitation in a memo that was e-mailed to reporters Thursday night while he was at a fundraiser in Miami.

...

But the 600lb. gorilla in the room is DADT. For a man who claims to understand the fight for civil rights, this should have been his first order of business, before escalating the war in Afghanistan.

They are fucking idiots ...

No comment:

...

But in follow-up interviews, Tea Party supporters said they did not want to cut Medicare or Social Security — the biggest domestic programs, suggesting instead a focus on “waste.”

Some defended being on Social Security while fighting big government by saying that since they had paid into the system, they deserved the benefits.

Others could not explain the contradiction.

"That’s a conundrum, isn’t it?" asked Jodine White, 62, of Rocklin, Calif. "I don’t know what to say. Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security." She added, "I didn’t look at it from the perspective of losing things I need. I think I’ve changed my mind."

Thanks to Mr. Aravosis for the link.

But how would he do ...

Against aliens? The Doughy One opens his trap:

...

No, he wants to know if Barack Obama has the guts of fictional President Bill "Independence Day" Pullman had in using nukes against an actual, but completely fictional, alien invasion.

...

Conservative foreign policy = 24, Red Dawn, Independence Day ... etc. Torture 'em, kill 'em, and then nuke 'em.

Christ ...

Yeah, this'll work. Beck has a plan. Ain't we been down this road before?