Heh ...

Careful, Gordon! Heh ...

Goin' Ridin'

Going to ride the Hard Rock trial today. Two trials in two weeks doesn't happen very often, thank goodness.

I didn't write anything about last week's AHRMA trial mostly because it kicked my ass and I DNF'ed and I've been trying to figure out how to make it sound like I'm less of a wimp. I only fell all the way off once and in the process I managed to save the handlebar end-protector by putting my hand between it and the ground. The swelling's gone down but I'm playing still slightly hurt today. Stay tuned.

Knowing your audience ...

I betcha the gay bars are gonna be doing a bang up business too:

TAMPA -- Strip clubs may not be the most politically correct venue for those attending the Republican National Convention, but that doesn't mean Tampa's well-known adult hot spots won't be ready for the influx of visitors.

One place is bringing in a stripper who looks like former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. There are major renovations taking place. And some nude clubs have already been giving potential customers a taste of the talent online.

...

All those pent up Rethuglicans in one place with minimal spousal supervision. The dough will be rolling in like the high tide.

Great thanks to Tengrain for the link.

Fuck this guy ...

That fucking twat Louie Gohmert is another one who needs to be in a rubber room:

In the wake of tragic gun violence, most politicians realize the decent, responsible thing to do is send sympathies to those affected while leaving politics out of it. Others aren't as sensible.

...

I see. So, in the mind of this strange Republican congressman, a madman killed 12 people because of ... the separation of church and State? The First Amendment is to blame for a shooting spree in a movie theater?

...

And, of course, that idiot Rick Warren, thinking his 15 minutes was slipping away, had to put in his 2 cents:

...

So, according to Rick Warren, pastor extraordinaire, teaching scientifically-sound evolution is the reason the shooter went into that theater.

Tell me again why he deserves our respect?

Fuck him too.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

From 1993, Glen D Hardin there also on piano.
Emmylou looking particularly glamorous here !

Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell, Ricky Skaggs & Vince Gill : Too Far Gone (1993)

Thanks to 1000Magicians, UK.

"Queen Ann's Revenge"

Q: Is it wrong to watch this guy with my pants around my ankles?

Get some, dude!

Thanks to oldfartrants.

Good place to start

Thanks to YubaNet.

Retroactive ...

Mike Flannigan with a perfect take on Mitt:

...

Willard Romney is retroactively whatever he wants his demographic of the day to believe he is: A retroactive civil rights marcher, a retroactive gun enthusiast and hunter, a retroactively retired executive. Everything about Willard Romney is retroactive.

...

Just like the asshole at the bar or party who's got something to say about everything, yet obviously knows little about anything.

Gah ...

Just ... gah:

In honor of the late Andrew Breitbart, EAGnews.org has created the “Annual Andrew Breitbart Memorial Essay Contest,” for K-12 students throughout the United States.

I'm pretty sure this qualifies as child abuse.

God save us ...

Pic thanks to the Liberal Kitchen Witch.

The only bright side ...

Is that now the prosecutor has more evidence.

The last time that Sean Hannity came a'blundering into a high-profile media-legal situation in Florida, he helped make a living hell out of life for Michael Schiavo, and for some very good people working in a hospice, and he enabled people who phoned in bomb scares to elementary schools, and he promoted the gabble-gabbling nonsense of dangerous charlatans. (You can read at length about how Hannity's mucked with people's lives for his own profit in a book from a few years back.) If I were the state authorities down there, I'd never let him back into the state accompanied by a camera crew ever again.

...

Fucking Hannity is an idiot and a shill. The wort part is, he grew up in the town next to mine and I never ran into him on the street. I wish I could say "I threw him a beating when he was young"*. He gives Long Island a bad name.

*Thinking about it, maybe not. I wouldn't want you folks to think I made him the way he is. Heh ...

Why We Like Motorsports...

Thanks to YaniLovesTopGear.

"I'm Running Out Of Popcorn"

I'm hip to it, O.F.! I'm runnin' a little low on butter too. This guy's great!

Thanks to oldfartrants.

Queen Ann of the 1% speaks

Politico

Ann Romney dismissed concerns about her husband’s tax returns Thursday, contending that the two of them have “given all you people need to know.”

We The People of the United States are now "you people". No arrogance or elitism there, huh?. I guess we're lucky she didn't call us "the help" and tell us we were "uppity" to want to vet Willard because it's "his turn" to be POTUS and we should be good little serfs and just take the droight du seigneur* with a smile as it was intended by God and STFU. Heh.

*French for "telephone pole up the ass"?

Told ya ...

It is the World's Finest News Source. Heh ...

Nutz ...

Have you heard about these crazies yet?

...

I have heard through the vast left wing conspiracy (aka the liberal media) that you had dropped out of Iowa's 34th senate district when it was apparent no one wanted you for that elected office and have, instead, crowned yourself a Senator of the brand new Republic of the united States of America. No doubt, this is why no one would've voted for you for the Iowa state senate because they were hoping you'd pursue a higher, national office or one for which you're much more suited: An imaginary one with no actual responsibilities.

...

More crybaby cons who want their own country because the black man ruined everything. Dicks.

Quote of the Day

Michael F:

So Dick, still kind of fresh from his heart implant (transplant would imply a heart was there in the first place) brought his sulfurous essence to Capitol Hill this week.

But the only question for me is whether "escaped from Hell" is accurate. I wonder if Satan personally ordered the implant, either out of professional courtesy or fear that Cheney might take over the joint once consigned to his eternal fate...

Who ...

In the name of all that's holy, gave S.E. Cupp a job at MSNBC? The woman is a fucking moron:

... as the program was winding down, Ms. Cupp spent a good four minutes being, weight for age, the dumbest person in the history of cable television:

...

Good god, I've met tree stumps smarter than she is.

Update:

Tengrain:

...

Sweet Jeebus. This isn’t just proudly putting the crazies in the living room for everyone to look at (per Julia Sugarbaker), this is putting them on the TeeVee machine for everyone to laugh at. Let me rephrase: someone thought it was a good idea to put this dippy wing-ding on the boob-tube, and not only does she still have a job, but so does the person who made this dream come true.

...

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Geoengineers to release planet-cooling gas into New Mexico atmosphere

If I hear one of 'em say "Watch this!", it's off-planet migration time.

Grampa Walnuts Blasts Crazy Eyes

This is twice in two days Ol' Drool Buckets has said something right. First, "Snowflake Snooki was a better candidate than Willard" and now this:

Raw Story

Arizona Sen. John McCain took to the Senate floor on Wednesday to call out a fellow Republican lawmaker for “specious and degrading attacks” which allege that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s deputy chief of staff had infiltrated the U.S. government on behalf of radical Islamists in the Muslim Brotherhood.

Last week, the St. Cloud Times reported the Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and four other Republicans had called on inspectors general in the State, Homeland Security, Defense and Justice departments to investigate “potential Muslim Brotherhood infiltration” of the Obama administration by Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary Clinton and wife of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY).

“It has been alleged that Huma Abedin, a Muslim American, is part of a nefarious conspiracy to harm the United States,” McCain explained on Wednesday, noting that the accusations were based on an “unsubstantiated” report by Frank Gaffney’s neoconservative Center for Security Policy.
...

“When anyone — not least, a member of Congress — launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation and we all grow poorer because of it,” he added.

A little grudgingly on my part, good for him. Have McCain's doctors told him something that is making him cram for his finals by starting to tell the truth? Time will tell.

There's two more interesting things about this.

First, that motherfucker Gaffney is the worst-of-the-worst neocon bottom feeders. He's a lying, warmongering shit-for-brains sacka crap who makes stuff up. Or, as F**Noise calls him, a "foreign policy expert".

Second, this lie about Ms. Abedin and Hil is taken as gospel by some post-electorally disgruntled Egyptians who threw tomatoes and shoes at Sec Clinton's car on her visit to Egypt the other day. They hollered "Monica!" at her too. Heh.

Note to Hil, who uses the Brain in all her important decisions: If you need to chill after that, my offer of a hot weekend getaway still stands. :-)

Did a justice’s wife leak Supreme Court drama?

Salon

NPR legal reporter Nina Totenberg spoke to Bloomberg Law yesterday about the Supreme Court’s recent healthcare reform decision and the subsequent series of stories on the deliberations based on leaks to reporters from court insiders. She made this interesting observation:

“[The leaks] had the earmarks of somebody — somebody or two bodies — who are very angry. Now that’s not necessarily a justice. Could be a justice, could be a law clerk, could be a spouse of a justice.”

...

Of course, there is only one “spouse of a justice” that anyone has ever heard of, and it’s America’s Sweetheart, Ginni Thomas.
...

[...] She is an enigma!

Note to the writer: you misspelled "enema".

Note to Clarence: If this turns out to be true and I hope it does, the crazy-right fat bleached-blond loudmouth white bitch done got yo black ass in a crack this time fo' sho', homes, and it's about time. You better git while the gittin's good. Heh.

Headline of the Day

Rev. Rodriguez’s Unenviable Task: Selling Romney to Hispanics

If the Rev manages to sell Willard to the Meskins, I hope he gets a good price but I'd stay away from 'today's special' at the taqueria for a while. A rotten boring plain white meat poison taco is not my idea of a good time.

Everything you ever wanted, delivered yesterday

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford spouting off on entitlement and survival and same-day delivery and Willard.

Here is the good news: The apocalypse cannot touch you. The misery and pollution, poverty and mega-slums of the scary third world are still at least a few dozen miles away. The global food riots are still reserved for grumpy French farmers and large swaths of north Africa. Gas prices are still SUV-liscious.

See, with completely pointless tech like that, who has time to worry about heat waves and freak storms? Who has time to bother to look up from their screen to see the dark clouds gathering, the crops withering or the rich, vacuous Mormon lunatic lurching toward the White House, trying to become president of the United States?

Ah, Mitt Romney. Truly a self-made man, you must agree. A perfectly honed, machine-made uber capitalist, cast from the finest dolt-grade aluminum, making all sorts of slimy but mostly legal deals that made him a millionaire 200 times over without actually working, a snob and elitist par excellence.
...

Really now, who doesn’t want a life like that? No one doubts Mitt would be a horror-show disaster for America, if he became president. No one disputes he’s a hollow, vaguely creepy, spiritual bereft corporate monster. But he’s also very, very rich. And baby, we love that.

Here is the great and tragic secret of America: Offer almost any devout Christian, liberal, hippie, or Republican homophobe say, $50 million to give up her anti-gay spittle or solar-powered water bottle Kickstarter campaign forever, and watch as she grabs the cash and sprints for a designer bunker in the Hamptons, never to return.

And why? Because, like Mitt, everyone wants to be insured against the apocalypse. Everyone wants the delicious padding of all that cash, all that ego, all that numb, drugged-out disconnection from the mess and blood and spit of ugly reality. Revolution? Education reform? Health care? Sure. But we’d rather have a gated community, a hot tub and some money. This is America, remember?

Also an assortment of 'just the basics' available from Amazon. In Hell. Heh. Be sure to click 'see caption' to find out zombies HATE sardine cans. It's a comfort...

Update:

I actually get the catalog with the 12" Elite Forces bowie knife for six bucks. They have Bat'leths and other Klingon weaponry sometimes too.

Same old song and dance ...

Seems the Mittster pulled that "I wasn't there at the time so I'm not responsible" act at least once before:

Today, the Obama reelection campaign is going after Mitt Romney for the Bain-led bankruptcy of Ampad, a Marion (Ind.) paper company that Bain acquired in 1994 and that eventually went bankrupt, costing hundreds of workers their jobs. One of those workers was Randy Johnson, who went on to bedevil Romney’s political career, popping up at inopportune moments to remind voters of the bankruptcy. (Johnson will be speaking to reporters today on a call arranged by the Obama campaign.) Bloomberg Businessweek’s Paul Barrett wrote the definitive story on Romney, Ampad, and Johnson, which you can read here. Among the documents Barrett turned up is this fascinating fax that Romney sent to Johnson, quasi-apologizing—though still denying culpability—for the Ampad bankruptcy and his lost job: [my em]

...

My question is, has the man taken responsibility for anything in his life?

Kitty Wells 1919-2012

The worst part of getting old is that all the folks I grew up listening to are passing.

LATimes

Kitty Wells was one of the first women to have a significant effect on country music. She had a No. 1 hit with 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels' in 1952.
...

Mostly she was interested in the $125 union scale pay she'd get for the session, at which she recorded "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," a song that not only turned her career around but also helped upend stereotypical thinking about men who strayed and the women they strayed with.
...

That recording was No. 1 for six weeks in 1952 and began a string of hits that extended to 1979.

The stern resolution in her voice would be echoed in subsequent recordings by Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris on through Shania Twain and the Dixie Chicks and still ripples today in assertive songs by Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood.

"Kitty Wells was my hero," Lynn said Monday in a statement. "If I had never heard Kitty Wells sing, I don't think I would have been a singer myself."

Thanks to mrblindfreddy9999.

Godspeed, Mrs. Wright.

Already ...

Heh ...

Pic stolen from Teabonics.

Rude on Rush

The Rude One goes off on Limpbaugh and outdoes himself. A 'recommended read'. The money shot:

Nah, that engages in an argument with a hippo, who will just look at you and then either charge or go on standing in muddy water, chomping roots. Instead, let's go with this: the desperation of conservatives at this point to defeat Barack Obama is reaching a fever pitch and they know they're not gonna do it with Romney (my em). So instead, it's time to inflict as much damage as possible, to take sink the ship because they don't like the captain. And why not, since they've already bribed the officers for a seat on the lifeboat.

Now, the Rude Pundit's pretty sure that doesn't fall into the "love your country" category.

I love the smell of Repug desperation in the morning. Similar to the smell of self-applied napalm. Heh.

ROTFLMAO Headline of the Day

John McCain: I Didn’t Pick Romney Because ‘Sarah Palin Was The Better Candidate’

That says everything about Rmoney you need to know.

I know you are, but what am I ...

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow ...

No shit ...

I avoid prescription drugs whenever I can and if a doctor wants to prescribe me something other than an antibiotic, I ask him how much he was paid to prescribe it. Know why? I used to run the company vehicle fleet for a major pharmaceutical company and got to know a bunch of field reps. I know what goes on with doctors and Big Pharma and this comes as no surprise.

By now you’ve likely heard that drug maker GlaxoSmithKline must shell out $3 billion for the fraudulent sale and marketing of drugs including the popular antidepressant Wellbutrin (also sold as the smoking cessation drug Zyban). In the Big Bertha of healthcare fraud settlements, the British pharmaceutical giant has admitted to playing fast and loose in its branding of Wellbutrin and marketing it for uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

...

When a company gives doctors free trips to exotic places, new cars, and nice dinners at fancy restaurants to push their wares, the climate is conducive to large scale fraud. Shit like this happens all the time.

Cronyism ...

Charlie Pierce points out just what a hypocrite Willardbot really is.

...

And then there's the Salt Lake Olympics, which forced Willard into his retroactive retirement from Bain Capital, so he could finish the job of converting an international bribery scandal into a festival of old-fashioned American taxpayer-supported crony capitalism. In 2002, investigative reporters Donald Barlett and James Steele published a piece in Sports Illustrated exposing in damning detail how, in "saving" the Olympics, Romney and his pet organizing committee kept their friends fat and happy....

...

The Mittster has been living off the American people in one form or another for 25 years and we've been supporting his rich fuck friends too.

Quote of the Day

Our pal Montag:

... We still have not seen his [Mitt Romney's] tax returns and must base our judgement of them on the fact that Sen. John McCain, currently in hiding, saw them and chose Snowflake Snooki as his running mate ...

Romney's 'Free Stuff' Speech Is a New Low

A 'must read' by Matt Taibbi.

Romney really showed us something in his luridly self-congratulating N.A.A.C.P. gambit, followed by the awesomely disgusting "free stuff" post-mortem speech he delivered the next night in front of friendlier audiences. The twin appearances revealed the candidate to be not merely unlikable, and not merely a fatuous, unoriginal hack of a politician, but also a genuinely repugnant human being, a grasping corporate hypocrite with so little feel for how to get along with people that he has to dream up elaborate schemes just to try to pander to the mob.

I'm not sure which is worse - dreaming it up before or after his Obamacare comment at the NAACP. It doesn't matter.

What he said:

But I hope people understand this, your friends who like Obamacare, you remind them of this, if they want more stuff from government tell them to go vote for the other guy — more free stuff.

What he meant in my own words, and no "dog whistle" here, plain as day:

"See how them fuckin' niggers are? They just want to lay around and let you support them, the lazy bastards. I'm the white massa, I'll show 'em, vote for me."

No worries Willard. You didn't have to say it. The 'people' you were addressing would never, ever, vote for Obama.

Mr. Taibbi concludes:

Romney can’t even be mean with any honesty. Even when he’s pandering to viciousness, ignorance and racism, it comes across like a scaly calculation. A guy who feels like he has to take a dump on the N.A.A.C.P. in Houston in order to connect with frustrated white yahoos everywhere else is a guy who has absolutely no social instincts at all. Someone like Jesse Helms at least had a genuine emotional connection with his crazy-mean-stupid audiences. But Mitt Romney has to think his way to the lowest common denominator, which is somehow so much worse.
...

[...] His vision of humanity is just a million tons of meat floating around in a sea of base calculations. He’s like a teenager who stays up all night thinking of a way to impress the prom queen, and what he comes up with is kicking a kid in a wheelchair. Instincts like those are probably what made him a great leveraged buyout specialist, but in a public figure? Man, is he a disaster. It’s really incredible theater, watching the Republicans talk themselves into this guy.

Suck it, bitchez. He's whatcha got. The other Other.

And just for fun, where Willard no doubt learned everything he "knows" about Afro-Americans:

A spoof on President Gerald Ford's Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz who thought he knew what would satisfy the "negroes."

Thanks to bhigheart.

What Mitt Is Hiding: Rich Dicks Act Like Rich Dicks

El Rude-o weighs in:

What we're seeing in the ludicrous scramble to justify Romney's retirement date and his lack of disclosure of his tax returns is that Romney doesn't want to let the rest of the nation know exactly how sweet the deals are for the wealthy. He doesn't want the curtain opened.

There's a club and not only are you not in it, you're not allowed to look in the window either.

You can explain it all away as merely working within the law. But it sure as shit makes for an awesome commercial against you, like "Firms," the orgasm-inducing Obama ad that features singing Mitt. You need a cigarette and a towel after it because it's like getting your nipples pinched while your prostate is massaged. The point of the ad is that Romney can say he loves America, but only as an image, not when it counts.

(And one of the things that's gotta be in the tax documents is exactly how many millions of dollars Romney donated to the Mormon church. No, the Obama campaign won't do anything with that, but you can bet that it'd make the evangelical base even more queasy.)

The head Saints require, which means it's mandatory, ten percent. A ton o' bucks. The Pope is reported to have said, "They can do that?!"

Much more. Go read.

Oh, the irony...

Report: Romney Ran Bain During Big Layoffs, Long After He Says He Left
But foolishly fired guy responsible for destroying records.

Dow Chemical’s Commonly Used Pesticide Dursban Linked to Breast Cancer, Infertility, Low Sperm Counts, Genital Deformities, Early Puberty and Diabetes
And perfectly popped popcorn.

Believe it or not, there are health advantages to not having any teeth. Heh.

Newsweek: Internet Making Us Dumber, Lonelier, More Depressed, Anxious, Prone to OCD, ADD, Psychotic
Newsweek editors ask readers to “like” article.

Fat chance. My last two issues came with about 20 pages missing and the staples were tight.

Team USA Uniforms Made in China
And this surprises you?

Just business. Nothing personal.

More wah-wah-wah ...

John Kerry's wife didn't release her tax returns either ... oh ... wait ...:

...

“John Kerry ran for president,” Mitt Romney said Monday morning on “Fox & Friends.” “You know, his wife, who has hundreds of millions of dollars, she never released her tax returns. Somehow, this wasn’t an issue.”

Heinz Kerry, an heiress to the Heinz food fortune, was pressured during Kerry’s presidential run to release tax returns, which she files separately from her husband. She ultimately released a portion of her 2003 returns in October 2004, after an initial estimate in May of the same year.

...

She wasn't running for the presidency, you idiot.

Better than Bloomberg ...

I'll trade you a troll for the pussy:

Politicians everywhere might work just a little bit harder today, after news got out this weekend that one of the country’s best-loved politicians is a cat named Stubbs.

According to locals in Talkeetna, Alaska, the cat — who’s been in office for 15 years — first won his office because enough of the town’s 900 residents were so sick of the local politicians that they started a write-in campaign for Stubbs instead. He won, and they have been reelecting him ever since.

...

STFU ...

I'm tired of the GOP whiners bitching about taxes:

To hear conservatives and Tea Partiers tell it, President Obama is a serial tax-raiser who has increased taxes on “millions of Americans.” But according to the latest data from the Congressional Budget Office, tax rates under Obama hit a 30-year low in 2009, in part because of the tax cuts he implemented in response to the country’s economic downturn:

...

Seconds?

Thanks to Republican Family Values for the pic.

Wah-wah-wah ...

Thanks to the Everlasting GOP Stoppers for the pic.

Waaaaah!

Want some cheese with that whine, sister?

Goin' Ridin'

Off to ride the Donner Summit Trial put on by AHRMA today at the Auburn Ski Club property at Boreal Mountain Resort on Donner Summit. I rode a trial there last year, and they told us to stay in bounds because the biathlon team was practicing their marksmanship. Works for me. Heh. See yas.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

A selection from the first Transatlantic Sessions series (1995) filmed in Scotland.

Dick Gaughan & Emmylou Harris ~ Both Sides of the Tweed

Thanks to lordchauncey.

No help, lotta noise

The Repug M.O.

Thanks to YubaNet.

The cartoonist missed a bet - shoulda included the old motorcycle trick of "here, let me help you steady that" and showed the elephant holding down the kill button.

Quote of the Day

From Rude Pundit's FB page:

So, by extension, Romney is saying that he could be President but not be responsible for what happens to the nation.

Perfect.

Shopping Day

Whirlwind trip to Carson City and right back. Too hot over there to take the pups. See yas.

Privileged Retard Redux

From Rachel's FB page re this piece:

"The Cheney vision of foreign policy, the neocon vision, the very hawkish vision, that still prevails in the Republican Party. ... If you listen to Mitt Romney talk right now, you're listening to Dick Cheney talk."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

It dawns on me that given that the same neocons who led us down the path of destruction under Cheney are now Romney advisers, they must be thinking "We got that last privileged retard into the White House to do our bidding. Let's do it again!"

I hate those neocon bastards. They should be shot on sight like Nazis.

The evil sluts ...

They have to pay a price. This is disgusting:

...

Most Americans by now have a passing familiarity with the way the anti-choice movement has grown past attacks on abortion and is moving on to attacks on contraception access, from defunding Planned Parenthood to fighting the Obama administration on an HHS requirement to make contraception available without a co-pay to women with insurance. What they may see less of is the war on contraception that’s going on in the culture. Anti-choice activists have been turning up the volume on misinformation campaigns aimed at creating doubt in the public, especially among young people, about the efficacy of contraception. These efforts started in earnest under the Bush administration, with the explosion of federally funded abstinence-only programs. As those programs have mostly receded due to utter inability to convince kids to abstain from sex, efforts like 1 Flesh and the Pill Kills have stepped up to try to sow doubts about the use of contraception.

...

It would be nice if there would be some way to track how many young people die of an STD because of this and then charge these bastids with murder for every instance. Fuckers.

Takin' it back ...

Thanks to Too Informed To Vote Republican for the pic.

Mitt's history ...

Thanks to End The Wars, Stop Bullshitting Americans For Profit.

My Finances: An Explanation from Mitt Romney

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) July 11, 2012 – Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney today released this letter to the American people:

Dear American Person:
...

Let's say you met the love of your life, and you wrote her a series of passionate love letters. In these letters, you told her how you intended to protect her, cherish her, and always keep her safe. And then let's say somebody went and told you that you had to make those love letters available for the world to see. If you're even half the man I am, you'd say, "Heck no."

Well, in my case, the love of my life is my money. (If you don't believe me, ask Ann.) And my tax returns are like my love letters to my money, detailing the lengths to which I'll go to keep my precious money from being taken away from me. If you think I should make those love letters public, then I'm sorry, my friend, but you don't believe in love.
...

In conclusion: if refusing to release my tax returns and having foreign bank accounts is wrong, I don't want to be right. I did it all for love. And as your President, I promise I will never, ever come between you and the thing you love. Unless you're gay. (Laughing Out Loud.)

Don't worry, Willard, you're not in any danger of being right about anything. Glad to see you're doing all the lying and pandering out of the love of money. It's positively Biblical.

Repeatedly Banging Forehead On Keyboard Headline Of The Day

Pastor: ‘God wants Ron Paul to be president… We must obey’

The worse-than-stupid, it burns even worse than stupid. Yeesh.

Headline of the Day

NAACP boos Romney for promising to kill ‘Obamacare’

Note to Willard: Well, what did you expect? Those folks aren't your Dead End Quarter base. They probably don't really like you and were actually there to hear what you had to say, which as usual was nothing/wrong/lies. Ya gotta pick your spots, dude.

Willard at the Beach

El Rude-o on the fundraisers down the street from Fixer's house:

At what point in yesterday's bacchanalia on the beach did Mitt Romney think things had might have gone too far? Held at the ocean-kissing home of billionaire David Koch, it was a $50,000 a head fundraiser for the ostensible Republican nominee for president. Really, one well-placed drone attack and the moral balance of the world would have instantly improved significantly.

Word. One round woulda got 'em all. Sigh.

At Koch's joint, Romney's lips were already chapped because of all the moneyed dick and clit he had engorged in the first two gatherings. He turned to Ann, who smiled and knew her job for the rest of the evening. God, it was an awful spectacle. Ann Romney was handed around like a blow-up doll during hazing time at a frat house filled with pledges. Mitt watched, loyal husband, as the financiers and corporate CEOs and executives took turns, sometimes two or three at a time, and Ann graciously, even lady-like, took it all, all the pricks and twats, all the fingers and tongues, all the juices and jizz, like a fountain in reverse. If Mitt didn't know better, he'd think that Ann enjoyed it. When the hosts, David and Charles Koch, were done tag-team fisting her, they said they had a surprise, one that they knew Mitt would go along with. When they brought out the horse, Mitt didn't even feel queasy. How else would he earn enough filthy lucre to surpass the vaunted Obama fundraising machine? He winked at Ann and, oh, a splendid time was had by all. Especially the horse.

Of course, there was no alcohol or caffeine. You have to draw the line somewhere.

Heh.

How to make love to a boson*

*We spelled it different in the service. Wasn't no "how-to" guide either. Heh.

If it's Wednesday it must be Morford being all dazzled by the Higgs boson.

We must agree on a basic framework. We must share a semi-coherent baseline of common understanding. Gravity. Relativity. Evolution. White wine with fish. Radiohead. That sort of thing. Otherwise it’s all tiny-brained creationism, lizard overlords from the fifth dimension and thinking God hiccuped one groggy morning, and boom, gazelles. And no one wants that.
...

And isn’t this, ultimately, the entire point? Are we not are like Scheherazade herself in 1001 Nights, spinning our fanciful, cliffhanger stories to the universe every night in the desperate hope our tales, our discoveries, our bosons will earn us just one more pardon?

The way we're going, one tiny, invisible particle won't save us. It doesn't give a shit and will dance happily on without us.

A Failed Dump

A Tip o' the Brain to Seniors for a Democratic Society.

I thought ...

The Republicans were all about small business?

So the Democrats write a Senate bill giving tax breaks to small businesses for hiring, figuring it's a cinch for Republican support. Ha ha ha ha! Charlie Brown, will you ever learn?

...

They give as much of a shit about small business as they do about the individual American.

Why be a Dem?

These "Blue Dog" Dems really chap my ass. If you can't get yourself elected following your party's principles, why bother running as a Dem? That's right, it isn't about the principle, it's about the power:

The House's planned vote Wednesday to fully repeal Obamacare ultimately amounts to little more than political theater, given that House Republicans have made 30 previous attempts to repeal all or part of the law, all of which have gone nowhere in the Democrat-controlled Senate. But this week's vote does offer several politically vulnerable members a new chance to distinguish themselves on this hot-button issue.

Ahead of Wednesday's vote, at least two House Democrats have indicated plans to side with a majority of Republicans to reject portions of the law. Both face uncertain re-election odds.

...

If you're gonna vote like a Republican, you might as well be a Republican.

Great thanks to Tengrain for the link.

"I'm Mitt Romney, bitches, and I'm all you got left."

Today's 'must read' and a big tip o' the Brain to Madeleine Begun Kane.

[...] The current Willard, of course, is opposed to mandates because he is the nominee of a party full of crazy people. [...]

I'm Mitt Romney, bitches, and I'm all you got left.

Stop sweating me, okay? It's time for my nap. Tell Kristol to shut up or I'll look under the lawn chairs until I find enough loose change to buy that little magazine of his and sell it to the publisher of Biker Mamas for a 200-percent profit. Let Kristol go cover Bike Week in Laconia next summer if he wants to run his yap. And Murdoch? He doesn't like me? Tell you what: How about I get in there and revoke that tin citizenship medal that he's got and let him go back to selling titty magazines to sheep farmers in Queensland. He's over here because people like me allow him to be over here. Goddamn immigrant. I hope the senile old fool is tapping my phone, because I won't have to shout at him that,

I'm Mitt Romney, bitches, and I'm all you got left.

In case you haven't noticed, they're still all coming to me. I've been running them through the obstacle course up here all week. Jindal's parking cars, and Pawlenty's almost got the entire pool cleaned out, and Portman mixes a fine dark-and-stormy for the cocktail hour every day. Ann's got Portman cleaning out the stalls. Fine man with a shovel, that Portman, but, Jesus H. Christ Come To Arkansas, he's boring. Ayotte was around this afternoon, but she has to be back on the pole by 8:00 because I promised one of the kids — Tagg, or Tripp, or Tybalt, or Queequeg or whatever the hell his name is — a show for his friends tonight. They will do anything just to be the person I get to send to the funerals of the presidents of countries I could buy for what I've spent on alfalfa for that damn horse, because, well:

I'm Mitt Romney, bitches, and I'm all you got left.

Go. Did I mention 'liquid alert'?

What scares them the most ...

Is someone with a functioning brain.

Pic stolen from Religion Poisons Everything.

So ...

How do you get through to idiots like this? If you wonder why there is a Dead End Quarter*, this is it:

The reply is classic.

*The 25 - 30% of Americans who will vote GOP blindly and consistently without regard for their own interests.

Take From Me These Myths: A Prayer

The God Article

Today, like the rest of the world,
when I woke I wrapped myself in myths.
They are comfortable and warming in what can seem like such a cold world.
Yes, they are old and worn but they are familiar
and even the most fashion forward find comfort in this thread-worn garb. ...

They tell me that the rich shall inherit the Earth,
and that they will be beneficent rulers.
The myths that I wear tell me
that giving to the rich is better than giving to those in need,
so we as a nation heap blessings upon the rich
expecting 'trickle down' to make it rain on those of us below.
Yet, we remain drenched in our inability
to pay the rent,
pay for college,
save for the future...
at times, even believe we have much of a future.
...

They tell me that the least of these deserve what they get,
that “But for the grace of God, there go I,”
believing that somehow God's grace falls more abundantly on me.

They tell me that I must shut off who God created me to be
and live into the image the world expects of me
because who I am on the inside won't be accepted on the outside.
...

Loving God,
take from me this earthly garb,
for not only are they old and thread-worn...
but they reek.
They stink of the stench of power, money and greed.
They have the foul odor of prestige, self-importance and control.
They fill my nostrils with an offensive aroma
that smacks of a history of abuse, belittlement and pain.
They exude with the suffering they let me ignore.
They ooze with the memories of the blood that has been lost.
They smell to high heaven and point to my complicity
in the lies of this world.
...

Help us, O God.

Nice thought. Good fuckin' luck. No help unless you're a Repug or a televangelist and even then it'll only be money from suckers. But that's enough for them. The rest of us can just piss into the wind, aka "prayer", like always.

Oh Hell Yeah!

Should Jeep build the `Old Man Truck’?

A real old-time pick 'em up truck! The only "voice-activated driver controls" here are "get in, sit down, hang on, and STFU". Heh.

The rich are different from you and me

And don't they know it. They know what's best for them us too. From KWCH on the Rmoney fundraiser at some beach shack in the Hamptons:

A New York City donor a few cars back, who also would not give her name, said Romney needed to do a better job connecting. "I don't think the common person is getting it," she said from the passenger seat of a Range Rover stamped with East Hampton beach permits. "Nobody understands why Obama is hurting them.

"We've got the message," she added. "But my college kid, the baby sitters, the nails ladies -- everybody who's got the right to vote -- they don't understand what's going on. I just think if you're lower income -- one, you're not as educated, two, they don't understand how it works, they don't understand how the systems work, they don't understand the impact."

Note to the donette: What us great unwashed "don't get" is why we should allow the system to continue of making you richer at our expense just because you rigged it that way.

Related:

Two Arrested Trying To Crash Romney Fundraiser

Some "common people" looking for some food perhaps? Nice photo of the beach shack as well.

Update:

Krugman weighs in. Heh.

Oh, the irony...

Ironic Times

Obama, Romney in Dead Heat
Experts say it'll all come down again to Justice Roberts.

Helluva thought first thing in the morning...

Murdoch Divides Fox Into Two Separate Entities
One for entertainment and publishing, one to run Republican Party.

Israeli Researchers Develop Marijuana Without THC
For those who don't like getting high, but do like getting arrested.

Oy...

2000 – 2010: 47,000 UFO Sightings, 13 Cases of Credible, In-Person Voter Fraud
GOP has introduced nearly 1,000 bills to tighten voting laws in 46 states, but done nothing about UFOs.

Vocabulary Builders
voter fraud n. voting by somebody who is not supposed to vote, defined as somebody who will vote for Obama.

I thought this was supposed to be irony...

Heh ...

Pic stolen from the Mitt Romney Fan Club.

Quote of the Day

Watertiger:

I think we can all agree that the guillotine needs a comeback tour.

Word squared ...

Both pics stolen from the Liberal Kitchen Witch.

Saturday Emmylou Blogging

Emmylou Harris tells the story of a prostitute in France trying to give comfort to a soldier on a three day spree. A soldier who has seen and lived the terrible tragedy and horror of WWI

Thanks to Ross MacLennan.

In Memoriam

After 'A Face in the Crowd' and before 'The Andy Griffith Show' Andy Griffith recorded a monologue about college football in 1953 that has become one of the most beloved comedy recordings of all time. The illustrations accompanying the video were drawn by MAD Magazine artist George Woodbridge. I used to listen to this recording over and over as a kid. Still makes me laugh -- and pretty much sums up my views on American Football to this day. Captions added by yours truly. Rest in peace, Andy. And thanks for the laughs...

What he said.

Thanks to PosterBrat.

GOP Embraces New Conspiracy Theories

TPM

In the 1990s, if people told you about three men on television spinning ever more complicated conspiracy theories about the federal government, you’d assume they were talking about an “X-Files” spinoff. If you heard the same thing today, you’d be on solid ground assuming they were talking about high-ranking members of the Republican Party and the conservative movement.
...

Conspiracy theorizing is not a partisan activity — plenty of progressives opposed to President George W. Bush believed sinister agendas lurked behind the scenes in his administration. But most of the outlandish claims never came from the top levels of the Democratic Party.

A look over the new grassy knoll:

Here's just one example:

John Roberts, Manchurian Justice

What led Chief Justice John Roberts to cast his vote with the liberal wing of the Supreme Court, thus dashing the hopes — and expectations — of conservatives everywhere? Some options, as espoused by top Republicans:

Radio host Michael Savage said Roberts was on drugs. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said Roberts was in the pocket of the New York Times. The National Review said Roberts was scared of Obama after the president scolded the court during the State of the Union. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

These suggestions aren’t restricted to the conservative fringe — the idea that outside forces somehow got to Roberts is being espoused by top Republicans, including the one at the top of the presidential ticket.

Understandable. I mean, whoever heard of a Good Repug* going sane? Must be a commie plot like fluoride in the water.

*An oxymoron to be sure, but only in the reality-based world.

The real 'gateway drug'

The researchers have confirmed what I've thought for years.

Raw Story. links at site.

A study in the August edition of The Journal of School Health finds that the generations old theory of a “gateway drug” effect is in fact accurate for some drug users, but shifts the blame for those addicts’ escalating substance abuse away from marijuana and onto the most pervasive and socially accepted drug in American life: alcohol.

Using a nationally representative sample from the University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future survey, the study blasts holes in drug war orthodoxy wide enough to drive a truck through, definitively proving that marijuana use is not the primary indicator of whether a person will move on to more dangerous substances.
...

“I think [these results] have to do with level of access children have to alcohol, and that alcohol is viewed as less harmful than some of these other substances,” Barry added.

That social misconception, largely driven by the sheer popularity of alcohol and the profits it generates for private industry, is diametrically opposed to the most current science available on drug harms. A study published in 2010 in the medical journal Lancet ranked alcohol as the most harmful drug of all, above heroin, crack, meth, cocaine and tobacco. Even more striking: The Lancet study found that harms to others near the user were more than double those of the second most harmful drug, heroin.
...

“This is a time of budget tightening,” Barry concluded. “Many social services are being cut. If you take [our findings] and apply them to a school health setting, we believe that you are going to get the best bang for your buck by focusing on alcohol.”

You'll get 'banged' all right. Too much profit from sales all the way up the chain of law enforcement, the court system, and the prison industrial complex.

Alcohol is the worst drug on the planet. Period. And the most profitable.

Headline of the Day

Reagan-appointed judge: Republican ‘lunatics’ made me less conservative

Me too...

I worry ...

About Gordon on his trail rides. I have nightmares like this:

Heh ...

Ha-ha ...

Karma's a bitch:

In Louisiana, Republican Governor Bobby Jindal pushed for a voucher program that would allow state funds to be used to pay for religious schools. It’s unconstitutional, it’s a way to use taxpayer money to fund someone’s faith, and it was a bad idea to begin with.

But it passed.

Now, one of the state legislators, Rep. Valarie Hodges (R-Watson), just made a shocking discovery, though: Christianity isn’t the only religion!

...

All you need to know ...

About how Fox 'News' works:

Pic stolen from Mad As Hell Liberals.

Headline of the Day

Ann Romney: Obama’s only strategy is ‘Let’s kill this guy’

Mrs. G says she's a snobby bitch just like Willard. Heh.

Dago Blows Its Load!

This is pants-around-the-ankles stuff for those of you who like "watch this!" coupled with high explosives. You know who you are...

Raw Story

Tens of thousands of dollars of fireworks meant for San Diego’s 18-minute-long “Big Bay Boom” fireworks show went up last night in a breathtaking display of light and sound — all in about 15 seconds, effectively ruining the whole thing.

Four different barges parked in San Diego Bay all sent up their explosives at the same time, causing a spectacular scene that left onlookers stunned and wondering what happened. The company responsible for the show, Garden State Fireworks, was blamed by San Diego event coordinators for a technical glitch that caused all the fireworks to explode at once, approximately 5 minutes before the display was supposed to start.

Oh baby, was it good for you too? Helluva show, Dago!

There's another video at the link as well.

Update:

This is reported to be a computer malfunction. I don't care how fast your finger is, once the glitch occurred there's no one fast enough to expect "Esc" or "Back" to undo it. Heh.

Just pretty yourself up, honey ...

One of Mrs. F's old bosses made the mistake of saying that to Mrs. F ... once. This idiot from Brooklyn stepped on his dick the same way:

Women of Brooklyn, New York, State Senator Marty Golden (R) wants to turn you into proper ladies fit for employment.

As part of a summer series on career development directed at his female constituents, Golden is hosting a taxpayer-funded event called “Posture, Deportment and the Feminine Presence” on July 24. Golden promises to teach Bay Ridge women “the art of feminine presence,” which includes tips on how to “sit, stand and walk like a model” and “walk up and down a stair elegantly”:

...

Sucks to be him. Heh ...

Great thanks to Watertiger for the link.

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.