Slouching Towards Oblivion

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Truth Will Out

Clint McCance. Remember that name. Notable for two reasons, I think.
1) he's a complete raging asshole redneck.
2) there's a small probability that he's trying to stop being a complete raging asshole redneck.

It's pretty amazing that he wanted to talk openly on the air about it and that he seems fairly contrite. We can wonder about ulterior motives, and about his true level of sincerity, but the thing that sticks with me is that he comes off as being genuinely conflicted about the whole thing. It's like he read his Facebook comments afterwards and was himself shocked at what a complete raging asshole redneck he actually is.

There's a kicker, too. The guy's Facebook comments were to the effect that if his own kids were gay, he'd run them off. He'd disown them. He'd refuse to allow them near him. During the interview, he says at least twice that he loves his kids, and that they mean the world to him, and he expands that out to say he'd never do anything to hurt anybody's kids. But very near the end, Cooper asks him how he'd react if his own kid turns out to be gay, and the guy equivocates. Watch.

A Joke

From a comment posted at HuffPo, via Balloon Juice:
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost so she lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
"She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat."
"I am,"replied the man. "How did you know?"
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."
The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."
"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"
"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

Friday, October 29, 2010

The Teabagger Shuffle

If Tea Party candidates believe everybody working for "The Gummint" is stupid and lazy, how come they all wanna work for the government?

Monday, October 18, 2010

Geeks Rock

Benoit Mandlebrot died last week - I think this is a fitting tribute

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Crossover

More On DADT

So the nice judge in San Diego does a smack-down on DADT, and Obama does nothing.  The only thing coming from the White House is Mr Gibbs saying that DADT will end at some time - he doesn't know how or when, but it will end.  Excuse me sir, but what the fuck is all that?

The only thing I can think of is that somebody in the administration thinks there may be some kind of deal to be made here.  They think they can use the demise of DADT as leverage to get something else done(?)

It's one of the shittiest things about politics - you take an issue that should be a no-brainer and you put together a bill that addresses it, and then you start counting the votes, and since you know it's gonna pass almost no matter what, you can let some of your caucus members vote against it anyway because it's a good opportunity to pander to a certain demographic in their districts blah blah blah.

I just wonder what kind of quid pro quo is happening here.

For me, this is pretty simple.  It's about equal rights, and if you can't figure out how to lead on something as basic as that, then you need to open a shoe store or somethin' cuz you're in the wrong fuckin' business.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Almost Gone

Makes Me Wanna Holler

District Judge Virginia Phillips in San Diego has issued a ruling that says the US military has to shit-can the policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

I suppose now we can all look forward to the Repubs and TheoCons making lots of noise about "activist judges legislating from the bench", and we can prob'ly expect the Dems to run and hide.

Here's a tho't on what Obama and Reid and Pelosi might try:  "Judge Phillips has done exactly what a good judge is supposed to do, and she did it exactly the way the Founders envisioned it: The Judiciary is there to balance the powers of the other 2 branches.  She struck down an unjust law.  She told Government that you don't treat people that way.  She got the Government off of people's backs".

Is it really that hard?

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

A Librul Dose Of Sarcasm

Coin Operated Politicians

See if you can guess who voted against Finance Regulation Reform.


Senator2010 Wall Street CashCareer Wall Street Cash
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)$1,600,000$4,900,000
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT)$1,500,000$2,600,000
Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)$333,600$3,300,000
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)$1,500,000$3,300,000
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)$2,500,000$3,500,000
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)$451,700$1,200,000
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)$3,100,000$3,300,000
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)$3,200,000$4,700,000
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)$1,300,000$2,600,000
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)$1,100,000$2,000,000
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)$233,200$1,100,000
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)$1,400,000$2,600,000
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)$1,400,000$4,700,000
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)$1,500,000$4,200,000
Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ)$2,800,000$3,800,000
Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN)$412,200$2,500,000
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)$947,600$34,000,000
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)$4,300,000$5,300,000
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)$268,200$909,700
Sen. John Thune (R-SD)$1,600,000$3,900,000
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH)$435,200$2,800,000
21 Republicans
0 Democrats
Senate Total$31,881,70097,209,700

House Member2010 Wall Street CashCareer Wall Street Cash
Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La.$106,500$422,300
Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala.$611,600$4,400,000
Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C.$20,400$806,700
Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark.$24,900$663,700
Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill.$395,000$1,900,000
Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.$1,200,000$3,800,000
Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio$1,300,000$3,700,000
Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Ala.$90,400$702,200
Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif.$190,000$733,400
Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark.$257,700$491,000
Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla.$123,100$722,200
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va.$92,700$1,400,000
Rep. Charles Boustany Jr, R-La.$226,300$934,600
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas$157,000$840,500
Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C.$35,700$494,000
Rep. Vernon Buchanan, R-Fla.$336,800$1,400,000
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.$180,300$940,300
Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich.$588,000$1,700,000
Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif.$413,400$1,200,000
Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.$2,100,000$4,400,000
Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del.$749,100$3,200,000
Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C.$23,400$502,500
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.$110,000$686,000
Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas$161,500$711,800
Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla.$86,100$717,000
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas$90,600$606,900
Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa.$177,900$881,000
Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas$324,200$1,900,000
Rep.Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich.$8,500$292,200
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo.$143,900$904,400
Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Okla($1,000)$340,700
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J.$86,200$840,300
Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa.$251,600$1,800,000
Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas$140,000$1,100,000
Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif.$171,500$1,100,000
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich.($1,000)$300,600
Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C.0$572,800
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.$173,900$1,600,000
Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.$1,900,000$4,200,000
Rep. John Kline, R-Minn$170,900$989,100
Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.$31,800$748,000
Rep. Daniel E. Lungren, R-Calif.$147,700$622,500
Rep. Howard McKeon, R-Calif.$132,100$1,100,000
Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif.$144,500$902,000
Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz.$130,900$558,000
Rep. Sue Myrick, R-S.C.$93,600$1,200,000
Rep. Soloman Ortiz, D-Texas$40,200$381,700
Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif.$24,900$462,000
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.$128,200$1,000,000
Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky.$50,200$468,000
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.$127,000$986,000
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.$531,500$1,900,000
Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio$121,900$519,700
Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz.$39,700$1,200,000
Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.$30,700$403,600
Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Ind.$20,500$266,900
Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.$112,500$524,200
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas$258,900$1,300,000
Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind.$40,500$405,800
Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio$169,300$476,300
Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla.$79,200$494,800
Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb.$202,600$1,400,000
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas$42,500$603,400
Rep. Patrick Tiberi, R-Ohio$555,500$2,800,000
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.$81,700$929,400
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.$180,700$732,400
Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.0$715,700
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.$155,500$580,200
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.$90,400$1,100,000
60 Republicans$15,873,400$72,443,800
9 Democrats$1,108,400$7,233,000
House Total$16,981,800$79,676,800

Where's My Recovery?

The recession "ended" in the summer of 2009 - except it didn't.  GDP Growth has to run ahead of Population and Productivity Growth by a percentage point or two in order to maintain a healthy expansion. +1 or 2% GDP ain't gonna cut it.

Via WaPost, here's a good illustration of why we'll be waiting for a good while before we see anything that looks and feels like a real recovery.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Monday, October 04, 2010

Quick Tho't

Trying to make some connections.
There are those who feel the need to keep certain facts of the world away from us - or so it seems when I try to figure out why the Theocons attack something as essential as Evolution.

So here we go:
1) without an understanding of Evolution Theory, you can't make much sense of biology.
2) without understanding biology, you can't do much about cancer (eg).
3) being unable to attack the causes of cancer, you have to be satisfied with a status quo.

Who benefits from the status quo?
Who makes money and holds power now with the way things are?
If we could find cures for diseases - or relatively simple ways to prevent them - would we still support the Pharmaceutical Industry the way we do now?

Who makes it possible for the Theocons to raise doubt and create resistance to science education?

Because Money Talks

Sister Sarah

Here's a load of the usual gag-inducing mutual stroking, but near the end Levin brings up Palin's new book, and I can't help but think she's definitely in the race for 2012 now (she's polling 2nd, just behind Romney).  The book is her attempt to establish herself as the Giver of the National Myth, which is a vital part of a Leo Strauss-type strategy, with a slight Christianist twist.  And that basically goes like this:   She has been to the mountain and she's back now to deliver God's word to His chosen people - and of course, since God has chosen us, and since God has told us this thru her, then it should be obvious that God has chosen Sarah Palin to lead us.

It could also still mean that she's really just making sure she's at the front of line of power brokers and king makers.

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Must Read

Matt Taibbi is a curmudgeon, and a contrarian, and royal pain in the ass when it comes to cutting thru the political bullshit; and his conclusions are almost never wrong.

From Rolling Stone:
The individuals in the Tea Party may come from very different walks of life, but most of them have a few things in common. After nearly a year of talking with Tea Party members from Nevada to New Jersey, I can count on one hand the key elements I expect to hear in nearly every interview.
One: Every single one of them was that exceptional Republican who did protest the spending in the Bush years, and not one of them is the hypocrite who only took to the streets when a black Democratic president launched an emergency stimulus program. ("Not me — I was protesting!" is a common exclamation.)
Two: Each and every one of them is the only person in America who has ever read the Constitution or watched Schoolhouse Rock. (Here they have guidance from Armey, who explains that the problem with "people who do not cherish America the way we do" is that "they did not read the Federalist Papers.")
Three: They are all furious at the implication that race is a factor in their political views — despite the fact that they blame the financial crisis on poor black homeowners, spend months on end engrossed by reports about how the New Black Panthers want to kill "cracker babies," support politicians who think the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was an overreach of government power, tried to enact South African-style immigration laws in Arizona and obsess over Charlie Rangel, ACORN and Barack Obama's birth certificate.
Four: In fact, some of their best friends are black! (Reporters in Kentucky invented a game called "White Male Liberty Patriot Bingo," checking off a box every time a Tea Partier mentions a black friend.)
And five: Everyone who disagrees with them is a radical leftist who hates America.



Friday, October 01, 2010