What He Said

(Ripped entirely from Mock Paper Scissors - because it's fucking brilliant)

Q: What do you think about Hillary Clinton and the Democrats?
“I fucking love them. I have always loved them. And let me just say this: If you’re a politician — not just in Washington but in business and industry, you have to be a politician — there are a lot of things that you have to do that you’re not proud of. There are a lot of compromises you have to make because it means that you can get this other thing over here. And if you think that you can go to fucking Washington and be rainbows and butterflies the whole time, you’re living in a fucking fantasy world. So now, having said that, think about what a female has to do with that: All of those compromises, all of that shit, double it by ten. And you get to understand who this woman is and how powerful, persuasive, brilliant, and resilient she is. Any female executive, anybody who has been put to the side — women, blacks, gays — for them to succeed in a white-male-dominated culture is an act of brilliance. Of resilience, of grit, of everything you can imagine. So, what do I think of Hillary? I think she’s fucking awesome. Is she in bed with Wall Street? Goddammit, I should hope so! You’ve got to dance with the devil. So which of the horrible people do you want? That’s more of the question. Do you want a pompous braggart who doesn’t know anything about diplomacy? Or do you want a badass bitch who knows how to get shit done? That’s really the question.”

The take-away here is that we have a lot of institutional sexism in our country—I think Scissorheads know that, we certainly laugh at it enough—The Skirts—and what RuPaul points out is that it puts an enormous burden-of-proof on women candidates. The late Ann Richards once said, “After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.
Ru-Paul is in many ways the epitome of badassery (a black gay man who has made a celebrity career of being a drag queen?! His drag show has been nominated for a freakin’ Emmy Award!), and if he sees a hero in Hillary Clinton then I can check my white male privilege at the door. His statement is remarkable.

Women politicians have to do everything male politicians do, but they get judged for doing it. From the clothes, to their voices, to just existing (the woman-card), they get scrutinized where men get a pass. Backwards and in high heels, indeed.

So as uncomfortable as I am (and I am very uncomfortable with political dynasties, and especially this dynasty because of the Clintons’ love of triangulation), I think it is absolutely remarkable that Hillary Clinton has not only won the nomination, but that she is winning the day-to-day battles.
She’s a badass bitch who knows how to get shit done. I can work with that.

How Great I Art

About the best thing a blogger can hope for is getting mentioned (and linked to) by people he respects.

Thanks, Crooks & Liars - and special thanks to Tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors

Spread The Blog

Honoring and remembering on this Blogroll Amnesty Day (thanks Tengrain).  They also serve who sit and type.

From Scarfolk Council:

Today's Winner

Charlie Pierce is good clear voice in a very dull crowd, and wins Best Blog Post today.

Being our semi-regular weekly survey of the state of Our National Dialogue which, of course, is what the Penguins would have sung, had they recorded "Derp Angel."

We were roaming Iowa watching live politics all weekend, so we only caught a smidgen of a crumb of the Sunday Showz. Which is to say, we only caught a little, but we caught enough to hand the House Cup over to CBS, where John Dickerson continues to adjust the casters on the chair once occupied by former Angevin minstrel Bob Schieffer. After a pretty good bipartisan dose of the old boogedy-boogedy, Dickerson brought out the panel, and we heard this from Ruth Marcus, scourge of teenaged potty-mouths everywhere.

"This was a very ugly week for Republicans in terms of their response on refugees and I think it was something that was exacerbated by the failure of President Obama to explain to people that we weren't crazy to be nervous but to understand their nervousness and to explain it away."​

Holy Third Way No Labels! If that isn't the perfect distillation of the vaporlock caused by Beltway conventional wisdom, I don't know what is. (It's even worse than the hairball Fournier coughed up on the same subject, over at the Overlook Hotel, where my man Chuck Todd always has been the caretaker.) Apparently, it either has escaped Ruth's notice, or she thinks it's impolite to mention, that the Republican party is completely out of its mind, and that its current front-runner, the Libidinous Visitor, is one step away from invading Ethiopia. How in Broder's name is the president in anyway responsible for the xenophobic rantings of a party gone mad? I know the president has mad Kenyan telepathic skillz, but what precisely would Ruth have him say? "Only worry a little, Americans. We are extremely unlikely to be overrun by exploding Syrian toddlers"? Jesus, these people…

Here's a tip, gang. Short of "I resign," there is nothing the president can say that will stop the Republicans from mongering fear and mongering war and just plain making stuff up. The people who believe this indigestible fried crud are going to believe it no matter what this president says or does. The level of anti-Islamic panic is going to remain the same because it is an election year, and because the Republican field is now led by a guy wrapping himself in out and out fascism, and doing it for laughs. And that's the double truth, Ruth.

Today's Best Rant

Reprinted here in its original form:

JESUS CHRIST THE SYRIAN REFUGEES AREN'T COMING TO WHATEVER GLORIFIED TRAILER PARK / FEMA CAMP / OPEN AIR METH LAB OR DYSTOPIAN INNER RING TRACT HOUSING AND STRIP MALL FART-FUCK OF A SUBURB YOU CALL HOME, THEY WOULD TAKE ONE LOOK AT YOUR SAD EXCUSE FOR A LIFE AND THINK "I'LL GO BACK AND TAKE MY CHANCES, DID YOU SEE THAT WOMAN WITH THE 'BAD BITCH' TATTOO HER TORSO LOOKED LIKE SOMEONE WAS BAKING BREAD IN A HALTER TOP." THE FACT THAT YOU GOT A SECOND HARDEES (NEXT TO THE PELLAGRA CLINIC) DOES NOT MAKE PIGSKNUCKLE COUNTY AN APPEALING TERRORIST TARGET, IF ISIS ATTACKS THEY WILL ATTACK A CITY BECAUSE CITIES HAVE LANDMARKS AND PEOPLE WHO WALK PLACES. WHY WOULD ANYONE EVEN BOTHER TRYING TO KILL YOU WHEN THEY COULD SIT BACK AND LET CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE DO THE JOB, BE SURE TO BUY MORE GUNS THOUGH THEY'RE REALLY KEEPING YOUR VINYL SIDED RANCH HOUSE SAFE. YES THERE ARE PEOPLE OUT TO GET YOU BUT THEY'RE NOT CALLED "ISIS" THEY'RE CALLED THE COLLECTION AGENCY AND YOUR GUNS WILL ONLY IMPRESS THEM TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY WILL FETCH SOMETHING AT AUCTION WHEN YOUR PROPERTY IS SEIZED TO PAY THE MEDICAL BILLS FOR YOUR LAST SIX ANGIOPLASTIES BUT YOU REALLY SHOWED OBUMMER BY NOT SIGNING UP FOR INSURANCE YOU DANIEL FUCKIN' BOONE RUGGED INDIVIDUALIST YOU.

hat tips = bluegal and Crooks & Liars 

Today's Tweet

From driftglass (aka @mr_electrico on Twitter):

via @mr_electrico CC: @GottaLaff @lafloran pic.twitter.com/1qO7gVLSTm

— Blue Gal/Fran (@bluegal) October 22, 2015

Nobody does the Photoshop thing better.  Catch his blog here: driftglass.blogspot.com

A New Favorite

Web Of Evil

Shut Up & Take Your First Cousins As Your Second Wives Already, Whining Saints
by M. Bouffant at 21:25

Garmies:
[T]he LDS church released a video on its website explaining the ritual purpose of temple garments, requesting that non-Mormons and members of the media to treat "Latter-day Saint temple garments as they would religious vestments of other faiths. Ridiculing or making light of sacred clothing* is highly offensive to Latter-day Saints.  

Fuck you, self-styled Saints & all the other shitheads who swallow that they must dress in a special way to please their sky fairy & distinguish themselves from mere mortals but then complain when laughed at. You don't want to be ridiculed, don't be ridiculous. (I think it's called the Golden Rule; isn't it in your book of fairy tales & silly stories?)

And yes yes we understand that making their cultists look idiotic to the rest of the world is only one of many ways the shepherds of the flocks reinforce group identity to keep their marks alienated & separate from the awful-in-its-way outside world of shit & pain.

Previously in underwear.

*They aren't sacred to me, whatever that means. And for heaven's sake, no matter what's under discussion, don't remind this reporter or anyone else how offended you'll be if someone dares to mock you. We'll start to think you're asking to be "made light of".

Somebody's Gotta Do It

It's gotta be a joyless and thoroughly mind-numbing task trying to keep tabs on the wingnuts.

May I at least say thanks to Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs for his tireless endeavors to make sure we know what a total waste of protoplasm this Jim Hoft guy really is.

Jim Hoft, Dumbest Man on the Internet, Also Most Hypocritical

Say “cheese”

 Charles Johnson

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Remember when Jim Hoft, fabled Dumbest Man on the Internet, freaked out about a photograph of President Obama taking a “selfie” at Nelson Mandela’s memorial event, labeling Obama the “Narcissist-in-Chief?” And remember how this Obama-bashing meme instantly spread throughout the right wing blogs and made it all the way to Fox News?

AFP Photographer “Sad” to Make Obama Look Bad in “Selfie” Shot at Mandela Funeral | the Gateway Pundit

Well, first of all, this was not a “funeral;” it was a memorial service that included lots of performers and tributes from dignitaries. And it was not a solemn event in a church; it was more like a party, a joyous celebration of Mandela’s life. And for that matter, Jim Hoft was incredibly vicious and mean-spirited toward Nelson Mandela when he died, posting several rants like this one and this one.

But the point of this post: today the DMOTI tweeted this, demonstrating once again that boorish self-absorbed right wing hypocrisy for which he’s infamous — a lovely selfie that he took with a friend at a real funeral, in a church, wearing a polo shirt and a big un-self-conscious grin.

Say “cheese,” Jim.

(I’m posting a screenshot linked to his tweet instead of embedding it, because Hoft has a long-standing habit of trying to delete stuff like this when it gets noticed.)

(h/t: @lawhawk.)

How Great I Art

Nothing like a little shameless self-promotion to get me goin' early in the mornin'.

I noticed my traffic numbers went way up for yesterday, and I tho't it must be another  Russian Phishing expedition - or maybe the Gold Line spammers are at it again.  

But wow - my silly little blog got a mention at Crooks and Liars!?!  

Must've been a really slow day for 'em over there, but hey - thanks, guys.

Today's Best Blog Headline

From Wonkette:

THAT NORTH DAKOTA NAZI-TOWN GUY IS A LITTLE BIT BLACK, SO IT IS TRUE THAT BLACK PEOPLE ARE THE REAL RACISTS

It's not quite the greatest post ever, but I don't care - the headline makes it worth looking.

Today's Rude Pundit

RIpped entirely from The Rude Pundit's blog:

6/21/2013

In Brief: On the Continuing Need to Shove a Can of PBR Up the Elitist Ass of David Brooks:
Every once in a while, New York Times columnist David Brooks strays into the Rude Pundit's 'hood and writes about the world of the university. The Rude Pundit, see, is a real and actual perfesser, not someone who playacts as one, as Brooks did in his recent stint teaching a course in "Humility" at Yale. (Here's a hint: if you own a $4 million dollar house because your $1.6 million house wasn't cutting it, you don't have the right to teach a brain-damaged dalmatian about humility.)

Today, in his column (if by "column," you mean, "the smug pronouncements of a dilettante intellectual fraud"), Brooks mournsthe decline of "the humanities" at colleges. And who does he blame for the fall-off in humanities majors? Fuckin' professors, man, and their fuckin' politics. See, "the humanities are not only being bulldozed by an unforgiving job market. They are committing suicide because many humanists have lost faith in their own enterprise." Is that what we've done? That wasn't just existential nausea at reading Brooks?

Please, person who doesn't teach in the humanities, do go on and tell those of us who do what we're doing wrong: "The job of the humanities was to cultivate the human core, the part of a person we might call the spirit, the soul, or, in D.H. Lawrence’s phrase, 'the dark vast forest.'" Yes, indeed, it was always about idyllic afternoons, laid out on the manicured grasses of the quad, quoting Eliot and Schopenhauer just enough to soak the panties of sighing coeds. "The humanist’s job was to cultivate this ground — imposing intellectual order upon it, educating the emotions with art in order to refine it, offering inspiring exemplars to get it properly oriented." Until those pesky sexual harassment lawsuits put an end to all that cultivating by professors.

But we haven't gotten to the meat of the matter: "Somewhere along the way, many people in the humanities lost faith in this uplifting mission. The humanities turned from an inward to an outward focus. They were less about the old notions of truth, beauty and goodness and more about political and social categories like race, class and gender." That's right. Oh, for the days when white male professors could teach the white male canon and the universality of their whiteness.

Fuck, David Brooks is the Paula Deen of the Times op-ed page.

Here, Davy Boy, let this professor, one who doesn't teach privileged little shits how noble other privileged little shits are, give you a lesson: The "decline" of the humanities, from 14% of majors in the 1960s to 7% now, has happened not because the big, bad, evil cultural anarchists came in and demanded their pound of canonical flesh. No, see, what has happened to the humanities happened on multiple levels. Conservative fucks like you attacked them as invalid because we decided that things like race, gender, and class mattered because the university opened up to more people of different races, genders, and classes (and, you dunce, class was a huge category of study in the 1930s until red-hunting administrators got a few Marxist scalps and that approach to the humanities was squashed until the 1970s). Add to that the corporatization of the university: schools seek big-ass grants and donations, and those generally come from big-ass companies who want to fund things like business, science, and technology, not the history department. Add to that the destruction of secondary education by "reform" minded people, generally conservative fucks like you, which makes the humanities into another bubble to be filled on a yearly standardized test. Add to that the establishment of Education as a major area of college study, one that has exploded in the last couple of decades and has taken many humanities majors with it.

But, no, really, go ahead and blame those vile feminists and Marxists and multiculturalists and others. It's so much easier than actually solving the fucking problem.

Our Mr Brooks

I list a blogger on my Blog Role who values anonymity above notoriety (I know, weird ain't it?) and so he writes under the moniker "driftglass".

He's been watching out for us by keeping a sharp eye on David Brooks.  Most of it's pretty good; all of it's readable; and sometimes he straight up blams it into the bleachers.

Full of that Yankee Doodle Dumb.

In that dim and distant Whig utopia of Long Ago we celebrated stick-to-itiveness, Jesus, the Torah, lunch-pail heroes, and people who got rich by gumption and grit.

Now everybody grubs for money, people wipes their heinies with the Book of Corinthians, the rich behave like assholes and nobody cares.

Nobody except David Brooks.

Congratulations, you have now read today's contribution to American journalism by David Brooks in its entirety.

He's also something of a PhotoShop genius.

And he's half of the The Professional Left podcast crew - sharing the mic with the lovely and talented BlueGal.

A New One

Just a good place to go once in a while to get a little bleach splashed on your soul.

Atheist Overdose

 

d r i f t g l a s s Speaks

This is a link to a driftglass blog post:

d r i f t g l a s s: Professional Left Podcast -- Bonus Edition

One of the smartest guys you'll ever hear.