Ah, Virginia

Hard to believe sometimes that Virginia is where America started; the birthplace of presidents; among the first places where 'commonwealth' was adopted as a governing philosophy.

4 out of the first 5 presidents of this amazing country were sons of Virginia, but lately, we've had Vaginal Bob McDonnell and Kenny the Kooch Cuccinelli and now - just so the Dems don't feel left out (and also too, so pundits and press poodles can propagate the "both sides" meme), we get Phil Puckett.

Former state Sen. Phillip P. Puckett, D-Russell, said Monday that his daughter’s future as a judge was a large reason behind his decision to resign.

Senate Republicans had balked at backing Puckett’s daughter, Martha P. Ketron, for a full six-year appointment to a juvenile court judgeship in Southwest Virginia, saying they oppose giving judicial appointments to family members of sitting legislators.

“She cannot be confirmed into the position permanently as long as I serve in the General Assembly,” Puckett said. “My colleagues on both sides of the aisle acknowledge that she is fully qualified for the position.

“At this point in my life, I feel that I cannot allow my political career to hamper my daughter’s future and her desire to serve the families and children of our area on the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.”

--and--

Puckett’s resignation ignited a firestorm by effectively giving the Republicans a 20-19 majority in the previously Democrat-controlled chamber. It altered the landscape of deadlocked negotiations over a new state budget and whether the spending plan will include Medicaid expansion.

A Quick Observation

Conservatives are sure of their facts in very much the same way drunk people are sure they're speaking softly and saying hilariously clever things.

Today's Pix

Also some Pawel Kuczynski:

And just to get you fired up and ready to go:

Professional Left Podcast

This week's episode (#235) from The Professional Left via Stitcher Radio:

If nobody can see you or hear you, then you can't be held to account.  It's the Invisible Man effect.

So if you insist on never looking back at even the very recent past - when (eg) you said something that directly contradicts what you're saying today - and you just keep on saying things like "listen to what I'm saying NOW, and never mind what I said (actually what those dirty libruls are saying I said) way back whenever" - eventually, the rubes catch the drift and assimilate the comforting techniques of deep denial, and they'll stay in line and you'll never have to worry about anything ever again.

Deny deny deny:

Saturday Nite

Cheap Sunglasses --ZZ Top




I Just Wanna Make Love To You --Foghat




Tell Mama --Savoy Brown




The End Is Not In Sight --The Amazing Rhythm Aces




Sneakin' Sally Thru The Alley --Robert Palmer




Let It Roll --Little Feat




and I'm out

The Ammosexuals

And if I stop for just short bit (to listen again to the part where Bill says it straight out), I begin to understand that Da Gubmint isn't going to do anything about our gun problem because they can't - we'll have to leave it all up to the ones who hold the real power in this country - The Corporations.

A New Term

Black Track

BTW - listen for the part where Nicole Wallace wants a Gitmo big enough to hold 2 billion people.  Really, Nicole?  You wanna grab all of our "enemies" and cram them into concentration camps? Then what do we do with 'em?

Maybe she got herself into a blind corner, but usually, when that happens, what you blurt - the things that just seem to fall outa your mouth - those are generally your true thoughts.  Wallace comes off as "one of the reasonable ones", but I ain't buyin' that shit now.  Not after that.

About That 2nd Amendment Thing

Stewart hits it on the head.



I posted this before, and I guess the world is just now catching up with me (blogging is all about self-flagellation first, followed by self congratulation - for having been so nobly self-flegellating in the first place).

Anyway, here's what we tell all the Ammosexuals:  Never leave the house without strapping on at least one of your guns, being sure to wear it in plain view of everyone.  Then, because you need to be safe, and because you have the absolute right to stand your ground if you feel the slightest threat or provocation, whenever you see somebody else who's carrying a gun, shoot them.

Sometimes, ya just gotta let The Stoopid play itself out.

God Love John Oliver

And the response was big enough to crash the server trying to handle the FCC's comments page.

It's up again now.

https://www.fcc.gov/comments

Try to remember that "The Government" is still (tho' sometimes just barely) in charge of some of its own functions; but privatization is a real thing and a real threat to our little experiment in self-governance; and that if we're going to have a real shot at turning back this hostile takeover, we'll have to step out from behind the comfortable illusion of online anonymity.

If you want the power, you have to stand up and take the power.  Nobody's handing it out.

Logical Fallacy #15 - Appeal To Authority

Argument from authority (Latin: argumentum ab auctoritate), also authoritative argument and appeal to authority, is a common form of argument which leads to a logical fallacy when misused.[1]

In informal reasoning, the appeal to authority is a form of argument attempting to establish a statistical syllogism.[2] The appeal to authority relies on an argument of the form:

A is an authority on a particular topic

A says something about that topic

A is probably correct

Fallacious examples of using the appeal include any appeal to authority used in the context of logical reasoning, and appealing to the position of an authority or authorities to dismiss evidence,[2][3][4][5] as, while authorities can be correct in judgments related to their area of expertise more often than laypersons,[citation needed] they can still come to the wrong judgments through error, bias, dishonesty, or falling prey to groupthink. Thus, the appeal to authority is not a generally reliable argument for establishing facts.[6]