Jan 8, 2016

Dangerously Silly

From Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone
The Bundy militiamen are like a Black September version of an Iron John forest retreat: a bunch of weepy middle-aged guys who dressed up in crisply pressed outdoorswear and took over a bird sanctuary so they could play outlaw for a few days while they "worked on themselves."
They gathered around a bonfire (there really was a bonfire) and presumably engaged in Robert Bly-style mythopoetic healing, getting back to their manly roots by stroking their rifles, wearing camo undies, and complaining about all the wrongs done to them by women/the federal government/wild birds/whoever.
About the camo: yes, the following actually happened. One of the militiamen, Melvin Lee, posted a video on Facebook (these guys are on social media more than most teenagers) where he complained about the popular misconceptions of the movement. "There's nobody in camouflage," said Lee, who was wearing a camouflage jacket. "Well, except for my jacket."
And yes, it did happen that Ritzheimer, who did remember to bring his paperback copy of the Constitution, actually sent out a tweet asking for care packages for things his compadres forgot to pack for their armed dude-seminar. They asked for socks, snacks, energy drinks (!), equipment for cold weather, snow camo, and "gear."
This was after Bundy had told reporters that the group was prepared to stay for "years" and had enough supplies to see them through. "We have food planned and prepared," he said.

What Joe Said

Jan 7, 2016

Today's Tweet



And - just throwing in this little extra bit:

The fact that Ammond Bundy wasn't immediately incinerated by several bolts of lightning as he was comparing himself with Rosa Parks proves to my satisfaction that there is no god.

Letters Home

It's pretty rough up there right now for the Y'allQaeda fellers.


Jan 6, 2016

Today's Tweet

Today's Snark

Give a Republican a fish, and he'll tell you a story about his long hard struggle to become a great fisherman.

Offer to teach a Republican to fish, and he'll denounce you as a socialist.


hat tip = The Daily Shit or maybe it was LOLGOP - I get confused sometimes.

Today's DumFux News


Trying hard not to dismiss this as just a buncha cold spirit-sucking empty-hearted teeny-bop cunts at the mean girls table.

Politics-as-usual?

Or maybe massive unresolved daddy issues?  That could easily be the case with Meghan McCain I guess.

When you slag a guy for tearing up a little while he's trying to get us to do something about too many dead kids - when you feel the need to stonewall against any effort to keep kids from being killed - you have no soul and no honor.

And it's not just because you have no soul and no honor.  As it turns out, it's also because the boss can't afford anything to be done about the problem. And that's what I think is driving such cunt-ish behavior on air.

If you wanna know what's up with any problem here in USAmerica Inc, you have to look at who's currently benefiting from the problem, and/or who stands to profit from any proposed solution for that problem.

And more importantly, since we're talkin' politics now, you have to understand that solutions for these problems are not actually allowed - REPEATING: solutions are not allowed.  There's too much money and too many careers of too many very powerful people at stake.  

It doesn't matter what we're scrappin' about - it can be Abortion or Guns or Taxes or Poverty or Schools or Prisons or any other 'problem'.  As long as we're fighting, we're fueling the revenue streams that keep the fat cats fat.

The people who're making the decisions on what we see and hear over the air or on cable;  what we read online; what emails we receive asking for another 3 bucks to help in the fight for blah blah blah - these are either currently wealthy powerful people, or they're people looking to become wealthy and powerful by monetizing the fight for whatever.

Mike's First Law of Career Self-Nurturing: Anybody with any prospect of enjoying even a relatively low degree of success will never ever EVER try to work himself out of that job.

We have a News Industry that went from Public Service to Cost Center to Profit Center to Money Mill - there is no content available on Fox or MSNBC or WashPo or your local FARMNet station that isn't programmed to push somebody's buttons and move them to  send a generous donation to their newfound favorite cause.

Seems like the only thing we manufacture in this country anymore is this bullshit high-school-fuck-around drama.  But hey - business is booming, so it's all good.

My POTUS

Because there's no contradiction in having a hard head and a soft heart.



I'm not a fan - Obama's done some things I strongly oppose, and he's left some things undone I wish he'd tried a lot harder to get done.  But that's just how this shit works.  And the guy's still pretty fuckin' amazing.

Jan 5, 2016

The Farce Awakens


"... we're not about fear; we're not about force; we're not about intimidation ..."  

That's why your action is considered an "armed occupation of federal property"?  And you brought all the guns because you have no intention of threatening violence or making a show of force?  

OK.

BTW - Messianic much, Mr Bundy?  

Here's the thing, schmuck - maybe you and the Goober Squad could just go the fuck home and let the good folks in Harney County decide what's best for the good folks in Harney County.  Could we try that?


An Acculturated Callousness

In WWI, civilian casualties accounted for about 10% of the total.  By the time we got around to invading Iraq almost 100 years later, that number had climbed to 90%. 

It's pretty simple really.  First, it's a transaction - there's lotsa people, so we can spend them - the cost of war.   

Second, in spite of our efforts to impose "Rules Of War", WWII made it very clear that nothing much had actually changed at all. 

Counter Force = kill their soldiers; destroy their weapons and equipment 
Counter Value = destroy roads and bridges and factories and farms
Counter Collateral = kill their people - the ones who become the soldiers, build the roads and grow the food.

Whoever loses the least gets to call themselves the winners, and put the other guys on trial for "war crimes".

All of that gets real clear about 42 minutes into this film: