Say What?

(hat tip = Crooks and Liars)

One of the great opening paragraphs of all time:

Wisconsin is the only state that's been bleeding jobs for a straight six months, and the Walker administration is truly puzzled. Gov. Walker followed every single recommendation in the Wingnut Book of Corporate Wishes, resulting in a huge pile of manure, and yet he still can't find the free market pony. If only there was something he could do to change things - you know, things like go back in time and not lay off all those teachers and public workers whose spending helped stimulate the economy:

A coupla things that stand out for me - in keeping with the usual Repub habit of taking full responsibility for your actions, and then blaming everything on everybody else when your chowderhead policies take the economy into the shitter, just like everybody you're now blaming told your dumb ass they would.

First, at about 1:40, "the federal government failed to act".  I tho't he told us the federal government was one of the big problems and that he wouldn't be needing them for anything.

Second, by about 2:00, he's flipped all the way over and starts reciting practically every point the evil libruls have always said were essential to a healthy economy, all of which Mr Walker has done nothing but deny and refute - basically, Education and Infrastructure and Living Wage Jobs.

Yo, Guv - if this where you were going anyway, then what the fuck have you been doing for the last 2 years!?!

Wait...What?

Most of the rationale behind most of the GOP's efforts to downsize government, and to cut spending, and to ease the 'tax burden' has been built around the basic tenet that "the government is broke" - especially the state governments.  So Repubs have been runnin' around making a lot of the usual weird noise about how the voodoo bullshit of Tax-Cuts-Equals-More-Tax-Receipts isn't just a fever dream due to an overuse of Rectum-Derived Statistics (hat tip = Bill Maher).

Anyway, they keep saying they have to fire cops and teachers and firefighters and street maintenance crews, and kill the unions because those rotten unionized workers just cost too darned much.  Every shitty thing they wanna do is because the gubmint don't got da money no mo'.

But then, this headline from Cincinnati.com:

Kasich turns down federal disaster aid

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said thanks but no thanks to immediate federal disaster relief Saturday, even as governors in Indiana and Kentucky welcomed the help.

Kasich did not rule out asking for assistance later, but his decision means tornado-ravaged towns in Ohio will not get federal aid now and are not eligible at this time for potentially millions of dollars in payments and loans.

The governor said Ohio can respond to the crisis without federal help and he would not ask federal authorities to declare the region a disaster area.

Oh, I get it.  The state's too broke to pay a decent wage to people who bust their asses to teach the kids and chase the bad guys and make sure the roads are safe, but there's plenty to go around when a camera hound like Kasich gets a chance at a little national exposure.  And of course, this can't possibly have anything to do with setting himself up for a run at The Oval in 2016, now can it?

The normal scenario here is that Kasich makes the news by "bucking the system" (he's a maverick; a take-charge guy; somebody who knows how to get shit done).  Then once the news cycle has passed and the Press Poodles are chasing the next shiny thing, the feds will come in quietly - "let's not be playin' politics with people's lives, Mr President" - and things will go along as they usually do, even if the help is too late for a few of the poor suckers who're always caught in the middle of this kinda shit; and the only thing that anybody will see or remember or care about is what makes it into the campaign ads or the coverage of Candidate Kasich - that he handled the tornadoes of 2012 like a seasoned executive blah blah blah.  And we can all be pleasantly surprised if the rubes don't just keep swallowing it.

It's Not About That

It's never about what they tell us it's about, so when a Repub says "this is about...", you know you're gonna get a load of finely shredded and heavily composted mulch dumped right on top of your pea-pickin' little head.

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

In a weird way, this is NOT about contraception - but it's definitely not about big bad gubmint pissing on your faith either.  It's about Repubs giving every business a chance to shitcan The Affordable Care Act for any stoopid "reason" they care to come up with over a few highballs after work.  Notice that the attempts (eg: The Blunt Amendment) are all aimed very generically at letting employers opt out of practically anything they have "a moral objection" to.  Fairly simple for the GOP to fit it in with all the other flimflam they get the rubes to swallow every time out.  To wit: "I think this is socialized medicine, and I believe it's immoral to forcibly confiscate any of my employees' hard-earned rewards in order to pay for somebody else's abortions, or whatever ".

Stick to your guns, Dems.  And somebody please tell Debbie Wasserman-Schultz to stop arguing about whatever these assholes want her to argue about and start looking for the real shit for a change.

Stick to The Point

Lots of fury over the latest giant pile of steaming Limbaugh.

From Balloon Juice, mistermix posted a good one, quoting Amanda Marcotte at Pandagon:

"Some women aren't even taking the birth control pill for contraception! They need it for cramps/endometriosis/etc."

Every time you say this, a right winger wanting to imply that women who have sex for pleasure are sluts gets his wings. This statement and all variations on it feeds into the right wing claim that a) contraception is not health care and b) that women who have sex for pleasure are so indefensible that you have to lean on off-label uses for a contraceptive drug to justify its existence. It also does absolutely nothing to defend the non-pill contraception that's covered by the health care act, such as IUDs or sterilization. Plus, that gives them an easy out, which is to say that they're fine with insurance covering pills that are prescribed for non-contraception use, but just object to prescriptions for women who use them to prevent pregnancy.

It's one of the debate tactics that "conservatives" use all the time - first, they claim you agree with them that women are always and only either Mary Mother of God,  or that they're always and only Devil-Fuckers.  And second, that since you agree on the first point, then you're encouraging woman to have sex with Satan.  And that means you're the one who is "anti-woman".

Here's really the only thing that matters as far as I'm concerned:
There are many good reasons for women to have unrestricted access to "contraceptives", and while everybody's wellbeing is of some concern to all of us in a generic kinda way, what a woman chooses to do with her lady-parts is NONE OF MY DAMNED BUSINESS.

Ya want people to be left alone?  Then try it sometime, ya fuckin' jerk.

Today's Pix

Zombie Economics - Kinsella

"...one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."

Spotlight Virginia

It seems The Old Dominion is one of the big battleground states for this election cycle, so here we go again, kids - the heat is on.

I've joined Team Obama as a campaign volunteer, and I'll have a table set up for Voter Registration at Kelly's Corner between noon and 4 tomorrow - assuming they don't run me off.  Let's just say it wouldn't surprise me to find out that lots of people in this part of the county assume it's illegal to be anything but Republican.

Anyway, one of the marquee races this time is between George Allen (R-Macaca) versus Tim  (The Chubby Leprechaun) Kaine (D-Happytown).

Thought I'd give you a friendly reminder about ol' Georgie boy:


This could be fun.

And There It Is

The exposure parade continues.  Sec'y Sebelius tries to explain to US Rep Tim Murphy (R-Brainfart) how contra-ception works, but he can't hear what she's saying because God is stomping around in his head, making too much awesomely righteous noise up there or some-damn-thing.

(hat tip ThinkProgress)

SEBELIUS: There also is no abortifacient drug that is part of the FDA approved contraception. What the rule for preventive care…

MURPHY: Ma’m that is not true…Is the morning after pill or something like that an abortifacient drug?

SEBELIUS: It is a contraceptive drug, not an abortifacient… It does not interfere with a pregnancy. If the morning pill were taken, and a female were pregnant, the pregnancy is not interrupted. That’s the definition of abortifation.

MURPHY: Ma’m that is your interpretation, and I appreciate that’s your interpretation.

SEBELIUS: That’s what the scientists and doctors…

MURPHY: We’re not talking about scientists. Ma’m we’re not talking about scientists here, we’re talking about religious belief. Ma’m, I’m asking you about a religious belief. In a religious belief, that is a violation of a religious belief.

And there it is.  Science doesn't matter.  Fact doesn't matter.  Reality doesn't matter.  If truth goes against my religion-fueled ideology, then truth must be dismissed and ignored and condemned.

One last thing: according to Ayn Rand, (approx - The Fountainhead) "...evil is when a man sees the truth - recognizes it for what it is - and denies it."

Evidence To The Contrary

I tho't this was interesting (hat tip = AG):

"Conservatives" love to bash places like Charlottesville and Boulder as being "the People's Republic of..." etc, because (I assume) they perceive those places as bastions of Librul Think or whatever.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the cities on the top list are fairly well-known as homes of some of the great 'Liberal Arts' colleges and universities - some of the best schools anywhere.  You know; those places where our innocent unsuspecting children go to be indoctrinated by evil Marxist professors, according to buttheads like Little Ricky Santorum - Provo being the probable exception.  But I'm getting off the path here.

What do you suppose we could learn if we put the two lists side by side and looked at things like Air and Water Quality Standards, Growth Planning, Industry Zoning and Regulation, and and and - all the things "conservatives" love to bitch about.  I wonder why the conservative towns are seen by their own citizens to be kinda crappy places to live.

Carry Me Back

We have a governor here in Ol' Virginnie who seems unable to stop paying off on the political favors he thinks he owes to his supporters.

It started early when he stripped out the prohibition of discriminating against LGBT in the hiring decisions of State Government officials.

Then he sent Atty Gen Ken Cuccinelli on a dual quest - to attack AGW and Climate Change researchers at UVa; and to challenge The Affordable Care Act in federal court.

You may have heard about the recent beating he took on the first Anti-Choice attempt to punish women seeking to terminate pregnancies - to the point that he earned the nick name Governor McTransVaj.  He has since been pushing a version of the same bill that's just slightly less invasive, but still intends to put a TheoCon Bureaucrat between women and their doctors.

Well, the hits just keep rollin', because yesterday, he signed a bill repealing a law that restricts the purchase of hand guns to one gun per month.  This was in place for almost 20 years, and was supported by an awful lot of law enforcement organizations, and was recognized as having been fairly effective in cutting down on the supply of weapons for bad guys all along the east coast.  So apparently, since gangs are clever and they find ways around these little roadblocks - and of course, since our politicians and cops aren't clever enough to keep up with them, or something - there's no sense lettin' some other outfit profit from all the carnage; we need to get us a piece o' dat fer our own selves.

From WaPo:

McDonnell, who voted for the purchase limit as a delegate but campaigned for governor on a promise to overturn it, signed the bill just days after participating in a conference call with relatives of those affected by the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007. The relatives had urged McDonnell not to sign the bill.

“He said, ‘I have a duty to protect the Second Amendment,’ ” said Lori Haas, a gun-control activist who participated in the call and whose daughter was injured during the Virginia Tech shooting. “The governor’s number one duty is to keep the citizens of Virginia safe. ... Expanding the ease with which criminals can get guns is certainly not going to keep Virginians safe.”

The comments section of the article is chock full of the usual crap about how the VT shooter had two guns that he bought a month apart, and it had no effect on the outcome, so why bother even having restrictions of any kind - everybody's safer if everybody's armed blah blah blah.  It just makes me sad.

Here's the thing:  If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.  Which will then make it a fuckload easier for us - AND THE COPS - to identify them as the bad guys!  What're ya, fuckin' stupid!?!

Some Local Shit

I'm trying to bring my political involvement a little closer to home, so my blogging will include a bit more concentration on issues at the State and County levels - here in Albemarle County, Virginia.

The GOP, having abandoned reason almost altogether; and having lost the issues of Recession and Unemployment; and being in the process of losing on The Role Of Government - the Repubs are reverting to form by whipping the 4 Dead Horses of the Non-Apocalypse: God, Guns, Gays and Gestation, plus 1, GOTV.

Here's the gist of Virginia's Voter Registration setup vs Gun Sales per PolitiFact Virginia via Richmond TImes Dispatch:

Identification
To register to vote, you must present a document that shows your name and address. It can be a valid photo ID, utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document.

To cast a ballot, you must show identification or sign a statement -- subject to felony conviction for false information -- that you are the registered voter you represent yourself to be. This requirement is being altered by the General Assembly this year, a point we’ll address later.

To buy a gun from a licensed dealer in Virginia, you must show primary and secondary forms of identification. The primary document must be a state-issued photo ID. The secondary identification just needs to contain your current address and can be a utility bill, voter registration card, bank check or hunting or fishing license.

But in the case of private guns sales -- if you buy a firearm from an individual who is not a licensed dealer -- the identification requirements go away.

Application
To register to vote, you must fill out and submit an application 22 days before a general or primary election. The form can be submitted at variety of locations or by mail.

To buy a gun from a licensed dealer, you have to submit to a computerized background check run by the state police. It’s usually completed in a matter of minutes, but can take as long as four days. The background check does not apply to private gun sales, and such transactions can occur instantly.

Disqualification
You can’t vote if you are a felon and have not had your rights restored, or if you have been judged mentally incapacitated.

Many things could turn up on a background check that would bar someone from buying a gun from a licensed dealer. They include conviction or indictment on felony charges, an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor or felony, outstanding protective or restraining orders, use of illegal drugs, mental incompetency judgement, orders for mental health treatment, dishonorable discharge from military, and conviction on domestic violence charges.

In private sales, it is a felony to knowingly sell a gun to a person who would be disqualified under the instant background check. But there is no onus on a private seller to inquire about a buyer’s background, and no requirement that a purchaser disclose whether he or she is legally qualified to buy a firearm in Virginia.

Interesting little mash-up between Gun Rights and Voting Rights, with Repubs being far more concerned that too many of "the wrong kinda people" get to vote than they are with those gettin' to buy a gun.  Classic.

Holy Fuck, Batman

Just when I tho't the GOP couldn't get much weirder:

On Friday, the Wyoming House of Representatives advanced a bill to set up a task force to prepare for the total economic and political collapse of the United States. Per the bill, the panel would investigate things like food storage options and metals-based currencies, to be implemented in the event of a major catastrophe.

Then it goes three steps further. An amendment by the bill's GOP sponsor, state Rep. David Miller, calls on the task force to examine "Conditions under which the state of Wyoming should implement a draft, raise a standing army, marine corps, navy and air force and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier." As Miller explained to the Casper Star-Tribune, "Things happen quickly sometimes."

A Navy - in Wyoming.

This is what you've been voting for, folks.  You either don't bother voting, or you actively participate in electing Republicans and this is the shit-for-brains, dangerously delusional, messages-from-outer-space-thru-your-dental-work asshats you're handing power to.

Does it simply not occur to anybody that putting these clods in office is actually precipitating the kind of collapse they're so paranoid about?

Please point out the Librul, or the Democrat who has proposed anything close to the equivalent of this horseshit.

The Richmond Clown College

We actually pay these guys for this.



Notice how (apparently) Mr Albo feels he has to trick his wife into having sex with him.  OK, so a little wine and some slow-hand maneuvering can be romantic and seductive (even in this High School Fuck-Around kinda way), but why do we need to know any of that?  What's the point?  And why exactly did she really lose her lust and bolt from his clutches warm and tender embrace?

This guy seems to think it was because of Mr Englin's use of the term 'vaginal', which Mr Albo can't even bring himself to utter.  But isn't it just as likely she was so turned off by this moron's attempts to install the Virginia State Government in every woman's crotch that she felt a sudden and urgent need to slap his doughy little face around to the other side of his stupid fuckin' head, and so her only real option was to flee?

Just askin'.

And remember - the bad guys don't show up looking like bad guys.  Sometimes, they show up looking all soft and cuddly and jovial; like this Albo schmuck.

(hat tip = Wonkette)

Today's Pix

Art Lover

The Official Publication of the Republican National Committee
"because the rubes will swallow anything" 

Yeesh

A Repub Rep from Oklahoma went a little over the top as he was speaking at a town hall meeting recently (from TPM):

Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) sent TPM a public apology Thursday after we obtained audio of the five-term Republican telling constituents at a town hall this week that he’d have to personally shoot members of the U.S. Senate to get a budget passed through the chamber.

Obviously, it's not good to suggest you might have to go all Saddam on them mutha-fuckahs; and it doesn't really help when you put out the standard un-apology.  But the thing that stuck for me is the reference he makes to the 28 Jobs Bills that he claims were passed by the House, but hung up in the Senate.

A little checking, and oh look - that rarest of natural occurrences - a politician lyin' his ass off.

Back in January, Crooks and Liars posted a pretty good breakdown of what this lunkhead considers "Jobs Bills".  (And BTW, the main clue that politicians might be lying - other than the fact that their lips are moving - is when they can't quite agree on the actual number of great things they've done for us lately).

To make sure they back up their public claims with what might appear to be "fact", they've built a page on the House of Representatives site with a list of their so-called jobs bills, which number 27 and not 30 as the Speaker claims. What follows is a list and a brief explanation of why they are not jobs bills. Feel free to share it widely with your friends who might be inclined to believe Mr. Tobacco Lobbyist Check Distributor without questioning it.

Why am I not surprised?  You get called out for coming really close to advocating physical violence against your political opponents; and then you issue a statement that you call an apology, but which is actually intended to deflect attention away from the fact that you're a strutting tin-plated Martinet.

"Yes, I was talking about wanting to murder people who disagree with me - but why is the media hung up on that and paying no attention to the totally fucked up legislation we've been pushing through?"

Fairly good question.  I'd usually say something like 'this is no accident', but I doubt this bozo is that smart.

And shit - I almost forgot.  Both sides do it, except when they don't.  Please show me the Dems who're saying they wanna shoot their colleagues.

Relaxed And Groovy

When Repubs are in the White House, we get Up With People and Pat Boone and Toby Keith - and it seems like everybody in the country's walking around with a big stick up their butts.

Put Dems in charge, and we get BB King and Derek Trucks and Mick Jagger - and even tho' we have plenty of big problems to sort out, and lots of very heated arguments to get through, it all just feels a little better now.  Dunno why.  It just does.

But - you know - all them politicians; they're all the same.  There's no difference.  

Are you fucking kidding!?!

Leadership is hard to put your finger on.  It doesn't lend itself well to objective measurements and the stuff they teach you in Business School about Planning and Action Items and Progress Metrics and the like.  It's difficult to see by direct observation, but leadership - management style - is always well-reflected in the postures and attitudes of the people in the organization.  Help people get their feet under them, let them get a little leverage, and you won't fucking believe what they can do.