Today's Podcast

Certain Press Poodles have been assigned the task of lamenting "our difficulties" in talking about the horribleness of the apparent racism in USAmerica Inc, and about how our political leaders are exploiting the divisions blah blah bah.

So there was a poll asking Americans about how the two major party candidates are doing in the whole Racial Divisiveness thing - ie: Who do you think is more responsible for the negativity regarding our "national conversation about race"?

Trump = 67%
Clinton = 16%

Press Poodles: But remember,folks - overall, 61% of Americans think it's all pretty shitty, which lets everybody slide back into the comfortably numb Both Sides narrative, and so we'll call it a draw.

Today's Tweet

People who are most against homosexuality often have the most secretly homosexual logos #TrumpPence pic.twitter.com/ZY9MUGCB4j

— Mike T (@majtague) July 15, 2016

A Glimmer

Saudi Arabia has roving bands of Morality Police with the power to beat up citizens they deem not behaving as good little Wahabis.

A judge in Kentucky decided he could refuse to officiate at a civil wedding ceremony because the couple didn't mention God in their vows.

Bands of psychotically religious assholes do all manner of shitty things to people everywhere, in the name of their love and devotion for any of a dozen versions of the one true merciful and loving god.

Fuck 'em.

Still, there's this tiny glimmer of hope in USAmerica Inc.

  

Maybe It's Just Me

From a distance, and if you squint just a bit, the GOP Convention logo looks kinda like an advertisement for The La Brea Tar Pits.

Just sayin'.

Metal Working

Anthony Howe

They never told me I could put Shop Class together with Art Class and maybe end up with something this fucking amazing. 

Today's Jeopardy Question

I'll take Blinded By Bullshit for 500, Alex.

And the answer is:

What is "Deflategate"?

Right you are.

Today's Tweet

Hilarious. pic.twitter.com/GZjbA38jum

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) July 12, 2016

Today's Pix

Jason Explains

Mr Chaffetz seems completely flummoxed by the process of Gubmint.

Normal Human: Whatcha doin'?

House Republican: Looking for my keys - I dropped 'em when I was out in the garage.

Normal Human: So, why are you in the kitchen?

House Republican: The light's better in here.

Today's GIF

See if you can spot the moment Trump heard about Bernie's endorsement of Hillary.

Embarrassed To Tell You

hat tip = Blue Gal via Crooks & Liars

Our Mr Brooks

driftglass does the David Brooks takedown a lot better than I do.

Another in the continuing parade of passive-voiced responsibility-ducking bullshit:

Anybody who spends time in the working-class parts of America (and, one presumes, Britain) notices the contagions of drug addiction and suicide, and the feelings of anomie, cynicism, pessimism and resentment.

Part of this pain arises from deindustrialization. Good jobs are hard to find. But hardship is not exactly new to these places. Life in, say, a coal valley was never a bouquet of roses.

What’s also been lost are the social institutions and cultural values that made it possible to have self-respect amid hardship — to say, “I may not make a lot of money, but people can count on me. I’m loyal, tough, hard-working, resilient and part of a good community.”

 

Don't Be The Asshole, America

Today's Tweet

It'd be cooler'n shit if this was all anybody had to worry about.

Great !👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/KRyvF4UfDl

— Asghar Nikoorokh (@nikoorokh) July 11, 2016

Everybody's Doin' It

...so why should I be any different?  

This pic is "important", partly because certain Photo Editors have told us it's important, but I think there may be quite a bit more to it than that.

28-year-old Ieshia Evans, Baton Rouge, July 2016

First, if you show up dressed like you're looking for trouble, I have to think maybe you're looking for trouble.

Along those lines, the feeling of invulnerability the cops have to get from wearing their Play Date Suits* can cause them to be a lot less likely to avoid trouble - and actually, most people become far more likely to start trouble because of that feeling of invulnerability.

(*available at fine Cop Shop outlets everywhere for as little as $400 each - up to $1000 depending on options. And be sure to identify yourself as Military or Police or Security, because they don't sell this shit to just anybody, y'know)

So, do we need to look any further than what seems obvious here?  Do we really have to ask why people get fucked up and fucked over by a police force comprised of officers equipped for urban warfare and trained to deal with American citizens as if they're the enemy?

The shitty little irony is that those cops are convinced they're protecting Ms Evans - nobody seems able to clearly identify exactly what they're protecting her from (which means there's a high probability they're just rationalizing their behavior), but if she's not ridiculously careful, they're gonna protect her to death.  In the end, who protects any of us from our protectors?

And ain't that all kinds of pretty fucked up right there?