Slouching Towards Oblivion

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Truth Will Out

Clint McCance. Remember that name. Notable for two reasons, I think.
1) he's a complete raging asshole redneck.
2) there's a small probability that he's trying to stop being a complete raging asshole redneck.

It's pretty amazing that he wanted to talk openly on the air about it and that he seems fairly contrite. We can wonder about ulterior motives, and about his true level of sincerity, but the thing that sticks with me is that he comes off as being genuinely conflicted about the whole thing. It's like he read his Facebook comments afterwards and was himself shocked at what a complete raging asshole redneck he actually is.

There's a kicker, too. The guy's Facebook comments were to the effect that if his own kids were gay, he'd run them off. He'd disown them. He'd refuse to allow them near him. During the interview, he says at least twice that he loves his kids, and that they mean the world to him, and he expands that out to say he'd never do anything to hurt anybody's kids. But very near the end, Cooper asks him how he'd react if his own kid turns out to be gay, and the guy equivocates. Watch.

A Joke

From a comment posted at HuffPo, via Balloon Juice:
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost so she lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, "You're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
"She rolled her eyes and said, "You must be an Obama Democrat."
"I am,"replied the man. "How did you know?"
"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help to me."
The man smiled and responded, "You must be a Republican."
"I am," replied the balloonist. "How did you know?"
"Well," said the man, "you don't know where you are or where you are going. You've risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."

Friday, October 29, 2010

The Teabagger Shuffle

If Tea Party candidates believe everybody working for "The Gummint" is stupid and lazy, how come they all wanna work for the government?

Monday, October 18, 2010

Geeks Rock

Benoit Mandlebrot died last week - I think this is a fitting tribute

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Crossover

More On DADT

So the nice judge in San Diego does a smack-down on DADT, and Obama does nothing.  The only thing coming from the White House is Mr Gibbs saying that DADT will end at some time - he doesn't know how or when, but it will end.  Excuse me sir, but what the fuck is all that?

The only thing I can think of is that somebody in the administration thinks there may be some kind of deal to be made here.  They think they can use the demise of DADT as leverage to get something else done(?)

It's one of the shittiest things about politics - you take an issue that should be a no-brainer and you put together a bill that addresses it, and then you start counting the votes, and since you know it's gonna pass almost no matter what, you can let some of your caucus members vote against it anyway because it's a good opportunity to pander to a certain demographic in their districts blah blah blah.

I just wonder what kind of quid pro quo is happening here.

For me, this is pretty simple.  It's about equal rights, and if you can't figure out how to lead on something as basic as that, then you need to open a shoe store or somethin' cuz you're in the wrong fuckin' business.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Almost Gone

Makes Me Wanna Holler

District Judge Virginia Phillips in San Diego has issued a ruling that says the US military has to shit-can the policy of Don't Ask Don't Tell.

I suppose now we can all look forward to the Repubs and TheoCons making lots of noise about "activist judges legislating from the bench", and we can prob'ly expect the Dems to run and hide.

Here's a tho't on what Obama and Reid and Pelosi might try:  "Judge Phillips has done exactly what a good judge is supposed to do, and she did it exactly the way the Founders envisioned it: The Judiciary is there to balance the powers of the other 2 branches.  She struck down an unjust law.  She told Government that you don't treat people that way.  She got the Government off of people's backs".

Is it really that hard?

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

A Librul Dose Of Sarcasm

Coin Operated Politicians

See if you can guess who voted against Finance Regulation Reform.


Senator2010 Wall Street CashCareer Wall Street Cash
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)$1,600,000$4,900,000
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT)$1,500,000$2,600,000
Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)$333,600$3,300,000
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)$1,500,000$3,300,000
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)$2,500,000$3,500,000
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)$451,700$1,200,000
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN)$3,100,000$3,300,000
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)$3,200,000$4,700,000
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)$1,300,000$2,600,000
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)$1,100,000$2,000,000
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)$233,200$1,100,000
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)$1,400,000$2,600,000
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX)$1,400,000$4,700,000
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)$1,500,000$4,200,000
Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ)$2,800,000$3,800,000
Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN)$412,200$2,500,000
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)$947,600$34,000,000
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)$4,300,000$5,300,000
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)$268,200$909,700
Sen. John Thune (R-SD)$1,600,000$3,900,000
Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH)$435,200$2,800,000
21 Republicans
0 Democrats
Senate Total$31,881,70097,209,700

House Member2010 Wall Street CashCareer Wall Street Cash
Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La.$106,500$422,300
Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala.$611,600$4,400,000
Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C.$20,400$806,700
Rep. Marion Berry, D-Ark.$24,900$663,700
Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill.$395,000$1,900,000
Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.$1,200,000$3,800,000
Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio$1,300,000$3,700,000
Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Ala.$90,400$702,200
Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif.$190,000$733,400
Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark.$257,700$491,000
Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla.$123,100$722,200
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va.$92,700$1,400,000
Rep. Charles Boustany Jr, R-La.$226,300$934,600
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas$157,000$840,500
Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C.$35,700$494,000
Rep. Vernon Buchanan, R-Fla.$336,800$1,400,000
Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.$180,300$940,300
Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich.$588,000$1,700,000
Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif.$413,400$1,200,000
Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.$2,100,000$4,400,000
Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del.$749,100$3,200,000
Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C.$23,400$502,500
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla.$110,000$686,000
Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas$161,500$711,800
Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla.$86,100$717,000
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas$90,600$606,900
Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa.$177,900$881,000
Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas$324,200$1,900,000
Rep.Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich.$8,500$292,200
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo.$143,900$904,400
Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Okla($1,000)$340,700
Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J.$86,200$840,300
Rep. Jim Gerlach, R-Pa.$251,600$1,800,000
Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas$140,000$1,100,000
Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif.$171,500$1,100,000
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich.($1,000)$300,600
Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C.0$572,800
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y.$173,900$1,600,000
Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.$1,900,000$4,200,000
Rep. John Kline, R-Minn$170,900$989,100
Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.$31,800$748,000
Rep. Daniel E. Lungren, R-Calif.$147,700$622,500
Rep. Howard McKeon, R-Calif.$132,100$1,100,000
Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif.$144,500$902,000
Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz.$130,900$558,000
Rep. Sue Myrick, R-S.C.$93,600$1,200,000
Rep. Soloman Ortiz, D-Texas$40,200$381,700
Rep. George Radanovich, R-Calif.$24,900$462,000
Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.$128,200$1,000,000
Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky.$50,200$468,000
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.$127,000$986,000
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.$531,500$1,900,000
Rep. Jean Schmidt, R-Ohio$121,900$519,700
Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz.$39,700$1,200,000
Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa.$30,700$403,600
Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Ind.$20,500$266,900
Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo.$112,500$524,200
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas$258,900$1,300,000
Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind.$40,500$405,800
Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio$169,300$476,300
Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla.$79,200$494,800
Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb.$202,600$1,400,000
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas$42,500$603,400
Rep. Patrick Tiberi, R-Ohio$555,500$2,800,000
Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich.$81,700$929,400
Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore.$180,700$732,400
Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn.0$715,700
Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C.$155,500$580,200
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.$90,400$1,100,000
60 Republicans$15,873,400$72,443,800
9 Democrats$1,108,400$7,233,000
House Total$16,981,800$79,676,800