Why does it always take this kinda weird shit to get us to pay attention? Maybe we have such a great need to be seen as hip enough to get the joke that it forces us to look into the background to figure out why it's supposed to be funny(?)
Dunno - but it's really interesting.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Huckabee
Mike Huckabee announced he's not running for president in 2012. I had him pegged as the the guy with the best chance to get the nomination so it comes as a surprise to begin with, but his stated reason seemed a bit odd to me.
“All the factors say go,” Huckabee said during a live, final segment of his eponymous Fox News Channel show Saturday night. “But my heart says no.”
Huckabee noted that while all of the “external” factors pointed toward him running, he only found an “inexplicable inner peace” when he decided not to enter the race. (from Chris Cillizza, WaPo)These guys always talk a huge game about service and sacrifice; and they aren't exactly reluctant about saying Obama is 10 kinds of horrible for the country, but apparently Huck's inner peace just couldn't possibly stand the inconvenience of it all. Plus, Huckabee did a lot of complaining in 08 about all the mean things people were saying about him. I guess saving us from the evil Obama just ain't really worth all that. Phony fuck.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Maverick Abides
This does not absolve John McCain for having become such a complete dick over the last dozen years or so, but I still hafta throw him a bone for trying to get back to his old self.
“The trail to bin Laden did not begin with a disclosure from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times. The first mention of Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti—the nickname of the al-Qaida courier who ultimately led us to bin Laden—as well as a description of him as an important member of al-Qaida, came from a detainee held in another country, who we believe was not tortured. None of the three detainees who were waterboarded provided Abu Ahmed’s real name, his whereabouts or an accurate description of his role in al-Qaida. In fact, the use of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed produced false and misleading information.”Here's a decent piece by Joe Conason at Truthdig
Police State
Calling all Libertarians and Anti-Gubmint Independents: This is what's happening in Indiana, after many years of "conservative" erosion of civil rights in the guise of "common sense laws and law enforcement"; and under the watchful eye of a very popular Republican, Governor Mitch Daniels.
This is what's happening because of who you've been allowing to get elected. Make no mistake here. Every time you say something like "they're all bad" or "they're all the same" or "why can't the ballot say None Of The Above" or anything else that's just fuckin' stupid, you're taking yourselves and others out of the process, which is exactly what these shit-heels want you to do.
(hat-tip to Little Green Footballs)
And the circular logical is impeccable. The police break down your door; they take whatever they want; they can stomp you and your family if you "resist" (and of course you will get stomped, because of course the cops will claim you resisted); and if you claim they've made a mistake, you can hire a lawyer (with whatever you can scrape together after the cops have taken everything) and go to court; but since you had no right to "resist" in the first place - even when it was an UNLAWFUL entry - you have no case.
Let me be clear (if that's at all possible at this point): The scenario above is not meant to illustrate what's bound to happen every time the cops go to somebody's door. There will be many more legitimate incursions than not. But that's not the point (that's NEVER the fucking point). The point is that when you grant the kind of power that this bullshit decision entails, you will get abuse - because you're inviting abuse. Get it?
This is what's happening because of who you've been allowing to get elected. Make no mistake here. Every time you say something like "they're all bad" or "they're all the same" or "why can't the ballot say None Of The Above" or anything else that's just fuckin' stupid, you're taking yourselves and others out of the process, which is exactly what these shit-heels want you to do.
(hat-tip to Little Green Footballs)
INDIANAPOLIS— People have no right to resist if police officers illegally enter their home, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in a decision that overturns centuries of common law.
The court issued its 3-2 ruling on Thursday, contending that allowing residents to resist officers who enter their homes without any right would increase the risk of violent confrontation. If police enter a home illegally, the courts are the proper place to protest it, Justice Steven David said.
“We believe … a right to resist an unlawful police entry into a home is against public policy and is incompatible with modern Fourth Amendment jurisprudence,” David said. “We also find that allowing resistance unnecessarily escalates the level of violence and therefore the risk of injuries to all parties involved without preventing the arrest.”Chicago Tribune
And the circular logical is impeccable. The police break down your door; they take whatever they want; they can stomp you and your family if you "resist" (and of course you will get stomped, because of course the cops will claim you resisted); and if you claim they've made a mistake, you can hire a lawyer (with whatever you can scrape together after the cops have taken everything) and go to court; but since you had no right to "resist" in the first place - even when it was an UNLAWFUL entry - you have no case.
Let me be clear (if that's at all possible at this point): The scenario above is not meant to illustrate what's bound to happen every time the cops go to somebody's door. There will be many more legitimate incursions than not. But that's not the point (that's NEVER the fucking point). The point is that when you grant the kind of power that this bullshit decision entails, you will get abuse - because you're inviting abuse. Get it?
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Let Fly
The prize for Scary-Freaky Zealotry today goes to the commenters at the DumFux News website.
A few samples from the comments section on the post regarding the "poetry event" at the White House, featuring a rapper called Common (via: Little Green Footballs).
A few samples from the comments section on the post regarding the "poetry event" at the White House, featuring a rapper called Common (via: Little Green Footballs).
nativeson1 6 minutes ago in reply to nickthecat
DONT RE-NIG IN 2012 !
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elsargento 6 minutes ago in reply to idahojon
HOW TO WINK AT A N I 6 6 E R. HOLD YOUR WEAPON OUT STRAIGHT AND CLOSE ONE EYE. NUFF SAID.
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paintaz Just now
Another classless move, from a classless president………….they will be bustin out some fortys !
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contributorj Just now
i wonder if moochelle will sneak off and perform a common bj…..
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kingtiger44 Just now
All in attendence will recieve a white lawn jockey statue, and a coupon for KFC.
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kingtiger44 18 minutes ago
Animal Control responded after a report of loose porch monkey’s.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
We Are So Fucked
Back to a once-familiar theme of this blog from about a year ago: bend over and grease up, America.
Daily Censored (by Michael Collins):
Daily Censored (by Michael Collins):
Official unemployment is around 9%. That excludes the marginally employed and under employed. Adding those two groups takes unemployment up to 15.9%. Add the long-term unemployed and the figure climbs to nearly 23%.
When you have 23% real unemployment/underemployment among those willing and able to work, you have budget deficits at every level of government. Businesses fail or slow down. Governments reduce or eliminate services. People lose their homes and health insurance. Credit ratings dive, making it more expensive or impossible to borrow for any reason, including emergencies. The unemployed contribute much less to the economy, which shrinks substantially, leading to more under or unemployment. There future darkens. All that’s left is hope, a commodity of little use today.
If you’re part of the financial elite in crowd, you don’t need hope. You’re about to get another big payday. Much lower taxes and relaxed regulation of foreign exchange derivatives are on the way.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
A Terrible Secret
In the very short time she served as Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin's single greatest achievement was...wait for it...raising taxes! There's a fair probability that it wasn't actually her idea - more often than not, it's the staffers who come up with these things - but she pushed hard for a program of taxing oil company profits in order to give Alaskans a share of their state's great mineral wealth. And she did it by going out of her way to get the Dems to support her efforts.
via Joshua Green:
And here's where politics is so fucking weird that I just have to love it in all its perverse glory: no politician is going to talk about it out in the open. Obama can't point at it as a good example of appropriate regulation because then he has to give props to Palin for getting it done. And Palin sure as hell can't talk about it because it directly contradicts the party-line dogma about government interference.
But the main thing is the same ol' crap that talking about taxation is considered political poison. There's a program in place that fills the coffers of a (very red) state government, while not hindering the profitability of Big Oil, but it seems nobody anywhere else is allowed to make any serious effort at getting hugely profitable corporations off the dole, much less getting them just to pay the taxes they already owe. This is just too weird.
via Joshua Green:
...she managed to solve, at least for a time, the problem that lay at the heart of Alaska's politics for a generation: how to break the oil companies' grip on the state and capture a fair share of their profits for Alaskans. Palin's major achievement was winning an oil tax that did just that and was called Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share (ACES).Shocking, ain't it?
And here's where politics is so fucking weird that I just have to love it in all its perverse glory: no politician is going to talk about it out in the open. Obama can't point at it as a good example of appropriate regulation because then he has to give props to Palin for getting it done. And Palin sure as hell can't talk about it because it directly contradicts the party-line dogma about government interference.
But the main thing is the same ol' crap that talking about taxation is considered political poison. There's a program in place that fills the coffers of a (very red) state government, while not hindering the profitability of Big Oil, but it seems nobody anywhere else is allowed to make any serious effort at getting hugely profitable corporations off the dole, much less getting them just to pay the taxes they already owe. This is just too weird.
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