Cue The Silliness

Get ready for the PhotoShop versions, which should start to surface any minute now.

Perspective

Abortion is about the biggest decision anybody is ever likely to have to make.
Which is pretty much why government should probably stay out of it.
Which is exactly why "conservatives" should be against letting the government anywhere near it.

hat tip = bluegal via facebook

I Love A Parody

You've prob'ly seen this junk before - surely you have some chowderhead relative or a half-bright buddy who sends you those emails everybody loves.

Here's an interesting little twist courtesy of shortpacked.com.
(hat tip = JG)

Once you get to the site, mouse over the figures in the painting for the commentary.

Today's Pix

Voter ID

Getting on airplanes and driving cars and cashing checks and having a drink are all things I dearly love being able to do.

But I actually have an obligation to go out and vote.  It's my right, and since every right carries a responsibility, it's the duty of everybody in this country to participate in our little experiment in self-government.

So I have to insist that you get the fuck outa my way and let me do it.  Thank you.

According To Pew

“Too Much” Religious Talk by Politicians

I won't go along with the part about "most people think churches should stay out of politics altogether", but I do think we've been flirting with disaster by allowing religious leaders to enact certain of their beliefs into law.

The US was founded by people who generally indicated they held religious beliefs that ran from Full-On Ayatollah to 'meh', and a lot of them mentioned God in public and in private - usually, I think, more as a rhetorical device than anything else, but maybe that's just me.  Here's my deal though: the US was founded by guys who believed in a variety of tenets from the Judeo-Christian smorgasbord, so it's almost a flat-out lie to say "this is a Christian Nation".  Can we knock that shit off now please?

The Real Mitt Romney

The Romneybot

Rachel gets a little preachy and I can do without that, but she's ridiculously diligent and astute about politics and the shit candidates have to pull (or get stuck thinking they have to pull), so she rarely gets this het up.

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

I just wanted to get this into the blog so I could find it later.  This is a good breakdown of the kind of stoopid shit our candidates put themselves thru to get elected.  Also a pretty good commentary on how too many of us end up seeming to demand these guys lie to us.

Goldwater's GOP

Barry Goldwater pretty much screwed the pooch in 1964 with the whole "extremism in the defense of liberty" thing, but he became a hero for me again over time because he allowed his thinking to evolve, while staying true to the core principles of American Democracy.

On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.

I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in "A," "B," "C" and "D." Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?

And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of "conservatism."

--and--

Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.

Everything Comes From Somewhere Else

The first 40 seconds of this clip will forever be in my mind whenever I ponder how a leech like Rush Limbaugh came to be.



Is it really that much of stretch to think this is where he got the idea?