Slouching Towards Oblivion

Monday, June 03, 2019

A Slight Hint Of Movement


The fuckery of Cult45 is not really the point, except as it provides cover for the radical right's project to dismantle the American republic and replace it with a plutocratic regime.



The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.

Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
--George Orwell

Know your history:

Today's Tweet(s)



There's a very important thread here.


Sunday, June 02, 2019

Mayor Pete

One part of the exchange between Pete Buttigieg and Chris Wallace on DumFux News:

Buttigieg: I think the dialogue has gotten so caught up on where you draw the line that we’ve gotten away from the fundamental question of who gets to draw the line and I trust women to draw the line when it’s their own health.

Wallace: So just to be clear, you’re saying you would be okay with a woman, well into the third trimester deciding to abort her pregnancy.

Buttigieg: Look, these hypotheticals are usually set up in order to provoke a strong emotional --

Wallace: It’s not hypothetical, there are 6,000 women a year who get abortions in the third trimester.

Buttigieg: That’s right, representing less than 1 percent of cases. So let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a woman in that situation. If it’s that late in your pregnancy, then almost by definition, you’ve been expecting to carry it to term. We’re talking about women who have perhaps chosen a name. Women who have purchased a crib, families that then get the most devastating medical news of their lifetime, something about the health or the life of the mother or viability of the pregnancy that forces them to make an impossible, unthinkable choice. And the bottom line is as horrible as that choice is, that woman, that family may seek spiritual guidance, they may seek medical guidance, but that decision is not going to be made any better, medically or morally, because the government is dictating how that decision should be made."

To reiterate:

Today's Daddy State


They seek to alter reality itself.

From AL.com:

Investigators are scrambling to determine how many parents may have lost jobs, custody of their children and more after the owner of an Alabama laboratory was arrested for altering the results of drug and paternity tests.

AL.com reports that Ozark, Ala. police officers charged 36-year-old Brandy Murrah with two counts of forgery after authorities received evidence that someone had forged the results of two drug tests performed by A&J Lab Collections, which is owned by Murrah. Now authorities say that the two cases might just be the tip of the iceberg, alleging that multiple drug screenings may have been changed by Murrah, who, despite all appearances to the contrary, I cannot stress enough—is only 36 years old.

Murrah had a contract with Dale County’s Department of Human Resources Dependency court to perform drugs and paternity test on individuals involved in custody cases, but was not involved in criminal cases. The lab company was paid by the individual or reimbursed by DHR, if the testee could not afford it.

- and -

In 2013, Murrah was arrested and subsequently pleaded guilty to five counts of credit card fraud. She was sentenced to three years probation and yet somehow, the woman who was actually convicted of fraud was allowed to handle sensitive screenings that determined the futures of entire families.

To be clear, I don't know what Ms Murrah's political alignment is, but would it come as some great shock to find out she self-identifies as "conservative"?

Privatizing government is generally a very bad idea, even though we should always look to farm out some functions - not everything should be kept in-house.

But when this is the result:

“We have no idea at this time how many people did not get their children back because of Ms. Murrah’s alleged fraudulent reports,” Dale County, Ala., District Attorney Kirke Adams told the Dothan Eagle. “In my opinion, all cases affected by Murrah’s alleged actions must be redone in order to be fair.”

...and you just fucking know Murrah was taking a little something under the table on occasion, then it's gotta be really obvious that nobody's saving one fucking dime by allowing the private sector to handle it.

When the fuck did we start thinking it's OK not even to do a little oversight to make sure this kinda shit is less likely to happen?  Oh yeah - I forgot - budget cuts and that "starve-the-beast" bullshit from Grover Norquist.

Put the tax code back to where it belongs so we can adequately fund the proper functionality of government.

Today's Tweet



But is it "milkshaked" or should it be "milkshook"?


And are we sure it was a milkshake and not a malt?

Taking a page from the Radical Right playbook: If we get 'em arguing over the particulars of either the terminology or the physical aspects of the "weapon", then we won't have to worry about the need to address the behavior itself.

Saturday, June 01, 2019

Fake Lord Have Mercy


I'd really like it if this god joker could show up and fry one of these Christo-Jagoffs.

If I could count on that happening - even just once in a while - I might have to consider going back to church.

Friendly Atheist:

In 2016, Pastor B.J. Blackburn of Kentucky’s Elevate Church received national attention as the owner of a pizza chain called Giovanni’s of Prestonsburg because he made it very clear he ran a Christian establishment. He played Christian music over the speakers, put Bible verses on his receipts, and didn’t care who complained about it.
“We, here at Giovanni’s of Prestonsburg are unapologetically a Christ-based business that runs and operates with Christian values and principles. We wholeheartedly believe that we have been blessed the way that we have because of the goodness of God. We understand that this is not the view of every customer and/or business owner and we are not trying to push this view on anybody,” Blackburn wrote (in a now-deleted Facebook post).
You know where this post is going already, don’t you…?

Of course you do.

He’s a Christian who can’t stop telling you how Christian he is. This can only end one way. (Wait for the twist.)
Bobby “BJ” Blackburn is charged with using an electronic device to try to get a minor to engage in sexual activities. Police said he messaged an employee, who was a minor, and asked her to engage in a “threesome” with another minor, among other obscene messages.
On May 25, police said Blackburn followed a third minor to the station where she tried to give a statement saying she sent the obscene messaged from Blackburn’s phone. But when they questioned her further, she took back her statement and admitted that Blackburn told her to say it or she would lose her job.
Police tried obtaining Blackburn’s phone, but he allegedly threw it in a river. Like all innocent people do.

So if I have this right, Blackburn is now known for allegedly soliciting an underage girl for sex, destroying evidence, obstructing justice… and Jesus. Sounds about right.

If convicted, he faces up to five years in jail.

Should make for a fascinating sermon this Sunday.



Today's Tweet



How shitty do you have to treat people to make the kind of enemies for yourself that you become paranoid enough to think you need that level of "protection" - at the grocery store?

Maybe somebody oughta look into what the fuck this guy's been up to.

Today's Pix

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Today's Quote


Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.