Tag Archives: conservative

The “New” Face of the GOP

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
White Male House GOP Committee Chairs

From the DailyKos story, the 19 House Committee chairs named by Republicans this week. Hmmm...what do these 19 folks all have in common? Is the face of the "new" Republican Party, the one that supposedly learned a lesson from the 2012 elections?

Three weeks after the election, and it’s quite obvious that Republicans have already forgotten the lessons learned about the electorate, about diversity, and about moderating stances.  As these stories from Slate and the DailyKos note, EVERY House GOP Committee chair that’s been named so far is a white male.  Shocking!!!  As my wife would state, the “Hairy Old White Men” still rule the roost in the GOP house. 

After two straight presidential elections that have proven Republicans can’t rely on the “White Vote” strategy any longer, there were immediate calls from many on the right to become more inclusive.  Boehner and the GOP leadership in the House missed that memo.  As I’ve stated before, I GLADLY support the status quo in the Republican Party leadership.  As long as the status quo holds, as long as Republicans cling to policies and behavior from the past, they’re destined to lose many more elections.

There were also many after the election who claimed it was the death knell of the Tea Party, that Tea Party conservatism was too extreme for the American public.  There’s little doubt that the Tea Party backed candidates performed miserably in Congressional races, and helped contribute to the stunning Democratic gains in the Senate, when by every historical standard, Republicans should have gained Senate seats this cycle.  So have Republicans begun to move towards more moderate candidates?

Virginia Republicans certainly haven’t learned their lesson.  In a state Romney was sure he’d win, in a traditionally “safe” Republican state that’s now shifted to blue the last 2 elections, Virginia Republicans have rallied around conservative lightning rod Ken Cuccinelli for governor in 2013. Among Cuccinelli’s MANY claims to fame?  Trying to sue a Virginia climate-change scientist to release his emails…opposing ObamaCare…opposing limits on carrying guns…opposing rights or assistance for illegal immigrants…and the hits keep on a comin’. 

Bravo, Repubs.  Don’t give in!  Don’t go against what you believe in!!  Don’t deviate from your current single-minded focus on turning the U.S. into a conservative Nirvana!! 

As long as you continue to act as if the 2012 election never happened…Democrats like myself will be fat and happy for a VERY long time.

Posted in Culture Wars, Politics

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Video – Human Impact on the Atmosphere

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Terry| Leave a comment
New York - Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Video produced as part of a study for Mayor Bloomberg's office in New York City. This screen capture from the video shows how much carbon dioxide is emitted from New York EVERY DAY. That's the Empire State Building sticking out of the top.

One of the arguments often made by conservatives, especially religious conservatives, is that man simply can’t affect the atmosphere enough to be causing global warming.  There are many on the religious right who believe mankind doesn’t have the power to change the planet to that degree, that only God has the ability to control the Earth and its environment. 

This is a great video to help folks understand the impact human beings have on the environment:

New York City – Carbon Dioxide Emissions Video

The video was produced as part of a study by Mayor Bloomberg’s office, on the long-term effects of carbon emissions.  It’s one thing to explain to people just how much carbon dioxide people emit.  It’s another to graphically depict exactly how large one ton of carbon dioxide is, and the cumulative emissions of carbon dioxide over time.

Striking video…even more striking when you consider this just depicts carbon dioxide emissions for one city, over what’s a blink of an eye in terms of the Earth’s history.  When you imagine the emissions depicted in this video, multiplied millions of times over from emissions all over the planet, year after year, it’s hard to deny that human beings are significantly impacting the earth’s atmosphere.  It’s impossible to deny that human beings are the cause of global warming.

Posted in Climate Change

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Election Day! Final odds, and why Obama has won

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
Election Day

Last election day odds, with all indicators continuing to move up for Obama. Click for a larger view.

From the five sites I’ve been looking at, the final numbers of Obama’s election chances.  With national polls nearly all showing a Obama lead, and with Obama expanding leads in key swing states, all the sites went up for Obama over the last 24 hours.  InTrade continues to be the lowest one, but will be the one I’ll likely be following as the day goes on.  As exit polls are released, as turnout numbers are more understood, InTrade will be moving rather quickly.  You’ll likely see a big move on InTrade tonight long before any “calls” have been made by the pundits or news coverage.

With election day comes what I think will be an indictment of what the Republican party has become, and an indictment of how they’ve conducted this election.  By any historical measure, Obama should be losing this election.  If Obama is re-elected, he will be the president elected with the highest unemployment rate since Roosevelt. Just a fact…I myself think that given the economic hole he inherited, and compared to the recovery (or lack thereof) in Europe and elsewhere, the U.S. recovery has been more than adequate.  Despite the economic woes…Obama WILL win tonight.

Why is he defying history and winning?  Look no further than what the Republican party has become.  This is now 2 presidential elections in a row where relatively moderate Republican candidates have been forced to become something they’re not…hard-core, right-wing, “severely” conservative candidates.  In both cases, John McCain and Mitt Romney used to be men I at least respected, although I didn’t always agree with their views.  McCain especially WAS indeed a “maverick”, adopting views that conflicted with Republican party stances.  However, starting in the primaries, McCain had to move to the right to appease the ideologues controlling the puppet strings in the Republican party.  Immigration?  A one-time champion of immigration reform had to toughen his stance, as he had to do on many issues.  The end result of 2008 was a John McCain who had been battered and bruised, whose reputation as a maverick evaporated.  The John McCain of 2008 to 2012 became a bitter man, a former maverick turned spokesman for the far right.  It’s remarkable to look at the McCain prior to his presidential run, and the man he’s become after.

I don’t think Mitt Romney was ever as much of a “maverick” as John McCain, but as a Republican governor in a very blue state, he was relatively moderate on many issues.  Despite Romney’s running away from his own health care accomplishments in Massachusetts, his health care reform law WAS a blueprint for national health-care reform, with many of ObamaCare’s components relatively similar to Romney’s Massachusetts plan.  Much like McCain, however, Romney had to move far to the right during the primaries.  Running against much more ideologically conservative candidates such as Rick Santorum, Michelle Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, and Rick Perry, Romney suddenly became “severely” conservative.  Romney, like all the other candidates, were forced to verbalize agreement with the most conservative, and ridiculous, of platforms, such as agreeing that even $1 of tax increases for every $10 of spending cuts was unacceptable.  The “severely” conservative Romney was never comfortable with the new persona.  Given the complete nitwits he was running against for the nomination, it took surprisingly long for him to dispatch the likes of a Rick Santorum and win the nomination.  For several months after winning the nomination, all the way through the Republican convention, “severely” conservative Mitt continued to play the role as the ideological leader of the 21st century caricature of the Republican Party.

What was obvious though…it wasn’t working.  Even during the summer, when it was less apparent that the economy is picking up steam, Romney struggled with his message, and struggled in the polls against Obama.  It wasn’t until the Denver debate that a glimmer of hope appeared for Romney, and it was because Romney suddenly jolted back towards the center, with more moderate stances on many issues. Throughout the last month, the October version of Romney (one of many versions) agreed with Obama’s views on many policies, particularly foreign policy.  The October version of Romney was more true to his political past, with a more pragmatic, centrist viewpoint on some issues.  With the October version of Romney came “Ro-mentum” and a reversal of poll numbers moving towards Romney.  Elated Republicans saw it as a sign that Romney would indeed win.

The first debate bounce was short-lived.  Republican operatives, pundits, and “news” sources like Fox continued to report on “Ro-mentum”, with some Republican operatives in the last week even proclaiming a large Romney electoral college win.  In the meantime, however, the objective evidence showed that “Ro-mentum” lasted just a week or two, before polls again started to consistently move in Obama’s favor.  Romney simply wasn’t an ideologue, with many pundits discussing Romney as the least ideological candidate in many years.  Romney focus has always been more on WINNING the job, rather than focusing on what he’d do once elected.  Tax cuts!  Shrinking government!  Strengthening the military!  All while magically balancing the budget!!  The general “goals” were there, but Romney/Ryan constantly refused to reveal any specifics as to how they would accomplish their miraculous goals.  Despite a more moderate Romney appearing in October, his constant flip-flopping on issues registered doubt among voters, who again began to move towards Obama.  In the last 2 weeks of the campaign, an ever-more desperate Romney campaign turned to a campaign focused on deception, where Obama’s bailout of the auto industry somehow became a negative rather than a positive for states like Ohio and Michigan.  Given the popularity of the auto bailout in the upper Midwest, Romney was always going to have a hard time winning Ohio.  His strategy of trying to scare Ohio voters has blown up in his face, with condemnation of the Romney/Ryan campaign ads almost universal (outside of Fox News).

The October Romney has proven to be just as weak a candidate as the “severely conservative” Romney of the primaries.   It’s been incredibly difficult for voters to understand just what he stands for, and his reputation is likely forever damaged from the deceptive, negative campaign he’s turned to in the last few weeks.

Just a week or two ago, Republican pundits were giddy over “Ro-mentum” and the coming Romney presidency.  “Landslide” was even a term uttered by some misguided Republican operatives.  The polls?  Irrelevant!!  They had “Ro-mentum”!   According to  Republicans, the Romney election would be a vindication of the Republican platform and campaign strategy, and an indictment of not just Obama’s policies and first term, but an indictment against “biased” mainstream media and “biased” polling operations.

Obama will win today, leaving bewildered Republicans to curse and gnash their teeth, wondering how a (supposedly) Muslim, non-citizen, socialist, black (gasp!) man like Obama could win a second term.  The answer is pretty simple, Republicans.

It’s not because of a liberal media bias.  It’s not because of biased polls.  It’s not because of “luck”, or Hurricane Sandy.   Obama will win election simply because he better represents the American electorate than does Romney, or the Republican Party as a whole.  The Republican party is at a crossroads.  The Tea Party movement of a few years ago may have propelled Republicans to a majority in the House of Representatives, but that may very well be the last signficant political accomplishment of the new, “severely” conservative Republican Party.  The new “severely” conservative version of the Republican Party is now associated with the likes of Todd Akin…Richard Mourdock…and the “severely” conservative version of Mitt Romney.  The new “severely” conservative version of the Republican Party is one that’s doubled-down on a strategy based on winning the White vote, particularly the vote of White men.  The new “severely” conservative Republican Party has lost this election because they’ve abandoned women.  They’ve abandoned minorities. They’ve abandoned the poor.  They’ve become a party that represents rich, powerful, white men.  While this election has shown the power of money in the political process, it has also equally shown the limitations of money.  Money can’t compensate for a party platform based on exclusion…hate…intolerance…and greed.

Sorry Republicans, you have four more years of Obama, and if you’re looking for someone to blame (as I’m sure you are)…perhaps you should think long and hard while you’re looking in the mirror this morning.  You can’t build a political party on hate.  In America, our democracy WORKS, and you can’t build a political party by pandering only to the rich and powerful.   Obama has won this election because he, and the Democratic Party, BETTER REPRESENT WHAT AMERICA WANTS than does the Republican Party.

Republicans, you have four years to change course.  I’ve seen some rather ridiculous statements from Republican pundits who claim the problems with the party are easily “fixable”.  I’ve seen statements that simply providing more female candidates in 2016 should “fix” the party’s standing with women.  Good luck with that, Republicans.  Your problems run MUCH deeper than that, as if running out a few female candidates could overcome your lack of respect for women’s issues.  Also, with the changing demographics in the United States, minorities are gaining about 1.5% of the voting share with each 4-year election.  Republicans, frankly, I HOPE you continue down the path that the Tea Party and the right-wing ideologues of your party has set.

I hope you continue down that path, because that path leads to nowhere but complete irrelevance for your party.

FOUR…MORE…YEARS!!!!

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You are NOT entitled to your opinion – Shut the hell up

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment

From Patrick Stokes, here’s a nice piece on why you are sometimes NOT “entitled to your opinion”.   The point he’s making is that you are only “entitled” to an opinion that you can make a coherent argument for.  He uses an example of anti-vaccination paranoia to make his point, where the manic anti-vaccine crowd doesn’t have a scientific leg to stand on.  Science is science, fact is fact.  If your opinion is based on conjecture, intuition, “faith”, or other factor not supported by the facts?  Then you are NOT entitled to your opinion, when trying to argue against science and against fact.

Thus, a “Shut the Hell Up” topic for this post.  As we enter the home stretch of the presidential election, it’s rather laughable to read some of the opinions of those on the right.  Do you believe any of the following?  If so, then please do everyone else a favor, and save yourself some embarrassment.  Just Shut…the…hell…up.

- Obama Muslim? Obama a non-citizen? – Do I need to even mention these? Are you a disgusting, racist, pig-of-a-human being who believes Obama is not a citizen?  Do you believe that historical newspaper reports and a birth certificate are simply part of some massive conspiracy? Are you a disgusting, racist, pig-of-a-human being who refers to Obama as “Barack Husein Obama” and believes he’s secretly a Muslim?  If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, PLEASE…SHUT…THE…HELL…UP.

- Evolution Denial – Science is based on theory.  Theories are tested, with evidence either supporting or negating hypotheses.  With evolution, the evidence is extremely clear, both in the fossil record, and in real-world, observable processes.  Do you believe in creationism?  I really don’t care if you believe some omnipotent, all-powerful entity created the earth and the universe, IF you can reconcile that in your own mind with the science.  Do you believe evolution is false?  Do you believe evolution is a “lie straight from hell”, like Paul Broun, quite possibly the most ignorant congressman in the U.S.?  Do you belive the earth is just a few thousand years old?  If so, then SHUT…THE…HELL…UP.  Save yourself the embarrassment that’s sure to come whenever you open your mouth.

- Climate Change Denial – Possibly as soon as 5 years from now, the Arctic will be ice-free in the summer for the first time in at least 13 million years.  The U.S. is about to set a record for its warmest year ever.  Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels continue to rise, and the scientific evidence continues to overwhelmingly point to not only a warming climate, but a warming climate caused by anthropogenic activity.  Do you believe climate change isn’t real?  Do you believe scientists and liberals are involved in some unprecedented, massive conspiracy to somehow consolidate government power by pointing to climate change?  Do you believe that climate change is occurring, but humans have nothing to do with it?  If so…SHUT…THE…HELL…UP.

- Polls are politically biased – Just one week ago, before the debates, conservative talking heads and blogs were expressing outrage over the liberal bias of polls that showed Obama with a healthy and growing lead over Romney.  Obama with a 6-point lead in Ohio?  A 5-point lead in Florida?  BALONEY, said those on the right!  It’s a liberal conspiracy to discourage Republicans and depress voter turnout from the right!!  One short week later, and an Obama debate flop has the poll trends strongly reversing towards Romney. Hey Rush?  Do you still think the polls are biased toward Obama?  How about you other buffoons and blowhards who scoff at polls when they show Democrats ahead?  GMAFB.  The very success and long-term continuance of polling entities depends on them being RIGHT.  If they’re wrong, they are ignored in future elections and the polling group goes out of business.  Are you one of those idiots who thinks political polls are purposely biased towards Democrats?  Do you think there’s some conspiracy in the polls to depress Republican turnout?  If so, then SHUT…THE…HELL…UP.

- 1997 Michigan was better than 1997 Nebraska - A bit off topic, but…do you believe the 1997 Michigan Wolverines would beat the 1997 Nebraska Cornhuskers?  Do you believe the Wolverines were “robbed” when a perfect, 13-0 Nebraska team finished first in the coaches poll, while the Wolverines finished first in the AP poll?  Puh-lease.  The Nebraska ground game easily wears down the Wolverine defense, and the Blackshirts dominate the Wolverines.  Final score if they’d have played?  Nebraska 31, Michigan 13.  Do you believe the Wolverines were the better team?  Laughable!  SHUT…THE…HELL…UP.

- Unemployment numbers manipulated by Obama and Liberals - Unemployment numbers out last week were good by any measure, with unemployment falling to 7.8%.  Good news, right?  Well, to nutjob conservatives, ANYTHING positive that could EVER be attributed to Obama has to be a lie!  A liberal conspiracy!  Clearly Obama has somehow influenced the unemployment statistics!  Are you one of those conservative wackos who believes last week’s unemployment numbers were altered by Obama?  Please, just SHUT…THE…HELL…UP.

- Romney Budget Miracle - Do you believe that you can simultaneously 1) Cut taxes 2) Maintain or raise military spending, and 3) balance the budget?  Romney/Ryan seem to believe in such a formula for long-term fiscal sanity.  Do you believe it’s possible?  GMAFB….SHUT…THE…HELL…UP.

- Voter ID Regulations Are About Voter Fraud – Report after report show that voter fraud in the U.S. is insignificant.  However, a number of states have pushed strict voter ID regulations, with Republican-led state legislatures and governors leading the charge to increase scrutiny of in-person voters.  If in-person voter fraud isn’t an issue, if very few instances have been documented…why the push by Republican state legislatures to push for very strict voter ID laws?  Under oath, I don’t think you’d even get most Republicans to say the laws are about curbing voter fraud.  It’s about suppressing votes by minorities and other groups who historically lean very heavily towards Democrats.  It’s a form of discrimination, it’s a form of racism, it’s about voter suppression.  If you believe it’s actually about voter fraud?  You’re an idiot…SHUT…THE…HELL…UP.

Posted in Culture Wars, Deep Thoughts, Politics

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The corruption of American exceptionalism

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
American Exceptionalism?

Is THIS what defines America? What makes us great? What makes us "strong"?

I had a recent post on a different blog topic where someone asked why it (supposedly) was that Obama is “more angry” at the maker of the offensive film about Muslims, than he was about the attacks on U.S. interests.  That’s obviously not true, but what strikes me is the attitude many Americans have adopted about recent events, including politicians and others who should know better.

It seems that what many Americans want Obama to do is to start to threaten retaliation for the recent attacks, to show “American strength”.  Obama, of course, is doing what he has to do in this situation…walk a very fine line, making it clear that such attacks will not be tolerated, while at the same time stopping short of aggravating the situation by further angering those with grievances against America.  It’s an impossible situation.  Muslim culture just doesn’t recognize the same freedom of speech that we enjoy.  They simply can’t comprehend that such a film could be produced in America, without the express consent of the government and its people.  They view it as an attack on their belief system, with the backing of the American government.  It’s a ridiculous notion of course, to hold an entire nation accountable for the actions of a handful of people.  But if Obama handled the situation the way Romney and Ryan said they would have handled it?  We’d be looking at even more bloodshed right now.

What bothers me is that the Romney/Ryan/Conservative/Republican reaction to the events of the past week is so pervasive in America.  There seems to be this line of thinking that the U.S., the most powerful nation on earth, can dictate foreign events like some puppet master pulling the strings.  There seems to be a line of thinking that ANY world event, ANY foreign entity that goes against American interests, should be threatened into submission, that our military might alone is what dictates American power.

In short, American exceptionalism has been co-opted by those who believe that American Might is what makes America what it is.  It’s a complete corruption of the idea of American exceptionalism, the belief that we’ve “got it right” in terms of our freedoms and system of governance.  To far too many Americans, “American Exceptionalism” means that other people’s systems of governance, or at a more basic level, other people’s belief systems, are unimportant compared to American ideals.  It’s ironic that American exceptionalism, built on the incredible freedoms we enjoy, has been corrupted such that far too many Americans think we should simply impose our will on others who may not share our beliefs.

It’s a belief that is SO ingrained in Americans, that even at a time of economic crisis, where the very long-term survival of our nation may be at stake, that military spending is “untouchable”.  For fools like Romney, Ryan, and much of the Right, they believe it’s the American military that is what makes us strong, what defines us.  It also seems that a complete disrespect for “un-American” belief systems goes hand-in-hand with this focus on military superiority.  Might makes right!  Our military, along with our supposedly “superior” belief system, means that simply threatening military action or retaliation should be enough to quell the violence that’s occurring right now.

Such a paradigm is destroying our way of life, not making us stronger.  Instead of investing in our future, we’re spending more than the rest of the world, combined, on a military that is simply irrelevant in bringing long-term peace to areas like the Middle East.  After 10 years in Iraq and Afghanistan…is America “stronger”?  Have we done ANYTHING to solve the long-term issues in the Middle East?  Or has this corrupted version of American exceptionalism just ensured that future generations in the Middle East will grow up resenting, and even hating, this foreign power that tries to impose their will on people’s of the Middle East?

It’s scary what’s happening in the Middle East right now.  It’s scary how misguided the people are who are involved in the violence.  But it’s also scary to look at American attitudes back home, and the belief that American “might” should be used to counteract the violence.

Posted in Culture Wars, Politics

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Against Gay Marriage? Not a “Policy Choice” – You’re a Bigot

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment

In the aftermath of a man attacking a Christian conservative group’s headquarters, the blame game began.  I find it truly amazing how people can blame the “other” political party for just about anything nowadays. The leader of the band Megadeth went on a rant at a recent concert, and personally blamed OBAMA for all the mass shootings lately, implying that the shootings were all backed by Obama so he could get more support for gun control legislation.  Heck, at my work, a colleague flying back from a meeting sat by someone who complained about how cramped the seating was in coach, and personally blamed Obama, saying “it will be better once Obama is out of office”. 

It seems with ANY significant event, there’s a race by both political parties to try to define the event in terms of “blame”…with each party typically somehow twisting storylines to somehow direct blame towards the other party.  Sure enough, with the idiot started blasting away at this Christian group’s headquarters, the blame game began.

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins blamed organizations “like the Southern Law Policy Center”, for labeling groups like his as “hate groups”.  Perkins went on to say it was “reckless” to labels groups like that “hate groups” due to what HE said were “policy” viewpoints.

My point of the post isn’t the “blame game” itself…that’s the topic of another forthcoming blog post.  My problem with what Perkins and groups like his say is that they’re just promoting an alternative, viable “policy”.

If I may be so bold…if you are against gay marriage…YOU…ARE…A…BIGOT.  Plain and simple.  Black-and-white.  I really get sick of groups like Perkins’ group talking about “preserving the sanctity of marriage”, blah, blah, blah.   What complete and utter bullshit, PARTICULARLY when most of these groups are ALSO against civil unions or anything ELSE that recognizes that gay couples should have the same LEGAL rights as all other human beings, whether you call it  a “marriage” or not. 

A gay, married coupled in NO WAY affects the marriage of ANY  OTHER HUMAN BEING, other than the couple themselves.  PLEASE, Mr. Perkins, tell me how the marriage of a gay couple in ANY WAY affects the marriage between me and my wife.   What’s that?  You can’t do it?

Then pardon me if I DO label groups like yours as “hate groups”.  There is NO other point to your “policy” viewpoint, other than to hatefully discriminate against another group of human beings. 

The idiot who started blasting away at this group’s headquarters is a nutjob, no doubt.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m obviously in no way condoning such action.  But in the blame game that has followed, I can’t allow Mr. Perkins and others like him to get a free pass for the complete bullshit that they’re spouting.

Posted in Culture Wars

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Romney’s “Perfect” VP pick

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
Mitt Romney

It's amazing how often you watch Romney and see just how damned uncomfortable, how unhappy, he looks. I would be too, if I had sold my soul. The man is a caricature of his former self.

With today’s announcement of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate, Romney has again reminded us what today’s Republican Party stands for.  Following in the footsteps of John McCain, the last, failed Republican candidate, the once moderate, pragmatic Romney has completed his conversion to right-wing wacko.  The pick proves that it is the Rush Limbaugh’s of the world and corporate America who really runs the Republican party, not the everyday American voter.

I respected McCain before the last election.  He was indeed a “maverick”, someone who fought for what he thought was right, regardless of his party’s view on a particular issue.  That all went out the window once he ran for president, and it’s carried over into his bitter, post-election loss political life.  Now, McCain is a shell of of his former self, having been “assimilated” (Borg-style!) into the rest of the conservative, right-wing, wacko component of the Republican party.

It’s amazing how Romney has followed the same path.  Romney has somehow transformed from a moderate governor of a liberal state, from a champion of health care reform, into a sniveling wimp who kowtows to the most radical in the Republican Party.  The Ryan announcement is just verification of the transformation.  The architect of a budget plan so extreme, so completely unrealistic that even huge numbers of Republicans distanced themselves from it as much as they could, was strongly backed by the most radical and conservative people and institutions in th U.S.

And, as usual nowadays for the Republican Party…the radical wing of the party “won”, and got their man as the VP candidate.  I really wonder how men like McCain and Romney can look in the mirror in the morning, knowing how they’ve completely sold their souls for the sake of winning an election.  There’s really no word to describe it other than….pathetic.

Posted in Politics

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Hairy Old White Men Strike Again

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Terry| 4 Comments
Hairy Old White Men

Hairy old white men strike again, voting against a bill that would improve women's pay equality in comparison to men.

A picture is worth a thousand words.  In this picture, Senate Republicans are explaining why they refused to vote for a bill aimed to improve pay equality between men and women.

And what is it you note about this picture?  Ah yes, that’s right…THEY’RE ALL HAIRY OLD WHITE MEN!!! (Again…a phrase coined by my wife).  In another example of how COMPLETELY out of touch Republicans are, not only did every single Republican vote against this bill, but the cadre of Senators they chose to come out and speak to the press about it are all HAIRY OLD WHITE MEN. 

The not quite as “old” Hairy White Man in the back is our own beloved Senator John Thune from South Dakota.  Or, as I like to refer to him….”Worthless Piece of Shit Thune“.  This is the same bold, independent thinker who responded with “I can’t vote for that!  I’m a Republican!!” when my wife and I met with him to talk about a stem cell research bill up before the Senate (research that could help my son with Type 1 diabetes).   PERFECT photo of what Thune is ALL about…standing in the background, hanging on every word that his older HAIRY OLD WHITE MAN colleagues are saying, so he can repeat the same exact words later.  I laugh whenever I hear the man mentioned as a possible VP candidate.  My GOD, has America become SO pathetic that a man like him is even MENTIONED for something like that?

Thune may not be “old”, but he definitely qualifies as a HAIRY OLD WHITE MAN nonetheless.  To qualify, you must:

1) Lack any kind of independent thought, always blindly voting the Republican party line.

2) ALWAYS vote against ANY bill that attempts to improve rights or living standards for any one who is NOT 1) white 2) a man, or 3) in the richest 1% of all Americans.

3) Be a rather repugnant human being overall, someone you’d hope to god your daughters wouldn’t ever marry.

In other words…you just have to simply be like seemingly 99% of Republican men nowadays.  I HEAR there are supposedly a few Republican men who aren’t HAIRY OLD WHITE MEN, but I have yet to find one.  As a birder, I’m still hopeful that birds such as the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Bachmann’s Warbler, or Eskimo Curlew may be hanging on somewhere and aren’t extinct. 

I’m starting to feel the same way about Republicans.  Are there ANY of the supposed “Compassionate Conservatives” (HAH!!!) that Bush talked about? Or have ALL Republicans gone off the deep end?  Have they all gone the way of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker or Eskimo Curlew??

I take heart that given the Republican’s love of rich people and HAIRY OLD WHITE MEN, pretty soon those few Republicans who AREN’T HAIRY OLD WHITE MEN will realize they’re supporting the wrong party.  GET A CLUE, REPUBS!!  There are one HELL of a lot more of us out here than just HAIRY OLD WHITE MEN.  Continue to make the HAIRY OLD WHITE MAN political platform the platform of the Republican Party, and your party is doomed.

Posted in Culture Wars, Equality, Politics

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Yet Another 5-4 SCOTUS Decision – Strip Searches

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Terry| 3 Comments
Roberts Supreme Court

Years from now, the Roberts-led Supreme Court will be the one remembered for forever changing our legal system to one based on politics more than law.

Another day, another 5-4 Supreme Court ruling. This time, it was regarding the legality of strip searches for even the most minor of legal issues.  The 5-4 vote gave the OK for jailers to strip search basically ANYONE who is in their custody.  The case arose when a man who was arrested by mistake, for a very minor violation of not paying a fine.  The man remained in jail for an entire week, and TWICE was strip-searched while in jail.  It was then found out the state records saying he had an outstanding fine were incorrect. 

It’s bad enough that an innocent man was mistakenly jailed for a very minor offense and was kept in jail for a week.  But strip-searching a man for (supposedly) not paying a fine?  The jackass conservative judges on the Supreme Court stated strip searches were justified, given that “People detained for minor offenses can turn out to be the most devious and dangerous criminals.”  Uh…OK.  “People” in general can be devious and dangerous…does that mean it would be OK for the police to randomly strip search anyone they come across, just because they MIGHT be “devious and dangerous”? 

After 9-11 and the Bush administration, we’ve already set the abhorrent precedent that it’s OK to incarcerate people for YEARS, without charge, and without ANY legal representation or hearing to defend themselves.  There are human beings who have been in Guantanamo for a decade now, without ever being offered the chance to legally defend themselves.  This ruling further leads us down the path where basic human rights and civil liberties are completely ignored in the U.S. 

The story itself is maddening, but the reason I started this post wasn’t even so much the ruling itself, but because of 1) the complete hypocrisy from the conservative judges on the bench, and 2) that yet again, we have a SCOTUS decision that’s perfectly split between “conservative” and “liberal” judges.  Republicans bitch and moan about government interference in people’s lives…but yet they seem to have NO problem with the infringement on basic human rights and dignity in a case like this.  Republicans act indignant about ObamaCare, saying government has gone “too far” and intruded into peoples’ lives, but they have NO problem having a completely innocent man being jailed and twice strip-searched, just because he MIGHT have been a criminal.  Given the comments that Roberts and others made last week during the ObamaCare arguments, don’t you think they’d feel just a wee bit hypocritical for giving a thumbs up to an even bigger intrusion of government into peoples’ lives?

If you want to talk about government intrusion into peoples’ lives, perhaps the conservative justices on the Supreme Court should look at THEMSELVES and how they seem personally determined to turn the U.S. into a right-wing utopia.  It’s completely laughable how Republicans have railed against “activist judges” on the left, when the 5 conservatives on the Roberts court seem hell-bent on rewriting the laws of the Nation to reflect their OWN PERSONAL CONSERVATIVE BIASES.

E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post today had a great column on the “stealthy coup” that right-wingers are staging within the Republican Party, a coup that seems to have extended to the right-wing activist judges on the Supreme Court.  There’s also a nice story on Slate.com about the Roberts court.  They correctly point out that the Roberts joke of a Supreme Court is threatening to take our entire legal system down a path where politics trumps law.  They also make a great point, that Democrats have a great opportunity to make right-wing judges, including the Roberts Supreme Court, a major campaign issue this year.

What the articles fail to point out though is the complete stupidity of the American public.  Americans are too focused on the price of gas going up a nickel or who is going to win American Idol to pay any attention to how their very freedoms are under threat from a right-wing Republican Party.

Posted in Culture Wars, Politics

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WWJD = GMAFB

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Terry| 2 Comments
What Would Jesus DO?

What would Jesus do? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be pro-war, wouldn't be a gun nut, and wouldn't be a hate-mongering bigot.

I was waiting at a stoplight yesterday and was behind a massive pickup with a number of bumper stickers.  Prominently displayed at the top of the tailgate was a bold bumper sticker that said “WWJD?”, with it spelled out below (What would Jesus do?).   OK…whatever, the bumper sticker itself was fine.  But I literally laughed out loud after seeing that bumper sticker, and then seeing the OTHER bumper stickers that were surrounding this one.

First was a bumper sticker that said “God, Guts, and Guns”, and there was also a NRA sticker on the back window.  This being South Dakota, there was of course also the obligatory gunrack hanging on the inside of the back window.  Now, I’m not the most religious person on the planet (to put it mildly), but, my impression would be that Jesus wouldn’t be an NRA member, and wouldn’t be packin’.

We also had the bumper sticker that said “Dont’ Blame Me, I Didn’t Vote for the Muslim”.  There was also one that said (something close to) “White, Straight, Conservative Male – Political Correctness is Overrated”.  Two bumper stickers that would lead me to believe the driver was homophobic, racist, and intolerant of Islam.  Just like Jesus, right?   Ayeesh.

My personal favorite…the bumper sticker of a giant mushroom cloud, with the words “Sometimes War IS the Answer”.  You know, I’ve seen bumper stickers along the lines of “Make Love Not War”, or “War is Not Pro-Life”, but, I can’t say as I remember seeing a bumper sticker that just gives a good ol’ endorsement to “war” in general.  I’m pretty sure Jesus wasn’t “pro-war”.

Finally…on the back window was one of those (very classy) stickers that had a little boy with an evil grin, peeing on a “Chevy” sign.   I’m pretty sure Jesus wouldn’t condone peeing on things he doesn’t like.

I wish I had a camera with me so I could have snapped a shot of his tailgate, because there were some other gems as well that I don’t remember.  That tailgate to me did a wonderful job in summing up the attitudes of many very hypocritical, very screwed up conservatives.  Republicans have excelled for a number of years at having their message resonate with “Christian” conservatives. 

WWJD…a nice message in theory.  But it’s obviously nothing more than a bumper-sticker logo for far too many religious conservatives, as they quite literally don’t practice what they preach.

Posted in Culture Wars

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