Tag Archives: old

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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Scum of the Week – Paul Broun

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Terry| 1 Comment
Paul Broun

Can't we have a simple IQ test before allowing idiots like Paul Broun to run for office?

And people wonder why science in the United States is on the decline…

Republican (did I even need to say that?) Congressman Paul Broun was shown in a video this week, saying “All that stuff I was taught about evolution, embryology, the Big Bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell“.  He goes on to say that the ”earth is but 9,000 years old“.  It’s bad enough that a sitting U.S. Congressman is so incredibly stupid that he would talk like this.  One would HOPE that the political leaders in the U.S. weren’t complete idiots (OK…take a moment and collect yourself until you stop laughing, since obviously many of them are dumber than a stick).

But what’s absolutely dangerous is that this idiot is on the House Committee for Science, Space, and Technology.  A sitting congressman who has a large say in the direction of science and technology policy and funding in the U.S., and he’s a bible-thumpin’ wacko who believes the earth is 9,000 years old.

That should scare the hell out of people.  It’s already been abundantly clear in recent years that conservatives have completely abandoned logic, have completely abandoned science, and frankly, have completely abandoned sanity.

Rep. Broun…you are the recipient of a WELL deserved “Scum of the week” award.

Posted in Evolution/Creationism, Politics, Scientific Awareness, Scum Of The Week

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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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How to end a mid-life crisis?

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Terry| 2 Comments
Grumpy Old Man

A grumpy old man. A grumpy, old, big-headed man. This might as well be a self-portrait. GET OFF MY LAWN, YOU DAD-GUM KIDS!! It's not a bright future for me.

I turned 45 Friday.  Unbelievable.  Of course the primary concern was whether the world would also end that day, as I posted previously.  Thankfully we all seem to have survived Friday, unless this is some kind of weird, “Lost”-like world of Limbo or some alternative reality.    Given that neither of those seems likely, that means that my primary focus as of 12:01 AM Saturday was dealing with the reality of being 45 years old.

I’ve been married 18 years, and have been at my current job for 18 years.  I have the most wonderful little 8-year old boy on the planet.  But yet, I certainly don’t FEEL 45.  Am I the only person who is WELL into adulthood who sometimes doesn’t feel like, well, an adult?  I’ve come a long way from the incredibly shy, awkward high school kid I used to be, to the point where I can now give a lecture or a speech and feel totally confident and comfortable.  But yet, I still sometimes feel like I’m a kid, a kid who has had the clock fast-forwarded 25 years (or more) and is just play-acting.

But I’m definitely NOT a kid!! I’m freakin’ old!!  SERIOUSLY old!!  WELL beyond my youth!!  Turning 30 was a breeze.  I didn’t think twice about turning 40.   But 45?  45 means I’m coming up on 50!!  FIFTY freakin’ years old!!  I’m practically to the age where I’m the old washed-up guy in the back of the meeting room who dozes off at inopportune times!!  This “age” thing is starting to get too damned serious!!!

Terry, meet mid-life crisis.  Mid-life crisis, meet Terry.   Now the question is, how do I cope?  In the short term, I’ve been coping by taking more vacation days than I probably should, and going fishing.  A LOT.  Just yesterday, I got up at 3:15 AM and drove 3+ hours to Oahe Dam and the Missouri River to go fishing all day.  We’ve never had so much fish in our freezer.  Pretty soon the freezer will be full…then what am I to do?  Plan for fishing NEXT year!  As part of my mid-life crisis, I’ve also sent away for catalogs for the latest Lund, Crestliner, Ranger, etc. fishing boats.  I say to myself that a nice new shiny fishing boat would be something my son and I would really enjoy, as he has really gotten into fishing this summer.  While that’s true, I think I also know the boat fascination is more about me, than my son.

But what else am I to do?  How else do you end a mid-life crisis, other than by spending a ridiculous amount of money on something you really don’t need?  Some men go for the Corvette or the Harley…I’m contemplating a nice 16-18 foot Lund fishing boat.  Beyond that, what are my choices?   How else to end the crisis?   Start downing a six-pack during my lunch hour?  Take up sky-diving?   Shave my head?  Man, that would be ugly…I got me one BIIIIIGGG old melon-head.  But I’m afraid that’s where things are headed. 

So if you’re out and about at lunchtime some day, and you see some bald, giant-headed, drunken, sky-divin’ old guy, don’t worry, it’s just me, working through a mid-life crisis.  The good news is, I know this phase can’t last forever!! Especially since I’m now so near the end.  Poor me.   Poor, old, big-headed me.

Posted in Deep Thoughts

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