Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

I'm enjoying the novelties of sitting around stuffing my face while consuming politics and dinosaur evolution. It's nice to be nearly completely unpacked.

I wish I'd had time to focus earlier in the week, because I apparently missed a mother lode of dumbfuckery. Rep. John Shimkus is the gift that keeps on giving:

What's more, be sure to watch to the end of the video clip, at which point Shimkus argues that we're not pumping enough carbon into the atmosphere: "There is a theological debate that this is a carbon-starved planet, not too much carbon."

I've heard a few conservatives over the years argue, "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out." I didn't expect, however, to hear an elected member of Congress apply this thinking to environmental policy.

When I get the sound on my computer back up, I'm definitely watching that video. I'll just have to remember not to have anything in my mouth when I do it. I'd like to keep my new home spit-take free.

Cons seem ignorant regarding nearly everything, but it's nowhere more proudly displayed than on environmental issues. Check out Glenn Beck trying to sound off on energy policy:

Beck: You can't make wind energy work without nuclear energy as well. Wind stops --

Borelli: You know that, but Congress doesn't know that.

Beck: Use your common sense! Hey America! Use common sense here! Let just try this out!

Wind, when it blows, makes energy. When it stops, you can't store it, so what's making the energy?

What, indeed?

Suffice to say that one can easily find out that there are numerous strategies for dealing with the unreliability of wind power:

[snip]

A series of detailed modelling studies which looked at the Europe wide adoption of renewable energy and interlinking power grids using HVDC cables, indicates that the entire power usage could come from renewables, with 70% total energy from wind at the same sort of costs or lower than at present. Intermittency would be dealt with, according to this model, by a combination of geographic dispersion to de-link weather system effects, and the ability of HVDC to shift power from windy areas to non-windy areas.[27][28]

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity or other forms of grid energy storage can store energy developed by high-wind periods and release it when needed.[29] Stored energy increases the economic value of wind energy since it can be shifted to displace higher cost generation during peak demand periods.

I'm afraid to ask if they can get any more stupid than this. I'm sure the answer is not yes but fuck yes.

For any of you wondering just how obstructionist Cons have become, I have your answer right here:

Yesterday, Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) slammed the idea of passing health care reform and other Obama priorities through a simple majority of the Senate, a process called reconciliation. “Now, if they do that, that, in effect is the nuclear war,” Kyl said. The Republicans have become experts at using Senate filibusters — or often just the threat of filibusters — to block the Democratic agenda while in the minority. As this chart from Norm Ornstein shows, the use of filibusters have skyrocketed under Republicans:

Steve Benen would like to remind everyone that it wasn't always this way, which means we had a fuck of a lot of "nuclear war" going on throughout our nation's history without anyone quibbling. These poor Cons get overheated awfully easily, don't they?

And they're determined to keep up the obstruction:

You won’t be terribly surprised by this, but the eight most prominent members of the House GOP leadership are confirming that they will all vote against Obama’s budget later this week.

Greg Sargent has a list of statements. It's exactly what you would expect from the Party of No.

Remember, these fucktards think they're completely normal:

Jon Chait had a great piece yesterday about the "fecklessness" and "parochialism" that too often interferes with the Democratic Party's ability to advance its agenda. U.S. News' Michael Barone argued in response that the Democratic Party also struggles because it's made up of constituencies who aren't "normal."

[T]he Republican Party is the party of people who are considered, by themselves and by others, as normal Americans -- Northern white Protestants in the 19th century, married white Christians more recently -- while the Democratic Party is the party of the out groups who are in some sense seen, by themselves and by others, as not normal -- white Southerners and Catholic immigrants in the 19th century, blacks and white seculars more recently. Thus it's natural for the Democrats to be more fissiparous.

Someone is going to have to help me out with this one. Democrats experience more intra-party fissures than Republicans because African Americans and white secularists aren't "normal"? Republicans join in lock step because it's the party of married white Christians -- who necessarily are "normal"?

How normal you can be when you're completely batshit fucking insane is up for debate.

The Ineffable Idiocy of Cardinals

No, I'm not talking about Arizona's football team, although I've never been impressed by them, either. No, not the birds, either - they seem relatively intelligent, although I'm sure there's a few dumbshit ones out there. This is a cardinal of the religious variety, playing the hypocrite for all he's worth:

An American Cardinal, Daniel DiNardo of Houston/Galveston, has jumped on the K-Lo bandwagon and condemned Notre Dame for honoring a Democrat.

I find the invitation very disappointing. Though I can understand the desire by a university to have the prestige of a commencement address by the President of the United States, the fundamental moral issue of the inestimable worth of the human person from conception to natural death is a principle that soaks all our lives as Catholics, and all our efforts at formation, especially education at Catholic places of higher learning.

So where was DiNardo when in 2001, Notre Dame invited George W. Bush, who had honored the "inestimable worth of the human from conception to natural death" by executing more people than any other governor in US history?

There's more examples where that came from.

Seriously, do these pious wankers ever pause for a wee bit o' the old self-examination? Do they ever listen to their self-righteous slobberings and think, "Hey, whoops, double-standard, there"?

Yeah, I don't think so, either.

Heckuva Job, Bushie!

You know how when you break a glass in the kitchen, you still find little shards of glass months later, usually by stepping on them in the middle of the night? The aftermath of the Bush years will be much the same. I expect a lot more news like this in the coming months and years:

Following the example of his father putting a guy with a real talent for sex harassment in charge of the EEOC, George W. Bush put his own stamp on how the EEOC should operate:

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...has itself willfully violated the Fair Labor Standards Act on a nationwide basis with its own employees, an arbitrator has ruled.

This is what you get when you let Cons rule. You might as well put toddlers in charge of the china cabinet: they do as good a job keeping that whole as Cons do running the government.

The Problem With PZ's Analogy

I'm finally catching up on Pharyngula, unpacking the bedroom be damned. I notice that he spanked Rep. John Shimkus for his "We can't cut CO2 emissions - we'll starve the plants!" and "God won't let global warming destroy the earth!" idiocy. In doing so, he makes a comparison:

However, please note: human beings aren't plants (well, most of us, anyway — John Shimkus does seem to share some similarities with root vegetables).

It would be a great analogy, except for one thing: root vegetables are useful.

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

In moving news, settling in continues apace. The cat has finally discovered how to sit comfortably with her ma in the recliner. And after more hours of shopping than I care to think about, I have glorious silk curtains on order for the bedroom and a set of bookshelves that roughly blend with my current ones on the way. By the end of tonight, my office will be put together. This is no thanks to my bookcase-building abilities. I follow directions slightly better than Republicons govern, but that ain't sayin' much.

Speaking of Cons, they bear a remarkable resemblance to my first attempt at putting the sides together on these shelves: you'd think the sides should point the same direction, but they don't:

The GOP's "budget" was roundly mocked throughout Democratic circles and even in the suddenly-caring-about-policy traditional media for not having any numbers, the way that, you know, a budget does. Yesterday, John McCain sought to calm the waters by claiming that the Senate GOP would put together, in fact, an actual budget with hard numbers instead of just a pamphlet with a bunch of circles and positive affirmations.

DAVID GREGORY: Do you think that Republicans should provide a detailed budget alternative?

McCAIN: Yes.

GREGORY: With numbers?

McCAIN: Yes.

GREGORY: Will that happen in the Senate?

McCAIN: We're working on it, working very hard on it.

Rick Klein reports that Sen. McCain is mistaken.

According to a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate GOP's plan remains the same: Republicans are planning to offer individual amendments to the Democratic budget but not a detailed, comprehensive budget of their own. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, has pointed out that if the GOP amendments are accepted en masse (which will not happen), the amended budget would be the Republican alternative.

I think Mitch and John need to have a confab so they can get their stories straight. They might want to bring Rep. Paul Ryan in with them:

Last week, the House GOP presented its alternative budget proposal. Members of the media, including conservative commentators, widely panned the document for being scant on details and appearing more as “campaign-style talking points.” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), ranking member of the House Budget Committee, has said he will release yet another budget proposal, but this time with more specifics.

Though Ryan has been most critical of the deficit impact of Obama’s budget, he has been unable to assess the deficit impact of his own budget. After being repeatedly asked this weekend by Bloomberg’s Al Hunt about “how large” the deficit would be under the Republican plan, Ryan finally respond, “A lot”:

HUNT: But the Obama budget deficit is $1.4 trillion. How, roughly, how large will yours be?

RYAN: Their budget deficit is $1.8 trillion. […]

HUNT: Gimme an idea of how large yours will be?

RYAN: A lot. Let’s put it that way.

So. They're upset over the Obama budget deficit, but if they plug actual numbers instead of wishes and dreams into theirs, they end up with a huge deficit themselves. Brilliant, aren't they just?

Hysterical, too:

It's already astounding that the Norm Coleman-Al Franken Senate recount has taken this long to resolve. Franken has won the first recount and Coleman's lawyers even acknowledge that he will win the case before the Minnesota Supreme Court when the verdict comes down shortly. But this is the first time I've heard the word "years" to describe the timeframe for resolution.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn is threatening "World War III" if Democrats try to seat Al Franken in the Senate before Norm Coleman can pursue his case through the federal courts.

Cornyn, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, acknowledges that a federal challenge to November's elections could take "years" to resolve. But he's adamant that Coleman deserves that chance - even if it means Minnesota is short a senator for the duration.

World War III, eh? All for Norm? These people really aren't quite right in the head.

He'd better watch it, though. If the Cons get too feisty, the Dems may call in the far left bloggers, and we're a formidable force. In fact, it turns out we're Bill O's #1 enemies:

In their interview with Bill O’Reilly this morning, the ladies of The View failed to question him about his comments on rape or his record of stalking and harassing his perceived enemies. Instead, they let O’Reilly make a series of attacks that went unchallenged:

BARBARA WALTERS: Who are your current enemies?

O’REILLY: I have enemies all over, Barbara. Come on. Is this a telethon? I mean…

WALTERS: Number one. You just said every day, every week you look for a new enemy. Number one enemy at this moment.

O’REILLY: I would say the far left blogs. I mean, they’re just everyday.

Heh. We are a mighty and awesome force. Almost as mighty as the right's stupidty.

Mitch McConnell Moans

Mitch McConnell seems a wee bit confused about what "bipartisanship" is:

Boo hoo:

“I must say I'm disappointed,” Senate Minority Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “After two months, the president has not governed in the middle as I had hoped he would. But it's not too late. He's only been in office a couple of months. Still before him are the opportunities to deal with us on a truly bipartisan basis,” the Republican told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King.

Bipartisanship is a one way street, dontcha know.

It would seem so. Mitch McConnell doesn't seem to realize that Obama's not governing from the middle because every time he tries to include the Cons in this whole governing thing, they fuck him over six ways from Tuesday and then whine about how nobody listens to them. And if you think it'd be better if Obama did his governing from the middle, you don't know Cons. Obama could turn into a far-right demogogue, doing everything they wanted him to and more, and they'd still be bitching about how far left he is.

He's a Democrat. That's all they see. And they do so love the excuse to whine, moan and complain like elderly aunts.

Firebombing for the Lord

Aren't these the same people who tell us that without Christianity, the country would descend into chaos, mayhem, and general bodily harm? Because it doesn't look like their religion has kept them from engaging in all three:

A few weeks ago, I interview Joann Bell on my radio show about her experiences when she filed a lawsuit over school prayer in Oklahoma. She was assaulted by a school employee, had her own obituary sent to her in the mail and had her house firebombed. But she's hardly alone. I'm gonna post some other stories, taken from a brief filed by Americans United in a court case asking that their client be allowed to remain anonymous in a church/state lawsuit.

In almost every church/state lawsuit I'm aware of, there is harassment and intimidation of the plaintiffs. In most of them there are also threats of violence. In many, there is outright violence and vandalism.

So much for superior morality, then, eh?

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

For once, let's lead off with some smart rather than some stupid. This is one of the many reasons I love my former governor:

Immigration is one issue we haven't heard much about in the Obama Administration, for various reasons. But advocates have not stopped their push to take the undocumented out of the shadows and provide them a path to citizenship. The President has said little publicly on the issue since Inauguration Day, though he promised the Congressional Hispanic Caucus a statement of support in the spring.

However, today's Washington Post reports on a policy shift toward punishing the businesses who hire the undocumented rather than the individual workers themselves.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has delayed a series of proposed immigration raids and other enforcement actions at U.S. workplaces in recent weeks, asking agents in her department to apply more scrutiny to the selection and investigation of targets as well as the timing of raids, federal officials said.

A senior department official said the delays signal a pending change in whom agents at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement choose to prosecute - increasing the focus on businesses and executives instead of ordinary workers.

Nice to see we may get a lot less of the families broken up at gunpoint there. I know the right loves to scream about the scary brown people crossing the border illegally and taking our jobs, but hauling mommies and daddies away while leaving the employers unscathed isn't the way to solve the issue. Janet Napolitano used to be governor of Arizona - she knows the realities of illegal immigration, and she knows just how ridiculous those raids were. Kudos to her for nipping that shit in the bud.

Now if only the Cons would get as smart. Alas, they have not. In fact, I do believe Michael Steele needs a brain transplant:

Michael Steele is the gift that keeps on giving. Two months into President Obama's term as president and Steele proclaims that he's done with Obama.

You haven't spoken to him.

Steele: No.

But you've reached out.

Steele: Several times and I'm done.

So there's no bi-partisanship going on?

Steele: Not that I know of.

With all the problems President Obama has inherited from the Republicans, does Steele believe that Obama is supposed to get jiggy with him and they should run a little bebop together?

Well, considering what self-important assclowns the Cons are, I believe the answer to that last question is "yes."

And you remember how Cons loves them some torture? How they're claiming "enhanced interrogation techniques" are all that stand between us and certain death? Yeah, well, I know this will shock you, but they're totally fucking wrong:

The Bush administration was fond of citing Abu Zubaida as evidence of the great success of its "interrogation" policy. Bush himself claimed that Zubaida was al Qaeda's "chief of operations," and that he was a fount of valuable information. Zubaida also has the dubious honor of being the first detainee waterboarded.

In 2006, Ron Suskind reported in his book that none of the administration's claims about Zubaida were true. Based on his interviews with intelligence officials, Suskind wrote that Zubaida was not only mentally ill, but also had little knowledge of al Qaeda's actual operations. He was apparently more like a travel agent -- and his stories sent the CIA and FBI down many an unnecessary goose chase. When Bush learned all this, he kept misleading the public anyway.

Today, the Post corroborates Suskind's account that Zubaida was essentially worthless -- and that we waterboarded him for nothing:

In the end, though, not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of Abu Zubaida's tortured confessions, according to former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations. Nearly all of the leads attained through the harsh measures quickly evaporated, while most of the useful information from Abu Zubaida -- chiefly names of al-Qaeda members and associates -- was obtained before waterboarding was introduced, they said.

Moreover, within weeks of his capture, U.S. officials had gained evidence that made clear they had misjudged Abu Zubaida. . . . None of [their earlier claims] was accurate, the new evidence showed.

I know this will have no impact whatsover on the Cons' thinking on the subject. They're as hard to turn around as a broken-down semi trailer loaded with lead. But this should end the debate among intelligent people. Torture doesn't work, never has, never will, and is an absolutely bugfuck stupid way to try to protect a country.

This must be why the Cons love it so. Other than the fact it makes them feel all big and strong, just like Jack Bauer.

Another thing that seems to make them feel big is playing Opposite Day with anyone who wants to protect the environment. I mentioned their Earth Hour stupidity yesterday, but we didn't quite get the full flavor. This is how ridiculous they are:

Last night at 8:30 was Earth Hour when everyone around the world was supposed to turn out their lights for one hour in order to raise awareness of the climate crisis.

But throughout the wingnut blogotubes, they decided to turn on all of their lights as a too-clever way of canceling out Earth Hour. Here's another wingnut who's offering a list of suggestions for how to go about doing this. Utterly brilliant suggestions like:

8. Burn tires

Smart! Your neighbors will enjoy the fumes and odor coming from your hillbilly bonfire.

24. Leave your oven open

And maybe climb in.

34. Turn on your air purifier

Yes. You're going to need it when your house fills with fumes, gasses and stink from your open oven and burning tires in the yard. Incidentally, if the air is so clean and unpolluted, why the air purifiers?

Why, indeed? That would be a sign of hypocrisy right there.

And, finally, Judd Greg seems to be angling for Con approval. How's he doing it? By being the biggest dumbfuck he can be:

I'm not exactly sure why Judd Gregg has decided to lead an increasingly nasty line of attacks against Obama. On a purely personal level, you would think that Gregg would be grateful for Obama's vote of confidence. But not so much. Yesterday, Gregg delivered the Republican weekly address and quite graciously noted the following:

He also is proposing the largest tax increase in history, much of it aimed at taxing small business people who have been, over the years, the best job creators in our economy[.] These are staggering numbers . . . and represent an extraordinary move of our government to the left.

Steve offered more examples last week. Again, what's strange is not so much Gregg's opposition, but his aggressive and gratuitous tone.

Looks like someone plans to run for another office once he finishes this Senate term. If he decides to run again Palin for president, he'll be glad to know John McCain's still available for an endorsement:

John McCain isn't supporting Palin in 2012 just yet.

He's waiting to see how the field unfolds.

Maybe he's waiting to see if Joe the Plumber will be her running mate.

Or maybe he's waiting to see if someone smarter comes around. Afraid to tell him this, but with Cons the way they are, he'll be waiting a long damned time.

We Shall Soon Return to Our Regularly Scheduled Blogging

I just realized it's Sunday. We're supposed to have Sensational Science. But to give you an idea of how far my brain has shut down, I forgot what the time difference is between Washington and North Carolina, thus leaving my best friend twiddling his thumbs for an hour while I scampered here, there and everywhere looking for those 1,001 items that you didn't know you needed until you moved into a new place. Every weekend for nearly two decades I've been calling this man, and yet I forget what time it is. Gah.

I've been trying to scan the political news, and can only get through a few sentences before my brain tries to crawl into a corner and die. Trying to unpack over 30 boxes of books on top of the usual household implements will do that to you.

In better news, thanks to the kindness of a strong friend, I do have a new microwave. You don't realize how much you rely on those damned things until you haven't got one.

Things will return to normal shortly. In the meantime, don't forget to check in at Z's place later for COTEB XI.

Roland Burris Strikes Again

This man has watched too many movies:

Roland Burris could prove that he's not a liar, but then he'd have to ... well, you know the rest:

Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) claims he has proof he never made an inconsistent statement about his appointment to the Senate, only he can't show it to you.

Are personality disorders a requirement for Senate service these days? It's certainly beginning to look like it.

When Numbnuts Advise Novices

Digby has a great point here:

I just heard CNN's week-end money team giving stock tips to their viewers to "recession proof" their lives. Now, I don't doubt that there are great buys to be had in the market and that some people may be in a position to invest right now and make some big bucks over the long haul. But if the hosts of the show also feel it's necessary to first explain what a stock is and tell them that the odd letters on the screen stands for the company's ticker symbol, I think maybe stock picking may be over the heads of their audience.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the teevee "news" has become one long series of infomercials? I know there's a sucker born every minute, but at the rate these fuckwits are going, they're going to bankrupt their supply before the next generation of suckers come of age.

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

ZOMG, Steve Benen's taking a few days off. Publius is justifiably amazed. I'm already feeling withdrawal symptoms.

Thankfully, he has a full cast of guest bloggers keeping up with the stupid in Steve's absence. It takes a World Wide Web to manage that task.

And the second Steve steps away, look what news breaks:

A Spanish court “has agreed to consider opening a criminal case against six former Bush administration officials…over allegations they gave legal cover for torture at Guantanamo Bay.” The officials include former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, former undersecretary of defense for policy Douglas Feith, former Cheney chief of staff David Addington, Justice Department officials John Yoo and Jay S. Bybee, and Pentagon lawyer William Haynes. The AP has more details on the case:

Spanish law allows courts to reach beyond national borders in cases of torture or war crimes under a doctrine of universal justice, though the government has recently said it hopes to limit the scope of the legal process. […]

A little lukewarm for my taste, but excellent news nonetheless. My dream of seeing Bush et al dragged in disgrace to face judgement for their actions may yet come true.

Now if only there were prosecutions for stupidity as well as prosecutions for war crimes. Then again, there's probably no court large enough:

Today is the second annual Earth Hour, a worldwide campaign to raise awareness on the issue of climate change. At 8:30pm local time, major businesses, local and national points of interest, and individual homes will dim their lights for one hour. Already today, sites ranging from the Sydney Opera House to the Egyptian Pyramids have lowered their lights in recognition, and 4,000 cities in 88 countries will participate in the event. Sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund, Earth Hour will provide, in the words of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, "a way for the citizens of the world to send a clear message: They want action on climate change."

It will also provide a new way for conservatives to show what hardcore rebels they are.

Tomorrow is something called Earth Hour. Take the official RedState Pledge:

I do solemnly swear that I will honor Earth Hour by turning on every light in my residence at 8:30 p.m. on March 28, 2009, for one hour. God said, "Let there be light." Who are we to argue?

Yeah, they want you to turn your lights off, but everybody knows darkness leads to crime.

It's amusing to see Erick Erickson so terrified of possible boogeymen infiltrating his house from 8:30 to 9:30, as well as the wingnut tendency to go after all the most important targets, like symbolic light-dimming actions. But this has now become a cliche. My local wingnut radio hosts were making the same "jokes" last night: "I'll turn on every light in the house!... I'll keep my car running for an hour!" And of course, Glenn Beck devoted an entire show to running his car in the parking lot a couple months ago.

I know they think they're clever, but they come across more like brain-damaged frat boys. It's not even irritating, it's just pathetic.

Only one person could make these dumbfucks look like intellectual giants. Ladies and gentlemen, I present you Rep. John Shimkus:

Progress Illinois notes that earlier this week at a House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) tried to argue that the United States doesn’t need a cap-and-trade system to limit CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. (In the past, he has called cap and trade “a shell game to hide the cost from the ultimate person who is going to pay.”) Here is Shimkus’s newest theory:

SHIMKUS: It’s plant food. … So if we decrease the use of carbon dioxide, are we not taking away plant food from the atmosphere? … So all our good intentions could be for naught. In fact, we could be doing just the opposite of what the people who want to save the world are saying.

Apparently, this man has never heard of overeating. It's nice he's so concerned for the environment, but with friends like these, the trees don't need enemies.

The Cons seem to have misapplied the lesson of the D.A.R.E. program, and are "just saying no" to - well, everything in sight, especially nominees who may not ignore the abuses of the previous administration (h/t):

(ChattahBox)—Republican obstructionism is becoming so rampant; President Obama is temporarily handcuffed from staffing his administration, especially in Treasury and the Department of Justice. At a time when our country faces a perilous economic crisis and two wars, the Republicans obstruct and subvert Obama’s nominations at every turn. The recent threat to filibuster the nomination of Dawn Johnsen, to the White House Office of Legal Counsel is drawing ire from all sides.

The threat of “just say no” republicans to filibuster the nomination of Indiana University law professor, Dawn Johnsen to head the Office of Legal Counsel or OLC, is their most egregious act to date, when it comes to obstructing Obama’s nominees to his administration. Johnsen comes with impeccable credentials. She served for five years in the OLC in the Clinton administration, was a US Deputy Assistant Attorney General, graduated summa cum laude from Yale Law School and was an editor of the Law Review.

So, what is the Republican’s problem with Johnsen’s nomination? Well, two things. First, Republicans are outraged over Johnsen’s previous stint as Legal Director, for the National Abortion & Reproductive Rights Action League or NARAL. Antiabortion groups have turned up the heat in recent weeks, painting Johnsen as a radical activist.

Perhaps though, the real reason for the threatened Republican filibuster is even more insidious. Scott Horton, a law professor, posted an intriguing piece today at the Daily Beast, about the obstruction of Johnsen’s nomination, entitled, “The Woman Who Could Nail Bush.” Horton believes the Republicans are terrified that Johnsen will seek to release additional Justice Department memos, detailing the Bush administration’s illegal behavior.

Kinda like cockraoches, aren't they? Shine a light, and they freak out. Of course, they have plenty of reasons for keeping the lights off. Too bad for them there's so many folk with their fingers on the light switch.

One begins to see why Steve decided it was time to step away from the egregious stupidity for a few days. One's brain starts to go numb after such relentless onslaughts of dumbfuckery.

May I Have a Moment of Silence for Sen. Specter's Incumbancy?

Alas, poor Arlen. We knew him, America:

Well, it's official: Arlen Specter has no chance. Unmoved by Specter's reversal on EFCA, his right-wing opponent has unleashed The Most Ultimatest Weapon:

It turns out that his main conservative primary challenger, Club for Growth president Pat Toomey, is going to get the ultimate in blessings from the right: He’s campaigning alongside Joe the Plumber!

It is finished. Specter should've bewar'd the Ides of March. Now he faces the fury of a union scorned. You just know what he's thinking now: "Et tu, Josephus?"

Once Joe the Plumber has fallen in with your sworn enemy, your defeat is imminent. Just ask John McCain.

I Have Been Called Out

STEVEinMI writes:

Dana, I love your writing, but I have to take you to task for this post. There are PLENTY of details in the Republican "budget" "plan". And there are numbers too! Real numbers! So many that I couldn't fit them here!

Read 'em and weep: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/3/27/91658/3389

I've read Steve's post, and I am weeping. You will, too:

Right out of the gate, 5 of those 19 alleged "pages" are actually content-free title pages. So before we even get started, that's only 14 pages; a big difference, I would say, when setting expectations of how many actual numbers are in there. And those fourteen pages had to make room for eight (8) pictures of Tinkertoys(tm), leaving room for only about 12 pages of content. It's just like the left to try and raise expectaions falsely on Republican proposals.

There most certainly are graphs. Three of 'em. They reverse the traditional color scheme and use blue for Republican numbers and red for the Democrats'. That's important, because the graph on Page 7 clearly points out the Nixon recession, the Reagan recession, and the financial impact of the Bush wars. If we'd shown those parts in red, people might be misled into thinking that Republicans had something to do with them. The graph on page 16 clearly points out that former president Bush/43 did not spend any money on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which frankly is the way we want him to be remembered. And the graph on Page 5, even though we tried to crop off the really bad bits, does point out which recent president (cough43cough) has done the most to "grow the size of government".

And, let me be clear about this, THERE ARE NUMBERS. Twenty-eight (28) of them, by my count. And these are numbers that are easy to understand: 26 of them are actually the numbers from the Obama budget, included to show how bad they are. The other two are the number of barrels of oil we think might be in ANWR, if all those fucking lefties, polar bears, and caribou would just get out of the way and let us start drilling.

Maxima mea culpa. I should have known better than to trust all those damned reality-worshipping librul blogs. I mean, obviously, the Cons aren't going to present a budget without numbers or graphs. In this case, they have numbers and graphs, so it's obviously a very thorough budget indeed. Wow.

Thank you for setting me straight, Steve. I owe you one.

How I Feel Today: Moving Edition

It's that time in the moving process when, upon being faced with yet another box to unpack, you either want to do this:


Or this:


No store seems to carry the two-shelf bookcases I wanted for the bedroom. I can't get the phone jacks to work. And the new super-awesome shower caddy I bought doesn't fit. Wah.

However, some of the books are unpacked. The vast majority of the walk-in closet has been turned into an office extension. My so-called wardrobe is weeping softly to itself on one rod, which is just as it should be. A few more days, and I'll be able to return to full-time blogging, fiction writing, and tech supporting. Suzie Homemaker can enter happy retirement. Life shall be wonderful.

Or so I tell myself in order to avoid following in the footsteps of the above cats.

All Aboard!

'Tis that time. If ye haven't jumped aboard with yer submission clenched in yer teeth, ye'd better get leaping. I want to see all o' ye on the ship by the end o' day Friday. Captain Z be expectin' ye! Email yer submissions and prepare to make mayhem!

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

For those who are eagerly watching continuing coverage of my moving adventures, we're settling in. Or, at least, trying to. The cat has developed certain ideas about the new place, like believing it's a good idea to meow. Continuously. From 3:00am until 5:30am, to be precise. I think she wanted me to let her go back on the balcony.

So, yeah, a little tired, but we're doing all right. We may even have most of the shit out of boxes by the end of tomorrow.

This hasn't left much time for perusing Con dumbfuckery. Good thing I don't have to search long to find some:

The non-partisan Congressional Research Service reported last year that historically, when a president is of one party and both of a state's senators are of a different party, "the primary role in recommending candidates for district court judgeships is assumed by officials in the state who are of the President's party."

That makes sense. For example, when Bush was president and he needed recommendations for the federal bench in a state with two Democratic senators, there was no point in asking them for a list of names -- the Bush White House wouldn't approve of the jurists the Democrats had in mind. In those cases, Bush would turn to either House Republicans from those states, or Republican officials at the state level.

With this in mind, the Obama White House stated plainly this week that it would work with the Democrats in Texas' House delegation when selecting judges, U.S. attorneys, and U.S. marshals.

Yesterday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) denounced this and described it as wholly unacceptable. And what kind of process does Cornyn prefer?

Cornyn says he intends to send Obama candidates who have been screened by the committee he and Hutchison have always used for making nominations -- a committee he admits is "heavily stacked with Republican lawyers."

And why is that? Because he doesn't want the selection process "to be viewed as a partisan exercise" and this is the only way he can "depoliticize the nomination process."

That's a spit-take moment right there.

Sometimes, it's hard to tell if they're really that clueless, or if they're being intentionally outrageous. I tend to believe the former. I don't think these folks are really capable of realizing when they're big ginormous fucktards.

I have some evidence for my position:

Today on Glenn Beck’s radio show, Bachmann declared that the U.S. will soon be moving to “give up the dollar as our currency and we would just go with a One World currency.” Such action, she warned, would mean the U.S. as a country would be “no more”:

BACHMANN: As you know, Russia, China, Brazil, India, South Africa, many nations have lined up now and have called for an international global currency, a One World currency and they want to get off of the dollar as the reserve currency.

BECK: Most people don’t understand, Michele, what that means.

BACHMANN: What that means is all of the countries in the world would have a single currency. We would give up the dollar as our currency and we would just go with a One World currency. … If we give up the dollar as our standard, and co-mingle the value of the dollar with the value of coinage in Zimbabwe, that dilutes our money supply. We lose control over our economy. And economic liberty is inextricably entwined with political liberty. Once you lose your economic freedom, you lose your political freedom. And then we are no more, as an exceptional nation, as we always have been. So this is imperative.

Bachmann claimed that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he was “open” to the One World currency. (In reality, he only said he was open to changes in the IMF special drawing rights, and reaffirmed his commitment to the dollar.) Beck warned that speaking out about the global currency gets one labeled a “kook,” but Bachmann brushed off such concerns, saying she’s been called that “throughout [her] political career”:

BACHMANN: Well, Glenn, I have experienced that throughout my political career, being labeled a kook. It just happened again in a big story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. But all we have to do is point to the treasury secretary on tape, on camera. This is not Michele Bachmann being a kook. This is our treasury secretary on tape and on camera.

Your honor, I rest my case.

In other news, the RNC's surveys certainly are interesting:

The Republican National Committee emailed a survey to its supporters this morning. The questions are broken up into two categories: "Domestic and Social Issues" and "Homeland Security and Defense Issues."

Of course, the wording a survey uses can have some influence on the results. Consider how the RNC worded some of their more notable questions. (thanks to readers GB and CR for the tip)

* A recent national poll reported that nearly 25% of Americans want the government to pass more socialism. Do you agree or disagree?

* Which do you believe creates more jobs for the American economy: Government Programs and Spending or The American Free Enterprise System?

* Should Republicans unite to block new federal government bureaucracy and red tape that will crush future economic growth?

* Should we do everything we can to block Democrats who are trying to shut down conservative talk radio with the so-called "fairness doctrine"?

* Should we resist Barack Obama's proposal to spend billions of federal taxpayer dollars to pay "volunteers" who perform his chosen tasks?

* Should bureaucrats in Washington, DC be in charge of making your health care choices instead of you and your doctor?

* Do you think U.S. troops should have to serve under United Nations' commanders?

These are actual questions from the survey, not paraphrases intended to make the RNC appear silly.

That's the beauty of Cons. You don't have to paraphrase them to make them look ridiculous. Their own words do the work for you.

Although, sometimes it's fun to boil their statements down to their essence:

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and his conservative allies are pushing for legislation that would limit the first lady’s ability to do substantive policy work. Issa had originally proposed the bill last year, in fear of Bill Clinton moving back in to the White House. But he insists the bill is only about ensuring “transparency” for the work of first ladies, adding, “We are trying actually to protect the historic role of the first lady.” Or, as Gawker summed up Issa’s proposal in its headline, “Congressman Wants Michelle Obama To Shut Up And Look Pretty.”

Something tells me they're still having a lot of issues with the whole women's lib thing.

And all of that in less than 20 minutes. Cons aren't good for much, but they're bloody experts at sounding like absolute assclowns, multiple times a day, every day.

Comedy Gold

Or, at least, this is hella amusing if you're exhausted from moving, and it's probably funny even if not:

Earlier today, Sarah Palin decided to cut and run from a confrontation over her decision (a.k.a. political grandstanding) to turn down a portion of Alaska's share of the stimulus money:

Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Alaska) backed out a scheduled meeting Thursday with state legislative leaders who have publicly criticized her plan to turn down a portion of the state’s federal stimulus funds.

“We had a meeting scheduled with the governor today and her legislative liaison told us that she wasn’t there and that we could meet with the staff,” said Gary Stevens, the state’s Republican Senate President, at an afternoon press conference.

[snip]

Stevens said the lawmakers turned down the offer because Palin’s staff “often has trouble answering questions.”

Heh heh heh, awesome.

Of course, there's also the desperate lying to cover Palin's ass, too. Go. Read. Be entertained.

Does Pissing Off Real Plumbers Seem Like a Good Idea to You?

It really doesn't, does it? I mean, these are big, muscular guys with lead pipes to hand. Okay, maybe not lead - not anymore - but still, pipes. Heavy. And pipe wrenches. And attitudes. And no patience for fake plumbers:

The Plumbers Union is steaming over the news that Joe the Plumber has been enlisted by groups opposed to the Employee Free Choice Act to campaign at a number of Pennsylvania rallies against the measure.

A Plumbers Union official tells me that Joe is “selling out real plumbers.”

I checked in with Rick Terven, the political and legislative director for The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist sharing the full name.) He tore into his high-profile plumber colleague as follows:

Joe the plumber is selling out real plumbers. Right now, labor law is stacked against real plumbers. Real plumbers want and need the Employee Free Choice Act as a way to empower themselves to join a union, without fear of intimidation or losing their jobs. Joe the Plumber doesn’t speak for real plumbers.

Oh, deary me. He sounds a little upset. Could it be due to these facts?

Joe the Plumber may not represent the average worker — or at least not the average plumber. Remember that Joe never had a plumbing license, and many of the people in that profession are members of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry (UA).

I think Joe the Fake Plumber is maybe upsetting the wrong damned people.

Random Observations on Living in a New Place

My cat has become a balcony slut.


In the old place - y'know, the one with the awesome view of all the tasty water birds in the pond - my cat would remain outside for about thirty seconds, tops, before demanding to be let back inside. Here, she's at the door the second I start putting on my coat to head out for a smoke, and refuses to come back in for several minutes after I'm done.

I don't understand my cat. Then again, are cats really understandable?

Below is a fair approximation of our living situation:


Of course, it's not like that now. We have boxes absolutely everywhere. But the living room's put together enough for the cat to enjoy her new loveseat and recliner. She lets me sit on them sometimes. I appreciate her generosity.


Tomorrow, I get to determine where the fuck I put all of the shelf pegs. Without them, shelving the bajillion boxes of books will be a non-starter. There's a trillion and one things to do before we're fully settled. But so far, living on our own is awesome indeed.

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

I have survived the move, or at least survived to a reasonable degree. Right now, my lower back is fighting a losing game. On the one hand, it's very much wanting to remind me that we have arthritis developing. On the other hand, I've got it buried in the new rocking recliner. And I've promised it a bath later. It's hard for a lower back to argue with those things, no matter how much abuse it took earlier.

It looks like I missed quite a bit of excitement during the move. The Cons have unveiled something they claim is a budget proposal:

About nine years ago, then-Gov. George W. Bush was asked about his budget experience. Bush said he was proud of what he'd put together: "It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it."

Keep that quote in mind when considering the "budget" House Republicans unveiled this morning.

Stung by their stereotyping as the "party of no," House Republicans eagerly promoted the unveiling of their alternative to President Obama's budget today -- but when they finished speaking, reporters had one big question: Where's the actual budget? You know, the numbers that show deficit projections and discretionary spending?

There certainly was no hard budgetary data in the attractively designed 18-page packet that the House GOP handed out today, its blue cover emblazoned with an ambitious title: "The Republican Road to Recovery." When Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) was asked what his goal for deficit reduction would be -- President Obama aims to halve the nation's spending imbalance within five years -- Boehner responded simply: "To do better [than Obama]."

And that's really all we got. House GOP leaders held a press conference this morning to prove a) they could put together a budget; b) that they could be the "party of yes"; and c) that their agenda is about more than just saying the opposite of whatever President Obama wants.

Instead, they unveiled a "budget" with no numbers or even budget estimates, and spent most of the press conference criticizing the president.

Republican leaders posted their "Road to Recovery" report online, and it's more or less a joke. Apparently -- I hope you're sitting down -- the minority party believes the nation will thrive if we cut taxes, stick with Bush's energy policies, and pursue more deregulation.

Wow. Now, those are fresh ideas. If, of course, you're measuring fresh on a geologic scale.

They're proud as peaches about meeting Obama's challenge to show him a budget, but they seem a little lost when it comes to reporters asking basic questions:

Today, MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell challenged Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) to say what the deficit impact of the GOP plan would be. Pence awkwardly tried to change the subject:

Q: So you don’t have the numbers now? About what you’re plan would be in terms of how it would cut the deficit or add to the deficit? You don’t have any numbers on that?

PENCE: Well, it’s really a broad – when the White House a few minutes ago was attacking the numbers in this bill, the tax cut numbers. There’s plenty of numbers in the Republican recovery plan. And we just really believe the President’s plan to raise taxes by nearly 2 trillion dollars on almost every American…deserves a debate on Capitol Hill.

Without details, “how is your plan credible?” asked O’Donnell. “Well, I thought through this morning, we didn’t have a plan, so it may be progress our plan is being attacked,” Pence responded. “This is the broad outline,” he said, stating that the GOP would introduce a bill soon.

And when might that be?

When might GOP leaders flesh out the details in their "detailed budget"? Boehner told reporters today that some numbers will probably be available sometime next week. So, right around the time House lawmakers are voting on the budget, the minority party will offer an alternative budget that no one's seen.

My, what... interesting timing. Don't they whine like spoiled little children when Dems pull that shit on them?

At least the press is finally getting tired of the Cons' antics. They're actually verging on acting like journalists:

Today, MSNBC cut away from its live coverage of President Obama’s web town hall to cover the House Republican press conference on its alternative budget. This afternoon, MSNBC’s Contessa Brewer expressed her exasperation that the GOP still had not offered any real, specific plans. “Give me some substance!” she proclaimed:

BREWER: Here’s the thing. They say, We have a plan — and proceeded not to tell us what that plan is. They sent us some paperwork. It’s got no numbers attached. I understand, it takes time to do math. I would be content even doing without the numbers. I’m just saying, What are your ideas? You have my attention. We cut away from the president. Give me some substance!

MSNBC’s congressional correspondent Mike Viqueira said that the GOP website promised a “detailed plan.” “I guess details are in the eye of the beholder, but I don’t think most people would call this a detailed plan at this point,” he said.

One gets the feeling they're annoyed. Most excellent.

There's plenty more stupid where that comes from, but I've promised my aching back a nice, long soak, and the cat's "helping" unpack boxes, so I shall have to leave you with this last gem (h/t):

It appears Republicans just couldn't bear letting Obama's challenge stand until they had their act together, and had to do some quick posturing lest someone imagine they were just the "party of no."

But at one prominent conservative website, there seems to be some deep resentment that Republicans didn't respond a little more forcefully. Check out this interesting observation from Jeff Emanuel at Redstate:

There was a time in our country’s history where opponents who had a genuine beef with each other were not only unafraid to debate the issue (see Lincoln-Douglass), but were willing to actually do battle over it (see Sumner-Brooks). Heck, we’ve even had a sitting Vice President kill a former Treasury Secretary in a duel!

That's right. The rabid right are pining for the days when, instead of relying on your native intelligence to win a debate, you relied on your ability to aim a pistol. Gee, I wonder why.

Movin' Day

Thank you, Ron Britton, for finding the Lolcat that sums it up so superbly:


It applies more to my soon-to-be-former roommate's poor boyfriend. I gave up cheap for convenient long ago. He wanted to, but ended up like the poor cat above.

Still. I should've hired someone to pack the damned books.

Posting is likely to be light-to-non-existent today, depending on when the Comcast guy gets me hooked up, and how well the move goes. Please accept my profound apologies for not having something set up in advance, and consider this your opportunity to write something brilliant for the next Carnival of the Elitist Bastards, which will be sailing from Captain Z's place this weekend.

See you all from my new location.

A Surprise, a Valid Question, and an X-Rated Metaphor

Since I don't have time for a lot of blog reading today, and sure as shit don't have time for actual writing tonight, I headed over to Ron Britton's place. I knew he'd have something good for ye.

First, the surprise:



If you're thinking that looks like a Dr. Seuss cartoon, you'd be right. If you're thinking it was photoshopped, you'd be wrong. That's an original, folks.

I think Dr. Seuss would've gotten along just fine here in the cantina.

Ron uses the above cartoon to illustrate a very valid question posed to the "pro-life" movement:

You’re opposed to the “morning after pill”, because the destruction of an eight-cell blastocyte is murder. So how is the destruction of 91,000 post-birth Iraqis OK? If “abortion is the murder of a child”, and “even one abortion is too many”, then how is the killing of tens of thousands of Iraqi children not murder and not too many?

Somehow, I don't think they'll have an answer.

Now for the metaphor:

The senator contends that people need to be disabused of the notion that raising taxes increases revenue to the federal government, and that lowering taxes decreases money coming into the federal Treasury.

Republicans need to be disabused of the opposite notion. Since they keep perpetuating this myth among themselves, it’s obviously self-abuse. Republicans just keep masturbating to the pornography of low taxes.

You're welcome.

Both articles deserve your attention. Go forth and enjoy them, my darlings.

Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

Moving sucketh mightily. Packing sucketh worse. Don't expect much today.

Although the Cons have provided us an abundance o' the stupid. They're so stupid they can't even tell the difference between very smart and very stupid people:

Over the last couple of years, it seemed like Barack Obama's conservative detractors had thrown just about every criticism imaginable at the guy. If recent commentary on far-right blogs is any indication, they've come up with a new one: they're convinced the president isn't very bright.

Just to be clear, they're talking about the current president.

[snip]

Take this item, for example, published yesterday by Powerline's John Hinderaker:

Everyone knows that Barack Obama is lost without his teleprompter, but his latest blunder, courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, via the Corner, suggests that the teleprompter may not be enough unless it includes phonetic spellings. [Obama apparently mispronounced the name of the company "Orion"]

So evidently we have to add astronomy to history and economics as subjects of which Obama is remarkably ignorant. I'm beginning to fear that our President has below-average knowledge of the world. Not for a President, but for a middle-aged American.

Just in case there's any doubt, there was no indication that Hinderaker was kidding or being deliberately ironic. (With conservative blogs, it's often hard to tell.)

This is, of course, coming from the same blogger who was not only impressed by Sarah Palin's intellectual prowess, but also once lauded George W. Bush as "a man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius."

No wonder Steve Benen entitled that post "Stupid Is as Stupid Does."

Next up on our list of profound stupidity is Eric Cantor, who apparently feels an affinity with the profoundly paranoid:

C-SPAN’s Washington Journal hosted House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) this morning. During the segment, a caller phoned in to “thank” Cantor “and [Rep.] Michele Bachmann [R-MN] and all of the conservatives that are doing such a great job.”

The caller then said it’s “insanity” that there are “people” drinking “from the kool-aid” who “seem to think that there is a magical tree of money behind Washington,” adding that the country is descending into “fascism.” In response, Cantor said the public is “finally waking up” to this and that the GOP is trying to bring President Obama “back into the mainstream...”

Maybe we should cut him some slack, though. Maybe he was still all hung over after the Brittany Spears concert he went to:

In recent weeks, congressional Republicans have been critical of President Obama for doing anything that isn’t directly focusing on the economic crisis — such as going on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno or filling out his NCAA bracket. House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) even called Obama’s decision to overturn the ban on embryonic stem cell research a “distraction.” However, Wonkette reports that instead of watching Obama’s prime-time press conference last night, Cantor decided to pursue his own distraction — the Britney Spears concert. A statement from Cantor’s office:

After attending the NRCC dinner, Eric, like President Obama has been known to do, enjoyed a night at the Verizon center.

I wish I was kidding. Alas, 'tis not April 1st.

Chuck Norris has no such excuse for being a spectacular dumbass. You know he writes columns for WorldNut Daily:

... and World Nut Daily prints them...

And the question that keeps coming back to my mind is: How is it that we can militarily overthrow a tyrant like Saddam Hussein in Iraq, yet we can't keep illegals from crossing our borders? As Mike Huckabee says, "If the government can't track illegals, then let's outsource the job to UPS or Fed Ex." It's true. If they can track a lost package anywhere in the world within minutes, they can certainly track down and keep track of illegals.

Will Fed Ex scan each illegal or what?

I think this man took far too many blows to the head. Or possibly did too much blow. I'm not sure which.

By the way, has anyone else noticed signs of desperation (as well as signs of psychological implosion) from the right? They seem pretty damned desperate to me:

Eugene Robinson had a column a couple of weeks ago in which he argued, in relation to media criticism of President Obama, "It didn't work to shout 'socialism,' so now they're yelling 'overload' and 'lack of focus.'"

Except, that didn't work either, so now they're yelling "over-exposed."

CNN's Anderson Cooper last night spoke at some length about the idea of the president of the United States being "over-exposed." Cooper compared Obama's media appearances, including his press conference, to ABC airing "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" too much, to the point that Americans got "sick of it."

Cooper's hardly the only one. Indeed, Jason Linkins had a good piece yesterday on the media's "obsession" with this idea of Obama benig "over-exposed."

Ain't gonna work. In fact, their attacks have worked just about as well as Bobby Jindal's follow-ups to President Obama's speeches:

Yesterday, as President Obama was delivering his second press conference, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) spoke at the NRCC’s largest fundraiser of the year to an audience of more than 1,200 Republicans — including prominent luminaries like House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH).

In his speech, Jindal turned to one of the major issues facing the GOP: whether it agrees with Rush Limbaugh’s statement that he wants Obama to fail. Without mentioning Limbaugh, Jindal criticized the recent focus on the remarks, claiming that anyone who disagrees with President Obama is treated as committing “treason.” On whether he personally wants Obama to fail, Jindal simply said, “it depends“:

Make no mistake, anything other than an immediate and compliant – “why no sir, I don’t want the President to fail” is treated as some sort of act of treason, civil disobedience, or political obstructionism. This is political correctness run amok. […]

I will not be brow beaten on this, and I will not kow-tow to their political correctness. We will be the loyal opposition. So… my answer to the question is very simple — “Do you want the President to fail?” It depends on what he is trying to do.

I've only skimmed his speech, looking for the spot where he implicitly condemns Limbaugh (which I didn't find). It's a grab-bag of insanity wrapped in idiotic GOP talking points and then drowned in pathetic.

I'd ask when these people are going to learn, but I realize the answer to that is, "They're incapable of learning."

Great Minds

Digby and I are thinking alike, which gives me hope for the eventual greatness of my mind:

I was just reading this interesting piece about narcissistic personality disorder and musing about the mindset that believes it's ok to take down the world economy and then dictate the rules by which it is fixed.

So we don't agree on the actual pathology, but at least we're on the same track. Woot!

If we have any clinical psychologists in the audience, they should feel free to weigh in. Who's closer to the proper diagnosis of the Wall Street fucktards, Digby or your own cantinera?

Prescribing the Disease as the Cure

Leave it to the uber-religious fuckwits to come up with genius ideas like this:

I had to laugh at the absurd assumptions behind this headline from the American Family Association's OneNewsNow:

STDs have gone up, therefore we need more abstinence-only sex ed. Never mind that study after study has shown that kids who get abstinence-only sex ed are less likely to use condoms when they have sex.

You know why I love Ed Brayton? Because he's merciless with the statistics:

Let's look just at the state of Texas, which leads the nation in abstinence-only sex ed. 94% of all Texas school districts teach abstinence-only sex ed, with only 3% teaching abstinence-plus (abstinence plus condoms and other forms of birth control).

The result? Texas teenagers also are among the nation's leaders in unprotected sex.

Fifty-sex percent of high school students in Texas report having used condoms at last intercourse. Only three states have lower rates of condom use among students.

We already know that Texas has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy in the nation, despite 94% of them being taught abstinence-only. It's certainly no surprise that they also have an extraordinarily high rate of STD infections:

Young people ages 15-24 comprised twenty percent of Texas' new HIV cases in 2006.

Texas' youth, especially young women, are at risk for STIs:

• Youth ages 15-24 experienced 73 percent of the total number of Chlamydia cases in Texas in 2006.
• 
  
• Youth ages 15-24 experienced 61 percent of the total number of Gonorrhea cases in Texas in 2006.
• 
  
• For all youth in this age range, young women were most at risk for STIs, experiencing 83 percent of Chlamydia infections and 60 percent of gonorrhea infections.

So much for that argument.

I think it's time we turn the tables. Anti-choicers like to shove pictures of discarded fetal tissue in people's faces. Why not take a page from their book and start parading around outside their churches with blown-up photos of the effects of STDs? We can ask them why they're ruining kids' lives.

Here's just a few pics to get us started:

AIDS:

Advanced Kaposi’s sarcoma with marked lymphostatic oedema in a patient’s face.

(© J.H. Frenkel, Univ. Frankfurt)

Syphillis:

Lesions

Courtesy of the Sexual Health Guide blog





Chlamydia -

"A wicked case of crotch rot"







This is what they sentence kids to when the only advice they give is "Don't have sex."

Heh. So True...

I'm in the last frenzied day of packing to move. Things will probably get a bit light round here. But there is always time for LOLZ.



That, my darlings, is an LOL even an atheist can love.

Speaking of LOLZ atheists can love, this one was pretty awesome, too: