Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

You knew we couldn't get through this holiday season without a war.  The culture warriors get bored when they're not shooting it out.  So now they're taking aim at the White House's holiday cards:

I guess it was only a matter of time. Fox News had this report yesterday:

A Republican lawmaker with a mission to save Christmas is aiming his latest salvo at President and first lady Obama, who've followed in a recent tradition to eliminate the mention of Christmas in the White House holiday cards.

The card selected by the Obamas announces: "Season's Greetings." Inside, it reads: "May your family have a joyous holiday season and a new year blessed with hope and happiness."

But Rep. Henry Brown, R-S.C., said abandoning Christmas at Christmas is just plain wrong.

[snip]

Brown told Fox News, "I believe that sending a Christmas card without referencing a holiday and its purpose limits the Christmas celebration in favor of a more 'politically correct' holiday."

I wish I knew what "limits the Christmas celebration" means. If Henry Brown honors the holiday, and enjoys it with his family, does he really feel "limited" if he receives a greeting card that celebrates the "holiday season"? And if so, doesn't it suggest Brown's appreciation for the holiday is a little too fragile?

Indeed.  This is why they seek safety in imposing their rigid little views on absolutely everyone.  Which, of course, includes indoctrinating the kiddies:

Our nation's founders came here to escape religious persecution. They made sure that our Constitution prohibited the formation of a national religion, but to this teabagger from California, forcing Christmas music on children is patriotic. More from The Huffington Post:

The Tea Party movement is supposed to be all about keeping the government out of your business. But if some California members get their way, the state will force public school children to sing Christmas carols.

It's called the "Freedom to Present Christmas Music in Public School Classrooms or Assemblies" initiative.

Merry Hyatt, a substitute teacher and member of the Redding Tea Party Patriots, is behind the push. The Record Searchlight reports:

The initiative would require schools to provide children the opportunity to listen to or perform Christmas carols, and would subject the schools to litigation if the rule isn't followed.

"Bottom line is Christmas is about Christmas," said Erin Ryan, president of the Redding Tea Party Patriots. "That's why we have it. It's not about winter solstice or Kwanzaa. It's like, 'Wow you guys, it's called Christmas for a reason.' " Read on...

I wonder how they'd react to a similar initiative forcing schools to present children with the opportunity to sing praises to the President, or the opportunity to celebrate Wiccan Solstice ceremonies?  Something tells me they'd be a wee bit pissed.  Which really tempts me to try to get such legislation passed, just for shits and giggles.

And watch out, GOP - the Teabaggers aren't interested in forming their own party.  They want yours.  I know some of the Cons in Congress would throw the castle gates open wide, but the few sane ones probably aren't too excited about the idea.

Right-wing protests are getting comically stupid:

Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) has received plenty of, let's call it, "feedback" from his far-right constituents in his conservative-leaning district. Despite being a top target next year, Perriello has refused to give up on what he believes is right, and voted with his party on health care and cap and trade.

His sensible voting record has generated plenty of ire for Perriello, but a right-wing legal group believes the freshman congressman hasn't been accommodating enough to those who disagree with him.

The Rutherford Institute, which was founded by conservative constitutional lawyer John W. Whitehead, penned a letter to the freshman Perriello citing the concerns of a local tea party group and the University of Virginia College Republicans that the location of his Charlottesville office interferes with their right to protest there.

"Unfortunately, it is your choice of office location that has hindered the ability of citizens to effectively communicate concerning issues of the utmost importance to you, Congress and the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia," wrote Whitehead.

"The First Amendment clearly guarantees individuals the right to speak out publicly and address their government representatives on the important issues of the day," Whitehead added.

Here's the situation: Perriello has a district office, which is near several private businesses. The offices share a parking lot, which Teabaggers and other right-wing activists want to use to scream at their congressman. But since the private businesses around Perriello's office actually want to use their parking lot for employees, customers, and clients, would-be protestors aren't able to host events there.

And so, the Rutherford Institute is asking Perriello to move his district office in order to make it easier for people to scream at him.

I'm sure the Congressman will be more than happy to laugh his ass off and not oblige. 

Moving on to the usual batch of global warming stupidity, Michael Steele really has to be seen to be believed:

Earlier this year, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele ridiculed the notion that the Earth is warming, arguing instead that the world is actually “cooling,” citing the supposed examples of Iceland and Greenland:

STEELE: We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I am using my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling process. Greenland, which is now covered in ice, it was once called Greenland for a reason, right? Iceland, which is now green. Oh I love this. Like we know what this planet is all about. How long have we been here? How long? No very long.

“I’m embarrassed for the Republicans,” one Discover Magazine blogger wrote of Steele’s comments.  Yesterday, a reporter from the local Fox Tampa affiliate asked Steele how he knows the Earth is cooling. “I don’t!” Steele exclaimed:

Q: Global warming, you say the earth is cooling. Michael how do you know for sure?

STEELE: I don’t! I don’t! But apparently neither does anybody else! Ok? I don’t. All i know is every morning I come on, I turn on channel 13 and I’ll see what the weather man tells me okay?

I don't even have to say anything, do I?  You're all people with the intelligence of a chihuahua or higher.  And you're probably too busy laughing to notice a good debunking, but if you want to see one anyway, just click the link above.  All I'm going to say is, Michael Steele surely has a childlike faith in his local weatherman, who isn't fucking talking about global warming.

I wonder if his toaster speaks to him, too?

And, in case you were wondering, yes.  It really is just Cons who are this fucking stupid.  Independents and Dems are, by and large, a fuck of a lot more sophisticated when it comes to understanding the science behind global warming.

Turn off your irony meters before reading this.  Done?  Michele Bachmann says the White House is "not connected to reality."  Yes, that's right - Bachmann's accusing others of not being in touch with reality.

For added fun, check out Sarah Palin fundraising for a socialist cause.

Meanwhile, Chuck Grassley thinks he's too busy to condemn Uganda's plan to execute folks for being gay:

In recent weeks, One Iowa, the state’s largest LGBT organization, has been pressuring Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) to denounce the Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently being considered by the Ugandan parliament. A major reason for the emphasis on Grassley is his relationship with the The Family, an international Christian organization that has pushed extreme right-wing policies in Africa (as reported by author Jeff Sharlet).

On Wednesday, Grassley finally responded to his constituents. However, he refused to condemn the legislation, saying he was too busy to be concerned about such matters:

“I’ve got a fulltime job reading bills in Congress without reading the bills in another 190 countries,” Grassley said. “Surely nobody in Iowa expects me to keep up on issues that are in the parliaments of other countries. Besides I don’t know anything about it.”

Here, Chuck.  Let me help you.  It takes less than a minute to say this.  All you have to do is say, "If it's true that Uganda is contemplating legislation to execute people for homosexual acts, I condemn that legislation and urge them not to pass it."  See how easy that is?  It took me all of two minutes to whip up.  You've got plenty of staff, Chuck.  Surely, someone could've done the same.

You know, Dems aren't perfect.  They piss me off on a daily basis.  But at least they're sane.