Dumbfuckery du Jour

I'm watching a very absurd and fucked-up movie.  It's perfect for reading very absurd and fucked-up politics.

Once again, two items commend themselves to our attention.  The first is a coda to last week's dumbfuckery, in which we learned that an anti-gay legislator in California likes to frequent gay bars.  In news that should surprise no one, State Sen. Roy Ashburn has admitted he's gay, and in the meantime come up with the lamest excuse ever for his virulent anti-gay voting record:

Ashburn, a divorced father of four, said that his many votes against gay rights were efforts to represent the conservative views of his constituents.

There's nothing wrong with being a gay man, or having the courage to finally come out of the closet.  There's something seriously wrong with being a gay man who hides what he is, constantly attempts to rip the rights of LGBT people away, and then sanctimoniously claims it's all because his constituents want him to.

Meanwhile, in Florida:

Lawmakers in Florida are hoping to pass a $75 million incentive package to attract movie studios to film in Florida, but a little noticed provision could deny tax credits to movies that feature gay or other “nontraditional family values.” Florida’s Entertainment Industry Economic Development Act would revise the current incentive program — which already offers a tax credit worth 2% of a movie’s production costs if it is “family friendly” — to specifically exclude movies that depict “nontraditional family values” from receiving the additional credit. 

[snip]

[State representative Stephen] Precourt claims that his provision does not specifically target movies with gay characters but “asked if shows with gay characters should get the tax credit, he said, ‘That would not be the kind of thing I’d say that we want to invest public dollars in.’” 

Oh, heavens, no.  Because, y'know, any family values Stephen Precourt doesn't personally subscribe to are icky family values.  Quick, someone ask him if films featuring interracial couples are "traditional" enough to qualify for a tax credit!

And, bonus dumbfuckery: yet another hold by Cons on legislation, this time because they don't want FedEx to stop treating their drivers like shit.

America's right wing: standing up for discrimination (even against themselves) and the rights of big corporations to fuck employees over since, well, just about forever.