09 April, 2010

Dumbfuckery du Jour

Sorry about yesterday.  I got waylaid by Connie Willis.  Decided to re-read To Say Nothing of the Dog, y'see.  And while I was away, the dumbfuckery piled up high.

Most of it hails from Virginia, where voters in their infinitesimal wisdom decided it would be a brilliant idea to vote themselves a Con for AG and a Con for Governor.  They got what they bargained for, poor fools.  Here's their new Attorney General, fresh off telling teh gayz they'd better not expect those civil rights and stuff, now making money off his dumbfuckery:

Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia's far-right attorney general, has launched a political action committee to bolster his influence within state politics. 

"Liberty Now" is designed to "support the efforts of Ken Cuccinelli in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and to elect Republicans to non-federal offices in the Commonwealth of Virginia," according to a filing made by the organization with the IRS last month.

Oh, goody.  Looks like somebody's got notions of becoming the worst president in US history by way of destroying Virginia first.  Have I told you lately I'm glad I don't live in Virginia?

Not to be outdone, Gov. McDonnell created a stir by proclaiming April to be Confederate History Month without mentioning those pesky slaves.  His reason for leaving slavery out of the festivities?  You can't make this shit up:
Last week, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) issued a proclamation quietly declaring April 2010 Confederate History Month, saying it was important for Virginians to “understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War, and to recognize how our history has led to our present.” 

Notably absent from McDonnell’s proclamation was any mention of slavery. Yesterday, McDonnell explained that it wasn’t “significant” enough to merit a mention:
McDonnell said Tuesday that the move was designed to promote tourism in the state, which next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the war. McDonnell said he did not include a reference to slavery because “there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia.
These fucktards really do create their own reality, don't they?  I mean, seriously.  Slavery wasn't significant for Virginia?  Really

Good ol' Bob later backpedaled, finally cottoning to the notion that in this modern age, you can't just wish slavery out of our nation's past without pissing a shitload of people off, but he's many days late and several bajillion dollars short.  Talk about your weapons-grade stupidity.

Meanwhile, all those Tea Party lovin' Cons are suddenly deciding we're not Taxed Enough Already:
The AP has a piece today with a headline that reads, "Nearly half of US households escape fed income tax." Here's the lede:
Tax Day is a dreaded deadline for millions, but for nearly half of U.S. households it's simply somebody else's problem.
About 47 percent will pay no federal income taxes at all for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability.
This has some on the right complaining -- about the policy, not the story. As Steve M. noted, "So, after a year or so of telling us they're 'taxed enough already,' wingnuts are now going to start complaining that taxes are too low? Apparently."

Drudge is telling readers today, "Rob Thy Neighbor: Half of Households Pay No Fed Income Tax." Fox Nation's headline reads, "Fair? Half the Country Doesn't Pay Income Tax."

Rick Santorum told Fox News viewers last night, "[W]hen you reach the point where people feel like they don't have to pay anything and they're getting money out of the Treasury for nothing, then there's no end to the amount of government that people want." Glenn Beck is also outraged that more Americans aren't paying more in federal taxes.
Of course, they'll try to claim it's all those icky libruls who aren't paying their way, but that story's a little thin, considering how many Teabaggers are middle-class nitwits who are, most certainly, not paying their "fair" share.  Welcome to America, my friends, where those who pay $0 in federal income tax protest paying federal income tax and then whine when it turns out people are not paying federal income tax.

And what sort of politicians do they elect into office?  Ones who spout talking points and can't figure out how actual policy works despite a year's head start.  I'd say they're all sizzle and no steak, but even the sizzle's pretty weak.

Sometimes, I wonder just how much concentrated stupidity our republic can endure before it implodes.

2 comments:

Woozle said...

I realized yesterday that countries are a lot like trees.

If they are planted on solid ground, and don't get trampled when they're small, they can survive for quite a long time -- each year pushing further upward and outward, new life building on the work of previous generations.

A healthy tree can repel or survive attacks of parasites, but if enough damage happens at once the core will begin to rot. The tree may live and even thrive for many years after that, but eventually all it takes is a breeze.

I can only hope that we can find some way to get beyond this metaphor, and do things that trees can't do: get rid of the parasites, clean out the rot, repair and reinforce our infrastructure.

Karen said...

Woozle reminds me of the mulberry tree in our front yard that fell over one day. It was destroyed by Oak Root Fungus. Somehow the idiocy in congress reminds me of those pesky mushrooms that used to appear in our front yard each spring... which, as we now know, were the harbingers of death for our tree.