The Civil War was ENTIRELY about slavery

I haven't been watching a lot of news lately. MSNBC's terrible reporting makes me gag, CNN is too busy trying to show how cool they are since they're on the Twitters and the YouTubes, and Fox News is well, Fox News. So maybe I missed something, but I haven't heard a lot of talk about the American Civil War. You would think on the 150th anniversary of the darkest chapter in our nation's history would be something worth discussing. 9/11, significant as it was, can't go by without a 24-hour terror porn replay of the newscasts from the days events, yet the anniversary American Civil War, which left over 365,000 people dead, has gone by without much of a peep.

You know that cliché, "those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it"? Well, in an political climate where elected officials, not just tinfoil hat buffoons and charlatans like Glenn Beck and Andrew Breitbart, are telling Americans that they may need to take up arms against their government, the Civil War might be something we want to talk about. Michele Bachmann (R-Toon Town) wants her constituents "armed & dangerous," Sharon Angle talked about "Second Amendment remedies" if she lost the election against Harry Reid (she did... barely) and Texas Governor, Rick Perry, has been stoking the flames of secession for years now.

On top of all this, we have people who actually claim that the Civil War wasn't really about slavery. Google "Civil War not about slavery" and you'll find millions upon millions of results. Oh really, the Civil War wasn't about slavery? This guy begs to differ:

"Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner- stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."

Who said something so awful? The fucking Vice President of the Confederacy, Alexander Stephens. Yeah, slavery had NOTHING to do with it. Excuse me while I LOL.

So the next time some asshole tries to tell you otherwise, or even worse, if you have some lunatic teacher shoving some bullshit about "states' rights" (yeah, states' rights to own black people), read them that quote from Alexander Stephens. My ultra right-wing 9th grade history teacher tried to push that nonsense on us... and yes right-wingers, it's not just liberal indoctrination in schools, I wish I paid more attention when I was 14 to call him out on his bullshit.

The Civil War was ENTIRELY about slavery and as our population gets increasingly dumber, these kind of climates can reemerge. Not that I think Michele Bachmann is going to bring back the slave trade, but it contributes to this society of nimrods that think the Civil War wasn't about race and if we just get violent, the government will actually listen to them. That's dangerous and that's where America is right now.

10 Shocking Attacks in the GOP War on Women

Saw this over at the Corrupt Politics blog, who got it from MoveOn.org, and since we all know any mention of MoveOn will automatically be dismissed by right-wingers, I added my own links to cite each item.

Top 10 Shocking Attacks from the GOP War on Women

1) Republicans not only want to reduce women’s access to abortion care, they’re actually trying to redefine rape. After a major backlash, they promised to stop. But they haven’t.

2) A state legislator in Georgia wants to change the legal term for victims of rape, stalking, and domestic violence to “accuser.” But victims of other less gendered crimes, like burglary, would remain “victims.”

3) In South Dakota, Republicans proposed a bill that could make it legal to murder a doctor who provides abortion care. (Yep, for real.)

4) Republicans want to cut nearly a billion dollars of food and other aid to low-income pregnant women, mothers, babies, and kids. 

5) In Congress, Republicans have proposed a bill that would let hospitals allow a woman to die rather than perform an abortion necessary to save her life.

6) Maryland Republicans ended all county money for a low-income kids’ preschool program. Why? No need, they said. Women should really be home with the kids, not out working. 

7) And at the federal level, Republicans want to cut that same program, Head Start, by $1 billion. That means over 200,000 kids could lose their spots in preschool. 

8) Two-thirds of the elderly poor are women, and Republicans are taking aim at them too. A spending bill would cut funding for employment services, meals, and housing for senior citizens.

9) Congress will vote any day now on a Republican amendment to cut all federal funding from Planned Parenthood health centers, one of the most trusted providers of basic health care and family planning in our country.

10) And if that wasn’t enough, Republicans are pushing to eliminate all funds for the only federal family planning program. (For humans. But Republican Dan Burton has a bill to provide contraception for wild horses. You can’t make this stuff up).


How can anyone defend these politicians? The Republican Party has done a lot of really awful things in the last few decades, but have they ever just outright governed out of spite like this? These measures are pure cruelty.

Here America, have a trophy!

You're on the internet, surely you've gotten an email forward, or saw someone post on Facebook, some forward that talks about how America needs to get "tough." Whether it's complaining about welfare, taxes, or kids, there's no shortage of this stuff making the rounds online. One in particular sticks out to me, I even saw it posted on the wall of a sandwich shop when I was eating lunch last week. I'm not going to post the full thing, because it's preachy nonsense that makes me wretch, but you've probably seen it, it's usually falsely attributed to Bill Gates and is usually titled as "Rules Kids Won't Learn in School." It's actually from a book written in 1996 by a guy named Charles Sykes, but it's all about how "kids today" suck because they have healthy self-esteem.

Now I'm not going to rant in defense of the precious little snowflakes, I just bring it up so you know what I'm talking about. You've seen the forwards: "life isn't fair, get used to it," "I can't believe kids get trophies for everything nowadays," "life doesn't have summer break," blah blah blah. And of course, this shit gets passed around like the plague, usually it comes to your inbox as "Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: AMEN!!!!!!!1"

Yeah! Kids have it too easy, they need to learn life isn't fair! Games have winners and losers and only winners get trophies! Time to get tough, America.

Except it's not. People love to cheerlead this kind of stuff, but the minute you try to talk tough to an American adult, you get run out of town. Jimmy Carter told us to put on a sweater, don't be wasteful and don't be driven by consumerism. Of course, America responded to this by electing Mr. Sunny, Ronald Reagan... who drove the country further into the ditch and created the blueprint for the modern day Republican party... who drove the country off a cliff. How dare anyone in power tell us to be responsible and act like an adult? Screw you, I'm buying a Hummer!

Barack Obama came under similar criticism for his views on American exceptionalism. When asked, he replied, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism, and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." A perfectly reasonable, logical and mature explanation, of course idiots like Newt Gingrich took this as the opportunity to label Obama a "Kenyan, socialist, anti-colonial, secularist, (insert buzzword here)," etc. He might even be an Orc too, Newt's not sure. But that's the attitude of the right, if you don't believe America is the greatest country on the planet, if you don't believe that God himself drew lines on a map, pointed to America and said "that one's my favorite," then you're a dirty pinko socialist Nazi.

But yes, children who get trophies just for playing, that's the problem. In reality, the trophy thing isn't that big of a deal, because if they stick with the sport (or any other activity), many of them will soon be forced to sacrifice their childhoods in favor of meaningless structure and pressuring parents who want to make up for their own failures vicariously through the scholastic and athletic achievements of their children.

But that's another rant for another day. Point is, kids will soon learn the harsh realities of winning and losing through a variety of channels, but Americans in general who need a never-ending stream of smoke blown up their ass from their elected leaders? We're the people who need a trophy for everything. We rank 36th in the world in life expectancy (below Costa Rica and Cuba, slightly above Kuwait), we rank 37th in overall health care coverage, we rank 21st in literacy rates, 34th in math and science education, 33rd in infant mortality, and the middle class has evaporated... but hey, WE'RE #1!

If an American politician, someone with the ability to actually improve these statistics, pointed out those facts, they wouldn't even be elected Mayor of Wasilla. "How dare you?! America is the greatest country in the world!" usually said by someone who's never even left the county, let alone the country. "Love it or leave it, man!" usually said by someone with no counterpoint.

American exceptionalism of the Newt Gingrich variety is what got us into this mess. We were too arrogant, too naive and too distracted to notice the country crumbling all around us. It's the point people try to make with the non-issue of kids getting participation trophies, that it'll give them over-inflated self-esteem and they'll be in for a real shock when it's time to enter the real world and everything isn't handed to them. Well America, it's time to enter the real world.

Ground Zero Mosque... that isn't a mosque or on Ground Zero

Earlier today, I was in a discussion with someone who supports the Park51 project, but thought the folks in charge didn't do a good job of getting in front of the story and explaining that it wasn't actually a Mosque, but a place to play racquetball. That might be the case if Fox News wasn't covering the story. It wouldn't have mattered if they had five years of hype, calling it the "Totally Non-Religious Happy Place Where There's Free Ice Cream & Hand Jobs," the minute Fox News and the rest of the right-wing media started calling it the "Ground Zero Mosque," it would've still been the Ground Zero Mosque. You have to realize these cretins shape the narrative because they have ignorant viewers and listeners that believe everything they're told. Then said ignorant listeners and viewers get outraged, start calling newspapers, radio and TV stations and demand to know why the liberal media isn't covering the Terror Mosque of Doom. And then of course the media covers it because they're pussies and are afraid of looking too liberal, so they have to report on the outrage, then the outrage blends with the story, and that becomes the perceived reality.

The right-wing is frighteningly organized, it's how Glenn Beck can get 80,000 morons to show up in DC for no reason other than to listen to him compare himself to MLK and Jesus, so he can sell books and Goldline to these same ignorant, outraged fucktards. If Sir Glenn of Moronistan and Boss Limbaugh say it is so, then it is so, it doesn't matter how much truth you throw in their face. And then the average joe, who's just trying to provide for his family and survive his soul-crushing work day, comes home and turns on the nightly news and gets a five minute version of the story that focuses on the message created by the wingnuts, as demonstrated in the above paragraph. He doesn't have time to fact check this bullshit, he just absorbs it, goes to bed, and tries to make it through another day, not thinking about how much the right wing is pissing on his face and telling him it's rain.

The media game is rigged, and the right-wing will win it every time. Even when they're down and nothing is going their way, like post-Bush administration, they always find a way to bounce back. And when the Democrats are utterly decimated and humiliated in November, you'll see exactly what I mean.

The Republican Party: consistently inconsistent

Just when you thought there was no way this party could be more full of shit, the Times Square wannabe terrorist turns the whole damn country upside down.  New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, announced that he wants to restrict the sale of firearms to people on the government's "no-fly" list.  It seems like a pretty logical restriction, if you're considered too dangerous to get on a plane, you probably shouldn't be allowed to buy a gun.  Ah, but we must remember that Republicans love them some guns; they don't care about any of the other amendments in the Constitution, but the Second must be preserved at all costs!  Restrict free speech, allow for unreasonable search and seizure, but they can't even restrict the sale of guns to suspected terrorists!

Why?  Because it may affect law-abiding citizens.  Yes, that's the Republican excuse, normal everyday folk might be inconvenienced by this law.  Meanwhile, these exact same buffoons are jumping for joy over the Arizona racial profiling law, which allows the police to harass law-abiding American citizens.  Americans must have unrestricted access to firearms at all times, even if you're on the government's no-fly list, but if you're brown and in the state of Arizona, you may have to take a trip to the police station if you don't have your papers in order.

And not satisfied with being completely insane, the GOP has to take this to "holy fucking batshit insane" levels by saying that suspected terrorists shouldn't be read their Miranda rights.  Now this may sound confusing, because Republicans have lost their damn minds, but let me try to get this straight: suspects on the no-fly list should have access to guns, but when they're arrested, even if they're an American citizen suspected of committing a crime on American soil, they should not have the rights guaranteed to every other American citizen?  Huh?!

This is why I cannot take this party seriously, even when you think they've hit rock bottom, they manage to find a way and set the bar even lower for intelligence and decency.

Barack Obama (R-IL)

Stock market: highest numbers since 08.

Retail businesses: best numbers in a decade.

March: highest job growth in three years.

Nuclear weapons: Ronald Reagan wanted a nuclear-free world, we're taking steps toward that.

Drill baby, drill: now we're drilling offshore.

Why are Republicans so pissed off? Barack Obama is the best Republican president we've ever had!

Enemy of intelligence

So yesterday, you may have heard about some idiot on Facebook posting a poll called "Should Obama be killed?" Pretty serious stuff, but it's the internet, right? People post crazy stuff all the time and it's not fair to make assumptions about many people based on the actions of one. But what happens when an elected official does something similar, just less blatant?

Here's congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), calling the President of the United States an "enemy of humanity."



What kind of message does that send to the lunatics from the teabagging crowd? You know the people with their signs like "We came unarmed... this time!" and "Obama's Plan = White Slavery," how do you think this kind of statement resonates with them? This goes beyond the right-wing's efforts to make the President seem illegitimate by saying things like he's "exotic" or "different," this is a government official telling people that the President of the United States is an enemy to our very existence.

Think I'm overreacting? What about the census worker who was found bound, gagged and hanged with the word "FED" carved into his chest last week? This, just a month or so after congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-MN) claimed that filling out the census could lead to Americans being sent to internment camps, much like we did with Japanese-Americans during World War II.

Trent Franks is walking on very dangerous ground here. This is worse than the birth certificate numbskulls and makes "YOU LIE!" seem tame in comparison, Congressman Franks isn't saying Barack Obama is unfit for office, he's saying he's unfit for life. This isn't just a political disagreement, Franks is dehumanizing our democratically elected President, illustrating him as an evil monster. When you start using language like that, you're essentially telling people that it would be okay to assassinate the President. You're giving them the idea that they would be the hero, saving the "real Americans" from the threat of an enemy to humanity. With rhetoric like this, and the non-stop comparisons to Hitler, all it's going to take is one unbalanced lunatic to hear Trent Franks' words and create a very dangerous situation. Franks should resign immediately or be removed from office by the people of Arizona, language like this cannot be tolerated.

Liberal Media vs. Conservative Media

I know I talk about the myth of a liberal media on a fairly regular basis. It's not that there aren't any liberals in the media, but they're generally interested in presenting the truth. Contrary to popular (stupid) belief, there's not a concentrated effort within the collective media to promote left-wing agendas. However, there is a concentrated effort in the conservative media to promote right-wing agendas, except they have no interest in the truth. The right-wing media has not use for facts because the truth usually contradicts their agenda, so instead they rely on loud noises, smears and flat-out insanity.

Let's contrast and compare! First, here's Bill Moyers, the epitome of the "liberal media," and a man that Bill O'Reilly constantly rails against and sends his stalker producer to harass:

Bill Maher interviews Bill Moyers

Now just watch those clips with Maher and Moyers and understand that this is the "liberal media" - intelligent, well-spoken, fair and coherent conversation.

And now here's the conservative media:

Glenn Beck pretends to light someone on fire

Glenn Beck boils "fake" frog on air

Glenn Beck claims the half-white president "has a deep-seated hatred for white people"

Glenn Beck jokes about poisoning the Speaker of the House

Glenn Beck says he's "thinking about killing" Michael Moore

Glenn Beck agrees that we need Osama bin Laden to "detonate a major weapon" on US soil

This is the best the right-wing media can do, folks. Lies, threats, hypocrisy, fear, racism, and ludicrous stunts. Hell, it's not just their media, it's the right-wing in general.

Why so serious?

Okay, I need a break. You'd be surprised, but tackling the insanity of the right-wing is exhausting when there's just so much of it. So today, I've decided to take on an easy target, this whole fad of Photoshopping Obama as The Joker:


Honestly, I don't really have a problem with this. I don't find it offensive, it's not like when the wingnuts try to make him look like Hitler, and making politicians look like cartoon villains is actually pretty funny:


See? Hilarious! But Jokerbama? I think these posters are good evidence that right-wingers aren't particularly deep and not a lot of thought goes into their outrage. It's not surprising, the Republican Party has gotten people to vote against their own self-interests for decades, just by drumming up irrelevant issues like guns and religion. Yeah, I said it, the right-wing voters cling to guns and religion.

Anyway, why The Joker? Joker is the exact opposite of everything the right-wing claims Obama is doing. Right now, the current lunacy coming from the teabaggers is that Obama is some kind of socialist, communist, tyrannical fascist dictator, that's going to tax you into oblivion and take over American business. Obviously that's absurd, but I'll humor them for a moment... how is that at all related to The Joker? Let's get nerdy!

The Joker has no interest in power, control or money, his only desire is absolute chaos. Yeah, he steals money, but it's only to achieve a goal, he doesn't care about wealth. Go watch The Dark Knight again, once he has all the money from every criminal organization in Gotham City, he simply sets it ablaze! The Joker wants a world that's as crazy as him, he's a terrorist more in line with extreme Libertarianism, so shouldn't we be painting smiles on Ron Paul?

But according to the wingnuts, Obama is now a socialist, communist, fascist, tyrant who wants the country to descend into anarchy. Huh? This is why I have such a hard time taking these people seriously, because they obviously don't know what they're talking about. It's bad enough they're claiming Obama is both a socialist and a fascist, but a tyrannical anarchist? In the words of The Joker: HAhAHahAHAHaHAHahaHAhA!

If you want to dip into Batman's rogues gallery to smear President Obama, may I suggest someone more in line with your ridiculous claims? How about The Penguin? A wealthy, high-society elitist who gains wealth and power through less than legal means. Oh dammit, I just described the Republican Party.

You lie!

If you've been following the news today, congress officially brought up the Joe "You Lie" Wilson situation and voted on whether or not to rebuke him. While I'm all for making this guy look like the assclown that he is, I have to ask, if the guy was willing to apologize, would anyone even want it? A Joe Wilson apology is worth as much as his opinion: nothing.

His outburst during the Obama's speech did serve a purpose though, it proved my point that the Republican Party has no respect for the President or the office he holds. Hell, they obviously don't even have any respect for the House of Representatives, as he blatantly defied the rules and very few Republicans are calling for him to apologize on the floor or to resign. And yes, Wilson should resign, or be removed from office, no one so childish should be allowed to have such an important job. Try pulling that stunt at your place of employment; the next time the boss calls a meeting, shout "YOU LIE!" at him during an important point, you'll be cleaning out your desk before lunch.

It also doesn't help the fact that it wasn't Obama who was lying, it was Joe Wilson! Well, either he lied or he was just flat-out wrong, which makes him a perfect fit for the GOP. Liars, idiots and crazy people, hell of a party they got there. Which brings me back to my original point, why would anyone even care if Wilson apologizes? As a member of the GOP, his apology will be insincere, just like everything else that comes out of that party's collective mouth.

It's fun to watch the right-wing defend this guy, the first elected official in the history of the country to shout at the president mid-sentence during a speech to congress. I've seen some people try to play the "British Parliament" excuse, saying outbursts like that happen all the time over there. So I suppose anyone using that excuse also believes in Britain's National Healthcare System? And naturally, now the Republicans are playing the victim card, whining that the Democrats are turning this into a "political stunt." Uh... yeah, "political stunt" is the very definition of what Joe Wilson did; there are consequences for acting like an idiot, just ask Kanye West. I know it happened on the sacred grounds of the MTV Video Music Awards, but isn't it funny that the entire country can agree that Kanye was a jerk over something so trivial, but we're struggling to come to a consensus about the southern politician with a history of racially-charged remarks interrupting the first black president?

Intellectual Truancy

It's a sad state of affairs when the president speaking to children about staying in school becomes politicized by the right-wing smear machine. I understand why the LOUD NOISES crowd is encouraging parents to keep their kids home from school tomorrow, without the stupid and ignorant, the GOP would lose 90% of their votes and talk radio would lose 100% of its listeners. But what is truly saddening, is that the "liberal media" (lol) is buying into this nonsense (again) and presenting it as legitimate news (again).

After reading the speech (here's the transcript), it's painfully obvious that there is absolutely no controversy here. I don't consider "stay in school" to be controversial, I suppose if you're Sarah Palin, who presided over the state with the highest dropout rate in the country, you could get a little upset. Obviously, this is probably the least controversial thing any president could do, especially considering that George W. Bush, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan all did it, but its only "politicizing education" when the black Democrat does it. Hmmm. By the way, when Reagan spoke to school children, he went off on a tangent about tax rates, but no politics there, right? It's the Gipper!

All this business about "brainwashing" and "Hitler Youth" (yeah, wingnuts are playing the Hitler card again), it's all just another part of the right-wing's concentrated effort to make Obama seem illegitimate. They have zero respect for the man or the office he holds. I'd like to think that it has to do with something other than his race, but I honestly can't come up with anything else.

And before any wingnut jumps in with their list of idiocy, let me stop them right now: Obama's not that liberal, the economy sucked long before he was elected, our spending has been out of control for 25 years (at least now we're spending it domestically instead of in George W. Bush's sandbox), and we're nowhere near "socialism," no matter how much they scream it.

The country is no different than it was on January 19th, so to throw this kind of temper tantrum over something as non-controversial as this, leads me to believe their problems are entirely with the man himself. Not his policies, not his message, just the fact that they can't wrap their feeble little brains around the idea of a leader named Barack Hussein Obama. To hate a President so much that you can't even allow your children to hear him promote a message of "stay in school and work hard"? Yeah, that certainly strikes at something a bit more personal than the friggin' deficit.

Teabaggers: The First Generation

Our current political climate isn't the first time the extreme right-wing used the threat of communism to stop America's progression:


And here we are today:


Poor, pitiful, angry white men... they've always had it so rough.

The Cult

No, I'm not talking about the kickass rock band that gave us tunes like "Fire Woman" or "She Sells Sanctuary," I'm talking about the Republican Party, which is beginning to resemble something along the lines of Heaven's Gate. You remember that, right? The crazy people who all killed themselves because they were going to hitch a ride on the Hale-Bopp Comet? Let's contrast and compare for a moment:

Heaven's Gate:
"It is also possible that part of our test of faith is our hating this world, even our flesh body, to the extent to be willing to leave it without any proof of the Next Level's existence."

Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (R-Arkham Asylum):
"This [health care reform] cannot pass…What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn’t pass…Right now, we are looking at reaching down the throat and ripping the guts out of freedom."

Remember, people voted for this woman, they elected her to public office to represent them in congress. Seriously. And really, slit their wrists and become blood brothers? Does Michelle Bachmann worship Satan? That would certainly explain how she was elected...

And it's not just one crazy person, take a look around at the Republican Party today, it's nothing but frothing-at-the-mouth psychopaths. Let's ignore all the misinformed idiots at all these town hall meetings and focus on the people who actually wield some sort of authority in this country.

How about Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, who claims he performed an exorcism on a young woman when he was in college? I've brought it up before, but it is a 100% true story, it's not some birther-esque conspiracy, Jindal himself has claimed that he performed an exorcism. I have to repeat that one more time - a sitting governor, an elected official, not only believes in the idea of exorcisms, he thinks he's performed one.

Then there's George W. Bush, who sent 4,000 brave men and women to die (and countless others to come back maimed), because God told him to invade Iraq. A twice-elected (well, one and half times elected) president started a war because "God" told him. I don't find that troubling that as an almost-atheist, I find it troubling in the same way that it disturbs me when I see a crazy person muttering about God as he stumbles down an alley. Yeah, we elected THAT guy to be president.

How about Representative John Shimkus (R-IL) who says we don't need to worry about climate change because only God decides when the world ends? That's right, ignore all the science and trash the place because it's not going to matter when God splits open the heavens and sends the Four Horsemen to destroy the world. Sounds like someone's interested in a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Then of course, there's Sarah Palin, who belongs to a church that can "pray the gay away" and allows "Pastor" Thomas Muthee to come preach. Palin claims she wouldn't have been elected governor had Muthee not "laid hands" upon her, as he prayed for Jesus to bless her with wealth and protect her from witches. Literal witches, broomstick-riding, cauldron-brewing WITCHES.

I know I've mentioned all these over the last few months in previous entries, but when I compile them all together, can you actually look at it and take these people seriously? It's not just them, there are many more loonies in the party and even more nutjobs that support them, so honestly, please tell me how this party has any credibility?

If I were to sit you down and tell you about a group of people whose leaders believed in witches, exorcisms, a supernatural apocalypse, thought God was speaking directly to them and then called on their members to slit their wrists and become blood brothers, what would you think? Republican Party? Religious cult? Is there really even a difference at this point?

Screaming at themselves

Before I begin, let me clarify that I'm not one to put much stock in polls, I don't think you can accurately represent a country of over 100 million voters by asking 1000 people a series of questions over the phone. Not saying that every poll is wrong, but don't put all your faith in them.

But with that said, Republicans can't shut up about polling these last few weeks. Why? Because Obama's approval rating is down, shocking that they're all over that. So for those folks who are dying to write off an entire presidency in six months because of one week's worth of polling, I want to share a poll of my own.

Political Party Affiliation by State - Gallup

There are currently 37 states that are considered "strongly Democrat" or "leaning Democrat" and you can add DC in there as well for a combined 350 electoral votes. How many are Republican strongholds? Four, with only one additional state "leaning" Republican. Those states are Alaska, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Alabama... with a combined 15 electoral votes between them. There you go, there's today's Republican Party, amazing where people can live nowadays.

Above: Ouch.

Naturally, this Gallup poll is not reflected by the way the "liberal media" (lol) covers the news. Just today, MSNBC gave actual airtime to "lawyer" Orly Taitz (yes, her name is Orly) to explain the so-called "Birther Movement" and why she's fighting to "prove" that Barack Obama wasn't really born in the United States. Just watch this video and see that this woman is a special brand of crazy; I mean there's crazy, and then there's Orly! But the Birfers, as I like to call them, have somehow gotten their stupid cause picked up by the mainstream media the last couple weeks and it's still getting reported on even though it has been repeatedly confirmed that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.

But it's not just the Birfers, the media's letting various Republicans, wingnuts and lunatic fringers all over the networks to talk about whatever insanity is on their mind. Just yesterday, This Week with George Stephanopoulos hosted right-wing columnist Michelle Malkin, who's about as qualified to go on that show as I am, and let her just spew her Ann Coulter-lite vitriol. I still see Frank Gaffney pop up all over MSNBC, and he's a guy that thinks Saddam Hussein was not only behind 9/11, but the Oklahoma City Bombings as well. Even Sean Hannity managed to up his "OMG did he really just do that?"-factor by bringing on MARK FUHRMAN to discuss race relations in America... yes, that Mark Fuhrman, the same dirty cop from the OJ Simpson trial who we heard on tape talk about how much he enjoys beating black people.

Then there's John McCain, who seems to get a weekly interview with the news outlet of his choice. I challenge you to find me a Democrat that got as much airtime as McCain has in the six months after he lost an election. I know we sure as hell didn't see John Kerry, Al Gore or Michael Dukakis this much, but somehow that "liberal media" (lol again) seems to find all the time in the world for ol' Johnny. Memo to the media: McCAIN LOST! Overwhelmingly! That means we didn't like his ideas six months ago, why should we have to hear about them now?

So right now the Republicans have less support than the Whigs, yet they still dominate the news cycle to promote their agenda of LOUD NOISES! They don't have the ability to engage in rational discussion (just listen to talk radio), they have no solutions for the nation's problems (just watch C-Span), all they have left to offer is obstruction. They can't tell us why we shouldn't have health care reform, why gay people shouldn't be allowed to marry or why we should take Sarah Palin seriously, so all they do is just ratchet up the crazy and force us to listen. Remember that next time you see footage of Glenn Beck's latest stunt - which will probably be something like setting the American Flag on fire - the GOP is nothing but an increasingly irrelevant political party trying to do anything to get attention. Like a dying television show desperate for ratings, the Republican Party has jumped the shark, the networks just haven't figured it out yet.

Keystone Media

Need any evidence that race is still an issue in America? Especially in the parts that Rush Limbaugh's fat ass occupies? Just take a look at the case involving Harvard Professor, Henry "Skip" Gates and the media frenzy surrounding it.

Long story short, Mr. Gates was trying to get into his home after locking himself out or his door jamming (I've read both accounts), then a cop strolls along "investigating a break-in" and winds up arresting Gates. A black man arrested because someone thought he was breaking and entering... his own house. In the interest of full disclosure, Mr. Gates was actually charged with disorderly conduct, although I'd be a little disorderly as well if someone tried arresting me for breaking into my own home, especially when I'm already annoyed at the fact that I'm locked out.

The problem was amplified when President Obama was asked about the incident and called the arresting officer's actions "stupid." The police are now demanding an apology from the president. Really? An apology for being called stupid? Here's a tip, if you don't want to be called stupid, don't do something stupid. Just be glad he didn't call the guy a "fucking moron," you fucking morons.

Of course, if Gates were white, everyone would be laughing at Officer James Crowley and rightfully calling him stupid for arresting a guy trying to get inside his own home. But since Mr. Gates is black and this has become a national news story, all the closet racists are slithering out from under their rocks and onto Fox News/talk radio to say everything short of "this uppity black should've known his place."

Looking at the case, I highly doubt that Officer Crowley himself is a racist, but he did something incredibly stupid. Whether or not this was a case of racial profiling or complete ineptitude, you have to be a pretty bad at your job to arrest someone for breaking into their own house. The leeches (Rush Limbaugh) that are trying to turn this into a political issue are the same subhumans that have been pouring gas on America's racial tensions since Barack Obama became a national figure. As their numbers continue to dwindle, it seems Republicans have no problem being the party of nothing but angry white men.

I'm afraid we have to amputate

After having this charge leveled at me numerous times in post-9/11 America, I have to ask it in reverse, do the Republicans hate America? Honestly, I don't think that's true, they certainly love their version of America: polluted, paved and full of pipelines. No, in reality, I think it's more accurate to say that the Republican Party hates Americans.

See, they like their Americans like they like America, polluted. They're comfortable with the fact that the nation is full of people who are fat and stupid. They certainly don't have any plans to fix health care and if it weren't for stupid people, they'd have no party leaders. In case you missed it, a RNC memo came out this week detailing how the Republicans should kill health care reform and "break" Obama. This is how they view the world folks, you are not important; your well-being, the well-being of your children, it's irrelevant to them. Your health, your life, it's a commodity, a business, and as long as they have any say in the matter (as well as those "Blue Dog" Democrats), that's what it will continue to be. All that matters to today's Republican Party is money and votes, and if that means they have to stand in the way of America's progress to get those things, then that's okay.

Sounds harsh, but take a look at their reasoning behind opposing Universal Health Care:

"Oh it'll cost too much!"
Yeah, never mind that taxpayers already pay more health costs than any other nation, yet we're the only modernized nation without some form of universal health care.

"Quality of care will drop!"
The WHO ranks us 37th in the world in terms of overall care, right between Costa Rica and Slovenia. In terms of life expectancy, we rank 45th, just beating out Cyprus, but below Bermuda. Where do we rank on infant mortality? 32nd. Yeah, we're doing a bang-up job with quality of care.

"There will be an government bureaucrat between you and your doctor!"
As opposed to the insurance company bureaucrat between you and your doctor now? A company stooge whose job it is to keep their costs down, even if it comes at the expense of your health.

"You'll wait forever for treatment!"
Because normally you just fly right through the emergency room and are out of there in no time! As for appointments, I can't even get a goddamn dentist appointment within the next six months.

"The government can't run anything right!"
Yeah, because we still have Republicans. When your party runs on a platform of government being inefficient, maybe you shouldn't be running for positions in government. If we got rid of these roadblocks, we might actually get some work done. And that's really what it comes down to, if you want health care reform, it's time to rid our government of the Republican Party. Like a malignant tumor, we need to surgically remove them with our votes every election cycle.


*PS - bow to my AWESOME MS Paint skills!!!

"Liberal Media" Strikes Again!

Take a look at this picture of Sarah Palin, soon to be former governor of Alaska. The biggest loss from that news is that I won't get to call her "Governor Avon Lady" anymore, but according to Time Magazine, I guess I should start calling her "The Renegade." Yeah, that pesky "liberal media" is at it again, tearing down poor Sarah Palin by giving her all sorts of press, taking photos of her looking all nifty on a pier and giving her a super cool moniker like "Renegade." Lorenzo Lamas' career is spinning in its grave.

How does Webster's Dictionary define the term "renegade?"

an individual who rejects lawful or conventional behavior

Well, I guess considering her numerous ethics complaints and the fact that she's out of her goddamn mind, maybe Time is onto something. But that's the literal definition, the media is portraying this as some sort of brilliant scheme that's prepping her for the 2012 election, they're even saying she's taking "the road less traveled," like she's the subject of a friggin' Robert Frost poem. Trust me, Quitty McGee ain't that deep. "Renegade" implies some sort of badass trait, something that sets her apart from the pack, puh-lease.

Sarah Palin is not a renegade, she's not all "mavericky," she's just another Republican. Someone tried to tell me the other day that she's the "new flavor" of politics... apparently the only flavor that person is familiar with is mushrooms because you'd have to be high to believe it. Sarah Palin is plain old Republican vanilla with a couple colorful sprinkles on top, she's the culmination of everything that's sucked about the Republican Party since Nixon. Take your pick: ethically corrupt, moral superiority, extreme arrogance, shallow, greedy, condescending, out of touch, privacy-invading, anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-civil liberties, pro-war, and most important of all, a hypocrite. Sarah Palin takes all the worst qualities of the Republican Party and rolls it into one winking package.

Yes, she's worse than Bush. Say what you will about W, but "quitter" would never enter the discussion. After all the memos that have been released, I honestly have a bit of sympathy for Bush these days. Sure, he's still the worst president ever, but he just seems so gullible and naive, there's almost this innocent quality about him. I feel like W was a decent human being who thought he was doing good, but was surrounded by cretins like Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzalez, etc.

Palin, on the other hand, is all of Bush's worst qualities, mixed with the political ambition of Karl Rove and all the other criminals. She's dumb as a rock (apologies to rocks), a Jesus™ freak, and someone who thinks with her gut rather than her pea-sized brained like Bush; but then she's also a master manipulator, vindictive and just plain nasty like ol' Turd Blossom.

Renegade? Hardly. This woman is the GOP's Frankenstein.

Bailin' Palin

Because one blog just isn't enough to celebrate this glorious occasion. I've gotten a bit of negative feedback on my comments about the soon ex-governor of Alaska, had my mental state called into question and have been mocked for writing a blog by another blogger. Seriously. Since you probably have a life, I'm sure you missed the Wingnut Defense Fund (WDF) come out and express their support for Sarah Palin abandoning the people of Alaska. Apparently resigning with 17 months to go in your first term is a good thing, who knew?

I have to admit, I was somewhat surprised by all these apologists coming out of the woodwork, Republicans typically throw their people under the bus at the first sign of trouble: Bobby Jindal was quickly forgotten after that abysmal speech he gave a few months back, everyone's so disappointed Mark Sanford's job after he went hiking the Appalachian Trail (my new favorite euphemism), Rush Limbaugh even said "he could've been our JFK," all but admitting that it was over for South Carolina's governor; but they're not willing to give up Sarah Palin. Oh no, even though she gave a mind-numbing, incoherent speech loaded with bullshit and hypocrisy, the Palin-drones just can't let it go. Like someone about to lose a family member, I believe these poor souls have entered the Five Stages of Grief. Sadly, most of them are stuck in the first two stages, anger & denial. Just find any political discussion on the internet, you'll see what I mean.

But speaking of denial, I did want to share one hilarious quote that I just read a few moments ago. This is from someone trying to convince me that Sarah Palin is a great speaker who actually has a clue what she's talking about:

"I've listened to her speak. She is able to communicate well regarding most any topic that is thrown at her, better than most politicians."

Pardon me while I burst into uncontrollable laughter. I've listened to her speak quite a bit as well and I hear a complete buffoon. It's like the time Bush tried to talk about tribal sovereignty every single time she gives a non-softball interview. Of course, it's hard to find a real interview post-election since she talks to the media less than reclusive celebrities, even though she's a sitting governor. But yeah, listen to any of her interviews during the campaign, there's really only one word to describe her: dummy.

She sounds like a middle school student who has to give a speech to the class, but forgot her note cards and is trying to remember all the neat buzzwords that she learned while researching the subject. She has no clue what she's talking about and she thinks she can get by with cute little winks or just dodging the question.

She's a bigger idiot than Bush, and that takes skill. At least with Bush, as dumb as he was, he seemed like a genuine person who cared about those closest to him and struggled with his decisions... not at all like Palin. Governor Avon Lady is 100% sure of herself 100% of the time and anyone who disagrees isn't a "Real" American. She exploits her children at any given opportunity for political gain (I've seen Bristol Palin give more interviews in one year than the Bush twins did in eight) and she's a vindictive, spiteful, and disingenuous political hack. Sarah Palin is a complete and utter joke; Alaska, America and the world are better off without her in any elected office.


And now for some bonus Palin hilarity. After calling politics a "bloodsport" and threatening to sue anyone who writes anything bad about her, let's hop in our DeLorean and see how Sarah Palin felt about Hillary Clinton's "whining" in March 2008:

Governor Avon Lady to resign

First, the good news:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Gov. Sarah Palin will resign her office in a few weeks, she said during a news conference at her Wasilla home Friday morning.

I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but these are happy tears! And I'm going to try to get through this blog even though I am at a loss for words... I'm just so happy!

July 4 is tomorrow, so I guess this is Palin's early birthday present to America? You know, I've said a lot of nasty things about her over the last year or so, but I have to give her credit for knowing exactly what to get everyone. The people of Alaska must be pretty thrilled too, maybe they'll finally have a governor who isn't ethically corrupt, morally corrupt, hypocritical or just plain stupid. But of course, what does this mean for their security? Perhaps Sarah can remain on in some capacity to keep an eye on Russia?

But as I think about it, it's one of those things that seems too good to be true, why is she resigning now? I've already seen this sparking rumors that this is so she can gear up for a presidential run... are you kidding? You can't just resign barely midway through your first term as governor and expect to run in an election that is three years away. I suppose stranger things have happened, but this should effectively kill her political career, unless she wants to be mayor of Wasilla again. If this is some desperate attempt to get attention for 2012, who would take her seriously? How could we trust a President Palin to not just run away when things got too hard? Economy in shambles? Wars? Terrorism? "Thanks, but no thanks!"

But then there's the flipside, potential scandal? Please, please, PLEASE tell me that the whole Argentinian mistress thing is a cover and it's actually Palin's Appalachian Trail that Mark Sanford has been hiking. C'mon, that would be the greatest political scandal in the history of political scandals! Plus, Sanford said the mistress was his soul mate, I can't think of a better woman for him than a brain dead, ultra-religious, neoconservative hypocrite.

Whatever the reason, in the midst of a major economic recession, two wars, and a country that's still stinging from eight years of a complete imbecile running the country, it's nice to get some good news. It's hard to believe it's been less than a year since John McCain unleashed her upon us, but hopefully Sarah Palin has finally got on the Bridge to Nowhere and we'll never have to deal with her again.

FOX News: US Needs another terrorist attack.

Absolutely disgusting:



Why does Glenn Beck hate America? And FOX News is just as guilty by giving him a platform to agree with this disgusting rhetoric. Sponsors should pull their advertising from FOX and Glenn Beck should be fired... this goes beyond your typical idiot right-wing fear/hate mongering, this is calling for an attack on the United States of America simply because your guy didn't win an election.

It's time for right-wingers to grow up and accept the fact that sometimes you lose, but that's not an excuse to say the only way to fix it is for people to die. Seriously, this is the kind of lunacy usually reserved for whoever is behind the conspiracy on this season of 24. But of course, we all know Republicans get most of their policies from whatever Jack Bauer is up to. How anyone can take these scumbags seriously is beyond me.