I don’t remember seeing this back in 2004, but I love it: Fuck the South. (Disclosure: I live below the Mason-Dixon line in a traditionally blue coastal state).
Jon Stewart asks the very prescient question: How exactly can Republicans be for deficit reduction and extending the Bush-era tax cuts?
Best line of the whole clip: “THE DEFICIT WANTS TO SKULLFUCK YOUR MOTHER!”
I don’t understand why the Republobots still have this dope as the party chairman, but he sure is funny: Republicans line up on opposite sides over latest Steele controversy. All that having been said, I find his utter disregard for, uh, facts, to be humorous and sad.
Still Scoutless. The plastic (technically, phenolic resin) main bowl of the carburetor is so old that parts of it have worn away and are allowing fuel to pool after shutdown, making any sort of adjustment impossible. So my mechanic is trying to source a new (used) bowl to replace it.
Verizon Wireless needs to go bite a bag of dicks. They have been spamming me at least five times a day and for some reason their spam makes it through my filters. I DON”T WANT YOUR WIRELESS SERVICE, YOU DON”T HAVE THE PHONE I WANT. Leave me alone, please.
This week is getting out of control, so we’re interviewing a cleaning service tomorrow afternoon to have them work on the house while we’re getting everything ready for the party. I’ll have you know Jen was planning for the party in April (possibly March), and we still feel like we’re behind the 8-ball. Grrr. However, I put the mister together last night, and it works perfectly.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that federal and state-based handgun bans are unconstitutional, nullifying bans in cities across the country. I find myself torn between the two schools of thought here; on the one hand, I respect and appreciate my right to keep and bear arms, and I intend to exercise that right sometime in the future. (Last night, before I even knew about the ruling, I had a dream where I walked into a gun store and shopped for a pistol. I tried out revolvers and small automatics that didn’t fit my hand, finally settling on something that looked like a Glock.) On the other hand, I have several cousins who are uniformed policemen. I have nothing but respect for officers of the law, and I appreciate the impossible job they are faced with daily. Therefore, I do not agree with and cannot abide the NRA’s assertion that anyone should be able to purchase assault rifles, teflon bullets, or other military-grade hardware legally. Furthermore, I think the federal government should man up and write strict country-wide rules for the sale and purchase of guns, so that cities like Chicago and New York, who are struggling with controlling guns purchased out-of-state, can better police themselves.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.
This is possibly the funniest, most transparently stupid thing I’ve read all year: Rep. Joe Barton Apologizes to BP’s Tony Hayward. A brief sample:
“I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. I think it’s a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case, a $20 billion shakedown.”
Given that he is, more or less, a paid employee of Big Oil, I’m not surprised. The frightening thing is that if the GOP takes the House this fall, he’s the guy in line to be the chair of the Energy & Commerce Committee.
I don’t live in Baltimore City anymore, but I think the idea of a vacant building tax for properties that are owned but abandoned is fantastic, and long overdue.
Another bit of good news: Obama wants to give gay couples hospital visitation rights on par with married couples. Hallelujah, amen. I’ve seen the incredible healing power of having a loved one at bedside; I can’t fathom the idea of being kept away from a sick wife, child, or family member for any reason. Maybe someday this country will grow up completely.
I’ve always liked the simplicity and quaint design of the original Gadsden flag. You’ve seen it in history class—it’s the yellow flag with a coiled rattlesnake bearing the motto “Don’t Tread On Me”. Actually, I much prefer the “Join, or Die” cartoon designed by Benjamin Franklin that predates it, but my libertarian sensibilities are more in line with the spirit of the later design.
The Gadsden flag was designed and popularized by Christopher Gadsden, a soldier and statesman from South Carolina. According to Wikipedia, the U.S. Navy was created in 1775 in order to intercept ships bringing supplies to British troops in the colonies. Five companies of Marines were mustered to accompany the Navy, and they carried drums painted yellow with the rattlesnake and motto. Gadsden gave the Navy Commander-in-Chief a version of this design as his personal standard to carry into battle, and the rest is history.
What bums me out is the current usage of the Gadsden flag by the Tea Party movement. This morning on my way to work I spied a guy waving a 5′ Gadsden flag on the I-83 overpass at passing traffic; I don’t think there’s any rally locally today, but this dude seemed to really be into his freedom of expression. I’ve heard a lot about the Tea Party and how they’re mad about things, but it wasn’t until I read this article that some of the distinctions became clearer. Apparently the majority of the group is white, evangelical, identifies as conservative Republican/Independent, is over 45, 1/3 southern, and owns a gun. They seem to believe Obama is making the country more socialist (healthcare reform), and believe he has increased taxes (not true).
Asked what socialism means, roughly half of Tea Party supporters volunteered government ownership or control, far more than any other answer. Eleven percent cited taking away rights or limiting freedom, and eight percent said it means the redistribution of wealth.
According to the CBS poll,
They are more likely than Republicans and Americans overall to see illegal immigration as a serious problem (82 percent), doubt the impact of global warming (66 percent) and call the bank bailout unnecessary (74 percent).
So this Tea Party thing would make more sense to me if I actually understood what they were so upset about, but I think it’s a pretty good analogy for our culture and mass media in general. These folks are pissed off at…something, presumably whipped up into a frenzy by Mr. Beck and Mrs. Palin, but from all I’ve seen and read, don’t offer a whole lot of actual solutions for fixing things. They rail away at “Big Government” daily, but seem to forget that de-regulation is probably one of the biggest factors in the banking meltdown (and subsequent bailout).
Everybody has their right to be angry at something, I guess.
Oh, goody, just what I was hoping for. I was less than pleased when this Gingrich mouthpiece used his first governorship for nothing besides spouting Republican revolution rhetoric. Now he has a fantastic plan for revitalizing the economy! Cutting the sales tax. That will help fill the budget deficit. Good luck, douche.
Old news by now, but here’s my take: It’s about fucking time. I went without health insurance for five years out of college, routinely rolling the dice by hanging my ass off a two-story ladder while trying to afford to run my own business. Buying health insurance in 1994 was no picnic, and it’s a ridiculously expensive proposition today, especially for a family. Here’s the thing that nobody seems to realize: if I’d fallen off that ladder in 1994, the ambulance would have taken me to the hospital, and we’d all be paying for my treatment. We’re all paying for it one way or another. The next step is to regulate the crap out of the insurance companies. Period.
Also, I like the rule that states that nobody with a preexisting condition can be denied coverage.