Texas and Mi'sippi: Racing to the Shallow End of the Gene Pool

 Texas and Mi'sippi both lifted all Covid-related restrictions yesterday. The two governors, both slack-jawed drooling idiot trumpers, took their actions "to show America that we don't need smart people tellin' us what to do. Us goobers kin make up our own minds." The dynamic had a second factor, though, in Texas: distracting the gullible morons from realizing that the state's refusal to join the national power grid, or upgrade their generation and distribution infrastructure, are the main reason last week's storm devastated the Lone Tooth Star Republic.

In about three weeks, of course, we'll see huge spikes in Covid rates in both states. And it would be karma beyond karma if one or both governors died of Covid contracted after they lift restrictions.

Texas' refusal to accept the fact that it is but ONE state among fifty doesn't sit well with the local mindset. They continue to think that because they effectively choose school books for the entire country -- which is a scandal all it's own, considering the choices they're forced on the rest of us -- they should rule all other aspects of society as well.

I believe that, back in December, they passed a non-binding referendum allowing the state to secede from the Union.

Fine. Go. We can do without the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. Now that Molly Ivins is dead, I don't see that Texas really brings anything to the table anyway. Like EVERY OTHER red state, Texas receives more money from the Federal government than they send in, meaning that blue states are effectively subsidizing their disdain for us.

At least Mi'sippi is smart enough -- barely -- to recognize that without huge infusions of Northern cash, their ante-bellum paradise would wither and die in about,,, oh, six months.

And if they DO secede, I don't see any need to send them any foreign aid, since they oppose it for others. And they can develop their own currency. And every piece of movable infrastructure down there should be moved north immediately. Build a giant wall along the border, which is what they've been begging for for the past five years anyway.

Ya wanna go? Fine. Go.

Texas. Because free-dumb

Texas governor Greg "Free-dumb" Abbott is lifting most of the orders he himself instituted to try to control Covid-19 in the Texas Republic, apparently because: Free-dumb. Abbott obviously succumbed to the prevalent Texas theory that thinking about others is being a "pussy" and a "libtard." Noted political writer Jim Wright ascribes this to the Texan mania for macho manly-man manliness, saying:

I'm not changing MY life! I'm not lettin' the gubmint control ME! I'm not gonna to wear a mask! I'm not getting the vaccine! Stay home if you're afraid of everything!

Fear is what defines you. It's your religion -- literally. It's baked right in: fear your god. Right? FEAR him.

You're afraid of everything.

Wright goes right down the list of everything the conservaturds are afraid of... and it's a LOOOOONG freaking list: race, sex, gender identification, immigration, religion, politics, science, the whole nine yards.

Gonna Be A Looooooooong Day

I’m stuck working with a rabid, far-right trumpette, who insists on making me listen to Faux, so I can “finally learn the truth: that Barack HUSSEIN Obama is a Kenyan Mooozlum and Clinton really did murder Vince Foster and she ran a child sex ring and eavesdropped on trump, who is the greatest American since Jesus.” When I point out that Jesus wasn’t American, she says “of curse he was, he was white, wasn’t he?” Umm, no, Jesus was a dark-skinned Jew.  “But God is white, so Jesus must have been white too.”

How can you argue with such profound proudly blind stupidity?

It’s going to be a VEREEEERRRRY LOOOOOOOOOOONG six hours.

Back in FB Jail. Again.

I read a post on a trumper's page that utilized a demeaning term for gays. I reported the post to Facebook, and received a reply that the post did not violate their community standards. I copied and pasted a section of the post to my page, and -- bingo -- thirty days for posting hate speech.

And the link to appeal the decision doesn't work, because "you've been blocked from using Facebook."

Obviously, Facebook's definition of "hate speech" is anything negative or derogaroty about trump, Talibangelicals, white supremacists, or other far-right loons.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Now that Zuckerberg is a billionaire, and got that way because of all the fake Russian ads, it's not surprising that he would side with billionaires against the little people. Bit it IS surprising, at least to me, that a guy named Zuckerberg would be so solicitous of Nazis and dere pweshus widdle fee-fees.
__________

I am becoming more and more afraid that trump will use his trumpDay parade on Thursday to announce a few "minor" changes: like he's dissolving Congress, declaring himself "president for life," outlawing the Democratic Party, and announcing the round-up -- "Red Dawn" style -- of "subversive, anti-American types."

And we cannot count on the military or law enforcement to dislodge him: both groups have been thoroughly infiltrated over the past 30+ years by far-right extremists. Don't belivieve me? Ask the FBI and the department of Justice: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdva/pr/opinion-grave-threats-white-supremacy-and-far-right-extremism.

Stupididity Rears Its Ugly Head on Facebook

This is making the rounds on Facebook...

 

207,548 "Likes" as of 3:00 PM Eastern

 

 

It is truly AMAZING just how INCREDIBLY STUPID some of our fellow Americans can get.

 

Among the ones who "liked" it when it showed up are a couple of local people who are bitching because our own teabaggin governor, the less-than-illustrious Fat-Ass Paul LePage, he of more chins than a Chinatown phone, book threw them off MaineCare.

 

THESE FARGIN' ICEHOLES "LIKE" THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO KILL THEM, buncha Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin', sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup, duck-f***in', toothless, mouth-breathin' morans.

I wish there were some way of knowing how many folks chose "ignore"...

 

Happy 2014...

The lovely yet talented Mrs618 and I awoke to a glorious, bright, sunny morning, the start of a new year... and the realization that we have no medical insurance.

None.

Our less-than-illustrious Teabaggin' Governor, Fat-Ass Paul LePage, he of more chins than a Chinatown phone book, whose entire family -- including his equally-fat-assed daughter Lauren "I Fell Out Of The Ugly Tree And Hit Every Branch On The Way Down" LePage --gets state-funded healthcare at tax payer expense, took advantage of the one part of the Affordable Care Act that the rethuglicans love.

Now that the ACA allows everyone to buy insurance on the open market, Fat-Ass was able to dump 70,000 Mainers off the roles of MaineCare, our Medicare program. The problem is, of course, one has to have the money to buy a policy on the open market, which is why the plan provides financial assistance for those making at least the Federal poverty level to 450% of the poverty level.

Those of us who are unemployed, or who otherwise fall below the poverty level do not qualify for financial assistance, so, for us, it's "AMF, YOYO"*

I doubt that any of the workers at Fat-Ass' previous employer, Marden's Junk Emporium (which makes Sanford and Son look like Neiman-Marcus) get insurance. Well, maybe one fat-assed part-time cashier did... whose Daddy just happened to be the boss.

This does explain, though, why Fat-Ass was so bound and determined to pay off the past-due Medicare payments to the hospitals. Now that they have this influx of "found money" -- cause, face it, Fat-Ass would never have paid them otherwise, preferring to use the money for tax cuts for the rich -- he can now completely screw over 70,000 Mainers.

We were at the hospital yesterday, getting one last round of blood work for Mrs618, and a bunch of us in the waiting room were talking. We agreed it seemed more crowded than usual. Then, one after another, we all said we were losing our insurance at midnight.

Guess what, Fat-Ass? Now that none of us have insurance, we'll have to wait longer before we bite the bullet when we get sick. We'll be far sicker, and we'll also be completely uninsured. You know what that means? That means the emergency room will become our primary care physician by default. We'll be a dead drain on the hospital's resources. The hospitals are, after all, required to render emergency care, regardless of the patient's ability to pay, so all the rich doctors who voted for you will see their income plummet because the hospitals have to provide minimal care for us at their own expense. You're taking money out of the pockets of the IDIOTS who voted you in. Great re-election strategy there, Fat-Ass.

About half the folks in the waiting room had voted for Fat-Ass, because they were the typical Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin' sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup, duck f***in', toothless, mouth breathin' morans who always vote Rethuglican, despite the fact that those same Rethuglicans inevitably screw them over. But most of them, yesterday, said they wouldn't vote to re-elect Fat-Ass, and a bunch of them said they wouldn't vote Rethuglican anymore period.

They even admitted that Fat-Ass did exactly what he said he would do during his campaigns: make Maine business-friendly (by cutting regulations, worker's rights, insurance costs, and social services). They were amazed that a politician -- especially a Rethuglican -- kept his word.

Fat-Ass's poorly-thought-out master stroke will also increase the drain on other social services, like fire and EMS squads. Folks will wait longer to call for help, so they'll be far sicker, requiring more intensive and expensive pre-hospital intervention. Guess who's going to wind up paying for that? Yup, the taxpayers. Hospital stays will be longer. More folks will be faced with the "heat, food, or medicine" quandary, probably resulting in increases in malnourishment and chronic hypothermia as well as more serious medical conditions.

The lovely yet talented Mrs618 has some serious, chronic medical issues. Her prescriptions -- without insurance -- run about $3,000 a month (according to the prescription labels affixed by our pharmacy).  My average monthly income is about $150.00, from the few per diem teaching gigs I can find.

Without some sort of assistance, my wife will die in less than a year.

Let me repeat that, in case you missed it:

Without some sort of assistance, my wife WILL DIE IN LESS THAN A YEAR.


BECAUSE THOSE MOTHERFUCKING TEABAGGING SUCK-ASS REPUBLICAN "FAMILY VALUES" ASSHOLES DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE DARKER THAN EDGAR WINTER OR ANYONE MAKING LESS THAN $300,000 A YEAR.

Happy New Year, everyone.


* Look it up.

Cold Beer, Hot Wings... and Hot Lead...

Country music star Toby Keith, who has spoken in support of unfettered access to small-penis-compensating killing devices, and who has performed at National Fecking Rifle Association events, has managed to do something smart (from my point of view). Of course, in doing so, he's managed to piss off all his Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin' sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup, duck f***in', toothless, mouth breathin' cohorts.

He has started a chain of restaurants, called "I Love This Bar and Grill" (or as the locals say, "Y'all hold mah beer an watch this"). His location in Woodbridge, VA, has a sign on the front door.

"NO GUNS PERMITTED."

Via Huffington Post:

The gun friendly state permits citizens to openly carry firearms into restaurants and bars, but state laws offer no legal guidance on drinking while openly carrying a gun. Drinking while carrying a concealed weapon is prohibited.

Additionally, Virginia state law allows bar and restaurant owners to ban weapons from the premises, as long as they prominently display a gun-free sign in the establishment. However, “No Firearm” signs in Virginia do not carry the force of law unless the property is specifically mentioned in state law as off limits to individuals with a permit or license to carry.

Virginia is one of six states -- the others, not surprisingly are Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Arizonastan -- that explicitly allows loaded guns in bars. Another 18 (as of 2010) allow loaded weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol.  Michael Drescher, a spokesman for Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, a Democrat, said “Guns and alcohol don’t mix; that’s the bottom line.” Governor Bredesen vetoed the bill, but his veto was overridden by the gun-totin' hillbillies down there.

Think Progress:

The furor spurred a response by the restaurant, explaining, “While we understand and respect every person’s right to own and bear arms, we at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill, with guidance from the State of Virginia and based on insurance regulations, have adopted a no weapons policy. It is our desire to provided a safe, enjoyable and entertaining experience for our patrons and staff.”

One Bubba who disagreed said this, “I’ll never eat here. Lawfully armed and spending my money elsewhere.” I'm sure Chick-Fil-A has no problem with heavily armed drunks, as long as they love the Sweet Baby Jebus.

This does support Megyn Kelly's contention that

Jesus is a white male Caucasian...

Whatever his rationale, trying to keep drunk rednecks away from guns is a Good Thing.

On the other hand, I find it interesting that Keith is all in favor of packing heat, even when schnockered... except when it's HIS name that's likely to be listed as a defendant. Maybe now he'll start trying to get the rest of the hicks down there disarmed (even a little bit).

It's amazing how these mouth-breathing, toothless, moronic LOSERS turn on their own.

F**k A Buncha Duck Dy-NASTIES, Part II

Edited to add a comment at the end...

Great. Now we have Kid Rock -- who's about as useless as Justin Freakin Timberlake, saying we need to stop "this bullshit ass PC game." He is, of course, complaining about the condemnation being experienced by Bubba Robertson of the Duck F**kers.

Okay, genius, I'll stop the bullshit ass PC game.

YOU DUMBASS FREAKIN INBRED REDNECK LOSERS NEED TO STFU. WE DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU, YOUR NARROW-MINDED, RACIST, DUMBASS OPINIONS, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT DRIBBLES OUT OF YOUR TOOTHLESS MOUTHS.

IF YOU'RE GOING TO ACT LIKE SPOILED LITTLE RACIST ASSHOLES, YOU SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED WHEN YOU'RE TREATED LIKE SPOILED LITTLE RACIST ASSHOLES.

And don't bother trying to post a comment defending the latest inbred racist asshole to hit the news.

Kid Rock (who's dumber than a rock), Ted Nugent (who doesn't have a freakin brain cell left in his head) and the rest of the Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin', sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup, right-wing-nut-job, inbred toothless oxygen thieves need to freakin JUST GO AWAY.

And if your little fee-fees get hurt and you want to run away and secede... PLEASE DO. The decent, thinking Americans, the ones who understand what Christ and the Constitution really say, the ones whose family trees aren't STRAIGHT LINES, won't try to stop you.

Hell, I'll even pay for the U-Haul -- or as you brainless wonders call them, "You-Haul-Ems".

GO AWAY, DUMBASS MOTHERF**KERS.

 

 

By the way, since all you asshole redneck inbred toothless morans that just HATE you some nigras -- like the witch doctor in the White House -- don't forget that ol' Kid hisself started out as a white rapper... tryin to be as ghetto and homie as Tupac, Notorious BIG, and the rest of the thug/gangsta crowd. Yup, Mister Super Redneck Moran wanted to be a nigra himself. But apparently, someone pointed out that he was white (sorta), so he hadda become a redneck Moran.

 



F**k A Bunch of Duck Dynasties*

What Digby says:

Conservatives normally insist that the private sector can do anything it chooses, even hiring and firing on the basis of an owner's throwback religious or racist beliefs. But that's only as long as it doesn't "infringe" on the right of conservatives to be assholes. That's a sacred liberty which is derived directly from the Bible, Atlas Shrugged and the Declaration of Independence. (You can look it up!)

And a little more from Robertson (via CNN):

"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once," he told GQ. "Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash. We're going across the field. ... They're singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, 'I tell you what: These doggone white people' -- not a word!

 

"Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues," GQ quoted Robertson as saying.

 

"Yup," he did not continue, "them nigras sure had it easy under slavery."

Some RWNJs started an on-line petition demanding Robertson's return:

 

"Homosexuals have their convictions and Christians respect them," the organizer of the petition wrote. "There is a difference between respecting someone rights to exercise free will and imposing on others what we believe. Phil has done nothing more than state what he believes in. Just because homosexuals do not agree, does not mean Mr. Robertson needs to be suspended."

 

This, of course, is pure horseshit. The fundies do NOT respect homosexuals - rather, they demonize the LGBT crowd, and demand the right to discriminate against them. Some, like Westboro Baptist, demand the right to kill gays and lesbians. Robertson -- Mr Understanding-All-God's-Chilluns himself -- condemns them to purgatory, and compares homosexuality to bestiality. That ain't exactly respecting their views.

Bible Spice, obviously, had to throw in her three cents (via Crooks & Liars):

Free speech is an endangered species. Those “intolerants” hatin’ and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us.

As Amato points out, Palin only came out in favor of free speech when it was a RWNJ being criticized; muzzling a DFH librul is still okay, apparently.

As is often the case, Badtux nails it:

All of which was nowhere, until a reporter helpfully asked him about those beliefs and Phil came out and proved that he is a racist redneck white trash anti-gay bigot. But thing is, he never claimed to be anything else. Hell, A&E *hired* him because of that, so that their metrosexual white urban oh-so-politically-correct viewership could point and laugh at him and his family of inbred white trash.

So now A&E is going to fire his ass for being the person they hired? Man, that’s fucked up. He needed to be sat down and told just how bad his words made gay people and black people feel, and told he needed to apologize. He might even have listened, and decided, yeah, he didn’t understand why they felt bad about what he said, but if they were offended he was in the wrong and the right thing to do was apologize. As far as I can tell Phil Robertson isn’t an evil man, just a profoundly ignorant one. Ignorant can be fixed, evil can’t. But fired? Maybe if there was evidence that he actively discriminated against gay people and black people, maybe. But for being who he is and holding the same views he’s always held? For being exactly the same man that A&E hired? That’s pretty goddamned hypocritical, if you ask me, firing a man for the exact same reason that you hired his ignorant white trash ass.

I suspect, though, that BT may be off a little bit on his explanation of why A&E picked up Duck Dynasty. I think, in addition to the reason Badtux suggests, I suspect it's also a bit of the current redneckization of American culture, as we have so many "reality" shows showcasing the redneck lifestyle: Duck Dynasty, Full Throttle Saloon, Lizard Lick Towing (I'd move outa there in a heartbeat!)... all shows that try to convince us that the redneck lifestyle is a valid one.  Unlike, say, being gay.



* The title is taken from some of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport novels (the Prey series), and is a favorite epithet of Davenport's. Not that Sandford -- or Lucas for that matter -- have approved my appropriating the phrase... I just think it gets my point across perfectly.

Fresh Mushrooms...

As Saint Ronnie said, "well, there you go again..."

The rethuglicans are returning to one of their previous, less-than-stellarly-successful campaigns. I saw an ad on YouTube, decrying the proposed nuclear agreement with Iran, culminating with the ominous warning that if we don't stop Obama now, we'll have a mushroom cloud next week.

Apparently, the best way to prevent a nuclear (or as they pronounce it, "nukuler") holocaust is to... nuke Iran.

How long has that meme been floating around?

Since friggin' 1980!

Guns and Racism... No Connection. None Whatsoever.

Via skippy... 

"racism linked to gun ownership" 

Whodathunkit? [All emphasis added] 

A new study of symbolic racism among white American voters yielded strong links between latent biases toward blacks and increased favor of gun ownership and oppositions toward gun control.

Wow, that's is a "stop-the-press" moment... that the small-penis-compensation-device-loving crowd would also be jealous of the stereotypical big black jungle dick?

Published in the journal PLoS One, the study used voter data of white Americans that, after accounting for political ideology, income, and education, still revealed startling connections between racism and gun ownership. For every one point increase in symbolic racism — measured on a five-point scale — the chance someone had a gun in the home rose by 50 percent, and the chance the respondent supported policies that allowed people to carry concealed guns rose by 28 percent.

This would certainly explain the South. As BadTux and others have pointed out, the Southern social norms have traditionally included slavery -- which is racism in it's purest form -- and violence to keeps the slaves from rebelling. When one couples that with the still-extant desire to secede and rebuild the Confederacy, it's obvious that disarming the rednecks isn't going to happen.

"We were initially surprised that no one had studied this issue before,” said study co-author Dr. Dermot Lynott, from Lancaster University, in a statement. “However, the U.S. government cut research funding for gun-related research over decade and a half ago, so research in this area has been somewhat suppressed." 

Well, yes, the funding was cut at the demand of the National Feckin Rifle Association, since they didn't want folks to realize that the gun nuts were also racist bastards (among their many other un-American failings). God forbid anyone should think that guns.. oh, I don't know, kill people?!?

Gun control debates are set against a bleak backdrop of school shootings, homicides, suicides, and gun violence in a country that routinely tops the list for most gun-related deaths in a given year. A study performed earlier this year found that the more guns a U.S. state owns directly relates to an increased homicide rate. Covering 30 years from 1981 to 2010, and controlling for a laundry list of variables, it is the largest and most comprehensive study to date examining homicide’s relationship to gun ownership. 

Part of the answer is simply freedom. Americans whose family is steeped in the traditions of southern conservatism tend to enjoy exercising their second amendment Constitutional right. Another is irrationality, or an ignorance of the facts. Gun ownership often proceeds under the assumption that one will be attacked. So people buy guns fearing someone else will use one on them, despite the supposed closeness of people inhabiting gun-heavy regions. 

And if there is anywhere on Earth that epitomizes “irrationality” and “ignorance,” it is the disease-ridden Trashcanistan hellhole home of our Bible-thumpin’, hooker-humpin’, sister-marryin’, rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup wingnut “breathren” below the Mason-Dixie line.  

This whole concept of "home defense" lead Mrs. Lanza in Newtown to buy a poopload of weapons to protect herself. How did THAT work out for ya, Mrs. L?

The present study also found associations in their data between opposition to gun controls and conservatism, anti-government sentiment, party identification, and being from a southern state. Even controlling for these factors, the team found racism associated with gun control opposition and gun ownership. 

Yeah, I’d say that pretty much covers it.

 

To be fair, though, it's not just the Southern racists that are frickin lunatics. Here in Maine, we've had small-penis-compensators like David Marsters, who advocated the assassination of our President; Steve Collins, who advocated the assassination of our President; we have the Maine Tea Party Patriots -- the ones who support Fat-Ass Paul LePage, he of more chins than a Chinatown phone book; the National Socialist American Labor Party, a buncha neo-Nazi twats and Volksfront, representing the racist skinhead crowd. Every one of these assholes keeps agitating for unfettered access to firearms... especially assault rifles.

 

Since they're such firm believers in guns...

 

They oughta be shot.

 

 

 

 

 

God, I WISH This Had been True.....

Saw this on the Internet yesterday, and -- as we all know -- "you can't put it on the Internet if it isn't true."

"Rand Paul is a f*****g idiot," says Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, whose tiny state sits astride a hurricane zone. "The federal government, by pooling resources and exploiting economies of scale, can do disaster relief more efficiently the individual states alone.

"If this arrogant douchebag got his head out of Ayn Rand's ass long enough to see two feet in front of him, maybe he'd understand how important this work is."

This was the tail end of a story about ole Rand going off on one of his favorite hobby horses, the evil FEMA.

"I suppose people need help in times like these. And if individual states want to set up disaster relief agencies, that's fine. But why should taxpayers in other states be forced to pay? Kentucky doesn't have earthquakes. Kentucky doesn't have hurricanes. Kentucky doesn't have tornadoes, I don't think. So why are we footing the bill for this stuff?"

Of course, Rand isn't the only one bemoaning the fact the FEMA helps the poor as well as the rich:

Republicans have long had an interest in disbanding FEMA, an agency that most Americans believe fulfills a necessary role of government. Presidential nominee Mitt Romney famously said he wanted to "eliminate" the agency before reversing himself following a public furor.

But, alas, it's from the Daily Currant.*

Now, why would I wish something like this were true? Because think of the good times we could have jumping on poor dumb ol' Rand (and who names his kid Rand, for that matter?)

Not to mention the fact that SOMEONE needs to use "Markell's" words... only for real.





*Note to WND, Limpdick, and company: The Daily Currant is a satire site.**

** That means it's not real, it's made up.***

*** Like your "mandates."

Sequestration (and Castration*?)

Our local Mouse Channel affiliate, WMTW Channel 8, has a story today about Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor closing its famous Loop Road and other amenities until mid-May, as a result of the Rethuglican-inspired sequestration. The same process eliminated public tours of the White House, leading some Rethugs to bitch mightily about the BMITWH "holding the nation hostage" to his budget plans or some such nonsense.

Now, granted, I do not have the economic knowledge or training of Badtux or JurassicPork, but allow me to offer some alternative plans to reduce the cost of government:

• Congresscritters -- both Senators and Representatives -- do not get paid until a budget has been passed and signed by the President. Some will claim the Constitution prohibits "adjusting" Congressional pay or benefits until after the next succeeding election; the Rethugs like to say their financial emergency trumps all else -- including national defense -- so it should also trump their financial well-being. Hell, if we gotta suffer, it's only fair they suffer with us.
• Congresscritters no longer get free or discounted travel anywhere for any reason, including official business. They get to fly Grayhound like the rest of us.
• Lobbyists must deposit their bribes campaign contributions into the Treasury, rather than the bottomless pockets of the pols.
• Eliminate free healthcare for Congresscritters. Let them see what it 's like to go without insurance.
• Eliminate free parking privileges for Congresscritters and their staff.
• In fact, eliminate their freakin' JOBS.

Wouldn't you LOVE to see the Zombie-eyed Granny Starver standing on the corner with a little cardboard sign that says "Will teabag for food"?

Scroom.

Scroomall.

* I vote for cutting their nuts off. No anesthesia, no bandages, no mercy. That's the only way to keep them from reproducing.

NSFW: Sandy Hook/Newtown, CT

UPDATE: The lovely yet talented Mrs618 convinced me to tone it down.

But you know damn well what I mean...

THIS POST IS FOR ADULTS ONLY. IF YOU ARE UNDER 21, GO AWAY.

IF YOU ARE A RIGHT-WING NRA GUN NUT, LEAVE NOW. I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FECK* FOR YOU, YOUR OPINION, OR YOUR "RIGHTS."

Once again, the fecking right-wing whackjob gun nuts at the National Fecking Rifle Association have let loose the hounds of disaster, this time killing 20 children. 20 elementary school children.

TWENTY CHILDREN.

Because some fecking whackjob got his mother to buy and register four weapons, cause he couldn't, cause he was a fecking psychotic nutcase.

Twenty children are DEAD, because the National Fecking Rifle Association will not, under any circumstances whatsoever, consider any kind of reasonable gun control.

All right. So be it.

Here's what we need to do to prevent this from happening again.

BAN ALL PRIVATE GUN OWNERSHIP, WITH TWO EXCEPTIONS.

Only ACTIVE-DUTY military and active law enforcement officers should be allowed to possess handguns.

Hunters can hunt with a .22 rifle, or a shotgun that can hold no more than one shell at a time.

NO ASSAULT RIFLES, NO AR-15S, NO LARGE-CAPACITY CLIPS FOR ANY WEAPON.

THE NATIONAL FECKING RIFLE ASSOCIATION, WITH THEIR BULL-HEADED INTRANSIGENCE, OWNS THIS.

THEY OWN THIS.

THEY SUPPORT THE MURDER OF HELPLESS KINDERGARTNERS, INNOCENT THIRD-GRADERS, AND TEACHERS.

And if you're one of the whining, mewling, sycophants for the National Fecking Rifle Association, and you want to make your point, DO IT SOMEWHERE ELSE. You have NO fecking rights HERE, you murderous scum-burping asshole.

I don't fecking want to hear it, murderer.

Go the feck away, and take your deathtoys with you.

Don't talk to me about your "rights"... I don't give a feck. Our nation's right to protect OUR CHILDREN outweighs your "right" to go squirrel hunting with a 50 calibre machine gun.

I no longer give a shirt for your Second Amendment "rights," since you National Fecking Rifle Association MURDERERS use it as a perverted excuse to go on your damnable killing sprees.

Columbine, San Ysidro, Aurora, Virginia Tech, Oregon, now Newtown. You National Fecking Rifle Association DOUCHEBAGS don't deserve to call yourselves "Americans." You should call yourselves BRAIN-DEAD, SLACK-JAWED, DROOLING, MORONIC GUN-TOTING ASSWIPES FROM HELL.

And don't try to say "If the teachers had been armed, yadda yadda...," cause that shirt ain't gonna fly.

You bottom-feeding, inbred hillbilly yokels, YOU SOCKSUCKERS from the National Fecking Rifle Association, have forfeited any claim to consideration or even adult discussion.

THERE'S NO SENSE IN TRYING TO HOLD A RATIONAL DISCUSSION WITH A CRAZY-ASS MUTHERFECKING PSYCHOTIC NUTJOB.

YOU MURDEROUS FECKING ASSHOLES OWN THIS, YOU CHILD-KILLING SOCKSUCKING MOTHERFECKERS.

* "Feck" is a very useful word I picked up from one of the British paramedic blogs, either Trauma Queen or Medic999 (Mark Glencourse). It gets the point across rather well.

FEAR and Loathing In The Military

First we had the "Oath Keepers," a bunch of military and law enforcement types who claimed for themselves sole jurisdiction over interpretation of the Constitution of the United States. These guys -- and gals -- felt that they and only they understood the intent of the Framers, and that they and only they had the right to decide what orders to obey and what orders to disregard. The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the Oath Keepers as an organization active in the "Patriot" movement. According to the SPLC, "Patriot groups define themselves as opposed to the “New World Order,” engage in groundless conspiracy theorizing, or advocate or adhere to extreme anti-government doctrines." As such, they are loosely affiliated with other anti-government movements, such as Sovereign Citizens, Christian Identity, Redemptionists, various militia groups, Tax Deniers, the Neo-Nazi movement, and racist groups. The Patriot movement is also closely connected to the Tea Party movement, which was confirmed by Mark Potok, of SPLC:

[T]there's a lot of cross-pollination between the movements. Richard Mack, for instance, is a former Arizona sheriff and Patriot hero who has given dozens of major talks to Tea Party groups. We've also seen Patriot conspiracy theories -- like the idea that FEMA is building concentration camps for American Patriots -- get into the Tea Parties." [personal correspondence from Potok to the author, May 25, 2012]

Now we have a group of "brave" military types calling themselves FEAR -- "Forever Enduring, Always Ready" -- who decided to overthrow the United States government through a campaign of terror and political assassinations (they funded this noble movement the way most of these yahoos do, by committing petty crimes like burglary, although at least this bunch didn't sell meth, another favorite fund-raiser for the anti-government crowd). FEAR is "an anti-government militia largely made up of active-duty and recently discharged American soldiers," according to SPLC, part of the lunatic fringe that believes in the "New World Order," the "Zionist Occupation Government," and black FEMA helicopters hauling all the God-fearing, patriotic white American citizens off to concentration camps in Arizona.

Ten of the group, in an effort to maintain security, whacked a young couple in Georgia, fearing the male, 19-year-old Michael Roark, a military veteran and erstwhile FEAR member, had betrayed the group. Roark's girlfriend, 17-year-old Tiffany York, was also murdered, apparently just for being with the "traitor."

As is usually the case with these "brave warriors," as soon as they were arrested, they started singing like canaries, betraying their "brothers," their "comrades in arms," in an attempt to save their own worthless skins. "Forever Enduring," my ass.

Once again, we have people to whom we have entrusted the national security of the United States betraying that trust in the interest of their perverted views of what constitutes a "normal" society. Unfortunately, we are the ones who paid for the training they will use to subjugate all of us, we are the ones who furnished their weapons, and -- worst of all -- we are the ones who tacitly encouraged their lunacy by not stepping on them as soon as their true nature started to show.

"Missippi" Madness, and Teabaggin Looney Toons

First, when I lived down in Memphis, everybody ( or "evurbodda") referred to the state directly south as "Missippi." So there.

A friend sent me a link to an article in the Jackson (MS) Free Press, in which a reporter interviews three Teabaggers down there. One in particular is quite enlightening (if one can use that term about Missippi). Janis Lane (a female-Murrican) says:

Our country might have been better off if it was still just men voting. There is nothing worse than a bunch of mean, hateful women. They are diabolical in how than can skewer a person. I do not see that in men. The whole time I worked, I'd much rather have a male boss than a female boss. Double-minded, you never can trust them.

Because women have the right to vote, I am active, because I want to make sure there is some sanity for women in the political world. It is up to the Christian rednecks and patriots to stand up for our country. Everyone has the right to vote now that's 18 or over (who is) a legal citizen, and every person that's 18 and over and a legal citizen should be active in local politics so they can make a change locally, make a change on the state level and make a change in Washington, D.C. [emphasis added]

 

That's right, folks, a female -- you know, with the magical ladyparts that have "ways to try to shut that whole thing down" -- says that women should not be allowed to vote. And she's gonna vote for people who will revoke her right to vote.

Which brings me to a somewhat fuller discussion of an update to an earlier post. Bryan Fischer, neanderthal leader of the equally neanderthal American Family Association, says that women should never be in any position of authority, leadership, or any position of power whatsoever. One commenter had this to say:

Ok, Jesus was the biggest sexist and bigot of them all. I have no problem saying it. At least Jesus has the fact that he's not real to hid behind. A pity that Fischer can't have the same fact... [snip] All I can say is, now that we women have our freedom, we are NOT going back to second class citizens. I will get in the kitchen only when I have this man's dick in the oven, and I would gladly and happily server it to him on a hotdog bun.

And good ole Bubba's response:

And you're a perfect example why women should be kept illiterate and barefoot in the kitchen, preferably chained to the stove.

Lessee, vote for the revocation of my own rights and go back to being worse off than a slave? Makes sense to Maybelle Bubba-ette.

Oh, sweet baby Jeebus, would ya PLEASE friggin secede, already???

Religious "Freedom"

Update: see below.

I came across an interesting piece in The World this morning (I stuck in the link, but you'll need a subscription to view it). The October 19 issue refers to a column in Canada's The Globe and Mail. In that column, Doug Saunders writes:

In country after country, whenever people assert their self-proclaimed religious freedoms, “terrible things tend to happen.” The concept has been invoked by Indian Hindus to justify killing Muslims, by Sri Lankan Buddhists to imprison Hindus, by Israeli Jews to deny Muslims’ citizenship, and by Egyptian Islamists to oppress Coptic Christians. In many places, religious freedom refers to the right to restrict women’s freedom. [emphasis added]

Hmmm, what are the far-right evangelicals demanding here? "Religious freedom." And how do they want to utilize this freedom? By banning all abortions (except those under the "sodomized virgin" rule), even for rape victims (“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. [. . .] I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”). By making it legal to pay women less than men. By eliminating access to birth control and cancer screenings.

Saunders uses examples from places like India and Sri Lanka. It's scary to realize that those same third-world situations apply here.

So, in effect, what they're asking for is the freedom to deny us our freedoms. In the name of religion, of course.

Update, 10-16-12, via Tengrain at Dependable Renegade: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6PjAYNl24E&feature=player_embedded; Bryan Fischer explaining how the Bible says women cannot be put in a position of authority over men.

Schticks of One....

Senator Snowe Retiring

Maine Senator Olympia Snowe announced she was not going to seek re-election, citing the "atmosphere of polarization and 'my way or the highway' ideologies..." Of course, Snowe does not mention it is her party, beholden to Teabagging lunatics like Frothy, Lizardboy, and Mittens, that has been displaying those tendencies.

It will be interesting to see who fills the void.  Maine has a Teabagger governor, Fat Ass Paul LePage, a Rethuglican/Teabagger majority in both state houses, two Rethuglican Senators (Snowe and Susan Collins) and two Democratic Representatives (Mike Michaud in northern Maine and Chellie Pingree in the southern part of the state). I don't think a Democrat stands a snowflake's chance in hell, in that our illustrious voters -- at the behest of the Teabaggin', Bible-thumpin', hooker-humpin', sister-marryin', rifle-rack-in-the-pickmup, neocon wingnut idjits -- supported a "people's veto" of marriage equality... a veto funded by a bunch of out-of-state ultra-conservative whackjobs who are suing to maintain their anonymity, since they, like the rest of their ilk, are violently allergic to the light of day.

I fear that Fat Ass will prevail upon Snowe to resign early, so that Fat Ass can, in turn, resign as governor (like his Teabaggin idol, Caribou Barbie), so that his successor can appoint Fat Ass  to Snowe's seat, giving him a foot up in the next campaign.

Breitbart Dead

Right-wing blogger, famous for playing fast and loose with facts, Andrew Breitbart has died of natural causes, according to authorities. The far-right-wing whackjobs have decided that President Obama had Breitbart whacked, due to Breitbart's possession of a video of Obama that "proves" our duly-elected President is the devil incarnate, or a Muslim, or a Martian, or something.

Why don't you kids go away somewhere and let the grown-ups run things, 'kay?

Sauce for the Goose, Sauce for the Gander

The Maine Tea Party Patriot party -- better known as Maine's Teabaggin lunatic fringe -- claims unswerving loyalty to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Maine.

One small problem: Maine's state treasurer, Bruce Poliquin.

The state Constitution states the treasurer "shall not, during the treasurer's continuance in office, engage in any business of trade or commerce, or as a broker, nor as an agent or factor for any merchant or trader."

Poliquin, who was appointed treasurer by Fat Ass Paul LePage, has continued to operate at least two separate business during his tenure.

State Rep Mark Dion, an attorney and former sheriff, asked the state's Attorney General if Poliquin's activities were within the constraints of the Constitution.  The AG, William Schneider -- also appointed by Fat Ass -- said that Poliquin should  "disassociate himself from active management" of his businesses and "not appear before any governmental bodies on behalf of entities that he owns."

Since Poliquin decided to ignore the AG's recommendations, Dion is now asking the Maine Supreme Judicial Court for a ruling.

It'll be interesting to see if the Teabaggin lunatics support the Constitution or their Teabaggin buddy. I know where my wager is going.

Girl Scouts: Cookie Monsters or Gay-Agenda, Pro-Abortion Terrorists?

Some useless little state rep in Indiana, Bob Morris, is terrified of the green-clad harbingers of doom known as the Girl Scouts, claiming they are the “tactical arm” of Planned Parenthood, a “radicalized” group with a homosexual agenda that promotes abortion while seeking “the destruction of traditional American values.”

Hey, dude, go back home and don't bother the grown-ups anymore, okay?

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/28/2666042/have-a-cookie-support-a-girl-scout.html#storylink=cpy

More on Arizona Shootings

[Edited to mark second and third paragraphs from end -- "During the campaign effort" and "I don't see the connection" -- as quotes, which they are.]

From an AP update...

Jared Loughner, identified (unofficially) as the shooter, allegedly posted this on a YouTube video:

"I know who's listening: Government Officials, and the People," Loughner wrote. "Nearly all the people, who don't know this accurate information of a new currency, aren't aware of mind control and brainwash methods. If I have my civil rights, then this message wouldn't have happen (sic)."

That sounds an awful lot like the arguments used by the sovereign citizen/redemptionist/militia crowd (check the labels for other related pieces).

Other examples of the peace-lovin’ teabaggers:

• A San Francisco man upset with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's support of health care reform pleaded guilty to threatening the Democratic congresswoman and her family, calling her directly on March 25 and threatening to destroy her Northern California home if she voted for health care reform.
• In July, a California man known for his anger over left-leaning politics engaged in a shootout with highway patrol officers after planning an attack on the ACLU and another nonprofit group. The man said he wanted to "start a revolution" by killing people at the ACLU and the Tides Foundation.
  

Giffords’ opponent:

During the his campaign effort to unseat Giffords in November, Republican challenger Jesse Kelly held fundraisers where he urged supporters to help remove Giffords from office by joining him to shoot a fully loaded M-16 rifle. Kelly is a former Marine who served in Iraq and was pictured on his website in military gear holding his automatic weapon and promoting the event.

"I don't see the connection," between the fundraisers featuring weapons and Saturday's shooting, said John Ellinwood, Kelly's spokesman. "I don't know this person, we cannot find any records that he was associated with the campaign in any way. I just don't see the connection."

Johnny, if you can't "see the connection" between the violence preached by your candidate, and this shooting, your eyes are worse than Stevie Wonder's.

OMFG, Part whatever

Basil Marceaux. The guy is running for Governor (or maybe Senator, or maybe both) in Tennessee.

Even for a redneck, he is un-flippin-believable.

I woulda SWORN this was bogus when I saw it on Wonkette.

But he's for real. Right down to removing the gold fringe from the American flag.