Afterbirthers Lingering, Racists Persisting, Apologists Weaseling . . .

Firstly, I love the neologism "Afterbirthers." It's a stunning image for people who are not exactly acting rationally human. People who can't let this shit go are clearly bloody messes.

Now on to the racism-related issues. But let me list my biases. Firstly, as a matter of intellectual argument, if not reality, I avoid false binary choices. In other words, I often find myself having to say, the correct answer's not necessarily (a) or (b.) Sometimes it's (c) -- all of the above.

And as another bias, I say it this way. I have played horse shoes. And I have played darts. When it comes to racism, I grade by horse shoe rules, not darts. In darts, you hit the right section of the board to get the point, and if you don't, you don't get the point. In horse shoes, close is close enough.

Taking that kind of grading to discussions about whether or not some thing or some person deserves the label racist, here's an example of how that works for me. Take for example when some GOP pol panders to the racist sentiments in the party, and makes what is essentially a race based attack on another, like "He ain't one of us. He ain't a proper American." Ya. I am not going to waste my time trying to figure out what is going on deep inside that asshole's cognitive processes. I just analyze the behavior, in using a racist dog-whistle, if not more obvious and odious racist messaging, and say, that's close enough. If one really doesn't believe that shit, but plays that shit, one should have to "own" that shit. Lie with the dogs, get fleas. All that. So as far as any politicians or pundits employing the rhetorical arguments of birtherism, I am tossing them in the racist box, under the close enough - own your shit theory.

Now let's take a look at the rank and file, the GOP base. And I will pull in the false binary argument, as there has been a lot of that shit in the press, on the net, floating among the commentariat, this week particularly. Firstly. There's a lot of white redneck resentment out there. Demographic projections say that the white population advantage will be lost by mid century(ish,) and folk who are not (based on the American cultural definition) white, Latinos, will be the biggest demographic block (never mind the nuances of divisions in the Latin/Hispanic world. Not germane to this discussion.) So they know their world is going to change, even if as a practical matter that might mostly mean the loss of a delusion. After all, to the people who actually run this nation and the world, us vs them is more about economics and class, rather than the stupidity of melanin and hair texture and eye color. But if all you got to be proud of is the stupidity of melanin and hair texture and eye color, the loss of enhanced social status (even if greatly if not mostly delusional,) losing that might seem to be losing a lot, indeed.

So that's the base line here. (That and the theme expressed in Bob Marley's "400 Years," and by that I mean American History.) And it is so easy to do an Us vs Them construct, and then embrace it, when one is doubly resentful not only because of loss of status, but also current economic worry. And once the race thing is there, it's there. It's not going anywhere.

So please people. Stop with the,"Gee they have other reasons to be persistent with this birtherism and afterbirtherism shit," bullshit argument. It's not either (a) or (b.) It's (c) -- all of the above.

To a resentful GOP-voting redneck, they might very well have a host of other reasons to hate on P. Obama. But you can't argue away the reality of P.Obama being an ethnic other, and the practical reality that if they can go there, as far as they can go there, they will go there. This is not nuanced, academic elite discussions of the minutiae of policy points, while sipping claret and nibbling on tiny Watercress Sandwiches with the crusts cut off, served on bone china. It's raw, nasty, emotional and irrational thinking and behaving. Never ignore the obvious.

And I suppose I should take a clearer whack at the apologists. I recently saw the clip of Dr. Phil on David Letterman's show, making a pathetic excuse for "He with the funny hair who will not me named." No Dr. Phil. The fact that people may say racist sounding shit without thinking, never mind specifically having as an intent to come across as or otherwise communicate a racist thought, is not an excuse from being a racist. Actually, it's prima facie evidence of being a racist. Particularly that whole doesn't even have to form specific intent part. That shows how deep that sickness runs, actually. What the fuck kinda Dr. are you? Are you a Dr. Laura kinda Dr.?

Anyway, that is all for now. But remember. Racism and White Resent-Driven Redneckism are pet peeves of mine. And that shit's not going away, well, not soon enough to suit me, at least.

Yes, I Have Fallen Down the Rabbit Hole of the Royal Wedding.

I know that a lot of people have had enough of it. Personally, I barely paid attention until like yesterday? So I'm in. I don't have an appointment this morning so, why not watch some of the pageantry? No one does it quite like the Brits. And my first career was Theatre. I love a good show.

And here is how I said it last night on my FB page.

Given what has been going on in America lately, if I am going to be spending time entertaining delusions, at least they should be lovely, pretty, classy, fairy tale delusions.

And as grandson of both a seamstress and a tailor, I do appreciate a well designed, and more importantly, properly London-tailored uniform. Sure, career wise, it would have been so good for me if I had been commissioned as a JAG officer (I interviewed but did not get in.) But if that happened, I would have had to shell out the bucks for some of that London tailoring.

Anyway, congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Talley-ho. What-what.

Those God Damn Birthers!

Brotherman lays out a powerful case why the whole birther thing is the most odious kind of racism. I have just taken that for granted with out the breakdown.

But here is my explanation of why it was odious, even with out the racism part.

Imagine you ask someone out on a date. They say,"No 'effin way I will go out with you. But will you wash my car for me? Will you watch my dog? Will you drive me to the airport and pick me up when I get back?"

And they you ask, "If I do any of that, will you then go out with me?" And then they say, again, "No 'effin way I will go out with you. Now gimme a hundred dollars."

Ya. This whole birther thing and now the transcript thing, and what ever thing they come up with after that? It might be racist abuse. It might not consciously be racist abuse. But it definitely is abuse. And it's sickening.

Will This End Birtherism? Hells Noes!

I have said that before, but now that the WH has released the other form, it does at least make those silly if not racist d-bag wing nuts look crazier and crazier.

Oh. And I am not swearing to it, but following bringing up that crazy reality TV moron on my FB page, it hit me. Remember the Week of Not Talking About Palin? I think we should try to do the same thing to that creature with the bad comb over haircut.

I do not think he will fade away if we just stop paying attention to him. The real world does not work in such clear causative ways, where human egos and insanity are concerned. But still. He's vulgar. He's a liar, and he's the worst of worst kind of cynical political and media whores. So let's avoid speaking of him. Ok?


Oh. And another quickie. Did ya hear about the lady arrested at the Rep. Allen West Town Hall?

Firstly I do not recall a single one of those insane, histrionic, loud and crazy tea baggers getting arrested. So this is a thing that makes me go hmmmm, right there. Talk about general hypocrisy. But beyond that, where's the crys about how the lady got arrested for using her free speech rights? WTF. Well I am not surprised. I have been saying it for a while now, how the GOP is basically hypocritical and bullshit on this issue. Scummy, they are!

By Far, Not My Most Brilliant Observation/Projection, But . . . .

Seems to me that smart money is on Campaign 2012 to be the nastiest shit anyone has seen here, in America. I predict the GOP will drill down even deeper than ever into the shit hole. I expect them to set an all time new low for sleaze.

So far we have the resurgent and expanding birther shit, from the wing nuts. Now the issue of P. Obama's grades/transcripts are in play. Thanks again, Trump-Hump. (And that mean old, racist Pat Buchanan's selling that bullshit, too.)

Oh. And that reminds me, you tea bagging (or teabag curious) fuckers. No. It is not for P. Obama to meet any of your demands for a damn thing. You all are not going to vote for him anyway. No natural force in the world is going to make that happen, so zip it with these . . . why doesn't he just turn over . . . .questions. It's basically a lie, that tactic.

Ok. Back to the shit in play. Once again, they are trying to make up a Pastor problem. Oy vey! And now Franklin Graham, already siding with the tea bagging birthers, is questioning P. Obama's flavor of Christianity. Side bar. Over the past week or so I have been watching a British series on the English Monarchy. I just finished the second series. It ended with the Restoration of Charles II. And this was a really good, in depth documentary. So I have just had my deepest trip into the history of the English Religious Wars. So Franklin, kudos for you, for keeping the most vile, ugly, vicious, nasty, bigoted elements of Christianity alive in the 21st century. NOT!

Anyway, this is where we are now. And the game has barely begun.

But wait. There's more. I'm sorta getting more of a complete picture how the lower class wing nuts work. You can call this part of my on going redneck studies, or just my general interest in the pathology that is the Right Wing. Here's what I am getting. Beyond the obvious racism, and the cultural contempt, there is the huge, and I mean fucking huge streak of envy. When these low class tea baggers and wing nuts tear down P. Obama its not just politics. It's something on the order of,"How dare that nigger have a better education, or house, or job, or have more money, more power or status than me?"

I know I can not say all of one, all of the other, and make a valid argument. But here is what I at least believe. I think more of the liberals more so hate the ideology, and the meanness of the right wing, than the people. And that is to say that if those people could shut the fuck up some, and stop trying to force people to live their lives the way they say, we on the left would have a much more relaxed attitude towards them. And for the record, making society more tolerant of just about any kind of folk but for intolerant folk is not the same damn thing. Not by a continent.

But I really think a unfortunately large number of the right wing really hate people who are not like them. I mean really. That's what all that culture war shit is about, really. Its a level of bigotry that is so deep, that it must violently, at least as an emotional thing, if not as a physical thing, attack and destroy the other. Oh. Sounds like racism at its worse as well. Any yes, it might be down to the level of dog whistles, and code words, but let us not pretend that the GOP is still stuck on the idea of people like us. Which is why I hope to see it disappear. I want to see the GOP disappear as much as I want racism, and injustice, and religious bigotry, and just plan selfish childish nasty meanness to disappear. Like all bad things and ideas, all that belongs on the shit heap of history. So I say.

Oh. One last note (I did go tangential there, but hey. It's the core theory I just posted there. That's my desire for society, in a nutshell.) Let me finish the previous point. When I say low class or lower class, do not limit that to a particular economic class. If anything, Donald Trump proves that one can be a multi millionaire, as still be as repugnant as the worst of crystal meth addicted trailer trash. I wanted to be clear about that.

I Will be True to My Blog's Name, and Abstain from Complementing That Hack Clement, re DOMA Defense.

I'm not being contrary to be provocative. I'm not doing anything that pathological. But am I myself being a wee bit politically-motivated? Maybe. But this is all just (well mostly at least) politics, seems to me.

To explain, the high $$ private attorney who Speaker Boehner hired to defend the purely wing nut, bigoted, Christianist, politically-driven Defense of Marriage Act had to sever ties with his former firm. Seems the former firm caved to pressure brought to bear upon it, on account of the bigoted nature of the thing. So Clement had to (some might argue chose to) take the file to another firm. And a bunch of lawyers have decided to lavish praise upon him for doing so.

Now let me state and restate my biases. I despise the GOP. I hope to see it brought to its knees in my lifetime. If I were a praying man, I'd be praying to see that happen, daily. So I can't bring myself to heap praise on some lawyer for furthering the GOP Christianist, bigoted agenda. Furthermore, I don't like other lawyers all that much. Don't get me wrong. There are the lawyers I know and consider friends, and I am as likely to defend the club as I am to tell lawyer jokes. Well, to be more honest, I am more likely to tell a lawyer joke. Love them. But more's the point, I don't feel any loyalty to the club on the level of kow-towing to a perceived group think. So if a bunch of lawyers want to crown Atty Clement with the Laurel, there's nothing to stop me from saying, what the fuck? And here I go.

What the fuck?

But here's my argument for taking a what the fuck attitude to this whole sordid circle jerk of a professionally embarrassing display of undeserved adoration.

Save me the noble lawyer action - shit. This is a political matter that is going before the USSC. The fact of the retainer of a lawyer by Congress to defend this law, is a political thing. It will be argued as, and the opinion will be written in the jargon of Constitutional Law. But particularly with this heavily politically corrupt SCOTUS, it's likely going to be another political decision. So no nobility on that note.

Next, consider the client. Is there really a human client here? It's institutional. Sorta. Granted, Speaker of the House Boehner seems to be in the shoes of the surrogate "human" client, but again, the client here, the entity that is being defended is a law. And that law is a particularly politically-driven, partisan thing. So on that matter too, there's nothing really noble going on here.

Lastly, this is really basic lawyer shit. Clement agreed to the case. So no matter the other aspects, giving him mad props for doing what he's basically required to do under the Rules of Professional Responsibility? What the fuck? It's such a non event they (the lawyers complimenting him) might as well be singing his praises for getting to the court house on time, or not breaching ACP. It's not noble, people. It's just doing the ordinary job in the ordinary way, without breaking the profession's rules of conduct.

Anyway, that's my take on it.

Not Much to Get Excited About, Post Easter . . .

I want to say, that's exciting. But it's not. Really. Anyway.

Post over at Mediaite. Cokie Roberts at the same point in time for the same statement gets the Bravery In Punditry, and the Saying The Obvious Awards. The double hit statement: that people call P. Obama Muslim 'cause they can't say they don't like him 'cause he's black. (My inversion; I'd say it this way. He's no the fuck where near white enough.)

Anyway, lemme run the vid and see if it's worth linking.

Ok. I ran the clip and she did not bring up the topic, in the panel discussion that is where the vid is from, but she made the 'dog whistle' argument. It's worth a look. Maybe. Cokie on Racist "Muslim" anti Obama Dog Whistle, on "This Week."

Now I actually went back and read the editorializing that accompanied the vid. And it wasn't that awful. I confess to having a seemingly inconsistent view of Mediaite. I hate it. And I go there daily. I go for the vid selections, mainly, not the commentary, which is usually as bad if not way the fuck worse than what ever perceived errors or alleged bias they seem to be trying to highlight. That's why I call the staffers there editors. They are not engaging in reporting. They just toss off what objectively seems to be nothing more than editorial comments. But I digress.

After reading that editorial commentary, I did something I rarely do. I went over to Newsbusters, because they are the net based source for the vid. Their spin? Now that was some messed up shit. Or it was typical GOP lies and bullshit and straw man red herring nonsense. Actually, both.

Instead of dealing with the actual issue in the vid, their editor went off on a discussion about how P. Obama's falling approval ratings were based on (perception of) his job performance. As if that has anything to do with people saying P. Obama is a Muslim? That is a perfect example of why I stay away from many GOP sites, and why it's a good thing I am in recovery from political message boards. There is no point in arguing with people that stupid, and or that dishonest.

Anyway. One last mention of the editors at Mediaite. There was yet another mention of the Non Story of last week: Triggate. This time, the editor, who went so bat shit over that nonsense last week, actually, was sounding the call to reason. Turns out some writer called Mrs. Palin herself a, "Special needs, case," and the Palinistas were still going batshit with the sturm and drung. The editor basically said enough is enough. He even went so far as to suggest that the hysteria could have been false.

Nice of you to finally see the bullshit for what it is/was, Tommy.

His reversal reminds me of one of my favorite George Carlin jokes. I am doing this from memory, so forgive me if I don't really get it 100% accurately.

"Ever notice how when someone ahead of you is driving too slow, they're a fucking asshole, but the guy who speeds past you is fucking nuts?"

Ok. That's all for now.

Line of the Week. Thanks Wonkette.

Last line, in a piece under the heading, PAUL RYAN'S GHOULISH GAZE:

"Thanks, Paul Ryan, For Reminding Voters GOP Wants To Kill Medicare & Social Security!"



"The teabaggers would literally shoot themselves in the face with those guns they love so much if they thought it might also hurt the coloreds."

Here.

I do disagree with the staff over at Wonkette about one thing. I don't think his gaze is ghoulish. I think it's more that of a Meth Head, or someone strung out on some other chemical grade crazy, if not the naturally occurring crazy. WTF is it with these crazy looking GOPers? If that is the way the people in your family, in your hood, in your workplace, look, don't be fooled, people. That's the way crazy people look. That's the thousand yard stare of street corner preachers and bag people. How can folk not know that? (Rhetorical q. Crazy people think each other look normal. A lot. There are limits, but since few crazy people are all crazy, there's a lot of camaraderie among the partials.)

Oh. And a quickie.

No, people. And I am embarrassed, otherwise, at the treatment of Bradley Manning pending trial. But there is no reason to throw a fit over P. Obama saying he broke the law. He's POTUS, not on the SCOTUS. He does not have a professional obligation to be neutral over the subject of a Federal Criminal Inquiry. He is the chief law enforcement of the Nation. All the Federal prosecutors answer to him. So chill out. Stick with the argument that is actually founded in reality, that the treatment of the poor boy has been an embarrassment to the Nation and the People of Our Constitutional Republic.

So Little Time. So Much Stupid Shit. Strike That. Reverse It.

Apologies to Willy Wonka (or the author of the story, actually.)

Ok. So there's this feud, apparently, between Glenn Beck and Huckabee?

Ok. These barking idiot anti-nanny staters come in different flavors, and I guess Beck is further out on the fringe than some others (in all ways, likely.) But why NOW be freaking about Huckabee's defense of Michelle Obama's mission to reduce childhood obesity? Is there some other agenda here? Is Beck undercutting Huckabee, as he might run for the nomination (against Romney?) And if both Romney and Huck are in the race, that's two out of the pack who are more serious contenders, than the rest of those bastids. So is Beck doing some Brother Mormon boostering? Or, to employ the military metaphor, is Beck softening up the beach for Romney?

Sometimes Occam's Razor's best, easiest answer is not really that obvious. Here you have two sorta equally good agendas. And as I like to say, oftentimes it's not an either/or choice. Sometimes it's both.

Got To Love Right Wing Cannibalism.

Happy Earth Day. And Some Quickies.

How best to celebrate Earth Day? Depends on the weather. And it's looking good for a walk in the park. Well, make that a walk to the park, and then in the park.

On to some quickies.

I started reading a story on Trig Birthers. Got bored way fast. Yes, I confess to having read some of that shit back in '08. Again, who really cares?

Moving back to my own shit, seriously and really, I checked out the stats tab here in the control panel, for the first time, today. I have actually had more hits here than I previous would have guessed. But Hey, several thousand of them must be pings. What ever. I'm not doing this for the attention as much as the therapy of expressing myself. I have had enough of an audience during my message board days. I used to, sometimes, get the accusation of being an attention ho, on those boards. My reply? Everyone on a message board to some degree is an attention ho. So whatever, doods. Some people have a pathological inability to grasp the obvious.

Moving on? Dare I talk about Trump any more? I'll just use him as the point of departure. The perverse little irony about commenting about people one finds odious is of course you are paying attention to them. In my case, as this blog is way on the ass end of the internet, it's not really adding to anyone's fame. Likely.

And in the category of giving props where due, it seems the Local GOP (some county leader there at least) is trying to oust that racist Marilyn Davenport. However the feeling is not universal out there in Orange County.

In a local paper (on line version) they have a quote from one OC GOPer decrying that the leaders threw her under the bus, even if the guy thought the email was racist.
Seriously.

Oh. Shit. She seems to have the beginnings of awareness of how clearly and badly she fucked up.

"I asked for her reaction to the scandal. Her shoulders slumped. She sighed, shook her head slowly and said, "I understand why everyone is contacting me. I wasn't wise in sending the email out. I shouldn't have done it. I really wasn't thinking."

But, I asked, are you really repentant?

"Yes. . . . Before I sent that email, I should have stopped to think about the historical implications [of depicting a black man as an ape]," she said. "That can be offensive . . . and I am so sorry.""

Hey. Kudos to her. I almost want to take back the harsh stuff I said about her. Almost. This is a process, however. And as I used to tell people on that damned message board, not being a racist is not really a state of achievement. It's committing to the process of self examination and also exercising inner and outer control. In particular one must carefully examine one's thinking, and where necessary change, and thereafter, constantly monitor.

Oh. Hey. Didn't I say, last time I posted about her, that maybe they can send her to sensitivity training, get her some rehab? Ok. I repeat that. Who knows. It might really sink in, now!

Ok. That's it for now.

This Non Story Ain't Dead Yet.

Cult of Trig, indeed. And for those of you not familiar with that phrase, I believe the editor at Wonkette used it, in some back and forth with an editor over at Mediaite. Such editor (I won't call him a journalist. None of them at Mediaite seem to meet that definition) seems to have crossed the line into advocacy. And that's ok. But it's not really anything close to journalism if you get too deep into the story yourself (never mind the fiction that there is this thing called gonzo journalism. Even Hunter S. Thompson shied away from that label, eventually. Hunter was just his own crazy-assed, fucked up self. Actually.)

Anyway, the latest update is that the folk at Wonkette have actually pulled down the rude and offensive post. And I think that's a shame. Sorta. Not that I am a fan of making fun of babies, even political babies. And I do get the point, that Palin exploits her family. Shit. I was calling the Palin family a reality TV show before the Mrs. got her own paid gig, or Bristol got on DWTS. But here are the reasons I think it's sorta a shame. I really dislike Palin. And I dislike Republicans. And I particularly dislike Palin supporters. And I particularly dislike bullshit. And even if I am sure that some of the complainers really are upset, I would bet that only a small percentage of those complaining about how this one special needs child was used as the vehicle for a tasteless joke against his mother (I did call it a swing anda miss, in my first post re the story) likely has any real track record advocating for special needs children, for real.

What's going on here for the most part, is a cult of personality, bullshit hissy fit. Palin has her loyal base. They tend to go all batshit for all sorts of irrational reasons. Is this incident more worthy? Eh. It was a rude shot. There is nothing new about people attacking Palin through her kids. Ask Dave Letterman. He was the last to get "The Full Treatment," far as I know.

There is a pattern here. And that is that GOPers are all into "Free Speech" but for the shit they don't like. (I am not a free speech advocate. I call bullshit on people who sing that song, or preach that gospel, how ever described.) So I say that's basically hypocritical. Speaking of hypocrites, I checked out the commentariat over at Althouse's blog. There were several of the right wing loons endorsing violence against the writer of the botched joke. I guess the irony was lost on those wing nuts, who really don't believe that the answer to bad speech is more speech, unless that speech is to incite violence.

Makes me wonder though. And remember, I think all that free speech ideology is a bunch of shit, but still I wonder. What really is the orthodox Free Speech Ideology Extremist response to the rude Trig Palin joke? Is condoning the tasteless joke as just another person's speech required? Or is it pointing out the rudeness, the lack of civility in a critical way, but leaving it at that, permissable under free speech orthodoxy and ideology? And what about hosting a blog full of violent comments against the rude jokester? What is the Free Speecher's Ideological Imperative there? Do you stand in solidarity with those shitheads crying out for baseball bat-driven remedies against those who tell bad, rude jokes about Trig Palin, or do you sensibly (since all that shit is public and triple backed up on multiple servers) delete the comments and expel the offenders?

Again, I don't buy that childish free speech nonsense. I'm all about the edit button. Or other edit function. Make that I am all about the editing process, not only in art, but in my personal life (but I should edit my own posts here better, but hey, sorta stream of sorta consciousness is my default setting for blogging.) Point is I have no ideological bar to deleting a shity comment, or deleting a shithead commenter, with out so much as a "By your leave." I don't pretend to be fair, and then re write the rules. I'll tell you up front, I hate what you said there, shut the fuck up. And that's how (human) nature intends it.

One last thing re this non story. Of all people, Greg Gutfeld got on the, "Horror, Horror," bandwagon. He allegedly went after the joke writer, but not in violent words, but instead attacked the writer's looks, and taste in beer. Accusing someone of being a PBR drinker?

I won't over do the mock mockery, like the one editor at Mediaite did. In parts of the East Village, PBR tallboy night is a favored special. Personally, I have stayed away from that shit since college days. It's as low end as it gets, and the gas? Mon dieu!

There I go, digressing again. Point in mentioning Gutfeld is that his batting average is so low for successful jokes that he doesn't even rate membership in the club. And just like a typical wing nut, his reaction to rudeness in others is to be frat boy rude himself. Keep up the . . . . work, Greg.

Non Story of the Week. TrigGate.

This one is percolating more on the wing nut blogosphere. And it's sorta a tag along to another Palin family story. But the rude bastids at Wonkette really dumped on Trig Palin. And some of these wing nuts are acting like the sky has cracked open and the demons from another dimension are pouring through. Or some other catastrophic imagery will do, if you prefer.

Here's a taste of it:


Papa Johns, Huggies Pull Ads from Wonkette After Despicable Trig Palin Post.


Ok. Let me break it down.

Ya, the piece was rude. I saw it the day it went up. But ya know? And when I say ya know, I mean if you know what kinda shit they routinely do over at Wonkette, you should not be surprised. They deal in not only bad taste there, they revel it it.

Oddly (or perhaps not) some GOPers really don't get what that site is about. (It must really suck to be that stupid.) It is not a serious thing. It's not trying for even the slightest bit of professional newsyness. It's like Mad Magazine, but it's a different flavor of rude. They are trying for funny and sometimes I think they nail it. Sometimes I think it's a swing anda miss for them. But that is what they are about.

But hey, if some people wanna throw a fit, have at it. I am reminded of a discussion I had with some pecker headed wing nuts on that message board I used to frequent. And I think it was over some allegedly rude joke about one of Mrs. Palin's other kids. In any case, I made the simple argument, based on the vile inside joke comedians love, "The Aristcrats," that in theory nothing is too rude, for comedy. Trick is in being rude and being funny at the same time, but not be offensive. It's the risk of comedy. That's why I am so much more critical about people who have day jobs who get caught telling a lame, dumb, or offensive joke. I have no problem putting the screws to amateurs. What's that old line from the commercials and such? "These are trained professionals. Don't try this at home."

Ya. And here is the difference between a trained professional, and an amateur. An amateur will get all defensive, and blat about not meaning to insult. That whole pathetic routine. But a professional will take that swing anda miss attitude. That joke bombed? Ok, I got another one for ya . . . So even if Wonkette loses some ads I don't think they are going to stop being rude, and trying to be rude and funny at the same time.

Let's see what they got going on today. Under the description: DUMB PEOPLE TAKEN SERIOUSLY, a piece "Ayn Rand Sucks." It links to this on going net comix that really has it out for Rand and her cult. It's not a home run but it might have promise.

Also, under the description KOCHSUCKERS, a piece about the Koch brothers' voter guides for their employees.

And further down the page under the description, ARGHH MATEY is a piece titled "Obama Is Actually a Somali Pirate Child."

Whether they are funny? Eh. But do they intend to be serious? Not in the least!


And before I head for the exit, I did mention that TrigGate is sort of a tag along to another story. And that's the Trig Birther Trig Truther "movement." That is, if you think a few nit wits who are still stuck on that shit counts as a movement. Personally, with all that is wrong with Mrs. Palin, whether or not she is the mother of the wee one is not really important. In an odd way, I think that was in the back of the minds, at least, of the Wonkette writers. Swing anda miss on that one, guys.


Edit to add:

It gets weirder. The writer has been "disciplined."

But hey, now that this particular non story is dying down, we can guess at the next non story. P. Obama and his fundraisers in Cali should give the wing nuts something to go batshit over.

No. You Silly Racist Tea Bagger. It's Not an Either or Situation.

That silly racist piece of garbage out in OC Cali has a new defense.


It was satire.

Um. Lady. Our shameful national history is deep in patently offensive racist "humor," "satire," and "jokes." It's not an either or situation. But her tone deafness is unfortunately typical of the right wingers. She says she did not intend to be racist? What the fuck? That makes it worse! If she is actually running around unaware of being a racist, that at minimum is a very bad thing. I want to say it's worse than being a knowing racist. But let's hold off on that.

There are degrees of racist harm, and blameworthiness. I'd say the standards are based on the objective act, not the state of mind, so much. I mean to say being a tone deaf idiot who doesn't seem to get that the chimp thing is off limits based on the history of racism in America, gets you in the racist club, at minimum. But that's less heinous a thing than actually depriving people their rights as people, because of their ethnicity/race.

I have to wonder if there is room in the party bylaws and rules and what not, to force her to attend some sensitivity training or be stripped of office? She really needs to have her eyes, heart and mind opened. Grinch.

This is Why I Don't Hang Out in the East Village Much . . .

after sundown. I don't want to leave, once I get there. And I had a fine time with the live music at this really nice venue. I'm feeling my age these days. The hipsters all looked so painfully young. But eventually I loosened up. And that meant it was time to go home.

But still, I was well reminded of an anchor of my life. Hell I likely said it to the pretty blonde lady I was chatting with. Remember well these days, I said. Something like it. Granted, at my age, I was as deep in memory as the moment, but so many of the pleasant nights of my life were in cramped venues, brimming with youth and life, and song, and the sense that we are all beautiful, and immortal, and the world is ours for the taking. Sigh. Ok. I'll stop there. I'm sure some pop music poet has said it better than I can right now. In fact there's a particular Billy Joel song I have in mind right now. "I've Loved These Days."

Hypocrisy, Thy Name is Althouse. Or is She?

Firstly, I personally dislike the phrase "Free Speech." We are talking about communication. And as someone who has experience in many forms of communication, I think using the word speech is too limiting, no matter what the judicial definition is. Anyway. Ann Althouse is such an ideologue on non-governmental "free speech" that she bitches and moans about people who communicate in a way she finds offensive and annoying.

More Cowbell! (Althouse On Blogging Heads.)

Now I have been following her blog, and I think her ideological "free speech" ideas are childish and odd. In any event, I have seen her, on her blog, and on various bloggingheads appearances going critical if not batshit crazy on speech she doesn't like. She doesn't like the chanting of the protesters in Madison. She doesn't like the drums. She doesn't like the shouting. She doesn't seem to recognize, never mind like the underlying message being passionately communicated. And at that rally she was attending, the unruly crowd, some of them at least, were communicating what seemed to me a very clear and easy to understand message: shut the fuck up! It might not be a pretty message, but it clearly counts as a clearly communicated message.

Now I am going to get a wee bit personal here. Fuck the being a lawyer/law professor shit. As someone with a fine arts degree, she should not need to have the offensive intent theory explained to her.

Without getting too deep into the sidebar, there was this time in college when I was taking a creative writing course. The last line of the 'protest' poem I wrote (continuing the feud I had with the actually nice and lovely teacher) was,"Art need not be pretty." She had a bias in favor of pretty poetry. I took her down roads she never would have done so willingly. She never admitted my POV per se, but I did knock her socks off so much with my (not at all pretty) imagery in my free verse poem about the Vietnam War, that she asked me if I had been there during the war?

Anyway, point is. Art need not be pretty. Everyone who took any kind of art classes, be they visual, aural, or literary, learns that particularly in the 20th Century, shock value is one of the things that can be deliberately communicated by artists. Or you can just get weird. Or both. Hell, even if one did not take any of the hands on courses, and only took Art History, and really learned their "isms" properly, one learns the theory. (Speaking of isims, I got see this great Dada exhibit at MoMa a couple two-three years back. Damned fine stuff. And after that came the Tim Burton exhibit. I have one word to say about that. "Stainboy!")

So what I am saying here, is either Ann Althouse is a hypocrite, in that she she's all for "communication" as long is it is within her comfort zone. Or maybe she ain't cause she has no problem at all shitting all over communication that rattles her nerves.

I mean I do get it, insofar as there are some people who sincerely, deeply, really believe in that "free speech" ideological bullshit. I reject it. Beyond the inherent problem with such an absolute, and that is the guarantee of hypocrisy when one re sets the boundaries, or carves out an exception that is usually self serving, there is the particular problem regarding communication. Push any fucker hard enough and they will hit the edit button. Or they will say "Enough. Stop the madness!" Or they will happily stifle the 'offending' speech. At least they will whine so much that the expression,"Do you want some cheese to go with that," is likely to come to mind.

Drowning out Mrs. Palin with chants, and cowbells, and horns and what ever is every bit as much genuine communication as what ever moronic dribble Mrs. Palin would have communicated. Anyone who doesn't get that really doesn't get communication. Then again, I am the guy who's grade in Video Production II likely suffered, as with my camera and editing, I made Burlington VT look like a dump. Have you ever been to Burlington? It's utterly charming. Mere fact I made it look like a dump should have secured me an A. Now that took skill.

Anyway, remember, art need not be pretty. Nor does communication have to be to one's liking to be honest communication.


Oh. One last point. A few months ago, I had a discussion with a work mate who had been an Art History major, after starting out at SVA as a film or video major. Jumping to the point, we had a disagreement over a similar idea/issue. Now the conversation was not as bogged down in the mire of ideological stubbornness or hypocrisy, however I made the argument that everyone edits. I said something like the process of creation of any art is one that starts, continues and ends with editing. It's actually the normal way a human mind works, to cut away or ignore some things, while choosing others. Now this might not seem to be that much on point, but it's a nature and process grounded real world argument against the all speech is equal (sorta) line of bullshit. And I am again revealing my bias. I would rather start off honest and deny being a full "free speech" extremist, rather than being caught being a hypocrite, down the road.

Giving Credit Where Due . . .

Jan Brewer Vetoes Presidential Birther Bill.


Honestly, I thought she would have been down with that racist birther shit. I was wrong. So Kudos to Jan Brewer for putting common sense before politically expedient racist sentiments.

(Now if only we can get her to stop hating on the Mexicans . . . .)


Edit to Add:

Hell must have frozen over. I agree with that evil pigeon Charles Krauthammer. Re Donald Trump he says,“the vulgarity of him is offensive.”


But first, let me explain the pigeon reference. Krathammer has this ugly, scavengerish look to him. Reminds me of those nasty looking things found in big cites that are often called flying rats. (Ok. I'm not being nice. I can live with that.)

Now on to the Donald. Now I do not think the Donald is deliberately trying to make the rest of the field look better by comparison. But ya know? A ding bat like Mrs. Palin, who very well might be the perfect vision of Redneck Royalty, looks a lot less vulgar next to him. Hell, that awful comb over even makes Palin's coif, which I call a modified mullet, look less vulgar by comparison. Now there would be no reason for him to be trying to do that, particularly. I'm just amused to see the contrast. No matter which of these dwarfs in the GOP roster gets the nomination, they are still going to be Dwarfs. I really don't think he is running. But if he does, I do hope he busts out in the primary and runs as an independent. I see that ending with nothing but good news for the Dems.

Paul Krugman's Dead On Point.

Sometimes (like these days we are living in now) being polite is just the wrong choice. Sometimes you got to make a stand. That's my set up, but here it the key point Krugman makes on the current partisan divide in America. The room for middle ground here is non existent.

"So let’s not be civil. Instead, let’s have a frank discussion of our differences. In particular, if Democrats believe that Republicans are talking cruel nonsense, they should say so — and take their case to the voters." Krugman on the Political Divide.

Mrs. Palin's New Line?

"Fight like a girl?"


Ok. Now I know there are many crazy people in the world. And I also know most crazy people are only half-crazy or less. (If you ever met a truly crazy person, you would know the difference. I did three years as a Family Court Lawyer in Philly. I spent more time researching psychology than law, then.)

But anyway. It's one thing for crazy Mrs. Palin to say the crazy shit she does. But are there really that many crazy people who think exactly like her to get her? Or do her fans have a knee-jerk reaction to support what ever crazy or delusional or hate mongering vicious shit that spews forth from her caribou eating mouth?


That's all for now.

Like I Said Earlier, Trust The Comics . . .

Headline of the week, courtesy of those snarky larks over at Wonkette:

"President Caught On ‘Hot Mic’ Saying Things He Should Just Say In Public."

Granted, I think the staff over at Wonkette are not true comics/comedians in the classic sense of the word. But their enterprise is more one of intended to be funny than intending to be serious political commenters. And sometimes I think their collective humor sensibilities are too . . . what's the word I am thinking . . . too much of an inside joke to have broad appeal. But I think they have been getting generally better. Or maybe I am getting their inside jokes better, from osmosis of continued and repeated exposure.

Anyway . . . . And as has long been the case in the wide world, the most funny stuff has not only a germ of truth to it, but has a lot of truth to it. But before I break that part down, and the President's statements as well, let's recap the lyin' liars of the GOP bullshit. Echoing the old line attributed to some Vietnam War Era commander, "We had to bomb the village to save it," the GOP, through Looks-Like-A-Meth-Head, Lyin' Ryan recently proposed to save the Medical Insurance Plan known as "Medicare" by converting it from a Medical Insurance Plan into a voucher plan. Lying assed scumbag weasels. Oh. And the irony in that plan is it closely resembles the dreaded "ObamaCare," as those shits call it. Save, that the one plan requires the younger (healthier) folk to have insurance, and gives them the voucher if they need it. As opposed to the GOP plan, which requires the needy of care elderly to bankrupt themselves. Remember Death Panels? This GOP plan is worse than Death Panels. It's a Death Scheme.

That's the premise. Then P. Obama, actually quite mildly, rebuked Lyin' Ryan's proposal during his speech, earlier this week. More irony. The collective wail out of the wing nuts was that P. Obama was (as Limbaugh said it) bitch slapping Ryan (with out mentioning his name once, mind you.) So I guess Lyin' Ryan is their "Anointed One." Criticize the holes and lies and inhuman policies in his plan and it's HERESY! Ya. These people are that sick.

But on to the Wonkette quote. In an allegedly closed donor meeting, P. Obama made some critical (yet again mildy so) statements about the GOP. The GOP freaked. And that not only is funny, considering the depth and volume of hate he has endured from those shits. But for peeps like me, for Yella Dog Dems, our reply to that was:

About fucking time!

And it proves one of my favorite tactical theories. Keep the pressure on those shit-headed, lying-assed, bully-bigots, and you win. I hope this means that if it is not yet time when Obama takes the gloves off, he at least now knows, it's a fight. And it's a street fight.

Go get 'em, Tiger.

I'm Not Feeling Clever Yet, so I'll Steal (but credit) a Quote.

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

From Kung Fu Monkey.

This is a daisy chain quote. That is to say, it was up on firedoglake, as a quote from Paul Krugman. I followed the link to his blog, and it was there credited to Kung Fu Monkey. I guess that with the contemporary release of Part One of "Atlas Shrugged," the movie, picking on Ayn Rand and her fans id back in season. Come en git it.

Let the Class War Begin!

Wing nuts are touting and parroting the line of the day, that P. Obama's speech was demagogic. Because telling people that he was not going to let the budget be fixed on the backs of the middle class, working class, poor, and elderly with out making the millionaires pay more.

That's what passes for demagogy, if you are Rush Limbaugh, Charles Krauthammer, or Rep Paul Lyin' Ryan. Oh. I decided to call him that before the CBO came out with the proof, that I was on the nose, with that nic for the truth and arithmetically challenged Mr. Ryan. (But I won't pat myself on the back. That was grasping for low hanging fruit, calling a GOP Congress Critter a liar when it comes to, just about anything, actually.)

Oh. Anyway, as I said above, Let the Class War Begin. But not violently. If you run into any rich people not your boss, client, or anyone important in your life, sneer at them with contempt and disdain. Shout the battle cry of the sans-culotes. Say that Robespierre and Danton were right. Sing a line or two of L'Internationale. Let them fat cats know that the days we support them are going to end.

At least, put up a good show of resistance.

If You Want Serious Commentary on Politics, Go With the Comics.

And the race for best bit this week is heating up. There's Jon Stewart's take down of the GOP Wanna Be Nominee field. The Shot at The Donald was particularly good stuff.

Jon Stewart on The Contenders.

Running basically equally is Steven Colbert's take down of that snake man Sen. Jon Kyle. Colbert on Kyl.

And since we are on the topic of Kyl, dare I ask is it unfair to brand all of the GOP as equally faithless and dishonest as he? Well there's a certain madness to his nearly-honest correction. I mean, could a human get any closer to admitting they are a damned liar with out flat out saying so?

Kids. I know as a matter of "fair practice," it's wrong to paint the entire GOP with this brush. But ya know? So many of them do that shit. They will just make shit up, tell out and out lies, repeat and repeat again pure bullshit they know really is not true. But since bullshit is one of the few rhetorical styles they know (along with bullying,) they do it all the freaking time. It's all they got, really, since the facts more often than not are against them. Never mind reason. That's an alien concept to the Current GOP.

Oh. And one last thing for now. I have seen in a couple places, already, peeps using/making "Private Ryan," references to Paul Ryan. Nah. I prefer the rhyming Lyin' Ryan. It's accurately descriptive.

So Many Folk to Cuss Out . . .

So little time.

Ok. I got into a squabble with someone on a friend's FB thread. Ya. I am supposed to be past this. But even among political allies, one can find cause for disagreement. And this fellow did not know about my pet peeve lately for redneck/outlaw/reb culture. My statement that led to the fracas was my statement that we would have been better off (at least democrats would be) if the surrendered reb army was imprisoned for life. That would have led to less southerners being born, and likely a quicker end to 'southern culture.' In other words, redneckism would have been seriously reduced, and we would not have the south as a close to solid GOP voting block.

Hey. I am only looking at the world as it is and saying, ya know . . . this could have been diminished, if not prevented.

So hey. If things had happened as I say, we might have never had Lynard Skynard. I could live with that, since that would mean no Kid Rock either. Um, make that his version of "Sweet Home Alabama." That's a fair trade.

We still would have Sarah Palin. But she would be some nobody snowbilly no one knew about. I mean, let's face it. With out the southern block, there would have never been the Reagan Years. The GOP would have died out already. And in the end that's what I want. I want the GOP to go away asap.

If Only to Dispel the Myth of Monolithic Black Liberalism, and Groupthink.

Go here, and watch the vid of West and Sharpton. West, while still emotionally at least supporting P. Obama, does have a sharp critique, these days.

Dr. West and The Rev. Sharpton disagree.

So much for that right wing lie, that black liberals are knee jerk, non thinking zombies for Obama.

Addendum. Why Ann Althouse is Less Smart than Mrs. Palin. (Who is not really very smart, really.)

Go back to my previous post about Mrs. Palin, "Cowardly or Clever."

Logic says there's a reason she personally believes P. Obama was born in Hawaii. Is she some kinda fucking genius? Not hardly. But she was the GOP nom for VP, in the race against now P. Obama.

So here is the question that divides the fucking brainless total morons from everyone else. Do you think that if there was any real reason to believe that Birther shit, that the McCain Palin campaign would NOT have been all over that shit?

I mean it was as incompotent a campaign as can be imagined, but if there was a smoking gun there, it would have been turned up back in the 2008 campaign. Right?

That's why Mrs. Palin can say she believes he was born in Hawaii, born American. Cause the due diligence has been done already. Fuck a duck. Now she can play her cynical game of encouraging The Donald and appeasing (or at least not totally contradicting) the way the fuck too racist, looney base. But if she dared say she thought he wasn't an American, some former McCain staffers would (we have every reason to believe) be very happy to recount the briefing sessions when that was discussed, proven to be a tin foil hat baseless conspiracy theory, and dismissed by the campaign.

So anyone who comes along now, pimping that shit is just a fucking racist idiot. JMO.

Raise Your Hands. Who Doesn't Get it, that Birtherism is Inherently Racist?

Ann Althouse maybe? I will not link her site, but she has over the past few days given aid and comfort to that racist opportunist Donald Trump with his media whoring pro Birther inherently racist shit.

Not that I am surprised; I doubted she'd pass my test, before. But some people are just too fucking insane not to get it, that birtherism is based on the wing nut tea bagger cultural discomfort (i.e. racism) that lots of right wing white Americans have about our Negro POTUS. Or make that Half Negro. Anything less than vanilla white is not white enough for some people. And I think I said it here before. I don't thing Trump is really pursuing some racist agenda. So much. But I really think what he is doing is shameless self promotion on account of his shit-tastic show (as I say, that jumped the shark in the second season) having tanking ratings. And did I say media whore? He doesn't care if his image gets damaged with the racist implication. Curse. Taint. He's sooo past that shit. He doesn't care if he is liked, or respected, or even feared. He cares about nothing but the most vulgar commercializing of his own old nasty ass. I think he would have sex with farm animals for ratings at this point, he's such a ho. JMO.

But what motivates anyone with an IQ allegedly above 22 to encourage that shit? I mean it is one thing for Mrs. Palin to do that. She is also a resident of Reality TV Bullshit, Cash-Out Your Own Ass, & Pimp Your Own Fucking Kids Land. So she is closer to The Donald than allegedly reasonable normal folk. But Perfessor Althouse will have to come up with her own defense for flirting with racism. Trying on KKK robes just to see how they fit with out taking the oath is a line of shit reasonable, intelligent people will not condone.

I Can Defeat the GOP (a.k.a. the Forces of Evil.)

No! Seriously! Swear to the Gods! I just now figured out how to save the Nation from the Republican Party. How we can finally crush them to death, as a political party. It just requires the civil case exemption to The Exclusionary Rule, a US Atty General with the balls to go all General Sherman on the enemy, and a POTUS who will back the plan.

I think I might be able to sell AG Holder on the plan, but I don't think Obama would green light my, "March to the Sea."

Cowardly or Clever?

Mrs. Palin, trying to have it both ways, on the Birther Thing.

Mixed Message, hmmm?

She commends Media Ho Trump's racist birthism by saying."More power to him," but says herself, she believes P. Obama was born in Hawaii.


This is a classic coward's move. She avoids dismissing the insane racist wing of the GOP, with out siding with them. And at the same time personally voices the reasonable point of view. I guess some people are stupid enough to give her a pass. But honestly lady. You are only fooling the people more stupid than you are. And there are only so many of them (even if way too many.)

PS: I did not watch the video myself. I just wasn't up to listening to that horrid voice. To my ear it's half cackle, half nails on a black board, and half Barbie Doll on a Crystal Meth freak out.

Will Tea Baggers Now Sing That Lady Gaga Song?

I'm talking about,"Born This Way." But that song likely has more to do with sexual proclivities than politics. Nonetheless, more data is coming out that (and it doesn't say it this way but really -- this is the correct analysis) that conservatives are born defective, and that is why they are intolerant and paranoid people. They were born that way.

Granted the study is less judgmental than that. But based on all I know about psych, being born intolerant and paranoid is defective. It's dysfuntion. Anyway, link to the new data.

The liberal brain? Scans show liberals and conservatives have different brain structures.

I'm sure some wing nuts would argue that the parnoia is a good thing. But biology and anthropology, in addition to psychology, shoots that argument stone cold dead.

Paranoia would have kept our ancestors living in trees, and we'd (the species) still be scared of everything, if those humanoids with a normal brain did not venture forth and explore. And when necessary they would band together and work together to defeat large scary jungle cats (or Savanan cats. What ever.)

So much for the wing nut value of Individual Über Alles. If it wasn't for the early ancestors who could work together against big scary man eating cats, there never would have by the myth of the American Individual taming the west. Oh. Let's get real. Individuals did not tame the west. Cowboys did not tame the west. Even US Marshalls and the US Army did not tame the west. It was the railroads. Yes, the railroads did it, by making it easier for larger and larger numbers of people to move out there.

But I digress. I wonder what will be the next big discovery? Will they find out why wing nuts prefer comfortable lies over inconvienent facts? Can we medicate that away?

Oh and that reminds me. I am not now surprised about that study. This is not the first time we have heard this. It's just more science, repeating the testing and getting a similar result. But the reminder part is this idea I had back during the health care law debate. I had a flash one day during that circus of the Tea Baggers freaking out, and the GOP congress critters going all Chicken Little. I thoght that the reason the leadership was so scared of health care reform, particularly singel payer, was that if antidepressants were made any more widely available, that that would jeopardize the near future of the GOP. Take away people's anxiety and fear, and intolerance, and you take away a lot of the reason they pull the lever for those GOP bastids.

Just my opinion.


Nota Bene:

This study's specific findings supports my GOP = outlaw highwaymen, muggers, government hating anti social, borderline sociopaths theory. Liberal brains are tolerant and less violent. Conservative brains are wired for more fear, and more aggression. Just like criminal minds.

This is the Way Outlaws and Highway Bandits Work

As of the time I am starting to type this, there is no deal yet on preventing the gvt. shutdown. And despite the spin the GOPers are spewing, this is nothing more than extortion. If it were not a government negotiation, it would be a crime, what these bastids are trying to pull.

Rhetorical quesion (as I know there are sick bastids out there who like this sort of outlaw shit,) why do people respect this kinda shit and the corrupt bastids who pull this shit?

How did I say it the other day? I'm sick of them. GOPers. I think it's time to declare the GOP illegal (if not treasonous) and give folk the choice, recant or be deported. I am that sick of these people who really seem to want to destroy the Federal Government, with out necessarily saying they want to get rid of it all together. And the most honest, even if otherwise worst of that lot, admit, that's what they really want (Grover Norquist and company.)

So There Will Be Less Glenn Beck on Fox (not) News Channel.

That's progress, but I would like to see less, as in none at all, Fox (not) News at all. I have said it before, but not here. If I have a chance to meet P. Obama, after the introductions, I will say to him, "I am not speaking to the POTUS when I say the following, but the leader of the Democratic Party: Something must be done about Fox."

And to explain here, I am not talking unconstitutional First Amendment shit. I am talking extreme but legal political push back. We need to counter them at least, if we can't destroy them. And destruction is fine by me. I would love to see all those overpaid, hack, on air talents (*cough*) I mean partisan, lying assed weasels off the air, and the managers gone. But I would like to see the techs and crew to keep their gigs. So I am fine with a change in management from the top level of the channel, perhaps a buy out by some players who will better represent the changing demographics of the Nation, away from outlaw/redneck/wing nut tastes to brown "new" Americans. Something like a joint venture between some Indian entertainment corps and a Latin American media concern. Instead of that awful, Nation-murdering, brain killing, bullshit fake news, we'd have Bollywood musicals and Mexican Masked Wrestler movies. And more novellas. Ya. That would be a move in the right direction.

Random Haiku

I post a new Haiku M-F on my Facebook page. It's my thing. I have been doing it for a year. And I started writing Haiku again, a couple so years ago, as a mental exercise during a very boring back room, corporate litigation gig.

Anyway, this one came off quite well, I think:


Opportunity.
She's the cousin of Chaos.
Subtlety, as well.

Paul Ryan and his Bullshit Prosperity Budget.

This evil crap reminds me of one of my favorite classic Monty Python Sketches: Dennis Moore. And there's a song, and I will only give the last bit of it.

"He steals from the poor, And gives to the rich, Stupid bitch."

Not that Paul Ryan is unique in this respect. This shit has been a main goal of the GOP for decades. All them sons of bitches are Dennis Moore.

It really doesn't matter how many latter day outlaw rednecks (as defined by conservative writer Thomas Sowell) there are propping up the GOP and electing these bigger crooks to office. They, the stupid rank and file, still buy this shit. Reganomics has been thoroughly disproven, even many of the core assumptions of Adam Smith Economics have been proven to be antiquated. And any bastid stupid enough to believe that a Federal National Government's budget is comprable to an individual or a family's budget is fucking insane! Families can't print money, raise taxes, set monetary policy, or issue bonds. But these stupid bastids keep on supporting these crooks.

It's like that old joke where Snow White is sitting on Pinocchio's face saying,"Lie to Me." Haven't used that one in a long time. But it definitely applies here.

Anyway, that's all for right now.

Steven King, On Writing.

I just recently finished Steven King's latest, and it's a collection of . . . I'll call them novellas. The title of the collection is,"Full Dark, No Stars." There are three brilliant and very dark tales, there. Each one would make for a fascinating full length movie. (As long as one is not a King Hater,) I fully recommend the book. Anyway there is this great line about writing, in the afterword.

Granted, he was thinking about fiction writing, but I think it is applicable to non fiction, as we live in a world where the bullshit that is being spewed is so prolific and so constant, that is it not only killing the culture, but it is affecting the well being of the Nation. I do not make that statement lightly. I really believe we are suffering as a Nation, on account of the bullshit. Anyway, here is the quote:

Writing fiction for money is a mug's game. And sure, truth is in the eye of the beholder. But when it comes to fiction, the writer's only responsibility is to look for the truth inside his own heart. It won't always be the reader's truth or the critic's truth, but as long as it's the writer's truth -- as long as he or she does not truckle, or hold out his or her hat to Fashion -- all is well. For writers who knowingly lie, for those who substitute unbelievable human behavior for the way people really act, I have nothing but contempt. Bad writing is more than a matter of shit syntax and faulty observation; bad writing usually arises from a stubborn refusal to tell stories about what people actually do -- to face the fact, let us say, that murderers sometimes help old ladies cross the street.

(S. King. ,"Full Dark, No Stars," p. 366.)

I think that is a brilliant and very true observation, there. And as well I think it equally applies to non fiction, save the non fiction writer, particularly if engaged in something that is supposed to be journalism, has a greater obligation to find the object facts, and report near enough the objective truth. And if that means either not editorializing at all, or making it damn clear that one is opining and or arguing, then be damned clear about it. Yes. I am making something of an argument here about what some people call opinion journalism, or as I call it, advocacy (that's the lawyer in me coming out.) But even more so, I am arguing against candy assed, bullshit pseudo journalism.

That's what I mean, mostly, when I decry the amount of bullshit. And it's not just the journos or sorta journos. It's the politicians and the hacks. They are killing us. They are killing the Nation's ability to tell the truth from the bullshit. Not that we as a Nation were ever a nation of geniuses. But shit. Is there any wonder how now two decades into the age of Reality TV that the political discourse is so coarse and that the GOP is getting away with absolutely factually and historically dis proven ideas a policies?

I'll stop there. I've had my say.

Let's Talk Budget, and Other Things Never to Trust a Republican About.

(As if there is any area or subject one can reasonably trust a GOPer about.)

Firstly, the thing that has been buzzing around my head since the GOPers started this season's Chicken Little routine, about how the sky was falling, and how that means we have to slash gvt. spending. These pukes have a not only bias against Federal spending, but that is one of the pillars of the philosophy of modern conservatism. They believe on the best of days (for the Federal Fisc) that smaller is better, and that means that less spending (on things they don't really like, which is most everything that helps real people and real workers, not the corporate and monied classes,) is the way to go. Knee-jerk, default. 24/7/365.

So when they sing basically the same song, but there is a deficit "crisis," well it's the same shit kids, different day. Let's not pretend they are even remotely the voice of reason here. They are the voice of extremist anti (Federal, at minimum) government. They are modern day descendants of the British outlaws, just as conservative writer Thomas Sowell opines in his essay/book about rednecks.

So here comes the quote of the week. And it is that because well, it totally supports my corollary to the Sowell redneck theory. They are government-hating outlaws and bandits, at heart. Anyway, the following, in an exchange between Ceynk Uygur, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, as retold by one of the editors at Mediaite:

"Sen. Sanders called the Republican tax cut policy “Robin Hood in reverse.”"

Ya. That pretty much nails it.

Granted, Sen. Sanders speaks the truth in the segment, far as I see it. I am sick and tired of otherwise well meaning folk acting like trying the meet these GOP lying assed weasels halfway is anything but a capitulation. Because it is. You don't entertain the crazy person's delusions, well, not unless that is required to save your or someone else's life that is in current peril. Moving away from the metaphor, the problem with giving these GOP bastids an inch on their delusional macroeconomic theories is that by doing so you are legitimizing a demonstrably false economic theory. And that is bad for the Nation.

I'll stop there for now. No wait. One last thing. That weasel Ryan? Who's pushing a new soak the workers and the poor, budget? Hate him, but that is not the point. He's trying to gut Medicare? So hey, somebody tell me, where's that Teabagger with his/her sign saying

"Keep Your Government Hands Off My Medicare?"

Really!

I Hope For the Day We no Longer Talk About the Tea Party, as if it is Real.

That's actually the follow up. And well, it's been a constant theme of mine from the beginning of this media generated, astroturfed-financed alleged 'movement' of mostly extremist right wing nuts. Who were always there. And before the term tea party was in use I just called them the worst 30% of the GOP -- the most likely to be basically racist part.

Anyway, licking the bags of the tea baggers has become the GOP leadership's chore, lately. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama did so on tv recently:

Sen. Sessions "Offended" that Dems Point out Reality of "Tea Party."

Never mind, Senator, that nationally "support" for them across the board is at about 30%. And by support, we should make clear that is people doing nothing more than saying so, over the phone in a poll. That is not the number of people sending in their money to any tea party sub group, or showing up at any meetings. This is mere psychic support. And most Americans, according to the data, are some what offended by those people, Senator. You are on the wrong side of the facts. But you are are a cleaned up good ol' boy. Them tea baggers are your constituents. You can't go around acting like they are strange. Well not unless you care more about truth and reason and facts than your career. And you are a GOPer. So that shit is not going to happen.

An Afternoon of Chamber Music at Lincoln Center. I'm an Elitist Pig Dog. Yea Me!

Chamber music with Anne-Sophie Mutter. The Mendelssohn was sublime. The encore was transformational. Even making things better. I got the killer upgrade. I bought the tix on line and not with enough time for them to be mailed. So I had the choice between printing at home, or going to the will call. I elected for the will call and got the bonus. I originally bought the cheap seats near the ceiling. Well it was close to the front of the top tier. Anyway, I got some sweet orchestra tix for the price of the nose bleed seats. Very Cool!

Anne-Sophie Mutter.

You don't have to share my tastes to be good people by my book. But mock me for elite tastes, values, or lifestyle, and then It's On!

Casper the Friendly Ghost Did Not Go There? Guess He Really Did. Shameless

White Conservative Says it's a Shame Obama is the First Black President.

Ok. This gives us a great chance to expand on Thomas Sowell's Redneck Theory. Yes Mr. Sowell. There are black rednecks. And I don't only mean those living the shiftless life, and being some urban or otherwise dark skinned version of trailer trash. As Mr. Foxworthy says,"Complete lack of sophistication." That makes Mr. Herman Cain very redneck. Cain was been saying some seriously unsophisticated shit, from the starting gate. Just in that clip he plays the black on black game, I'm blacker than he is. Coming from a GOPer, it's particularly fucked up.

"95% of you other Negros? You all wrong. GOP is the way to go."

Never mind the other day he was singing that old song I really find to be 100% racist, the one about the Democratic Plantation. Shee-it.

Anyway, I could go longer on Cain, but I am sure I will get another chance, likely soon. Let's move on to the radiohead there, Wilklow (sp?) He's very redneck too. He is so redneck, meaning unsophisticated, that he said he sent money to Cain, on account of Cain being (for all intents and purposes) a redneck. I think what he said actually was some redneck ideology shit about how it was "refreshing" how Cain had no government experience, and just said what he thought instead of being calculating. Well that means he's not sophisticated, and therefore redneck.

Moving on, Hannity? Hannity is one of those sorta cleaned up rednecks. I think he wishes he were the genuine thing, He seems to admire the real low class denizens. But he really likes his creature comforts, his wealth, his portfolio. But no matter how calculating he may be about his career, his cognitive skills are on the simple side. So he's a redneck at heart, at least.

Lastly, the guy I called Casper in the subject heading. Forgot his name. Honestly. He might as well said what he really meant, that he would have preferred a good nigger be the first black president than Obama. That message got through to me, loud a clear. Not only a redneck that one, but a fucking ugly racist who has mastered the art of speaking in code, and sounding the racist dog whistle. Revolting!

There is at Least One Southern Republican Chick With Some Sense . . . Mrs. Barbour

Horrified at the thought of her Husband's Ambitions.

Got to wonder if she had the conversation with him before the interview.

And on a sidebar, ya have to wonder about the 2nd and 3rd stringers who play at this. It's a hell of an exhausting game, and one that likely has given many a spouse new reasons to hate their delusional, ambitious, crazy partners. Anyway.

Jon Stewart Takes On Fox News Liar

Take my advice. Skip the commentary (Mediaite's editors are as a general matter as shitty as the alleged mistake makers they claim to find.) Skip to the vid. Not Stewart's all time best routine, but pretty good. I particularly liked the end bit, slyly implicating Megyn Kelly as a fraud. Sometimes it's the subtle stuff that's the most clever. Jon Stewart riffs off Bill Sammon Confession re lying about Obama being a socialist. Anyway, as sort of sidebar, anyone buying into that Obama's a socialist crap really needs to be embarrassed for a spell. Ya. I know that some people still and wrongly take the GM deal to be evidence of socialist tendencies. Who could be that fucking stupid? Sammon for one. In Stewart's routine he goes over Sammon's idiotic remark about that. Now let me break that down, just for the record, the same way I did to a bunch of wing nuts when I was still wasting time on a message board. Ok. When socialists take over a business they do not buy it, or buy shares, or bonds, or loan it money. They just take it. But what Obama did to GM was made them a financial offer, that had the US Government loaning them some money, and as well, buying some securities in the business. In buying shares of the company the US Government was in the position of investor/owners. That's what owning shares in a company gives you: an ownership interest that allows for management rights based on the amount of the investment one makes in the company. In a short period of time those securities were put back on the market. Allegedly the US Gvt. made a profit of deal. That's not socialism, ya fucking idiots. That's capitalism. On account of the investing capital in an on going enterprise for the desired end of making a profit, part.