On Judge Sotomayor

It's sad that we need to have campaign commercials in the middle of spring because scumbag Rethugs are lying sacks of shit and will say anything to keep the country from progressing.

Do Not Attempt To Logically Reconcile the Following Statements

Judge Sotomayor is racist.
Calling Judge Sotomayor an "affirmative action candidate" is not racist.

Do not attempt to logically reconcile the above without being an illogical wingnut.

Oh, No, They Didn't...

The GOP is not using "O Fortuna," one of the most beautiful and thrilling of all operatic chorus pieces... in a fearmongering campaign.

They are not.

They are.

Fuck you, GOP. That song's too damn good for you.

Dropping a Bomb - of the F Variety

Attention, GOP: Fuck you.

Great Bouncing Limbaughs!

Amber and I were rolling around on the ground laughing at this. It's almost hypnotic.

Also, attention, MSNBC's code monkeys: IFRAME TAGS CANNOT SELF-CLOSE.

Dear Pat Buchanan;

You are not James T. Kirk. You cannot install a subroutine on Hardball to make yourself "right." In light of this, please stop coming back for more helpings.

No love;

An Annoyed Hoosier

Daniels: Safety Last

From the Richmond Palladium-Item (with props to Thomas): Daniels: Cost of I-69 extension can be cut

A new $3.1 billion price tag for the extension of Interstate 69 between Indianapolis and Evansville can be reduced by ignoring some federal rules, Gov. Mitch Daniels said.

Speaking Monday to a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of Southwest Indiana in Evansville, Daniels said the Indiana Department of Transportation estimate released last week could be trimmed by bypassing some federal highway construction standards.

"Throw away the rule book to the extent the feds will let you do it," Daniels said he told INDOT officials.

Wait... what now? Could you run that last one by me again?

"Throw away the rule book to the extent the feds will let you do it,"

So let me see if I understand this correctly. Daniels figures that cutting costs and not getting alternative funding if the costs can't be cut is more important than safety.

Governor Daniels, do you remember this? Is this what you want? Well, it you're going to ignore safety standards, then it is what you want, regardless of how much you might spin it.

It's time to ditch Mitch.

You can't stop the Ted.

From Politico: Ted Kennedy's brain cancer in remission

Sen. Ted Kennedy’s cancer is in remission, and he will be returning to the Senate after the Memorial Day recess, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
told reporters Tuesday.

I'm glad to see some good news.

And now my cynical side comes out; I say less than 48 hours before Chappaquiddick is on every asshole Conservative's lips again.

A Message to CNN

While covering the flap over President Obama's speech at Notre Dame, you hosted noted anti-choice terrorist Randall Terry and Catholic League head bully Bill Donohue.

I'm just wondering, when you talk of issues affecting African-Americans, do you try to get the Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Kaln in to give his opinion? Based on who you like to give airtime to, it seems likely.

On Pelosi

Conservatives: "Waterboarding isn't torture! We're saving lives! Ticking time bomb! Ticking time bomb!"
News: "Pelosi may have known about waterboarding-"
Conservatives: "OMGZORZ EVIL BITCH PELOSI IS LIBERAL LYING TORTURER LOCK HER UP IMPEACH HER THROW OUT THE DEMMYCRATZ CUZ THEY KNEW TOO"
Liberals: "Uh, weren't you just saying that waterboarding wasn't torture?"
Conservatives: "WHO CARES PELOSI KNEW SO IT'S EVIL"
Me: "Shut the fuck up."

By the way: For any of you fellow liberals out there who might be thinking that Pelosi needs to be raked over the coals for this, I'd like to congratulate you on once again doing the Right's job for them.

No More Wasted Efforts

I've been nice. Really, I have.

I've covered for this administration pretty wholeheatedly. I've tried to keep everyone from jumping the gun and forming circular firing squads with everything I've got, and I haven't had much success, I'll admit. I keep trying anyway.

But if you're going to do things like this, I'm not going to bother.

Save yourself.

The Floydism of Republicans

So not long ago, while still trying to get an understanding of the mindset that could possible think Mustardgate was a serious issue to attack President Obama on, I came to a startling, cold realization.

The talking heads of the GOP are Sally Floyd. If you're not familiar with Sally, I'll explain. Sally Floyd is a Marvel comics character who was notable a few years ago for an incredibly stupid list of complaints against Captain America, presented after the Civil War event. Among those, that he doesn't go to enough Nascar races, watch YouTube and the Simpsons, and doesn't know what Myspace is.

Fans were outraged by the sheer stupidity of it all, as to anyone with half a brain, they realized that those are merely fads - and while they may last a good long time, and may even become a part of our national heritage, they don't encompass what America truly is. And I realize that is the lens through which Republicans view the world.

If you aren't up to date with x, y and z - then you're not doing your part as a true American. If you don't fall into column 1, 2 or 3 - then you're not living as a true American. The biggest problem with all of these things, beyond the fact that its incredibly stupid to hold it up as your litmus test of what qualifies one to be an American, is the fleeting nature of these things.

Lets say right now it's 'cool' to hate on latte drinkers, what about in five years, when the fad flips and everyone, including yourselves, are drinking lattes? Of course the hypocrisy will be lost... if they even change at all.

So I'll say it, just as every sane human being would. The fads, or non-fads, or even choices we make as Americans, does not dictate our status as Americans. Our choice of condiments doesn't dictate our status as Americans. Our choice of clothing doesn't dictate our status as Americans. These things are, and always will be fleeting. 10 years ago, the complaint would probably have been over him ordering a CHEDDAR burger, "What is American cheese not good enough for him?" 10 years from now, the complaint may have been over the fact he ordered it medium well.

There's your problem GOP. You don't actually understand America, and as a result, are forced to try and explain it with the current (or sometimes out-of-date) cultural memes. You don't comprehend America's heart, soul, and promise; And that's why you're currently imploding.

On Libertarians

Libertardianism is a failure on every front. It's unfeasible, unworkable, and idiotic. I would suggest to libertardians that they grow the fuck up, move out of their parents' basements, stop jerking their shriveled dicks to that reactionary asshole Rand, and spend a few years working a real job, making real wages (read: shit), and dealing with real problems. That usually snaps them out of their Randian fantasies PDQ.

President Obama at White House Correspondents' Dinner

You really should watch this. It's good to have a Prez who's funny and not just a babbling moron.

And then, once you've watched that, watch this: Wanda Sykes tearing the GOP a new asshole immediately after.

Note that Sykes' comments are going to be the next GOP talking point. You heard it here first.

TIME Magazine: "GOP DOA?"

Hat tip to Left in Aboite for the following story: Republicans in Distress: Is the Party Over? - TIME

These days, Republicans have the desperate aura of an endangered species. They lost Congress, then the White House; more recently, they lost a slam-dunk House election in a conservative New York district, then Senator Arlen Specter.
(...)
As the party has shrunk to its base, it has catered even more to its base's biases, insisting that the New Deal made the Depression worse, carbon emissions are fine for the environment and tax cuts actually boost revenues — even though the vast majority of historians, scientists and economists disagree. The RNC is about to vote on a kindergartenish resolution to change the name of its opponent to the Democrat Socialist Party. This plays well with hard-core culture warriors and tea-party activists convinced that a dictator-President is plotting to seize their guns, choose their doctors and put ACORN in charge of the Census, but it ultimately produces even more shrinkage, which gives the base even more influence — and the death spiral continues. "We're excluding the young, minorities, environmentalists, pro-choice — the list goes on," says Olympia Snowe of Maine, one of two moderate Republicans left in the Senate after Specter's switch. "Ideological purity is not the ticket to the promised land."

When even the august and solidly conservative TIME Magazine, child of Hadden and Luce, is declaring that the GOP may well be in its final throes, even I have to admit that things are looking grim for them. This is not out of some level of concern for the GOP itself, or its more strident followers, but for those caught in the middle - the middle-of-the-road conservatives and the centrists who lean Republican. They don't dare tread onto our side, either out of extremist-implanted fear of liberalism as a whole, or because they don't think they'll find a place.

If they band together, and build a new party apart from the decaying remains of the old, they may yet be able to keep conservatism going. If they don't and they fail to join, or they let themselves be pushed farther into conservatism and into the dangerously extreme territory being currently occupied by the "mainstream" Republicans, then they are assuredly doomed.

The modern, Reagan/Bush/Bush Jr./RushSeanBillGlenn brand of extreme conservatism, the kind that gave Reagan room to declare government the enemy, gave Bush I the drive to invade in the Middle East to protect our oil interests, and gave Bush II the means to dismantle America from its center outward while we cowered in fear, is dying. There are no two ways about it. They will either splinter into multiple groups, each working for its own goals, or they will realize their mistakes and return from the brink of madness.

Santayana said, "Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim." One wonders whether the realization of their forgotten aim will dawn on the GOP's fanatics before or after they've lost all the moderates.