;)
Wednesday
Aug222012
The Commentariat -- August 23, 2012
Amina Kahn of the Los Angeles Times: "After two weeks of taking stock of its surroundings, the Mars Curiosity rover has taken its first 'baby steps' and sent back images of its first tracks, NASA officials said Wednesday.... NASA officials also announced that the touchdown spot has been officially named "Bradbury Landing," in honor of the renowned science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury, who died earlier this year."
Gina Kolata of the New York Times tells the story of how genome scientists solved the mystery of an outbreak of a deadly bacterium infection in a hospital.
Forget all that if Republicans gain control of the federal government:
... CW: Actually, Matthews & I are being totally unfair. Some Republicans care about science. Here's Kevin Williamson of the ultra-conservative National Review explaining evolutionary biology, of all things:
What do women want? The conventional biological wisdom is that men select mates for fertility, while women select for status -- thus the commonness of younger women's pairing with well-established older men but the rarity of the converse.... You want off-the-charts status? Check out the curriculum vitae of one Willard M. Romney: $200 million in the bank (and a hell of a lot more if he didn't give so much away), apex alpha executive, CEO, chairman of the board, governor, bishop, boss of everything he's ever touched. Son of the same, father of more. It is a curious scientific fact (explained in evolutionary biology by the Trivers-Willard hypothesis — Willard, notice) that high-status animals tend to have more male offspring than female offspring, which holds true across many species, from red deer to mink to Homo sap. The offspring of rich families are statistically biased in favor of sons.... Have a gander at that Romney family picture: five sons, zero daughters. Romney has 18 grandchildren, and they exceed a 2:1 ratio of grandsons to granddaughters (13:5)....
Professor Obama? Two daughters. May as well give the guy a cardigan. And fallopian tubes.... From an evolutionary point of view, Mitt Romney should get 100 percent of the female vote. All of it. He should get Michelle Obama's vote....
... Those of you who claim conservatives are anti-woman are so wrong. It's just that fathering girls proves a man is a sissy -- like one of those lower beings who possess "fallopian tubes." David Atkins of Hullabaloo has the nerve to call Williamson's scientific hypothesis "sneering social darwinism." I don't know David Atkins, but if he has children, I'll bet their no-account girls. ...
... Aw, even Gail Collins is proving me wrong. Republicans aren't anti-science. They're originalists. Collins points out that Akin's "legitimate rape" remark "goes back to our forefathers, who believed that in order for our foremothers to conceive, 'the womb must be in a state of delight.' ... The idea never entirely faded away, possibly because it reflects so well on male lovemaking prowess. (Failure to conceive, by the same rule, was all because of female frigidity.)"
Michael Grunwald of Time on the Party of No's 2008-09 plan to vote against every Obama proposal. The magazine has an excerpt from Grunwald's book on the subject, but it is subscriber-firewalled. Grunwald's post, however, has the gist of the story. This makes me wonder why the administration bothered at all to consult with Republicans. And why the hell did Sen. Max Baucus spend months courting Chuck Grassley & other Republican senators on the healthcare law?
Shaila Dewan & Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times: "The number of existing homes sold rose 2.3 percent in July from the previous month, according to figures released Wednesday. Volume was up more than 10 percent from a year ago. For several months, economic data and accounts from real estate agents across the country have calmed fears that the overall market could take another big step down.... Yet the nascent recovery is still a convalescent one, with the pace of activity uneven and far below the levels reached before the bubble burst."
Presidential Race
Quote of the Day -- From the "With Friends like These..." File: If the campaign is about issues, we win. If it's about Mitt Romney's record as a businessman, then we don't win. If it's about Mitt Romney's tax returns, then we don't win. If it's about whether people like Mitt Romney more than Barack Obama, then we don't win. -- Rick Santorum
Michael Cooper & Dalia Sussman of the New York Times: "The Romney-Ryan proposal to reshape Medicare by giving future beneficiaries fixed amounts of money to buy health coverage is deeply unpopular in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to new polls that found that more likely voters in each state trust President Obama to handle Medicare."
Eric Lipton of the New York Times: Exelon, an Illinois-based energy producer, has profited from a close relationship with President Obama & his associates. "Exelon executives were able to secure an unusually large number of meetings with top administration officials at key moments in the consideration of environmental regulations that have been drafted in a way that hurt Exelon's competitors, but curb the high cost of compliance for Exelon and its industry allies. In addition, Exelon ... was chosen as one of only six electric utilities nationwide for the maximum $200 million stimulus grant from the Energy Department." ...
... Stephen Braun of the AP: Herbert M. Allison, Jr., "a veteran Wall Street executive who performed an independent review that exonerated the Obama administration's program of loans to energy companies, contributed $52,500 to re-elect President Barack Obama in the months since completing his work, according to an Associated Press review of campaign records. The executive defended the integrity of his conclusions and said he decided to donate to Obama after his work was finished."
Erika Ritchie of the Orange County (California) Register: "Rick Warren, Saddleback Church's pastor, announced Wednesday that a civil forum planned with President Barack Obama and ... Mitt Romney at the church has been canceled because of what Warren saw as uncivil discourse between the two campaigns." CW: I am terribly disappointed to be deprived of the opportunity to hear these guys talk about god and stuff.
A good ad featuring That Guy:
Demo-graphics: Romney's support among black voters? Zero percent. CW: So here's my racist comment for the day, based on statistics, for Pete's sake: black people are way, way smarter than white people.
Clifford Krauss & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "Mitt Romney plans to unveil an energy plan Thursday morning in Hobbs, N.M., that would allow states more control over the development of energy resources on federal lands within their borders, as well as aggressively expand offshore oil and gas drilling -- including along the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas -- as part of a broader effort to reach energy independence." CW: See? There is more than one kind of rape.
Ed Kilgore of Washington Monthly: "The supreme irony of the Romney/Ryan assault on Obama is that it's the accusers who are guilty of proposing to 'gut' work-based welfare reform, which is not and never was just a matter of imposing work requirements and time-limits and expecting all those lazy women-with-kids to get off their duffs and accept those plentiful, well-paying jobs.... a robust [Earned Income Tax Credit and minimum wage; food assistance; medical assistance; child care; Head Start; job training; and yes, education assistance. The Ryan Budget proposes scaling back the EITC and radically reducing both food assistance and the availability of health insurance for the working poor, not to mention the drastic non-defense discretionary budget cuts it demands that are almost certain to devastate every other 'work support' offered by federal or state governments.... While no one expects the GOP campaign to admit they'd unravel nearly every policy that made the 1996 law work as well as it did, they should at least have the decency to stop accusing Obama of 'gutting' an initiative whose spirit and letter they reject root and branch." ...
... Wolf Blitzer, not usually the sharpest tack in the box, very effectively tears John Sununu apart on the Romney/Ryan welfare claims:
All the Fact-Checkers Are Biased against Mitt. Justin Sink of The Hill: "Mitt Romney said Wednesday that the fact-checkers who have criticized his recent attacks on President Obama's welfare changes were examining the issue 'in the way they think is most consistent with their own views.' ... Fact-checking website Politifact -- which the Romney campaign has cited repeatedly themselves -- awarded Romney's claims a "Pants on Fire" rating, deeming the attack a 'drastic distortion' of the changes to the welfare program."
Liberal Harvard economist David Cutler in The New Republic: "Supporters for the Romney-Ryan approach to Medicare have a new talking point. They say a new study by 'three liberal Harvard economists' proves that the plan's competition will reduce health care costs without harming beneficiaries. But the study doesn't say that. And I should know. I'm one of the economists who wrote it...."
No. 2 Man on the Fraud Squad. Joan McCarter of Daily Kos: Paul Ryan "was for cutting defense spending before he was against it.... Even though Ryan voted for the Budget Control Act, and thus for the sequester, he's slamming President Obama for the cuts. The cuts he voted for. And in doing so, he's embracing something he says he doesn't believe in -- jobs created by federal spending. 'It's either lose defense-related jobs in Pennsylvania or put small businesses further at a competitive disadvantage,' Ryan said on Tuesday...."
Timothy Homan & Steve Walsh of Bloomberg News: "Ryan’s level of support [for anti-choice measures] outdoes that of his House colleague Todd Akin...."
... Jon Walker of Firedoglake: "... because of Akin's controversy, Paul Ryan has started to be asked very pointed questions about the similarity to his own views. Recently he was asked about it by KDKA in Pittsburgh:
"... Ryan apparently accepts the scientific fact that rape can result in pregnancy, but he still thinks a women who is raped should be forced to carry their rapist's child to term." ...
... Steve Benen: "Under the legislation Ryan pushed, if a 13-year-old girl who was impregnated by a 24-year-old man would not be able to use Medicaid funds to terminate the pregnancy, unless she could prove she'd been 'forcibly' raped. If 'there's no splitting hairs over rape,' why did Paul Ryan help champion legislation that would have split hairs over rape?" ...
... Digby: "... the birth control answer is such a straight up lie that I can hardly believe he didn't start smirking like Beavis and Butthead when he said it. Both he and Romney have promised to shut down Planned Parenthood, they both agree that no insurance plans should be forced to offer it, they are both in favor of allowing 'conscience exceptions' to anyone who can't bring themselves to participate in contraceptive evil. Basically, he's saying 'sure you sluts can have your birth control --- if you can find it.'" ...
... Dana Milbank: "Does [Ryan] now regret his sponsorship of legislation that made a distinction between 'forcible rape' and other kinds -- a position eerily similar to Akin's 'legitimate rape'? 'That bill passed, I think, by 251 votes,' Ryan replied. 'It was bipartisan.' He neglected to mention that it passed after removal of the 'forcible' language.... Ryan recently hail[ed Akin] as 'a great asset' on Ryan's budget committee and an example of 'exactly the kind of leadership America needs.'"
Pema Levy of TPM: "Ryan insisted that the harsh spotlight currently falling on the party over women’s issues won't ultimately impact on how women vote in November. 'And I don't think they're going to take the bait of all these distractions that the president is trying to throw at them," [he said in the KDKA interview]. Really, ladies, your cute little so-called rights are a distraction from the real issue of ensuring that Willard & I get bigger tax cuts.
Congressional Races
The interesting thing here is that this is an individual who sits on the House Committee on Science and Technology but somehow missed science class. -- President Obama, on Todd Akin, speaking at a fundraiser last night. Obama also called Akin "senator," an unfortunate slip ...
... John Eligon & Monica Davey of the New York Times: Todd Akin could still win his Senate race. "A pile of factors ... could make the situation survivable: local backlash against all the national party meddling, an intensely grass-roots fund-raising effort (Mr. Akin, a six-term congressman, has sent e-mails seeking $3 contributions from supporters in recent days), an influx of aid from some Christian groups, and a state that has in recent years grown more conservative than the national bellwether it was once seen as."
Katharine Seelye of the New York Times on how the Akin uproar is playing out in the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race. ...
... E. J. Dionne: Sen. Scott "Brown is a truly gifted retail politician, and [Elizabeth] Warren will never out-personality Mr. Personality. To win, she'll have to link thoughts and ideas to feelings, a skill rarely demanded of law professors." ...
... Public Policy Polling: "Scott Brown has returned to the lead in the crucial Massachusetts Senate race. The two were tied at 46% in PPP's late June poll, but in the firm's first test of likely voters in this fall's election, Brown tops Elizabeth Warren, 49-44." ...
... Adam Sorensen of Time: "PPP found that 24% of voters who'd like to see Democrats hold the Senate in November aren't backing Warren. In other words, voters loyal to the national Democratic Party do not necessarily feel that same loyalty toward Warren, nor do they strongly associate Brown with national Republicans."
Andy Rosenthal of the New York Times: since Todd Akin's voting record is consistent with that of many other Republicans, "Voters should know for sure -- what, exactly, do Mr. Akin's fellow Republicans find so offensive and indefensible about the candidate's comments? Reporters should put that question to every Republican running for national office."
Right Wing World
Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "Judge Tom Head, a county judge in Lubbock, Texas, announced on a local television station that he would personally join the resistance against a United Nations' takeover of American sovereignty, which he says will occur if Obama is reelected." CW: Oh yeah? He should personally be tried for treason. It's a hangin' offense, Judge. Also, I am curious to know what Obama has so far failed to turn over the keys of the country to the U.N. ...
... CW: So, in reading the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, I find that all this U.N. takeover talk is a ploy to raise county taxes. More money needed for public safety -- i.e., arming & training the good people of Lubbock for the day the U.N. troops arrive.
And the sheriff, I've already asked him, I said 'you gonna back me' he said, 'yeah, I'll back you&rs'. Well, I don't want a bunch of rookies back there. I want trained, equipped, seasoned veteran officers to back me. -- Judge Bone Head
... Certainly is an original way to undermine the Grover Norquist pledge. ...
... Meanwhile, back in bucolic New Hampshire.... WMUR: Frank Szabo, "a Republican candidate for Hillsborough, [New Hampshire,] County Sheriff, said Wednesday that he believes elective abortions are unlawful and he wouldn't reject the use of deadly force to stop them. ... Szabo explained the difference by referring to the issue of slavery, which he said used to be legal but was never lawful under the Constitution. He said that even though elective abortions are legal in New Hampshire, with some restrictions, he doesn't consider them lawful.... Szabo maintains that the county sheriff is a position that doesn't answer to any other public official." CW: A sheriff is like a god, I guess.
AND Charles Blow has found a guy -- some preacher named Jesse Lee Peterson who "has made a number of appearances on Fox News" and is associated with Sean Hannity through a Tea Party group -- who has this to say:
I think that one of the greatest mistakes that America made was to allow women the opportunity to vote. We should've never turned it over to women.... They're voting in people who are evil.
... CW: not a gaffe -- just another knuckledragger (to borrow John Boehner's description of some of his Congressional conservative brethren) like Todd Akin saying what he really believes. At the top of his column, Blow asks, "Why do any women vote Republican?" I would refer him to Kevin Williamson, linked above: because, like Mitt Romney, so many Republican politicians are hot rich men with lots of Y chromosomes.
News Ledes
New York Times: "After more than a decade of outrunning accusations that he had doped during his celebrated cycling career, Lance Armstrong, one of the best-known and accomplished athletes in recent history, surrendered on Thursday, etching a dark mark on his legacy by ending his fight against charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs.... He will almost certainly be stripped of his seven Tour titles, the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Olympics and all other titles, awards and money he won from August 1998 on."
USA Today: "A group of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents filed a lawsuit against their own agency Thursday, arguing that the Obama administration is not letting them fully identify and deport illegal immigrants."
New York Times: Gen. John Allen of the U.S. Marines, "the senior commander in Afghanistan, made new allowances on Thursday that Taliban influence could play a large role in attacks by Afghan security forces on Americans, saying that up to one-quarter of the killings could be caused by Taliban infiltration or coercion. But he reiterated that most of such insider attacks have still been attributed to personal grievances and animosities."
Los Angeles Times: "Assistant Dist. Atty. Karen Pearson revealed that ... [James] Holmes, [accused of killing 12 people in a Colorado movie theater and] once a doctoral student in an elite neuroscience program at the University of Colorado Denver, had failed oral exams on June 7, made unspecified threats serious enough for campus police to be notified, and had his access to university buildings on the Anschutz Medical Campus revoked. He withdrew from the university June 10."
KTLY Spokane, Washington: "Ambassador Ryan Crocker, one of the most decorated State Department diplomats in the last half century, was arrested on August 14 by the Washington State Patrol for hit-and-run and DUI in Spokane Valley."
New York Times: "The anonymous Navy SEAL member who has written a book about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden remained anonymous for less than 24 hours. At midday Thursday, Fox News identified him as Matt Bissonnette, a 36-year-old originally from Alaska, and hours later Defense Department and military officials confirmed his identity."
Washington Post: "A judge in Lamar County, Texas, ruled Wednesday night that TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline has the right of eminent domain, rejecting a plea by farm manager Julia Trigg Crawford and dealing a blow to landowners and environmentalists.... The ruling by Judge Bill Harris removes yet another potential obstacle for TransCanada, which already has permits from the Army Corps of Engineers for the southern leg of the pipeline, which starts in Cushing, Okla., and runs to Port Arthur, Texas."
New York Times: "Efforts led by the United States and Israel to isolate Iran suffered a setback on Wednesday when the United Nations announced that Ban Ki-moon, the secretary general, would join officials from 120 countries in Tehran next week for a summit meeting that Iran has trumpeted as a vindication of its defiance and enduring importance in world affairs."
Washington Post: "Penn State's disgraced former president is trying to convince the public he had no idea that Jerry Sandusky was a child molester -- and that he most certainly did not protect one. With a network TV appearance, a magazine interview and a news conference held by his lawyers, Graham Spanier portrayed himself Wednesday as the innocent victim of a witch hunt and a rush to judgment by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, whose university-commissioned report on the sex-abuse scandal prompted the NCAA to hit Penn State with a $60 million fine and other sanctions."
Washington Post: "A U.S. commando involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden last year has written an inside account of the still-classified mission that is scheduled to be released next month, according to the book's publisher.... If the description is true, the book would shatter the secrecy maintained by members of the team of Navy SEALs involved in the raid.... It could also raise legal and political issues for the Obama administration, which has carried out an aggressive crackdown on leaks even while it has also been accused of offering access to journalists and moviemakers to exploit the success of the bin Laden operation." Reuters story here.
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Reader Comments (19)
I am enjoying the ideas of science and medicine in our political debates. It is fun, in a way, to expose the level of ignorance we live with. If you want to get a view of the real America take a look at the NYT's article 'From Bible-Belt Pastor to Atheist Leader'. It is an interesting story in itself but the best part is the view of the community that the former pastor lived in, of course before the hate drove him out. Make no mistake, all of this anti-science, anti-history, anti-thinking is about protecting religious beliefs. It seems that for many their trust in their beliefs is so weak that they are afraid of just about anything.
This is from a friend in Texas (who is ready to leave any day now)!
As if the negative political ads aren't enough, now a county judge in Lubbock, Texas, predicts possible "civil war" if President Obama is re-elected.
..."Judge Tom Head was on a local TV news show making his case for a tax increase, when he said hiring extra sheriff's deputies would especially be needed if Obama wins in November.
From Lubbock's Fox 34 News:
"He's going to try to hand over the sovereignty of the United States to the U.N., and what is going to happen when that happens?," Head asked.
"I'm thinking the worst. Civil unrest, civil disobedience, civil war maybe. And we're not just talking a few riots here and demonstrations, we're talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms and get rid of the guy.
"Now what's going to happen if we do that, if the public decides to do that? He's going to send in U.N. troops. I don't want 'em in Lubbock County. OK. So I'm going to stand in front of their armored personnel carrier and say 'you're not coming in here'.
"And the sheriff, I've already asked him, I said 'you gonna back me' he said, 'yeah, I'll back you'. Well, I don't want a bunch of rookies back there. I want trained, equipped, seasoned veteran officers to back me."
I will say it again: Let's allow Texas to secede. Good luck. Jeezus bless. You can't come back. EVER!
Heck, Kate, after reading the NYT article cited by Marvin and the Texas story, I say let the whole south secede. We Yankees are expected to support them with our taxes, go figure! At the very least we could ask them to be self-supporting.
You know what? I want what the Republicans are smoking. It seems to be what we used to call primo shit.
As I mentioned earlier my son and his family are visiting us from Germany. Last night my daughter-in-law watched the Maddow show with me. Rachel spent the bulk of it talking about the Akin/Ryan/ business demonstrating how Republicans are trying to prevent women from reproductive services. My daughter-in-law, although certainly aware of the politics in this country, was shocked when learning the details. She had one question and one statement: "Are these Republicans out of their minds?" and "Looks to me as if they (R's) want to take this country back to the days when men were in charge and women were under their thumb––it's incredible to me that this is happening in the US." My son, on the other hand, who stays abreast of everything, told me that the Germans think we Americans ––(read Republicans) are "geworden" which if you haven't guessed is CRAZY!.
Re: it's a boy! Certain guys are capable of producing only girls or so I thought, Henry the Eighth comes to mind. On the other paw what egg wouldn't open up to a sperm baring gifts? Maybe a womb can be in the state of delight but not in the state of Misery.
Science; it's for girls.
Ordinary folk in all of those European countries that ignorant Americans feel superior to, live better lives than their American counterparts. Actually, the Northern European countries are more democratic than America with limits on the political control of the big money interests and there are many stringent rules on elections. None of the countries have our perpetual election campaigns. In America, ignorance is bliss. Germans are not the only ones that think Americans are crazy.
"......because, like Mitt Romney, so many Republican politicians are hot rich men with lots of Y chromosomes."
Marie implies that Romney is "hot!" I would have said oily and mechanical - but then I find President Obama and Clinton attractive (also Ezra Klein). Must explain my vote for Dems :-)
(For the record, Biden seems much more appealing to me than the lizard-like Ryan.)
After watching the Chris Matthews commentary on the way ignorance and religious dogma have encouraged the knuckledraggers to spit on science, I can only say that for the first 1:40 of the piece I was in full agreement until, as he was beginning his wrap, he felt compelled to do the MSM False Equivalency Tango. "Both sides do it!!" His conclusion is that this hatred of science is bad and both parties need to recognize the importance of human intelligence and knowledge in their party platforms.
Really Chris? Really? Both parties think of science as evil magic and conspiratorial lies devised by liberals to hurt Jesus?
No Chris. Only one party does that. One.
And they ain't Democrats.
Christ! Enough already with this "Both sides do it" crap! Only Republicans believe the world is 5,000 years old, that global warming is a hoax, that Darwin was a scheming liar, that vaccines cause mental retardation, that women can't conceive after being "legitimately raped", that they can treat people medically after being self-certified, that trees cause acid rain, that the entire community of scientists world wide are all involved in a massive conspiracy to deny JESUS.
We're not talking Luddites here. Luddites believe in science and technology, they just don't want anything to do with them.
These people are out and out stupid. Stupid drips off them like sweat off a boxer.
Oh, until and unless science and technology are useful for them, such as new weapons systems for the military (kill more towelheads) or in the case of Paul Ryan, racing out of a meeting in 2008 after being handed inside information to pull out his cell phone and make a quick bundle on insider trading.
Then it's okay. Just don't tell anyone you believe in it.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. And getting stupider every day. Galileo should be glad he wasn't alive today. He'd have been sentenced to six days in the electric chair by "modern" Republicans for countermanding religious orthodoxy. All he got was lifetime house arrest, living as he did four and a half centuries ago. Lucky him.
Akhilleus, actually if you go to the science museum in Florence Italy,
Galileo is still around. There is a room devoted to his work which includes a display of the bone of his middle finger. The bone is standing upright and the front is facing you. Get the picture?
Marvin,
And a nice picture it is too.
I wonder if that's the old boy's response to John Paul II's reduction of Galileo's sentence from "vehemently suspect of heresy" to just plain wrong. Oh, the pope did mutter something about maybe the church had been wrong--sort of, maybe--for threatening to torture Galileo because what he was saying was the truth, but he (Il Papa) made sure to point out that the scientist was wrong too because....well, just because. They didn't really need a reason. False equivalencies are not just the domain of right-wing leaning media types.
But I can see not too far into the future, especially if Obama loses, all kinds of heresy trials overseen by such high minded individuals as Savonarola Santorum and Death Panel Palin. Only in this case, Palin will be able to hand down death sentences to scientists who try seem smarter than the average fundamentalist religious hater of intelligence.
All in all, that "up yours" gesture from Galileo is a pretty good one. Poor Descartes. His bones were shuttled all over Europe and all he got was his skull wrapped up in a box in a museum in Paris. With the signatures of its former owners no less. Although Galileo gave the Vatican fits, I suppose Descartes gave them the biggest "fuck you" of all: the idea that reason trumps myth.
The modern GOP is trying to return that "fuck you" by making sure that that formulation is reversed. I'd say they're doing a HELL of a job.
Sort of funny! True confession time, I guess. I couldn't wait to vote in my first Presidential election. It was for JFK. I remember feeling it was so important that my vote would get him into office. Registration at 21 made me feel I had reached REAL adulthood (or something)!
Then a few years later (hey, I was young, STUPID) and yes, couldn't help notice that the young, attractive (yeah! hot) guys in town were Republicans. Caving to some jejeune rationale, I became a Republican. Along came a really handsome lawyer...he wanted me to create an ad or two for the party. I was delighted.
A week or so later, I stopped in the committee office to leave my layouts....while waiting, the door opened and in walked a dirty old man. Literally. The dirtiest clothes, looked like he hadn't washed in weeks. Scruffy beard. Skinny as a rail. Out of the back room came one of the 'Washed'..."hey, Charlie, (evidently 'dirty guy' was a known town character) how ya doin'?" Whereupon, Charlie proudly pulled out three very filthy one-dollar bills and said, "...here this is for Nixon."
Mr. Washed accepted Charlie's three-dollars. Charlie was so happy to be a contributor.
Nixon?
I sat there in my snappy, chic young-person thingness and was as stunned as could be. There was something so wrong with this picture. Reminds me now of all those not seeing what R&R really are about. That was a wake-up moment for me.
However, after that, I didn't vote for years. Years! Just couldn't make myself care for the longest time.
But for the past decade or so, I have come to believe my vote can make a difference, and try without fail to vote
every election and support the best person for each office...and encourage others who don't think it matters, that it does.
Oh, yeah...I'm a registered Democrat again!
(Think I never really lost it)!
PD,
Regarding Europe's impressions of the 21st century GOP, I'm betting Willard's gaffe prone, excellent European adventure this summer and his running mate's claim to foreign policy fame "I send people to war!" have few people running through the streets waving tea party banners.
In fact, it's time we looked a bit more closely at exactly what kind of foreign policy they have in mind. Mitty wants to bomb someone, (he's got a mini-woody for Iran) that's for sure, and both of them, since neither has ever worn a uniform, are hot for sending more people off to war.
Hey, it worked for Bush, didn't it? Start a war--no TWO wars--and while everyone is counting bodies and talking about Shock and Awe, grab the silverware and run out the back door.
Later you can say "Oops, my bad" and retire to play golf and count your money.
Mission Accomplished. Again.
Is it really possible that not a single good thing could come of a Romney presidency? (I mean for real Americans. Not traitors or oligarchs.)
Poor Rick Warren, dreams of further self promotion by hopping on a stage with presidential candidates have been thwarted this time. Can't throw his saddle on horses that don't want him. Religion is verboten territory for both campaigns. Actually kind of refreshing.
Yes, Roger, it is refreshing. But it's a verboten of convenience. Obama seems to have a religion du jour and Romney adheres to some kooky cult. Neither side (yes, they both do it) particularly wants this stuff examined too closely. But remember, all this bullshit about abortion is really about religion.
Jack,
As a fellow Red Sox fan, If you get ahold of that really good shit Republicans are smoking, hook a brother up. Maybe we'll be able to determine that what's being perpetrated by such as Josh Beckett constitutes unjustifiable rape. Good weed might also ameliorate the weirdness of seeing The Texas Con Man pitching again after weaseling his way out of a perjury rap.
The solution to every problem we face is amazingly simple: homo sapiens must become extinct. Period. No overpopulation, no global warming, inane mythology to justify endless war and destruction.
James Singer-
...Or we could use voter ID tags--round up the wingnuts at the polls on election day--herd them into the Houston Coliseum (where Barbara Bush will serve hot dogs and Kool Aid)--and send them in small groups via the Mars Curiousity rover to that most desolate planet to see if they can ruin it more and better.
We insult them and they don't care and strategize about how to kick us. The object in November is to beat the Republicans; don't make yourself feel smart without forgetting the goal of victory for decency in November.