Random thoughts, dubious rants, curiosities and worthy citations on the media, politics, marketing, music, inanity, and animals, among other things. Words and pictures and stuff, mostly from south central Wisconsin USA
Indeed, Sarah Palin is the gift that keeps on giving. And like all good things, sometimes one can just have too much also, you bet. I have one conservative friend who likes to advance the opinion that I am afraid of Ms. Palin whenever i make light of her. apparently ignorance and shallowness "You really fear her, don't you?" TR wrote on my Facebook page a few weeks ago. Umm, no. Hardly.
It's become a conservative meme: Democrats really fear her; they are obsessed with her. While I doubt the first part of that thought, I reluctantly agree that liberals do seem kind of consumed with the half-term-then-quit former Alaska governor. I can't speak for everyone, but my fixation is due to the fact that she is so fucking hilarious. Not intentionally, mind you, but she is a walking cartoon. Unfortunately, she is also a sad commentary of how we seem to pick candidates in this country these days. To hell with gravitating toward someone who is really smart, since it would appear that intellectualism and competence are bad words (at least in Republican circles). People cite Palin as being "real" and "for liberty" and "of the people." Oh my fucking god are you fucking kidding me? Really? That's your basis for seeing her as a viable candidate? Wow.
Fortunately, she is still easily duped. During the book-signing tour this week, the Canadian version of The Daily Show, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, sent a "correspondent", in character to interview Palin. While her handlers detected a rouse, Madame Palin herself didn't. she just saw another press opportunity...
So, yes, I do have a slightly unhealthy fixation on Sarah Palin. I admit it. I can't help it... she's such a fucking dolt. As the comedians like to say, the jokes just write themselves. I am thankful this Thanksgiving that in these troubled times, we have Sarah Palin to laugh at.
Out of Carroll, Iowa comes the story of two would-be robbers who seemed to be without masks. But they had a black permanent marker.
Matthew McNelly and Joey Miller, c'mon down! You're on the national news wire for being complete dumb-asses! Your mothers must be so proud of you. And it's a pretty safe bet that you won't be getting those Mensa certificates anytime soon.
"They were being dumb and, combine that with alcohol, and it was the perfect storm," Carroll Police Chief Jeff Cayler told CNN.
"I've been chief here almost 25 years, been with the department 28½
years and I've seen a lot of things that make me laugh and weird things
but this was probably the best combination of the two -- strangely
weird and hilariously funny all at the same time."
When I was a kid, my parents were regular suburban Chicago Republicans. So when I was old enough to vote, I started out that way too. There were things I thought (wrongly, in hindsight) were good about Ronald Reagan, and even GWH Bush.
As I became more politically aware, I realized that while there may have been some good things about the GOP, they were long gone. The Republican leadership recognized that too, and really turned up the volume on their "Southern Strategy" of building a base around mostly southern, mostly fundie-Christian voters. You know, the people who claim to put God and American first, but vote only on a narrow list of issues based on their creative interpretations of the Bible. They seem to generally be less educated, more bigoted, and tend to vote against their own best interests often. It seems that, unwittingly and without hesitation, they vote in favor of corporate America and against the people of America.
As anyone paying attention knows, that seemed to stop working for them in 2006, and really tipped over in 2008. And now, those who remain under the spell are freaking out. How else can you explain shit like this:
Or this:
And Klassy gentlemen like this guy...
Wow. I mean, WOW. These are the people who have taken over the Republican party. I am tempted to describe them like this...
JR at DK (who had a similar idea for a post while I was writing this one) collected a few photos that further tell the story in all it's scary and pathetic detail. As he said in his post, take a look in the mirror, Republicans:
Yes, as they showed us with Bill Clinton, hating someone is a reason enough to impeach them.
Not wanting to be Corporate America's lap dancer means you must be just like Hitler.
The words "sick fuck" as a modified noun come to mind. What an asshole.
But let's look at a root cause for this behavior. These people are racists.
And they are teaching their children to be racists too...
Teaching your kids to hate. How is that a family value? Oh, right. It isn't.
If you are a Republican, and you don't like what you see, you can do something about it. Work to retake your party. Or, like many already already have: run away. Run far, far away from these hateful, narrow-minded troglodytes. If you do like what you see, well, keep it up. I'd like nothing more than to see the GOP continue to shrink away.
What's so amazing to me is how these "real Americans" are played for the patsies they seemingly are happy to be. They don't even realize that the so-called grass roots efforts going on right now to disrupt town meetings held by Congressman across the country are bought and paid for by Big Insurance and Big Pharma, and being organized and implemented by lobbying firms. They even have detailed instructions (leaked memo pdf) on how to disrupt meetings and act like asshats...
– Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: “Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.”
– Be Disruptive Early And Often: “You need to rock-the-boat
early in the Rep’s presentation, Watch for an opportunity to yell out
and challenge the Rep’s statements early.”
– Try To “Rattle Him,” Not Have An Intelligent Debate: “The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda. If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.”
Talk about being corporate tools. But these people are too ignorant to even get that.
You know... morons.
[props to JR for some of the links. Great minds think alike.)
It's not exactly a ringing endorsement of your sign company when you make to order a highway sign under state contract, only to misspell three out of the four words. Misspelled words include Business ["Buisness"], Rothschild ["Rothschield"] and Schofield ["Schofeild"].
Ah, oops.
David Vieth, Director of the Bureau of Highway Operations for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, was quick to point out that this was the fine work of the Decker Supply Company of Madison, and as such that firm would be replacing the sign at company expense. Vieth was kind enough to not bash the contractor when he commented, “We all make mistakes. But for most of us, they’re not put up for all the public to see.” Following the CYA manual, Vieth also noted that all the words were spelled properly in the DOT paperwork. ("Phew!")
I can see how maybe one of the town names may have been botched, as they are not common words (even though "field" is reasonably common in and of itself). But "Business" is a word that is pretty common, no?
The sign was actually installed by Arbor Green, Inc. of Portage. I gather their motto is "We don't read 'em, just install 'em."
Kudos, Decker Supply and Arbor Green for this fineFAIL!
The Fourth of July Tea Party circuit was pretty much a bust. Sparse crowds. Uninspired yelling. White supremacist recruiting. All in all, not nearly as powerful as the April 15th FOX News ratings promotion.
At least the folks that gathered in Times Square to hear the wisdom of Stephen Baldwin were an informed group. Well, actually, not so much on the "informed" thing. But they were certainly entertaining...
Sure, we all know that Glenn Beck is laughable. No matter that thinking people are laughing AT him, not WITH him.
In case you didn't think that the guy who does this every day to the delight on conservative neanderthals is just playing them for entertainment's sake, it's good to know he's openly promoting himself as "comedy."
From the website of Fathom Live Events, which oddly call its offerings "groundbreaking cinema entertainment," which sort of contradicts the "Live" thing...
Glenn Beck is
bringing his summer comedy stage tour to movie theaters nationwide so
that no matter where you live, you can join! Bring your family and take
a trip to your local movie theater this summer (complete with comfy
seats and air conditioning) to examine common sense, which is no longer
common! Glenn spares no one, including politicians and celebrities, as
he takes a look at the state of our culture and the frightening lack of
common sense, especially in Washington. [emphasis mine]
So far, this appears to be booked only in Kansas City, so the "nationwide" attribute is perhaps a bit premature. It's a start, I guess, for the man who provides a face to America of the angry, clueless, condescending, bigoted, misinformed, delusional, white asshat. So he's got that gong for him.
Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-some TN backwater district) got to experience first-hand what it's like to be totally out of one's league. She decided she would try a game of gotcha with Al Gore, armed with an article she clipped from the New York Times magazine. Gore was testifying before a House committee regarding pending environmental legislation. Too bad she didn't do any more homework to understand what most people know... that Gore donates all the profits from his ecological endeavors to the cause... the Alliance for Climate Protection.
I love how, early on, Gore sees where this is going and starts to laugh at her. Eventually, so does the gallery. What a tool. Tennessee:
You guys can do better that this asshat. Way better.
