The Contradictions Are Killing Me

Is it too much to ask that people be consistent in their beliefs? It's bad enough when someone believes in stupid bullshit, but when their stupid bullshit isn't even consistent, that's a whole new level of obnoxious.

First of all, I have to say that Barbara Curtis deserves a round of applause for adopting three children. That's a wonderful, loving act that I truly admire. The fact that she adopted three disabled children is all the more admirable.

However, and this is bothering me so much I just cannot stop thinking about it, in the linked post Ms. Curtis goes on and on about how wonderful a place the US is to raise disabled children, specifically citing the Americans with Disabilities Act, inclusion in public schools, availability of health care and a low rate of institutionalization for disabled children.

What, you may ask, is wrong with that? Ms. Curtis is an avid Tea Partier. She posts 10-20 times a day in favor of Tea Partiers and/or against liberals, particularly President Obama. That's certainly her right, but all those things that make America a wonderful place for her children? Those are all taxpayer funded liberal mandates. You know, the very ideas and policies the Tea Party is so desperate to destroy.

How do you spend half the day benefiting from taxpayer funded liberal mandates and the other half of the day decrying big government and government spending and politically correct liberals? How do you do that and not see the hypocrisy? How do benefit, every single day, from taxpayer funded liberal mandates and then claim that taxes are too high and government spending needs to end? How do you do all that and look at yourself in the mirror?

She's not the only one, just the most recent example I've come across. Half the crowd at every Tea Party gathering is on Social Security or disability. "Get your government out of my Medicare" was the rallying cry for these people at one point. How do you say that without your brain exploding?

I, for one, am thrilled that my tax dollars help Ms. Curtis' children and others like them. I'm also perfectly happy to fund welfare, food stamps and disability. I want those programs expanded- and I don't even use them. I may be a crazy commieIslamoFacistliberal, but at least I'm internally consistent. Unlike some people . . .

Poor People Are Smelly

Republican candidate for Governor of New York Carl Paladino has solved the problem of poverty, or at least worked out the equation:

+dysfunctional families

-hygiene

+?????

-----------------

Poverty!

His solution?

+poor people

+hygiene

+work camps

+prison guards

--------------------

End to Poverty!

I couldn't make this shit up.

Instead of handing out the welfare checks, we'll teach people how to earn their check. We'll teach them personal hygiene ... the personal things they don't get when they come from dysfunctional homes."

You have to teach them basic things - taking care of themselves, physical fitness. In their dysfunctional environment, they never learned these things."

Paladino cites the positives of moving poor people into prison dorms — they have access to "basketball courts, bathroom facilities, toilet facilities.

Yes, what's lacking in my life is a bathroom. And a toilet. If I only had a bathroom- and a toilet- I wouldn't be poor anymore. I had no idea Section 8 housing did not come with toilets.

Btw, this is not a new idea. It's an old idea. Poor houses were tragic, but apparently some people can't learn from the past.

You're Not a Terrorist if You Worship Saint Ronny Raygun

So, how do you, as a terrorist, get every wingnut in the US on your side? Simple: carry around a Bible and worship at the Church of Ronny Raygun.

Yesterday, the FBI raided a militia in Michigan.

At least seven people, including some from Michigan, have been arrested in raids
by a FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana as part of
an investigation into an Adrian-based Christian militia group, a person familiar
with the matter said.

A militia that was, btw, planning to murder a police officer, then use the funeral as an opportunity to kill more law enforcement officers with IEDs (not just for Iraqis, apparently).

The Hutaree members allegedly "planned to kill an unidentified member of
local law enforcement and then attack the law enforcement officers who gather in
Michigan for the funeral. According to the plan, the Hutaree would attack law
enforcement vehicles during the funeral procession with Improvised Explosive
Devices with Explosively Formed Projectiles, which, according to the indictment,
constitute weapons of mass destruction."

Did the same people who will call the police on me when I have a pashmina wrapped around my head* get equally freaked out by terrorists with IEDs in the US? No, these are good Christians. Don't be silly.

This really irritates me. Islamberg in New York state appears to operate with virtual
impunity, but God forbid a Christian militia group mention muslims!!! At least
at this point, it seems the mere mention brought down the hammer.

That's right, it's all the muslims' fault. Slaughtering police officers with IEDs is just a distraction.

I would like to know what the FBI protocols are for following up on accusations.
Do they have anything to do with ethnicity or beliefs of the accused? Or with
whom is in a protected class? The FBI used to be a bulwark of honest law
enforcement. Now they seem to be a political tool.

Fascist bastards, infringing upon their rights to murder police officers.

I agree. It appears that a U.S.based islamic militia group has worked with the
government to bring about these raids on what is basically a survivalist
Christian militia. Homeland Security and Napolitano have their fingerprints all
over this one. Obama and Nepaolitano would do well to investigate the islamic
terrorist militia's scattered all over the country linked to alQaeda, and leave
these harmless, tho maybe flaky Christian groups alone. I have read three
articles and I have yet to find out what the charges are and why they were
raided.

MOOOOOOOOOSLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMS!

This group could be a bit misguided, but since when is it a crime in this
country to prepare for the coming of the AC?

It's not a crime to stockpile Bibles and water or even to own guns. IEDs are an entirely different matter.

This one is crystal clear.The administration is afraid that Militia's will start
popping up since we're headed rapidly towards a totalitarian state - and the
message is: DON'T FORM MILITIA'S - WE WILL COME AFTER YOU.....

I'm frightened of nutjobs with IEDs, so I'm okay with that message.

You hit it perfectly. This is such an obvious push back at tea-party Christians.
First, we were a joke (tea-baggers). Then we were 'racist'. Now, we're
'terrorists'. They're creating that public perception that Christians = unstable
and dangerous.

These Christians certainly are unstable and dangerous, but I wasn't conflating them with all Christians.


*true story. the cop was both amused and annoyed and then gave me a ride to the store to make up for scaring me half to death. nice guy.

Treebagging

tea bag, teabag, tea party, teabagging, liberal, conservative, speenweasel, asshat, stupid, tax day, protest

So, the Tea Parties are over now. Well, for the time being. Apparently, July 4th, a day devoted to taxes to be sure, is being put forward for the next round of silliness.

Let's review:

The teabaggers (rofl) were protesting higher taxes- no, wait, Obama lowered taxes on 95% of USians, so that can't be it.

The teabaggers (lol) were protesting the highest tax rate ever in US history- no, that can't be it. The highest tax rate in recent memory was the 50% tax rate under Ronald Reagan.

The teabaggers (lulz) are angry about the fact that Obama and the liberals caused the economic meltdow- no, that started under Bush. In case you have a very short memory indeed, the economy was big issue during the election.

The teabaggers (stop, please!) are angry that Obama started the stimulus spendin- no, that started under Bush.

The teabaggers (you named yourselves after a sexual act that involves testicles) are angry at the brand new out of control government spending- no, that can't be it. Bush started his presidency with a surplus, and ended it with stimulus packages.

The teabaggers (and mouths) are angry that liberals spent the entirety of Bush's presidency threatening secession and protestin- oh, no that's right, we didn't.

Fuck it. I cannot for the life of me figure out what those spleenweasels were doing, other than proving that some people are very sore losers.

And what did they do to that tree?

Civil Disobedience Fail

tea bag, tea party, teabag, teabagging, conservative, asshat, mlk,
Thoreau has doubtless achieved orbit by now.

Tea Party Permit Troubles:

Protesters, using a rented truck to haul the million tea bags, began unloading their cargo at the park this morning but were told by officials that they didn't have proper permits and must move the tea . They complied with the order but are still considering what to do with the load.

. . .

The protesters got more bad news when security officials also told them that they did not have proper permits for a rally in front of the Treasury building.

Yeah, how much do you really believe in what you're doing if you're not willing to get a ticket for it? (See also: how many times was Martin Luther King, Jr. arrested?)

Nobody Is This Clueless

2m4m, nom, gallagher, maggie, beaver, teabag, teabagging, homophobia, traditional, gay, marriage,
Okay, first we had conservatives everywhere protesting . . . something with "teabagging", seemingly oblivious to the sexual reference. I say "seemingly", because once they switched from mailing actual teabags to the White House to mailing pictures of teabags, they had to have noticed what comes up in a google image search for "teabag". But, no, they're sticking with "teabagging".

Now we have Maggie Gallagher's latest NOM campaign: 2M4M. Uh, yeah.

Wtf is up with conservatives' use of sexual slang? Nobody could possibly be this clueless. Nobody. This is like McCain bitching about "beaver management": you know damn well he picked that earmark because it allowed him to use a slang term for vagina on national TV.

For a bunch of people trying shove "family values" and "morals" down our throats, conservatives sure are obsessed with slightly-off-the-norm sexual practices.

More on the Tea Party Asshattery

tea bag, tea party, teabag, teabagging, conservative, liberal, obama, bush, spleenweasel, asshat, stupid,
The Washington Monthly as an excellent look at another part of the tea party silliness that has been bothering me: these spleenweasels weren't mailing anyone bags of Lipton when Bush was spending money and driving the US government into a deficit (not to mention taking away civil liberties, starting wars and ordering torture).

Now we're less than 3 months into the first black President's term and spending money is BAD! Taxes are BAD! Civil liberties are GOOD!

Seriously, bite me.

Outside the Beltway's Alex Knapp, a libertarian, took a look at some of these events and came up with some important observations. Knapp noted, for example, the fact that most "Tea Party" participants will get a tax cut from Obama, so it's kind of difficult to believe them when they say they feel put upon. For that matter, "Tea Party" cheerleaders didn't mind excessive government spending when it was going to an unnecessary war in Iraq. He concluded:
Let's call the "tea party" and "going Galt" nonsense what it is: unprincipled partisan hackery. If these were truly principled protests, they'd have been around all through the Bush and Republican-controlled Congress years, too.

Quite right. It's no doubt inconvenient for this crowd, but a Republican Congress and Republican White House worked together to increase the debt by $5 trillion, expand the size of government, increase spending, increase the tax burden on the middle class, and expand the powers of the executive to undermine civil liberties. The some people attending "Tea Parties" not only cheered these GOP policymakers on, but voted to keep them in office as long as possible. (Indeed, many condemned those who disagreed, accusing liberals of "treason" for failing to support elected leaders during a crisis..)

Literally just two months into a Democratic administration, far-right activists are now holding public protests? They're mad about deficits and a loss of "liberty"?

I almost feel sorry for the folks who get conned into believing this nonsense.

Civil War Is Not Funny

civil war, american, US, united, states, revolution, tea party, teabag, teabagging, beck, chuck norris,
This whole Glenn Beck "let's start the revolution" bullshit is pissing me off. All these fucking morons calling for secession, fomenting revolution, committing what amounts to sedition and treason- over what?

News flash- you don't have taxation without representation. You have taxation with representation you don't particularly like. Boofuckinghoo. Welcome to the last eight years of my life.

You didn't see me throwing a box of Bigelow into a lake or running for president of Texas. You didn't see me suggesting that we commit treason or start a revolution.

You know why? Because it wouldn't be a revolution. It would be another Civil War. And people died during the American Civil War.

People DIED during the American Civil War.

600,000 people died during the American Civil War.

Those people weren't just soldiers, either. Noncombatants died of illness, injury and disease.

600,000 brothers and sons and fathers and husbands, mothers and sisters and daughters and wives, grandparents, grandchildren, the elderly and children and infants. They all died.

You still think this is a game?

Sedition Is the New Black- But Atheists Can't Wear It

sedition, treason, teabag, teabagging, tea party, glenn, beck, asshat, stupid,
Glenn Beck, he of the new twinkie defense, has called for all the "right wing cells" to get together and plot some more teaparties, or something, but he doesn't just want anyone to attend We Surround You Friday. Oh, no. He does not want atheists.

The second of Glenn Beck's Nine Principles makes that abundantly clear:

2. I believe in God and He is the Center of my Life.

For once, we're happy to be automatically excluded.

For an in depth look at why this whole things is unbelievably stupid, please visit the Accidental Historian. I don't really need to say anything about this, AH already said it, better than I could.

Tea Bags

teabagging, teabag, bad, asshat,
I had no idea teabagging* was a competitive sport.

*The most graphic possible description of teabagging, from a man who clearly likes him some teabagging.