Gun control

Today I watched a totally preposterous speech/sermon/diatribe by Wayne Lapieere of the NRA.  This performance was insulting to any intelligent person.

I won't take the weeks necessary to refute all the stupid statements he made, but instead merely point out a few of the omissions.

He was not very specific.  For example, he wants armed guards at all schools.  Does he really mean all?  All elementary schools? All middle schools? All high schools? Public schools only?  How about private schools or charter schools?  Do church schools qualify?  What about day-care?  That's a type of school.

Why do we stop there?  What about colleges and universities?  Trade schools?  Community colleges? What about the military academies?

He left out a few other places where his logic dictates that we need armed guards.  What about movie theaters?  Shopping malls?  Subway stations?  Oh yes, what about military bases, like Ft Bliss?  Surely there were some armed personnel there.  Didn't help.

If nothing else, this would certainly solve the unemployment problem, as we will need many thousand armed guards. That is, if we want to become an armed, everyone carry your six-shooter (or Uzi) society.

Guns don't kill people.
People kill people
WITH GUNS!

Post election hangover

The election hangover.

I had hoped that by now, the dingbats would accept the fact that they lost, put it behind them, and get down to business.  I was wrong. But at least it has been interesting to see how much they had believed their own spin, and were convinced they would win handily.  They were shocked at the results.  All those millions spent and for what?  A rousing defeat.

It has been educational to follow the sequence.  First was the denial, as the big dogs could not bring themselves to admit they lost. They just could not accept the fact that a majority of voters didn’t like their programs, philosophy and attitude.

Second came the search for excuses for why they lost.  Something or somebody had to carry the blame.  Over the next weeks following the election, we heard several excuses:  it was Hurricane Sandy; or it was a conspiracy among the Latinos and the Blacks, somehow fomented by President Obama; or it was fraudulent votes in every state the President won, especially on early or absentee ballots; or the President bought the election by giving away entitlements, such as Medicare and Social Security; or something similar. It became rather comical to see the big dogs stand before the Fox cameras, and proclaim how the evil Democrats had somehow been better at stealing votes than they were.

 

But, to me, the funniest was how they tried to pillory Governor Christie, and actually blame him for their loss.  Governor Christie, of course, was doing the job he had been elected to perform.  But, the dingbats accused him of committing high crimes and misdemeanors, for which he should be excommunicated from the party, and probably hung at high noon.  What were the horrible crimes he committed?  He stood too close to President Obama on the airport tarmac, and GASP! dared to ride in the President’s helicopter while they surveyed the damage from Sandy.  I must admit this one was hard to believe.  I couldn’t imagine even the dingbats being so callous, mean, fault-finding and downright stupid.

Now, round 2 begins as we fight over “the cliff!”  Make your bets now. My prediction is that there will be an awful lot of lies told between now and December 31.

The other side show is how Sen. McCain and his merry band have decided to attack Susan Rice, the assumed nominee for Secretary of State.  Her crime: she appeared before the UN and made a statement, based on the information available, that was later proven to be untrue.  To the dingbats, this was another vile conspiracy to do something or the other.  They conveniently  forget that Colin Powell did the same thing just before the Iraqi invasion.  Isn’t that strange?

The Election of 2012

Some musings about the election

This last election set many records. 

Most money spent during a campaign.

Most lies told during a campaign.

Most number of losers who were convinced they were winning

until the results began to come in.

The election left many questions unanswered:

How does Karl Rove explain to his angels that he spend $690 million

 and got nobody elected?

What does Paul Ryan do now?  He’s like an evangelist without

a congregation.

What does Mitt Romney do?  Can he go back to one of his many estates

and putter around in the garden?  Poor guy only has around $500 million

to live on. Of course, some of the more irreverent pundits claim the only

reason he was running for President was so he could add that to his resume,

 in case he wants to run for the office of God.

Do you suppose the leaders of the dingbats have finally figured out that if

they try to disenfranchise a bloc of voters, and failing that, just totally ignore

that bloc, then that bloc will vote against them?  We have a couple of

examples of this.

A bunch of the losers should have heeded the old adage:  “Beware the woman

scorned, lovely in her wrath.” I wonder how many members of the “rape team” 

are sleeping on the couch because the bedroom door is locked?

Can you believe it” Some are already pontificating about the 2016 election.

 Please.  Give us a break!  We have enough problems to worry about.

I voted early

I have a confession to make.  For many years now, I have prided myself that I never voted a “straight ticket” in any election.  I mean this seriously, not like a former professor back in Oklahoma who used to brag that he always voted for the Republican candidate for Assistant Mine Inspector.

 No, I have always considered the person, and ignored the party label.  In many cases, down at the county or township level, a party label didn't mean anything.  Integrity and honesty were the compelling factors.

I have voted early. This year, I broke with my long-established policy.  There is no way I could vote for a Republican candidate for any office at any level.  Democrats, Libertarians, Progressive, what have you, could get my vote, but no Republicans.

I did not make this decision lightly.  But among the many sins a politician can commit, lying to me is right at the top of the no-no list.  Over the past four years, I have been bombarded with lies, half-truths, statements taken totally out of context, skewed facts, or just plain stupidly incorrect allegations. 

The barrage is unending.  Each day, in the mail, I receive 2-3 fliers from the Republican Party.  Every one contains at least one blatant lie. It is an insult to my intelligence.  I read, I listen, I watch.  I know what is going on in the world.  My anger gets cranked up when some dingbat politician stand in front of the TV cameras and states something totally wrong, but when challenged with facts, just continues with the same lie.  The Republican Party philosophy seems to be “tell a lie enough times and the public will eventually believe it.”

Think back to 2009.  Then we had the “birthers”, who refuse to go away.  Then, a year later, we had the “deathers.” This year we had the “jobbers.”  These people just can’t give up.  Everything must be the result of a vast conspiracy. And all their complicated arguments are but lies.

The Republican Party sold out to the Religious Right many years back.  Now they are even further driven by the Tea Baggers, big oil, big coal, Wall Street and several other true fanatics.  These people have convinced me that they are not interested in solving America’s problems.  They are interested only in furthering their own narrow interests, to hell with the people. It is not only at the national level that we see these self-centered interests. No, it is also at the state, county and even city level that we see Republican politicians who answer only to their masters, and ignore the people.  Enough is enough!

One note about the VP debate.  While watching it occurred to me that we are but one catastrophe away from having one of these men assume the office of President, and Commander-in-Chief.  Which one would you trust to lead America?

Dingbat stupidity

Dear Mitt:  I am a lazy, entitled freeloader.  By your definition, and apparently your program, I should be left by the side of the road to beg for my subsistence.

I am retired from the US Navy.  That means I draw retirement pay.  This was a contractual thing.  When I joined the Navy, I agreed to put myself in harm's way to protect other Americans, like you.  In return, the Navy promised to pay me retirement pay when my tour of service was over.  What exactly do you find wrong with that, Mitt?  Why does that make me a freeloader?  I fulfilled  my part of the contract.  The Navy is fulfilling theirs.

After I retired, I did not become a 100% parasite on society, as you imply.  No, I taught at a Community College for many years.  I retired from that also, and draw retirement pay.  Again, this was guaranteed by my employment contract.  Does that make me a freeloader?  I did my part and the sate is doing theirs.

I also draw Social Security.  I paid into the system for many, many years.  Now the government is fulfilling their promise to me.  Does that make me a freeloader?  You seem to have a problem with this, Mitt.

Oh, yes, Mitt.  Let's look at some other things.  By implication, you lump me into a nebulous group who you claim are totally dependent on the government.  Well, Mitt, I'll make you a bet.  I bet you that I pay a higher percentage of my income as income tax than you do.

Think about that, Mitt.  There's a hell of a lot of people who pay a higher percentage than you do.  All these people are not afraid to disclose their tax returns.  We're still waiting to see yours, Mitt.

Mitt, you do have one thing correct.  I will most certainly, and with great pleasure, vote for anyone running against you for any office.

Big Lies

Fractured Factualities

The dingbat convention is finally over.  It seems like it lasted three weeks, because it should take that long to get all the lies told.  I’m sorry, it is no longer politically correct to use that term.  What we have experienced are “fractured factualities.”  Isn’t that better? 

Actually I watched perhaps 5 minutes of the entire convention.  There were two reasons for my refusal to listen to the gibberish.  First, I knew that if  I listened/watched this circus, I would get totally PO’d at all the lies.  Sorry, there’s that word again.  Secondly, the US Open was being televised, and to me, that was a hell of a lot more honest.

One time before the convention, while listening to some dingbats orating about their plan, whatever that is, I started to write down all the lies I heard.  Unfortunately I soon ran out of paper. But, there were a few that I remember.

First, Lush Limbaugh, the darling of the teabaggers, stated that the Obama Administration was falsifying the data to make it appear that Hurricane Isaac would hit Tampa, and thereby cancel the convention. This is so ridiculous it is funny!  Anyone who has watched the Weather Channel remembers them showing all the possible tracks generated by the computer models.  Yes, some of these “possible” tracks went over Tampa. Others predicted other paths, including the one actually taken.  But the Lush claims this was all a conspiracy.   Can you imagine how many people would be required to falsify the satellite pictures and the radar images to back up his conspiracy theory?  But, there are people out there who believe every lie he tells.  That’s what is frightening!

Second, a dingbat politician from Oklahoma claims that “global warming” is just a hoax, perpetuated by the Obama administration.  Do you suppose he really means that all those icecaps melting in Greenland are just a figment of our imagination?  Some people just cannot accept the truth.

 

Third, one imminent dingbat politician made a reference to “Obama’s Afghan War.”  I’m sorry, but I was awake and sober during those years, and I’m sure this war started in 2006 or maybe even before.  President Obama wasn’t elected until 2008.  If we have a President who can start a war before he is even elected, then he has exceptional powers, and we better keep him.

But from listening to and reading the blathering pronouncements by the dingbats, I think I have possibly uncovered parts of their platform, such as it is.  I think they want:

Less government, except when we have a flood, hurricane or tornado when more government aid is required;

A larger military establishment, which is rather confusing since the military is usually considered part of the government;

A couple of more wars, since we are only fighting 2 at the moment;

Less money spent on education, except we need to teach more “creationism” in the schools;

Less regulation and control of the banking industry since they (the banking industry) have promised they will not take us into another recession unless they find another really good sounding but totally stupid way to lose billions;

Less control and regulation of big business, thus creating a “trickle-down” of benefits to the middle class (in China, India, Brazil, etc.)

Gender and racial equality:  This is difficult to decipher, but I think they want:

African-Americans: back to the cotton patch;

Latinos: back to Mexico;

Women:  back to the 1920’s.  Their motto seems to be “Women’s place is in the kitchen, and she should go there immediately after work.”

But then that is my understanding of the current political climate.  You are invited to create your own.

More Dingbat politics

Dingbat Political Lies (often disguised as ads)

As I watch the political ads on TV, and listen to radio/TV interviews, I am convinced there is no limit to the nonfactual statements, twisting of the truth or outright lies pronounced by the dingbats. 

However, I am waiting for the ultimate TV ad  You know the one, you see it every day as some marketing firm tries to sell you a super deal on some useless gadget.  Here is what I think will be the dingbat version.

Now, for the first time on TV, the RNC Corporation is giving you this opportunity to own your own dingbat political slate.  If you order today, we will send you Mitt Romney AND Paul Ryan for only three easy payments $78 billion.  AMAZING!  This offer is not available in stores.  BUT WAIT!  THERE’S MORE! If you order within the next hour, we will double your order.  THAT’S RIGHT!  We will send you two Mitt Romneys and two Paul Ryans.  Just pay separate shipping and handling. But call this number now.  888-BIG-SCAM.  That’s 888-BIG-SCAM.  Call now!

The dingbats have me confused

I need some help here.  I realize my memory is not that good anymore, but I am certain that Mitt Romney was the Governor of Massachusetts not too many years ago.  While he was Governor the state enacted a very comprehensive health care law.  At its passage, Mitt declared that legislation as being the greatest thing since sliced bread, or something to that effect.

Now, Mitts seems to forget, ignore, pretend not or deny that he was ever the Governor.  He also states that the so-called Obama-care, which is closely patterned after the Massachusetts plan,  is "evil incarnate", the worst thing since Adam pulled a scam on Eve.

Now, this is confusing to me.  Tthe same arguments Mitt was using to support the Massachusetts health plan enacted while he was Governor (if he ever was the Governor) he is now trying to use against Obama-care.

Do you see why I am confused?  Was he the Governor? Did they pass a health plan?  Did he support it?  Or is this all just a figment of my imagination?

Of course by tomorrow this may all be a moot point.  Mitt has rather accurately been described as the "weather vane candidate".  If you don't like what he seems to believe, just wait a bit.  He'll probably change to your satisfaction.

In the interim, somebody please explain to me exactly what is happening.

Dingbat Lies

The dingbats are at it again.  I keep thinking we have finally seen the ultimate in low-down, dirty politics but they are super resourceful.  No matters how big a lie, or how dirty a tactic, they always manage to top it.

Now they want to revive the “birther” ploy.  These people just won’t accept the truth.  My God, so far we have seen the long form and the short form of President Obama’s birth certificate, all certified, verified and confirmed!  He was born in Hawaii.  His Mother was an American citizen, therefore he is an American citizen. End of discussion.

But no, now a functionary in Arizona tried to demand that he personally must be provided with a certified copy, sworn to and affirmed by everybody above the rank of traffic patrolman or he, the functionary, will not put President Obama’s name on the ballot.  Can you comprehend the audacity of this?  They have even brought back Donald Trump from wherever he has been hiding.  Of course they want his money (although they certainly haven’t received any of the big bucks yet) so they are willing to showcase him and let him bleat like a lovesick cow about the great conspiracy to disguise the birthplace.  George Will, the noted Conservative columnist, with whom I seldom agree, had it exactly right with his description of Trump as a “blithering idiot.”

The lies continue.  Now they claim that the Obama administration is spending more than any administration in history.  That is a lie!  Actual spending is lower now.  But to the dingbats, truth is a rather nebulous entity.  Remember back in the early days of the primary when one candidate made a totally false statement?  When the press caught him out on this, his staff tried to pass it off by saying “it was not meant to be a factual statement.”  No, it was meant to be a lie!

I have tried mightily to propose logical explanations for the continuing actions by the dingbats, but more and more I am resigned to one simple reason.  It is nothing more than pure racial bigotry.  There is a black man in the white house and they just can’t stand this, so they are willing to take the entire US down to catastrophe to achieve their goal of “racial purity.”  Sounds like something from Nazi Germany.

NC Amendment 1

The dingbats have spoken.

In North Carolina, a felon serving a life sentence in prison for murder can get married.

A gay couple who have been together for 30 years cannot.

Does that make sense to you?

Proposed Amendment 1

The proposed Amendment 1 to the NC Constitution is unconstitutional!  That sounds like a real oxymoron.  But consider:  One of the arguments in support of this amendment is that it will protect the sacrament of marriage.  The dingbats claim that "marriage" is a religious ritual, an essential part of "their" church.  Yet Amendment 1 of the US Constitution specifically bars any "...law respecting the establishment of religion..."  The courts have long held that the term "establishment" has far-reaching consequences. 


The rest of that portion of Amendment 1 has equally damning results.  It continues "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  What if my church believes in same-sex marriage, and considers that a sacrament?  This proposed amendment would prohibit that, again in direct conflict with the US Constitution.  Sorry folks, but the US Constitution trumps.


The dingbats apparently can't or won't understand the implications of what they are proposing.  Maybe somebody should sit down with the leadership and explain it to them.  

Proposed NC Amendment

I told myself that I should stay out of this argument, but I now realize that such total stupidity just cannot be ignored.

The proposed Amendment One to the NC Constitution is: take your pick

stupid,

totally unnecessary,

dangerous, due to the potential consequences,

so poorly written it is shameful,

will be an extreme waste of legal fees contesting it, if passed,

in short, is an abortion.

I am tired of religious dingbats telling me what I am supposed to think or believe. Now they are trying to put their beliefs into our Constitution. I guess they think that if they can only codify this, then that will give it legitimacy. No way, Jose! It will still be dumb!

I guess the best, clear argument against this can be simply expressed in this quote I borrowed from Face Book.

"Claiming that someone's marriage is against your religion

is like being angry at someone for eating a doughnut

because you are on a diet."

VOTE AGAINST AMENDMENT ONE

More dingbat stupidity

"Lush" Limbaugh, the darling of the ultra dingbats, has once again demonstrated to everyone that he is a world-class asshole!

This fat slob can sit behind his microphone and call someone a "slut" and a "whore", without fear of retribution. The college student he insults has no direct way to defend herself. Freedom of speech is wonderful, but there are time I wish we could temporarily suspend it just long enough for somebody to punch his lights out.

Someone should point out to the Lush that aspirin has another use besides his idea of contraception. If you hold one between your teeth, it is more difficult to make stupid statements. Someone really should explain this to the Lush, although I doubt he could understand it.

Really people, can you believe that some listen to this idiot and truly think they are hearing The Word? That is scary!

Dingbat Instruction Manual

How to shoot yourself in the foot?

Find a loaded pistol;

Aim at your foot;

Pull trigger.

OR there's another way.

Pick a topic of particular interest to women. Hold a Congressional hearing, but don't invite any women to participate or testify. After all, what do women know about women's health problems?

When pinned in a corner, claim the whole affair is (A) just a misunderstanding; (B) a war on religion or (C) a Socialist plot.

The second alternative seems to be less painful, at least in the short run. Only time will tell the ultimate effect, like at election time.

Dingbat stupidity

Now we have another example of total dingbat stupidity. This time it concerns availability (note that word) of contraceptives in hospitals, schools, or whatever operated by the Roman Catholic Church. This one I consider a perfect example of stupidity carried to a very high level.

Rick Santorum, The Gingrich, various Bishops, Arch-bishops, Cardinals, etc. are loudly proclaiming that the Obama administration has declared a WAR AGAINST RELIGION! To hear these people, you would think the Gov is going to tackle, hold down, tie up and force good Catholic women to take contraceptives.

What a total crock of BS! The rules say make it available. If they want to take it, Fine. If not, that's fine also. It's their decision, not the government. I suspect that the higher ups in the Catholic empire just might fear that if these are available, more "good" Catholics just might take advantage of the availability. But, it is their decision.

I am truly amazed how the dingbats have tried to convert this into an "Obama war against religion." It is also amusing to see how pious The Gingrich can be when disclaiming on this subject. When considering his background, it exceedingly difficult to accept any of his pronouncements on religion with a straight face.

Keystone Pipeline

The dingbats are at it again. Apparently in the dingbat world, you can say anything without regard for facts. This often leads to some really stupid pronouncements carried on national media.

One of the dingbat poobahs, speaking on national television, stated that the Keystone Pipeline was absolutely necessary to reduce our dependence on "foreign oil." Looks like this particular politician is a spokesman for the "awl bidness" as they say in Texas. But I have to wonder what rock he lives under.?

This pipeline is designed to carry sour crude, extracted from Alberta tar sand, to refineries in the Houston area. Last time I checked the atlas, Alberta is in Canada and Canada is not in the United States. Ipso facto, this will be "foreign oil."

This pipeline is designed to cross the Ogallala Aquifer, the major source for water in the central US. A bad leak in that area would prove disastrous.

Those target refineries are clustered in the Houston area. That makes it very convenient for a major hurricane, or terrorist action to take them all out. For what this pipeline is going to cost, it seems to me that it would be cheaper to build a new refinery in Wyoming.

As for the claim that no tax payer money will be involved, if you believe that, I have some Las Vegas real estate and some Nigerian treasury bonds I will sell you at a real good price.

Political polling

To all you pollsters out there busy earning your fees. I have some very important news for you. I'm writing this very slowly, so you can understand it.

You have bombarded me with your poll results, three or four or even more every day. If a candidate so much as hiccups you produce a new poll supposedly explaining how this will affect the voting decision for some obscure section of the electorate.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

So what if your latest poll shows that 3.28% of red-headed step-children registered as independents and living in the three westernmost counties of South Carolina are still undecided?

I DON'T CARE!

I am very patient, and happily willing to wait until election night to find out all these exciting things. So please go someplace else. Maybe in Finland, or China or perhaps in southern Tasmania the natives might be interested in such drivel. So do us all a favor. Go there!

A Travesty

There seems to be a common thread in the news concerning any major university. It goes like this:

University cuts faculty and staff.

Programs eliminated or drastically curtailed.

Tuition increased.

Football coach gets a million dollar raise.

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that there is a major problem here. The regents have collectively lost their ever-loving minds!

Maybe it is time we got our priorities straight.

More Dingbat idiocy

The Head Dingbat has now proposed another example of sheer idiocy. The Gingrich wants Congress (presumably he means the House) to have the power to subpoena so-called "activists" judges to appear before Congress where they would be forced to explain their rulings in certain cases.

I don't know about you but this sounds like a Star Chamber proceeding to me. Somebody needs to take The Gingrich aside and explain to him about the Constitution.

Of course the reasoning behind the judges' rulings are contained in their written opinions. Maybe the Dingbats don't read too well? Maybe they don't understand the legal terminology and want it explained in more simple terms? Maybe they just want more time before the TV cameras?

Such a proposal could have merit, IF it included one other provision. The Federal Courts should have the power to subpoena Congress, or members thereof, to explain why they passed some totally stupid legislation, or why they caved in to pressure from lobbyists, or just why they have failed to perform their elected duties.

Our Constitution provides for three separate but equal branches of government. What is fair for one should be equally fair for another.

Go Green

Go GREEN---recycle Congress.

That’s the latest quip floating around on Facebook. But, really thinking about it, this might well be good advice. Since our present Congress has repeatedly demonstrated that they are incapable of performing their duties, maybe it is time to replace them. Were this a business, and we had hired a crew to perform some tasks, and they proved incompetent or venal or just plain stupid, we would fire them and go look for replacements.

Of course there is a down side to this. What might we get as replacements? When we were discussing local elections, my old Daddy gave me some sound advice. He said “Boy, always vote for the incumbent. He has already stolen all he’s going to get. A replacement would have to start fresh, and it would cost more in the long run.” What we might get as replacements could be a major disappointment.

I am constantly amazed at some of the statements coming from the dingbats. Now they are attributing “mystical powers” to President Obama. Just recently I heard another reference to “Obama’s Afghanistan War.” I was around at the time, and I’m sure that war started in 2002, long before he was elected. I have also seen references to “Obama’s TARP Program” you know, the one that was started during the last year of the Bush Administration. Any President with the powers to do things like that even before he is elected is one we probably should keep. Those sorts of powers might come in handy.

Just today I heard the ultimate in Dingbat mendacity. This came from the Romney campaign, which I thought would have had more class. They took an excerpt from a speech by President Obama in 2008, where he was quoting a statement by an aide to Senator McCain. They very conveniently omitted that part of the speech where President Obama stated he was quoting the aide, to make it appear that this was a factual statement by the president. Now that is the epitome of low-class dirty politics. The idiots should have known the media would check this out and expose their perfidy. They don’t care! There are lots of people out there who will believe this sort of lie. Heaven help us if the Dingbats get in power!

Science is not a Liberal conspiracy.