The Party

A friend of mine asked me why I thought Rick Santorum is a possible front runner in the GOP race for the nomination. He doesn't seem like a viable candidate, he opined, as Santorum is a big government conservative, says a bunch of crazy things, and is comfortable with lying about facts. The question gave me some pause, but I truly think while all he said about Santorum was true, he's an accurate reflection of the Republican base sadly.

Now that's a sweeping generalization I know, but take a look at the Tea Party movement, one that has vilified the current President as a Kenyan socialist Muslim who wants to put granny in front of a death panel while he steals your money and gives it to crack addicted minority mothers. Sure they say at their core they only want limited government and less taxes, but that's laughably false. Take a look at the stupid, grammatically deficient signs they carry at their rallies comparing Obama to Hitler and other assorted nonsense. They only see the President as the moral equivalent of Pol-Pot, and they'll smudge any facts to make you believe as they do. They're like the Alex Jones of politics.

This brings me back to Santorum, who backed all of Bush's radical spending, thinks of himself as a Churchill fighting the Third Reich, distorts all kinds of facts when it comes to social issues, and since unemployment is down and the market is up, can only talk about issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and many other issues the majority of Americans disagree with him on.

Whether he believes in such silly things such as Satan taking over American politics remains to be seen, but I truly think Santorum knows what he's doing in this primary. He's gathering a base who thinks of themselves as the oppressed masses, who should go to Liberia and really experience true oppression, and this might win him the nomination. It won't, thankfully, win him the Presidency.

I would gladly wave the flag of the GOP if they took similar politics to that of Teddy Roosevelt, but now, they're modeling themselves after a version of Reagan that never existed. So anyone, like myself, who's disappointed in the Obama administration has nowhere to go. Thank you, you bunch of Larry the Cable Guy loving fucktards.

"Ronald Reagan did that. He called the Soviet Union an evil empire and the media went wild. How dare you describe terms like good and evil to regimes? Because Ronald Reagan told the truth, he didn’t sugarcoat it,” - Rick Santorum

It's important for the economy.

Since the Tea Party entered the scene we haven't seen such jackassery in our national politics than since the Dixiecrat nonsense. Every two weeks or so a new story comes out about a Tea Party member being all Tea Partiery and one is left to scratch their head thinking why anyone gives them any attention, support, or credit for being a functional literate citizen.

 Tea Parties the country over have made a concerted effort to try and change the history books to make our nation's forefathers and Confederate traitors look like the moral equivalent of Pa Ingalls. Today a mental midget from the Tennessee Tea Party explained why they are promoting revisionist history in favor of glamorizing long dead people. Here is a direct quote from Tea Party activist Brian Rieck: "Slavery is of course portrayed in the textbooks nowadays I'm sure as a totally negative thing. Had there not been slavery in the south, the economy would've fallen."

This happened. This is how the Tea Party thinks. And for those who say Mr Rieck doesn't speak for the entire Tea Party, well that may be true, but I'll be damn to think this quote isn't shared by the majority of people who took to activism the minute Obama was elected in an effort to "take their country back." It's funny how so many Tea Parties keep saying they're only about smaller government and less taxes, yet they're trying to use government entities to fictionalize textbooks. The Tea Party care nothing for smaller government, hell they would welcome a dictator if that person promised to rule by the laws of Deuteronomy.

Yeah, so fuck the Tea Party. Seriously, anyone who thinks that slavery shouldn't be portrayed in a negative light can go to hell, or Yakima, WA.

"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him." - Ephesians 6:5-9

Help stop SOPA.

Well the internet has unleashed the dogs out on SOPA, because it has nothing better to do than protect the world's favorite time waster. Still SOPA is a piece of crap bill that does little, but to harm free speech and unecissarily put businesses and writers at risk for simply linking to a site that may have copyrighted content. I agree that copyright enforcement is paramount to promoting creativity, but this bill reaches beyond that and would punish the people it claims to protect. I urge you all to sign every petition you see today and write your congressman urging them to vote against this.

And to those webmasters who are going black to protest this, well enjoy your day off!

We actively support it.

Today we celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr Martin Luther King. We do this as we wear clothes made by child slaves, use machines that destroy the environment, and consume services and products delivered by the oppressed world wide. I'm sure he'd be proud.

While there are many good lessons to be learned by King's work, we often fail to remember them. During the later years of his activism, King spoke about how we'll never gain true racial equality until we strive for economic equality, something we'll never do, nor even want it seems.

Slavery still exists here in the US. We see underground brothels here in the US where women are forced to give sexual favors for those who can't seem to want to get some action through legitimate means. Children are traded amongst those who have no right to breath oxygen, and yet we have no leader attempting to change these horrible practices.

If Martin Luther King Jr taught us anything, is that people are empowered to change our political and moral landscape. Anyone can be a leader to help stop the things that plague us, but yet none of us attempt do so. I'm afraid the dream may have died with him, sadly.

Still, we should never forget what one man can do to make the world a better place, and that's why today I give thanks for the man who's shown so many how righteous actions can provide a better landscape for many.

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

The history of personhood.

There's been a lot of discussion regarding the idea that corporations should be considered people in the eyes of the state. What's funny about this is that most media sources cite the fairly recent Citizens United as setting the precedence for companies having the same rights as an individual. Oddly enough that was not where this idea started, nor ended obviously. It goes back as far as the early days of the Republic, but Citizens United was the first case of this issue that the Supreme Court specifically cited First Amendment protection, at least that I'm aware of.

Now it's popular to think of corporations as run by people who bathe in the blood of Japanese virgins, but the question remains, should we abolish person hood protections for them? Should the government be able to search and seize their property without a warrant? Should the government be able to regulate their business structure, including prices for good and services? Should they not be able to endorse a candidate they want elected, just because they're wealthy?

Let's just say corporations no longer have the right to endorse a candidate, couldn't a shareholder, or a group of them, do so on their own accord? I know that sounds fatalist, but if powerful people want a candidate elected, they can just simply write the checks from their own bank account and not from the assets of the company they partially own. What will really change if the Supreme Court changes their mind? If you're a shareholder should you be barred from giving to a campaign individually?

There aren't any easy answers to this complicated issue, and since it's in the court's hands there won't be any compromise, unless the public demands a new amendment that outlines clearly how a corporation should be viewed by the Federal Government, but this will never happen, because we're lazy and love the luxuries big business gives us, damage to the Republic's soul be damned.

"One of the fundamental necessities in a representative government such as ours is to make certain that the men to whom the people delegate their power shall serve the people by whom they are elected, and not the special interests. I believe that every national officer, elected or appointed, should be forbidden to perform any service or receive any compensation, directly or indirectly, from interstate corporations; and a similar provision could not fail to be useful
within the States." – Theodore Roosevelt

Conspircay theorists, this is your champion.

There was a brief time I liked Jesse Ventura. He seemed like a rare straight shooter in politics, even if he was a bit incompetent. After he left the governor's office of Minnesota he decided to jump the crazy train and entertain viewers and spread fear with all sorts of nutty conspiracy theories that make about as much sense as why I like to read Hawthorne naked in a on the hood of my car...uhh...

Anyways Jesse Ventura would have you believe that if you don't think the government orchestrated 9/11 that you'll let "the man" implant listening devices in your reproductive organs and you'll become an informant for the police of those who are unpatriotic. It's horse shit, but there's a market for it and he's exploited people's fears all the way to the bank.

Lately a Marine sniper, who reportedly has the most confirmed sniper kills in US history, got into a spat with the former pro-wrestler. According to the sniper, Jesse showed up at a wake for a fellow Seal and started bad mouthing the war, which was highly inappropriate, especially considering he was so upset at the memorial service turned political rally in Minnesota a few years back.

According to the sniper's account, Jesse took things a bit further and said some of the seals deserve to be lost and were murders of innocents. Chris Kyle, the sniper, punched him in the face.

Did it actually happen? Who knows. I don't normally condone violence, but in this case Jesse got what was coming to him. To bring your politics to a wake is unforgivable and you deserve getting your saggy geriatric ass handed to you.

"I speak my mind. If it offends some people, well, there's not much I can do about that. But I'm going to be honest. I'm going to continue to speak my mind, and that's who I am." - Jesse Ventura

Traveling to North Korea.

As I've written about before, I'm largely ignorant of North Korea. Granted this is largely due to the fact that they're isolationists of the highest order and rarely is western media allowed into the country, but still outside of the revolution and the Korean War (Police Action) I have a hard time even remembering the name for the country's founder. Most communist revolutionaries come to mind rather quickly (Pol-Pot, Castro, Lenin, and Mao), but the glorious founder of North (Best) Korea is largely absent from the Western collective concious.

Now that Kim Jon Il's is dead, and most of the world is happy to be rid of him, nations are anxious to see how their foreign policy will change, if any. After watching the below documentary, I have my doubts that the country is even interested in becoming a better neighbor in the world community, much less South Korea. I highly recommend viewing it:







"All of North Korea is a jail." - Kim Y. Sam

Homefront may not be just a video game...

Kim Jong Il (not pictured here) is no longer ronery. Ok that was a cheap joke, but I'm kind of surprised about the mix feelings from the world community about his passing. China still considers the barbaric country a close friend, which I guess shouldn't be shocking. Russia seems to want to stay friendly with the regime that doesn't seem to mind seeing it's citizens starve or have basic human rights.

The west is less than kind to North Korea, or Kim Jong's memory. I'm kind of indifferent to his death. Sure he was a horrible leader and a terrible human being, but he was just incompetent enough to not be a threat to anyone, but his own countrymen. Now that he's gone, little will change probably. If I had any hope that North Korea could progress into a country seriously interested in peace for the region, then I might care, but there is none. The North Korean people seem to be under massive discipline and even through the oppression the government is their savior.

My friend Tad, aka Kim Yoon Sup, pictured above, should take his rightful place amongst his people.

"Overall relations between the North and the South have developed in favor of national reconciliation, unity and reunification." - Kim Jong Il

We're all doomed.

The politics behind global warming has intrigued me for the past few years. America seems to stand alone in the global community with it's stubborn insistence that climate change isn't real, much less caused my pollution at the hands of it's own citizenry. I'm not exactly sure why the US is so opposed to it. Well I can speculate.

Of course Republican politicians don't want to buy into the science as they would have to admit the EPA is a good thing, causing their largest donors to have a coronary. The Christians hate the idea of the world choking on it's own excesses as that would mean Armageddon came from something other than a battle between Christ and Satan on some field in Palestine. Americans' fear science as they love conspiracies and are really uneducated about the scientific process, but can recite each character from Jersey Shore on cue.

Our president promised that we'd cut carbon emissions in half by 2025, but that was ambitious at best. To pass any serious climate change bill through Congress would be laughable if it weren't pathetic. The Tea Party Republicans would filibuster it at all costs, because freedom to pollute is paramount to a strong Republic.

The Kyoto protocols are up for renewal, and our country, along with China, won't be signing it again. Strange company we keep.

"Kyoto was a flawed process. There isn't one industrialized country around the world that has ratified that treaty, and so that is a non-starter." - Andrew Card

Ahead Of Climate Talks, U.S. Leadership In Question

Why I support the OWS movement.

Yesterday a friend of mine asked me if I support the OWS movement. I paused, thinking that really I have done nothing to give the protestors any kind of assistance. I haven't driven down to downtown Dallas to join their ranks, nor have I passed out food or anything of value. I would probably be unwelcome at any of their events anyways as drum circles make me violent.

Still I support the idea of protestors excersizing their rights to battle corporate corruption infiltrating our republic. In many ways they're like the Tea Party, except I haven't seen the rampant racism and general ignorance that their conservative bretheren have displayed with misspelled signs that spread mis-information and nutty conspiracies. Both have a lot of the same goals while their methods of acheiving it vary greatly.

People claim to be confused about the OWS message, but I can't understand why anyone with internet connection who spends maybe an hour consuming news can claim this. Sure there may not be one unifing message, which is fine considering the movement seems diverse. The tea party are a bunch of pissed off white people who think Obama is a socialist, Kenyan, and practicing muslim, so it's no surprise the partiers have a coherent thought process, insane as it may be.

Still I hear a lot of people bitching about OWS and I'm not sure why. I mean should we hold so much resement for folks so willing to excersize their constitutional right?

"Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters." - Victor Hugo

Another politician that sucks (shocking I know).

Some politicians would rather see the country be destroyed than admit the opposition was correct, and this can't be better illustrated than the recent behavior of the GOP. With their championing the insurance industry during the health care debate, even hinting that granny may face a death panel, and their opposition to any sort of financial bill that may have any success and help Americans keep their jobs, the Republicans cannot conceed defeat to an uppity Democrat.

Now this is nothing new. It's been the politics as usual since voting was made available to the public so long ago. The other day on member of the party of Lincoln sank to a new low, he denied businesses tax credits for hiring a veteran, because it's a trick of the Democrats. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina was really oposed to seeing Democrats use a tax break to appeal to business and veterans, so he thought maybe swinging their votes his way was to deny them a better chance at employment.

So while this stupid Congress reminds us of things we already know, such as the fact that 'Under God' exists in the pledge of allegiance, they actually do something useful for once. Yes instead of spending three days debating the name of a federal building they wanted to do something nobel and help veterans find employment that they may deserve. Not such luck with Senator DeMint, who stood alone. Why South Carolina residents haven't demanded a recall of that jackass yet is anyone's guess.

"I know what I'm about to discuss won't be very popular. I'll probably be accused of not supporting veterans by the politicians pandering for their votes, but I'm not going to be intimidated to vote for something that may make sense politically but is inherently unfair." - Jim DeMint.

Jim DeMint: Veterans Hiring Bill Is A Democratic 'Trick'

I know there's a joke about not understanding this, but I refuse to say it

I sometimes fancy myself well versed in current events, but I'll humbly admit as awesome as I am at everything, I have no friggin clue what the hell is wrong with Greece. I remember the day when the Euro first came upon us, and a new enlightened economic age was sweeping the small continent, but as Europe does, they find a way to screw it all up. I would've expected such behavior from the Germans, as they're German, or the friggin Irish, but not Greece. Alas the country's economic inequality and deficit spending finally caught up with them and they're ready to take down the Euro and the rest of the continent with them.

So here we are, with a small country holding the world markets hostage, and today they're trying to pass their own spending referendum in spite of what the rest of the global leaders want. The region that invented democracy will use it to kill all of us while they sit around in togas and drink meade and take part as extras in a play laced with boy loving themes.

Bush would've invaded them long before this ever happened, pre-emptive economic strike or some shit. The Guns of Navarone were weapons of mass destruction after all. And we all know what happens when a European power goes into econmic turmoil and nationalism becomes the rallying cry for the populace.

"In Greece wise men speak and fools decide." - George Santayana

Wiwille on the mount

We're all aware of Mt Rushmore, the amazing sculpture that honors four Presidents. Today is it's 70th birthday, and some conservatives don't feel it's finished. While that's partially correct as the sculptor died before finishing Washington's waistcoat and Lincoln's arms, some are calling for Reagan to be included there was well.

I've written before how I don't understand the Republican love for a President who hasn't stood the test of history, but alas. We could just leave well enough alone as we already desecreated the Lakota's sacred mountain, but really, why put Reagan of all people? Why not Eisenhower or FDR? Or hell Polk?

I think they should put my likeness on their, but they didn't ask me, but if they put Reagan up there, I'll blast it so help me. How about saving the tax dollars it would take to put that simpleton up there and use it to teach children who these people actually were. And you know what using tax dollars to promote art is? That's right, socialism. And you know who else uses government money to support ideolgical propoganda for their country's founders? That's right, The Soviet Union! Supporting Reagan on Mount Rushmore is supporting communism.

“Reagan was the most successful president of the 20th century. He took a country that was in economic collapse and military in retreat round the globe and turned it completely around.” - Grover Norquist, Reagan Legacy Project Chairman

Room for Another Bust at 70-Year-Old Mt. Rushmore?

Dave Ramsey is not a moron, but he plays one on the internet.

Sometimes you read something by an intelligent individual and wonder how they can come to such idiotic conclusions. Such is the case with Dave Ramsey, noted financial guru and master of self promotion. Dave Ramsey tries to pick apart the Occupy Wall Street movement in a manner so moronic you think no one had proofread it before he decided to share such lunacy with the public. Here are a few examples of this ridiculous essay:

"The only problem is that I have no idea what their (OWS) demands and goals are. And neither does anyone else." So let me get this straight, you claim to not know what OWS stands for, but then you continue this dribble by picking apart a lot of what they stand for. Huh.

“No Government Bailouts!”
Banks and big companies should not receive taxpayer money for a bailout while their CEOs are making hundreds of millions of dollars. If that’s your gripe, then you’re protesting in the wrong location. Pack up and head to Washington, D.C., to deliver your message to the current administration. Why not protest at the source of the problem, such as the corporations who lobby for such ridiculous legislation? So all blame should lay at the feet of Obama, oh. Don’t get me wrong—I totally support a company’s freedom to pay their leaders well. I just don’t believe that I, as a taxpayer, should subsidize those huge salaries in the form of taxpayer bailouts. I pay my own team members; I don’t need to pay everyone else’s too.

By the way, you may be shocked to learn that the Tea Party agrees with you on this one—and so do I. No one is shocked to learn this...no one. I know it must make you feel better to educate us on things we already know, so take your bath filled with Reeses Peanut Butter cups after you're done riding your high horse.

“Down With Corporate Greed!”
Gordon Gekko was wrong. Greed is not good. Greed is bad—very bad. It’s a spiritual disease, and it is a disease that sadly affects a lot of companies across the country. If you believe a specific company is acting purely out of greed, then don’t just get mad—do something. They are doing something, bringing attention to the issue, or as you put it, spiritual disease. It may be too hippie-ish for your sensibilities, but they're taking action, such as unions did over a hundred years ago. Since you mention this, why not use the same point against your beloved Tea Party?

“Wall Street Is Evil!”
If you have this painted on a sign, well, now you just look ignorant. Wall Street is a street that people drive on. The New York Stock Exchange is a building where people exchange stocks in New York. This is the flea market of the financial world. Don’t turn Wall Street into some terrible monster attacking American citizens. It’s just a road with some buildings on it. You know exactly what they mean you condescending ass clown. Unless you read a sign denouncing Wall Street and suddenly were confused that the street itself was in need of construction, then that says more about you than the protesters. When someone says Washington D.C. is corrupt do you think they're talking about the foundation issues of the buildings? They don't look ignorant as they expect the American public to use common sense when it comes to common terminology, especially one used for over one hundred years, unlike your moronic writing.

Ramsey goes on to denounce wealth distribution and asks protesters to get work and love this land of opportunity. I'm not sure why he cares enough to write such dribble that basically says "when life hands you lemons...." and denounce a grass roots movement that doesn't spend their time holding racist images of our President and misspelled signs about socialism and the like. He understand populism and it's effects on the economy. He knows the OWS movement can be taken far more seriously than the Glenn Beck led Tea Party. Instead Ramsey and his ilk would like to belittle it by grasping at straws. Sure he makes some good points about wealth distribution and I do recommend reading it, but the thesis is weak. Yes of course I came across this nonsense because some of my Facebook friends decided to share such lunacy, because protesters who don't march against abortion scare them, and they tried, in vane, to seem smarter than they really are.

"But if you take all of that energy and excitement and pour it into something new and creative, you’ll get the chance to serve a whole lot of people really well, and over a decade or two, you’ll get to become the very thing you’re now protesting: rich people who actually earned their money." - Dave Ramsey

The Tea Party can suck it

I've never understood the mentality of the Tea Party movement, or their like minded brethren, but the numbers for the Republican front runners astonish me. Mitt Romney has performed above and beyond in all the debates, and yet his numbers are still sucking.

Why the Republicans think Perry, who makes Bush look like Henry Kissinger, could possibly partake in a battle of wits with the President is anyone's guess. His campaign has been doomed since he threw his hat in the ring. Bachmann is a joke, and it's becoming less funny every time she opens her mouth. I can't understand how anyone would take her seriously at this point. Cain is amusing at times, and seems like an outsider, but he's not one to be leader of the free world. Running a business doesn't necessarily mean he can run the armed forces. Santorum has no business running at all.

The main problem with Romney is that I wonder if Evangelicals would embrace a candidate who wears magic underwear. Also he's dull. Obama is nothing, but an exciting campaigner. Romney doesn't have the social conservative badge that'll make the Tea Party happy as Obama-care is similar to Romney-care, and Tea Partiers aren't known for the intellectual prowess anyways. They fear intelligence, which Romney has, especially when you consider the low curve the other Republican candidates have made.

I shudder to think if Romney does get the nomination who'll he'll pick as a running mate. If it's any of the morons now running it's Obama's election to lose, which I'm OK with.

"Yeah...god forbid you went to an ivy league school...funny how that is viewed as a negative now.." - Corey

The armed forces are fabulous.

A historic day was upon us this week as the Pentagon finally laid waste to the half assed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, allowing gay service men and women to serve openly. It was obvious when this compromise was first served that it was only a matter of time before gays would have the right to honor their country while not having to keep their sexuality a secret.

I had mixed emotions about arguing for gays openly serving in the military as I've never served, but no one could present me with a good argument that keeping them in the closet or having them dishonorably discharged was a good idea. In fact the same points opponents would make against homosexuals in the military were almost the exact same ones bigots would argue decades ago when African-Americans wanted the same opportunities as Caucasian soldiers. It seemed ridiculous to me to think that some one's sexuality would hinder their ability to make a good warrior.

It's difficult to make the comparison in the civil rights struggle with black and gays as race is something people can't hide, unless you're C Thomas Howell. Still I wonder if it'll take another couple of decades or so until homosexuals will have the right to marry, or in some states, even have sex legally.

I often wonder how my children will look back at this period in civil rights history. It will probably seem ridiculous to them.

"If you had told me 28 years ago that the largest organization in the world touching the lives of gays and lesbians would be a church, I would not have believed you." -Troy Perry

Statehood

Palestinian authorities are now fed up with peace talks with Israel and have now appealed directly to the UN in the hopes they'll finally get statehood recognition. This has to pain Obama to some degree. Granted the President has set a goal of seeing a two state solution come to fruition, but he always wanted Israel and the Palestinians to come to an agreement on borders and security themselves. Instead the UN will vote on how the land is distributed, which the US will likely veto.

If the US does veto the proposition, Obama angers the Arab speaking world and further isolates our country from those who wish to see this come to pass. If the US doesn't then Obama inflames Congress and his chances of re-election will grow even more narrow. Even if the vote comes before the General Assembly the US will likely vote against it anyways.

There's no winning politically for Obama in this situation. He knows that whatever happens in the UN that Israel and Palestine will be no closer to peace. There's no chance of them coming to an agreement anytime soon. We could see the spark of another large scale war between the parties, which will result in much of the same.

But Facebook changed their interface...is there no God?

"There can be no genuine resolution to the conflict without a sovereign, viable Palestinian state that accommodates Israelis' security requirements and the demographic realities." - Bill Clinton

'All Hell' Breaks Out in Palestine's Statehood Bid

They did it.

As everyone is fully aware, the tenth anniversary of 9/11 is soon upon us. I used to repost my feelings about the wretched day every year, but this time I'm going to do something different. I had originally planned to stick with tradition, but alas there are other issues that are on my mind.

The media is now playing tributes and documentaries about 9/11 almost 24x7. It feels strange to me that networks who care about nothing but ad revenue are seemingly exploiting the affair and reopening wounds that may seem old to some. I myself have yet to forget the anxiety and sadness I felt on that tragic day and I don't need some executives, who bath in the tears of pandas while dining on the flesh of doves, get richer because of this.

Maybe I'm being too cynical and those who broadcast such tributes have the best of intentions, but sadly I feel otherwise. Every time I see an advertisement of an upcoming show dedicated to 9/11 I cringe. I realize we shouldn't forget the horror that the world felt that day and we must be vigilant in our fight against terrorism, but does it need to be in such a seemingly exploitative manner?

When I think harder about it I realize history is a consumer product as any other and perhaps this is the best manner to teach the younger generation on how dangerous the world can be and how our body politic forever changed. There are many lessons to be learned from 9/11 and the equally horrific terror attacks before and since, and I guess this may be the appropriate, modern way to deliver that message.

My only wish is that the proceeds from these shows would go to the victims of 9/11.

"The blame for the 9/11 attacks lays squarely and exclusively with the Al-Qaeda network." - Kay Granger

Parent's political rants.

My neighborhood can be a diverse one. We have all manners of races represented, from Asian to Latino, from African-American to Caucasian, and any other ethnicity you can think of. The HOA sports homes from the middle class to the gated wealthy elite if you will. It should come as no surprise then that various politics, religions, and cultural norms differ amongst us.

The community has their own web site complete with a discussion board where people can post about their upper class problems. Usually it's littered with things like restaurant recommendations, missing pets, and reports of vandalism and other misdemeanors. A lot of it is amusing to read as seeing people get all worked up about white people problems never ceases to be interesting. I never knew how people parking their cars on the street was such a divisive issue until I moved there.

Yesterday an admin posted a topic about how annoying his father's politics are. Mostly he's disgruntled by the fact he gets numerous emails from him about how all Democrats are socialists and secretly want a Pol-Pot style of government. Some contain jokes that are less than politically correct and are never funny. His question to those who cared was how do we deal with political divides in our family.

My answer was to never engage in discourse with someone who takes politics personally and to just let it go. His politics may differ, but we all want a prosperous country, regardless of the methods. I'm lucky in the fact that even though my father and I disagree on a lot of things, we can hold a reasoned debate, possibly come to an agreement, and even if we still differ we hold no disrespect towards one another. I'm not that arrogant to believe that everyone must think like me in order to be a good person, even though I'm right about everything.

Still there are those I can't even begin to understand, such as those Tea Partiers who care less about democracy and really desire to establish a Christian theocracy. Then again they are fun to follow, sort of like watching animals at the zoo.

The thread took many twists and turns with people trying to theorize why it seems their Republicans friends and family fill their inboxes with all sorts of factually inaccurate nonsense about birtherism and the like, but don't see much from the other side of the aisle.

Then one person came up with this gem:

"As for someone's politics, just get them using Facebook, friend them, and then they'll post all matter of nonsense and assume you're reading it but you don't have to. Problem solved."

I have all manners of FB friends, both liberal and conservative, who for whatever reason feel the need to inundate my wall with news articles about things they feel I should know. Keeping with this culture of sound byte information, a lot of them have taken to write a sentence of two explaining their thoughts on the news item of the day. Most try to be witty and the majority of the time fail at doing so. This is why I love the Hide function, the perfect passive/aggressive way of not offending someone.

Now some friends do offer some pearls of wisdom, while most...well...don't. Still it gives those who feel the need to pontificate about issues they know little about a way to look smarter than they really are. Annoying to some as it may be, it's better than being flooded with emails about how Sarah Palin is a moron.

"For some reason, my liberal friends do not send out emails with bad jokes in them. Maybe because we have a Democrat in the White House." - A poster on the thread.

Stereotypes

In the wake of the tragedy in Norway strange thoughts entered my brain. When I first heard of the attack I felt the initial shock most experienced, but then I imagined a bugle being played at the Fox News headquarters. Right wingers the world over were wringing their hands with delight as the thought of a brown person wreaking havoc would be a perfect example to use when they denounce liberal immigration policies.

Then a sea of disappointment swept the Tea Partiers as it was revealed the terrorist was indeed a homegrown one and a fan of the same pundits they themselves blindly follow. They didn't have Islam to blame this tragedy and the....

...wait. Why has my opinion of the American right sunk so low? The image I conjured was an unfair characterization. There was no reason to think that way of people who genuinely want a better country for them and their families to live in.

Screw Glenn Beck. I blame him.

"I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words." - Glenn Beck