Our polarized, reality-show-lovin’ nation has managed to piss off our northern neighbors.

Well, at least one of them. And he’s right on all counts.

If any of you in the future are still in a nation called the United States that provides basic freedoms to its citizens, then I congratulate you.

If all of those conditions do not apply, here is a pretty good spotlight on what we should have done instead of going down the crazy path we probably did instead.

I read The Beast awhile back and even assuming the worst in people, it was still a bit of a shock.

I keep going back to this essay. We haven’t fixed the problem. Not by a long shot.

This can’t happen fast enough.

Eventually – one hopes – we’d rather be smart than afraid.

I am glad we are in a nice house but I realize how very lucky we are. Years after the recession, even more years after we were supposed to reform housing laws – and yet.

Yes, the GOP really is this tone deaf and stupid.

I used to not like Wisconsin on general principles. It is what you did when you grew up in Illinois. The deer ate twigs and thus didn’t taste as good as our corn-fed whitetails.

But I know people from there. Decent folk. I have had a lot of fun there as well. And hell, they like beer and make cheese curds.

Then that Walker a-hole got elected and the place turned ugly. Really ugly. Demonizing teachers and finding new and dark ways to curtail democracy. Bad place. Glad I don’t live there. Turns out, where I *do* live now is held up as a good contrast against Wisconsin.

Here is the meatier NYTimes article.

I try to stay informed but you can’t know everything. The problem with this world we’ve got, however, is that folks who should know better, have stopped trying to know and just make things up. And the folks who trust their word? They probably already know that and just don’t care.

Have I posted this already? I don’t care, it’s awesome.