Category Archives: Rants & Raves

FiveThirtyEight: Size Matters; So Do Lies

Apparently the Quislings are proudly stating that two million racists and traitors showed up in DC yesterday to spread sedition.

They lie, as they do with everything else.

According to the DC Fire Department, only 60 to 70,000 showed up. Read more here and here on the hate and lies they tried to spread.

Incidentally, the teabaggers swear ABC reported 1.5 million traitors, which is also a lie.

Here’s David Axelrod doing a very good job of not saying these idiots are full of it. Incidentally, Bob Schieffer really IS turning into a conservative douchebag of late:

‘You Lie:’ Joe Wilson outburst sets bad example for kids – Parental Guidance – Amber Watson-Tardiff – NJ.com

I like this article. It sets the right tone and focuses on the effect that GOP anger and disrespect will eventually have on our nation’s children.

We don’t have to agree with everything we are told. That’s the beauty of living in a free country and being allowed to express our own opinions in a public forum. But there is such a thing as respect and civility-which was something severely lacking Wednesday night as this “authority figure” lashed out in the middle of the President’s speech.

I would have left that article happy that someone is thinking like an adult.

And then you read the comments and realize that we have way too many odious and filthy hatemongers left in this country. I would hope they aren’t raising children in their own image, but that would probably be too much to ask for.

Swine Flu Threatens French Tradition, Kissing : NPR

I heard this a couple days ago. Basically the French are banning la bise or the air kiss due to concerns over the swine flu.

Just like Bush and Cheney being allowed to kill our civil liberties for fear of terrorist under our beds, this smells wrong. French are known for this greeting and I can’t see how this would prevent more than a few cases from popping up.

That said, I doubt that you’d be able to stop people from following both tradition and conditioning in time. Either way, let’s hope the greeting survives the flu season.

Major General Paul D. Eaton: Breach of Discipline

Here is a fantastic take on the Rep. Joe Wilson and his odious behavior. Unlike most conservative chickenhawks, Wilson actually wore the uniform and learned proper deference to his chain of command.

His behavior last night is not just a failure of his character or his party. It is an affront to the men and women who trained him better and to those who continue to serve our nation.

Lord knows what they might do to him if he were still a reservist. He would deserve whatever he got though.

Obama Stresses Responsibility In School Pep Talk : NPR

Look ma, no socialism! Which, frankly, is a damned shame given that the kids who were denied access to the speech – either by their Talibangelical parents or their asswad school administrators – probably need an alternative to the cult society being taught to them at home.

I love some of these NPR comments and wanted to share:

olds sleeper (gizzardwriter) wrote:

i am a high school teacher in a rural area in the northeast, and listened to the speech via npr while eating my lunch in my room. Apparently, a lot of parents did not want their kids to hear such heinous material…no problem here, Im gonna bootleg it and sell the kids the poison their parents are denying them…imagine, throngs of scary teens, huddled in dark corners listening covertly to the message ….stay in school, work hard, be american…wow, how radical.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009 1:59:38 PM

This one really hits it on the head:

Sam Pepper (SamT66) wrote:

In the past I don’t remember anyone ever questioning whether their child would watch a speech by the president. Why are we doing so now? What is the point? My family values are not in line with everything my children are exposed to in public school, including other children. I don’t always agree with a teacher’s ideaology that he or she shares off cuff in the classroom. Sometimes I confront these issues, sometimes not. It’s part of life. I think it’s much better to take what I don’t agree with and use it as an entry point for constructive dialogue with my kids. I want them to be strong, self-aware, and sure when they reach adulthood … not overly sheltered and afraid to face anyone or anything that is different from them. Strength is in knowing who you are. In order to get there, you have to think, dig deep and yes, listen to the views of others. I agree with Zeke – this is scary. And ironically, it’s the people who are so afraid of the “socialist agenda” who are instigating the problem. They will create the very society they fear.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009 1:52:34 PM

I have provided a helpful link to the White House’s copy of the speech plus the video. Enjoy.

Personally, I think these morons trying to denigrate the office of the President are waaaay off base. This isn’t about respecting the office and having issues with the occupant. This goes deeper. This is about citizens denying their kids access to helpful words from the President of the United States. This is about publicly funded schools playing politics. The former should be first in line for any draft to fight Bush’s Iraq War. The latter should be dead last in receiving federal funds. Either be Americans or pack your ass off to Texas and secede already.

Aside from showing the Rethugs blatant racism and stupidity, maybe this was what they were worried about?

Could Texas’ Gingrich-Based High School History Curriculum Go National? | TPMMuckraker

Ah, here we go.

THIS is why the racists and thugs don’t want America’s children to hear the President speak. They are too busy trying to subvert the content of schoolbooks to teach kids how to be hate-filled bigots and racists to have to explain how an articulate black man can lead this nation. It would be contrary to everything written in the new Mein Kampf Lite primers they are trying to get approved.

Matt Osborne: Glenn Beck’s Two Week Video Mystery Solved

This really disturbs me. As a child, I was raised to have respect for presidents. As a parent, I enforced respect for the office on my own child even in the worst years of the Bush administration.

But now that a black man holds the office, tinfoil-hat lunatics say children should not learn to respect presidents, nor should presidents encourage them to succeed. It’s an incredible hypocrisy.

Yeah, that’s right folks. Glenn Beck and his Legion of Mouth Breathers fear that armed mobs of step dancers will take the country from them.

This guy gets on the TV and radio and whispers treason and his greatest fear are dancing black teenagers who want to be doctors and lawyers.

Actually, given the inherent racism of the GOP, minority professionals probably ARE their biggest fear.

The Wing-Nut Code: What Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin Are Really Saying to Their Followers | Politics | AlterNet

This article does a great job of tying all the angry, hate-filled terrorists together under one anti-American umbrella.

Basically, half of these folks probably couldn’t agree on anything more than they loathe compromise and are livid that this nation elected a black man to be their leader.

That, and that the world is flat and the moon is made of green cheese.