Saturday, August 7, 2010

Odd Bits - Weekend Edition

It’s been a great week in political What the Fuck!

First, I saw a CNN Poll that said that 41% of Republicans believe that Obama was definitely or probably born in another country. 

Sigh.  We’re still there?  I guess it just goes back to that “Opposing fact only hardens beliefs” post I did a couple weeks back.  How is the country supposed to get on with business if almost half the people believe an out and out, provable falsehood?

What the hell are they looking for?  I’ve seen the birth announcement in the local Hawaiian newspaper.  The State of Hawaii has released the common birth document that is made public for all such inquiries.  Hawaii is actually one of our states!  It says so right on the 2009 quarter.

These idiots won’t be satisfied with anything short of a personal declaration from the Lord Jesus himself.  But of course, He was a “foreigner” too, so I imagine no one will listen to Him either.  And if he comes here via Arizona, he’ll probably just get picked up and thrown in jail.  I wonder if they have any Aramaic translators in Arizona?

Ground Zero for Common Decency
Cassie from Sisters from Different Misters sent me a video clip from The Daily Show where Jon Stewart takes the House of Representatives to task for voting down a bill providing health car for sickened 9/11 First Responders.

Think about that.  Is there any possible reason that our country not be treating these heroes with anything they may need, after what they’ve done?

Apparently, there is, and they are the usual suspects:  money and politics.

You know how the Republicans have been shit-canning everything the Dems try to do, on the basis that it adds to the deficit?  Well, this bill is paid for.  So what’s the objection now?  They claim it raises taxes.

That would also make sense, if you were a Republican, except that as usual with them, it’s not true.  What the bill does is close a loophole that allows corporations doing business in America to avoid paying US taxes by maintaining offshore shell offices.

So in short, the Republicans booted this bill to protect their corporate benefactors, at the expense of the people that risked their lives and livelihoods by rushing to dig out a smoking pile of rubble and got seriously sick from it.

Nice.  This is the party that loves America, family values, the Lord, the flag and apple fucking pie (if you pay attention to their PR), and they’re basically waving their private parts at the firemen, policemen and construction workers that they use feature so prominently in their advertising, in the name of protecting the profits of the giant companies that make money here, hand over fist, but duck paying their taxes.
 
Even more disappointing to me is that the Democrats allowed it to happen, by using a parliamentary maneuver that made it require a 2/3 majority to pass the bill.  In return, they removed the option for the Republicans to add amendments that would be embarrassing to them.  This is where the “politics” comes in.

When the hell are they going to stand up and proclaim, “We’re not taking this shit anymore!  You fuck with this bill and we’re going to run the clip of you voting ‘no’ or attaching superfluous amendments every hour on the hour, come November.”

Watch the Jon Stewart clip… it’s classic.  He builds the case like a freakin’ District Attorney.  And if it doesn’t piss you right the hell off, you may be seriously lacking a soul.

And why, may I ask, has it been left up to the goddamned comedians to bring this stuff to light?  I never saw a single story on this in the paper, online, or on the news.  Something tells me that the politicians on both sides want this story to be buried even deeper than their integrity is.
 
Propping Up the Indefensible
At least the week wasn’t without some good news.  A federal judge overturned the noxious Proposition 8 referendum in California, which barred gay marriage. 

I love the fact that the judge did it with hard, cold facts and reason, boiling down the Prop 8 supporters’ argument to “it’s icky and my religion says it’s wrong,” which fortunately for the rest of us, is not the basis for the law of this land.

I spelled out my position on this issue last November, back when the citizens of Maine enacted a similar referendum, in that case, overturning a new law.  If you’re new here, you should click the link and check it out.  But suffice to say; I think gay people have every right to marry and be just as miserable as the rest of us.  Nothing they do in their bedroom or in front of a judge is going to diminish anyone else’s marriage or life.  People should stop worrying about what others are doing with their lives and maybe work on their own lots in life.  Maybe then they can do something about that 50% divorce rate.

When in doubt, mind your own fucking business.  That’s Bluz 3:17.

Type Cast
To end on a lighter note, near the end of the day, yesterday, my cube neighbor at work was telling one of my bosses about how I make her feel inferior, because all she can hear from me is the sound of my very rapid typing.

Later I told her not to feel so bad… what she doesn’t know is that half the clicks come from my feverish working of the backspace button.

23 comments:

Miley said...

Bravo!! *claps*

To be honest, if someone asked me if obama was born in another country, i'd probably say "who knows". I mean, what are we going to do, take him OUT of office?
I severely dislike his politics and I'm not a republican. I severely dislike the politics of most people honestly.
Let's stop doing things to make everyone HAPPY and start doing things that are RIGHT, regardless of whether or not some pissant over on the other corner won't VOTE for me the next time because I made him mad. At least I DID THE RIGHT THING.

And that is all I'm going to say about politics because I will start ranting.

Cassie said...

First of all, doesn't Stewart look like Abe Lincoln with that beard. I love John, but damn. Shave it off!

What bothers me most is that even the Dems were at fault here. I claim neither side - only in November when it comes time to vote. I mean, c'mon! A 2/3rds vote? They could be voting to keep Puppy Ownership legal in the US and they'd STILL get that shot down because those volitle Repubs and Dems can't get along regardless of the issue. So 2/3rds vote? Why? SO THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO ADDRESS THE POSSIBLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS THE HELPED AT GROUND ZERO.

A life is a fucking life. And they offered theirs no questions asked. I didn't see any person in the Senate offering their support to help out and clean up. They were just pissed that their office in the Pentagon smelled a little smoky.

Asses.

bluzdude said...

Woman,
Sadly, that's all that our Congressmen do any more... ensure that the other side never gets credit for doing anything, regardless of whether the country benefits, or even if they're for the issue in the first place.

Meanwhile, the country spirals right down the tubes.

Cassie,
Thanks again for bring that clip to my attention. I'm not one that blames the media for every little thing, but this is one time where it fits. This should have been a front page story.

Christy said...

I have always thought that our government needs major overhauls. It will take something serious to get that accomplished however. And I'm afraid it may never happen. I do not understand why there is no "logical" solution to any issue that comes up. The rest of us have to live within our means and we have to look at the logical solution in order to get past it. And as far as I am concerned, discrimination, in any form, is absolutely wrong. I think that's why I have such a hard time understanding the reluctance to let a Mosque be located there. How else do you ease tension if there is space between?

bluzdude said...

Christy,
It's like, back when we studied American history, we learned about the great compromises and foresight that led to the creation of our government system and establishment of our country. It's not like things were any more "unified" that they are now. There were issues and divisions. But they worked it out and overcame them.

I do not see anything like that ever happening again, with our current cultural makeup. And that makes me very sad.

Cassie said...

It seems everyone in congress cares about ONE THING and that's #1. There's some nice stadium seating awaiting them in hell.

bluzdude said...

Right.

#1 = getting re-elected. Then comes appeasing the big donors, then payback comes once they return to the public sector, when they can expect to sit on some boards and reap a pretty payday.

The stadium seating is too good for them.

Jennifer Juniper said...

Have you read Orson Scott Card's "Empire" series?? You should.

I get so tired of politics having to be black and white - I'm a christian and a patriot and very white middle class but that doesn't mean I can't be a democrat and being a democrat doesn't mean that I don't sometimes have conservative views.

Where are the moderates?? I know they're out there.

Cher Duncombe said...

Wow, Bluz, some awesome dialog going on here. I am with you in agreement on all the above. For the firemen at Ground Zero to get no treatment for health issues related to that catastrophe is unthinkable. And the Mosque? Why is it that people feel compelled to paint every religion with a broad brush? I can think of no better way to heal than to have a Mosque there in pain sight so that Americans can hopefully gain some much needed perspective.

@Jennifer Juniper: There is a quote from Dante that says, “The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crises maintain their neutrality.” Amen and Amen.

Bea said...

Sigh - the republicans (my husband included) make my head itch on the inside. We'll see what the supreme court has to say about Prop 8 - every time my husband says something snarky about it, I say, "How dare people want to be a family with someone they love! HOW. DARE. THEY."

And Jon Stewart is my hero.

Mary Ann said...

"...have a Mosque in pain sight..." What an appropriate slip. Perfect. Yes. I agree with askcherlock. And how many good Christian lawmakers voted down that bill to aid first responders.
Thanks for the Jon Stewrt clip. His rage is palpable even via this third or fourth hand replica on a tiny screen. Electric anger crackles.
Maybe we could persuade him to run for office. At least he would make us laugh on purpose.

Bachelor Girl said...

This is why The Guy hates politics and all politicians, regardless of their party affiliation: He says there's not an ounce of sincerity in a single one of them, and often, I agree.

I hope this does not mean that one day he's going to wake up, shout, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" and decide to run for office.

I'd be the worst First Lady in history.

bluzdude said...

Jennifer,

No, I haven’t read (or heard of) the Empire series.

The moderates seem to be the prize in this cultural and political tug of war.

I tend to identify myself as liberal, but in fact, it’s not that clear-cut.

I’m VERY liberal on social issues, more moderate to conservative on financial or economic issues. We ought to pay our bills, as a people and a country. We need a strong defense, but ought to be more selective on were and when we use our military.

I call myself “liberal” because it’s the social issue things that get me riled up… mostly the “get the government the heck out of everyone’s personal business” kinds of things. In other words, the presumption that a bunch of uptight middle class white people know best how me and my family should live, what we watch or listen to, or who we love.

That’s what gets me carrying a torch and pitchfork, as opposed to these pseudo-deficit hawks that only showed up once it wasn’t their guy doing the spending.

bluzdude said...

Cher,
“Why is it that people feel compelled to paint every religion with a broad brush? I can think of no better way to heal than to have a Mosque there in plain sight so that Americans can hopefully gain some much needed perspective.”

It’s easy to be black and white because it doesn’t require much thinking. You’re in or you’re out. You’re with us or against us. Simple solutions for simple minds.

It seems to me that a Mosque in this location is exactly what we need, because it’s only through the consensus of law abiding Muslims that the extremist members can be pushed out. (And the same goes for extremist of ALL the religions.)

Now I’ll be the first to say that I don’t know what “flavor” of Islam this mosque will promote. If they’re in there preaching against the Great American Satan, then I may be able to see the point of keeping them out, just as I’d keep out those Fred Phelps “God Hates Fags” wingnuts out in Kansas.

But it always comes back to having to take the good with the bad in this country. If there’s freedom of religion, then it has to be freedom for all religion. Mob mentality cannot be allowed to make public policy. That’s why this is America and not the Western Republic of the Anglican Church.

bluzdude said...

Bea,
It’s the Supreme Court that worries me. It’ll all come down to Kennedy. I’m hopeful that he will be swayed by the California judge’s decision, that seemed to be written expressly for him.

It’s a big risk, because if the Supremes come down in favor Prop 8, the other states that have passed gay marriage laws can see them get overturned. At that point, our country will have made it clear that we do, indeed, have state-sanctioned second-class citizens.

Mary Ann,
Good Christian lawmakers routinely vote down anything that doesn’t directly benefit good Christian lawmakers (and their sheep)

Cassie,
Just religious dogma, prejudice and the ick factor. We, as a people, seem to need to have someone to dump on.

bluzdude said...

Bachelor Girl,
I beg to differ... you would make a tremendous First Lady, and I'd give anything to attend one of your official teas.

Cassie said...

@Bea. I know, how freaking dare they! I mean, c'mon why do only men/women combos have to suffer? See exhibit A.) http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e01ae82c03/devin-glenn

I mean, if that's not true, then what the hell is?!?

I'm so glad Prop 8 got overturned...there's no reason for Gays to be treated any differently than "Straights." None at all.

Cassie said...

@Bea. I know, how freaking dare they! I mean, c'mon why do only men/women combos have to suffer?

I mean, if that's not true, then what the hell is?!?

I'm so glad Prop 8 got overturned...there's no reason for Gays to be treated any differently than "Straights." None at all.

(Bluz responded to this comment earlier, but it seems to have disappeared, so I'm reposting.

Miley said...

Jenn - you're methodist. That makes you a democrat honey. LOL!

I would just like to say that I get soooo pissed off every time I take a history class (like the one I'm in now) or watch the history channel (a lot) because all I see is how so-and-so did something and it probably wasn't the best idea...
AND THEN THE NEXT DAY OUR CONGRESS DOES THE EXACT. SAME. THING.

Anyone every heard of FDR's New Deal? Anyone ever hear of the reconstruction era? Doesn't anyone know ANYTHING about history?!

Anonymous said...

"Aramaic translators in Arizona" - hee hee :)

"Bluz 3:17" - Amen!

"Mob mentality cannot be allowed to make public policy." - God, isn't that the truth!

I've been thinking, ever since I started to really watch what's happening in politics (basically, since Obama came around), that our three-branch system of checks and balances in government kicks our asses more often than it saves them lately. Perhaps we need some "tweaking" to cut down on some of the red tape that's making progress of any sort so damn hard?

It's so frustrating to watch this type of thing happen so flippin' often. I'm glad we don't have a monarchy, and I'm glad we have fair representation and a (sort of) objective court ruling system, but so many of the rules and steps and twists and turns necessary to DO anything bog it all down.

I have no idea what would need to happen, but man, I wish it would! Maybe this tea-party crap will be a blessing in disguise in that we'll strengthen the other side to oppose them? Who knows.

Thanks for the Jon Stewart clip. Awesome. Rachel Maddow is pretty damn awesome at this type of commentary (and research - damn!), too. You are so right - this should've been front page news!

bluzdude said...

Cristy,
Glad you like Bluz 3:17. As you may recall, I've already written Bluz 3:16... "Anyone that claims to know the will of God is a fool or a con; if he asks for money, it's the latter."

I'm collecting the entire Canon of Bluz on the "Helpful Stuff" page.

I think the only way to pull the country back from the brink is to make elections publicly funded. I know that sounds like a lot of dough being flushed down the toilet, but something needs to be done about the influence of corporate money on elections and governing. Plus, our lawmakers might have time to be more creative in problem solving if they weren't always in campaign mode and being consumed with fund raising.

I'm probably going to have to pitch this idea in a post... but not tonight.

Still A. Fan said...

just as miserable as the rest of us....LOL

bluzdude said...

Fan,
I've been saying that for years... I thought I'd made it up. Then a couple weeks ago I saw an old Chris Rock HBO special and he said the exact same thing. I know I'd seen that special before so probably inadvertently stole it from him.

Still, it fits. No one gets to cherry pick... gotta take the good with the bad.