Sen. Rand Paul Stil Doesn't Understand What Plagiarism Means

Rand Paul, just one of many Tea Party heroes who have been proven
to be ignoramuses.  Image from source, Raw Story.

No, Senator (and boy does it pain me to call him that), you don't have to footnote speeches. What you can't do is give a speech that is plagiarized from another source, as though it is your own words! Seventh graders understand what the word means, know that it is wrong, and would expect an F-grade for doing it. That you can't a) own up to it, or b) even seem to understand what it means, tells me that you're really not ready for prime time.

[Excerpt]

Rand Paul wants to challenge ‘hacks’ like Maddow to a gunfight over plagiarism charge

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Sunday vowed to be more careful citing sources but insisted that a “dueling” gunfight against “hacks and haters” like MSNBC host Rachel Maddow, who uncovered his plagiarism of Wikipedia, would be the ultimate solution if it were legal. During a interview on Sunday, ABC host George Stephanopoulos asked Paul to explain charges that several of his speeches had used the exact language found in Wikipedia. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Halloween Horrors: Super Scary (and FULL of Lies) Hawaiian Ad Against Marriage Equality

Ordinarily, I'd put this under the banner of "The Gay Thing," but given the date, "Halloween Horrors" is more apt. This is an anti-gay marriage equality commercial, playing in Hawaii. The lies are piled up thick amid the scare tactics. It's so bad, and so obvious, I don't think it needs much rebuttal. But beneath the video, I've bullet-pointed some comments.
 

• "Homosexual" marriage will not affect your life unless you or someone you love is in one.
• The claim that the fight for marriage equality is "not about marriage at all" is untrue. As a married gay man, I'm in a position to know.
• The claim that this is a foot in the door to normalizing "all sorts of deviant behavior" has no basis whatsoever, and of course is left vague and spooky.
• "Terrible consequences will affect everyone and everything forever." Think about that for a second, after you stop laughing. Terrible consequences. For everyone and everything! FOREVER!!!
• Five-year-olds, if they are taught anything at all about same-sex marriage or gay people, will only be told that they exist. They will not receive back-issues of Inches.
• Churches will not be forced to marry anyone they don't want to, gay or straight. This one is a flat-out lie. Well, this is all untrue, but this particular one is a deliberate lie.
• Businesses open to the public are required (in Hawaii, and in many other states) to serve the public, be they black, white, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, gay or straight. A business owner has no right to require that their customers follow the business owner's religion. It's a preposterous definition of "religious freedom."
• What the hell is "bi-sexual" marriage?

The whole thing would be ridiculous to me if I hadn't listened to some live testimony from the hearing online. Wow, is there disinformation out there. Without fail, people against the marriage equality measure brought up God, Jesus, sacred this and holy that. I had to wonder if they think they were in a church. Some of it was horrifying in its ignorance and bigotry. Some was inadvertently hilarious. And it moved me to write this post. So, here are a couple more bullet points for the issue in general:

• I didn't choose my sexual orientation, and it isn't a "lifestyle."
• This is no longer hypothetical. Same-sex couples have been legally married in the US in various states for almost a decade now. I myself have been married five years. As far as I can tell, I haven't been leaving a trail of destruction in my wake!
• The fight is over civil marriage equality, not "holy matrimony." Churches have always had their own rules about who may marry within their respective religions. For the record though, some denominations will marry gay couples. All religious arguments against are quite simply irrelevant.

Meanwhile on Facebook: Romney's Confused Geography

There are moments in debates that require deciphering in the best case and spinning in the worst. Then there are other head-scratching moments that are just staggeringly ignorant. This was Mitt Romney's staggeringly ignorant moment:

SNL: The Undecided Voter

Bill Maher had a point about people who are still "undecided" being somewhat slow. The differences between the two candidates for president are very, very stark. Being "torn between" them is bizarre. I discussed this with my brother the other day, and we basically decided that some people have no "politics" section of their brains to speak of, similar to how my brother and I don't have "religion" or "sports" sections of ours.

Rachel Maddow: Rush Limbaugh Doesn't Understand How Contraceptives Work

Rachel Maddow proves Rush Limbaugh's ignorance/stupidity regarding birth control in this highly entertaining piece. And along the way, Rachel explains who Sandra Fluke is, what she wanted to say, and how this totally not about Limbaugh's take on "sluts." The meat of the story starts at about 4:30 in the video. Enjoy.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Michele Bachmann's Iran Gaffe

God, blowing Mrs. Bachmann a kiss. Image from ABC News.

I keep vacillating between thinking the 2012 GOP Presidential field is stupid, ignorant or crazy. I'm starting to think it's a combination of all three. Now, Michele "Crazy Eyes" Bachmann has flubbed in her supposed area of expertise, foreign policy. What a goober.

[Excerpt]


US Embassy in Iran? Michele Bachmann’s ‘Oops’ Moment

Did Michelle Bachmann have her “oops” moment?

In light of the British Foreign Ministry pulling all U.K. nationals out of the British embassy in Tehran after students stormed the building in protest, GOP presidential candidate Michelle Bachmann told a crowd in Waverly, Iowa, today that she would close the U.S. embassy in Iran. . .

Read more at: ABC News

Captain Obvious: Another Study Shows Ignorance of FOX "News" Viewers

What's it going to take to get people to turn off that ridiculous channel? Scratch that, it's pointless to try. I spent a long time arguing on Facebook with one of FOX "News"'s target audience members over gay marriage, religion and theocracy. Needless to say, it was like banging my head into a wall. There is an impenetrable bubble these folks live in that will never be breached.

[Excerpt]

Fox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Don't Watch Any News: Study 

The poll surveyed New Jersey residents about the uprisings in Egypt and the Middle East, and where they get their news sources. The study, which controlled for demographic factors like education and partisanship, found that "people who watch Fox News are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government" and "6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government" compared to those who watch no news. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Sarah Palin: Liar or Ignorant?

Ooh, ooooh! All of the above!  Heh. Excuse me.

[Excerpt]

Fact Checking Sarah Palin: Joe Barton Reflects The Philosophy Of Over 115 Republicans



When asked yesterday on ABC’s This Week about Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-TX) accusation that the White House engaged in a “shakedown” of BP, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel noted the remark was “not a political gaffe,” but rather a statement based on “prepared remarks.” He linked Barton’s comments to the GOP’s “larger philosophy,” saying it “is an approach to what they see. They see the aggrieved party here is BP, not the fisherman. And remember, this is not just one person.”



Conservative pundit Sarah Palin quickly blasted Emanuel’s comments on Twitter, calling them “shallow” and “irresponsible.” Parroting Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-SC) rant against Obama, Palin said “Rahm, u lie”. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Canadian Version of Daily Show Punks Sarah Palin

I found this at AmericaBlog, where Sarah Palin has been dubbed "stupid" for falling for this prank. Far be it for me to argue with my blogfather, John Aravosis, but this doesn't make her stupid. This makes her ignorant. But she's stupid too, so, po-tay-to/po-tah-to.

Barack Obama: Republicans Take Pride in Being Ignorant

WOO-HOO! Now that is the kind of statement I like to hear from my presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee! Sure, it's obvious, but how often does someone as prominent as Barack Obama say it out loud?

One thing I'm sick of when it comes to politics of late, is how people--conservatives in particular--glom onto a two or three word phrase, or an object, and then beat it to death. I'm speaking of flip flops, purple fingers, purple heart band aids, and the like. Right now it is tire pressure gauges, because Obama said that correct tire pressure saves gas--which it does.

Of course there is more to Obama's energy plan than that, but by waving their gauges, and repeating "tire pressure, tire pressure!" they're going to try to make you think otherwise. Don't fall for it.

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Obama Slaps Back on Tire Gauges

Speaking in Berera, Ohio, the Senator offers a strong defense of his comments about tire inflation being an effective conservation tool. Watch video above.

“They think it is funny that they are making fun of something that is actually true… It’s like these guys take pride in being ignorant.”

Source: Time

Yet Another Pledge of Allegience Flap

Photo from source, Raw Story

Oy. What's the deal with the Pledge of Allegiance, and its new "holy" status in this country, particularly among hardcore right-wingers? You would think that either Thomas Jefferson or Jesus himself wrote the thing. You'd also think anyone paid a bit of attention to it in the years between elementary school and somewhere around, oh, 2001.

Do yourself a favor if you don't know about it already. Read a little about this little poem. You'll be surprised to learn that it was originally created to sell flags, has been modified several times, and that "God" was nowhere in it until the 1950s.

[Excerpt]

Georgia Republican instructs House on proper Pledge of Allegiance technique

No pause between 'one nation under god,' lawmaker reminds

A freshman Georgia Republican wanted to stress the importance of divine oversight of the US as he saw it portrayed in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Leading the pledge on the House floor Monday, Rep. Paul Broun lectured others in the chamber about the "correct way" of saying the pledge. . .

Read more at: Raw Story