How President Obama Should Respond to John Boehner

When I heard John Boner Boehner throwing down the gauntlet to President Obama yesterday, saying, "This is a problem of the president's own making," Boehner said. "He's been president for five and a half years. When is he going to take responsibility for something?" I shouted back at the radio, "Bitch, how long have you been in Congress?" I mean seriously, the the guy has been in leadership since 2007! What has he done? Moreover, for a man who is suing the President over executive orders, what's he asking for there? More executive action! He's a drunken tool.

Damn straight. Image found on Twitter, with no attribution.

 

Are You Ready for Sharknado 2?

Sharknado 2: The Second One is coming! Are you ready?

 

Open Carry Man (A Rocky Mountain Mike Song Parody)

I missed this nugget from a few days ago, Rocky Mountain Mike's tribute to the (not crazy!) open carry brigade. To the tune of Donovan's Hurdy Gurdy Man. Thanks, Mike!

To hear much more from Rocky Mountain Mike, click here.
 

Rachel Maddow on Watch What Happens Live

Auto Con Bot 3000 (A Rocky Mountain Mike Ad Parody)

What can you do when that right-wing, FOX "News"-watching, Sarah Palin-worshipping, Rush Limbaugh-listening co-worker or relative isn't around? Why, get the AutoConBot 3000, of course! Thanks, Rocky Mountain Mike!

Find more of Rocky Mountain Mike's fantastic parodies here.
 

Right Wing World: "Obama's Katrina"

 

[Hey, look, it's a Right Wing World trilogy! Moving on to other subjects after this, promise.]

It's interesting, with all of the disastrous things that happened during the George W. Bush administration, that it's Hurricane Katrina that gets called out the most. I guess it did sort of put a button on it, in a way. At the time, there was a lot of poo-pooing of liberal complaints about Katrina, of course. But it's almost universally acknowledged to have been a dark part of the Bush era. And ever since President Obama was inaugurated, Right Wing World has been trying to affix "Obama's Katrina" to virtually everything.

Remember when they used to stage photo ops for everything? This
image was intentionally presented as one, but came to be remembered
for the detachment of Bush during Katrina.

What kinds of things? Well, a) Healthcare.gov, b) Hurricane Sandy, c) BP Oil Spill, d) H1N1 flu vaccine shortage, e) Ft. Hood shootings, f) Haiti earthquake, g) Christmas Day Underwear Bomber, h) Chicago housing policies, i) the financial crisis that Bush left him, and--wait for it--j) Benghazi!!! And now, it's the children immigrant problem. All Katrinas. Apparently.

[Excerpt]

Media Consecrate Their Latest "Obama's Katrina": Unaccompanied Minors Edition

Right-wing and even mainstream media have eagerly pushed the suggestion that the recent increase in unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is "Obama's Katrina" -- an inane comparison that repeatedly surfaces inside the conservative media echo chamber. . .

Read more at: Media Matters

Right Wing World: Outrage at Costco!

I get outraged every time I go to Sam's Club, and walk through the book aisle. Okay, not outraged, more like irked. Sam's has a very large selection conservative and religious (Christian, naturally) books, when you consider that they really don't carry all that many books in the first place. It's a high percentage Occasionally, you might see Hillary Clinton peeking out from the shelves, but more likely, it's Bill O'Reilly, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, or any of an assortment of treacly, preachy books.

I shop at Sam's more than Costco, simply because it's much closer to my house. But I prefer Costco in almost every regard, except for its placement on the map, and the fact that they don't carry pepperoni (essential on the Atkins diet, for me anyway). Costco's Kirkland brand is head and shoulders above Sam's Choice. And while they might carry some of those right-wing books--as evidenced by the excerpted story below--they don't overwhelm in the same way.

So, I've got to say, if Right Wing World intends to boycott Costco, I say go for it. It might be easier for me to get into and out of the place on one of those Sundays where I schedule my errands out that way!

[Excerpt]

Costco Pulls Dinesh D’Souza’s D’Book From Shelves Over Poor Sales, Replaces With Wrath Of The Wingnuts
 
Where oh where will the wingnuts of the near future go for deals on grosses of “World’s Greatest Grandma” t-shirts and barrel-sized containers of Twizzlers? Certainly not Costco, which is the newest and shiniest focus of right-wing rage after the warehouse retailer made the decision to pull Dinesh D’Souza’s latest book from its shelves. Costco claims this was part of its ordinary monthly rotation of stock – the book was released on June 2 but did not meet a certain sales threshold, moving only 3600 copies in four weeks, so the company pulled it to make room for something else. Which is JUST WHAT THEY WOULD SAY. . .

Read more at: Wonkette

Right Wing World: Sarah Palin Advocates Impeachment

You know, because when it comes to matters as serious as the impeachment of the President of the United States, I always look to half-term, half-wit governors from states with a population that is dwarfed by 17 US cities. I'm aware that I should ignore this shrill, past-her-prime mean girl, as attention (and money) is what she thrives on. But as long as Right Wing World looks to this clueless twit as some sort of political guru [get better heroes!], she's not going away. And when she stirs up shit, it tends to splatter around.

So, Palin adds her endorsement of the idea of impeachment. Someone will have to explain to her that it doesn't involve actual peaches, I suppose. Her reasoning seems sort of screwy to me. But we know from the Bill Clinton impeachment that the right will use absolutely anything as a reason. It's not so much an impeachment for a specific reason, but one just for the sake of it. Just like last time. But last time, it just made Clinton more popular, set his wife on a wave of sympathy and congratulations, and probably lead to the upcoming candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

But, I'm telling you. When Nancy Pelosi said, "impeachment is off the table," in regard to George W. Bush, the right should have taken that great gift, and returned the favor. Because if any president deserved impeachment, it was Dubya.

Image from source, NewsCorpse

[Excerpt]

Impeachment Fever: America Rejected Sarah Palin, Now She Rejects America
 
The “Quitta From Wasilla” is making headlines again by displaying symptoms of acute Obama Derangement Syndrome. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP nominee for Vice-President, who was soundly rejected by American voters, is now calling for the impeachment of President Obama (again), who was elected twice with significant majorities. . .

Read more at: NewsCorpse

What Happens in Vegas: Climate Change Deniers Hold Conference

Here's something odd. On KXNT--the Rush Limbaugh/Sean Hannity station here in Las Vegas--I heard an ad for a conference taking place here. It sounded, at first, like a meeting of climate change scientists. But as the ad went on, it became clear that it was a gathering of climate change deniers. Makes sense, given the station I was listening to, even though it's more of a straight news channel in the early morning. Still, I thought, that's just weird. That they can gather enough scientists and "experts," to make up enough people for such an event.

I suspect that the bulk of the attendees are climate change deniers of the internet commando type, with the experts making up merely the panel of speakers. Finding out is difficult though. Because outside of the commercial I heard, I can't find much of anything on the conference except on arch-right-wing sites. What I did find is fairly thin on information. So, unless it's a rip-roaring success, don't expect to hear much about it outside of those sources, even after it's over.

Now, on a side note, I'd like to say that I don't understand climate change skeptics, and I don't understand how something rooted in science has become so overtly political. How can it be that if you're liberal, you believe the science, if you're conservative, you disbelieve it? I mean, I know that conservatives often disregard science in favor of ideology, but that doesn't mean I understand it. For one thing, I can't figure out what the motive would be, or how someone would accomplish lassoing virtually all climatologists (and related science professionals), and getting them all to agree to go along with a hoax.

One of the few bonuses of climate change is that Rush Limbaugh
lives in West Palm Beach, Florida. Image from  Big Think.

It smacks of the ridiculous notion of a "gay agenda," where 97% of gay people somehow agreed to make up a "lie" that being gay is not a choice. How? When? Who was the ringleader? How do they keep everyone in line? Maybe it helps that so many conservatives are fundamentalist Christians, who routinely go along without asking too many questions? I don't know. But beyond all that, I find it insane that people don't think that a couple hundred years of spewing pollution into the air and water couldn't possibly cause a problem. Anyone remember Lake Erie on fire? Have they seen the smog in china? Acid rain? And on and on. To dismiss that mankind could cause damage to the way the Earth operates is just short-sighted and bullheaded.

[Excerpt]

Climate change denial: skeptics gather in Las Vegas
 
As the Heartland Institute gets ready to organize a conference on climate change in Las Vegas from July 7 to 9 the focus once again has shifted to the fact whether the issue is a fact of a theory. Dubbed by many as “the biggest gathering of global warming skeptics in the world” all eyes are on the ninth International Conference on Climate Change. Moreover it has come in the background of the public opinion in America that strongly feels about the subject. . .

Read more at: Northern Voices Online

The Rude Pundit on the Consequences of the Hobby Lobby Decision

Lee Papa, The Rude Pundit

There are lots of things that have bugged me about the Supreme Court and some of their decisions over the last few years. One of the biggest bones of contention for me, is that the court doesn't seem to plan for "unintended consequences." Or intended consequences. Or any consequences. They often either don't seem to have considered what the decision before them could lead to, or don't care.

Remember when Justice Samuel Alito shot back "Not true," when President Obama mentioned possible consequences of the Citizens United ruling, during the State of the Union Address? Turns out, Obama was right on the money. That tells me, Alito didn't ponder where CU could lead, or didn't believe it would happen. Later, when SCOTUS took a knife to the Voting Rights Act, they indicated that racism was over, and that the part they carved out was unnecessary. Minutes later, affected states began enacting previously prohibited voting restrictions. Wrong again, SCOTUS.

Now, we've got a) corporate personhood, b) corporations with religious beliefs, c) beliefs that are not contingent on reality or science, d) laws that can be disregarded by corporations with "sincerely held beliefs" that are in conflict with those laws, e) corporations having religious beliefs that trump the employees' religious beliefs, and f) untold future claims of possibly presently uninvented religions, with unknown beliefs. And of course, there is the underlying disrespect for women that seems to hang over anything politically conservative. It's a freakin' mess.

But I've gone on too long here. I don't have the talent of Lee Papa, The Rude Pundit, who has put pixels to screen on this subject, with far more zest than I can give it. So read on. I'll run a link to Part II when it goes live.

[Excerpt]

Yes, Everything Is Worse Than It Seems (Part 1: Hobby Lobby, Science, and You)

. . .Think about how that willful disbelief in science can apply. If Cargill, a closely-held corporation, says that its church doesn't believe that climate change is human-made, does that mean it can ignore pollution mandate? Can Chick-fil-A claim that its owners' religion says that homosexuality is a learned behavior, not genetic trait so, fuck you, queers, go home? Just think of all the laws you can toss out if you have a religious belief that is total bullshit, but sincerely held. Koch Industries was just told, "Go nuts, motherfuckers. Have blood orgies to your mad gods and sacrifice virgins to the oil demons, if that's what you believe." Walmart can finally make lard a sacrament. . .

Read more at: The Rude Pundit

American Taliban?

There is a temptation on my part to let this imagery speak for itself, paste a link, and then leave it at that. But I don't want it to seem that I'm saying this is a 100% direct equivalence. The components of the images are pretty much identical: a weapon, a flag, and a holy book being held by a woman who looks pleased with herself.

I've already seen some commentary on Facebook that virtually shrieks that the woman on the right would be either a) beheaded or otherwise murdered were she to go against her faith, or b) outright behead or murder us. Graphic, right? People have some vivid imaginations. They also seem to see wholesomeness with the girl on the left, and danger in the girl on the right. And most of all, they'll complain that Christianity and Islam are not equivalent, in that Islam is inherently dangerous, and Christianity is not.

I'm not sure this holds up historically. I think atrocities have been committed by religious people in general. I think radicals in any religion are dangerous. It may be true that there are more organized, potentially violent religious extremists on the Islamic side of the aisle at the moment. But let's not pretend that the Bible hasn't been used to justify murder and mayhem, nor that the lady on the left looks any more sane than the lady on the right.

Source: Free Thought Blogs

Blast from the Past: When TV Theme Intros Were Awesome

After a dry spell for a lot of years, some TV shows have come around to having some good credit sequences and theme songs, though they're usually fairly short. But nothing matches the quality of a good old one-minute to one-and-a-half minute opus of a theme song, with visuals edited to go along with the song! You might not even understand what I'm talking about if you don't already know. These were masterpieces that introduced the characters, the cast, the vibe of the show, and had real artistry. Though YouTube can kill some of the effect, the action would often be tailored to the beat, to the percussion, forming essentially a music video. Often they were themes by Mike Post or Lalo Shifrin. And the series they were attached to would often lose their nostalgia value without them.

Here are some of my favorites.

1. 21 Jump Street (1987-1991) - This show helped put Johnny Depp and the FOX TV network on the map. It was nothing like the movie. But the theme song sequence is really top notch.
2. Simon & Simon (1981-1989) - Never as popular as its cousin Magnum PI, this show nonetheless was a mainstay of the 80s. The intro was so memorable, it was parodied by Adam Scott in The Greatest Event in Television History.



3. Mission: Impossible (1966-1973, 1988-1990) - It would be impossible to leave this one out, though it had many versions, and different casts. The movie series had its highs and lows, but the television series stands on its own.
4. Hart to Hart (1979-1984) - Also parodied by Adam Scott, this is one of the iconic 80s programs, and the editing in the intro (which had several variations) was superb.



5. Charlie's Angels (1976-1981) - There were a total of six angels over five seasons. But for me, it was never the same after Kate Jackson left the series. Through each combination of Angels though, they did a great job with the credit sequence.
6. Knots Landing (1981-1993) - I debated whether or not to include this one, because the program had such varied and different themes from year to year. But something about season 7's theme has always stayed in my memory. So, it's worthy of inclusion.



7. The Incredible Hulk (1977-1982) - Cheesy by today's standards, but to its credit, played it straight. No campy, cartoony stuff here. And the opening explains the premise, while being very memorable.
8. The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-1978) - Okay, this one could be campy (Sasquatch, anyone?), but the opening is very much along the same lines as Hulk's.



9. The Bionic Woman (1976-1978) - Could I leave her out without being sexist?
10. The Fall Guy (1981-1986) - Back to Lee Majors, but I have to say, this is one of the best songs in TV theme history, and the opening credits were awesome.
 

And that will do it for this week. Happy Monday!

GOP Counts on Dubya's Legacy for Fundraising

Not in a million years

Below, is the unedited, pasted-directly-from-the-email, money-beg from today's GOP. I present this to you, merely because I couldn't believe it. While the GOP and the tea party hate President Obama, they're also usually quick to disavow former President George W. Bush. Except for the rare (and odd) "Miss Me Yet" billboards with Dubya waving, and grinning like a loon, it's the rare conservative who will openly embrace his legacy.

Pressed to come up with the good things Bush accomplished, I have a very hard time. Extending Daylight Saving time is about the only thing I can come up with. Interestingly, I think a huge swath of the population would say that Bush "significantly diminished the United States’ standing in the world — and worse, he has made us less safe," particularly the first part of the sentence. The last part might be argued, but hell, I'd argue it in the case of Obama too. What, precisely, has President Obama done to make us less safe than Dubya?

In case you forgot, Bush ignored signs that 9/11 was coming. He started an unnecessary war against a country that did not attack us--though the administration tried damned hard to get us to make that connection. He instituted torture as policy.  He and his cohort Dick Cheney invented the "unitary executive," overusing executive orders and "signing statements," and non-transparency to unprecedented levels. Those very things--used more sparingly by the Obama administration--are now some of the primary things the GOP complains about.

[Email begins]

Like f  Share this on Facebook GOP.com Friend, Resolute and decisive. That’s what I remember when I think of the leadership of President George W. Bush. He led our nation through some of the most challenging moments of our nation’s history. He led. The President we have today thinks our country should “lead from behind” and has significantly diminished the United States’ standing in the world — and worse, he has made us less safe. I miss the leadership of President George W. Bush. And I miss him. I had the privilege of serving in his White House, and I saw the character that he and his family provided our nation. I will be forever grateful for their service. Tomorrow is President George W. Bush’s Birthday. It’s a moment that has reminded us of what leadership in the White House really looks like. And we’re working to send principled leaders to the Senate and House in 2014 and to the White House in 2016. Would you help make that possible by contributing $27 to get your official “I Miss W.” t-shirt today before his birthday? Order your official “I Miss W.” t-shirt today. Thank you, Sara Armstrong RNC Chief Operating Officer P.S. If you haven’t already, you can still sign President George W. Bush’s birthday card here. Contribute Now

[End of email]

But, by all means, get the Dubya T-shirt! Wear it in public! I think you might get some odd looks, perhaps questions about your sanity. And you may find yourself pretending that you're wearing it ironically. Maybe you'll even say you got it at a thrift shop as a joke. . .after all, that's where most of these are going to turn up.

Anti-Gay Groups Already Trying to Leverage SCOTUS Hobby Lobby Ruling

Every gay person and supporter who paid attention to the Hobby Lobby case at the Supreme Court likely predicted this. If you give corporations religious exemptions to law (and still, I can't get over that a corporation can have a religion*), it will spread to subjects far afield of the birth control argument that was the point of the case. Of course anti-gay corporate owners would try to leverage the decision into skirting public accommodation laws! And that is likely just the tip of the iceberg.

*By the way, now that corporations can have their own religious beliefs, I've got to wonder: Do corporations take communion? Do they get confirmed? Do they get circumcised? Do they have souls? Can they go to hell?

Image from source, Talking Points Memo

[Excerpt]

Post-Hobby Lobby, Religious Orgs Want Exemption From LGBT Hiring Order

The day after the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby ruling, a group of religious leaders sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking that he exempt them from a forthcoming executive order that would prohibit federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT people. The letter, first reported by The Atlantic, was sent on Tuesday by 14 representatives, including the president of Gordon College, an Erie County, Pa., executive and the national faith vote director for Obama for America 2012, of the faith community. . .

Read more at: Talking Points Memo

Blast from the Past [Extra]: Michael J. Fox's The Iceman Hummeth

Here's another of those great Late Night with David Letterman Holiday Film Festival entries, this one from 1986. Michael J. Fox was white-hot at the time, and turns in a fun sports-vs.-nerd short film. So, for no particular reason other than the fact that I like it, here is The Iceman Hummeth.

 

Georgia "Guns Everywhere" Law Leads to Altercation on First Day

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Gun lovers, I've got news for you: you're coming off like idiots. Even to people like me, who was raised around guns, learned to shoot at a young age, and until recent years, didn't really have much of an opinion on gun rights or gun control. But with the Open Carry guys in Texas and elsewhere? With all of the oopsies at "gun safety" demonstrations? With the absolutely insane, knee-jerk, instantaneously furious commentary in the blogosphere? You're impossible to take seriously, and extremely easy to come down against. You're your own worst enemies.

[Excerpt]

First day of ‘guns everywhere’ law in GA sparks convenience store showdown

On July 1, the state of Georgia enacted the Georgia Safe Carry Protection Act — also known as the “guns everywhere” law — which allows licensed gun-owners to bring their weapons to churches, bars, government buildings and other places where they were previously prohibited. The Valdosta Daily Times reported Tuesday evening that the new law had already pitted two armed citizens against each other in a standoff at a local convenience store. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Blast from the Past [Extra]: Bette Midler's Angst on a Shoestring

I've been meaning to get back to those great Late Night with David Letterman Holiday Film Festival videos, so why not now, on an unexpected work night? This time, it's a 1985 clip by Bette Midler, a piece that she reworked for her Mud Will Be Flung Tonight comedy album. It's called "Angst on a Shoestring," but really? Why bother?
 

Guy Sings Justice Ginsburg's Hobby Lobby Dissent

There are always high profile Supreme Court cases that one side or the other will be very disappointed about. But the Hobby Lobby case still leaves me very confused. As I said earlier, contraception and abortion aren't my issues. But the Pandora's Box that has been opened by allowing religious exemptions to laws? The pitfalls just seem so obvious. The legal reasoning seems so flimsy. I feel confident enough to predict: this case will lead to many and varied cases of companies trying to duck laws they don't like, bogus religions seeing what they can get away with, and even more bizarre claims of corporate personhood. But hey, it's not all doom and gloom, right? There are even ways to make the best of it. Like this guy.
 

Rachel Maddow: Previous SCOTUS Religion Cases Went Much Differently

A history lesson you should watch, so you can realize just how radical Monday's Hobby Lobby decision really was. If you don't have time for both videos, it's the second one that relates to the story below, the first is on the same subject.

[Excerpt]

Rachel Maddow: Christian segregationists would support Hobby Lobby ruling



Segregationists like Maurice Bessinger, who used religion to justify his beliefs, would be stunned and possibly pleased by Monday’s Supreme Court ruling regarding workers’ access to reproductive health measures, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow said, “His belief in slavery and segregation as divinely ordained? That was certainly sincerely held,” Maddow said. “Certainly it was based in religion. But in his case, that was not enough to deprive people of their right to protections and rights that they were afforded under law. Now though, the court today said religion is all you need. . .”

Read more at: Raw Story

Supreme Court Inexplicably Decides For Hobby Lobby

I'm a gay man, if you didn't know, and as such have very little interest in the subject of abortion, or birth control. So, the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby/Conestoga Wood case doesn't affect me directly. But as an atheist, I'm an ardent supporter of the separation of church and state (as all fans of the Constitution should be, by the way). And so, when SCOTUS does anything that bends over for religion, I've immediately got my hackles up.

Let's start with the direct problems with the case:

- It gives corporations "religious rights," furthering the fiction that corporations are people.
- It allows employers' religious beliefs to trump employees' religious beliefs.
- As such, the employer's beliefs are protected, while the employees' are disregarded.
- It allows an employers' beliefs about something (in this case that these particular birth control methods cause abortion, when in fact they don't) to be respected, regardless of how wrong it is.
- It magnifies something that was settled decades ago--birth control--into a "hot button" issue.
- Though it takes strained pains not to, it opens the door to countless other corporate religious exemptions to other laws.
- SCOTUS treats the religions of the companies involved in this case--mainstream Christianity--as a valid, acceptable religion to earn an exception to the ObamaCare law. But it dismisses other religions (Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientologists, Christian Scientists), and gives no clear reasoning as to what would qualify one over the other.

This is one of those cases that is bound to make one side happy, and the other unhappy. But it also goes further, by tarnishing the already dingy reputation of the court, by not having much in the way of legal reasoning at all. Hobby Lobby is not a person. It is not a church. It is not a doctor or in the medical profession. It is a craft store. And yet, they put themselves in the position of dictating their religious beliefs about a medical decision to their employees, regardless of the employee's beliefs, or lack of them.

I want to ask supporters of this decision some simple questions: do you honestly think that it will end here, with a "Christian" corporation, on the issue of birth control only? Did you consider that this law will eventually apply to other religions, from Mormons to Hindus to Islam? Did you consider that a corporation could devise a whole new religion, and make any sort of "sincerely held beliefs" to get out of other laws? This was Pandora's Box. It's open now.

[Excerpt]

Supreme Court exempts Hobby Lobby from Obamacare contraception mandate

 

Attempting to expand religious expression protections to small business owners without significantly disrupting the rules that govern for-profit corporations, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the Obama administration must exempt closely-held firms like Hobby Lobby from a rule requiring large companies to help pay for their employees' birth control. . .

Read more at: CBS News