Froth Slosh B'Gosh

Y'all Queda On Ice

The hatriot takeover of bird sanctuary is OVER!  Got to hand it to the FBI, they really handled this well.  I was pissed early on when the authorities didn't move immediatly on the seditionists, but they played it brilliantly.  The "militia movement" was exposed for the bunch of dead-end idiot losers that they are, and all but one was taken into custody.  Sadly, Tarpman decided to reach for a weapon, and is no longer with us.  He did not choose well.

The cherry on top is the arrest of welfare rancher Cliven Bundy.  Given his age and the charges he's facing, he'll likely spend the rest of his idiot life in federal prison if convicted.

I was worried at the end that David Fry was going to choose suicide, but he finally saw the light and surrendered without incident.  That young man needs some serious mental health treatment, IMHO.  I'm sure when all is said and done, more indictments and more charges will follow.  Wouldn't be at all suprised if some RICO charges are laid down as well.

Today is a good day the rule of law.  The seditionists are safely locked away, hopefully for a very, very long time.

 

 

The Slow Creep

What is happening :

It is by small steps of incremental meanness and viciousness that we lose our humanity. The Nazis, in the end, embodied the ascension of utter demonic inhumanity, but they didn't get that way overnight. They got that way through, day after day, attacking and demonizing and urging the elimination of those they deemed their enemies.

And this is what has been happening to America – in particular, to the conservative movement and the Republican Party – for a very long time. Donald Trump represents the apotheosis of this, the culmination of a very long-growing trend that really began in the 1990s.

That was when we first saw the popular rise of eliminationist hate talk, wielded with thoughtless glee and great regularity by an increasingly rabid set of right-wing pundits led by Rush Limbaugh, and then deeply codified by the talking heads who have subsequently marched across the sound stages at Fox News. It rose to the surface with the vice-presidential candidacy of Sarah Palin in 2008, followed immediately, in reaction to the election of Barack Obama, by the birth of the Tea Party, which is perhaps the single most significant manifestation of right-wing populism in the nation’s history.

Its a long read, but well worth your time.

 

The Slow Creep

What is happening :

It is by small steps of incremental meanness and viciousness that we lose our humanity. The Nazis, in the end, embodied the ascension of utter demonic inhumanity, but they didn't get that way overnight. They got that way through, day after day, attacking and demonizing and urging the elimination of those they deemed their enemies.

And this is what has been happening to America – in particular, to the conservative movement and the Republican Party – for a very long time. Donald Trump represents the apotheosis of this, the culmination of a very long-growing trend that really began in the 1990s.

That was when we first saw the popular rise of eliminationist hate talk, wielded with thoughtless glee and great regularity by an increasingly rabid set of right-wing pundits led by Rush Limbaugh, and then deeply codified by the talking heads who have subsequently marched across the sound stages at Fox News. It rose to the surface with the vice-presidential candidacy of Sarah Palin in 2008, followed immediately, in reaction to the election of Barack Obama, by the birth of the Tea Party, which is perhaps the single most significant manifestation of right-wing populism in the nation’s history.

Its a long read, but well worth your time.

 

Why Cliven Bundy Is A Criminal

Best analysis I've seen so far for what should be blindingly evident.

Under the Taylor Grazing Act, a permit system was set up that granted grazing privileges, not rights. The grazing permit is a revocable license under the law, not creating any right, title, interest, or estate in or to the land. In the early 1990s the BLM revised Mr. Bundy’s, and other ranchers’, permits to protect the desert tortoise. Mr. Bundy did not like the revision and so he made, in my opinion, a catastrophic, knee-jerk mistake when he stopped paying his grazing fees in defiance. It was catastrophic because what he did the moment he stopped paying was remove all legal standing he had. He relinquished any claim he had to graze on public land. When he did that, the BLM rightfully canceled his permit and would not grant him anymore permits.

Funniest Right Wing Mem EVER!!

So, this is making the rounds of the right-wing tubes...a restaurant adding a TWENTY CENT surcharge to a $22.74 check (including taxes).  This has to be the STUPIDEST argument against the ACA I've ever seen.  So, decent healthcare costs less than an iced tea?  Less than a chicken sandwich?  Less than a chili cheese dog?  A fraction of the tip on this check??  SIGN ME UP!

The Disconnect

I took the senic route back to school today.  From Harrisonburg, I toodled up US 33 to the Blue Ridge, and hung a left onto Skyline Drive.

What a beautiful drive!  I took it slowly, taking in the sights, pulling over at the overlooks, and checking out the campgrounds; planning potential future outings with my family, all the while snapping pictures.

During the drive, I noticed a pickup with a family of three, their truck festooned with Teabagger bumperstickers, also taking in the sights, snapping pictures, and clearly enjoying themselves.

And I wondered, "Why are they even here?"

The Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive represent EVERYTHING teabaggers are against:  Big gubmint, social programs, spending taxpayer money to mitigate the effects of economic collapse.  After all, national parks aren't mentioned ANYWHERE in the Constitution!

And I wondered what a conversation with these people might have gone like.

But I already know the answer.  They're all for government spending on things THEY like.  That's OK.  But if the government spends money on things they don't like?  TYRANNY!  SOCIALISM!!  SECOND AMENDMENT SOLUTIONS!!!!

It is rather sad.

UPDATE:  I still cannot post in comments, but in response to db, Shenandoah N.P. and Skyline Drive were built using labor supplied by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a governmental agency employing the unemployed to mitigate the effects of the Great Depression.

 

Don't You Dare!

Don't you DARE call them racists!  Seen near Manassas VA.

Wow

Just. Wow. 

The mayor of Gilberton, Pennsylvania is standing by her city’s police chief despite a series of profanity-laced and threatening videos.

In a video that has received wide attention, police chief Mark Kessler repeatedly tells those upset by his use of profanity to “go f*ck yourself” as he fires various automatic weapons.

… Tuesday on his Facebook page, Kessler called for a massive rally to “show these tyrants we will not stand for any more violations on our constitution or our freedoms.”

“I’m calling on all true Americans, all militia members, all true oath keepers to assemble, be ready to march on a tyrannical county government right here in Schuylkill county Pennsylvania, democrats are the true enemy of our country, our freedoms, our constitution, along with liberal news agency’s, liberal news reporters, much like hitlers nazis, time we clean these antiamerican thugs from office,” he wrote.

He also serves on the school board, which raises a point.  Under the provisions of the Hatch Act, he just might be ineligible to hold elective office if his department receives any federal funding. 

Kane Wont Defend DOMA

Well, isn't this interesting!

Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who is the state's chief legal officer, declined  Thursday to defend against a lawsuit challenging the state's prohibition on same  sex marriage, calling it unconstitutional and leaving the job of bolstering the  ban to Gov. Tom Corbett.

Which brings up this question:  Is she required, as attorney general, to defend the law?  Daryl Nutcase, The Shame of Butler County, thinks so.

"This is clearly dereliction of duty. It's her responsibility to defend the laws  of the commonwealth regardless of her personal feelings," said state Rep. Daryl  Metcalfe, R-Cranberry. "If she doesn't want to do that, maybe she can resign and  have the governor appoint someone who wants to do the job."

I'm sure if I wanted to, I could find many examples of Nutcase ignoring the laws of the Commonwealth due to his personal feelings.  Oh wait, here's one from a couple of weeks ago! Pot, meet kettle.

Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Sims, an openly gay legislator, was blocked from speaking on the floor of the state House on Wednesday by a colleague who believed Sims’ plans to speak about the U.S. Supreme Court’s marriage decision would be in "open rebellion against God’s law.”According to WHYY, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe raised a procedural objection to stop Sims from speaking during a part of the House session in which legislators often give wide-ranging remarks. "I did not believe that as a member of that body that I should allow someone to make comments such as he was preparing to make that ultimately were just open rebellion against what the word of God has said, what God has said, and just open rebellion against God's law," said Metcalfe, R-Butler.

"God's law", and secular law, are of course, different things.

ACORN!!

Only it isn't Acorn, it is, once again, a Republican. 

A Martinsville man pleaded guilty in Augusta County Circuit Court Tuesday to fraudulently putting voter signatures on petitions to get former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich on the Virginia Republican presidential primary ballot last year.

Adam Dustin Ward, 28, of Martinsville, pleaded guilty to 36 counts of voter fraud and foregery, according to a report by NBC 29.

Ward collected thousands of signatures with similar handwriting with addresses that could not be confirmed.

I've come to the conclusion that because Republicans commit so much voter fraud and voter suppression, they just cannot comprehend that Democrats aren't doing the same.  As I've often typed, if Republicans accuse Democrats of doing something wrong, you can bet that they're doing exactly what they're charging Democrats with, only 100 times worse.