Sarah Palin

Yeah I'm late but I still need to throw in my two cents. First I'll say, awesome job by Obama to take the high road and avoid bringing up Palin daughter, even including what I would call encouragement by reminding everyone that his own mother was only 18 when she had Barack. (I ramble for a bit, but theres some good links at towards the bottom)

But I don't work for Obama, they found someone better, so I don't have to take the high road, although I do work with teen mothers so this seems like an opportunity to talk about a serious issue that this country simply doesn't want to talk about. There's a fair number of problems in this country that stem directly from the fact that we have a very immature attitude towards Sex and Drugs (probably other shit too). There is currently debate about lowering the drinking age (alcohol is a drug, a rather dangerous one at that) but the resistance comes from people who think 18 year olds are too immature on the subject. I think the whole fucking country is too immature on the subject. If a 14 year old would occasionally have a glass of wine with their parents at dinner, then by the time they could drink in public it wouldn't be a big deal. Just to make that perfectly clear, I support PARENTS giving alcohol to minors in order for them to learn, and so they too can enjoy a nice beverage. Same goes for sex, but a much less hands on approach, that would be weird. If sex was not kept as such a taboo then maybe we wouldn't be so damn uncomfortable talking about it. The penis goes into the vagina, try it, it's nice, and if you don't wrap it with a condom first you'll end up with a kid. Whats the big deal? As a species we've been fucking since the start, why is that a fact we try to keep hidden? Shit heres a stupid example, there was a whole big deal about GTA San Andreas because there was a way to see nudity, mind you this is one of the most violent games you can buy, and highly entertaining. Killing anyone and everyone, thats fine, show a computer generated nipple and suddenly its vile? Seriously we have our priorities fucked up.

Ok so back to Palin. I'm not going to take the low road in the sense that I'll question her parenting simply because her kid got knocked up, that shit happens. People fuck and sometimes that leads to more people, no big deal. What I will question is her support for abstinence only education, even if she didn't have kids I would question that stance. The fact that her own daughter is proof of the failure of abstinence only education is something I'm not sure I could ignore. I'm honestly not sure if that would be considered an attack against her family or not. If I was part of the Obama crew I wouldn't use it, but I'd strongly go after her stance and let the public make the connection in their minds.

I am curious about her stance on Abortion, I know that her public stance is no-way no-how no-exceptions you get raped by your father, guess what you're gunna be a mommy now! That way the kid will have a father and a grandfather in the picture. Yeah, not cool, but there was one little comment that had me curious. I don't have the exact text or the source right now but essentially Sarah Palin was saying she was happy that her daughter made the right choice... Hmm... what choice might that be? Is she saying that it was a possibility that her daughter might be allowed to make a choice about her own body? Better fix that law.

Like everyone else I feel the nomination of Palin is a crass insult to women who support/ supported Hillary. Does the GOP really think women are that stupid? Yeah Sarah Palin has two X chromosomes, that does NOT mean she supports womens rights at all. I hope Hillary's supporters listened to her during the DNC, anyone who cares about womens issues cannot vote for McCain, especially with Palin as running mate.

I don't think I've really explained just how bad she is. I'm not going to get into her lack of experience because honestly that doesn't bother me. Although I do love the back flips republicans are doing in order to justify how a year and a half as Governor of the 47th most populous state is adequate experience. I don't mind, but shut the fuck up about Obama, not that they will, cause you know Governor is executive experience. Not only that but Alaska is near Russia, RUSSIA! Not that the governor has any control over all the military shit that goes on protecting us from the commies.... the fact that some people could even begin to use that argument makes me think of that famous quote by (or at least attributed to) Churchill, "The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter."

Shit that wasn't going to be about experience, this one really won't be. How about the fact that she's a right wing nut job? Go here for video goodness, er well not exactly good.... Thanks PZ. Seriously our education system is fucked, the last thing we can afford as a nation is falling even further behind due to some psychos that think knowledge is evil. For example, shes a creationist and thinks it should be taught in school.

Want some more Palin Haterade from people who actually study shit instead of relying on old fairly tales? You know its bad when Phil ventures in from the stars and takes a jab at politicians. His views aren't exactly hidden, but unlike PZ he does generally tries to avoid getting caught up in politics. I generally find that when people who prefer to keep silent feel the need to be heard, its because someone has given them good reason to be angry. Although in this case he simply points you towards others who have already ripped into Palin, so thats more like a link to other links.

More video love, I haven't watched it yet but I'm assuming its amusing. Again from PZ, this time we've got a song about Palin from Roy Zimmerman.

But who knows, maybe he didn't pick her because he wanted the support of former Hillary supporters. Maybe its something much simpler. Maybe John McCain simply likes younger attractive women....

My Tribe, Our Tribe

I was just reading an old post from The Disgruntled Chemist about a meeting by a young republicans college group. It was from the time of the infamous danish cartoons that sparked the violent reaction from muslims. The event quickly spiraled into outright racism, they broke Godwins Law and even had a statement about the KKK. Cops needed to remove a couple of people from the meeting. All the while the college muslim group had a protest outside because the group inside was going to be showing the danish cartoons. None of this sounds like fun to me but the Chemist stuck it out so he could report it to us all. I bring this up because it made me think of something. In the comments there was mention of tribalism.

Humans are social creatures. In the past, which is very very recent from an evolutionary view, our community would have included many relatives, possibly being related to every other member to varying degrees. Therefore you defended your community as you would your home. Today we still have these tribal impulses which where we want to defend our tribe against outsiders. Many consider xenophobia an evil, and it is, but it needs to be understood if we wish to overcome it. It also needs to be said that it is going to take a great many generations to remove xenophobia and until then we will need to consciously work against it. My thoughts on the matter are fairly simple. We used to be small communities because we could only communicate within very limited range, with a little outside contact. Now its just as easy to talk to someone on the other side of the globe as it is to talk to your sibling who's down the street. Our tribe is no longer just those contained within the imaginary boundaries of our Granfalloon. Today we live in a global community, wither we like it or not we live in the global community, there are certainly those who would prefer to stay huddled in the safety of the known, they're scared of those with strange customs. To those people, I'm sorry but thats no longer an option, the world has changed, here we are their's no going back. what I'm saying is that tribalism is not going to leave our sub-conscious anytime soon so lets embrace it, just remember that your tribe is the Human Tribe, we are all part of the same community and when anyone threatens a member of that tribe we must all stand up to the attacker for no matter where in the world they are fighting they are fighting my brother. Be kind to your tribe. Peace.

Racism

I'll admit that there are certain words, actually just one, the big one that I can't say and have told certain friends that I'd appreciate it if they don't say it in front of me. But at the same time I love using terms that are supposed to be racist against white people, my AIM name has the word honkey in it, I love the phrase cracka' ass cracka' it brings a smile to my face every time. I'm actually happy that black people can and do use the N word, it dulls the blade to be used, and while even a dull blade can cut I can foresee a day when that word will be capable of nothing more that a scratch.

This does run into problems though, some phrases have horrible histories but are also common phrases, in this case the blade may be dull at some points along its length but quite sharp at others. This is my round-a-bout way of defending a republican accused of being a racist, a spot I'm not exactly accustomed to. In the end I think he probably is a bit racist but we must be careful when we throw that phrase around to, because that is a phrase that we must not allow to lose its edge. Being seen as a racist needs to be among the ultimate degradations of a persons character but if we use it unscrupulously then it will soften until it becomes another general purpose insult. In this case the original term he got in trouble for useing was, "This baby is black. . . . It's a dark, ugly thing." Obviously that can be taken as racist, and maybe it is I don't know the mans thoughts, but I honestly can imagine someone saying it with no thought to it being racist. The term dark or black is often used to describe evil, goth kids and metal heads wear black to look evil, villains in movies wear black people wear black to funerals and grooms wear black at weddings. The point is that as a society we do equate evil and bad with the color black, that does not mean we always equate the black race with evil and bad. In perfect irony to the article there is an ad just to the right (it might change) of the article trying to sell the new Toyota Matrix, saying "get in touch with your dark side" I don't think anyone is going to say thats a racist ad, so why are we assuming this politician meant it any differently?

At this point a simple, "Oh shit, I didn't even think of it that way" would have done wonders. Keep the Oh Shit too thats how they know you were genuinely surprised by the allegation. What you shouldn't do is claim that a "lynch mob" is after you. Lynch mob also being a phrase that has lost much of its edge, at least in places far from actual lynchings like Utah. These phrases have spread into the consciousness of the country and most people don't ever think about there real meanings. There are lots of morbid phrases that we use without second thought, try watching children sing ring around the rosy after knowing its meaning without shuttering, so I think that either of these phrases on their own can easily be considered just the use of a phrase that maybe we shouldn't use, but we do. Unfortunately my ability and will to defend him ended when he refused to meet the NAACP with media present, and when he referred to the NAACP as "those people" another phrase than should be avoided. I don't know if the guy is a racist or not, but now he's screwed, although on reflection it is Utah, I'm guessing the NAACP isn't the most influential of constituents. As for the NAACP, pick your battles. Ask for an apology and move on to the serious problems race related and otherwise.

Huckabee's good and evil

Ok you'll probably need to click on it to zoom in enough to see what the individual pictures are but its fuckin priceless, bestiality and necrophilia are the best. Thats not a line you get to say very often...

Anyway thank you to Blog of the Moderate Left for the image, and PZ for pointing it out, he's also in the pic.

Giuliani Summed Up

The best explanation of Rudy Giuliani's campaign.

$9.11

Giulliani, and Pharyngula

These don't deserve separate posts because I'm adding almost nothing.

Basically the Rude Pundit makes a complete ass of Rudy, which honestly is pretty easy, but the Rude One takes it to another level as usual. Like this closer,

By the way, the best reason Giuliani can offer that he can "fight" terrorism is that he watched people jump out of a burning building that had been attacked before in the city that he led, as the Post article says, and now for him it's "personal." No wonder the Bush administration loves this jerk-off: he believes his own miserable failure makes him the best qualified person on the campaign trail.

Plus I go onto the big ass list over at Pharyngula, I shouldn't be too proud of that considering it was open registration day, but it still mean one of my favorite bloggers might have stopped by for a moment. Of course he probably would have seen the A and said good enough.

Please be a joke

This is some serious insanity, like the writer has major mental health problems.

Democracy is clearly an enemy of not just truth, but duty and justice, which makes it the worst form of government. President Bush must overcome not just the situation in Iraq, but democratic government.

Nuke the middle east, have a military coup deta, keep Bush as president for life, AKA as the dictator. I bet this author thinks himself a patriot.

Hat tip to C&L

Scary Constituents

Ok I mentioned this before but my local Representative recently had a brush with democracy when a merciless band of antagonists stormed his office and needed to be arrested before they would leave, or at least thats what he and the local paper would have you believe. The reality from people who were there, I was not, is that a group of peace protesters walked into his office, many being senior citizens others brought their children, and refused to leave until they were able to talk to Kuhl, as expected it was a sit-in and after a few hours it was the end of the work day and so they called the police who arrested those who planned on being arrested. Its civil disobedience, its a sign of a healthy democracy. So in typical republican fashion Randy calls for increased security, locked the doors to his office and said he may begin carrying a gun, or to be cool like him, he may begin "packing." Obviously Kuhl hasn't learned the lesson they you can't kill an idea with a bullet or a bomb, only with better ideas. Part of me finds it pathetic that our elected officials are frightened of the people they work for , another part of me loves it, in the words of V for Vendetta, People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people. From that angle I love it, it's not the reaction we wanted but its a reaction, it means that he knows were are out there and we aren't going to go quietly into the night any longer. So obviously a few people are upset about his reaction, and some have created YouTube video responses. I'll just put up my favorite of them here. But if you like to see more heres the links. 1, 2, 3.

No Mo Rove!!!!

Yippee!!!!!
Carl Rove has resigned, its no longer his job to lie and distort although it will probably always be a hobby. Does it really change anything? It will solve our political problems just like when corruption ended with the ousting of Delay...
And who needs Rove when California is going to hand the election to the repubs anyway?

Did Romney really say that?

I didn't watch the GOP debates, I spent my time in a more productive manner, I slammed my head against the wall until I collapsed, causing minor brain damage. This was both more productive and apparently less damaging to the mind as even I recall how Hans Blix and his cohorts did a bit of searching for WMDs just prior to the Iraq war thats still going on. But it seems that one of our lovely GOP candidates has forgotten that not-so-minor piece of trivia. Seriously this guy wants to be president and he can't even remember how we entered the war that were still fighting. Seriously Romney, go take some history lessons. I can't even fathom how this can be, unless of course he hasn't forgotten shit and was simply lying. Which seems like a far more likely scenario. He knows that America as a whole has about a 1 minute attention span, and I'm giving us credit, our collective conscious has forgotten everything that happened before Paris went to jail. At this point we could probably spin a globe let your finger land on a country and say, its their fault they started the war, hell at this point we could blame Somalia...

There was also the usual shit about how they are all trying to bring down the US, as if people who are in the midst of a civil war are united. Of course if you want to unite them then all you need to do is create a greater enemy than the one they are currently fighting, I would suggest invading Iran, its probably the quickest way to get the terrorist attacks on US soil that the GOP so desperately need.

Whats left to do. When politicians simply lie to our faces and no one holds them accountable. All I can think of is the most patriotic words ever written by an American when we first became Americans,

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government

Does that make me an anti-american rebel, or a patriot?

Run Away Run Away!

For some odd reason the GOP candidates don't seem to be talking about how great thing have been under the republican administration, I mean they could at least talk about all that they accomplished when their party had total control. Oh wait, now I get it, it's cause the republican agenda has failed, thats probably why they aren't talking about the last few years. But Oddly they've talked about the Regan era which was pretty despicable as well, but at least the economy was good, and we were a bit quieter about our illegal wars back then.

Who is Ron Paul?

It's a question I'd really like to get sorted out. So far he seems like the only republican I could theoretically vote for without without having to sell my..... shit this is when its a pain to know that souls don't exist and I can't sell it. Need new metaphors. Anyway Ron Paul is something of an enigma, he's a republican and I'm sure there are many many issues on which I would dislike him. But at this moment I love the guy. He's getting all the other republicans in a tizzy, he made Guiliani look stupid which alone earns praise around here. Well I assume other people think Rudy sounded pretty stupid when he said that he had never heard the idea that 9/11 was retaliation for the countless bombings of Islamic holy lands. Seriously Rudy you need to pay more attention, shit the event happened in your city, you never thought to ask why? I mean it wasn't even hard to find out Bin Laden said thats why he did it. Jackass. So anyway I like some things Ron Paul stands for, foreign policy at least. I would spend some time learning more about this interesting character but it doesn't matter much what things I dislike about the guy, the reality is he's never going to win the republican primary so it just doesn't matter. He can be a terrible candidate but still be great for the progressives because at least on some issues hes going toe to toe with the big name republicans and showing that not everyone has a hard on for Regan, he was despised by the lower class started numerous illegal wars against our neighbors on this side of the pond. For me Regan's only saving grace is the fact that he was so hated that he gave rise to American Hardcore Punk, if the president at the time wasn't such a bastard we might never have had bands like the Bad Brains, DK, Minor Threat, DOA, MDC and many others. So Thank You Ron, Your not going to win, but at least you'll might make a few repubs back home thing about what they are really voting for if they vote for the other guys.

Heres an article from The Raw Story about Ron Paul
Heres what Ron has to say about Himself.
And finally here he is on the Daily Show (from his own site).

More Terrorism in the US

The New Chairmen for the Arkansas Republican Party actually said this, (go to the bottom of the page)

He said he’s “150 percent” behind Bush on the war in Iraq.

“At the end of the day, I believe fully the president is doing the right thing, and I think all we need is some attacks on American soil like we had on [Sept. 11, 2001 ], and the naysayers will come around very quickly to appreciate not only the commitment for President Bush, but the sacrifice that has been made by men and women to protect this country,” Milligan said.

I'm fuckin speechless.

H/T to Buzzflash.

Never mind I've found the words, I congratulate this man, he's the only republican I've heard who is actually willing to say what he truly feels and that is that this country needs to be attacked again. I mean every foreign policy of late seems driven by that singular goal but they always claim that they are bombing innocent people to prevent terrorism and not to create it. At least this guy has the nuts to say no we don't want to prevent it, we need to have american blood spilled on american soil because that would help the party. And whats more important that protecting the integrity of the republican party? Obviously not american lives, so for being an honest republican I thank you Dennis Milligan. I still dislike you for being a fucking bastard, but at least you're an honest bastard.

Giuliani

Quite the article in Rolling Stone called Giuliani: Worse Than Bush. Thats quite the statement but Matt Taibbi does a pretty good job laying out the reasons. He starts by taking some cheap shots at the guys appearance but then again this is Rolling Stone.

The basic argument is that this is a man with a price tag pure and simple, he can be bought and is more than happy to be bought, so long as the price is right, and he's not cheap. But then again he's a politician you can buy any of them if your pockets are deep enough. He's just a bit more obvious about it than others. So Taibbi goes a step further he attacks Giuliani not at his weakness but at his strength. He takes on Giuliani for his handling of 9/11. Credit is given where its due, on that fateful day Giuliani was there, he was the leader that the country needed and was sorely lacking from the federal government. On that day Giuliani shined, but he's been riding that wave for too long. Yes he was great on that day, thats one day where he was a leader that cannot make up for all the other failures. There were internal failures like the lack of communication that kept fire-fighters from getting out before the towers collapsed, but that can hardly be blamed on any one person. The big failure that was caused by Rudy was the WTC cleanup. This is an important part of the article, and should be looked at by the country at large now that he is running for president. After the continued failure of Katrina we need a president that can do more than make an impassioned speech at the site of a catastrophe, we need a president that cares enough about the people to put his weight behind fixing problems as they arise. We would like to prevent disasters but they happen, we try to be as well prepared as possible to minimize death and damage but they will still happen, and when they do we need leaders who will make sure that our country get put back together again. So with those thoughts in mind lets take a quick look at Rudy's work at cleaning up the WTC site. First he did it himself rather than get federal help, I don't know enough about it to know if this was a good move or not. He gave the contracts to those with connections to him, this is corruption at its most blatant but its also par for the course so we can let this slide.

The big issue was the air in lower Manhattan following the attack. I was an inebriated sophomore in college on that day and yet I remember hearing about how toxic the air was. There were a lot of things burning and it only made sense that some of those burning things would be bad for you. As I said I was usually not sober at that time some my memory is missing some details but I distinctly remember hearing actual numbers for the carcinogens in the air, it was clear to a layman that this was an area that should probably entered with a haz-mat suit, or at least a full respirator. In those early days when so much was unclear I heard that report along with a warning that this information was being suppressed, and I never heard about it again for the most part. Now many people have died because of the cleanup, the article even says that its possible that more people died in the cleanup than the attack. Reminds me of Iraq, won the war, lost the peace. No need to get off topic on this one. I'm not nearly as well informed about all of the candidates as I would like to be but I think I can say with a clear conscious that I know enough about Rudy, and unlike the movie I hope he never runs onto the field with a gold helmet.