or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the F-Bomb.
This is an intro which leads into a more or less incoherent rant about the various political news of the day. This intro will try to be funny and catch your eye, which may or may not work depending on how people react to it.
Excuse me while I whip this out...
(chainsaw revving up)
Gas Chamber of Commerce
Tip of the hat goes to Think Progress for their continuing drum beat of foreign money that is influencing elections, specifically elections in states and districts where a large chunk of out-sourcing has happened.
And when asked if they will tell who they're donors are, they say no, because their privacy has to be protected or something...
o_O Really? Are you fucking kidding me?!? Their privacy has to be protected??!?? Since when?!? Own your fucking words, assholes. If you pay the money, then Americans deserve to know what you bought and whom.
Seriously, why in the tympani Fuck is no one more angry about this? All you hear from the Beltway Bozos is that Democrats shouldn't make hay over this and people don't care about it? Well, Sonny-Jim, I *am* one of The People and I do care, by Athena's helmet! You fuckers don't give a mummer's fart about the everyday working stiffs that you have stiffed to fatten your own gorram bank balances which you have in turn NOT invested it back into the community you so casually destroyed.
Evidence? I got some. When Levi-Strauss closed their factory in North Knoxville it took that community YEARS to recover and many of those people never were able to find another job.
What happened? Some bean-counting asshole figured out that it was cheaper to get it made in Mexico or China rather than have it made here, because Fucking Wal-Mart insisted on Always Low Prices, Always, never mind the fact that those same low prices are what is killing our economy. So do me a favor, would the last manufacturing facility in the US please turn out the lights?
Frankly, you fuckers should be afraid, because if people actually woke up and realized what you modern day robber-barons were doing, you'd be tarred and feathered.
Reid's in the Wind:
So Harry "Blows like a" Reid had a debate with Sharron "Tilted" Angle tonight. While I myself did not see this debate, I did read about it here:
At one point, Reid said, "I respectfully suggest to my opponent that she simply doesn’t understand what happened in Washington." He’s right, of course. But most voters don’t understand it any more than Angle. They aren’t about to be awed by Reid’s superior grasp of legislative process. To them, it just makes Reid sound like exactly what they think he is: an insider who’s stayed around Washington too long.
It’s true that all of this didn’t exactly make for a level playing field for Reid on Thursday. But hey, welcome to 2010. Reid could have helped himself by showing some life and by acknowledging voters frustrations with Congress and with Washington. Without Angle seriously slipping up, I’m not sure there really was a way for him to win this debate – but it didn’t even seem like he was trying.
Here's the thing, Harry: Everyone understands what happens in Las Vegas, some people understand what happens in New York City, less people understand what happens in Dallas, and Nobody understands what happens in Washington DC. You people seem to exist in this alternate reality that has no bearing on the real world. Thus are you surprised when you find out that nobody really gives a goose-feather fuck about what happens in Washington. They are more concerned with what happens in their hometown, something which you seem to not realize. Or maybe you do, and that's why you can't seem to elevate yourself up from Doormat to a woman that is Clearly Not Fit to be Dog Catcher, let alone Senator.
I hate to say this, because I know Democrats need as much help as they can get, but if you lose this one, good riddance. I have had it up to here with spineless Democrats like you, and maybe losing your job is the best thing that could happen to the Democrats, because about the only shot you have is if Sinatra himself rises from the dead and tells everyone to vote for you..
And speaking of dead men..
Dead Man Talking:
In another interesting twist, it appears that Lisa Murkowski has pulled an old chestnut from the Box of Political Tricks. And this one's a doozy, folks...
Of course, don't take my word for it:
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says she plans to air television ads featuring the late-Sen. Ted Stevens.
Stevens filmed ads for Murkowski before the primary but she decided not to air them following his death in a plane crash two weeks before the August contest, which she lost to Republican Joe Miller.
Murkowski is now running a write-in campaign.
Murkowski told The Associated Press on Thursday that she has been in contact with Stevens' family and wants to ensure anything that airs is tasteful. Stevens was the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, and Murkowski considered him a mentor.
She often invokes his name and legacy of bringing home billions of dollars in federal aid and projects.
Murkowski wouldn't describe the ads, but told The AP they will air soon.
Well, ain't that a Kick in the Head. I am sure they will be tasteful and extol the virtues of Ms. Murkowski and how she's qualified to lead Alaska into the 20th Century...or something. I fully expect the Miller campaign and Caribou Barbie to make some noise over this. It should be fun.
Serious Business:
So the recent uptick in gay teen suicides has brought attention to the uniquely Western thing known as "bullying". I will leave aside the fact that this has probably been going on for Years and Years and Years and Years, but is only recently seeing the light of day because of the Internet.
My own personal experience? I was bullied. Frequently, and without remorse, and many of the same slurs that were hurled at these kids were hurled at me and I am straight. There was this one guy that was so convinced that I came on to him in grade school (!) that he and his little buddies banded together and would play basketball at the church where I would walk home from school. (I hated riding the bus, and walking was sometimes preferable, because riding the Bus could be hell.) I was so terrified of this guy that I had a friend of the family drive me home just I wouldn't have to get the crap kicked out of me. And I would have.
Years later, I realize that this idiot was probably a closet case. I do wonder if he ever came out or if he stayed in and became the miserable son of a bitch that he was well on his way to being.
So it warmed the cockles of my cold, black heart when I heard that GLADD was teaming up with Facebook to stop gay bullying. Of course, this being the 21st Century, there have been...less than stellar responses to this and the Wear Purple day. If I had purple...which I don't because it looks hideous on me... I would wear it.
Now, I really don't want to get off on a Rant here, but...
It seems to me that the best way to stop bullying is not by ignoring them, but by handing the target a baseball bat and letting them go to town (keeping all blows out of vital areas that might kill or maim for life.) Is violence the answer? Not really, but consider this: All the school violence that has happened in the last fifteen years or so has not been by bullies but rather by people who were bullied themselves, the Columbine two being the most infamous example.
I have an even better example (and Jack Thompson can suck out my farts.) There's a wonderful video game made by Rockstar Games called Bully. It's a fun little sandbox game where you play the part of a ruffian named Jimmy who gets enrolled into the most psychotic private school you've ever seen. The best part? He bullies the bullies.
Let that sink in for a moment. He gets to do to other bullies what other bullies have done to those less able to defend themselves. Some would argue that the nerds didn't deserve it, but here's a little clue for you all: Smart people can be bullies, too. If you weren't a genius, you couldn't hang out in that crowd and if you tried, you'd get laughed out of town.
Now, to be fair, some of the things that happened to me in high school were my fault. I tended to speak first without realizing the error of my words, and I suffered for it mightily. That said, no one deserves to be picked on for any reason. Even seeing it in a funny context on a show like Glee makes me Very Angry, because it's not that much of a cliche.
It happens, and it needs to Fucking Stop Now!
Of course, that is just my opinion. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.