Origins of Stupidity

Great analogy:

Daily Kos: That Stamp Will Cost You $23,000, Pal.

If health insurance companies ran the mail service, you wouldn't know what it would cost to mail a package, because nobody involved would be able to tell you, even if you spent the better part of a week on the phone with them. You would know what it cost you one only after you received the bill for mailing it. This bill would come one month later, but additional charges would be added a month after that, more additions would come two months later, the total would be revised again in four months, and would be adjusted again after six months. If you want to complain, knock yourself out, but chances are you won't even remember what it was you mailed back in the summer of 2008 or whenever-that-was.

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In their haste, the ACORN Kabuki Theatre Troop (aka The GOP) might have gone and effed up their donor train.

So fucking stupid as are all of the Democrats who voted for this stupid fucking bill.

But if it defunds some 'defense' contractors, then well done boys and girls. Well done.

Whoops: Anti-ACORN Bill Ropes In Defense Contractors, Others Charged With Fraud:

"Going after ACORN may be like shooting fish in a barrel lately -- but jumpy lawmakers used a bazooka to do it last week and may have blown up some of their longtime allies in the process.

The congressional legislation intended to defund ACORN, passed with broad bipartisan support, is written so broadly that it applies to 'any organization' that has been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws, campaign finance laws or filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. It also applies to any of the employees, contractors or other folks affiliated with a group charged with any of those things.

In other words, the bill could plausibly defund the entire military-industrial complex. Whoops."

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Well, of course they do. Telecoms won't be able to rape consumers which means less money in the GOP's pocket.

WAR! bitches.

GOP senators declare war on Net neutrality

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Not FAUX News racism. Purely an act of FAUX News stupidity and lack of historical awareness.

Hey, maybe Kelly and Perino can get together and discuss the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Fox's Kelly refers to U.S. flags as "Stars and Bars" -- but that's the first national flag of the Confederacy | Media Matters for America

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I'm in love with the girl who made the Youtube response. I like to Bible idea with a 50 page intro.

Dontcha just want to pinch the delusional, sanctimonious smugness right off Kirk's neck.

Kirk Cameron's 'Origin Of Species' Plan: Ex-Actor To Distribute 50,000 Altered Darwin Books:

"Kirk Cameron, best known for his role in the 1980s sitcom Growing Pains, now spends much of his time advocating for far-right Christian evangelical causes.

In a video posted recently to YouTube, Cameron lays out a plan to subvert 'Darwin Day' on November 22, 2009 -- a date marking the 150th anniversary of the publishing of Charles Darwin's 'Origin of Species.' Cameron says that he and like-minded activists plan to deliver 50,000 copies of an altered version of Darwin's book to students at dozens of U.S. universities."

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One Hitters

Update: Baseball Home Run King... still.

I'm a daily reader of DailyKos. Recently, the site came under attack by O'Lielly and the hacks at FAUX news. (I shan't link to O or FAUX).

Let us recall the words of Mahatma O-G:

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win."

They ignored DK, then they ridiculed DK before the 06 elections as some hippy-dippy San Francisco Values smut peddler. Now they're fighting DK.

Good.

In only it's 2nd year of existence, YearlyKos, a netroots gathering that was birthed from DK, attracted every major Dem candidate running for President. They came and had their feet held to the fire by people power.

The Rise of Kos

"Perhaps you missed it, but Wednesday was the 19th anniversary of Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Limbaugh was celebrating his ripe old age, in media years, in the same week that liberal blog fans were trekking to Chicago for the YearlyKos convention. Therein lies one of the most important stories in American politics."

I'm a big fan of Kos and I keep the words to his first post accessible at all times because they express my political philosophy exactly:

I am progressive. I am liberal. I make no apologies. I believe government has an obligation to create an even playing field for all of this country's citizens and immigrants alike. I am not a socialist. I do not seek enforced equality. However, there has to be equality of opportunity, and the private sector, left to its own devices, will never achieve this goal. - Kos

Here's a recent diary from DK with which I strongly agree.

Why taxes matter and why we shouldn't knee jerk vote for every putz that says he'll lower them.

Why? 'Cause your ass might be quickly 'lowered' into a watery grave by not paying enough taxes:

Daily Kos: 'Deferred Maintenance,' Tumbledown Bridges, and Bathtubs:

"A tragedy courtesy of politicians who, in their own ways, follow Grover Norquist's dictum of reducing government until it's small enough to drown in the bathtub. And of passing out massive tax cuts, mostly to people who need them least.

It's not just bridges. As the American Society of Civil Engineers Infrastructure Report Card 2005 points out, we're $1.6 trillion behind in infrastructure investment. That, by the way, is the amount of tax cuts Mister Bush tried to get passed in 2001, before he had the Global War on Terrorism™ with which to shape his legacy. Congress 'compromised' and gave him only $1.35 trillion, tax cuts that writer Robert Freeman once labeled a 'national form of insanity.'"

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I'm glad I had a couple of music posts to do to start the week because this has been eating away the lining of my stomach.

As I've written previously, the progressives' fight is on two fronts. The Republicans on one side and a good chunk of Democrats who are fucking worse than the Republicans. We've set the tone for the jackass Dems with what we did to Lieberman in 06. Lieberman is still around because he's the worst of the worst, but we've signaled that we ain't putting up with any more fake Democrats.

We've got a lot of work to do for 2008.

I want my Constitution back, motherfuckers.

Tell 'em Cenk:

Cenk Uygur: The Soft Underbelly of the Democratic Party:

"Here we go again. I was going to write a nice, fun piece about Matt Damon on a lovely Sunday afternoon when the Democrats went and ruined everything, as usual. From time to time, I am told that I am too hard on the Democrats. It is not possible to be too hard on these vacillating, spineless, rudderless, clueless clowns.

Alright, there has to be an important distinction here. Most of the Democrats in the House voted the right way on the latest capitulation to the most unpopular president in history. And 28 Democratic Senators voted the right way. The rest are the biggest bunch of weaklings and half-wits I have ever seen. They are the soft underbelly of the Democratic Party.

How many times do I have to write this article? How many times will these same Democrats give in to the worst president in history? So, this time, they caved on FISA. And they caved big time."

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With that said, the Democratic party is the only party in America with vision and, well, a soul.

Can you imagine this bill ever even being mentioned under a Republican controlled Congress?

"Green Jobs Act of 2007": Pelosi's Plan To Save The Polar Bears -- And Poor Kids, Too

There has been a lot of discussion about the Energy Package that is set to pass the U.S. House this week.

But the media so far has missed one of the most interesting and innovative proposals that will be voted on: the Green Jobs Act of 2007.

This ground-breaking legislation will make $120 million a year available across the country to begin training workers (and would-be workers) for jobs in the clean energy sector. When the bill becomes law, 35,000 people a year will benefit from cutting edge, vocational education in fields that could literally save the Earth.

Lofty as that sounds, the Green Jobs Act is responding smartly to an important, practical need. To beat global warming and meet the energy challenges of the future, the United States will need hundreds of thousands of "green-collar workers." Such workers will be needed to install millions of solar panels; weatherize homes and other buildings; create a sufficient quantity of bio-fuels; build and maintain wind-farms and much, much more. Without these workers, the country will not have the working muscle and hands-on smarts to change our trajectory and fashion a different future.

There is an added bonus found in creating a strong, green-collar workforce: these energy-saving, air-quality-improving, carbon-cutting jobs can do more than just save the planet or help avoid oil wars in the future. For tens of thousands of Americans who are falling behind in the global job market, these work opportunities can also create "green pathways out of poverty."

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hehe. Damn lazy stoners. Great team name, though.

The Raw Story | Pro-pot sluggers dominating congressional softball league:

"The top spot in a Congressional softball league belongs to drug reform advocates who are 'busting the stoners-as-slackers stereotype,' Roll Call reports.

The 'One Hitters,' took over the No. 1 spot in the Congressional Softball League last week, and the team fielded by Students for a Sensible Drug Policy and NORML holds a 13-3 record in the league comprised of lobbyists, Capitol Hill aides and interest group employees."

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I can really get behind the bill. "Pro-leisure group..." Hilarious.

NPR : Congress Asked to Mandate Vacation Time:

"Pro-leisure group Take Back Your Time wants Congress to mandate three weeks paid vacation for all workers. But one recent survey shows that not only do U.S. workers earn fewer vacation days, but they also don't use an average of three days every year they're owed."

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Unraveling Dick

AAW will remain AAJ for the remainder of The Drams tour. Yes, they are that freakin' good!

Let's do a 'good guys/bad guys' post today, shall we?

We are such good guys here in San Francisco that we enable those with physical disablilities to be anything they want in life. Even if they want to be bad guys.

Paraplegic S.F. man convicted in robberies:

"A San Francisco man who is paraplegic was convicted Friday of two counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery in connection with thefts he conducted from the seat of his Chevy Blazer in the Richmond District over a two-month period in 2005."

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Such a fucking bad guy douche. Can we impeach Putzy McPreznit yet?

Bush signs landmark executive order increasing power over federal agencies:

"President George W. Bush has given his administration a boost in how the government regulates key issues such as civil rights and the environment, RAW STORY has learned The New York Times will report on its Tuesday front page.

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Such a good guy Nancy is. Smart, too. This is where the Democrats have a huge advantage and it is only going to become a larger force in 2008.

Pelosi reaches out to blogging community:

"Schooled by evidence of what Internet-driven politics can accomplish — from fueling Howard Dean's presidential campaign in 2004 to propelling Ned Lamont to victory over Joseph Lieberman (news, bio, voting record) in Connecticut's Democratic Senate primary last year — Pelosi and other politicians have realized bloggers are too important to ignore.

'They've gone from an initial writing blogs off, then moving to skepticism, then moving to, 'OK, maybe we can find a way of working with these guys,'' said John Aravosis, who runs Americablog.com.

'It's a power base and it's influential and it's an opportunity. And you know what? It exists,' Aravosis added.

'It should only scare you if you're on their bad side.'"

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Two very bad guys.

The Unraveling of Dick

While Dick Cheney undoubtedly remains the most powerful vice president this nation has ever seen, it's becoming increasingly unclear whether anyone outside the White House believes a word he says"

Straight talk my ass

The REAL McCain

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Such good guys. We've got one of the best PBS's in the country. This is going to be awesome:

KQED'S NEW SCIENCE SHOW 'QUEST' GOES BEYOND TV, INTERTWINING THE NEW MEDIA WITH THE OLD:

"The weekly television series is notable not only for being one of the most expensive locally produced enterprises in the station's history ($7.7 million for three years), but also for being one of its most ambitious. 'Quest' is such a forward-thinking new media production -- with original radio, TV and online content -- that its creators say 'Quest's' Web site, not its TV show, is the hub of this edu-tainment extravaganza."

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