Things that make sense in the Conservative Fantasy World

Oliver Willis tweeted a link to this offensive Op-ed in the Washington Moonie Times:

EDITORIAL: The Gay Scouts of America

Pledge to keep ‘morally straight’ threatened

And of course, it's pretty much what you would expect: Oh no, the mean old secularists are letting gay guys into our Boys-only neckerchief campout club!

 

 

Real Men Only Need Apply

 

 

But where it gets really crazy is in the comments section. That's where you can really see what a nightmarish fantasy world these righties have constructed for themselves.

Here is the first comment, which means this guy probably has one of those news alerts set up for the words "Boy Scouts" and "gay," for whatever reason:

Eagle in NYC • 5 hours ago

 

We’ve all seen this movie before.

 

No, most of us haven't rented this one.

 

Sweet Boy Scouts

 

 

NAMBLA forces a venerable institution to violate its principles, with predictable results. NAMBLA forced the Roman Catholic Church to permit gay priests, and who could have foreseen the results when a gay man is let loose on a young, naïve boy with all its attendant disparity of power and persuasion in such a relationship?

 

Wow! So, in your weird little fantasy world, a) NAMBLA is an organization with power and influence, and b)The Catholic Church allows gay priests?

 

 

And when the inevitable scandals occur, is it NAMBLA that gets blamed, or its enablers in the culture and press? No. The institution itself gets forever slimed by the scandal and pays millions out of its treasury to cover the cases precipitated by the NAMBLA lobby years prior.

Yes, why would they blame the institution that has enabled and covered up this sexual abuse for decades?

 

  

Enabler-in-chief

 

 

And when a NAMBLA predator serially abuses boys at the Penn State football facility, is it the predator, or NAMBLA that everyone remembers as the villain?

 

Yes. Yes it is.

 

 

 No. It’s the institution itself – Penn State football – and its venerable, iconic pillar of morality in a sport awash in cheating and cutting corners, Joe Paterno. No one remembers the predator himself. Instead, everyone blames the coach and the institution, who had nothing to do with the predation itself.

 

 

Unless you count knowingly allowing the abuse to continue, but hey it's not like he paid the players or something really scandalous!

 

 

Good. I was so sick of people putting him on a pederastal!

Now, NAMBLA and its enablers of press, culture, and charity powerhouses,

 

 

Oh my God. Name one. Name one charity that has anything whatsoever to do with NAMBLA. Go ahead, I'll wait. . .

Yeah that's what I thought. Now maybe you can name anyone in the press that has ever given NAMBLA favorable coverage. . .

 

Now, NAMBLA and its enablers of press, culture, and charity powerhouses  force the Boy Scouts Association to violate its principles by forcing gay, adult leaders into the pup tents of twelve and thirteen-year old boys for overnight camping. What could possibly go wrong there?

 

Um, is there some way it could get worse? Have you not seen the news? Do a Google News search for "Boy Scouts" + "abuse." You'll see lots of stories like this:

 

California man sues Boy Scouts, alleging sex abuse occurred decades ago 

Military Veteran Files Suit against Boy Scouts for Sex Abuse by Scout Master 

Judge: Release More Boy Scout Sex Abuse Files

NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth - ‎Jan 30, 2013‎

A Minnesota judge on Tuesday ordered the handover of confidential national Boy Scout records on sexual abuse from 1999 to 2008 in a move attorneys said could add to the body of evidence showing that the organization failed to take adequate steps to protect young people from molesters in its ranks.

 

 

And when the inevitable scandals arise, will anyone blame NAMBLA or its enablers? Of course not.

 

Because the abuse has been going on for years before the imaginary "NAMBLA lobby" got the Scouts to accept its first gay member?

 

They’ll blame and scandalize the venerable Boy Scout institution, which will be forced to pay millions of dollars it doesn’t have to handle the court cases and the settlements to the boys who are abused by the NAMBLA scout leaders.

This is pure evil.

 Yes, ending decades of discrimination, that's what is pure evil, obviously.

 

But I guess that makes sense to a right-winger, because they live in a fantasy world. Now I don't know why they would make their fantasy world so scary. In my fantasy world, I'm currently being coronated King of America and World Series MVP. But this is the world in which they have chosen, for some reason, to live. And in this weird parallel universe, things make sense to them that don't add up here in the reality-based world. In order to live in the right-wing fantasy world, you have to believe things like:

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pinko commie subversive, and if he were alive today, he'd be an NRA-supporting Republican.

 

Mexican immigrants sneak into this country to get a free ride from the welfare state. And they're stealing our jobs!

 

 

 

America is the strongest, greatest, most powerful country in the history of the world, and we're in constant danger of being completely destroyed by a handful of cave-dwellers with box-cutters!

 

And every human life is sacred and must be protected. Now let's bomb, bomb, bomb Iran!

 

Sarah Palin Pretends She Didn't Get Fired

Sarah Palin on Fox News Exit: We Can't Just Preach to the Choir

Pictured: The Choir.

Palin tells Stephen K. Bannon, producer and director of the 2011 Palin documentary "The Undefeated," that she and other "believers in American exceptionalism" need to reach beyond the converted to spread their message. . .
Asked what's next following her split with Fox News, where she served as a contributor until last week, Palin offered, "Short term: I encourage others to step out in faith, jump out of the comfort zone and broaden our reach as believers in American exceptionalism.
"That means broadening our audience," she continued." I'm taking my own advice here as I free up opportunities to share more broadly the message of the beauty of freedom and the imperative of defending our republic and restoring this most exceptional nation. 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Yes, Sarah, that's exactly what's going on. You're going rogue again!

Sarah Palin was dismissed by FOX News, probably because her diminishing fan club was  no longer wotrth putting up with her diva bullshit. She can pretend all she wants that she's leaving to pursue a wider audience, but like every executive who leaves the company to "spend more time with his family," Sarah Palin was shown the door. Like every newly single person who says "we decided that we should take a break, give each other some space," Sarah Palin was dumped by Roger Ailes. Even FOX doesn't give a shit what Sarah Palin thinks anymore.

Oh, please do this! Oh, please oh please oh please!

Developer pitches $1B commonwealth for Belle Isle

• By Louis Aguilar
• The Detroit News

Detroit — As the broken city thinks big and radically about its future, a developer is stepping forward with a revolutionary idea: Sell the city's Belle Isle park for $1 billion to private investors who will transform it into a free-market utopia.
The 982-acre island would then be developed into a U.S. commonwealth or city-state of 35,000 people with its own laws, customs and currency.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130112/BIZ/301120319#ixzz2JPuoTt4h 

Apparently, the idea for this Heaven on Earth comes from the classic book Belle Isle by Rodney Lockwood, Jr. Yeah, I'd never heard of it either. I think it's probably self-published. But you can tell what a serious thinker he is just by looking at his publicity photo:

 

In the Year Two Thousaaaaaaaand. . . .

 

 

Here's what he has to say about his book.

Detroit needs a game changer.  The 982 acre island of Belle Isle can be that game changer for Detroit.  The book Belle Isle is about that vision.

The setting is Belle Isle, 30 years in the future.  Twenty nine years prior (2013), Belle Isle was sold by the city of Detroit for $1 billion dollars to a group of investors who believed in individual freedom, liberty and free markets.  They formed their own city-state, with innovative systems of government, taxation, labor and money.  People soon came from all over the world to be part of this culture of unlimited opportunity.  

 

 So the idea is to buy this public park from the city of Detroit, then secede from Michigan and from the US and become a "city-state," which seems simple enough. Then it just stands to reason that folks from all over the world would naturally want to emigrate to this new country. Why wouldn't they?

Belle Isle became the “Midwest Tiger,” rivaling Singapore as an economic miracle.  Although numbering only 35,000 citizens, it generated billions of dollars in desperately needed economic growth and became a social laboratory for the western world.

 

Which is totally not an unrealistic assumption. Why wouldn't this tiny little nation generate billions? You can't prove that it wouldn't, can you Mr. Smartypants? 

 

City officials are likely to reject the plan. But on Jan. 21, supporters including Mackinac Center for Public Policy senior economist David Littmann, retired Chrysler President Hal Sperlich and Clark Durant, co-founder of Detroit's Cornerstone Schools, will present the Commonwealth of Belle Isle plan to a select group of movers and shakers at the tony Detroit Athletic Club.

 

 So, a member of far-right kooktank Mackinac Center, a failed Chrysler executive, and one of the leading practitioners of the charter school scam? What could go wrong?

 Artist's Rendition

 

 

 And why are they pitching this idea to "movers and shakers" at some fancy private club? It feels like they know that city government won't go for this but they're going to try to do it anyway.

 

I hope they do it. I want to see how long it takes for this lunatic paradise to turn from Galt's Gulch into Lord of the Flies.

With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

Democrats may stand in Obama's way on gun measures

By ERICA WERNER | Associated Press – 10 hrs ago

Of course, they will. Of course.

All eyes are on these dozen or so Democrats, some of whom face re-election in 2014. That includes Sens. Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Of course it's Baucus. Of course it is.




 Somebody better primary that piece of shit blue-dog coward.
Anyone who places more importance on his re-election than on maybe saving some innocent lives does not deserve another term. Anyone who doesn't support gun-control measures had damn well better get primaried, whether their opposition stems from electoral cowardice or from a sincere love of guns.

What the hell is the point of getting elected if you're not going to do at least this simple, obvious right thing.

The political concerns of Democrats create problems for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who has his own history with the NRA.

The powerful gun lobby endorsed him in previous elections, but stayed neutral in his most recent race, in 2010. Even before Obama announced the gun proposals this month, Reid told a Nevada PBS station that an assault weapons ban would have a hard time getting through Congress. That comment irked Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., author of such a ban. 

Is anyone not sick to death of Harry Reid?

How the fuck did this guy ever get to be in charge? 

He should have been bounced out of his leadership position when he rolled over during the health-care debate. Republicans whined that they needed time to go back and consult with their constituencies before voting and Reid seriously couldn't see through this? Seemingly, he really thought that they were going to go back to their constituents and listen to their input and then come back saying "well, the voters seem to like this idea, so I guess I'll vote yes!" Maybe he couldn't have foreseen the Republicans bussing in groups of Cro-Magnon morons to scream about death panels and tyranny and wanting their country back, but he had to know they were up to no good. At best, this was a stalling tactic. But Reid walked right into their little trap as if he had never met these assholes and thought they would bargain in good faith.

Oh, and great job with filibuster reform, Senator Reid!




I can't believe anyone in the House or Senate is still afraid of the NRA. You know they don't even represent their own membership, right? Most NRA members want universal background checks.


 Have you seen the polling? (LINK)

Q: Please tell me what kind of priority you think Obama and the Congress should give addressing gun violence? (Asked of half sample)

The highest priority     28%

High priority but not the highest    40%

Lower priority            30%

(VOL) No priority     1% 


That's 68% of those surveyed who think that adressing gun violence is a high priority.

Q: Would you support or oppose a law requiring a nationwide ban on high-capacity ammunition clips, meaning those containing more than 10 bullets?

Support   65%

Q: Would you support or oppose a law requiring background checks on people buying guns at gun shows?

 Support   88%


 EIGHTY-EIGHT PERCENT! Eighty-eight percent support closing the gun-show loophole, but a handful of cowardly senators could prevent this.

71% support the creation of a federal database to track gun sales.  But because the Wayne LaPierres of this country will scream "tyranny!" we probably won't even get that.

58% support a total ban on assault weapons. But Harry Reid, that sniveling weakling, doesn't think he can get that through his caucus.

There is some hope, though. People are starting to get active.

Thousands rally in Washington for gun control

Eliza Collins, USA TODAY5:41p.m. EST January 26, 2013

WASHINGTON — In the wake of several recent mass shootings, thousands of people gathered Saturday in front of the Capitol for a silent march urging Congress to act on legislation to control guns. Despite chilly temperatures and snow-covered ground, supporters came from around the country came to make their statement.

 At some point, even the cowards in the Senate might have to come to the realization that, despite what the maniacs of the NRA leadership say, America wants and needs sensible gun laws.

Someone left this on my windshield last night

Tucked under the windshield wiper like one of those flyers that you get for car detailing or lawn service or whatever.
So, I paid it no mind, but this morning it was still there, so I pulled it off and was surprised to find that it had a wooden base. And it was made of fairly thick cardboard covered in Saran Wrap or some such plastic. And this is what it had printed on it:

IMG_20130125_142617.jpg, a photo by spudboy67 on Flickr.

If you're having trouble seeing the picture, it shows a group of business people sitting around a conference table and the text "differences of administrations, but the same Lord."
 
1 Cor 12:5
kjv

I'm not sure what the point is supposed to be the point of this. Obviously someone put a lot of time and effort into this, so I assume there's supposed to be a message of some kind, but hell if I know what it is.
 Usually if someone is going to print something with a Bible verse on it, it will be a verse with some sort of obvious significance like "Repent and be baptized," or "For God so loved the world" or something. The Missus is of the opinion that crazy people are crazy and do crazy things and she's usually right about these things. But if anyone has any idea what the significance of this is, I'd sure like to know.

Most Horrifying Bill I've Ever Heard Of

(TW: Rape)

via HuffPo:

New Mexico Bill Would Criminalize Abortions After Rape As 'Tampering With Evidence'

Posted: 01/24/2013 10:21 am EST  |  Updated: 01/24/2013 4:23 pm EST

So these New Mexico fundies have figured out that they can't prevent a woman from legally getting an abortion if she got pregnant the normal way, but by God maybe they can stop it if the pregnancy was the result of rape!


So, if someone has already been horrifically violated, if she has already had her bodily autonomy stolen from her in the worst possible way, the state of New Mexico will compound the violation by claiming jurisdiction over her uterus. Holy fuck! There are no words.

There's no point to this anyway. It's not like she would need to give birth to get DNA evidence. If the rape resulted in pregnancy, obviously the rapist left behind DNA which would be collected with the rape kit. Watch an episode of Law&Order SVU before drafting legislation!

What kind of woman-hating misogynist would propose such a bill?

 House Bill 206, introduced by state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R), would charge a rape victim who ended her pregnancy with a third-degree felony for "tampering with evidence."

 

God damn it, seriously?
 What possible rationale could she possibly have for this?

"New Mexico needs to strengthen its laws to deter sex offenders,” said Brown. “By adding this law in New Mexico, we can help to protect women across our state.”

 Except that it won't deter sex offenders.
What it might do is deter women from reporting rapes and pressing charges because they know that if they do, they will be forced to give birth to the rapist's child because "evidence."
The only thing that it might deter sex offenders from doing is using a condom because if they can impregnate their victim they know they have a much better chance that she won't have them prosecuted.
Every time you think the Religious Right/Tea Party/Republicans have sunk as low as it is possible to sink, they sink to a whole new level. There is a special place in Hell for people like this.

The good news is that there is virtually no way that this bill will ever pass, but once again they have shown their hand. This is who they are.

 

Bad Ads - Booking.Com

You're really going to base your whole marketing campaign on the fact that the word "Booking" sounds sort of vaguely like the word "fucking," and that there are some people who find it funny when someone says words that sound vaguely like expletives?

Good luck with that!

Netflix Movie Review

 

God Bless America, written & directed by Bob "Bobcat" Goldthwait

I don't remember hearing about this movie ever coming out in theaters, but I heard Goldthwait talking about it on an old episode of Doug Loves Movies (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/doug-loves-movies/id281816774) and it actually sounded kind of stupid, but then I loved World's Greatest Dad which Bobcat also wrote and directed, so anyway, I finally decided to check it out.

First of all, trigger warning, as they say on Tumblr, this movie absolutely glorifies gun violence which, in light of recent events, makes it a bit disturbing. there's even a shooting in a movie theater. (This movie was released in 2011)

That being said, I can't tell you how much I liked this movie.

 

Joel Murray, whom I'd only previously seen when catching bits and pieces of Dharma & Greg, is unbelievable as main character/anti-hero Frank. Not to give too much away, but Frank's life is pretty shitty, he's disgusted by American culture, and he goes on a killing spree. I know, it feels like you've seen this movie before, but not like this.

 I don't want to spoil it, just let me say that if you can get past the violence, this movie is darkly funny, poignant, sometimes sad, and did I mention that Joel Murray is a revelation. 

I wasn't so thrilled with the female lead, played by Tara Lynne Barr. She does a good job acting the role, I just wasn't crazy about the way her role was written. But seriously, see this movie. And if you haven't seen World's Greatest Dad, rent that too! Bobcat Goldthwait is fast becoming one of my favorite filmmakers.

The Way Things Work Now

From Jonathon Turley:


Hello Kitty, Bye Bye Kiddie: Pennsylvania School Suspends Kindergartener For Bubble Gun
               Published 1, January 21, 2013    


A 5-year-old Pennsylvania girl was suspended from kindergarten after she who told another girl that she was going to shoot her with a pink Hello Kitty toy gun that blows soapy bubbles. Originally, the charge was “terroristic threats” against the student.


Yes, pointing a soap bubble gun at someone gets you charged with making terroristic threats. Going on You Tube and declaring that you are going to "start killing people" gets your handgun carry license suspended.




The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security has suspended the handgun carry permit of James Yeager, CEO of Tactical Response, whose threat to "start killing people" in defense of his Second Amendment rights went viral online.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/341154#ixzz2IkyP48LJ

Making terrorist threats is an actual crime. James Yeager has made terrorist threats. Yet no one is charging him with anything. No one is even taking away his guns. His "right" to carry a handgun in public has been SUSPENDED! So, you know, just until he simmers down a bit. I don't know if it's just an extreme case of "It's OK If You're a Right-Winger," or if it's just Tennessee, or if law-enforcement everywhere has just been so cowed by the NRA's "comin' to take yer guns" rhetoric that they're too afraid to take away guns from someone whose guns really need taking away.

R.I.P. Dear Abby

Okay, now you're in real trouble, Mister!

Lance Armstrong May Have Lied to Winfrey: Investigators

By NEAL KARLINSKY and ANTHONY CASTELLANO | Good Morning America – 20 hrs ago 

You can get away with a lot when you're a famous athlete. You can cheat, you can lie, you can sue people who tell the truth, but you do NOT lie to the Oprah!

  

Oh, you're gonna die!

The latest victim

So, apparently "swatting" is a thing now. Idiotic pranksters call the police reporting a fake crime in progress at the house of some celebrity, hoping to get S.W.A.T. teams to respond because I guess thst's funny? Here are a few headlines from today re: "Swatting."

Tom Cruise Is the Latest Victim of Celebrity Swatting

By Suzy Byrne | omg! – 11 hours ago

 

 Tom Cruise is the latest victim of a pesky problem plaguing some of the biggest Hollywood stars: swatting!

Tom Cruise Victim Of Swatting

Posted on: 9:58 pm, January 18, 2013, by Staff Writer

  

Tom Cruise may be victim of 911 'swatting'

By Associated Press Published: Jan 17, 2013 at 9:49 PM PST Last Updated: Jan 18, 2013 at 7:00 AM PST  

Shortly after noon, police received a call reporting a robbery in progress, Sgt. Renato Moreno said. Officers responded to the house, spoke with private security and then conducted a search. Nothing was found.

Cruise and his family weren't home when the call was made. There were no arrests.

 So, let me get this straight. Police officers had their valuable time wasted. At considerable expense to the taxpayers. While they might have been responding to actual crimes saving actual people and arresting actual criminals. And Tom Cruise is the victim?

Check the last paragraph of the above AP story: Cruise and his family weren't home when the call was made. So he wasn't even inconvenienced. He wasn't frightened by the sudden appearance of lots of police officers. Nothing happened to Tom Cruise. But yeah, obviously, he's the real victim here.

Things that can't possibly end well.

Nutsos are building their own communities, walled-off sanctuaries from the unpleasantries of modern life like facts, information, civilization, etc. Oh, and they're going to be heavily armed, in case you were wondering.

So, what would life be like in one of these communities? Let's have a look, shall we?

This is the Citadel.

Not to be confused with the military college in South Carolina, this Citadel is more like the town of Woodbury in the Walking Dead. For example, as of now, neither actually exists.

THE CITADEL

The Citadel is evolving as a planned community where residents are bound together by:

• Patriotism
• Pride in American Exceptionalism
• Our proud history of Liberty as defined by our Founding Fathers, and
• Physical preparedness to survive and prevail in the face of natural catastrophes — such as Hurricanes Sandy or Katrina — or man-made catastrophes such as a power grid failure or economic collapse.

So, basically, a big group of jerks?

 DESCRIPTION: The Citadel Community will house between 3,500 and 7,000 patriotic American families who agree that being prepared for the emergencies of life and being proficient with the American icon of Liberty — the Rifle — are prudent measures. 

So everyone's toting around rifles. What could possibly go wrong?

 LOCATION: We are in the process of selecting the ideal location among the beautiful mountains of Idaho in the American Redoubt.

Yeah, I didn't know what that meant either. Apparently "The American Redoubt" is how militia/survivalist types refer to the  Idaho/Montana/Wyoming area, because probably they think that Deadwood was a documentary about the  present-day Mountain West.

Kim Murphy, a reporter for The Los Angeles Times summed up one motivation for the movement: "For a growing number of people, it's the designated point of retreat when the American economy hits the fan. When banks fail, the government declares martial law, the power grid goes down."[5]
-Wikipedia

No credit check. No background check. Zero down payment. Zero interest. Zero property taxes. There will be no HOA. There will be no recycling police and no local ordinance enforcers from City Hall.

So, basically FREEDOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!
No taxes, no HOAs, so no one's financing any kind of local government. Sounds like some kind of Utopian hippie commune, except with guns. Lots and lots of guns.

 HOUSING DETAILS: All homes will be built of poured concrete for exceptional strength and durability.

So, basically, bunkers.

 Oh, and there's a "Patriot Agreement" everyone has to sign. You can see the whole thing here, if you're interested.  Here are a couple of highlights:

Two: Every able-bodied Patriot aged 13 and older governed by this Agreement shall annually demonstrate proficiency with the rifle of his/her choice by hitting a man-sized steel target at 100 yards with open sights at the Citadel range. Each Resident shall have 10 shots and must hit the target at least 7 times.
Three: Every able-bodied Patriot aged 13 and older governed by this Agreement shall annually demonstrate proficiency with a handgun of choice by hitting a man-sized steel target at 25 yards with open sights at the Citadel range. Each Resident shall have 10 shots and must hit the target at least 7 times.

 That is weirdly specific, and with no way of financing local government, I don't know who's going to enforce these rules.

Four: Every able-bodied Patriot of age within the Citadel will maintain one AR15 variant in 5.56mm NATO, at least 5 magazines and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. The responsibility for maintaining functional arms and ammunition levels for every member of the household shall fall to the head of household. 

Hmm, huge ammounts of ammunition combined with patriarchy? Where do I sign up?

Five: Every household within the Citadel will remain stocked with sufficient food, water, and other preparedness essentials (to be detailed elsewhere) to sustain the needs for every member of the household for a duration of one year.

Because if we can stay hidden for a full year, eventually the black helicopters will give up and look elsewhere.

Eight: All Patriots, who are of age and are not legally restricted from bearing firearms, shall agree to remain armed with a loaded sidearm whenever visiting the Citadel Town Center. Firearm shall be on-the-person and under the control of the Resident, not merely stored in a vehicle. 

Oh, my God, it's Dodge City. Not the real Dodge City where visitors had to check their firearms at the Sheriff's Office and retrieve them when they left, but the constant shootout-riddled Dodge City of the movies.

 

With any luck, this could be us in a few years!

Nine: Each household will provide ONE able-bodied Patriot (aged 13 or older) who shall muster one Saturday per month for Martial/Support Training for neighborhood-level training & musters, as set forth by the Militia Commanders of the Community.


Anyway, it goes on and on like this, just textbook paranoia type nonsense. One would think that they would have trouble attracting applicants, but according to their website:

Even before unveiling our national advertising campaign, more than 200 families reserved space within our community!

Also, according to their website:

The Citadel is not profit-driven. The Citadel is Liberty-driven: specifically Thomas Jefferson's Rightful Liberty. 

But you know what definitely is profit-driven?

GlennBeckLand!

Or whatever he's calling it. (From Beck's stupid website)

Glenn unveils his most ambitious and visionary dream: Independence

Thursday, Jan 10, 2013

Yes, Independence USA, Glenn Beck's answer to Disneyland! No, seriously!

The ambitious project, projected to cost over two billion dollars, has been heavily influenced by Walt Disney.

Thank God Walt's not around to see what he has spawned!

As Glenn has been explaining throughout the week, Disneyland was originally intended to be a place where people would find happiness, inspiration, courage and hope. Over time, Walt Disney’s original vision has been lost. While hundreds of thousands still flock to the town, it’s become commercialized and the big dreams and the heart have been compromised. 

Right. Disneyland was never envisioned as a money-making venture! It was a labor of purest altruism! By the way, Glenn, since when do you Ayn Rand disciples object to things being "commercialized?" And since when do you admire people who selflessly try to inspire people and spread happiness?
  

 

 While Independence is very much a dream at this point, the proposed city-theme park hybrid would bring several of Glenn’s seemingly disconnected projects into one place. Media, live events, small business stores, educational projects, charity, entertainment, news, information, and technology R&D – all of these things would have a home in Independence. 

As would paranoia, stupidity, historical revisionism, and grifting, grifting, grifting!

 You want an Ann Taylor, go some place else… This is where people work and create their own businesses, quintessentially American businesses.

Yeah, fuck you, Ann Taylor, founded in New Haven, Connecticut by the son of a dressmaker! We want American businesses!

  Anyway, there's a bunch more at his awful website, or there's a good summary here, if you're interested, but suffice it to say, there's no way either of these little communities end well.

See, This is why we need more and better background checks

Because of people like this:

Utah Man Claims To Have Shot Neighbor After The Neighbor Raped His Wife “Telepathically”

Published 1, January 16, 2013 Bizarre , Criminal law 35 Comments

Michael L. Selleneit, 54, appears to have decided that his defense to shooting a neighbor was not particularly promising. After Selleneit shot Tony Pierce, 41, who lived in a nearby trailer, he claimed to have acted in defense of his wife who was being “telepathically” raped by Pierce.


 Background checks might weed out the dangerously mentally ill, before they get a chance to do this kind of harm.

Selleneit’s wife, Meloney Toone Selleneit, is accused of buying the gun for him and encouraging him to “go for it” before he shot Pierce. She is charged with criminal solicitation and possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person. 

Also, maybe we could weed out people who are married to psychopaths.

Bobby Jindal is Despicable

End of month will be end of hospice care for some Louisiana patients

NEW ORLEANS -- Starting Feb. 1 Louisiana will stop offering hospice care services to most patients on medicaid.
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals is eliminating the service to families in the state due to state budget cuts. 

Hospice care? They're cutting hospice care?
I just don't have any words for how contemptible this move is.

My mother and my mother-in-law both had hospice care in their last days, I've seen up close how invaluable this service is. I can not imagine what kind of an unfeeling, inhuman reptilian would even consider cutting this amazing service.

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals say the elimination of hospice care for medicaid patients will mean nearly $3.3 million in savings this year alone. 

That's it? $3.3 million? At this point, you're just cutting hospice care for the sake of cutting it! You're causing unnecessary  suffering for no reason. I used to think Bobby Jindal was just a moron, but apparently, he's also unbelievably evil.

Stupid Objections to Hagel

POLITICO

As Chuck Schumer goes, so goes Chuck Hagel

Chuck Schumer is quietly letting out the word: He’s far from sold that Chuck Hagel will be a staunch advocate of Israel.

. . . several sources say he has told senators it would be “very hard” for him to support Hagel as the next defense secretary because of his positions on Israel over the years.

How the hell did this happen? How did we get to the point where the most important factor determining a nominee's qualification for an important position in the US government is his fealty to a foreign country? And this isn't even one of the right-wing, mouth-breathing, rapture-awaiting religious fanatics, this is moderate Democrat Chuck Schumer! And no one is going to call him on it. No one is going to say "Senator Schumer, um, you do know that Mr. Hagel hasn't been nominated for secretary of Israel, right?"  Everyone acts like this is a perfectly reasonable objection. They may disagree, but they'll disagree on the basis that Hagel really is sufficiently pro-Israel, not on the basis that Israel is not the purview of the UNITED STATES Secretary of Defense. 

I don't know which is stupider, the objection that Hagel is not sufficiently dedicated to a foreign nation which has, frankly, never done anything for us, or the gripe from the McCains and the Grahams that Hagel is not sufficiently Republican.

Weird law-Enforcement News

ATLANTA —

While Sunday's thrilling NFL Playoff game was going on inside the Georgia Dome, outside Federal Agents were busy conducting an undercover sting.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents, (ICE) tell Channel 2 Action News they were searching for illegal NFL products being sold by vendors. 

Okay, that seems pretty straightforward. But a couple paragraphs in , it gets weird.

At a later date, Homeland Security Investigators are expected to bring the sellers who were detained during Sunday's Falcons-Seahawks game, in for questioning. 

Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security, which is tasked with, as I understand it, securing the homeland from terrorists, is being used to enforce copyright laws?  Nice priorities, Homeland Security! There are still Al-Queda creeps out there, the right-wing militia movement is gearing up for another 1776, and your big concern is that the Falcons might not be getting their cut of the T-shirt sales? I know I feel safer!

Ask GOPPY, the GOP advice elephant!

Note: GOPPY is not an actual elephant. He represents the personification of the problem-solving skills of today's G.O.P.

Question #1:
Dear GOPPY, the Bush tax cuts created huge deficits. What should be done to correct this?




I know, make the tax cuts permanent!


Question #2: 
Dear GOPPY, de-regulating the banks led them to take huge risks with other peoples' money, crashing the economy and leading to a taxpayer-funded bailout. How can we ensure that this doesn't happen again?

Hmm, let me think. . .




I know, fewer cumbersome regulations! 




Question #3:
Dear GOPPY,  A bunch of kids got killed with guns.
What would you recommend to prevent this from recurring?

 

That's an easy one! More guns!






Question #4:
 Dear GOPPY, My marriage is in trouble because my husband can't forgive me for having an affair.
What can I do to regain his trust?



HMM. . .That is a difficult issue. . .

I know! You should fuck a bunch of different dudes!




Question #5:
Dear GOPPY, I think I may be an alcoholic. I want to stop, but I'm afraid I can't. What should I do?



Try drinking lots of booze!







Goppy the GOP elephant! Doubling down on bad ideas since at least 1980.

Que Sera Sera

When I was Just

A little chiiiild. . .

 

  

I asked my mother

What will I beeeee. . . .

Will I be pretty?

Will I be rich?

 

Here's what she said to meeee. . . 

What Did You Think Was Going To Happen?

Biden, NRA, meet on gun control; NRA sticks to staunchly anti-gun control stance

By Lee-Anne Goodman, The Canadian Press | Associated Press – Thu, Jan 10, 2013

Why would you even invite these people to the table?
If you were convening a task force to discuss fighting organized crime, would you invite a representative from the Gambino family?
Would you invite NAMBLA to brainstorm ideas about reducing sex crimes?

Why would you pretend that these dirtbag lunatics have any shred of credibility?

This story is not what we're talking about.

Mom who shot intruder inspires gun control foes

By By KATE BRUMBACK | Associated Press – Wed, Jan 9, 2013

I know, I know. The gun-humpers are going to use this story to illustrate why there should be no gun-control legislation or regulation and everyone should always be armed at all times and in all places and blah blah blah. But this is NOT what we're talking about!

No one (okay, almost no one) is saying that law-abiding citizens should not be allowed to own guns for personal protection. What we're saying is that there's no reason to allow civilians to own military-grade assault weaponry. We're saying that there is no need to allow magazines that hold 30 rounds, or guns that spray dozens of bullets in seconds, or cop-killer bullets, etc. And we're saying that reasonable regulations ought to be in place to keep lunatics from owning guns, or people with criminal backgrounds, or people who are on the Goddamm TERRORIST WATCH LIST, all of which the NRA and their fellow massacre-enablers firmly oppose.

That's what we're talking about, and no matter how many housewives shoot how many intruders (and good on her, by the way) that doesn't change the need for sensible gun laws.

It's a totally false choice that the NRA types like to perpetuate, that either every nut gets to own whatever machine gun he wants or jack-booted guv'mint thugs kickin' down yer door ta take yer gurns!!!!
It's bullshit, and they know it. We had an assault weapons ban for years, and it didn't prevent any moms from shooting intruders with pistols.

The More Guns You Have, the Safer You Are!

Keith Ratliff of Carnesville, GA was shot to death in his home on January 3.

For those of you who don't frequent the FPSRussia Firearms channel on YouTube, this is Keith Ratliff:



So is this:



And this:



So how is it that this good guy with a gun was unable to avoid being murdered by a bad guy with a gun?  Surely, someone must have taken his guns away! (the UN? probably.)

Well, let's ask Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent Mike Ayers.

Ayers said there were many guns found near Ratliff's body, but said those weapons were not involved in the killing. He said authorities are "actively interviewing people and seeking leads" 

Oh. So I guess he didn't have enough guns? Because having guns makes people safe, right?

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/09/georgia-authorities-hunt-suspect-in-shooting-death-youtube-gun-enthusiast/#ixzz2HWrtazBz