Orphan March

So I saw a bus the other day that had this sign on it about going to Washington for an "orphans march"




Yeah, like that.
So my interest was naturally piqued, as I have been especially concerned about the orphans lately, having been learning about them on the BBC.

 

 

I'm especially worried about her.

Anyway, I tried to look it up on the internet, and the first thing I found was this:

Take Action! Jump on the

 Cotton Seed Studios Bus

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Rob

FILM DOCUMENTARY

STUCK

STEP FORWARD FOR ORPHANS MARCH

FRIDAY MAY 17
WASHINGTON, DC

 

 

And their explanation of what the orphan march is all about was this:

We are excited to take a group of folks from OPELIKA to our nations capitol to march on capitol hill with the STUCK Tour for the STEP FORWARD FOR ORPHANS MARCH, an effort to restore civil discourse between politically diverse Americans

Which, I'm pretty sure is not what the organizers of the Orphan March had in mind. I think their purpose is to try and help the orphans.

But anyway. . . . as part of their effort to "restore civil discourse," they are presenting a special guest speaker. . . drum roll, please. . .

 

 



1:00 – 2:30 PM

March to Upper Senate Park Special Guest Speaker: Laura Ingraham

Laura Ingraham! Because when I think of civil discourse, the first name that pops into my head is Laura Ingraham!



Ironically, when I googled "Laura Ingraham Quotes," this was the first one to come up:

There's a rule of thumb in politics. If you're at a point where you're complaining about the other guy being mean and unfair and uncivil, that's probably a sign that you're losing.

Laura Ingraham

 

Just do a quick check of her name on the Media Matters site, and you'll find things like this:

 

Laura Ingraham Compares Benghazi "Whistleblowers" To Freed Slaves, Obama Admin To Slave Owners
 

 

And

Laura Ingraham Claims Immigration From Mexico Would Create U.S. "Hellhole"



a

and

 Fox's Ingraham Compares Press Relationship To Obama As Similar To Battered Women, Prostitutes




so, you know, "Civil Discourse."


So what kind of an organization would trot out this guttermouth as an exemplar of civil discourse? I don't know. The organizers of the Orphan March, which seems, at least at first glance, to be a legitimately well-meaning group, apparently brought her in to speak about her own experience with international adoptions. It seems to be the people doing the bus tour, a group called "Cotton Seed Studios" who are under the impression that this is about restoring civil discourse.

 

Maybe they're thinking of this?

 

 

So who is "Cotton Seed Studios?"  I don't know. They seem like a legitimate arts organization. Their raison d'etre, according to their website is: Cotton Seed Studios exist to offer artist an environment to create, record, express, collaborate and grow with their craft through a full service recording/film studio and premier arts venue.

So, to sum up, I have no idea who any of these people are. But someone, somewhere thinks that Laura Ingraham has something to do with civil discourse, and that's good enough for me.
 

Georgia Lawmakers Illustrate Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Georgia depends heavily on federal money

Federal funds made up about $10.4 billion of state agency spending in fiscal 2008, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of budget records. Four years later, that figure was more than $12 billion, in part because the state had some leftover federal stimulus money. But the total will likely approach or top $12 billion again in the upcoming year. That’s roughly 31.6 percent of state spending, up from about 27 percent in 2008.

That's not all that surprising, given that A) Red states nearly always get more back from the Federal government than they send in*, and B) this is the state that produced Newt "king of Pork" Gingrich.

And then I said "fiscal responsibility!" Ahahahaha!!!

But here's the good part:

Some top lawmakers regularly gripe about federal spending and the state Senate passed a resolution last year backing a federal balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Well, it's nice that they are taking a principled stand. There's a certain integrity in saying "even though it will hurt my state, I still think that cutting spending is morally right, and I'm willing to make that sacrifice." Oh, wait! These are Republicans!

But lawmakers have also urged Congress to spend more on everything from Georgia reservoir construction and commuter rail to medical training, and they have approved tax maneuvers to draw down nearly $800 million a year in extra federal funding for health and nursing care.

And there you have it, today's Republican Party in a nutshell. Cut spending! Cut spending! Cut spend. . .woah, wait, don't cut here! The spending in my district is absolutely necessary! Cut the wasteful spending. You know, the spending that affects other people!

Gov. Nathan Deal said that can’t continue.

 

 

Yes, he won running on that slogan.

“We cannot be hypocritical at the state level,” said Deal, a longtime former Congressman. “We cannot continue to bombard the people in Washington, telling them they need to cut spending, they need to reduce the burden on taxpayers in this country by reducing their expenditures, and then when something like sequestration occurs, be the first to complain we’re not receiving as much federal money."

"Oh, wait, I'm being told that that is indeed our entire business model," he did not continue. "That is actually our standard electoral strategy and the only reason we get out of bed in the morning. Please tell Mr. Koch that I'm very very sorry."

Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, sponsored legislation creating a Senate committee to study alternatives to federal funding for health care programs. He said he’s worried the state has become too dependent on Washington.

“We are basically making assumptions every year in the budget that the federal government is going to continue to carry the state of Georgia,” McKoon said. “As a conservative who wants to see Washington tighten its belt, it’s prudent as policymakers to start asking what is our contingency plan if federal funding is significantly reduced.

In other words, we want DC to stop spending all this money, but we have no idea how we're going to get along without it.


*

Real Man of the Day: Frank Butler

In the Autumn of 18575, Francis E. Butler was a well-known marksman who performed with various traveling variety shows. He would also go from town to town challenging the locals to a $100 bet that he could out-shoot anyone in town, a bet he rarely lost.

On Thanksgiving Day, a local hotel-owner put up the $100 and said he knew of a shootist in his town that could beat the famed Butler. When Butler showed up to the match, he found that his opponent was to be a petitie 15-year-old girl. Butler and the girl each hit 24 shots in a row before Butler finally missed. The girl never did.

Now a lot of men, especially in 1875, would have felt embarrassed, angry, or humiliated to have lost to this young lady in what was exclusively a man's sport. Butler, on the other hand, was smitten. He soon married the girl and the two began touring the country performing their sharpshooting act. The girl would take the stage name Annie Oakley, and would soon have top billing.





This is how a real man reacts to a kick-ass woman like Annie. Real men are not afraid of or repelled by strong, talented, successful women. Real men find those qualities appealing. Real men fall head over heels for smart, tough, independent women. Like Frank Butler did. And like I did.

I don't see why the IRS "scandal" is a scandal at all.

 

Now THAT was a Scandal!

 

 

 

Why wouldn't the IRS look closely at groups whose raison d'etre is hatred of paying taxes? (And also of having access to medicine)

 

 

If this guy doesn't realize that his taxes have gone down,

what are the odds he understands the 501(c) rules?

 

 



And they keep saying these groups were "targeted." I think that targeting means something a bit stronger than "took an extra look at."

 

Also, from everything I've heard, these teabagger groups absolutely have been violating the rules for 501(c) organizations. According to Mother Jones: These 501(c)(4) nonprofits, also known as "social-welfare" groups, are not allowed to make politics their "primary activity."

 

So, a group of people for whom the term "social welfare" is an obscenity form a "social welfare group," and that's NOT supposed to raise anyone's suspicions? Go to any teabagger rally (you'll need a time machine) and ask the people there whether what they're doing is promoting social welfare. Then put some ice on that black eye. These people are doing nothing but trying (and sometimes succeeding) to influence politics.  Look at this handy chart from the inspector general's report:

 

 

 

 



If you're a 501(c)(3), you can't be involved in politics at all. If you're a 501(c)(4), your involvement in politics must be "limited" and can not be your "primary activity." So what other activities did these groups engage in besides engaging in political campaign intervention?  You can make the argument that they operated within the law, that their idiot rallies were for "educational" purposes, and that the guidelines are somewhat vague, but surely this sort of thing should invite extra scrutiny if they're claiming tax-exempt status.

 

(What I think IRS scrutiny would look like)

 



And this trumped-up "scandal" should have been swept into the dustbin of history along with "Travelgate" and "Solyndra-gate" and all the others, but noooooo. POTUS gets out there and apologizes, and says that "the misconduct . . . is inexcusable.  It’s inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it.  I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS."

(Full Transcript: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/barack-obama-irs-statement-transcript-91445.html#ixzz2TVKEEoLT)

And then the IRS director has to fall on his sword, even though this apparently happened under the previous director, a George W. Bush appointee. And even though he was never really the director of the IRS because Republicans have refused to allow anyone to be confirmed for any position in any department because they're sociopathic assholes. 

So, sure, White House, let's enable this kind of behavior, that's a great strategy! Unless. . .


. . . The poutrage leads to a Teabagger resurgence. . .


. . .a resurgent Tea party in 2014 nominates more Christine O'Donnels and Sharon Angles. . .


Oh, my God. It's Brilliant!

Democrats re-take the House!

Fuck Rahm Emmanuel

Chicago Mayor and former White House dick Rahm Emmanuel
wants the people of Chicago to pay for a new sports arena, because, sure everyone's pretty flush right now!

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is set to announce plans to build a $300 million, 12,000-seat arena for DePaul University

Yeah, DePaul University. The private Catholic University would get the taxpayers to kick in about $125 million via bonds and hotel taxes and what-not. Why in the world would a private university get it's basketball court paid for by the taxpayers? Just ask Alderman Pat Dowell:

“Sometimes you have to make an investment in city resources to be able to generate tax dollars,” Dowell said

Right. And what would be a better city resource than an arena which would be owned and operated by a private religious institution?

 

Emanuel avoided reporters on Tuesday, ducking out a side door after announcing a summer parks plan. He also avoided CBS 2′s cameras at City Hall.

So at least he seems to have some sense of shame.

But fuck this guy. He was never any kind of progressive. He's one of these Clinton-type "new Democrats," aka Republican-Lite. Chicago deserves better.

And not for nothing, but why in the world does a Catholic University have this logo?


How did they settle on "Blue Demons?" Was it that California already took the "Angels", and New Orleans already had "Saints?"  So, fuck it, let's be the DePaul Minions of Satan! No that's not snappy enough. . . Blue Demons!