Why we can't have nice things

Don Young is an actual, honest-to-God member of Congress. The United States Congress. And sure, he represents Alaska - Bedlam on Ice- but still. His vote counts the same as a representative from a normal state.
And he says things like this. Out loud. Into a microphone.

Young said that potential Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. -- and “progressives” generally -- “don't want individualism.” 
That means the “government controlling everything you do … Everybody will be under some form of government mandate to do this, this or this,” and that includes “when to get up, what to eat, what you’re thinking, what school you’re gonna go to and what you’re going to be,” Young said.

And I don't think he's engaging in hyperbole or speaking metaphorically, or any other words too big for Don Young to understand.

He continued: “They don’t want entrepreneurship … You can’t think on your own … And whatever they do, whatever you do to benefit yourself has to go to Uncle Sam. And it’s the basis of total socialism, and that’s what they really want to do,” Young said

“I can guarantee … Hillary Clinton, Sanders, even Trump to some degree: They don’t understand where real wealth comes from. Real wealth comes from resource development,” Young said. 

Yes. The only way to gain wealth is to exploit natural resources. No one ever got rich without strip-mining,  fracking, or drilling, baby, drilling!


   


Nope, can't think of a single person who ever became wealthy by any means other than developing resources!



And Don Young (R-YouKiddingMe?) has a history of saying pretty nutty things.

Think Progress has collected a few, including:


Environmentalists are “waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots.”

Now, how an intellectual idiot is able to graduate Harvard, I shall never know.

Yale, sure! But Harvard?

Also, what environmentalists have against waffles remains a mystery.

Young, who is a big advocate for drilling in the arctic and strongly disbelieves in climate change, said that environmentalists are a “self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots” and “are not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.”

Ohhh, that clears it up!


Drink alone to avoid domestic violence.

If she hadn'ta been drinking with me, she'da been fine!

“”Watch the alcohol and the drugs,” he said. “You look at the relationship between violence against the loved ones you love, (it) is usually related to either one of those. And I’m going to suggest for those that may be drinking together – Stop it! If you want to drink by yourself, you may do it. But when you drink together, the possibility of harm becomes greater every day.”

  

I mean, it's not like you could just NOT do drugs or drink to excess, right? 

What are we, Mormons?

 And the all-time classic:

The BP oil spill is not an environmental disaster.

 Don Young, everyone! The TWENTY-TWO TERM Congressman from the Great state of Alaska! Yes, he's not only been elected to Congress, he's been re-elected 21 times! Even after doing this:

Your Liberal Media Strikes Again!

I am so sick of this shit




Really? John Kasich? John Kasich should be HRC's running mate?
First of all, just assuming that she's going to win when Bernie Sanders is still very much alive in this race is total bullshit. And how Chris Matthews is allowed to opine on the Democratic Party when Hillary Clinton is helping Mathews' wife run for some office or other is, well, I was going to say "shocking," but sadly, I'm not shocked at all.

But setting that aside, this is the same bullshit we've been hearing since at least 1992. When Bill Clinton won with a plurality of votes, the punditocracy came out with the idea that since Clinton didn't have a "mandate," he should really consider putting at least one Republican in his cabinet. Of course, 8 years later when G.W. Bush "won" with an actual minority of the popular vote, no such similar trope was trotted out. It was full steam ahead, time to re-make this country in the image of Dubya!
Now Matthews wants John Kasich to be Hillary's running mate? Fuck that!
First of all, I am so sick of the double standard that Democrats are always expected to reach out across the aisle and offer olive branches and compromise and yada, yada, yada.
Republicans are encouraged to play to their base. Democrats are always encouraged to ignore, abandon, and even repudiate theirs. Every Democratic candidate is supposed to come up with his/her own "Sister Souljah" moment to prove that they aren't beholden to the populist left.

Also, since when is John Kasich a "moderate?"
Sure, he doesn't froth at the mouth like Ted Cruz or encourage violence at his rallies like Trump, but since when does being relatively sane equal moderation?
Just Google Kasich + moderate and you'll find inconvenient facts like:

In 2013, Kasich approved a budget that included some of the harshest anti-abortion legislation in the country. . .
The only state in America that has closed more clinics than Ohio is the state of Texas. Ted Cruz had better watch his back if he wants to remain the poster boy for right-wing extremism.  John Kasich might give him a run for his money.  (Salon)

Across the state he has made an enemy of public sector unions, teachers and environmentalists with attacks on collective bargaining, cuts to funding of public schools alongside scandals in the charter school education sector, and enthusiastic support for oil and gas production via fracking – even though that has not brought as much prosperity to the state as some think. (Guardian.com)

He would cut the top marginal tax rate to 28 percent, reduce the capital gains tax to 15 percent and repeal the estate tax, a long-standing conservative goal.
Kasich wants to cut Social Security as part of his plan to balance the budget. When a New Hampshire audience member said a lower monthly benefit would be a problem for him, Kasich told him to “get over it.” (MSNBC)

And this is the guy Matthews thinks should be added to the DEMOCRATIC ticket. Fuck Chris Matthews. That guy is the absolute worst!

Saturd80's -- Misc.

I couldn't find the version of this song I remember. It was on a 10" record that had a couple of songs and a lot of interviews with the band talking about socialism and being revolutionaries. ("Being a revolutionary is bloody boring. . .") but this version is still pretty good.

Insane Law of the Day

Senate OKs church, concealed carry, nullification bill

Geoff Pender, The Clarion-Ledger 8:26 p.m. CDT March 30, 2016

Senate OK's the what, now?

The Senate on Tuesday passed the "Mississippi Church Protection Act" to allow armed security in churches. . .

. . . Concealed carry without a permit. . .

. . . and to provide for attempts to nullify federal regulations and executive orders that would limit gun rights.

You know, it started out seeming sorta semi-sane. If churches want to have security guards, that doesn't seem so weird. I mean what with all the crimes that take place in Mississippi churches these days. Like, for instance. . . um. . . I'm sure there are many examples. But, this being Mississippi, it got baboon-ass crazy pretty damn quick there.


But I'm sure that before passing this bill, there was probably a lot of reasoned debate.

There was much debate. Sen. Hillman Frazier, D-Jackson, waved a sheathed sword and quoted Bible Scripture as he argued against passage of the bill. Proponents also quoted Scripture, and even the Five Man Electrical Band — "signs, signs, everywhere signs" — as they fended off an amendment to require churches with armed security to post signs.

Quoting Scripture.




Quoting Scripture and waving around swords. Seriously. Mississippi state senators make laws for their state using the same methods as a rabbinical Talmudic debate. Plus with swords!

Anyway, what all does this law do?

The bill would allow churches to create security programs and designate and train members to carry concealed weapons. It would provide criminal and legal protections to those serving as church security.

Okay. So if a church wants to have a member be an armed security guard, instead of having that person go through a whole training/licensing procedure, Reverend Snakehandler can just authorize him?

Say, Bob, you're our most responsible member. How'd you like to start packing heat during Sunday Vespers?

And why shouldn't a member of the clergy be allowed to start issuing gun permits? Why shouldn't a man of the cloth stand in place of a government official?  I don't see how any harm could possibly come from merging religious and governmental functions.

 

You get a gun! And you get a gun! Look under your pews, everybody! Everyone gets a gun!

Oh, and if Cletus thinks that the guy passing the offering plate might be holding it in a threatening way and opens fire, he's got "criminal and legal protections" just like a real police! Because, after all, he's been deputized by Rev. Hornswaggle and that's just as good as being a for-real cop.

The bill also would allow concealed carry in a holster without a permit in Mississippi, expanding a measure passed last year that allowed concealed carry without a permit in a purse, satchel or briefcase, and another recent law that allows open carry in public.

Of course. Because these assholes won't be satisfied until every part of this country looks like the fucking OK Corral.

Bullshit of the Day

So, in response to something awful that Donald Trump said yesterday, a group called "March for Life" issued this press release.
Which is bullshit.

No Pro-Life American Advocates Punishment for Abortion

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Bethany Goodman

 




Um, since when?

“Mr. Trump’s comment today is completely out of touch with the pro-life movement and even more with women who have chosen such a sad thing as abortion,” said Jeanne Mancini, President of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund. “Being pro-life means wanting what is best for the mother and the baby. Women who choose abortion often do so in desperation and then deeply regret such a decision. No pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion.

Okay, I don't know you and I don't know anything about your organization, so I will assume that what you say in the above paragraph is an honest representation of your particular stance on abortion and punishment. But you are honestly going to sit there and say that "No pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion?"

Have you met any other "pro-lifers?"

It seems to be the position of the "pro-life" movement in general that abortion is the moral equivalent of infanticide.



They make no moral distinction between aborting a zygote and murdering a toddler.

And you're going to sit there with a straight face and tell me that people who believe that a woman has just murdered her own child would not want to see that woman punished? None of them would? Really?

Here's a discussion I found on some website called IGN or something:

What should the punishment be for getting an abortion if it's outlawed nationwide?

Discussion in 'The Vestibule' started by vegas133, Today at 12:40 PM.

Should the woman pay a fine? Go to jail? Get charged with first degree murder? What sort of punishment fits the crime moving foward to you if abortion suddenly becomes illegal?

First response:

Date Posted: Today at 12:41 PM #2

Death
An eye for an eye muthafucka

Other responses included:

Date Posted: Today at 12:49 PM #9

Death or life imprisonment, obviously.

Date Posted: Today at 1:00 PM #13

Same as murder 1. And miscarriage should be charged as negligent homicide.

So, obviously your press release is a bunch of bullshit. Of course many "pro-lifers" want women who have abortions to be jailed or executed. Of course they do. How could they not? How could you possibly say "abortion is murder," and then turn around and say "that murderer should not be punished at all." It makes no sense.

Hell, this comment was posted on your own website as a response to this press release:

the rein man • 2 hours ago

Well, I am American, I am pro life with 12 kids to prove it, and I think some type of punishment for abortion is a good thing. Abortion is murder. To say that no pro lifer supports punishment for murder is beyond ludicrous.

Maybe you don't support punishment for abortions, maybe your organization doesn't. But you are a small part of the "pro-life community" or whatever. It's like me saying "I hate walnuts. No middle-aged white male doesn't hate walnuts." It's total bullshit.