Boehner was so close!

He almost had it!



John Boehner actually had it for a second there. He actually seemed to understand that the record California drought is, at least in part, a result of man-made climate fuckuppery.

But then he decided that it was made by one man and that man is, of course, President Obama.

And he seems to be serious.

Speaker Boehner, or whoever ghost-posts on his Facebook page, put up this photo of what seems to be a perfectly reasonable sing from somewhere in the Golden State.



Other than the corny "Green to go Brown" line and maybe the fact that a 36% reduction in water usage is probably not enough, what objection could anyone have to this? Well, let's see:

    

Speaker John Boehner

If ever there was a phrase that perfectly encapsulates liberal environmentalists’ backwards priorities and regressive ideology of restriction and scarcity, it is the one now displayed on a government sign in Arcadia, California: “It’s ‘green’ to go brown.”

Um, okay. . . Not really sure how scarcity is a "liberal ideology." Water is scarce in California. That isn't liberal or conservative or anything but the fact of the matter. They are running out of water.And when one is short on something, I'm not sure how trying to conserve what little you have is "backwards priorities." I guess the forward-thinking approach would be "Hey, Mr. Speaker, we're running out of Scotch. Let's just pour this last bottle down the drain."

So, up 'til now, this post is merely stupid. But hold on to your hats & glasses, it's about to veer into crazy-town!

Visit http://j.mp/1M8kIay [delinked] to learn more about what Congress is doing to end President Obama’s man-made water shortage in the West and allow water resources to be managed in a way that actually makes sense.

Yes, obviously, President Obama has been preventing rain from falling West of the Sierra Nevadas. Obviously, the California water table is drying up because of oh, I don't know, let's say healthcare?

And I guess there's no snow-pack because um. . .  treaty with Iran?
How in the hell can a climatalogical phenomenon be laid at the feet of the President? I mean, sure, his support of gay marriage is obviously going to cause floods. earthquakes, tornadoes and Kardashians, but this drought has been going on since before he even came around on that issue.

So, nice try Mr. Speaker, but now that I think about it you really weren't even that close.

How is this garbage in my newspaper?

This was actually in my newspaper today. An actual newspaper spent money on ink and paper to publish this:

Obama: Witting or Witless?

Mona Charen | Jul 17, 2015

A question has hung in the air since Barack Obama first moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and began his "fundamental transformation" of this country: Did he intend harm, or was he merely so blinded by ideology that he could not see the damage his policies were creating? The Iran deal provides an answer.

Really? Has that question really hung in the air? Have any sane people actually been asking this question? Really?
First of all, Barack Obama is about the least ideological political figure in the country. (Not to his credit.)
Secondly, what "fundamental transformation" has he accomplished? How different is the country today than in 2008? Other than the economy having turned around and American soldiers not being killed on a regular basis. Tax rates haven't changed significantly, health care is still run by mulit-billion dollar for-profit private companies, and mouth-breathers still get to wave automatic weapons around in public. So what's the big transformation?

At his press conference, our duplicitous leader chose to call black white and claim that the deal does the opposite of what it does -- allow Iran to get nuclear weapons, albeit after a decent interval. We are deep into Orwellian territory now. "War is peace. Ignorance is strength." Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is crowing that Iran achieved all of its objectives and the U.S. none.

Right, we totally can't trust the Iranians, and let's take Rouhani at his word that he acheived all his objectives. I mean, why would he lie?

 But from his first inaugural address onward, Obama both secretly and openly wooed the Iranian regime. In the process, he repeatedly lied to Congress, our allies and the American people, settling, to my satisfaction at least, that he is inflicting this potential catastrophe wittingly.

Look, I get that this Charen character normally writes for "Town Hall" or some other sort of right-wing bathroom tissue, but how the hell are legitimate papers picking up this baseless slander against a sitting US President? 

A National Embarrasment

 


Texas Governor Greg Abbot is a national embarrassment. You'd have thought George W. would be the most embarrassing governor in Texas's history. Then Rick Perry came along. Now Abbott has managed to slither under even that low-set bar.

It wasn't bad enough that he bought into the Jade Helm conspiracy nonsense. Or, if he didn't actually believe it himself, he apparently felt obliged to pander to the lowest-IQ portion of the electorate and, frankly I don't know which is worse.

Anyway, if that wasn't crazy/stupid enough, now there's this:

Scientology Group Urged Veto of Mental Health Bill

• by Morgan Smith

After a Church of Scientology-backed group helped organize a campaign against it, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed legislation that would have given Texas doctors more power to detain mentally ill and potentially dangerous patients, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune.

Yep, now he's pandering to Scientologists of all people. Maybe he's the one person in America who didn't see or at least hear about "Going Clear?"

 

I mean, you do know these people are nuts, right? Well, the believers in Scientology are nuts, the ones running it may just be running the most hugely successful long-con since some Japanese chef convinced people that sushi is food.

But surely it can't just be because the Scientologists objected, right? There was peobably something in the bill that caused conservative Texans to rail against it. Maybe it involved an expenditure of tax monies? The bill must have been controversial, no?

The governor's early June veto of Senate Bill 359 caught many of the measure’s proponents off-guard. The legislation had sailed through the House and Senate with little debate and only a handful of negative votes — and during committee hearings in both chambers, a range of mental health advocates, medical groups and law enforcement officials showed up to testify in its favor.

So, Republicans, Democrats, doctors and police were all in favor of this bill? So who was against it, besides the insane cult that is Scientology?

In a letter hand-delivered to the governor’s office on May 20, the “SB 359 Veto Coalition” said the bill threatened the “delicate balance” between providing “access to humane care and treatment for persons suffering from mental illness and safeguarding the person’s legal right." It characterized the bill as granting “sweeping powers” to hospitals that could lead to fraudulent mental health detentions and threaten a patient’s right to refuse medical care.
Others lending their names to the letter included the Texas Home School Coalition, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the anti-vaccine group Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education and Texans for Accountable Government, a libertarian organization currently campaigning to stop water fluoridation in Austin.

 So, a crazy cult, crazy home-schoolers, crazy anti-vaxxers and crazy Birchers? An entire coalition of unhinged imbeciles that are scared of science? That's the anti-this-bill constituency and Abbott actually went along with them? He sided with the dimwits, dullards, dolts and dunces over cops and doctors?
And, yes, also the League of United Latin American Citizens, who may or may not be crazy - I've never heard of them- and did actually have a legitimate concern about the law being used to incarcerate recent immigrants, but no one thinks for a second that a Latino group had any influence on Gov Abbott. Generally, he would have voted against them just to prove his anti-brown-people bona fides.

Mary Jensen, executive director of the San Antonio branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, who worked to shore up support for the bill throughout the legislative process, said she was “very surprised” by the veto.
“Right now, [doctors] cannot legally hold [patients], even though they know they are a danger to themselves, or they might go back to their house and harm their family members. There is nothing a doctor can do,” said Jensen.

So there's a decent chance that some Texans may be hurt or killed because of this. Because the governor of an actual state of the USA took mental health policy advice from people who think that psychiatry is a fraud because all mental problems are caused by the ghosts of dead martians that are attached to everybody.


So, congratulations, Texas. Three governors in a row that are national embarrassments. Each one worst than the last!

Oh Dear God!

First of all, how the hell did this take this long?

'19 Kids and Counting' Cancelled

By MICHAEL ROTHMAN and LESLEY MESSER 2 hours ago Good Morning America

"After thoughtful consideration, TLC and the Duggar family have decided to not move forward with '19 Kids and Counting.' The show will no longer appear on the air," the network told ABC News in a statement.

Thoughtful consideration? How much fucking thought do you have to put in to cancelling a show featuring a sexual predator and the parents who covered up his crimes? And why is the Duggar Family allowed to be part of the decision? Is this one of those things like when someone gets fired the company says he "left to spend more time with his family?" Because I really don't see how the Duggars should be entitled to this kind of face-saving statement.

Oh, but it gets worse.

TLC added in its statement that a campaign to raise awareness on child sexual abuse, including upcoming work with the Duggar family on a one-hour documentary was in the network's future. 

 Are you fucking kidding me?

Not only are you going to keep doing business with this sick family, but you're enlisting them in a campaign about child sexual abuse?
Well, I guess they're the experts.

Here's the statement Jim Bob and Michelle issued regarding the abuse their daughters suffered:

With God’s grace and help, Josh, our daughters and our entire family overcame a terrible situation, found healing and a way forward. We are so pleased with the wonderful adults they have all become."

So, these are the new spokespeople for sexual abuse awareness? People whose answer is if you suffer sexual abuse, just pray about it and it will all work out just fine. Everyone will grow up and put it behind them and be just wonderful adults, including the molester who can marry, have his own children and probably about a million nieces and nephews and it's just fine for them to spend the weekend at Uncle Josh's house!

The abuser goes unpunished, the victims get no counseling or therapy, and everything is just fine.
That's the sex abuse awareness you want to spread, TLC? And you're going to pay these sickos to be involved in this farce?

Shouldn't this have gone without saying?

The great Louie DePalma once said "I never thought I'd have to make this rule, but no Vivaldi in the garage."

I have to think that the CDC felt the same surprise/befuddlement when they had to issue this warning:

Don't kiss your chickens:

 Backyard flocks spread Salmonella, CDC warns

So far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 181 people in 40 states have been infected with Salmonella from direct contact with live poultry such as chicks, ducklings and chickens, many of which were kept in small backyard flocks. Thirty-three people had to be hospitalized.
"Many ill people in these outbreaks reported bringing the live poultry into their homes, and others reported kissing or cuddling with the live poultry," the CDC said in a statement. "These behaviors increase a person's risk of a Salmonella infection."

People are getting salmonella by making out with chickens.
I'm just going to sit here for a minute and let that sink in.
People are kissing and cuddling chickens.
The dirty bird!

"Instances of Salmonella in backyard flocks are much lower than commercial processors," she said. "Salmonella is in poop, it's in dirt -- you can get it any time you don't wash up properly. I do recommend against kissing your chickens," she added.

Yeah, because apparently chicken beaks are covered in salmonella-ridden poop!