Do You Realize?

The tightening of the wingnuts

I've been surfing this morning, and the waves are high and treacherous .

Have you noticed that when a person can't poke holes in a politician's policies or the job they've done/are doing, they resort to trying to poke holes in their private lives?

Hate-filled fundies have done their best now to prove Obama attended a madrasa, that he's not a "true" Christian or that his church is racist against whites, and now this man has made not one, but two, YouTube videos claiming to have had a coke-crack-and-fellatio-fest with Barack in the back of his limo.

Let me just go on record as saying that if this story is, indeed, true, that Larry Sinclair is the singular highest form of idiot: one who doesn't know the monetary gains of true blackmail. Okay, that was a joke, but this isn't. If I have solid, proof-backed claims of misconduct of such a well-known figure, I know I'm headed to the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time, Newsweek. But Larry? His exposure of choice is YouTube, where any jackass with a cameraphone is a celebrity in their own mind. We teach our kids to ignore schoolyard taunting, and yet there are people out there who want Obama to respond to this? Right now? Shall he drop his campaign duties and make himself a YouTube response video?

On one wingnut delicious Republican site, which I shall not publicize, I found not only the Larry Sinclair breaking news, but also this bullshit juicy little morsel (which I've picked apart and provided responses) about hatemonger Fred Phelps being a registered Democrat:

Quick question, why do the Democrat candidates for President refuse to condemn the antics of the Leftist religious groups in their party?

I hardly think not taking the time to specifically address Phelps publicly constitutes a refusal to condemn the man and his hateful brood. And is there any such thing as a "Leftist religious group?" Also, if you truly think this is a "quick question," you're completely lacking in anything resembling intelligence.

Is there anyone more disgusting than their Westboro Baptist Church backers?

No. No, there isn't. Except maybe murderers and rapists and the pedophile pervert that recently found my site after searching for the words "underage cunt hole." (Boy, he was disappointed!) Those people may give Fred a run for his money.

Why will they not kick Fred Phelps to the curb? Is it because his hate is exactly like theirs, well except for hating FAGS? Is it because he uses their playbook religiously?

I'd like some clear proof, or at least a semblence of examples, of the accusation that he "uses their playbook religiously," and the "hating FAGS" is where he's more like the redneck fundies who pen entries like the one I'm addressing.

Will the Clintons return the money that Phelps gave them?

I tried at opensecrets.org to find that money, and I couldn't. Besides, Phelps has very openly been "anti-Clinton" once he realized Bill didn't espouse the same, errr, virtues as ol' Fred did.

Will Phelps again get invited to the White House if Hillary is elected like he did when Bill was? Will Phelps send his son to Hillary's inauguration like he did to Bill's first?

A Phelps may have, indeed, showed up at Bill's first inauguration. The one-sided love affair didn't last long. Fred's Westboro Baptist Church picketed Bill's mother's funeral, as well as Al Gore's father's funeral. I suspect he won't show up in support of Hillary any time soon.

I just want to know why homosexual groups refuse to try to kick him out of the party. I mean, is getting elected so important to them that they will allow Phelps and all the other hate groups (KKK, NAACP, etal) to continue to be the majority of their party?

Is it even possible to kick someone out of a political party? We are not the Pope; we cannot excommunicate someone who's simply chosen to keep the word "Democrat" on his voter registration card out of spite. And, are the Democrats so popular as to attract both the KKK and the NAACP? Seems like, despite its early Democratic implications, the KKK today attracts many more conservatives than liberals to its ranks.

Please, if there is a single Democrat that knows these answers, let me know. I just can't come up with one good reason why there is actually a group with so much hate amongst them.

I can't come up with a good reason for the existence of hate groups, either. But the fundies and their "Obamanation" agenda should recognize some parallels.

First and foremost, anyone who believes that Fred Phelps adheres to any political party's true ideals needs to be shot. Fred Phelps adheres to only one agenda: his own. I don't accept him as a true Democrat any more than I would be stupid enough to suggest he were a true Republican. Yes, his voter registration card (which is how old if Phelps is pushing 70?) says "Democrat." I like how Mother Jones stated it in 1999: "He still calls himself a Democrat, refusing to change just because his party has." If you look at Fred Phelps's beliefs, they are far and away closer to the right than the left: extreme religiosity, anti-homosexual, racist. But, again, remember I said I don't think he's truly representative of either legitimate political party.

Second, quickly addressing Obama's "clear" disrespect for white Christians everywhere, let's suppose he was, heaven forbid, NOT a Christian. Does our Constitution not declare that he should be able to choose any religion he wishes? Does our legal definition of who can hold the office of President of the United States include that (s)he must be a Christian? NO. Even if he were Muslim, he would be afforded that right by our Constitution, just as I'm allowed to carry my AK-47 squirrel hunting if I so choose. The problem is extremism, and I boldly declare that any religious extremist is dangerous. A fundamental Christian nut who bombs abortion clinics in God's name is no different to me than a fundamental Muslim nut who bombs the pet market in Allah's name.

A note on the Dems, and a couple of gems

Anybody watch Hillary and Barack last night? I heard the first 30 or 45 minutes on XM but I haven't gotten to watch it on DirecTV yet. I'm looking forward to hearing it, since their views are seemingly so similar on a lot of issues. I do plan on posting my impressions, but I have a bazillion errands to run today, and we have an appointment in Dallas tonight, so it may be tomorrow or Sunday.

I did want to make mention of the abominable new lows to which overseas terrorists in Baghdad are stooping. Where do people come up with an idea like: "Hey, let's strap up a couple of mentally retarded women, send them into the city's pet market, then blow them up by remote control?"  It's also pissing me off that some of the media are calling them "suicide bombers." I'm sorry, but I don't see mentally handicapped women making that sort of decision; this was murder, pure & evil.

And, speaking of evil, ask me how badly Exxon and their record profits make me want to vomit. Go ahead, just ask.

Finally, just consider the photo included in this article. Where's the grass these cows are supposed to be grazing on? Trees for shade? A pond or two? This is what we subject a majority of the nation's cattle to during their final days & weeks, just for a tasty burger. Pasture fed-and-finished beef is readily available nationwide now; there's no excuse for feedlots.

Sullying My Good Name

Don't you hate it when someone with your name does something reprehensible and loathsome and lands in the middle of a national scandal/debacle/debate/investigation?

I do. There's something a little unnerving about reading your name in relation to something heinous.

Karl Rove---Asshat Extraordinaire

I'm just now reading up on Karl Rove's latest act of American political history revision. His claim?

The evil, dirty Democrats pushed President Bush into the war. He didn't want it.

W... T... F...?!?! Is this man fucking furreals?

My favorite summary of the charge (from the Crooks & Liars website):

Yes, the truth finally comes out — the tyrannical, warmongering Tom Daschle was out on the news shows in 2002, beating the drums of war and eventually the Bush administration, with his boot to their throat, relented and let the Democrats have their war.

A Tuesday Ten--Complaint Department Edition

I'm kind of cranky this week. And to prove it, I present you ten things that are on my damn nerves this week (some big, some trivial... I'm balanced that way!):

1. The thing that is bugging me the worst right now is America's glib treatment of mental illness in general. If someone has one little mood fluctuation, people make offhand and ignorant remarks about them being "bipolar." Britney Spears has become a pariah; she is obviously suffering, possibly (I daresay probably) in a depression at the very least, yet all we want is to talk about how "crazy" she is. This story has me all sorts of mad. First, why was this woman, clearly crying out for help (and quite articulately, at that), left alone in a holding cell? If police had been following departmental procedure, she would still be alive today. And second, why aren't more people talking about it, questioning it?

2. Celadon Trucking, who apparently don't realize that common sense marketing strategy would have led them in a different direction. Celadon is GREEN, you numbnuts!

3. The media's treatment of Al Gore, from cherry-picking quotes until they barely resemble the original (he did NOT say he INVENTED the Internet, jackasses) and dissecting everything from his sighing habits to his clothing during the Presidential campaign, now acting like he's always been their darling. No hard feelings, right, Al?

4. Stupid drivers. This will show up on every single pet peeve list of mine until the day I surrender my license because I'm too old or blind to safely operate a vehicle.

5. Hypocrisy. "God's Warrior" Marguerite Perrin from Trading Spouses renounced her family's final $50,000 in 2005, saying (okay, screeching) it was "tainted" and "dark-sided." When she found out that $20,000 had been earmarked for her gastric bypass surgery, though, she reconsidered and took the money. She even went back on Trading Spouses for a second torturous episode. She also said she didn't want money or fame, she just wanted Her God and Her Family. But somehow, she's found a way to capitalize on America's impression of her with a comedy music CD and interviews on numerous TV shows.

6. Drizzly days. Theoretically, rainy days should be like free showers for your car, in my opinion. Drizzly days make dirty roads into muddy roads, and your car always ends up dirtier than it was before the rain. Not cool.

7. Dumbasses who insist on pronouncing the number one hundred as “a hunnerd” or, even better, “a hunnert.” I have heard at least two different radio advertisements this week in which the spokesman slaughtered this. WTF?

8. Childhood Bipolar Disorder. No one should have to live with this disease, and no one should have to live with a child who has this disease. It is devastating, frustrating, confusing, time consuming, and it absolutely eclipses every other person, problem, and plan inside a family.

9. Doggy agression. Our oldest dog, Poogan, is beautiful. But if she were human, she would be the old bitchy aunt that no one wants to visit because all the kids are afraid of her. And she’s got so many neuroses and fears. She's afraid of a whole host of household items & actions: vacuum cleaner, ceiling fans, broom & mop, vacuum cleaner, shadows, candles, shiny reflections, vacuum cleaner, the doorbell, strangers... the list goes on forever... did I mention we've had to replace 5 vacuum cleaner hoses from where she bites holes in them? In her old age, she's also starting to growl and snap at any other living thing that crosses her path, barking shrilly at anything that startles or upsets her. Gah, it gets old.

10. Dropped signals. Whether it's my cell phone or my wireless internet connection, my electronics have been dropping me like a baby giraffe lately.

See? I told you I was cranky!

Talking Head

Okay, I really was not going to tell another tale about my ex-husband, C, who was a pathological liar. I'm still not. But I do want to talk about another one (liar, not ex-husband...hehehe).

I was just reading my daily dose of Internet, and a story caught my eye (mostly because it was called "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire"). Apparently, a woman named Tania Head, who was, until a few days ago, the head of a 9/11 survivors' support group, has been lying the whole time.

Her basic story is/was/has been this: She was in one of the towers when the planes hit. She woke up on fire, and a man (who later died) saved her life. As she was then crawling out of the building, she came across a dying man who gave her an inscribed wedding ring, which she returned to his wife a few months later. She had a fiance in the other tower, named Dave, who died.

Here's all the weird stuff. She has told several versions of this story to various members of the survivors' group, and I guess no one thought to compare stories because it would seem morbid or something.
To some people, she and Dave had just returned from a trip to Hawaii, where they held a commitment ceremony. To others, they had only been seeing each other for a short time & were keeping their relationship a secret. Dave's family (he was indeed a real person, and really did die in the other tower) has never heard of her. They said his computer contained no emails or any other evidence of her existence. She will not reveal the name of the man whose wedding ring she returned, and no one has come forward to verify this story. No area hospitals have any record of anyone with her name in the days following 9/11. Merrill-Lynch, where she claims to have been working, has no record of anyone with her name ever having worked there. She claims to have gone to both Harvard and Stanford, but neither school has any record of any alumnus with her name.

This woman has been giving tours of Ground Zero, traveling to make inspirational speeches, the whole enchilada, for FOUR YEARS now. It seems to me that either: (a) this is a very emotionally disturbed, delusional individual who needs psychiatric treatment, or (b) this is a woman who maybe has some sort of amnesia and needs psychiatric treatment, or (c) this is a sad, pitiful woman so starved for attention she would construct an intricate web of lies for four years who needs psychiatric treatment. See a pattern here? Haste! Get thee to a shrink!

She kind of makes C seem kind of, you know, normal. Scary.

Dear Barack:

My Mini-Meez over to the left is my tentative endorsement for you for POTUS. There are a few things we need to find common ground on, though, before I can put a bumper sticker on my car. 'Cause, you know that's a commitment and all.

My biggest beef with you? No, it's not that you're a smoker, although when we go out for lunch, I will make you sit in the non-smoking section. It's that, regardless of all your good looks and brains, you still seem to succumb to stupidity and illogical thinking when it comes to corn-based ethanol. I've already pointed out just a few itty bitty reasons that's a bad idea. Don't you read this blog?!?! Heh.

Anyway, you're going to have to grow a spine or a set of brass balls & stand up to the lobbyists who are pressuring you from all sides to give in to the hypnotism of corn-based ethanol. It's just bad. We'll talk about our other differences soon. I don't want to put too much on your plate right now.

Hugs & kisses,
~L.

P.S. You might catch my Mini Meez on a day when she is doing something other than holding her campaign sign, but she'll periodically return to being your bitch.

Six Years Ago

Today was a memorable day in history. Take time to remember all which was lost that day six years ago.

I'm an insensitive heel again, I guess

I just finished reading a piece on the families of the missing Utah coal miners. They are outraged that the mining company plans to drill just one more hole (the sixth) to try to find answers. They say that more must be done to find the men. More, MORE, MORE!

Are you kidding me? An enormous amount of manpower has already been expended trying to find these men, and an enormous amount of money, I'm sure. Three people have been killed trying to excavate the mine shaft, and six others have been injured. How much more loss of life and resources do these families think will justify the situation?

They insist they want the bodies for closure, because they can't have closure as long as they are "in the ground somewhere." Just where do they plan on putting them? They don't have to pay for a cemetery plot, and flowers will fit just fine around the mine's entrance.

They insist the mine owner owes them, because he promised to bring the miners home "dead or alive." The man's not superhuman; I'd say he's put forth a pretty damned Herculean effort to keep that promise. Was it kind of stupid to make such a promise? Oh, yeah. But should he be held to his literal word in such a circumstance as exists right now? Hell, no.

They insist the mining company drill a larger hole and use a rescue capsule, like they used in a Pennsylvania mine flood in 2002. Nevermind that the miners in question in Pennsylvania were only 230 feet underground as opposed to 1500 feet underground, or that safety experts have advised against it, saying that Crandall Mountain is too unstable.

One of the most vocal of the "families" is only ever referred to as a "girlfriend" or that she "is dating" one of the miners. "Let 'em all die in the process, but get my boyfriend out of there!"

Again, my practicality (or my insensitive heel-ness) limits my ability to justify sending more people in there to risk their lives on a body recovery mission. It would be a different story if the miners were alive, but five holes have not even revealed a clue of their whereabouts. They could have crawled into some God-forsaken corner of the mine. Not knowing if this is a practical solution or not, so it's all purely conjecture, my answer would be to blast the mine wide open. The families would stand a better chance of getting their family members back, but the bodies wouldn't necessarily be intact. Which is worse? No body or body parts? I'm voting for NO body.

NBA & NFL... role models or overpaid thugs?

(Yes, I'm aware that every blog and newspaper in America has probably already said all this or at least talked about it, but I'm throwing in my 10 cents worth.)

Once upon a time, professional sports players made a decent amount of money for playing phenomenally without the use of steroids, and the athletes were role models for kids. They had vices like smoking or chewing tobacco or drinking, vices that were self-destructive and made them human enough that parents could tell little Johnny that they were still good men, but that they were hurting themselves.

Skip forward a few decades, and professional sports players make absurd amounts of money for playing phenomenally, often with the help of illicit steroids, and the athletes are worthy of being role models for no one. They have vices like dogfighting or starving, kicking, and shooting dogs, vices that are vicious to others and make them sadistic enough that parents can't find the words to tell little Johnny why these men are still allowed to walk free among decent human beings.

What is it about the NFL and NBA now that seems to breed a callous attitude toward animals (and, oftentimes, other humans) in its players? When I started this post, I was thinking of Michael Vick's 18-page indictment for unspeakable things done to dogs on his property in Virginia. Now I'm thinking of Jonathan Babineaux, Ron Artest, Jayson Williams, along with many, many others. Not only are these athletes abusing the animals and people in their lives, some are being allowed to get away with proverbial slaps on the wrist by the leagues (cough...Babineaux...cough, cough), sending big messages to the kids that idolize them.

In case you missed the coverage of Jonathan Babineaux, he is the one arrested for beating his girlfriend's dog to death (but not killing it quickly, mind you, instead letting it suffer for hours) because he was mad at her after a fight. His girlfriend came home after a movie to find her dog dying, but Babineaux says he didn't have anything to do with it, even though he was the only one home with the dog. Riiiiiight.

Ron Artest was arrested for starving his female Great Dane, leaving the dogs for weeks at a time. He claims that his American bulldog was eating all the food; okay, Ron, but would you leave five toddlers, one of whom is known for aggressiveness, in the house alone for 3 weeks with fifty Happy Meals, telling them to sort out mealtimes for themselves? He claims that he had a dog-sitter that was mishandling the feedings; okay, Ron, is that why authorities had siezed your dogs at least three (and maybe six) times before for the same reason? Surprisingly, a month later he was also booked on spousal abuse charges. And, to ice his cake, in order to get a quote from him regarding his resulting seven-game suspension (seven whole games?), he had to be tracked down on a goodwill mission to Kenya. My favorite quote? ""I am doing many positive things this summer. ... [We] are holding HIV babies and walking around in the slums where kids have no running water or electricity and no shoes on their feet, feeding rice and beans to kids." What a piece of work.

And Jayson Williams? To me, he takes the all-in-one prize for stupidity and cruelty. Jayson Williams bet a teammate that he (the teammate) couldn't drag Williams's guard Rottweiler outside the house. When the teammate was smart enough to figure out that he could drag the dog pretty easily by its back legs, Williams shoots his own dog twice in the head with a shotgun, nearly decapitating it, and tells the teammate to get the fucking dog off his porch or he's next. Surprisingly, six months later, Williams was facing manslaughter charges when a limo driver died from a gunshot wound in his driveway bedroom; Williams denied having anything to do with the death, even though he was found to have staged (quite sloppily) the crime scene to appear as a suicide. We believe you, Jayson; that didn't make you look guilty (or stupid) at all!

Michael Vick, NFL's Golden Boy, should be hung out to dry. I am all for making an example of him. I am thrilled that all of his endorsement clients are bolting; sure, it is good PR for them, but it also sends a good message to all those kids who want to be Michael Vick when they grow up.