Societal Overhaul

“Full fathom five thy father lies,
Of his bones are coral made,
Those are pearls that were his eyes,
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change,
into something rich and strange,
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell,
Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them, ding-dong, bell.”

Shakespeare ~ The Tempest

If it hasn’t become clear to most of you by now, it should have. We are in the middle of a blatant attempt by certain political elements  to completely and utterly overhaul society as it has existed for at least the last 100 years, if not longer. I call these elements by what they call themselves – Republicans. A little history is in order.

IRS Profiling. Scandal? I Think Not.

Republicans are so transparent, so self-centered, so clueless, yet so stupid, that everything they do in Washington is getting to be…so tiresome. Now we have another minor administrative, bureaucratic glitch in one agency of Washington, and the dumb R’s are flogging it like they flog all the other dead horses they dig up, in the hopes that unlike all the other scandals that come and go, these will be remembered in the elections of November, 2014.  It turns out the election of Obama in 2008 ignited a  flurry of so-called patriotism. We elected a black man to the White House.

The Authoritarians

If you’re like me, you have a hard time ingesting current news, especially on the political front. The polarization of America is, front and center, the most perplexing aspect of current political discourse. Take for instance this fixation on defeating Obama, making him a “one term President” as Mitch McConnell promised early in his administration, during a time of economic crisis when millions of people were losing their homes, their jobs, and their way of life, and Congress should have been working WITH the President, not against him.

Book Review: It’s Even Worse Than It Looks

I wrote a quick review of this book and posted it on my Goodreads account. I’ve expanded it a bit for this post:

++++++++++++

It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the Politics of Extremism by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein

My rating: 4 of 5 stars (4.5, actually, but the Goodreads rating system only works with whole numbers)

… It’s nice to find a well researched and articulate book that gives voice to the confusion and bewilderment I have experienced watching political discourse and activity over the past couple of years in this country, especially since Obama was elected. I have had so many WTF moments, incredulous that what was happening in the regular course of government was actually happening. The faux debt crisis, for me, was the straw that broke the camel’s back, the one where I seriously thought Republicans were committing treason. Their actions and positions last summer were so obviously motivated by party-wide self advancement, rather than the good of the country they were elected and paid to serve, that I felt they should have been taken out back and summarily shot.

A Dallas Moment

Some of you may remember the TV prime time soap drama,  Dallas. JR Ewing and his family were Texas oil millionaires with dysfunctional relations rarely seen in real life. One of the plot lines for a whole season occurred after one of the actors (Patrick Duffy, who played Bobby Ewing) left the show, and was not part of the TV family. At the end of the season, he must have missed his paycheck, and asked to be brought back, so the next season began with Bobby’s wife waking from a dream (and he in the shower) with this dream being the entire past season without him. All the viewers smacked their foreheads and thought “WTF?”, but then the show continued with him for a number of seasons, so it apparently didn’t affect the false reality created by the show.

Now consider the following:

If You Believe These Things…

… You May Be Considered Far Right.

Not to mention a hypocrite.

Credit - http://thismodernworld.com/

‎1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Barack Obama

A Really Dumb Hobby

I’m a big fan of hobbies. Everyone should have one. Modern life allows us a lot of free time, and we humans need to be able to fill it with satisfying projects. We don’t have to spend from sun-up to sun-down plowing the fields, then sleeping until the next sun-up, too exhausted to find an avocation to keep our minds busy. Idle hands, idle minds; so a good hobby is a good thing. I have a few myself.

Religion, Republicans And Hypocrisy Rant

<rant> We all know that Religion and Hypocrisy go hand in hand. Religion has no choice. It is impossible to be religious and consistent at the same time, because any religious claim is usually self-contradictory, requiring a pull in two directions. Against abortion? Sure, every life is sacred (except those on death row, service men fighting in war, innocent civilians in Iran and Afghanistan, etc. etc. etc.). Voila’! Instant Hypocrisy.

The Triumph of Intelligence Over Stupidity

It’s time for the Inquisitor to weigh in on the election (as if I haven’t already). I hereby endorse Barack Obama for the office of President of the United States.  My friend Evo says I should work to get out the vote, so I’m going to start by cajoling anyone within bandwidth of this blog to get out there and vote next Tuesday. Even if you don’t like Obama, even if you’re a racist, bigoted, simpleton who wouldn’t vote for his own mother if she had a suntan, you must vote for Obama. It’s your duty, not only as a citizen, but also as a human being and a person concerned about the future of his country. The reason you must vote for Obama is because to not do so would make you stupid. OK. I know that sounds insulting, condescending and arrogant. Just call me arrogant, then. Call me anything you want, but vote for Obama, or risk the certain judgment that You. Are. Stupid. Let me tell you why.

An October Surprise

As we get closer to November 4th, there is speculation in the press that we may become subject to an October Surprise. Not by John McCain, mind you, but from someone only slightly more sinister. Osama bin Laden. The prevailing theory is that Mr. bin Laden would like to keep his hands in American politics, by making some kind of nuisance of himself prior to the election. He did this in 2004, by releasing a somewhat threatening tape to the press just before the election, which many observers at the time felt contributed to John Kerry’s defeat by George “Mission Accomplished” Bush. The margin of victory was so slim for Bush, that it’s not unlikely this was true. The somewhat natural inclination of the voting public seems to be that in times of military threat, they vote Republican, on the theory that the Republicans are militaristic war mongers and more likely to protect us, while Democrats or insipid, spineless milquetoasts who run from their own shadows. At least, that’s the caricature that makes the rounds as political wisdom.