Jesus is Riding the Dinosaur

Well, here we go. We're just one day away from a government shut-down, the first one in fifteen years. A government shut-down, of course, will mean no paychecks for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, thousands of federal contracts stopped cold, a multitude of federal services stopped, National Parks closed, the Smithsonian closed, etc., etc., etc., and all because the Tea Baggers have their panties in a wad.

Last fall, the Tea Baggers ran on "Jobs! Jobs! Jobs" and when confronted, claimed to only be interested in fiscal matters. Sounded reasonable, right? That's why so many people voted for them. But now, as it turns out, what the Tea Baggers really care about is abortion, gay rights, teachers' unions, the National Endowment for the Arts, you know, the same old Culture War stuff they've been fighting for thirty years. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Indiana, said his entire vote on the budget will be based on whether or not the "rider" to defund Planned Parenthood remains in the proposal. Wow.

We said it last fall, and we'll say it again. If you're dumb enough to vote Republican, this is what you get. Republicans don't care about the national debt, or the budget; they were long ago taken over by extreme right-wing religious fanatics who won't be happy until every one of us shows up for Sunday School in the Baptist Church every week and denounces any cultural aspect of American society which makes them uncomfortable, which is just about everything.

Here at East Village Afternoon, we rarely resort to outright name-calling, but in this case, it's very much needed. The base of the Republican Party in 2011 are the intellectual dregs of society; they don't have the intellect or the intellectual curiosity to be anywhere near positions of national leadership. And yes, we're looking right at you, Michele Bachmann. We'd all be better off if the Tea Baggers would leave Washington, D.C, and instead stay home where they can attend their monster truck pulls, their book burnings, their rallies to denounce homos, and stay far, far away from anything that requires complex thought. We'll repeat something actor Jeanine Garafolo said a few years ago when George Bush's backwoods ignorance was in full-flower. She said, to paraphrase, "I used to think that if you voted Republican, you were just uninformed or naive, but now I think you have a mental defect." Amen, sister.

New Rule: Sarah Palin Must Read a Book Before Her Next T.V. Appearance, Which Means We'll Never See Her Again!

And speaking of great t.v., Bill Maher's "Real Time" on HBO has started another season, and last week's season premiere was fantastic. The bit in the "New Rules" segment about how the American founding fathers would hate the Tea Baggers' guts was not only fucking hilarious, but, oh, so true.

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Happy 55th Birthday to Bill Maher today!

Bill Maher's New Rule for The Teabaggers

Here is the Tea Bagger section from the New Rules segment of last week's "Real Time With Bill Maher". Enjoy.

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Lindsey, Lindsey, Let Down Your Golden Hair

British t.v. is not the only thing that's too complicated for most of us; we're similarly in constant awe of American politics. We just finished watching the big three Sunday morning talk shows, "Meet The Press", "This Week" and "Fox News Sunday", and we have to say, the coming Congress which will be sworn in this week promises to be one, big, three-ring circus. The Democrats and Republicans will certainly battle it out, but even more fun, the Tea Baggers are already angry at their ugly step-mothers, the Republicans, and the Tea Bags are vowing to hold the Repubs' feet to the fire. Oh, it's just all so delicious; we can't wait.
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Many Americans show no interest in politics, disgusted by the fact that both the Dems and Repubs are corrupt and have no real interest in helping the American people. True enough, but there is a real, unwavering difference between the two parties. Only you want see that difference by listening to the media talking heads, they can't tell the real truth. And you certainly won't see the difference between the two parties by listening to their "talking points". To understand the real difference in the mindset between the two competing political institutions, you have to read between the lines.
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For instance, take the upcoming battle of Pres. Obama's Health Care Law. If we heard the phrase "repeal ObamaCare" once this morning, we heard it fifty times. The Repubs are quite simply, obsessed with repealing the landmark legislation. But why do they hate it so? They claim to want to help the American people, yet they really, really hate this legislation. Again, why? Listening to Sen. Lindsey Graham this morning, when he mentioned repealing it, all he talked about was how the law "hurt business". His glib, glassy-eyed manner was downright scary. (Who in their right mind likes this guy?) Did he ever mention once his way to help the now 50 million Americans who are without health insurance if ObamaCare was repealed? No. Not one word. His only concern seemed to be how the law hurt business. If just once, when discussing their eagerness to repeal the Health Care Law, the Repubs would mention an alternate plan to help the uninsured, we'd be impressed with them, but it never, never happens.
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And this is where you have to read between the lines to realize the difference between Democrats and Republicans. Just do some homework and see which party always seems to be the one which creates legislation which would help the common American, and see which one always seems to be the one which creates legislation which helps big business and the rich. It's not rocket science, and it's not that hard to figure out. And if you think that we're starry-eyed liberals who live in a fantasy world with no real footing in reality, you're wrong. Yes, we believe that government has a responsibility to help the poorest and neediest in society, but we also realize the disastrous economic consequences which will surely come about if more and more Americans can't afford basic health care. But for some reason, the Republicans don't ever seem to make that connection. They seem to continue to believe that just because for now they have theirs, (and they don't give a shit if you have yours), that it will always be that way. Talk about fantasy.

Happy New Year from the Poop Deck of the S.S. Poseidon

Well, it's the last day of 2010. It was a fine year, but we're looking forward to an even better 2011. And what's coming just around the corner?

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The Australian Open begins in a couple of weeks, and we hope we'll see Federer and Nadal continue the greatest rivalry in sports by meeting in the final.

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The Oscar nominations will soon be announced, and the major awards season kicks into gear. And despite the fear that Britney or Miley might take the stage, The Grammy Awards are usually the best night of the year in music performances.

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And of course, the new Republican-dominated Congress, with Tea Bagger members in tow, will take office. We can't wait. Not that we look forward to the Repubs trying to gut everything we care about in American society in an all-out effort to grab everything in sight for themselves, but we know what's really going to happen. Despite the fact that the Republicans are crowing today, much like the "Poseidon Adventure" gang once excitedly rang in the New Year just before disaster struck, the Republicans will soon shoot themselves in the foot, as they always do, over acts of hypocrisy and greedy over-reaching.

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And just like on The S.S. Poseidon, the Republican ship will soon start to turn upside down, and before you know it, one of the Repubs will fall into the giant light fixture and turn out the lights on their whole party. Happy New Year!

Lost in the Fog

Sharron Angle just told a Las Vegas newspaper that she "has lots of options" for running in the next election cycle of 2012, either for the U.S. Senate or for The House.
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No, Sharron. No, you don't.
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Okay, let's get real now. The election is over, and all the silliness of the Tea Bagger hysteria has died down, so let's get real. Sharron, you have no further political options because you're dumb, you're uninformed, you're intellectually challenged and your ideas are not only whacked, but it is entirely possible that you're not even competely emotionally stable.
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So no, Sharron, you have no further political options. It's time for you to find something else to do, hopefully not anything within a thousand miles of any place where we might be.

The Deal With The Devil

With every election and big political story, there are always the main headlines, and then there's the secret stuff brewing in the backrooms that most of us never get to hear about. And the big backroom story that's brewing today is so delicious, we have to share it with you.
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We all know that the Republicans are obsessed with power, and that their lack of any real values or sense of ethics makes them willing to do almost anything to get that power. But Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader might have really crossed a line this time, and might have truly ventured into that "deal with the devil" territory. First you need to understand that the mainstream Republicans and the Tea Baggers hate each other. The Repubs think the Tea Baggers are crazy and have no business being in positions of political leadership, and the Tea Baggers think the Repubs are liars and don't have the guts to make the tough choices to really reform government. Actually, they're both right, but that's not the story. The story is that Mitch McConnell knew the only way the Republicans had a chance to overtake the House, and maybe the Senate, was for his party to align itself with the Tea Baggers, hold their noses, and help some of the Tea Baggers get elected. McConnell twisted arms and raised gobs of cash to help Tea Bagger Rand Paul win his Senate seat in Kentucky. But here's where it gets good, rumors are already swirling that Paul and his fellow Tea Baggers are going to revolt and turn McConnell, and any other Repubs that don't go along with the Tea Bag agenda, out on their ears. So what's brewing is a huge internal fight within the ranks of the crazy Repubs and their even crazier ugly stepsisters, the Tea Baggers. Oh my, we are licking our lips. We can't wait.

It's Tee Time!

Last night was like one long multiple orgasm for political junkies. The coverage of the midterm election results lasted until the wee hours, and we have some thoughts from the results.
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The Republicans took back control of the House, which means that John Boehner will probably be The Speaker of the House. But we have a concern: how will Boehner be able to put in all those hundreds of hours on the golf course and still do the work of the people? Let's hope this doesn't hurt his golf game. Or his tan.
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But wait! Not so fast. Crazy lady Michele Bachmann is making noise that she might challenge for a position of leadership in the House. Oh god, we hope so!
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The pundits of MSNBC interviewed several Republican leaders last night while the results were coming in, and the pundits asked each of them where they would cut government spending. Because you see, the Repub's ran on the pledge to "cut wasteful spending!" There was only one problem; not one, single Repub could name a single program where they would cut spending. And this is where you need to start being skeered: they're not naming any cuts either because, 1. they have no idea where they'd make cuts, which means they're completely clueless, or 2. they don't dare say in public where they'd make cuts, i.e. Social Security, Medicare, The Dept. of Education, etc. Which is worse? Scared yet?
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Someone asked John Boehner if the Repubs were going to continue to be "the party of Big Business", and he said with a straight face, now get this, that "the Republicans are not the party of Big Business, they're the party of Main Street". You know, as in: The Repubs care about the "little people". Oh, wow. The fact that Boehner can say something like that with a straight face is awe-inspiring. Yes, the Repubs care about the little people, that's why they can't wait to get rid of your new Health Care, extend tax cuts for the wealthist Americans and continue to deregulate Wall Street and Big Business so those institutions have a free rein to do whatever they want. Sounds just like a repeat of the Bush years, and we don't know about you, but we can't wait to relive the Bush years. Ummm.
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Okay, all kidding aside, we're not suprised at how craven the Republicans are, and some Democrats, what always surprises us is the naivete of the American people. Less than two years after the historically disastrous years of Bush and the Republicans, the American people voted those people right back into power. It really is motherfucking astounding. Yesterday we said something about if the Republicans ever actually voted for legislation which rewarded the "little guy", we'd eat our shorts. Well, today we have to say to those people who voted for Republicans yesterday is that if you really believe that John Boehner, Michele Bachmann and Rand Paul are ever going to care about you and your "main street" issues, then you have to eat your own shorts.

Tea Baggers - 1, Sanity - 0

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Well, it's early in the election results, and we've already got our wish. We got our first real crazy in the U.S. Senate, Rand Paul in Kentucky. Paul is famous for opposing the 1964 Civil Rights Acts, he opposes gay marriage, and he wants to privatize Social Security. Wow. Welcome back to the 19th Century, Kentucky!

Mama Bagger

When we were in the 6th Grade, a conversation started in the classroom one day about the U.S. moon landings, the first of which, the famous "one small step for man"-one, had taken place only three years earlier. All of a sudden, a girl in our class announced that it hadn't really happened. Everyone, including the teacher, turned to her and said, "What?" She went on to explain that we hadn't really landed on the moon, that it was all a hoax. Everyone laughed, but then some attempted to explain to her how we had all watched it on t.v. and how everyone in the country knew about it, but no matter what we said, we couldn't sway her opinion that it just hadn't happened. That was an early lesson in life that no matter what the facts or truth might be about something, there will always be people who just don't believe them. What we've learned since the 6th Grade is that the reason why some people refuse to believe in a particular thing is because they don't want to believe in that particular thing.
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(dana loesch on friday's "real time with bill maher")

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This phenomenon was on full display this past Friday night on "Real Time With Bill Maher". One of Bill's guests was St. Louis radio host and Tea Party organizer, Dana Loesch. And if you've ever wondered what the Tea Party is really all about, all you have to do is watch this episode, and it suddenly makes a lot of sense. We're not going to attempt to provide the word-for-word transcipt of the show here, but to summarize: Loesch came across as a reasonable, relatively sane person, so we were actually excited that we might have an honest, intellectual discussion of differing political opinions, with the Tea Party side being defended by someone other than a nutjob. But then the wheels came off. No matter what the topic, whether it was TARP, the bail-out of the auto industry, the deficit, etc., the reaction from Loesch was always the same. As Maher, and others on the show who make a living studying the facts of these issues, explained to Loesch what actually has happened, such as the fact that the federal government has been paid back most of what it lent to the Big Banks, with interest, Loesch just kept saying, to paraphrase, "That's not what I've heard," or "There's evidence out there that that's not the case." Of course, Loesch had no facts to back those statements up, she just kept repeating the mantra of "I don't believe that." Wow. We flashed back to that girl in the 6th Grade who could not and would not believe that America had landed on the moon.

As MSNBC's Laurence O'Donnell like to say, "You're entitled to your opinion, but you're not entitled to make things up." In other words, is the U.S. government perfect? No way. Are both Democrats and Republicans corrupt? Most definitely. But with most issues, there are hard facts, and it doesn't take a lot of effort to look them up. So why do most of the Tea Party folk seem to be so ignorant of the basic facts of most political issues? The only reasonable explanation is that, like our 6th Grade classmate and like Dana Loesch, they don't want to know the facts. But why would people who seem to care so much about their country choose to remain ignorant? The answer to that question is hidden in complex discussions of psychology and the human mind which we have no interest in discussing here, but to simplify, we suspect that facts scare the Tea Partiers because facts get in the way of their "beliefs" and the myths which drive those beliefs.
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.Sarah Palin is the perfect embodiment of that phenomenon. She just spoke in California this weekend where she rattled off a list of Pres. Reagan's accomplishments, the only problem being that most of what she listed as having been achieved by Reagan, Reagan didn't achieve. America has always thrived on myth, and it's been those myths that not only make every poor person in the world want to come here, but it's those same myths that have buoyed us when we've faced crisis. Myths can be incredibly powerful things, and when repeated enough times, many people start to accept them as truth. And when you try to convince those people that they're being swayed by false myths, they often react with anger and defensiveness. To have destroyed what one has believed for one's entire life is a shattering experience. And this, we believe, is at the heart of the Tea Party mindset. Tea Partiers are the people that have always believed that America is a blessed-by-God, righteous country that has never done wrong and where you pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and that the people who interfere with that belief, i.e. Democrats who criticize America, non-white minorities, lazy people who want to live on welfare, etc., are traitors and are evil. The facts don't matter to these people, only the continued belief in the American myth. They don't want to understand that America has always had elements of socialism in its government and society, all they seem to need to know is that "socialism is evil". So, just as we learned in the 6th Grade, to try to convince someone to give up their beliefs, no matter how misguided, is a waste of your own breath. All you can do with the current Tea Party is to hope that some of them accidentally pick up an American history book, or a textbook on civics, and they accidentally read it before someone in their community attempts to ban it. Short of that, you just have to sit back and do what we suggested a couple of days ago, enjoy the three-ring circus that will ensue when some of these people actually arrive in Congress. And hope and pray that they're not able to do too much actual damage in the short time they'll be in that Congress.

Single White Female

We've had a lot of fun watching the various senatorial debates this week. Surprisingly, the good news is that Christine O'Donnell didn't come across as crazy at all in her debate, the bad news is she just comes across as dumb. There is no way in hell she has the intellect to be a U.S. Senator. Sorry, Tea Baggers, but there are still some jobs that "C" and "D" average students have no business trying to do. Can you imagine Christine O'Donnell taking a trip to a foreign country as a U.S. Senator and representing our country? Holy Jesus! And Sharron Angle is just... well, unhinged. Some of her ideas sound like they're coming from the guy who stands on the street corner in a robe and screams that the world is ending. And then, of course, there's Sarah Palin, who combines Angle's loopiness with O'Donnell's lack of smarts to create the perfect storm of tea bagging crazy.
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Look, all kidding aside, we get the Tea Party, believe it or not. We get where all the anger is coming from. Our Congress is corrupt almost beyond repair, and there seems to be no one in sight who has the moral courage to stand up for what's right. We get it. But what the Tea Baggers don't get is that putting dimwits and people who think we never landed on the moon in positions of leadership is not going to solve anything, in fact, it'll just make the situation worse. But since the election of some of these nutjobs looks to be inevitable, we've got some advice to those who are worried about their influence on Congress: Just sit back and enjoy it while it lasts. Because if you think they're saying some crazy things now, just wait until they get to Congress. The late-night comedians and political pundits are going to have a field day. And remember also that they won't last long. Americans always come to their senses, sooner or later, and when they see the real extent of the Tea Bagger Crazy on full display in the actual halls of Congress, then the Tea Baggers won't have to worry about re-election, trust us.

Crazy, Interrupted

Sean Wilentz has done it again, and we doubt that the Tea Baggers will like it. Wilentz is a Princeton University history professor who often writes about modern culture; in 2006 he wrote the infamous Rolling Stone Magazine article which assessed George W. Bush as possibly the "worst president in U.S. history". Oh, how quickly we forget the disaster that was Ronald Reagan, but we digress.

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Anyway, Wilentz has written a new article for The New Yorker Magazine in which he traces the origins of the current "Tea Party" back to the paranoid politics of the 1950's. We're not going to summarize the entire article here, but we listened to Wilentz's interview with Terry Gross on NPR yesterday, and Wilentz tells an interesting tale.

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The John Birch Society was the organization in the 1950's and 60's which drove the crazy bus of paranoia about communism. The John Birchers saw evil communists everywhere they looked, (they believed that FDR, Truman and Eisenhower were all part of a communist conspiracy), and worked to help Barry Goldwater become the Republican nominee for President in 1964. Wilentz explained that no less than William F. Buckley, the conservative's conservative, who had originally helped Robert Welch, the founder of the JBS, was later disturbed by his extremist views and went to Goldwater and told him that if he didn't disassociate himself from the group that Goldwater would hurt the conservative cause for decades. And Buckley was right. A "real conservative" candidate didn't take the White House again until Reagan won in 1980.

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Wilentz makes the point that we've believed for some time now, that the "Tea Party" is possibly going down the same road as the John Birchers of years ago. Their crazy opinions might win them some Congressional seats in the short-term, but when America really gets an up-close-and-personal look at their beliefs, the Tea Baggers could set the Republican Party back for decades.

Jon Stewart Calls Out The Crazy That is Carl Paladino

This will make you feel better about some of the craziness of the Tea Baggers, especially the nutjob that is Carl Paladino.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Indecision 2010 - Unforced Errors Edition
http://www.thedailyshow.com/
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

I Want My Country Back... From Christine O'Donnell

This morning, a news headline blared at us from all the internet news sites: "Deputies searched a wide swath of Southern California early Sunday for a break-off religious sect of 13 people that included children as young as three and left behind letters indicating they were awaiting an apocalyptic event and would soon see Jesus and their dead relatives in heaven, authorities said."

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Wait a minute, that's no mystery. Isn't that religious sect the Tea Party?

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Bill Maher debuted the new season of his show, "Real Time", on HBO on Friday night, and he and his panel of guests spent a lot of time discussing the rise of the Tea Party movement. They wondered what the "Tea Baggers" mean when they say "they want their country back", and they wondered how the Republican Party/Tea Baggers always manage to successfully convince the middle and lower classes of Americans to vote against their own self interests. Those questions aren't that difficult to answer, i.e. "wanting one's country back" is code for "I don't like the fact that Blacks and Mexicans are beginning to have real political and economic power", and they convince regular Americans to vote for crazy economic policies and against sensible plans like health care reform by scaring the shit out of them. Fear is big in the Tea Bagger movement.

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But just like other fringe political movements, the Tea Baggers might not be long for this world. Sharon Angle has already said so many crazy things in Nevada that she's actually now trailing Harry Reid, who was considered political dead meat just a few months ago. And the newest Tea Bagger darling, Christine O'Donnell, is awaking this morning to headlines of her own. A Washington watchdog group, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said on CNN that they will be sending letters on Monday to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware and the Federal Elections Commission asking for an investigation of O'Donnell. At question is more than $20,000 in campaign funds which O'Donnell allegedly spent on personal expenses, which is, of course, illegal.

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O'Donnell has said that the claim is just an attempt to discredit her. Isn't it interesting how the Tea Baggers scream for "a return to honor" until the honor at question is their own? Come on, Christine, put on your "man pants" and come clean. If you didn't do anything wrong, then you'll show up Monday morning at the U.S. Attorney's office with all your paperwork and prove your innocence. Just because you're a mental deficient does not mean that you get to break the law. However, it might get you a show on Fox News.

Palin Recruits Another Sexual Deviant

All the talk today is about the Republican Senate primary in Delaware. Incumbent Mike Castle is facing a tough challenge from Tea Bagger candidate Christine O'Donnell. In the past few days, the more the media talked about Christine O'Donnell, we kept thinking, "Where have we seen her before?" And then it hit us. Several years ago when Bill Maher was doing his "Politically Incorrect" show on ABC, O'Donnell was a frequent guest. At the time, she was president of S.A.L.T., a grassroots organization to promote celibacy, and how can we put this politely: she's a nut. Not only does O'Donnell, a right-wing Christian zealot, truly believe that teens can be sexually abstinent, but she also believes that masturbation is a sin and that viewing pornography is cheating on one's spouse. Wow. Oh, and she's also being backed by Sarah Palin. Oh my.
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Okay, listen, everyone's entitled to her opinion, even crazy Tea Baggers. But come on, this is 2010, and if we're going to find real solutions to social problems like teen pregnancy and the soaring divorce rate, taking advice from naive, cognitively immature crankjobs like Christine O'Donnell is not going to get us there. And the last place this strange, little girl needs to be is in the U.S. Senate. Holy Jesus!
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Of course, many observers are already noting that, lately, and especially in the Republican Party, when one protests or complains too loudly about sexual matters, it means that person probably has a kinky sex skeleton or two in her own closet. But even if Christine O'Donnell doesn't have an array of lube-soaked donkey dildos hiding underneath her bed, this woman is a ticking time bomb. Think about it: she doesn't have sex, she doesn't look at porn and she doesn't masturbate. Holy crap, one day soon this girl is literally going to explode!

No, Maybe We Can't

Politics is a passion of ours, but sometimes the sheer idiocy of it all just plain wears us out.
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC, was on "Meet the Press" yesterday, and after misquoting some figures about the economy, he ended his segment smiling at the camera and yelping, "Vote for the tax cuts!", just before they cut his camera off. He sounded like a 7th grade girl running for student council asking everyone in the school cafeteria to vote for her just before someone pelts her in the face with a spoonful of mashed potatoes. Graham was, of course, referring to the fact that the Republicans are practically begging for the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to be extended this year. This is the same Republican party who fought against extending health care benefits to more Americans and who more recently fought against extending unemployment benefits to Americans, yet they want tax cuts for the wealthiest. Come on, people, this is not rocket science, the Republican Party does not care about you.
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But the Republicans will win big this November in the mid-term elections, no doubt. The party which holds the White House always loses Congressional seats in the mid-term elections, especially when the economy is bad, but the Republicans are certainly helped these days by an ignorant, uninformed electorate. In a Wall Street Journal poll released today, 35% of those polled said the Republicans they elect this fall won't return to the hated George Bush policies of recent yesteryear. Wow. So a full 1/3 of those polled think that somehow the Republican Party, who just a few years ago wreaked havoc on the U.S. with a pathological obsession to deregulate the economy and a disastrous foreign policy, has somehow changed. This is so mind-boggling stupid, we can't even comment on it. All we can say is that if you believe the Republicans are ever going to vote for legislation which helps the average person, then you get what you deserve. Unfortunately, when you get what you deserve, we get it, too.

The Real "Family"

A few weeks ago, former Manson "Family" member, Leslie Van Houten was denied parole from prison for the 19th time. She was, of course, one of the people who helped to murder Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in 1969, the night after other "Family" members murdered actress Sharon Tate and four others. We've been fascinated with the Manson "Family" story ever since we were kids, so after Van Houten's parole hearing, we went back to our library and started re-reading "Helter Skelter", the seminal story of the Manson crimes and trials, written by Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor who convicted the Tate-LaBianca murderers. One of the most notable aspects of the Manson story is the extent to which Charles Manson had completely and totally brain-washed his followers. During the trials, if Manson fired his lawyer, then the next day, his fellow defendants, Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Susan Atkins would fire their attorneys. When Manson turned his back on the judge, the next day the girls turned their backs on the judge. When he carved an "X" into his forehead, the next day, they had done the same. Why are we mentioning this? Because we're seeing the same type of bizarre behavior today in the Republican Party.
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There seems to be no real original thought or leadership in the Republican Party, it's as if someone, (a Manson mastermind), decides what action the party should take, and then, within 24 hours, all the others fall into line. Manson comes up with the talking points, and on all the talk shows the next day, Van Houten, Krenwinkel and Atkins, or Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Elisabeth Hasselbeck all repeat the exact same talking points. First it was a push to get rid of illegal immigrants, and that's all we heard from the Republicans "Family" members. Then it was that we can't afford unemployment benefits, and we heard that phrase repeated ad nauseum. And now, this week we can afford tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and that's all we hear from the crazy cult that is the Republican Party. But how do we rid of ourselves of this dangerous cult? Just like with the Manson Family, we have to identify the leader and put him away, and then the hope is that his followers will eventually mentally "de-program" and return to a normal life. But who is the Charles Manson of the Republican Party? Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck? That's the question for which we don't have an answer. Where is Vincent Bugliosi when we need him?

That Ikea Bookshelf Will Look Fab in My New Cave

Watching this morning's "Chris Matthews Show" was downright depressing. Not because of the bad news of the economy or the worsening wars in the Middle East, no, what makes us sad is the news that less than two years into Pres. Obama's administration, there is already a noticeable slide downward in his approval ratings. We know the Democrats are going to lose a lot of elections this November, that always happens in mid-term elections, but some Americans are already ready to put the Republicans back into power. You know, the Republicans! Those people who turned a budget surplus into an all-time national debt, who got us involved in two wars in the Middle East from which we might never remove ourselves, and who gave the wealthiest Americans a huge tax cut while doing nothing for the underprivileged and unemployed. We know most Americans don't follow politics very closely, and therefore don't pay attention to how government really works, (in recent surveys, many high school students couldn't find the United States on a world map), but come on. Pres. Obama, nor any other President, can wave his magic wand and solve the nation's problems overnight. He just doesn't have that kind of power. The workings of government are slow, sticky, messy, uncomfortable, sort of like the sex you had in the back of the bar last night, ouch! And government works especially slowly when Congress is full of corruption, i.e. Congressmen filling their pockets with money and favors in return for their votes. Until big money is removed from our political processes, you can forget anymore substantial achievements coming out of Washington, D.C. Look no further than Sen. Blanche Lincoln's "mysterious" foot-dragging on last year's health care vote when she represents a state which is dominated by one health care behemoth, Blue Cross Blue Shield.

So why are we writing this today? To say to you, don't be so impatient. Don't be so quick to put the fox back in the henhouse. We have to give Pres. Obama and the Democrats more time to accomplish their agenda. And here is just one of many reasons why you should not want the Republicans back in power. Medical science is making enormous strides in stem-cell research. In the less than two years that Pres. Obama lifted the ban on stem-cell research, there is already talk about how stem-cells have the potential to cure many diseases and help the body to regenerate itself after trauma, but we lost eight precious years of that research because the Republicans under Pres. Bush refused to let desperately needed stem-cell research move forward because that research offended their backwoods religious sensibilities and would lead to baby-killin'! Come on, people, if you're thinking about giving up on Pres. Obama and the Democrats already, and looking seriously at a Republican candidate this November, just imagine that as a country we're all currently living in a trailer park. Do you want to move forward, out of the trailer park to a nicer one bedroom apartment in a nice building, or do you want to move backward, into a cave? Think about it.

Just in Case You're Thinking About Voting Republican...

Just in case you're thinking about voting for a Republican this fall, consider these latest salvos. In an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, House Minority Leader John Boehner, (R-Ohio), said that the retirement age should be raised to 70, because social entitlements will have to be trimmed to help pay for the war. Wow. Really, John? Hey, we've got an idea for you, how about we get the hell out of the war? Boehner went on to say that we need to be honest with the American people, that the country is broke, and we can't keep paying Social Security in the way that it's structured now. We wonder how many more years of Social Security could have been funded with the trillions we have, and will, spend in Iraq and Afghanistan? Just saying.
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And if that's not enough to make you run for the nearest voting column to vote for anyone with a "D" beside their name, there's more. Crazy Tea Bagger Sharron Angle, who will be the Republican nominee in the Nevada senate race against current U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, spoke with Bill Manders, who hosts a Reno, Nevada-based radio talk show. In her interview, Angle and Manders began to discuss the topic of abortion, at which point Angle made it clear that she was "pro-life". Manders asked her if there were any reasons for an abortion. Angle replied, "Not in my book." Manders continued, "So, in other words, rape and incest would not be something?" And Angle answered, "You know, I'm a Christian and I believe that God has a plan and a purpose for each one of our lives and that he can intercede in all kinds of situations and we need to have a little faith in many things." So the woman who wants to be a United States Senator believes that rape and incest are okay because they're part of God's plan. Really, Nevada, is this who you want to represent you? Really?
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But back to Boehner and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; we're going to have to decide, once and for all, what our strategy is in the Middle East, and then make a plan and stick to it. We never should have gone into Iraq, almost everyone agrees on that point now, but the problem is what to do with Afghanistan. We should have gone in and come out in a short amount of time, but we didn't. Bush and Cheney sold us a bill of goods based on fear, that if we didn't stay over there, "the terrorists would come over here". Well, now we've been there for almost a decade, we've spent a trillion dollars, lost thousands of lives, and we're no closer to achieving our goals there than we were years ago. Actually, back that up, we never had any measurable goals there, and it's lunacy that we're still there. The main argument against pulling out now is that the country would devolve into civil war, and that thousands of innocent people would be slaughtered. You mean the way that thousands of innocent people are dying now, in the middle of our "war"? We can't be the world's policeman, we can't referee other country's civil wars. But if you disagree and think that we should stay in Afghanistan to protect the people from a civil war, then you're going to have to explain why we don't intercede in other countries where thousands are being slaughtered, i.e. Sudan, North Korea, etc. Let's face it, we have no real plan for Afghanistan; we're just ambling about, hoping to kill a few more "terrorists" and somehow hope that "everything will get better". Don't hold your breath. Meanwhile, get ready to tell grandma and grandpa that they have to keep working, because, according to John Boehner, they're going to have start helping to pay for that war in Afghanistan.

Tea-Baggers for Ameriker!!

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We love America and the fact that everyone has a right to voice their opinions in America, and we definitely love a good, spirited, honest debate about political issues. But these Tea-Baggers? Come on, it's really hard to take them as serious.

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Yesterday, Sarah Palin headlined a Tea-Bagger rally in Searchlight, Nevada, (Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's hometown), and said that Sen. Reid

"will have to explain his votes" when he comes back to his hometown to campaign. Really, Sarah? Will he have to explain his votes in the same way that McCain's campaign staff had to explain World War II to you, and how they had to explain to you why there is a North and South Korea?

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And Palin went on to say that the time has come to take back the government from "European-style socialism." To Palin's crowd, the word "socialism" must conjure truly scary images; socialists must be those people who would invade your country, enslave you, rape you and steal your land, religion and culture. Sort of like what Sarah Palin's European ancestors did to Native Americans and Africans. But no, Sarah, socialism is much more benign than that, in fact; socialism is simply anytime that the entire community or state pools its resources for the common good of all the people, you know, as in the public school system, the police department, the fire department, not to mention Social Security and Medicare. Would you like to try to rid the United States of these institutions, Sarah? As we said, it's hard to take people as serious who are this seriously stupid.

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But never mind, the Republicans are drunk on their own stupidity, and they're convinced that they're going to win big in the November mid-term elections. But let us "explain" to you, Sarah, how that's going to go down. Americans hate witches, no doubt, but there's one thing they hate even worse than witches, and that's over-zealous witch-hunters. And as frightened as Americans might be by something new, like the Health Care Law, they're even more frightened by right-wing crazies screaming "faggot" and "nigger" at U.S. Congressmen while holding signs with lots of misspelled words. Clinton might have been committed a serious infraction by getting a blowjob in the Oval Office, but in the end, the American people were much more turned off by the fanatical, self-righteous Republicans who went after him for it. So as far as the November elections go, Sarah, just keep on showing up, making ridiculous statements and flogging your dim-witted followers into a overheated frenzy, and believe us, the Democrats will thank you for it later.