Listen All Y'all It's Self-Sabotage

The Associated Press finally gets around to asking the question if the GOP is tanking the economy on purpose in order to win in November with Orange Julius vowing another debt ceiling fight he plans to "win", and that the uncertainty that Republicans are not barking mad enough to scuttle the whole deal in a scorched earth campaign is actually starting to hurt job growth.  The perennial "Republicans, Stupid, Evil or Both?" argument aside in this case, the real comedy value comes from Power Line's response that the Democrats are the ones sabotaging the economy.  To whit:

In order to either help or hurt the economy, Republicans would have to 1) enact policies that would do one or the other, or 2) block the Democrats from enacting policies that would do one or the other. The Republicans haven’t enacted anything since the Democrats took control of Congress in January 2007, so the theory has to be that the GOP has blocked something that otherwise would have helped. In fact, however, the Democrats have been able to enact the major components of their economic plan, including the stimulus–perhaps the most dismal failure of any legislative initiative in American history–and Obamacare. Democrats have caused discretionary spending to skyrocket and have run up $5 trillion in new debt since President Obama took office. So they have pretty much had their way.

Yes, the inestimable Assrocket figures the not fully implemented Affordable Care Act and the stimulus are proof enough that not only the GOP gets a full a complete pass on obstruction of the President's jobs bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act, and a bunch of other things, but that the Democrats are really guilty of the following:

It would be much more sensible for the AP to suggest that the Democrats are deliberately injuring the economy by increasing spending and running up more debt (not to mention deliberately driving the cost of energy higher).

Yes, so the Democrats' secret plan is as follows:

1) Sabotage the economy.
2) ?????
3) Lose in November!

That of course has to be the only possible explanation, self-sabotage in order to put the country in the hands of the GOP.  Assrocket's a deep thinker, indeed.  In fact, the entire Republican message this weekend is all about how President Obama is sabotaging himself with failed Republican attacks from 2007 in order to...lose in November...or something, I don't know.  Republicans are like infinite monkeys with typewriters, only they end up typing "POOP" 37 million times no matter what configuration you put them in.

Of course, when they say "Democrats are trying to wreck the country on purpose" they mean "the MSM won't cover the race war they're trying to start", so that makes perfect sense, actually.

Doesn't it?

Lobby Lobby Lobby Get Your Access Here

In news to precisely nobody, the Obama administration gets lots of visits from lobbyists.  The lobbyists want things from the White House.  In other breaking stories, ursine animals show an overwhelming behavioral tendency towards defecating in arboreal environments.

The visitor logs for Jan. 17 — one of the most recent days available — show that the lobbying industry Obama has vowed to constrain is a regular presence at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The records also suggest that lobbyists with personal connections to the White House enjoy the easiest access.

More than any president before him, Obama pledged to change the political culture that has fueled the influence of lobbyists. He barred recent lobbyists from joining his administration and banned them from advisory boards throughout the executive branch. The president went so far as to forbid what had been staples of political interaction — federal employees could no longer accept free admission to receptions and conferences sponsored by lobbying groups.

“A lot of folks,” Obama said last month, “see the amounts of money that are being spent and the special interests that dominate and the lobbyists that always have access, and they say to themselves, maybe I don’t count.”

The White House visitor records make it clear that Obama’s senior officials are granting that access to some of K Street’s most influential representatives. In many cases, those lobbyists have long-standing connections to the president or his aides. Republican lobbyists coming to visit are rare, while Democratic lobbyists are common, whether they are representing corporate clients or liberal causes. 

Don't hate the player, hate the game, I guess.  This particular president has definitely fufilled some promises on transparency with lobbyist activity, but it only goes to show you just how depressingly common lobbyists buying access to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is, and will continue to be long past the time Barack Obama is out of the office.

Bye-Bye, Stupidity

A 12-year-old girl took a picture of herself holding an unopened bottle of vodka and posted it online.  Her mother had warned her about losing her privileges if she abused social media.  The mother was surprised to see the photo, and shortly replaced it.

“I thought she knew better, but in her mind, she thought, ‘I’m not drinking, what’s the problem?’” Billingsley said. What the girl didn’t realize, she said, was that the photo might still send the wrong message to a future employer or prove attractive to a predator, who “can see it and think this is a little girl who likes to drink.”

“Because she had been warned,” she added, “I felt I needed to hit her where it hurt most.”
And hurt it did. After she explained the punishment to her daughter, the girl was “devastated” for a day, Billingsley said.

But by day two, Billingsley said, her daughter had brushed off the incident. “If she is ever allowed back on social media, she’ll definitely think twice about anything she posts,” she said.

Devastated for a day is about right.  This wasn't public humiliation, nothing was done to this child.  It may have been unusual, but it's miles from abusive.  Her mother was confident that her daughter could handle the punishment and it turns out she could.  I think the suggestion that it could harm her daughter through college age is ridiculous, but I doubt everyone will agree with that.

One thing we can all agree on, that little girl will never forget this, and one can hope the lesson sticks as well.

Kid Stupidity: Too Stupid To Breed

NEW CASTLE, Pa. (AP) - The mother of an 8-year-old western Pennsylvania boy has been charged with endangering him for allegedly letting him play in a vehicle that slipped out of park and crashed.

The New Castle News (http://bit.ly/LlqyB7 ) reports 34-year-old Mary Cole, of New Castle, was charged late last week in the May 14 incident. Police say Cole told them she knew there was an extra ignition key in the Cadillac Escalade and says her son often climbs into the vehicle to listen to music.

Police say they found a key in the ignition after the car rolled down the hill and struck another vehicle. The boy rolled out the driver's side door, but suffered no broken bones. He was released from a Pittsburgh hospital on Wednesday.

Her son often climbs into the car, turns the key and listens to music?  Are you kidding me?  I kid you not guys, this sent me into a tizzy.  I actually had a sort of stomping fit while I read this to my husband.

The miracle is that this poor kid hasn't been killed or hurt anyone else.  I really wish there was hope for "too stupid to breed" but it seems there is little hope for that.

You've Stepped In Some Papal Bull, Ladies

And if you're wondering why I'm a lapsed Catholic these days, it's because the Church teaches us lessons of tolerance and compromise with our fellow humans and then practices stuff like this.

A total of 43 Catholic educational, charitable and other entities filed a dozen lawsuits in federal court around the nation Monday, charging that the Obama Administration's rule requiring coverage of birth control in most health insurance plans violates their religious freedom.

Among the plaintiffs in the suits are the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic University of America, as well as the Archdioceses of New York, Washington, Dallas, St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

They join several other, mostly smaller entities that have sued over the requirements for no-cost coverage of regular birth control, sterilization and so-called morning after emergency contraceptives. Because one of the ways those drugs may work is by preventing the implantation of a fertilized egg into a woman's uterus, Catholics believe they can cause a very early abortion, even though they are classified by the Food and Drug Administration as contraceptives.

There's pretty clearly established Supreme Court precedent on the issue of the limits of freedom of religion.  At least there were before the Roberts Court.  Now, hey, anyone's ballgame.  I've got your stare decicis right here, pally.

It's pretty clear that this one's going to end up before SCOTUS at some point too.  That might motivate you to go vote in November, just saying.

The Return Of Feeling Randy

Kentucky's primaries are today and the big story is here in my home district of KY-4, where GOP Rep. Geoff Davis is retiring.  Sen. Rand Paul has stepped into the race, backing the Tea Party nutjob du jour around here, Thomas Massie, in the last several weeks.  The entrance of Paul's influence into the race all but assures Massie will win in a landslide out of the pack of seven Republicans running.  Joe Sonka:

Either Thomas Massie now wins the race easily, or he loses and shows that support for the rEVOLution among the Kentucky GOP is starting to vanish. We’re betting on the former.

Here’s the question I’m more intrigued by: Did Master McConnell give Paul permission to make this ad (granting an exemption due to Old Man Bunning calling out Rand Paul as a failure), or is he going rogue? And if he’s going rogue, will McConnell retaliate, and how? And will there be woodchippers involved?

I don't know about woodchippers, but I do know that Rand's dad getting out of the race sure spared his son from having to make too many awkward answers to the "Romney vs Paul" question with Old Age Mutant Nimrod Turtle Mitch McConnell looking on.  Meanwhile, this is yet another race where Citizens United SuperPACs have dropped seven figures to assure a win.

Bill Adkins, the Democratic favorite in his head-to-head primary versus Greg Frank, has raised...about $14,000.  It's a shame too, because Bill Adkins is that rarest of breeds:  A Kentucky Democrat who isn't running screaming from President Obama.

Bill Adkins, one of two Democrats running in the 4th Congressional District, said he believes government-payer health care system can best tackle the inefficiencies and problems and that’s the way to preserve Medicare.

“Single payer is my preference. I think that the compromise that is the buy-the-insurance mandate is an incremental move,” Adkins said (7:00).

He also said he would consider one of U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s proposals — to decrease the level of benefits for seniors with the highest incomes, known as means testing.

Adkins, a Williamstown lawyer and the Grant County Democratic Party Chairman, said he decided to get into the 4th District race because he said he wanted to make sure there was a full discussion of the issues.

“We needed a Democratic presence in this race,” he said.

Yeah, that's right, a Kentucky Democrat who acts like a real gorram Democrat.  Single payer.  I love this guy.  The problem is after redistricting, KY-4 has gone from fairly conservative to blood red.  Adkins is going to need a miracle against Massie if the scene plays out today as I suspect.

Not giving up entirely on Adkins either.  He's one of the folks we need in Congress.

StupidiNews!

• The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral early this morning as the era of America's private space industry begins in earnest.
• One year after tornadoes nearly decimated Joplin, Missouri, President Obama gave the high school commencement address for students at Joplin High.
• Seattle's new Chihuly glass sculpture garden opens in sight of the city's famous Space Needle this week and is expected to draw hundreds of thousands.
• Facebook quickly dropped to $34 a share, $4 under its opening price in just its second day of trading on concerns of sales and advertising. 
• More video game makers are moving their biggest titles away from the crowded holiday market this year and into 2013 rather than face a glut of major releases.

Last Call

Republicans are sociopaths, frankly.  Take Reince Priebus for example, on the resurgence of the Jeremiah Wright nonsense by a GOP SuperPAC:

I know how it works. It’s the Democrats and Barack Obama that want the story out there. He wants the story to play out in the media, because for every day that [Obama adviser] David Axelrod and this President don’t have to talk about their broken promises when it comes to jobs, the debt, and the deficit — the more time they can talk about hypotheticals that may or may not come true — is a day they want to win on. So, look, this president’s got a bigger problem and his problem is no matter what he puts out there, no matter what distractions he puts out there, he can’t change the truth and escape the reality of where we are in this American economy. And it’s no good.

Note how he operates here, he's disavowing the Wright attacks, blaming President Obama for them, and then scolding the media for buying into President Obama's narrative that Republicans are the ones bringing this up.

Of course, Republicans are the ones bringing this up.  In fact, they brought it up multiple times last week. But as with everything with Priebus, it's all Obama's doing as he has manipulated the press into covering it as news.  And he'll say it every time it happens until November, because he's a sociopath and a liar.

And he'll get away with it.  The media can't complain, if they do they're in on the conspiracy.  And six more months of this is guaranteed:

1. GOP Super PAC says something awful about the President.
2. RNC says it's a distraction.
3. RNC accuses the President and the media of orchestrating it and dares them to prove otherwise.
4. Pushback on awful thing is muted.
5. Media bemoans that both sides do it.
6. Repeat.

Priebus knows exactly what he's doing and is going to get away with it scot-free because otherwise the Village proves him correct in taking sides with Obama.  And they will do everything they can to avoid that, including selling the GOP lies wholesale.  Watch.

Diet Slurpee? Don't Mind If I Do!

It probably says something more about America than it does about 7-Eleven, but starting this month the retailer is rolling out a product that seems right for its time: a sugar-free Slurpee.

Fanta Sugar-Free Mango is this month’s diet flavor. 7-Eleven said it has spent two years coming up with the formula for a simple reason: customer demand.

“For years we’ve gotten calls through our guest relations hot line, ‘When are you going to have a diet Slurpee?’” company spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said. The calls have come not only from the weight-conscious but from diabetics and those with other nutritional issues, she said.

As the number of diabetics increases every year, more sugar-free options are needed.  Those not affected often scoff, I've had to listen to many lectures on how diabetics should just not have any sugar.  I've been told this while the know-it-all was scarfing a doughnut, and another time while eating cookies.  Do as I say, or lose your feet and go blind.  Or something like that.

There has also been great improvement in mixed-sugar products where some sugar remains but every possible calorie is shaved until it affects flavor.  That's also helpful for those who just want a treat now and then, and are willing to hit the treadmill to pay for their indulgence.  Zero sugar and zero calories isn't a requirement but it's handy.

Fanta Mango is a great place to start, and new flavors are coming.  I hope they are here before the Missouri summer hits full swing.  A Slurpee is a treat I gave up years ago, I can't wait to have one again.

Study Suggests Gaydar May Be Real

(CBS News) Can you judge someone's sexual orientation just by looking at their face? According to a new scientific study, both men and women may have this inherent "gaydar" ability.

The research, published in the May 16 issue of PLoS One, showed that both men and women correctly judged a person's sexual orientation by simply looking at the person's picture more frequently than they would by chance. Participants were able to pick a woman's sexual orientation in over two-thirds of the cases, the study showed.

It's interesting but the numbers are far from conclusive.  However, there is enough to suggest that in some cases we can read beyond skin deep to learn about people.  We process so much information behind the scenes that it is plausible that we are able in some cases to identify sexual preference from subtle data.

A recent article suggests babies develop racist behaviors as early as nine months old, which demonstrates how much children pick up mom and dad's social cues.  Couple this knowledge with how we process faces, and we may finally make some real progress in identifying race and other traits, and how we perceive them.  Unlocking that may lead us to a better understanding of ourselves and of sexual orientation.  Considering the tensions on all sides of the issue, understanding and scientific advancement can only be a good thing.

A Fair Call

A bipartisan group of prison reformers is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to stop phone companies from charging inmates what they call unreasonable and predatory rates to make phone calls.

Why such astronomical fees? Phone companies often pay commissions to the state after they've won an exclusive contract to provide phone service at a state's prisons. (All but eight states allow these exclusive contracts.) The phone companies then pass on the cost of paying the state to inmates and their families, who have to shell out as much as $17 for a 15-minute call, the group says. That can add up to $250 a month to call home for an hour each week—a cost that the often-poor families of inmates can hardly afford.

Prison is punishment enough, most would agree.  The reality is, while a family member is locked up, there is still the need to address family issues, and an hour a week to speak to loved ones is not an obscenely generous amount of time.  A single hour to participate in the lives of spouses, kids and extended family is fair.  It would seem reasonable for the FCC to set limits to protect the innocent from paying fees without justification.

In the great scheme of things, this is much more important than a nip slip or an F-bomb on television.

Strange Day In Ohio

CLEVELAND (AP) — A Cleveland woman was charged with murder Saturday in the stabbing death of her best friend, who tried to drive away afterward and fatally struck the accused woman's 2-year-old daughter, police said.

The two women were sitting in a running parked car Thursday when they got into an argument, police said. Kimberly Black left the vehicle, went into her house, returned with a knife and stabbed Sharice Swain in the face and neck, said Sgt. Sammy Morris, apolice spokesman.

The wounded Swain then stepped on the gas pedal and hit Black's two young children, who were standing near the car. Two-year-old Kimshia Ruffin was killed, and her 1-year-old sister, Taraji Ruffin, was struck, but her injuries were not considering life-threatening, police said.

They still have no idea what caused the fight, but a woman and a child are dead.   There is an idea that Swain was trying to hit Black with the car, and that hitting the child was a mistake.  Let us hope so.  It won't bring the child back but will keep an already sad story from becoming any worse.

When details come out, we'll surely update you.  I truly am curious to hear what could have made such an enduring friendship turn to murder.

Austerity Hysteria, Again

It's gotten to the point now that austerity can never fail, it can only be failed.

House Budget Commitee chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) says that his plan to slash government spending on programs for the poor while increasing defense spending and giving tax cuts to the wealthy would actually “prevent austerity.”

NBC’s David Gregory on Sunday pointed out that the debate over whether slashing budgets would grow the economy was not just happening in Europe, but in the U.S. as well.

“This question of austerity in Europe, they had failing economies, nearly depressed economies,” Gregory told Ryan. “The answer throughout the region was to slash their budgets. Has it failed?”

“No, David,” Ryan replied. “I would say they’ve also raised taxes. This is a cautionary tale of what happens when politicians who make a lot of empty promises end up running out of the ability to borrow money at cheap rates and now they are broken promises. It’s a cautionary tale of what will happen to us if we stay on the path we are on.”

“What we’re saying is let’s get on growth and prevent austerity,” he continued. “The whole premise of our budget is to preempt austerity by getting our borrowing under control, having tax reform for economic growth and preventing Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid from going bankrupt. That preempts austerity.”

See, austerity isn't massive cuts in government spending, austerity is the end of government spending.  Massive cuts that will hurt hundreds of millions of Americans so that people like Paul Ryan can get tax cuts is "necessary sacrifice", not "austerity".

It is the duty of the serf to sacrifice for their lords.  That's what America was founded on, after all.

Another Milepost On The Road To Oblivion

The Republicans have truly lost control of their rough beast, slouching towards Washington DC.  Here's GOP Rep. Joe Walsh of Illinois at a town hall meeting:

“Obama wants everybody on government run health care,” he said. “That is a legitimate opinion, I wish he were honest and he would tell us that.”

“Let them go to Europe,” a constituent at the town hall replied. “We are the only country on this planet that is still semi-free — until the 1900s.”

“We’re losing it,” Walsh interrupted.

“I know we are, that is the problem,” she continued. “But we fought for this, we need to keep our freedom and we aren’t because of the seditious behavior of people who lie about who they are and get into all of our public offices, and then we can’t get them out in time before they do the damage and we have been sleeping for one hundred years. It is sedition. I mean, they did it underground. If they are honest brokers and they believe in what they’re saying and where they want this country to go — like Obama — then you’re right he should have said it before he was elected, and said I’m a socialist, I believe in socialism, in communism, Nazism, whatever, and say this is where I want to lead the country — not do it underhandedly.”

OK, so we've got a woman who point blank calls the President and his supporters "seditious" and believes that the President believes in socialism, communism, Nazism, whatever".  What does Joe Walsh respond with?

“However you want to label or define it, don’t you think after three and a half years as a country now we have a really good idea where this President wants to go?” he said.

Profile in courage right there.  Because charges of sedition and going full swastika is "just a label" when applied to Democrats or the President.  You do understand that to millions of these folks, you don't count as American, or even human.  You don't belong in their country.  They would have you deported or strung up as a traitor or worse if it were up to them.

And you know what?  If we sit on our asses and don't vote and don't get the word out and don't oppose this idiocy, it will be up to them.  Because this ignorant, hateful woman?  Her vote counts precisely the same as your vote or mine, and she's going to vote.

Will you?

Don't think they believe there's a civil war going on in the US already?  They believe it.  Enough to say that in front of their congressman.  And if we do nothing, this country will be run by the people elected by women like this.  Period.

We're just 3 Senate seat losses and a White House loss from these folks controlling the whole ball of wax. 

Mull that over for a while. 

StupidiNews!

• A rare solar eclipse dazzled from central Asia to the US Midwest late yesterday as the moon and sun formed a "ring of fire".
• Virginia will become the first state with voter ID laws to issue identification to every voter, as well as to educate all voters on how to get the free IDs.
• Newly-minted billionaire and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg married his long-time girlfriend and med school graduate Priscilla Chan over the weekend.
• Kentucky's king of pork, GOP Rep. Hal Rogers, is apparently behind the Army spending $17,000 a piece for helicopter drip pans at a manufacturer in his district.
• Internet romance scams burn on average 15 Americans a day at a cost of nearly $9,000 a piece, according to new FBI figures.