How Dare The President Try To Win

If only the President would surrender completely to Mitt Romney, says former Dubya speechwriter Michael Gerson.  How dare he try to beat Mitt Romney and run such an awful campaign!

In the innocent, bygone days of February, President Obama told NBC News that the campaign would get negative against him, but provided this assurance: “I think that you will be able to see how we conduct ourselves in the campaign. I think it will be consistent with how I conducted myself in 2008 and hopefully how I have conducted myself as president of the United States.”

Not since Gary Hart urged reporters to follow him around because “they’d be very bored” has an assurance been more of an indictment. The Obama campaign has targeted and intimidated Republican donors on an Internet enemies list. It has engaged in the juvenile mockery of Mitt Romney’s singing. It has suggested, without evidence, that Romney may have committed the felony of falsifying Federal Election Commission documents. It has speculated, without proof, that Romney has avoided paying taxes. When Joe Biden engages in racially charged hyperbole, he is awkwardly but accurately reflecting the spirit of the 2012 Obama campaign. 

Remember, this is a Dubya speechwriter accusing the Obama campaign of intimidation and racism, and screaming that there's no proof on Mitt's taxes because there's no way to know what his tax returns look like.

It's hysterical.  Republicans have openly accused the President of being a Islamist terrorist sympathizer, an America-hating Manchurian Candidate, a foreigner committing crimes by lying about his birth certificate, a tyrant, a race-war breeding white-hating racist thug, a criminal running a Chicago-style organized crime syndicate and a jackbooted fascist Nazi.

But the problem here is the tone President Obama is setting by saying Mitt should release his tax returns.

Gerson is a fool and a liar, which goes with being a speechwriter for Dubya, of course.  But this may be the worst nonsense I've read in years.

For the Obama campaign, this is not an aberration; it is a culmination. The demonization of Romney is a main element of its strategy, pursued by Obama’s closest associates and former employees, not by loosely affiliated partisan groups. Deniability is not even remotely plausible, but it doesn’t remotely matter. Even when exposed, the Obama campaign never retracts, never apologizes — convinced that the news cycle will quickly erase inconvenient memories. 

Gerson should really just stop talking now before Donald Trump calls Obama a Kenyan again, or any of the myriad Romney supporters call the First Lady "Moo-chelle" again, you know?

By the way, this is the same guy who worked for an administration that openly called dissenters and critics, anti-American traitors.  You think he's projecting?

 

That Must Be Cottage Cheese

Because jam doesn't lump up like that.

Yeah, take a long look at Hulk Hogan's ex making a complete ass of herself in Ricky Romance's "MILF" video.  She's 52 and looking every day of it.

You know you gotta be messed up when your own kids plead for you to return to the real world... and if you saw any of their reality show you realize their world wasn't all that normal.

For what it's worth, there's nothing wrong with having a booty, or imperfections.  There is something wrong about dating someone the same age as your son, bending over a table for a video, and thinking you look good when in fact you made people gag.

Look out, Tokyo... Skankzilla is on the loose and headed your way.

Sly Answer

Sylvester Stallone is finally speaking about the death of his son Sage ... calling it a "horrible situation ... but it's something that is reality in life."

Stallone just appeared on "GMA" to promote his new "Expendables" movie ... when the reporter asked how Stallone was "hanging in there" since Sage passed away last month.

"It's tough it's very very tough," Stallone said ... adding, "But if you have good friends and your family’s support, it's just something that’s a horrible situation but ... hopefully it will heal and you try to get through it but it's something that is a reality in life."

It's a no-brainer to say that it is devastating to lose a child.  Sage had suffered from several problems in his short life, including living up to the reputation of the son of Sylvester Stallone.  It's realistic that life has to go on, but the timing was awful for a man about to take on a publicity tour.  Already, there are grumblings from people who don't feel he mourned long enough.  I say, he mourned, and it's not like I am privy to his emotional state.  I think he's working because it's what he does, and there is no less love for his lost son.

Evolving Into A Real State

Ahh Kentucky.  And people wonder why the state's aggregate IQ drops by a measurable amount when I cross the Ohio River to go to work in the mornings.  Stories like this just depress me.

Kentucky's Senate Republicans pushed successfully in 2009 to tie the state's testing program to national education standards, but three years later, they're questioning the results.

Several GOP lawmakers questioned new proposed student standards and tests that delve deeply into biological evolution during a Monday meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Education.

In an exchange with officials from ACT, the company that prepares Kentucky's new state testing program, those lawmakers discussed whether evolution was a fact and whether the biblical account of creationism also should be taught in Kentucky classrooms.

"I would hope that creationism is presented as a theory in the classroom, in a science classroom, alongside evolution," Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg, said Tuesday in an interview.

To recap:  Republicans insisted the state meet new national education testing guidelines to comply with NCLB.  The state hired a company to write the tests specifically to improve education to make the state's students better educated and more competitive in the global marketplace.  Three years later, Republicans are horrified to find out the tests teach evolution.

The GOP response is pathetic.

Givens said he and other legislators have been contacted by a number of educators with concerns about Kentucky's proposed new science standards, which are tied to ACT testing and are scheduled to be adopted this fall.

"I think we are very committed to being able to take Kentucky students and put them on a report card beside students across the nation," Givens said. "We're simply saying to the ACT people we don't want what is a theory to be taught as a fact in such a way it may damage students' ability to do critical thinking."

Yes, because if you don't also teach the "theory" that invisible beared floaty guy built the Earth on a giant Sims program 6,000 years ago, you're a close minded bigot.  I demand Catholic schools teach Islam, Daoism, Shintoism, Judaism, Pastafarianism, and Pagan studies in science class or they're close minded bigots too.  See how this works?

Last time I checked, biology was a science, not a comparative religion course.

 Oh, but it gets worse.

Another committee member, Rep. Ben Waide, R-Madisonville, said he had a problem with evolution being an important part of biology standards.

"The theory of evolution is a theory, and essentially the theory of evolution is not science — Darwin made it up," Waide said. "My objection is they should ensure whatever scientific material is being put forth as a standard should at least stand up to scientific method. Under the most rudimentary, basic scientific examination, the theory of evolution has never stood up to scientific scrutiny."

You sir are the dumbest mofo on Earth, and I am offended that you are an elected lawmaker in the Commonwealth.  Your ignorance is so astounding that I have to believe you actually don't exist, because nobody can be this stupid and survive without collapsing under the density of their own idiocy.

Seriously, evolution has "never stood up to scientific scrutiny"?  When you refuse to get involved in elections and local politics and the world around you, these are the people that get elected, Kentucky. My job is to fix that.  I have a lot of work, of course.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/08/14/2298914/gop-lawmakers-question-standards.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/08/14/2298914/gop-lawmakers-question-standards.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/08/14/2298914/gop-lawmakers-question-standards.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/08/14/2298914/gop-lawmakers-question-standards.html#storylink=cpy

Playing Small Ball

Mitt Romney has a message for you people asking for his tax returns:  You're small-minded and you should just shut up already.

During a press conference at the airport in Greer, South Carolina, the GOP hopeful told reporters that he couldn’t understand why people keep asking about his taxes.

“I just have to say, given the challenges that America faces — 23 million people out of work, Iran about to become nuclear, one out of six Americans in poverty — the fascination with taxes I paid I find to be very small minded compared to the broad issues that we face,” Romney explained. 

Mitt Romney fully expects that he'll never have to make those returns public, and he expects to win in November.  Both of those can't be true.  But Mitt thinks they are.

My question, given 63% of Americans still think Mitt should release those returns, and that partially that number has to include a significant number of both independent voters (67% agree) and Republicans (28%), is "are you going to tolerate Mitt considering you small-minded and still believe him?"

Your choice.  What's he hiding?

StupidiNews!

• Another "green-on-blue" killing in Afghanistan as a uniformed police officer turned his weapon on US forces, killing two, before being shot and killed himself.
• A Picasso glass painting has been rediscovered in Evansville, Indiana after being mislabeled for 50 years, it's being sold at an auction in New York.
• The US Forest Service has ended a 30-year ban on night flying to fight western state wildfires raging in several states.
• The death toll has reached 35 in the police massacre of striking South African miners protesting platinum mining giant Lonmin, Inc.
• Wikileaks founder Julian Assange may have been granted asylum in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, but getting out of the country will be far trickier.

Last Call

Just trust Mitt.  You don't need to worry your pretty little head about the details.

Mitt Romney said he has never paid less than a 13 percent tax rate in the past 10 years during a press availability in South Carolina Thursday. Romney said that he thought the fascination with his taxes was small-minded compared with the the bigger issues of the campaign. He said he recently went back and looked at his taxes and verified that it was never under 13 percent.

Members of the press who said "OK, prove it!":

Zero.

Have a good night.

Joe The Dumber

When in doubt as a Republican running for office like Joe (not Joe) the Plumber (not a plumber either), just generate publicity by saying we should shoot brown people.

Congressional candidate Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher called for building a fence and to "start shooting" as part of the solution to illegal immigration at a political event over the weekend in Arizona.

Mr. Wurzelbacher, known as "Joe the Plumber," is the Republican challenger to U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) in the 9th Congressional District.

He spoke Friday night at a fund-raiser in Prescott, Ariz., for Arizona state Sen. Lori Klein.

"For years I've said, 'Put a damn fence on that border going to Mexico and start shooting … ' That's how I feel. I'm not going to hide it just because I'm running for office. I want the borders protected, and I'm very adamant about that," Mr. Wurzelbacher said.

The comment was made in the course of a 14-minute off-the-cuff speech that touched on the importance of conservatives voting for representatives who share their views at the local level.

It was reported by PrescotteNews.com. He said too many conservatives are afraid to speak their minds.

First of all, why is this dipstick in Arizona?  You're running in Marcy Kaptur's district, numbskull.  In OHIO.  You can at least pretend like the House seat you're running for is something more important to your constituents than making yourself famous for so you can land that cushy lobbyist job later on.

Second, "shoot all the brown people" may work in Arizona.  Ohio?  Not so much.

Kaptur failing to win here would be malfeasance.  This guy is an embarrassment to the state and country.

Of course, that means he'd fit right in with the rest of the GOP.

A Hero Of Many Galaxies

One of my favorite authors and comics writers, Harry Harrison, passed on Wednesday at the age of 87.  The Comics Reporter has a rundown of his work:

In the 1960s, Harrison began the novel series through which he is probably best remembered. The Stainless Steel Rat books focused on the thief/smuggler Slippery Jim DiGriz, the Deathworld books on culture and environmental clashes on the backdrop of a difficult-to-colonize planet, the Bill The Galactic Hero book offered up direct parodies of bad science fiction. Like many of the most popular and well-liked genre authors of the 20th Century, Harrison's work was generally smart but offered multiple entrance points for readers of various ages. They are frequently cited by current writers and fans of science fiction and fantasy as influential books from early on in their discovery of that kind of writing.

His 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! was the basis for the 1973 science fiction movie Soylent Green, and contains potent elements of social criticism only a few of which made it into the film version. It was dedicated to Harrison's then-young children, which gives poignancy to the novel's strong foreboding nature. In the 1970s, Harrison and the author Brian Aldiss worked as anthology series co-editors and were among the leaders in that corner of publishing in terms of collecting valuable material from decades past.

Like several authors of his generation, Harrison used the relative freedom of being a writer (no doubt in close conjunction that living costs be kept relatively low in an uncertain profession) to live in various places around the world. He would reside at various times in Denmark, England, Ireland, Italy and Mexico. For a time he taught a science fiction course at San Diego State University and organized similar courses in university summer programs. He continued his involvement in various fan- and professional-driven science fiction organization and was a presence at a lot of the early conventions.

Three 12-episode adaptation of Stainless Steel Rat stories appeared in 2000 AD in the late '70s to early '80s. "The Stainless Steel Rat" ran in #s 140-151 (1979/80), "The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World" ran in #s 166-177 (1980) and "The Stainless Steel Rat For President" appeared in #s 393-404 (1984/85). Some of this material appeared in 1985 from Eagle Comics under its own cover.

In 2009, Harrison won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He was involved in advocacy for Esperanto; the language appears in some of his novels. He won a Nebula Award for Best Script and was nominated for multiple Locus Awards.

A last major piece of writing was released two years ago -- another Stainless Steel Rat book -- and Harrison claimed to be working on a secret project.

I grew up with Slippery Jim's exploits across the stars as a kid and discovered Bill the Space Trooper (who keeps getting parts from people he's not too fond of) in high school, and from there branched out into space, cyberpunk and military sci-fi writers like Heinlein, John Scalzi, Simon Green, David Weber, and William Gibson, but it was Harry Harrison's Vietnam "war is hell" metaphors that really made the genre interesting, thought-provoking and darkly funny to a young, snarky Zandar.   Even through Stainless Steel Rat's adventures are 50 years old, they remained as relevant to the world now as they did then and are definitely worth the read.  He's the first atheist hero I can recall reading about, too.

I hope Harrison's project sees the light of day.  Make that happen, universe.

Thanking A Vet - Doing It Right

Dennis Hall is dying.  The 63-year-old veteran has terminal cancer, and one of his final wishes is to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.  It is a simple request, but one the man is unable to afford.

His family held a garage sale and a bake sale as well, hoping to raise enough money to help him accomplish his goals.  Local news broadcast the story, and the total donations reached thousands of dollars.  Enough to send him on his trip, with the remainder to help with his medical bills.  His daughter will go with him to the memorial, where he can pay his respects to those who fought beside him, and those who fell.

It warms the heart to see people rally to show appreciation for those who risked their lives for us.  Perhaps our government will be inspired to do more of the same.

Don't Stand For It

Sitting has become such a part of our lifestyle that we don't even notice it.  Television turned one generation into couch potatoes, computers another, video games a triple threat.  By now we have mostly forgotten what it was like to live in a world without easy transportation or delivery to our living rooms.

Healthwise, it is starting to take a toll on people.

Government statistics suggest that almost half of us report sitting more than six hours a day; 65% say they spend more than two hours a day watching TV.

But it's taking a toll on health. A recent study showed that if people spent less than three hours a day sitting, it would add two years to the average U.S. life expectancy. And research has linked sitting too much to increased risks of diabetes and death from cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Endocrinologist James Levine, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., talks about sitting disease and how to get out of the chair and move more. Levine did some of the original research on the topic and is still investigating it — from a treadmill at his desk.

The article explains how we can and should start utilizing standing workspaces.  Employers are catching on, and as we start to take baby steps back towards active lifestyles, this is the easiest place for us to work in some extra movement.  I get up every hour and walk a "lap" at my job, which stops my restless legs and increases my productivity.  Walking has always been helpful when my mind is stuck on something, I always stroll my neighborhood when a story is nagging at me, so it makes perfect sense it could breathe new life into boring desk jobs.

Depending on the type of work, we can get so busy we neglect our bodies.  I work 14 hours days regularly, but during none of those tasks do I have to be standing.  I write for two hours a day at least, and move nothing but my fingertips.  My greatest exercise is the occasional forehead slap.

The expense isn't that great if we just start building them that way now, and when inevitable remodels come around.  Standing or flexible workstations are important in a world where you can kill yourself doing what you're expected to do.

Felix Felicitas

King Felix Hernandez earned his moniker for the Seattle Mariners as he retired 27 in a row for a perfect game on an idle Wednesday afternoon at Safeco Field.

The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner has long talked of his desire to achieve pitching perfection. He finally accomplished it against the Rays, striking out the side twice and finishing with 12 strikeouts.

It was the third perfect game in baseball this season -- a first -- joining gems by Chicago's Philip Humber against the Mariners in April and San Francisco's Matt Cain versus Houston in June.

 More than half of all perfectos -- 12 -- have come in the last 25 seasons.This also was the sixth no-hitter in the majors this season, three of them at Safeco Field. Humber threw his gem in Seattle, then six Mariners pitchers combined to hold the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless at the park on June 8. Prior to Wednesday, no team has ever had a combined no-hitter and a complete game no-hitter in the same season.

For the Rays, it was an all-too-familiar feeling. This was the third time in four seasons they had a perfect game pitched against them, following efforts by Dallas Braden in 2010 and Mark Buehrle in 2009. They've been no-hit four times over the past four seasons.

The lesson here is clear:  Every MLB game can be one for the record books, and if the Rays come to town, you should go, just in case you want to cross something off your bucket list.  Congrats to Felix and the Mariners, certainly.

Somebody ought to do some charts on the number of perfect games thrown during the Obama administration, just saying.

Priscilla, Queen Bitch Of The Desert

GOP Gov. Jan Brewer has decided that no, Arizona really doesn't have to follow executive orders issued by this President because he's a Kenyan Muslim anyway, so screw him and DON'T TREAD ON ME.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) has signed an executive order that attempts to thwart President Obama’s directive extending temporary work permits to more than a million undocumented immigrants. The Obama administration’s policy — which would grant two-year work authorizations to undocumented youth between 15 and 30 years of age who have lived in the U.S. continuously for at least five years — was announced in June and went into effect on Wednesday.

 Brewer’s order directs “state agencies to deny driver’s licenses and other public benefits to young illegal immigrants who obtain work authorizations” and “directs state agencies to start emergency rulemaking processes as necessary to implement her order.”

At this point I honestly expect Brewer to issue a diktat that states Arizona is no longer subject to federal laws and regulations anymore, and that President Sweet Sweetback is welcome to come to bring his boys down and try and do something about it.

As I recall, South Carolina did something similar about 150 years ago.  Let's see where this goes, Jan.

StupidiNews!

• India plans an ambitious launch of a Mars orbiter probe in late 2013, trying to become the first Asian country to reach the red planet.
• Chefs and foodies across the planet celebrated Julia Child's 100th birthday, as the late cooking icon was saluted by restaurants worldwide.
• Wednesday marked the day President Obama's deferment program for young undocumented immigrants went into effect, with thousands lining up in cities across the country to register.
• Facebook's stock lockup period expires today, as employees can now sell their stock on the market and many analysts warn the selloff could be sharp.
• More and more US cities and counties are turning to cameras that capture license plate numbers as "force multipliers" on stopping criminal activity, but privacy advocates are crying foul.

Last Call

And speaking of obvious efforts to disenfranchise traditional Democratic voters in swing states, a state judge in Pennsylvania has refused to block the state's bogus voter ID law that's so clearly awful that it had one GOP official crowing it would hand the state over to Romney in November.

A state judge on Wednesday refused to block Pennsylvania’s controversial voter ID law. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson’s 70-page order wasn’t yet available on the court’s website, but a docket entry noted that the law would not be enjoined.

Simpson did not rule on the case’s merits, only on whether it could be enjoined.  Opponents of the law are expected to appeal to the state’s Supreme Court.

Time's running out, of course, so the GOP is dragging their heels to kill the clock.

Opponents of the law were confident it would be overturned when the trial wrapped up in early August. The state had admitted it had no evidence of in-person voter fraud taking place in the state and did not expect in-person fraud to take place if the law wasn’t enacted.

Remember, this is a law that prevents "voter fraud" that doesn't exist...but in doing so it prevents hundreds of thousands of the poor, the elderly, urban minorities and students from voting by throwing up extra barriers.  And should Pennsylvania not be able to provide the hundreds of thousands of voter IDs it needs to send out to people who don't drive or can't afford an ID card, well that's just a shame that their votes won't count, right?  Gotta protect the vote.

Apparently it needs to be protected from Democrats.  Who knew that the GOP coming to power in the state would lead to such an obvious effort to rig elections to forever stay in power?

Oh wait.  Everybody knew.