Quote of the Day - Andrea Mitchell Edition

‘Frankly there isn’t enough tough reporting in Washington these days’

Really, you don't say?   

Twitter Fun - Donna Brazile Edition

This gave me hours of fun this afternoon:

@Artist_Angie #DonnaBrazileMysteries Why don't the code pink vagina costumes have warts and sores on them?

#DonnaBrazileMysteries Wow, they're treating me almost as harshly as the media treats 

@SarahPalinUSA there on Twitter. Justice, or racism?

#DonnaBrazileMysteries who exactly did let the dogs out?

#DonnaBrazileMysteries Why is gas prices so high when my tires are properly inflated?

#DonnaBrazileMysteries Why are people making fun of me on Twitter?

#DonnaBrazileMysteries How come free stuff costs so much???

#DonnaBrazileMysteries You mean my Social Security taxes are not kept in a savings account I will later have access to.

#DonnaBrazileMysteries why is my grandmother not getting any medical treatment?

#DonnaBrazileMysteries Suddenly people are laughing a lot when I blame Bush. #Confused

#DonnaBrazileMysteries How come after spending trillions, fewer people are employed today than when BHO took office?#NoGoodAnswer. #TGDN

#DonnaBrazileMysteries Wait, the Affordable Care Act affects Democrats, too?

#DonnaBrazileMysteries Called Michael Moore, asked why his dieting advice isn't working, no good answer.

#DonnaBrazileMysteries Why did the rapist suddenly get angrier when I puked on him? He was supposed to leave me alone.

#DonnaBrazileMysteries called NOW to ask if "women's health" only refers to reproductive organs,what abt the rest of my body?#NoGoodAnswers

#DonnaBrazileMysteries If I move to our 57th State -will my healthcare premiums be lower?

#DonnaBrazileMysteries Che is not a hero?

#DonnaBrazileMysteries is the hokey pokey really what it's all about? Called the First Lady. No good answers.

#DonnaBrazileMysteries How can we have all that debt when they just raised taxes?

Liberal Logic Photo of the Day - Donna Brazile Edition

Seriously, how stupid are these people?  Of course your premium went up.  Did you think all that "free" stuff really was free?

Dolt

Quote of the Day - Speaker Boehner Edition Part 2

"The president has known for 16 months that this sequester was looming out there when the super committee failed to come to an agreement, and so for 16 months, the president has been traveling all over the country holding rallies instead of sitting down with Senate leaders in order to try to forge an agreement over there in order to move a bill. We have moved a bill in the House twice. We should not have to move a third bill before the Senate gets off their ass and begins to do something,"

Sadly he forgot to mention that sequester was the idea of the President.  Which is important since the media is not covering the outright dishonesty of the president on this topic.  

For Those Keeping Track, Republicans Who Voted for Largest Tax Hike in VA History

Yep, brace for it Virginia.  You have a massive tax increase coming your way.  Here are the republicans that voted for it.  Sadly, due to schedule, getting someone to primary these people this year will next to impossible.  But, I think they knew that and that is why they voted on this on the last day of the session.

House of Delegates: Dave Albo (42), John Cosgrove (78), Kirk Cox (66), Mark Dudenhefer (2), Jim Edmunds (60), Tag Greason (32), Chris Head (17), Gordon Helsel (91), Keith Hodges (98), Sal Iaquinto (84)*, Riley Ingram (62), Chris Jones (76), Terry Kilgore (1), Barry Knight (81), Jim LeMunyon (67), Manny Loupassi (68), Joe May (33), Donald Merricks (16), Randy Minchew (10), Richard Morris (64), John O’Bannon (73), Bobby Orrock (54), Charles Poindexter (9), Bob Purkey (82), Lacey Putney (I, declared R if running for re-election – 19), Tom Rust (86), Ed Scott (30), Beverly Sherwood (29), Chris Stolle (83), Ron Villanueva (21), Michael Watson (93), David Yancey (94), Joseph Yost (12), Speaker Howell (28)

State Senate: Harry Blevins (14), Bill Carrico (40), Jeff McWaters (8), Tommy Norment (3), Frank Ruff (15), Walter Stosch (12), Frank Wagner (7), John Watkins (10).

H/T Bearing Drift

Some Thoughts on The Oscars and Flotus

I admit it, I am a huge fan of the Oscars.  I rarely miss watching the ceremony.  I love movies and I really like the fact that most years I have seen most of the movies that are nominated for the big awards.  Now, hollywood isn't exactly a fan of mine.  Or, I should say my political beliefs.  Many within the industry are outright rude to people who hold my political beliefs.  They call me all kinds of not so nice names and twitter has made it even more pronounced.

So last night I was tweeting while watching the ceremony.  Many of the conservatives around the twitterverse talked about how we shouldn't watch because of the very liberal slant of the industry and the people within the industry.  I say exactly the opposite.  One of the reasons that democrats win is that use pop culture to influence the masses.

Well, Flotus proved me correct last night.

It's through cinema, Obama said, that "our children learn to open their imagination and dream just a little bigger and to strive every day to reach those dreams."

More accurately she should have said that through cinema they influence our children.  Now, don't take this that I am saying that parents can't do anything about it, but the influences are still there.

Do you still think we shouldn't be engaging in pop culture?

The sad fact is this, the lines between politics and pop culture are not just blurred, Michelle Obama and her bangs giving out the Oscar for Best Film shows that the lines have been completely erased.  Sit on the sidelines if you want, but it will be to your detriment.

Homeless Man Suing Parents for Bringing him up in Poverty

Yes, there is a homeless man, Bernard Anderson Bey, in Brooklyn, NY that has decided that suing his parents is a good idea.  After all, he is only 32 years old and it must be Momma's fault that he is living in a shelter.  The fact that he has drug arrests in the past have nothing to do with the situation he finds himself in.

Now, I have a great deal of sympathy for the homeless.  There are plenty of homeless that find themselves in that way due to a few bad breaks that happen to us all, but they don't have a safety net to help themselves out of it.  But, generally speaking those people only find themselves homeless for a short period of time.  The average is under three months.  They get themselves back on track pretty quickly in most instances.

I do not know how long this man has been homeless, but I do know that his claim is just another symptom of the nothing is my fault and everyone deserves a pony society that we currently living in.  If things don't go your way, blame someone else for your problems.  The man himself says this:

“Defendant Bernard Manley informed the plaintiff he was entitled to nothing, which is true,” Bey wrote in the suit. “I am not entitled to receive anything from an asset he owns. I only thought he might find pleasure in seeing his children become successful.”

What he is expecting is that his step-father and mother take a mortgage against some property that they have as an asset and buy into to some franchises so that everyone in the family will have a job.  He is thinking maybe Domino's Pizza may be a good idea.  Does he know how to make a pizza?  How long has it been since he held a full-time job?  Owning a business is generally very long hours for the owners, it isn't easy being a small business owner.  Many don't make much money for themselves when they first start out, all the bills have to be paid before you draw a salary.

He also claims that his step father was verbally abusive as well as a drug user who had no qualms in using drugs right in front of the five children in the house.  He has five younger siblings, he claims all of which are on public assistance.  While I also agree that poverty in many cases in this country is generational, it doesn't mean that if and when the parents get themselves a little bit of money they owe that to the children.  Of course it would be nice if they shared to help lift their children out of poverty, it is not necessarily the job of the parents to do so.  At some point you have to responsible for yourself.  As his mother states:

“He’s 32 years old. That speaks for itself. Welcome to America. Everyone in America has the same opportunity. Don’t blame the parents at this point. The choice is yours. You’re an adult.”

One of his sisters has found the claim to be ridiculous as well, especially the part that he claims they are all on public assistance:

“I’m not on public assistance. My parents were not terrible. They did the best they could. He chose the life he’s leading now.”

Sadly, this is yet one more example of the masses in this country that takes no responsiblity for their own lives.  Someone else is always to blame.  No wonder we are $16T in debt.

R.I.P. Mindy McCready

I am not a fan of country music generally speaking so I am not very familiar with her music, but I have heard a great deal about her.  Her story is not all that much different with anyone else that is dealing with mental illness, except that she did in the public spotlight.  The stories of her drug abuse, mental health problems, and custody fight over her two young children have been headline news for years.  She lost the battle last night.  She was found dead on her front porch with a single self-inflicted gun shot to the head.

Mental illness has claimed another soul.  This is a woman who was forcibly hospitalized very recently, but as usual was let go way too soon.  One more to add to the list to show how broken our mental health system in this country.  Two children will grow up without memories of their mother as they are too young to have their own memories.

It is very easy to dismiss this and say she did this to herself.  True.  But unless you have dealt with a sort of major depression you can't possibly understand.  Mental illness is selfish.  That is part of the illness.   Drug addiction is a very sad side effect of mental illness.  It is a way to deal with the darkness.  Darkness is exactly what mental illness brings, one that you can't possibly understand unless you yourself have gone through it.

Our mental health system is broken in this country.  It must be fixed or these types of things will continue to happen.

Sadly, Mindy didn't feel the 10,000 angels looking down on her last night.

Yet More GOProud Controversary at CPAC 2013

I wrote this more than two years ago - it seems we are still having the same conversation.  Sad. This was all over twitter today.  GOProud was once again refused a chance for a sponsorship at the CPAC convention.  This is why the GOP is called intolerant.  Look, I am against gay marriage, but I more than willing to engage in thoughtful debate about the topic.  I don't understand why the organizers of CPAC and social conservative groups are not willing to do the same.  


The Conservative Political Action Conference is having yet another controversy this year.  The Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America have decided to boycott.  The organizers have invited GOProud to participate and the social conservative groups are none too pleased.  

I have my belief systems and I am not ashamed of those beliefs.  I believe that I have come about them honestly and with careful thought.  That being said I realize that my belief systems is not something that everyone else is going to agree with.  One of the things that I really do not have the patience for is people that would rather shut down speech instead of engaging in debate.  When we shut down speech nothing will get solved.  The only way to bring about awareness is to have the difficult and uncomfortable discussions.  

One of the things that I promised myself when I started this blog was that I would stay true to my own voice even when it wasn't popular.  So this post will be no exception.  I fully understand and respect the religious beliefs of the far right.  In fact, I agree with much of it.  But, what I don't agree with is when the far right paints itself into a corner that appears like intolerance.  It happens over and over again. 

The conservative blogosphere has yet to finish its discussion on the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  It is not a secret that the right and more specifically the far religious right is appalled that gays will serve in openly in the military.  It is looked upon as a slippery slope that will eventually bring about the ruin of the Republic.  Of course that is somewhat of an oversimplification in many cases, but it certainly is not in all cases.  I have read some things that have blown my mind.  I can only imagine what people who are not inclined to agree with the right are thinking when they read the same things.  

The country is certainly at a crossroads.  We are on the verge of insolvency and in danger of real shift in how we live in this country.  If there ever was a time that we need more discussion, that time is now.  You hear over and over again from the left that the republican party is a small tent.  This is a perfect example of how it simply isn't the case.  Although the new meme of the left and the media is that the republican party is making it clear that it no longer has room for moderates in the party.  It is one of the many inconsistencies that media never fully answers about its discussions of the Republican Party.  But, that is a post for another time.  

There are different types of conservatives.  There are people who are socially conservative yet will still spend money like water.  There are those who are fiscally conservative and more socially liberal.  Then we have those that are conservative on both counts.  So the party is a bigger tent than the media would like to admit to.  But, one of the things that can tear the party apart is this type of stupidity.  

I am not saying that any of these groups should change their strongly held beliefs.  What I am saying is that they need to stop acting like if the rest of us don't agree with them that it is acceptable to pick up their toys and go home.  What we need to do is challenge each other not shut each other out.  By walking away they are becoming exactly what the left accuses of them of; intolerance.  If they truly believe in what they are preaching, then stand up and say it.  Stand up and defend it.  Stand up and show me where I am wrong.  Talk to me, don't shut down discussion.  

I was at CPAC last year and some of this reared its head then as well.  GOProud was there and gave some sort of presentation that I did not attend, so I can't attest to what was said.  CPAC has gone out of its way to be inclusive as possible to college students.  There was an awards program for activists on college campuses across the country. College activists were given a short time to speak about what was happening on their campuses.  One activist choose to use his time to state his displeasure of GOProud and was loudly booed by many of the college kids.  The moderator asked the audience to respect our right to speech and give the young man his time to speak.  Regardless of how I felt about what he saying, I respected his right to say it.  

What these social conservatives are saying is that GOProud has no right to speak.  To me, that is not a conservative value that I can condone.  I don't agree with every speaker at CPAC.  The only way that would happen would be if I chose all the speakers and told them what to discuss.  That doesn't mean that I should not attend and take part of the experience.  Who knows, I may end up learning more from the speaker that I don't agree with than the ones that I do.  

The one thing that I am sure of, if we want to put an end to Obamanation, we have to find a way to make room for all republicans.  If we continue to tear each other down, we will see another four more years of President Obama.  An outcome that is not acceptable.  Hold onto your beliefs and stay true to them, but never forget that the answer to bad speech, is more speech.  

Read more here and here

A Little Chuckle to Start the Weekend

LOL - I have never been to a picnic like this.  Have you?

Happy Valentine's Day from the RNC

Rand Paul's Tea Party Response to the State of the Union Address Video

I don't agree with him on everything, but I love him.

Extreme Parenting Part 6

I want to start out by saying that I love ya and I’m not trying to embarrass you. Before you do anything else click the star in the upper right hand corner of internet explorer which is already pulled up and then click back on the icon to the right of the skype symbol in your toolbar to pull this page back up. —————————————> That history is the reason that you got that scamware and all the other crap on your computer. I want to tell you that it’s ok. Listen, I was 13 once too and it wasn’t so long ago that I don’t remember. I’m not mad or anything. It’s life and I did it too. I just want you to know that most of those sites are places that can and will ruin your computer. You were actually lucky that it only did what it did. There are viruses and other scamware that can completly ruin a computer and I can’t afford to buy you another 1800 dollar machine because you went to a site that fried it.

There are sites that are completely safe and you can go on them and not have your computer turned into a piece of junk. You can go to these sites and not screw up your computer. Don’t click on any links taking you to other sites and please only go to these. Ninty percent of porn sites have crap that can brick a computer.

[editor: links omitted]

Listen, I won’t tell your mom and I’m not gonna make a big deal out of this. In fact I’m not gonna make any size deal out of it. If you don’t wanna talk about it that’s fine and I completely understand. I’ve been on this earth three times as long as you and there’s nothing you have done or will do that I haven’t done before. If you want to completely ignore this ever happened then I can and will do that too. Please don’t act awkward around me because of this. You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I just can’t have an 1800 dollar machine turned into a brick because you haven’t learned where to go on the internet. I’m not going to put a child lock on your computer or punish you in any way because as I said you did nothing wrong. I would like you to not be back here so much though. You literally spend all of your time back here. I’d like to see you more often. I like doing stuff with you and miss it.

I love you and I couldn’t be more proud of you.

Now, I would think that finding porn on your 13-year-old son's computer would be a sticky thing to deal with.  But I don't think that this is way to handle it.  At no time did he tell this child the huge difference between sex, love-making, and porn.  I understand not wanting to embarrass your child.  As a child I had a mother who embarrassed me often, so I know that isn't effective parenting.  But I have to think that being more worried about a computer than your child's well-being isn't being a good parent either.  

Now, even if you are one of those people who dismisses the evidence that porn is unhealthy to relationships, you must admit that it certainly would give a 13-year-old unrealistic expectations of what sex is.  That isn't the real world.  Porn has no relationship to how real women view sex and it turns them into an object.  

Big time parent fail on this one.  Big time.  Since this is making the rounds on the internet, I would say the chances are good that Mom is going to find out.  Let us hope she does a better job of dealing with this than dad has.  Giving your 13-year-old safe porn sites?  Oh my.  

H/T to The Good Men Project

Proud Democrat Letter to the Editor

I do think that this is a fake, this seems awfully long for a letter to an editor.  I also really hope that someone isn't this stupid.

Quote of the Day - Nancy Pelosi Edition

We avow the First Amendment, We stand with that and say that people have a right to have a gun to protect themselves in their homes and their jobs, where, and that they — and the workplace and that they, for recreation and hunting and the rest. So we’re not questioning their right to do that.”

Wow.

And Liberals Don’t Understand Why Conservatives Don’t Trust the Educational System

Exhibit A.

This is a page from a college text book:

Quote of the Day - Michelle Rhee Edition

Here’s the question we Democrats need to ask ourselves: Are we beholden to the public school system at any cost, or are we beholden to the public school child at any cost?

Michelle Rhee on her transformation of supporting school vouchers.

Sadly, we already know the answer to this question.