Glad I'm Not A GOPer

Not that I ever would be and I do recognize that I'd have to be a serious one and that would involve being extinct, BUT..., I do have an interest in politics. Despite some horseshit opinions, the 2010 election results were not about the Left staying home and were about the "middle" swapping Parties. As a GOPer that re-alignment after the BushCo disaster (he who is never named) would have been extremely heartening - especially in the face of the '08 election.

If I'd been a GOPer I'd have seen that as my moment to feed that economic dis-satisfaction that got us into a position of power. I would have gone out of my way by considerable distance to work on economic issues and paint Democratic resistance as ideological sabotage. Think tanks would've been churning out policy proposals and the media could have played stenographer to my economic arguments. Not how that was done.

In a position where unemployment officially stands at 8.3% and really stands a hell of a lot higher it would have been nearly impossible to knock me off that message. The sitting President has problems, real ones and some that can be massaged into something. Discontent with ACA is real, though its crummy polling happens from both sides, but turning ACA into a position to slam women from isn't where I'd go. Talking about small government works with quite a few people - right up until they see themselves getting caught in that drain, so you re-assure them. The number of illegal immigrants in this country strikes a nerve, but stupidity on the issue alienates Hispanics who have a constituency that would align, broadly speaking, with GOPer stances. I would want that part of the group to be my friends, not horrified because they know Jan Brewer junk will mean they'll get pulled over and harassed.

I would pay attention to national demographics and especially the part that says my cadre is dying off and not being replaced. I'm real sure I'd pay attention to the largest voting bloc in the US, women, and make sure I'm not actively trying to piss them off. I'd make sure that Party leaders paid attention to State legislative actions and pushed really hard to keep them from being stupid and offensive.

If I wrote about GOP politics from a real platform as a GOPer I sure wouldn't have waited 40 years to complain about the train going off the track. I'd have spent that time dissuading stupidity and warning about the lunatic fringe rather than encouraging it. You can't play at being David Brooks or George Will for decades and then do a big turnabout and suddenly call the situation stupid. People who read you will just ask,"WTF?"

Since I'm well left of Democratic policies my prescriptions wouldn't work, but one thing is sure - I would not be going out of my way to alienate large voting blocs. A stupid person might think a Blount Amendment is a clever way to gut "Obamacare," but because it is a gutting mechanism it is open to mockery. Instead of being half-clever they could have put themselves firmly in the corner of the godbotherers by sticking to religious institutions without facing absolute mockery. Culture is a tricky thing, the backlash from the 60s continues this half century later - just witness the "Hippies" term still in currency. But culture does shift, people lose homophobia, people of another color become normative, people get tired of war and those trends aren't stopped by standing athwart the ideological fence and screaming, "STOP!!@*^*^%!!" You find a way to deal with it and still appeal to your... damn... whatever they are and still include the non-crazed. For over half a century nobody on that side seemed to mind the whispers of "nigger" or "wet-back" or "fag" since they were short-term winners - there is a cost to be paid.

I'm also real glad I don't have to stand there with my furry face hanging out and tell my wife and 'theoretical' daughter that they're "sluts." I like my skin where it is.

Pantie Sniffers

Mormonism isn't supposed to be an issue and neither is Catholicism or any other Christian-ism. (careful about the other -isms) It might not be minus all the pantie sniffing the GOP has gotten up to. Now I'm not under-emphasizing the "Evangelic" distaste for the Mormons but that is only a slice of the electorate. The problem the candidates for President have is that the GOP has ignored the economy other than to plump for the 0.1% I know the current theme is the one percenters but the GOP is really about that one tenth. What the GOP in States and in the Congress have concentrated on is cultural warfare which in the end boils down to GOD.

Santorum is, of course, way out ahead of the rest of his pack on the god thing and strident religiosity, ie Catholicism. Our favorite salamander, Newt, isn't far behind. But you have to leave it to Multiple Mitt to decide that Rush Limbaugh used the wrong words to slime most women in the US over sex. He stands on stage with his wife and his multiple Mitt clones glorying in his wealthy ability to provide all those kids with millions of dollars while ordinary folks sweat car insurance for one kid. He can afford to ignore birth control (I have no idea if his wife has enjoyed all that birthing) and stick to some cult like bullshit and decide Rush used the "wrong words."

Mitt may not be real comfortable in the cultural warrior armor but that sure isn't because he's some closeted liberal. Oh, he is those guys - he just doesn't enjoy trying to force it on the folks who've given Mormonism a miss (well, deceased baptisms to the side). Don't misunderstand, Mittens is all for the junk Rick and the rest are gleeful about, it is just beneath him to grin while shoving it down the rube's throats but he'd sign such bills in a heartbeat.

If you're thinking the President is in a walk away or that the down-ticket is assured, there was a character known as Pollyanna. You may already be real tired of this crap, I know I am - but it is just warming up. The GOP is not going away and they're not heading toward increased sanity. There is a difference between being disappointed by Democrats and being horrified by GOPers. Lesser of two evils doesn't exactly do that justice.

Who Apologizes?

There has been a lot of talk about the Non-Apology - the one about "two words." Other than the fact that it took a lot more than two words to demand sex tapes, to make references to frequency of sex, and to lie completely about Ms Fluke referring to her sex life at all, you might take it as complete horse manure, anyhow. But...

Since we seem to be talking about apologies, I'd like to remind everybody just exactly who it is that does the apologizing when it comes to Rush, and it ain't Rush. If you've got memory cells in operation, some anyhow, it will be stuck in there somewhere that it is Republicans who apologize to Rush. Repeatedly. Just in case you were wondering what the GOP is all about...

Update Edit:
A couple things occurred to me, one of which is that thinking Rush is going away soon is, well, an error. This won't have hurt him with his audience and radio advertising is a competitive advertising method. There will be those who will measure loss against gain by talking to that audience, but the audience will be there, anyhow.

This isn't about the audience at all. Forget the audience - they agree. Mitt Romney "wouldn't have chosen those words," is potent with people who haven't gone crazy and have daughters, wives, girlfriends, hell - in general see women as something other than chattel. Make it clear, Mitt agrees but he just doesn't like the "words." Mitt agrees she's a slut, just another word would be better. Mitt agrees she should make sex tapes for Rush and his ilk. Mitt agrees that Ms Fluke was all up in Congress' face about her sex life. That would make Mittens a softer spoken Rush... So somebody will ask Mitt about this?

These people (GOPers/candidates) and their apologists are pigs (sorry porcine mammals). No pissed off father is going to get up and slap Mittens silly but keep in mind that he just did "I'm Mitt Romney and I approve this message."

Slut Solidarity

I guess it's time for me to out myself as a slut. I admit it, I've had sex for something other than procreation. There. I said it. I'm willing to cast myself into the pool of co-eds and all the others who've had sex for some reason other than procreation.

Now, never mind that what Ms Fluke was testifying to was medical remediation use of contraceptives as opposed to sex at the drop of a hat use. You see, I don't give a damn - women's health issues are women's health issues, whether it involves medical prevention of disorders or simply prevention of pregnancy. It is not the employers' business exactly why a woman proposes to use contraceptives, not in the least. It is not for a couple of reasons. It is not their body. The insurance is a part of compensation for work. The employer is in business, regardless of their ideas of sex, not in the business of religion. If Catholics and others want to have a say about what their people do, they have a pulpit and the alternative of getting the hell out of business. A hospital may have the adjective Catholic appended to it, but that doesn't mean it isn't in the business of being a hospital.

As for the MORAL STANDING of Catholic Bishops - let's just talk a bit about cover-ups of child sex abuse in just about the same breath as other employees.

Rush Goes Where The GOP Is

It has been kind of funny to watch GOPers tripping over nasty impediments like the truth to get some distance from good ole boy Rush Limbaugh. The GOP has made not a single statement regarding male erection drugs and freedom of religion. This in the face of a hell of a lot of religious doctrine regarding adultery where there seems to be no requirements that those "ED" drugs be dispensed to only married faithful men. You might even get to an WTF sort of moment where there's no heterosexual requirement...

They really do mean "sluts" and yes, Rep "Bo(eh)ner" it really is about a War On Women. The "Ultrasound Bills" are part and parcel with that attitude. C'mon, what mentally capable woman has some kind of doubt what an abortion is about removing? There really exists some doubt as to whether a woman knows an abortion involves a baby and that baby means child? She's a slut and must be shamed.

What the GOPers are objecting to right now is that Rush has said exactly what they mean and getting people upset by the saying of it. Beat them and their fellow travelers over the head with this - repeatedly and forcefully.

Have I mentioned that "oh there's a middle way liberals" make me want to puke?

WaPo Both Sides Do It, cough, gag, choke

You'd have to read this entire piece of junk by the WaPo Editorial Board to understand how far that paper has fallen.

Incivility is not a one-way street in America. Far from it: Mr. Limbaugh’s left-wing equivalents have trashed any number of conservatives over the years. Conservatives have a point when they protest that the “mainstream media” don’t always heed their legitimate grievances.

No shit, they actually published something containing this line. Drowning these idiots in their own sea of mediocrity and false equivalence would be doing the journalist world a giant favor. They can't go bust too quickly for me.

Do me a favor and don't add to their clicks, find abstracts elsewhere.
BalloonJuice will do.

Breitbart Is Dead...

I suppose this is an oportunity to be gracious. I guess I can try.

Good people also died today and I'm sorry for everyone's families.