Speaking Truth to People

Bravo, Ron Paul.

It is our fault.  We blindly vote for unprincipled and self-serving politicians to represent us in government, then turn our backs on them and are shocked to find out the kooky stuff they're cooking up in Washington.  One day, you show up at the airport to fly to your cousin's wedding and are given the option of having a naked picture of yourself taken or experiencing a full-body "pat-down" -- both at the hands of a mostly underpaid, underqualified, and ill-tempered airport Stasi.

This should be the final straw for us -- the sheer ridiculousness of it begs for acts of civil disobedience to help us win back our dignity.  The government keeps telling us how important these measures are for our safety.  If that's true -- if the peep-and-grope is truly our last line of defense against terrorism -- then God help us all.

Stupid

This is a classic case of an organization preferring to be consistently wrong rather than inconsistently right.  I can understand the inclination, but it's still stupid.  Rather than suspend Joe Scarborough, MSNBC should just issue an apology to Keith Olbermann and admit they should not have suspended him in the first place.

News organizations shouldn't ban their reporters from donating to political candidates -- their donations are in the public record and as such, the public can decide whether or not a reporter is biased and at the very least, have the information as to which candidate -- if any -- a reporter supports.  It makes the process less open to ban them from making any contributions.

Smart Move

Robert Gibbs is cutting down on his on-camera briefings.  Thank goodness for small favors.  I can't think of a worse choice for Press Secretary -- this guy is as smarmy and smug as you can get.

John Cornyn, I Don't Know If I Like You

In a closed-door meeting, Sen. John Cornyn apparently made thinly veiled references criticizing the recruitment of "outsiders" (i.e. citizens not completely sullied by DC politics) to oppose his hand-picked candidates for Senate offices.

Cornyn argues that his colleagues who disagree with his selections should come to him privately with their concerns.  To what end?  So he can try to bribe them with some government pork to shut their traps?  Obviously, each parties' leadership in the Senate and the House have a lot of influence over who runs for office, but democracy is supposed to be open.  And if a sitting senator wants to oppose his own party's pick for an open seat, well, it is a free county ... isn't it?

Bottom line:  John Cornyn doesn't really get it.  Maybe an "outsider" can run against him for the next go-round.

Two Sets of Rules

A recurring theme on this blog is highlighting the difference in consequences for those in and of the government versus those of living and working as private citizens.  Here we have a cop -- who as a result of speeding -- struck a boy, paralyzed him and caused permanent brain damage.  The consequence: a $185 speeding ticket.

Do you think that would be your punishment if you were speeding (at almost TWICE the posted speed limit) and physically hurt a child (or any person)?  Are you protected by "limited liability" that severely curtails the amount of money owed to your victim (to help pay for his extensive medical bills) based on the fact that you were driving government property and wearing a uniform at the time of accident?  No?  I didn't think so.

You Can Play God on the Internet

This is truly disgusting.  I think we can all -- pro-choice and pro-life -- agree on that.  Please read this to understand what evil and utter disregard for life can exist among the most normal-seeming among us.  I'm not arguing there should be legal ramifications for what this couple is doing, but there should be very real societal ramifications -- this is what shunning and shaming is for.

Gawker thinks one possibility is that this is a pro-life stunt.  If that's true, it's no less disgusting and will serve no purpose in furthering that cause.

The article also notes that they couple have gone through 2 previous miscarriages, and that they're not sure they're ready to be parents.  There's this funny thing called birth control that I've heard of -- it really helps prevent pregnancy if you're not ready to conceive.  It's unfathomable to me that this woman would go through 2 miscarriages and then even consider the possibility of aborting a healthy baby, not to mention an abortion based on the internet voting of random people.

Our society is rotting and decaying at its core and Pete and Alisha Arnold are right in the middle of it.

Snape Would Be Pleased (If That's Possible)

Harry Potter sings the elements of the Muggle Periodic Table.