Arizona Bans Ethnic Studies

This past Tuesday, Arizona nutjob governor Jan Brewer signed a bill into law which basically bans ethnic studies classes throughout the state, sending Arizona further down the dark spiral towards complete teabaggery chaos. It's just so skeevy the way it was done because the language of the bill makes it almost come across as hand-wringing political correctness---if you were only half-reading it, of course.

“Public school pupils should be taught to treat and value each other as individuals and not be taught to resent or hate other races or classes of people,”

This bill bans any classes that advocate “the overthrow of the United States government,” “resentment toward a race or class of people,” “are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” or “advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.” Ironically, these things all describe most of the "classes"at teabagger homeschools and private Christian schools but anywho.

Apparently governor Brewer and others have a problem with students learning about American history: that the founders committed genocide, enslaved and tortured whole races of people, and built this country with greed, inequality, and violence. They also think they can keep Hispanics from learning that Republicans hate them. This is laughable, really---I am actually laughing right now---that they think they can pull that off. Too late!! You might have wanted to try a different technique than ARREST ALL THE BROWN PEOPLE, STAT!

It's also hilarious that a state official is actually trying to rewrite history because he's pissed off that the white people of this country have been the assholes for the majority of their involvment. Tom Horne said, "It's just like the old South, and it's long past time that we prohibited it," Uuuh, what the fuck is he trying to say? I actually have no clue. I am seriously confused on this one. Because the last time I checked, we used to own black people down here. So I'm not sure how students taking a class where they learn that white people used to treat them like shit is "just like the old South" and needs to be prohibited.

The Politico article also points out that neither the governor nor any supporters of the bill have identified a single example of a course that advocates overthrow of the US government.

Arizona bans 'ethnic studies'
Arizona gov. signs bill targeting ethnic studies

File Under "Vile"

This is so sad and disgusting. Roger Ebert tweeted about some ignorant schoolkids who got sent home for wearing ridiculous uber-American garb on Cinco de Mayo. This was his oh-so-offensive jab:

"@ebertchicago Kids who wear American Flag t-shirts on 5 May should have to share a lunchroom table with those who wear a hammer and sickle on 4 July."

Pretty freakin' clever, actually. But woe be unto that asshole who suggests that kids of opposing opinions should try socializing with each other. The Tea Party morons descended upon Ebert to really give it to him for making that absolutely out of line comment. This was just one guy:

This giant dab of dick cheese is named Caleb Howe. I won't waste any more carpal energy typing about him. One only has to read the comments above to see where everything went horribly wrong. UPDATE! This asshole lives in Charlotte. OF COURSE HE DOES.

How fucking low do you have to get to insult someone who has lost their jaw to cancer? Trust me, I have a grave sense of humor, and I'm the one who always pisses people off by insisting that everything is funny, to someone, no matter how wrong. But making fun of someone's facial deformity? How could you live with yourself? A flock of conservatards descended on the comments of the article to huff and puff about "the real story" being covered up, tin foil hat, conspiracy, JESUS, but the whole point in this instance is not about the kids or their stupid flag bandannas or "what really happened."

It's that a bunch of crybaby assholes made fun of a man because his face is deformed. YOU CAN'T DEFEND THAT SHIT. This is who the tea party is, unfortunately. People who think it's fair game to be monsters to their fellow humans because they disagree with their political opinions.

But Roger got in the last (sane) word:

"Dear TeePee Tweeters making fun of my cancer: You want ugly? For that, you have to look at a mind, not a face."

Tea Party Turns on Roger Ebert, Mocks His Cancer

When People Don't Mind Their Own Business

Today, my wife and I took my parents to lunch for their anniversary. After dropping my wife and daughter off at the front door of the restaurant, I had to find a parking space which happened to be near the end of the parking lot. On my walk towards the restaurant, I passed a lady who said to me "a socialist t-shirt?!" I was, in fact, wear my t-shirt that says "Socialist" in big, red letters across the chest. My only reply was "yep", then I continued to walk inside. My wife was passing my at the time because she had left her jacket in the car. My wife asked the lady "what is wrong with his shirt?" to which the lady replied "if you don't know, then you don't have the time in the day!" I guess it would have taken the lady that long to explain the ills of socialism to my wife. The lady continued to her car and left.

After I talked things over with my wife and parents, it was obvious I should have confronted the lady. Not jumping down her throat, but more of a confrontation of "what's it to you?" Why is it that people can't keep their comments to themselves? I have seen many people wearing shirts or sporting bumper stickers that say horrible things against socialists, liberals, democrats, whatever isn't tea-baggish. I don't way a word to them because it is their prerogative to wear whatever they please.

This reminds me a lot of the atheist billboard campaigns of late. It is OK to post up billboards that speak of people going to hell and how god doesn't like group X for Y reason. However, as soon as a billboard is put up that says basically "Atheists exist", a reign of fire is brought down. It is clear that the groups out their like the tea-baggers and the religious (is there really any difference?) only want freedom of their speech and to hell with everyone else.

The Teabagger Screed

What do you say? This guy is out of his mind. I am not quite sure what he was talking about when it came to the Marine Corps and the VA. Speaking as a Marine Corps vet who receives VA benifits, I am here to tell you that a) there is nothing glorious is war or killing, and b) the VA is only the most socialist form of healthcare in the history.

But none the less, this is a pretty fair representation of the Tea Party.

The Answer? Deport Them. Deport Them All!

I am glad to see that cooler heads are prevailing in the debate over Arizona becoming the "Racist State, Land Of No Constitution". California Representative Duncan Hunter has come up with an idea that just might work. Not only should we be singling out brown people, regardless of their legal status, but we should also be deporting American citizens who were born in this country, but just happened to be born to illegal parents.

This guy is a ghoul. It will never cease to amaze me how these "teabaggers" or "patriots" or whatever they are calling themselves now can scream at the top of their lungs that they want to defend the constitution while simultaneously shitting on the constitution. The Fourth Amendment, which if I recall correctly, is part of the Constitution states the following:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

What is so hard to understand about that? Come on, you Constitutional purists! If you support the Arizona bill or people like Duncan Hunter, you will further expose yourselves as an ignorant group of yokals that only gives a shit about the second amendment, because it deals with guns and all.

Where Is The Non-violent Tea Party Again?

TPM did a story on a Tea Party in Greenville, SC in which Tom Tancredo said the following:

"If his wife says Kenya is his homeland, why don't we just send him back?"

OK Tom, as long as we can send you back to 1950's Mississippi while we are at it. Seriously, where did this guy come from? What a ghoul.

The best part, however, came when Pastor Stan Craig let everyone know that he

"was trained to defend the liberties of this nation." and "suit up, get my gun, go to Washington, and do what they trained me to do."

That about sums up the "Christian Attitude". I sure am glad that the Tea Parties aren't inciting anyone to violence. We would be in real trouble if these guys were painting images of the country being taken over by a non-existent enemy. People might get scared, pick up there guns, and do something crazy.

Right?

Scott Brown Is An Opportunist

Could it be? Could this cock-model-turned-dick-head, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) really have just rode the wave of anger and fear to victory in Massachusetts? No, surely he is willing to give the Democrats a pair of Turkish goggles. That is, of course, unless he knew that even a conservative can't be conservative to survive in MA politics.

I am surprised that it took this long for him to drop the tea party like a bag of wet racists. I give Scott Brown an "L" for "Lewzer".

Saturday Mixed Bag

Hello heathens! Here's a few items to get you started on this beautiful weekend.

This is brilliant. Tea Party Jesus is a tumblr user who has taken quotes from various douchebag talking heads as well as regular nutjob teabaggers and put them into pictures so that Jesus is speaking them-----kinda puts all that self-satisfied handwringing into perspective. http://teapartyjesus.tumblr.com/

In other news, Fred Phelps is still a detestable assbag, and this week he and his church protested the funerals of the miners who died in West Virginia, because of course they were just big sinny queers and God smote them and such. http://gawker.com/5513598/westboro-baptist-church-says-god-was-punishing-killed-miners This is pretty low, but in my opinion not as low as protesting soldier's funerals, but still.

Also, this lady from National Review Online thinks we should yell at politicians in public, particularly on airplanes: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmYwOGZlNGU4YzVlMjE5NmJhMmFlNTY5MDhjZGZiNDg

Justice John Paul Stevens will retire soon. http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/justice-stevens-will-retire-this-summer.php?ref=fpb Obama better not fuck this up. Seriously. And what the fuck are conservatives still screaming about "activist judges" for? That's an empty term, a blatant disguise for "anyone who makes decisions we don't like." Anyway, don't fuck this up, man! SERIOUSLY.

And lastly, I'll leave you with this http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/a-republican-party-highlights-from-the-southern-republican-leadership-conference.php?ref=mp , TPM's coverage of the first few days of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. Of course there is a combo of insanely funny (guy confusing "mediocre" with "meteoric" when describing Sarah Palin's rise to fame) to really sad (Palin blasting Obama for his supposedly non-existent nuclear strategy. Because we all know hers, right?). Enjoy!

Palin/Bachmann O-Twelve

Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann have been touring the country, not sure why really, except to work up the frenzied base and see if they can get any more people killed. Their tour consists of appearing before screeching, rabid fans by day and cuddling up in penthouse suites by night to paint each other's toenails. Here's a rundown of the tour from a cuddly lesbian: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2QZiTVsbkM Oh, and if you need to laugh for a while, and then cry, there's this: http://wonkette.com/tag/pt-scissor-me-timbers/ Oh, to be a fly on the wall, or the bumpit in Palin's hair!

And now, Ms. Palin, who is an expert in everything, is really pissed off at Obama's idea to, you know, try not to burn babies off the face of the earth with nuclear weapons. He is such a hippie sissy asshole. http://hotpoliticians.com/2010/04/08/palin-obama-nuke-strategy-is-like-kid-saying-%E2%80%98punch-me-in-the-face%E2%80%99/

This woman. I could go point by point with individual issues that are serious problems with Palin, but the common theme is that she is the modern symbol of anti-intellectualism. She represents fear and brazen rejection of education, and pride in fundamentalist dogma. I'm sure this is preaching to the choir here. But as much as I'd love to discount the woman and let her go back to populating the northern part of the country with little Truks and Lugz and Talladegas, there are too many people---people I know, in fact---who not only don't find her batshit crazy, they agree with her. They like her. Back when it was first announced that she would be McCain's running mate, I remember asking my mom (a Christian conservative) one day what she thought of Sarah Palin. She smiled at me and said, "I think she's gonna win it for the Republicans!" That kind of blatant disconnect with reality is prevalent around here.

Palin consistently trips up, says dumb things, and contradicts herself, yet when time after time it's pointed out, she spins it to her faithful as the media being unfairly fixated on her. And they buy it. I'm not sure whether the problem is more the Sarah Palins of the world, or the Sarah Palin admirers. And sometimes I wonder if she really is an evil genius---last week, when giving a response to the accusation that her supporters are becoming violent, she replied, "Anyone who uses threats of violence will be in my crosshairs." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/palin-warns-anyone-who-th_b_515764.html Seriously? (this coming shortly after a map on her facebook page marking Democrat senators with actual crosshair icons http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/palin-uses-crosshairs-to-identify-dems-who-voted-for-health-care-reform.php )

She also made the really awesome suggestion that Obama haters, when they see stupid commie douchebags driving around in their fuel-efficient cars with their Obama stickers, to go yell in their faces and start political arguments in the middle of traffic. What a real American! Sarah Palin loves to be divisive; when I watch video of her running through her zingers, you can see the glimmer in her eyes. She was a Mean Girl in school for sure, snarking on freshman thighs and delivering fatal one-liners in her now infamous nasal honk. She lives for getting in front of a crowd and really giving it to those gosh-darn liberals. I'd love to see her actually talking with people who don't support her---you know, fake America, gay people, poor people, anybody who's not white, anybody who's not a Republican, people who don't shoot things, etc. Now that would be good teevee.

I Knew This Was Coming...

The healthcare bill has passed. Teabaggers have screamed, spit has flown, tears have been shed, and although most of the bill's provisions won't go into effect until 2012, there have been some starts and stops already. Last week we learned that the insurance companies found a loophole allowing them not to insure children until the 2012 deadline. I've personally already spoken to people who have never bought insurance who are losing their shit over the mandate (which admittedly does sound scary when you only get your information about it from Fox News). The bill is not perfect, and there could be more problems. I hope it's a step in the right direction in overhauling our healthcare system, which is broken beyond belief.

When I say it's broken, I speak from experience, as someone who not only does not make a lot of money, but who has only had insurance---really, really shitty insurance---for the past few years. I won't go into a long breakdown of how my health has been negatively impacted by the insurance industry, but I am not the only one who believes the system to be in need of serious changes.

But this is the thing, and it may get me some flack. I don't care, I work in fucking retail, I hear that shit all day.

Thanks to Bush II, there have been a lot of wealthy businesses and people who have never paid their fair share of taxes. For those people, taxes will go up. I do not give a shit. Cry about it all you want. There are still others who have long enjoyed the privileges of the good life, Cadillac healthcare plans, great jobs at awesome companies who treat them well. That's all fine and good; there's nothing wrong with succeeding, or working for a company that is good to their employees (that's what we all want).

But if you lose some of your benefits, or suddenly become subject to cutbacks, remember that there are people who were much worse off who will now be able to go to the doctor. Real hardship is losing your job, losing your health coverage, or suffering a catastrophic illness. Having to pay more, or getting less shit for free than you used to, does not count as a real hardship. Yes, it sucks. But if you still have a roof over your head, food on the table, and a steady check in the mail, then that is actually pretty good these days. Also, I would wonder if your boss, or your boss's boss, had any of his benefits cut. Oh that's right, he's still in Acapulco.

It's not that I'm unsympathetic to people's hardships. It's just that here in America, there seems to be this tendency of people who have it really good to start bitching the second there's not a spoon in their mouth. Do you realize there are people who struggle, and often fail, to pay the power bill? Who literally have to scrape together change to buy their medication?

And for the record, my insurance has gotten shittier, my benefits lessened and my payments more. I fault the insurance companies, not the healthcare bill. They are the heartless money-grubbing assholes who fuck up everybody's healthcare, charging high premiums and then denying coverage. Hopefully Obama will not let them get away with more murder between now and 2012.

Right-Wing Violence

Giving Her the Ol' Dick Cheney

This morning, I had a fun facebook interaction with one of my in-laws. Ahh, facebook. Without you, how else would I know these people were crazy?