2014 archive
Gutless and Gutted (Updated) 0
I am not a partisan. I’m an activist, though not as active as I used to be. I support Democrats because they are the only feasible alternative to the vile and loathsome thing that Republicanism has become on its journey to becoming the Party of the New Secesh.
Those who beliee that a third party is the answer betray their ignorance of American history and the workings of American politics. Those who believe in some mystical “third way” between the two existing parties are, by and large, Republicans’ dupes, symps, and fellow-travelers made uncomfortable by the actions of their fellows and desiring to perfume the pig sty.
Nevertheless, I do recognize that, for the last 30 years, since the reign of Reagan, the Democratic party, with few exceptions, has run scared, peopled with gutless wonders unwilling to stand up for anything much.
The gutless are destined to lose. Let Shaun Mullen explain.
There is a bright side, I guess. I will stop getting a lot of stupid emails that have clogged my inbox for the past three months.
Addendum, Bright Side Dept.:
My email is down by at least 75%.
Order in the Court 0
Not in Pennsylvania, there isn’t.
Stray Question, Post-Election Dept. (Updated) 2
Anyone want to start a pool on when Republicans will attempt to impeach President Obama for the high crime and misdemeanor of being Not White*?
Addendum:
Roy Edroso anticipates the random words.
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*Regardless of whatever random words they use, that is at what they take offense.
Supply and Demand 0
Bringing new meaning to the term, “school board”:
The bulletproof whiteboard is made by a company named Hardwire and is designed to operate as an everyday classroom dry erase board.
Ruminate on the absurdity.
Make TWUUG Your LUG 0
Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Learn how to use computers to do what you want, not what someone else wants you to do.
It’s not hard; it’s just different.
What: Monthly TWUUG Meeting.
Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.
Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Training Room. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available.) Turn right upon entering, then left at the last corridor and look for the open meeting room.
When: 7:30 PM till whenever (usually 9:30ish) on Thursday, November 6.
Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)
Pre-Meeting Dinner at 6:00 PM (separate checks)
Uno Chicago Grill
Virginia Beach Blvd. & Military Highway (Janaf Shopping Center). (Map)
Returns-Watching Parties 0
Really, what’s the point*? The races are finished, done, over with. All we are waiting for is the accounting.
I’ll read about the returns in tomorrow’s local rag. The results likely won’t change much from now to then.
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*Maybe beer is the point. I don’t drink beer.
Any Scotch is better than every anything else.
Adventures in Voting 0
I voted “in-person absentee” on Saturday. It’s a weird thing we have here in Virginia: There is no early voting, but, if you are eligible to vote absentee, you can vote early in person at designated locations as well as by mail (the first vote I cast was a mail-in absentee ballot for Shirley Chisholm). Since I’m working the polls in a precinct other than my own, I was eligible to vote “in-person absentee.”
The polling location was quiet and the poll-workers were nice. They told me that that voting had been steady; they had had about 25 voters by the time I arrived at 12:30 p. m. In idle conversation, I remarked to one that “My father taught me through example that voting is not a right; it is a duty. I can even remember my daddy paying his poll tax so he could vote.”
Some other voter over there said, “It’s a privilege.”
Clearly, she missed the bit about “poll tax.”
I said, “Indeed, there are some who are working to make it a privilege.”
Driving is a privilege. Voting is a duty.
Words fail me.
Light Bloggery 0
Working the polls, and you should be too.
Keystone Kops in the Keystone State 0
Shaun Mullen still has questions.
News, Ripped from the Ticker 0
Warning: In worse taste than usual.
Sauce for the Goose, “Catcall” Dept. 0
Even given that this is staged, if you don’t start to feel discomfort by the time you are 30 seconds in, you are incapable of understanding the problem.
Welcome to Sweden 0
Wayne Beach thinks that, if predictions are accurate, the electorate may have gone stir-crazy.
I refer, of course, to the phenomenon of a captive developing an irrational sympathy for his or her kidnapper. Having made good on an early announced intention to block the president at every possible turn, the Republican-controlled House has effectively held the country hostage for the past four years. In the process of trying to exact its ransoms, it has shut down the government, threatened default on our debts, given a lasting stain to our international reputation, blocked proposals for infrastructure improvement that could have created new jobs and demonstrated a sweeping refusal to deal with climate change.
Follow the link for the complete diagnosis.
The Galt and the Lamers 0
Juanita Jean points out the dialect of Libertarianism:
Follow the link for her example de jour.
Remember, a Libertarian is nothing more than a Republican who is ashamed to admit it.