2017 archive
Words Fail Me 0
I learned about this from a person who was helping me with some financial matters today.
Yes, it’s real.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. We have become a society of stupid.
The Silence of the (on the) Lams 0
The Maine Beacon reports on why Congressman Bruce Poliquin (R–Don’t Talk to Me) refuses to hold town halls or answer questions from reporters.
“Do I talk to the national media? Not often. I’ve been dying to do what you want me to do. Dying to do it, but we’ve got to be very – it would be stupid for me to engage the national media and give them and everyone else the ammunition they need and we lose this seat. We have to be really careful,” said the congressweasel.
Via The Bangor Daily News, which manages not to use the term “Congressweasel” in its story. It contents itself with pointing out that
Poliquin said there are so many reporters who want to ask him questions and they want him, a congressman, to allow his words to be reported so that everyone can read them. That’s not something he wants.
Fomenting Force 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, Pamela Paretsky considers the psychology of political violence. Here’s a bit; follow the link for the rest:
If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0
Dick Polman ruminates on Texas Republicans’ actions followinng Hurricane Harvey. A snippet:
It’s been a while since we’ve enjoyed a carnival Cruz.
In January 2013, when Congress readied a $50-billion Sandy recovery package, 36 Republican senators — including Texas’ John Cornyn and Ted Cruz — voted to reject it. Those are the same senators, who, in the wake of Harvey, wrote a letter begging the federal government “to provide any and all emergency protective measures.”
On Monday, when Cruz was on MSNBC pleading for his “any and all” Harvey recovery package, he was asked about his thumbs-down Sandy vote. In response, he insisted that “the bill was filled with unrelated pork. Two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy.”
Cruz lied.
All That Was Old Is New Again, Reichstag Fire Dept. 0
Thom is not optimistic.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Clearly polite:
Whatever happened to “make sure your gun isn’t pointing at anyone”?
Invariable 0
One more time, “I am not a racist, but . . . ” always translates to “I am a racist, and . . . .”
All That Was Old Is New Again 0
In The Roanoke Times, John Ketwig recalls yet another little-mentioned time when the United States had an active Nazi movement, back before the prefix “neo” would have been germane.
I shall not attempt to excerpt or summarize it. Just go there.
A Cholesterol Cocktail 0
Redacted Tonight’s Natalie McGill lampoons corporations’ “corporate responsibility theatrics.”
The Screening Process 0
Honest to Pete and Betsy both, you can’t make this stuff up.
The Invisible Hand 0
In a thoughtful piece in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Jennifer Nelson muses on how she has benefited from white privilege throughout her life. Here’s a bit:
The deceptive thing about privilege is this: If you have it, you are unlikely to notice it, because it just is.
