Same Old, Same Old Shutdown

Last week I spent a decent amount of time at my job preparing for a possible government shutdown to occur this Thursday. My division is statutorily required to be open during regular hours, so we don't get furloughed when the government gets closed. We operate with a skeleton crew and I rotate everyone in and out, but during the 2013 shutdown, we were open a full forty two and a half hours every week. With the current shutdown looming in an attempt to defund healthcare for women, last week I had to use time not to do my regular job, but to prepare for Congressional Republicans not doing their jobs.

Fortunately (?), House Speaker John Boehner's surprise resignation last week has removed the threat of an imminent shutdown (his Speakership was worth about two months of reprieve) but we'll revisit the threat in December, a couple of weeks before Christmas. The Teahadist wing of the party will have even fewer reasons to cooperate with anyone, so a shutdown then is probably more likely.

This is what happens when you elect crazy people to run the government, who don't actually believe in the purpose and value of government.

Huckabee demonstrates what a wonderful man he is

Warning: Harsh Language Ahead.

Believe it or not, given the constant Bible quoting, but only one of the Republican candidates for President is an honest to goodness Minister! Bet you can't guess which one of the lying, racist misogynists it is!

Oh, right, Mike Huckabee. You can tell he's a Minister because he says loving, Christian things like this tweet about President Obama's welcome of the Pope.

I welcome @Pontifex to America & offer my apologies that @POTUS will not offer him the warm, respectful welcome he deserves #PopeInUS

— Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 22, 2015

Oh, snap!

In fact, here is the POTUS, preparing to spit on the Pope as he coldly greets him at the airport.

It's a wonder the Pope survived.

But lest you think Huckabee is getting soft by that lukewarm insult, he pulled out all the stops in criticizing the idea that the United States, the shining beacon on the hill, the "give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses" country would give sanctuary to even a few of the desperate, tired, poor middle eastern refugees fleeing war and death in their home countries.

"Are they really escaping tyranny, are they escaping poverty, or are they really just coming because we've got cable TV?" the former governor of Arkansas asked. "I don't mean to be trite. I'm just saying: We don't know."  Link

Three-year-old Aylan Kurdi trying to get cable TV.

There's only one thing you can say to that. 

Fuck you, you asshole, Huckabee. Fuck. You.

Na na na na #2 -- Don't let the door hit you, Scott Walker

This week we lost the guy who hates American workers, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Seriously, this guy hates American workers so much that he cited his fight against Wisconsin unions as evidence that he could lead America's fight against terror group ISIS. Plus, he tanked Wisconsin's economy, costing thousands of jobs, and he wants to do the same for the U.S.!

Sadly, his terribleness in the first two Presidential debates, his drop-off in fundraising, and his similarity to every other Republican candidate in terms of their horrific policy positions, doomed him. After the second debate, polls showed him at 0%.  That is not a typo. He got zero support.

So the favorite candidate of the Koch brothers leaves his campaign $700,000 in debt. I'm pretty sure he won't pay that off, since he's a member of the Party of "personal responsibility".

Let's all raise a glass and give a big, hearty DERP! to Scott Walker.

Popetastic!

You may have heard the news that Pope Francis was in DC over the past couple of days. Out of concern for the massive transit backups likely to be caused by visiting Catholics come to see the Pope, most of the federal government was encouraged to telework or take liberal leave. (If you're unaware, "liberal leave" means you use your own annual leave and don't come in to work.) Unfortunately, my staff can't telework because our work is confidential and can't be taken from the building, so we've been almost fully staffed yesterday and today.

So how was the commute, you ask? Wonderful. Enough federal workers stayed home that the influx in tourists didn't make up the difference, resulting in better commutes than usual. Trains were plentiful and half empty, so commuting was a great treat for those of us who do it every day. And my building, occupied by six federal agencies, was also half empty, which meant shorter lines in the cafeteria and a generally more relaxed atmosphere.

Thanks, Pope! Come back any time.

This week in douchebaggery - If it looks like a clock . . .

I'm getting a bit overwhelmed with the sheer number of idiots making stupid remarks or engaging in asinine behavior lately (hey, it's primary season!). So, here's a brief sample of this week's biggest douchebags.

First up, the idiot Texas school administrators and police who arrested 14 year old Ahmed Mohammed for bringing a clock to school. It's a terrible situation but, in a neat twist, lots of people showed support for the young man and he was even invited to the White House by President Obama.

And that made even more people lose their crap.

"I can't follow my own abstinence advice", Bristol Palin chimed in with:

In case you missed it. The President invited Ahmed Mohamed to visit the White House to show the President his homemade clock. The fourteen year old was arrested after someone reported that he was building a bomb.

This is the kind of stuff Obama needs to STAY out of. This encourages more racial strife that is already going on with the “Black Lives Matter” crowd and encourages victimhood.

The police made a mistake, clearly.

But why put more people against them? Why egg it on? Childish games like this from our president have divided our country… even more today than when he was elected.

Because there's literally NOTHING that the President can do that this nitwit won't disagree with. And remember, blatant racism by the Republican party candidates during the recent primary debates doesn't cause a divided country, it's the President inviting a kid to the White House that causes a divided country.

And of course her mother, Sarah Palin (R-Quitter) had to top that, saying, that Ahmed was "asking for it" by bringing his clock to school.

Whereas Ahmed Muhammad, an evidently obstinate-answering student bringing in a homemade 'clock' that obviously could be seen by conscientious teachers as a dangerous wired-up bomb-looking contraption (teachers who are told 'if you see something, say something!') gets invited to the White House."  Link

Obviously, Sarah is just jealous that SHE didn't get invited to the White House.

But lest you think douchebag reactions were limited to Right Wing Nutjobs, here's (sorta) left-wing atheist Bill Maher expressing his racism.

“People at the school thought it might be a bomb … because it looks exactly like a f*cking bomb,” he said during a panel discussion with Mark Cuban, Jorge Ramos, George Pataki, and Chris Matthews. “It’s not the color of his skin. Somebody look me in the eye right now and tell me. Over the last 30 years, if so many young Muslim men … and he’s young, 14, but that’s not like it’s never happened before, hasn’t blown up a lot of sh*t around the world. And this kid deserves an apology, because he wasn’t one of them… Over the last 30 years, it’s been one culture that has been been blowing sh*t up over and over again.”

And finally, I'm done with famed atheist, and former inspiration, Richard Dawkins.

“If the reassembled components did something more than the original clock, that’s creative. If not, it looks like hoax,” he tweeted. “Disassembling & reassembling is great. But you shouldn’t then claim it was your “invention.”  Link

Yes, that's what's important you pedantic asshole.

Profile in Courage

Watch the first thirty seconds of this video. That's all you need to see.



This is shameful. It's hateful. I'd really like to say it's unbelievable, but it's not.

Trump doesn't correct this guy. He doesn't disagree with this guy. He seems to appreciate what they guy is saying.

If you are still planning on voting for this terrible human being after this, you should really reexamine your character.

And this is the Republican frontrunner.

Well, they *are* no longer in any danger

 

At last night's debate, Jeb! Bush said this about his brother, President George W. Bush:

"As it relates to my brother, there is one thing I know for sure, he kept us safe."

Of course Jeb! is right. 

Oh, except for the nearly 3,000 killed on 9/11. Oops. And the 6,700 Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention the 50,000 wounded. And those who died in the bungled response to hurricane Katrina.

But other than those thousands, President Bush totally kept us safe.

Touché, Jeb!. Touché.

Second Clown Car "debate" part two

An hour in and I think I'm done.

These guys are so full of crap, it's disheartening and infuriating. The number of blatant lies told by these jerks is stunning (especially Ted Cruz). And everything out of Mike Huckabee's mouth is just awful. What a horrible person he is. I really wish there was a Hell because he sure would end up there.

These are terrible, terrible people and I hope none ever gets within a mile of the White House.

Second Clown Car "debate"

Okay, I'm only up to Tes Cruz's opening statement and I'm already questioning my decision to watch the second Republican debate. 

Na na na na #1 -- Goodbye, Rick Perry

This week, former Texas Governor Rick Perry withdrew from the clown car group of Republicans seeking their party's nomination for President. He was unable to break out of the asshole convention pack, and no one has an appetite for another wannabe George W. Bush when they'll eventually settle for an actual George W. Bush, Jeb!. This was Perry's second attempt, and he did even worse this time. Oops.

Perry said:

We have a tremendous field – the best in a generation – so I step aside knowing our party is in good hands, and as long as we listen to the grassroots, the cause of conservatism will be too.

If this field of hateful misogynistic douchenozzles is the best in a generation, the Republican party is doomed.  (Oh, who are we kidding. We know they're doomed.)

Sadly, a pair of glasses to make you look smart will only take you so far.

So long, Rick Perry. You won't be missed.

Binge-watching Update

I finished watching Archer a few weeks ago and loved it all the way through the end of Season 6. Now I'm left waiting for the new season to start in early 2016.

After Archer, I watched all thirteen episodes of Marvel's Daredevil on Netflix. While firmly set in Marvel's cinematic universe (MCU), much like Agent Carter, Daredevil has its own distinct feel and style. The violence is occasionally too graphic, but the fight choreography is absolutely outstanding. And it easily has the most developed in MCU history with Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin. I can't wait for the second season.

Palin infects Trump

On August 28, Sarah Palin (R-Quitter) interviewed Donald Trump on One America News. Palin wants the position of Secretary of Energy in a Trump Administration (hahahahahahahahaha) in order to kill the Department (not kidding), presumably because she's a "job creator".

Apparently she is so charismatic and influential, her word salad verbal stylings infected Trump backwards in time.

On July 21, Trump said this:

Look, having nuclear—my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart—you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I'm one of the smartest people anywhere in the world—it’s true!—but when you're a conservative Republican they try—oh, do they do a number—that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune—you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged—but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me—it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are (nuclear is powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what's going to happen and he was right—who would have thought?), but when you look at what's going on with the four prisoners—now it used to be three, now it’s four—but when it was three and even now, I would have said it's all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don't, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years—but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us.

I would wager every single penny I own, that if you went through ALL of President Obama's public utterings, seven years of public speaking pretty much every single day, you wouldn't find a single sentence, or paragraph or whatever this is, as incoherent as that mess above uttered by Trump.

But, as he says, he is one of the smartest people anywhere in the world. Which is presumably why he would hire Sarah Palin.

The face of hatred

Look closely.

This woman is NOT a hero.

She is NOT a selfless martyr going to jail to honor her faith.

She is NOT being persecuted for being a Christian.

She is NOT taking a moral stand against injustice.

She does NOT speak for any god.

She is a bigot.

She is a public employee, paid by taxpayer dollars, who is refusing to serve the very people who pay her salary.

She is violating the Constitution of the United States and the civil authority of the courts.

She is a grifter, who is looking towards a bright financial future of being crowd-sourced by other religious bigots. (Just ask the pizza parlor owners who made nearly a million dollars for refusing to serve gays.)

She is an agent of injustice, the face of hatred, ignorance personified.

I have no doubt that she believes she is a holy saint for defying a law she personally doesn't agree with and if she wasn't a county clerk, there wouldn't be an issue.

I have no doubt that conservatives will continue to rally behind her because she is in jail for hurting gays in her community. They like that kind of thing.

Isn't it funny how the "law and order" party so often support those who break the law like this woman and Cliven Bundy?

Kim Davis is in jail, not for her beliefs, but because hurting gays is more important to her than being a kind human being.

Because that's what fanatical religious belief does to you.

Kim Davis deserves to be in jail right now. I have no hope she'll learn from the experience and become a better person.