Miscellaneous commentary and humor, and posts that don't fit in other sections

Miscellanea

Stop Using the R-Word

Most conservatives identity as “Republican”, but what does that even mean anymore?

When I was young, a “Republican” meant someone who was pro-military, anti-Russia, pro-business, and who wanted lower taxes and less government. Supporting racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, and anti-LGBTQ views was not uncommon in the party, but it was not a litmus test for Republican candidates.

There were more racist Republicans than Democrats, and Republicans were more anti-gay than Democrats, but neither issue was a litmus test. You didn’t need to be a racist to be a Republican. Sone of my extended family were “progressive Republicans” (yes, that term once existed) who agreed with conservative views on the economy and war, but were more liberal on social issues. Such people have since been forced out of the party.

Nixon was neither a good person nor a good President, but he opened relations with China, pushed for alternative energy, and fought for universal healthcare. Compared to modern Republicans, he was a socialist.

For three decades, the religious-right made Republicans the face of alleged “family values”. Then they helped a racist, sexist moron who objectifies and sexually assaults women take the White House, cheered him on, and continue to support him even as his failures and scandals rack up. It is no longer a party that represents any value besides pandering to the wealthy, pandering to racists, and pandering to Christian extremists.

One thing traditional Republicans were always good for was standing up for the ideas of democracy and capitalism. Now, Republicans - funded by neo-feudalists like the Kochs and the Mercers, pandering to neo-Nazi groups, likely colluding with Russia, and infected by evangelical Christians that want America to be effectively a Christian theocracy – have become a threat to democracy and a competitive free market.

I respect a person’s right to self-identify as “Republican” as much as any other identity, but maybe a word that has come have so many terrible connotations should not be used by outsiders. As black people can choose to use the N-word and gay men can use the word “fag”, maybe only conservatives should be able to call each other the R-word.

Beyond cultural sensitivity, there is a good reason not to use the R-word. It means too many things. It is misleading. It has become a smokescreen behind which people hide and justify their malice and hate. It would be better to describe “Republicans” each by what they actually are:

  • Wealthy suburbanites willing to sell our country’s future for a tax cut
  • Christian extremists trying to make this country into a Christian caliphate
  • Racists, often hiding behind the term “alt-right”
  • Neo-Nazis, often hiding behind the term “alt-right”
  • Libertarians who don’t realize their ideology has been stolen by right-wing extremists
  • People who have no political ethos besides whatever drivel is fed to them by Fox News
  • Angry, undereducated, poor whites that want to blame immigrants instead of corrupt politicians and their own sense of entitlement for their plight
  • Closeted gay men who need to hide behind the mantle of homophobia
  • Despicable conservatives who will sell out anything else to protect their gun rights
  • Despicable conservatives who will sell out anything else to attack women’s reproductive rights
  • Internet trolls
  • Russians – the other R-word that is a threat to democracy
  • Kid Rock and Ted Nugent fans. (I know, weird, but both men still have some fans, for some reason. Don’t judge).
  • Decent conservatives who need to wake up and start a conservative party not populated by religious nuts, racists, and billionaire apologists
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Missibama, Conservative Utopia

Make Alabama and Mississippi a Conservative Utopia

Conservatives resent much of our Constitution. They seem to hate equality. They resent our system of checks and balances. They attack the free press, public education, and other pillars of democracy. They want to legislate Christianity and violate the separation of church and state. Conservatives like to talk about secession and fantasize about bringing back The Confederacy.

Let’s let them! We could organize Alabama and Mississippi into a large semi-autonomous conservative reservation. The new territory would be allowed to institute its own constitution, likely consisting largely of the Second Amendment. They would be able to ignore separation of church and state, freedom of speech, public education, voting rights, equality and non-discrimination legislation, due process, checks and balances, and the right to privacy.

We could allow them to remove all environmental regulations that do not impact neighboring states, and they could allow their children to frolic in as much industrial waste as they desire.

They could make the Confederate battle flag their national flag. They can add a swastika, if they want, to make their new state more appealing to the alt-right. We can send them every Confederate statue from the rest of the country, and they can build the world’s greatest monument to racism and backwards thinking.

They could form a Christian theocracy. They could make being a climate change denying, creationist, evangelical, anti-vaccine, gun owning, flat-Earther neo-Nazi a requirement for holding public office. They can ban science. They can take Fox News and Breitbart with them.

They could outlaw abortion, contraception, and sexual education while eliminating healthcare for poor families and all early childhood development programs, and then proclaim their nation officially “Pro-Life”! The could offset the population boom with massive programs of capital punishment and for-profit imprisonment.

They could keep each other safe by arming everyone over the age of ten with an AR-15 and proclaim that all shooting victims are to blame for their own deaths. They could make it illegal to even discuss school shootings.

Conservative Utopia! Missibama!

Alabama and Mississippi would be an ideal place for the conservative experiment, already being highly conservative and evangelical, while being weak in education and healthcare.

Obviously, we would have to clearly state that they did not have the right to legalize slavery, and any attempt to do so would result in sanctions or military action.

We would need to create programs to help conservatives relocate to the territory. More importantly we would need a program to assist in the escape and relocation of anyone in the two states who is not a white, Christian male.

We would need to build the border wall, not on the border with Mexico, but around Missibama. Without people of color, Jews, and Muslims to blame and victimize, they would eventually turn against first themselves, and eventually their neighbors. It would be critical to keep their violence and hatred contained and only offer asylum to individuals who had learned the value of a pluralistic and free democracy.

The change would be costly, but without conservatives trying to derail our politics constantly, we could focus and building our economy and infrastructure. It would pay for itself with the resulting economic growth in less than a decade. Plus, we would not have to constantly fight for basic liberty and equality. By giving them an area to govern as they please, the rest of the country could move on.

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Why are They Making Excuses for Nazis

If Inglorious Bastards or Django Unchained were released today, there would be a wave of alt-right apologists complaining the films were offensive to Nazis and white supremacists. Fox News would echo them. Trump would join in on Twitter. Conservatives would start standing up for the poor mistreated Nazis.

When did these Nazis and slavers become anything other than something to fight and disdain? We fought wars to defeat each of them. We won. We were proud. We fought them because they were the enemies of freedom, and because they hurt and killed innocent people. Nothing has changed. Nazis and wannabe-Confederates should be opposed at every turn. It is not a liberal or conservative issue. It is not a fight between Nazis and the imagined alt-left. It is a conflict Nazis and everyone else.

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Call it what it is - fascism

I support the freedom of speech, even of neo-Nazis, but this isn't about freedom of speech, it is about intimidation and inciting riots, and these people are not some tame sounding "alternative right", they are fucking white supremacists and fascists.
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Pence without Wife for Chaparone

What Happens When Mike Pence Isn't Chaperoned by His Wife

I used to be bothered by the idea that Pence can't go to lunch with a woman unless he is escorted by his wife. Such standards create business and political situations where men have advantages over women in dealing with him. But I take it back. Pence touched NASA equipment directly below a big "do not touch" sign. The man literally cannot stop himself from touching things, even when clearly not given consent. It is best he is not alone with women, or pretty much anything else.
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Republicans and Russia

Obama, Trump, and Russian Interference

Obama held back information about Russian hacking, fearing it would undermine faith in our democracy. He put country before his political party. The Republicans refuse to do the same. They largely ignore Russia's actions - or reward them.

'March Against Sharia' Protests Take Place Nationwide

Genius move or stupidity? Obviously, there is no fear of anyone implementing Sharia law in the U.S., but what do you do? Counter-protest their Islamophobia? But no one wants to stand up for Sharia law? Well played, conservative nut jobs. Well played.

How Trump Has Changed My View of Past Presidents

If Trump is good for one thing, it is perspective. I never thought I would say, "We didn't know how good we had it with Bush II". Bush abused the legal system and checks and balances, but he acknowledged them. Bush crapped on the Constitution repeatedly, but he didn't ignore it or argue against it.

Names In Failure

I found it ironic and foreboding that the man in charge of the EPA has the same name as a failed public housing project.

Spice Pack

Here we see the wild Sean Spicers hide in the bushes from the media. Sadly Sean Spicers' natural prey is the media, hence this pack will starve. Hopefully the same will happen to the local Kellyanne Conway Population.

Trump Not Even Trying to Hide it Anymore

Trump fires FBI chief investigation Trump's Russia ties one day, meets with Russian diplomats the next day, excludes the American press from the meeting, invites Russian press to the meeting, and changes his story about the reason for firing three times in a day, He's not even trying to pretend he isn't a traitor anymore. And yet, the Republicans keep protecting him.

Revised RNC Logo

The RNC logo overlaid on the Russian flag. I am guessing most Republicans will think the added red, white, and blue makes it look extra patriotic. A metaphor for the Republican party today.

Images Illegal in Russia, Not Here Yet

#gayclownputin images are now illegal in Russia. We can still have images of Trump as a clown in drag. I am not going with #gayclowntrump, because unless you are dealing with the dictator of a anti-gay country, it seems offensive to gay people. But here is #dragracist and #clowntrump. We can also still post these offensive pictures of Steve Bannon as a devil, and of Milo Yanapoulos as not a "gay clown", maybe just an "evil clown". The later images didn't even require edits.

International Transgender Visibility Day

Transgender people are the most vulnerable group in the GLBTQ community. Many states that have anti-discrimination laws for sexual orientation lack similar protection against discrimination based upon gender identity. Speak up and support transgender rights. Remind your transgender friends and colleagues that you stand with them,