AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!

HAHAHAHAHA

"President Obama is extremely wealthy," Bachmann said when USA Today asked how someone with "vast wealth" could connect to the American public. "He and his wife have been wealthy for a number of years, and so I think that's really the issue. President Obama is wealthy–what does he understand about the common man right now?"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

(that is all)

Mandatory + Unpaid = Freedom?

Right-wingers are always droning on about how they're the party that truly values freedom, because left-wing regulations take away your freedom to exploit others. What they always forget is that those being exploited are having their freedom taken away.

This is just one example: a coal company forcing its employees to attend a political rally, without pay. Making anything "unpaid and mandatory" is unethical enough; doubly so when that thing is a political rally. What next? Forcing them to vote a certain way? A right-winger would argue that this is "true freedom" because the coal CEO is "free" to force his employees into political rallies, and cracking down on this would infringe on such freedom. By that logic, a dictatorship is the most liberating form of government around, because by god that dictator gets to do WHATEVER HE WANTS!

I'll spell this out: the "freedom" we're supposed to protect is the ability of individuals to live their lives as they see fit, not the ability of a select few to control the lives of others. The coal CEOs can go to the goddamned rally themselves; THAT's freedom. Forcing others to go to rallies; forcing others to drink polluted water; forcing others to receive shitty pay for dangerous work: these are not freedom. They're acts of tyranny. And it makes no difference whether they're committed by a government or a corporation; they do equal harm either way.

Romney's Birth Certificate

Come to think of it, why haven't we clamored to see Mitt Romney's birth certificate?  He hasn't proven his citizenship any more than Obama did (before revealing his).

In this clip, Romney is outright confirming that the whole birth certificate farce was nothing more than good old-fashioned racism.  Here, you have two politicians who have shown the country the exact same level of proof that they're citizens (again, prior to Obama's big BC-reveal).  Yet only one has been pestered to show his papers.  The reason?  Because Romney has shown one piece of "proof" that Obama hasn't: white skin.  That's the only difference in their citizenship indicators, and I'm supposed to believe that racism has nothing to do with it?

The fact that this comedy of errors continues even after Obama showed us his birth certificate is just further proof that this is nothing more than hood-wearing, cross-burning, sister-fucking racism.  We're taking white skin as more reliable proof than a literal full-form birth certificate.  And Romney's response?  Validation.  Gloating.  In this video, he's admitting to being every bit as racist as every other birther.  Is this something that we, in fucking 2012, really want in a President?

Call me crazy...

Call me crazy, but if a ban on lying on the news results in your news organization being expelled, it just might not be a news organization.

And if your political party is trying to lift a ban on lying on the news, it just might not be a trustworthy political party.

And if your political ideology requires lies in order to survive, it just might not be a valid ideology.

http://www.skepticmoney.com/fox-news-banned-from-canada-law-forbids-lying-on-broadcast-news/

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

This is the most frustrating band I've ever come across.  On the one hand, their music is pretty damn good.  But then their lead singer (who the fuck let him in the band?) comes in and shrieks like a mid-pubescent  hillbilly. 

Lots of lazy critics laud his voice as "unique."  Unique isn't automatically good, people.  Compared to most foods, I'm sure dog shit has a "unique" taste; should gourmet food critics be giving it four stars?  Does this mean I can get away recording an album of myself scraping my nails down a chalkboard for twenty minutes because it's a "brave idea" that nobody else has tried before?

Anybody with a band who might be reading this: don't worry about writing songs.  Just do precise covers of CYHSY songs, except with a lead singer who can actually sing.  They wouldn't need a beautiful voice; just a tolerable one.  Trust me, people would pay top dollar for some Alec Ounsworth-free CYHSY.  I know I would.

Sorry North Carolina...

...but your state and your lives remain just as shitty as they ever were.  It's just that now you have one less convenient group of scapegoats to lash out against in the hope of fixing things without having to actually make any sacrifices.  Maybe you can try flinging your shit around literally instead of figuratively?

Test

This is a test.  If this works I will periodically post on this blog.  The rants I post are in no way endorsed by anyone with whom I share the faintest connection, professional or personal.

This is how I'm testing line breaks.

There should be a skipped line between these two lines.  If not, then I need to enter "<br>" to break lines.  Maybe that broke a line already.