I Used to be Amused, Now I'm Disgusted

(Photo: H. Armstrong Roberts, "circa 1960s", Getty Images)

OK, I guess this really does require an explanation. So why haven't I been blogging lately?

Because politics right now are just revolting. There's nothing that strikes me as cute or funny, much less hilarious. Everything strikes me as evil (the Republicans) or inept (the Democrats).

Look, this is the kind of stupid shit I'm talking about:

LeRoy Schaffer, a St. Francis city council member, dressed in a tuxedo and top hat for the occasion. Shaffer got visibly emotional asking Bachmann about the future of health care and the role of special interests in Washington.

“I’ll be danged if I am going to give up my Social Security because of socialism,” Schaffer said, before being booed by the crowd.

Or this:

Just 37 percent of the poll's respondents correctly identified the public option from a list of three choices provided to them.

I think Josh Marshall sums up my feelings the best:

As I said yesterday, the fact that 'public option' is so un-descriptive and opaque has only made it easier for Republicans to portray it as some sort of program for mass euthanasia. So I'm not sure what there is to say here or do but laugh because the only other thing to do is cry.

But it does make you wonder why Democrats go into these political battles with dopey wonk-speak when Republicans are coming up with stuff like "death panels", which, despite being a complete fantasy, does tend to focus the attention.

Why? Because it's a totally fallen nation.

So anyway, I'm not saying I'm "quitting" blogging; I just don't feel like doing it right now.

"The World of the Heterosexual is a Sick and Boring Life"

(Advertisement at Metro station)

Pony Pal™/coworker Adam and I recently had a discussion about, OMG, there are things about being a hairdresser that non-hairdressers just don't even know about.

But then again, seeing the above advertisement made me realize that the opposite is true, too.

And I can't quite put my finger on it, but that ad just fills me with dread and sadness. It seriously almost makes me feel nauseated. And I guess this is supposed to be evidence that Mr. Baisden is wise or something.

It's the kind of thing that always makes me think of this classic moment from John Waters' Female Trouble:

Actor Miffed at Senator

This is why the Huffington Thing™ is so weird and puzzling: Donald Sutherland is calling out Max Baucus. It's short; it's not particularly coherent; actually, it kinda doesn't even make any sense. But, hey, it's Donald Sutherland! I loved him in Animal House!

Quickie: Turn Around

Evidence of genius: "Total Eclipse of the Heart" in flow chart form. This is totally why Al Gore invented the internets.

Real Food: Radioactive Fruit

Click for 1200 x 900.

Real Food: Ice Cream in Space

Click for 1200 x 900.

Undead?

Wacky Packages

I've got two great must-reads to recommend this morning. First up, at Salon, Gabriel Winant interviews the fabulous Orly Taitz, and you will love it. This woman needs to be given a talk show ASAP. The best way to describe it is to say that when it comes to conspiracy theories, Ms. Taitz prefers the layered look.

Next, Abram Sauer at The Awl looks at the teabaggers/heathcare reform opponents/birthers, and wonders what, exactly, do these people want? He concludes that they don't really want anything other than to complain about Obama and Nancy Pelosi. That's all. It's a long analysis and one of the best I've read. Two sparkley hooves way up!

Quickie: Sarah Palin Hires Facebook Ghost-Writer

The Cajun Boy at Gawker is calling out Sarah Palin this morning for obviously not writing her latest Facebook "death panels" rebuttal. And you know what? The semicolons alone make it clear that he's right.

Today's Lousy Healthcare Coverage Brought to You by Siemens and Novartis, Out of the Kindness of Their Hearts

I was reading the article, and it was depressing because the majority of the words were about the conflict, the "debate," rather than the actual issue. And then I noticed that this lackluster reporting was brought to me by two healthcare megaconglomerates. And that totally made sense.

No?

(via Talking Points Memo)

Heck, let's just dispense with slogans and arguments altogether. Just no, OK?

Whoah, Like, Freaky

(Reuters, 10-04-08)

It's kinda wild, right? The craziness? I find the craziness a little overwhelming, to tell you the truth. Sometimes it gets a bit depressing. Seriously, because that's all you can call all this:

One said President Obama is an “Anti-American Arab” who “is not a natural-born citizen.” Many others said that global warming is a hoax, that Obama is a man of divided loyalties and questionable associations, and that the country is headed toward socialist decline.

And, you know, Sarah Palin actually saying –actually saying out loud! In public!– that Obama was going to create "death panels."

(AP Photo, 10-06-08)

And then you realize, that's the thing! The tea-baggers, the birthers, the government-out-of-my-Medicaiders (honestly!)... they are the same people we saw at all those scary Sarah Palin rallies. The same people we saw with, like, the lipsticks, the cutesily dumb catch-phrases, the venomous hatred, the breezy racism, the ones who considered themselves real Americans and the rest of us living on borrowed time.

Are the rest of us living on borrowed time? Because these people are getting freakier and freakier.

(Photo: maletphoto.com)

And this is the essence to which the GOP has been boiled down, like a toxic caramel.

The View From My Dentist Chair

Quite a change in my dentist's office today! The nice young lady dental hygienists were sent packing, and they were replaced with adorable puppies! Fun!

The charm quickly wore off, however, when I found myself having to constantly rinse fur out of my mouth.

Also: opposable thumbs would help the little scamps be a tad more dexterous with their instruments.

Quickie: Totally Reasonable Discourse Emerges

Via Sparklefave One News Now:

"If [this legislation] passes, Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin will leap out of their graves to high-five Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and then head over to the White House for a fist-bump," says the spokesman. "That's the kind of radical plan that they're pushing down America's throat. It's the fine print that scares us."

Well, gosh, when you put it that way. Any plan which results in zombie Marx and Lenin high-fivin' and fist-bumpin' just can't be good.

Mansonstravaganza Fun Murder Anniversary Party Week Continues!

Best theme party week EVER. Today we find:

• Squeaky Fromme is getting out of jail soon! Unlike Leslie Van Houten, who has been repentant and rehabilitated for decades, Squeaky is still as nutty as they come and, along with her BFF Sandra Goode, declared herself a nun. So, yeah, she tried to kill the president of the United States, and she gets let out of jail while Leslie, who didn't kill anybody, must be kept away forever. Somebody didn't hire the right publicist.
• Speaking of which, better late than never, parts two and three of John Waters' reminiscences of his friendship with Van Houten are up at the Huffington Thing.
• NPR interviewed Waters about writing about Leslie Van Houten.
• ABC News in LA came up with the awesome title "40 Years After the Fear" for their celebration.

Tantrum Politics

(Photo: Sean Justice, The Image Bank/Getty Images)

I've been really impressed with the new Republican strategy to destroy health care reform. The technique is simple and, unfortunately, effective: simply go to legislators' "town hall" meetings and scream and yell and generally disrupt things so that no discussion can happen at all. And not only does this kill all good-faith debate, but it also attracts all the press attention, since the only real "bias" in the media is the bias in favor of conflict above all else. The real topic? Health care? Borrrrring.

How far will the tea-baggers go with this tactic? I'm assuming they're going to eventually start bringing air horns to blast and pots and pans to bang on. It's embarrassingly easy to imagine them simply covering their ears and shouting the Star Spangled Banner at the top of their lungs.

The insurance industry must be so totally proud of their little soldiers.

Hey, It's the Big Tate-LaBianca Murders 40th Birthday Party! So Here's a Picture I Drew of Charles Manson on My iPhone! Yay!

Helter Skelter Anniversary Celebration Continues...

Recently we snickered when we learned that the organization behind that whole "C Street" house of adulterous Christian lawmakers was called "The Family." Hilarious, right? And now there's a whole new book about the organization, pictured above, left. They are so sinister! Haw, no, not really. But since it's the Big Manson Anniversary, let's look back at another great book with the same name, Ed Sanders' brilliant 1971 exposé of the Manson family, shown above, right.

At first blush, this is just a funny coincidence. But when you think about it, they're really not all that different:

• Both "families" prefer their women to be quiet, obedient.
• Both groups are composed of "lost" types seeking spiritual guidance.
• Both groups seek that guidance from a white, male, bearded messiah.
• Both authors have been featured in Rolling Stone (Sanders as a member of the Fugs, Sharlet as a contributing editor).
• Both stories suggest that certain cult-like activities might make sense within a group, but don't always go over so well in the "real world."
• Both "families" plotted to touch off an apocalyptic race war by committing gruesome, high-profile murders they thought would be blamed on blacks.*

*So far, this has not actually been confirmed that the C Street group has done this, but I wouldn't put it past them.

Still and Forever in the News

The 20th Century's murderous little jack-in-the-box, Charles Manson, pops up when you least expect him, but often enough that he can practically be thought of as a continuity device.

• Be sure to read, at the Huffington Thing, John Waters' essay on Leslie Van Houten and why it's ridiculous that she's still in prison. It's an entertaining, thought provoking trip down Manson Memory Lane, which Waters has done many times before, but is welcome to as often as he likes. Essential reading.
• Last week I got all excited by the prospects of Chuckles hooking up with hairdo scofflaw Phil Spector in prison. After all, there's only one degree of separation between them, thanks to the Beach Boys. This story is probably spurious, but it filled my head with visions of Manson crooning "Be My Baby" accompanied by legions of sweet, vacant looking background singers with long, straight hair.
• On Friday, Greta von Whatshername takes the week off Sarah Palin to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Tate/LaBianca murders. Guest stars will include Vincent Bugliosi and Sharon Tate's stupid sister.
• The Guardian, on Sunday, caught up with Linda Kasabian.
• The New York Times rehashed everything.
• Bringing everything full circle, the Baltimore Sun wrote about John Waters writing about Charles Manson.

A Totally Plausible Theory

Via Ruben Bolling's excellent Tom the Dancing Bug comes a suggestion that maybe she really isn't what she seems to be:

The Day the Birthers Died

The Magnificent Orly Taitz

Some of you may be surprised that I haven't written much about the whole "birther" craze (other than praising their wonderful hairdos). Truth is, I've been following it for a long time, indulging in it as a kind of guilty pleasure, like watching the Brady Bunch or having Schoolhouse Rock on your iPod. These birther folks are seriously weird and entertaining.

I'm afraid they've hit a brick wall, though. The redoubtable Orly Taitz, coiffure queen of the birthers, has at last produced Obama's birth certificate from Kenya! And this got World Net Daily very, very excited! And Free Republic, too!

The trouble is, of course, that Obama was born in Hawaii, and the "Kenyan" birth certificate is a humorous, obvious fake, complete with... um... laundry detergent jokes and "discovered" by a man who, in his past life, was a bigfoot hoaxer (LOL, really). Ahem.

I'm assuming Taitz will turn this around and say that the fake BC was planted by the dreaded "Obots" to destroy her.

Either way, ha, good show!

Forecast: Warm, Sunny, 100% Chance of Sarah Palin Craziness

This is so good because August is traditionally the slowest news month, but it looks like the Palin Family Circus is stepping up to the plate.

Are they already filming a reality TV show?