Excuse Me?
What in Hell is going on? Seriously, even for Congress this past week reads like a bad fantasy novella with Ted Cruz slated to play Conan the Confused and Incomprehensible.
To recap: Ted Cruz urged the ‘not ready for pre-school’ caucus in the Republican Party in the House to shut down the government, which they did. Then, having shut down the government, the NRPS members staged photo ops where they complain that someone had shut down the government. This was followed by their agreement to pay all of the laid off Federal workers for the time they were laid off?!
Charlie Pierce, among many others, featured this explanatory quote by Marlin Stutzman (R-IN): “We aren’t going to be disrespected…We have to get something out of this. And I don’t know what that even is.”
If you don’t know what it is, how will you know if you get it or if you actually want it? Look at the polls, Marlin, if you want respect, you don’t run for Congress.
Badtux highlighted another NRPS member, Representative Renee Ellmers (R-NC), who thinks she needs her Congressional paycheck, but the Capitol Police don’t deserve theirs. She apparently believes that people who don’t do their job and pass a budget are more worthy of pay then those who put their lives on the line to protect Congresscritters.
As CNN notes, an unpaid employee at a National Weather Service office in Alaska sent people a message. For those who don’t know, that was a ‘discussion’ message, not a forecast. Discussion messages are usually only looked at by professionals, and not broadcast like forecasts.
Neil Macdonald of the CBC has another spot on piece: U.S. government shutdown stokes Republican party civil war.
For those who think I’m getting carried away by referring the House caucus as ‘not ready for pre-school’, note that I’m not the one who used Green Eggs and Ham to explain their position…
18 comments
Ms. Ellmers, who is married to a wealthy neurosurgeon, later backtracked and claimed that she’d only meant she wasn’t paying back her October 1 paycheck, but that she was going to put any future paychecks into an escrow account until everybody got paid. But there are Republican Congressmen who haven’t agreed to do that. Special little snowflakes, every one….
Rep. Stutzman is invoking the Cartman Rule: “Respect mah authoritah!” Thing is, Cartman is a child. Stutzman is supposed to be a grownup. Supposed to be. Sigh.
Somebody in that Alaska NWS office is going to get a black mark on his record. Well, if the government weren’t shut down, that is. Right now it’s not necessary for public safety to put a black mark on his record, thus since the government isn’t shut down it would be illegal under the Anti-Deficiency Act of 1870 to expend the fraction of a penny needed to fill out a reprimand and put it in his record :twisted:.
Oh, yes, routine disciplinary action is definitely excluded from activities to protect life and property, so it would fall outside of the rules.
It looks like Defense is calling back all of its people based on the funding bill that Congress passed to pay the troops. I was wondering when someone would remember that the reason that the military has commissaries is to provide the food for the chow halls. We get all of our meat there because they have their own inspectors, which is why the military has its own veterinarians. People who aren’t familiar with the military think that they are competing with private enterprise, not realizing that many of what look like standard civilian operations, have special military purposes.
“NRPS” works for me. I can’t say I like anything about them, but I like your acronym for them.
BTW, in light of the proposed? under construction? 100,000 sq ft center in Utah for the No Such Agency, I’m going to start calling the agency, not Big Brother (though I wouldn’t object to anyone’s calling them that) but instead Big Mother (a contraction of “Big Motherfucker” based on the size of their new facilities and their operations worldwide). Example of usage: “Never have I been so glad I never ended up buying a videocam for my computer… Big Mother will have more difficulty watching me.”
i always read the discussions. and now i’m going to read them even more carefully! 🙂
The only story of the Republicans in government is a group who are unwilling and/or unable to do their job, telling everyone else how to do everything else. Boehner is a prime example of the “give me the perks, but not the work” attitude of these MBAs/CEO/Republicans. They want all of the money and benefits, but none of the responsibility, i.e. they want to run the government like a corporation.
Alaskan weather has gotten a lot more interesting since I was there, Hipparchia, but that still took a while to do, although still formatting for the 80 column, all caps Teletype format helps.
Charles Pierce has some really great pieces up. (I’m having a CP day) 😉
What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days?
Also, for some history on Who & Why, there are a couple pieces around. Charlie had one on Sep. 30:
It Didn’t Start With Ted Cruz
And finally, someone in the *Media* has it right (and is what I’ve been saying):
For the whole piece (there is more):
The Reign Of Morons Is Here
Yep. American’s did it to themselves. Ignorance is bliss… until it starts eating you alive. Charlie isn’t amused (and nobody with any working brains should be):
PS Bryan, I see Charlie likes “Why Now?” 😉 😀
Thought I’d post a few more from Raw Story to emphasize Charlie’s “Reign of Morons”:
Sen. Coburn denies default risk: ‘There’s no such thing as a debt ceiling’
Rep. Barton on debt limit: Bills only need to be ‘paid partially’ like ‘my household budget’
Conservatives call for boycott of Ritz Crackers because Al Sharpton said ‘cracker’ once, about 20 years ago
Yes… You truly are screwed! *sigh* And so are we all.
I have a link there because I was one of the first people to link to him and put him on my blogroll. He was on a long-running radio show on public radio, Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, so I knew who he was and his sense of humor. Also, like Terry Pratchett, he has good taste in beards and hats. [That must be the unofficial uniform of sarcastic old guys…]
I really get annoyed at the blatant misuse of ‘cracker’. A ‘cracker’ is a Florida cowboy, a name derived from the fact that they traditionally use a short whip to drive and herd cattle. They don’t hit the cattle; the crack the whip makes is enough. Cracker horses and cracker cattle are specific breeds acclimated to the conditions in northern and central Florida. Crackers has also traditionally been a multiracial group, as it is a hard dirty job that doesn’t attract people with options to do anything else.
Charlie is just being nice to the Republicans because of his Irish liberal upbringing. 😉
LOL But you have to remember that the Teaps & GOP generally have an extremely limited vocabulary (somewhat akin to a 7 yo, with sincere apologies to 7 yo’s!) And let’s not even think about semantics & nuances, or (Dog forbid… anything remotely resembling *fact checking*)! And I did understand Sharpton’s meaning for his ‘cracker’ reference (which is probably better than 80% of American’s!) Hey-ho… 😉 😀
I have to agree… Charlie does remind me somewhat of Sir T! 😀 Probably why I enjoy his column so much. 🙂
Think I’ll change posting a bit…
First, the *local* TeaParty wannabee:
Aussie PM Abbott could win country’s award for ‘most constant’ sexism
Second, Tbogg (I am sooo glad he’s back!!)
Good news for people who don’t understand bad news
A small snippet:
😆
And lastly ( ’cause I can only post three links! Lucky you!) 😛 A good news piece (from HuffPo via Raw Story)
Billionaire Texas couple donates $10 million to keep Head Start programs running
I had to read the headline alone twice! I mean… Texas Billionaire? *Helping?* Hmmm.
I am sure there is a catch (I could be wrong, but I am very jaded). 😉
I would normally have linked to the original @ HuffPo, but the comments @ RS are worth reading. 😉 Kinda… 😀
Anyway, other headlines @ RS:
“Jay Carney smacks down ABC’s Jon Karl: ‘I’m sure you’ll represent’ GOP talking points”
“Bill Moyers: Tea Partiers ‘have sucked the last bit of soul’ from the GOP”
“Stewart: Republicans can’t take advantage of Obamacare’s problems because ‘they’re f*cking nuts’”
“Pirate Party of Russia offers to host NASA’s website while U.S. government is on shutdown”
(PMSL over that one!) 😆
“Peter Higgs and Francois Englert win Nobel Physics Prize for ‘God particle’ discovery”
Ya know… for the first time, I feel somewhat sorry for the Nobel Prize Physics committee. They were damned no matter who they chose this year. But I am glad they recognized Higgs & Englert. Unfortunately, they were not the only ones who predicted the particle, or the ones who eventually discovered it. *shrug* Now, let’s see if they give the Peace Prize to Obama (or what the hell, why not Cruz? That’s about what the PP is worth now! They should change the prize name to “Political Piece Prize”. It would be more honest and accurate.)
And lastly (because I now have to run to the bathroom and throw up!)
“Bachmann: Obama funding Al-Qaeda proves ‘we are in God’s End Times’”
Dammit! here’s the money comment from that post:
“Pretty scary that someone who believes “the End is Nigh” is on the House Intelligence Committee.”
Yes. The least intelligent politician in the USA (arguable) is on the HIC! And people wonder why the USA is so screwed! It’s obvious to me.
Now, I must go barf! 😈
Bryan, the word “cracker” is also a word that black slaves applied to their white field bosses who cracked the whip over them (and maybe on their back if they weren’t careful) if they didn’t work hard enough. That is the origin of the common usage of the word amongst the black community. It is derogatory because white field bosses were typically uneducated poor white trash who were out there in the hot sun just like them and were at the massah’s mercy just like them, but put on airs like they were something just ’cause they had that whip and a white skin. So a “cracker”, in the black community, is a near-lethal combination of poverty, ignorance, an inclination to violence, and white entitlement, someone so dumb that he’s at the massah’s beck and call just like them but doesn’t seem to realize it.
Republicans have another word for that group of people. Republicans call them their base :twisted:.
Yeah, this is one of the things you pick up from the staff when teaching at two different all-black schools with mostly-black staff…
Actually, Kryten, Congresscritter Bachmann is one of the more intelligence Repubs on the House Intelligence Committee – pretty scary group, but not as bad as the crew on the Science and Technology Committee who are still trying to understand the ‘two cans and a string’ telephone.
Gee, I thought Abbott’s biggest problem was his expense account and being ‘one of the lads at the pub’ was a political plus at the election. It’s not like he has exactly hidden the fact that he is a misogynist pig – isn’t that part of his ‘religiousness’?
The Peace Prize is a toss up: Malala Yousafzai [the girl shot by the Taliban for supporting education] is on the list with Vladimir Putin for Syrian chemical weapons, and Edward Snowden for publicizing ‘Big Mother’ [NSA et al.]. They have been so embarrassed by Zero’s performance, that they will probably avoid politicians for a while.
Ragging on the US is the one thing that unites the Russians. The biggest problem with claiming to be exceptional is that you have to actually be good at things. When you are as FUBAR as the US currently is, even ‘friends’ are going to take the opportunity to join the crowd pointing and laughing.
I wasn’t aware of that derivation, Badtux. The local cattle ranchers still use ‘cracker’, although they no longer use whips. The Cracker Horse is a recovering endangered breed, and Cracker Cattle are really ‘zoo’ specimens, as they are too small and lean for commercial exploitation. The local ‘cracker ranches’ are too small to really need horses, they are more like dairy farms than cattle operations. The stock are docile and don’t wander off.
Actually, Kryten, Congresscritter Bachmann is one of the more intelligence Repubs on the House Intelligence Committee…
Yeah, right. And the Easter Bunny and Tooth Faery are alive and well! Bachmann’s brain is smooth as glass and she can see her reflection in it when she takes it out to stroke and polish it! If she died tomorrow (but we are not that lucky), the average IQ of the USA would increase.
Bernie may well be correct here:
Bernie Sanders: ‘Citizens United’ ruling led to the government shutdown
And Jon, of course:
Jon Stewart chides John Boehner and Republicans: ‘The party of personal responsibility ain’t taking none’
I just watched the latest TDS while I was having a late supper, and I know I post a lot of links to TDS and say *Must watch*… But this one is truly a MUST WATCH!
You mentioned that Malala Yousafzai is up for a Nobel Peace Prize. After watching this young lady on TDS, if she doesn’t get the Prize, then the Nobel committee will be forever worthless in my eyes. It would, at the least, redeem their previous insane selections!
Also, the other segments in TDS are quite good. Just watch the whole thing! Really (even the “Moment of Zen” at the end was too funny (but sadly real).
TDS: Tue Oct 8 – Malala Yousafzai
“Republicans deny responsibility for the shutdown, Chemical Weapons Inspectors in Syria, Jason Jones and GOP Hostage Takers, Malala Yousafzai talks fighting the Taliban”
I have met some truly incredible people in my life, including some like Malala while in Cambodia. And they are part of the reason I keep going. Sadly, so many of them become Martyr’s, mainly because they are seriously outnumbered by the evil, the apathetic, the selfish, the thoughtless and the ignorant. I truly wish her a safe, happy and long life!
Michele Bachmann gets media attention, but there are Republicans that are kept away from the national media by agreement that no one would believe they were in Congress. Trust me, as bad as she appears, there are many worse specimens of humanity in the Republican caucus. Bachmann is a Rhodes scholar compared to Jefferson Beauregard Miller, my Congresscritter. There are over 200 Republican members of the House, but people only see 10% of them in the national media. For every one you see there are 9 who are even worse.
Yes, Malala deserves it, and deserves the attention she has received. She wants to learn. Too bad she can’t run for Congress, because we need some people in this country who value education as much as she does. We have foes of education who are nearly as bad as the Taliban.
I think we will have to agree to differ re. Bachmann! 😛 I do understand what you mean, but it’s akin to saying a toadstool is smarter than a mushroom (or if you prefer an animal reference, a Mule is smarter than a Donkey (fact BTW), but they are still relatively stupid and amazingly stubborn and unyielding when they feel like it!) IMNSHO! 😈
Here’s an interesting update about Lavabit (via Kashmir Hill @ Forbes):
GoDaddy Pulls Lavabit’s Security Creds Because The FBI Got Ahold Of Its Encryption Keys
Hopefully, this will strengthen Lavabit’s case against the FBI in court. Though, we are talking about the US Courts & Justices (who apparently are scared to death of touching any of these cases, rights and legalities be damned!) Of course, if Levison had a few million $ to pay Lawyers (and Justices), he wouldn’t have a problem. *shrug*
Also this:
How Obamacare’s Exchanges Turned Into A ‘Third World Experience’
Which shows that the boogeyman that the GOP are screaming in terror about is a load of BS! It doesn’t work, and probably never will.
And, then this is this:
Beware, Tech Abandoners. People Without Facebook Accounts Are ‘Suspicious.’
The World according to US Paranoia and the generally unsane*! Yes indeed.
*Unsane
adj.
1. Acting as if having an unsoundness of mind, persistent mental disorder or derangement.
2.
a. Choosing to act mentally deranged; crazy
b. (as collective noun; preceded by the) the unsane
3. Characteristic of a person acting as if they are of unsound mind; an insane stare
4. irresponsible; very foolish; stupid behavior
I find being utterly unsane a very useful thing.
I’m unsane. I have a full grasp of sanity, I just choose to ignore it for my own amusement.
My main point, Kryten, is that the Republicans you see in the media are actually the ‘intellectual elite’ of the party. The 90% you don’t see are even worse. Many of the ‘media stars’ are playing a role for their ‘base’, which is about as base as humanity can get, and almost all of them are funded by the oligarchs like Koch and Adelson.
There is a basic misconception that if you are rich, you must be smart, so great wealth must equal high intelligence. The reality is that great wealth is usually the result of luck or amoral ruthless behavior. Further, inherited wealth indicates nothing except the financial status of your parents.
Furthermore, 90% of the rich people in America got their wealth the old fashioned way — they inherited it. They’re a hereditary aristocracy. They have the biological capability to think and reason, but they’ve never had any real reason to think and reason, given that they’ve had their every need and whim catered to since birth, so like a muscle that’s not used, their ability to think and reason has atrophied.
Of the 10% who *weren’t* born rich, most of them are essentially scam artists. Look at Larry Ellison, for example. He basically scammed the CIA out of a database they’d written, then packaged it and scammed lots of other people into buying it. Those who know him say he’s never done an honest day’s work of creating anything personally, he just talks talks talks. But he’s a billionaire and most of his employees, the people who actually create his product… aren’t. Steve Jobs… yeah. He got to know Woz by scamming Woz into doing his work for him at Atari, and his whole later career at Apple was basically one big scam job where he scammed lots of people into buying (admittedly nice) products that they didn’t really need. Now, here’s the thing about being a scam artist. The ability to think and reason isn’t required to be a good scam artist. The ability to lie with complete and convincing sincerity is what makes you a good scam artist. Some scam artists are, of course, capable of thinking and reasoning, but merely being a good scam artist is no guarantee of such.
But wait, now I’m talking reality, vs. the works of a Russian writer of bad fiction. Clearly the Russian writer of bad fiction trumps reality, right? 😈
Andrew W. Mellon, of Mellon Bank, Carnegie-Mellon University, and Secretary of the Treasury for most of the period between Wilson and FDR. argued forcefully that capital gains should be taxed at a higher rate than earned income. He was hardly a raving liberal, but couldn’t get his vision through a Congress controlled by the business wing of the Republican Party.
Mellon felt that every generation needed to earn its own money, not just live on the accumulated wealth of the previous generations, but that is exactly what our tax code is designed to do – create a small group of idle rich with no talent and minimal skills – the American aristocracy.
The people who made the money tended to spread it around [noblesse oblige], but their children are just greedy little sods.
The most effective change we could make to the tax code would be to treat all income the same, subjected to the same rates. Do that and watch the deficit drop. If you think Social Security and Medicare have a problem, lift the cap.
The easiest solution would be to get people back to work, which reduces expenses and increases tax revenue. There are easy answers to our problems, but no one wants to consider them.