The Morons Are Coming, The Morons Are Coming!

So Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) made the rather obvious and understated comment that the South “has not always been the friendliest place for African Americans.”  Yeah, you could say slavery and lynchings and discrimination in every aspect of life are kind of “unfriendly.”  Or you could be the GOP and go absolutely batshit.  It’s always a safe bet that the higher the reading on their outrage meter, the less there really is to be upset about.

Truth?  They can’t handle the truth, whether it’s history, economics, biology, climate science, or physics.  We already have a Congress and state houses filled with morons and on Tuesday we’re going to get even more.

The Threat is from Christians, Not Muslims

The right wing keeps warning about the non-existent threat of Sharia law taking over this country.  The real theocratic threat is not from Islam, but from Christianity, specifically the doctrine of Dominionism/Reconstructionism, which calls for all of us to be ruled by biblical law.  These nutjobs are pursuing an alliance with the Libertarians to take over the GOP and the country.

From “Why the GOP’s civil war is only going to get uglier,” C. J. Werleman, Salon:

“The battle for the heart and soul of the GOP is more than social conservatives parrying with establishment Republicans.  It is a pantomime that has many actors performing on a number of stages, but with only one clown: libertarians.

“Libertarians are a funny bunch.  By funny I mean ignorant not only of basic economics but also the ride they’ve been taken on by the Christian Right and the neo-Confederates within the Republican Party.

“Nullification is the common cause that drives this anti-establishment triumvirate.  Nullification of the federal government is the weapon of choice for theocrats, libertarians and white supremacists.  Since 2010, state legislatures have put forward nearly 200 bills challenging federal laws its sponsors deem unconstitutional.

“Libertarianism and the nullification movement merge seamlessly with the Christian Right, because the ‘sacralized lost cause of the South is often undergirded by Christian Reconstructionism,’….  Reconstructionism, or Dominionism, is an ideology that calls on Christians to take over the federal government and then make the laws of the nation ‘biblical.’

“Reconstructionism merges Christianity with laissez-faire capitalism to arrive at a vision of government that endorses biblical law at the local level, alongside a limited federal government.  Essentially that makes it the perfect philosophy for wedding theocrats in an unholy marriage with libertarians and Old Dixie.

“Ultimately, the Republican Party’s civil war will be long and protracted, especially given the vast sums of money involved in determining a winner.  The Chamber of Commerce’s war chest and Karl Rove’s epic fundraising will only go so far in overcoming a triumvirate that not only has boots on the ground in the form of enthusiastic ballot box lever pullers, but also the financial backing of America’s most prominent libertarians:  Charles and David Koch.”

Quote of the Day 2

“This is what the Republicans who follow the Texan Cruz worry about: if struggling middle-class and working-class whites (especially in the South) see the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, then the Republican Party’s southern strategy will collapse.  Here’s the thing: Only by keeping white Republicans angry at the federal government can they keep their fragile coalition together.”

Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg, “Ignorant Tea Party outrage:  Sarah Palin’s latest Obamacare lie,” Salon

Unsurprising Headline of the Day

“New Study Finds Southern Diet Could Be Linked to Strokes”

What Part of “E Pluribus Unum” Doesn’t Mitt Understand?

As you’ve probably noticed by now, I find Mitt annoying, very annoying.

He’s done it again, telling a radio interviewer in Alabama that the South “is a bit of an away game.”

How can someone with this attitude be running for president of all the United States?  You can’t consider parts of the country “away,” we’re all one people.  They’re all home games.  If spending some time in Alabama and Mississippi is so alien to him, what’s a summit with Putin going to be like? 

There’s something too constricted and limited about his comfort zone that I believe disqualifies him from leading us.  He can’t identify with vast swathes of Americans based on how much they earn or where they live.  He doesn’t move easily in the wider world.

On December 7, 1941, no American thought Pearl Harbor was a bit of an away game.  It was felt as an attack on Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, every city and town in America.

Ok, Mitt doesn’t remember Pearl Harbor.  But he remembers 9/11 and Katrina.  After 9/11 the school children of Louisiana raised money for a new fire truck for New York City.  That truck, the Spirit of Louisiana, escorted by fire trucks in each state it passed through, at one point 100 trucks in Mississippi, arrived in New York in December 2001, after a stop at the White House.

In 2005, after Katrina, the Spirit of Louisiana went back to New Orleans, leading a convoy of 15 NYFD trucks and 400 firefighters.

Somehow, Mitt doesn’t get this, what school children get, what firefighters who don’t have law and business degrees from Harvard get.

And his use of “a bit of” reminded me so much of Poppy Bush asking for “just a splash” more coffee in a diner.  It didn’t go well for Poppy in ’92.