Donald Trump is a worthless, racist prick with an ego the size of Rhode Island.

Besides the devastating tornados in the south, the other huge story that happened in the last two days is, of course, President Obama releasing his “long form” birth certificate. You know, the one that Donald Trump and all the other “birthers” have been demanding. The one that isn’t the official birth certificate used by the state of Hawaii… The official one is the one that President Obama released last year sometime. It is actually illegal to make copies of this long form BC and the White House had to get a special dispensation from the state of Hawaii to release this long form BC that didn’t prove anything more than what the other one did.

Of course, Donald Trump pretended that everything about the subject that he had been spewing the last few weeks didn’t happen, such as his “investigators” finding out this incredible information that would shock everyone. No, once the President of the United States had demeaned himself by having to acknowledge this kind of crap, what does Trump do? Does he apologize? Does he show any sort of contrition? No, of COURSE not. He says he is “very proud of himself.” And then, he has the absolute gall to start questioning President Obama’s college credentials in a way that makes it very plain indeed that he feels Obama is still hiding something and shouldn’t ever have been allowed to run for president.

Here is part of a post at Crooks and Liars that captures a lot of my very hot feelings about this.

And obviously I reside in La La Land because yesterday, Birth Certificate Day, punched me in the mouth. I was stricken, paralyzed with rage.

To see laid bare the brazen racial hatred coursing through the blood of so many millions of people who also call themselves American, well it actually made me cry. I’d thought, in 2011, that we were better than that. We aren’t. We are still desperately sick. And it made me ashamed before all of those that we continue to torment.

…

But the nakedness of the hate disclosed by Trump and the birthers was stupefying. It floored me. I could not comprehend that at least half of GOP voters and who knows how many more were cheering him on, nodding their odious assent. I wanted to divorce myself from them, from this country that could harbor such repulsiveness on such a wide scale. And most of all, even if it’s meaningless and solely to make myself stop weeping for a second, I wanted to apologize to my fellow Americans whose pain I know I can never know.

I’m so sorry.

Because if this is how we treat a man as smart and gifted and dignified and accomplished as President Obama, imagine how we treat everyone else?

Abso-fucking-lutely. How dare that asshole say the things he does? I don't care how rich he is, he has no right to get on national TV and say those kinds of things about the elected President of the United States. Goddamn these people anyway. Who the hell do they think they are?

This country is very sick at the moment, and what makes it worse, most of us refuse to acknowledge that sickness. We prefer to blame everyone else. It’s the fault of everyone who isn’t white and conservative. It’s the gays. It’s the black people. It’s Hispanics. It’s Muslims. It’s liberals. It’s schoolteachers and union members! Everything that is wrong with this country is THEIR FAULT! How DARE a black man even THINK he should be president?!?

These fuckheads make me sick, as well as our entire society that enables such behavior.

A few thoughts regarding the terrible destruction in Alabama and the rest of the Southeast.

There have been a number of things happening in the last few days that I would like to comment on, but I think this one is the most pressing. The destruction due to a huge outbreak of powerful tornados is a little personal to me, as I used to live in Mississippi and Alabama. I finished up high school in a small town in Alabama, not unlike those just wiped off the map, about 45 miles from Tuscaloosa and lived in Birmingham for a couple of years. I still have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the South, as I think the mentality, attitudes and racism in that part of the country are ridiculous and belong more to the 19th Century than the 21st Century. I detested my time in high school there. But still, I know a number of people down there and have absolutely no desire to see this kind of tragedy visited on anyone.

I was always aware of the risk of tornados while living in Alabama and Mississippi, but it wasn’t a real “fact of life” like it is when I visit Oklahoma for my job. There, you know it is serious business. Maybe it’s just the difference in the amount of information available back in the 70’s vs. now. I do remember a small town about 40 miles away that was hit hard when I was in high school. We used to play them in football. That was a bit of a wake up. But I do remember some big time thunderstorms that were kind of frightening.

Actually, now that I have started writing this, I realize that I don’t have much to say, other than say how sorry I am this happened, which is worth exactly nothing to the people going through this and have lost their loved ones and their entire belongings.

Contribute to the Red Cross or other disaster relief programs if you feel so inclined.

I really hope that this isn’t the harbinger of things to come regarding extreme weather. But unfortunately, it feels like it might be, some people’s feelings about global warming and climate change notwithstanding.

Update: I got an answer to an e-mail I sent to an old friend who lives in Birmingham. He and his family are fine, but he said that the big tornado, the one that got Birmingham and Tuscaloosa, passed just 7 miles north of his house. MUCH to close for comfort, I would say, but there is also an old saying, "A miss is as good as a mile." Or seven.

I also hope that perhaps, just perhaps, many of the arch-conservatives that live in the Deep South might think a little better of the federal government after President Obama visits within two days of the event and pledges that the government will be there to help them during this terrible time. I believe that this is one reason a benevolent government like ours exists, for the benefit of its citizens, especially in time of need. Perhaps some others might change their minds when they are on the receiving end of this assistance.

Republicans are apparently genetically incapable of not being assholes.

So, back in the days when George Bush was president, what were the rallying cries of Republicans back then, which apparently rebutted every single thing that Democrats ever said or did?

“Support Our Troops!”

“Remember 9/11!”

Ah, the good old days. Well… Those days have certainly passed, once a Democratic congress (now just Senate) and a Democratic president were elected. Republicans are under some sort of blood pact that says they must oppose every single thing that Democrats do, not matter if it is in direct opposition to the stances they took when the Republicans were in power. Every single thing. They are absolutely incapable of letting President Obama or Democrats in general being seen as having “won” something or other.

Case in point, 9/11 first responders. First, Republicans blocked providing healthcare coverage for those brave people who were the first into the scene, risking the same death that took so many of their fellow citizens. No, we can’t provide healthcare for them! That would be socialism! (Remember that little episode? It was called the Zadroga bill. The only reason it ended up passing was that Jon Stewart, on the Daily Show, went after Republicans for being such hypocrites. )

Now, some dumb cluck Republican representative stuck on some provision that requires these brave people, the ones that Republicans were so good as using as props when bashing Democrats, to undergo a security check to make sure they aren’t terrorists before they can get their benefits.

From TPM.

Medical providers will soon inform 9/11 first responders about a provision in the James Zadroga 9/11 Health And Compensation law that requires them to be run through the FBI's terrorism watch list before they can receive health care benefits.

According to a letter obtained by Michael McAuliff of the Huffington Post, Dr. John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is instructing health care providers to tell their patients about the provision before they can begin to receive benefits in July.

The provision was tacked on by Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) during the contentious fight over the bill in December, which was blocked by Republicans at the time. Stearns' amendment adds a paragraph stipulating the "disqualification of individuals on the terrorist watch list," and requiring each potential beneficiary to be run through the list.

McAuliff reports participants "will soon be told that their names, places of birth, addresses, government ID numbers and other personal data will be provided to the FBI to ensure they are not terrorists."

This is an example of why I hold absolutely no hope of American society ever recovering from the Bush years. Republicans, along with their corporate leash-holders and their attack dog media, cannot bring themselves to do the right thing if it means being on the same side of the fence, or even somewhere near the same fence, as Democrats. Democrats, by definition, are evil and want to destroy this country, so they must be opposed at every turn. No surrender, no retreat, no hint of contrition, even when it comes to something like this. What person in their right mind is going to think that these first responders are terrorists? What sort of warped logic is that?

I was about to call this guy a toad, but that would be insulting to not just toads, but all amphibians. What a small, small person. "Vindictive" doesn't even begin to put a label on this guy. "Spiteful" and "malicious", perhaps. I have to wonder how these Republicans live with themselves. But for some reason, I have to suspect this idiot actually feels GOOD about doing this. "He! He! I really stuck it to those Democrats with that one!"

As I think I said in a previous post, the only silver lining I can see out of all of this is that Republicans may be in the process of alienating every single person in the country that isn't white, over 50 and either belongs to a country club or is very ignorant of current events and believes every single thing that Fox News and Rush Limbaugh tells them. The next election is going to be very interesting, indeed.

Update: More Republican asshole-ishness, from Michigan Messenger, via Crooks and Liars.

So, about that voucher plan for Medicare, Senator Ryan....

Do I really understand that what the Republican plan to "balance the budget", which it does not in any sense of the word, replace the current Medicare system with a system where the government just hands out vouchers to the elderly so they can go buy their own insurance? That's the plan, is it?

I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind.

First off, I understand that the vouchers will only increase over time as a function of the inflation rate and NOT the rate of increase in the actual cost of healthcare. Would you care to address that?

No? I didn't think so. So, that would mean all the increases in the actual cost of healthcare, not including inflation, would be the responsibility of the recipients of these vouchers? Is that right? The ones who are on a fixed income and probably are having a difficult time making ends meet already? That's your big plan?

Then, how about this? What insurance companies out there, right now, do you think are going to take on a very large number of new people on their insurance rolls, and all of them are elderly and many of them probably already with chronic health problems? Hum? Did you even THINK of that, Senator Ryan? What happens to those vouchers if the elderly can't find any insurance companies to cover them? Do they need to give those vouchers back to the government? Can they use them to buy food and pay their electric bills instead? Did you consider that?

And what about all those additional healthcare costs that aren't covered by your insurance companies? We do all know about those, correct? Copayments for every single visit, which can run into some bucks if you see the doctor more than one or two times a month, which many people would need to. How about all those costs when you have some significant medical procedures done or end up staying in the hospital for a week? Do you expect those insurance companies to provide 100% coverage, on every single healthcare related item, so that the patients aren't responsible for a whole lot more new bills on top of their already large insurance payments?

Have you even HEARD of actuarial tables before, Senator Ryan? Do you understand how insurance companies make their money?

So, before you go out on national TV and make a fool of yourself by waving some printed up pamphlet, saying it is the cure for all the countries financial woes, you might try to learn a bit about the subject you are decimating.

As I continually say, I just do not understand how Republicans have any credibility left, on anything. Why does anyone believe what they say?

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how Republicans have any support from individual Americans anymore.

Every single thing that the Republican Party does these days is either to A) give massive amounts of power and money to individuals and corporations who already have money and power and B) propose to take away programs and benefits from the middle and lower class. Every single f*cking thing.

Increasing the tax rates on millionaires and billionaires is now apparently some sort of “Third Rail” in American politics (translation: Like the high voltage rail in a subway railroad track, touch it and you die). We cannot even begin to talk about closing tax loopholes for huge corporations, such that companies like GE and Boeing not only don’t have to pay income taxes, they actually get billions of dollars in rebates! And what kind of discussions are we having? Raising the retirement age. Doing away with the federally mandated minimum wage. Getting rid of Social Security, or else privatizing it so that these huge corporations can get their hands on all that money. Gutting public education and all sorts of public services for low income Americans. Getting rid of all unions, not just for public employees. You wait, it will happen.

How can the Republicans possibly keep selling themselves to the American public on being on their side and watching out for the concerns of everyday Americans? This is absolutely insane. During the healthcare debates of last year, what was one of the big anti-healthcare reform rallying cries we continually heard? “Keep your hands off my Medicare!” “Democrats are going to take away your Medicare!” And what does Paul Ryan’s proposed “budget” do? It does away with Medicare as we know it! It turns it into a voucher system that will go directly into the pockets of huge insurance corporations and medical providers!

How can this possibly happen? The Republicans in office must know they are full of crap. They cannot possibly believe they are doing all of this for “The American People.” They just cannot be either that stupid or unaware. Therefore, they must know they are lying through their teeth 90% of the time. I’m sorry, I don’t call people liars very often, but I just cannot see any other conclusion. And I certainly don’t see how the Republican supporters still believe that the Democrats are evil and are the ones that are, in their minds, trying to destroy the country. And how is the big media outlets not calling BS on all of this? Are Republicans so caught up in the prevailing Groupthink that they cannot see what is plainly in front of their collective noses? Is tribalism so rampant that they cannot imagine that “their side” is not the shining example of Truth and Righteousness that they have been told?

This is so crazy. I just don’t think anyone could have ever imagined something like this occurring.

Funny thing, I don’t see any sign of a story about the protests in Olympia in the Sunday Seattle Times.

What’s on the front page? Oh, there’s some story about our really ugly Rock and Roll Museum. We are very proud of Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, you know. And there’s a worthwhile story about elderly citizens hovering on the edge of poverty and homelessness, and being targeted by inhuman scammers as well.

But is there a story about this? I don’t see one.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Thousands of union members from all over Washington poured into the state Capitol Friday, calling on lawmakers to "put people first" by ending corporate tax breaks and painful cuts to public programs.

The protest was by far the largest of four days of boisterous demonstrations in Olympia over spending cuts legislators are considering in order to help close a looming $5 billion budget deficit for the next two-year cycle.

Buses began arriving at the Capitol hours before the noon rally, carrying musicians, iron workers, firefighters and others concerned about the scarcity of jobs, the rising cost of college and the security of their pensions. The Washington State Patrol estimated 7,000 people gathered outside the main legislative building, while labor group leaders put the figure closer to 12,000.

Protesters said they hoped the demonstration would serve as a powerful reminder to lawmakers of who their decisions are affecting as they work to craft the state's next two-year budget. The House plans to vote Friday or Saturday on a budget plan that includes $4.4 billion in cuts, while the Senate will introduce its own proposal next week.

"We need to remind them that we need changes right now, not later," said Tim Haslett, an electrical worker and father of five from Seattle who has been unemployed for most of the past two years. "I'm trying to do everything I can to pay for my youngest daughter to go to college next year, but I don't know how I'm going to be able to do that if there are no jobs."

"We do not have a budget deficit," Jeff Johnson, president of the Washington State Labor Council, one of the rally's main organizers, told the crowd. "We have a social services deficit, we have a jobs deficit, we have a revenue deficit, and we have a deficit of leadership."

It’s like it’s not happening at all. Great job, Seattle Times. I really, really miss the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Republican John Kyl, in response to getting caught telling untruths, replies, “It was not intended to be a factual statement.”

So, this is what it now comes to. These a**holes use blatant lies to rile up their core supporters and convince them that they are the righteous and the other side are no more than lowly scum. When they invariably get caught and called out on their lies, aren’t even trying anymore.

“It was not intended to be a factual statement.”

Holy Mother…. So, by saying you were lying, that makes it O.K. somehow?

Check out the full story at Washington Monthly.

Image stolen from Balloon Juice.

Saturday morning thoughts on the non-government shutdown.

I actually thought that there would be a last-minute agreement reached once it became apparent that the sticking points were funding Planned Parenthood and some heavy-handed restrictions on the EPA. The Republicans were going to look like total fools for shutting down the government over stuff like that. It was no longer about budgetary issues. It was about Republicans trying to foist their agenda on the U.S. through the only branch of the federal government that they control. They were going to get absolutely killed next election. They still might. But I figured, once we got to that point, there would be an agreement. Anything less would have been political suicide, or at least some major self-inflicted wounds.

Great, the government isn't going to shut down. Troops will continue to get paid, 700,000 federal workers (including me) will go to work on Monday morning. But we are going to have to live with the medium to long range fallout of this agreement. I believe the number that the R's and D's agreed to cut from the federal budget from last year's is 38 billions dollars. 38 billion. That's a LOT of money. Now, I am absolutely certain that there are large areas of wasteful spending that could be cleaned up. But 38 billion, all in this year? Where is that money going to come from? There is already a very large amount of what I consider to be damage done to how the government operates. People are going to lose their jobs, services are going to be cut. I am a great believer in the Law of Unintended Consequences. 38 billion, at this point, is still mostly just a number that the R's and D's were arguing about. Very soon, the rubber has to meet the concrete. Where is this money going to come from? I am going to guess our national parks are going to take huge hits, for one thing. I would bet anything that most federal agencies get edicts like "reduce your workforce by X%." There will be lots of social programs that people, here and now, depend on that will be cut or greatly reduced. On and on. We have yet to see the very real fallout from this arbitrary number that people agreed to last night.

And, as for looking toward the future, I've got news for you (if you thought otherwise, and you probably didn't), the Tea Party types did not give up after last night. They will come out fighting that much harder in order to achieve their goals. (Just what those goals are, from the "bigger picture" perspective, aside from "shrinking government", I really don't know.) They are going to want that 38 billion to come from all the programs that they seem to detest; education, environmental protection, any sort of oversight of business and industry, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, any programs which give financial support to the poor, disadvantaged and out of work, etc. And on top of this, they are going to continue to demand more and more tax cuts for the rich and for corporations and an overall reduction of spending and revenue collected by the U.S. government.

Lastly, I find it amazing that all of this thrashing about in the last few weeks was SOLELY about cutting spending. There was not a single word spoken about increasing revenue through letting the Bush tax cuts expire on the rich to very rich, nor was there any discussion about making American businesses (e.g., GE, Boeing) actually pay corporate taxes like everyone assumes that they are already doing. No discussion about closing up tax loopholes. None. That subject seems to be totally off-limits.

There was also no discussion about jobs, other than some very unsupported declarations by the Republicans that jobs would come streaming back when the government's deficit was reduced. I am not an economist, but that assertion makes absolutely no sense to me, and it certainly doesn't to some very smart people who should know, such as Paul Krugman. (I may go try to find a link for this later. For now, you can go do a Google search yourself if you are that interested.)

The Dems, even though they control both the Senate and the Presidency, still have handed the nutjobs running the Republican Party right now a very large victory, even if those self-same nutjobs don't recognize it as such right now. The discussion is solely about spending, not taxes. It is solely about which programs to cut or get rid of entirely. The public will not know who's to blame when they don't get the services they want.

The Dems have found a way to continue on this path that the Tea Party has defined for this country. Oh, they didn't get everything they wanted, but they certainly got a lot. They certainly didn't get enough pushback to think that this approach isn't going to work in the future.

I can't imagine what this country is going to look like in 25 years. Well, I do have my own thoughts on the matter. I hope I am wrong. But I have a feeling that most of the people in this country will look at the state that things are in and wonder how they heck the United States of America ended up there.

Sooo.... I am going to be furloughed because Republicans don't like Planned Parenthood and the EPA?

Do I have that right? And this is after I took a two year (or more, depending) pay freeze so I can help subsidize the extension of tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

I am starting to get a little upset with the Republican Party. (That's an understatement...) Yeah, Democrats seem to be mostly spineless and won't stand up to hardly anyone without caving immediately. But Republicans, the ones you MIGHT think are sane, will not stand up to their wingnut Tea Party extremist wing. As a result of Republicans caving to the Tea Party, and then the Democrats usually caving to Republicans, we have the situation where the crazy 35% seems to be setting the direction for the entire country.

And it certainly isn't like we have any SERIOUS problems that need to be addressed...

UPDATE (Friday, 8:30 a.m. Pacific): Well, perhaps they are just down to talking about Planned Parenthood. That's an amazing thing to be THE fulcrum in whether to shut down the entire U.S. government or not.

I just had my talk with the boss about what might or might not happen next week. He was very insistent that, in the event of a shutdown, we should, under no circumstances, do anything related to our jobs. We could be subject to discipline... For doing our jobs... While not getting paid... But, really, when you get down to it, I don't think I will have a problem about not doing my job.

I am still expecting a last minute deal to happen. I think Boehner and some of the less-crazy Republicans know what might happen and who will be blamed if this indeed does go down. I actually think they have painted themselves into a corner with their crazy Tea Party base already. If the Republicans compromise, on ANYTHING, and avoid a shutdown (which many of the wingers really seem to want), then the base will be steaming mad. They already weren't that happy with Boehner. On the other hand, if the government gets shut down and some of these people all of a sudden find out they aren't getting their income tax refund as quickly as they would like or they aren't getting their Social Security checks, they are going to be upset. The Republicans will probably be blamed by everyone else for being such ridiculous ideologues to take everything to this level of crazy over Planned Parenthood (which, by the way, is already prohibited from using federal funds for abortions).

Crazy, crazy people.

UPDATE 2: I think it is unfortunate that I chose to focus this post, and the one just preceding this one, on how a government shutdown would affect me. That is actually the least of my concerns, although it is certainly not how it looks when you read the title of these posts. From a purely personal point of view, I am actually looking forward to some time off. I am not one of the unfortunate many who have to live from paycheck to paycheck. I can survive quite nicely. I am sure the same is not true for most everyone else who is going to be out of a job and/or paycheck next week, if something doesn't break lose here. If I were a military family and my wife or I were stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan, putting our butts on the line every day just because that what our "fearless leaders" say we have to do, and all of a sudden, we weren't getting PAID!?! I think I would be hopping mad about it. I just hope they put the blame for this fiasco in the correct place.

I apologize if this post appeared to be very self-centered.... Not my intent. The whole issue was just easier to talk about in those terms.

Guess I will probably out of work next week.

Thanks to the Republicans. But, of course, they are already trying to blame the Democrats for any government shutdown that might occur. That's sort of like a bank robber going into a bank, taking a bunch of hostages that he threatens to kill if he doesn't get a million dollars and a helicopter, and then blames the police for making him shoot his hostages.

That is exactly what is going on with the Republicans.

If I was John Q. Public, I might tend to blame the side whose members are actually cheering about the possibility of a shutdown. And that ain't the Democrats.

Ah, well. I have lots of yard work that needs doing. I'll be too tired to spend any money, anyway.

UPDATE (Tuesday, 12:50 p.m. Pacific): I really didn't think we would get to this point. This is pretty incredible.

Here are a few things I have learned by poking around the internets in the last few minutes.

I would actually be one of the lucky government workers. I am certain to be designated a "non-essential" employee, which means they can let me go without screwing anything up in the immediate term. The unlucky ones, it turns out (such as, oh, Air Traffic Controllers), will be deemed to be "essential employees." That means they have to show up for work, even if the government gets shut down, but here is the kicker. They don't get paid until everything is back up and running again! Hey, worst of both worlds, yeah?

Another thing is that President Obama and the Democrats have agreed, in principle but not in specifics, to the 33 billion dollars in cuts that was initially put on the table by the Republicans. Yeah, they WANTED 66 billion in cuts, but my understanding is that 33 billion would have gone a long way toward their goals. Guess what? That isn't good enough anymore. Neither is getting a bill that would get the necessary majority in the House. John Boehner is now demanding that he get a bill that could be passed with a majority of JUST REPUBLICANS. No need for bi-partisan support when you can pass a bill with your simple majority, right? That's what the Republicans want now, or else they shoot the hostages.

I just cannot believe how absolutely insane this country has gotten in the last few years.

UPDATE II: No, "non-essential" government employees are still rather essential. They just aren't essential in highly critical, day to day work, such as, oh, Air Traffic Controllers and the like. The country can get along without us, for a little while anyway, for some time. But just wait until the military families stop getting paychecks or Republicans don't get their income tax return checks when they think they should, and you will start to hear about how "non-essential" we are.

Perhaps, just perhaps, Republicans have gone so over the top that the non-insane 35% of Americans are finally catching on what is going on.

I am not usually one to look for silver linings in big, dark clouds that you know are about to dump prodigious amounts of unpleasantness on your head. Silver linings are, in my mind, just the human spirit trying to stay optimistic. That usually isn’t me.

However, in our current situation, that might just be true. There may really be a silver lining in the Republican Party, as a whole, being so full of themselves and being so terrified of not conforming to the wishes of the Tea Party types, that they really are turning off everyone else.

- Republican governors seem to think they have been elected kings of their fiefdom. They are gutting people’s right to organize, they are turning down billions of dollars in essentially free money for high speed rail projects that would bring lots of work and dollars, while strengthing the state’s infrastructure. They are showing they have absolutely no loyalty to those who got them elected, other than Big Business. Teachers are now the enemy. Public education is evil. Anyone making under $50,000 a year is living high on the hog.

- The House of Representatives has become a place for wing nut ideologues to let down their hair. After screaming, “Where are the jobs!?!” for months, they have decided to pursue their rightwing ideology at all costs and jobs has become a non-issue. They have introduced legislation whose intent is to make abortions so difficult to come by they would be practically impossible. They have made it plain that they hate public schools, but will do anything they possible can to get rid of all government oversight of particularly hazardous industries, both for the environment and our population, as well as our financial institutions.

- The Republican Party keeps running imbeciles. Many times, these people do get elected, such as Michele Bachmann, Steve King, Jim DeMint, Louie Gohmert, etc. Many times, they give elections to the Democrats in what would have otherwise been a reliable Republican win, such as Sharon Angle. Every time they open their mouths, something very embarrassing comes out. Newt Gingrich has proven that he will say anything at anytime, as long as he gets to disagree with President Obama. Haley Barbour still has a very large problem with race relations, as well as a history problem. Sarah Palin, still the current Face of the Republican Party, is becoming increasingly disliked in the rest of the country and has essentially a zero chance of ever being elected to another public office, much less President of the United States. Most people wouldn’t even trust these people to teach their children, much less hand them a very powerful political position.

- Fox News, and in particular, Glenn Beck, have become so hysterical (in several different definitions of the word) that anyone outside that crazy 35% has a difficult time taking them seriously. They do not seem to have a coherent position about anything, other than Democrats are the most evil, vile things that the world has ever encountered. They aren’t even making an attempt anymore. And with a number of leaked memos from the inner sanctum of Fox News, it is very apparent that the reporters, anchors and on screen personalities are operating on orders from above.

As I said, I may just be reaching for something that isn’t there. But the huge demonstrations in Wisconsin in reaction to the huge overreach of the governor and the Republican senators were something to behold. Every single thing that the Republican Party attempts to do these days seems to alienate some other segment of the voting population, such as police and firefighting unions, teachers, Hispanics, and people without jobs and with not much hope.

One can hope, I guess. The prospects of an enlightened voting population making the correct votes (not always Democrats, mind you) in order to solve the very daunting problems facing our country seems pretty bleak right now. But perhaps, just perhaps, the Republicans have gone so crazy that no one past that 35% will believe them anymore. Maybe they have shredded their respectability so much that hardly anyone will believe anything they say from this point on.

For no particular reason, here's a cat that looks like Lenin.

I'll have to find my doggie Trotsky photo. I have it here somewhere.