Monday, August 27, 2012

Musings on the Republican Convention, Republican Nutcases, and Other Weird Phenomena



* It's difficult to determine if someone is stupid or just uninformed and thus ignorant.  Not in the case of Michelle Bachmann.  She's all of these but mostly stupid.  At an anti-justabouteverythingbutmostlyabortion rally in Tampa, Bachmann opened her big mouth and proved to the world she's not only stupid but a relentless theocrat who neither understands nor cares for our Constitution and our country.  She wants to toss the Constitution and remodel the U.S. as a Christian fundamentalist nation.

Here's what she said at the rally:  "We are looking at a political hurricane in this country.  We are looking at a spiritual hurricane.  And it is time for each one of us to show up and suit up and stand up and realize that in this time and in this day we pour it out for Him."  ("Him," of course, being her mythological Christ figure.)  This is not a politician speaking, this is a TV preacher, a fundamentalist nutcase, a self-ordained whack-job for Jesus.

* During Obama's tenure as president, the average annual federal spending increased by 2.4 percent.  That is the lowest rate of increase since Harry S. Truman's presidency.  But ignorance prevails among the Republicans who constantly complain about Obama's fiscal profligacy.

* At least six U.S. states forbid an atheist from holding public office.

* In 2010, 15 private U.S. citizens were killed in terrorist attacks.  Sixteen were killed by falling televisions.  Maybe we need a new Patriot Act against falling televisions.

* Even today, 2/3rd of Republicans believe Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.  More ignorance/stupidity.

* Our country's transportation infrastructure is falling apart.  Just about everything needs repair and renovation.  The United States has spend 1.6 percent of its GDP on this task since 1970 and that is the lowest percentage of any developed nation!

* The Chicago Board of Education has proudly announced that it has increased the length of its school year and the student's time in class.  They must believe that being present means prescience or sitting next to a book increases knowledge.

Finland's school children spend the least time in class of any European nation.  Finland's school children are the highest performing students in Europe.

* We know the Republican Party doesn't much like immigrants.  That means something to the 16% of American workers who are immigrants and to the 18% of American small business owners who are immigrants.

* It has been found that countries in which a large percentage of people believe in Heaven have higher crime rates than those with a large percentage of people who do not believe in Heaven.  Countries with a higher percentage of people who believe in Hell have lower crime rates.

* In Uganda a thief stole a cell phone from an Ebola patient quarantined in a hospital.  The patient died, and the thief contracted Ebola.  Talk about justice!

* The State of Mississippi stresses abstinence-only sex education.  The State of Texas insists its schools teach abstinence-only sex education.  Mississippi has the highest rate of teen pregnancies in the country, with Texas close behind.

* NBC, on its website, reported that astronaut Neil Young had died at age 82.  Neil Young, a Canadian folk singer, while aging, is still alive.  Neil Armstrong, the astronaut, has died.

* Number One on Donald Trump's "bucket list" is to get Mittens Romney elected as president.  I think the country will tell ol' Donald, "You're fired!"

* He's not Jesus Christ nor is he Jesus Crist.  He's Charlie Crist, a former Republican, a former governor of Florida, and now an independent who is not only endorsing President Obama but will be a speaker at the Democratic Convention in Charlotte, N.C.  Hey, we need all the friends we can get!  Welcome aboard, Charlie!

* James Madison would never be elected president today.  Madison was a lukewarm Anglican but was very strict about separation of church and state.  Rob Boston, in an article for AlterNet, says that Madison "opposed government-paid chaplains in Congress and in the military. ... [he] also opposed government-issued prayer proclamations.  He issued a few during the War of 1812 at the insistence of Congress but later concluded that his actions had been unconstitutional.  As president, he vetoed legislation granting federal land to a church and a plan to have a church in Washington care for the poor through a largely symbolic charter.  In both cases, he cited the First Amendment."

* Last year, 25 of the 100 highest-paid American CEOs earned more than their employers paid in taxes!

* 75% of Americans aged 17 to 24 are ineligible to join the military because of 1) obesity, 2) drug and alcohol problems, and 3) low 'aptitude'.

* 89% of all oxcycodone sold to doctors in the U.S. ended up in Florida last year.

* The military can create 11,000 jobs for every $1,000,000,000 spent.  Our educational system can create 27,000 jobs spending that amount of money.

* And finally, an example of the hypocrisy and hatred of the GOP exemplified by a man with the most sordid of backgrounds:  At a conservative rally in Tampa yesterday, Newt Gingrich said President Obama was "the most extreme, pro-abortion president in U.S. history," and that Obama condoned the "killing of unborn children."  Now, Gingrich knows that isn't true.  Which makes him not only a hypocrite by a monumental liar!

[Note:  Many of these musings come from Harper's Magazine.]

1 comment:

Professor Chaos said...

Bachmann is ignorant and stupid. But also crazy.

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