Saturday, August 1, 2015

What might have been!


Some people say there's no difference worth mentioning between Republican and Democratic politicians.  They're equally bad. 

These are usually people who don't like tension or confrontation or dealing with ambivalence.  It's much more convenient to dream up a false-equivalency between the two major parties.  It relieves them of any responsibility if the wrong group gains power.

There is a difference, however.  What is that difference, ah, I have it now.  It's the intelligent look on the face of the cow.  Oh, wait, that's another story my dad used to tell about girls chewing gum.  He was not a feminist. 

But consider this:  Almost every single piece of progressive legislation - legislation which provided assistance to the people of this country over the past 50 years - has been enacted by members of the Democratic Party!  Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, business regulations to keep the bankers honest, FDA regulations to keep your medicines safe, environmental regulations to save your national forest and parks and keep our water safe to drink and our air safe to breathe.  Regulations to keep our food safe to eat.  Legislation to protect and improve our public schools.  Laws protecting the right of workers to unionize and bargain for fair treatment and pay.  Laws protecting the right to vote.  And much more.

This is the truth:  The Republican Party has fought every single one of these legislative efforts and every one of these regulatory actions!  If the Republican Party had had it's way, there would be no Social Security, no Medicare, no Medicaid, no welfare for single moms and dad, no protection for workers, no health care for anyone (except themselves), and today it is the Republican Party that is trying to destroy our public schools, privatize our prisons, deregulate just about everything, and chainsawing the right to vote for millions of our citizens.  And significantly, it's the Republicans who have fought tooth and nail any attempt to deal with what is most likely the most serious challenge we have ever faced as a nation and as a world - that of climate change and global warming!


The presidency is where the difference between a Democratic president and a Republican president becomes most clear, even when a Democratic president, such as Barack Obama faces intense hatred and hostility.

Think of what might have been if the duly elected president of the United States had been allowed to take office in 2000Al Gore won the popular vote!  But Florida Governor Jeb Bush and his cronies were able to game the system to such an extent that the matter went to the U.S. Supreme Court which handed the presidency to the loser, his brother, George W. Bush.  And what a loser he was.

If Al Gore had taken his rightful place in the Oval Office, we would not have gone to war with Iraq.  The billions of dollars wasted in that effort would have been put to much better use.  The thousands of our service men and women killed for no reason whatsoever, would still be here serving their country.  The many thousands maimed and forever damaged by that war might well be providing many much-needed services and enjoying life with families and children.  And the hundreds of thousands (some say millions) of Iraqis who lost their lives would still be alive to love and be loved.  We would have given no cause for offense in the Middle East which led to the rise of various terrorist groups.  And torture would not have become national policy!

If Al Gore had been president, the budget surplus left by President Clinton would likely still be intact.  There would have been no recession which has caused so much heartache for so many millions of Americans.  We would have reined in the vast illegal Wall Street conspiracies which devastated our economy.  And one of the most important issues - that of climate change - would have been faced and actions taken to mitigate the damage which is already upon us by rising seas.

Finally, if Al Gore had been president, we would not have a Supreme Court controlled by unrepentant oligarchs [appointed by George W. Bush] who bow, not to the Constitution, but to the rich and the powerful.  The rich and the powerful would not be able to buy elections as they do today.  It is reported that the Koch Brothers alone, through their various phony organizations, plan to spend over $800 million to get "their man" in the White House!  That would not have been possible if Al Gore had been president.


Jimmy Carter is, I think, basically a good man, although he has made some outrageous statements relative to Israel for which I think he should be ashamed and somehow do penance.  Israel is not now, nor has it ever been, an apartheid state.  He knows better!

But having said that, I must say that his latest word on the current situation in our nation is worth listening to and heeding.  Carter says outright we are no longer a democracy!  The average person in this country has no influence whatsoever.  We are run by the rich and the powerful.  We have become an oligarchy in which the very wealthy have gained control of our government on most every level.

Any further pretense of being a democratic country is futile.

Which makes this next election so damn important.  Just take a look at the 17 bozos riding in the Republican clown car.  There isn't one of them who should get anywhere near the Oval Office.  Not one of them is remotely qualified to be the president of the United States.

Hell, most of them aren't qualified to run a McDonalds!


Christian Apologetics: Hitler can't help you.

Chuck Norris vs. HIllary Clinton


Chuck Norris, that erstwhile action hero of movies and teevee, is a born-again Christian.  Maybe that's why he's full of hate and lies.

Mr. Norris is claiming that Hillary Clinton will win the election because she somehow will manage to engage in massive voter fraud.

That would be funny if it wasn't so sad.  And as they say, sometimes what a person complains about it exactly what that person is involved in doing.  When we talk about voter fraud, we think not of the Democratic Party.  We think of the Republican Party, which started a smear campaign claiming that voter fraud is an epidemic in this country and therefore we need stricter laws to keep the frauds from voting.

What they meant is that there were certain demographics that were voting for the Democrats.  So they invented voter fraud and passed a series of voter ID laws which were not meant to stop voter fraud but rather to stop certain people from voting:  Blacks and other minorities; the young and the old; all of which tend to vote Democratic.

Now, Norris probably knows all this which makes him not only a liar but a hypocrite and proves his religiosity is fraudulent and hell is just around the corner!


Friday, July 31, 2015

What's Happening - July 31?

If you haven't been to Disney World in Orlando for a few years, be prepared for sticker shock.

An adult ticket to just the Magic Kingdom for one day is now $105.  A child's ticked is $99.

It's a little cheaper at Epcot:  $97.  Yikes!


AOL does such a good job.  Not!  Here are the "local" news events according to AOL for my central Florida city:

The world's most dangerous countries for travelers:  Nigeria comes in first.  That's not surprising.  Colombia is way up there because of terrorism, crime and violence, although it is said to be improving and has lots of cheerleaders.  Other dangerous countries include Yemen, Pakistan, Venezuela and Brazil.

Stay home and watch TV.


Two gangs in the Los Angeles area are said to have started a contest.  The first gang to kill 100 people wins.  What the hell is going on here?  Civilization is not improving, we're going backwards, fast!

I can't help but wonder what part our movies and TV shows play in the killings (many of which are random) we read about every day.  I'm appalled when I see ads for movie after movie that features killing and violence and the same goes for TV shows.

In all these cases, the value of human life is pictured as nil.  Nothing.  That's got to have an impact on people - especially the young and those whose minds are already messed up.

Amorality is another issue often featured in TV sitcoms, "The Middle," and "Fresh Off the Boat,"and "The Goldbergs."  In each case the female lead has no morals, but will do just about anything to get her way.  That's not funny, that's sad.  It tells our kids that ethical behavior is of no consequence.


Police in Manhattan captured a 2-foot alligator wandering the city streets.  How it got there is anyone's guess.  Alligators can't live that far north.  Maybe it got tired of Florida and hitchhiked to New York.  Maybe it decided to retire in that great city.  Sounds good to me.  Florida has welcomed a lot of New York "animals," so we're glad to return the favor!


Some scientists in the UK are warning of a solar explosion event which would be catastrophic here on earth, disrupting satellite systems, bringing down airplanes, etc.  And we are woefully unprepared for such an event.

The thing is though, that the likelihood of this solar explosion hitting the earth is very small.  Back in 1859, something like that happened; it was called the Carrington Event.

There's a 1% chance of that happening again.  Do you think this might be more of a media event than anything else?


The other day, we mentioned the Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil, the famous African lion.  There has been a tremendous backlash against the hapless dentist who did what some people think macho men are supposed to do - kill hapless animals.

There have been protests and he's had to shut down his practice.  Now PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has weighed in on the controversy.  This is from WRAP:

"Hunting is a coward's pastime," PETA President Ingrid Newkirk said in a statement Wednesday. "If, as has been reported, this dentist and his guides lured Cecil out of the park with food so as to shoot him on private property, because shooting him in the park would have been illegal, he needs to be extradited, charged, and, preferably, hanged."

Whew.  Talk about an eye for an eye.  While I'm all for the ethical treatment of animals, I'm having a hard time distinguishing between Palmer's action and Newkirk's suggestion.  Perhaps she was using hyperbole to get across a point.  If not, then she's lost her case on moral grounds!


The City of Los Angeles has just outlawed the sale of high capacity gun magazines.  Yea!  Maybe we still have a few adults in leadership positions in this country who don't confuse their manhood with a gun.


A message for our hypocritical "pro-life" politicians:

"I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is."

--Sister Joan Chittister
Benedictine Nun, Author, Speaker

h/t to Daily Kos


Saw a story yesterday about a group that put together a list of the 35 "best" sandwich shops in the U.S.  How the hell could they know that?  There must be a million sandwich shops or more across the country.

Well, they pulled names of places they already knew, invited some experts to give their opinions, divided the country up, disregarded chain shops, and voila! they came up with their 35 "best."

What a crock.  Their selections may be great sandwich shops, but don't try to claim they're the best in the entire country.  I've also found that food experts and I don't often agree.  Gourmet be gone!  Furthermore, sandwich shops can change from day to day.  One day their Philly Cheesesteaks may be phenomenal.  They next day you couldn't sell them in Miami!


From GrindTV: 

A massive Burmese python large enough to ingest deer and alligators was captured by a permitted python researcher in the Everglades National Park in Florida recently, CBS Miami reported Tuesday.

The python, found along a tram road at Shark Valley on July 9, measured a whooping 18 feet, 3 inches and was only five inches shy of the largest snake ever captured in Florida. An 18-foot, 8-inch Burmese Python was caught in Miami-Dade in 2013.

Read more at here.
Yikes!  Shark Valley is a national park about 20 miles west of Miami.  My wife and I have often ridden our bikes on that tram road - a 15 mile loop out into the Everglades and back.  One day we counted 150 alligators either in the road or on the side of the road or in the canal next to the road.  We've seen a number of deer also.
But we have never seen a Burmese python of any size.



 





















Thursday, July 30, 2015

If teachers were as important as sports' heroes

What's Happening - July 30


Berlin.  Funeral home.  Refrigeration room.  Screaming.  Woman, 92, who was declared dead in a nursing home, is alive and terrified.  A doctor declared her dead.  She was transported to the funeral home.  Can you imagine?  This is one of my nightmares.  I'm going to be declared dead although I'm not.  I wake up just as they're going to throw me into the furnace.  Aargh!


The British Army is waging war against rape amongst its service men and women.  The headline I saw called it a "controversial" campaign.  What?  The British Army shows pictures of people who were raped.  The British Army says consent is always necessary.  What the hell is controversial about that?  Maybe some think officers have the right to take any enlisted person they wish.  They are considered "superior," after all!


Have you seen these ghastly TV commercials about the dangers of smoking?  They show men and women with all sorts of horrible disfigurements; it's enough to make one gag.  I know smoking is one of the major causes of cancer, but it's unlikely that people will be so frightened by these commercials they will voluntarily quit.  You can't scare someone into heaven or out of hell.  The churches have been trying that for a couple of thousand years.  Hell, not even the clergy or Vatican officials let the fear of hell stop them from a variety of activities which have been labeled as mortal sins.


Here's some rich irony for you.  As everyone is aware, many, if not most of the Republicans in Congress either don't believe in climate change - specifically global warming - or they claim it's not caused by human activity so nothing can be done, or they do believe in it but refuse to act to stop it because their rich benefactors would be unhappy with them.

The irony is in a recent study which shows that Washington, D.C., is sinking and will be in grave danger in the future as the seas continue to rise!  Isn't that funny?  Maybe that's the "Poof" I mentioned yesterday?  I'm not sure of the timeline to doomsday, but as we have learned the scientists have been consistently wrong about how fast global warming is creating problems.  So, I'd recommend that every Congressperson have a kayak ready just in case they're caught having a late night in the office with an intern or other some such and need a way out of town.


Local news for my central Florida city from AOL:


Mark Rubio is really a scumbag.  His history is enough to make a decent person cringe.  I'm talking about his lies about how and when and why his family came to the U.S. from Cuba.

But his religious history is interesting, too.  As I recall, he was originally a Catholic, then jumped over to the Mormons, then a Baptist, and now I believe he's back in the Catholic fold.

You may recall Pope Francis saying something to the effect that Catholics should let up on the abortion, contraception crap and worry about feeding the hungry, taking care of the sick, visiting people in prison; you know things Jesus talked about.

Not Rubio.  He conflated the dentist lion killer with Planned Parenthood.  He tweeted:  "Look at all this outrage over a dead lion, but where is all the outrage over the planned parenthood dead babies."

Now, it has been shown clearly that that Planned Parenthood sting video was doctored and not legitimate.  It has been shown clearly that Planned Parenthood does not profit from fetuses but these fetuses are used, and have been used for years, for scientific purposes.

I'm guessing Rubio knows all that, too.  But he will do anything or say anything to get elected.  Maybe scumbag is too nice a word?


Just when you think you heard it all, another Republican decides to run for president.  The former guv of Virginia, Jim Gilmore, wants to reside in the Oval Office.  Why would he do that?  Who knows?  The guy is 65 years old.  It's time to retire.  If he's bored, go play golf, or swim the Atlantic, or climb Mt. Rushmore and weep about lost opportunities.

That's makes 17 nogoodniks running as fast as they can to catch the Repugnican nomination!


According to The Huffington Post, there have been 132 "pro-Confederate" flag rallies since nine black churchgoers were gunned down in Charleston, SC, on June 17.  Another 29 are currently being planned.

Which dumbass Supreme Court judge said race was no longer a problem in the US?


This also from The Huffington Post:  "Athletes competing in next year's Summer Olympics here [Rio de Janeiro] will be swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games..."

I'd recommend the athletes watch carefully the food they eat, also.  Maybe just drink beer.


Our final note:  If you tend to fart a lot in public, you might want to buy jeans from Shreddies, a United Kingdom company which has already sold fart-filling underwear.  Now they've got jeans and pajamas that will do the same thing.

Maybe we could get the Republican candidates to wear them:  most of what they say is indistinguishable from a really awful fart!

    Wednesday, July 29, 2015

    What's Happening on July 29?


    The Donald, appearing on Palin's MamaGrizzRadio, when asked if he had any ideas about a place in his administration for the dweeb from Wasilla, said if he was elected Prez he just might appoint Sarah Palin to some important office.  Don't laugh.  She could work at home keeping an eye on what's going on in Russia!


    You have to wonder what goes on in the minds of people who consistently vote Republican.  Compare the liberal, progressive state of Minnesota, under a Democratic governor, which is doing very well in almost every category, and is rated the number one state for business by CNBC, with the state of Wisconsin under the Republican Scott Walker, which has a tanking economy and is doing poorly in almost every category.

    The people who vote for these Republican clowns are like the person who has cancer and goes to the doctor saying "Give me more cancer!  Please!"


    Did you hear about the movement to put a woman on the $10 bill?  I guess this is a nod to the feministas, and that's a good thing.  But $10?  That's kind of an insult, don't you think?  Is that all a woman's worth, $10?  If we're serious about treating women as real people of value, let's move up to the $100 bill at least.  Or maybe back down to the $20.  And the reason is that $20 bills see a lot of action - more than $100 bills do - so if a woman's face was on the $20, more people would see it and probably want to make sure women get the same pay as men for equal work.


    The Republican Party is not only in disarray, but is disintegrating!  Good to see.  One example:  Rep. Mark Meadows, an ultra-conservative from North Carolina, has filed a resolution to "vacate the chair" held currently by Speaker of the House, John Boehner.  That's sort of like kicking your dad out of the house 'cause you disagree with him on how late you can stay out at night.  The resolution will probably not go anywhere but gives an idea how widespread right-wing nuttery is in our Congress.

    Hopefully, one of these days will see and hear a big "Poof!" and voila, the Congress will be emptied of Republicans and we can get back to some kind of normalcy.


    Have you ever seen a beer-guzzling Venezuelan?  If you get a chance anytime soon, grab it, as Venezuela may soon be faced with a shortage of beer.  There's some complicated economic reasons for this but it's quite serious as 400,000 jobs are involved.

    We have lots of beer in this country.  Maybe we could send them some?  We'd call it "foreign aid" and the government could write it off as a business transaction.


    This is from The Freethinker:

    EVANGELICAL pastor Valdeci Sobrino Picanto hit on a crafty way of getting blowjobs. He convinced his followers that his semen was “holy milk” and, according to one of his flock:
    He has convinced us that only God could come into our lives through our mouth and that’s why he would do what he did. Often, after worship, pastor Valdeci would take us to the where the funds were kept at the back of the Church and asked us to have oral sex with him until the Holy Spirit would come through ejaculation.
    Picanto said after his arrest that he intended sharing his sacred semen with fellow inmates.

    What a prick!


    Moving from low to high:  Gov. Christie, the grifter guv of New Jersey, vowed that when he becomes prez he will shut down all that Mary Juana stuff.

    From Mock, Paper, Scissors:

          “If you’re getting high in Colorado today, enjoy it,” said Christie, a 2016 presidential candidate, during the town hall meeting in New Hampshire, according to Bloomberg. “As of January 2017, I will enforce the federal laws.”

    I don't think this is the best way to garner votes.  But maybe he smells something the rest of us don't smell.  He's from New Jersey, ya know. 


    Every once in awhile, I see a notice about "Candidly Nicole."  What the hell is that?  I checked it out.  It has to do with a Nicole Richie.  There are a series of videos where she talks, flirts, acts strange, funny, dumb...

    Who cares?  Why would something like this mess up our beautiful Internet?  

    Let me be very candid, Nicole:  Go get a job.  Get out of our faces.  Stop degrading the Internet.  If "Lost" comes back, please sign up.


    Lastly but not leastly the beastly John McCain has stuck his foot in it again.  He's called the agreement between the U.S. and Iran re nuclear weapons to be a "shopping spree."  What?  Poor John.  His head just ain't working too well anymore.  A shopping spree, Mr. McCain, is when you go to the mall and buy whatever the hell you want.  

    That doesn't sound very much like an agreement to keep Iran from building nuclear weapons, does it?

    Sad to say but I think you've gone from spry to spree.  Not a pretty picture! 

    Tuesday, July 28, 2015

    What's Happening?


    So what's with AOL these days?  You can be sure if the headline reads "The 10 Best New Cars" you'll get a long article about buying used cars.


    My "home town" is in north central Florida.  Here's a few items AOL provided as my "local" news:

         "Wisconsin Assembly approves Milwaukee Bucks arena deal
         "Orlando Predators defensive back took the long route to football
         "If USOC finds a new city, Boston debacle could be forgotten."


    Then there's this "news" item:  Seniors are looking for pot-friendly states in which to retire.  Really?  Like the most important factor for deciding where to retire for seniors is whether they can get legally high!  Sheesh!


    Did your hear that Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, is very excited about Donald Trump's candidacy for the Oval Office?  Isn't it nice when billionaires cozy up to one another?  Trump, in turn, has said he likes Cuban's team.  I wonder if they get together for coffee just to reminisce about the many rungs on their respective ladders to success?


    The Arizona Cardinals just hired Jen Welter to be their coach - the first female coach in the NFL.  Can you imagine Ms. Welter running around the field during Cardinal training sessions, right in the middle of 300 pound behemoths?  What could go wrong?  And from what I've been reading in the media the past few years, some NFL players get their kicks beating up on women.  Be very careful, Ms. Welter!


    This was a big news item on AOL today.  Blake Shelton moved wife, Miranda's, "stuff" out to the front porch!  Holy Crap!  Are you as tired as I am of hearing about Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert's "He cheated, no she cheated" marriage problems?  Divorce already and shut up!


    Walter Palmer is a dentist from Minnesota.  He's also a killer.  He's killed big game all over the world.  It gives him a thrill.  And he does it legally with all the necessary permits and guides so everything is OK.  Not long ago he killed one of Africa's most famous lions, Cecil; with a bow and arrow.  Just for the hell of it.  Fun and games.  Hey, Walter, that lion was your cousin, you stupid jerk!


    Have you noticed that fruit is smaller this year?  I didn't think so.  But evidently that is the case, due in part to the ongoing drought in California.  Smaller fruit is sweeter, though, but that has not translated into bigger sales.  Evidently Americans like their fruit big, like their cars, houses, boobs and most everything else.  One good thing out of all this though, is there may be fewer fruitcakes given out next Xmas!


    Jon Stewart mocks Huck

    Sunday, July 26, 2015

    ODE TO YAHWEH (with 43alley)

    From the Sources - 3



    FTS 3

    We begin with a reminder for our fundamentalist Christian friends:  If you pick one verse from the Hebrew Bible and claim that whatever it says applies to us today, then you must give the same credence to all the other verses in the Hebrew Bible.

    The author of Leviticus, known to scholars as the Priestly writer, was very concerned with the minutia of daily life.  In the 11 chapter of the book of Leviticus, Moses and Aaron, after receiving the word from the Lord, specified to the people what they could eat and what they must abstain from eating.

    So far as "land animals: any animal that has true hoofs, with clefts through the hoofs, and that chews the cud--such you may eat.  The following, however, of those that either chew the cud or have true hoofs, you shall not eat:  the camel--although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; the daman--although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; the hare--although it chews the cud, it has no true hoofs: it is unclean for you; and the swine--although it has true hoofs with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is unclean for you.  You shall not eat of their flesh or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you."

    So far as sea creatures:  "you may eat of all that live in water: anything in water, whether in the seas or in the streams, that has fins and scales--these you may eat.  But anything in the seas or in the streams that has no fins or scales, among all the swarming things of the water and among all the other living creatures that are in the water--they are an abomination for you ... Everything in water that has no fins and scales shall be an abomination for you."

    The Priestly writer goes on and on describing all the "abominations" - creatures the Israelites cannot eat, including eagles, vultures, sea hawks, cormorants, pelicans, storks and herons of every kind.   Other abominations include the mole, the mouse, great lizards...lots of abominations! 

    The Lord God is holy and "you shall not make yourselves unclean through any swarming thing that moves upon the earth."

    [Note:  The quotations above are from The Jewish Study Bible - Tanakh Translation.]


    Summary:  Fundamentalist Christians argue that every word in the entire Bible is true and is valid and is from God and must be obeyed.  They obviously don't believe that as they certainly do not follow the dietary laws as spelled out in Leviticus 11

    They do like the word, "abomination," though, and use it frequently in regard to homosexuality, for as we shall see, the Lord thinks that not only is shrimp an abomination but so is same sex stuff.  What makes shrimp okay in the eyes of Christians and gayness not?  And if you're going to make homosexuals out to be "bad" guys (and gals) then you better do the same with shrimp eaters, and those who insist on bacon with their eggs!


    Let's now go back to the 5th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, written toward the end of the first century of the Christian Era by an unknown author.  The name, Matthew, was attached to the gospel, but no one knows who wrote it.

    In the 29th verse of the 5th chapter, Jesus is quoted as saying:  "If your right eye is your undoing, tear it out and fling it away; it is better for you to lose one part of your body than for the whole of it to be thrown into hell."  He also said to do the same with your right hand if that's giving you trouble.

    I know of nobody today who takes that literally.  Jesus, they argue (liberals and fundamentalists alike) was using hyperbole to get across a point.

    But then Jesus says "If a man divorces his wife for any cause other than unchastity he involves her in adultery; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

    Oh boy, the fundies and the Catholic hierarchs love that one.  How many people have been shunned or excommunicated because of adultery? 

    But why take this literally when you don't take the previous verses literally.  Jesus never says "I'm exaggerating for effect, you don't really have to pluck out your eye".  Maybe he was winking when talking about adultery and whoever wrote this book didn't see the wink?


    Matthew, chapter 6, has some delicious words directly from the Lord about hypocrisy which needs to be read and re-read and re-read by our pious politicians and pulpit pretenders and people who sit in the pews Sunday after Sunday.

    But that's for RTS 4.

    Texas Screws Some Texas Voters

    Texas is a proud state.  Ask most any Texan and they'll not hesitate to tell you how proud they are of their state and how lucky they are to live in Texas.

    Texans pride themselves on being fiercely independent and free.  Many of them, including most Texas politicos, say they don't need no guv'mint 'cause they can take care of themselves.  Yessiree, Bob!

    In fact, a former guv of Texas, by name of Pewy or Petry or Perry or somethin', once got so pissed at the U.S. Guv'mint for some reason he suggested maybe Texas ought to secede from the Union and start its own country.  When millions of non-Texans expressed the notion that was one hell of a good idea and would free up millions of dollars that Texas gets from the Federal Guv'mint which could be used by other, less independent states, Pewy or Petry or Perry, shut up pretty damn quick.

    Now, Texas may rank at the bottom of the barrel in just about every category you can name, but they're still proud as a longhorn steer on steroids!  Sure their job creation might look good on paper but it's mostly low-paying miserable jobs.  Educationally, Texas ranks way down low but they don't truck with that there evil evolution stuff and they teach that the Civil War was about "states' rights" and that Jefferson Davis was a true patriot - you know - the truth!

    And if'n you ain't a prosperous white person - well, Texas would rather y'all didn't vote.  That's 'cause the non-prosperous persons in Texas tend to vote for the minority party which happens to be the Democratic Party.  They've experienced the pain of living under  the Repugnicans.

    One of the things those good ol' boys in the state legislature have done is pass a voter ID law which very specifically targets minorities, the elderly, the infirm.  If you are one of the aforementioned and you want to vote, you're screwed!  Almost.

    This was to counter non-existent "voter fraud" they claimed.

    A funny thing happened a few days ago.  Jim Wright, a Democrat, and former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, decided to go get hisself a voter ID card so that he could vote in the upcoming elections.

    Mr. Wright is 90 years old, but in pretty darn good shape.  So he went to the proper office and presented his ID cards in order to get his voter ID card.  He had a driver's license, but unfortunately it had expired.  I guess he doesn't drive much anymore.  He also had a Texas Christian University faculty ID, but for some reason that wasn't sufficient, either.

    So, Mr. Wright was turned away.  He said the folks who denied him a voter ID card were very nice, though, and he'll try to get the proper paperwork in order so that he can try again and maybe, just maybe, he can get it all taken care of before the elections.


    Now, let's say that you're an immigrant who isn't familiar with the language or with the ins and outs of bureaucracies, or maybe you're a minority working two or three low-income jobs to get enough to eat and you have very little time to spare and you go to the Voter ID place and they tell you that your identification is insufficient.  It is pretty reasonable to guess that you would not be treated with the same respect as the former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, either.

    What do you do?

    Probably give it up as a bad idea and not vote.

    Which is precisely what the Texas legislature had in mind!  They politicians know you know the Repugnicans are out to screw you and that you would have voted Democratic!

    Is this a great country or what?  God's country!  Land of the free!  God bless America and God bless Texas!

    Aargh!

    h/t to Daily Kos