June 30, 2012

Sloppy Secondscare?

I'm not a fan of Romney's, as those who know me personally will attest. I do think he's the lesser of two evils, though, so I'm about to defend him. I've noticed one of the new Democratic talking points after the Obamacare decision is that Romney is a poor person to carry the message against Obamacare since he created Romneycare in Massachusetts. I feel just the opposite--I think he's one of the best people to do so. Who better to point out the flaws in Obamacare than the person who has experienced them firsthand? For example, if you're a football player heading into the Super Bowl, who would you expect to get he best advice from--a player who's never been, or one who has, even if that trip wasn't a successful one?

If I were writing up the GOP talking points, that's how I would try to shape that message, anyway. Point out the differences in the two, and point out that your candidate is not only qualified, but uniquely qualified to elaborate on Obamacare's pitfalls.

Enrico Palazzo! Enrico Palazzo!

Chief Justice Roberts--I'm not buying that he's an evil genius and that somehow this is actually a win for Republicans (and non-republicans like me who are strongly against Obamacare). I think it's a huge loss. I think it's a horrendous decision, one that may speed up the bankrupting of our country, and I'm not sure what was going through his mind. He may have succeeded in putting restraints on the Commerce Clause, but as others have pointed out, what difference does that make if he gave them the power to do essentially the same thing through levying taxes? Others have speculated that he may have been trying to preserve the image of the Court. Again, I don't think so, but if that's the case, then I'm even more dismayed. The Court's job is to interpret law, not to worry about politics or their image. It's the reason that they have life terms, so as not to be swayed by those things.

Roberts said he was going to be like an umpire, calling balls and strikes, but I feel like what he did was to see a ball coming and change the strike zone, in order to "legitimately" call it a strike.

BTW: anybody know the film reference in the title?

June 29, 2012

Que Suri, Suri

So Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are getting divorced, which is strange because they seemed like the most dedicated couple in the compound. Even after the restraints and electrodes were removed.

It was Holmes who filed the papers. Must be she wants to focus on her movie career and walking around untethered.

June 28, 2012

It's All In How You Write It

This headline just in:

Racist Democrats Don't Care About Dead Hispanics, Walk Out On Attempt To Bring Those Responsible To Justice.

Over 100 Democrats walked out today as Congress attempted to bring contempt charges against Eric Holder, a man who has been withholding documents that could show just who is responsible for providing weapons responsible for the death of over 200 Mexicans, as well as that of a U.S. Border Agent. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had this to say about her choice not to pursue justice for the dead: "I thought it was so wrong that there was no question to take the opportunity to vote no."

In a letter released urging others to join them, those who participated in the walkout called the series of votes "appalling."

Now, clearly, I'm being facetious here, but does anybody think that we wouldn't be reading mainstream media headlines and stories exactly like this one if this administration had been a Republican one? Yes, I'm talking to you, MSNBC.

June 22, 2012

Also, Stay Out Of My Yard

So some communities (in this specific case, Middleborough, MA) are talking about fining people for swearing. To those communities, I say "go fuck yourself."

Seriously, though. This worries me. First of all, you have the question of what constitutes "profanity." You must have a list of forbidden words, otherwise, you're leaving it in the hands of law enforcement to decide, which I think is a dangerous precedent. In other words, if an officer doesn't like what you're saying, even if it's not creating a danger, you could be ticketed. If you do create a list of profane words, that seems to be in direct violation of the First Amendment, does it not? Not to mention that you then run into the problem of worrying about determining intent. Is a dog walker yelling "cut that shit out" to his dog the same as him saying "excuse me while I pick this shit up"?

There is no right to not be offended. In fact, in any truly free society, you are almost guaranteed to be offended at some point. That's just how it works. It is unfortunate that some people can't control their mouths, and curse publicly. But that's all it is--unfortunate. It's not illegal, nor should it be. I will say, though, that I would get behind this law if the "quality of life" aspect was applied universally. For example, go ahead and ticket those who swear in public and detract from my quality of life. But you know who else you have to ticket? The parents of those brats who scream at the top of their lungs in public. Now, I'm not talking about infants. They can't help it. I'm talking about the 5-11 year-olds who scream like they're being murdered when a) they can't have something they want, b) they're playing, or c) any other time. That's affecting MY "quality of life." I'd much rather listen to (and be less offended by, frankly) someone working up a good cussing, especially if he knows what he's doing, than some snot-nose who is just creating noise pollution. These parents ought to be held responsible. Yeah, fine, you've learned to tune your kids out. But why should I have to?

And if the kids who live in your neighborhood are anything like the kids who live in mine, the revenue generated could possibly single-handedly save the economy.

N.B.

Actually, the more I've thought about it, the more violators I've come up with:
  1. People who keep the bass in their cars so loud you can hear it through the walls in your house as they drive by,  because, apparently, they like their music so much they just can't help but share.
  2. Motorcycle drivers who feel the need to rev their engines, even though they're not actually in a race of any kind. Dude, you've got 50 feet to the stop sign on a 30 mph, residential street. This is not the time to be compensating for your small penis.
  3. People who use their outdoor voice for...well, for pretty much everything. This seems to happen most often in places like Wal-Mart, and it's always the most idiotic people. You never see some nuclear physicist doing this. "THE HEISENBERG UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE STATES THAT A SUBATOMIC PARTICLE'S POSITION AND MOMENTUM CANNOT BE MEASURED SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH A HIGH DEGREE OF ACCURACY!" Then, at least, I might learn something.

Feel free to add more to the list..

June 20, 2012

A Shameless Request

My friend Angela is in the running to be one of Maxim magazine's "hometown hotties." Now Angela certainly is a hottie, but she's also a great person, and I'd love to see her win this one. All you have to do to help her out is to click on the link below and then click "vote for me." You can vote every day until the contest is over. Go Angela!!

Vote for Angela, the hottest of the hometown hotties!


June 13, 2012

Yes We Can (And Still Have 130 Characters Left)!

From the L.A. Times:
President Obama said last week that the Republican message could fit on a bumper sticker. On Tuesday, he brought that classic political dig into the 21st century.

“You can pretty much put their campaign on a tweet and have some characters to spare,” Obama told a group of donors at a fundraiser in Maryland.

Ha ha! What an excellent burn! Everyone knows you can't get elected by using messages of as little as 21 characters or even 10 characters!