Category: Stupid

Unbelievably F%$#ing Stupid

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Let’s look at the targets and paths, shall we?


Pakistan


North Korea


Iran

Well, we now have SecDef Robert Gates saying that the U.S. has conventionally ballistic missiles in deployment:

Responding to a question from NBC’s David Gregory on the ability to deter nuclear armed rogue states, Gates said: “We have, in addition to the nuclear deterrent today, a couple of things we didn’t have in the Soviet days… And we have prompt global strike affording us some conventional alternatives on long-range missiles that we didn’t have before.”

This is f%$#ing insane.

Incoming ballistic missiles, whether with nuclear, conventional explosive, or kinetic warheads, all look the same from launch until the moment of impact, and so are very likely to trigger a nuclear counterstrike.

I’m with Noah Shachtman on this one:

The Obama administration is poised to take up one of the more dangerous and hare-brained schemes of the Rumsfeld-era Pentagon. The New York Times is reporting that the Defense Department is once again looking to equip intercontinental ballistic missiles with conventional warheads. The missiles could then, in theory, destroy fleeing targets a half a world away — a no-notice “bolt from the blue,” striking in a matter of hours. There’s just one teeny-tiny problem: the launches could very well start World War III.

………

The Pentagon mumbled all kinds of assurances that Beijing or Moscow would never, ever, never misinterpret one kind of ICBM for the other. But the core of their argument essentially came down to this: Trust us, Vlad Putin! That ballistic missile we just launched in your direction isn’t nuclear. We swear!

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld couldn’t even muster that coherent of a defense. [Though the juxtaposition of, “Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld” and, “Coherent,” is generally a losing battle anyway.]

“Everyone in the world would know that [the missile] was conventional,” he said in a press conference, “after it hit within 30 minutes.”

(emphasis mine)

So, you will know after a missile hits the target whether or not it is a decapitating nuclear strike aimed at you.

Somehow, this is not reassuring, particularly since if we have a tool like this, we would likely use it on an at least annual basis.

Have I Mentioned that I Love Jon Stewart?

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Well Bernard Goldberg, former CBS news man, and the slightly smarter side of the comedy team Goldberg and Goldberg (Bernie and Jonah, no relation and in particular order), had decided to challenge Jon Stewart once again.

Bad move, dude.

Jon Stewart responds, and this time he has backup of gospel singers:

It is a righteous take-down, but damn, Jews can’t dance to gospel for sh%$.*

*So says this yid.

Never Stop Your Enemy from Stepping On His Own Dick

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When you’re in Leno’s monologue, YOU ARE COMPLETELY SCREWED

As I have mentioned a number of times, Harry Reid is polling horribly in his bid for reelection.

In fact, his poll numbers are so bad that it appeared that his only hope was that there was a possible teabagger 3rd party candidate.

Well, it looks like the the Republican front runner just threw a life line to the Senate Majority Leader, or more accurately, she threw herself an anvil.

You see, she made a statement about how barter should be an important part of healthcare.

When I first heard this, I assumed that this was someone misspeaking and confusing “barter” and “bargain”.

I was wrong. She really meant barter, as in chickens for MRI’s:

The feathers are flying in the political attacks over Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sue Lowden’s declarations that people could control health care costs through the use of barter.

On Monday, Lowden doubled down on the barter idea. “Let’s change the system and talk about what the possibilities are. I’m telling you that this works,” Lowden said. “You know, before we all started having health care, in the olden days, our grandparents, they would bring a chicken to the doctor. They would say I’ll paint your house.”

(emphasis mine)

So, not only is she eschewing healthcare reform, she is apparently opposed to the very concept of money, the center of our financial system.*

So, she’s not just a Republican, she is an Anarcho syndicalist, opposed to the very concept of money, or she’s a complete moron, or maybe both.

In any case, Senator Reid, it’s better to be lucky than good, and you just got lucky.

*OK, money and greed……†
†……OK, money, greed, and fractional-reserve banking……‡
‡…………OK, money, greed, fractional-reserve banking, and a well defined system of contract law ……………… Oh, never mind.

Signs of the Apocalypse

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Starts at 2:05

On Morning Joe, Mark Halperin, a long time hack best known for the phrase, “Matt Drudge rules our world,” feels compelled to call it for what it is when he says, “They are willfully misreading the bill or they are engaged in a cynical attempt to keep the president from achieving something.” (emphasis mine)

Except for the fact that he should have said and not or, he is telling the truth, and when Mark Halperin feels compelled to call bullsh%$, you know that Republican spin has crossed some sort of “Shoe Event Horizon” where the normal punditocracy simply ceases to function.

The first part of the video is Austan Goolsbee ably defending the program (full disclosure, I made a post that he objected to in the comments, see here, and I posted his response here),* but Joe turns to Halperin for a “fair and balanced appraisal, and Halperin calls them full of it too.

H/t Steve Benen.
*I don’t have a problem with his objecting, my family calls me full of it all the time, it sticks in my head because I was stunned that he read my little old blog in his capacity as an economic advisor to the Obama campaign.

OMFG!!!!! Epic Fail!!!!

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Fighting the Kha’ak, who lack staying power

You know, it’s not, “All Your Base Are Belong To Us,” but in naming the alien race in X3: Reunion the Kha’ak, pronounced “kawk”, it appears that someone has seriously jumped the shark.

The developers are German, and the dialogue, which explains why they don’t understand when a native English speaker might find it amusing when a character in the game says that, “The Kha’ak are not interested in dialogue,” though it does ring true.

I’m sure that this mirrors my wife’s, as well as my XGF’s experience.

You Keep Using That Word. I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means*

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USA Today headline, “In good sign for economy: Hiring rebounds on Wall Street.”

More Wall Street brokers, cutting more deals, with other people’s money, using more and more opaque instruments is supposed to be a, “Good sign for economy.”

It’s a pity that the author, Paul Davidson, apparently understands neither English nor the economy.

*The quote is from The Princess Bride.

Obama Says, “Drill, Baby, Drill”

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The Audacity of D’oh!

Once again, Barack Obama decides to cock-punch the base, and he announces a massive expansion of offshore drilling that largely echos those of George W. Bush, with the protection of Bristol Bay being the only major change.

He did this with nuclear power a 1½ months ago, so I guess that this is not a surprise, particularly given his lip service to the fraud that is “clean coal.”

It appears that part of his goal is to get some Republican support for his climate change bill, but, as was shown in healthcare reform, the Republicans are not good faith actors.

Better to use the recent EPA declaration about C02 emissions as a harmful emissions as a club, and keep this in your back pocket, because giving away the store upfront results in really bad policy.

Moron

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California Republican Senate Candidate, Carly Fiorina, who appears to intend to do to the Golden State what she did to Hewlett Packard,*, has now Jewish voters to “break bread” over Passover:

This week, as we break bread and spend time with our families and friends, I hope we also take a moment to say a word of thanks for our freedom and for those who have given their lives in freedom’s name. Let us also look ahead with hope to the opportunities to come.

(emphasis mine)

For those of you who don’t get it, Jews are not supposed to eat bread during Passover. What we eat is Matzoh, which is an unleavened biscuit which has more in common with the box that it comes in than it does with a loaf of bread.

This is really, really stupid, and statement from her PR flak, that, “We meant all bread, leavened and unleavened, and matzo is just unleavened bread so that’s what we meant by that,” is just plain lame.

Matzoh is not bread, as any of the millions of Jews who are Jonesing for a piece of bread right now can tell you, and the idea of describing a Passover Seder (ritual festival meal) as “breaking bread” is wrong on so many levels.

The stupid, it burns us!

*When she was fired employees sprang into spontaneous song, singing, “Ding, Dong, the witch is dead!”

Full letter follows

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Carly Fiorina
Date: Mon, Mar 29, 2010 at 11:09 PM
Subject: Best wishes for a safe and happy Passover

Carly for California

Passover is a time of remembrance and thanks. This festival provides us all — Jewish, Christian and all faiths — an opportunity to reflect on the challenges we have faced and the triumphs we have achieved together. It is also a reminder of the resilient spirit that has carried people through trials of every kind through every generation.

This week, as we break bread and spend time with our families and friends, I hope we also take a moment to say a word of thanks for our freedom and for those who have given their lives in freedom’s name. Let us also look ahead with hope to the opportunities to come.

Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday.

Sincerely,

Carly Fiorina

contact@carlyforca.com
www.CarlyForCalifornia.com

915 L Street, Suite C-378
Sacramento, CA 95814
877-664-6676

Paid for by Carly for California

Republican National Committee Spending Money on Bondage Themed Lesbian Shows

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No, really, this is not The Onion:

According to two knowledgeable sources, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele once raised the possibility of using party money to buy a private jet for his travel.

………

While Steele has not purchased a plane, he continues to charter them. According to federal disclosure records, the RNC spent $17,514 on private aircraft in the month of February alone (as well as $12,691 on limousines during the same period). There are no readily identifiable private plane expenses for Democratic National Committee chairman Tim Kaine in the DNC’s last three months of filings.

………

Once on the ground, FEC filings suggest, Steele travels in style. A February RNC trip to California, for example, included a $9,099 stop at the Beverly Hills Hotel, $6,596 dropped at the nearby Four Seasons, and $1,620.71 spent [update: the amount is actually $1,946.25] at Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage-themed nightclub featuring topless women dancers imitating lesbian sex.

RNC trips to other cities produced bills from a long list of chic and costly hotels such as the Venetian and the M Resort in Las Vegas, and the W (for a total of $19,443) in Washington. A midwinter trip to Hawaii cost the RNC $43,828, not including airfare.

(emphasis mine)

There have been some complaints that Michael Steele has been spending his time stumping for Michael Steele, and his upcoming book, and not the party, but this is just nuts.

This is not a picture of a party resurgent.

Just Bloody Marvelous

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It appears Orrin Hatch, who voted against the healthcare bill, and is claiming that the healthcare bill is unconstitutional, still managed to insert ¼ billion in funding for abstinence only education.

Great.

These programs don’t work, and in fact the only effect appears to be encourage higher risk behavior, like anal sex, but the Republicans have gotta pay off a constituency, and for some reason, the Dems have let them.

F%$# that.

OK, I Understand You Have to Hire a Right Winger

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But do you have to hire a really stupid right winger?

Forget Erickson’s politics and whether you agree with them. It’s not whether he’s on the left or the right that matters — it’s the way he expresses his beliefs that’s the problem. Among other things, he’s had readers send fake dog poop to Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., because of the congressman’s support for his party’s healthcare reform proposals, he’s celebrated Chicago’s losing the 2016 Summer Olympics by writing, “Obama’s pimped us to every two bit thug and dictator in the world,” he’s said that “leftists celebrate each and every death of each and every American solider because they view the loss of life as a vindication of their belief that they are right.”

I’m not asking that they find a smart wingnut, but at the very least, they should find someone who does not need help to cut his own meat, you know, someone who can at least pretend to have two brain cells on the teevee, see Will, George.

Who Says That Irony is Dead

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David Malpass, a former Bear Stearns economist is running for US Senate seat from New York against Kirsten Gillibrand.

I guess that he had to run, because serial killer Theodore Bundy is dead.

What is his pitch? That, “We need jobs and growth,” and that taxes are too high.

Seriously dude, you used to work for Bear Stearns. The idea that you are going to somehow create jobs, when you were at the epicenter of an epic collapse that you were in part responsible for is simply ludicrous, but he finishes up with this:

We need financial reform legislation but one that gets us toward more jobs and growth, not one that gets us toward more Washington

Does he really think that the voters are stupid enough to hand him the keys to financial reform?

You know, a campaign slogan of, “I know how to stop crime, because I was a criminal,” might sell in Louisiana, but not in New York.

H/t Americablog.

Can We Please Give Texas Back to Mexico?

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Separated at Birth?
Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, and Don McLeroy the Outgoing Chairman of the Texas Board of education

So, it’s official, the Texas Board of Education has excised Thomas Jefferson from their history books, and replaced him with religious fundamentalist John Calvin. (See also here)

We also have an attempt to rehabilitate red-baiter Joe McCarthy, and poster child for sex without partners Newt Gingrich, and it gets really, really, stupid.

Seriously let’s give them back to Mexico, and let the federales pry their guns from their cold, dead fingers.

Texas Knuckle Dragger Loses Primary

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One of the more significant forces for evil in the United States is that Texas Board of Education, because one of their roles is to approve text books for the state, and as such, because of the size of the market, if it’s approved there, the stupidity that they demand goes everywhere.

Well, the stupidest of the stupid motherf%$#er wingnuts, one Don McLeroy, who has argued that Joe McCarthy was vindicated, that evolution is a fraud, etc., just got beaten in the Republican primary:

The top conservative activist on the powerful Texas Board of Education, who rejects evolution and has pushed for a revisionist right-wing U.S. history curriculum, is on the way out, after a moderate candidate defeated him in a tight primary last week.

For months now, TPMmuckraker has been covering Don McLeroy as a major player in the battle over the drafting of nationally influential history textbook standards by the Texas board.

Note here, this is not the voters of Texas coming to their senses: This is the voters of Texas realizing, belatedly, that people were making fun of them and calling them stupid because of this guy, so they dumped him.

What MinistryOfTruth Said

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Only Homer Actually Votes ‘Phant

I think that, “the Democratic Establishment can kiss my DFH* a$$ too.”

She* muses on mad scramble to support Blanche Lincoln in her primary bid, despite the fact that she has absolutely no chance of winning in the general, most notably one William Jefferson Clinton:

Instead of working to support the current President against the Corporatist lies from the right what does Bill Clinton do? He throws his support behind one of President Obama’s chief roadblocks within his own party. Of course.

Note here that Blanche Lincoln has made a habit of lying through her teeth during the election, and then knifing those who supported her, as with labor and the EFCA, she lied about her support for the public option, and her reversals on abortion have been so blatant that one of the most establishment political organizations in the Women’s movement, Blanche Lincoln, has decided not to support her in the election, as evidenced by the following statement from the Chair of the organization:

As I travel around the country, I’ve been asked repeatedly about Senator Lincoln’s political troubles and what, if anything, EMILY’s List will be doing to help her win a third term in 2010.

My answer? Nothing.

In 1998, EMILY’s List helped elect Lincoln to the U.S. Senate. We believed her when she told us that that, if and when the Senate took up right-wing Senator Rick Santorum’s bill to ban what he called “partial birth” abortion, she would insist on a health exception that protects women.

Our members gave generously to her campaign, believing that she would steadfastly stand by the pledge she made to us to protect women’s reproductive freedom.

She took our members’ hard-earned money to get elected. Unfortunately, when the Santorum bill came up for a vote, Lincoln voted for it even though it provided no exception to protect women’s health.

EMILY’s List members are deeply committed to electing pro-choice Democratic women whom we trust to stand up for our rights, treat us honestly, and make us proud. Our candidates fight for us every day. Blanche Lincoln failed to hold up her end of the bargain.

Since she wasn’t there for us, we won’t be there for her.

You know, she has a charismatic primary challenger, and Emily’s List dumped her, and right now she’s polling horribly, so I guess that it sucks to be her.

Of course, it sucks worse to be represented by her, which is why she is losing right now.

And then while we’re at it, the DSCC is continues to do their best to discourage candidates who actually inspire people, such as Rodney Glassman in Arizona, even though there appears no other Dem interested in running right now, because, I guess no one actually knows him, even though the Arizona Democratic Party chairman asked him to run.

As MoT notes, the imperative in the Democratic Party establishment is, “PUNCH THE HIPPIES.”

</rant>

*Dirty F%$#ing Hippy

[on edit]My bad, MOT is a he, not a she. No offense was intended.