Ezra Klein – Why elections matter, in one graph
This graph, for instance, is the best visualization I’ve seen of Larry Bartels’s striking data showing how different income groups do under Republican and Democratic presidents:
Category Archives: NADA – New American Dark Ages
New American Dark Ages
Let Me Say This About That
When I chose this date to announce AINO What’s Best for AmeriCo, a Campaign for Greatness Reclaimed, I had no idea this was also the anniversary of the first time Glen Beck traded sex for drugs. (Give him credit for realizing Limbaugh’s Confederate money would only buy Tea Party merchandise.)
I Know Who’s an AINO
I want to thank staunch Conservative purists for continually showing that “you’re with us or you’re against us” in absolutely every single detail of ideology. By purging the Republican Party of its awful RINOs – Republicans in name only – the small-minded, bigoted, and vicious Right has cleansed itself of the weak who paradoxically threaten then. Strength through purity and like-mindedness. Agree with me or die my enemy – the creed of “conservatives” around the world.
So, today, I announce the new AINO Movement for a Strong Fatherland Homeland– pronounced I Know, don’t you know: Americans In Name Only. If you think America is a Christian Nation, you’re an AINO. If you are afraid beyond any reassurance, you’re an AINO. If you’re angry to the point of violence, you’re an AINO. If you think guns and warfare are the only things keeping you free, you’re an AINO. If you deny that diversity is stability, you’re an AINO. If you despise change and difference, you’re an AINO. If you’re not sure you’re an AINO, find someone holier than thou to make the pronouncement. You shall be judged in every detail of your life. You will be tested in every action, every word, every thought, again and again. No one gets a free ride; no one pays sufficient dues to escape continual reassessment. The ground beneath your feet will never again be firm. Watch yourself, AINO.
Binnie is not the only Republican falling victim to the “hostile takeover” and radicalization of the GOP. The so-called “reasonable Republican” Rep. Bob Inglis criticized Republican leaders for the “lowest form of political leadership” and Tea Party-driven “demagoguery” that is “dividing the country into partisan camps that really look a lot like Shia and Sunni.” Though he received “a 93 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union,” he lost in his primary run-off.
Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT), who fell victim to a Tea Party backlash, slammed the GOP for letting tea parties and Fox News lead it by the nose. Echoing Binnie’s sentiments, Bennett noted, “I find plenty of slogans on the Republican side, but not very many ideas.”
Only You Can Stop the Election of Idiots
You have to watch this tragic train wreck.
I heard about Jan Brewer saying “we have did…,” but this is so much, so very much worse than I imagined. To be so terribly inarticulate, yet seeking to be governor. This is her closing, 60 pathetic seconds and she goes blank twice – perhaps 20 seconds of her time. Is that what Arizona wants in a leader?
But then, is she really any dumber than DUHbya or Saruh? What the hell happened to the self-proclaimed Deep Thinkers of the Republican party? Do the Mad Hatters really believe the Founders were anti-intellectual mouth-breathers?
[hat tip to newmexiken and AE]
This Week’s OMFG-WTF?!
At least 20% of the American public is horribly, woefully, tragically – proudly and intentionally – dumb as shit. Are our pipes made of lead? Does HFCS decrease intelligence? Maybe global warming makes people stupid?
A substantial and growing number of Americans say that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion saying he is a Christian has declined. More than a year and a half into his presidency, a plurality of the public says they do not know what religion Obama follows.
A new national survey by the Pew Research Center finds that nearly one-in-five Americans (18%) now say Obama is a Muslim, up from 11% in March 2009. Only about one-third of adults (34%) say Obama is a Christian, down sharply from 48% in 2009. Fully 43% say they do not know what Obama’s religion is. The survey was completed in early August, before Obama’s recent comments about the proposed construction of a mosque near the site of the former World Trade Center. …
The belief that Obama is a Muslim has increased most sharply among Republicans (up 14 points since 2009), especially conservative Republicans (up 16 points). But the number of independents who say Obama is a Muslim has also increased significantly (up eight points). There has been little change in the number of Democrats who say Obama is a Muslim, but fewer Democrats today say he is a Christian (down nine points since 2009).
OMG, This Week’s LOL+WTF?!
This photo is priceless. The guy looks like a member of Draco’s clan – the one who embarrasses them all. Geert must have been made up by a Hollywood hack with the intent of making fascists look bad. What a jackass. A ‘political tool,’ indeed.
[Photo of] the far-right Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders. “Islam is not a religion, it’s an ideology,” Wilders told the Guardian in 2009, “the ideology of a retarded culture.”
In the past, Wilders’ extremism has been condemned by conservatives such as Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, and even Glenn Beck, who called Wilders “fascist.” It’s a clear sign of how far the Republicans have shifted to the right and embraced Islamophobia as a political tool that movement figures like Gingrich, Bolton, and Breitbart now have no problem sharing a stage with Wilders.
One Idiot Does Not Spoil the Whole Bunch
Only 30% of idiots believe Obama is a foreign-born Muslim socialist. Hey, they’re idiots – they’re not crazy.
[below: from a year ago]
mjh’s blog — Why Are ‘Birthers’ Hiding the Results of Their IQ Tests?
It’s time to demand tangible proof that the people who question Obama’s citizenship aren’t the idiots they appear to be. Show us proof you graduated from the 6th Grade. Submit to a drug test, while you’re at it.
There is, indeed, a conspiracy afoot. Dangerous fanatics are conspiring to stir up the easily-confused so that some freedom-loving kook does something horrible. And when the next Timothy McVeigh strikes, all these vile rabble-rousers will say, “oh, we never intended such consequences.” Liars. Destruction is their goal.
mjh’s blog — Why Are ‘Birthers’ Hiding the Results of Their IQ Tests?