Halloween, over

Finally, around 9:00 it seemed that the trick-or-treaters had stopped ringing the doorbell. I checked up and down my street and most porch lights were off, things were quiet. So I blew out the candle in the jok-o-lantern and turned off my lights too. We had a pretty good turn out though I think not as many as last year, in spite of great weather and a full moon. I have a fair amount of candy left over which, unfortunately, won't last long! So now I'm going to fix myself a glass of wine and curl up on the couch to watch a little bit of late night horror shows and try to calm down my traumatized cats.

And, speaking of Halloween films, Dennis Hartley over at Hullabaloo has a great post up, the second half of which is called Creepy Lodgers and Seedy Inns: The 10 Worst Places to Check In at the Movies.

Halloween, The Day

Happy Halloween, everyone! Here's hoping that all the ghosties and goblins that visit you tonight are placated enough to leave you alone - I find that plenty of chocolate usually works. But here in cyberland, well who knows....

Thought you'd enjoy seeing a picture of this year's "jok"-o-lantern that will be scaring the poop out of all the little ghoulies in my neighborhood:


I'm sure their parents will appreciate that. To accompany, here's spooky music from Pink Floyd, along with really cheesy visuals:



Happy Haunting, all!

UPDATE: Wow - this makes Halloween almost like Christmas: Capmconnundrum has started a blog! Go check out all the great Halloween goodies to be found there...

Halloween, Day 5

Ohboyohboyohboy, getting closer! Today we are going to follow-up Screamin' Jay Hawkins Day with a slightly more esoteric pursuit, an examination of the most famous work by fauvist* Edvard Munch, The Scream:


And I can't recommend strongly enough a viewing of this wonderful documentary about the artist himself. The database entry has "TV" after the title, but I recall seeing it in the theater (and apparently I was one of a select few) sometime in the mid-seventies, and it has always stayed with me.

*At least I'VE always thought of him as a fauvist. So far, a brief Google research effort has not supported this contention, as most refer to him as a "Norwegian expressionist". I may have to investigate further.

As midnight approaches...

...and we bring a close to Screamin' Jay Day, let's give a listen to Jay's signature scream:

Sick Scream

Still Screamin'

"Feeding the toxic asylum"

Digby makes a prediction. So, how much crazy is too crazy? When I said in my post below that I hope they keep this up, I was referring to the kind of lunacy that certain rightwing factions engage in that ends up backfiring on them. As we all know, they are also quite capable of lunacy that destroys everything in its path, including themselves.

Screamin' J

I hope they keep this up.

Because I just have a feeling that this can only be good for the cause of health care reform. Seriously, when these idiots let their freak flag fly, sane people - and I would LIKE to believe that means the majority of us - react with horror and disgust. Think Terri Schaivo.

UPDATE: Oh yeah, like I was saying.

UPDATE: Susan anticipates much hilarity with the Dueling Loony Show that is the upcoming Texas GOP primary gubernatorial race. Good times!

Halloween, Day 4

I hereby declare today Screamin' Jay Day! Now, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, as you may know, was a bit eccentric. And for his most famous song, I Put A Spell on You, he used to dress up in full witch doctor regalia which would be most appropriate for our theme this week. But given the recent unpleasantness concerning witch doctors, bones in noses and whatnot, I felt somewhat uncomfortable going in that direction on my blog. But there's plenty of Screamin' Jay that fits the bill for our purposes. Here's a start:

Eeeewwwwww.......

You could spend all day reading the "Steve, Don't Eat It!" series (and if you don't know what that is, then you DIDN'T follow the instructions from my last post, and you have to move to the front of the class next to Harvey Mussbaum who has allergies) and you won't ever find anything more nauseating than the antics of The Connecticut Manque. Personally, I think Driftglass wasted his effort on the photoshop. Joe's face is disgusting enough as it is.

UPDATE: My, my.

Tree Brains!

No Halloween Week would be complete without a visit to The Sneeze, and this year we are rewarded with The Saga of the Tree Brains:


You are encouraged - strongly - to browse around the site which entails following all the links provided and who knows where you will end up and what kind of trouble you will get yourself into, but what else is Halloween for, right?

And speaking of creeps

The most ghoulish of monsters of course are those who walk among us, and they are usually masters at maintaining an innocuous appearance. But really, one look at this asshole - especially in the setting where he was operating - would have set off all my red flags. Once again the godless public schools have proved what an utter failure they are!! Oh, wait.....

Halloween, Day 3

Let's start off the day with The Creepiest Doll Ever (and, frankly, the kids in this commercial are pretty creepy too):



H/T The Bloggess

Charles Addams

My mother swears this is true: The first time anyone ever heard me laugh was when my older brother sneaked up on my crib, peeked over and scared the wits out of me by yelling "Boo!" Clearly, I was born with a twisted sense of humor, a truth which is borne out by my early fascination with the cartoons of Charles Addams. Addams' work appeared regularly in The New Yorker, a weekly magazine I grew up reading (Mom's cousin worked at their office in NYC so we received gift subscriptions every year for Christmas - I don't think my parents, staunch Republicans, would have bought it otherwise) first of course for the cartoons, then later for the fiction and film reviews, and much later for the political articles. So, Lord knows how old I was when I saw my first Charles Addams cartoon - all I know is that it was love at first sight for work such as this:

And this:

Addams, whose biography can be read here, is better known for his cartoons depicting the Addams Family, characters later developed for television and movies:

But to me, those venues, while fun, never did justice to the wit and intelligence of their creator.

The state of criminal law in Texas is, well, criminal.

Even publius, who is himself a law professor in Texas and therefore has been exposed to his full share of scoundrelism that our fair state is notorious for, is taken aback by the sheer sucktitude of Todd Willingham's defense attorney, David Martin. Martin has apparently seen fit to take to the airwaves recently and is certainly mounting a more vigorous defense of himself than that which he provided his client. To publius' comment:

Anyway, here you go people -- this is the face of criminal defense in Texas.

I would only add one qualification: This is the face of criminal defense of poor people in Texas. As is true in most places, if you've got money and/or influence, you can buy your way out of the death penalty. I think we should call it the George W. Bush Rule, formerly known as the O. J. Simpson Rule.

If only they'd ask us to stick around.

Atrios makes an observation that reminds me of this:

Halloween Week, Day 2

I don't think I'd trust THIS guy with a taser....

"Liberal" or....?

Digby quotes the Pantload:

"Obama's personal popularity is still sustaining him, but it seems to me that the Democratic Party missed an enormous opportunity. I don't think they're doomed or anything like that. But, they've managed to rebrand themselves as a very liberal party again, and that's a problem when 80% of Americans don't describe themselves as liberals"

then goes on to point out:

Unfortunately for Jonah, the Republicans have managed to rebrand themselves from an epic screw-up party to a batshit crazy party, and that's a problem when 99% of Americans don't describe themselves as epic screwups or batshit crazy. I'll take our chances.

A Capital Ghost Story

Freewheel has written his best one yet! Made me cry...

Halloween Week begins!

Let's start off with a visit to Extreme Pumpkins and take a look at one of the winners in this year's Pumpkin Carving Contest, "The Swine Flu Pumpkin":

Rhyme time

There once was a man named Obama
Whose election caused wingnuts great trauma.
They ranted and raved
And became quite depraved,
Filling our lives with much drama.

ObamaNixon

There's an awful lot o' stupid going around.

Great, if not best evah, Shorter

Be sure and follow the link.

Official White House family portrait

Good job, Annie Liebovitz!

Not just movies

I love a good thriller in either book or movie form. I think at the top of my list of favorite thriller books would have to be The Bottoms by Texas writer extraordinaire, Joe Lansdale. Set in deep East Texas along the banks of the Sabine River in the 1930's, it's the story of a boy's coming-of-age as he tries to help his father, a small town constable, solve the mystery of a series of grisly murders. It's evocative of that other favorite classic, "To Kill A Mockingbird" in that it's told from the point of view of the children (the boy and his sister), has a sub-plot involving the town bogeyman which in this case is called "the Goat Man", and it deals with the rampant racism that characterize both the region and the period. Lansdale has a wonderful narrative style and is particularly skilled at depicting strong female characters. I met him once at the Texas Book Fair in Austin and told him that I liked this about his work saying something like, "Your women characters are so strong!" to which he responded, "Well of course - they're Texan!"

Two other good scary books that come to mind are "The Exorcist" and "The Shining" - do you have any that you would recommend?

UPDATE: Sandy Underpants, witmeister, has some more recommendations that sound really good, though not of the thriller variety.

Grab the popcorn and douse the lights!

Tonight on Turner Classic Movies, one of capmconnundrum's (and my) Halloween favorites is playing at 7 p.m. CST, "The Night of the Hunter":



There is much of interest to note about this little gem, such as Lillian Gish's wonderful performance as the matron of a safe haven, and the fact that this was Charles Laughton's only directorial attempt. Apparently he was so discouraged by the film's poor showing at the box office that he never tried it again, which is a darn shame.

Still waiting for Rush to file that libel lawsuit

Our wingnut friend Mark (who goes by many aliases) believes (see Comments) that the much-maligned Rush Limbaugh is owed an apology from the "liberal media" that told vicious lies about him and caused him to lose his bid to become a part-owner of an NFL franchise. In fact, Mark calls these lies "slanderous" and "a potential libel case" so Mark apparently has about as much understanding of law as the Liberty University graduates that the Bush administration stuffed the DOJ with - no surprise there. Still, we're wondering, since Mark is such an advocate for apologizing, if he agrees that maybe Rush himself owes a few.

UPDATE: For those of you who don't trust me after the last time I linked to a wingnut site and didn't warn you, THIS link takes you to our good friend and non-wingnut Mike's blog, so don't worry.

Polanski

I'll be very glad to see Roman Polanski serve his long-overdue time in jail. I'm as much a fan of his films as anyone, but the man drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl when he was in his 40's and no amount of fame or talent mitigates the sleaziness of that. Furthermore, his own cavalier attitude and clear lack of remorse indicate beyond a doubt that he deserves to be in jail, which is right where he is and where he will stay, thanks to a wise Swiss judge who denied his bail citing his flight risk. No duh. The BBC reports this morning that Polanski's lawyers are wrangling over whether or not to appeal the US request for extradition since such an appeals process can go on for many months. Fine, he stays in jail either way.

What I don't look forward to is the media circus that seems to always accompany such events. On the one hand, I think it's good for the US and its national press to witness a high profile figure being held accountable for his crime via our justice system. Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, Washington press corps, you watching? On the other hand, our national appetite for reality TV-style navel-gazing is apparently insatiable and I dread the endless fawning, sickeningly solicitous interviews and exposes of both the perp himself and his victim (though for all I know she may welcome the monetary gain from exploiting her notoriety - whatever. I still hate it).

Still, it's good to see justice done. Better late than never. Maybe we won't wait so long to do the right thing to those responsible for doing to our country what Roman Polanski did to a 13-year-old girl.

It was a dark and stormy night...

Don't know about where you are but last night we had thunderstorms. So my son and I turned out all the lights and watched one of my favorite thrillers of all time:



I saw this one in the theater when it came out when I was about 15 or 16 and it was, to put it mildly, a memorable experience! Sandy commented that Alan Arkin's character here ranks at the top of his list of scary bad men in films (along with Jack Torrence from "The Shining", among others), so I always enjoyed how Arkin spoke about playing this character in interviews like this one:



The biggest drawback of the film is the dickhead character of Sam, the husband. But that's so typical of the genre: The audience's experience of the victim's isolation is enhanced by the cluelessness, emotional and/or physical distance, or just plain absence of his/her support system. Still, many (including me) felt that Sam's reaction to Suzy's plight at the end of the film was a bit, er, odd to say the least.

So, getting ready for Halloween? Who's on your list of Top Badasses in scary movies?

UPDATE: I knew I had posted about "Wait Until Dark" before, so I decided to look it up and, sure enough, it was on Halloween last year! I even posted the same interview with Alan Arkin. Lord, am I predictable or what.

Because it's funny, that's why. Laugh, dammit!

This post is so dedicated to my ex-husband who never did seem to appreciate my, um, sense of humor. Yeah, that's it. My sense of humor!

Shorts

This is Good.

This is Not Good.

The sounds of silence....

That sound of crickets chirping you hear over here at Beginning To Wonder isn't your imagination - it's just me with nothing to say. (Sorry Julie!) I'm pretty sure it's Crazy Fatigue. (H/T Digby)

So, has Anita Dunn been fired yet?

Also, I'm working myself up for the most awesomest ever Halloween week - brace yourselves!

Wonder how much they spent on that study

Republicans commissioned a study which concludes that their own base is nuts. Democrats responded with proposal for new program as part of ObamaCare.

They don't want to wait

If Obama manages to get through his first term without some part of the lunatic rightwing triggering major death and destruction, we will all be very, very lucky. Here's TexasFred today, citing Glenn Beck, no less:

When do we STOP this crap? When do WE stand and fight? When do we take America back from these un-American cretins?

Glenn Beck is fighting FOR this nation. Don’t you think that perhaps we too should join in this fight? Don’t you believe that America is going down a path that we will ALL regret?

Even with the possibilities of 2010 and 2012, does America have that much time to sit back and wait? Can we afford to wait? Do we absolutely need to take this nation back NOW? By force?

He lets them use his bathroom

Remember, we're the racists for Playing The Race Card in criticizing this asshole's behavior. And it's all Obama's fault.

"We are all Rush Limbaugh"

Hard to argue with that one. H/T Atrios.

UPDATE: Ruth urges me to warn readers that clicking on the "that one" link will take you to Red State. Caution advised!

Judge Justice

Donna reminds us that there has been the occasional blue oasis in our vast red wasteland.

Happy Birthday Paul Simon

I had a hard time deciding on a single number to commemorate this artist (and, yeah, I could have posted several, but truth is I'm not THAT much of a fan). I love the whole Graceland album, and 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, and Kodachrome, and he did some nice collaborations with Willie Nelson and Paul McCartney (not to mention these guys). But the harmony he achieved with Art Garfunkel lent such a beautiful poignancy to his wonderful lyrics, I had to go with an old favorite:



And, as a bonus, lyrics:

I am just a poor boy and my storys seldom told
Ive squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises
All lies and jest, still the man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest, hmmmm

When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station, runnin scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters, where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would know

Li la li...

Asking only workmans wages, I come lookin for a job, but I get no offers
Just a comeon from the whores on 7th avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there

Now the years are rolling by me, they are rockin even me
I am older than I once was, and younger than Ill be, thats not unusual
No it isnt strange, after changes upon changes, we are more or less the same
After changes we are more or less the same

Li la li...

And Im laying out my winter clothes, wishing I was gone, goin home
Where the new york city winters arent bleedin me, leadin me to go home

In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him
til he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains
Yes he still remains

Li la li...

Corruption in Texas

Rick Perry is a liar, a murderer and all-round general sleazebag, just like his predecessor and most of the rest of the Texas GOP who share the same contempt for human life (beyond the blastocyst stage) and the rule of law. These two posts illustrate my case. An excerpt:

What's amazing is not so much that Perry replaced the panel members, but that he felt secure enough to be so brazenly corrupt about it. It's a sad reflection on the state of politics in Texas that a governor could commit such blatant whitewashing two days before the hearing.

Of course, his motive is fairly clear. Perry contributed to the execution of an innocent person. And the formal recognition that Texas executed an innocent man would trigger a massive political earthquake -- one that would clarify to an inattentive public the utter barbarity and immorality of Texas's criminal justice system.

So yes, I can understand Perry's motives. But it doesn't change the fact that he is acting in a profoundly immoral way. The whole thing reminds me of a banana republic dictator clumsily covering up his crimes.

But in addition to making me mad, I'm hopeful that this story will change some "hearts and minds." Specifically, I hope that social conservatives (particularly in Texas) take some time to reflect on the implications of the fact that Texas executed an innocent person -- and that Rick Perry is trying to cover it up. It's hard to think of something that more directly contradicts the "culture of life."

WATB

Have the wingnuts quit squealing like little 2-year-olds about how the Nobel Peace Prize isn't worth anything anyway SO THERE? Gawd what a bunch of insufferable little brats.

Apropos of Nothing

A little something for all my friends having to be at work today:

How I learned to mind my own business

I was walking past the mental hospital the other day.
All the patients were shouting, '13....13....13.'

The fence was too high to see over, but I saw a little gap in the planks, so I looked through to see what was going on.....

Some crazy bastard poked me in the eye with a stick!

Then they all started shouting '14....14.....14'...

Progress

Must be a pretty good bill then.

Let's keep it up!

To all of you who responded to my TexasFred post below and the email I sent out to many of you, thank you! Today, Fred is ranting again and has posted another article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about Mayor Ward and his joining the effort to close the gun show loophole. Fred even admits to being the person identified in the article as one Fred Witzell, whom poor Mayor Ward now says he "regrets" having called "dumb and ugly". I'm sorry he regrets that. Anyway, Fred ends his post today with this entreaty to us:

I hope ALL of you will go to the original story from the Star-Telegram and voice your wonderful opinions, let them know what YOU think of Mayor Richard Ward and his stand with MAIG!

Okay then! Let's let Mayor Ward and the Star-Telegram hear from us!

And Now For Something Completely Different

Greenwald be damned, Obama can never fall too far out of favor with me since I found out (H/T Sandy Underpants) that the man has such impeccable taste as to decorate his home with one of my favorite artists, Richard Diebenkorn! But yeah, I probably would have chosen something from the Ocean Park series:

Nobel Peace Prize to Obama

Wow, this is a surprise and, I suspect, a mixed blessing for Obama. There is bound to be lots of good (and bad - we certainly know where to look for THAT) commentary on this subject today, but I think Josh Marshall hit the right note for me this morning. And, shorter, Attaturk too, heh.

UPDATE: Ouch. Glenzilla The Shrill is, not surprisingly, a bit more scathing, and I find it hard to disagree. I wonder if this award might even serve to shame Obama into improving his record from here on out. There I go, being all Hopey again.

UPDATE UPDATE: It's early yet, I know, but this is my favorite wingnut response so far (H/T Firedoglake):

This makes three times, incidentally, in just seven years that the committee’s turned the Peace Prize into a “f*** Bush” award by bestowing it on a liberal American Democrat.

You betcha!

UPDATE AGAIN: Yeah, I knew it was too soon to talk about "favorites" - that category will undoubtedly be subject to updates for some time to come. Here's one. Meanwhile, here's some sanity:

Of course the Republicans are going to freak out. Our guy wins a Nobel Peace Prize after 9 months in office, primarily for tinkering with the worst excesses of the wars their guy started. That's humiliating. Humiliated Republicans lash out, news at eleven.

"The country's favorite conveyor belt to the death chamber"

What a shining star is the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Attack of The Cute

I had a close call the other night, y'all. The most adorable little girl who lives across the street from me and whose name is, I kid you not, "Angel", came over to show me her dog's two French Bulldog puppies that look EXACTLY like this:


I was totally ready to take the pair (brother and sister!) due to the fact that Angel told me that their price had "dropped" to $100. So, Angel may not be a rising star in the world of Finance. It seems that she got $100. and $1500. confused. Could happen to anyone! Unfortunately, now I'm spending sleepless nights trying to figure how I can take out a third mortgage on my home. I'm completely lost. My cats would be plotting my death if they knew what I was contemplating.

So I spent most of yesterday cruising the internet for pictures and info on "Frenchies" and I came across this site wherein a puzzling bit of trivia caught my eye (emphasis mine):

The French Bulldog was originally developed in England as a miniature version of the English Bulldog. In the 1860's, French dog breeders imported some of these very small Bulldogs from Great Britain and bred them with French Terriers. Streetwalkers in France greatly admired the imports and this led to the name French Bulldog. When the breed was eventually brought back to England for exhibition, the English made a big uproar about the name French Bulldog, since the Bulldog was originally an English Breed and because the Bulldog was a traditional symbol of English culture.

WTF???

UPDATE: From Wikipaedia:

As the new, smaller bulldogs gained popularity in France, they became favorites of the Parisian "Belles De Nuit" - the street walkers. One reason for this is that when strolled, the exotic looking dogs brought attention to their owner, and gave potential customers a legitimate reason to chat with her. Another is that the docile breed was content to nap for short stretches when brought to hotel rooms, without making a fuss. Breed historians can still sometimes turn up notorious "French Postcards" bearing images of scantily clad French prostitutes posing with their little "Bouledogues Français". The aura of notoriety that ownership of the little dogs conveyed made them a fashionable way for the well-to-do classes to show off how daring they could be, and they soon became favorites of the "artistic" set across Europe.

Photos dating to around this time show the Russian royal family posing alongside their French bulldogs, and they imported several of the little dogs from France. Other famous fanciers included Toulouse-Lautrec, the author Colette and King Edward VII.

That's it. I've got to have one.

Let's show some libber luv

After I wrote that last post, I sent off a quick email to Mr. Ward of Hurst, Texas, with a link to my blog and a "Kudos!" and asked him where I can send money to his reelection campaign. Here's the response I got this morning:

Ann,

I wish you were here. I would give you a big bear hug. I really needed your very kind email.

I have really taken a beating today from a group of bloggers. They are just like fire ants and never stop attacking. I will add your name to my list of supporters. The election is in May of 2010.

Richard Ward
Mayor

Fire ants, huh. Well, I say let's show Mayor Ward that there are sane people who have taken notice of his brave and principled position and fully stand behind his efforts to bring some badly-needed Reason to the discussion of gun control in our country. You can send him an email at: hurst@ci.hurst.tx.us or ward.richard@charter.net And tell him I sent you!

And you call yourself a Texan!

Hooooo-eee! Meet Mayor Richard Ward of Hurst, Texas, who has become quite the burr in ol' TexasFred's saddle. Seems that Fred doesn't cotton to the Mayor's support for closing the infamous gun show loophole (see what all the fuss is about here) so Fred up and wrote a very civil, respectful, friendly, neighborly little email asking a simple question about why the Mayor would do such a thing:

from: TexasFred
to: hurst@ci.hurst.tx.us
date: Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 10:36 AM
subject: To the Office of The Mayor
mailed – by texasfred.com
hide details 10:36 AM (0 minutes ago)

How does it feel to be the ONLY Mayor in the entire state of Texas to sign on to this veiled attempt at a libber gun grab? I sincerely hope your constituents take you to the wood shed in your next election. You are a disgrace!

450 Mayors Petition Obama To Adopt Broad Gun Reform

TexasFred
http://texasfred.net/
Guns don’t kill people
People KILL People

See? Now how could anyone take offense at such a note? As Fred sez:

I didn’t attack Mr. Ward, I asked a question and I stated an opinion. And this is what I got back;

Behold:

from: Richard Ward – ward.richard@charter.net
to: texasfred@texasfred.com
date: Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 11:23 AM
subject: Your latest drivel,
mailed – by charter.net
hide details 11:23 AM (31 minutes ago)

Texas Fred,
You are as ugly as you are dumb. I suggest you at least take your picture from your web site. If you want to see a handsome dude, go to the City Of Hurst web site. http://www.ci.hurst.tx.us./

As to your question, how does it feel to be the only Mayor in Texas to be a member of MAIG. It feels wonderful. At least one mayor has the guts (actually I preferred another word) to stand up for what is right. I am sending you an attachment that I put together. You will likely have to have your wife or child read it to you. It has some big words in it. But… have it read to you with an open mind and you might realize that we are all seeking the same thing. Get the criminals and illegal guns off the streets.

Richard Ward
Mayor

My, my! Guess who won't be invited to the next Million Man Rootin' Tootin' Teabaggin' Hullapalooza at Yosemite Sam's TexasFred's place.

I get email

From Gayle:

Light posting

Apologies to all for light posting lately - sometimes life interferes. Meanwhile, for my new (hi Julie F!) and not-so-new (hi Cap!) Freethinking pals, here's one for you to enjoy.

Hey, did you hear that our We-Create-Our-Own-Reality crowd has decided to start at the beginning and rewrite the Bible? I predict that, once they're done with that, they'll take aim at that other notoriously liberal screed, the Constitution.

"brighter, more principled and more competent"

Wonder where he thinks we could find them?

Rick Perry

Murderer and Coward. Ugly too.

Fred Hyatt, please fire Anne Applebaum. Now.

WTF is wrong with these people???

Furthermore...

Obviously, we could go through the alphabets in a hundred different languages coming up with Exhibits to support my thesis, below, that today's Republican party is bonkers. Yesterday, I sent a check to Planned Parenthood (in addition to my automatic monthly paycheck withdrawal) in honor of Michelle Bachmann. Sex Clinics. If only! I can tell you that if we had had a sex clinic at my high school, it would have been a busy place - I can think of more than a few friends (and probably some faculty) that would have signed up for those "abortion field trips" in the blink of an eye. You betcha.

So, in a completely related story of interest, today is the (what, 50th?) anniversary of the first episode of The Twilight Zone, one of television's shining stars. To celebrate:

Madness

Behold today's Republican Party of America:



Exhibit A: Michelle Bachmann.

Exhibit B: Eric Erickson.

Exhibit C: Ted Frackin' Nugent???

Madness. Or, as Brad puts it, "braying lunacy."

You just TRY and parody this stuff - I dare you!

SNL material that just writes itself:

Guns,

God,

Probably Gay. (I mean, really: "The National Anxiety Center"?? Check out the post entitled "Liberals are Killing America" - Good stuff! But yeah, probably gay.) (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Random Thoughts

Did anyone notice that yesterday the Senate Finance Committee voted down two amendments to the Baucus bill that would have provided a public option but voted IN an amendment to fund abstinence-only sex education? We need better Democrats.

Yesterday, I saw a winger make a snide reference to the "Imaginary Vast Right Wing Conspiracy" on a comment thread somewhere. It seems to me that the group that spawned the birther nuts and pitched a major hissy fit over the President's televised speech to school children because they said it was some sort of communist plot to "indoctrinate" them to his "socialist agenda" is not really in a legitimate position to judge the merits of any conspiracy theory.

Speaking of hissy fits, now it's the Obama's trip to Copenhagen to advocate for the Olympics to be held in Chigago. Good God. I swear, Obama could find a cure for cancer tomorrow and these idiots would find a way to pitch a hissy fit about it.

UPDATE: Digby reminds us that she deserves some credit for coining the term "hissy fit" with regard to this kind of rightwing behavior, and her post is really interesting and includes a link to give some support to Alan Grayson for his courage. Go see!

And in the last week, we've had a poll show up on Facebook that presented the question "Should Obama Be Killed?" and Newsmax post an op-ed speculating on the viability of a military coup in order to cope with the "Obama Problem." I really think it's time to put to rest the tired old trope that there's some sort of equivalency between the "far left" and the "far right." There isn't.

It's not Friday yet, is it?