Friday, October 09, 2009
It worries me to be seen to agree with conservatives so instead I will simply say "It is my intention to bring peace to the whole world. Can I have my Nobel Peace Prize now?"
Labels: Barack Obama, Nobel Prize, United States
Monday, September 21, 2009
Friday, September 04, 2009
I'm interested in this report from the New York Times that Conservative parents in Houston don't want President Obama to give a speech at their children's school, not so much for that , I tend to think these kind of nuts have always existed and that, possibly goosed by Karl Rove during the Shrubya years, mainstream media will quite happily give vastly disproportionate mention to Conservative craziness to fill column space (have the Birthers gone away yet?). But what caught my eye was this:
"The thing that concerned me most about it was it seemed like a direct channel from the president of the United States into the classroom, to my child," said Brett Curtiss, an engineer from Pearland, Tex., who said he would keep his three children home.
"I don’t want our schools turned over to some socialist movement."
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this fear of infection a purely right-wing thing? Left-wingers will barrack or ignore or walk out on someone they disagree with, I can see opponents of Shrubya pulling their kids because they don't want them used in a poster moment for the war, or because they don't believe Shrubya won the election in 2000 or so on, but I don't think we've ever heard them say "Little Britney went to hear George W. Bush and now she believes that God is telling her to invade next door to liberate their puppy and toys".
So is this exactly the same impulse which one's political culture educates them to react in a specific way? I'm not saying that everyone who is a Conservative reacts like this and all left-wingers behave the opposite, I'm talking about what might just be small groups on either side and I'm probably trying to speak of groups too small to really statistically matter.
"The thing that concerned me most about it was it seemed like a direct channel from the president of the United States into the classroom, to my child," said Brett Curtiss, an engineer from Pearland, Tex., who said he would keep his three children home.
"I don’t want our schools turned over to some socialist movement."
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this fear of infection a purely right-wing thing? Left-wingers will barrack or ignore or walk out on someone they disagree with, I can see opponents of Shrubya pulling their kids because they don't want them used in a poster moment for the war, or because they don't believe Shrubya won the election in 2000 or so on, but I don't think we've ever heard them say "Little Britney went to hear George W. Bush and now she believes that God is telling her to invade next door to liberate their puppy and toys".
So is this exactly the same impulse which one's political culture educates them to react in a specific way? I'm not saying that everyone who is a Conservative reacts like this and all left-wingers behave the opposite, I'm talking about what might just be small groups on either side and I'm probably trying to speak of groups too small to really statistically matter.
Labels: Barack Obama, Conservatives, George 'Shrubya' Bush, lefties, United States
Thursday, August 13, 2009
I don't think there's much point saying anything about the whole health plan nonsense in America because it does seem that everyone against it is a dick. I'm sorry, it's not particularly incisive political commentary but I've yet to see anyone open their mouth or put key to keyboard against it who has not them proceeded to prove themselves to be an arse of the highest district. In the meantime, Stephen Hawking, ha ha ha!
Labels: Barack Obama, health, NHS, stupidity, United States, YouTube
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Not Safe For Work, Not Safe For Sanity
Have you ever wanted to see portraits of a naked President Obama riding a unicorn while fighting with Stalin, the Russian Bear and Newt Gingrich (I think) while Gregory House and Ugly Betty look on? You have? Weirdo.
Labels: art, Barack Obama, strange
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Fair and Balanced as Ever.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Internet Have Broke me Agains!
Go to Rich Johnson's Lying in the Gutters column for the 27th of April 2009, then scroll down a quarter of the page to the item 'Devil Woman'. It's Barack Obama as Conan, fighting an elephant being ridden by a barbarian Sarah Palin. This is apparently from an upcoming comic series. I have not yet worked out whether I think this is the BESTEST thing ever or the WORSTEST.
Labels: Barack Obama, comics, Sarah Palin
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Sarah Palin- The Gift That Keeps on Giving.
Vetting for what might be the second most important post in the United States.
A.B. Culvahouse, a powerful Washington lawyer and former counsel to President Reagan, told an audience of Republican lawyers that for McCain, selecting a vice president came down to three questions: Why do you want to be vice president? Are you prepared to use nuclear weapons? And the CIA has identified Osama bin Laden, but if you take the shot there will be multiple civilian casualties. Do you take the shot?
"She knocked those questions out of the park," he said at an event held at the National Press Club by the Republican National Lawyers Association. "We came away impressed."
Even now, it's still worrying to think such morons nearly took control of the most powerful country on the planet. Thank their goodness they chose hope over stupidity.
A.B. Culvahouse, a powerful Washington lawyer and former counsel to President Reagan, told an audience of Republican lawyers that for McCain, selecting a vice president came down to three questions: Why do you want to be vice president? Are you prepared to use nuclear weapons? And the CIA has identified Osama bin Laden, but if you take the shot there will be multiple civilian casualties. Do you take the shot?
"She knocked those questions out of the park," he said at an event held at the National Press Club by the Republican National Lawyers Association. "We came away impressed."
Even now, it's still worrying to think such morons nearly took control of the most powerful country on the planet. Thank their goodness they chose hope over stupidity.
Labels: Barack Obama, Republicans, Sarah Palin, stupidity, United States
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Fairey Obama parody t-shirts and posters for Darwin now available. Hmmm, I wonder what the exchange rate is like these days, much as I'm glad to see the back of Shrubya the one positive thing about his presidency was that one British pound bought several American states. [via Pharyngula]
Labels: Barack Obama, Charles Darwin, Evolution, science
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I Loves The Internets
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The White House's official site has been updated with what, sadly, in 2009 we still have to call a brave list of commitments to equality for LGBT citizens of the United States. It will be truly inspirational if it passes. The thing that this doesn't make clear is that while Obama supports civil unions and opposes same-sex marriage ban legislation, there's nothing about what's going to happen to the POTSS that have actually got married, as opposed to unioned. Will they get legally recognised as married again or will they be downgraded to just being in a civil union?
Labels: American Presidency, Barack Obama, Civil Partnership/Gay Marriage, gay, lesbian, lesbians, United States
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year
Apparently Obama's plan to close down Guantánamo Bay is to dump inmates on other countries. Let's hope that the unfortunates that the British Government decide to take are also given the full range of psychiatric care to get over their experience.
Labels: Barack Obama, The War Against Terror
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
This one's for Patrick and Kevin, The Onion accidentally slips into reportage rather than humour.
Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress.
Meanwhile, good luck to Californian gays and lesbians as they try to get Proposition 8 overturned.
Nation Finally Shitty Enough To Make Social Progress.
Meanwhile, good luck to Californian gays and lesbians as they try to get Proposition 8 overturned.
Labels: American Presidency, Barack Obama, Civil Partnership/Gay Marriage, homophobia, United States
HE MADE IT.
The pictures on the telly this morning are amazing, street parties in Washington, Jesse Jackson with tears in his eyes, the new First Family standing on stage.
Cynicism glands are already starting to do their stuff so I've probably got about another thirty minutes before I remember how fucked the United States is and how Barack Obama is probably going to be spending the bulk if not all of his Presidency sorting out the absolute mess that the Republicans have made of the country in the last fifteen years.
One of the most striking differences between the United Statesian and British modes of politics is that when failure encourages a party to head out to it's extreme that impulse doesn't tend to achieve much in Britain whereas it reaps dividends in America. William Hague, Iain Duncan-Smith and Michael Howard all proposed going further and further to the Right after the Tories were ejected from power in '97 and it didn't do them much good, David Cameron has swung left and it's working, though it's equally that people are sick of the party in charge. But in the United States, ALL the Republicans who were standing to be their candidates were various degrees of batshit insane.
What has been depressing over the last week is that people have been even talking about Sarah Palin standing in 2012. Really? It's the Religious thing that I don't think secular people can understand, but the misadventures of Shrubya in office I would have hoped would have taught the Religious Right that God doesn't help you make up for an incuriosity about the world around you and an ignorance of how things work. If the Republicans had any sense they'd try to find a member of their party who actually knows what a conservative is and has conservative values rather than looking for a holy fool so devout they have stigmata. Leave them for the Catholics.
But yeah, good news last night. The United States can finally stop being embarrassed on the world stage (think of that Simpsons episode where Bart and Lisa strain their neck muscles because they've never had to hold their heads high before with respect for their father) and rededicate itself to actually trying to help make the world a better place again.
The pictures on the telly this morning are amazing, street parties in Washington, Jesse Jackson with tears in his eyes, the new First Family standing on stage.
Cynicism glands are already starting to do their stuff so I've probably got about another thirty minutes before I remember how fucked the United States is and how Barack Obama is probably going to be spending the bulk if not all of his Presidency sorting out the absolute mess that the Republicans have made of the country in the last fifteen years.
One of the most striking differences between the United Statesian and British modes of politics is that when failure encourages a party to head out to it's extreme that impulse doesn't tend to achieve much in Britain whereas it reaps dividends in America. William Hague, Iain Duncan-Smith and Michael Howard all proposed going further and further to the Right after the Tories were ejected from power in '97 and it didn't do them much good, David Cameron has swung left and it's working, though it's equally that people are sick of the party in charge. But in the United States, ALL the Republicans who were standing to be their candidates were various degrees of batshit insane.
What has been depressing over the last week is that people have been even talking about Sarah Palin standing in 2012. Really? It's the Religious thing that I don't think secular people can understand, but the misadventures of Shrubya in office I would have hoped would have taught the Religious Right that God doesn't help you make up for an incuriosity about the world around you and an ignorance of how things work. If the Republicans had any sense they'd try to find a member of their party who actually knows what a conservative is and has conservative values rather than looking for a holy fool so devout they have stigmata. Leave them for the Catholics.
But yeah, good news last night. The United States can finally stop being embarrassed on the world stage (think of that Simpsons episode where Bart and Lisa strain their neck muscles because they've never had to hold their heads high before with respect for their father) and rededicate itself to actually trying to help make the world a better place again.
Labels: American Presidency, Barack Obama, Fundamentalists- Christian, George 'Shrubya' Bush
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
While we wait for Patrick to work out what possible reason his countrymen might have for voting for Obama, let's review some highlights of the right-wing bloggers various smear campaigns.
Labels: American Presidency, Barack Obama, blogs, United States
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
One of the funniest things about the U.S. election at the moment is all these Republicans who, having given up on McCain and Skippy Ewebecha, are now trying to persuade the American public that they have to at least vote some Republicans back into Government because it would be terrible for the country if Democrats controlled all branches. And I'm sure we all remember how, back in 2001-2, when the GOP went on telly and said "We've decided that it's not a good idea for democracy if the Republicans control all branches of Government so a load of us are going to step down and not contest our seats so as to even things up a bit".
Labels: American Presidency, Barack Obama, United States
Monday, October 13, 2008
Because supposedly liberals have been so nasty about that lovely Sarah Palin (NSFW). My entire arse. [via Washington Scandal, via Pandagon.] But then, are some Republicans okay with their casual racism, or is this some sort of humour that doesn't translate over the Atlantic?
Labels: American Presidency, Barack Obama, racism, United States
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
"You don't have to use facts, use threats!"
Sunday, September 07, 2008
If the world could vote?
If the world could vote?
Posted using ShareThis
Posted using ShareThis
Labels: American Presidency, Barack Obama, Democrats, Republicans
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
You should know you're in trouble when you make even the Daily Show team stop pretending to be brain-dead Republicans.
Labels: Barack Obama, Clinton- Bill or Hillary, Daily Show, Democrats, humour
