1977 – For the second time, Ted Bundy escapes from his cell in Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
2009 – A suicide bomber kills 9 people at Forward Operating Base Chapman, a key facility of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan.
COINCIDENCE? I think NOT!
Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.
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For the bureaucrat, the world is a mere object to be manipulated by him.
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Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
FROM THE CHURCH OF INEFFABLE STUPIDITY:
#1 Top Ten Lists
Yet again, we reach that point in the year where lazy editors, writers, and media puns&ditz concoct those silly end of year lists that no one else cares about. The Number 1 item on Pastor Ag's useless, pointless, and ridiculous end of year activities is Top Ten Lists. They show a complete lack of intellectual curiosity, mental inactivity, and . . . . wait a sec.
Never mind.
#2 Tea Buggered Pols
Perhaps it was wishful thinking, all my previous predictions that Rampant TeaBuggerism was dead and done. Perhaps it was my heartfelt wish that senseless, useless, and inane ideas would die a natural death. After all, the USSR died from within. The Berlin Wall was taken down. Sarah Palin resigned from office. So, really bad ideas do go away. Eventually.
Despite having their asses handed to them in November, TeaBuggered pols continue to have a strangle hold over out political cystern. It is as though they fail to recognize that America got to know what they really stood for over the past two years, and resoundingly said, "Fuck off." And yet they still live and breath. In fact, they control the agenda within Congress. Democrats received 1.4 million more votes than the GOP, and still the GOP listens and obeys the party of No.
If there were a larger anal cyst than today's TeaBuggerers, including that fat, arrogant, know-nothing slob on talk radio, I don't know of any.
#3 News Media
Our Media used to have a task, an important task in keeping our country going. The Fourth Estate is no longer. Here is the secret list of do's and don'ts stolen by a Ineffibly Stupid church member. It appears to apply to all news outlets equally:
Every issue has two, and only two sides. Let's broadcast the GOP view first and foremost.
If the GOP does something vile, the Democrats must be guilty, too.
Despite winning hands down in November, Sunday Talk shows are reserved for the GOP.
When a Democrat says or does something stupid, he/she must resign.
When a GOPer does something far worse, they get re-elected or promoted, with the willing support of MSM.
Because GOPers repeat the big lies so routinely, (ours is a conservative country. Ours is a christian country. Deficits are killing our country. MSM has a left wing bias. Liberals hate America) it is no longer the job of the MSM to call them out on the lies.
No matter how wrong John McCain is on an issue, he must be treated as a seer, visionary, war hero, and inerrant on all political questions.
Tea BUggers are not the problem in Washington. It is the fault of the Democrats for refusing to negotiate with them in good faith.
Barack Obama insults our political system by calling the GOP to task.
When birther Tea Buggers call Obama a traitorous, liberal, hateful, ccounter-productive, big spending tax hiker, they are entitled to their honest opinion.
If any Democrat calls out TeaBuggerism as a idiotic, fictional, fact-free zone, driven by willful ignorance and political, historical and scientific illiteracy, cut to a commercial.
#4 Pet Peeve.
NUmber THree pisses me off so much, that I am skipping #4 only to make the third point that much clearer.
#5 Fox News
Fox poses a clear and present danger to our political system. Their viewership consists of 70-90 year olds, who keep Fox on because
a. they cannot find the remote
b. they are napping with the TV on
c. their hearing aids are on the dresser
d. simple lies are so much easier to believe than the truth
#6 NRA
Arming "the good guys" instead of taking guns out of the hands of bad guys is among the most stupid ideas ever created. Having teachers arm themselves in kindergartens, grade schools and high schools will lead only to more innocent deaths.
#7 Passing fads
Fads and popular movements consist of two basic types - an actual creative, counter-culture type reaction to the ineffable stupidity currently infecting our nation, and the manufactured, illegitimate people movement or pithy statement (chillaxing? SERIOUSLY?) pressed upon society by Madison Avenue in order to increase sales and profits. "Let's be cute in this Mac's ad!"
The latter is best exemplified by TeaBuggerism. A fake grass roots movement, born out the desperation of several ultra-conservative billionaires, and populated by people too dumb to know any better, TeaBuggerism is not a popular movement. Its 15 months of fame have outlived their amusement factor by 15 months. Let's piss on its grave ASAP.
The first group, actual fads or movements, are also a dying breed. That is because they all too often become fodder for modern ad campaigns, Reality TV shows, or even political slogans. The instant that a truly creative movement is referred to or incorporated by Madison Avenue types, it becomes dead. Inert. Ridiculous. Something to be ignored, if not scorned.
Unfortunately, the length of time that a new fad or movement has to live is growing incredibly short, as Madison Ave. is desperate for new ideas (and cannot be tasked with doing something on its own).
#8 Out of Control Hero Worship.
Cops walking a beat are not heroes. Firemen doing their jobs, for which they trained long and hard, are not heroes. Military men and women, serving under orders, are not heroes. People doing good deeds are not heroes.
Merriam's defines it as: "heroic conduct especially as exhibited in fulfilling a high purpose or attaining a noble end"
Heroic acts are rare, they are unique, they are not the result of people simply doing their jobs.
Our mainstream media would have us believe that everyone is a hero, if only they wake up this morning, put the right foot in the right shoe, and if they cross the street without incident. That's not heroism. That's not a unique, noble end.
I understand why MSM puts so much stock in faux hero creations. It sells papers, makes news more interesting, and distracts the public from real issues. But simply calling someone a hero does not make it so. Is General Petreaus a hero? FOR WHAT? Is someone getting shot in the line of duty a hero, all of a sudden, simply because they were shot? Hardly.
Just because a difficult situation arises does not mean that someone must be named a hero simply because they were there, and they did the job for which they were trained. Hell, day care workers and first grade teachers would be called heroes each and every day, if that were the case. Let's put a stop to this out of control hero worship and "honoring heroes" simpy because they were there or did their jobs as they were hired to do. Anything else demeans real heroism and lessened just how incredible a heroic act is.
#9 Medal Salads
I've spent time in the USSR on several occasions. The first was in 1976. The last, 1992. On each occasion, I laughed at how the Soviet Union garnished certain individuals, be they politburo members or Army Generals. A chestful of medals so shiny, so huge, that I expected the men to march with a leftward slant. By wearing so many medal and ribbons, they diminshed the whole idea of ribbons and medals.
The USA has followed suit, to my chagrin. Just look at General Betraeus and his chestfull of braggardly self-adornment. What has he done to deserve all those lovely gold, silver, and colorful medals and awards?
Take a peek at Gen. Eisenhower. This guy invaded Nazi controlled Europe, ran a short campaign (compared to our little Afghani invasion, at least) and beat a war maching bent on world domination. Look at his photos. What do you see? An honest man. A hard working man. but simply a man. Compare and contrast his images with those of Petraeus. It sickens you, doesn't it? We've become the USSR, or at least our military seems to have followed their lead.
#10 Unfettered Fiscal Cliffism
IT IS NOT AN EFFING FISCAL CLIFF. It is a rational return to a more rational tax system, in which the ultra rich pay ever higher amounts on their marginal incomes. Even under CLinton, the rich were undertaxed.
It is not bad policy to force budget cuts of the military. IN fact, it is a must. Our bloated military is insane. We spend more on our military than the next 40+ countries. Put together!
I do regret that some social services will be cut, but a rational congress would replace those programs when it starts up next year. Oh, wait. Did I use the word "rational" in the same sentence as Congress? oops.