Kennebunkum

I suppose we all assumed that CIA officials are always true gentlemen. Actually both President Bush 41 and Senator McCain have that rare distinction of being naval aviators who were shot down in combat and are perceived as neither unlucky nor incompetent.

Republicans take over school districts. Democrats watch The Daily Show.

Republicans co-opt the Supreme Court. Democrats watch The Daily Show.

Republicans rape the electoral system. Democrats watch The Daily Show.

Blurb: “Never before has a President told the story of his father, another President, through his own eyes and in his own words.”

Fucking Bushies lie about everything. John Quincy Adams wrote a biography of his father that was incorporated into a book about John Adams published by JQA’s son/Adams’ grandson.

@Benedick: Amen. And this.

@SanFranLefty: A lot of bloggers/pundits/others keep assuming that the next generation will be more sane – the old people who vote GOP will die off, and the young will come to their senses. No. They will make new idiots. Guaranteed.

@blogenfreude: I saw the greatest minds of my generation turn into neocon mush.

Yes, children, The Great Neocon Wave swept through colleges in the late Seventies — full of, y’know, young people! — because the Republicans were The Party of Ideas, and it was all very exciting. And by exciting, I mean chilling.

Youth, alas, is no protection against idiocy.

Indians take over the Keystone Pipeline.

Oh, and also coming down off of a Being Human (UK) binge. Spit spot indeed. Still confused about how smashing the granny out of someone came to be an expression.

@SanFranLefty: Yes, but his examples were only made possible after big election wins. I still hike trails here made under Roosevelt’s work programs. Sadly neglected but still there.

But I’ve been hearing how the Republicans Can’t Win Because Old since the 60s. Some of us even longer. I think Catt can tell you they are saying the same thing when they brought electric light to Wall Street.

@JNOV: I have to go there: what do Limeys know about being human?

@Benedick: They love their grannies?

@SanFranLefty: Thank the FSM that someone is actually getting the truth out in the traditional media about the Democratic demise. Running to the right never has inspired anyone to vote for Democrats, only to vote against the even more whackadoodle, neo-nutzie Republicans. I’ve often wondered if the Democrats are simply incompetent, or if they collude with the Republicans to move the country further and further to the right, thus functioning as two factions of the same corporate-supremacist kleptocracy.

The core problem is that the Democrats must appease to two groups with fundamentally incompatible agendas: The impoverished masses versus the zillionaires that pay for the elections. This task is impossible by definition.

It’s not that the system is hopelessly corrupt: Corruption is the system. The only solution is banning private campaign contributions and holding publicly financed elections; however, nothing short of an armed revolution will bring about this change in our politics. Good luck with that happening when Dancing with the Stars is on or some skank with a huge ass posts nude photos online.

@SanFranLefty: Did you see Jessica Williams’ piece about this on the Daily Show?

@¡Andrew!: The only solution is banning private campaign contributions and holding publicly financed elections

I’ve resisted this for some reason or another over the years, don’t ask me why. (Really, don’t. Can’t remember.) But set aside Corruption and Influence and other Big Talk, and here’s what it comes down to:

Congresscritters spend half their time raising money.

In the office. On the phone. Every fucking day.

That’s what finally settles it for me: Money in politics is a huge waste of time. (And then, beyond that, fundamentally corrupt.) Nothing will change, of course, but at least I can watch the Daily Show in peace.

@nojo: It’s the same with musical theatre. Artistic directors nationwide spend all their time fundraising. It’s daft.

@¡Andrew!: I blame the gays. The marriage equality fight has diverted everyone, given everyone something to talk about (and talk and talk, and raise money, and talk and talk), it won’t affect anyone except those of us who are affected (raises hand), and has taken everyone’s mind off what’s important. I mean to the country at large. I swear, if we didn’t exist they’d have had to invent us. I say we should all get a yearly stipend from GOP HQ. Bisexuals twice yearly.

In more important news: the daffodils are in and half the tulips. Should get the rest in before it gets too cold – as the bishop said to the actress.

@Benedick: No argument there. The Right Wing Noise Machine needs bogeymen to tell their glassy-eyed supplicants to freak out about. Gaze, Mooslems, sharks, ISIS, Ebolas: They’re all ah-gonna keel Real, Straight, White America dead, dead, dead.

Damn us gays back to the Disco Hell we screwed our way out of (thump, thump, thump).

@¡Andrew!: I’m too young to remember disco. That’s more Catt’s territory. I do believe I read somewhere that he was hand cranking 78s when that was a thing.

@Benedick: Hurry with those tulips. The Ohio Valley has temperatures in the 20s and 4+ inches of snow.

@Dave H: Jesus, I know. It was raining all day. But it was warm. It’ll be cold tonight but the magic no-dig cardboard flower bed I made in front of the house will be workable for a while. I’ve only got about 200 bulbs to put in and it won’t take me more than a half an hour. They will be black and pink doubles. I don’t know if any of the broken tulips I put in last year will come back. I didn’t do this year what I usually do and order suites of color. I can only plant them right outside otherwise the fucking bunnies or/and deer eat them. Fingers crossed.

/legal beagle/

I went to court today to fight a traffic camera ticket after spending the last few days practicing “objection, your honor!” and “this entire court is out of order!”

The court had a defendant self-check-in kiosk. Sweet FSM, that is so Seattle.

I got it reduced by $65–ah, the sweet taste of victory.

@¡Andrew!: Ars Technica has been following the legal travails of the major red-light camera company. It ain’t pretty, especially how they place cameras for income and not safety.

@¡Andrew!: Sidebar! Sidebar!

Did you get some snow over the weekend? My daughter said they got a “dusting” in Portland.

@Dodgerblue: No, it’s been strangely warm (30s to low 50s) and sunny in my hood for over a week. I keep waiting for the usual 10 trillion gallons to drop.

@nojo:
@¡Andrew!:
So glad I retired/was retired from politics. Every other fall, I’m glad I have the free time to cut firewood, go fishing, hang with the fam, etc. I went to one event this fall. Gave a check to an old friend of mine, who said “do you want to give it to (the candidate) so he knows where it came from?” I told him “nah, man, I don’t need to do that.” I got introduced to the room despite doing my best to blend in with the wall.

Weird feeling when you host a fund raiser to walk out with your congressman and give him a wad of checks that he stuffs into his coat pocket.

@redmanlaw: Isn’t that what we call bribery? Glad you’re having good times.

@¡Andrew!: Darling, you always appeal a traffic ticket. Even if they’re helping you out of the car after you drove through the window at Denny’s. Who cares if it makes no sense. Some money better than none.

Damn the oil/gas industry in Canada City is really sensitive.

Make one comment agreeing that Syncrude is in reality a shitty, dirty and extremely costly CO2 producing fuel and now they’re all up in your internet face wanting you to be one of their internet toadies.

But seriously Nojo, ban that ad.

@ManchuCandidate: I needs a URL, which means you needs to click it next time it shows up.

@Benedick: It’s like NPR – slip ém a few bucks if you like the programming.

I dropped NPR when they rolled over the Gulf War and have never gone back, btw.

@redmanlaw: I dropped it when Brian Lehrer (WNYC) failed to confront a health care “expert” who insisted that death panels were real during the Obamacare debate. Betsy something … she wrote a piece in Slate about the Clintons’ attempt to reform the healthcare system. They had to print a huge retraction when they figured out that it was a mass of lies. I commented during the show on their blog that BL should confront her. My comments were deleted as too vitriolic. Fuck you if you can’t call a lie a lie.