Newsweek’s Cover Is…A Bit Much [Buzzfeed]

I have founded and run one of the largest real estate empires in the world. I employ thousands of people. Why am I the enemy?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2012

[via @anamariecox]

[LAT]

During our Summer Vacation! from blogging, we’ve been trying to nail down what annoys the shit out of us about American politics.

The proximate cause was the situation we found ourself in at the end of Spring: With the Republican nomination decided, the Usual Suspects were saying the Usual Things, and after four years, we had exhausted our Usual Responses to them. It had all become Kabuki theater. Or endless reruns.

Also, there’s not much to say about Mitt’s Lies, except that Mitt is an Interminable Liar. Ideologues are a lot more fun. Ideologues seriously propose American statehood for Moon bases.

But it wasn’t until listening to Dana Gould’s latest podcast — Gould is best known as a former Simpsons writer — that we heard the specific reason for our Summer of Discontent:

“Politics is professional wrestling with ties.”

Read more »

Jesus Christ, it’s only the 5th of the month and we already have a mass slaughter by a crazed shooter, this time in an act of “domestic terrorism” directed at Sikh Americans.  Unfortunately, Sikhs have been killed before by ignorant jackasses who thought they were Muslim. Brown, bearded, wearing a turban? Obviously, must be a terr-rist!  (Not that it would ever be acceptable to kill random Muslims, this inability to tell the difference between Sikhs and Muslims is more a telling statement on the lack of knowledge/education in the idiocracy known as the U-S-A.)

From the AP:

Since 9/11, Sikh groups in the United States have reported a rise in bias attacks. There have been more than 700 reports of hate-related incidents against Sikhs since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, according to the Associated Press. “Sikhs don’t practice the same religion as Muslims,” the AP noted, “but their long beards and turbans often cause them to be mistaken for Muslims, advocates say.”

In the wake of the shooting in Wisconsin, law enforcement officials in other cities, including New York City, increased patrols near Sikh temples on Sunday. However, there is no known threat against Sikh temples in New York, the NYPD said.

[NYT]

Because why not?