Politics
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- _salisae_0
So I'm skimming like a mud puddle Jesus through another hunk of grammatically wretched hate mail, kindly informing me that both I and the city in which I live are godless, stinky insults to all humanity (yawn), that all of us here in Perverted Pelosiville are depraved sickos due in no small part to our pathetic liberal values (zzzz), our lack of openly displayed firearms and our obvious adoration of terrorists, immigrants, communism, anal sex, artisan coffee, organic produce and, of course, organic analterrorist sexcoffee.
All told, it's a rather uninspired, typically brainless hunk of Tea Party-grade spittle, true 2nd grade stuff that's nowhere near as nasty as some of the hate mail I used to get back in the 00's BAC (Before Anonymous Commenting) -- the absolute finest examples of which, by the way, I've included in my book, "The Daring Spectacle." It's something to see.
But this time, because this message keeps trumpeting the same old childish cliches about San Francisco in particular and blue state values in general, it caused me to actually do something I haven't done since Glenn Beck was knee-high to a crocodile tear...
I paused. Just before I hit the delete key, I actually stopped and wondered: What would happen if I did something I simply never do, and actually tried to engage this person, just a little, to speak to him with reason and tact, try to show him some facts and actual data, recent studies and long-term reports that prove, once again and for the 100th time, that the infamous "blue state" values -- particularly those about family and family structure -- that they so fear and abhor are, well, actually some of the most stable and healthiest in the country?
What if I were to trot out the irrefutable stats about, say, education levels, or teen pregnancy rates, or abortion? How about college graduation rates, marriage stability, or even adoption? What about general health? Obesity? What if I were to casually mention, with sufficient factual backup, how blue states tend to trounce nearly every red state across the board in these key markers?
Would it matter? Would the spittle-flecked bipeds who write to me (or comment down below) and misspell "commy" and "sodimite" listen or care in the slightest? I already know the answer.
But I paused on this piece of mail because I had just finished a fine article that discussed a new book, "Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture," written by a pair of typical elitist academic types the Tea Party crowd is so scared of (we hippies call these types "professors") detailing, in essence, how the "family values" that the red states so desperately cling to like drowning monkeys are exactly the ones that are undermining and sabotaging family stability in the first place. In other words, "family values" are the bane of family values. Did you already know? Of course you did.
Examples? Legion. You've probably already read about teen pregnancy rates in relation to religious belief (ref: this terrific piece from the New Yorker). It's a simple enough equation: the more religiously conservative a given state is, the more it's guaranteed to be lacking in quality sex education, easy access to -- and information about -- contraception and women's health, and the more it tends to wallow in fear of sex, the body and the stickier dynamics of human relationships.
Upshot: As the strict, antiquated religious codes of these states fail -- as they have for millennia -- a far higher number of those states' sad, uninformed teenaged girls get knocked up, marry far too young, get divorced, never get a real education, earn low wages and generally contribute to every unpleasant and downward spiraling statistic in America, right along with the slumpy males. Yay family values!
Check it: "Six of the seven states with the lowest divorce rates in 2007, and all seven with the lowest teen birthrates in 2006, voted blue in both elections. Six of the seven states with the highest divorce rates in 2007, and five of the seven with the highest teen birthrates, voted red."
With numbers like that, it's hard not to shudder in frustration, hit with an urge to hurl this information all over Fox News and the fundamentalist lintballs from the far right.
Let's pose it this way: Do you want a stable family, low divorce rate, low abortion rate, low teen pregnancy, an emphasis on intelligence, maturity and higher education? Would you like to more fully engage in the information economy, get a good job with high wages, live healthier and more spiritually free? Don't move to Alaska, or Kansas, or Texas, or any of the states so wildly drunk on "family values," silly. You go blue all the way. I mean, isn't it obvious?
(Did I mention how San Francisco was just rated the leanest city in the nation by Men's Health magazine, an admittedly mindless ranking, but still somewhat telling, especially considering Texas is home to five of the fattest cities on Earth? It's true. San Francisco is looking damn good in those jeans. Though that's probably just because we get the best cocaine and MDMA. Shhh.)
Of course, the instant I considered sending the depressed haters of me, you, this city, all "blue state" values a link to this or any of the other fine articles detailing the utter failure and bassackwardness of conservative "family values" mindsets, I just laughed and sighed and reached for my mug of analterrorist sexcoffee, remembering quite well my own hard-fought advice, dispersed not long ago.
It was a column titled, if you will, "How to talk to complete idiots" (also featured in the book, btw), which details the tragic failure of facts, science and research in the face of those real red state values, such as hysteria, alarmism and a childlishly literal interpretation of wonky Christian mythology.
But it gets better: Because even if they accept the data as partly true, the typical red state reaction is to argue that the real reason teen pregancy, abortion, divorce and so on are far worse in the "family values" states is not because the rules and religions are flawed and outdated, but because they aren't being enforced strictly enough. And for that, they blame ... you guessed it ... the liberals.
Ah, disingenuous doublethink. It's a family value.
- Teatards don't let facts get in the way. They make their own reality, like real 'muricans.********
- Teatards don't let facts get in the way. They make their own reality, like real 'muricans.
- ********0
You gotta love this guy....
President Barack Obama travels to lower Manhattan on Thursday afternoon to thank the NYPD for its heroic thwarting of an attempted Times Square bombing — but the photo op may not go according to plan.
The Department of Homeland Security told congressional officials Wednesday that it's moving to make cuts in planned anti-terror funding to New York City, less than two weeks after cops helped thwart and attempted car bombing in Times Square — an effort the White House has since pinned on the Pakistani Taliban.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/sto…
- ********0
So, the above contingent of the Teatards who's always screaming about the "government is spending too much money", uses the fact that Obama is cutting government spending to hammer Obama with.
Nice. Is that a American flag t-shirt you're wearing?
- american stripes made in bangledesh with fabric from macau********
- top quality.********
- american stripes made in bangledesh with fabric from macau
- DrBombay0
Homeland Security Funding for New York City Actually Going Up
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/201…So, cnaps has proven one more time that he is a gullible fucking tool.
- You crack me up almost as much as the prez!
Two dummys!!
How's your daddys dick tasting these days???******** - Say what you like, you were incorrect above, lizard brain. And why always with the gay domination?DrBombay
- Dude, why all the anger on your part....die of aids, hope you get cancer...i mean really, realllllyyyy???
what is the deal with you, you are always sooooo angry! cant scrape the hope and change sticker off your plug in car??? you got a small dick?? mad, you fell for voting for a empty suit that was sold to the american public like a shamwow??? honestly what is your major malfunction pvt. pyle!!!!******** - You are like an irrational ex-girlfriend. Bringing up old shit when you run out of arguments.DrBombay
- Dude, be a man, except the anger and move on. you voted for a knob, and you know it, the whole world knows it! except for the knobs like you, still waiting on that hope and change. dont hold your breath!!********
- 'Bringing up old shit when you run out of arguments.' hahaha.. oh man that's rich coming from you.mathinc
- Says the guy who lies about things he thinks I said up to 8 years ago.. Iraq war, Katrina.mathinc
- Die in a fire.DrBombay
- There you go.. get it out.. it's okay.. get it all out..mathinc
- You crack me up almost as much as the prez!
- ********0
Buffalo billboard petitions president for "a freakin' job"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/yn…9.9 percent employment.
- Khurram0
In America, first you get the money. Then when you get the money you get the power. Then when you get the power, you get the woman.
- ********0
"President I need a job.."
Huh. So exactly how is the president going to employ these people?
I know! He can try and up government spending (stimulus) since private spending is in the shitter, so the government can hire more private sector companies to improve infrastructure, technology, etc. and so on and they in turn can hire these people.
But wait, what was that JazX-tard and the Conservatives? The government can't create a deficit bc that's bad and evil and shit or whatever? Oh so, then, um what do you want the president to do if he can't use the tools of his office? Call up companies and ask nicely if they'd hire these people?
So, you're saying the president can't use the tools of his office to solve a problem and then blame him for being ineffectual in doing his job?
Yeah, sounds like what the Republicans have been doing for the last thirty years. Stick with the stupidity that brung ya.
- ********0
If the prez. cant create a job then can he loose a job? because you guys keep crying about this whole recession is one mans fault, W!
- learn how to use the word "lose" you ignorant rube.DrBombay
- Lose vs loose bugs the crap out of me too. I have to admit that Repubs are really bad at grammar and spelling.mathinc
- Yes and don't forget racists, we hate homos and puppies!!!
Like a laser you guys are, right on target!******** - Whatever man, you're not good with grammar. It's not the end of the world.mathinc
- I'm typing with the iPhone, 90% gets f-Ed up anyway! Like the cap e I didn't type in f-ed!!!********
- nah, you're just a numbskull.DrBombay
- ukit0
Conservative commentator says GOP is "doomed" unless they can appeal to blacks and hispanics
http://townhall.com/columnists/M…
There are no Republicans among the present 41 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, or among the 24 members of the Hispanic Caucus -- an absence that reflects the party's woeful performance among minority voters in recent elections and may threaten its very existence.
Consider the historic campaign of 2008, when President Barack Obama bested John McCain by a solid margin of 7.2 percentage points. According to the authoritative exit polls, the vast majority of voters (74 percent) identified themselves as "white," and McCain won a landslide among this segment of the electorate, thrashing Obama by a resounding 12 points (55 percent to 43 percent). This was the same margin that George W. Bush commanded among white voters in his 2000 victory over Al Gore. In fact, because of the larger electorate, McCain's losing effort actually drew 9.5 million more votes overall than Bush's victorious campaign of eight years before.
Why, then, did Bush win the White House while McCain suffered humiliating defeat? The answer is that in eight years the nonwhite portion of electorate soared -- from 19 percent of voters to 26 percent of voters. Among these voters, Obama won by a 4-to-1 margin -- easily wiping out McCain's big advantage among white voters.
For two reasons, these numbers command close attention for anyone concerned about the Republican future.
First, there is no chance that white voters will ever again comprise 74 percent of the electorate. Most projections for 2012 suggest that self-identified whites will comprise 70 percent or, at most, 72 percent of those who cast presidential ballots.
Second, it would be hard for any Republican to improve significantly on McCain's hefty 12-point margin among whites, which means that without an improved showing among Hispanics, blacks and Asians, GOP contenders will lose every time.
The math here is brutal and eye-opening. If Obama in 2012 wins the same percentage of the combined black, Asian and Hispanic vote that he won in 2008 (82 percent), then in order to beat him the GOP candidate would need to win an unimaginable 65 percent of all white voters -- whose numbers include such stalwart Democratic constituencies as gays, atheists, Jews and union members.
The 65 percent threshold represents a far higher percentage than Ronald Reagan won in his landslide against Jimmy Carter in 1980, or even his history-making 49-state re-election-sweep against Walter Mondale in '84.
Since white voters won't comprise larger portions of the electorate in future races, and since no Republican could compile a big enough white majority to win the election on those voters alone, that leaves only one possible path for GOP victory: more competitive performance among Hispanic, African-American and Asian citizens.
- PonyBoy0
sorry, ukit... all I read was 'race' 'race' 'race'... color of skin comparisons and numbers etc etc...
... the democrats worst nightmare is that non-white folks catch on to the fact they're being USED for votes... but won't get SHIT in return.
Drop the race talk... it's nothing more than a numbers game to solidify votes.
Do the dems really want Amnesty for illegals because they CARE about them??? ahahahaha...
... no... they care about the 30+ mill. new votes.
Stop the fucking race talk already...
- and that completely goes for the GOP too... ...they're doing the same thing - sorry to lump it all on the left.PonyBoy
- just stop using 'minorities' to push agendas... acting like you give a fuckPonyBoy
- Well it's just a numbers game at the end of the day...and parties do typically target parts of the electorateukit
- ********0
"because you guys keep crying about this whole recession is one mans fault, W!"
When did we say that? I for one have said it's been a systemic corruption of our system by the financial industry & neo-conservative Chicago School Economics beginning under Reagen, reaching it's peak with utter deregulation madness under Clinton and having W. help everyone out to completely gut the system so everyone involved can make out like bandits as the whole thing collapsed.
It's an monied, rent-seeking feudal oligarchy, not a liberal/conservative thing.
I only use left/right & conservative/liberal because you retards keep forcing me to. Somehow my opinions - a lifelong Independent voter with no party affiliation, voted for Perot ffs, gun owner, etc, - makes me a "pussy liberal" when I am in fact a common sense American. You Fox watchers, Teatards and Beckerheads have no clue of how completely far "right" you've drifted by being brainwashed, and you mouth opinions that are in direct opposition to policies that would benefit you and your families. Somehow policies for the last thirty years that have only heightened and concentrated power in elites have been sold to you dog whiestle followers as things that will benefit you individually, and marketed as something every "red-blooded 'murican individual should want without big bad gubermint on your back". Meanwhile the elites (financial elites - not cultural elites like academics, Al Gore or Hollywood celebrities - they're the shint "distraction" for you rubes) wreak the system to their benefit.
Whatever. W. was the last straw i na long chain of events. Clinton did the most actual damage, and Reagen softened the ground for him. Reagen was the covering fire, Clinton was the artillery and W. was the clean up team that came through and slit all the survivors throats. Obama seems to be the guy wandering onto the battlefield after the wreck and is figuring out how to bury the bodies.
- ********0
By the way, Goodbye Eurozone. It was nice knowing you. Buy gold. And I'm not even a fucking gold bug.
- ********0
"Give us a freakin' Job!:
Republicans say to the smart kids, no job for you!
"In an example of Republican obstructionism rendered beautiful by its simplicity, the GOP yesterday killed a House bill that would increase funding for scientific research and math and science education by forcing Democrats to vote in favor of federal employees viewing pornography."
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.c…
Now wait for it...wait for it...how long before a Republican Congress critter or talking head says "Mr, President, it's about jobs!"
Uh-huh. No it's about doing everything in your power to obstruct anything the guy does just so you can call him ineffectual.
In the free market we call those people "whiny bitches" and fire them.
- I don't say this bc I am anti-republican, I am anti-asshole.********
- I don't say this bc I am anti-republican, I am anti-asshole.
- lowimpakt0
who is Eurozone?
- ********0
Drinking with an Arizona Girl
A Mexican, an Arab, and an Arizona girl are in the same bar.
When the Mexican finishes his beer, he throws his glass in the air,
pulls out his pistol, and shoots the glass to pieces. He says,'In
Mexico, our glasses are so cheap we don't need to drink with the same one twice.'
The Arab, obviously impressed by this, drinks non-alcohol beer ('cuz
he's a Muslim), throws it into the air, pulls out his AK-47, and shoots
the glass to pieces. He says, 'In the Arab World, we have so much sand to make glasses that we don't need to drink with the same one twice either.'The Arizona girl, cool as a cucumber, picks up her beer, downs it in
one gulp, throws the glass into the air, whips out her 45, and shoots
the Mexican and the Arab.Catching her glass, setting it on the bar, and calling for a refill,
she says, 'In Arizona, we have so many illegal aliens that we don't have to drink with the same ones twice.'
> God Bless Arizona!!!- If you think that's funny then there's something wrong with you. I support the AZ law but this.. is just dumb.mathinc
- I want my 10 seconds backMimio
- I think its the funniest, joke in the world...matter of fact, i think its super duper funny!
you know what else i think, YOU SHOULD ALL GET A SENSE OF HUMOR!!!!******** - welcome to 1991BattleAxe
- ********0
Drinking with an Arizona Girl
A Mexican, an Arab, and an Arizona girl are in the same bar.
When the Mexican finishes his beer, he throws his glass in the air,
pulls out his pistol, and shoots the glass to pieces. He says,'In
Mexico, our glasses are so cheap we don't need to drink with the same one twice.'
The Arab, obviously impressed by this, drinks non-alcohol beer ('cuz
he's a Muslim), throws it into the air, pulls out his AK-47, and shoots
the glass to pieces. He says, 'In the Arab World, we have so much sand to make glasses that we don't need to drink with the same one twice either.'
The Arizona girl, cool as a cucumber, picks up her beer, downs it in
one gulp, throws the glass into the air, whips out her 45, and shoots
the Mexican and the Arab.
Catching her glass, setting it on the bar, and calling for a refill,
she says, 'In Arizona, we have so many illegal aliens that we don't have to drink with the same ones twice.'
> God Bless Arizona!!!- IT'S ACTUALLY FUNNIER THE SECOND TIME! ********
- still 1991BattleAxe
- IT'S ACTUALLY FUNNIER THE SECOND TIME!
- dasohr0
cool story bro
- ********0
High Court Upholds Sex Offender Law
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.c…In a 7-2 ruling penned by Justice Stephen Breyer, the Supreme Court says a federal law passed by Congress to keep convicted sex offenders confined beyond the term of their prison sentences is Constitutional. The decision, however, does not foreclose the opportunity for the offenders from continuing to challenge their detention under other legal grounds.
Justice Breyer says there are sound reasons for the law adding that "The Federal Government, as custodian of its prisoners, has the constitutional power to act in order to protect nearby (and other) communities from the danger such prisoners may pose."
- ********0
San Diego Faces Own Medicine as Arizona Residents Cancel Travel Following Boycott of State
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/…
- ********0
Chomsky barred from West Bank
MIT professor turned away at Jordan border
http://www.boston.com/news/local…