Conservatives Don't Want a Coherent anti-ISIS Strategy from Obama — “Just Military Porn Talk”

On last night's The Daily Show, Jon Stewart  nailed conservatives for their unrelenting/unfocused attacks on Obama's foreign policy.  As he put it:  “No details, no strategy — just military porn talk.”

And then, mimicking Donald Trump, he said:

“The president’s gotta go balls deep into ISIS in every orifice possible all night long until it screams with surrender — like most things that have spent the night with me — it’ll wish it had never been f*cking born.”

Jon Stewart also explained why the hysterical nonstop blubberings of rightwing demagogues have more traction with the public than the level-headed coherent factual approach favored by liberals and moderates:

“It’s what the medical community calls MSNBC-itis.  It’s a condition where one uses facts and research to refute opponents, delivered whilst bespectacled, in a tone suggesting you can’t believe you have to explain this to these f*cking idiots — again. Symptoms include: cancellation.”

Warfare Queens and their Culture of Defendency

Gotta love Jon Stewart's take on the trillions of dollars worth of corporate food stamps being doled out to Halliburton and the rest of our leeching “defense” contractors.  Congressional chickenhawks — acting on orders from their corporate masters — are dutifully whipping patriotic Americans into another frenzy.  More war.  More corporate handouts.

Jon Stewart said:

“I'm really worried about the Republicans. Their inability to wean themselves off of military intervention. They have a culture of defendency, if you will. And I believe it's turned them all into warfare queens.  And I think we need to cut them off for their own good.”

And:

“Remember that time we invaded Iraq to remove the threat of the world's most dangerous people using the world's most dangerous weapons, and it turned out that the threat wasn't there? Well, good news. The threat's there now!  In some measure, due to the destabilizing effect of our intervention. And you'll never guess what the people who hyped the original plan would like to do now.”

“Yes, there is apparently no country Republicans will not put under the protection of the United States. Well, except one...So basically, when we give other countries government assistance, they handle it great. But when we get it ourselves, we fuck it all up. Why is it you don't seem to care about unintended consequences, waste, fraud, and abuse, and culture of dependency when it comes to the unlimited checkbook we have for foreign military adventures?”

When “Stand Your Ground” bumps into “Open Carry,” What Happens?

I'm pretty much in between on the whole Second Amendment controversy.  I don't own a gun, but I think guns are more of a symptom of our problems than the underlying cause.  But Jon Stewart brought up some interesting questions last night on The Daily Show.

Under the ever-more-common Stand Your Ground laws, you have the right to take whatever action you feel is necessary if you think you're in danger (e.g. George Zimmerman's defense).  Open Carry laws — also spreading like wildfire — allow you to carry your assault rifle anywhere you want, any time, for any reason.  When these two “rights” come into conflict, what could possibly go wrong?

I first saw the term “rights inflation” about twenty years ago in a Marin County (CA) newspaper.  I've never seen the term since then, but it pretty well described the prevailing mindset, and the potential for conflict when one person's rights come up against somebody else's rights.  Marin County is famous for having some of the trendiest and most self-absorbed people in the country.  Astronomers have still never figured out how the world can simultaneously revolve around every man, woman and child in Marin County.

Anyway, the article about rights inflation was talking about the rights of smokers to light up anywhere they want, any time they want (this was before public smoking was banned almost everywhere) vs. a non-smoker's right to never ever be within half a mile of a lit cigarette.  Another example was soccer moms (I don't think that term existed back then) trying to ban all dogs from public athletic fields so their precious children won't possibly step in any dog poo during a soccer game, vs. dog walkers' rights to take their dogs anywhere, everywhere and let them do their business whenever, wherever.

Anyway, I thought the term rights inflation pretty well summed up the prevailing mentality.  But in Marin County at the time, the worst that could happen would be two yuppies arguing over their non-fat half-caf cinnamon lattes.

The stakes might be a little higher when a big macho guy walks into a restaurant waving his AK-47 in everyone's faces, and a paranoid twitch with a concealed weapon permit gets all panicky, thinks “Oh My God, he has a machine gun!” and defends himself under the Stand Your Ground law.  Who wins?  Who was “right?”

Just asking.

GOP: Special Victims Unit

The Daily Show is offering its condolences to Republicans after the years of slander and meanness they’ve had to put up with. Finally, somebody is acknowledging conservatives’ eternal victimhood. If you’re like me, a part of you dies every time some godless cashier says “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas.

Political correctness, Fascist liberals attacking anyone who disagrees with them — as Sean Hannity said:

“It’s so vicious, it’s so mean, it’s so cruel. And I don’t hear this coming from conservatives about liberals.”

You tell ‘em Sean!

And now, fellow Teatards, Jon Stewart feels your pain.

Jon Stewart and Republican Hypocrisy over 9/11 First Responders

It isn’t exactly a newsflash that the GOP is a bunch of two-faced motherfuckers. Tax loopholes for hedge fund managers are more important than unemployment insurance for people who’ve lost their jobs during the worst downturn in seventy years. War is good, as long as I don’t have to do any of the fighting myself.

And remember: if anyone criticizes or even questions the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, scream “9/11” at the top of your lungs. And what about the 9/11 First Responders who are sick or disabled? Fuck ‘em! They were last year’s prop. We don’t need ‘em any more. Run along now.

Here are links to three recent Daily Show segments. Even by Jon Stewart standards, he tears conservatives a new one.

This article has two Jon Stewart videos; and the third one is found here.

I hope you’ll check out the three videos when you get a chance. You’ll laugh while pounding your fist on the keyboard.

Happy Easter — and a Question

This article is titled: “Why Are Pedophilia-Hiding, Child-Abusing Church Fathers Allowed to Write Laws About Women's Bodies?”

Well?

I can’t come up with an answer to that one. Can you?

Or maybe there isn’t an answer. Maybe it’s — as Jon Stewart would say — a “moment of Zen.” You could think of it as a koan, like “what is the sound of one hand clapping?”

What say you?