GOP Twit of the Day

Senator John McCain

Bonus twit: Erick Erickson

STS-127

I'm thinking about legally changing my name to STS-127, just to be troublesome at the BMV.

Added: The official blog

When All Else Fails, Scream

The logic of Glenn Beck

Alabama

Flip-Flops

They're all the rage this summer in Alaska.

Suspicious Minds

I can understand why a person seeking a driver's license for the first time should have to provide verifiable forms of identification to the BMV such as a passport or birth certificate. But I agree that the new regulations concerning licenses raise serious questions about the intent of the law.

I first heard about these new requirements on Saturday while attending a family reunion. My uncle had recently renewed his drivers license, and he couldn't understand why he needed additional identification to renew a license he had held for the past 52 years.

Behold

... the jabbering idiocy of Senator Jeff Sessions.

(link via the Wonk Room)

Added: "Shades of Annie Hall" indeed

GOP Brain Trust Update

RNC Chairman Michael Steele visited Indiana last week and was immediately cornered by Josh Gillespie in what appears to be a refurbished confessional. Follow the link and you'll of find a video of Steele being asked a question about "diverse populations" in the GOP and an answer from the Chairman that includes a demonstration of his intellectual prowess. Says Steele:

"It's a pretty inclusive idea to say black people are human beings and should not be slaves. When all the world is saying they are, our party said they're not and they fought for it. And not only did they fight for it they included it in such like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and they made it very clear and defined very clearly that we are one nation under God, indivisible, free, and that included everybody..."

Scholars of American history will be surprised to learn that the Republican Party, an organization that did not exist until the middle of the 19th Century, was somehow involved in the composition of the Bill of Rights, which was ratified in 1789.

Added: Bil Browning points out Steele's belief that life in a contemporary African-American family resembles reruns of Sanford and Son.

Art Blogging

The Duomo, Florence - Oskar Kok0schka, 1948.

Bad Metal Monday

The singer's voice makes me want to punch babies.

Deep Thought

Obama is a tool of special interests and that's why Republicans need to stand up for insurance corporations.

Civil Discourse: Harrison County GOP Style

Here is Harrison County GOP Chairman Scott Fluhr slagging the first lady:

And at photo ops, with countless cameras clicking away, and with your wife sure to tear you a new one? Would you want Madam Worf going all Klingon on you? I thought not. Then again, if you were married to Michelle Obama, your eyes might wander a lot too.

This is Scott Fluhr:

Hey Gilligan, the Skipper wants you.

Democracy For The Worthy

Sweet Jesus, I hates me some News-Sentinel:

A coalition of advocacy groups has filed suit against Indiana, claiming the state is violating the part of the federal “motor voter” law requiring voter registration services for low-income residents. The advocacy groups say most states have programs for driver’s license registration, but many ignore the public-assistance requirement. For example, Project Vote reported that none of 21 people interviewed as they left Indiana public- assistance offices last year had been given a voter registration application.

An attorney for the groups says Indiana is one of the worst offenders. Voter registration at sites for low-income people declined from 3,400 people in 1995-96, when the law took effect, to 105 last year.

A spokesman for the state said employees are trained to offer voter registration, and the big drop in registrations can be attributed to the fact that there are so many other places to register. He may have a point.

And let’s be honest. No one is trying to prevent anyone from registering or even make it hard to register. The state is accused of “routinely failing to distribute voter registration applications” and providing help “in completing those applications.” Those aren’t exactly crimes of the century.

Every once in awhile, people drop their guard tell and you how they really feel. Today, The News-Sentinel Editorial board's utter disdain for the poor and needy is laid out for all to see.

Don’t misunderstand. The law is the law, and if Indiana is failing to meet it, changes must be made, even if that involves ensuring all manuals are up to date and all employees are up on their training.

But it’s hard to believe there are that many who want to participate in civic life but can’t. There are so many places where people can register without particularly going out of their way. Those who don’t participate under current conditions simply don’t care enough to do so. There are already too many voters who rarely even show up and have no clue about any of the issues when they do vote.

Of course, this sentiment is nothing new on the pages of the News-Sentinel. Over the Fourth of July Holiday, veteran NS reporter Kevin Leininger penned a column that served as little more than a frontal assault on voting patterns of the poor and minorities. According to Leininger, anyone who refuses to agree with his interpretation of America's founding documents is "narcissistic" and "shallow", and Republicans lost the last election because of Obama's "likability" and "charisma", not because of a resounding rejection of Republican rule.

Two different columns, yet strikingly similar themes. The poor, minorities, and non-Republicans are too stupid, too ignorant of history and current events to make an acceptable choice in the voting booth. It's the favored argument of a conservative movement that has for years fed off the prejudices and fears of the electorate and is unable to adapt when voting demographics shift. The party of hateful, old white-men is subordinated to its Southern enclaves, and rather than admit this reality, the News-Sentinel lashes out at the poor.

Watching SCOTUS Hearing

Shorter Lindsay Graham:

The problem isn't that you're Hispanic. The problem is, you're an opinionated Hispanic.

Shorter John Cornyn:

This hearing would be a lot easier if you agreed with me on each and every issue.

An Aerial View of Sarah Palin's Political Career

GOPerverts

Scott Fluhr seems pretty... "excited" about a picture of a 16 year old girl's backside. Scott has always struck me as a profoundly dishonest shill, but I've never gauged him as a fan of the underage ladies. Oh well, good luck with all that Scott.

Here's the video of the POTUS and the G8 photo shoot: Via FOX News I might add:

Barry and Gorby

I dig the painting of Marshal Zhukov behind Gorbachev's head. Really sets the room off.

(Pic via WH photostream)

Couldn't God Have Rested On The Day He Created Marlin Stutzman?

In a state that John McCain and Governor Mooseburger lost (probably thanks to Bob Barr), State Senator, Snarlin' Marlin Stutzman thinks he stands a chance against Evan Bayh, a Democrat wholly dedicated to undermining his own party's agenda.

Marlin's strategy? Play to the base!

It worked out so well for McPalin. Why change a thing?

Your 5 Minute Leo

Shorter Leo Morris:

Selling cheeseburgers and providing affordable access to a college education are pretty much the same thing.

There are numerous private colleges and/or universities in Indiana, all offering various degrees at a range of prices. I'm not sure what qualifies this as a "monopoly", as Leo states. He doesn't seem concerned about explaining what he has written.

Calenders Desperately Needed

People still lighting off fireworks are the summertime equivalent of the neighbor who keeps Christmas lights up until Valentines Day.

Your 5 Minute Leo

Today, Leo Morris is bitching about children ... again. Specifically, Leo thinks it's still the year 1992, and textbooks are priced accordingly. Plus he thinks that requiring parents to pay $35 a year to rent a notebook computer is against the spirit of Indiana's Constitutional guarantee of a free education. Leo may have a point there, but first he might want to look up textbook prices.

Sayeth Uncle Leo:

It’s not the $35-a-semester rental fee that’s the biggest economic worry for parents. Those “policies identical to those of textbooks” include students being held responsible for damages and losses. There’s a big difference between losing a $30 textbook and dropping a $460 netbook. And why are they paying that much anyway?

Lakeland School Corporation in LaGrange County Indiana currently issues the textbook Creating History: A History of the United States for its 8th grade Social Studies classes. It can be purchased on Amazon for $73, but the school buys in bulk through a publishing rep, so I'm guessing they pay less. The point being, it's not cheap to replace an individual textbook, and I'm not sure how many hardcover texts (the preference as they last longer) are listed at $30 a piece.

Yo Leo, it's called a search engine, wonderful technology.

Way To Go Nostradamus

Scott Fluhr thinks Governor Daniels might run for the White House in 2012:

I’ve gone from being a Mitch for President skeptic to something of a believer. At least, a believer that he’ll run, not so much a believer in him as a candidate.

And since I came to that opinion, the potential GOP field has continued to narrow, Mitch’s stock has continued to rise, events in Indiana (like the budget showdown) have conspired to elevate the profile of the Governor, and little things like this website continue to show up.

And I don’t believe in coincidences.

Now, a skeptic might say that 2012 is a long way off, and it's really pointless to start speculation like this at such an early date. Then again, Presidential runs are not cheap, and the sooner The Blade starts raising money the better for him. Me, I say wait and see how the midterms shake out and that will give us all a better idea about which way the voters are leaning, especially as it concerns intra-party politics. But I'm not a party big shot like Mr. Fluhr, so I don't see how my opinion can even compare.

For instance, here is what Scott wrote the day after the Palin/Biden debate:

She was, as many people have said, shockingly ordinary. And for someone so ordinary and representative of the everyperson, she held her own against Joe Biden, the verbose windbag and vainglorious buffoon that is the personification of the Washington establishment.

And in a "throw the bums out" year, this sort of everyperson holding their own against the personification of a do-nothing Congress and a government in gridlock can't be anything but a good thing.

So how's that working out Scott?

GOP Twit of the Day

Congressman Steve King

Art Blogging

Venus and Mars - Sandro Botticelli, circa 1483.

Joni Blogging