THE WINGNUT OLYMPICS

The Wingnut Olympics were held Bayou la Batre, Alabama last week.

The 'Birthers' came out of the gate strongly with strident claims that Barrack Obama was not born in the US of A. They trotted out all sorts of manufactured 'evidence' and theories to 'prove' their case. But, they were ruled out on a 'lunacy' technicality when a Birther fringe element laid out a case that, in fact, not only was Obama not even born in the country, but not on the planet Earth. Their contention was that Obama was a 'droid' manufactured on the as yet undiscovered planet "Sublime" by a socialist race with communistic tendencies.

Supposedly, and according to the Birthers, the obama droid was 'inserted' into the mainstream 'milieu' and programmed to gain traction in Chicago, Illinois. Why Chicago should be chosen was beyond anyone's comprehension - hence the lunacy disqualification.

The fundamentalist Christian faction, always strong contenders, went out to an early lead which they stubbornly, if absurdly, defended throughout most of the entire event. Led by Sarah Palin in partnership with James Dobson, they attempted to perform 'de facto exorcisms' via telekinesis of Obama, Sonia Sotomayor and Tinky Winky of Teletubbie fame.


When this failed, Palin volunteered herself as a subject in a desperate attempt to hold onto the lead. And, in fact, several demons WERE successfully exorcised from Palin, but several even more heinous ones were not. The voo-doo priest who performed the exorcism then took his own life by 'self-will' on the stage in front of thousands of excited fans, some of whom were actually splattered by chicken blood. As a result of that, the entire attempt was deemed a fraud and a failure by the judges.

But, no matter. The judges were immediately overruled by the very Reverend Pat Robertson who opined, "Hey, if I can make God steer hurricanes, why can't I overrule a few corporeal judges? But Robertson himself was then distracted by some peculiarly nasty controversies concerning the abysmal treatment of workers at one of his diamond mines in Africa, and lost control of the situation. The judges ultimately prevailed and ruled the fundamentalists out. The fundamentalists stomped out of the event, but not before angrily dynamiting the administration building and torching a number of the judges.

"Peace on Earth and good will to men.' n'est pas?

But the real heroes of the event were the Flat Earthers and the Global Warming Deniers, who although small in number, displayed a strength far beyond their apparent capacity. Buoyed by massive infusions of cash from their multi-national oil company sponsors, they were a force to contend with throughout.

The FE's and the GWD's were themselves strongly aided by the anti-abortion crowd, who threw a wild care in the event with their claims that human life begins at very first thought of any sexual thought by the male of the species. Although wags like to call this the 'Horny Toad Conundrum', the judges seemed to give the idea a lot of credence.

It was only when the Pentecostal Snake Handlers crowd began wholesale lobbying for the 'Right to Life' for unborn snakes 'even before the egg' that the judges realized their error and reversed themselves.

The gold medal winners turned out to be 'Cynical Corporate Masters', as if there ever were really any doubt. These cynical, behind-the-scenes manipulators of the intellectually challenged, controlled everyone else through the medium of Fox news and corporate shills such as Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly. Most of the above contenders coincidentally, already qualify on the intellectually challenged account. As a result the CCM's ruled the event, and laughed hilariously all the way to the bank afterwards.

Sarah Palin Has Left Alaska in Terrible Danger!

We may all be mortally screwed.

What many people lost sight of in the past few weeks since Sarah Palin quit as governor is the terrible danger she has left Alaska and the entire United States in. Did Sarah Palin quit in a moment of frustration at the treatment she perceived she got at the hands of her detractors? She had been after all, the darling of conservatives everywhere. But, did she even stop to think about the danger she was thereby letting us all in for?

Conservative men and women everywhere drooled over Palin's attractive sexy school m'arm looks, aided and abetted with lot's of winks, coy glances, flirtatious smirks, cheerleader grins and 'Pit Bull with Liptick' references. I've had completely sane and sensible men and women say to me, "Man! I really like the way that Sarah Palin expresses herself! She's so sensible and down to earth and all"

They sometimes, even often, say such things even after hearing something she may say like,

(From her resignation speech):

“Democracy depends on you, and that is why — that’s why our troops are willing to die for you. So how about in honor of the American soldier, you quit makin’ things up.”

(Or, like from her interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News):

"What's more than I thought would be is, we're hearing a lot of good rhetoric. A lot of this is wrapped in good rhetoric, but we're not seeing those actions, and this many months into the new administration, quite disappointed, quite frustrated with not seeing those actions to rein in spending, slow down the growth of government. Instead, Sean it's the complete opposite. It's expanding at such a large degree that if Americans aren't paying attention, unfortunately, our country could evolve into something that we do not even recognize, certainly that is so far from what the founders of our country had in mind for us."

(Or, like from her statement on the health care reform debate):

"The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care, Such a system is downright evil,"

Conservatives sure seem to get a perception of Palin's marvelous intellectual acuity from reading or hearing what she says, which seems beyond the comprehension of most of us. That is understandable. When Katie Couric asked Palin which newspapers and magazines she read, Palin answered "Oh, I don't know, all of 'em". Boy, the rest of us sure can't match that! It probably would have taken her far too long to list them I'm sure. That is the reason we find a lot of what Palin says so puzzling and nonsensical. We just ain't as smart and well read as she is by golly! I mean, who could be?

But now with her resignation, the real issue is the grave danger we all suddenly find ourselves in - and it all seems to be Sarah Palin's fault.

For example, who in the world will now be on the alert and watching Russia from their house in Alaska? Certainly not Sean Parnell, the new governor. He's far too busy, besides I've been told he actually lives in the governor's mansion in Juneau, a long, long way from, and not at all in sight of Russia as Palin's house was said to be.

And, what in the world will happen if, Heaven forbid, Vladimir Putin should ever again rear his ugly head as Sarah warned? Goodness knows, there can be no one else like Sarah Palin with the alertness, ability and experience to deal with that ugly scenario. Especially seeing as he, as Sarah says, has to fly directly over Alaska to get to our country.

Some even call her 'inexperienced', but never forget that Sarah Palin actually attended school in Moscow . . . . Idaho. Yes, indeed, Idaho I know, but it IS a 'Moscow' nonetheless. And she ran an entire town in Alaska of over 6,000 people too as mayor. Don't forget that. Ubetcha.

So now, with her resignation we have lost the one person with the acuity, the alertness, the experience and the intellectual proficiency to protect us all. God help us all!

I surely do hope all Sarah's enemies are happy now!

The American Media and the US Crusade Against Gog and Magog

Did you know that US president George W. Bush viewed the war in Iraq as a mission from God to combat Gog and Magog? Well, neither did I, but apparently that is true, according to an article by editor James A. Haught of the Charleston, WVA Gazette.

Bush actually called French premier Jacques Chirac by telephone in early 2003 and told him: "Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East. ... The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled. ... This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins."

Sounds a lot like Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, doesn't it? And, Bush must have had a direct link with the God of Christianity to be able to tell Chirac what God wanted . . .

Haught's newspaper is the only US paper to publish this astounding bit of news - until the Juneau Empire in Alaska republished it today. The Toronto Star in Canada is the only other paper in the western hemisphere to report it. Why? Apparently other media, if they even knew about it, found the story to be too incredible to believe.

I am coming to believe that the American media today is too fearful to seriously challenge the bizarros from the right. I can't explain it any other way. True, you do have a few like Jon Stewart who try to throw a spotlight on the incredible dementia which seems to be proliferating. But his brand of journalism is commonly viewed as 'comedy' - albeit closer to the truth than almost anything else out there.

Gene Lyons of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist writes about Ann Coulter's book: ""Slander," I once noted that "the 'liberal' sins (she) caricatures -- atheism, cosmopolitanism, sexual license, moral relativism, communism, disloyalty and treason -- are basically identical to the crimes of the Jews as Hitler saw them.""

The real tragicomedy is the craziness emanating from those who otherwise might seem to be fairly normal people - until they open their mouths to spew their brand of political invective, hate, hyperbole and falsehoods. With no apologies mind you. You see Sarah Palin declaiming about 'Death Panels', and the incessant nonsense Fox News puts out under their brand of 'journalism'. Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are nothing but shills for right wing extremism and corportocracy. One has to wonder what the powers that be behind all this hope to gain in the end. A 'New Republic"? A "Fifth Reich"?

The danger to all of us is the constant stream of deceitful propaganda directed at the 'already convinced' which motivates some of the more extreme elements to violence and ever more craziness. Some of their comments in the blogosphere border on insanity. They seem to prefer to believe the shrill, self-serving doctrinal lies over bothering to actually check facts for themselves.

Our situation today is eerily similar to Germany's just prior to the Nazi takeover in the early 'thirties.

Health Care In The United States is Broken

Health care in our country is broken. Big time.

Almost everyone agrees on that. Costs are far too high and the overall benefit and quality of our health care system now ranks below those of many third world nations including Malta's and Costa Rico's. We rank just two notches above Cuba, an economically blasted nation as a result of nearly 50 years of strident economic sanctions courtesy of the US of A.

Most other advanced nations around the world are appalled such a country as rich and advanced as ours does not provide basic health care for huge segments of our population. Even larger segments receive seriously sub-standard care. Many people do without basic preventative medicine because they simply cannot afford it. The added costs due to this one factor alone is immeasurable.

Just compare us to one country, Japan, which ranks #10 worldwide on health care versus the United States which ranks #37. In Japan, 87% of all health care costs are paid by government, in the US 46%; Life expectancy in Japan is almost 5 years more than in the US,. Infant mortality rate in the United States is 246% of Japan's, while our per capita expenditure on health care is 271% of that of Japan's. It is painfully obvious something is dreadfully wrong here.

Why is this? The answer in three little words is pure and simple: GREED, GREED, GREED.

A large number of individuals and corporations grow rich off sick Americans. The sicker more Americans are, the richer they become. Sure, it's cynical, shameful and outrageous, but it is also a stone cold shameful fact. They pull this off because of our much revered 'capitalist' system, which is supposed to reward those who are innovative and who work hard, but often doesn't work that way. But, if you dare to question capitalism in this country you will surely be attacked as 'Communist', 'socialist', or at the very least a 'tax and spend liberal'. All swear words 'conservatives' love to use and throw at moderates of any stripe.

The American Medical Association stridently opposed Medicare 30 years ago, and continues to oppose anything that changes the status quo to this day - even though they acknowledge something is seriously wrong. The American Health Care Plans group, which represents insurance companies spends buckets of money to influence Congress against change to the status quo. And why should insurance companies want any change? They don't really care to what astronomical heights cost rise since their earnings are a percentage of total costs after all. They do BETTER when costs are high!

The health sector has increased political lobbying funding by 35% since 2004,. Significantly, 54% went to Democrats in '08, versus only 39% in '04. How cynical is that, and who said money can't buy you love? Whoever said it first never saw a US politician in action I guess.

Capitalism in the US morphed several decades ago into a welfare system for corporations and the very rich. When money is allowed to dominate the people's interests at the voting booth, our present mess is the inevitable result. All this has been aided and abetted by every Republican administration since Ronald Reagan, and a great many Democrats helped along the way too. And these people seriously claim to be 'conservative'. Something indeed, is rotten in Denmark.

The very label 'conservative' is very misleading, since the ones calling themselves that today are nothing of the kind. That is unless you are referring to the conservation of the status quo, wherein rich multi-national drug companies enjoy obscene profits off the ills and woes of the populace, and where insurance companies write their own rules, and where politicians votes are bought and sold like tickets at the county fair.

A serious attempt to make a change is being made today, as we have seen it tried in the past. But, the mere mention of 'health care reform' brings out all the big guns, and all the stops are pulled. Because, if real health care reform actually occurred in this country, that would jerk the biggest lollypops on Earth out of the mouths of those growing rich on the backs of the dismal US health care system.

A huge organized national campaign is being orchestrated to block reform. So-called 'Town Hall' type meetings on the issue are getting blitzed in an cynically organized 'grassroots' campaign, where speakers are shouted down and meetings disrupted in deliberately rude, vicious, even threatening ways. "We the people" are being manipulated to block needed reform for our own good. A litany of lies and distortions is being repeated in lockstep all over the country. It is in fact, frightenly very similar the tactics used by the Brownshirts in Germany in the early 'thirties.

If you don't think it's orchestrated, just check the Fox News web site to find their 'Go To Town Hall' lists showing meeting places and times all over the country. Separate lists for Democrats and Republicans of course - and strikingly different. You may view these as published by Fox in PDF format by clicking on the following links:

REPUBLICAN ~ ~ ~ DEMOCRAT

The right wing continues to caustically demonize our current administration for daring to seek health care reform. The administration is responding by attempting to offset the lies and distortions being widely disseminated by the combined forces of cynical greed, avarice and misinformation. There is a sinister and organized concerted effort from the right wing to 'shout down' all supporters of any reform and keep them from even being heard. Lies and distortions are the ammunition of choice. One glaring example is Sarah Palin weighing in with her semi-hysterical rant on the subject:

“The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s ‘death panel’ so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their ‘level of productivity in society’ whether they are worthy of health care.”

It seems Sarah must be drinking her own Kool-aid. There is NOTHING in the proposed bill which is suggestive of such outrages. But facts seem to matter little to Palin and dogmatic types like her. Her outrageous claim has been thoroughly debunked many times, including by FactCheck.org, a non-partisan operation dedicated to checking out claims and political staements.

Sarah of course isn't alone. There is a loud and sustained shouting emanating from the various vested interests, wome of which get downright ridiculous. Here's another example.

Hopefully most of our public is enough in touch with reality to see through the hypocrisy of the right wignuts. I remain hopeful the public will see through these scams, but I am not so sure. Let us fervently hope the American people are not fooled into accepting the status quo yet again.

Let us fervently hope!

The Conservative Loony-Toony Bin

I've finally figured it out. I think.

The idea has sub-consciously permeated my mind for years, but only recently formed into meaningful thoughts. The question: What makes so-called 'Conservatives' so diametrically opposite of 'Liberals' and why are conservatives so bitter and irrational?

The simple answer is: "FEAR".

I don't mean conservative in the sense of denoting 'conserving of money or resources'. Conservatives today give mere lip service to those ideas and very little action, although they make a great hullabaloo of pretense. No indeed. "Conservatism' today means 'fear of change, and clinging tenaciously to the known and comfortable', both in policy and action. Change comes to a conservative only by forcing it down their throat while he or she is kicking and screaming bloody murder.

We all know by definition 'conservatives' dislike change. But beyond that, I believe they actually live at some level of fear of anything new or unknown. Any meaningful change seems to discomfit them exceedingly. Perhaps their insecurity & fear stems from some early childhood experience, or it may be genetic, or perhaps both. One thing seems certain though: Their environment has a lot to do with it. A child raised within a 'conservative values' system has a very good chance of becoming 'conservative' himself, achieving this phobias by a constant osmosis. It is a self-perpetuating bad dream system. You've gotta feel a little sorry for them in fact.

The one huge fear conservatives all live with daily, is their gut-wrenching fear of 'liberals' and 'liberal' policies or ideas. It is an almost desperate and paralyzing fear which seems to unhinge many conservatives to the point of irrationality.

The result is their constant spewing of invective, venom and unreasoning hate against any and all liberals, no matter their flavor, and everything they stand for. And today, conservatives receive a great deal of cynical and organized support from those who use the their fears for pecuniary and selfish ulterior motives and to their own nefarious ends. Rufous Murdock, Fox News and their legions of snarky 'commentators' come quickly to mind. Their constant barrage of cynical propaganda serves to reinforce and magnify those conservative fears to the point of lunacy. For example, we experience a constant barrage of 'Obama hatred' from the conservatives, trying very hard to lay blame for so many things at his feet, when in fact he inherited virtually all his problems from their own conservative leaders!

We hear the constant wailing about how Obama's health care initiatives will break the bank, while everyone agrees what we now have will most certainly do so within a few years unless something is done. Yet conservatives still insist their way is the only way. Will they have us continue to fail to provide basic medical care for 40% of Americans while helping pharmaceutical and medical groups enjoy obscene profits? Oh, but yes! Or, like having the level of medical care in the US now ranking 37th in the world, lower than either Dominca's or Costa Rica's? Yes, I can only guess so!

I fancy conservatives buy into their own self-perpetuating dogma and myths far too deeply, permitting their cynical leaders to play on their fears and emotions to control them so they are blinded to realities. They seem to read only those things they agree with and fail to educate themselves to the broader picture, or even the realities of the recent past. I hear a constant clamor about their ideas and solutions being superior to all others, and in particular to Barrack Obama's, in spite of all evidence to the contrary. There is no pretense at being the 'loyal opposition'. It is all blind, bitter hatred.

Conservatives insist they put forth the best ideas and the only solutions? Come on! I wonder, do they mean like the dishonest administration which stampeded the country into an illegal war we can't seem to get out of? Do they mean like bringing back the laissez faire voodoo economics from the 1920's which plunged the country into the worst crisis since the Great Depression?

Do they mean like train-wrecking and trashing institutions like FEMA making the country virtually powerless to cope with a hurricane? Do they mean like so thoroughly mucking things up other countries offered us foreign aid? Hugo Chávez of Venezuela just loved that!

Maybe they mean like providing subsidies - corporate welfare - to oil companies while ignoring alternate energy solutions? Or, do they mean like bringing back and approving medieval torture methods to produce worthless 'intelligence'?

Oh yeah. Conservatives have some real doozies of ideas and solutions all right! Maybe Karl Rove was right when he said, "As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing."

Methinks we need a whole lots more of our good thing!