'Merika!

America summed up in one photo.

And we wonder why there are so many accidental shootings and gun fatalities.

The Jeb Bush list of advisers should give all of us a bad case of deja vu.

Courtesy of Think Progress:  

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) will deliver a speech on Wednesday that seeks to distance his foreign policy views from the previous two Bush presidents, saying, according to early excerpts, that while he admires his presidential family members, “I am my own man.” 

“[M]y views are shaped by my own thinking and own experiences,” Bush will say as he lays out a vision that calls for increased military spending in order to project strength and encourage peace worldwide.

So Jeb Bush is his own man, and we should not assume that his administration will simply be a George W. Bush sequel right?

Wrong!

According to Reuters’ Steve Holland, Bush has tapped a “diverse” roster of former George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush officials to advise his burgeoning campaign on foreign policy, including key architects of the 2002 invasion of Iraq. 

The list of advisers provided to Reuters by a campaign aide includes Paul Wolfowitz and Stephen Hadley, as well as former George W. Bush Homeland Security Secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff, and Bush adviser Meghan O’Sullivan. 

Wolfowitz, who served as Deputy Secretary of Defense in the George W. Bush administration, began advocating an attack on Iraq shortly after the Sep. 11 attacks, established “what amounted to a separate government” to push for war and invited journalists to secret meetings in order to lay out the foundation for his plans. Wolfowitz established the Office of Special Plans in the Pentagon that ignored the conclusions of the intelligence community and fed policy makers and the media discredited claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. 

Then-Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley famously disregarded warnings from the CIA and then-FBI director George Tenet and included references to Iraq’s pursuit of uranium in Bush’s speeches, a claim that proved to be false. Hadley later apologized for leaving the now-infamous phrase in Bush’s 2003 State of the Union address and was promoted to become the president’s National Security Adviser. 

Meghan O’Sullivan was as a top adviser to L. Paul Bremer — the U.S. viceroy in charge of the Coalition Provisional Authority that is blamed for mismanaging the occupation of Iraq immediately following the American invasion — and is credited with developing the security agreements and early transfer of sovereignty negotiations between the United States and Iraq. She also served as special assistant to George W. Bush from 2004 to 2007. 

In some ways, Jeb Bush’s reliance on former Iraq war architects is not surprising, as it reflect his previous support for his brother’s Iraqi policy — endorsements the former governor is now downplaying as he prepares to officially enter the race.

Yeah, you know I've already seen this movie and I fucking hated it the first time.

I don't give a shit how concerned you are about Hillary Clinton's liberal bonafides, or how much you don't like voting for dynasties, if you refuse to vote in 2016 becasue you are dissatisfied with the choices, then in my opinion you are a traitor to this country.

Period!

We cannot, repeat CANNOT, allow another Bush administration!

It cannot be allowed to happen, and if it does I fear there will be nothing left of this country to even have ideological fights over anymore.

Scorpion bite? A danger of flying Alaska Airlines that I don't think anybody ever anticipated.

Courtesy of ABC News:  

A woman was stung by a scorpion while on a plane waiting to take off from Los Angeles International Airport, an airline spokesman said today. 

Alaska Airlines Flight 567, bound for Portland, Oregon, was taxi-ing for takeoff Saturday night when the woman was stung on the hand, Alaska Airlines spokesman Cole Cosgrove told ABC News today. 

"We don't know exactly how the scorpion made it on the plane," Cosgrove said, but added that the flight originated in Los Cabos, Mexico.

I have to admit that I refused to fly on Alaska Airlines for years, after having a airplane mechanic tell me that their planes were unsafe. (Though to be fair they are now rated as one of the safest airlines in the world, and their one and only fatal crash was in 2000.)

However never in my wildest imagination did I ever consider that one might be in danger of being stung by a scorpion.

Which I have to say is especially concerning, because like a lot of Alaskans I am somewhat leery of bugs. Especially bugs that can bite, sting, and poison you.

I lived in Hawaii for a year while attending college and one of their cane spiders crawled across my chest while I was in bed and I almost crapped myself. 

Needless to say that arachnid died a brutal and possibly unnecessarily violent death.

In short I kind of feel about scorpions on planes the way that Samuel L. Jackson felt about snakes on planes.

Word.

December horror.

I know, it shocked you and you probably turned it off after the first ten seconds.

But for those of you who sucked it up and sat through the entire minute thirty five, you are chuckling to yourself at its inventiveness and quite possibly seeing Christmas trees through more sympathetic eyes.

Besides, I bet you're wide awake now aren't you?

Now for something completely different. Tell me, how many of you would NOT be freaked out by this.

This video has been everywhere on the internet the last couple of days, and I have to admit I have watched it more than a few times.

I pride myself on being a born skeptic who is hard to fool, but I would be lying if I did not say that if I was in the coffee shop and saw this happen I would not, at least temporarily, be convinced that it was real.

By the way I am huge Stephen King fan and loved "Carrie," both the book and movie, and will probably watch the new one as well.

Still seeing that in person would certainly have raised my heart rate more than any silly movie.

3 in 10 registered voters believe an armed rebellion may be "necessary" in order to protect their liberties. Good job Fox News!

Courtesy of TPM:

Three in 10 registered American voters believe an armed rebellion might be necessary in the next few years, according to the results of a staggering poll released Wednesday by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind. 

The survey, aimed at measuring public attitudes toward gun issues, found that 29 percent of Americans agree with the statement, “In the next few years, an armed revolution might be necessary in order to protect our liberties.” An additional five percent were unsure. 

Eighteen percent of Democrats said an armed revolt “might be necessary,” as compared to 27 percent of independents and 44 percent of Republicans. Support levels were similar among males and females but higher among less educated voters.

Not exactly surprising that the less educated are more susceptible to this kind of ridiculous thinking. Now perhaps you understand why the Republican party works do hard to undermine education in this country.

My first question while reading this is "why are these people even registered to vote?"  I mean if they think that that democracy has failed them, then why participate?

And THAT thought sort of led me to the conclusion that there is probably a higher percentage of Americans, who ALSO think that an armed rebellion will be necessary.

That is NOT a very comforting thought.

However that does go hand in hand with something one of my FBI informant pals told me, and that is that the militias all over the country have been growing rapidly, and that many of them are absolutely convinced that they will one day be involved in a firefight with the Federal Government.

The fact that they will be crushed like ants on a playground seems to have escaped them however, as many of them believe that during an altercation military members will switch sides and fight along with them.

The poll also king of alludes as to where this three percent are getting their information:

The poll also found that 25 percent of voters believe the American public is being lied to about the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting by people seeking to promote a political agenda. An additional 11 percent said they weren’t sure.

Yeah it looks like the Alex Jones contingent is bigger than we once believed.

Not exactly great news for the country.

Yesterday somebody mentioned that at times like these it would really be nice if we could still be comforted by Mr. Rogers. I could not agree more.

Well I feel better, how about all of you?

And do you know what? I think Mr. Rogers advice is for adults too.

After all it is not only children that sometimes feel the need to be comforted.

Something to keep in mind as we help each other deal with the shock and the fear left over from yesterday's tragedy.

Scariest movie concept ever!

Courtesy of some dude on Reddit's aunt.

Okay it may only be a parody now, but you KNOW this is the ultimate aim of the NRA. Don't you?

You know there have been a number of Onion articles which have turned out to be eerily prescient.

If things keep going this way, pretty soon there will be no room for parody.

Disturbing image of the day.

Oh, that is going to give me nightmares!

Perhaps Stephen King's next novel?

This arrived in my e-mail yesterday.

It's the perfect description of Romney in my opinion, and as a long time Stephen King fan I just had to use it.

Michele Bachmann "graces" the cover of Newsweek.

Oh..My...God!

What did they warn Perseus about when it came to that Gorgon named Medusa again?

"Whatever you do, don't look into her eyes!"

I don't think Sarah Palin is doing this right.

So the portrait above is from the Time Magazine Best Portraits of 2010.

Now remember I said BEST portraits.

My assumption is that this pose was intended to make her look more Presidential, but all it says to me is "Look kids!  The new governess is here from the agency, and if you screw with THIS one like you did the last one she will kill you in your sleep!"

Am I wrong, or is this another EPIC FAIL?

Now if that was not bad enough, and I believe it just might be, Palin's pal Greta Van Sucks-to-be-Palin's-pal released some heretofore unseen video of the Grizzled Mama interacting with the Haitian children.



Now for one thing, everything she says in he beginning of the clip is complete gobbledygook.  I am sorry, but I listened to it a couple of times, and it was just a bunch of words, many of them repeated several times, that really NEVER said anything.  Here is an example:

These people have had natural disasters now. The cholera outbreak, it really lets us see, opportunity to help and send a message back to those who are more privileged materially to have opportunity here to share with these who are hurting.

See what I mean? (Here is the transcript so you can check for yourself.)

Just a few minutes later in the video she DARES to chastise Bill Clinton, who has been to Haiti multiple times since the earthquake,  for taking the advice of the Secret Service and suspending a planned trip due to security concerns.  (Palin makes one trip to Haiti for a photo-op and then slams one of our ex-Presidents for not being there during the same, and ONLY,  48 hours that SHE is there? Can you spell B-I-T-C-H?)

Now I know that many of you simply HATE to watch Palin on video while being subjected to her screechy voice, but I would like you to at least fast forward to the 4:30 mark on the video and watch how stiff and uncomfortable Palin is around these children.  Her mouth keeps referring to them as "joyful," but her body language tells an entirely different story as she stands with her arms clasped to her sides as if she is absolutely terrified that one of them will actually make physical contact with her. Watch it for yourselves and tell me if I am wrong.

So if Palin wanted to convince the American voter that she understands how to deal with catastrophes and feels comfortable dealing with people from other cultures or ethnicities, I think it is pretty clear that she failed miserably.

It appears that the Palin political machine is experiencing one misfire after the other in an almost comical fashion which makes their attempts to get her message out, and to polish up her image, seem more like a "This is Spinal Tap" version of a REAL political campaign. Apparently the Palin-bots are the Keystone Kops version of  political operatives.

Is THIS where I get to say, "I told you so?"

Popcorn anyone?

Conan O'Brien features Sarah Palin explaining why many Americans find the idea of her as President "a little scary."

Now THAT was funny.

And if any of you needed yet another reason to love Conan, you should know that one of the reasons that there was tension between O'Brien and the network is that he refused to yield to pressure to have Palin on his show.

Yeah!  How much do you love him now?

An up close and personal look at the Palin-bots in their natural habitat...a Tennessee Costco.

You know I used to make fun of Sister Sarah for demanding that her book signing venues provide security, but now I think I get it.  Palin is not worried about protesters, the "Lamestream" media,  or people who dislike her.

She is terrified of her fans!  And who could blame her?

Just take a look at this video.



What the hell is up with the guy in the red Palin themed PJ's? (Oh come on!  You know he sleeps in those!)

Nothing says "I'm ready to leave the sanitarium" like being a grown ass man who makes a bright red Palin embossed jumpsuit, follows his idol from book signing to book signing, and refers to himself as "Palin-man."

Seriously, can you believe she had ME kicked out of a book signing once, but let's THIS guy stay?

I mean I would probably have taken some unflattering pictures of her and Todd, and then gone home and written a blog post mocking her, but at least I would not have fantasized about kidnapping her and making a lampshade out of her skin. (Apparently Captain Underpants also showed up in Kentucky.)

And what about the lady trying desperately to get a picture of her through the slit in a curtain? Is there a stalker convention in town or something?

By the way, who chooses Costco as the venue for a book signing?  Was the local Piggly Wiggly a little too elite for Sarah Palin and her followers?

Just so you know,  If you EVER come up to me wearing a bright red outfit with "Gryphen" written all over it, claiming to be my biggest fan, I am going to start speaking in a soothing voice while dialing 911 on my cell phone and slowly backing my way toward the exit.

I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, but if you ever have the urge to do something like that...don't!

Caption contest inspired by the many expressions of Sarah from her last interview with Bill O'Reilly.

Number one

"Well look who thinks he is important enough to take on Sarah Palin!  Perhaps I should rip HIS scrotum off and put it in my Prada handbag right next to Todd and Levi's?"

Number Two

"Now just where did I leave that little retarded baby?  Is he still in that backpack from when I was mowing the lawn?"

Number Three

"You know Bill O'Reilly a census taker once tried to test me like this. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

Okay that is my contribution.  What have YOU got?

Oh and don't forget to add the number of the picture so I know where they go.

Have you seen Andrew Sullivan's quote of the day?

"I had an interesting conversation with an Alaskan two days ago who had spent time speaking with one of Sarah’s family members. My friend was curious how Sarah’s extended family and small circle of close friends, who know the truth behind many of the mistruths she tells the rest of the nation handle what they know her deceptions to be. “It was so surreal,” my friend recounted. It is as if there is real reality, and then there is “Sarah Reality” and in Sarah Reality whatever Sarah wishes were true at the moment, whatever she wants to be true, then that is what true is for her, and subsequently for those in her inner circle and her fan base. Sarah is not to be questioned. She is to be agreed with and honored.

My friend went on to say this particular family member mentioned that Sarah was the “most important person in the world right now” and that Christians needed to get behind her and pray for her.

One question. When the hairs on the back of your neck are standing straight up on end, how do you coax them into lying back dawn again?

(You can read the rest of Andrew's post by clicking the title.)