Open thread

Chat away...you all are already buzzing about the Iowa straw poll -- Mitt Romney dropped a lot of bucks to pull off the 31% win. The big news is that there was a huge drop in the number of participants in the poll, an indication that Iowa Republicans aren't fired up by any of the occupants of the 2008 clown car.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, got 31.6 percent of the 14,302 ballots cast, compared with 18.1 percent for second-place finisher Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, 15.3 percent for Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, 13.7 percent for Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado and 9.1 percent for Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

The non-binding poll on Iowa State University's campus was the equivalent of a political state fair for Republicans, as the candidates chartered hundreds of buses and provided food, T-shirts and entertainment--as well as the $35 per person admission fee--for thousands who entered the state GOP's massive fundraiser.

...In many respects, the event appeared to be on a much smaller scale than the last straw poll eight years ago. The 14,302 total ballots cast was down substantially from the 23,685 cast at the last straw poll in 1999, potentially reflecting the unsettled field of Republican candidates as well as what polls have shown to be a large bloc of Iowa GOP voters undecided and dissatisfied with the current list of contenders.

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He was just milking the goat

It's the weekend, so it's time for the wackadoo news -- a bestiality post of the week. A novel defense from a man in Tacoma, Washington. Apparently some animals there need to be very, very afraid.

A man accused of having sex with a goat is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday on a animal cruelty charge. Charging papers say a witness saw 63-year-old Arthur Lawton having sex with a goat May 8th in a barn at Eatonville's Pioneer Farm Museum where he worked.

Lawton said he was trying to milk the goat.

...He's the second person charged in the county since the Legislature made bestiality a crime in response to the fatal injury to a man having sex with a horse in Enumclaw.

I really don't want to know how this man would milk a cow.

Here's a flashback for you:

I just get the feeling that all this talk about gays -- and bestiality, in particular -- is a smokescreen by these fundies, masking an unhealthy obsession with f*cking barnyard animals. Witness the all-too-true tales of our fellow citizens with a BIG problem:

* A man in Bainbridge, GA jumps a fence at a stockyard and porks a hog
* A Mesa, AZ fire battalion chief caught with his pants down in a barn assaulting a lamb
* A St. Gabriel, Louisiana seventeen-year-old was caught on tape committing unnatural acts with a horse.

Hat tip, Paul Barwick. Read More......

Dear General Petraeus, stop lying about the "surge" - it has nothing to do with Al Anbar province and you know it

As Joe noted below, General Petraeus is still bragging about how the "improvement" in al Anbar province shows how well the surge is going. He's a liar. The surge isn't in al Anbar province, it has nothing to do with al Anbar province. And now Petraeus is claiming credit for it? That's priceless. Then again, from what I hear, Petraeus has a long track record of peddling "good news" even when the news isn't so good. It's his schtick, it's what he does. And it's gotten him into some trouble before. Don't forget: Petraeus is the guy who was in charge of training the Iraqi security forces, better known as the Keystone Cops of the Sahara. The training has been a joke. You'll recall one of the troops in charge of the training said he wouldn't trust his dog with any of the new security forces, they're that bad. That soldier said he thinks we'll have the training completed sometime in the next 40 or 50 years, if ever. That's General Petraeus' legacy in Iraq, and now he's in charge of telling us how great everything is going. Priceless. Read More......

Check out some of the week's editorial cartoons

Bob Geiger has his weekly compilation of editorial cartoons. Again, plenty of material. Read More......

Yet another new strategy for Bush's endless war in Iraq: The Draft

Now, this is what I call some rapid response. Watch the ad, then check out www.iraqcampaign.org:
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Florida: $250K robo-potty mayor of Ft. Lauderdale blasted by Broward County commissioners

It looks like the tourism industry in Fort Lauderdale is so worried about taking a hit because of homo-obsessed Mayor Jim Naugle's outrageous anti-gay statements that members of the commission have signed a letter declaring that the area is gay-friendly. It's hard to hear that message when the mayor advocated for the installation of $250K robojohns to halt imaginary beach restroom sex (gay male sex, that is).

Commissioners called the outspoken Mayor bigoted and said his remarks were despicable, but even had they officially censured him it would have no effect. Although Fort Lauderdale is within the county, as a separate city with its own council the county can exercise no control over the resort town or its politicians.

But as concerns mount of a possible tourist boycott the commissioners said they want the worldwide LGBT community to know they disagree with Naugle. County Mayor Josephus Eggelletion and all 9 commissioners signed a letter voicing their support for gays.

...So concerned is the tourism industry over the potential fallout the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau is using paid media watchers in New York and Europe to see how far the story is spreading.

Naugle doesn't give a damn.

Naugle dismissed the county move, telling the Sun-Sentinel that the county has no influence on him. "I have only spoken the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts but it needs to be said," Naugle told the paper.

Here's a laff fest from activeChristianmedia.com -- videos of support for Jim Naugle. Have tissues ready as you weep with laughter.

 

What's so ridiculous is that the videos portray the LGBT activists as in favor of sex in public restrooms, when that's obviously not the case. The rally is about the embarrassment heaped by Naugle on their city; he continues his homobigoted bleating even though the police have said there have been no reports of this imagined orgy of men in public beach restrooms.

Related:
* Images of beach restroom sex vex Ft. Lauderdale mayor, calls for robojohns
* Naugle: is he looking to keep the straight men out of the potty?
* Flushing Naugle
* The 'Flush Naugle' campaign escalates
* Fundie defends homophobic robo-potty mayor Naugle
* Pro-diversity rally in Ft. Lauderdale today to counter the $250K robo-potty mayor Read More......

Open thread

A quiet Saturday... what's up this weekend? Read More......