Americans Against Tea Party Queen Sarah Palin

Several months ago I found myself being appalled reading comments made to FOX News online articles, astonished by the fact that so many people had such ignorant, ill-informed, hateful, racist ideas and were so willing to share.

Reading the comments was like a window into some perverse club where occasionally someone whose education had continued past high school would attempt to be a voice of reason, to no avail.

Much of the FOX News type idiocy, as reflected in comments, is the fruit of those who read no legit news sources and who listen to too much right wing talk radio, becoming what are known as Rush Limbots, often not understanding what Limbaugh is actually saying, morphing the nonsense into something even more ignorant and stupid.

Eventually I had my faith restored in the majority of American humanity when I came across various news sources where intelligent, educated, healthy minded human beings made comments regarding our current sad state of American affairs.

One of those more elevated comment sources comes to me from Facebook via something called Americans Against the Tea Party.

A couple days ago the Queen of the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, endorsed Donald Trump.

Palin's endorsement rant took Palin being embarrassing to an entire new level. Below is a sample of comments regarding Sarah Palin and Donald Trump, then, followed by the comments an amusing selection of memes on this subject which are currently circulating the Internet......

Todd A. Smith: Sarah Palin is a buffoon and (probably in the most literal sense, here) a tool. Donald Trump - I am still unsure, on that one. The man is not stupid. He speaks ignorantly, but that is calculated pandering, to enable the LCD of the population to "identify" with a billionaire. I'm not convinced he isn't actually running a huge scam, to divide and weaken the GOP base, and thereby hand the election to his old friend, Mrs. Clinton. The Republican establishment despises Trump, and have been scrambling to distance themselves. If they excommunicate Trump, and he goes third party independent, he takes a good portion of the GOP voter base with him, and effectively murders any chance of a Democratic loss.

Julio Ojeda-Urzua: Stop kidding ourselves, Trump is a joke and Palin is a court jester, but Trump is really running. We need to take him seriously because he actually has a real shot at winning the GOP nomination and the presidency if enough stupid people go out to vote while disenchanted liberals/moderates stay home.

Jen Lavris Makovic:s: I think that Sarah Palin's incoherent ramblings are proof enough of her idiocy. Either that or she's got a major disability.

Brian Cronin: To everyone (and you know damn well who you are) who ever thought this dingbat was intelligent, sharp, a viable politician, or potential leader of our country...we'll except your apology now, please. This comical Alaskan dingbat with the double digit IQ is as useless as a goddamn Kardashian....or one of those Duck Dynasty poser douche bags.

George Neill: What is so very sad about Sarah is that she is able to connect with so many other ignorant white trash Americans!

Ron Murray Sr.: Well, you have to understand, that since most of the White Folk in Red States are on Welfare and Food Stamps they have plenty of time to sit around watching Faux Noys on their Chinese Habitat for Humanity television set and then go meet up with their neighbors at the Chines Habitat for Humanity Wal-mart store to talk about how bad the nation is with that BLACK MAN LIVING IN THEIR "WHITE" HOUSE.

Doug Tull: If you live in a Red State or travel through the Red States, it's not hard to believe at all. I hear folks saying just insane shi* that they hear on Fox and Rush Limbaugh. I hate to break it to you, but there are a lot of stupid, racist, homophobic, xenophobic bigots in America. Get out and vote, or it's over.

Joseph Abate: I said the same thing months ago - Trump is playing a colossal joke just to bring out the true colors of republikids. Then he's going to say, "See how they are? You've GOT to vote for Hillary. She'll be terrific."

Chuck Accleton: America has become the nation of the lowest common denominator. Conservative voters are the stupidest people on the planet.

Parrish Galusky: There is a huge percentage of the population that is extremely stupid and they do have those votes locked up. Stupid loves stupid.

Richard Garrison: Everybody really should listen to the entirety of Sarah's speech. If it is a "beauty pageant" speech, where some pretty but empty-headed young woman gives a rambling, jumbled, incomprehensible speech on some subject like world peace. Usually Sarah delivers a word salad. Words strung together in "sentences" which slightly resemble, and sound like, English. But this speech is in a whole other category, much more industrial strength. This one is more like gallons of alphabet soup which has been eaten by a cow, digested through all the cow's stomach's, then evacuated onto a landfill, then picked up by Sarah and read to us as she praises Trump. The bottom line is that if this speech makes sense to you, you are part of the problem.

And now some amusing Sarah Palin/Donald Trump memes....

President Obama's Final State Of The Union Tonight On YouTube

Tonight, January 12, 2016, President Obama gives his final State of the Union address.

Seems like only yesterday President Obama gave his first State of the Union address.

If you have cut the cord, meaning cancelled your cable TV service, and are wondering where you can watch Obama's final SOTU speech, YouTube may be your best option.

YouTube will be streaming the SOTU speech live. at youtube.com/user/whitehouse.

Below is a YouTube video currently running on the YouTube Whitehouse channel as a sort of promo for tonight's speech, along with the following text....

We've come a long way these past seven years. Check out the progress we've made since President Obama's first address to Congress in this preview of his final State of the Union address.

America Is Not A Christian Nation As Founded By The Founding Fathers

Innumerable times I have heard right wing conservative sorts use variations of  "America is a Christian nation, as founded."

While Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson said, "Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law."

While Founding Father, John Adams said, "The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion."

While Founding Father, Thomas Paine said words very applicable to our modern world, "All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."

And then there is Founding Father, James Madison saying "Religion and government will both exist in greater purity the less they are mixed together."

How did America go from having such wise Founding Fathers to much of the ignorant foolishness that constitutes political debate in 2016?

Of all those seeking to be America's next president, to me, only Bernie Sanders seems to be operating at an American Founding Father level of wisdom.

Ted Cruz Unfortunate Embarrassing Audition for The Simpsons

I saw that which you see here a couple weeks ago. I was both appalled and amused.

And actually felt embarrassed for Ted Cruz that he could embarrass himself to this level of embarrassment.

With that embarrassment being a make believe Ted Cruz audition for The Simpsons.

Apparently Ted Cruz thinks The Simpsons, which has been on TV for a couple decades, is still a hot, trendy, pop culture relevant topic with young people, you know, Millennials , in 2015.

Methinks the idea that Ted Cruz thought making this video was a good idea is all the evidence one needs to know that Ted Cruz lacks the critical thinking ability to function as President of the United States. Fortunately there is a mountain of evidence, in addition to the Ted Cruz Simpsons Audition Video, which provides plenty of evidence this guy is not presidential material.

That and to me he comes across as a very oily used car salesman who will say just about anything without being troubled by that which comes out of his mouth going through the filter of a functioning conscience.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure, the Ted Cruz Audition for The Simpsons....

A Republican Blaming Rush Limbaugh for Poisoning the American Mind

I know there are millions of Americans, other than myself, and millions more, world-wide, who find the current crop of Republican presidential candidates to  be embarrassing on a level we have not seen before.

As in jaw dropping embarrassing. So much spewing of utter nonsense.

While I know that I am  not alone, I have thought maybe my high level of being so appalled might be a function of being older, more jaded, maybe wiser. I do not remember Republicans being so embarrassing during the Reagan and Bush years. Obviously I am referring to Bush 1, not Bush 2. It was during the Bush 2 debacle that I think the Republicans lost their collective minds.

The only Republicans I remember being embarrassing during the Reagan/Bush years where the two Pats, Robertson and Buchanan.

So, this morning on Facebook, via one of the wisest Americans on the planet, Robert Reich, I was pleased to see that I am on the same page as Mr. Reich in terms of wondering if I am being somehow overly appalled by that which seems so appalling.

The entirety of the Robert Reich Facebook post for your reading pleasure....

The other night I phoned a former Republican member of Congress with whom I'd worked in the 1990s on various pieces of legislation. I consider him a friend. I wanted his take on the Republican candidates because I felt I needed a reality check. Was I becoming excessively crotchety and partisan, or are these people really as weird as they seem? We got right into it:

Me: "So what do really you think of these candidates?"

Him: "You want my unvarnished opinion?'

Me: "Please. That's why I called."

Him: "They're all nuts."

Me: "Seriously. What do you really think of them?"

Him: "I just told you. They're bonkers. Bizarre. They're like a Star Wars bar room."

Me: "How did it happen? How did your party manage to come up with this collection?"

Him: "We didn't. They came up with themselves. There's no party any more. It's chaos. Anybody can just decide they want to be the Republican nominee, and make a run for it. Carson? Trump? They're in the lead, and they're both out of their f*cking minds."

Me: "That's not reassuring."

Him: "It's a disaster. I'm telling you, if either of them is elected, this country is going to hell. The rest of them aren't much better. I mean, Carly Fiorina? Really? Rubio? Please. Ted Cruz? Oh my god. And the people we thought had it sewn up, who are halfway sane -- Bush and Christie -- they're sounding almost as batty as the rest."

Me: "Who's to blame for this mess?"

Him: "Roger Ailes, David and Charles Koch, Rupert Murdoch, Rush Limbaugh. I could go on. They've poisoned the American mind and destroyed the Republican Party.

Me: "Nice talking with you."

Him: "Sleep well."

__________________________________________________

So, it is pleasing to read that there are some Republicans who recognize the damage uneducated right wing nutjobs, like Rush Limbaugh, have done to the psyche of way too many Americans.

I really think it might be a good thing if President Obama used one of those Executive Orders which the right wing ignoramuses think are some illegal usurpation of the Constitution, to issue a new version of John Adams' Alien & Sedition Acts.

Arrest the right wing hatemongers, charge them with treason and send them  to that Guantanamo Bay location so many of them are so fond of....

What Happened to the Republican Party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Goldwater & Reagan?

If Abraham Lincoln were alive today it is likely he'd keel over in a dead feint upon learning what the Republican Party has become 150 years after his tragic demise via a bullet  fired by a reactionary Southern fanatic.

Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower would also likely be appalled.

Republican William McKinley, thought to be a conservative Republican in his day, would  likely be appalled at the behavior of those considered to be conservative Republicans in 2015.

In 1898 McKinley was dragged, reluctantly, into war with Spain, over Cuba.

When the Spanish American War was so easily won, with the United States taking possession of Puerto Rico and the Phillippines, President McKinley did not crow about "Mission Accomplished" aboard an American battle ship, even though, in that war, the mission was actually accomplished.

When Barry Goldwater became the first conservative presidential nominee for the Republicans since Calvin Coolidge, Barry Goldwater was thought to be, by many, far too right wing conservative to be president. As the years passed after his smashing defeat by LBJ, Goldwater seemed to become a much more reasonable Republican.

I suspect Barry Goldwater would be appalled by what passes for conservative Republicans in 2015. Be it Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson or any of the other Republican embarrassments currently seeking to be the next American president.

Like Donald Trump.

If Barry Goldwater were alive today would he agree to go on the Rush Limbaugh Show? I don't think Barry Goldwater would be able to restrain himself from reacting to some of Limbaugh's nonsense.

What if Ronald Reagan was still alive and firing on all cylinders? Reagan always seemed to be a decent, nice guy. He worked with the Democrats to find common ground. Reagan and House Leader, Democrat Tip O'Neill, had a cordial relationship, trying to do what the two thought was best for America.

I found the two memes you see above, on Facebook, both from the good people at NOTEAPARTY / AGAINST TEAPARTY. I thought the No Tea Party / Against the Tea Party people summed up the current Republican situation quite succinctly....

May 13, 1971 Nixon Conversation About Same Sex Marriage & Archie Bunker

That is a screen cap of a YouTubed Nixon tape. This tape not audio of a Watergate related conversation. This Nixon tape is about Archie Bunker and Nixon's fears regarding the future calamity facing America from those who find themselves attracted to their own gender.

YouTube has been suggesting Nixon tapes to me ever since I listened to the infamous Smoking Gun tape and the equally infamous Cancer on the Presidency tape.

For those who don't remember the Watergate Scandal, the Smoking Gun tape is the one that brought about Nixon's resignation. The Cancer on the Presidency tape is the one where it was learned John Dean was telling the truth, Nixon did approve of paying hush money.

On the Nixon tape, which you can listen to below, you will hear Nixon talking to H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, his two chief henchmen, about something he watched on TV which had him appalled.

An episode of All in the Family.

Nixon is very funny in this video. Not intentionally so, but very funny. Some of the things that come out of his mouth, well, it's the type stuff one would not think one would hear in today's White House. Or even in George W. Bush's White House. Or Bill Clinton's. Or Jimmy Carter's. Make note I left out George H.W. Bush and Reagan and Ford.

Times have changed. A lot.

Below is the video and below that is the first comment about the video on the YouTube website. I thought it was a good comment.



Well, the USA is certainly very different 44 years later. And homosexuality is all over mainstream media and television, a former male Olympic athlete graced the cover as a woman after becoming transgender, and even the White House is covered in rainbow colors.

Though at the same time, things are so much worse. The USA economy is built like a house of cards and nearly all wealth that was in the middle class has been systematically transferred to the elite. All jobs have been shipped off to countries like China, and foreigners are brought in on temporary H-1B visas to work the same job as Americans, but at much lower wages.

Well - USA, you had a good run, but it's over. The empire didn't last very long, hopefully the next superpower (China) does a better (and more peaceful) job. It would be hard to top the US, so regardless I think better times are in store for the world.

As for USA -- where do you go from here? I think the film "Idiocracy" is a good look into the future, albeit highly exaggerated.