Friday, 7/15/11, Public Square

IF RESPONDING TO A HOUSE FIRE WAS RAN BY GOP ELECTED OFFICIALS.

THE alarm bell rings waking all the GOP Officials and the voice over the loud speaker says,

“HOUSE FIRE AT 1235 SUMMIT STREET GOP OFFICIAL FIRE HOUSE RESPOND!”

• Wow, if we respond then a larger fire occurs we will be focused on this house fire and not be able to respond to that larger fire!
• Oh, we need to wait, this may be God’s will that this house burns and to put it out might be against God’s will!
• You know we can not think about this fire or how we can put it out until we know how the DNC is thinking about putting out a house fire then we can start thinking about it!
• OH NO, if we respond to this house fire then we’re admitting there really is a problem and that would make it a reality!
• Well the cost of responding to this house fire is far too expensive, wear and tear of the fire truck, the gas to drive clear over there then to drive back, the water used to put the fire out, the possible damage to the equipment or injury to the firemen. Better to do nothing and hope that it does not spread!
• Does anyone know what opinions the residents at that house hold? Are they pro-life or pro-choice? Are they pro-gay marriage or pro-marriage? Are they for government ran health care or market driven health care?  WE need to know because if we put their house fire out it may appear we are agreeing with them on social issues that we do not agree with!
• WE need to put out a statement that if we still had the House, Senate and the White house there would be no house fire!

All looked at each other in silent contemplation, then agreed. The statement was typed up and released and they went back to bed.

tosmarttobegop

Astroturf Onslaughts: GOP Party of Fools or Dangerous Opponents?

Paul Krugman was commenting on the Tea Parties that the Republicans have been setting up for this upcoming Wednesday.  He seems unsure as to whether he should laugh out loud at the GOP’s shenanigans or to be worried.  Such astroturf tricks have worked well in the past for the Republicans; Krugman recalls the efficiency of the faux riot in Miami-Dade county that stopped the vote in Florida during the 2000 election.  This was not a real “grass roots” protest, but one carefully manufactured by GOP strategists to achieve an end – which they did.  Astroturf activism seems to be big on corporate (or other powerful interests) money, and low on average citizen participation.  The tea parties have been backed by Murdock owned media outlets.

To drive home his point about his mixed feelings on the current embarrassing displays by the Grand old Party, Krugman states:

“But here’s the thing: the G.O.P. looked as crazy 10 or 15 years ago as it does now. That didn’t stop Republicans from taking control of both Congress and the White House. And they could return to power if the Democrats stumble. So it behooves us to look closely at the state of what is, after all, one of our nation’s two great political parties.”

My hope is that Krugman is wrong, because while the GOP may remain crazy after all these years, I sincerely want to believe that the electorate has not.

What do you readers think?

Iggy Donnelly

Amazon Excluding LGBT Material from Searches

Yeah, I know.  I said I wouldn’t post and would keep it to comments, but I thought this might raise some eyebrows and generate some group groaning.

The title pretty much says it all, but it seems Amazon may be backing down.  When I find out for sure, I’ll let you know.  Until then, you can read all about it.

http://markprobst.livejournal.com/15293.html

wicked

Subprime mortgages & Illegal Immigrants

It was the perfect story:  our country is suffering economically and someone has to be responsible for it.  Oh yeah, our misery is due to the Community Reinvestment Act (of 1977) whereby Dimmocrats tried to help out poor people get loans they couldn’t afford.  [You haven’t heard that one, I am betting…].

The only problem was, that while the above story was good, everyone knows that liberal democrats are bent on bankrupting this great nation, it was not quite perfect.  Conservative talk-radio host, Roger Hedgecock (love that name), helped make the story perfect.  The subprime mortgage mess was due to the fact that 5 million illegal immigrants held bad mortgages in the United States. Hedgecock’s source was none other than the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Of course the only problem with this perfect, well nearly perfect story, is that it is not true.

This story went viral on conservative news outlets and was repeated by Matt Drudge, Michelle Malkin (who termed the problem “the massive illegal alien racket”), and Rush Limbaugh.

This wild assertion does not even pass the “nonsense test”.  In order to get a mortgage loan one has to have 1) a credit history and 2) pay taxes in the U.S. of A. –  things that illegal immigrants don’t usually have or do.

Read more here.