I do not know who created this image, I got it from Pi on Facebook.
This is a wonderful picture and should be considered by some news agency as a long-term project: dress-up every single elected official in a NASCAR-style uniform showing the corporate sponsorship of each seat in Congress.
Perhaps during elections, the candidates could be dressed the same way!
When a politician is virulently anti-gay and sponsors anti-gay legislation, two things are almost always certain:
1. The elected official is a repressed and/or closeted homosexual; and
2. The elected official passes himself off as a "conservative" with strong "family values" and a love and fear of "God."
Indiana State Rep. Phillip Hinkle (R-92) is the latest god-fearing, homo-hating, family-values cocksucker to get caught-up in a sex scandal, when he offered to pay an 18-year-old boy for sex in a hotel.
The story is as bizarre and convoluted as you'd imagine, with everyone accusing the other of lies, lies, and more lies.
This was another craigslist.org romance where Hinkle is alleged to have contacted 18-year-old Camryn Gibson via email. Their communications were vague and cryptic enough that it's possible to conclude they weren't talking about sex. If you come to that conclusion, however, I question your mental faculties.
The alleged about-to-be tryst took place in a hotel room, and it seems Hinkle thought he could get the upper hand in negotiations by positioning himself as an authority figure. This frightened Gibson, who called his sister for help or guidance.
One thing led to another and nobody got sex and nobody got money, but Hinkle's family was informed of the mess, and it was delivered to the press.
Perhaps Hinkle had honorable reasons for needing "a couple hours of your time tonight" with a tip "for a really good time."
Break out the cribbage board, Helen, we're gonna have a humdinger of a really good time tonight down at the airport motel.
Hinkle maintains that he is being blackmailed. Given his need to denigrate homosexuals and keep them from enjoying the quality of life afforded all Americans, it appears that Hinkle is just one more in a long string of repressed cocksuckers clinging to the lies of "conservatism" so he doesn't have to accept reality.
There is nothing wrong with being a cocksucker, and there's nothing wrong with wanting to keep that information private; but, when you build a career on the backs and misery of other cocksuckers then you deserve to be treated as unfairly as you've treated them.
Next time you see a politician of any stripe promoting anti-gay legislation, just imagine him on his knees in a motel room serving his constituency the way he likes best.
I say no, of course; but many who worship at the crotch of capital, like it was Ronald Reagan's genitals, think that private industry should not be held to the same standard as our government.
Rand Paul, newly nominated Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show last night and I had the good fortune to be watching.
Paul has attracted attention because of his lack of clarity on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He'll tell you up and down, inside and out, that he abhors discrimination and racism. And he is believable. But, then he says that the laws that protect Americans from discrimination on the basis of race should only be applied to the federal government, not to private industry.
So, the host asked him point-blank if Woolworth's should have been allowed to keep their lunch counter segregated (that is for whites only).
For those of you unfamiliar with the history of the civil rights movement of the mid-20th Century, Woolworth's lunch counters became a focal-point of the struggle against segregation; and many people were beaten or arrested for being black at the lunch counter or aiding and abetting blacks who attempted to be served at the lunch counter.
It's a particularly ugly chapter in America's more recent history.
Now, conservatism has changed in the past thirty years, and even more rapidly in the past 18 months, so I don't know what the "conservative" position is anymore. I know that even the most heinous right-wingers of our times have expressed unwavering support for the Civil Rights Act, even politicians who are known racists see the benefits of that Act of Congress. It created a huge new market. Blacks would become consumers and that was good for industry.
Since the teabagger movement, though, "conservatism" has become something I can't quite wrap my mind around. (They are NOT racists, just ask them!) It's just not clear yet, what brand of conservatism teabaggers support. It's probably not conservatism at all.
Rand Paul is a teabagger, and he is unable to offer a clear answer to the question: "Should Woolworths have been allowed to keep their lunch counter segregated?"!
It's a pretty easy question. There isn't any hidden subtext. Either the federal government should enforce the notion that discrimination against American taxpayers on the basis of race is wrong; or the federal government should not be allowed to enforce the notion that discrimination against American taxpayers on the basis of race is wrong. There really isn't any in-between.
This clip is 20 minutes long, and I think it is worth the watch:
A priest was being honored at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish.
A leading local politician and member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner. He was delayed, so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited.
"I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when questioned by the police, was able to lie his way out of it. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his employer, had an affair with his boss's wife, taken illegal drugs, and gave VD to his sister.
"I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full of good and loving people."
Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies for being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and gave his talk.
"I'll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived," said the politician. "In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession."
