A Smattering of Links

Today's rants consist of multiple points of disappointment in our political system. I have not the energy to go into detail on any of them, as they are either too old or too frustrating to warrant expending enough time and thought on. Here goes:

-- Conservatives, starting with those in Florida, are claiming Obama was planning to "indoctrinate their children" with an upcoming national speech to America's school children encouraging them to stay in school and work hard. You know, he was preaching that attribute that Conservatives claim to have bragging rights to, responsibility. But this was too much to handle like adults. Despite this not being a policy speech, they pounced on a questionnaire that the administration was planning to send to accompany the speech for the kids to fill out. To be a constructive exercise was its purpose. It would ask questions of them to answer how they could take general steps in their young lives to better themselves for the future. One question asked what they could do to help President Obama in his goals for the children. That (!!!) was deemed too suggestive and Big Brother-esque. So sad.

The best was from Crooks and Liars on Bush-serving Conservatives pulling their kids from school to avoid Obama's direct call:

Whereas starting a war based on fake information and killing hundreds of thousands of civilians - and letting an entire city of American brown people die - well, that inspires blind devotion, right? Which pretty much lets us know where these folks are coming from.

But, as I've pointed out repeatedly, Conservatives were enabled by those liberals in media once again. (Darne'd libruls!) Media outlets gave creedence to the claims by the Right. Just like the death panels and the birth certificate, the fucking speech struck the sensationalist nerve in the cables and the Web. They ran with it and distracted from real issues in this country, to the fringe element's delight. YOUR mainstream media is doing an awful job to your disservice America. They are incompetent, spineless sycophants. And they've allowed so much to pass them up in the last 9 years, ever since their masturbatory gagfest during the Clinton-Lewinsky embarrassment.

(It's no accident that that scandal, in the late 90s, was a coming out party for online news and cable scrutiny. Matt Drudge? A fledgling FOX News? Rush Limbaugh? They continually jabbed at the Clintons with unparalleled ferocity. Things sped up right there.)

And just look at those three things, with the rational reaction to such a thing:

1) Brainwashing children - Puh-leaze.... (smirking)
2) Death panels - Excuse me? (laughing a little)
3) Birther movement - You're saying what? (gasping a little)

No shame. (that was longer than I intended)

-- George Orwell live-blogging the beginning of World War II, 3.9.1939.

-- This is why I love Independence, Mo. (But when you read the whole thing, it's pretty sad. That's pretty much worse case scenario for stealing meat.)

-- Awwwww, hell yeah Thom Yorke!

-- The Post ran some powerful exposes of Washington Redskins ticket holders falling into litigious nightmares over strict ticket contracts despite the "legendary," long list of potential season-ticket holders in-waiting. They also showed how regular fans looking for tickets directed to higher-priced seats or allowing tickets to be sold by brokers.

-- Again, YOUR mainstream media. In this case, the "dean" of the Washington Press Corps (i.e. Uncle Sack-of-Bones) David Broder laying a zero of a column, enabling Bush for what crimes he committed.

There. Short and sweet.