Actually, that's a lie: I'm giving you a few "next blog" button items, like always. But first, an actual post, kinda sorta.
I've been engaged in a (for me, anyway) maddening discussion over at Minnescraper concerning the weird nexus between evangelical Christianity and the Republican party, which has segued into a discussion of the rapidly expanding Foley scandal. To me, the obviously immoral (not just amoral, immoral) behavior of the entire Republican leadership immediately disqualifies them from any claim to Christianity (note here that I myself am by no means a Christian). But the fundies seem not to care, saying they'll vote for the Republicans anyway. Why? Why would they want to vote for a party that chooses for its leadership those who would protect someone like Mark Foley? While I don't think the sexual proclivities of Foley himself are indicative of larger trends in the party, it seems appallingly obvious that the leadership's hypocrisy is very much an indication that the whole of the GOP is rotten. When the #1 and #2 congressional Republicans (Hastert & Boehner), plus the head of the NRCC (Reynolds), plus the chair of the page board (Shimkus), plus at least two more congressmen (Foley himself and Rodney Alexander) have actively, repeatedly lied to the public, there should not be anybody -
anybody - capable of supporting them, least of all Christians for whom integrity ought to be of paramount importance. Grrrr!
In the meantime, the rest of the world seems to have gone completely to shit. Bob Woodward's latest
effort to cash in on decades-old Watergate street credit book is a complete contradiction of his previous work, but since that means it is (finally) anti- stupid-war-we-never-should've-fought, it at least is not being used as cover by the Bush Administration. New(ish) items from Woodward's tome seem to indicate that, among other things, Condoleeza Rice lied directly to the 9/11 commission. And, at the same time, some assholes have decided that there aren't enough dead girls yet, so hey, why not go shoot some more at the local school or college? And some local kids are getting school cancelled by calling in prank threats of more shootings. And Iran is enriching Uranium. And North Korea is going to test a nuclear device. And the Dow has made it back to the same level it was 6 years ago (meaning that investing in those companies would have been the equivalent of burying your money in a goddamned hole in the ground) so everyone is going completely fucking crazy about our "awesome" economy. Holy shit! The Dow is worth the same point value it was six years ago! Break out the champagne, because it's only 2,000 points shy of the value in real terms that it was the last time it was worth this many points! Meanwhile, bombings in Baghdad are at record highs, and health care costs are outsripping wage growth, and torture is now apparently A-Ok as long as it's being done to the
brown people evildoers, and Judge Taylor's ruling against the warrantless wiretap program has been stayed, and the Senate Majority Leader is saying we should bring back the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the Kazahks are taking out ads in the New York Times, and on and on with the ridiculousness everywhere. And on top of all this, the Twins are losing to the freaking A's. The A's!
I swear, this is the first time in ages I feel like I need to do some drugs so as to make the world seem
less surreal.
And now, to calm my nerves and cleanse my suddenly foul mouth, I give you the promised "next blog" links:
-
Chocolate is the Root of All that is Pure.
-Do you like randomly collected statistics? How about Venn Diagrams involving Nature and Nurture? If so,
this is for you.
-I am so insanely jealous of the handle
Ampersand Duck that it's not even funny.
-The
bridge problem is killing me. 18 minutes?
