Louie ‘Terror Babies’ Gohmert: Aurora Shootings Caused by Not Enough God

Possibly the dimmest bulb in Congress
Wingnuts • Views: 48,371

His bizarre theory that Al Qaeda was using the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship provision to plant “terror babies” in the US earned him a spot in the pantheon of Bigoted and Deranged Right Wing Politicians, and today Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) demonstrates his crazy wingnut credentials again: Louie Gohmert: Aurora Shootings Result of ‘Ongoing Attacks on Judeo-Christian Beliefs’.

This man is an idiotWASHINGTON — Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said Friday that the shootings that took place in an Aurora, Colo. movie theater hours earlier were a result of “ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs” and questioned why nobody else in the theater had a gun to take down the shooter. …

“You know what really gets me, as a Christian, is to see the ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs, and then some senseless crazy act of terror like this takes place,” Gohmert said.

“Some of us happen to believe that when our founders talked about guarding our virtue and freedom, that that was important,” he said. “Whether it’s John Adams saying our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people … Ben Franklin, only a virtuous people are capable of freedom, as nations become corrupt and vicious they have more need of masters … We have been at war with the very pillars, the very foundation of this country.” …

“People say … where was God in all of this?” Gohmert said. “We’ve threatened high school graduation participations, if they use God’s name, they’re going to be jailed … I mean that kind of stuff. Where was God? What have we done with God? We don’t want him around. I kind of like his protective hand being present.”

Gohmert also said the tragedy could have been lessened if someone else in the movie theater had been carrying a gun and took down the lone shooter.

So according to Gohmert, we need “God’s protective hand” to prevent these kinds of horrible crimes — but just in case, make sure you’re also packing heat.

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220 comments
1 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:43:22am

Because no one ever killed in God's name.

Eat a bag of dicks Lou.

2 Ojoe  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:43:26am

Go away Louie. You actually make it harder to be a Christian.

3 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:44:28am

Oh, of course. It all makes sense now. Belief in God = immunity from heavily armed crazy people. Why didn't I see it before?

It's guys like Louie Gohmert that make me embarrassed to be from Texas.

4 dell*nix  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:45:11am

Sounds like one of those that would be happy burning non-believers at the stake.

5 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:45:29am

Yeah because no believer in religion has ever once gone on a murderous rampage. Gohmert can go fuck himself.

6 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:46:28am

re: #4 dell*nix

Sounds like one of those that would be happy burning non-believers at the stake.

I think some of them would if you pressed them on it admit that they think the Spanish Inquisition and other excesses of religious power weren't that bad. Truly horrifying that we have people with this mindset in 21st century America.

7 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:46:44am
Where was God? What have we done with God? We don’t want him around. I kind of like his protective hand being present.”

Gohmert also said the tragedy could have been lessened if someone else in the movie theater had been carrying a gun and took down the lone shooter.

So God was supposed to hang out watching Batman at a midnight showing packing a .45 just in case a crazed gunman showed up?

8 terraincognita  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:46:59am

Pray to God while packing a rod. Christian fundamentalism at its finest.

9 Targetpractice  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:47:20am
Gohmert also said the tragedy could have been lessened if someone else in the movie theater had been carrying a gun and took down the lone shooter.

Ah yes, because really what you need in a dark, crowded theater is multiple trigger happy morons.

//

10 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:48:20am

re: #9 Targetpractice

Ah yes, because really what you need in a dark, crowded theater is multiple trigger happy morons.

//

If nothing else, it would stop people from texting and/or talking on the phone during a film.

///

11 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:49:14am

My own theory, which I am willing to publicly state here, is that insanity is involved.

Mental illness is a real problem that our society has been trying to understand and treat for a very long time. We are just starting to get a handle on it.

We'll know we've finally met and grappled with this problem when our downtowns are no longer filled with the mentally ill homeless and a person can say "I suffer from depression," or "I have anxiety attacks," and not be met with derision or dismissal.

12 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:49:17am

Yeah the idea that a person with a gun could have made the situation better is insane. It's a theater- dark and crowded, and it was a theater that no doubt was a chaotic scene because of the gunfire. This really isn't one of those situations where someone can claim "a person with a gun would have made it all better." No, asshole, it would not. We should have a reasonable expectation of safety when we're going out to see a movie. Is that really to hard to ask? But lemme guess, it's secularism and liberalism's fault that these things happen. Feh!

13 Charles Johnson  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:49:50am
14 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:49:58am

re: #10 Lidane

If nothing else, it would stop people from texting and/or talking on the phone during a film.

///

No, there are people (and people I mean: women) who would not hang up, not even for that.

15 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:50:29am

The sooner the US gets rid of the regressives and their states where they hold political power, the better off the rest of the remaining US states will be.

16 lawhawk  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:50:57am

Truly derpalicious that Gohmert.

Right out of the gate he thinks that the cause of, and solution to, a mass murder at a movie theater is religion.

His constituents will continue reelecting him despite (actually I think it's because of) his views.

17 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:51:04am

re: #15 Cap'n Magic

The sooner the US gets rid of the regressives and their states where they hold political power, the better off the rest of the remaining US states will be.

Um, are you suggesting that we split in two, or are you suggesting more like a wormhole situation?

18 Kronocide  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:51:57am

re: #3 Lidane

Oh, of course. It all makes sense now. Belief in God = immunity from heavily armed crazy people. Why didn't I see it before?

It's guys like Louie Gohmert that make me embarrassed to be from Texas.

Guys like Gohmert make me ashamed to be American.

19 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:52:07am

re: #16 lawhawk

Truly derpalicious that Gohmert.

Right out of the gate he thinks that the cause of, and solution to, a mass murder at a movie theater is religion.

His constituents will continue reelecting him despite (actually I think it's because of) his views.

It's rural Texas I imagine where he represents so yeah that's one of those- feature not a bug situations. At least, there's a chance that Bachmann will lose re-election. Can't say the same for ol' Louie unfortunately. Only way he's going out of office is ironically if becomes too open minded.

20 erik_t  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:52:55am

Ball's back in your court, Michelle.

21 bratwurst  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:53:58am

Congresswoman Bachmann (R-Mars) is taking all of the (deserved) heat in the Huma Abedin witch hunt, but this nitwit is one of the other 4 members of the United States House of Representatives to put their name to that idiocy.

22 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:54:53am

re: #21 bratwurst

Congresswoman Bachmann (R-Mars) is taking all of the (deserved) heat in the Huma Abedin witch hunt, but this nitwit is one of the other 4 members of the United States House of Representatives to put their name to that idiocy.

Ah Gohmert is part of the Huma Abedin witch hunt. Why does that not shock me? I imagine Steve King is there too.

23 Sophia77  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:55:39am

When did the US get so crazy? This "god" stuff is out of control. People are back in the days of witch-hunts and religious persecution apparently; just what America didn't want to be.

I'm glad Boehner and McCain stood up to Bachmann; now, this guy apparently is part of her hateful little group claiming the MB is taking over the US government.

This is insane and they should be censured on the floor of the House. Enough already.

24 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:56:08am

Related:

Super PACs Follow Campaigns’ Lead, Pull Colorado Ads

The Colorado airwaves will get much calmer in the aftermath of the mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater Friday. Following the example set by both the Romney and Obama campaigns, super PACs supporting both candidates are pulling their TV ads from the western swing state.

25 Tigger2005  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:56:49am

He (Thomas Jefferson) noted the centuries of bloodshed justified in the name of the Prince of Peace, declaring that Protestant catechisms and creeds have "made of Christendom a slaughter-house, and at this day divides it into castes of inextinguishable hatred to one another."

Read more: [Link: www.beliefnet.com...]

26 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:57:03am

re: #17 Mostly sane, most of the time.

A split in two. Let them have their New Confederate State(s) of America and all that setting up a new country entails-new currency, new treaties, new military, new border patrols, new government-the whole 'effin LOT.

27 Sheila Broflovski  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:57:14am

HAV MOAR FAIL

28 Sophia77  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:57:39am

Here are the lovely folks with their paranoia, besides Bachmann, who should lose her seat (if only):

Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.).

29 Interesting Times  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:57:41am

EDIT: Well that was quick. @LOLGOP must have deleted the tweet I just linked. It said:

Let's us never forget the true victims: the offended.

30 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:57:48am

National Review writer says, basically, "don't go there" and then goes there:


The Wrong Moment for Political Agitation

By David Gelernter
July 20, 2012 2:21 P.M. Comments4

The only fitting response to a terrible crime like this is silence or prayer. The idea that acts of mass murder reflect Hollywood violence is absurd; you can’t get more violent than King Lear. It’s true that guns are more convenient than hatchets as mass-murder weapons; they are also more convenient for self-defense. Defense and attack are generally on par in the long blood-stain of human history, and this is the wrong moment for political agitation for or against gun control. (If such laws really did “control” guns it might be different. But as matters stand, if we outlaw guns, we had better outlaw crime also.) A whole generation has been reared, in many parts of society, without the moral compass of biblical religion. Does that make any difference to the rate of violent crime? I don’t know and, again, this is the wrong moment to argue about it. In human life, savagery is a given. God knows we all wish it weren’t.

At least one prop to one of the commenters, though, who points out that the US violent crime rate has generally been down for the past few years.

31 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:57:53am

re: #26 Cap'n Magic

A split in two. Let them have their New Confederate State(s) of America and all that setting up a new country entails-new currency, new treaties, new military, new border patrols, new government-the whole 'effin LOT.

And they can build it all with the revenue they'll have from a zero per cent tax rate.

32 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:58:11am

Too much religion causes violence in the MIddle East. Not enough causes violence in the US.

Am I getting that right?

33 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:58:20am

re: #27 Learned Mother of Zion

HAV MOAR FAIL

[Embedded content]

I fucking hate it when they do that. Really someone please tell me how a bystander with a gun could have made this situation better? It was a dark and crowded movie theater. This isn't a video game. This is real life with real people and real pressures.

34 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:59:25am

re: #31 Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire

And they can build it all with the revenue they'll have from a zero per cent tax rate.

And they can keep their economies stable by going on the gold/silver standard while not providing any gubmint services to the poor or unemployed.

I just hope they wait until I leave Texas before that happens.

35 Reverend Mother Ramallo  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 11:59:42am

AAhh! That's why they want to remove critical thinking from their school curriculum.
Throw a bunch of words together, sprinkle in a little God, an you too can become a member of Congress! I had to read that word salad 3 times.
I know what he's saying, but it still makes no sense. What makes me nervous is that there are a whole bunch of people nodding and clapping at his sentiment.

36 Targetpractice  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:00:00pm

re: #33 HappyWarrior

I fucking hate it when they do that. Really someone please tell me how a bystander with a gun could have made this situation better? It was a dark and crowded movie theater. This isn't a video game. This is real life with real people and real pressures.

One-track minds. "More guns = less crime." Other factors, like who is holding those guns, doesn't enter into the equation.

37 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:00:04pm

DHS Secretary Blasts GOP Rep For Peddling Bachmann’s Anti-Muslim Conspiracy Theories

During the hearing, Bachmann letter co-signer Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) furiously questioned Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. Gohmert’s interrogation focused on Mohamed Elibiary, a member of DHS’s Combatting Violent Extremism Working Group (CVE), who was named in the letter to DHS.

Gohmert asked Napolitano about his previous request for information on accusations made by all the usual Isamophobic bloggers that Elibiary leaked classified information to the media. Napolitano called Gohmert’s claim “inaccurate,” adding, “What bothers me, quite frankly, are the allegations that are made against anyone that happens to be Muslim”:

38 dell*nix  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:00:21pm

re: #26 Cap'n Magic

So you yankees are the only true, pure, sweet and innocent? No regressives at all in your local?

39 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:00:28pm

re: #30 freetoken

National Review writer says, basically, "don't go there" and then goes there:

The Wrong Moment for Political Agitation

At least one prop to one of the commenters, though, who points out that the US violent crime rate has generally been down for the past few years.

Oh enough of the lack of religion crap, National Review. Religion has nothing to do with a person's individual morality. Nothing. There are devout Christians who have killed abortion doctors and there are devout atheists who work to make lives better for others. It's all about the individual when it comes down to it. If you want to raise your child in a religious environment awesome, but don't blame me if I don't want to force religious morality on the public at large when some asshole shoots people.

40 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:00:33pm

re: #10 Lidane

If nothing else, it would stop people from texting and/or talking on the phone during a film.

///

I was, I admit, during a showing of the last Harry Potter film, while a couple just BLATHERED away behind me, tempted to dig a ballpoint pen out of my purse, whirl around and aim it at them and scream AVADA KADAVRA!! just to see what would happen.

But I refrained.

41 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:00:41pm

re: #33 HappyWarrior

I fucking hate it when they do that. Really someone please tell me how a bystander with a gun could have made this situation better? It was a dark and crowded movie theater. This isn't a video game. This is real life with real people and real pressures.

BECAUSE GUNS, THAT'S WHY.

You know, because everyone with a gun in a crowded theater is a highly trained sniper who would only shoot the gunman and no one else.

42 bratwurst  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:01:28pm

re: #22 HappyWarrior

Ah Gohmert is part of the Huma Abedin witch hunt. Why does that not shock me? I imagine Steve King is there too.

Great guess...but surprisingly, no. The others are:

Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Tom Rooney (R-FL)
Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)

Here is a pdf of the original letter.

We used to have at least a few posters around here who were McCarthy apologists. I am sure those same people are cheering this effort on right now.

43 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:02:15pm

re: #41 Lidane

You know, because everyone with a gun in a crowded theater is a highly trained sniper who would only shoot the gunman and no one else.

Yep, and they get a do-over if they shoot someone else by accident. Listen, I'm fine with guns being legal but it's an absolute crock of shit to claim that a bystander with a gun would have averted this tragedy. In fact, I think one can reasonably argue that things could have been worse.

44 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:02:28pm

re: #31 Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaire

Indeed.

45 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:02:40pm

re: #15 Cap'n Magic

The sooner the US gets rid of the regressives and their states where they hold political power, the better off the rest of the remaining US states will be.

As Franklin (Mr. Gohmert's friend) pointed out, we all hang together, or we all hang separately.

Let's not talk about splitting up the Union over Louie Fucking Gohmert.

46 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:03:05pm

re: #42 bratwurst

Great guess...but surprisingly, no. The others are:

Trent Franks (R-AZ)
Tom Rooney (R-FL)
Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA)

Here is a pdf of the original letter.

We used to have at least a few posters around here who were McCarthy apologists. I am sure those same people are cheering this effort on right now.

Franks doesn't surprise me. Don't know much about Westmoreland or Rooney's ideological tendencies. I do know that Rooney's own uncle is Obama's ambassador to Ireland.

47 Randall Gross  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:03:22pm

Time for another well deserved Gohmert pylon.

48 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:03:34pm

re: #32 ggt

Too much religion causes violence in the MIddle East. Not enough causes violence in the US.

Am I getting that right?

Nope. It is all not enough of the *right* religion (and sub-sect thereof) with the *right* people in charge and at the top of the social and political pyramids. Sort of like having one's particular clan and group running the country in an autocratic manner and reaping all the goodies for themselves.
/

49 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:04:20pm

re: #18 Kronocide

Guys like Gohmert make me ashamed to be American.

There is no nation that doesn't have its despicable idiots. I mean, if you were French, you could be ashamed of Marine Le Pen. I admit that she's hotter than Gohmert, but is it really an improvement?

50 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:04:33pm

re: #41 Lidane

You know, because everyone with a gun in a crowded theater is a highly trained sniper who would only shoot the gunman and no one else.

I think the concept is that if they criminal was afraid of the victims--as they had the ability to shoot him--he would be less likely to commit a crime.

Same concept as having a barking dog to deter house invasions.

These whackos seem to seek out areas where the law says NO GUNS --schools, malls, now theatres. Maybe not so crazy. Except for the psychiatrist, I can't remember any that went into an area he/she might reasonable be thought to be stopped by anyone--citizen or law enforcement-- for some time.

51 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:05:06pm

Yeah, everything would be awesome if conservative Christians ran everything. People like Gohmert and the NR writer are arguing that they in effect want a theocracy. That's their right but for the love of God, man, don't pee on my leg and tell me you're for freedom and liberty while you advocate that.

52 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:05:07pm

re: #48 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

Nope. It is all not enough of the *right* religion (and sub-sect thereof) with the *right* people in charge and at the top of the social and political pyramids. Sort of like having one's particular clan and group running the country in an autocratic manner and reaping all the goodies for themselves.
/

ah!

My G-d is more equal than your G-d?

53 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:05:19pm

re: #32 ggt

Too much religion causes violence in the MIddle East. Not enough causes violence in the US.

Am I getting that right?

There must be a happy medium where people believe in God just enough not to shoot others. Or not.

54 Kronocide  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:05:33pm

re: #30 freetoken

National Review writer says, basically, "don't go there" and then goes there:

The Wrong Moment for Political Agitation

At least one prop to one of the commenters, though, who points out that the US violent crime rate has generally been down for the past few years.

Not unlike Twitchy, a Twitter based gossip blog that posts blogs about 'the left' citing a few stupid Tweets from Twits who might be tweeting while liberal.

55 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:05:59pm

re: #52 ggt

ah!

My G-d is more equal than your G-d?

As long as we're talking about Crom, then yes.

56 calochortus  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:06:26pm

re: #43 HappyWarrior

While there are stats that show there are lower crime rates where there are more guns, there is legitimate debate as to the causal relationship. However, as you say, this would hardly be a case where that is true, especially in light of the fact the shooter was wearing pretty complete body armor.

57 Targetpractice  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:07:07pm

re: #43 HappyWarrior

Yep, and they get a do-over if they shoot someone else by accident. Listen, I'm fine with guns being legal but it's an absolute crock of shit to claim that a bystander with a gun would have averted this tragedy. In fact, I think one can reasonably argue that things could have been worse.

No argument, it definitely would have. You're in a dark, crowded theater, with everybody panicking around you. It's not hard to imagine that the scenario was one that would make a cattle stampede look organized. And you're expected to figure out who the shooter is, draw a bead on him, and take him down without hitting anybody else.

I think is the point we're all reminded of the one fellow who was carrying concealed that day at the Giffords shooting, who nearly shot an unarmed man before realizing the mistake he was about to make.

58 Bulworth  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:07:08pm

re: #28 Sophia77

Here are the lovely folks with their paranoia, besides Bachmann, who should lose her seat (if only):

Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.).

Wait, you're saying that Trent Franks (R-Theocrat) is one of this infamous gang of five? I'm shocked, just shocked to hear this. /

59 dragonath  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:07:30pm

re: #30 freetoken

Clowns like this never figured out that many atheists value life the same or even more than the average Christian. This writer probably think they're all godless socialist sluggos or something.

Perspective. NRO doesn't have it.

60 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:07:33pm

re: #52 ggt

ah!

My G-d is more equal than your G-d?

But yours is a false one of course. Or you've drifted too far from the proper manner of worship and thus will be delegated to the subserviant classes. Don't worry, we can find something to pin on you as sufficient excuse to treat you as we will.

61 HappyWarrior  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:07:54pm

re: #56 calochortus

While there are stats that show there are lower crime rates where there are more guns, there is legitimate debate as to the causal relationship. However, as you say, this would hardly be a case where that is true, especially in light of the fact the shooter was wearing pretty complete body armor.

Right, I think there are cases where you can say that an armed bystander would have helped and I see downstairs there was such a case. This is not such a case and for Loesch and Gohmert to suggest that knowing the circumstances surrounding this shooting is moronic and nothing but a whistle to the gun fetish crowd.

62 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:08:58pm

re: #38 dell*nix

So you yankees are the only true, pure, sweet and innocent? No regressives at all in your local?

The fantasy usually runs that 'regressives' from the blue states will be forced to move to the new red nation. It's at this point that you realize that even as a fantasy, this is a really distasteful line of reasoning.

63 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:11:08pm

re: #60 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

But yours is a false one of course. Or you've drifted too far from the proper manner of worship and thus will be delegated to the subserviant classes. Don't worry, we can find something to pin on you as sufficient excuse to treat you as we will.

I probably have the wrong color eyes and don't qualify for G-d's love anyway. I'll just go with the sinners now and avoid the trial.

64 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:11:20pm

re: #38 dell*nix

So you yankees are the only true, pure, sweet and innocent? No regressives at all in your local?

A chunk of Maine apparently.

65 Tigger2005  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:11:32pm

re: #32 ggt

Too much religion causes violence in the MIddle East. Not enough causes violence in the US.

Am I getting that right?

Yup. It's because Christianity is the One True Religion and Mohametism is of the Devil dontcha know. Nobody ever killed in the name of Jesus, is He not the Prince of Peace?

66 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:12:06pm

re: #63 ggt

I probably have the wrong color eyes and don't qualify for G-d's love anyway. I'll just go with the sinners now and avoid the trial.

The Computer is your friend. Obey the Computer.

67 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:12:07pm

re: #38 dell*nix

I don't deny that we have our own problems of our own making. But when you look at the regressive political rhetoric and where it comes from, there still seems to be this seething hatred of the North victorious over the South in the Civil War. I was born in Detroit-where the weak and killed and eaten (and on occasion I will vacation there.)

As for Bachmanm, she's from MN-where they've had their share of "You got to be kidding me Politiicans" (Franken, Ventrura)

68 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:12:16pm

re: #62 SanFranciscoZionist

The fantasy usually runs that 'regressives' from the blue states will be forced to move to the new red nation. It's at this point that you realize that even as a fantasy, this is a really distasteful line of reasoning.

Is it still ok to hope they were at least right about the Rapture and just disappear one day?

Of course the best part about the Rapture will be seeing all the people who expected to get taken trying to come up with excuses the next day.

69 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:12:41pm

re: #63 ggt

I probably have the wrong color eyes and don't qualify for G-d's love anyway. I'll just go with the sinners now and avoid the trial.

Must be a ginger.

70 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:13:29pm

re: #66 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

The Computer is your friend. Obey the Computer.

Greetings Troubleshooter.

71 dragonath  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:13:53pm

re: #65 Tigger2005

Yup. It's because Christianity is the One True Religion and Mohametism is of the Devil dontcha know. Nobody ever killed in the name of Jesus, is He not the Prince of Peace?

Gohmert probably thinks Raynald of Châtillon was a hero then.

72 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:14:15pm

re: #69 Kragar

Must be a ginger.

Zingiber!

73 dell*nix  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:14:52pm

re: #62 SanFranciscoZionist

Been my experience that no matter where you are there are haters of some sort or another. Hell, they may even figure that you are a hater of their brand of thinking or being. And in my case they just might be right.

74 Tigger2005  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:14:58pm

re: #40 SanFranciscoZionist

I was, I admit, during a showing of the last Harry Potter film, while a couple just BLATHERED away behind me, tempted to dig a ballpoint pen out of my purse, whirl around and aim it at them and scream AVADA KADAVRA!! just to see what would happen.

But I refrained.

I would have used the Cruciatus Curse myself.

75 kirkspencer  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:15:24pm

re: #67 Cap'n Magic

I don't deny that we have our own problems of our own making. But when you look at the regressive rhetoric and where it comes from, there still seems to be this seething hatred of the North victorious over the South in the Civil War. I was born in Detroit-where the weak and killed and eaten (and on occasion I will vacation there.)

As for Bachmanm, she's from MN-where they've had their share of "You got to be kidding me Politiicans" (Franken, Ventrura)

I've been impressed with Franken, myself. And before too many stones are cast I'll point out that every state has had a character or two over the years.

76 Sheila Broflovski  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:16:23pm

Heh.

77 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:16:51pm

re: #74 Tigger2005

I would have used the Cruciatus Curse myself.

A "Shut your fat gobs, ya sodding pikers!" would have worked.

78 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:16:52pm

re: #66 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

More accurately: "Trust NO ONE but the computer".

79 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:17:43pm

re: #78 Cap'n Magic

More accurately: "Trust NO ONE but the computer".

Best game ever.

80 Bulworth  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:17:47pm
a virtuous people are capable of freedom, as nations become corrupt and vicious they have more need of masters …

Hear that you gay atheistic radical secular muslim types? No less government for you. /

81 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:18:00pm

re: #75 kirkspencer

I've been impressed with Franken, myself. And before too many stones are cast I'll point out that every state has had a character or two over the years.

I like Franken. I saw him speak at SXSW in 2011 and he was spot on. Really knew his stuff, answered every question thoroughly and directed his answers to the person who asked it, and he was on top of his game for his speech taking place at 9am.

82 Tigger2005  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:18:09pm

re: #77 Kragar

A "Shut your fat gobs, ya sodding pikers!" would have worked.

They never taught that spell in Defense Against the Dark Arts...

83 wrenchwench  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:18:13pm

re: #67 Cap'n Magic

I don't deny that we have our own problems of our own making. But when you look at the regressive rhetoric and where it comes from, there still seems to be this seething hatred of the North victorious over the South in the Civil War. I was born in Detroit-where the weak and killed and eaten (and on occasion I will vacation there.)

As for Bachmanm, she's from MN-where they've had their share of "You got to be kidding me Politiicans" (Franken, Ventrura)

To the extent you are serious, which I can't judge yet, you are crazy and heartless. Even in the Meth Lab of Democracy, Arizona, there are good people who should not be consigned to some separate land of rednecks, but who should be applauded for trying to drag their state into the modern era. We all benefit from their work. Sawing off some states to remove them from whatever remains when you've unloaded the crazy would benefit no one.

84 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:19:25pm

re: #82 Tigger2005

They never taught that spell in Defense Against the Dark Arts...

I didn't know enough Malay to use that when I saw that film. (Kuala Lumpar about a year ago.)

85 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:19:41pm

re: #82 Tigger2005

They never taught that spell in Defense Against the Dark Arts...

It was in the advanced class.

86 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:21:16pm

re: #67 Cap'n Magic

I don't deny that we have our own problems of our own making. But when you look at the regressive political rhetoric and where it comes from, there still seems to be this seething hatred of the North victorious over the South in the Civil War. I was born in Detroit-where the weak and killed and eaten (and on occasion I will vacation there.)

As for Bachmanm, she's from MN-where they've had their share of "You got to be kidding me Politiicans" (Franken, Ventrura)

So the South, the Southwest, plus Minnesota...I'll throw in Eastern California for free...

87 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:21:41pm

re: #45 SanFranciscoZionist

On the contrary: with 360,000+ millionaires residing in Texas, they, more than any other state, could successfully cleave themselves off from the USA and succeed as a standalone country.

The question is-do they they have the stones to do it? Given that amongst the southern states they have a Federal Tax flowback rate of .92, it actually makes fiscal sense for them to seceede.

88 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:21:44pm

re: #84 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

I didn't know enough Malay to use that when I saw that film. (Kuala Lumpar about a year ago.)

Speaking of Koalas, not so cute and cuddly when wet.

Image: CBzN3.jpg

89 dragonath  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:21:53pm

If not for Lincoln, how long might slavery have survived in the Confederacy? It gets pretty chilling to think that it may have lasted 10 or 20 more years.

90 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:22:06pm

re: #68 Kragar

Is it still ok to hope they were at least right about the Rapture and just disappear one day?

Of course the best part about the Rapture will be seeing all the people who expected to get taken trying to come up with excuses the next day.

I'm not happy about the Rapture. It's inherently unfair to the United States. India will hardly be affected, China will be relieved, but we'll actually lose lots of people. Us and Samoa.

91 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:22:10pm

re: #86 SanFranciscoZionist

So the South, the Southwest, plus Minnesota...I'll throw in Eastern California for free...

There's anybody in Eastern California? I just always thought it was desert and some trees and stuff.

92 Varek Raith  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:22:26pm

re: #88 Kragar

Speaking of Koalas, not so cute and cuddly when wet.

Image: CBzN3.jpg

That's adorable!

93 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:22:55pm

re: #88 Kragar

Speaking of Koalas, not so cute and cuddly when wet.

Image: CBzN3.jpg

Wait--did they also feed him after midnight?

94 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:23:26pm

re: #83 wrenchwench

To the extent you are serious, which I can't judge yet, you are crazy and heartless. Even in the Meth Lab of Democracy, Arizona, there are good people who should not be consigned to some separate land of rednecks, but who should be applauded for trying to drag their state into the modern era. We all benefit from their work. Sawing off some states to remove them from whatever remains when you've unloaded the crazy would benefit no one.

The craziness is American craziness. The rot is in our own society. We fix it or we go down together. There is no trying to shove some people out and imagining the rot won't come back.

95 Romantic Heretic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:23:31pm

re: #11 Mostly sane, most of the time.

My own theory, which I am willing to publicly state here, is that insanity is involved.

Mental illness is a real problem that our society has been trying to understand and treat for a very long time. We are just starting to get a handle on it.

We'll know we've finally met and grappled with this problem when our downtowns are no longer filled with the mentally ill homeless and a person can say "I suffer from depression," or "I have anxiety attacks," and not be met with derision or dismissal.

The biggest barrier to a proper mental healthcare system is that a lot of people don't believe in mental illness. They believe in mental weakness. In their view a person suffering from hallucinations or wild mood swings just needs to grow a backbone.

I often wish for such people to suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or clinical depression for a week. Just to gain a little perspective.

96 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:23:37pm

re: #91 Mostly sane, most of the time.

There's anybody in Eastern California? I just always thought it was desert and some trees and stuff.

Trust me there are a ton of crazies in said desert. Once you get out of the western part and head east toward Vegas there's lots of em.

97 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:24:10pm

re: #88 Kragar

Speaking of Koalas, not so cute and cuddly when wet.

Image: CBzN3.jpg

Neither are wet cats. They're also not-so-personable after getting soaked as well.

98 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:24:16pm

re: #87 Cap'n Magic

On the contrary: with 360,000+ millionaires residing in Texas, they, more than any other state, could successfully cleave themselves off from the USA and succeed as a standalone country.

The question is-do they they have the stones to do it? Given that amongst the southern states they have a Federal Tax flowback rate of .92, it actually makes send for them to seceede.

I think you miss my point. Sundering the Union is what I'm concerned about, not whether Texas could survive alone.

99 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:24:55pm

re: #89 Fred Galt

If not for Lincoln, how long might slavery have survived in the Confederacy? It gets pretty chilling to think that it may have lasted 10 or 20 more years.

The same people who hate Lincoln for the Civil War (i.e., Ron Paul and his merry band of lunatics) also think that the Confederate states would have voted to free the slaves and grant them civil rights. You know, because the Confederate South was known for its desire for racial equality back then.

100 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:25:16pm

re: #91 Mostly sane, most of the time.

There's anybody in Eastern California? I just always thought it was desert and some trees and stuff.

THere are some folks. Most of us are clustered on the coast, though.

101 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:25:27pm

re: #90 SanFranciscoZionist

I'm not happy about the Rapture. It's inherently unfair to the United States. India will hardly be affected, China will be relieved, but we'll actually lose lots of people. Us and Samoa.

If it's the Calvinist Rapture and only a couple of hundred thousand "Elect" disappear it could be that noone notices at all.

102 Romantic Heretic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:25:50pm

re: #27 Learned Mother of Zion

HAV MOAR FAIL

[Embedded content]

When did you give two shits about the law, Dana?

103 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:25:53pm

re: #90 SanFranciscoZionist

I'm not happy about the Rapture. It's inherently unfair to the United States. India will hardly be affected, China will be relieved, but we'll actually lose lots of people. Us and Samoa.

I think that depends on the actual criteria. I'm thinking it wouldn't actually affect as many people who think they would be sure things.

104 Eclectic Infidel  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:26:08pm

I wonder if this dumbfuck also feels the same way when abortion doctors are murdered in cold blood. Doubt it.

105 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:26:32pm

re: #83 wrenchwench

That's why it needs to be put to a vote of the citizens of the state who wish to seceede. States Rights, 'n all that.

And, of course, to add fuel to the fire, those citizens who decide to remain with the new country will get a one-time payment of their SSA/SSI accounts, at which point the US washes their hands of those citizens of the secessionists.

106 Charles Johnson  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:26:39pm
107 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:26:42pm

re: #95 Romantic Heretic

The biggest barrier to a proper mental healthcare system is that a lot of people don't believe in mental illness. They believe in mental weakness. In their view a person suffering from hallucinations or wild mood swings just needs to grow a backbone.

I often wish for such people to suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or clinical depression for a week. Just to gain a little perspective.

Yeah, the "Pray harder," or "Our ancestors just dealt with it."

1. God gave us brains so we could come up with a better solution.

2. Our ancestors just suffered. You never hear these people advocating not using pain medication or antibiotics because our ancestors just dealt with it.

108 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:28:44pm

re: #94 SanFranciscoZionist

Not true-especially when it comes to belief systems-Christianity in particular.
Wasn't it Christ himself who said to knock the dust off yer shoes and move on to those who wouldn't accept the truth?

109 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:29:19pm

Here's the Brady Campaign's list of Mass Shootings in the United States Since 2005

How many were cognizant of even the ones just from 2012, not to mention older years?

110 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:29:26pm

re: #99 Lidane

The same people who hate Lincoln for the Civil War (i.e., Ron Paul and his merry band of lunatics) also think that the Confederate states would have voted to free the slaves and grant them civil rights. You know, because the Confederate South was known for its desire for racial equality back then.

"It would have fixed itself, and there wouldn't be hostility over it today, if you'd just let it alone."

Also used in regards to women's suffrage and the civil rights movement.

"We were gonna get to that, but you got aggressive over it and hurt our feelings."

111 dragonath  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:30:06pm

re: #99 Lidane

Speaking of Paul...

Ron Paul: I 'Have Not' Decided If I'll Vote for Romney

Holding off the convention invite probably wasn't such a swift idea.

112 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:30:36pm
113 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:32:15pm

re: #110 SanFranciscoZionist


The suffragette movement being, as it were, the equivalent of dumping a full, smelly trash bag in the lap of a husband who's been putting it off for two hours?

Heeheehee

I'm still bitter about my ancestresses in Utah being disenfranchised back in 1873. If you can walk across the plains, you should be able to pick your mayor.

114 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:32:45pm

re: #105 Cap'n Magic

That's why it needs to be put to a vote of the citizens of the state who wish to seceede. States Rights, 'n all that.

And, of course, to add fuel to the fire, those citizens who decide to remain with the new country will get a one-time payment of their SSA/SSI accounts, at which point the US washes their hands of those citizens of the secessionists.

The new, improved, United States, will, of course, make it possible--God knows there will be no chance of hostilities over this either--for each and every person wishing to leave the 'new country' to relocate within the new, improved United States, and find work. This will work out fine, because now that the bastards are gone, perfect socialism will have broken out, plus we'll be rich.

///Or not. Ever read much on India's partition from Pakistan?

115 dell*nix  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:32:50pm

re: #106 Charles Johnson

They need to get the terminology straight.

Magazine, not a clip.

An assault rifle is a full automatic, not a semi-automatic.

116 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:32:56pm

re: #112 Kragar

Ann Coulter goes full racist

I'm eagerly awaiting the RWNJ reaction should Barack Obama win a second term. It's going to be scary and educational in nearly equal measure.

117 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:33:43pm

re: #30 freetoken

National Review writer says, basically, "don't go there" and then goes there:

The Wrong Moment for Political Agitation

At least one prop to one of the commenters, though, who points out that the US violent crime rate has generally been down for the past few years.

NR used to be an intellectual publication; now Christian conservatism seems to have a foothold.

TWO whole generations have been raised in Europe, Japan, Australia without the "moral compass of bibilical religion." Gelernter might want to compare their violent crime rates to ours and then revisit the subject.

118 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:34:11pm

re: #98 SanFranciscoZionist

That is the least of my worries. The American Empire as it exists today, is doomed. Those entities who can survive should be allowed to, and do so as quickly as possible. Empires rise and fall-that is history. To deny history is to deny reality.

119 Targetpractice  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:34:13pm

re: #106 Charles Johnson

[Embedded content]

Which of course is another item that was banned under the AWB.

120 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:34:25pm

re: #108 Cap'n Magic

Not true-especially when it comes to belief systems-Christianity in particular.
Wasn't it Christ himself who said to knock the dust off yer shoes and move on to those who wouldn't accept the truth?

Headdesk.

121 Eventual Carrion  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:35:23pm

re: #5 HappyWarrior

Yeah because no believer in religion has ever once gone on a murderous rampage. Gohmert can go fuck himself.

Well that was in the olden, holy war days. Now-a-days fanatical fundies pretty much stick with drowning or dispatching their kids in some way for being "of the devil". Not mass murder, more selective. Almost like honor thy god killings.

122 wrenchwench  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:36:37pm

re: #118 Cap'n Magic

That is the least of my worries. The American Empire as it exists today, is doomed. Those entities who can survive should be allowed to, and do so as quickly as possible. Empires rise and fall-that is history. To deny history is to deny reality.

And to draw conclusions for the future with certainty based only on the past is folly.

123 kirkspencer  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:36:44pm

re: #87 Cap'n Magic

On the contrary: with 360,000+ millionaires residing in Texas, they, more than any other state, could successfully cleave themselves off from the USA and succeed as a standalone country.

The question is-do they they have the stones to do it? Given that amongst the southern states they have a Federal Tax flowback rate of .92, it actually makes send for them to seceede.

Superficially yes. When you actually start chasing numbers (as I did a few years ago) not so much.

A significant problem they have is the question of a military. All the stuff at Ft. Bliss and Ft. Hood and Ft. Sam Houston, not to mention all the reserves and large portion of the national guards sites, belong to the US government. Assuming an amicable separation that's still a lot of materiel to purchase. Add to it the cost of supporting and maintaining it and it turns ugly fast. (factories for parts, factories for ammo, etc.)

Another problem is continuing income. The plurality of Texas revenues are due to it being a refining waystation. The remaining United States would build new refineries within its borders within ten years to reduce foreign leverage. International corporations might keep offices in Texas just as they do Mexico and Iraq, but their US operations are going to be based in the US.

Oh, yes, don't forget that Texas now has to take over the entirety of the border patrol.

Texas can 'afford' to secede in the short run, but run the long-term numbers and it loses.

124 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:36:57pm

re: #116 Lidane

I'm eagerly awaiting the RWNJ reaction should Barack Obama win a second term. It's going to be scary and educational in nearly equal measure.

I expect a period of quiet reflection and soul searching on how to move forward and achieve their goals through logical, well reasoned debate and positive actions that will benefit all Americans in the long run.

I also expect Lucy Lawless to show up on my birthday wearing her Xena costume and whisking me away to Las Vegas for a week, with my wife's blessing.

125 Patricia Kayden  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:39:08pm

So Gohmert thinks that if everyone was armed in the theatre, there would have been a better outcome? Yes, everyone armed and shooting in a dark theatre is a perfect way to handle gun violence. Such logic.
And are more secular countries more violent than the US? Mr. Gohmert needs to shut up and let the facts surrounding this tragedy come out.

126 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:39:19pm

re: #118 Cap'n Magic

That is the least of my worries. The American Empire as it exists today, is doomed. Those entities who can survive should be allowed to, and do so as quickly as possible. Empires rise and fall-that is history. To deny history is to deny reality.

1. Saw off Texas.

2. ?

3. SURVIVAL!!!

127 dragonath  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:39:21pm

re: #112 Kragar

Ann Coulter goes full racist

You know, that's not a whole lot different than what Romney was saying the other day.

We welcome people here with dreams and say to them, ‘Come build it.’ Not, ‘Come here because government will give it to you.

These damn immigrants from damn developing countries!

128 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:39:36pm

re: #114 SanFranciscoZionist

I didn't say that it would be all sweetness and light. At the same time, there's as much (if not greater) risk to the remaining rump US states than to those who are seceeding.

129 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:41:49pm

re: #128 Cap'n Magic

I didn't say that it would be all sweetness and light. At the same time, there's as much (if not greater) risk to the remaining rump US states than to those who are seceeding.

I'm running out of polite ways to respond to you, so as they say in "Thumb Wars", I'm ending this transmission.

130 dragonath  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:42:33pm

re: #118 Cap'n Magic

That is the least of my worries. The American Empire as it exists today, is doomed. Those entities who can survive should be allowed to, and do so as quickly as possible. Empires rise and fall-that is history. To deny history is to deny reality.

As I recall, splitting the Roman Empire didn't work out so well for the West.

131 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:42:36pm

re: #122 wrenchwench

Those people, who have lost a sense of history, are going to have to relieve it themselves. The old chestnut of 'This time its different' has been eviscerated with the financial crises of 2007-2008.

132 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:42:39pm

re: #118 Cap'n Magic

That is the least of my worries. The American Empire as it exists today, is doomed. Those entities who can survive should be allowed to, and do so as quickly as possible. Empires rise and fall-that is history. To deny history is to deny reality.

Empire? We're a union of states with a republican-based government.

Empires involve one group of people taking over another. I suppose you could count Guam, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii, but they seem to be more or less sanguine with the situation.

(I'm sitting here thinking that if the US were an empire, we'd be a pretty lame one.)

133 Blizard  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:42:47pm

re: #123 kirkspencer

And then a lot of people in Austin will be really really bummed.

134 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:44:11pm

If we ever do try to split, negotiations will get bogged down in arguing over who has to take the Kardashians and Snooki.

135 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:44:23pm

re: #133 Blizard

And then a lot of people in Austin will be really really bummed.

Texas secedes from the Union. Then Austin secedes from Texas. Then some neigborhood in Austin secedes from Austin, and finally the chain ends with Marisol Martinez, aged ten, seceding from the rest of the family, and painting a border across the door to her room.

That will last until dessert is served at latest.

136 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:44:35pm

re: #129 SanFranciscoZionist

No skin off my nose.

137 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:45:50pm

re: #132 Mostly sane, most of the time.

Empire? We're a union of states with a republican-based government.

Empires involve one group of people taking over another. I suppose you could count Guam, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii, but they seem to be more or less sanguine with the situation.

(I'm sitting here thinking that if the US were an empire, we'd be a pretty lame one.)

We're an empire due to our military presence in nearly every corner of the globe...far greater than any other nation. Whether that's a good thing or a bad one I'll let others argue. But there's really no question that we have many of the attributes of an imperial power.

138 erik_t  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:46:06pm

re: #135 SanFranciscoZionist

MoooOOOOOoooom! Jimmy is violatin' my exclusive economic zone!

139 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:46:32pm

re: #133 Blizard

And then a lot of people in Austin will be really really bummed.

As long as Texas waits until I get the hell out of Austin before it secedes, I'm fine with it. The withering morons in the Texas GOP are running this state into the goddamn ground and their latest platform doesn't inspire confidence that anything is going to improve around here. =P

140 lawhawk  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:47:28pm

re: #130 Fred Galt

It's Istanbul, not Constantinople.

141 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:47:53pm

re: #137 palomino

We're an empire due to our military presence in nearly every corner of the globe...far greater than any other nation. Whether that's a good thing or a bad one I'll let others argue. But there's really no question that we have many of the attributes of an imperial power.

I seem to recall that in the British Empire, wealth flowed the other way.

142 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:48:29pm

re: #140 lawhawk

It's Istanbul, not Constantinople.

Yeah, but if you've a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul.

143 wrenchwench  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:48:31pm

re: #131 Cap'n Magic

Those people, who have lost a sense of history, are going to have to relieve it themselves. The old chestnut of 'This time its different' has been eviscerated with the financial crises of 2007-2008.

As read on the internet. This time. For the first time.

144 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:49:23pm

re: #135 SanFranciscoZionist

If you secede then he'll secede and she'll secede and well all secede...it'll be anarchy!

145 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:49:44pm

re: #95 Romantic Heretic

The biggest barrier to a proper mental healthcare system is that a lot of people don't believe in mental illness. They believe in mental weakness. In their view a person suffering from hallucinations or wild mood swings just needs to grow a backbone.

I often wish for such people to suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or clinical depression for a week. Just to gain a little perspective.

Because insulin-dependent diabetics aren't sick either, they should just suck-it-up!

People can't seem to accept the idea that the brain is an organ of the body, like any other.

146 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:50:21pm

re: #144 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

If you secede then he'll secede and she'll secede and well all secede...it'll be anarchy!

We'll all be feudal overlords and living in an Ayn Rand paradise of selfishness and rape. Whee!

147 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:50:24pm

re: #144 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

If you secede then he'll secede and she'll secede and well all secede...it'll be anarchy!

SPLITTERS!

148 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:50:37pm

re: #141 Mostly sane, most of the time.

I seem to recall that in the British Empire, wealth flowed the other way.

That doesn't contradict my assertion that we have a lot in common with historical imperial powers.

Furthermore, the money may seem to be flowing in the wrong direction, but we don't enter conflicts or station bases around the world out of some humanitarian impulse. Rather it's done primarily to protect American interests, many of which are economic.

149 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:50:48pm

I'm not sure how establishing a crossfire in a darkened, teargas filled theater was going to make things better. Image a bunch of frightened theatergoers with guns all shooting at muzzle flashes, what could possibly go wrong?

150 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:50:50pm

re: #142 Mostly sane, most of the time.

Yeah, but if you've a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul.

St. Petersburg or Beijing?

151 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:51:20pm

re: #145 ggt

Because insulin-dependent diabetics aren't sick either, they should just suck-it-up!

People can't seem to accept the idea that the brain is an organ of the body, like any other.

That's because "you" live in your brain, so it's more sensitive. If my ego were tied up in my liver, I might feel differently about suggestions that something were wrong with it.

152 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:52:23pm

Humanists denounce Rep. Gohmert’s comments linking Colorado shootings to “attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs”

“Rep. Louis Gohmert truly tortures logic when he concludes that this violence had something to do with perceived attacks on majority faith in America,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association. “At a time when families are mourning in the wake of this tragedy, Gohmert used it as an opportunity to push a religious agenda.”

"Torturing" logic implies having logic hostage firstly... and I doubt Gohmert has captured and logic in a very long time.

153 Targetpractice  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:52:24pm

re: #142 Mostly sane, most of the time.

Yeah, but if you've a date in Constantinople, she'll be waiting in Istanbul.

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam.

154 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:54:28pm

Barton falsely claims SPLC called him a terrorist for loving God

Last week, we posted a clip in which Barton claimed that the Southern Poverty Law Center had placed him on a list of the "25 greatest domestic terrorists in America" simply because he loves God and loves America. As we pointed out, the SPLC did nothing of the sort, but rather simply included him in a report highlighting "30 New Activists Heading Up the Radical Right."

So it is undeniably false for Barton to claim that the SPLC ever called him a domestic terrorist or anything of the sort ... but Barton doesn't care and went ahead and repeated the claim on his radio program today:

155 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:54:39pm

re: #144 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance

If you secede then he'll secede and she'll secede and well all secede...it'll be anarchy!

naw, let's just call the the whole thing off and go out for ice cream.

156 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:54:48pm

re: #153 Targetpractice

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam.

Why they changed it, I can't say.

157 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:55:08pm

re: #153 Targetpractice

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam.

Why'd they change it?

158 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:55:19pm

re: #151 Mostly sane, most of the time.

That's because "you" live in your brain, so it's more sensitive. If my ego were tied up in my liver, I might feel differently about suggestions that something were wrong with it.

NO, actually, YOU live in your whole body. The brain is part of the body. The mind is part of the body, not just the brain.

159 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:55:27pm

Paul Waldman asks pointedly:

Yes, We Should Keep Talking about Our Gun Laws

When an event like the mass shooting in Colorado happens, it's a fair bet that people on every side will take the opportunity to say, "See? This just reinforces what we've been telling you all along." But that's easier for some than others. I looked around some conservative web sites today to see what their reaction was, and much of it ran to this: Awful liberals are going to use this to push their anti-gun agenda, and they should be ashamed of themselves (see here or here). But is there really anything wrong with taking the events that occur in our country, even horrible ones, and making the connections to our policy and political choices? Isn't that what people who write about politics are supposed to do?

Obviously, making those connections can be done in ways that are crass and inappropriate. But so can a discussion about anything. You can say we should talk about something else out of respect for the victims and their families, but the idea that the families' grief might be lessened one iota if we refrained from discussing gun laws for a week or two is beyond ridiculous.


[...]

And, I'll point out, waiting a week or two is a false answer, which is why I posted that link to the Brady pdf earlier. There are so many mass shootings in the US that one often can't wait two weeks to discuss the last one before a new one pops up.

160 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:56:15pm

re: #153 Targetpractice

Even old New York was once New Amsterdam.

But Morey Amsterdam was funnier.

161 kirkspencer  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:56:20pm

re: #156 SanFranciscoZionist

Why they changed it, I can't say.

re: #157 Kragar

Maybe they liked it better that way.

162 Mostly sane, most of the time.  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:56:35pm

re: #156 SanFranciscoZionist

re: #157 Kragar

To placate the little birdhouse in your soul.

163 dragonfire1981  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:56:36pm

Hey everybody. I work an early shift (4am - 12ish most days) so I just heard the news about the shooting on the way home.

I realize I'm late to the party but I can't come up with any possible motive for this attack.

With assault weapons, body armor and a smoke bomb, he obviously planned it out well in advance.

I think the mental illness angle is the most probable. When I first heard the reports of the guys tactics and his arsenal I couldn't help but wonder if in his mind he was living out some kind of video game scenario. To be clear, I am NOT saying video games may to be blame for what happened, but attempting to understand what was going on this man's head.

He CAN'T have had a specific target in mind if he was blind firing in the dark and there's no political or cultural reason to attack a movie theater. Batman isn't really controversial.

I'm curious to see what this guy had in his system at the time.

164 Gretchen G.Tiger  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:58:13pm

bbl

165 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:58:16pm

re: #154 Kragar

Barton falsely claims SPLC called him a terrorist for loving God

Barton is a deceptive hack, with a clearly biblical agenda grafted onto his supposedly erudite historical research.

Even right wing historians like VDH think he's a joke since his "history" lacks intellectual rigor.

166 Blizard  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:58:18pm

re: #139 Lidane

I grew up in West Texas (Midland) in the 70s/80s. Puke.

It if weren't for family, I would never go back.

167 dragonfire1981  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 12:58:59pm

re: #166 Blizard

I grew up in West Texas (Midland) in the 70s/80s. Puke.

It if weren't for family, I would never go back.

Texas seems to be a love/hate thing. You either love it or...

168 Blizard  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:00:12pm

re: #163 dragonfire1981

Did you read that his apartment is seriously booby-trapped with possible explosives? Apparently very intricate. He thought this out well in advance.

169 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:00:44pm

re: #166 Blizard

I grew up in West Texas (Midland) in the 70s/80s. Puke.

It if weren't for family, I would never go back.

Ditto for me with Houston, which is far more cosmopolitan than Midland, but still a rather unpleasant place. Also more trafficky, smoggy and humid than Midland. I only go back for my family and the food, not necessarily in that order.

170 lawhawk  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:01:52pm

[Link: politicker.com...]

This morning, as the world reacted to the news of the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado that left 12 people dead, the American Rifleman, an official journal of the National Rifle Association, sent a rather insensitive message from their Twitter account.

“Good morning, shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?” the tweet said.

The message quickly provoked outraged responses from hundreds of other Twitter users including Keith Olbermann and the Columbia Journalism Review. Within three hours, it was deleted and no new messages have been posted on the American Rifleman account.

NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam told The Politicker the tweet was being “completely taken out of context.”

“A single individual, unaware of events in Colorado, tweeted a comment that is being completely taken out of context,” Mr. Arulanandam said.

171 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:02:03pm

Slowly the story emerges:

James Eagan Holmes held in Colorado shooting

James Holmes had wanted to be a neuroscientist. He was in a graduate program in neurosciences at the Denver campus of the University of Colorado. This spring, Holmes took a course titled “Biological Basis of Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders.”

But the 24-year-old performed poorly on his comprehensive tests this spring. He was in serious academic trouble, according to a faculty member who spoke on condition of anonymity. His solution was to quit. The school said Friday that Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the program.

[...]

Holmes went to Westview High School in the upscale San Diego suburb of Torrey Highlands, where his parents, Robert and Arlene Holmes, moved in 2005. He later attended the University of California at Riverside, east of Los Angeles, and earned a degree in neuroscience, graduating in 2010.

“This is a lovely family,” said one woman who is a neighbor of the Holmeses in San Diego and who asked not to be named. “There are many lovely things to say about them. I’m just heartbroken, and I’m not ready to talk right now.”

[...]

A neuroscience faculty member, who declined to be identified because of privacy concerns, described Holmes as “very quiet, strangely quiet in class,” and said he seemed “socially off.” Although Holmes got weak scores on the comprehensive exams last semester, the educator said, the school’s staff wasn’t going to toss him out. Instead, they planned to give him remedial instruction and perhaps put him on academic probation.

[...]

172 Daniel Ballard  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:02:40pm

re: #168 Blizard

Did you read that his apartment is seriously booby-trapped with possible explosives? Apparently very intricate. He thought this out well in advance.

Had he not had access to guns, it's a fair assumption he would have bombed or burned the theater instead of shooting it up. Perhaps with fewer, perhaps with more fatalities. Fertilizer and diesel oil is all it takes.

173 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:02:43pm

AFA News Director Says Liberal Churches, Media Share Responsibility for Colorado Shooting

Fred Jackson, the American Family Association’s news director, while discussing the Colorado movie theater shooting today said that liberal Christian churches and liberal media helped contribute to violent incidents by supposedly deemphasizing the fear of God and the Bible. During AFA Today, Jackson had on as his guest Jerry Newcombe of Truth in Action Ministries to discuss his column on the AFA’s OneNewsNow blaming the shooting on a waning fear of God and Hell, and blamed the American Civil Liberties Union for destroying the public school system by supposedly forbidding students from reading the Bible. “You wonder why all these terrible things are happening to us when there is no fear of God,” Newcombe said.

Jackson maintained that unlike in the communities of forty years ago, liberals in the media and churches, along with movies and the internet, have “have come together to give us these kinds of incidents.”

174 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:03:21pm

re: #169 palomino

Ditto for me with Houston, which is far more cosmopolitan than Midland, but still a rather unpleasant place. Also more trafficky, smoggy and humid than Midland. I only go back for my family and the food, not necessarily in that order.

I left Houston in '98 and haven't been back since. Thanks, but no. Too humid, whoever laid out that city was on drugs, and the traffic blows. Maybe someday I'll go back to visit some high school friends I keep in touch with, but that's it. The ONLY city in this state that I can stand to live in anymore is Austin, and even that's starting to piss me off. Or maybe it's the months-long job search getting on my nerves. Who knows?

175 kirkspencer  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:03:32pm

re: #169 palomino

Ditto for me with Houston, which is far more cosmopolitan than Midland, but still a rather unpleasant place. Also more trafficky, smoggy and humid than Midland. I only go back for my family and the food, not necessarily in that order.

I'm not fond of Texas, and given a good opportunity I'll leave without a backward glance. However, I'd rather live in Houston than Chattanooga (my last residence) despite the traffic, smog, and humidity advantages going the other way because it's so much more liberal.

176 researchok  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:04:33pm

re: #173 Kragar

Lunacy is ever escalating

177 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:05:45pm

re: #173 Kragar

considering a lot of the right-wing nutjob talivangelical groups are in CO, and considering that CO has been the site of several mass killings maybe it's too much christianity and the conservative churches...

178 lawhawk  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:05:49pm

re: #176 researchok

Or, the Internet simply makes it apparent to far more people in ever quicker displays...

179 SanFranciscoZionist  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:06:00pm

OK, I GOTTA get this paper done. See everyone later.

180 Eventual Carrion  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:06:28pm

re: #101 Feline Emperor of the Conservative Waste

If it's the Calvinist Rapture and only a couple of hundred thousand "Elect" disappear it could be that noone notices at all.

Yeah, I was thinking the number 144,000

181 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:07:38pm

re: #176 researchok

Lunacy is ever escalating

"In the good ole days, the entire community would come together and maybe run the coloreds outs of town, maybe beat up the local gays, burn some crosses and witches, real god fearing Christian activities, but you just don't see that often enough nowadays thanks to the liberal media."
/

182 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:08:39pm

Colorado shooting suspect was shy, smart, neighbors say

Those who knew the 24-year-old man in custody for the mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater describe him as a shy, intelligent person who grew up in San Diego with parents who were active in their well-to-do suburban neighborhood.

James Holmes, who was studying neuroscience in a Ph.D. program in Colorado, grew up in San Diego, where his parents still live on a quiet street of two-story homes with red tile roofs. He played soccer at Westview High School and ran cross country before going to college to study neuroscience.

Neighbors say the family belonged to a Presbyterian church and hosted a Christmas party for residents.


[....]

I suppose the Torrey Highlands might be considered upscale, but it really isn't Rancho Santa Fe, which it borders, well actually wealthy people live. I think of Torrey Highlands as that nasty term "aspirational".

Anyway, I guess the point being made by these news stories is that the shooter grew up in a "good family" as it is often put.

183 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:09:07pm

re: #182 freetoken

pimf "where" not "well"

184 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:09:15pm

re: #174 Lidane

I left Houston in '98 and haven't been back since. Thanks, but no. Too humid, whoever laid out that city was on drugs, and the traffic blows. Maybe someday I'll go back to visit some high school friends I keep in touch with, but that's it. The ONLY city in this state that I can stand to live in anymore is Austin, and even that's starting to piss me off. Or maybe it's the months-long job search getting on my nerves. Who knows?

The problem is that nobody laid out the city. It's by far the largest urban area in the US without zoning laws. So the developers just randomly built the city in every direction. An absolute mess.

And that 6 month summer with no relief and ungodly humidity is enough to dissuade me from moving back.

185 darthstar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:10:04pm

Gohmert makes Bachmann look sane by comparison.

186 Blizard  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:12:45pm

It's as though played loud techno music in his apartment in hopes of creating a diversion during the shooting spree. Wow- this is bad, but it could have been a heck of a lot worse, too. Holy crap.

[Link: www.thedenverchannel.com...]

187 Eventual Carrion  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:13:45pm

re: #105 Cap'n Magic

That's why it needs to be put to a vote of the citizens of the state who wish to seceede. States Rights, 'n all that.

And, of course, to add fuel to the fire, those citizens who decide to remain with the new country will get a one-time payment of their SSA/SSI accounts, at which point the US washes their hands of those citizens of the secessionists.

Many states would have to buy the land their state is on from the fed gov. as we still own the land, bought fair and square (Louisiana purchase for example). Texas looses military bases and NASA. It could be an interesting transaction.

188 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:14:41pm

re: #175 kirkspencer

I'm not fond of Texas, and given a good opportunity I'll leave without a backward glance. However, I'd rather live in Houston than Chattanooga (my last residence) despite the traffic, smog, and humidity advantages going the other way because it's so much more liberal.

Funny thing is that growing up I never thought I'd leave Houston. But after living in some other cities during college, I just realized I didn't like Houston as much as I thought.

Part of my aversion is the pro-secession crowd and the regressive element that still can't forgive or forget the civil war. But I should be more fair to Houston: it's got a lot of cultural opportunities, is very diverse, and its people can be really friendly. Definitely better than Chattanooga.

189 Lidane  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:17:24pm

re: #184 palomino

The problem is that nobody laid out the city. It's by far the largest urban area in the US without zoning laws. So the developers just randomly built the city in every direction. An absolute mess.

And that 6 month summer with no relief and ungodly humidity is enough to dissuade me from moving back.

Also, every time someone mentions zoning laws in Houston, the usual idiots freak out about ZOMG EBIL GUBMINT and nothing ever happens. Houston is a fucking mess in terms of layout. It's impossible to get anywhere and it makes no sense.

190 darthstar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:19:31pm
191 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:20:04pm

re: #189 Lidane

Also, every time someone mentions zoning laws in Houston, the usual idiots freak out about ZOMG EBIL GUBMINT and nothing ever happens. Houston is a fucking mess in terms of layout. It's impossible to get anywhere and it makes no sense.

I hate driving in Houston even more than here in LA. We've got equally bad traffic, if not even worse, but the layout here makes at least a little bit of sense.

192 allegro  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:24:08pm

re: #184 palomino

The problem is that nobody laid out the city. It's by far the largest urban area in the US without zoning laws. So the developers just randomly built the city in every direction. An absolute mess.

And that 6 month summer with no relief and ungodly humidity is enough to dissuade me from moving back.

More like 9 months of relentless summer and about 3 months of less hot. Sometimes we even get a few downright chilly days (like mid-50s) that we amusingly refer to as "winter."

Being one with absolutely no sense of direction, I have yet to find a city in which I don't get lost.

193 efuseakay  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:26:33pm

Hey Louie. What do you burn apart from witches?

I bet his response would be:

MORE WITCHES!!!

And I'm not even kidding, or trying to be funny.

194 efuseakay  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:28:57pm

re: #186 Blizard

It's as though played loud techno music in his apartment in hopes of creating a diversion during the shooting spree. Wow- this is bad, but it could have been a heck of a lot worse, too. Holy crap.

[Link: www.thedenverchannel.com...]

He's a total Libul tweaker druggie! Real, decent, true Amercuns listen to country!

//

195 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:29:04pm

re: #190 darthstar

Well, I scored 87% with Obama, 23% with Romney, 67% with the general Californian.

196 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:30:22pm

re: #79 Kragar

Actually, this was the law of database management when one implements DBRC (Database Recovery Control) under IMS-the RECON is gospel.

197 sagehen  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:31:30pm

re: #192 allegro

More like 9 months of relentless summer and about 3 months of less hot. Sometimes we even get a few downright chilly days (like mid-50s) that we amusingly refer to as "winter."

Being one with absolutely no sense of direction, I have yet to find a city in which I don't get lost.

You can't get lost in Salt Lake City. Or Palmdale.

Totally planned and surveyed before the first building began. All the streets are parallel, as are the avenues (at right angles to the streets), and you don't need a map to find an address like "43 West 12 South".

(p.s. don't even try Tokyo. Their streets are deliberately laid out in the most confusing manner possible so as to disorient invaders, the address blocks are in non-adjacent chunks, and the house numbers within each chunk are in chronological order of when they were built).

198 Kragar  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:31:41pm

re: #195 freetoken

Well, I scored 87% with Obama, 23% with Romney, 67% with the general Californian.

88%/33%/82% here.

199 goddamnedfrank  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:33:38pm

re: #190 darthstar

I side 91% with Obama, 82% with Jill Stein, 76% with Stewart Alexander, 24% with Ron Paul, 10% with Romney, 81% with Cali, 75% with America

200 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:33:41pm

re: #192 allegro

More like 9 months of relentless summer and about 3 months of less hot. Sometimes we even get a few downright chilly days (like mid-50s) that we amusingly refer to as "winter."

Being one with absolutely no sense of direction, I have yet to find a city in which I don't get lost.

My Dad used to wear long underwear in Houston during "winter." Even in summer he carried a sweater everywhere in case he got cold. What a wuss.

I try to explain to New Yorkers, Chicagoans, etc. that our summers in Houston are FAR worse than what they deal with. To which they reply, "Hey, we get 100 degree days with humidity too." The difference is they do get relief in the summer from cooling trends and comparatively cooler nights. And their summer is what it's supposed to be: 3 months long. There is no relief in Houston during summer--always hot, always humid. One thing in Houston's defense: you never have to shovel snow or drive on sleet or walk on ice. But before A/C, living there must have been absolutely physically oppressive.

201 sagehen  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:35:20pm

re: #186 Blizard

It's as though played loud techno music in his apartment in hopes of creating a diversion during the shooting spree. Wow- this is bad, but it could have been a heck of a lot worse, too. Holy crap.

[Link: www.thedenverchannel.com...]

I think that's what the the profilers call "organized."

202 SpaceJesus  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:35:58pm

GOP everybody. Conservatism on full parade.

203 palomino  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:36:04pm

re: #190 darthstar

[Embedded content]

I scored a 90 with respect to Obama, and nearly as high a score with respect to Jill Stein, the Green candidate I'd never heard of. Maybe I really do hate America and should move to Canada or Europe./

204 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:37:13pm

re: #197 sagehen

(p.s. don't even try Tokyo. Their streets are deliberately laid out in the most confusing manner possible so as to disorient invaders, the address blocks are in non-adjacent chunks, and the house numbers within each chunk are in chronological order of when they were built).

Love Japanese cities. Truly for the one with the heart of an explorer.

205 ArchangelMichael  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:37:31pm

re: #190 darthstar

[Embedded content]

82% with Obama, 54% with Romney, 34% with California Voters

206 freetoken  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:40:08pm

re: #198 Kragar

88%/33%/82% here.

33% with Romney? Well, the makes you a downright right-wing sympathizer.

re: #205 ArchangelMichael

82% with Obama, 54% with Romney, 34% with California Voters

54% with Mitt? And only 34% with California? You must be a HotAir plant.

207 Our Precious Bodily Fluids  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:40:59pm

re: #195 freetoken

Well, I scored 87% with Obama, 23% with Romney, 67% with the general Californian.

lolwut

The Environment
Texas sides the most with Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on 95% of environmental issues

Science
Texas sides the most with Barack Obama and Jill Stein on 100% of science issues.

Social
Texas sides the most with Barack Obama on 98% of social issues.

Jill Stein = Green Party

208 Brother Holy Cruise Missile of Mild Acceptance  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:42:37pm

re: #199 goddamnedfrank

91% with Obama here as well.

209 ArchangelMichael  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:44:21pm

re: #206 freetoken

33% with Romney? Well, the makes you a downright right-wing sympathizer.

re: #205 ArchangelMichael

54% with Mitt? And only 34% with California? You must be a HotAir plant.

I picked a lot of those "other stance" options, because I don't like YES/NO where there's a big grey area. Hehe, I'm pretty sure a FullOfHotAir plant wouldn't have sided with Obama 82% of the time.

210 Targetpractice  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:44:25pm

re: #190 darthstar

[Embedded content]

81% with Obama, 13% with Romney, and 27% with Virginia voters.

211 Renaissance_Man  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:44:37pm

re: #173 Kragar

AFA News Director Says Liberal Churches, Media Share Responsibility for Colorado Shooting

Things that have come along in the past forty years:
Liberals in Hollywood
Liberals in churches
Cable TV
The Internet

Other things that have come along in the past forty years:
Widely available automatic weapons
Widely available body armour
Homemade smoke bombs

One of these lists was used in this event.

...

Clearly, list A is to blame.

212 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:44:46pm

re: #143 wrenchwench

Nice try, but that dog won't hunt.

re: #132 Mostly sane, most of the time.

From a technical standpoint, you are correct as we are not a monarchy. From a reality standpoint, with US military bases scattered across all hither and yon and with a arm of our government with histories of overthrowing legitimately-elected governments of other nations at the behest of US-based multinational corporations, the US passes the duck test of being an empire (sans crown).

213 dragonfire1981  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:44:47pm

re: #200 palomino

My Dad used to wear long underwear in Houston during "winter." Even in summer he carried a sweater everywhere in case he got cold. What a wuss.

I try to explain to New Yorkers, Chicagoans, etc. that our summers in Houston are FAR worse than what they deal with. To which they reply, "Hey, we get 100 degree days with humidity too." The difference is they do get relief in the summer from cooling trends and comparatively cooler nights. And their summer is what it's supposed to be: 3 months long. There is no relief in Houston during summer--always hot, always humid. One thing in Houston's defense: you never have to shovel snow or drive on sleet or walk on ice. But before A/C, living there must have been absolutely physically oppressive.

As a Canadian now living in the deep south, I 100% agree. -40 cold and 100 degree heat are both equally aggravating and physically draining.

214 sagehen  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:51:39pm

re: #190 darthstar

[Embedded content]

88% with Obama, 46% with Romney, 28% with Ron Paul, 76% with Jill Stein and 56% with Stuart Alexander.

72% with voters of my state.

WHO THE HELL ARE JILL STEIN AND STUART ALEXANDER??!?!?

215 Cap'n Magic  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 1:54:16pm

OK, so I did the isidewith test:

89% Jill Stein
83% Johnson
74% McMillian
70% Paul
65% Obama
43% Romney

As for the state, 89% with MN

By party:
89% Green
77% Libertrerian
65% Dem
43% GOP

I stayed within the middle of the importance slider.

216 Eventual Carrion  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 2:17:31pm

re: #195 freetoken

Well, I scored 87% with Obama, 23% with Romney, 67% with the general Californian.

Jill Stein 93%
Barack Obama 84%
Stewart Alexander 75%
Ron Paul 59%
Mitt Romney 11%
American Voters 84%

Crazy uncle Ron is up high on my list.

217 dell*nix  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 2:42:22pm

re: #211 Renaissance_Man

You used to be able to buy Thompson subs until the '30s.

218 labman57  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 2:55:08pm

Since so many tea party legislators and pundits do not believe in the scientific process, it's not shocking that these same mental midgets would be incapable of understanding the danger of relying on biased supposition, isolated anecdotal accounts, and non-causal correlational data as the basis for establishing public policy.

Until a thorough investigation has been done, it would be premature to speculate on the motivations of this deranged individual that led to this horrific act.

On a side note, it's curious that the Religious Right's perception of God appears to be one of an ego-centric, malevolent, micro-managing sadist -- somewhat akin to how many of them treat their wives.

Yet another reason why religion and public policy make poor bedfellows.

219 Archangelus  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 5:14:49pm

re: #190 darthstar

[Embedded content]

83% Obama, 82% Stein, 61% Alexander, 34% Romneybot, 11% Paul, 64% American Voters...

83% Democratic, 82% Green, 34% Republican, and 20% Libertarian...

Needless to say, looking up Stein and Alexander, as i've never even heard the names before..

220 Tigger2  Fri, Jul 20, 2012 6:02:45pm

re: #173 Kragar

AFA News Director Says Liberal Churches, Media Share Responsibility for Colorado Shooting

Damn and all this time I though the lack of sensible gun laws was the problem.


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A Closer Look at the Eastman State Bar DecisionTaking a few minutes away from work things to read through the Eastman decision. As I'm sure many of you know, Eastman was my law school con law professor. I knew him pretty well because I was also running in ...
KGxvi
Yesterday
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