Fucking Morons
mikethemadbiologist | July 23, 2006From the old digs comes this post about how catastrophically wrong self-proclaimed 'experts' were on Iraq.
I will freely admit I'm no expert on the Middle East. Infectious disease. Yes. Evolutionary biology. Yes. The Middle East. Not exactly. While I speak a smattering of Arabic, can converse in Hebrew, and have actually been to that region--which sadly, makes more of an 'expert' than many of the right-wing bloviators--I hold no illusions about expertise (in part, because I am an expert in a couple of limited areas and know what expertise actually entails).
It's always terrified me how…
mikethemadbiologist | July 22, 2006One of the implicit assumptions regarding Iraq and the whole militarization of U.S. society is that the bellicose neocons are manly, and those of us who opposed invading the wrong country the Iraq War were wimpy or 'girly'. This is one of the oldest tricks in the facist playbook: the 'feminization' of your opponent. So when Chris Matthews says this, I'm starting to think the wheel really has turned:
We've killed 50,000 Iraqi's in a war that was supposed to be a two-day wonder. When are we going to notice that the neocons don't know what they're talking about. They're not looking at this…
mikethemadbiologist | July 20, 2006
In a post over at Media Matters about the right-wing's attempt to figure out if the Israeli-Hezbollah-Palestinian-My Uncle Morty conflict is World War III, IV, or V(?!), Larry Kudlow rises above the herd with this spectacular piece of ass-hattery (italics mine):
Lawrence Kudlow, discussing a book by former deputy undersecretary of defense Jed Babbin, said "World War IV is the terror war, and war with China would be World War V.
Note Kudlow said "would." Not could. Not might be. But would. How batshit loopy do you have to be to have planned out all of our future wars? Or as Juan…
mikethemadbiologist | July 19, 2006
(via Shakespeare's Sister)
I've always found it odd that Christian conservatives constantly claim victim status, particularly when so many of them, when it comes to foreign policy are so convinced that will can overcome anything. It's sort of like Norman Vincent Pearle but with fighter bombers. Then again, logical consistency isn't exactly the Christian conservatives' strong suit.
The latest hue and cry of discrimination revolves around pharmacists and other healthcare workers who refuse to provide legal procedures and medications such as contraception and birth control. Shakespeare's…
mikethemadbiologist | July 18, 2006At the old digs, I asked about Sen. George Allen of VA:
Can we please have presidential candidates who are not psychological basketcases? ... Is it possible for the Republicans to nominate someone who is not cracked in the head? Please? Just in case.
(Shakespeare's Sister, by the way, thinks not).
By way of Mondo at the Carpetbagger Report comes this charming childgood tale of James Dobson, right-wing nut and conservative 'Christian' extraordinare:
Myrtle Dobson was an amiable and social woman, but she didn't hesitate to whack her son with a shoe or belt when she felt it was required.…
mikethemadbiologist | July 16, 2006From Ha'aretz, more information about Hezbollah's capabilities:
Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah may decide to use the longer range missiles in his movement's arsenal against Israel, according to Israel Defense Forces assessments.
IDF sources say that use of such weapons will depend on authorization from Iran, which has equipped Hezbollah with long-range missiles and has played a formative role in shaping the character of the current fighting. If the confrontation continues to escalate, as it appeared to have done Sunday, the chances that Nasrallah's organization will launch such…
mikethemadbiologist | July 12, 2006
So, an evangelical group has come out against the National Religious Campaign Against Torture because it's focusing on Guantanamo, and not repressive regimes. There are several reasons why that's an idiotic argument to oppose the NRCAT:
Just because another country does more torture or more awful forms of torture does not excuse our behavior.
If your country is engaged in torture, ultimately it's your responsibility to stop it, particularly if you live in a democracy.
Like most of the batshit loopy 23% percent, they do not actually state what should be done about Guantanamo--except to deny…
mikethemadbiologist | July 11, 2006Recently, in the political op-ed world, there has been much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over the rise of the barbaric blogosphere hordes, who dare challenge the hammerlock that the Mandarin Class and the Punditocracy have over the 'debate' in the U.S. What has bothered me the most about the Punditocracy's reaction is the unwarranted arrogance--does David Brooks really know that much more about Iraq than anyone other reasonably educated person? (Answer: are you kidding? Of course not. He just sounds good when he bloviates).
In response to this jeremiad by Billmon about the…
mikethemadbiologist | July 10, 2006
Tara and Revere are both confronting the creationist anti-mutation 'argument.' I've faced this before regarding antibiotic resistance. I find it ironic that Mike Martin argues against evolution by mutation, when other creationists argue that small mutations happen, but 'kinds' are immutable. I wish these guys would figure out which idiocy they plan to adopt.
mikethemadbiologist | July 9, 2006
Congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham in 2003, who received $2.4 million in bribes and is now a felon (photo from Vanity Fair). Not only is he corrupt, but he's a dork too.
mikethemadbiologist | July 8, 2006I suppose the Republicans have concluded that the best way to solve the problem of global warming is to destroy the government agencies that collect the data and fund the research in this area. The latest target: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. For a full report on what the Republicans want to do, the Friends of NOAA has a very helpful pdf; for the short version, this MyDD.com diary has a good summary. Basically, every area of NOAA is slashed, but this particular cut takes the cake for both pettiness and short-sighted idiocy (italics mine):
The House Mark does…
mikethemadbiologist | July 7, 2006Sounds dirty, don't it? It's always nice to see sites that usually deal with politics discuss science. Or in this case, the opposite, also known as Ann Coulter. Robert Savillo, of Media Matters, demolishes the creationist arguments found in Ann Coulter's latest book Why I Think All Liberals Should Be Brutally Murdered Godless: The Church of Liberalism. Before I get to Savillo's summary, he discusses a part of the book where Coulter refers to the 'Flatulent Racoon.' Now, a farting racoon is sort of funny in a five year-old kind of way, but we all know that this just means she is…
mikethemadbiologist | July 6, 2006Matt Stoller at MyDD.com comments on Andrew Sullivan's and Robert Samuelson's apologetics for global warming:
This is rich. The rush to war was premised on the assumption that the judgment of the Bush administration (and Sullivan) was superior to that of professional weapons inspectors like Hans Blix. This turned out to be false. Now, the foot-dragging on global warming is premised on the assumption that the judgment of the Bush administration (and Sullivan) is superior to that of the global scientific community.
As usual, this is an issue of judgment and trust. Put Sullivan and Samuelson…
mikethemadbiologist | July 6, 2006That was the response of the head of Stop the ACLU to publicizing the names, address, and telephone numbers of the Dobrich family who were suing the Indian River School District in Delaware for violating the separation of church and state by using the public schools to indoctrinate students in Christianity. This led to widespread intimidation that ultimately forced the Dobrich family, along with another, unidentified family to move out of the district.
Jesus' General decided this would be a perfect opportunity for satire, and so, wrote a letter to Nedd Karieva. Karieva responded (italics…
mikethemadbiologist | July 5, 2006
I might have more to say about the Delaware mini-pogrom later, but by way of Bartholomew's Notes on Religion, I found this bit of abject idiocy:
Just two hours prior, while executive session was held, Bennett led nearly 100 spectators in song as they waited patiently for the news.
..."If these kids are taught evolution -- that they came from apes -- and they're not given the basis of faith, what's to stop them from acting like animals?" he said.
"What's to stop them from acting like animals?" I dunno. How about doing your fucking job as a parent, and setting a good example? Not running…