Comments on Stonekettle Station: The Special Kind of Crazy

I followed the LiveScience link, and then followed...

2012-02-25T11:31:05.997-09:00

I followed the LiveScience link, and then followed some more bread crumbs to:

"It's tied in with self-esteem," says University of Massachusetts psychologist Robert Feldman. "We find that as soon as people feel that their self-esteem is threatened, they immediately begin to lie at higher levels."

The Republican Brain

Thanks, Jim, I was hoping you'd do something o...

2012-02-25T11:16:55.893-09:00

Thanks, Jim, I was hoping you'd do something on this topic.

"I also can't wrap my head around the idea that any woman believes in this line of BS."

Well, it seems to be a personal identity thang. Incorporate into your identity some mind parasite of a religion or political party, and WHAM! cognitive dissonance whenever you encounter something that challenges that parasite. Like, oh, say, a fact.

By Cosmic Coincidence (the very best kind?), Jesus & Mo today features a classic:

http://www.jesusandmo.net/2012/02/15/costs/

And then there's this little gem from a recent essay at PoliticusUSA:

"A camo-clad fellow who had driven hundreds of miles for the occasion, eventually joined me at the table. Unprompted, he proceeded to tell me what he’d do about the drug problem. He pointed a finger at me and voiced a convincing BOOM! Problem solved. Things are so simple in camo-land. He had actually signed up to talk about health care he couldn’t afford and how his business had suffered from his problems. I told him my solution without finger-pointing. “Vote Democrat”, I said firmly. He looked at me like I’d told him to set himself on fire."

When I was asked a few minutes ago, had I ever hea...

2012-02-07T18:54:05.787-09:00

When I was asked a few minutes ago, had I ever heard of Jim Wright & this website, my reply was that there used to be a Jim Wright politician in Texas, & I used to throw his mother's newspaper. But I regress.

I'm just now recovering from an upper respiratory infection, so I want you to know that laughing so hard at this Jim Wright's highly intelligent style of ranting was actually a little painful. I'll get over that, though, & it was well worth it anyway. I know a couple of far right-wing nutcases who really need a link to this particular site.

Thanks, Jim Wright. Fine rant.

When I was asked a few minutes ago, had I ever hea...

2012-02-07T18:53:22.926-09:00

Funny how the conservtards paint Obama as a libera...

2012-02-02T12:47:38.669-09:00

Funny how the conservtards paint Obama as a liberal (or a communist no less!) when he is anything but.

There are the stupid, the ignorant, and the willfu...

2012-02-01T16:15:55.106-09:00

There are the stupid, the ignorant, and the willfully ignorant. The willfully ignorant are PROUD of their ignorance, and work to keep it that way. God forbid they do any real thinking.

Ironically, it seems to me that those who actually have organic brain conditions that limit their intellectual potential often work very hard at maximizing their performance - intellectual and otherwise. The willfully ignorant apply just as much effort, it seems, to maximize their stupidity and ignorance. I used to think willful ignorance was just intellectual laziness, but it seems to be something much surlier than that, now I think about it.

However, that aside.... yet again, Stonekettle, you are my hero.

I don't think that kids should be kept from dr...

2012-02-01T05:19:12.089-09:00

I don't think that kids should be kept from dropping out of school... but I do think that there needs to be a better school system that prepares them for more than just going on to the dubious education of a collegiate system that is behind the times.

My thought:
Increase the Vocational/Technical sections within high schools so that kids can graduate with certificates for becoming a mechanics, electrician, medical assistant, EMT, plumber, IT something or another (i.e stuff that is mostly not-quite Associate degree work).

I bet you'd keep more kids in school if school reflected something that might actually be useful in the real world.

Or as I explained it to an immigrant in 2004 who w...

2012-01-31T10:18:51.523-09:00

Or as I explained it to an immigrant in 2004 who was telling me "surely nobody is going to vote to re-elect that dummy Bush!", explaining why George W. Bush was going to win re-election: "50% of Americans are below average, and average ain't so smart nowadays."

- Badtux the Snarky Penguin

George Carlin had it on the money: Think how stupi...

2012-01-31T09:49:19.726-09:00

George Carlin had it on the money:
Think how stupid the average person is,
and then realize that half of 'em are stupider than that.

I'll give up my bacon wrapped deep fried cream...

2012-01-29T10:09:37.275-09:00

I'll give up my bacon wrapped deep fried cream of aborted fetus on a stick when you COMMIE NAZI FASCIST LIBERAL MOOSLIM LUVVERS pry if from my cold, dead hands!!

Seriously, I really have to think the Republican party made a pact years ago if someone other than an old, white fundamentalist male became President that they'd all go batshit crazy, declare in the most feverent way possible the EXACT opposite of what said President supports (even though they had supported whatever for DECADES and even passed legislation for it) and vows with their dying breath to oppose any and all attempts to make them believe in the real world until such time as an old, white fundamentalist male becomes President again. In which case, I want my Rainbow Farting PInk Unicorn to go, please. Also, too.

knittingbull

damn! Hawaii! Really? also,Jim yummmmm, welfare ...

2012-01-28T16:16:36.743-09:00

damn! Hawaii! Really?

also,Jim

yummmmm, welfare rolls

glazed welfare rolls

in a quiet room

or the drive-through

I gave up TV a couple of years ago, but sadly it h...

2012-01-28T13:24:35.857-09:00

I gave up TV a couple of years ago, but sadly it hasn't prevented me from learning about the appallingly poor performance of so many idiots in politics. I guess I should also give up my NYTimes subscription, because reading it seems a bit like self-flagellation, considering how thorough their political coverage is. I honestly don't know how much more of Newt The Savior of the Western World (and apparently)the Moon I can take. Or how much more glee over how wealthy he is from Mitt might cause me to shut down my computer and stop up my ears. Nine more months of this? Noooooooooo.

You ever get the feeling that Obama's stuck in...

2012-01-28T11:33:22.822-09:00

You ever get the feeling that Obama's stuck in a long-game, protracted version of "Rabbit Season, Duck Season" with the GOP?

Now you're imagining Obama dressing up in woman's clothing and seducing Newt Gingrich to make him look silly.

You're welcome.

I've been enjoying your blog for a long time n...

2012-01-28T09:43:30.455-09:00

I've been enjoying your blog for a long time now while lurking. Today, however, I got the best laugh ever out of the comments. Thank you, Arakasi. That was the best yet!

Since it doesn't appear that the Republican le...

2012-01-27T18:12:03.181-09:00

Since it doesn't appear that the Republican leadership stands for anything other than reflexively opposing anything the president suggests, I think Obama should start recording a series of public service announcements:

"Hello. I'm President Obama, and tonight I'd like to remind you to not spray Windex into your eyes. Thank you.

And for all those thrillseekers out there; please do not try to juggle a running chainsaw.

Good night"

Once the screaming stops and the remaining Republican presidential candidates are fitted for their new artificial limbs, he can move on to" Don't drink lighter fluid" and "Don't play in traffic".

You will never have to worry about a line at the Wasilla Wal-Mart ever again

I hear they're serving Fetus Surprise on the m...

2012-01-27T17:24:07.491-09:00

I hear they're serving Fetus Surprise on the moonbase.

Speaking for myself, I am waiting for the October ...

2012-01-27T14:53:34.052-09:00

Speaking for myself, I am waiting for the October Surprise to be Obama revealing his new "anti-head bashing measures" to help prevent people from hitting themselves in the head repeatedly with a hammer.

The immediate response will be every single right wing pundit jumping up and down and touting the values of claw-side hammer whacks versus flat-side hammer whacks and insisting that every good American should whack themselves in the head with a hammer every single day. Problem solved.

During the rectification of the Vuldronaii the Tra...

2012-01-27T13:30:27.654-09:00

During the rectification of the Vuldronaii the Traveller came as a very large and moving Torb. Then of course in the third reconciliation of the last of the Meketrex supplicants they chose a new form for him, that of a Sloar. Many Shubs and Zuuls knew what it was to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar that day I can tell you !

Now THAT makes more sense than the GOP freak show dialog.

Now if the State of Hawaii had nothing better to d...

2012-01-27T13:22:27.413-09:00

Now if the State of Hawaii had nothing better to do and the money do to it, Hawaii could sue for defamation or whatever. Hawaii has certified the President's birth certificate, yet that's not good enough? It's the State of Hawaii who should be offended, and probably is. These birthers call the integrity of the Great State of Hawaii into question.
Oh, Karl. Assplosion - love it!

Teh stoopid. Teh sheer stoopid, continues to ooze ...

2012-01-27T09:52:28.586-09:00

Teh stoopid. Teh sheer stoopid, continues to ooze forth from the frothed lips of conservatives. I saw this posted on FB today. I don't know how long a democracy can survive with so many of its voters having their heads firmly-planted all the way into their small intestines. *sigh* And this piece of drivel comes from my home state of Georgia...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hxx33V4WuY&sns=fb

I'm hoping that slightly more than half of the...

2012-01-27T08:38:39.108-09:00

I'm hoping that slightly more than half of them (the extra crunchy crazies) will each go half a step too far at about the same time. The assplosion should be something to see.

You have to wonder... I mean, you serious have to ...

2012-01-27T08:28:49.239-09:00

You have to wonder... I mean, you serious have to wonder. It's like the Republicans have this almost Pavlovian response to the name, much less his physical presence. Every time you think to yourself, 'Gods, can they get any crazier in the Republican Party?' they go out and show that yep, they can and do so with pride, smiling as they demonstrate the sheer depths of their collective and individual stupidity.

It's almost as if we have a perfect laboratory experiment into the Dunning-Kruger effect, in that the incompetent are unable to understand, much less realize, just how incompetent they really are. And the voters... gods, they're just as incompetent as the representatives they're electing to Congress, but you get the kind of representation that best reflects your constituents. That's why the report on stupidity and conservatism is so appallingly on target, particularly for places like the Deep South (where I used to live and would observe it on a daily basis.)

Since we can't add enough chlorine into the gene pool, and retroactive abortions are out of the question, we'll have to resort to the this option:

"Stupid people shouldn't breed."
"Shouldn't breathe?"
"Well, if they're not breathing, they can't breed, now can they?"

"Apparently in New Texas, killing a politician was not 'malum in se' and was _malum prohibitorum_ only to the extent that what the politician got was in excess of what he deserved."
-- H. Beam Piper

Brilliantly stated, as always...

2012-01-27T07:25:25.463-09:00

Brilliantly stated, as always...

I have some thoughts. I'm sure you're on ...

2012-01-27T07:15:27.335-09:00

I have some thoughts. I'm sure you're on tenterhooks.

1. Jeeeezus Lorrrrrrrd. People who are too stupid to think about what comes out of their mouths should have their mouths taped shut for a month.

2. Can you be the Speaker of the House, please? I would LOVE to see you ride that herd.

3. Georgia Republican Phil Gingrey agreed, "To require them to stay in high school to age 18, those who have absolutely no intention of getting an education or value an education are disrupting the other kids in class. I think it's just a government misguided run amok quite honestly.”

So we are leaving things up to the kids to decide now? Boy, I wish we had been doing that when my parents made me get braces. I didn't think they were worth it, and even though I totally see NOW that they were for my own good, I should have been allowed the agency to decide that for myself at twelve. Huh.

Well said and concur of course ... we really do li...

2012-01-27T07:01:22.384-09:00

Well said and concur of course ... we really do live in "interesting times" ...