Tea Baggers support British Petroleum's pollution of the Gulf

 I want to say first that I don't accuse all Republicans of this - that would be as insane as those Republicans who support the oil giant. But, check it out.

Rand Paul first said that Obama's trying to control the oil company is un-American. He backed off that for awhile but yesterday said that Obama's attacks on BP could harm its ability to clean up the spill and might destroy its financial stability.

Now that's just patently stupid. It's like telling the police not to arrest an axe murderer because he hadn't finished mopping up the blood yet. His financial take is equally clueless. Every financial analysis I've seen on BP says that, while this will definitely affect their bottom line, they could survive much worse. Rand Paul isn't a real libertarian - he's a real moron who will sell out his nation for small political gain.

Sharon Angle - running against Harry Reid in Nevada - called the BP fund for recovery a slush fund. Then, when the stuff started hitting the fan, she backtracked. This isn't her first back-track. She took down her old website because it was such a political liability then threatened to sue Harry Reid for making it available.  Nothing warms my heart more than seeing new faces in campaigns but her presence has gotten old real fast. As cynical as I can be about Harry Reid, she's making him look like a candidate for sainthood.

Naturally, we all remember Joe Barton of Texas apologizing to BP because American asked them to pay for the damage they did. He backtracked also.

So, what's worse - Tea Baggers selling out our nation to an oil conglomerate or their lack of courage to stand by what they say?

The best tea doesn't come in bags. Sorry Ms. Palin.

An open letter to President Obama

Dear President Obama:

I voted for you. I donated a lot of money. I've never been so happy as when you won...at least over political things anyway.

I voted for you because you represented change. I voted for you because your predecessor ravaged the environment,  ignored the rights of minorities (particularly gay and lesbian minorities), and just generally acted in a way that made me, an American currently living overseas, want to tell people I was from Canada. Okay - I voted for you because McCain is a loser and Palin a pathetic, hating loser. Can't forget that.

I really wanted change.

Now, I feel like you're selling me out.

You always try to compromise with people who won't compromise. Make that mistake once or twice and no problem. Keep making it and I'm not so sure what you stand for.

You're soft on protecting wolves, whales, sea turtles, etc. You supported lifting the restrictions on off-shore drilling. You seem unable to move forward in Afghanistan or get out of Iraq.

You fiddle around on the GLT issue and nothing happens.

Oh, don't want to forget the economy. It sucks. Where are all those "green jobs" you promised?

I don't want this to sound wrong. Given the same choice we had last time, I'd vote for you again. But, I doubt I'd donate money to the campaign.

Do something. Tomorrow, allow gay and lesbian folks to serve openly in the military. It won't hurt anything and it will help a lot of things and people.

Sure, some folks will get out of the military over that issue - who cares? The military is meeting their recruitment goals anyway. Haters are replaceable.

Don't forget - anyone who gets out of the military over serving next to gay folks is a hater - do we really want them in combat?

Also, be serious - if you really loved your country and that was really why you were in the military, you wouldn't get out over this.

You could make that change with the stroke of a pen.

Then, support the whales at the IWC. Stop kissing up to Japan...hell, to a minority in Japan. We need to stand for something. It shouldn't be Sea Shepherd alone protecting whales - it should be the U.S. government.

Tell Salazar that wolves matter. They're a critical part of the ecosystem and we aren't hunting them en masse from helicopters, etc any longer. Leave the hate to Palin. She does it better anyway.

Make the next 2 years count. If you don't, there won't be another four - unless of course the Republicans keep apologizing to BP and other stupid Nazi tricks.

The oil spill - British Petroleum has the answer?

I admit it...I'm bitter. After all the BS and lies, it simply turns out that British Petroleum hasn't got a clue how to stop the oil spill. Morons like Flush Limburger (Rush Limbaugh) say it's no big deal. A serious number of Americans are still in favor of offshore drilling. Even the president that I worked so hard to elect hasn't gotten indignant about it.

Are we all really that stupid?

People who say we should continue drilling all point out the dependence upon foreign oil as the rationale. Cleverly, they fail to acknowledge that even if we drilled enough to make the Alaskan Barbie orgasmic, we wouldn't dent our dependence. Never let the facts get in the way of a good knee-jerk reaction.

The same idiots who talk about the economy don't discuss the twenty+ billion dollars Florida will lose in the tourist industry this year. Twenty billion dollars in one year and one state and only in one industry. What about tourism losses in the other Gulf of Mexico states? Add them all together and you get..well...the biggest negative impact on the economy since the election of George Bush.

Ah, but we're just getting started. This tourism doesn't just create money...it creates jobs. When folks who work in the tourism business get paid, they buy things from the grocery stores, purchase homes, and even buy cars. So, the "ripple effect" (not to be confused with the drinking of cheap wine) begins. Naturally, the people they (folks in the tourism business) start is passed to their vendors who pass it to their vendors, and so on.

Of course, tourism isn't the only industry affected. Fishing is still a major economic factor in these areas. Fishermen contribute huge amounts of money to the economy as well.

It's starting to be depressing - as in depression.

"Guestimates" of the damages normally talk about periods of time up to a year. It will take years to clean up this disaster. Nice work! We not just screwed now; we're screwed for the next five or more years.

Still, after we destroy our coastlines and the economies that depend upon them, what are we doing about dependence upon foreign oil?

Guess what - the only way to solve that dependence is to use less oil (and gas). That means cars need to be smaller and more fuel efficient and we need to drive less.

There go those inconvenient truths again (thanks Al).

But there could be hope.

Millions of overweight, out-of-shape Americans could start walking and riding bicycles more. We could develop more mass transit options that work. We could require fuel economy improvements on a major scale.

Or, we could just order another KFC Double-down sandwich while we watch our planet die. After all, legacies are overrated and to hell with our children and grandchildren. We've got priorities.

For more on the spill, look here and here.

For someone else's take on BP's efforts, check out Carl Hiaasen's column here.

Tea Bagger - Tea Party candidate waffles on racism

Rand Paul, the recently annointed Republican Tea Bagger Party nominee, has issues with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. When first asked if he would have supported it, he wouldn't give a direct answer. He did say that he was opposed to the section that required businesses to give equal access to all people, regardless of their race.

The next day, under a political firestorm, he finally said he would have supported it, even though he still disagrees with that one premise.

I'm not saying Rand Paul is a racist. I don't have the ability to look into his heart and mind. But, if he's not a racist, he's extremely ignorant.

The reason for equal access is simple. When the act was passed, white people owned virtually all of the businesses. Really.

There was no Oprah...in fact, the only African-Americans on TV played stereotypic roles. Black people were kept out of better neighborhoods and couldn't get into many colleges and universities.

Saying businesses could refuse to serve black people often meant there were no restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, etc for black people to shop.

That provision of the law opened up opportunities to begin the changes that finally led to - yes, our first African-American president. If you told someone in 1964 that, less than 100 years later, we would have come this far, they would have laughed at you.

Is Rand Paul that poor of a student of history or does he just not care. With his Texas roots, surely he knows about Jim Crow laws.

Is the mask finally coming off the candidates and their true side being revealed?

Again, I don't know if he's a racist or an idiot but either should disqualify him from public office - even in Kentucky.

Want to read more about the Tea Baggers? Click here, here, and here or just search for Tea Baggers or Palin.

Can't see the links on Facebook? Go to http://snowboardingjapan.blogspot.com/2010/05/tea-bagger-tea-party-candidate-waffles.html.

"Christian" group attempts to murder cop

Okay, I probably shouldn't comment on Christian groups, being a Buddhist and all. Still, having read the bible in Junior High, cover to cover, I remember vague ideas from it.

One of them was something about not killing. This group probably skipped that part. They're called Hutaree. They say it means "Christian Warrior" or "Christian soldier."

I looked at their website and noticed that, while they weren't bashful about quoting the bible, they left out the parts I liked best. They can be found here but I'll reprint them in part.

Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed [are] the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Kids, there's nothing in those verses about Blessed are the cop killers, for they shall start a revolution.
Just a rough rule of thumb: if you're considering joining a group that kills cops and calls themselves weird names, sleep on it. It's probably not a good idea. And guess what - no matter what they say, they're not Christians.

The leader of the group, David Brian Stone, had the followers call him Captain Hutaree. H'mmm, that's a good sign.

The goal of the group was to touch off an uprising against the U.S. government. No word yet on whether Sarah Palin will make their bail or whether she wants them to "reload."

People ask me why I gave up on Christianity. I always says it's the "Christians" who ran me off.

Silly me.

I do want to add to this: I know decent Christians who live the life they should. This isn't about them.

Palin turns out to be closet socialist

Having experienced national healthcare, I'm a big proponent.


Perhaps Ms. Palin sees the light?

Fair and unbalanced Sarah Palin

An excellent view of Sarah's Faux News world. Here's a link to some more excellent silliness.