I’m sure this can only end well for Hamas…

I guess they have really short memories.

I swear to God, you people have been given the greatest gift with this budget.

You have been handed a chance to make actual cuts.  Do it.  You have a mandate from the election, so use it.

Don’t apologize. When you have to comment, say “Not only do we have an problem with deficit spending, but we also have a massive debt load. Cuts are required, and they are required everywhere.”

Change Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Freddie and Fannie.  Fix them. Accept no amendments that do not cut spending.

When the Senate attempts a change, every Republican needs to vote against it. Vote only for the budget the House passes. When the Senate manages to pass something different ANYWAYS, ignore it. Re-pass the House version, and send it back.

When Obama vetoes it, attempt to override.  Then when that fails, pass it again.  Keep sending it.  Do not negotiate.

If the Government has to be shut down, flood the media with people reminding everyone that the Democrats caused this, that they are the reason we did not have a budget at the end of the last Congress. Say that because they were unwilling to do their jobs, you have to take drastic steps.

Keep on it. Never let up, do not deviate from that point – Democrats willfully, knowingly opted to abstain from passing a budget.

Hammer them on this.

And with God as my fucking witness, if any of you assholes  propose or vote for a Continuing Resolution, I will personally raise an army to make sure you never make it past another primary again. You won’t even get elected to fucking dog-catcher.

First, let me save you some suspense. The assholes are RedState, specifically Erick Erickson, Moe Lane, and pretty much all of them.

Now here’s the “why”.

Erick is all bent out of shape that those dirty gheys didn’t just go to CPAC, but that Christopher Barron (GOProud board chairman) would have the audacity to speak up in GOProud’s defense.

(side note: Go read the comments there.  The last ones about closing comments were especially awesome. Poor, poor Erick.)

You see, he dared to call Cleta Mitchell what she is – a bigot.

It is Erick’s contention that only people who opposed DADT’s repeal and who don’t want gay couples to have anything resembling the rights of married couples, in addition to the list of other things a conservative should believe in, can be called a Conservative.

I suspect that Erick also doesn’t like libertarians.  Just a hunch.

Did Barron have some harsh words for Pawlenty when the latter said that he thought it would be ”reasonable” to rescind funds for implementing ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal?

You bet he did, and good on him for having the courage to call out one of the beloved of the “We like people who can’t possibly win” club.

Look, assholes – I don’t give two fucks if you “approve” of the “gay lifestyle”. You aren’t being asked to live it, so it really isn’t any fucking concern of yours. They aren’t out there rapin’ everybody. They just want to live and work, and find someone who likes them. Maybe get some sex outta the deal.

How is any different from anybody else?

Many also would like the ability to have a recognized union with someone. Have some rights in probate court. Be able to make medical decisions for a loved one. Maybe get a tax break outta the deal.

Again, how is that different from anyone else?

Look, I’m long on record as being very much for civil unions. So long as you don’t use the “m” word, I’ll help you stump for votes.

Don’t think it should be a federal issue, mind you – it is and should remain an issue for each state to decide on their own.  But I’ll go to any state to help you get the vote out.

Apparently, that makes me “not good enough” for the likes of Erick Erickson.

To paraphrase a man: ‘Let me be fucking clear.”

Conservatives, Republicans, think very fucking carefully about how you act for the next 633 days. You have the choice as to whether the 6th of November 2012 looks like November 2nd 2010, or November 4th 2008.

Your actions will determine who the independents vote for. It is going to be your election to lose, and pulling that “No true Scotsman” bullshit is going to see you royally fucked.

Not that I give two shits. Your party is just as bad as the Democrats.  I haven’t voted FOR a Republican in nearly a decade. All I’ve been doing is voting against a Democrat.

So Erick, Moe, everyone at RedState?

Go fuck yourselves. You can keep your pure party.

I hope you enjoy returning to the minority, because that’s where you’ll end up if you keep this shit up.

[UPDATE BY PATTERICO: I disagree with the poster's thesis that Erick Erickson, Moe Lane, and "pretty much all" of the people at Red State are "assholes." In addition, I think Scott is over the top here, with the language especially. I don't think it contributes to his point; on the contrary, it detracts from it.

However, while I will ask Scott to watch his language in the future, I am not going to censor or disappear this post. It is what it is. Somewhere under all the profanity, Scott has an argument. It is not the most informed argument, as it refers to a woman as a "he." But in his own way, he is expressing a viewpoint that a segment out there agrees with, and I think it's appropriate to have that viewpoint registered. I wouldn't choose to have it expressed the way it has been. But the post has been up for a little while, and I'm not going to take it down -- though I did think it appropriate to register my disagreement with the way it is expressed here. -- Patterico]

[Further update by Scott - Awwww.  Did a couple of RedStaters e-mail ya, Patrick?

Jesus.  You miss one "s", and all of a sudden you're an uninformed boob.  "he" corrected to the proper "she".]

I have never hidden my dislike for Meggy Mac. I think she is a vapid, sorry excuse for a human being. Loathsome, even.

But this was excessive, even for her.

Now, she’s deleted that tweet, of course, because there’s no way she could even begin to defend it without sounding even dumber than she already does.

But it is telling that she can’t even beging to think about letting it stand.

She said it, after all. At some point, she obviously thought it was a smart thing to say. Why can’t she own it?

Meghan McCain, fuck you and the ignorant horse you rode in on.

I know this won’t come as a great shock to anyone, and maybe I’m a tad bit late to the party, but I’m pretty sure that Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) is completely fucking retarded.

“The Fifth Amendment speaks specifically to denying someone their life and liberty without due process,” she said in a speech on the House floor moments ago. “That is what H.R. 2 does and I rise in opposition to it. And I rise in opposition because it is important that we preserve lives and we recognize that 40 million-plus are uninsured.

You’re fucking kidding me, right?  I mean, she’s aware that “deprived of liberty” means “sent to fucking prison”, right?  I mean, she’s aware that “trips to the doctor” aren’t the same as “not being thrown the fuck into prison”.  She has to be.  She’s a God Damn member of Congress; she can’t be so ignorant as to not get it, right?

And one second…

it is important that we preserve lives and we recognize that 40 million-plus are uninsured.

Wait a second.  I though it was 35 million.  Where the shit did these extra 5-plus million come from?  Were they hiding in her attic?  Were they in the corner all this time, but with a lampshade over their heads?

I mean, I get it that she – and those like her – just like to make up shit as they go (under the theory that if they spout off enough bullshit they’ll leave us too confused to point out the mistakes), but come on.  This isn’t a damn Monty Python skit here, after all.

Arguing that the Commerce Clause provides the constitutional basis for ObamaCare

I mean to start with, her assumption is very likely incorrect.  This is an open legal question that is bound for the Supreme Court after all.  Not that a ruling against the abomination of a bill would dissuade her from her erroneous belief, but still…

Besides, even if we accept that the Commerce Clause does indeed give Congress the authority to force me to buy something I don’t want to buy, that does not change the fact that any law can be repealed by any Congress at any time. Just because a law is Constitutional does not mean that getting rid of that law violates the Constitution.

News flash for the Congresswoman: a law passed by Congress is not in and of itself a part of the Constitution. If it was Congress’s intention for it to be impossible for a simple repeal to void the law, they should have actually made it a part of the Constitution.

Though that would have left them with the unfortunate need to get the people to actually ratify the thing, which I somehow doubt would have happened.

So I would like to close this post with something I have not said for quite some time.  Something that I hope the painfully ignorant, dishonest, race-bating diphit of a Congresswoman Jackson-Lee knows I mean with all my heart and soul…

Fuck you, Congresswoman Jackson-Lee.

After running on a platform that included raising taxes, and with just hours to spare before the new legislature got sworn in, Quinn made good on his threat promise.

A triumphant Gov. Pat Quinn congratulated fellow Democrats early today after the Illinois Senate and House sent him a major income tax increase without a single Republican vote in favor.

Quinn smiled and shook hands on the floor of the Senate around 1:30 a.m. after the Senate voted 30-29 for the bill, which would raise the personal income tax-rate by 67 percent and the business income tax rate by 46 percent.

The House passed the bill hours earlier Tuesday night — likewise without a vote to spare and with nary a Republican in support.

Allow me a moment to share that which I believe properly shares my feelings on this matter:

That complete lack of republican votes is going to be a big point in their favor in 4 years, because there is no way our economy will improve with this hanging over us.

Hell, even Mayor Daley doesn’t like this move.

Mayor Richard Daley today predicted the increase in the corporate income tax rate passed by state lawmakers overnight will prompt a quiet exodus of jobs to neighboring states.

“Businesses don’t have press conferences like this and announce they’re moving 50 people out, 60 people out, 70 people,” Daley said.

But with several major companies in Illinois, I don’t think 50, 60, or 70 is likely.

Bosch Tools owns two companies that are in lawn and garden that are here in Illinois (One up in a suburb of Chicago, another in Peoria), and if Peoria’s people don’t see their jobs leave at the very least, I’ll be shocked.  Not to mention Catapillar, who already isn’t a huge fan of making stuff in Illinois.  I predict whole lines will get either shut down or moved out of states.

Where will they go?  Well, it isn’t like there aren’t options:

“Years ago Wisconsin had a tourism advertising campaign targeted to Illinois with the motto, ‘Escape to Wisconsin,’” Walker said in a statement. “Today we renew that call to Illinois businesses, ‘Escape to Wisconsin.’ You are welcome here.”

While Wisconsin has a higher income tax, corporate taxes will now be lower, and companies that move now get two years exemption from those taxes.

Not to mention the very attractive locale that Indiana provides, what with not being a bankrupt state looking for ways to squeeze every last dime out of every single thing it can lay hand on.

So well done, Governor Quinn.

You just killed the state.  Just like I knew you would.

We’re so proud.

“I came to mourn my fellow Tucson residents, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt…”

And applause for each speaker, and DURING the speeches?

I hate these people.  This is a God Damn memorial, not a fucking pep rally…

One of the midterm’s silver linings for right-of-center Californians was not only that Democrat attack on the “Citizen’s Redistricting Commission” failed, but that the Commission’s powers were extended to include mapping Congressional seats.  The current gerrymander would be undone even though the legislature and governor were Democrats.  Since Jerry Brown signed off on the Burton gerrymander in 1980, he would likely do so again given the chance; good thing the Commission won’t allow it, we thought.

But the devil is in the details.  Today, the final 6 commissioners were named, subject to a final confirmation vote next week.  If confirmed, the 14 member commission will be composed of 4 Asians, 3 non-Hispanic whites, 3 Hispanic/Latino, 2 African Americans, 1 Pacific Islander and 1 Native American.   While this is supposed to “reflect the state’s diversity”, a panel that was in line with the California’s demographics would be 6 non-Hispanic whites, 5 Hispanics, 2 Asians and 1 African-American.  Apparently the phrase “reflect the state’s diversity” is currently interpreted to mean “disenfranchise the majority.”  [A digression: what happened to Prop 209?]

According to Wikipedia, non-Hispanic whites comprise 42.3% of the state’s population, and Hispanics are most of the rest at 36.6%.  Together the two groups are 79% of California’s inhabitants, yet the commission gives them only 43% of the votes.  Almost a gerrymander in itself.

Looking at profession also gives one pause.  Six of the 14 have histories as government employees and a seventh works for an antipoverty non-profit.  This group also includes 3 of the 4 “decline-to-state” members, which could result in ideological bias as well.

While there seem to be quite a few well-qualified people on the panel (the former Census Bureau chief seems a good choice), there seems to be little diversity in background — it seems entirely white-collar.  Maybe it has to be that way, but it is again a bias.

While I still hope that the commission can rise above its unrepresentative composition and produce a plan as fair as the court-ordered 1990 map, I’m less hopeful than I once was.  Worst case: they take the current map and tweak it for population changes, perpetuating the current gerrymander.

To comment on the final six candidates, you need to submit an “…email to votersfirstact@auditor.ca.gov by no later than 5 p.m. on December 14, 2010. The first eight commissioners will reconvene at 10:30 a.m. on December 15, 2010 and will be taking oral public comment at the public meeting before they take any action on the proposed slate.”

On Thursday, noted former White House journalist and anti-Semite Helen Thomas said, “Congress, the White House and Hollywood, Wall Street are owned by the Zionists. No question, in my opinion. They put their money where their mouth is. … We’re being pushed into a wrong direction in every way.”

I was talking in the hallway of the county courthouse, a few weeks ago when I began this diary, with a fellow potential juror. He was a talkative and excitable wiry older man in a baseball cap — a man who had moved here from Thailand and who extolled at length the flaws in the Thai legal system, where a single man’s decision can mean the difference between life and death. He told me how much better our system is, because many people have to look at a case together, and bring their own experiences and lives together, to think about the man and his fate. (He kept trying to talk about the case, and I kept trying to lead him back to safe topics).

I believe in the jury system, especially when compared to the alternatives. The state should not have the power to punish a man on its own whim, on the judgment of someone who draws his paycheck from the state. It’s not perfect; juries are flawed, because they consist of humans, and humans are flawed; but better the flaws of a dozen sitting in judgment than the flaws of one.

Jury duty is, in my mind, something of a sacred duty: an obligation we have to one another, to accept the call when issued, and to listen with open mind, and hear the evidence from both sides, and hold the prosecution to its duty. I have never tried, and never would try, to get out of jury duty; I get irritated at those who do. Sure, it’s an interruption, a diversion from your normal life; a pull away from what you want to do into what you have to do, paid poorly if at all. I understand that missing work can be a financial hardship, but absent a real hardship, I think trying to get out of jury duty is a betrayal of a fundamental duty of citizenship.

What I haven’t understood, at least not emotionally, is that service on some juries carries with it a cost beyond the cost of time and money involved; some cases inflict a psychic, emotional cost on the jurors hearing the case: that even listening to the evidence and trying to judge it honestly and dispassionately hurts, and strikes the jurors deep in their souls.

I was sworn in as an alternate juror on November 18 in the case of a man who was charged with fourteen counts of conducting molesting three minors under the age of 14 over a period of sixteen years.

Warning: explicit content. This post is not safe for work.
(more…)

Dear Jerry:

What are you going to do about the public employee unions?

–California

As much as I respect aphrael, I think a little counter-point is in order.

Governor:  Meg Whitman.  I lived through Jerry Brown’s first two terms after voting against him twice.  I’d detail the things he broke, but the list is too long.  Suffice to say that we’re still picking up after him.  All he has ever accomplished in life has been to tarnish his father’s legacy.   Meg has a horrid campaign manager, a worse hairdo (proudly displayed in every ad), but at least has some accomplishments in life: such as taking a startup to a Fortune 500 company.  This isn’t the time for a protest vote.

Lt Governor: Abel Maldenado.  As if it matters; the job consists of checking the headlines in the morning.  We could save some money here.  Probably gets staff, too.

Senator:  Carly Fiorino Fiorina.  I am so done with Barbara Boxer, who hasn’t the accomplishments in 3 terms that George Murphy and S.I Hayakawa each had in one.

Attorney General:  Steve Cooley.  The one who isn’t crazy.

Other State Constitutional Officers:  The Republican.  As aphrael points out, some of these should be appointed anyway.  The only one I’m sure of is Lockyer, who took $100K from Oracle and then immediately found a reason to sue Microsoft.  I’m against crooks, and the other guy is a Republican, so I’m safe on this.

Assembly, Congress, etc.  I’m in a gerrymandered district.  My neighborhood was cut out of several competitive districts (the Congressional seat changed parties 2 times in the 90′s) and joined with a black-majority district to sink our votes.  My Congresswoman is Maxine Waters.  My State Senator is under indictment.  I’ll vote for the other guys, whoever they are.  Not that it matters.

The Propositions:

19:  YES. I have no illusions about pot being a good thing.  Quite the opposite actually; I know a number of people who have smoked their minds out.  But then booze kills quite frequently, too, and is in many ways worse.  Nor do I think this Proposition is particularly well crafted.  It isn’t.  In fact I don’t know how the regulation/tax part stands up to a 5th Amendment challenge (federal self-incrimination).  BUT … I know that if this fails it will be seen as a reaffirmation of the Drug War.  Which is worse than the disease it “cures.”

20: YES.  Waiting on this will leave many Californians (like me) in gerrymandered congressional districts for another decade.  If it’s good for the legislature it’s good for Congress.  Err on the side of freer elections.

21: NO. Ballot box budgeting is part of the problem.  Let’s stop for a while.

22. NO. Ballot box budgeting is part of the problem.  Let’s stop for a while.

23. YES.  This isn’t about the oil companies.  It’s about the countless small businesses that will shut down due to the capital costs of meeting new rules.  It’s not like loans grow on trees these days.  The big bad oil companies will get by, like they always do.  But the company in South LA that paints cars may not be so lucky.  This will cost jobs.  How many can we afford?  I’d feel better if the unemployment trigger was higher, though.

24. NO. Ballot box budgeting is part of the problem.  Let’s stop for a while.

25. NO. The problem is a lack of compromise on both sides.  This “solves” the problem by removing the need to compromise.  A better solution would be a weekly lottery after the deadline is missed where some legislator gets declared ineligible to run again.  After a few months of that, we’d have a reasonable budget.

26. NO. Let’s not make the job any harder, either.

27. NO.  “Corrupt bastards.”