Sometimes, even a die-hard Democrat and respecter of smart people everywhere like me can’t believe what I hear Republicans say. But, of course, with YouTube, I get to See and Hear all kinds of things. I can replay them in case I missed something. I can marvel that, yup, they did, in fact say something as stupid as that. Or this. Yup. There’s proof.
Oregon State Representative Bill Post eulogized the passing of Leonard Nimoy on the floor of the legislature.
Of course, neither Spock nor Nimoy were Republicans. Star Trek is pro-science and about a big government in search of a utopian society. Its themes were equality (although the original Star Trek was sexist) and peace. There was no money on the Starship Enterprise. There were no rich or poor. All basic needs were provided for, including health care.
One of Spock’s most famous quotes was, “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
Don’t these folks ever listen to themselves?
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I learned about this through Dailykos.com which directed me to Wonkette and ultimately to Addicting Info.
When I studied humor writing, I was taught something called “The Rule of Three.”
As the second deity in my holy research trinity, Wikipedia, says:
The rule of three is a writing principle that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things.[citation needed]
That is the only reason there are Three Stooges. Because two just wouldn’t be funny. Come to think of it, THREE haven’t been funny since I hit puberty. But still.
Anyway, the Rule of Three works. Three is funny.
So I was delighted this week to learn that the GOP has adopted the Rule of Three! Yes, It’s true. They are pushing the envelope for legislative giggles. Ba Da DUMB!
Google, Natch!
Have you been paying attention? Because here’s what happened just this week:
In the Ring on the Right, we have Michele Fiore, Majority Leader of the Nevada State Assembly who has a whole new take on cancer, cancer treatment and what is apparently cancer of her own mouth:
“If you have cancer, which I believe is a fungus, and we can put a pic line into your body and we’re flushing, let’s say, salt water, sodium cardonate [sic], through that line, and flushing out the fungus… These are some procedures that are not FDA-approved in America that are very inexpensive, cost-effective.”
Michele standing up for freedom with Cliven Bundy’s gang. Yeh Haw! Photo from Crooks and Liars.com
It really is amazing just how inexpensive death can be — there aren’t even any copays!
As my Dad would have said, “There’s a fungus among us.” That line is the only thing I could think of to say in light of this previously unknown cancer disclosure. Thanks, Michele.
Deja vu!
In the Other Right Hand Ring is Idaho Rep. Vito Barbieri (R) who showed once again how the GOP really, truly has no fucking clue about women – literally or figuratively. Or anatomically.
It all happened at a hearing on Tele-medicine – there is a bill in the Idaho Legislature that would prohibit doctors from prescribing medications that can induce a miscarriage — an abortion — from doing so via telemedicine – an online consultation. Have you seen how fucking BIG Idaho is? Or how it is somewhat phallic looking?
Dr. Julie Madsen, a physician who said she has provided various telemedicine services in Idaho, was testifying in opposition to the bill. She said some colonoscopy patients may swallow a small device to give doctors a closer look at parts of their colon.
Now wait for it. Here it comes … Your turn, Rep Barbieri!:
“Can this same procedure then be done in a pregnancy? Swallowing a camera and helping the doctor determine what the situation is?” Barbieri asked.
Madsen replied that would be impossible because swallowed pills do not end up in the vagina.
Allow me to rephrase this:
A man who has been duly elected to office – in the United States of America which office grants him a certain measure of control over many things including women’s reproductive rights, does not understand that there is no direct link from the mouth to the uterus.
The AP article went on to state:
Barbieri later said that the question was rhetorical and intended to make a point.
I’m pretty sure that Rep Barbieri made THREE points:
That he doesn’t know shit from shinola,
That he should just dig a hole and crawl inside for the remainder of his life.
He should try stand-up comedy because I have had too few good belly/vagina laughs lately. Until I read this.
You know where I got the stupid photo, already.
Now you know how there is always a serious guy in the comedic trio? This circus of GOPers is no exception.
In the Other Other Right Ring: Here is the MO of this trio: Idaho GOP state Rep. Christy Perry!
Christy, is (of course) a good Christian. Being a good Christian, she is “pro-life.” Well, as long as that life isn’t breathing oxygen on its own, anyway.
Because Ms. Perry is apparently pro-life only until a baby is born. Apparently she finds it perfectly OK for parents to deny their children medical care in the name of the Lord. For Religious Reasons. And, you know, for FREEDOM!
Remember at this point in the movie, they are removing his intestinal organs. There is no camera inside there. No vagina either, come to think of it.
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So you see, our GOP reps really have the world of comedy all figured out. Ain’t it a shame though, that they only know slapstick.
And ain’t it also a shame that we as a nation are always the ones who slip on that damn banana peel? Because we are down on our asses until we get these folks out o’ Dodge. And DC. And out of your statehouse and mine.
It happens every year, try as I might to avoid it. Annually. At about the same time each year. On the same damn day, even.
Every bloomin’ year! What’s with that?
For the last 15 years, I’ve tried to avoid it. I just put my head down and muddled through the whole month. Looked forward to February.
Yeah, it’s my birthday. Ho hum. Everybody has one. Still, I figure I need to do something to mark it.
So to celebrate, I’m going to insert one of my very favorite birthday songs for those of us who are in their our post- years. The perfect song for the post-teens; post-Yuppies; post-childbearing, child rearing, post-careerists; post-menopausal; for the pre- and post-retirement set.
The perfect song for the pre-dead among us. And I do hope you, my dear bloggin’ buddy, are among us.
Wednesday, the Texas legislature’s House voted to allow their members to install “Panic” buttons in their office. Isn’t that special?
The reason they might just need these panic buttons is because some folks are just getting out of hand. And in their hands, they want deadly weapons. Just about wherever they go.
The Texas Lege is voting on whether to allow “Open Carry” of guns. Texas would join 22 states where Open Carry is already legal. [For the record, I am astonished that that bastion of gun rights, Texas, does not currently allow folks to carry guns wherever they choose. Shocked, in fact.]
The vote to allow House members to install “Panic Buttons” all came about because of a group of folks, ummmm, lobbying for open carry rights. This group went to the office of a House member, Pancho Nevarez, who had the audacity to plan to vote “No” on open carry. And while these “lobbyists” believe strongly in the Second Amendment, they apparently haven’t read about the FIRST Amendment. They were aggressive. They were intimidating. They were, in a word, assholes.
But the thing is, rather than doing anything to prevent assholes and crazy folks from carrying guns, intimidating people and killing them, the Texas House voted to allow their members to install “Panic Buttons” to alert security.
You will be surprised to know this action just doesn’t sit well with me.
Perhaps I should be used to it. After all, there have been security measures in Congress and most Executive Branch departments for nearly 30 years.
Folks cannot bring their weapons into the State or Defense or Homeland Security Department. You can’t even bring it into the Air and Space Museum.
And, really, that’s OK by me. I don’t want government officials to be shot at their desks. It’s so messy.
But you know what? I don’t think anybody should be shot at a Walmart. Or at a movie theater. Or at an elementary school.
So why should we provide an extra level of protection for the very same folks who vote to put the rest of us at risk?
The folks who decide on the gun laws are voting to keep themselves safe. If they’re going to do that, they should damn well vote to make me safe. And you. And our kids.
One day when Jacob was about 5 years old, John and I got a babysitter. We were alone driving down the road, when we saw a man in a Barney suit ahead of us, crossing the road. He was obviously heading to some lucky child’s birthday party. Hoo-hoo!
John slowed down, smirked, and turned to me and said “That is one brave man to cross the street in front of us.”
Google, Natch
We hated Barney. Jacob, at that age, loved him. He wanted to watch Barney all the time. Naturally we didn’t allow it, because really, who can handle that much Barney? We knew that too much Barney would damage our young son.
John and I we continued our day out, away from our son, with the Barney song, and thoughts of homicide, stuck in our heads. We were delighted.
We, like most parents, were relatively lucky, though. We could turn it off. We could say “no more Barney.” We could have banished Barney completely. We had control over the situation.
But this morning I read an article about someone who didn’t. Who couldn’t. Someone who was stuck, day after day, watching and listening to Barney. For TWELVE YEARS!
Today’s Washington Post has a wonderful article about Martin Pistorius, a South African man who fell into a coma at age 12. After several years, he began to emerge, but not in ways that let anybody know he was “there.”
His recovery began with Barney, the big purple dinosaur he was forced to watch on loop at the special care center where he spent his days, according to NPR.
…“I cannot even express to you how much I hated Barney” …
Pistorius decided he’d had enough and dedicated his thoughts to something that offered some modicum of control over his reality, such as telling time by tracking sunlight in a room.
As his mind improved and Pistorius learned to “reframe” and “reintepret” his “ugliest thoughts,” his health improved, too, according to NPR. By age, 26, he was able to use a computer to communicate, shocking his family.
I don’t want to give away all of it, but trust me: The article is fascinating. I think the book he wrote of his experience sounds like it is too.
It’s a wonderful story of revival. And, of course, proof, that when we hate Barney, we can achieve great things.
FiftyFourandAHalf 