It Takes Some Time
I'm often frustrated by how willfully ignorant the American public is of current affairs, especially of items that directly effect their safety and well being, but I also recognize that social currents work at their own pace. That may be another way of saying way too slowly for me, but hey, people have lots of things to worry about and deal with. What gives me hope is the enduring American tradition of being able to stroll by a pile of poopy, one of the things we deal with here at MC, and say, "wow, that really smells like crap". After five years of Bush administration policies, Americans seem to be getting quite a
whiff of where Richard Cheney intends to lead this nation:
President Bush's 61 to 37 percent negative rating on the handling of Iraq is a decline from the 56 to 42 percent negative rating in March. By way of comparison, two years ago the president had a 63 to 36positive rating.
That last blurb was from a Harris poll, this one is from an
NBC/Wall Street Journal poll:
Overall, according to the NBC/Journal poll, 52 percent believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction, while 35 percent think it’s on the right track.
I'm no poll guru, but eight points higher on the wrong track side, and five lower on the right track, and we're in very dangerous territory for the Grand Old Party (that would be Republicans). PEW Research has more out
today:
5/11-15. MoE 4%. (March '05 results) Bush approval ratings Approve 43 (49)
Disapprove 50 (46)
Congressional Republicans
Approve 35 (39)
Disapprove 50 (44)
Congressional Democrats
Approve 39 (37)
Disapprove 41 (44)
Those poll ratings
stink. And believe me, Republican Representatives and Senators who have to run for re-election next year know it. They're worried, and they should be. Much to their peril, Americans view politics as a sideshow, akin to some Entertainment Tonight Brad& Jen sling fest, but eventually events carry weight, and things do sink in. I believe these poll numbers show just that. It's been over five years since the Supreme Court appointed America's "Compassionate Conservative" president, and Americans are finally realizing just what him and his rhetoric wreak of: PooPoo.
Fetish America
What do all of these people have in common?
Why they're Conservative Republicans of course. And, some very religious ones I might add. Oh I know you're saying, "c'mon Fuzzy, you're talking about all those dirty, heathenistic, SoHo Liberals." Um, no, go click on the links above if you'd like to learn more.
Now, let's have some quotes. (Hang with me for a minute, this is where it gets fun) The first three items can be attributed to Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), and Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News TV show The O'Reilly Factor.
Hit it Ricky!
"Every society in the history of man has upheld the institution of marriage as a bond between a man and a woman. Why? Because society is based on one thing: that society is based on the future of the society. And that's what? Children. Monogamous relationships. In every society, the definition of marriage has not ever to my knowledge included homosexuality. That's not to pick on homosexuality. It's not, you know, man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be. It is one thing. And when you destroy that you have a dramatic impact on the quality —"
To which the AP reporter responds (I love this part):
"I'm sorry, I didn't think I was going to talk about "man on dog" with a United States senator, it's sort of freaking me out."
Yeah, we didn't either, and don't worry, it's freaking
everyone out. Trust me.
Praise the Lord, Here's Johnny:
"It does not affect your daily life very much if your neighbor marries a box turtle. But that does not mean that it's right. ... Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife."
And finally, come on Bill, spin that goat (wonder why he didn't say donkey...):
So this is just the beginning, ladies and gentlemen, of this crazy gay marriage insanity -- is gonna lead to all kinds of things like this. Courts are gonna be clogged. Every nut in the world is gonna -- somebody's gonna come in and say, "I wanna marry the goat." You'll see it; I guarantee you'll see it.
I'll admit I know Guffman about Freud, but this sort of freak-talk is really frightening. And coming from sitting Republican Senators? What kind of weird repression do these statements come from?
P.S. - Ancillary:
SpongeDob StickyPants whipping a
dachshund with a belt takes the cake. Assholes...
Sick
Via
Digby, we get this story from the
AP:
Two teachers arrested at a 2004 campaign rally for President Bush and strip-searched at a county jail have filed a lawsuit alleging law officers conspired to violate their constitutional rights.
Alice McCabe and Christine Nelson, both in their 50s, were among five protesters arrested at the Sept. 3 rally. The pair were handcuffed, taken to the county jail, strip-searched and charged with criminal trespass.
Once again, they were
strip-searched. What kind of country do we now live in where two 50 year old women, school teachers no less, are violated in this way? Here's the kicker:
The charges were dropped months later.
In other words, they were arrested
for no reason whatsoever. While the news is packed with stories of the runaway bride, where is the public outrage for this? It reels the mind...
