On Science and Wingnutology

Why are conservatives troubled by Science:

More conservatives than ever distrust science, according to a report released Thursday.

Just 35 percent of conservatives said they had a "great deal of trust in science" in 2010, a 28 percent decline since 1974, when 48 percent of conservatives—about the same percentage as liberals—trusted science. Liberal and moderate support for science has remained essentially flat since 1974, according to Gordon Gauchat, a sociologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He published his findings in the journal American Sociological Review.

[…] Gauchat says conservatives' rebellion against the "elite" and the shifting role of science in society is to blame for the decline. He argues that the conservative minority has rebelled against science in the same way it has against media and higher education.

"It kind of began with the loss of Barry Goldwater and the construction of Fox News and all these [conservative] think tanks. The perception among conservatives is that they're at a disadvantage, a minority," he says. "It's not surprising that the conservative subculture would challenge what's viewed as the dominant knowledge production groups in society—science and the media."

He says science has also changed—in the middle of the 20th century, science was tasked with creating things for the Department of Defense and NASA, things that "easily built a consensus."

"Since then, science has become autonomous from the government—it develops knowledge that helps regulate policy, and in the case of the EPA, it develops policy," he says. "Science is charged with what religion used to be charged with—answering questions about who we are and what we came from, what the world is about. We're using it in American society to weigh in on political debates, and people are coming down on a specific side."

Actually, I believe there is research from elite bi-coastal university(s) that show that conservative resistance to science started earlier. One can go back to the Scopes Trial and to the reactions to progressive era reforms of the early 1900s, especially to those measures that arose from the economic mobilization that occurred during WW1. This period is as good as any to trace the origins of today's movement conservatives and their anti-science grudges.

Putting it a little more politely, I believe that opposition to science stems from a populist reaction to the fact that it takes over educated eggheads using hard to understand skills sets to run the Country post 19th century.

How does the healthcare system work, how does Wallstreet work, what’s the deal with global warming, how do you organize the economy if the Country has to fight and win a global war, etc., – the average fella’ will have a hard time answering these questions without generalities. It takes dedicated people (experts) with years of study a particular discipline to answer these questions. Yet it is ordinary folks that go to the polls to, in theory, decide policy matters that affect science, finance, healthcare, etc. How does one make an informed decision on wallstreet reform if you haven’t studied finance for a decade or three? You can’t. You have to rely on experts whether it’s the pointy headed bureaucrats at the EPA setting air standards or the former Harvard Professor overseeing the creation of the President’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The average fella’ doesn't have a direct say in these matters anymore – the details. It’s the eggheads largely calling these shots instead of the people at the polls. So it is the Eggheads and their stupid science that get the blame from the mob.

You see patterns – right wing populism against Science – start to emerge in the 1920s most notably in opposition to the teaching of Evolution and the Scopes trial. Back in that day, one could look at the industrial slaughter of WW1, the encroachment of modernity and the rapid changes to society in terms of bureaucratization of government (the rock stars of the WW1 period were not necessarily the generals but rather the heads of bureaucracy in DC running the war economy).

Couple these changes with science based (albeit real shitty science by today's standards) curriculum that suggests that Man was not created by god but rather may have evolved over time and the world starts spinning out of control. No longer is democracy in America a gift from God in which every man could participate in equally using his God given talents. With modernity everyman cannot participate equally in government. With modernity, God may not have even created man. With modernity, nations can commit industrialized slaughter on a scale not previously seen. And thus a reaction to science and modernity occurs. Science means change and change to a future that ain't as promising as the past.

Militant belief creationism was not the cause of the Scopes Trial but rather the effect. Darwin published his tracks 60 years prior to the Scopes Trial and religion and science operated in consonant. But add the reaction from the rapid changes in the early 20th Century, along with a fear of immigrants, African Americans starting to exercise their rights as Americans, foreign religion and boom. It is a tea party - scopes style. This marks the beginning of movement conservatism in America in my humble opinion as a practicing wingnutologist.

The End Draweth Near for Newt

"Well, Newt Gingrich announced today he is laying off a third of his campaign staff. Is that surprising? Hey, he laid off two-thirds of his wives. Why is that unusual?"

-Jay Leno noting that to date, Newt has fired 2 wives. TO DATE.

Of course this is the B team that Newt is laying off. His A Team quit en masse to work for the criminally stupid Rick Perry. By itself, what does that say about Newt?

Now that I think about it, can there be any worse job than a GOP Presidential campaign staffer? Seriously, there cannot. I don't see how anyone could get out of bed in the morning knowing that s/he had to spend the day working to make Michele Bachmann look presidential. Ditto Rick Perry. Ditto Santo. Ditto Cain. Ditto Newt. Ditto Willard. With that being said, I wonder what these staffers do for health insurance? Does the GOP cover these guys with its plan? Because it would seem that they'd need kick ass pharmaceutical coverage to help these staffers cope with the miseries of their jobs. I mean getting an emergency phone call from Hermann Cain to help him smear the eighth slut that is accusing him (honestly, btw) of being a duplicitous and creepy letch can't be a good way to start the day.

Just an observation.

On Global Warming Denial and Wingnutology

As a self-proclaimed expert in wingnutology, I always find this stuff interesting.

Why do American Conservatives deny the consensus on Global Warming? Conservatives in all other civilized places do not, as a group, claim that Global Warming is a Hoax. Only American Conservatives make this claim. Strange and unsettling, I know. Perhaps underfunded failing public schools are to blame? Who knows. 

But if it were the public schools' fault, wouldn't there be more cross the board confusion? I think so, so the schools are not to blame. If we had FEMA run supplemental education camps, perhaps they could help. A camp ain't worth a damn, if ain't run by FEMA after all.

Perhaps there is another answer other than education, or lack thereof. Here is a vicious-mean spirited case of wingnutology seeking to answer this question.

Why are wingnuts so confused over science in general and global warming in particular?

So then, the question is, why do people deny this? And why, might I add, do Republicans in particular deny this so strongly?

And if your answer to that question is, “oh, because they’re stupid”—well, you’re wrong. That’s what liberals want to think, but it doesn’t seem be correct. In fact, it seems to be precisely the opposite—smarter (or more educated) Republicans turn out to be worse science deniers on this topic.

This is a phenomenon that I like to call the “smart idiot” effect, and I just wrote about it for AlterNet and Salon.com.

Let me tell you how I stumbled upon this effect—which is really what set the book in motion. I think the key moment came in the year 2008 when I came upon Pew data showing:

• That if you’re a Republican, then the higher your level of education, the less likely you are to accept scientific reality—which is, that global warming is human caused.

• If you’re a Democrat or Independent, precisely the opposite is the case.

This is actually a consistent finding now across the social science literature on the resistance to climate change. So, for that matter, is the finding that the denial is the worst among conservative white males—so it has a gender aspect to it—and among the Tea Party.

The Teahadists - those bastards. It figures. Looks like they're to blame for just about everything.

At this point I am thinking that his is an interesting and promising theory, but I have to add that it is just a theory, like evolution and gravity. And since I have not read the social science written by some smirking egghead (aren't they all) with a PhD., I cannot confirm or deny the correlation between education and denial.

I've always assumed that folks who were not born stupid but choose science denial have made a deliberate lifestyle choice - a bad lifestyle choice. It is a choice that should not be rewarded or embraced. Perhaps intense Shame could be utilized to move the winger to a more productive lifestyle choice. Again who knows if this would work? The Over-educated Social Scientists, I bet. I bet these eggheads know.

And this is yet another reason why Obama let everyone down with the Stimulus Bill. Think of what good could have been done by throwing a $100 Million or maybe $1 Billion toward research in this area. You could employ a boat load of Grad Students, recycle cash quickly back into the economy, produce kick ass research and educational materials for school kids and help stamp out this horrible epidemic of global warming denial amongst a certain portion of the economy.

Or perhaps we could open some imaginary FEMA Camps. Either way.

A New Business Idea for Newt Gingrich

It is worth a try.

"Newt Gingrich's campaign having a little money trouble. Have you heard about this? Newt Gingrich's campaign is charging people $50 to pose for a picture with Newt. Yeah. And for $100 you can get one without Newt."

-Conan O'Brien

Looks like Newt can cash in either way. I, for one, definitely prefer Newt-free photos.

Romney in Favor Pre-existing Condition Exclusion

One of the benefits of Obamacare is that the pre-existing condition exclusion ban which entitles people to sign up for health insurance and be covered even it they have been ill in the past. This is a good thing since health insurance is tied so closely with employment. So if you lose your job or your employer stops offering a plan, you won't be denied coverage when you get a new job. And the exclusion ties in with the individual mandate. Because if everyone is covered fewer uninsured will show up at the Hospital seeking treatment for a serious condition.

Not surprisingly Willard is now against the ban, for the time being anyway. So when Obamacare is repealed by an activist court (if that happens) what happens to folks who are ill:

Willard: People with pre-existing conditions, as long as they have been insured before, they are going to be able to continue to have insurance"

Leno: "Suppose they haven't been insured"

Willard: "If they are 45 years old and they show up and say I want insurance because I have heart disease, it's like, ‘Hey guys. We can't play the game like that. You've got to get insurance when you are well and then if you get ill, you are going to be covered,’"

What Willard is saying is that you should be allowed to wait until your house is on fire before ordering home owners' insurance. You have to purchase this before your house catches on fire.

However it is different with Health Insurance because when a 45 year-old man who does not have health insurance due to a pre-existing condition shows up at the Hospital, he'll get care. You me and Willard will just have to pay for this fella's care through higher insurance premiums on our health insurance at the next renewal.

That is how it works. That is why everyone needs to partiicpare in the solution either through some single payer system run by Uncle Sam or by the super scary Obamacare system run by Corporations.

There's another side to Vile Teabaggery

The Upside to Vile Teabaggery is the mobilization of your hardcore base in a low turnout off year election. And you win at the polls. Life is good.

But there is a Downside of Teabaggery. And the Downside is that all the Normal GOP candidates that should have run for President are scared shitless of all the Teahadists. This in turn has left the GOP with only one candidate that can walk the Pro/Anti Tea Party line at the same time. Willard Milton Romney. Willard is just enough Tea Party and just enough Not Tea Party to weasel his way past his third tier challengers.

And now that Romney is the apparently the nominee in waiting, the GOTP is still haunted by the teabaggery because normal republican establishment figures are also scared shitless of the Teahadists and unwilling to unite around Romney:

This is why the primary season has been so brutal for Romney. To win over the skeptical conservative base [ed note: the author is referring to Teahadists], he needs influential figures on the right to vouch for him. But if they vouch for him, they risk being declared RINOs themselves, establishment sellouts trying to force an impure nominee on the GOP. And they know that any dramatic gesture they make now will be remembered. What if Romney wins the nomination, loses in the fall, and the conservative base concludes they were tricked again – that it’s time to redouble their purity crusade? Or what if Romney wins in the fall and, like George H.W. before him, tries to govern from the middle as president, prompting a GOP civil war. What conservative leader would want to spend the next four years explaining why he or she played such a critical role in elevating that kind of president?

This goes a long way toward explaining the bizarre, protracted GOP primary season. Conservative leaders seem to have concluded that Romney’s opponents would all be poor general election candidates [ed note: No Shit Sherlock], and that it’s best for the party if Romney wins the nomination. This explains why Santorum and Gingrich have received so few high-profile endorsements, and why officially neutral conservatives have nonetheless weighed in at pivotal moments to kill their momentum.

There is an upside to the Crazy and there is a down side to the Crazy. Once you have created the monster that is the Frankenbagger, it is hard to put it down. Sure it has it uses, but long term it is a toxic problem.

On Global Warming

One of the sides effect from our current warmer than normal winter is the number of assholes claiming snowfall in Minnesota during winter, shows that anthropogenic global warming is a hoax seems to be drastically diminished. Good thing, this is sure. And of course weather and climate ain't the same thing. But the fact of the matter is that the eggheads, despite their best effort, can't really tell us what is happening next:

When low temperatures are the same as previous record highs, "that's incredible — to me, that's just mind-boggling," said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center. However, he said, it's not necessarily a harbinger of things to come. ...

Halpert pointed to the freak snowstorms that hit in fall 2011, which prompted a lot of questions about whether the coming winter would be unusually cold and snowy. "Clearly, the answer was no," he said. Yet, he said, there's a chance summer could be on the warm side. The most recent outlook for June, July and August, a big-picture projection based on large-scale climate phenomena such as La Niña, was published on March 15. "There's a tilt in the odds toward a warmer summer for the southern two-thirds of the country, but it's not a guarantee," Halpert told OurAmazingPlanet. "We don't give guarantees in the climate business."

The best way to protect against changing weather patterns remains a tinfoil hat, in my opinion.

Gingrich Still Got Game

After flailing in the polls and cementing his reputation as a loser and a person of low moral character, one would think that Newt Gingrich would soon pack it up and skulk off to the suburbs of DC to plot his next bit of mischief.

One might think this if you don't know Newt Gingrich. But the truth is, Newt is has a little groove left:

In a sign that his campaign is in need of fresh funds, Newt Gingrich on Monday began charging $50 to have a photograph taken with him following a campaign speech to Republican groups here in the northernmost part of the state.

It was the first time that the former House speaker has charged those attending one of his public speaking events to pose for a photograph with him. Lately, a member of his campaign staff has been snapping photos of any interested attendee and later posting them online at the campaign’s website, Newt.org.

On Monday night, those paying for a photograph were also told they could find their photos on Gingrich’s website, after they had filled out a form providing their credit card information.

He may be down, but not so far out that he can't fleece a few wingers on his way out the door. Congrats to Newt on his new business model. I think he can do better, personally. But this is better than nothing.

Deep Thoughts from Powerline Blog

From the wingnet:

I cannot see how the Constitution authorizes either Medicare or Obamacare. In an ideal world, health care for elderly citizens would be paid for by a combination of 1) savings, 2) insurance, 3) charity hospitals and 4) such welfare programs as state and local governments might see fit to enact. It would be up to each elderly person and his or her family to decide how much they are willing and able to spend on health care, along with whatever insurance they may have paid for. This is, in my view, the only proper and dignified way for free citizens, not subjects of an all-powerful state, to make such decisions.

John Hinderaker

Every once and a while they'll tell what they actually believe. Bring on the back alleyways, the charity hospitals, the poor houses and the Potters' Fields. It’s a Culture of Life, I tell you! Just don't get poor. Just don't get sick. Just don't get unlucky. Just don't get old.

But seriously it was Ronald Reagan that warned America of the end of Freedom when Medicare was being debated back in 1964. Same shit different year. I believe that America's Seniors experience a hell of a lot more freedom knowing they have Medicare than rolling the dice and betting everything by going without it. Just a hunch.

And Thus Ends Western Civilization's Last Best Hope

A Vicious Elitist via the Lamestream Media savaging the Self Proclaimed Savior of Western Civilization in a most mean-spirited way:

"Despite Newt Gingrich's best efforts, it looks like the world is going to have to save itself. A humiliating third-place finish in Saturday's Louisiana primary should have extinguished the last embers of Gingrich's wildfire dream of a second-ballot victory at the GOP Convention. Any Newtonian fantasy about stopping Mitt Romney in Tampa requires the former House speaker to continue to accumulate convention delegates. But Gingrich -- after winning a combined 9 percent of the vote in Louisiana and the prior Illinois primary -- is now in the goose-egg phase of his descent into irrelevance."

Icarus fell flaming to Earth, too.

If Newt is gonna cash out, he better do it double-quick.

Tea Party Sweetheart Hearts Willard

New Utah Senator Mike "Tea Bags" Lee is throwing down his tea party street cred by endorsing Willard Milton Romney, or that is what the internet tells me.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) will endorse Mitt Romney for president on Monday.

Lee, a member of the Senate Tea Party Caucus, is the last Utah Republican to endorse the former Massachusetts governor.

"I think we’re now reaching the point where we can see prolonging this process further could undermine our ability to get a Republican candidate elected, and it could also distract from getting our Senate candidates elected," Lee said according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

Lee's endorsement comes less than a week after he met with Romney, according to the Utah newspaper.

Lee's endorsement might not seem a completely natural one given his strong opposition to the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the Obama administration's healthcare reform law, both issues on which Romney has received criticism from his GOP opponents.

Lee, an unapologetic Tea Partier, says he stands for the opposite of things that Romney supports or used to support or is planning to support in the future depending upon public opinion. But yet, he is down with the Mittmentum. This is a good sign that the GOTP Establishment is starting to whip the riff raff into line.

Damn The Middle Class

Wingnut says whaaaat…..?

Unveiling his new budget proposal, Paul Ryan once again reminds us that he is one of the few men in Washington with guts and brains operating in harmony. His budget asks the big question in American politics: What is the middle class willing to give up in order to save the country?

I am afraid that the answer will be: Not very much.

[…]

Politicians in both parties (and many of my colleagues at this magazine) speak constantly of defending the interests of the middle class, but it is precisely the middle class that will have to see higher taxes or lower benefits or both if the country is to remain solvent. We could tax the rich at 100 percent and still fail to balance the budget, and the Bush tax cuts for the $200,000-and-up set are dwarfed by the Bush tax cuts for the middle class. Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of federal transfer payments go to the non-poor, mainly to the middle class. It is the middle class, not the wealthy, that enjoys relatively light taxation.

Some generations have to storm Normandy, some have to give up tax-code housing welfare for relatively well-off homeowners. Watch your back, Mr. Chairman.

A winger at the NRO

Some generations may storm Normandy but other generations are asked to give up Medicare. And because the Ryan calls for vast tax cuts while balancing the budget, some generations are asked to give up virtually every governmental function one can think of except for Ryancare Health Insurance Coupons, Social Security and defense.

Stupid Is - Stupid Does Award Nominee:

Just as momma says: Stupid is, Stupid Does. The Super Awesome Andy McCarthy at the NRO:

… comes from our loyal reader and commenter, Colonel Travis. In response to mypost last evening on the Obamacare “tax or penalty” issue, he writes:

Like a lot of others, I suspect if Obamacare is declared unconstitutional it will be a 5-4 decision. But I have to say I’ll be really disappointed if it is 5-4 because of the absolutely ridiculous amount of power those 4 idiots will have said Congress could have over the citizenry. There’s gotta be at least one moron leftist judge who says – this is simply too much.

This is why I can’t stand things like Santorum who said electing Romney will be like electing Obama again. What an idiot. There is no way Romney would nominate a legal doofus like Sotomayor. If we lose the presidency I don’t think people really understand how royally *bleeped*-up America will be if three more Sotomayors get on the Supreme Court.

If there is a vote for the craziest wingnut on the internets, I'd put Andy McCarthy up against anyone. The Dude is just that hardcore at the wingnuttery.

As far as the dreaded Obamacare is concerning odds on the Internets have Chief Justice John Roberts at a 69% chance [pdf - page 23] of upholding the law. I don't know if that means anything, because Judge Roberts has been known the go Judicial Activist on Occasion. Overall the eggheads have the odds that the law will be upheld at 85%.

Again that is the thing with the crazy. Once you turn it on, its hard to tack back to reality. Imagine the fuse this poor winger will blow if the law is upheld. He is so certain that it is an obama-nation that he does not realize that an individual mandate in health insurance used to be a mainstream GOP idea that no-winger objected to. But now it is the end of the world.

It is always 1860 with the Wingnuts, sigh

Via Powerline Blogger Hayward

Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, a member of the Ways and Means Committee, says he will vote against the Ryan budget because it doesn’t go far enough in cutting spending. This is frivolous political immaturity of the first order. …. if just two other Republicans defect (citing their purity), the Ryan budget will go down, with no prospect that a tougher budget plan could ever pass the House, let alone even a Republican Senate. Why do these purist Republicans want to make the Democrats’ job easier?

This is the same kind of logic as the purist Abolitionists in the 1850s who thought Lincoln insufficiently robust in his anti-slavery positions, and wanted to expel the South rather than have “union with slaveholders.” Gee–that would have served the interest of freeing the slaves real well.

I know Abraham Lincoln, Abe Lincoln is a Friend of mine and I can assure everyone that Willard Milton Romney is no Abraham Lincoln. And also, Health Insurance is not Slavery despite what you read on the wingnet.

But breaking it down a little more, the issue here is with the Crazy and "Purists." Purist Republicans once they become Radicalized are also called "Teahadists" or "Teabaggers" if you prefer to go with the old-school name. And their extreme behavior, like their debt ceiling kamikaze act last year, is egged on by outfits like Powerline Blog, the AM Radio and the Foxnews. Once Radicalized, you see, it is hard to turn off the Crazy. And when the Crazy is on, it is always 1860…...or sometimes 1914…..or sometimes 1937….etc.

This makes me believe that Obama really blew it when it came to the stimulus. I am resigned to the fact that FEMA run re-education camps or secret gestapo-like police forces were never considered to be included in the bill. As much fun as it would be to hover over John Hinderaker's house or Glenn Beck's house with a Black Helicopter on a random basis, it was never a serious possibility. But how about funding grants for liberal social scientists at elitist universities to study radicalization of the American electorate. My guess is that there are plenty of under-employed grad students that could have benefitted from Stimulus spending. Since the grad students are poor, they'd immediately recirculate the money into the economy and we could get a better understanding of what makes the "Purists" tick. We could then....help them cope with the super scary world.

Oh well, what can you do?

Just where are the Death Panels and the Black Helicopters?

So Obamacare turns two today and we still don't have the roving black helicopters transporting death panels to and about Real America. That sucks. Still waiting for the tyranny.

Today also marks a two-year anniversary of a temporary spike in Road Rage events that coincidentally occurred during the airing of the Rush Limbaugh AM radio program. This is my guess anyway. And since facts produced by government bureaucrats which could confirm this spike, Suck, I'm going with my gut here.

It has to be tough being a winger.

Wingnut says whaaaat…..?

Via Powerline Blog on The Ryan Plan to Privatize Medicare:

I’m reminded in an odd way of Walter Mondale in 1984. Liberals loved it when he said, in his acceptance address, that he’d raise taxes—and so would President Reagan. “He won’t tell you; I just did,” Mondale boasted.* I am given to understand by some sources other than Ryan that Obama’s people know that entitlements have to be cut, and have a plan for doing so after the election. Ryan could borrow Mondale’s line and turn it around on Obama on entitlement reform: “He won’t tell you; I just did.”

Candor really worked out well for Mondale, didn't it. I don't think it will work for Ryan, either.

Ryan: Hey loser, I am going to replace your Medicare with Health Insurance Coupons for people retiring in 10 years in order to pay for a tax cuts for the super rich.

Voter: This really does not make me want to vote for you.

I don't see this playing out very well.

This is a NICE party you got here, it'd be a shame if anything were to happen to it

So Newt lost yet another Primary in humiliating fashion:

Such setbacks don’t vex Newt overmuch. He clearly gave up running to win several states ago and only stays in the race because he’s drunk on a cocktail of spite, narcissism, and general mischief. Indeed, so long as a smattering of other spendthrift supporters keep the dough flowing, why should Newt’s subsidized road trip ever end? Especially now, when the former speaker has his very own Secret Service detail, thus confirming the big-cheese status he has so long possessed in his own mind.

Still, if you’re Newt Gingrich, one of the most legendarily self-serving public servants of modern times, you have to think about securing your future—and maintaining your credit line at Tiffany’s. Arguably, conditions are ripe for the speaker’s doing just that.

Yeah baby! It is time to cash in. This is how the game is played and Newt is a playa. Only thing now is to hold out for the best offer while casually noting that the party could be heading for catastrophe.

Slow posting ahead

I am out for a few days. Will return later in the week.

Operation Batshit Powers Romney ahead in Illinois

In Illinois, Willard Milton Romney leads according to a new Lamestream Media Poll:

Willard - 37 percent

Santo - 31 percent

Newt - 14 percent

Paul - 8 percent

Now if Newt would just drop out Santo would be crushing Willard. But when you keep the crazy vote separated, like it is now, bad things happen, such as Willard leading the pack. Thank you Operation Batshit.

Late Nite Comedians are MEAN

"And more and more Republicans are calling on Newt Gingrich to drop out of the campaign. Well, I don't want the say things look bad for Newt, but his ex-wives now are starting to outnumber his supporters. Okay, that's never a good sign. Never a good sign."

- Jay Leno

Dispatches from the wingnut-O-sphere

Via the Zany Characters at Powerline Blog

it appears to me that Romney is moving steadily toward the nomination. He isn’t winning in a landslide, but so what? Today the Associated Press wrote:

Mitt Romney’s losses in Alabama and Mississippi underscore a stark reality: The core of his party does not want him.

But who says Republicans in Mississippi and Alabama are the core of the Republican party, any more than voters elsewhere? Romney has gotten many more votes than Santorum in the contests so far, so why doesn’t it make more sense to say that the core of the party doesn’t want Santorum?

I say that folks in Mississippi and Alabama represent the core GOTP far more than your average fella' from Minnesota or Massachusetts. And I am a Wingnutologist, so I should know.

It is just a fact.

The Anti-Romney vote, whether Cain or Perry or Bachmann or Gingrich or now Santorum are the flavor of the month, is the core. While we are at it, I would be remiss in saying that the reason the core of the GOTP prefers the Anti-Romney Alternative is because Willard possesses no core, himself.

Cold hard Facts are the best way to slap down the wingnuttery.

Ann Coulter Flirts with…….RINOism…….and quite frankly I think she may hate America!

According to excommunicated Conservative David Frum:

“And just a more corporate problem is I think our party and particularly our movement, the conservative movement, does have more of a problem with con men and charlatans than the Democratic Party,” she said. “I mean, the incentives seem to be set up to allow people — as long as you have a band of a few million fanatical followers, you can make money. The Democrats have managed to figure out how not to do that.”

She cited Ohio Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean as examples where despite having a loyal following, Democrats haven’t honored him with even an MSNBC show.

“No, no, no — you embarrass us and drag this thing out, you are finished in the Democratic Party,” she said.

This vicious statement was prompted by a question about sweet sister Sarah Palin. So was Ann implying that Sister Sarah is a grifter, is cashing in on the wingnut welfare circuit is using her followers as a means of lining her pockets by laying down the wingnuttery? NO!

But that's the thing about the GOTP. This wingnut welfare culture that Sarah and Ann are a part of is a feature; it was designed to work this way; it is not a bug; it was created deliberately. This is how the GOTP rolls. You gotta keep the people entertained, misinformed and angry. Don't hate Sister Sarah - Hate the Game. Well, actually, I think you can dislike both at the same time, but I think folks get the point.

And while we are at it, why is Ann Coutler, a hardcore infotainter in right wing mythology casting stones at Poor Sarah? She lives in a Glass House an is part of the problem too.

I think we can blame the Foxnews, the wingnut welfare culture, the AM Radio and the Wingnet for creating Sarah. In a sense, Poor Sarah is a victim who was corrupted by a toxic environment - an environment that Coulter helped create. It really is a tragedy almost Shakespearean to a point.

Shame on Coulter for saying such mean things about Poor Sarah. People are mean enough as it is.

Gingrich Hits a Groove and it is smooth

Newt the other day In Illinois without any self-awarenewss via the liberal media:

“The thing I find most disheartening about this campaign is the difficulty of talking about positive ideas on a large scale because the news media can’t cover it and candidly, my opponents can’t comprehend it,” Gingrich told the five hundred plus person crowd at the Northwest Suburban Republican Lincoln Day Dinner. “The result is you can’t have a serious conversation. It doesn’t fit. It doesn’t count. It is as though it doesn’t occur.”

Gingrich, who brought up Alzheimer’s research for the first time in weeks, admitted he wants to be “the candidate of science and technology.”

“We are at the edge of such extraordinary opportunities and it is so hard to get this party to understand it,” said Gingrich, speaking in a more frustrated tone than usual. “Our political system is so methodically and deliberately stupid.”

In other words folks who engage in petty politics, like say impeaching a president for fooling around with a woman half his age who is not his wife while you are fooling around with a woman half your age who is not either your first or second wife, are ruining America. Astounding!

That would be NEWT that we are talking about. If anyone is to blame for a broken system it is him.

Such a loser.

Santo Wins Big, But Newt Will Stick Around

Under Customary Norms of Behavior, losing as he did last Night, one would expect Newt Gingrich to drop out of the race. He is a loser and a person of low moral character who can no longer con his way to success. People who worked with Newt in 1990s, hate him. As a matter of fact, if Newt were to win the nomination, and the electorate was limited only to GOP congressmen from the 1990s, there is still a good chance that Obama would still beat him. The guy is damaged beyond repair and his former colleagues know this best.

With all this being said, Customarily such a fella' would drop out of the race and go off and live on a farm for the good of the party. But this ain't an ordinary year and it ain't all that clear that Newt dropping out would be good for the party or the presumed nominee, Willard Milton Romney. This why I think Newt will stay in the race. He'll get some more ego time and he can start cashing in by running cover for Romney.

All he has to do is to reach out to the Party Fats Cats and tell them that they have a really nice party and it would be a real shame if anything happened to it……..like, say, Newt Gringrch dropping out of the race and endorsing Santorum. It would be a real shame if that were to happen. Fortunately, there is a new product you can buy to help prevent an endorsement of Santo - Protection Money Gingrich Insurance.

Yeah, man, this is what is gonna happen. Newt is gonna start cashing in. It could go like this.

NG: Hey Rove! You Fat Bastard. Get over here. How about a $5 Million Dollar Donation to the Newt Super Ego Super PAC. I am starting to feel Santorum's vibe. You wouldn't want that to happen, now would you? I'd much rather kick it at Tiffany's.

KR: Yes sir, Mr. Speaker. I'll see what I can do pronto, sir.

NG: And while you are at it, I need in on the Wingnut Welfare. Get me a couple of six figure a year fellow spot at a couple of think tanks. Those Operations could do alright with the benefit of my grandiose intellect.

KR: Yes Sir.

NG: (cutting him off) Are you still here? Frankly I am shocked and amazed at your competence. Get me Willard on the phone. I need to discuss business with that weasely son of a bitch.

That is my guess how the next couple of weeks are gonna unfold. If I know Newt, I bet he is gonna cash in.

Santorum Takes Romney From Behind in Southern Sweep

He wins both Alabama and Mississippi as Operation Batshit unravels. This was not predictable or anything. The GOTP party establishment knew they needed to invest big bucks in Anti-Santorum and Pro-Newt ads for yesterday's primaries, but they failed. The only way Romney could win was to split up the crazy vote and not let it consolidate around any one candidate. Sure Newt is a douche bag, Perry is criminally stupid, Bachmann insane and Cain a serial adulterer, but you go to war with the presidential field that you have, not the one you would have like to have. It just seems to me that they should have done a little better. Now Santo is poised to challenge Willard in a man on robot death match.

The Clown Show Continues. It is certainly is good for entertainment purposes but governing and entertaining ain't the same.

Anti-Miscegenation Block a Key Demographic for Newt tonight

Here:

Alabama’s pretty much on board with interracial marriage, with 67% of voters thinking it should be legal to 21% who think it should not be. There’s still some skepticism in Mississippi though — only 54% of voters think it should be legal, while 29% believe it should be illegal.[…]

Newt Gingrich may have a Key to Winning tonight in Mississippi and Alabama.

Newt cleans up with the ‘interracial marriage should be illegal’ crowd in both states. He’s up 40-27 on Romney with them in Mississippi and 37-28 with them in Alabama.

Maybe this is why Newt Launched his whole Kenyan Anti-Colonialist with Mau Tribesman attitudes attack on Obama last year. If so, the MoFo is crazy like a fox.

Santorum and Gingrich are both a Disgrace

This is well known:

Reality television host and businessman Donald Trump said Monday that it was "disgraceful" for GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney's opponents to remain in the hunt for the nomination.

"If they're good Republicans they're going to say, 'Look, we've got to beat Obama, let's get together,' " said Trump, during an interview with Fox News. "Somebody has to get together and end this thing because now it's getting tiresome and people are not liking it. The only one liking it is Obama."

Of course Donald Trump is a disgrace as well and Romney has no soul. So there is that.

And Then Obama vigorously enforced the Fugitive Slave Act

On Batshit and on Crazy, this is simply BRILLIANT wingnuttery from Sarah Palin:

What we can glean from this is an understanding of why we are on the road that we are on. Again, it's based on what went into his thinking, being surrounded by radicals. You could hearken back to the days before the Civil War, when too many Americans believed that not all men were created equal. It was the Civil War that began the codification of the truth that here in America, yes, we are equal and we all have equal opportunities, not based on the color of our skin. You have equal opportunity to work hard and to succeed and to embrace the opportunities, the God-given opportunities, to develop resources and work extremely hard and as I say, to succeed. Now, it has taken all these years for many Americans to understand that the gravity, that mistake that took place before the Civil War and why the Civil War had to really start changing America. What Barack Obama seems to want to do is go back before those days when we were in different classes based on income, based on color of skin. Why are we allowing our country to move backwards instead of moving forward with the understanding that as our charters of liberty spell out for us, we are all created equally?

Obama wants to take the nation back to the racial conditions that existed before the civil war? But this would make it kinda hard for him to be President……..because of slavery. I think Sarah has spent too much time at Glenn Beck University.

But she is right about the confederate hostility toward the declaration of independence and to its author Thomas Jefferson. Many hardcore secessionists were convinced that Jefferson got it dead wrong about that all men being created equal thing. Those kinda folks called themselves "Conservatives" and "Strict Constructionists" back in the day. Today we have a new batch of conservatives and strict constructionists, and some of 'em, like those on the Texas Board of Education still have a hurtful grudge against Jefferson having written him out of the high school curriculum. Some of 'em have even attempted to rename the African Slave Trade, the Atlantic Triangular Trade. Wingnuts. You cannot make this shit up.

You have to wonder what is going through Sarah's mind when she says on TV that first Black President wants to return the Nation back to the time before the civil war. While this is the position of Ron Paul and his rants against the Morrill Act of 1862 show this, it is crazy to suggest that Obama wants to return to pre-civil war America. All I have to say is that we really could use some of those FEMA camps.

Santorum on bottom of Mississippi 3-way and Alabama 3-way

It is razor close according to these PPP Polls, but Santorum will need a big night to come out on top in Mississippi and Alabama tomorrow.

In Mississippi, Newt holds a slight lead of 33% to 31% for Willard with Santorum trailing at 27%. In Alabama its even closer with Willard at 31%, Newt at 30% and Santorum at 29%. Willard is really doing better than expected in these polls. If he wins one of these tomorrow, Santo could drop out of the race.

I think Newt is sticking around for vanity and anger management reasons and because, if I know Newt, he's likely to have negotiated a pay day to keep the crazy vote from consolidating around Santorum.

Late-Nite Comedians are really just Assholes

"Some conservatives were shocked to hear Robertson wants to legalize marijuana. Mitt Romney was like, 'Bitch said what? Daaaaaammmnnnn.' Yeah, that's how Romney talks. You never see that."

-Craig Ferguson

I cannot prove that this is true or not. I do suspect, however, that Ferguson was making a mean-spirited remark at Poor Willard's expense.

At Least He is Honest about it

Hats off to Senator Inhofe who recently explained how the Bible refutes Climate Change:

"Well actually the Genesis 8:22 that I use in there is that 'as long as the earth remains there will be seed time and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night,' my point is, God's still up there. The arrogance of people to think that we, human beings, would be able to change what He is doing in the climate is to me outrageous."

I think this is good. Let's just get this out in the open. Actually there should be more of this.

On one side you have 98% of the world's climate scientists whose published peer reviewed research documents man-made climate change. Sure they are all eggheads, but this is what eggheads do - research.

On the other side you have hard right culture warriors, former tobacco industry flacks, and various other misfits or Foxnews viewers who believe that anthropogenic global warming either is a hoax cooked up by so-called scientists in order to impose global socialism or it is refuted by the BiBle.

I think Inhofe's position may actually be sincere. However it would take a well crafted tinfoil hat to actually believe global warming is the greatest hoax known to mankind. Either way, this is a good place to start the debate over climate change.

Willard Whipped in Kansas

What is the matter with Kansas? Plenty, including the fact that voters there preferred Rick Santorum as the GOTP presidential nominee…..by 30 points! And also This for last month:

Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal is under fire after asking Republican House members to pray for President Barack Obama’s death. O’Neal made the request via an email he forwarded to GOP colleagues in the House. In an email sent in December, O’Neal asked his fellow Republicans to pray Psalm 109, which contains the following lines:

Let his days be few; and let another take his office.

Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

The email has become the subject of a mini-media frenzy. Numerous major news outlets began reporting the details surrounding the disturbing prayer request on Friday.

The relevant verse from Psalm 109 is considered a prayer for vengeance, a prayer for the death of a leader.

That is the thing with the crazy. Once you turn it on full blast, it is hard to turn off. Then you get the party faithful thinking they are doing the Lord's party's work by voting for the finest mind of the 13th century for president.

But let's not hold that against them for the mean time. For now, crazy is good. And it would be even better if we could send Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal to Camp Bachmann for rest and relaxation.

Wingnut says Whaaaat…….?

Again, sigh:

Millions of Americans voted for Barack Obama in the hope that he would be a trailblazer who would conduct the presidency in a new way. Well, he has: Obama has been the most divisive president in our modern history, unabashedly stirring up hate against not only his political enemies, but against private citizens who exercise their right to participate in our democracy. The most recent hatefest has been directed against Rush Limbaugh, and Obama has personally stirred the pot. […]

Barack Obama has been a terrible president in many ways, but perhaps his most poisonous legacy is his cynical fomenting of partisan hate to advance his own political interests. After three years, we have learned that “hope” is not the word that we should associate with the Obama presidency.

- Blogger Hinderaker suggesting that Obama change his campaign theme of "Hope" to "HATE"

Apparently, according to the wingnet, prominent Dems have not condemned mean things said about Sister Sarah by SUPER mean Arch-Lib Bill Maher. This means that Obama is MEAN!

I have not seen the meanness on Obama's part. I'd like to though. How about a FEMA run camp in Minnesota that is not a anti-Obama dissident camp but could double for one in an emergency?

That would be mean. But I say, what the heck. Just do it.

Magnetic Refrigerator Poetry from Sarah Palin

Via the elitist media:

“I think the definition of hypocrisy is for Rush Limbaugh to have been called out,

forced to apologize and

retract what it is that he said in exercising his First Amendment rights and

never is that the same applied to the leftist radicals who say such horrible things about the handicapped, about women, about the defenseless.

“So I think that’s the definition of hypocrisy, and

that’s my two cents for you."

Simply beautiful, Man.

Another Edition of Wingnut says Whaaaaat…….?

From the Wingnet:

The riffs in which Rush called Ms. Fluke a “slut” and a “prostitute” were way below Rush’s usual standard. Frankly, they didn’t make much sense. The fact that she wanted free birth control pills and other appurtenances of contraception made her greedy, not promiscuous, and certainly not a prostitute. So there wasn’t much of a higher purpose–at least, not a coherently expressed one–behind the harsh words, putting Rush’s defenders in a tough spot.

Blogger Hinderaker

Wanting the health plan that you pay for to include coverage for birth control pills for health reasons or contraception makes one greedy. Looting from Wall Street, on the other hand, is virtuous. And of course George Bush is a genius.

Late Night Comedians are MEAN

"According to exit polls. Mitt Romney is struggling with voters who call themselves very conservative. However, Mitt is doing great with voters who describe themselves as being totally freaked out by Rick Santorum."

- Conan O'Brien

Its time to Open those damn FEMA Camps

Will Obamacare lead to a Red Chinese one child only policy? Surely nobody is dumb enough to believe that. That is unless you are a congresswoman from Minnesota.

Here's Michele Bachmann bringing it last night:

Kathleen Sebelius, the Health and Human Services secretary, she said that it's important that we have contraceptives because that prevents pregnancy, and pregnancy is more expensive to the federal government. Going with that logic, according to our own Health and Human Services secretary, it isn't farfetched to think that the president of the United States could say, we need to save healthcare expenses, the federal government will only pay for one baby to be born in the hospital per family, or two babies to be born per family. That could happen. You think it couldn't?

Look if she is gonna keep saying this crazy shit, I say that we actually open the first FEMA run anti-Obama dissident camp in her congressional district. Better yet, the construction of "Camp Bachmann" should be funded as a "Stimulus Project" with only "Green Energy" used to construct it. It can be staffed by indoctrinated Obama youth corps along with Obama's secret Gestapo-like force.

I've always had a problem with this secret Gestapo-like force. It just didn't make any sense to me, because what good is having a Gestapo-like force if it is always kept hidden away in secret. It kinda defeats the purpose of having one. It is time to locate this "secret" force firmly in Minnesota and start building those camps.

We've waited long enough.

Santorum Leads Willard in Alabama

A Snobbish University Poll shows Santorum with an EARLY lead in Alabama

1. Santorum 22.7%

2. Willard 18.7%

3. Somebody else 15%

4. Newt 13.8%

Undecided was at 29.8%. Presumably the folks picking "somebody else," would likely have chosen Ronpaul if he had been included in this snobbish poll. While Santo leads now, there is still time to carpet bomb him with Negative Ads. At the same time, the fat cats in DC can invest a little in positive ads for Gingrich to steal away some of Santo's support. That is how Operation Batshit Rolls. Got to keep 'em separated.

Romney 2012 then Palin 2016

If Willard flames out in 2012, it may be on!

If Willard loses, you know the wingers are gonna pick to the wildest MoFo they can find next time. Sarah sounds good to me on that score. One can dream. It would be so awesome if Sarah ran for President.

Willard Weasels his Way to VICTORY in Ohio!

Recalcitrant Willardism settles over Ohio as new Converts, i.e., Willardites, provide the margin of Victory over Santorum. It is either that or ACORN stole the damn thing from poor Rick. I am not sure which byline to believe at this time. Either way, how frustrating. A Santorum win would really have capped the night. I guess Santo will have to settle for his surprise victory in North Dakota.

Other than that I have to admit being fooled by the Willardite spin that both Roimney and Newt were surging in Tennessee. That didn't happen. Santo won easily without advertising.

The next battlefield will turn to Alabama and Mississippi where Willard and Rove and team will need to invest heavily in Pro-Newt ads and Anti-Santorum ads. Got to build Newt up a bit and knock Santo Down a bit. Operation Batshit looks like it'll keep rolling on for a while. All and all, this is not a bad thing.

GOTP 2012 Campaign: Worst Ever

How Bad is the Current Crop of GOTP presidential candidates? The Worst Ever according to former First Lady Barbara Bush:

Barbara Bush, the former first lady, is back on the campaign trail — this time for Mitt Romney — and once again, she’s not biting her famously sharp tongue.

Speaking at a conference about first ladies at Southern Methodist University in Dallas on Monday, Mrs. Bush called the 2012 presidential race “the worst campaign I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“I hate that people think compromise is a dirty word,” she said. “It’s not a dirty word.

No shit. The state of the GOTP presidential field is a reflection on the state of the Republican Party. But the problem is that while you cannot chose your family (GWB) you can chose your friends. Barbara has chosen some real cool ones to slum with the past 30 years.

Awesome News

Word on the internets is reporting that Newt Gingrich will refuse to vote in his home state primary because his preferred candidate (Newt) did not qualify to be on the ballot:

NBC News has learned that the Gingriches have opted against voting in Virginia, one of the 11 states hosting primaries or caucuses on Super Tuesday.

“Newt and Callista are not casting a ballot in Virginia and they did not request an absentee one,” Gingrich campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond told NBC News.

Willard with the big MO in O.H.I.O

Its Super Tuesday and the internets are telling me that Willard Milton Romney, whose street name is "Mitt," has got the momentum in Ohio with voting going on today. A Willard surge is in some ways less offensive than a Gingrich surge because during a Gingrich surge it is wise to lock up your women folk and keep 'em out of harm's way. However with a Willard surge you get a bunch of self important entitled pricks strutting around like roosters. Though I could never vote for the fella', I am secretly rooting for Santorum to pull one out in OHIO. At least with a Santorum surge you only get the Bible thumping and theocracy vibe. For some reason Santorum's Medieval views humor me more than offend me.

In Tennessee, the internets are also telling me that Willard (and Newt) is surging there, too. However with Tennessee, you have to realize that 160,000 people have already voted during early voting. In 2008, 550,000 people voted in that primary. If turn-out is down this year like it has been in other states, approximately one-third the vote has already been cast before Willard started carpet bombing the state with negative ads. However with Newt surging, too, Santo may be in trouble in prime operation batshit fashion with Newt siphoning off just enough of the crazy vote to allow Willard to weasel his way to a victory. This would clearly be a disaster for the Republic.

In Georgia, Newt seems to have locked down the state enough for a easy victory. This will boost his ego enough to castigate Santorum for not stepping aside to clear the field for Newt to challenge Willard to a man vs robot death match. This is OK, but still any day where Newt comes out on top is not a good day. In Oklahoma, anti-sharia law forces seem to have united around Santo, so he should be good to go there.

All and all I have a bad feeling about today's results. I know it should be a day of joy and celebration, but I just ain't feeling it.