A Tough Decision. Yeah, Sure.

Whatever the outcome in the rapidly changing Middle East, one thing is for certain--the price of oil will rise. It will rise to where it always should have been if the corrupt leaders of the region hadn't been giving the oil away to industrialized countries at the expense of their own impoverished citizens.

New regimes will probably nationalize oil fields so that Middle East countries can finally start benefiting from their own natural resources. This is a good thing--but oil prices will soar.
The U.S. can either use this as a motivation to develop new energy sources OR as an excuse to escalate domestic oil and gas extraction--further destroying the environment for the profit of a few.
Given the reactionary, Big Business stooges currently infesting Congress, I'm not optimistic about this decision.

" . . . blah, blah, blah, JOBS, blah, blah, blah, DEFICIT, blah, blah,

blah, TAX AND SPEND, blah, blah . . . "
This is what the Tea Partiers on the Hill are saying.

Here is what any truly patriotic American with an IQ higher than a Labrador retriever is hearing:
"At last, an economic crisis! What a perfect opportunity to shit-can all those unions, the EPA, Public Broadcasting, NEA, Planned Parenthood, Medicaid, Social Security . . . "

This is an absolute outrage--particularly the union busting. Many unions have lost the life-savings of their members to fraudulent Wall Street scams. Now the victims are being expected to help the crisis caused by these scams with more sacrifice--while the Wall Street shysters give themselves bonuses.
Americans should be hitting the streets like Egyptians and Libyans.

Great Moments In Hypocrisy #2: Conservatives Outraged By "Activist Judges." Unless, Of Course, The Judge . . .

Here we go again. Once more, the stupidity of an Alaskan governor has put our state in the national spotlight.
New Republican governor, Sean Parnell, is 1 of the 26 governors refusing to accept at least some parts of the new health-care law. He is now the one and only governor to reject the whole package, including federal grants for implementing insurance changes.
Gov. Parnell bases his decision on the Bush-appointed Florida judge, Roger Vinson, who has expressed the opinion that the law is unconstitutional.

Parnell is a very confused man. He seems to think that a judge's opinion is legally binding.
Look, Sean--judges have opinions, just like everyone else. But they're only opinions. When it comes to enacting legislation, we have laws.
Can you imagine what this country would be like if judges' opinions were suddenly legally binding?
"You can't give me a ticket, officer. My buddy, Judge Jones, thinks we should be able to drive as fast as we want."

Apparently, Gov. Parnell cares more about his Tea Party street cred than the Alaskans who would benefit from "Obamacare." Maybe he wants to join up again with Sarah and run as her VP. A perfect pair.
Meanwhile, if you're one of the 100,000 Alaskans without health care, better try to stay healthy. Good luck.

Women: Vote These People Out Of Office--While You Still Can

Despite all the blathering about jobs and the economy, the new Republicans in Washington seem to be more interested in conservative social issues. Particularly women's issues.

And, as usual, they haven't bothered with the facts.
They want a law banning federal funds for abortion. We already have one--it was passed 30 years ago.
They want to dismantle Planned Parenthood--the agency that's efforts with contraception have kept America's abortion rate one of the lowest in the world.

The anti-choice fervor in Congress is so strong and out of touch with reality that one freshman Tea Party congressman has actually introduced a bill that would make killing an abortion doctor "justifiable homicide." (!)
Women and women's rights advocates should be up in arms. At the rate this new reactionary Congress is going, by the time it's finished with business American women will be lucky if they can still vote.

Dear Speaker Boehner,

God bless you for dropping all that nonsense about jobs, medical care, and tax reform and concentrating on what really matters to this country: Abortion.
I've been praying on this matter and God assures me that you are absolutely right. He ain't making no exceptions for rape or incest or medical problems. Abortion is a sin unless it's for the pregnancy of a congressman's mistress and that's all there is to it.
Keep up the good work.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Phil A. Steen
Zion Baptist Church
1900 Bible Beltway
Columbus, Ohio
USA

A Prediction

I don't like making predictions, but here goes:
I predict that John Boehner's tearful rise to Speaker of the House will be short-lived. Scandal involving his extra-marital affairs will drive him from office and we will again be subjected to his public waterworks. (I find the weeping over his childhood, which included working in the family business, to be particularly offensive. Come on, John. Your father owned a business--that supported a wife and 12 children. How about kids that grew up in coal mines and sweatshops, or lived on the street? Give me a break!)

And, as a standard hypocritical assclown (Boehner has been fond of praising marriage as the "foundation of American society"), the ex-Speaker will, of course, cop a Jesus plea. Along with the shameless bawling, we will have to endure his being born again as a Christian and . . . Oh hell, you know the drill.

If it sounds like I'm gloating over Boehner's impending doom, you're right.
I can't stand this fool and I'll be happy to see him get what he deserves.

Clean Slate

The Egyptian uprising has produced one of the rarest things in history: a country with a clean slate. Most countries emerge from revolution with a military hero or religious zealot as a preordained leader. The Russian, Chinese, and Cuban revolts resulted in neither egalitarianism nor even true socialism--just Stalinism, Maoism, and Castroism. The poor bastards in Iran traded a homicidal dictator (one of "our SOBs") for a homicidal priest.
Alexandria is famous for its library. I hope that it contains some history books and Egyptians are reading them.

Not a shot was fired in this revolution. For the sake of Egypt, I hope that the first one is reserved for the charismatic demagogue who claims that he alone is the savior of the nation, or the assclown with flowing beard and robes who claims to have God on his side.