Some Thoughts For Your Afternoon

- In another example of how conservatives love to dish it out but can't take it, an unemployed man from Pennsylvania has been indicted for sending "harassing" emails to Republican Senator Jimm Bunning. I guess it's only conservatives that can express their outrage and not face criminal charges.

- Apparently writer Joe McGinniss has decided that living next door to Sarah Palin in Alaska is a great way to research her for his new book. And while this is already turning into a privacy invasion issue with Palin, the fact that she is discussing this with Glenn Beck tells me that McGinniss and his as yet written book will be a target for the mouth agape conservatives for quite some time. I'm guessing that Beck is going to formulate an elaborate conspiracy that ties together Joe, George Soros, Saul Alinsky, Progressive Bloggers, a mafia soldier from Queens, and the IMF.

- Granted, it's not Arizona, but this shows the far-reaching implications of the near fascist immigration law now in place there. It seems that officers in other states can't be bothered with facts regarding your citizenship if you're not white.

- It generally puts quite the smile on my face when I see conservatives continual use of Stimulus funds while they claim the program to be an abject failure. Texas governor Rick Perry continues to use these funds. He's attempting to balance his states' budget. What, a conservative not good with money? No, surely not.

- Conservatives and their media masters at Fox"News" have worked themselves into quite the lather over an alleged offer made to Joe Sestak by an unnamed person within the Obama administration. The only problem is that legal experts say this claim by conservatives and Fox is more than a little difficult to swallow. One of those contradicting the claims made by the likes of Dick Morris was a Bush ethics lawyer. Ouch.

- Like I've said before, no matter what Obama does, conservatives are going to complain. After word broke that 1200 troops would be sent to the southwest to help secure the border, Republicans began foaming at the mouth that it wasn't enough. Now the new talking point is that it's all an elaborate PR stunt. This is s typical response when conservatives lack any substantive retort. But this is just a first step of many more to come. Conservatives crave instant gratification because they lack the ability to successfully complete anything on their own.

Bunning Worship

Having lived in Kentucky my whole life, I know what politicians from this state have done to it. So, it was with no surprise that Jim Bunning did what he did - just as it wasn't a surprise that Fox"News" took to the airwaves praising him.



These people literally are insane, as they have no idea about how this has effected the average, working class, population of the US that they claim to champion. But here's the question I want to have answered - out of the 1.2 million people that Bunning has screwed over, how many of them are Tea Baggers? After all, this little political stunt that people like Carlson, Ingraham, Limbaugh, and Erickson are praising like some new religious icon doesn't just effect Democrats.

Out Of Touch And Unhinged

I'm guessing someone just lost their re-election bid.

In an unusual display in the normally sleepy chamber, Bunning – without the support of GOP leadership – has blocked efforts to quickly approve a series of extensions to measures that would otherwise expire Sunday, including unemployment insurance and the Cobra program that allows people who lose their health benefits to continue getting coverage.

And that has led to a furious exchange on the floor, with Democrats attacking the senator, who has refused to relent on his objection, in unusually harsh terms.

In a colloquy with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Jeff Merkley, a freshman Democrat from Oregon, was pleading for Bunning to drop his objection, when the Kentucky Republican got fed up.

“Tough s—t,” Bunning said as he was seated in the back row, overheard by the floor staff and others in attendance.

It's a pretty clear case that Bunning isn't familiar with the unemployment situation in Kentucky ( my state ) as it's pretty horrific in some counties. In Trigg County along, the unemployment rate is near 20%, one of the highest rates in the nation. So, for Bunning to essentially tell the people of Kentucky that lost their job "touugh shit", it paints a rather clear picture as to what is motivating these elected officials.

Bunning is having his moment in the sun now, and like his fellow obstructionists, he is going to ride this for as long as he can. But one has to wonder exactly what Bunning thinks he will gain from this little stunt? Even though Kentucky is a "Red" state, unemployment doesn't just affect the Democrats. I'm thinking his next townhall meeting here will be rather interesting, if he even has the sand to face his constituency now.

My Old Kentucky Home

Aside from the few bright spots within the boarders of the Bluegrass State, I am largely embarrassed to admit that I was born and raised in Kentucky. And while we are home to the most famous horse race in the world and what once was a giant amongst college basketball, the state is largely dominated by rural attitudes about race and politics.

So it's no surprise that teabaggers around here are full-tilt crazy. A small cell of the group that is now successfully fracturing the GOP invaded the offices of Republican Senator Jim Bunning and Think Progress was their to listen to their complaints:

In the conference room, the very first protester to speak said that if the country dissolved, he would move to the first state that seceded. After his speech, fellow protesters began giving their views about fascism, the President’s birth certificate, and ways to avoid paying taxes.

Make no mistake about it, when reactionary conservatives from Kentucky have a complaint about Obama, it's is most certainly based on race. But around here, conservatives don't see themselves as racists. They view it as a tradition, some bizarre time-honored school of thought that has to be instilled within the children of the state. In that regard, the statements from people like Janeane Garofalo that the "teaparties" are about racism are more accurate than the Kentucky participants are willing to admit.

It's a very peculiar state to live in while Obama is President. We've not only got racism, but we've got Mitch McConnell and potentially Rand Paul. The later is running for the Senate and is just as adle-brained as his father.

And while not everyone in the state espouses such ignorant and ill-conceived ideals as the teabaggers, it unfortunate that those voices of reason are too often drowned out by the shriek and cries of conservatives.