Birth Certificate and Golden Shower

We're all familiar with the long-lived yet long-discredited Republican myth: Barack Obama was born in Kenya, his Hawaiian birth certificate is a forgery, and conspirators placed a false announcement of his birth in the local paper many, many years before he ran for president. Today, everybody except the congenitally deluded understands this myth was just an expression of the ignoratti's racial animus toward our nation's first African-American president.

A new story has just arisen, this time with regard to president-elect Donald Trump. It follows close on the heels of news of the Russian hacking of the presidential campaigns and Trump's involvement as a puppet or useful idiot of Vladimir Putin. It includes "perverted" sexual activities that Putin might use to blackmail the soon-to-be leader of the free world, with an episode of "golden showers" in particular. Some elements of this story lend it credibility: Trump has visited Russia; Trump campaign people had been involved in lobbying for Putin's desired outcome in Ukraine; and Trump has been filmed bragging about his sexual activities with numerous women to whom he was not married.

This story has not been verified. Conceivably, the whole thing may be a story made up by "some dude" sitting at a computer. A precedent for that is the alleged quote by George W. Bush regarding having to act within the bounds of the Constitution: "It's just a goddam piece of paper!" All citations of that quote linked to the same source (if any link was provided) and that source provided no evidence of its veracity.

But you know, Donald Trump continued to bring up the false birth certificate myth long after it was debunked. It would serve him right if for years people refer to him as "Pissident Trump" and giggle over a leak from the White House, and wonder if his next speech will be live streamed. Indeed, a golden age of comedy.

Telephone Sex

"Hello, Fox News? This is Donald."

Damn Furriners

Donald Trump tweeted that he would reverse President Obama's restoration of the original name to Mt. Denali, claiming that restoring an Alaskan name to an Alaskan mountain was a “great insult” to Ohio.

What War on Science?

Fewer  than one percent of peer-reviewed articles published from November 2012 to December 2013 reject human-caused global warming (one author out of 9,136).

Thirty percent of the United States Congress (both houses) do.

They are all Republicans.

Our country is in trouble when so many legislators refuse to believe in reality. The science of global warming is not the only science they reject.

Chart from jamespowell.org -- additional data available at that site.

Was Homo erectus Santa White?

I was wondering about Santa visiting the kiddies of Homo erectus families about a million years ago. Was Santa white way back then? The only way to solve this enigma is to ask a Republican!

Fox News has answered this question for us--Santa, a real entity, was(is) definitely white. Megyn Kelly says so, based on well, you know, something. She must be right, because renowned  paleoanthropologist Herr Professor Doktor Bill O'Reilly agrees.

But all of this speculation is moot, there's no such thing as extinct hominins; the majority of Republicans don't "believe" in evolution. That's right; Santa Claus is real, but evolution, climate change, and other things scientists talk about and work on are commie conspiracies to overthrow the American way of life.  As Representative Paul Broun (R-GA), who sits on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, put it,

All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and Big Bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell. And it's lies to try to keep me and all the folks who are taught that from understanding that they need a savior.

 

In Praise of Sen. Pat Toomey

Last month, I wrote that I was ashamed of my Senator for voting in favor of the United States defaulting on its obligations and shutting down the government. Today, I note that he did the right thing and was one of seven Republican senators voting for ENDA--a bill to stop workplace discrimination. Thank you, Senator Toomey.

Pat Toomey and Scott Perry--My Shameful Senator and Congressman

From Pat Toomey's official Senate Web Page:

Senator Pat Toomey is a leader on economic, financial services, and budget issues.

So he voted in favor of default, and a government shutdown that cost about $24B that achieved nothing. 

My tehadist congressman, Scott Perry, likewise voted for default and to continue the disruptive shutdown.

These men claim to be concerned with improving the economic well-being of America, yet they act in ways that achieve just the opposite, adopting policies that hurt recovery from the recession, and impede the efforts of those who need to improve their ability to care for their families. Thanks a pantload, guys.

GOP's Effort to "Save Taxpayer's Money" Cost $24B

Standard and Poor's estimates that the Republican shutdown of the government cost about $24 Billion dollars. And that doesn't begin to include the costs and hardship to those affected by the shutdown.

Senators Do Bad, Feel No Shame

Most Republican, and some Democratic, senators shamefully decided to vote against the wishes of about ninety percent of the American people, defeating* a measure that would only weakly address the horrific death toll caused by firearms by extending background checks. Those senators' shame was assuaged by the knowledge that their overlords, the National Retailers of Armaments, will reward their assault on the American people, as always, with riches beyond their dreams.

If only the people would remind their elected officials that although the NRA can give politicians seas of money, only the people can give them votes.

I expect that, in the wake of the explosions at the finish of the Boston Marathon, we will hear a spokesman for the NRA declare that "The only way to stop a bad man with a bomb, is a good man with a bomb." I do not expect the spokesman to admit that what stands between the weapons manufacturers and twenty murdered children, is the NRA.

*Clarification:  By "defeating," I of course mean "filibustered" so that there was no actual vote on the actual measure.

Happy Darwin Day!

Today's the day we celebrate the anniversary of one of science's most influential practitioners. We also celebrate today the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, one of America's most influential leaders. Whereas science, especially biology, has become ever more capable in the years since Origin of Species was published, the Party of Lincoln has become divided between the drooling insane and the merely idiotic.

One aspect of Republican foolishness that bears consideration on a day in which science is celebrated is the Republican denial of science. It may be true that some of this denial is merely a ruse to excuse practices known by science to be harmful to the health of individuals or to the planet but which provide huge profits to a small percentage of people. Nevertheless, many people, including some holding elected office, strongly disbelieve what has been demonstrated over the past years, whether that be evolution, climate change, geology, or various other subjects. For those die-hard disbelievers, there is truly a culture war in which, as famously put by Pastor Ray Mummert during the Dover (Pennsylvania) Creationism affair, "we've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture." 

Longer Than the War in Afghanistan

Time to put up the holiday decorations again! I'd like to offer a 21-gun salute to the brave soldiers in the trenches of the War on Christmas. They have been remarkably resilient in the aftermath of their crushing defeat at the polls November 6th. They have banished some of their generals but may be regrouping under others (old strategies wearing new stars).

The image of the Nativity would not be complete without a visit from Three Wise Guys, who came to remind the Republican base that the meek have inherited the White House, because they're moochers and takers.

But we have to leave it to determined War correspondent Jon Stewart to explain how enormous is the gulf between reality and the Christmas-Republican Alliance for Profit (CRAP).

Are You Smarter than a Texas Governor?

For Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), the answer is no. If we followed the rules of the television game show, Rubio would be obliged to acknowledge his ignorance publicly.

Steve Benen discussed Rubio's response to the question, "How old do you think the Earth is?" from an interview in GQ by Michael Hainey. Not only did Rubio fail to answer the question (he is, after all, a politician), but he also demonstrated that he has absolutely no understanding of the basics of science--its fundamental ideas, unifying principles, or methods. He is a politician...but he's also on the Senate Science committee. And that's scary.

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars reports that CNN's Soledad O'Brien interviewed Jeb Bush Jr., and she remarked that Rubio's response seemed a "multiple non-answer" that pandered both to scientists and creationists. Jeb Junior thought the question was strange (really?) and gave his own non-committal response, insisting that Rubio was definitely pro-science. Raise your hands, Republicans who think Creationism is a valid alternative to science!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Pema Levy and Evan McMorris-Santoro at TPM present a roundup of potential GOP presidential candidates and, yep, shades of lineups past, it looks like another group of science-illiterates ready to raise their hands. That post also notes that Marco Rubio has a more Creationist-friendly past than his most recent statement would suggest. 

STILL ANOTHER UPDATE: Paul Krugman disagrees with Rubio's contention that "the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow,"  asking 

If you’re going to ignore what geologists say if you don’t like its implications, what are the chances that you’ll take sensible advice on monetary and fiscal policy? After all, we’ve just seen how Republicans deal with research reports that undermine their faith in the magic of tax cuts: they try to suppress the reports.

Well, technically, it doesn't matter to economic growth whether the Earth is 4.1 billion years old or 4.5 billion years old; but it does matter if economic policymakers believe facts and evidence matter or if the universe is governed by unknowable magic fitted to preconceived beliefs.

Bipartisan Cooperation

In Wednesday's presidential debate, Mitt Romney boasted he was able to pass ObamaRomneycare in Massachusetts by coming to bipartisan agreement with Democrats in the State legislature. President Obama, Romney claimed, "pushed through" his agenda without consideration of Republican views.

Romney failed to note that in Massachusetts, the leader of the Democrats in the legislature did not declare that party's Number One Priority to be committing to ensuring Romney would not be re-elected. Not like at the Federal level, where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed that his party's Number One Priority would not be job creation, nor improvement of economic conditions, nor national defense, but making sure Obama would be a one-term president. 

Why Science Matters

It is important that American citizens have at least some background in science because some moronic politicians will say the most foolish things and expect people to believe them. People ought to be able to have some sense of what the scientific community thinks about such things and, if they are not sure of the actual science, they should at least have an idea where the answers can be found.

Case in point: wingnut politician Todd Akin, Missouri Congressman now running for the U.S. Senate, is virulently anti-abortion. Now, some people think that perhaps an exception should be made in the case of rape; not so Mr. Akin. According to Mr. Akin, there is no need--after all, "in cases of legitimate rape" the "female body has a way of shutting that down."

One can only hope that the people of Missouri are not all as mind-numbingly ignorant as the twit that would like to represent them in the U.S. Senate.


Sorry, I cannot recall the source of the illustration, which is several years old.

This Time, It's Hats

So the wingnut fauxtrage du jour is the uniform (especially the berets) for American athletes competing in the Olympics that start later this month. Fox and Friends hosts Gretchen Carlson asked, "Is this the new American trend now? Are we going to be seeing berets? And you have to pronounce it that way too, because that's the French way," and Steve Doocy suggested cowboy hats or going topless.

Fox News entertainer Lou Dobbs was more critical, noting that President Hugo Chavez also wears a beret! How French of him! 

I guess they would like to see our athletes wear super he-man American headgear, like one of their heroes:

House GOP About to Begin Job Creation Effort...

...But something else came up. Again. Yep, when the House comes back from shooting off their fireworks after the Fourth of July weekend, they would have been all set to pass legislation that would create jobs. But then there was that devastating blow dealt by Chief Justice John Roberts who joined with the rational branch of the Supreme Court in upholding the Affordable Care Act. They were all prepared to set aside discussions of icky lady parts so they could concentrate on job creation, which the Speaker of the House had said was a high priority. But now instead, they will do their best to prevent millions of people from having health care coverage, trying to prohibit the IRS from receiving transfers of funds from the Department of Health and Human Services that would help implement the ACA. 

No doubt Republican House members will (really, this time) get back on track creating jobs as soon as their bill passes the Senate and is signed by President Obama. Unless there are more icky lady parts to discuss.

Unclear on the Concept--Richard Mourdock

Politics is the art of coming to agreement in order to manage the affairs of groups of people. Since some people have different ideas about the best course of action or the best policies, successful politics requires compromise. Richard Mourdock, who defeated long-time Indiana conservative Richard Lugar in his bid for reelection to the Senate, does not understand this. In an interview with MSNBC's Chuck Todd (see here or here), Mourdock was asked about bipartisanship, something that Lugar warned was severely lacking and the lack would lead to even worse legislative gridlock than currently prevails.

Mourdock responded: 

Well, what I've said is that I certainly think bipartisanship ought to consist of Democrats coming to the Republicans point of view.

Is that really what you want to teach young Hoosiers in history class, Mr. Mourdock?

Bipartisanship means they have to come our way, and if we're successful in getting the numbers, we'll work towards that.

No, that's called "bullying."

Even though there were many issues on which I disagreed with Senator Lugar's position, I thought he was well respected. Clearly, Mourdock will not enjoy such respect, if elected. And there is hope that what such a fool will share may be the embarassing loss experienced by other extremists who sought to replace their party's strong contenders for the Senate in 2010--wackaloons Sharon Angle (Utah) and Christine (I-Am-Not-A-Witch) O'Donnell (Delaware).

Illustration is "Congress Voting Independence" begun by Robert Edge Pine in 1784 and completed by Edward Savage ca. 1801.

God's Santa Claus

Daily Kos has a regular feature, "This Week in the War on Women." Yesterday's post, Public hangings, rape is a gift from God, and cream of fetus soup" detailed a few examples of how the Republican party has not been supportive of women's rights (to say the least).

"Public hangings" refers to North Carolina State Assemblyman Larry Pitman's call for public hangings of (among others) abortion providers. I guess they don't have enough stones in that state for proper executions. "Cream of fetus soup" satirizes Oklahoma State Senator Ralph Shortey's bill to ban the use of aborted human fetuses in food. He seems to be confused about food and non-food.

Okay, you might think these are examples of provincial hillbillies whose influence cannot extend past their local hilltop. The last item, however, comes from a candidate in a major political party's race for nomination for President of the United States and Leader of the Free World. Compulsive breeder Rick "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Googled" Santorum has taken the extreme anti-choice position that even pregnancies resulting from rape should not be terminated. In an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN that aired January 20, Santorum was asked  what he would do if one of his daughters were to come to him, telling him she had been raped and was pregnant, and begging to be allowed to have an abortion. He responded that he would not consent to his daughter getting an abortion, and said that the offspring of rapists are gifts from God.

Which leads us to the illustration above, which comes from "Santa Claus: Bad Role Model?" posted by Luis Prada, in which he cites research by Australian public-health expert Nathan Grills which suggests Mr. Claus' reckless and unhealthy lifestyle may be a bad influence on young minds. Prada adds concerns about Santa's suspicious spying and maintenance of lists of those whom he deems "naughty" or "nice." Rick Santorum reveals to us that a serial rapist, i.e., one who brings many gifts from God, must indeed by God's own Santa Claus.
UPDATE:  Santorum has been joined in his bizarre view by Indiana US Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who declared that a pregnancy that results from rape "is something that God intended to happen."

More PA Gov: This'll Help Keep You Poor!

Now, if you live in Pennsylvania and you need food stamps (but may not possess any assets above $2,000; see previous post), Governor Tom Corbett has figured another way to keep you in poverty--take away Medicaid benefits for poor children. As in the case of the food stamp restriction, this move was rationalized by claiming it would cut waste and fraud. And, of course, costs.
(noted at Crooks and Liars.)

I guess the Republican strategy is for states to keep children in poverty, and for the Federal government to pauperize older people.   

PA Gov to Poor: Stay Poor!

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett informed the U.S. Department of Agriculture (which oversees the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, aka Food Stamps) last December 28 that his administration will resurrect the limitation on assests the recipients may possess. Federal guidelines permit states to apply an asset limitation as long as it is not less than $2,000, a figure set in 1980. The Rendell administration dropped the limitation in 2008 because it was harmful to those who needed assistance.

What this zombie requirement does is make it much more difficult for someone to get out of poverty--and therefore more dependent on programs such as SNAP. The reason given for restarting the asset test is to see that "people with resources are not taking advantage of the food-stamp program," according to Department of Public Welfare spokesperson Anne Bale.

Bale told the Philadelphia Inquirer that approximately 2 percent of Pennsylvania's 1.8 million Food Stamp recipients would be affected by the test. Federal Statistics estimate the rate of Food Stamp fraud in Pennsylvania is 0.1 percent, among the lowest in the nation. Do the math: 1,800,000 x 0.02 x 0.001 = (State spends a whole lot of money hoping to prevent a couple dozen cases of fraud).

That's right--Pennsylvania will probably spend a lot more than it can hope to recapture. And that doesn't include the economic impact to food merchants who will also lose.

Photo "Migrant Agricultural Worker's Family," by Dorothea Lange, 1936 (Library of Congress