4.27.2011

Best protest sign ever

Spotted at the Power Shift march in Washington DC a couple weekends ago:

4.08.2011

What a joke

This has got to be my favorite piece of political commentary so far this year:
One of the many reasons why it's amazing that Haley Barbour is supposed to be taken semi-seriously as a presidential candidate is that he's basically the governor of a failed state. (Among the other reasons are his appearance, voice and career history.)
Supplied by Alex Pareene, writing for Salon.

All jokes aside, though... Oh right, we're talking about Haley Barbour. You can't really put all jokes aside when talking about Haley Barbour because that dude IS a joke.

Seriously, Mississippi is the poorest state in the US, has the highest poverty rate, and has the lowest quality of life. The state also has a horrendous child welfare system. According to Mother Jones:
The child-welfare system was so broken, advocates said, that it all but ceased to exist. Barbour and the appointees overseeing the child-welfare system, the suit alleged, "knowingly allowed [Mississippi's] system to collapse, leaving Mississippi's most vulnerable children defenseless."
So it was hard not to appreciate the irony when Barbour recently bragged: "Americans United for Life, I am proud to say, named Mississippi the safest state in America for an unborn child."

Hahahaha. What a dick.

Once they're out of the womb, Barbour could give a shit less about the children of MIssissippi. Why? Because then they are no longer useful to his culture warrior approach to politics. No solutions, no vision, no leadership — just exploitation of cultural wedge issues like abortion. Why actually govern when you can just play off of people's basest fears and frustrations to get elected? That's how Barbour clings to power, and that's how the entire Republican Party clings to power, as well. They're all a big fucking joke. Too bad the joke is on every single one of us who live in America.