The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Last night, I came across yet another lovely political post on Facebook. It was a picture of a prison, with the following written underneath it: "PRISONS - Everyone is treated equally - Free food - Free medical / healthcare - Only the police and guards have guns LIBERAL PARADISE" This post is completely ludicrous. Ask any liberal what their idea of paradise is and I can guarantee you they won't respond with, "Prison." First off, the post makes it appear as if treating everyone equally is a bad thing. Eh, since when? So treating people as equals, providing people with equal rights and opportunities outside of prison is identical to treating people like identical numbers, with minimal rights and opportunities inside a prison? I'm sorry, but that comparison is laughable, it's so awful. Next we have free food and medical care. Yes, prison food is known as being of the highest quality. Whenever I get asked by family where I'd like to go eat...

The Florida Senate recently passed the "Timely Justice Act," which attempts to speed up the execution process on Death Row inmates, even at the risk of bypassing DNA results that could showcase the inmate's innocence. Republican Governor Rick Scott is expected to sign the bill into law. Arthenia Joyner, a Democratic Tampa attorney who voted against this bill, said, "Is swift justice fair justice? We have seen cases where, years later, convicted people were exonerated." Senator Maria Sachs, another Democratic attorney, echoed Ms. Joyner's sentiments, saying, "I don't see the reason for swiftness, especially with DNA evidence that can exonerate." What was Republican Senator Rob Bradley's response to such statements? I'll allow him to tell you himself. Bradley countered these before-mentioned arguments by saying, "This is not about guilt or innocence, it's about timely justice." That has to be one of the dumbest state...

The word conservative is defined as "disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones and to limit change." Why then is it that a new study shows self-described conservatives are turned off by the thought of helping conserve energy and the environment? The study, conducted by Dena M. Gromet, Howard Kunreuther, and Richard P. Larrick of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , published the following abstract: "This research demonstrates how promoting the environment can negatively affect adoption of energy efficiency in the United States because of the political polarization surrounding environmental issues. Study 1 demonstrated that more politically conservative individuals were less in favor of investment in energy-efficient technology than were those who were more politically liberal. This finding was driven primarily by the lessened psychological value that more con...

I've had to shake my head and give the look of a man who has been just told he's pregnant (yes, that confused) whenever I've read about a state making it legal for people to carry firearms into bars. Alcohol lowers our inhibitions, slows our reaction time, leaves us more apt to saying and doing things we wouldn't normally, and even prompts some to become angry and violent. Being in the possession of a gun, let alone handling one isn't the wisest of moves for a person who has been drinking. Sadly, this very point was proven just recently, as after drinking vodka and lemonade for several hours this past Saturday, Michelle Wanko of Pennsylvania accidentally shot and killed her husband Michael when he was giving her a gun lesson. Obviously this couple wasn't thinking properly during this time and as much of a gun control proponent as I am, I have a hard time believing any kind of legislation could have prevented this tragedy. However, I'd like to believe mos...

Being from Omaha, Nebraska, I found this next bit of news to be pretty funny. Just the other day, the New York Jets announced that they would be releasing back-up quarterback Tim Tebow. Who's the first team to show a public interest in the partial quarterback? The Omaha Beef of the Arena Football League! Current Beef quarterback, James McNear, didn't seem phased at all by the announcement, saying, "I think Tim can learn a lot from me." You read that correctly - an Arena football quarterback by the name of James McNear (who?) said that Tim Tebow could learn a lot from him. Perhaps McNear is correct, since he's competing 70% of his passes, with 21 touchdowns, compared to only 2 interceptions. Tebow, on the other hand, has completed right around 48% of his passes through his NFL career to this point. So, if Tebow likely won't be starting for the Beef, what's in it for him? As the article states, "...and the Nebraska indoor football team will even...

Are you still having trouble persuading someone that gun control legislation, especially expanded background checks, isn't such a bad thing after all? Well, if so, hopefully this blog will help. Adam Yahiye Gadahn is an al Qaeda translator and spokesperson, who was born in the United States. He left the U.S. for Pakistan in 1998 and has been reported by the FBI as a member of al Qaeda since 2004. On June 2nd of 2011, Gadahn released a video, which urged followers to attack targets inside the U.S., and added the following: "America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms. You can go down to a gun show at a local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle without a background check and most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?" When a member of the terrorist group al Qaeda urges fellow terrorists to take full advantage of America's weak gun laws and specifically cites the backgro...

TMZ did its best Onion impression today when the site posted an article with the following headline - "ANNE HATHAWAY Prefers the Company of Strangers to Paparazzi." It only gets better from there, or worse depending on your perspective. Here is the actual content (if we can call it such) of this very article: "Anne Hathaway's parents didn't raise her right -- because she hopped into the car of a TOTAL STRANGER ... rather than have to talk to one of our photogs. The 'Bride Wars' star had just landed at LAX and rushed right into the first waiting SUV she could find, but it wasn't her ride. Rather than get out of the car, she politely asked the driver if she could stay until her car came ... and he said yes! Anne's ride eventually showed and she quickly jumped out of the wrong car and into the right one. Seems like a risky move just to avoid a TMZ camera guy. What did we ever do to her?" In a related poll I just made up, 94% of peopl...

Fox News commentator and phone sex operator Bill O'Reilly seems to believe that Fox News is still the lone counter to the evil liberal media machine. Following the White House Correspondents' Dinner, O'Reilly made the following remarks: "The reason that's happening is that we stand alone here in FNC in bringing skepticism to the president. We tell the folks when he does something right - I do at least - and then when he does something wrong, we say that. But you're not gonna get that on the other networks. There's gotta be critical mass. It's gotta be all over the place for those people to weigh in and you know what I'm talking about." MSNBC is known for their liberal leanings, however does have a show - Morning Joe - which features former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough as one of its two anchors. It also has a show called The Cycle which features conservative pundit S.E. Cupp as one of the four hosts. Does O'Reilly not think ...

Remember Obamacare? The town hall uproars? The conspiracies? The Supreme Court decision? If you answered no, apparently you're not alone. The Kaiser Family Foundation just released a poll showing that 42% of the American public don't know Obamacare is still law. That's right, less than 3 in 5 Americans know the bill was upheld by the Supreme Court and is still the law of the land. Here's a breakdown of the poll: - 59% know Obamacare is still the law of the land - 12% think it has been repealed by Congress - 7% think it has been overturned by the Supreme Court - 23% don't know I wonder what percentage of the population would have selected the most recent American Idol or Bachelor winner correctly. In even thinking there's a chance the percentage may be higher than that which correctly said Obamacare is still the law of the land, I may need to take some Advil. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/30/poll-42-percent-of-americans-u...

While most of the reactions have been very positive following the news that NBA player Jason Collins is gay, a minority of less-than-enthused individuals have come forward since the news broke. ESPN basketball analyst Chris Broussard said the following on an edition of Outside the Lines : "I'm a Christian. I don't agree with homosexuality. I think it's a sin, as I think all sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is." He added: "If you're openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says 'you know them by their fruits,' it says that that's a sin. And if you're openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality - whatever it may be, I believe that's walking in open rebellion to God and Jesus Christ, so I would not characterize that person as a Christian." I then read a Facebook status which said, " For those of you, like me, hoping that someday ESPN's main focus is s...

When I awoke this morning, I thought to myself, "Magicians and pastors have quite a bit in common." I must have had a very strange, yet thought-provoking dream, so profound that I can't remember it. The more I thought about this, the more I laughed. While magicians are masters of illusion and deception, at least they have something to show for it at the end. Can you imagine if a pastor treated his sermon like a magician? Pastor Whyuhere: "Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready for the ultimate magic trick? I can guarantee that you will have never seen anything like this! Get ready!!! In my hands, I hold a book, and not just any book - The Bible...book. Within this book, it guarantees that regardless of how many times you mess up while here, so long as you ask Jesus for forgiveness and believe he's the son of God and was perfect before sacrificing himself for our sins, you will... Are you ready? Who here believes in Jesus? Who here wants to know what will happen ...

On April 14th's episode of This Week with George Stephanopoulos , Republican Virginia Representative Bob Goodlatte said something which prompted me to replay it, look up the quote, read the transcript, and make certain I hadn't just developed a mild case of hearing impairment or Alzheimer's. When discussing gun control, Goodlatte said, and I quote, "I'm all for the First Amendment conversation, but not at the expense of the Second Amendment." Let me get this straight, Representative Goodlatte fully supports our free speech rights, with the exception being when it comes to the Second Amendment? Yeah, that makes sense. While Goodlatte is at it, he might as well say the following: - "I'm all for freedom of religion, so long as you're not a Muslim." - "I have always been honest with the American people, except for in a few political ads." - "I will always be faithful to my wife, unless her sister is in town." - ...

Why is it when someone ends a statement with "no offense" or "no disrespect," it's usually following words that were offensive or disrespectful? Does the inclusion of those two words at the end of the comment somehow negate the offensive or disrespectful words which preceded them? I don't think so... Here are a few exaggerated examples of what I'm talking about: - "Your wife is uglier than Medusa on a bad day! ...no disrespect..." - "Your boyfriend is such a lying sack of s**t! ...no offense..." - "Your husband is fatter than a sumo wrestler named Jumbo Shrimp! ...no disrespect..." - "Your sister is a whore! ...no offense..." - "I've seen bums in caskets work harder than you! ...no disrespect..." - "That baby of yours is more annoying than Fran Drescher's voice as her nails are going against a chalkboard! ...no offense..." No, none taken at all...

I find many dating site commercials to be humorous, but none more so than those dedicated to the site ChristianMingle.com . The site's tagline is, "Find God's match for you." Whenever I hear or read this tagline, I immediately have to laugh. Even though I don't believe in it personally, let's assume for a second that there is such a thing as predestination. Do the creators of this site truly believe that the match God has found for us wasn't in a church, at school, at work, at Bible study, but on a dating website called ChristianMingle.com ? Does this mean if one doesn't meet their match on this site, he or she is going against God's wishes? That the match they found isn't God's match? Yes, I can really imagine the following conversation occurring during the time The Bible was written: God: "It's so nice to control everything. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it. Am I right, or am I right?" Aid: ...

I may be way off with these numbers, but it's my approximation that at least 75% of individuals whom are involved in a serious relationship feel it's perfectly acceptable to "check out" members of the opposite sex they're not involved with. Meanwhile, approximately 25% either don't feel this is acceptable or aren't sure about the matter. I hadn't thought about this matter for a while, but since I've been dating a woman for about 8 months, the topic has been pondered about some. When reading or hearing others discuss this very issue, I often times hear comments similar to the following: "It's human nature to look." "There's nothing wrong with checking others out. I'm sure he/she does it too!" "It's fine to do it. Just don't tell your boyfriend/girlfriend about it or do it in front of them!" "It's natural to find people attractive." When observing the array of comments, I i...

NBA basketball player Jason Collins has announced via a story in Sports Illustrated that he's gay, making him the first active player in a major American team sport to do this. In the story, Collins wrote the following: "I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, 'I'm different.' If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand." To this point, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. NBA commissioner David Stern made the following comments in response to the news: "As Adam Silver and I said to Jason, we have known the Collins family since Jason and Jarron joined the NBA in 2001 and they have been exemplary members of the NBA family. Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout hi...

Juliet Eilperin and Zachary A. Goldfarb of The Washington Post just wrote an article which has me simultaneously chuckling and scratching my head. The title of the article is, "After string of setbacks, more charm may be the last, best option for Obama." In the article, the following is written: "After more than four years in the White House and weeks into his latest effort to woo lawmakers, Obama still isn't very good at using his personal charm to achieve political success. Yet, it may be one of the few strategies the president has left if he hopes to accomplish his remaining second-term priorities, including a sweeping budget deal and a comprehensive immigration bill." Charm? Really? President Obama's best hope at accomplishing his second-term goals is to charm Congress? Okay... So, how is he to do this exactly? How does Obama "charm" Congress? According to one website, the following are all examples of how to charm a person. I will be ...

After drafting West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith, the New York Jets felt there really was no point in holding onto back-up quarterback Tim Tebow and let him go today, after just one season with the team. In his much publicized career with the Jets, Tebow finished it having completed 6 of 8 passes for 39 yards. He also ran the ball 32 times for 102 yards. After hearing the news, many Jets players sounded disappointed, saying things such as: "Da*n! The bench is going to be colder now!" "Man... Now when I throw a bad pass, I can't say, 'Hey coach, at least I can throw it better than Tebow!'" "Aw... Who am I going to go clubbing with now?" Rumor has it that Tebow will join ESPN and be called upon as a quarterback analyst, where the man who completed just 47.9% of his passes throughout his NFL career will, while watching tape, almost constantly say, "Man, I wish I could throw the  ball like that!" http://espn.go.com/n...

It's unknown how well head coach Chip Kelly's offense will transfer from the college game to the NFL. However, I have to say I like what he and management have done with the team in the off-season as far as free agent acquisitions and draft picks go. The Eagles are one of the most highly graded teams as far as their draft picks went over the weekend. NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. gave the Eagles a B+ grade - a B for needs and an A for value. As far as the NFC East is concerned, Kiper graded the Eagles as the best in all three categories. The Giants, Cowboys, and Redskins all came away with C+ grades overall and anything from B to C- grades in terms of needs and value. The following players were drafted by Philadelphia over the weekend: Round 1, Pick 4: Lane Johnson (OT/Oklahoma) Round 2, Pick 35: Zach Ertz (TE/Stanford) Round 3, Pick 67: Bennie Logan (DT/LSU) Round 4, Pick 98: Matt Barkley (QB/USC) Round 5, Pick 136: Earl Wolff (S/North Carolina State) Round 7,...

So, I heard a funny comment at a bar this past weekend. The individual said something along the lines of, "I'm not a racist, but I don't like Asian people that much..." I'm sure the look on my face was pretty priceless when hearing this. I wanted to sarcastically respond with, "I'm not a sexist, but I don't really care for women." Then again, with all the gay rumors floating around about me, perhaps that wouldn't have been such a wise decision...

It's amazing how many political photos and signs are getting spread via the social networking site Facebook. I just saw yet another this morning which showcased President Obama in a cartoon like fashion in a split-screen. On the left side, with the words "gun control" shown at the bottom of the picture, the president says, "If there's a step we can take to save even one child, we should take that step." On the right side, with the words "planned parenthood" displayed at the bottom, Obama says, "Never mind." This comparison is way off base on a number of levels. I'll, however, just focus on one. Far-right politicians and religious leaders seem convinced that Planned Parenthood is nothing more than an abortion clinic - that almost all of its services are dedicated to abortion. That's not even close to being true. As showcased by fact-checking site Factcheck.org , abortions represent only 3% of Planned Parenthood's total serv...

I read the following headline at ESPN.com and had to chuckle - "RG III does jumping jacks for fans." Yes, exciting, isn't it? The article continued the excitement by starting with this - "Robert Griffin III did a few jumping jacks, jogged in place and bounced up and down on the stage." Granted, the Washington Redskins quarterback is coming off a serious knee injury, but still, must we write a headline that he did some jumping jacks? If the trend continues, expect to see the following headlines over the next four months leading up to the season: - "RG III does five push-ups" - "RG III plays Wii bowling" - "RG III walks to the bathroom in the middle of the night" - "RG III bends his legs" - "RG III does stuff" http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9220646/robert-griffin-iii-does-jumping-jacks-washington-redskins-fans

I hate to chuckle at violence of any kind, but couldn't help myself with the following story. Supposedly Oscar-nominated actor Edward Norton got annoyed with a member of the paparazzi (go figure, right?) and well, I'll let Shawn Lealos of The Examiner tell you: "According to the NYPD, the member of the paparazzi was attempting to shoot video of Norton on Tuesday with his camera phone when the actor aggressively pushed the man's hand away, smacking the phone away as well. The person then went to get medical treatment, complaining that his hand was in pain after the Norton attack." Yes, one of the two lead stars in the film Fight Club "attacked" a man by pushing his hand and phone away from him leading to the life-altering injury known as hand pain. Rumor has it this member of the paparazzi will star alongside Norton in the sequel to Fight Club , which is to be called, Push Club: Fight Club for Pus*ies . http://www.examiner.com/article/edward-norto...

While I love statistics about as much as anyone this side of Nate Silver, there are some stats at which I have to roll my eyes, like this next one. The Philadelphia Eagles drafted USC quarterback Matt Barkley in the 4th round of the NFL Draft. Barkley will join the likes of Michael Vick, Nick Foles, and Dennis Dixon at the quarterback position. Thanks to "ESPN Stats and Information," the following stat was just released: "NFL - Vick and Foles Fumble, Barkley Doesn't Only 2 quarterbacks in the NFL had more fumbles than games played in 2012: Michael Vick (11 fum, 10 games) and Nick Foles (8 fum, 7 games). Matt Barkley had 10 fumbles in 47 games at USC -- that's the fewest fumbles by any FBS QB who played 47+ games from 2009-12." First off, both Vick and Foles played behind a battered offensive line all year, which didn't help their cause. Also, while Vick has been pretty notorious for fumbling the football throughout his NFL career, Foles was just a ...

I've recently written and updated a blog with regard to the U.S.'s ridiculous amount of military spending, which was estimated to be greater than the next 14 biggest spending countries combined as of 2010. Coincidentally enough, I just read an article which showcases that we as a nation spend way too much on defense. As the article cites, there is bipartisan support behind spending $436 million on the Army's Abrams tanks.  What are the reactions of senior Army officials? Basically, "Thanks, but no thanks." General Ray Odierno, the Army's chief of staff, said the following in an interview on the matter with the Associated Press - "If we had our choice, we would use that money in a different way." Sean Kennedy, director of research for the nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste, said, "When an institution as risk averse as the Defense Department says they have enough tanks, we can probably believe them." Precisely... If the ...

No t long ago, I posted a blog entitled, " I smell bacon - no, it’s not the cops. The pig I smell is Pastor Mark Driscoll ." In addition to posting it on this site, I posted it on Tumblr as well , where i t received a lovely co mment - one to which I've already countered . I'm now awaiting the comm enter 's next mov e. Her e's a brea kdown of the deba te. First off, here's the blog I posted: It’s people like evangelical leader Mark Driscoll who pushed me away from the Christianity and honestly, religion altogether. Driscoll is the pastor of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, who gave a sermon recently which has a few people talking. At this sermon, Driscoll said: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be their own husbands in everything....

Former George W. Bush campaign strategist Karl Rove - known to many as "Bush's brain" - had a few very flattering words to say about the former president when he spoke with ABC News yesterday, when he said this: "The greats, you can't touch: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, FDR. But yeah, I'd put him (Dubya) up there." Okay, I'm waiting for the punchline... Still waiting... Oh, he's serious? Wow... I really don't know how to respond to that. Well, on that note, I'm guessing Mr. Rove holds the following opinions as well: One of the best movies of all-time: Waterboy One of the best rock bands of all-time: Nickelback One of the best baseball teams of all-time: The Chicago Cubs One of the best books of all-time: My Pet Goat One of the best first date ideas of all-time: A strip club named "Hos Who Blow" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/26/karl-rove-bush-presidency_n_3162322.html

It's people like evangelical leader Mark Driscoll who pushed me away from the Christianity and honestly, religion altogether. Driscoll is the pastor of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, who gave a sermon recently which has a few people talking. At this sermon, Driscoll said: "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be their own husbands in everything." He wasn't done there. Driscoll added this: "If the wife disrespects the husband in front of his coworkers, will they respect the husband? No. Women who publicly disrespect their husbands, they encourage others to disrespect their husbands. And this doesn't mean you don't disagree with your husband but you do so respectfully, privately." The portion of the sermon which has garnered the most att...

I just saw the following post on Facebook and felt prompted to write about it: "The Assault Fork Responsible for Thousands of People Dying Every Year of Obesity And Heart Disease (picture of a fork) Ban It Before More Lives Are Lost" This post is obviously trying to be clever by comparing forks and their alleged link to obesity and heart disease (leading to death) to guns and their link to gun violence (leading to death). These comparisons are getting more and more ridiculous. So we're now comparing a fork, which provides us food, and leads to obesity and heart disease (and death) to a gun, which provides us bullets, and leads to death. First off, a lot of the fattier foods which lead to obesity and heart disease are typically eaten with our hands. I don't know too many people whom eat Big Macs or Whoppers with forks, who eat french fries, onion rings, potato chips, ribs, pizza, or buffalo wings with forks. How about drinking soda pop? The last time I ...

Main character: Buster Magnum, who just got out of jail for committing gun- and meth-related crimes Setting: Pharmacy Buster Magnum: "Hey, I'd like to get some Sudafed please." Pharmacist Cindy Chu: "I'll need to see some ID." Magnum: "ID? I don't have any ID. I just got out of jail and have really bad, um, allergies." Chu: "I'm sorry, sir, but I won't be able to provide you with any Sudafed until you show me some ID." Setting: Job interview to become a greeter at Wal-Mart Interviewer Chip Filet: "Good afternoon, Mr. Magnum. So, tell me, what interested you in this position?" Magnum: "I just got out of jail. I need a job. I thought even with my history, I could get this job." Filet: "I see... So, if I may ask, what were you in jail for?" Magnum: "I had a meth lab in my grandma's garage. I did a lot of that stuff, and sold it too. When I was high on it one time, I just...

It seems pretty common to hear people say, "X celebrity is really weird." Tom Cruise is the first name that comes to mind. Even I'll admit the guy seems a little out there. However, these people are in the spotlight quite a bit and what garners more headlines and stories than strange incidents? As much as any of us would like to deny it, I have a feeling if we were in the spotlight as much as these celebrities, there would be at least one story or video clip which would get a few people muttering to themselves, "Wow, (s)he's weird, isn't (s)he?" Yup. Just like there's a link between smoking and cancer, between fast food and obesity, there appears to be a solid link between time spent in front of a camera and being perceived as weird. The more time one spends in front of the camera, the weirder he or she will appear to most.

Perhaps this is a very common defense mechanism, but I'll often times see or hear conservatives face criticism for their stance on a specific issue by going what I call the general positive spin (GPS) route. Let me give you an example. When confronted with their stance on universal healthcare and wanting to repeal Obamacare, I've heard conservatives say, "I believe in personal responsibility. I guess that makes me a right-wing extremist!" See what was done there? They took the claims that they lacked empathy and understanding, that they didn't care about other people's well-being, about Obamacare as a specific piece of legislation, by countering that with claiming they believe in personal responsibility, before attempting to place the other side to shame by exaggerating their general-positive-spin point and saying, "I guess that makes me a right-wing extremist!" This kind of strategy is clever on one hand, yet ridiculous on the other. It's ...

I talked about this some last week, mainly regarding the TV show Psych , but have to say that in an even broader sense, I've never been one to care much for sitcom romances. I know that probably makes me a "communist" in some people's eyes, but for some strange reason, I watch sitcoms for one reason and one reason only - laughter. If I wanted to watch romance, I'd tune into a drama, a soap opera, or a local bar by the name of Gettin' Lucky Tonight . The tricky part about integrating a heavy-duty romance into a sitcom is that romances take a great deal of time to develop on screen and sitcoms only run for between 20 and 25 minutes (excluding commercials) per episode. If a romance is to be integrated, the writers and actors want to provide a somewhat believable time-table for things to progress between the two actors and like I said, this takes time. Unfortunately, this process typically dominates the show until the couple appears to be believably content and ...

Republican Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, co-sponsor of the recent failed expanded background check bill with Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, placed blame on President Obama and his administration for the disappointing outcome of the bill, saying: "I would suggest the administration brought this on themselves. I think the president ran his re-election campaign in a divisive way. He divided Americans. He was using resentment of some Americans toward others to generate support for himself. That was very divisive, that has consequences, that lingers. I understand why people have some apprehension about this administration. I don't agree with the conclusion as it applies to my [background checks] amendment, but I understand where the emotion comes from." Toomey is right. The president has divided this country, especially with regard to background checks. According to the latest poll on the issue, the country is split right in half, with 91% supporting the ...

Probably about a month ago, I posted a blog about a silly debate my girlfriend and I have been having, similar to the one my parents have been having for years. It deals with age. Since she is approximately 11 months older than I am (my girlfriend, not my mom), I have been a rebel and said that she is 11 months older than I am. I know, I'm crazy like that. However, for that one month of every year where the same number (in years) is attached to our names, she lays claim that we're the same age - that there is no difference between us age wise. This is very reminiscent of my parents. My father is approximately 2 years and 9 months older than my mother, so when her birthday rolls around, he says, "We're only two years apart now," before she counters with, "Your birthday is in three months. We're closer to three years apart than two years." Yes, this is all silly, fun, and games, but I've thought of a new way to potentially get my girlfriend to cave...

While I'm not a fan of hyperbole, I think Republican Tennessee State Senator Stacey Campfield may very well be the stupidest politician in the country. The guy seems to play a weekly game with himself where he attempts to one-up his previous most ridiculous comment with one that reaches new heights of ridiculous even by his lofty standards. During the 2012 Republican National Convention, Campfield responded to Hurricane Isaac by writing the following in his blog - "All I can say is if this is a hurricane then East Tennessee has one about every other week. Seriously, It's not that bad. Some minor wind and intermittent light to medium rain. Nothing bad at all yet." Yes, close to a million people losing power with between $500 million and $1.5 billion in damage sounds just like an "intermittent light to medium rain" storm in East Tennessee. Next thing we know, Campfield will respond to a devastating earthquake in California by saying, "Every single d...

Former President George W. Bush is back in the news and for something that may surprise many. Due to his typically horrendous speeches which left English professors all across the country reaching for Advil, whiskey, a shotgun, and a country song, many wondered if he had difficulty reading off note-cards and teleprompters, or if he could read at all. Well, ladies and gentlemen, not only can the 43rd president of the United States read, he now has a library built in his name! That's right! The George W. Bush Presidential Library will soon be on full display for us to all see and perhaps convince us that Dubya wasn't such a bad president after all. Based on what I've read, I think my favorite feature of this library is what's being called the "Decision Points Theater." This is an interactive theater which allows visitors to become hindsight deciders, much like Bush was under then President Dick Cheney. The visitors are presented some information relating to ...