The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

When debating, especially with far-right Republicans, I tend to resort to numbers, (consistent) studies, fact-checkers, and yes, even logic. I don't form an opinion simply based on things I heard from my parents growing up, what friends of mine believe, or what partisan sources constantly spout at me. In my view, my opinion is nothing without solid evidence to support it, and it's through a great deal of reading and research (and experience) I've come to form the opinions I have today. But, while I appreciate when someone on the polar opposite side of the political spectrum approaches me with numbers, appearing to have done some research themselves, just because a person uses numbers to support an argument doesn't mean those numbers are valid. Take Maryland Congressman Andy Harris, for instance. The Republican congressman recently attempted to block the Washington, D.C. marijuana decriminalization law by making some rather preposterous claims, saying African-American ...

Now out of office, former Florida Congressman Allen West is at it again, making it clearly known to everyone in the world that two-and-a-half years after his failed reelection bid, he's as crazy as ever. The former congressman, who loves conspiracies more than dogs love sniffing butts, recently wrote about the following Walmart experience on his blog: "There was a young man doing the checkout and another Walmart employee came over and put up a sign, 'No alcohol products in this lane.' So being the inquisitive fella I am, I used my additional set of eyes - glasses - to see the young checkout man's name. Let me just say it was NOT 'Steve.' I pointed the sign out to [my daughter] Aubrey and her response was a simple question, how is it that this Muslim employee could refuse service to customers based on his religious beliefs, but Christians are being forced to participate in specific events contrary to their religious beliefs?" Not long after West...

These are sad times when it comes to the Republican Party and science. It's reached the point where former South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis just received an award for being the "2015 recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for political courage." What was the award for exactly? Allow John F. Kennedy's grandson, Jack Schlossberg, to tell you: "Former U.S. Congressman Bob Inglis was named the 2015 recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for the political courage he demonstrated when he reversed his previous position on climate change, knowing that by acknowledging the scientific reality of atmospheric warming and calling on the United States to meaningfully address the issue, he was jeopardizing his political career..." Yes, a Republican just won a political courage award for finally accepting the reality of climate change. Granted, I give the guy credit for finally accepting reality, but do I think a person should ...

The Daily Show 's "Moment of Zen" cracked me up last night. The show's nightly final segment featured Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert (Republican), who, when speaking about illegal immigration said this: "Come some night with me and sit out at the border, one, two, three in the morning - dogs, tarantulas, scorpions, rattlesnakes..." For some reason, when hearing Gohmert utter this line, I immediately thought of a strange personal ad: "If interested, I'd love for you to join me on a long romantic walk on the beach..." Instead of using that cliched line, however, Gohmert went a different route. In fact, when reading that line again, I envision Gohmert engaging in the following back-and-forth with a woman on a dating site: Pattie B. Kinky: "What was your name again, big boy?" Louie Gohmert: "Louie, Louie Goh... You can just call me Louie." Pattie: "So, Louie, what do you like to do for fun, if you know what I...

Former Florida Representative and current crazy person Allen West seemed quite upset about the federal government re-opening without defunding Obamacare, even though the shutdown cost the country $24 billion and there was no possible way defunding the healthcare bill would have passed the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House. On his Facebook page, he sent the following post: "I'm watching the spectacle occurring on the Senate floor. They have passed the 60 vote threshold for enduring cloture. I want the American people to understand that tonight the Constitutional Republic we know as America has suffered a horrible defeat. Obamacare is not the law of the land. It is an edict handed down by a tyrant, not a President. The US Senate has just voted to affirm a new precedent that the executive branch can amend law without Congressional approval, and Congress allows it. The waivers, exemptions, and delays implemented by President Obama have delineated a separation, not of po...

It's bad enough when only about a quarter of the country has a favorable view of a political party, while between half and two-thirds have an unfavorable view of it. It's even worse when members of that very party start publicly agreeing with the majority of the country. Republican New York Representative Peter King recently said the following with regard to how his party has behaved during the government shutdown: "This party is going nuts. So many people I run into who are normal people - and I hate to use that term - they just can't understand what's going on. ... Even if this bill passed tonight, what would it have done? After shutting down the government for two and a half weeks, laying off 800,000 people, all the damage we caused, all we would end up doing was taking away health insurance from congressional employees. That's it? That's what you go to war for? That's what we shut down the United States government for?" Yes, evidently. ...

At a recent town hall meeting, Republican Florida Representative Ted Yoho (I may call him Yahoo from this point forward) said the following with regard to Obamacare: "I had a little fun with [John] Boehner and told him about the sun tanning tax. He goes, 'I didn't know it was in there,' and I said, 'Yes, it's a ten percent tax.' He goes, 'Well, that's not that big of a deal.' I said, 'It's a racist tax.' He goes, 'You know what, it is.' I had an Indian doctor in our office the other day, very dark skin, with two non-dark skin people, and I asked this to him, 'Have you ever been to a tanning booth?' and he goes, 'No, no need.' So therefore it's a racist tax and I thought I might need to get to a sun tanning booth so I can come out and say I've been disenfranchised because I got taxed because of the color of my skin. As crazy as that sounds, that's what the left does right..." First off, Rep...

First there was Todd Akin. Then there was Richard Mourdock. Now we have Arizona Representative Trent Franks taking it upon himself to discuss the matter of rape. Franks proposed a measure which would ban abortions after 20 weeks during pregnancies. This measure is currently being considered by the House Judiciary Committee. In response, Democrats have proposed an amendment to the bill which would make exceptions for rape and incest. Here's what Mr. Franks had to say about this proposed amendment: "Before, when my friends on the left side of the aisle here tried to make rape and incest the subject - because, you know, the incidence of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low. But when you make that exception, there's usually a requirement to report the rape within 48 hours. And in this case that's impossible because this is in the sixth month of gestation. And that's what completely negates and vitiates the purpose for such an amendment." Right, becau...

Ah, remember Anthony Weiner? Well, the former New York Congressman is back in the news again! He's kept his junk in the trunk (so to speak), temporarily at least, and is thinking about running for mayor! In case anyone has forgotten, Weiner got caught in a tweeting-his-bulge scandal and resigned from office as a result. New Yorkers should be rejoicing right about now, especially those whom didn't much care for Mayor Bloomberg's vision with regard to soda pop and guns! While Bloomberg believes in banning supersize soda, Weiner has shown that he believes bigger is better! Also, while Bloomberg believes in stricter gun restrictions, Weiner believes people should show off and fire their guns as much as is humanly possible! If that's not enough to convince New Yorkers that they should stick up for Weiner and stick him into office again, just hear what the former Congressman's brother had to say about the new and improved Weiner: "I wouldn't stand for oth...

I'm still amazed on how so many Republicans win elections just by telling people that they love God, have family values, are pro-life and are anti-gay marriage. They play the Christian "moral" card. "Vote for me. I'll be a good role model for your kids and will move this country in the manner God would want. I know, because I magically lived life back when Jesus did and wrote most of The Bible on his behalf." The reason I think this is so ridiculous is that every person makes mistakes. We can preach all we'd like that we're "one with God," yet that doesn't make it so and doesn't negate any mistakes we've made or will continue to make in our lives. Also, when we go in for job interviews, while it'd be preferable that the potential employees aren't rotten people, most all employers will be more focused on hiring people whom they feel can move the company forward from a business perspective as opposed to hiring people t...

It seems that with each and every passing election, the Republicans being elected to Congress are becoming more and more conservative. One is about as likely to get drunk from drinking water as they are to find a moderate Republican either in or running for Congress. Georgia Representative Paul Broun decided to further prove that hypothesis by saying the following in a speech he gave at the Liberty Baptist Church Sportsman's Banquet last month: "All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the 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 were taught that from understanding that they need a savior. You see, there are a lot of scientific data that I've found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth. I don't believe that the Earth's but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That's what the Bible s...