The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Stephen Moore, "distinguished visiting fellow" for the conservative Heritage Foundation (yes, that's his actual title name), just published an article on the conservative Washington Times  entitled, "The lunacy of the left," to which I felt the need to respond. First off, to illustrate just how incredibly biased to the right Stephen Moore is, here are the titles of a few of his articles: - "The Fantasy That ObamaCare 'Is Working'" (Hmm, I went from uninsured due to preexisting conditions to insured, so... Where'd I put that invisible health insurance card again?) - "The Lie Obama Keeps Repeating About the Poor in America" (When it comes to honesty, let's compare President Obama with the two GOP frontrunners to replace him. According to Politifact , of the 577 graded Obama statements, 278 of them have been ruled as true or mostly true (48%), while 146 have been ruled as mostly false, false, or pants on fire (26%), for a n...

While I've lauded Caitlyn Jenner for coming out as transgender and even had no qualms about her winning ESPN's Arthur Ashe Courage Award, I can't help but laugh at her ridiculous comments with regard to politics. She's made it known that, despite a large majority of Republican politicians fighting against the LGBT community's aspiration to attain equal rights, she's a conservative Republican. In an article The Advocate recently released, Jenner even said she'd be incredibly interested in potentially being Ted Cruz's "trans ambassador." Not only that, but in her reality show, I Am Cait , Jenner made the following comments when discussing politics with trans activist and writer Jennifer Finney Boylan: - "...None of the Republicans [say], 'Oh, I hate trans people,' or, 'I hate gays.' Nothing like that. They do more, 'I want a thriving economy so every trans person has a job.'" - "...Republicans and conser...

Just the other day, this old quote suddenly sprung to mind for no apparent reason: "If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative at 40, you have no brain." Granted, given how old this quote is, the original author may not believe it fully applies today since the definitions of the terms liberal and conservative  have changed through the years. However, after thinking about it, if it did, I'd probably alter the quote to this: "If you're not a liberal at 20, you have no heart. If you're not a liberal at 40, you have no heart and no memory." Even with many modern-day conservatives, I often hear the rhetoric, "Well, when you're in college, still depending on mom and dad, and not making much money, yeah, it's easy to be a liberal. However, when you become a conservative, that's when you know you'll have grown up and become an actual adult." Yes, when we're young, in college, feeling...

The Internet is apparently abuzz about a rant unleashed by 22-year-old conservative news anchor Tomi Lahren of the independent One American News Network. During the "Final Thoughts" segment of her show, Lahren laid into President Obama, as she said the following: "President Obama, if you won't say it, I will - radical Islam. This is not workplace violence; this is not a criminal act with motives unknown - this is terrorism. Was he linked to ISIS or al-Qaida or Hamas, or any of the other 15-plus offshoot terrorist groups? Does it matter? I'm sorry, but radical Islam is becoming the rule, not the exception. Yesterday's moderate is today's terrorist. I care that this S.O.B. killed four of our United States Marines. And I care that our commander-in-chief is more concerned with Muslim sensitivity than the honor and sacrifice made by these Marines." This was of course in reference to the recent tragic shooting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where 24-year-o...

After reading a recent New York Times op-ed, entitled, "Have Democrats Pulled Too Far Left?," I don't think it will be long before the thesaurus will showcase the terms "denial" and "Wehner" as being synonymous with one other. Conservative writer and former George W. Bush deputy assistant, Peter Wehner, authored this very article, to which I'd like to offer a rebuttal. Wehner starts his piece by writing this: "AMONG liberals, it's almost universally assumed that of the two major parties, it's the Republicans who have become more extreme over the years. That's a self-flattering but false narrative." I love it when writers feel the need to place the first word of an article in all caps, especially when that word is among . Among is such a powerful term, and like most everyone else I'm sure, I'm grateful Mr. Wehner has brought attention to it. Moving on, Wehner followed that riveting first paragraph up with this: ...

It's very commonplace for liberals or progressives to desire change, to want the country to "progress" and move forward on a number of issues. It's one reason why I believe self-described liberals to be less consistent making it to the polls on election day, because if we don't see the progress we had anticipated or been told to expect, we'll often times feel less motivation to vote the next election cycle. Conservatives, meanwhile, as the term would suggest, tend to want things to stay as they are, for things not to change too drastically. Because drastic changes aren't very common, they tend to be regularly more content come election day than progressives, which may be one factor why Republican candidates have a tendency to outperform Democratic candidates in the midterms. Going along those same lines, conservatives tend to claim that they love this country as it is or "as it was" and will even go so far as to criticize progressives for seeki...

I can't tell you how many times I've seen or heard someone refer to themselves as a "common sense conservative." This typically makes me chuckle, because what is a "common sense conservative" exactly? Based on what hard-core conservatives typically believe, I envision such a person defining "common sense conservative" in one (or all) of the following manners:  - "Even though guns kill over 30,000 people a year in this country, guns don't kill; people kill. I'm a common sense conservative and I approve this message." - "No woman should be able to have an abortion at any time because abortion is murder. Also, we shouldn't provide kids with comprehensive sex education or women with contraception coverage even though these would result in fewer unwanted pregnancies and abortions. I'm a common sense conservative and I approve this message." - "The Bible may list several different kinds of marriages as ...

So, I got a good laugh in this morning. As I normally do every day, I checked out the Columbus Dispatch  letters-to-the-editor because I tend to find the majority of them so ridiculous, I either shake my head and laugh or feel the need to rebut the letter(s) with those crazy things called facts. It was a different story with a letter I read today. I laughed, but not at the letter that was written. I laughed at the headline the Dispatch decided to use for the letter. The letter was written by one John C. Hamler of Columbus, and read as follows: "The Saturday Dispatch editorial 'A pattern of failure' is yet another biased bashing of the Obama administration. Since the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, the Republican plan for America is to cut taxes for the rich, take jobs from the middle class, cut benefits to the poor and take the vote away from those who don't support them. The U.S. Supreme Court has ensured that the Republican Party is the best...

Please allow me to introduce everyone to Jonathan Saenz. Not only is Mr. Saenz an uber-conservative Catholic attorney, but he is also the president of a group by the name of Texas Values - an anti-abortion and anti-LGBT group which is dedicated to "preserving and advancing a culture of family values in the state of Texas." In August of 2011, Mr. Saenz's now ex-wife - Corrine Morris Rodriguez Saenz - decided to divorce Jonathan after being married to him for almost 10 years. Why did she decide this was the best move? Oh, it just so happens that Ms. Rodriguez-Saenz left her anti-LGBT husband for a woman by the name of Ercimin Paredes. Yes, Jonathan Saenz, a man who has supported the concept of gay conversion therapy, has said that legalizing gay marriage could lead the way to legalizing incest and polygamy, and is president of the anti-LGBT group Texas Values, was left by his ex-wife for a woman. Approximately 94.32% of the time, I feel the need to insert wisecracks w...

It seems that every time radio show host Rush Limbaugh opens his mouth, he further proves the title of Al Franken's book, Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot . This was yet again the case when the conservative talk show host spoke to listeners about the death of actor/comedian Robin Williams, saying the following: "What is the left's world view in general? If you had to attach, not a philosophy, but an attitude to a leftist world view. It's one of pessimism, and darkness, sadness. They're never happy, are they?" He added: "[Liberals] are animated in large part by the false promises of America, because the promises of America are not for everyone. He had it all, but he had nothing. Made everyone else laugh, but was miserable inside. It fits a certain picture or a certain image that the left has. [I'm] talking about low expectations and general unhappiness." Lastly, Limbaugh uttered the following: "Robin Williams felt guilty that he was...

Anymore, it seems like not a day passes when I don't read about a young woman who was sexually assaulted or raped on (or near) campus, and every day, this news becomes ever more disturbing. The latest such report comes via Al Jazeera, who investigated students that had been assaulted or raped at the ultra-conservative Christian school Bob Jones University. During the summer before she started attending classes at Bob Jones, Katie Landry was raped by a coworker on multiple occasions. As is commonplace among rape victims, Landry felt shameful, and due to this, neglected to report the crime(s) for several years. Her grades suffered as a direct result of this. After she finally admitted the events to both herself and others, she sought counseling, only to be told by the dean of students that, "We have to find the sin in your life that caused your rape." No, that wasn't a typo. When speaking to Al Jazeera about the matter, Landry said the following: "He confirme...

On Comedy Central's The Colbert Report  last night, Stephen Colbert interviewed conservative commentator and regular centerfold for Bow Tie magazine - George Will. During this discussion, the two engaged in the following back-and-forth: Colbert: "I'm a conservative, you're a conservative - I don't think anything should ever change." Will: "That makes you a liberal." Colbert: "That nothing should ever change? I didn't realize that. ... So why do liberals want things to stay the same?" Will: "Because whatever exists should continue. In 1935, Social Security - do you drive a 1935 car? ... Do you watch a 1935 television set? But Social Security, liberals believe should go on just as it always has." That's right, ladies and gentlemen - George Will contends that while conservatives want change, liberals want things to stay the same. No, I don't believe yesterday was opposite day. First off, I'd like to define...

It may only be March, but conservative talk show host Steve Deace is already trying to earn himself the award for Stupidest Column of the Year with a "piece" that was published in The Washington Times  yesterday, entitled, "The intolerant same-sex lobby - Leftist media shills should examine their own rigid views." Since I found this article to be so incredibly, for lack of a better word - stupid, I'll dissect it paragraph by paragraph. Let's begin... Deace starts his I-woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed-with-a-hangover-after-dreaming-about-having-intercourse-with-a-guy-on-MSNBC rant with this: "Remember when 'liberal' meant 'tolerant' or 'open-minded'?" Yes, those were the days... What are you driving at, Douchey? ...I mean, Deucey? "Nowadays, the perpetually offended have decided they don't have to debate, and they're so convinced that their own intellectual flatulence doesn't stink, they don...

Being as progressive as I am, it's getting a tad tiring having to wade through all the far-right talking points I read in the editorial and letter-to-the-editor pages of the Columbus Dispatch . The latest one comes courtesy of Dick Alexander from Pickerington, Ohio. In today's paper, his letter-to-the-editor, entitled, "Anti-Gun Zealots Disrespect Constitution," was printed and said this: "The Associated Press article 'One nation, divided over guns' in the Sunday Dispatch was a waste of the paper it was printed on. Everyone knows about the divide. The end result desired by gun opponents is pretty simple to accomplish: change the U.S. Constitution. The anti-gun groups want to achieve their end results by using a tactic of President Barack Obama, by circumventing the Constitution. If 60 percent of the public wanted to restrict guns, it would still require changing our Constitution to achieve that goal. The left’s mantra is always the same: Can...

While the letter's authenticity is still in question, it is being reported by many right-wing media outlets and at least one more mainstream one that President Barack Obama has sent a handwritten response letter to Texas fifth-grade schoolteacher Thomas J. Ritter, who had sent the president a letter criticizing the Affordable Care Act. In Ritter's letter he wrote: "This bill has caused such a divisive, dirisive [sic], and toxic environment ... The reality is that any citizen that disagrees with your administration is targeted and ridiculed. I hesitated to write for fear of some kind of retribution . I watched you make fun of tea baggers and your press secretary make fun of Ms. Palin which was especially beneath the dignity of the White House." President Obama allegedly responded with these words: "I believe that health care reform will be the right thing for the country ... It certainly wasn't the smart 'political' thing! And I hope that in th...

After President Obama expressed his support for filibuster reform, where a simple majority of Senators (51) would be required to approve judicial and executive nominees as opposed to the 60 required due to the filibuster, radio talk show host and celebrity voted most likely to wind up on display at a zoo at some point in his life - Rush Limbaugh - had this to say about the matter: "Every now and then, some lunatic in the group proposes to change the rule to allow women to be raped. But they never were able to get six votes for it. There were always the four women voting against it and they always found two guys. Well, the guy that kept proposing that women be raped finally got tired of it, and he was in the majority and he was one that [said], 'You know what? We're going to change the rule. Now all we need is five.' And well, 'you can't do that.' 'Yes we are. We're the majority. We're changing the rule.' And then they vote. Can the women b...

President Obama reported not long ago that when the government shutdown finally ended, he'd work on passing immigration reform. Here's what Republican Idaho Representative Raul Labrador said to the Huffington Post about the matter: "For us to go to a negotiation, to the negotiating table with President Obama after what he has done over the last two and a half weeks, I think would be probably a very big mistake." It gets better from there. He then continued by saying this: "I think what he (Obama) has done over the past two and a half weeks - he's trying to destroy the Republican Party. I think that anything we do right now with this president on immigration will be with that same goal in mind, which is to destroy the Republican Party and not to get good policies." Sadly, it appears as if some House Republicans won't learn a thing about the shutdown it enabled. President Obama hasn't set out to destroy the Republican Party. He doesn'...

At the Values Voter Summit this past weekend, as has been typical at such events in recent years, several hard-core conservatives decided to make outrageous statements at the expense of the LGBT community. Most of them I had heard before, so I'll focus my attention on the two which stood out from the rest to me. The first such comment comes courtesy of the Radiance Foundation's Ryan Bomberger, who said that he believes homophobia to be a myth, saying there is no such thing as kleptophobia either. Right, because those whom don't approve of people with a stealing problem are almost identical to those whom don't approve of equal rights for gay couples. Disapproving of a crime is the same thing as disapproving of homosexuality. With this kind of twisted logic, Mr. Bomberger may also believe the following: - "There's no such thing as homophobia. People who don't approve of murderers aren't murderophobics, are they?" - "There's no such...