Traditional Values Are Killing Me

In this footage from a recent tea bagger meeting in Asotin, Washington, speaker Dianne Capps leads the charge for a return to traditional values by calling for the lynching of Senator Patty Murray. As a true conservative ever willing to take personal responsibility, Capps at first denied being the speaker, then fell back on the tried-and-true cowardly conservative dodge of claiming that her remarks were taken out of context by the media (except that they weren't). Signs held by crowd members included such delicate sentiments as "Geld Obama," reflecting such traditional values as, well, lynching. I couldn't tell much about the values of the speaker shown at the end of the clip because he becomes downright incoherent as his blatherdom wears on.



Did anyone else notice that most of the attendees are elderly? Just where do they think that their Social Security checks and Medicare come from? If it weren't for the federal government, they'd be living in abject poverty. Sometimes, one has to wonder just how stupid some people are...

...Speaking of which, Utah State Senator Mark Madsen (R-What Else?) has backed off a moronic proposal to save the state a few bucks by pairing a proposed holiday honoring Utah gunmaker John Browning with Martin Luther King's birthday. Blaming the media for derailing something that he clearly wanted to do, Madsen lamented not being able to first speak privately with "black leaders." I wish that he had been able to speak with them, if only to know how he could possibly have explained this one. Probably it would have gone along these lines:

I had an idea to honor an international icon and a favorite son of Utah...Both made tremendous contributions to individual freedom and individual liberty...Certainly there was a shot that killed Dr. King. [Nice of him to recognize that.] On the other hand, there's been many shots fired from Browning firearms that have saved tens of thousands -- hundreds of thousands -- of American lives. [Somehow, that apparently explains everything.]

Alas, he innocently "stumbled into racial politics" through no fault of his own and is now faced with commemorating Browning in tandem with such lesser celebrations as Labor Day, Pioneer Day ("The [LDS] Church doesn't own Pioneer Day," he helpfully explained) or Veteran's Day. So, here it is: Madsen blames a brain dead, offensive proposal that he made on the media and racial politics (read: the Utah NAACP). (This is almost as rich as the time that Texas conservatives proposed pairing MLK's birthday with Confederate Heroes Day.) What this comes down to is a desire by conservatives to diminish King's importance -- and he was arguable the great American of the 20th Century -- by diluting the observance of the memory of a man and a movement that opened the doors of political equality to every disenfranchised group in American society (undocumented immigrants excepted)...

Just Wondering Dept: How would conservatives feel about celebrating Ronald Reagan's birthday simultaneously with that of Bob Marley? I mean, they were born on the same day and Marley was an international icon who made contributions to freedom and liberty...

Let X=X...

Say what?...

Victory Fellowship...

R. I. P., Jim Bibby, a pretty fair country pitcher who tossed the Texas Rangers' first no-hitter and who was a member of the 1979 "We Are Family" World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates. Bibby started three games in that magical postseason to the tune of a 2.08 ERA...