Real Equality
As always, Dan Savage cuts to the quick:
“Marriage equality comes to Minnesota — because why should Marcus Bachmann be the only legally married gay man in the state?”
Savage & Bachmann
[h/t to Jerry Boyle.]
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Selective Brutality?
Alright, let me put this whole IRS/Tea Party contretemps into proper perspective for you.
First, the background. The Far Right world is simultaneously jumping for joy and shrieking woe-is-us because Tea Party-ists and “patriot” groups have been brutalized by the sadistic storm troopers of the Internal Revenue Service.
Hurts So Good
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(Remember, the Neo-Right loves — to the point of spontaneous orgasm — positioning itself as oppressed and/or under constant attack.)
The “brutalization” comes in the form of IRS office drones asking a few organizations with the words Tea Party and patriot in their names for more information in their applications for tax-exempt status. Which those organizations eventually got.
The Gestapo would only wish it was as barbarous as these IRS file clerks.
Stand-up comics like Mike Huckabee and Rush Limbaugh are fapping in a frenzy over the remote possibility that this “scandal” will lead at least to impeachment or, more preferably, the hangman’s noose for Barack Obama.
Okay. Listen closely. These Tea Party and “patriot” bunches are nothing more than political advocacy groups. They are not — repeat not — “social welfare” organizations, which would merit tax-exemption.
Are we clear?
Now, let’s get clear on another thing. If the IRS was cherry-picking Far Right gangs for enhanced scrutiny, they’d damned well better have been doing the same thing for liberal or progressive organizations. Otherwise, Obama’s IRS is no better than Richard Nixon’s.
You’re welcome.
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Tricky Barack?
And, as long as we’re looking at the Obama Administration with a critical eye today, let’s consider the charge the the US Department of Justice secretly gathered phone records of Associated Press reporters last year. It’s another development that’s terrifyingly Nixonesque.
The Kid Is Not My Son
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See, the DoJ was worried about leaks in a foiled terror plot. So the full weight of the federal government was exerted to nail reporters and their sources in the news coverage of the terror story.
Ick.
One bard at Wonkette put it best:
“Shame on you, Mr. President! We have a really hard time worshipping the water you walk on when you pull shit like this.”
The Wonkette scribe concludes that the Obama gang is far too enthralled with secrecy and that Attorney General Eric Holder must be fired.
Can’t argue with that.
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The English Teacher
The Bloomington High School North community will have to make do without one of its most beloved teachers during the 2013-14 school year. English savant and all-around good dame Elizabeth Sweeney has won herself a grant to teach in Argentina later this year.
The Monroe County Community Schools Corporation doesn’t allow for half-year absences so Sweeney must take the whole year off, she told the Pencil yesterday.
Here’s the kind of teacher Sweeney is: a student went on ratemyteachers.com and wrote, “i love mrs. sweeney she is the best.” Now don’t get your shorts in a bunch over the improper letter case usage and lack of punctuation; that’s how kids type these days.
And, as a testament to Sweeney’s patience, she hasn’t yet pulled all the hair out of her head over this state of affairs.
Sweeney promises she’ll be back at BHSN in August, 2014.
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Love Sweeney! Both of my kids were lucky to have her.
Any of the crew from the port side of the SS America care to make a wager about the IRS targeting liberal/progressive groups? Proceeds to charity of course. P.S. Let’s stipulate that the targeting must be at least somewhat equal.