Idiots’ Delight

Well it’s that time of month again.  Once more we dive into the pit of despair and pull out the best of the worst.  Only one month in and already 2012 is shaping up to be a real barn burner.  No need to mince words, all four of these dim bulbs earned their stripes.

Without further ado, the envelope please.

Rick Santorum: That he is vehemently anti-choice should come as no surprise to anyone, but even the staunchest “pro-lifers” wouldn’t be stupid enough to say something this insensitive:

“And so to embrace her and to love her and to support her and get her through this very difficult time, I've always, you know, I believe and I think the right approach is to accept this horribly created -- in the sense of rape -- but nevertheless a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you. As you know, we have to, in lots of different aspects of our life we have horrible things happen. I can't think of anything more horrible, but nevertheless, we have to make the best out of a bad situation and I would make the argument that that is making the best.”

Just imagine what it must be like to be a rape victim and then to hear this twit wax philosophically out of his ass about the “gift” growing inside you.  Santorum has had a history of brain farts in his political life, but this one takes the cake.  To even suggest that the unwanted pregnancy of a rapist was given to you by a loving God is so egregious and reprehensible that I suspect even some conservative evangelicals would be uncomfortable with it.

Thankfully, this myopic, homophobic, tactless creep has about as much chance of getting elected president as a Rabbi rising to power in Iran.  When more people find Newt Gingrich acceptable, you know you’ve fallen off the deep end.

John King: The demise of broadcast journalism in this country over the last few decades has been well chronicled by various people, including yours truly.  From an industry that once boasted legends like Cronkite, Sevareid and Murrow, we now have “journalists” like John King. His performance in the South Carolina debate was nothing short of an embarrassment.  That CNN didn’t see fit to either fire or reassign him speaks volumes about its integrity.  Even if you grant the argument that King’s opening question to Newt Gingrich regarding his ex-wife’s interview on ABC was relevant, the way it was asked revealed a stunning and disturbing trend where true investigative journalism has taken second fiddle to ratings-driven tabloid journalism.  

The issue should not have been what his ex-wife said on some interview, but rather Gingrich’s hypocritical conduct while Speaker of the House in which he was having an affair while leading the charge against Bill Clinton for his infidelity.  That conduct has defined him throughout his political career and is very much a relevant issue to the voters, many of whom are women who do not care much for his flippant arrogance.  Not only was King lame during the debate, his inability to correctly frame a question appropriately not only tarnished his colleagues’ reputation, it inadvertently tilted the balance in a highly contested primary race.  Both are unforgivable.

Tim Thomas: We’ve certainly seen our fair share of entertainers pontificating at will their various political viewpoints – most of them decidedly anti Obama.  Last year’s Obama is Hitler comments by Hank Williams, Jr. only reaffirmed why I hate country music so much.  Refusing to go to the White House after your team has won the Stanley Cup is one thing, but goaltender Tim Thomas couldn’t leave well enough alone with a mere snub of the President.  He decided to release a statement on facebook explaining the reasons for his no-show:

“I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.  This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.  Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.  This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT”

Thankfully, not everyone bought Thomas’s “not about politics or party” crap.  Kevin Dupont of The Boston Globe wrote the following: “He could have talked to the president. Instead, he mailed one in from the pizza stand. I think he missed his chance. I think he missed the point of the day. I think he mistreated teammates.”

The Boston Bruins’ organization also wasn’t buying the song and dance act of their star netminder.  They released their own statement:

“As an organization we were honored by President Obama's invitation to the White House. It was a great day and a perfect way to cap our team's achievement from last season. It was a day that none of us will soon forget. We are disappointed that Tim chose not to join us, and his views certainly do not reflect those of the Jacobs family or the Bruins organization. This will be the last public comment from the Bruins organization on this subject.”

This was not Ali and the draft board in ’67, as Joe O’Connor in the National Post has suggested; nor was it John Carlos and Tommy Smith giving the black power salute at the ’68 Olympics; nor for that matter was it even Carlos Delgado refusing to stand for the singing of God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch. Conscientious objectors have had a long and storied past, not only in sports, but in all walks of life.  Thomas was no conscientious objector here; he was a self-serving ideologue on a soap box, spewing the same nonsense that millions of ill-informed miscreants have been spewing for the last three years. Government bad, liberty good.  Throwing the Republicans under the same bus as the Democrats was nothing more than a smoke screen designed to mask the real objective, which is a pathological contempt for a president that for some as of yet unknown reason seems to drive these people up the proverbial wall.  It would be hysterical if it weren’t so sad.      

Adding insult to injury, Thomas is now blaming the media for creating an issue when none existed.  Predictable as dirt.  Borrowing a tactic from Newt Gingrich, Thomas has decided to go after a favorite sore spot: the press.  When in doubt, don’t look in the mirror; just point the finger at the one asking the questions.  And speaking of pointing fingers…

Jan Brewer: With all the bat-shit crazies currently vying for top honors within the Republican Party these days, it’s a little difficult to keep track of the pecking order.  Let’s just say that for the moment the governor of Arizona has pulled out ahead of the pack.  Her flagrant disrespect of the President on the tarmac in Phoenix the other day has become a familiar theme for her Party throughout Obama’s term.

From the “You lie” shout from Joe Wilson during a State of the Union address to the refusal to call out the overtly racist comments of the Tea Party to even the persistent doubts of his citizenship, no president in American history has had to endure such treatment at the hands of his opposition.  To believe for even a minute that race has nothing to do with this is ludicrous.

Back in September of ’09, I wrote a letter to President Obama addressing this very issue.  The following excerpt is worth noting here:

“Like most political pundits, we all figured that the true test of the nation was whether we were mature and advanced enough to elect an African American to the office of President. What we did not count on was that the real test would not come until you actually assumed the office. It was at that moment that we as a nation came face to face with an even uglier truth about ourselves: that there were certain elements in our society that simply could not accept being governed by a black man, especially a black man who is the chief executive of the country. They are mad as hell and they aren’t shy about strutting their racism.”

Jan Brewer pulled her little stunt out in public because she obviously felt she could get away with it, which sadly she seems to have done.  Now she is blaming Obama for being thin skinned and accusing him of intimidating her.  Can you imagine Brewer pulling that on a President Hillary Clinton?  Hillary would've ripped that finger off her hand and stuck it where the sun don't shine. Know this about the Clintons, you don't show them up in public.

Not even at the height of his unpopularity was George Bush disrespected this much.  Indeed the man had to go all the way to Iraq just to get a shoe thrown at him.  What Brewer and her ilk have revealed sadly is that when it comes to ignorance and racism in this country we still have a long way to go before we exorcise the demons of our past.