The American Bear

Sunshine/Lollipops

Ever since I was a kid I dreamed of joining the Army. So as soon as I could, I went down to my local recruiter and enlisted, knowing full well that I’d probably be sent to Afghanistan. Now, with my first deployment less than a week away, there’s only one thing on my mind: how incredibly proud I’ll be to fight for my country, experience crippling psychological trauma, wait indefinitely for the proper health care, and then eventually become so depressed and mentally ill that I commit suicide. It’s what I’ve always known I was born to do.

It Would Be An Honor To Serve My Country, Return With PTSD, Sit On A Mental Health Care Waitlist, Then Kill Myself | The Onion

The most honest assessment of the current state of military and veterans affairs that you’ll find in any publication.

A Liberal form of healthcare? That would be socialized medicine. The kind of thing that much of Europe has. That Canada has. That Vermont is poised to implement on a statewide level. ObamaCare? It really is RomneyCare, just as RomneyCare really is ObamaCare. The smear cuts both ways. It’s a two-way mirror that each man attempts to hide behind, but which clearly reveals both of them in all of their center-right glory. Thus, the Florida decision was not a victory for Liberalism. Regardless of your actual opinion about the healthcare bill, in reality this decision is a reflection of center-right dominance in America. And that so many Liberals robustly celebrated when the ACA prevailed in court indicates at least two things: First, the partisan divide has become so deep that Americans loyal to this or that party or ideology will seemingly celebrate any victory, even those that do not actually reflect their values. Second is just how far to the right this nation has swung over the last quarter-century. So far to the right that, as we witnessed last week, a major policy initiative that used to be Republican is now Democrat. And most people simply accept that reality.

America’s Move to the Right (via azspot)

See also.

(via randomactsofchaos)

pantslessprogressive:

Mark Meckler (Tea Party Patriots co-founder): They’re not law-abiding citizens. They’re camping in a park where camping isn’t allowed. They’re breaking the laws on the Brooklyn Bridge. That’s not Tea Party behavior. 

Jon Stewart: Everything you described there I believe is a misdemeanor. The actual Tea Party was a fucking felony. Do you know who the Tea Party actually was? Do you know how much trouble you’d get in if you broke into a ship, stole the cargo from the ship’s owners and just threw it overboard? Not to mention the EPA fines and the damage it would do to your Indian costume? The Tea Party namesake - you’re named after the most celebrated act of theft and vandalism of private property in our nation’s history! And you can’t stomach a little park camping?

(Source: pantslessprogressive)

There has never, ever been a single case of an American bystander, armed with a concealed-carry weapon, who leaped in and used that weapon to bring down a crazed mass-shooter. Again - most such mad shooters have been brought down by un-armed heroic bystanders, who charged the gunman while he was changing ammo. David Brin (via azspot)

(via azspot)

Democrats, Republicans Celebrate Pitiful Excuse For Common Ground | The Onion WASHINGTON—Following Sunday’s pathetic excuse for an agreement on raising the government’s borrowing limit, Democrats and Republicans took time to celebrate the meager, ineffective deal, calling it “a testament to the not-so-great things that can happen in Washington when both parties barely come together and agree to not really accomplish anything.” “It took months of phone calls, negotiations, and meetings, but finally we created a pretty sad version of a framework that, we’re happy to say, none of us is really proud of, and that doesn’t really do much to solve our country’s fiscal problems at all,” said House Speaker John Boehner, who gave a cheerful thumbs up and added that the sorry piece of legislation was expected to pass both houses of Congress with a really pitiful display of bipartisan support. “Once again, Democrats and Republicans have demonstrated why our mangled, fractured, barely functioning democracy is the greatest in the world.” At press time, members of both parties were trying to explain to their supporters how the budget agreement could in any possible way be construed as a victory for them.

Democrats, Republicans Celebrate Pitiful Excuse For Common Ground | The Onion

WASHINGTON—Following Sunday’s pathetic excuse for an agreement on raising the government’s borrowing limit, Democrats and Republicans took time to celebrate the meager, ineffective deal, calling it “a testament to the not-so-great things that can happen in Washington when both parties barely come together and agree to not really accomplish anything.” “It took months of phone calls, negotiations, and meetings, but finally we created a pretty sad version of a framework that, we’re happy to say, none of us is really proud of, and that doesn’t really do much to solve our country’s fiscal problems at all,” said House Speaker John Boehner, who gave a cheerful thumbs up and added that the sorry piece of legislation was expected to pass both houses of Congress with a really pitiful display of bipartisan support. “Once again, Democrats and Republicans have demonstrated why our mangled, fractured, barely functioning democracy is the greatest in the world.” At press time, members of both parties were trying to explain to their supporters how the budget agreement could in any possible way be construed as a victory for them.

› The 7 Stages of Internet Grief

langer:

  1. people tweet about dead celebrity
  2. people tweet about what dead celebrity meant to them
  3. people tweet insensitive jokes about dead celebrity
  4. people tweet about how it’s too soon to be tweeting insensitive jokes about dead celebrity
  5. people tweet about how other people tweeting about dead celebrity aren’t tweeting the right way about dead celebrity
  6. people tweet about how people tweeting about dead celebrity should instead be tweeting about recent tragedy
  7. people tweet about how people who tweet about how people tweeting about dead celebrity should instead be tweeting about recent tragedy are assholes

motherjones: Kevin Drum gives us a chart for the day. Here’s the background: Every morning I take a couple of short breaks from the keyboard to do some stretching exercises that are designed to ease my neck and shoulder pain. I usually turn on the TV while I’m doing this, and that’s pretty much my entire exposure to Fox News. So what were they going on about a few minutes ago while I stretched? The fact that people get really upset when they hear that 51% of Americans pay no taxes. Well, I’d be upset too. Who the hell are these freeloaders? Answer: they don’t exist, of course. Details here. Drum concludes: “I know we live in a post-fact environment, but those are the facts. Pass ‘em around.” Please do.

motherjones:

Kevin Drum gives us a chart for the day. Here’s the background:

Every morning I take a couple of short breaks from the keyboard to do some stretching exercises that are designed to ease my neck and shoulder pain. I usually turn on the TV while I’m doing this, and that’s pretty much my entire exposure to Fox News. So what were they going on about a few minutes ago while I stretched? The fact that people get really upset when they hear that 51% of Americans pay no taxes. Well, I’d be upset too. Who the hell are these freeloaders? Answer: they don’t exist, of course.

Details here. Drum concludes: “I know we live in a post-fact environment, but those are the facts. Pass ‘em around.”

Please do.