Another Texas Politician Jumps on the Crazy Train

Rep. Mike Burgess (R_TX) Says 15-Week Male Fetuses Pleasure Themselves.

ABC News’ Brooke Kettler reports:

At what age do young boys begin sexual self-exploration? As early as 15 weeks in utero, according to Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas.

“Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” said Burgess, a former obstetrician-gynecologist. “They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?”

The tea party congressman, 62, made the awkward argument during a House Rules Committee hearing today about H.R. bill 1797, which would ban abortions 20 weeks after fertilization.

Burgess, who says that fetal movements can point to pleasurable sexual sensation, argues that abortion should be limited to the first 15 weeks, rather than the proposed 20.

Sarah + Fox News = The Closing of the American Mind

Kitsch: the translation of the stupidity of received ideas into the language of beauty and feeling [that] moves us to tears of compassion for ourselves, for the banality of what we think and feel.

Milan Kundera

I’m tired of ignorance held up as inspiration, where vicious anti-intellectualism is considered a positive trait, and where uninformed opinion is displayed as fact.
Phil Plait, The Mainstreaming of Crazy

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths;

In feelings, not in figures on a dial;

We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives

Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best

P.J. Bailey, Festus

Intellectual Bookends

[A]nybody who values certain aspects of culture above others can be accused of elitism. The outcome of this populist turn is the celebration of the ordinary and the banal.

Frank Furedi, Dumbing Down? Don’t Blame the Media

The Enemy Within

As the National Socialist German Workers' Party (aka Nazis) required an internal enemy, the Jews, whose citizenship posed a dire threat to the stability of the German state; a growing number of state and national GOP politicians see a similar threat to American democracy posed by  Muslim-American citizens. This insanity, once limited to racist, xenophobic politicians from poorly educated districts across America is swiftly infecting rank-and-file GOP members. By the time the German people recognized the fascist threat to their democracy it was too late to stop them. Let's hope that courage and common sense ends the xenophobic madness gripping Washington before our great democracy is lost.

[A] few [Tennessee ] Republican lawmakers in the state legislature were convinced that the new sinks in the bathrooms were actually secret Muslim foot baths, used by devout Muslims to clean their face, feet and hands before praying. But where normal America sees maintenance sinks, Tennessee America sees a Muslim [foot bath].  (Americablog.com)  

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) appeared on the FOX Business show Money Rocks to make the case for depriving the children of immigrants of their 14th Amendment rights. Gohmert summarized the lesson for viewers this way: "We're bringing them over here on tourist visas, some illegally, letting them be born here and saying, 'This is an American citizen. So come back in 20, 25 years when you're ready to blow us up.'"  (The dailybeast.com) 

Perhaps the most vile and disgusting display of Republican bigotry was WorldNetDaily contributor Erik Rush’s Tweet, which unequivocally stated: “Muslims are evil. Let’s kill them all.” (aattp.org)

 Sue Myrick (R-NC), John Shadegg (R-AZ), Paul Broun (R-GA) and Trent Franks (R-AZ) relying on the work of a WND-published book based an intern spy’s infiltration of the Council on American Islamic Relations, charging that CAIR itself is planting scary Muslim interns on national security committees.(http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com)

The survey of 600 likely Alabama Republican primary voters found a full 14 percent believe Obama to be Christian. But 45 percent said he is Muslim and another 41 percent said they are unsure.The same question presented to 686 likely Mississippi Republican primary voters found 12 percent believe Obama to be Christian. But 52 percent say he is Muslim and another 36 percent were uncertain. ( http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/look-how-many-in-gop-think-obama-is-muslim)

America's conservative elites have openly thrown in with the country's legions of discontented far right thugs. They have explicitly deputized them and empowered them to act as their enforcement arm on America's streets, sanctioning the physical harassment and intimidation of workers, liberals, and public officials who won't do their political or economic bidding. (Sarah Robinson, Fascist America: Are We There Yet?) 

Asshole of the Month (Again)

Rep. Michele Bachmann, never one to miss an opportunity to use the latest conspiracy theory to pull those clueless Tea Party peasants from their nostalgie de la boue, is now on a tear over President Obama's professional dog walker. 

Is Ms. Bachmann smart enough to realize that Secret Service protection should President Obama walk his own dog would cost far in excess of the annual grounds maintenance fees paid to the staff dog walker? Can her intellectually-challenged followers suspend their selfishness long enough to realize there's a world of difference between private citizens and the leader of the free world walking one's dog. Why, after a long history of presidential dog walkers pulled from the White House grounds keeper staff, does Ms. Bachmann begrudge President Obama the same perquisite? Can it be the uppity Black man languishing in the splendor of his office?

How many asinine statements can this publicity whore utter before our do-nothing congress revokes her membership on the House intelligence Committee? She's active ignorance looking for her next publicity fix. What does she say about the people that elected this dolt to high office?

Reach Out and Touch Someone: Too Funny

New York State of Mind