In Which The Devolutionist Cannot See Reason

It's no surprise to anyone who follows our always-devolving political discourse that one theme always running through libertarian/conservative thought is that of Victimhood.  All those Tea Party folk?  Victims of liberal elitists, the lamestream media, racial politics, Jon Stewart, activist judges, big government, Alinsky tactics, George Soros, illegal immigrants, puppies, kittens, what have you.

The Devolutionist will now break out the world's smallest violin and play a rousing rendition of "My Heart Pumps Purple Piss For You."

Over at Wonkette tonight a Reason reader implored your Devolutionist to read this smarmy post but replace the word "Teabagger" with the word "n*****" and then tell him if it still seemed satirical.  Apparently in Teabagland "Teabagger" is an epithet on a par with a word used to dehumanize an entire race of people for at least the last three or four hundred years.  Apparently we're supposed to respect a bunch of shouting anger bears with no coherent set of beliefs, no respect for a progressive viewpoint, really nothing but high BMI and a shitload of tricorn hats, even when they compare their struggle of the last eighteen months to the centuries-long struggle for civil rights for blacks.  Apparently, according to this guy, "dehumanization is dehumanization."

Meh.  Your Devolutionist does not need a psychology lecture.  Really, it's not about dehumanizing anyone.  He's just sick of the whining.

In Which The Devolutionist Tells Arthur Laffer Where He Can Put His Famous Curve

Your Devolutionist does not make a habit of reading the Wall Street Journal, mostly because he assumes it is written for one (admittedly large) demographic only: wealthy and selfish assholes.  Today's editorial by "economist" Arthur Laffer does nothing to dispel that impression.

Laffer is of course the man who thought up the infamous Laffer Curve, which we're not even going to try to sum up here.  Suffice to say that it has always sounded to your Devolutionist like magical thinking, and the results of the Reagan and Bush tax policies, which cited Laffer, have borne out this contention.

In his WSJ editorial Laffer rails against Bill Gates and his father, who have been pushing an initiative in Washington state to impose a 5% income tax on individuals making over $200,000 a year and couples making over $400,000 (the state currently has no income tax.)

In Which The Devolutionist Makes Reading Recommendations

The Devolutionist is not a huge fan of Matt Taibbi.  He's got passion, but sometimes he does not seem to have a clear handle of his subjects (his writing on the Wall Street bailouts, for example, came off, in the Devolutionist's opinion, like a college paper written by someone who had given up understanding his research even as he continued to cite sources.)  He should stick to writing articles like this one.  It doesn't break any new ground, but it does put insightful context around the Tea Party:

Tea & Crackers

As a complement, this article from the Village Voice works nicely.  VV writers have a habit of not pulling punches, so it's refreshing to read a piece in which the author begs people to "stop believing a word this pus-bucket, Breitbart, utters."  The Devolutionist has the same thought every time he sees Andrew Breitbart in any forum:

White America Has Lost Its Mind

One wonders if the media coverage of the Tea Party and "humans" like Breitbart and Palin and their ilk has less to do with their importance and more to do with that same urge that causes people to rubberneck at accidents on the freeway.  It's as if the media is collectively saying "What a fucking mess, are you kidding me?"  It's a theory, anyway.

In Which The Devolutionist Throws Up In His Mouth A Little

When oh when will this douche noodle's fifteen minutes be up?

Levi Johnston Makes Gross Porn Video With Some Old Lady

In Which The Devolutionist Swelters And Gives His Opponent Ninety Seconds To Sweat In Response

The temperature in Los Angeles hit 113 on Monday, the highest temperature ever recorded here since the city started recording temperatures in 1877.  Your Slow-Roasted Devolutionist does not have air-conditioning in his 1920s-era apartment, and so he has spent much of the last two days in the library and a variety of Starbucks. Even though the apartment does not get much in the way of direct sunlight and is only on the second floor, it still felt like a blast furnace the last three days.

Some would say that Los Angeles is already hell and the temperature finally caught up, but your Devolutionist is not one of those people. This city may be far from perfect, but it has its charms.  And the Bare-Ankled Devolutionist appreciates any place where he can go for months at a time without putting on a pair of socks.

Now the state of California has its problems, and tonight Jerry Brown and Meg "The Forehead" Whitman will debate for the right to spend the next three years trying to fix those problems.  The Forehead has already spent something like $119 million on her campaign.  Why she could not just donate that money to some sort of charity that might help people who need the help now, instead of on a vanity gubernatorial campaign, is beyond the Devolutionist's understanding.

Not that it will matter if we are all doomed, and it is possible the damage California has done to its economy and tax base and general mindset is irreversible.  But someone still had to command the Titanic even after it hit the iceberg.

In Which The Devolutionist Is Happy His Lack Of A TV Prevents Him From Watching Bill Maher

Oh, your Devolutionist used to enjoy Bill Maher.  He was smarmy and brooked no bullshit.  The man once went into his audience to physically throw some 9/11 Truthers out of the studio before security could do it.  So it's a little disconcerting that he brings on guests like Andrew Breitbart, who spouts more nonsense in thirty seconds than CNN's entire anchor line-up spouts in a year.  And CNN has Rick Sanchez.

Anyway, your Socially-Networked Devolutionist was reading some quotes from Maher's latest show on Facebook and he saw where Breitbart is pushing the right-wing meme that made its way into the GOP's Pledge to America: conservatives were shut out of the healthcare debate, the congressional town halls were dominated by leftist union members, and so the entire bill must be repealed, and we need to start over with an open and honest debate about the whole issue.

Now, Andrew Breitbart might actually know this is bullshit, but his shtick requires him to pretend otherwise, nay, to shout otherwise as loudly as he can.  But the Devolutionist paid attention to that debate, and he remembers things a little differently.  To wit:

In Which The Devolutionist Makes a Point So Obvious Even Greg Gutfeld Could Grasp It If He Was Not Such a Blithering Jackass

Fox douche noodle Greg Gutfeld has a post that would insult the intelligence of Fox News website readers if your average Fox fan had the intellectual curiosity of even your average house plant.


Sometimes Ye Olde Devolutionist wonders how people much more passionate than he can spend all day every day correcting the record on this sort of lazily-written crap.  Gutfeld parses the number of Americans without health insurance and finds that nearly 20% make between $50,000 - $75,000 per year, and another 20% (give or take) makes above 75K per year.  Thus his conclusion: "So while we've been constantly told that people cannot afford insurance, these numbers say otherwise."