Every day I cruise around news sites until something pisses me off, and then I blog about it. Today I think I’m either too jaded or too mellow to be pissed off. And one of those is just as likely as the other.
Anything pissing you off today?
The Mahablog
Politics. Society. Group Therapy.
Anything pissing me off today?
Well, outside of the usual conservative Christian lunacy, idiocy, imbecility, and bigotry, nothing.
SSDD!
Well, I try not to get pissed off coz then I get a bladder infection. But I’ve heard it’s better to be pissed off than pissed on. But my daughter tells me some people like that sort of thing. I’ve heard that Hitler had that fetish.
How about the opposite of pissing me off:
The legislature in my state just voted to end the death penalty, by a veto-proof majority.
In case you don’t know… I live in Nebraska.
It’s not April first, right?!
Well, I’m in harmony with the universe today. I’m just enjoying some of that elusive liberal cosmic bliss. I’m ready to break out into song..
Well, last week Israel formed a new right-wing government, the Dear Leader of North Korea had his defense minister executed with an anti-aircraft weapon for falling asleep during a meeting where he had been present, and Egypt sentenced its first democratically elected leader to death as the US continues to support its government.
Well, this is the stuff that happens in the world and I do not get all steamed up about it. However, the network evening news programs (CBS and NBC) did not mention them, but had several stories on Deflate-Gate, which involves football (the one with the pointy ends) and the complicity of Tom Brady in the scandal.
If anything untoward suddenly drops on us out of the Middle East or North Korea in coming weeks, the American public will be left shrugging its shoulders as their news media tell them that this has come out of the blue and that no one could have seen it coming. And “strong military action†will be needed to deal with the unforeseen events and their fallout. After all, no one gets to blindside us and get away with it!
Pissing me off: A so-called “grass roots (read: ALEC funded) group is petitioning the NCGA to loosen gun laws. The only way they could get any looser in this state would be to REQUIRE weapons.
Cooling me off: The Southern Environmental Law Center got a temporary injunction against fracking beginning in the state (essentially on a technicality– but, whatever works). Since our Attorney General is a Democrat and wants to oust the scumbag Republican governor next year, I expect he will be delighted to use any enforcement tools in his power to delay fracking, since it’s a huge concern for property owners down here.
What pisses me off is how Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen are in very bad shape, and the people living in those places ( or have been displaced ) are suffering horribly; All because a moron named Bush lit the fire. He’s now retired, and THAT’S the main reason I’m pissed. No accountability. He caused so much death and destruction, and just walked into the sunset.
Douglas Hughes, the Florida letter carrier who violated national airspace by landing his gyrocopter on Capitol Hill last month, could face 9½ years in prison after he was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury.
They’re starting to piss me off.
Oh no, Doug. That pisses me off, too.
On the other hand, one must not lose his sense of irony.
http://oversight.house-gov.us/release/Farenthold-issues-statement-doug-hughes-commemorative-stamp.html
Wow, Doug. I’m still trying to process the stamp thing. Is it a real stamp that will be sold at U.S. post offices? My initial thought is that regardless of what penalties are incurred as a result of your civil disobedience you’ve effectively been validated as a champion of freedom by the United States Government.
As a life long stamp collector specializing in American FDC’s in can appreciate the honor bestowed on you by whoever pushed this stamp through. It’s no easy feat to be honored on to a U.S. postage stamp. Somebody is in your corner.
If I ever have a trivia question asking me to name two Hughes featured on American postage stamps…I Know that besides Charles Evans Hughes there’ll be Doug Hughes also.
Tony Jannus move over?
I wasn’t involved in the stamp caper but I wasn’t surprised to hear it’s a hoax. Postal management above the rank of postmaster have their sense of humor surgically removed.
They’re still pretty pissed ‘upstairs’.
“I cruise around news site until something pisses me off.”
I am sure nearly all of us have had a similar description of our daily routine come to mind. It’s necessary to stay in touch, but I wonder how much I’ve lost. As time grows short, it might have been better to walk the fence and make repairs, or fumble over “La Gitane” trying to sound like Tchan Tchou Vidal or brushing the last of the winter coat off the horses. But maybe not, as positive and idyllic as those things may sound, they tend to wear thin after a certain time. Maybe a smidge of anger to spice things up isn’t a bad thing. Regardless, our world seems to demand it once in a while and we offer it up like the smoke from a sacrificial goat. “The “scent of the burning flesh pleases the Lord.”
Sorry, where was I? Oh yeah, …
I can’t avoid being pissed off, but, I try to determine when the accounts are tweaked to advance my outrage meter and when the bare facts, plain and simple, merit an hour or two of slow burn and anxiety. I think that I may be getting better at it. The trouble is that Americans seem to express their identity in terms of what pisses them off. It’s not the clothes we wear or the cars that we drive, it’s the bumper stickers and the hissy fits.
“Show me which newscasts cause a man to throw a brick through his TV screen, and I will tell you who he is.”—-Anonymous
Anger is becoming a kind of virtue. Of course, I notice most in people with whom I disagree, but, I have right wing friends who seem to be outraged all the time and the extent and frequency of their outrage is seen by those inside their circle, as evidence of their dedication, morality and intellectual rigor. Those of us outside just see an old fool yelling at clouds and muttering to himself. It’s a question of perspective I guess.
It pisses me off too that Doug faces so much time in stir. But, some little remnant of faith and optimism, sees some much lighter penalty, because in the end, everyone knows that he is right, even Sean Hannity! And the stamp is way cool, too.
____________
I have to smile thinking of an old friend of mine who teaches in the philosophy department at the University of Athens. He is Greek but he attended graduate schools in France and the USA, so his language skills and his English are pretty good. We were talking over dinner and he made the classic error of saying that something “literally pissed him off.” After many years, it’s still my favorite language malfunction.
My “favorite” of the many (spurious) charges laid against Doug was this one: Operating a vehicle falsely labeled as a postal carrier.
This morning’s WaPo: http://tinyurl.com/mztf3f8
Do we need to start up a Doug Hughes Defense Fund so we can get him defended by some hot-shot DC lawyer? Or maybe former USAG Eric Holder would take the case pro bono.
Maha…I visit here because, here is an oasis of calm….reading you Maha, is like a soothing brain message…I come here to get Un-pissed off…there are some very good commenters here that have been helpful to me…thanks…Doug, as for your dilemma, I am so much on your side, I can’t begin to describe it…If I had the ability, I would defend your “stunt” to the end of the world…or at least until next week….which ever comes first….Don’t let the system drag you down…you have supporters everywhere…
Doug, could you please again provide your link for donations? I want to make sure my money goes where you or your defense team can get the funds most easily. Thanks… and wishing you luck!!!
Here is the link to Doug’s gofundme page.
http://www.gofundme.com/sn8gc2s
There is a sign posted on the wall just in front of me. It reads: “Do not like” “Do not dislike” All will then be clear.
I guess what pisses me off is the injustice in this world and what is happening to Doug is injustice. He meant no harm to anyone and just because he wanted to send a message to Congress and the nation by choosing an unusual method, he faces going to prison. IMO, prison should be limited to people who pose a threat to other people or animals or the good earth in general such as murderers, abusers of any genre and idiots who insist on carrying a gun all the time just to create fear. Compare this to what they did to Petraeus. He compromised national security by sharing pillow talk with his lover and he gets off with parole time. Or Bush and Cheney who caused untold devastation and death and the unstable situation we have in the mideast. And allowed torture of human beings just because. But we can’t prosecute them for war crimes because “we have to move forward”.
Yeah, I guess I do get pissed off. And it literally makes me want to cry.
I like the stamp and it is now set as my desktop background. Just to remind me.
Hopefully, Doug gets a rational judge who’ll understand that he meant no harm.
And that what he did wasn’t just some publicity stunt.
He needed a way to deliver an important message, and had to choose an alternative way of delivering the mail to our Congresscritters, because they’ve lost touch with “We the people,” and no amount of phone calls, town hall meetings, e-mail, or USPS, can change their minds.
The only thing that changes their minds, is if a major supporter or lobbyist changes his/her/its mind.
Love ya, Doug!
You’re a very smart and brave man!!!
My standard level of disgust is being maintained by the crowing about the LIBOR consipracy by the big banks resulting in a $5.8 billion dollar fine. That is less than 1% of their weekly profit, I’d guess. It is like throwing a rock at the moon in its effectiveness. Fortunately, I have read so much about this sort of thing that it does not rise to the level of being pissed off. It just confirms the norm.
I don’t know if there is cause to look into “Jury Nullification”…I don’t know if a Public Defender would know about these things…apparently it is a rare event…yet Constitutional….
Right, Bill Bush, and right Doug Hughes. These days, when one commits any transgression, the book is thrown at you. And the book is huge and filled with bullshit beyond comprehension.
I shared Doug’s GoFundMe on Google plus and I’ll share it on some other social media later.
Folks: try to spread this. If a cop who kills a young man in (at best) suspicious circumstances can get a couple hundred grand raised *before being indicted* – not to defend himself against the criminal charges, which at least makes some level of sense – then we should at least try to kick in some cash for someone charged and being treated like nuclear waste for raising a loud, but peaceful, fuss.
Bob, Jury Nullification is kind of an oddball thing. It’s not explicitly a legal doctrine, per my understanding – it’s a consequence of our jury system. You can’t face double jeopardy, and a jury simply can’t be forced to convict. If jury holds firm, and acquits, that’s it – criminal case is over.
But it’s an infinite-edged sword with a really sloppy handle. Jury nullification is what enabled murder in the Jim Crow south without expectation of consequence.
I try not to get pissed off out of self preservation, so I limit my time on the interwebs. But the thought that Doug could get 9 1/2 years for that, meanwhile, you got banksters on Wall street who have committed real crimes, destroying thousands of lives, and they won’t even call them criminals, let alone bring ’em to justice. That pisses me off.
Well, another conservative family values perv bites the dust. An outstanding and upright member of the Family Research Council —the “seedbed of virtue”. I guess Josh was doing his family research with all the wrong methods. Seems the poor little lamb had gone astray and succumbed to the temptations of the flesh. No problem though, its not like it’s hypocrisy, Jesus washed away his sins and restored him to a place where he can now condemn others for not adhering to the true family values.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/21/josh-duggar-apologizes-resigns-from-family-research-council-amid-molestation-allegations/
Doug on NPR this morning!
http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/05/21/408459987/gyrocopter-pilot-on-his-incredible-flight-into-capitol-lawn
Here’s what pisses me off – too many rules. Just because Doug annoyed the authorities, they had to go and make up some rules against him.
There is nowhere else that I’d rather observe this human comedy than here in the Mahablog community. Thanks for maintaining it, Barbara.
Love the NPR interview!! One really gets a sense of who Doug is. As if we didn’t already know it here at Mahablog. I keep sending out energy vibes for Doug and his predicament. I have my own personal issues to deal with but they pale compared to what he is going through. I so admire his courage. And kudos to his wife for taking charge and keeping him healthy.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2015/05/23/josh-duggar-records-destroyed/27837149/
This is the kind of shit that pisses me off. Forget the Duggars, Josh, the quiver-full movement, or any of the home schooled inbred christian lunacy bullshit.
What cooks me is the comment in the story made by Mike Huckabee.
First off, Huckabee trivializes a crime against children as being just a “long ago sin”. Like its of no consequence? You know,like eating meat on Friday or telling a little white lie. It’s just a sin..and we are all sinners, right. No big deal!
Then he further covers over Josh’s crime with the standard fare that the victims need to be protected from public exposure. That might seem like a kind and noble gesture but the reality is that he’s advocating for the suppression of the psychological damage that Josh’s victims experienced. A variant of blame the victim. Those five young victims of Josh’s crime won’t come away emotionally unscathed from their experience. It will manifest negatively in some degree whether its behavioral, relational, sexual or self esteem and trust issues. Who knows, maybe those young girls actually feel that they brought their molestation on themselves and do want their shame left in the past.That stands to reason, except I kinda question how a very early teen or pre-teen can even process and understand the full implications of an unwanted sexual experience.
Then Huckabee says that destroying the records protects the victims when its clear that destroying the record only protect Josh..The judge has the power to seal a record that would afford every necessary protection to the victims, but by destroying them only Josh is getting the protection from possible future prosecution.
In any event the judge can’t destroy the fact that Josh Duggar of the Family Research Council is a confessed child molester.
Swami,
It’s all ok!
Jesus forgave them.
He told them so!
And then Jesus counseled all of those involved.
Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesh…
I ran across this interview with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink. She did it just before her trip to North Korea which is making Twitter news today – they got to S. Korea today. Actually, a lot of the interview was cribbed from an email – she asked me if it was OK.
I think you will enjoy –
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/medea-benjamin/gyrocopter-pilot-flew-for-reform_b_7306000.html