Romney, Palin, and Paul Battle It Out in Fantasy President League

I'm Huge!

Progressives and left wingers often express wonder at why Obama is so hated by the right wing, given his rather lax dedication to the goals of liberal idealists. There are two answers to that. Obama is splitting the difference, which means people on both extremes will be unhappy. Also, some conservative types are not really inclined to give the black president any credit for what he is doing in the real world. He could stabilize the economy, car companies and banks; reduce nuclear proliferation; bring healthcare to kids; give a tax cut and housing credits; and propose energy policy, and he will still be seen as the black hand of Satan. Conservatives are stuck in a type of moral and intellectual inversion, and it's dark in there when your head is inside out.

The Republican Party faithful met in New Orleans, land of black culture, to talk strategy, say mean things, and play at choosing the next president.

The results of the straw poll: Romney, 24 percent with 439 votes; Rep. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, 24 percent with 438 votes; Palin, 18 percent with 330 votes; Gingrich, 18 percent with 321 votes; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 4 percent; Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, 3 percent each, former Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, 2 percent; and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, 1 percent.

(McClatchy)

Seems to me they have a problem. Romney will be seen by hardcore conservatives as inauthentic, in addition to his having supported enforced healthcare initiatives in Massachusetts. The next two, Paul and Palin, are both unelectable, lacking credibility and intellect respectively; it would be a circus if either won the nomination. Gingrich carries the burden of being a retread, and an adulterous one at that, and not likely to garner enthusiastic support among those who think Obama is a socialist Satanic menace. That leaves Huckabee, who is probably the only sane candidate that would satisfy real conservatives. Or maybe Jeb Bush will appear at the last minute (our theory).  But if the real nominations track the straw poll (unlikely we think), Republicans are in for a world of hurt.

Other News:

• The recently christened Party of No signals to Obama that they might say something like... no, if Obama nominates a liberal activist non-mainstream judge. Of course pretty much any judge will be labeled liberal and activist if they are not of the strict constructionist, conservative bent. Of course we don't entirely mind that, preferring judges friendly to religion. We do mind if Obama's wider agenda gets sabotaged by Republican brou ha ha over nominees however.

• Leonard Sax, a psychologist and author, asks why so many girls--15%--self identify as gay or bisexual versus the historical norm of 2%. He dismisses one of the obvious answers, that boys like it when girls kiss, and girls like it when boys pay attention. The issue of porn comes up as well, and how so many boys at a young age now have access to it through the internet.  We would reduce it down to two factors: the availability of porn, and the enthusiasm by which creators of pop culture embrace female to female sexuality (in effect, Hollywood's male controlling powers extending their private porn sensibility in a more PG or R-rated direction). It's a way men get their jollies, and women can acquire a sheen of being sexy or independent while not actually being any sort of true independent. Women like to say they are bi for the same reason more women (like all of them) are now strutting around with tattoos. A safe way of expressing some sort of individual identity, but largely a kind of manipulated path of action induced by male preferences and/or pop culture's influence. If enough young starlets start calling themselves Broccoli, or if the porn world starts pushing ATM, or if Hollywood presents going to Vegas and getting wasted as hip, so too young minds will follow. In other words, so many girls are bisexual, or say they are bisexual, because some powerful, horny man in Hollywood really likes chicks doing it. Men have long enjoyed that, but morality has always been the gatekeeper between porn and the wider culture presented by Hollywood. Now there is no gate, and various things are slipping through.              

•  Bad credit? No money? Need a job? Can't get job because your credit is bad? Yea we thought it absurd for employers to be able to base hiring decisions on credit scores given the lack of causal connection between credit and workplace performance. Now some pushback against the irrational idea that those with money problems should not be able to get a job.