Tuesday Rant, From Casey Anthony To Libya

Rick Perlstein
Roger Cohen

"I was sure that the Republican plan to fix the economy by defaulting on the national debt would work, but apparently it didn't. The unemployment rate is now at 9.2%, which is scary because experts say 9.5 is the point at which people are desperate enough to consider Michele Bachmann." – Bill Maher

"If you can look at a crime where everything points to one answer and not see it, you're a dumbass. And if you can look at the deficit and not see that the problem is that the rich stopped paying taxes, you're a Republican." –Bill Maher

"Yes, Republican base, you are just like that jury. It is pathetically clear who’s killing the middle class, but you keep letting them get away with murder." –Bill Maher, comparing Republicans to the Casey Anthony jury

"New Rule: If your dad was on OJ's legal dream team, you can't Tweet your disappointment over the Casey Anthony verdict. It's like Tricia Nixon bitching about presidential corruption." –Bill Maher

I wasn't one of those glued to the Casey Anthony trial, I guess I got enough thrills with the OJ trials. Unless the plaintiff starts out with a car chase on the freeway, I just don't pay attention... Shows about clever and brash lawyers are crashing every year, and the actors in them keep getting better and better, but not even Jim Belushi or Cathy Bates seems to be able to hold our attention, yet the sad and pathetic case of Casey holds us rapt for weeks. At least we get credit for being able to tell which is fiction and which is real life, despite what Nancy Grace says... Too bad we can't make sure that Ms Anthony will never have another child, if she shows no remorse...


Lately, it seems that Barack Obama is the best candidate that the Republicans have, judging by the way he is handling the debt ceiling crisis. It's probably reverse psychology, since the GOP seems to hate whatever he stands for and votes the other way, if he embraces their plans and goals, adopts a more conservative stance (not to be confused with the Larry Craig stance), then maybe they will run away from the right towards the center and a more sensible ideology. It seems to be working with John Boehner, although he looks progressively worse, as if his hangover never had a chance to dissipate before the TV cameras find him...

Until we get some kind of manufacturing base back in the US, the job outlook will be pretty bleak. Tax cuts have never set up a business, and having health care for your new workers sure would be helpful, so the GOP priorities are all screwed up. Unemployment is worse in Europe and elsewhere, Spain, Portugal and Italy are on the brink of following Greece into economic meltdown. And with the drought here in the US, it looks like a long, hot summer still ahead... On a personal level, I keep fighting with my sister, so there's a lot of tension here at home. We seem to have lived very different lives as children, our interpretation of past events are as different as night and day. After I'm gone, this winter or the next, the only version of our family history left, will be hers...

France is trying to bring Libya back into the news, and nobody is paying much attention, hoping for a nice sex scandal developing instead. French envoys are the latest in a long line of so called envoys who have met with Qaddafi, saying that he is ready to give up his power as leader of Libya. I didn't think my earlier prediction would come true, so we'll see if this actually happens. The US is getting ready to escalate the war with Libya by using Egypt as its proxy. Egypt just demanded that 14 Libyan television programs leave its communications satellite, they will have to find somewhere else to broadcast their shows. Or else? Will the Egyptian Army march into Libya over reruns of America's Got Talent? The Egyptian Army is having enough problems being taken seriously at home, they may have more problems if they invade another country, no matter how nicely Leon Panetta asks them... Of course, since Qaddafi originally said that the protests in Libya were originally a plot against him by al Qaeda, then he might have to worry about being assassinated by someone he trusts...

And to show that they have more in common with totalitarian leaders in Syria and Lebanon, the state of Israel has just passed a law making it illegal to gather and protest against the state. The right wing conservatives think that by outlawing criticism they will foster a better image, they call it being legitimized globally. If our own right wing within the GOP is making it become the party of no, then Israel is becoming the country of no, and actually is doing a better job of shooting themselves in the foot than any other group complaining about them ever could. Perhaps that will be the next phase of Sarah Palin's career - to move to Israel and become their Prime Minister, another job that she can quit half-way through and add to her flaky resume...