Been there, done that.
Rick "Secessionist" Perry has such a devoted following--see above--but he comes with a little baggage. None of that matters to people like this, however, a woman whose MyTwitFace profile my sister Susan had occasion to "research" and thoughtfully copied, pasted, and sent me, and which I reproduce faithfully here:
'I am 39, married to Jonathan, have 4 kids, Kaitlyn, Tucker Dean, Daniel, and Ben. I am a Registered Nurse. I am attempting to homeschool Daniel. My interests include family, "religion," politics, couponing and stockpiling, camping.'
'Conservative/Tea Party/Constitution!'
I just bet that's her sign.
Ooooh! Ooooh! "H-E- double hockey sticks in- a!"
ReplyDeleteWhile I encountered quite a bit of stupidity while I was in Africa, nothing beats the pure idiocy of the Amurican People. Sometimes I see these signs and I read them as, "Welcome Back!"
ReplyDeleteThe shame. I know it personally. You know why.
ReplyDeleteAmuricans???
ReplyDelete@Anonymous - It's how the rednecks pronounce "Americans"
ReplyDeletePicky,picky,picky. That's what you are,Nance.
ReplyDeleteThat poor woman couldn't decide whether "Home schoolers" or "Home scholars" were for Rick Perry and she was running out of green paint so she very wisely combined the two words into one.
She really wanted to buy some more green paint,but she had used her last coupon to buy Tucker Dean a
Rick Perry "ALL MOUTH AND NO CATTLE" shirt to wear to the next secession meeting.
Laughing out loud here :) And I also love Amuricans - really, it doesn't get any better than this. Thanks for my Saturday entertainment!
ReplyDeleteBug--Glad you could get a few snickers in while recuperating. Take care down there in SOh.
ReplyDeleteNancy--You know, you're probably right. (NOT!) I certainly hope R. Perry doesn't have any cattle. You know how I love cows, and I'd worry about them incessantly if they were in his custody.
S. Warehouse--Sigh. I honestly don't know how you do it. Keep the faith. XXOO
Mikey G.--I keep comforting myself with the knowledge that there are some things for which we can still be inordinately proud. Perhaps not so recently, that's true, but we have a rich, fine tradition and history...in many things.
Sillyak--???
I bet that's her sign, too. Poor Daniel. Looks like Kaitlyn, Tucker Dean and Ben lucked out and got 'scholed' somewhere else. The founding fathers would roll over in their graves if they could see the tea baggers, the worst educated people in the country, homescholing future generations.
ReplyDeleteAs for Mr. Perry... it is depressing and frightening to think that he has expanded his political ambitions to the presidential race. Or to paraphrase the late, great MLK:
I have a nightmare; a nightmare that one day this nation will lower its standards once again and elect yet another Stupid Texas Republican Governor to the Oval Office.
Snort. Being a scholer is a great thing.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Something I just stumbled across and had to share:
ReplyDeleteHOW TEXAS RANKS:
— 45th in the nation for SAT scores.
— 51st in the nation on percentage of adults with high school diplomas. (I guess these stats include P.R.)
— 47th in the nation on amount spent on education per student.
— 44th in the nation for percentage of students completing
high school.
— The Texas state legislature has cut 17% of funds for community colleges over the past two years, and 12% to state colleges this year. (That last item being something that has affected me on a very personal level.)
Perry sure looks like the guy we want in charge in 2012... don't he?
Ortizzle: You make me laugh so much.
ReplyDeleteI fell out of my chair over your comment about Kaitlyn,Tucker Dean and Ben being "home scholed" somewhere else.
Good night,Tucker Dean,Good Night Daddy,Good Night Ben. Good Night,John Boy!
@Nancy: tee hee! The name Tucker Dean really is right out of The Waltons, isn't it? (Separately, OK, but together...)
ReplyDeleteOrtizzle--And I bet that TX got rid of collective bargaining for its teachers a long, long time ago, too. Now its textbooks are a nightmare of "intelligent design" and divinity theory and cagey euphemisms for the slave trade. Holy crap--no pun intended--but that state is full of Crazy. Maybe all the tea partyers can colonize there. (You and S. Warehouse would just have to relo.)
ReplyDeleteNancy--You bring up an interesting point. If TD et al go to some other Backwoods Couponer's house and they all get homescholed by a tea partyer, is that still, technically, homescholing? Hmmm....
Mary G.--Nice to see you here. Aren't you glad you live in AAA "Canadia" where such foolishness doesn't exist? So civilised!
The first time I read it I thought that Tucker and Dean were two kids, and that she couldn't count higher than 4. I like that "religion" is in quotes. She's awesome.
ReplyDeleteOrtizzle: I suspect the 51st state is the District of Columbia, rather than Puerto Rico. I work in payroll and see lists of states pretty much every day, and D.C. is usually included. That's the reason it just popped into my head like that. ;-)
Poor Typhoid Mary. What a crappy situation she was in, huh?
My husband Ted's favorite bumper sticker "Re-elect Rick Perry for TX Governor" Thus keeping him out of our way. We could all have that bumper sticker.
j.@jj--My head almost exploded when the aforementioned candidate just accused Ben Bernanke of something "treasonous". All I could think of was, "Oh hell. But contemplating secession from the Union, that's not treason, huh?" Good heavens. What a piece of work.
ReplyDeleteNance,
ReplyDeleteIs it true that Rick Perry was elected "MOST LIKELY TO SECEDE" in High School?
Nancy--LOL! I was definitely asleep at the wheel for not capitalizing on that one first. Touche!
ReplyDeleteHi Nance, I just saw the link to your blog over at C.C.'s.
ReplyDeleteCreature's comments really piqued my interest.
It's lovely to see a blog where everything is on the table.
I don't have as much time as I once did to check blogs, but this one looks like fun. If you want some really good rants, I'll pass your blog address over to Windhover.
P.S. Iowans have gone round the bend!
Sorry to rain on your hate parade but I doubt if that sign is real.
ReplyDeleteIn the current environment it is standard operating procedure to stage things like this. I'm sure some obamaphile is holding that purposely misspelled sign.
Of course since this is the internet that picture could have been photoshopped to suit your opinion.
Either way its not worthy of comment. Let's focus on the state of our country.
Nance -
ReplyDeleteFollowed you home from the corner. Maybe because you're a fellow Buckeye.
Anyway, LMAO at your elephant convention from July 18. Brilliant! Now that you're retired, you have to blog more frequently.
I'd be delighted to have you visit my blog. Here's a good place to start.
Cheers!
JzB
Anon @ 7:09 -
ReplyDeleteYour accusation is based on nothing. Therefore, it is not an argument. Your use of the word "Obamaphile" in a context which has nothing to do with Obama is telling in itself. The point is the abysmal ignorance of tea baggers and their ilk - and their eagerness to broadacst it. Case in point, a picture I took myself - and I don't use Photoshop.
Cheers!
JzB
jazzbumpa--Welcome to the Dept. I thought I heard some footsteps behind me. I do plan on posting more frequently--honestly, I do!--but so many things have gotten in my way. (Mainly, my own sloth.) I'll try, though. Enjoy browsing here, and clicking around my LinkWithin widgies and massive archives. You'll find lots of things to keep you busy until I break out of my Endless Summer. and many thanks for the kind words.
ReplyDeletenot naive--You're new here, so I'll cut you some slack. I fastidiously research the provenance of every single thing I post here. Most of my teaparty/teabonics photos came from the Washington Post or other primary sources. Before I posted the "homescholers" sign, I made sure it wasn't under any sort of dark cloud of suspicion. I also made sure I didn't post the wide shot, which showed the child who was holding it. I don't engage in that sort of thing as a mother and a former teacher and as a human being. And that sort of irony--that sign--is plenty worthy of comment from a broad spectrum of viewpoints. Just look at the number I've gotten here so far as well as the amount that pic has gotten where it's posted elsewhere on the Web. And if you've read at all here at the Dept., you'd see that I've been plenty focused on "the state of our country" for the past six years. Now, having said all of that, come back anytime and join the discussion. Just make sure you've got something honest and valuable to say that is thoughtful and not some talking point.
Clear Ayes--No time for blogs? What a terribly busy---emphasis on the "terrible"--life you lead if you've no time to sample blogs on the InterWebs! Thanks for squeezing me in. Glad you stopped by. Rants? Hmmm...depends. ;-) Remember, I'm retired now and taking life easy. But if Windhover needs to vent, wave Windhover over. (I just had to say that.)
JzB: Your accusation is based on nothing. Therefore, it is not an arguement. Your use of the word "tea-bagger" in a context which has nothing to do with the Tea Party is telling in itself. The point is that it IS possible to support our country and the troops AND be against the war and its costs.
ReplyDeleteMy son is in Iraq as I type this and I don't support the war.
Your kneejerk reaction clouds any logical reasoning to the meaning of your photo.
C'mon look at that picture! I didn't know that was a kid holding that sign but it makes even more sense now.
ReplyDeleteThe mother is also holding the sign. Maybe making sure it is aimed towards the press cameras. Exploiting her kid as she pulled him off the baseball field and away from his friends.
Really, how many of us went to a political rally at that age?
Talking points? The entire campaign is a series of talking points!
Sorry to bother your little world here. But tell me, just what color is the sky here?
Off to vacation...we can discuss more after Labor Day.
nn--re: the sky. Blue. Here, everything is BLUE. And by Labor Day, a new post on something else will be up, so we'll discuss that. Have a lovely, safe Labor Day. Enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteNot naive -
ReplyDeleteSorry for mistaking you for an anon. But you're going to have to do better than simply - and lamely - throwing my words back at me. Some reasoning is required.
First, I did not accuse you of anything. I pointed out that you made a naked assertion - which turns out to be false. No surprise there
True - I made a mental leap from Perry supporter to tea-bagger, but it's not a huge leap. So my use of that word only tells you what I think about people who do not know how to think.
The ignorance displayed in the photo I presented is that 1) the primary reason we have a deficit is because of Bush waging an absurd war, and cutting taxes at the same time. No leader in the history of the world has ever so deliberately undermined the financial stability of the homeland. Currently, tax rates and tax receipts/GDP are at historic lows, and ignorami believe we are undertaxed. Do you think tea baggers might vote for Texas governors with dismal track records? That is my point.
The point of this post - that you totally missed - is that the picture is exactly about the state of the country - the ignorance, misinformation, and lies that saturate the narrative. Perry has been a disaster for Texas. But you have to dig to find that information.
So - not only is it worthy of comment, it is vitally important that the truth - you know, real facts and data - get put out somewhere, so that people can see it.
BTW, my 57 year-old brother-in-law is stationed in Kuwait, and my step son has done tours in the middle east until I've lost count.
Don't accuse me of knee-jerk reaction. I'm perfectly capable of being wrong, but my tendency is to overthink, not underthink. Spend some time on my blog, and you'll see that. I recommend the DEEP STUPID series that can be found in the label list of the right hand frame.
Your reaction to this post, OTOH, was knee-jerk, and you are projecting.
As nance said, bring some thought to the discussion. And welcome to the thinking, reality-based world.
nance -
I'm more or less sorry for the rant. In the future, I'll try not to use up your bandwidth that way.
Cheers!
JzB
jazz--Please be less sorry. Rant away. As long as you are thoughtful, civil, adult, and reasonably on topic in here someplace, you're more than welcome to "blog on my blog" as we say. I think it's saying plenty when almost everyone I know has either a family member or friend involved in one of the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan. A colleague of mine, a social studies teacher, has served several tours and another has a husband who has served as well. And I've lost count, of course, of the students I've had who I think about stationed "over there." Too many and too long.
ReplyDeleteIn my fevered fervor I made a blatant blunder.
ReplyDeleteignorami believe we are undertaxed
This should, of course, say "ignorami believe we are OVERtaxed."
JzB
Oh my!
ReplyDeleteI would stay and discuss but I see that is not possible here.
Perhaps that is why one rarely comments on Retirement Blues.
Hmm. I've commented quite a bit here, but this is the first time I feel as though I've "joined the fray." :-)
ReplyDeleteWe don't need obamaphiles or any other philes to plant fake signs at Tea Party gatherings in order to form an opinion. Members of the Tea party simply have to open their mouths and we get their ignornant, narrow-minded message. (Unless the media is photoshopping their sound bites.)
According to Congresswoman Bachmann, The Tea Party represents 90% of Americans. I have never been so proud to belong to a minority. And never so sad to see such obtuse women in the political arena.