Caution! Morons at Work!

About two weeks ago, someone from Oberbobermober's congressional campaign called. I assured the fellow the candidate had my vote no matter what his name was because I thought CongressClown Kline wasn't fit to be elected eraser monitor, much less to misrepresent us in Washington. I went on to explain that in the last go 'round, I'd tried to volunteer my services to the cause but had a dickens of a time contacting anyone....and then no one ever contacted me back. I also said I'd asked for a lawn sign, but never got one of those either. He got all excited. I told him what I could do. I gave him my email address. He said, "There will be  sign on your lawn by Monday the latest!"

He just didn't say which Monday.

I'd just about given up when lo! and behold! The lawn sign has appeared on my lawn! The first on my block!

It's a miracle!  

Now, to make mine happiness complete, Congressclown Kline just won Bill Maher's Flip-A-District contest. His flunky-in-charge, Troy Young, responded to the news:

“Minnesotans are tired of sleazy and slimy politics, but DFL candidate Mike Obermueller certainly isn’t. Maher saluted 9/11 terrorists and called our troops ‘cowardly,’ he repeatedly has degraded Christians and calls them ‘schizophrenic,’ and he repugnantly compared special-needs children to ‘dogs,’ yet Mike Obermueller promotes this behavior essentially naming Maher as his campaign manager.”

Well, I'm okay with that. I hope Bill comes to visit our little district because Lord knows, we could use the excitement. It sure isn't coming from Kline. The guy is silent. Completely, utterly silent. When he talks, sure, words come out of his mouth, but they are pasty, wan, and devoid of position or meaning. If you want to distill his message into three simple principles, this might help:

1. Don 't require equal pay for equal work. 
2. Don't let women control their own bodies. 
3. Charge women more for health insurance.

And never, ever let them speak aloud in the public forum. 

I can attest to the third one personally. I once tried to ask a question at one of his phone-in forums, and he kept interrupting me...and then didn't answer the question. I asked about health care, he responded with his theories on gun control.  I thought I was having some kind of episode, but I had written out my question and it had nothing to do with guns.....

...which, according to the congressclown, don't need any more legislation since it's a state issue and the Feds have enough laws on the books for "this sort of thing." Maybe he should ask his colleague and former fellow House member Gabby Giffords how she feels about this sort of thing.  

Now, I will give him credit where credit is due: he did say something sane about ISIL and ISIS: 

It’s not the place of Congress … to sit and develop policy strategy and tactics to implement that. I can’t imagine a strategy that doesn’t include more American air power. … He needs to lay out the strategy so that we can implement something in a meaningful way

September 8th, 2014

Of course, the sane part was short-lived; he changed his mind the next day. Seems he thinks the President has overstepped his "bounds" and should not even think about doing anything at all until he's discussed it with Congress. But he should telegraph to ISIS or ISIL what he is not going to do even if he has to discuss it openly with The Hill.  I guess as long as POTUS wasn't outlining a strategy, he was wrong, and now that he is, he is still wrong. What's a President to do?

Oh, well. Let the wild rumpus start!

Meanwhile, from the TSTL* department: Urban Outfitters offered a one-of-a-kind vintage sweatshirt for sale on their website.

Now, I was a sentient human being on May 4th, 1970; a very sentient senior in high school. I remember vividly what happened that day. I vaguely knew Jeffrey Miller, the one lying on the pavement in the famous picture. He was the neighbor of a friend from camp. I thought he was cute. And then he was dead on the front page of all the newspapers. 

Kent State, for a lot of us, was the day we lost our political cherry. We didn't believe something like that could happen here. Jeff Miller's death didn't make us afraid; it radicalized us. It made us march more, harder, with greater determination so our voices would be heard. 

Urban Outfitters was betting we wouldn't notice or, if we did, we'd just cluck our collective tongues and let it go at that. 

Uh.....guess again, little retailer. 

In multi-parts, Urban Outfitters tweeted the following statement today:

Urban Outfitters sincerely apologizes for any offense our Vintage Kent State Sweatshirt may have caused. It was never our intention to allude to the tragic events that took place at Kent State in 1970 and we are extremely saddened that this item was perceived as such. The one-of-a-kind item was purchased as part of our sun-faded vintage collection. There is no blood on this shirt nor has this item been altered in any way. The red stains are discoloration from the original shade of the shirt and the holes are from natural wear and fray. Again, we deeply regret that this item was perceived negatively and we have removed it immediately from our website to avoid further upset.

Come on, folks, no one is that stupid. You don't even have to have an imagination to get the subtext here. By the way, did you happen to notice that the sweatshirt was similar in color to Jackie Kennedy's Dallas suit?

Which really makes me wonder about the following:

1. The person who designed it.
2. The person who decided to offer it as part of a collection.
3. The person who designed the marketing of this one-of-a-kind sweatshirt.
4. The photographer who shot it (no pun intended....or not.)
5. The person who did the print layout.
6. The person who did the line editing.
7. The person who sits in the big office who shoulda been looking at this stuff.

Those are at least 7 people who did not notice the resemblance to blood and gore. At least 7 people who have knowledge of iconic historical images in this nation's history. And you mean to tell me not one of those 7 people looked at that sweatshirt and shuddered? If that was true, there are at least 7 people over at Urban Outfitters who are just too stupid to have their jobs. 

Folks, if we forget the past, we are doomed to repeat it. We need to be teaching this stuff. Our kids need to see the images. If they can play DOOM, the can see this stuff. And we cannot afford to be silent about companies like Urban Outfitters who would turn the scant sacred we have into a profane marketing opportunity. 

Gross. 

*TSTL: Too Stupid To Live

Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

The key to doing hospice at home is dignity. 

At the end of the road, it's the only thing that matters