My favorite letter to the editor:

From the Letters to the Editor of the Dublin (Ireland) _The Sunday
Independent_ (as reprinted in _The New Republic_, Oct. 24, 1994):

Sir --
I was shocked by the language of Molly McAnailly Burke’s piece
on lesbian rockers, and your allowing it in a family newspaper.  The
offending phrase “five writhing beauties hot for each other” should be
“five writhing beauties hot for one another,” since *each other* applies
only to two.

—Sean O’Brien, Rathfarnham, D14

Who is exactly is the “us” he is referring to and why does he feel something has happened to them?

George Bush is the Greatest President Our Nation Has Ever Had… The Man Has Balls!

And you don’t, because you posted and ran.

Lots of balls and no brain. A real good recipe for a wrestling star, but not for leading a nation.

Is that the title to a book or song or something? If not, why all the caps? Correct me if I’m wrong, but most men have balls.

Fill in the blanks and join in:

____ had one big ball
____ had two, but they were small
and Bruce had no balls at all

Brooks: Allow me to translate from the Mid-American Moralistic dialect (with which I am all too familiar, what with living here and all).

When Coburn says “us,” he is referring to the good God-fearing Christian people of Oklahoma (who presumably agree with him that lesbianism is the Work of Satan).

When he says, “Think about that issue. How is it that that’s happened to us?” he is encouraging his listeners to believe that their daughters transformation into a bunch of crazed muff-divers is the fault of Loose Morals and Rampant Godless Liberalism. Since his opponent is a Democrat—and therefore a representative of all the aforementioned evils—this is a roundabout way of attacking him by pretending to question a (fake) social trend.

At least, I presume that was the thinking behind it. The whole notion was so wacky that it ended up backfiring drastically and earning him national media mockery. Of course, the way Fundies think this may just prove to them that he is truly a Godly Man fighting for their youth against the declining moral standards of society. To that kind of Christian, being mocked for your puritanical beliefs is a sure sign that you’re on the right path. It’s just Satan’s way of trying to make you doubt your faith, see. 

Ahhh. Got it. Thanks. So what you’re saying is that he’s a nut job.

The only way to uncover the truth is for me to investigate… please send funding for my undercover documentary where I will dress up as a busty blonde and infiltrate the world of South East Oklahoman Dikes Pussies Posse. I understand the hazing process might include vulgar acts of fellatio… but by god the truth deserves to be heard..

Geez, i wish i graduated from a highschool where rampant homosex was a problem in the restrooms. Massachusetts seems so boring compared to the goings on in the Oklahomo public schools.  Those crazy MiddleAmericans.

The esteemed Mr. Coburn is probably just grumpy that nobody lets him watch.

And somebody should tell this phantom “Bruce” troll that all balls and no brains is more to be feared than supposed “rampant” lesbianism.

Somebody...anybody....deliver us from these wingnuts running around in a blind panic screaming “Won’t SOMEBODY please think of the children?”

My comment has to do with the article on Republican Bunning.  He sounds like a ‘good ole boy’ with a sense of humor. That’s what he wants you to think while he throws lies out as truths.  The problem is that the people from his area love ‘good ole boys’ so they won’t try to analyze the statements he makes to determine the lies.

Moralistic scare tactics have become standard for hard-right Republican candidates

For some time now.

This is from Eric Mink’s column in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

In 1994, George W. Bush was running for governor of Texas against the Democratic incumbent, Ann Richards. Late in the campaign, flyers showing men kissing each other started turning up on the windshields of churchgoing Texans on Sundays. The flyers didn’t mention Richards or Bush but linked liberals to homosexuality and school children.

Bush said he had nothing to do with the flyers. He won the election.

Coburn doesn’t get it. He should have maintained plausible deniability as does our ballsy President.

On behalf of Kentucky, I apologize for the nutjob that is Jim Bunning. 

There is no excuse, really, just wanted to say that he is not helping the cause of making us not look like ignorant rednecks.

At least he’s no Roy Moore.

Michelle: According to Salon.com, the bit I mentioned in my post is just one of many oddball things he’s done. Is the stuff in that article for real? (You can read the whole thing by watching an ad to get a “day pass.")

Those people are all idiots. When will the powers that be (The Neo-Nazi Conservative Republicans) wake up and understand that not everyone agrees with their supposed “Moral Superiority”. Lesbians are people too damnit. It’s things like this that make me question our entire system of government and the general mental health of our society as a whole.

TheJynXeD: I don’t doubt our system of government, or even the two-party political system that’s evolved over the years. The mental health of the nation, however, is something that I’ve ponder quite a bit lately.

Watching the opinion polls stay stuck at 50/50 for so long, I can’t help but wonder what’s wrong with 50% of the population when voting for Bush seems like a good idea. Fear, I suppose. The tendency to choose the devil you know over the devil you don’t. Still, it’s frustrating for those of us who embrace pluralism to see the county slide into this moralistic morass.

I take some comfort in the news that polls may be increasingly unreliable. Perhaps there are more reasonable people left in this country than Gallup and Pew know.

Is the stuff in that article for real?

I have tried not paying attention to any political commercials on television lately since there seems to be roughly 10,235 on each night, but I do recall seeing the “this is Mongiardo’s plane and house, blah blah...” commercial.

While reading Owensboro’s Messenger-Inquirer, though, I came across this little gem, apparently said during Monday’s debate:

“Earlier this year, I made an inappropriate comment, and for that I personally apologize to you,” Bunning said. “I would hope you would do the same to my wife and my family for all the horrible rumors that you and your staff have been circulating about my health. It’s unbelievable.”

Call me crazy and all, but that doesn’t sound much like an apology to me.

The whole article is here:
Bunning apologizes, then attacks Mongiardo for rumors

It’s not getting too much interest around here though.  People around here are strong Republicans, and I think it’s getting downplayed a bit so they don’t realize they may be voting for someone who is, shall we say, bonkers? 

Like I said, I hadn’t heard of it myself until the last week or so, and a lot of the more conservative towns are not putting much information in the papers.

We are one screwed up state, to say the least. And I’d hate to add concerns about “lesbians in the bathroom together” to the mess.