Not Just Red or Blue…Nine Political Flavors

I thought I was just an awesome shade of dark blue. Nope. I am a Post-Modern. Independent leaning Liberal? 😯 This was surprising as one of the typologies is Solid Liberal. If you read more about your type under Read the Report, you can see if you feel it’s accurate. I found out that it was.

Take the quiz, and post your flavor! It’s only 20 questions. Easy breezy.

Where Do You Fit? 2011 Pew Research Political Typology Quiz

POST-MODERN
13% OF ADULT POPULATION /14% OF REGISTERED VOTERS

BASIC DESCRIPTION: Well-educated and financially comfortable. Post-Moderns are supportive of many aspects of government though they take conservative positions on questions about racial policy and the social safety net. Very liberal on social issues. Post-Moderns were strong supporters of Barack Obama in 2008, but turned out at far lower rates in 2010.

DEFINING VALUES: Strongly supportive of regulation and environmental protection. Favor the use of diplomacy rather than military force to ensure peace. Generally positive about immigrants and their contributions to society.

WHO THEY ARE: The youngest of the typology groups (32% under age 30); a majority are non-Hispanic white (70%) and have at least some college experience (71%). Nearly a third (31%) are unaffiliated with any religious tradition. Half live in either the Northeast (25%) or the West (25%). A majority (58%) lives in the suburbs.

LIFESTYLE NOTES: 63% use social networking. One-in-five (20%) regularly listen to NPR, 14% regularly watch The Daily Show, 10% read the New York Times. 31% trade stocks and 53% have a passport.

GOP Conservatism: Authoritarian or Libertarian

Mad love to woodgatesview for pointing me to this great Rachel Maddow segment.

I love how she explains the difference and finally gave them a “name.” It seems like the GOP and Conservatives campaign as Libertarian, when they really are Authoritarian. Libertarians, like any party, come in different flavors. However, their basic tenet is limited government. The ones I’ve run into online and in real life are so different from these Authoritarian Conservatives. If I were Libertarian, I’d be kinda pissed if the name was used by these Conservatives. In this clip, you will see a perfect example of why. There is no way a Libertarian would suppport the government reading private e-mails.

Anyway, enjoy! 🙂

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Rachel Maddow Cites TPM’s Coverage Of FOIA’d MI…, posted with vodpod

Boehner: Three Against One

Time Short, Tempers Flare in Budget Showdown

Didn’t we just do this? Oh yeah. The Continuing Resolution. Has it been three weeks already? Time sure does fly fast.

Boehner is in a real mess. Three groups, all with different demands:

Tea Party
The fussy 54 says, “If we don’t get our 10 bajillion dollars ($100B, but I like the word bajillion) in spending cuts, we ain’t signing it. Let the government shut down. It ain’t 1994, dude.”

Democrats
House Democrats are just watching Boehner vs. the Tea Party with their buckets of 1200-calorie popcorn and Red Vines®.
Senate Democrats say, “If the bill has 10 bajillion dollars in spending cuts, we ain’t signing it.”

Social Conservatives
The pro-birth crowd says, “Any legislation that goes through here better defund Planned Parenthood. We don’t care about the government shutting down either.”

That gavel sure is a lot heavier than you thought, huh, Mr. Spreaker?

Republican Woman…Stay Away from Me

I found another Jasiri X video that matches nicely with another one of my posts, Dana Loesch…Who?

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Republican Woman, Stay Away From Me, posted with vodpod

His videos are great. This one was produced before the midterm elections. All I can say is THANK GOD Christine O’Donnell and Sharron Angle lost. And for the future of my state, I’m so glad the Megalomaniac lost too.

It’s not that I loathe Republican women. Aren’t there better female GOP players out there? After Condoleezza Rice, what happened? I mean come on. A mama grizzly who can’t even tell people what she reads? That is hardly a gotcha question. A former witch (no offense to pagans) who couldn’t debate her way out of a paper bag ? A candidate who believes that pregnant rape victims should carry to term because they can make “lemonade out of lemons?” A representative who thought she was being locked in a bathroom by lesbians when one of said lesbians was just leaning against the stall door?

That’s the pool? Sorry, but it sounds like the shallow end of the gene pool.

I’m sure there are more Conservative women who are more like Condoleezza than Sarah. Until the GOP finds them or vice versa, comedians and bloggers will never want for material.

2012 Republican National Convention: Cairo

Screw Tampa. Cairo is where it’s at. I read Politico’s article, GOP 2012-ers cold on Egypt strategy, and got a kick out of it. Only a select few of those who want to take on Obama in 2012 have been vocal about how we should proceed with Egypt. The others have not.

MITT ROMNEY
“I think what the United States has to do is make it very clear to the people of Egypt that we stand with the voices of democracy and freedom and we also have to communicate — I think as the administration has,” he said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Translation: I have no chance because of the Mormon thing, so here goes nothing. It’s all about Democracy, even if the Muslim guy in the White House thinks so, too.

NEWT GINGRICH
“I don’t think they have a clue. It’s very frightening to watch this administration,” he said on Fox News with Greta Van Susteren Tuesday night. “We should be very frightened of the Muslim Brotherhood. These may be people you can’t dialogue with.”
Translation: Obama bad. Me good. Gingrich 2012.

TIM PAWLENTY
“I think his time is going to come to an end,” Pawlenty told a scrum of reporters accompanying his book tour in Iowa. “It should come to an end. But as that vacuum gets filled, we want to do all we can to make sure it gets filled by institutions and people and leaders that share our principles, and values of freedom and democracy and human rights.”
Translation: See how diplomatic I am? I’m very presidential. Oh, and God bless America!

MIKE HUCKABEE
“I don’t think anybody is trying to defend everything that he did as president, but they would have liked to have seen at least an acknowledgment that he’s been a friend for all these years,” Huckabee said Tuesday morning on Fox News. “So the concern is that if the U.S. will so quickly turn on that friend, how quickly will it turn on its other friends? And that’s the sentiment shared by not only the Israelis, but by the members of the European parliament from several European countries with whom I spoke this morning.”
Translation: Zionists, please vote for me.

Even silence can speak volumes.

SARAH PALIN
“I’m not supposed to say anything until I read The Middle East for Dummies and can find Egypt on the map.”

BOBBY JINDAL
“I’m Indian. They’re Egyptian. I don’t know if Americans can tell the difference, so I’ll sit this one out.”

Republicans always put on a great show. Who knew we’d have a trailer so soon?

Healthcare and Guns

In South Dakota, state legislators introduced a bill requiring people over the age of 21 to purchase a gun. It was a poke at the new healthcare law. The bill’s sponsor, Republican State Representative Hal Wick, said, “Do I or the other cosponsors believe that the State of South Dakota can require citizens to buy firearms? Of course not,” he said. “But at the same time, we do not believe the federal government can order every citizen to buy health insurance.”

OK, so introducing this ridiculous piece of legislation was to prove a point. Does it really though?

vs.

Guns – used to kill
Healthcare – used to prevent/cure illness

Guns – may not have to be used during a person’s life
Healthcare – will be used at least once in a person’s life

All this has proven is that the state representatives have way too much time on their hands.

I’m writing this post and am sick with the flu. I went to the doctor today, and she prescribed antibiotics. She wanted to treat me as if I had pneumonia because of the symptoms I’m having. She did not want it to escalate. She also told me to start using my steroid inhaler before my asthma gets worse.

I am very blessed to have insurance. What if I didn’t, had to wait, and developed pneumonia? Or had an asthma attack? I’d probably go to the ER. What if I can’t pay? That’s OK, they’ll see me anyway. What if I end up hospitalized because the pneumonia was that bad – from not being able to go to the doctor earlier? I’ll run up this huge bill in the tens of thousands of dollars. If I can’t pay it, I’ll just discharge it through bankruptcy.

This is how it is now. The healthcare law is an attempt at fixing our broken system. It’s far from perfect, which is why we should work on it and not scrap it all together. People are already benefitting from this law. Children will not be denied insurance due to pre-existing conditions and young people can stay on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26.

Instead of writing up legislation to point out what’s wrong with a law, how about thinking of things to make the existing law better? Maybe South Dakota is on to something, though. If people get sick and can’t get or afford insurance, they can kill themselves with the gun that was shoved down their throats.

State of the Shellacking

I was embarrassingly late for my dental appointment. “I’m so sorry. I know it’s probably too late to see me, but can I reschedule?” “Sure,” the receptionist said with the half smile/half disappointed school marm look. We were about to set up the appointment when his hygienist came out. They started talking, while I watched the TV in their reception area. The State of the Union address was about to begin. “Dr. Martinez said he can see you – if you’re willing to wait.” “Great! Thank you!” Wow. Sending him and his office those Hickory Farms gift baskets every year always saves my sorry ass. I sit down and get totally engrossed in the address.

The musical chairs of bipartisanship was weird. Well-intentioned, but weird. The strength of the applause shows which statements were supported or rejected. What am I going to do now? Never fear, Speaker of the House Boehner is here. Seated conveniently behind the POTUS, his applause (or lack thereof), can be our gauge.

• Cleaner, greener energy: No applause
• Reviewing Government Regulation: Applause
• Working on the Health Care Law: No applause

Well, quelle surprise. Looks like we didn’t really need a gauge after all.

I really liked his comments on education. One of my favorite lines: “We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair.” Shout out to all of us former high school nerds.

The sound of the ultrasonic cleaner drowned out the talk of the wars. Thank God. Experiencing the occasional pain of the cleaning tool hitting a sensitive spot and the nausea from hearing the “strides” were making? No thanks. There are limits to my masochism. I did catch that in July, we’ll begin to bring the troops back home from Afghanistan. I wasn’t on the laughing gas, and the text of the speech confirmed this statement. Hmmm. We’ll see…

I loved that he didn’t back down on the healthcare law. It was refreshing that he will fight their attempt at repeal. I don’t know if people understand just how important the changes with the pre-existing condition clauses are. A few years ago, I was in between jobs, temping, and was about to lose COBRA. Try getting insurance with asthma. It didn’t matter that I was able to afford it. I could not get it. Thank God I got a full-time job shortly after that had health benefits kick in on day one. Countless others weren’t so lucky. I hope the GOP listened to this: So instead of re-fighting the battles of the last two years, let’s fix what needs fixing and move forward.

I left the office with my teeth cleaned and the goodie bag of a toothbrush and dental floss samples and a Greater Smiles in 2011 calendar. I was able to reflect on the address. Despite the midterms, he didn’t gravitate as far to the center as I thought he would. He still mentioned ending the tax breaks to the wealthiest and stood his ground on healthcare. Good. The next two years will be very interesting. I am only armed with a 2011 calendar, though. I’ll be checking it around July. Maybe there will be cause for Greater Smiles.