Magpie

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Earth to Dubya, Earth to Dubya ...

This magpie really has to wonder what planet our Dear Leader is on after reading this account of his arrival in Australia:

"We're kicking ass," he told Mark Vaile on the tarmac after the Deputy Prime Minister inquired politely of the President's stopover in Iraq en route to Sydney. [Emaphsis and incredulity added]

The word 'delusional' doesn't even begin to cover it.

Via Sydney Morning Herald.

Labels: Australia, Cluelessness, Delusions, Dubya, Iraq, Occupation

| | Posted by Magpie at 3:30 PM | Get permalink

Sunday, August 26, 2007

I wouldn't laugh at this woman if I were you.

I mean, it's really easy to make fun of Lauren Caitlin Upton, South Carolina's entrant in the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant, as she tackles a question about geography.

Upton's obviously been taught a bunch of stock phrases to use to buy time when she's trying to answer a pageant question. And it's painfully obvious that she's using use stock phrases to try—try to the point of incoherence—to cover up the fact that she hasn't a clue about how to answer the question she was asked.

But—and be honest now—how many people in the US who aren't beauty pageant contestants are just as clueless, and would give answers that were just as pathetic as the one Upton gives in this YouTube clip?

She's not the only one who wouldn't be able to answer the question.

While it's easy to laugh at Upton, I'd submit that she's practicing the same craft that's used by US business leaders and politicians every day: that of saying a whole bunch of meaningless stuff to try to hide the fact that a statement is wrong, incoherent, or nonexistent. And that the only reason that we're laughing at Upton is because she doesn't have the years of practice that her (mostly male) elders use to hide their ignorance and dishonesty.

It's just easier for us to laugh at Upton's answer because she's young, attractive, and female,

Via Suburban Guerilla.

Labels: Cluelessness, Geography, Sexism

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:17 AM | Get permalink

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Is Dubya brilliant or what?

The prez, from a speech about Iraq he made earlier today:

Either we'll succeed, or we won't succeed.

To be fair, Dubya's speech was longer than that one sentence. But if you go read it, I defy you to prove that the summary of the prez's speech would amount to much more than what I quoted.

Labels: 'War on Terrorism', Cluelessness, Dubya, Iraq

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:42 AM | Get permalink

Monday, April 23, 2007

No comment.

From Think Progress:

In a new video, the the right-wing American Family Association attributes the tragedy at Virginia Tech to: a lack of prayer in school, a lack of the Bible in school, a lack of spanking kids, a lack of physical punishment in school, abortion, condoms, Bill Clinton, internet pornography, free speech, the entertainment industry, "satanic" music, and liberal culture in general.

You can view the video if you go here.

Labels: Cluelessness, Ignorance, Opportunism, Violence

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:08 AM | Get permalink

Sometimes the punchlines are just handed to me.

From Bentonville, Arkansas comes the news that a local man is pissed off about a lesbian sex book in the local library:

Earl Adams said his 14- and 16-year-old sons were "greatly disturbed" after finding the book, titled "The Whole Lesbian Sex Book." Adams said the book caused "many sleepless nights in our house."

Adams said the book is "patently offensive and lacks any artistic, literary or scientific value," according to a letter he faxed to Mayor Bob McCaslin. He said the teenagers found it while browsing for material on military academies.

Adams wants the city to pay $10,000 to each of his sons. That's the maximum allowed under the Arkansas obscenity law. However, the city's attorney dismissed Adams' claim as baseless. She said the book is not pornographic. [Emphasis added]

Let me get this right: The male kids 'accidentally' found a lesbian sex book, yes? Then the kids and the father were kept up at night because of the book? Fill in the blanks yourself.

Via KOCO-TV (Oklahoma City, OK).

Labels: Censorship, Cluelessness, Lesbian, Libraries, Sex

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:44 AM | Get permalink