I Regret Nothing

We tend think of the internet as eternal, knowing that each day when we arise and boot our computers that we'll always find our favorite web sites ready to greet us with a smile and a cheery "Hi-ho!". But the sad fact of the matter is that if even, for example, msn.com stops paying its hosting fee it will disappear from the face of the cyber-universe apart from the thoughtful auspices of various archival sites.

Some day, after I shuffle off this mortal coil, this web site will disappear, too, as I know my relatives lack both the will or the minimal ability to maintain it. It may be just as well, though, as politically-tinged humor doesn't age particularly well. Paul Ryan and Todd Akins may ride high in the the headlines today but in twenty years they'll be the next Helen Gahagan (Douglas).

I often think of crafting a printed version of The Best of Raging Pencils but, apart from being a seven-page pamphlet (Hah!) it would never sell, for reasons explained above, in numbers large enough to make economic sense. If only I'd stuck to cat jokes, golf humor, or other avenues of masturbatory self-introspection. Sigh.

In my dreamy little dreams I imagine a yearly edition of TBOTFLS, each sent to every library in the country and sealed with a kiss. But as that's 120,000 libraries I may as well hand-deliver one to the Curiosity rover, too.

Of course, who knows what the internet will look like twenty years from now. It's possible that a quantum device worn on the wrist might interconnect us to all of mankind's accumulated wisdom, but it's just as likely we'll still have iPad-like devices which offer two options. One for Google and one for Amazon.com.

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Will you be voting absentee this November but don't know what to do about it?

Then check out the Long Distance Voter. Not only can you register to vote, and verify your registration, you can also request an absentee ballot.


=Lefty=

Oh, That Mitt.

In Mitt Romney's acceptance speech he claimed that his administration will add 12 million jobs even though he has provided no details. Now, while that's actually the truth it's only because projections by Moody's Analytics say the economy will add 12 million jobs in the next four years no matter who is president, although Mr. Obama no doubt deserves some of the credit for that. So Mitt, in essence, could also have promised to give us green grass in 2016.

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In 1992 Mitt Romney's Bain Capital was in deep debt, so what did he do? He looted a dying company, paid off millions in executive bonuses, and left the government on the hook for millions. Yes, Mitt got a federal bailout.

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Romney and Paul Ryan's visit to the flood-devestated Gulf Coast region today is a profound example of their hypocrisy. Not only did Ryan try to gut disaster relief last year but Romney says he's also in favor of cutting it.

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Mitt and his wife Ann baptized her father, an avowed atheist, after he'd been dead for eleven months. So much for the respect of the belief of others.

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In 2008 Sarah Palin was introduced to America during the RNC to a TV audience of over 37 million people. Paul Ryan's introduction, on the other hand, merited only 20 million viewers. Ho-hum.

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Seemingly everybody and their political dogs were aghast at the outright lies in Paul Ryan's speech at the RNC, but here's one of my favorite responses by Jonathan Bernstein.

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Ann Romney is proving to be quite the racist, arrogant dick when she back-handedly called the president a "boy" when she said "I'm hearing from so many women that may not have considered voting for a Republican before. It's time for the grown-up to come, the man that's going to take this seriously."

Stay classy, you entitled turd.

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Quote For The Day

"Mitt Romney promises to 'create 12 million new jobs.' Wonder how he's going to react when he finds out that guvment doesn't create jobs. " -  Tweet by Angelo Carusone

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Today's video: The RNC finally dragged Clint Eastwood out to fire up the crowd. The same Clint Eastwood who indulges himself in little racist fantasies like this one from "Gran Torino" (And, yes, it sickens me that this is labeled someone's "favorite scene".)

An exclusive Raging Pencils bumper-sticker! Get yours now at zazzle.com

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President Obama's Top 50 Accomplishments

Number 34: Began Post-Post-9/11 Military Builddown

After winning agreement from congressional Republicans and Democrats in summer 2011 budget deal to reduce projected defense spending by $450 billion, proposed new DoD budget this year with cuts of that size and a new national defense strategy that would shrink ground forces from 570,000 to 490,000 over the next ten years while increasing programs in intelligence gathering and cyberwarfare.

For the full list of his 50 finest achievements read the Washington Monthly story.

And now our Chart of the Day: Number of Fatal work Injuries (What do you know...regulation makes us safer.)



Larger version of chart here.

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Republican Job Creation Update

Congress is in recess until early September. No jobs are being created, no farms are being saved.

For the full 2001-2012 list of Republican sloth please visit republicanjobcreation.com.

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Fox News Lies. Dump Fox News

How did Fox News handle Romney's lies about welfare and Madicare? Badly. Very badly. As in, almost not at all.

Click here to help Drop Fox from your cable system.