Drag Queen Ban: And so it begins. In a gay pride parade in Scotland, the organizers have banned drag queens because they are “insulting” to transgenders. Oh oh.
What this means is that the gay coalition is starting to break because they no longer have a single purpose to hold them together. Because of this, their natural differences will now lead their thinking, which means that groups like the transgenders and the drag queens will no longer be friends. Gay males and lesbians are likely to turn on each other too. And hangers on like the child molesters are likely to be dumped entirely.
This is exactly what I’ve been talking about regarding gays and it’s amazing how quickly it’s happening. A couple weeks back, I told you how many gays were worried that they had nothing to hold them together politically now that they had won the gay marriage issue, and now we see an even more practical aspect of that as their differences start to blow them apart.
More ObamaCare Numbers: ObamaCare numbers tend to be in the eye of the beholder. This is because there are more than enough numbers to make almost any argument, especially if you pick and choose which you will rely upon. As I showed a couple weeks back though, sometimes numbers do appear which cut through all the propaganda. In that case, it was a number showing that few additional people have been insured by ObamaCare.
This time, the numbers in question come from a report which examined what ObamaCare plans cost compared to pre-ObamaCare plans and what kind of access they provide. Here are the key figures:
● Before ObamaCare, high deductible plans with low premiums were widely available. In Iowa, for example, $5,000 deductible plans cost around $442 annually. Under ObamaCare, under the cheapest Bronze level plan with a matching $5,000 deductible, those plans now cost around $3,500 annually.Disney Was A Prophet?: For those who missed it, NASA just did a flyby of Pluto and you will never guess what they found. Pluto has a spot on it that seriously resembles Disney’s dog Pluto. Holy cow! How did Disney know?
● ObamaCare plans offer access to 32% fewer primary care doctors than commercial plans.
● ObamaCare plans offer access to 24% fewer hospitals than commercial plans.
● ObamaCare plans offer access to 42% fewer oncologists and cardiologists than commercial plans.
Identity Politics seems to inevitably devolve into a form of cannibalism.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to the "big tent" where everyone was welcome - except right-to-life people, conservatives and "patriots"?
ReplyDeleteLL, I believe the official name of the Big Tent has always been "The Big Tent of Useful People." Once you aren't useful anymore... well, "we don't need no freaks under OUR tent!"
ReplyDeleteKit, It does. It is amazing too how unstable the coalitions it forms are. That's why I think the gays have reached the end of the line with the left and will now drift away back out of politics and the rest will divide between hard left and libertarian right.
ReplyDeletePlus, you will see feuding between the various gay groups. The did feud in the 1970s, particularly the lesbians and the gay men. It's going to be interesting to see one gay group go after another as "a hate group" on college campuses.
Ignoring the fact that the discord is happening in Scotland, whether or not people hang out together in their free time doesn't necessarily have implications for their political alignment.
ReplyDeleteThe religious right, big business, neocons, white men, gun enthusiasts, libertarians, etc, all call the Republican party home despite the fact that they all want somewhat conflicting things from it (even though some people are members of multiple groups). One could say the same for the labour unions, blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, Asians, women, environmentalists, peace activists, communists and big business (it works with whoever is in power) in the Democratic party.
The dominant Republicans in the current race are very vocal in their opposition to gay marriage, so the weird amalgamation that is gays/lesbians/transgenders/crossdressers and whatever else will stick with the weird amalgamation that is the Democratic party for a while.
However, aren't in immediate legal jeopardy (Republicans do have a lot of legislatures, so a doomed push unpopular outside the fringe attempt to amend the Constitution if the party wins control of the presidency and Congress wouldn't shock me) their turnout will probably fall in the near term.
Anthony, The US and the British left are linked. What happens there is the same as if it happens here and vice versa. So whether or not this particular incident happened in Scotland doesn't really change anything (remember that they got gay marriage a few months before we did). Look for this to spread immediately.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of spending free time, a pride rally is not free time, it is a political event designed to show political strength and allegiance and to give that side a rallying event similar to a pep rally. So this is not like drag queens and transgenders not sitting together at lunch, this is a political call to exile a portion the coalition.
In terms of the GOP coalition, there is a fundamental difference between that and the coalition of the left. The coalition of the left involves single issue groups who are directly opposed to each other and who have only banded together because they have a common enemy.
By comparison, the GOP coalition involves groups who may disagree on various issues, but (1) aren't single issue groups butting heads, their disagreements tend to be a lessor issues, and (2) they all still share an overall ideology which holds them together.
Hence, the GOP coalition all want about 80% of the same things and only disagree at the edges and never directly between single issue groups, whereas the left has only an enemy to hold them together and many of their member conflict at a fundamental level.
What's more, the left coalition is built on groups who exist because of self-centered hyper-intolerance. The right isn't like that, except for the libertarian and religious right fringe.
OT: I wanted to address this. This is the 46th Anniversary of the moon landing, an awesome moment for mankind. This truly was amazing and shows what we are capable of when we put out minds to it.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, a lot of idiots are still spreading the conspiracy theory that it didn't happen -- many of them were trying to harass Buzz Aldrin the other day. Let me just say that to believe the conspiracy, one has to be unbelievable colossally stupid. It really is impossible for anyone with a normal human brain to believe that trash in good faith.
YEY Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. And might just add that Michael Collins gets short shrift in the fame department, but he's the one who answered the call from the first Earth-to-Moon phone call from the White House! I have said before, this was one of the few (and last) untainted, cooperative, non-political events that we as a nation did together with pride.
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as I am concerned, NASA should use all those conspiracy theorists as "colonists" for the Lunar colony in 2020. Or maybe Mars...or Pluto.
Bev, I'm all in favor of shipping them all off to Pluto!
ReplyDeleteI see the need to believe in this conspiracy garbage as a sickness akin to narcissism.
I'm not a big fan of Lindsay Graham but this 1 minute video, "How to Destroy Your Cell Phone", put out in response to Donald Trump revealing his personal cell number, is pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteLINK
That explains why I'm suddenly seeing headlines about the trash the astronauts left behind on the moon. This is how one properly views achievement through the postmodernist lens.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, how have been hoodwinked by the machine. We didn't have the technology to go to the moon in the 1960's; it was all done in a studio directed by Kubrik. He basically told us he did it with the clues given in The Shining. The pictures? They're fake. THERE AREN'T ANY STARS! HOW CAN THERE NOT BE ANY STARS IN SPACE?!? HUH? THE SHADOWS ARE ALL OUT OF WHACK AS WELL. EXPLAIN THAT TOUGH GUY?!? You people are all idiots; you and MONSANTO!.
ReplyDeleteOh, I wish you hadn't said Monsanto. Now I need to report you. :(
ReplyDeletetryanmax, Isn't it amazing that the post modern culture worships the non-achievements of creatures like the Kardashians, but can't stop tearing down truly amazing achievements?
ReplyDeleteKit, What Trump did actually shows very clearly what kind of rotten person he is and that he's basically just acting as the physical embodiment of the talk radio tantrum.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Monsanto, why is that the same people who are screaming about the evils genetically modified vegetation and animals, are generally the same people who are defending Planned Parenthood's right to give away baby parts to Bio-tech companies for the express purpose of bio-engineering human genes?
ReplyDeleteBev,
ReplyDeleteThey also tend to be the same people who run around with dooms day global warning fears and climate change. What's worse is you cannot talk to them. If you tell them that humans have been genetically modifying our food for 5000 years, they yell at you or get sarcastic. If you tell them that the GMO plants may be more drought resistant and use less water, they belittle you. If you tell them there is GMO rice is fortified and would help malnourished children in 3rd world countries they threaten to report you to the UN.
Koshcat - Next time ask them their opinion on genetically modified humans...
ReplyDeleteBev and Koshcat, It's the amazing ability of liberals and whackos... but why repeat myself... to compartmentalize their "thinking." They can even hold polar opposite views and employ them in the same sentence without any idea what they've done.
ReplyDeleteThat is because their "thoughts" are basically just emotions of the moment put into policy.
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ReplyDeleteRick Perry has a new speech called "Defending Conservatism Against the Cancer of Trump-ism." It is as brutal and scathing an attack as you might expect. Most of it is an attack left-wing policies and an argument for conservatism, but it hits Trump hard.
ReplyDelete-----------------------------
"In times of trouble, there are two types of leaders: repairers of the breach and sowers of discord.
The sower of discord foments agitation, thrives on division, scapegoats certain elements of society, and offers empty platitudes and promises. He is without substance when one scratches below the surface.
He offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued.
Let no one be mistaken – Donald Trump’s candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded.
It cannot be pacified or ignored, for it will destroy a set of principles that has lifted more people out of poverty than any force in the history of the civilized world – the cause of conservatism."
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Damn. I was thinking of writing something on Trump but, after this, I can't really say much.
My favorite little quote:
"Resentment is the poison we swallow that we hope harms another. My fellow Republicans, don’t take the poison."
Full Speech Transcript: LINK
The whole thing is genius and probably renders any future criticism of Trump from the right redundant.
ReplyDeleteFrom Allahpundit at Hotair.com:
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One smart thing Perry’s done here that the rest of Trump’s critics in the field haven’t is that he’s committed fully to the antagonism. He’s not doing Lindsey Graham style potshots at what a “jackass” Trump is, which is easily dismissed by voters as squabbling. He’s presenting his critique as something important not just to the race but to conservatism. And now he’s going to be a guy who’s watched at the debates when he wouldn’t have been otherwise. The plotline until now was “how will Jeb Bush cope with Trump’s attacks onstage?” A new plotline is “how will Trump cope, and voters react, when Perry makes this argument to his face?” Looking forward to it.
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Speaking of the office of president, I'm currently watching the premiere of 'Sharknado 3.' All I can say is...
ReplyDeletePresident Mark Cuban? Uh....
Vice President Ann Coulter? Oh hell, no!
Kit, I have to say that I'm liking Perry a lot lately. He has really become much more impressive than he used to be and a lot of what he says resonates with me. Sadly, I still think Bush has it sown up, but Trump may give Perry an opening.
ReplyDeleteAndrew - Once again, if Perry can run on his stellar record in Texas and get past stupid debate blunders which I know he has been aggressively preparing for, he may have a shot. The opposition will push his legal issues if he comes to the top, but I am certain that he can weather that whole issue just on the facts. You may remember that I reported last year about the DUI-challenged Ethics Commission chairwoman in Harris County who he publicly humiliated when privately she refused to resign. He was charged with overstepping his boundries as Governor. Frankly, she got the treatment she deserved, but the county is very blue.
ReplyDeleteSorry, that's Travis County. Here's a link to my post - LINK
ReplyDeleteBev,
ReplyDeleteThat indictment is my only concern. After the crap that was pulled in Wisconsin, I don't put much past the Dems in Harris County to try and make things difficult for Perry should he start pulling ahead.
Bev, I don't worry about the legal stuff, that's all politics. The problem, as I see it, is that Bush has wrapped everything up already. What's more Perry's support is split between Bush, Cruz, and anybody but Bush. So the only way I see him having a chance is if Bush stumbles. But this Bush won't stumble.
ReplyDeleteHis other chance is to use Trump as a human pinata to be seen as a better establishment candidate than Bush... but that's a hard road to go. Bush is "safe" for the establishment and they rarely change horses.
It makes me sad because Perry has said a lot lately that makes me realize that he really "gets it."
Kit - The indictment will definitely be an issue if and when Perry makes it to the national stage. That's the way the opposition roles in their "whack-a-mole" like way. That's why having Trump around has been good for the other candidates. He's drawing all the focus.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Andrew, Perry does "get it". He is a really good politician and a good executive. How else do you think he was elected for 3 terms? Texans may be many things, but when it come to Governors, they are not stupid. They keep whast works for them. FYI - he is the first 3-term Republican Gov in all of Texas history. Bush was the first Republican Gov. to be elected to 2 consecutive terms too.
Btw, I think Walt Disney was an alien, so that's why he knew about Pluto...just sayin'...
ReplyDeleteBut more to the point on Pluto, what are astrologist doing since Pluto was declared a sub-planet? What about all those people whose astrological signs have for centuries been ruled by Pluto? Are they unruly or sub-normatives now?